The sadder thing is seeing people going through the garbage and trying to salvage things that they can sell.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Garbage
I realise that we were a bit spoilt living in Qum and having the orange-clad street sweepers cleaning the streets every night and picking up our garbage. It was a little too good to be true. In Damascus the garbage is picked up once a week, umm, no make that a month, umm, maybe annually? Actually I'm not sure. In my month here I have only seen one garbage truck. Instead there are little piles of garbage here and there.
The sadder thing is seeing people going through the garbage and trying to salvage things that they can sell.
The sadder thing is seeing people going through the garbage and trying to salvage things that they can sell.
Airplanes
I've taken a lot of flights this year and passed through more airports that I can remember.
Watching the safety instructions are often a good indicator of how the rest of the flight will pane out. Take BA for example.They show a safety film that features an English mother, coloured father and mixed race children. Very politically correct. Emirates on the other hand flicks between actors wearing national dress and ex-pats (4/5ths of their population is not Emirati after all). While all the 'better aircrafts' tell you to turn off ipods, blackberrys and laptops during taxi, take off and landing, the poorer relative (Iran Air) tells you to turn off your first generation game boy. Does anyone actually still own one of those?!
But the airport that takes the biscuit is Damascus Airport. The only excuse I can give them is that they must have built it with the intention of only sending out 2 flights a day.
When you first get there, you have to pay 50 lira ($1US) for a trolley.That's not an issue - even Gatwick trolleys are a pound. The issue is that about 3 porters come and try and 'help' you with your luggage, even though you (a) didn't ask for help and (b)can manage perfectly by yourself. And of course they expect a tip.
The second issue is that everyone departing has to enter the airport through one door. That's right, one door. And Arabs don't know how to queue. And you get 5 'senders off' for every passanger also trying to squeeze in. And once you get to the front, there is one guy trying to check everyone's passports. Not fun nor the best way to start a long haul flight.
The next step is getting your luggage scanned - that is all the luggage, not just the hand luggage. Even though the metal detecter beeped on every second person, no one was searched!
Finally the check in desk. As mentioned previously, Arabs don't queue. So its fun and games again.
For a 3rd world country the duty-free isn't half bad. But getting on board the plane is another scramble. First there's the queue at the gate, or should i say 5 queues that merge into one. Then when you do finally get to the front, they guy checks EVERY single page of your passport. Even though the passport has already been checked at the airport entrance and twice at security and there is no way on earth one can get to the gate without the correct stamps, they still feel the need to check everything again.
Oh well, at least there is some consolation in that the next flight I take will be out of good ole Heathrow.
Watching the safety instructions are often a good indicator of how the rest of the flight will pane out. Take BA for example.They show a safety film that features an English mother, coloured father and mixed race children. Very politically correct. Emirates on the other hand flicks between actors wearing national dress and ex-pats (4/5ths of their population is not Emirati after all). While all the 'better aircrafts' tell you to turn off ipods, blackberrys and laptops during taxi, take off and landing, the poorer relative (Iran Air) tells you to turn off your first generation game boy. Does anyone actually still own one of those?!
But the airport that takes the biscuit is Damascus Airport. The only excuse I can give them is that they must have built it with the intention of only sending out 2 flights a day.
When you first get there, you have to pay 50 lira ($1US) for a trolley.That's not an issue - even Gatwick trolleys are a pound. The issue is that about 3 porters come and try and 'help' you with your luggage, even though you (a) didn't ask for help and (b)can manage perfectly by yourself. And of course they expect a tip.
The second issue is that everyone departing has to enter the airport through one door. That's right, one door. And Arabs don't know how to queue. And you get 5 'senders off' for every passanger also trying to squeeze in. And once you get to the front, there is one guy trying to check everyone's passports. Not fun nor the best way to start a long haul flight.
The next step is getting your luggage scanned - that is all the luggage, not just the hand luggage. Even though the metal detecter beeped on every second person, no one was searched!
Finally the check in desk. As mentioned previously, Arabs don't queue. So its fun and games again.
For a 3rd world country the duty-free isn't half bad. But getting on board the plane is another scramble. First there's the queue at the gate, or should i say 5 queues that merge into one. Then when you do finally get to the front, they guy checks EVERY single page of your passport. Even though the passport has already been checked at the airport entrance and twice at security and there is no way on earth one can get to the gate without the correct stamps, they still feel the need to check everything again.
Oh well, at least there is some consolation in that the next flight I take will be out of good ole Heathrow.
Out and About
Funny things have a way of happening to me, but nothing to report so far. Unless you count the incident where I wanted to buy 2 carrots and ended up with a kilo! (The lowest coin here is 5 lira and many fruits and vegetables cost 10 lira for a kilo, so its not really possible to buy a quarter kilo of something!). I had to put carrots in everything I made for 10 days!
The other thing is, unlike Iran, you can buy eggs individually!!! But they still come in a plastic bag, so half of them end up breaking on the way home. At least I can buy what I need, rather than buying to the nearest half kilo.
The other thing is, unlike Iran, you can buy eggs individually!!! But they still come in a plastic bag, so half of them end up breaking on the way home. At least I can buy what I need, rather than buying to the nearest half kilo.
Arabic Classes
Not being one to sit at home and do nothing, I started Arabic classes to try and get a head start before school starts in September. I'm hoping to join the Imam Khumayni Hawza (religious school) to learn Arabic, but in the mean time, the Husband and I started the University of Damascus Arabic books. Although I have studied Arabic Grammer before, I was finding that while I could understand the Qur'an and prayers, my Arabic wasn't helpful for say buying a kilo of tomatoes in the souk.
The books teach Modern Arabic and jump from the basics (Alphabet and joining letters) straight to present tense verbs. I must say that I much prefer the teaching methods of our UK Arabic teacher!
The books teach Modern Arabic and jump from the basics (Alphabet and joining letters) straight to present tense verbs. I must say that I much prefer the teaching methods of our UK Arabic teacher!
Souk Hamidiyah (Hamidiyah Market)
This is one of the more famous markets of Damascus. Its probably the oldest and its the one that that the family of the Holy Prophet was dragged through after the event of Karbala in 61 AH. In recent years a tin roof has been constructed over the souk. The holes in the roof are a result of French bombings and celebratory shootings during weddings!You an get practically anything you want in this souk. As well as the regular stalls, there is a whole host of people selling from tables and the floor.
(Excuse the quality of the photos... the husband was making me walk quickly!)
A new watch....
A funky vegetable peeler...
Or perhaps some new underware?
LOL
(Excuse the quality of the photos... the husband was making me walk quickly!)
Belly dancing outfits...
Tacky dolls....
Children's clothes....
A new watch....
A funky vegetable peeler...
Or perhaps some new underware?LOL
Habil (Abel)
Habil, son of Adam, is buried just outside Damascus. The Qur'anic story is quite similar to the Biblical one. Qabil (Cain) was jealous of his brother and killed him. The event took place in a cave in Mount Qaasiyoon. Because it was the first murder on earth, the mountain was so appalled by what Qabil had done that it wanted to crush itself down on Qabil and kill him too. But that wouldhave meant the end ofthe human race, so an angel was sent down to hold up the roof of the cave.
After Qabil had killed his brother, he wasn't quite sure what to do with the body. After all no one had died before. So God sent down 2 crows. Both crows fought, resulting in one killing the other. The alive crow dug a small grave in which he buried the other crow, ths showing Qabil what to do with his brother's body.
Habil's grave is huge! And its quite a distance from Mount Qaasiyoon, which means that Qabil would have walked around with his brother's body for quite a while before realising what he had to do.
After Qabil had killed his brother, he wasn't quite sure what to do with the body. After all no one had died before. So God sent down 2 crows. Both crows fought, resulting in one killing the other. The alive crow dug a small grave in which he buried the other crow, ths showing Qabil what to do with his brother's body.
Habil's grave is huge! And its quite a distance from Mount Qaasiyoon, which means that Qabil would have walked around with his brother's body for quite a while before realising what he had to do.
Syria
After a busy few months jetsetting and working, we finally reached our next new chapter - our move to Syria to learn Arabic. We arrived in Damascus in the middle of the summer season. People from neighbouring gulf states come to Syria in the summer as its the coolest Middle Eastern country - the days are about 35 degrees and the nights are pleasant. Well, that's usually. This year the days were over 45 degrees and the nights felt just as hot!
Within a week we were fortunate to have found an apartment to rent 500m away from the shrine of Sayyidda Zainab (the grand daughter of the Holy Prophet). Being summer season, the shrine, like the rest of the city is crowded, and most days I would have to go to the mosque an hour and a half before prayer time just to secure a spot near a fan!
Blogspot is blocked in Syria, along with Facebook and a whole other range of sites. Blogs have been used in the past to critisice the government - a crime that is punishable by imprisonment. So while I've written this blog in Syria, I won't be uploading it until I get to London. So if anyone has any ideas on how I can update the blog while I'm in Syria, please post a comment!
The other issue is that we dont have internet at home. Its quite hard to foreigners to get internet, so that means that we'll just be regulars at the local internet cafe. So don't expect regular updates!
Within a week we were fortunate to have found an apartment to rent 500m away from the shrine of Sayyidda Zainab (the grand daughter of the Holy Prophet). Being summer season, the shrine, like the rest of the city is crowded, and most days I would have to go to the mosque an hour and a half before prayer time just to secure a spot near a fan!
Blogspot is blocked in Syria, along with Facebook and a whole other range of sites. Blogs have been used in the past to critisice the government - a crime that is punishable by imprisonment. So while I've written this blog in Syria, I won't be uploading it until I get to London. So if anyone has any ideas on how I can update the blog while I'm in Syria, please post a comment!The other issue is that we dont have internet at home. Its quite hard to foreigners to get internet, so that means that we'll just be regulars at the local internet cafe. So don't expect regular updates!
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