Damascus, Syria – There’s one thing totally different about Christmas this yr, Damascenes say.

Though the decorations might have been extra elaborate final yr, Carol al-Sahhaf says this yr’s festive temper is a minimize above, lower than two weeks after Bashar al-Assad fled and his regime crumbled.

On both facet of the biblical Avenue Referred to as Straight – or al-Mustaqeem or simply Straight Avenue for brief – lights and Christmas timber adorn the cafes, eating places, retailers and houses of Bab Sharqi, the neighbourhood nestled as much as the Japanese Gate of the traditional Previous Metropolis.

The alleyways round Straight Avenue are bustling, with a spring-like feeling within the air as shopkeepers repaint, mud off their cabinets, and hold the inexperienced, white and black Free Syria flag.

Lights, cookies, and optimism

Al-Assad fled on December 8, and the nation erupted into jubilation that lasted for days as Syrians celebrated the autumn of the al-Assad household and the tip of greater than 50 years of brutal rule.

As these celebrations calmed, Olga al-Muuti advised Al Jazeera, everybody turned to getting ready for Christmas, New Yr’s and Orthodox Christmas.

“I anticipate the festivities to return to their full vibrancy within the coming days,” the 29-year-old stated as she put collectively cookie-decorating kits within the again room of her eponymous bakery.

“After 14 years of warfare, I hope the approaching yr brings us peace, love, and the prospect to dwell with dignity.”

From Olga’s store, a four-minute stroll down Straight Avenue results in the exuberant lights of Bab Touma Avenue, named for one more historical gate that sat within the Previous Metropolis’s partitions.

Admiring the lights as he strolled round his neighbourhood with two pals was Akop Safarian, 72, bundled up in opposition to the chilly night time air and stuffed with cheer.

He and his neighbours had all adorned their homes and the road they lived on, he stated, as they do yearly, solely this yr he did it with a particular prayer in thoughts.

“I hope peace prevails in Syria and the world within the coming yr,” Safarian stated with an enormous smile.

‘We, as Syrians’

“We’re a bit apprehensive in regards to the coming part,” al-Shahhaf stated as she browsed a small handicrafts stall in a restaurant within the Previous Metropolis’s Qishleh.

Nonetheless, she added, she is immensely completely happy about all of the adjustments in Syria.

“I’m certain that we, as Syrians of all backgrounds, can show to the world that we’re a individuals who love peace,” the 28-year-old from Jaramana stated.

“The horrifying scenes we noticed in Assad’s prisons … we ought to be in mourning actually, in solidarity with the households of detainees who had been killed in prisons and with the households of these whose destiny stays unknown,” Carol stated.

Rawad Diop, who hails initially from Safita close to Tartous, is simply plain completely happy.

“Alongside Christmas celebrations, I see smiles on individuals’s faces that I hadn’t seen earlier than.” the 42-year-old stated.

“Personally, I’m very completely happy and really feel an internal optimism for the long run.”