In In this Thursday June 5, 2014 photo, patrons listen to Ahmad Laham, a professional storyteller, as he reads passages from a book in the al-Nofara cafe in Damascus, Syria. Throughout its 300-year existence, the al-Nofara cafe in Damascus' stone-built Old City has always had a hakawati telling stories in evening gatherings. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic), APTOPIX