Slumdog Damascus ?

Today I was not feeling 100% — so, I had to stay in the hotel. ☹

Anyways, I watching Slumdog Millionaire and then the thought came to me… are there child beggars in Damascus? I am sure there are somewhere, but we haven’t seen any homeless people here. (It happens in all “third world” countries, and if you haven’t seen Slumdog, or read Midaq Alley, I suggest you do and see what happens to these “poor” kids.) What happens to them here? I am used to India and now Egypt where all kinds of people come out of nowhere and ask for money.

Right now, we are a short distance from downtown, and the area we are in is extremely nice and beautiful. There are two new enormous shopping malls walking distance from us and I haven’t seen anyone on the streets. Is it because we are special guests? Or is it Syria in general? I feel like I will never know unless I talk to people around here, and let’s even see how that would turn out.

I found this article by the Tharwa Foundation that researches child begging in Syria. I wonder where these kids are, and what they are up to today.

hmmm…..

I promise I am not trying to whine about facebook being blocked in Syria, there is actually something big behind this socially obstructive move.

According to this article I found by Sean P. Aune on mashable.com,

“The government of Syria has made the move to block Facebook inside their borders.
According to sources speaking with Reuters, the official statement from officials is that they fear “Facebook could become a conduit for Israeli penetration of our youth”. Critics of the government say that it is really to cut off access to the outside world. This appears to be but one small symptom of a much larger problem for Syrians as Internet cafes are being ordered to limit their communication options, and there is even an Internet Political Crimes ward at one prison now. Access to sites such as Hotmail and numerous newspapers has been blocked also, and this disturbing trend shows no signs of abating.”

I don’t know how I feel about censorship in Syria, or in any part of the world for that matter. My only belief is that people should always be able to do whatever they want, whenever they want… and exhibit self-control if they are doing something bad or hurting others. And when someone tries to tell others what to do, people will find ways around them. I’m positive that people use proxy-servers for their social networking, but just the reasoning behind this move and the way that it is carried out everywhere, is shocking and surprising to me.

Today we went to visit Annar saatti, the president of the National Union of Syrian Students (NUSS). The meeting was in the ministry of education and they had a nice big conference room where they served us beverages, non-stop. He talked about the union and students of Syria. He told us that a 5-year engineering degree would cost the equivalent of $50 and housing would be a monthly $6. Woah. He also stressed the role that volunteer work plays in NUSS.

They gave us a packet that briefed the NUSS. It talks about what NUSS is, and how their main goals are “unity, freedom and socialism.” It also mentions the Arab Students movement, the occupied Syrian Golan and “Israeli nazism.”

Just like our other sessions, after he answered some very interesting questions asked by our group. It was interesting to hear him answer one part of Professor Hempel’s question about how Syrians view Americans. He said something (through translations) that a “Syrian citizen will never hate an American for the sake of being American,” and later on that often times Americans only see one side to issues.

I am still digesting his thoughts. I will consider this tomorrow when we meet with Syrian students, and will use them as motivation to show my objectivity towards sensitive topics, hopefully some day when I can represent America on the international-playground.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

“Before you point your finger at someone else, remember there are three more pointing back at you.”

Who ever thought that I would sit in a meeting with a deputy foreign minister of Syria? Today we met with his Excellency, Dr. Abdul Fattah Ammourah. Our session was extremely informative on Syrian history and policies. He gave us background on the situation in the Middle East. It was interesting to hear the Syrian viewpoint in issues that I have been studying for the past couple of years. I liked his diplomatic way of speaking throughout the session. He answered questions and took the time to explain things to us.

After the meeting, a small group of us went back to the market. I love that place. I hope we go back every day. Later on we had a group meeting in a little conference room that we have turned into our own mini-internet café.

My new friend Omar met us for dinner at the hotel. He is a Northeastern student who is visiting his family in Syria. It was nice to have someone new join our group here and he will meet us later on too.

I started to practice learning the Syrian dialect today. I have been asking Nevenka what all of the major word changes are and they are so similar to some of the dialects we went over in class and some that my friends have taught me from the gulf. It is really fun and I like making the connections. Syrian dialect has similarities to village Gujarati!

Blogging from Syria

Saturday May 23, 2009

Today was our first day out and about in Syria. We visited the national museum of Syria where we learned tons and tons of information about everything from ancient tools of the Mesopotamians to Synagogues to modern paintings. I felt like I was seeing real-life examples of my AP World History class. After the museum we went through the market to the Umayyad Mosque. Let me just say that the market is FABULOUS! I love the Khan el-Khalili, but this souq is so clean and no one hassles you. Later on we visited the “oldest street in the world” and a special church at the end of the road. It was cool how we saw ancient statues from Mesopotamian times and religious settlements for Judaism, Christianity and Islam all in one day. It just shows how diverse Syria is. People here are all shapes, colors and sizes.

Back at Northeastern, I heard so much about how Syrians are proud to be Arab. This Arab/national/ethnic identity struggle that exists in the Middle East will be extremely interesting to observe here. I learned some of the Syrian colloquial words, so I can’t wait to get out and try them. I already practiced a little when I was at the market and the mall. People always ask me where I am from. Sometimes it results in an extra search in airport security and sometimes it results in a discount on some random trinket in the market. People mistake me for so many different nationalities, I think they are all compliments. Last year I used to play around and jokingly change my nationality every time someone asked, but this year I am just compelled to say I am American and of Indian ethnicity. I get sad when Indian people do not recognize me as Indian and kind of ignore me instead of striking up a conversation. I guess my identity is more organized on this trip. Also, I guess it is just in my personality to be curious about people and where they come from. This is probably why I am an International Affairs major.

Greetings from Damascus!

We finally arrived in Syria. I honestly had no idea what to expect. When we got out of the Airport, after a VIP-style check in, the first thing I noticed was the blue sky and the green trees. This may not seem like a big deal, but coming from Cairo, where pure pollution is the color of the sky… seeing blue is very impressive. Syria is just beautiful. The roads are clean and the buildings look well kept and organized. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cairo exactly the way it is, but I definitely appreciate Syria so far. The scenery everywhere is gorgeous! We are at our hotel, and it is so nice and spacious. For dinner we tried to go downtown, and the taxi driver took us to a mall called town-center. After this little pit stop, we made it to the restaurant we wanted to go to, and enjoyed our first Syrian meal. My friends were right, the food here is out of this world. On the way back we asked the driver how many Americans are in Syria. He said about 10/1000, or it might have been 10/10000 or even 10/1000000. Or maybe even just 10. Actually its at least 27 (I don’t really know the exact #) Because our group is here! WE ARE SO LUCKY! I cannot wait to explore and learn more about Syria.

OFF TO SYRIA

Today is a bittersweet day. It is my last day in Cairo, and I do not know when I will be back in Egypt. I am going to miss this place that has been so good to me, two years in a row. I will miss my irreplaceable friends, the fun places to go and most importantly the chaos. I feel like my BlackBerry stopped working for a reason, so that I could make the most out of my trip. I think that so far I have.

Alia came to visit and say good-bye. It was so sad, I will miss her and all of my wonderful Egyptian friends. You guys mean the world to me!

I am excited to go to Syria, but I will really miss Egypt!!!!!!

Last full day in AL-Qahira ☹

This morning we went to Islamic Cairo and visited the mosques of Ibn Toulun and Mohammed Ali (& Citadel). These places are so beautiful, and I loved visiting them because I got to wear my long flow-y skirt I am obsessed with.

After this calm and breezy morning, Lily and I met up with our old Arabic professor, Nermeen. It was so nice to see her! She sent her love for all of her other former students. I missed her so much, she is really one of the best Arabic professors in the world. When Lily and I were interviewing people at the Korba festival, we actually interviewed some of her students! Nermeen takes the time to get to know her students, and really encouraged me to start speaking in Arabic. I was very excited to see her because I feel like my Arabic skills have improved tremendously over the past year thanks to Professor Mustafa, my new Arabic teacher at school. I finally understand the basic concepts of grammar and how formal Arabic (Fus-7a) is connected to colloquial Arabic (3amaya). This time when I saw Nermeen, I was able to hold a much longer and descriptive conversation than I would have been able to last year. It felt amazing to show her what I have learned. All of this is encouraging me to continue my study of the Arabic language. I am also able to speak to all sorts of people in Cairo, with much more confidence I must say!

During the evening, both dialogues visited the Arab league. This visit was exactly the same as last year’s visit. The spokesperson Hesham Youseff was very informative and generous with his time and responses again. I enjoyed seeing other student’s reactions here because I knew what to expect.

After the Arab league, almost everyone from both groups went to Sequoia for our last night in Cairo. Luckily I was able to see Salma, who was there with her friends, Karim, who came to spend time with us, and the other Karim and Mostafa, who came to see us and the other dialogers. It was a fun night, and Sequoia was beautiful as usual. Later on, around 3 a.m. while packing, Lily and I had an adventure with a gigantic moth on my ceiling and the guy from the staff who came in and tried to spray it. Instead of spraying the moth, he soaked my pillows and sheets, while Lily took one swat at the bug and got it. Of course the guy changed my pillows and sheets for me, but it was just a crazy night.

20/5/09

On Wednesday, we had a lecture at AUC by, a woman named Noha Haqqi. She is a famous Egyptian woman who is the daughter of a very important television producer in Egypt. She is still very active in Egyptian television. She writes soap operas and is a production consultant. She gave our class a lecture in Arabic, while Syonara, one of the Arabic teachers from last year, translated for us. This was a very special experience for us because we learned the origin and significance of each of the 8 Egyptian channels. After the lecture, I went to the Khan el-Khalili with a small group and we did a little shopping. It was just as overwhelming as it was last year, but this time I had no intention of buying the whole market.

——————
Taxi Driver Interview:
(I could not type this in Arabic because I don’t have the proper keyboard set up, so here it is transliterated)

Ahlan – Hello
Keyfalhallek- How are you
• Hamdillah Ana kwaiyssa w keyfak enta- I am fine. How are you?
Hamdillah ana bkhier- Thanks be to God, I am fine.
• Enta min fein?- Where are you from?
Ana min al qahira, w inti? Italia Francia? Amrikia? – I am from Cairo. And you? Italy, France, America?
• Lah ana hindiya. – No, I am Indian
Lah lah lah, enti masriya! No, no, no. You are Egyptian!
• Saraha, ana hindiya -seriously, I am Indian.
Wallahi? enti hindiya? – swear to god you are Indian?
• Aywaa ana hindiya wallahi -yes, yes, I am Indian I swear
Maashi, laken hiya mish hindiya (pointing to Rachel) ok, but she is not Indian.
• Hiya italia – she is Italian.
W hiya? (pointing to lily) and she?
• Hiya amrikia laken ihna sakana fi amrika – She is American but we all live in America
Inti fahimni kwaiyss, daras fein? you understand me fine. where do you study?
• fi amrika w hena! -in America and here.
• Andak awlad? - do you have children?
Lah ana mish 3andi- no, I don’t have.
• enta mit goweza? are you married?
Aywaa, laken 3andi goeza wahida bus! -yes, but I have only one wife!
• Mumtaaz, -excellent
Laken, goeza akher (pregnant motion) – (spoke about his past wives for a bit, goeza=wife)
Goeza 2nd hits hands and throws them
Goeza 3rd – mish 3andi kids
Goeza 1st hits hands and throws them again

contrasting the day, just like last year…

Imagine what it is like to live in a village that is overwhelmed with more garbage than people. There is an area called Muqattam where an entire population of people who collect garbage live. I visited the cave church in Muqattam today, for the second time, and I still cannot believe how these people live. They are called the Zebelien. Although I did not go into the actual village, we drove through some roads to get to the church. I knew what to expect in terms of the garbage, smell (Abdu called it “delicious”) and beauty of the cave church, which is why it was very interesting for me to see the reactions of the others. Also, there were less pigs on rooftops, go figure. I don’t know how I feel about removing the pigs, but I just hope things get better for the people who live there. It is an important reality check to see how people live around the world. This is why I went for a second time, because I wanted to remind myself that all of my “wants” are really unnecessary, and that I should be more minimalist. The truth is, we will never know if this community is rich or poor, it is all about how they manage themselves. For example, some people live in complete filth and save their money for satellites as seen on many roofs. Either way, it was an important reminder to not be so materialistic.

On the contrary….

Later we went to Sequoia, the most fabulous restaurant in Cairo! It was Christina’s birthday, and we were all in love with the location right on the Nile, beautiful decorations, nice menu and the cool breezes. Much different than the trash village. Last year when we visited the cave church, we saw the same contrast. We went from Muqattam to the Khan el-Khalili (huge local/tourist market in Cairo) to City Stars mall. I like these kind of days that bring back all sorts of these kinds of life lessons.

Youm Itnain

5-18

Today we met with Micheal Slackman, a reporter for the New York Times. He graduated from Northeastern! He told us about how his career has evolved since his days back on Huntington Avenue. He gave us insight on what it is like to be a reporter in the Middle East, as well as how his family has adjusted to living in Egypt. Meeting with him was very encouraging to continue traveling and learning about other cultures. He explained how it is necessary for all forms of communication, whether through journalism or diplomacy.

Later on in the evening, instead of going to the soccer game Abdu arranged for us vs. Egyptians, I was lucky to chat with some Muslim Brotherhood bloggers. They clarified my misconceptions on who is a member of their organization. They were very nice and were as ordinary as any one of us.