Syria doesn't get a lot of good publicitiy in the United States these days, and it's been that way for a while. But when it comes to tourism, Syria is popping up on the radar more and more, with publications such as the Wall Street Journal and National Geograpic recently highlighting the wealth of historical sites found within its borders.

But what neither of these publications mentioned -- and so I am duty bound to do so here -- is that Syria is also a terrific place to watch the World Cup. This summer, my five weeks in Syria overlapped with the once-every-four-years World Cup (this year hosted by South Africa), and much of Syria was glued to the television for each game. In coffee shops, cafes, and private homes, Syrians rooted for their favorite teams, and the entire country would shake a bit whenever a goal was scored. The noise and enthusiasm was just that loud.

I watched several of these games myself. But what I enjoyed most was watching the people around me watching the game. What follows are images of Syrians watching the 2010 World Cup.

After a day-trip to the deserted town of Quinetra, I returned to Damascus and found young people gathered at a cafe beside my hostel.

They watched the game, sent text messages on their phones, smoked, ate snacks, and drank coffees and juices.

The World Cup was now underway, with several more weeks to go.

Cafes in Damascus would often overflow, and some people tailgated.

And they would bring flags, usually Brazil or Germany, but once even a North Korean flag (the North Korean flagbearers were more against Brazil than for North Korea).

Here in the city of Aleppo, women often seemed more emotionally invovled in a game's outcome then the men. Of course, that could be because women often express emotion better. In any case, half the women in the picture were rooting for Italy on this particular day.

But Italy didn't do so well, and as the minutes ticked down faces showed that Italy was likely to lose.

Italy did lose, and about a week later while visiting the town of Tartus, I witnessed Germany beat Argentina. Immediately after the game ended, small caliber fireworks were sent skyward by fans and many took to the streets in an impromptu parade.

I left Syria a few days before the final game, and so it would be in Istanbul that I saw Spain beat the Netherlands. But as I watched and heard people in Istanbul cheer that final game, I couldn't help but think that it didn't compare at all to the enthusiam expressed by their neighbors to the south, in Syria. The World Cup is many things to many people. To me, it was one of the prisms through which I saw Syria's people, and it showed that the pheomenal historical sites aren't the only reason to make the long journey to this land.

Joel Carillet, chief editor of Wandering Educators, is a freelance writer and photographer based in Tennessee. He is the author of 30 Reasons to Travel: Photographs and Reflections from Southeast Asia. To learn more about him, follow his regular photoblog, or purchase prints, visit www.joelcarillet.com.