We were both a bit hesitant about visiting Syria and entering by the little used border, so close to Iraq, didn't help much. I guess we had very little expectations of the "Axis of Evil" country and that allowed for many surprises. We both enjoyed Syria more each day we were there and really lamented leaving it.
We were coming from the southeast of Turkey and the change was abrupt. Not only because all of the sudden everything was written in Arabic but the clothes, the food, the people were different. One of the first things we noticed were the amounts of trash everywhere. We were shocked and realized that it was going to be tougher to travel through Syria than we had thought. In many occasions I found myself pointing in disapproval at kids that had thrown candy wrappers or cans of soda to the ground, shaking my head and pointing at a trash can. Surprisingly so they actually picked them up and disposed of them properly. However I couldn't do anything when the adults threw their empty cigarette packs overboard in a ferry on the Mediterranean. Countries like Syria are so far behind in so many ways in comparison to the western mentality that I doubt people ever heard the words "global warming".
In terms of the geographical regions we went through three of the four the country has. The "Coast Line" which is in the Mediterranean Sea, is quite rainy and therefore fertile, the "Fertile Crescent" (separated from the coast by the mountains) which is the main agricultural region and the "Syrian Desert", endless stony plains in the southeast of the country, where the beautiful "Palmyra" oasis can be found.
The differences among the cities across the country was very clear and each of them had its enchantment. Real Estate is going through a bit of a bubble due to the Iraq war, when approximately 4 million Iraqis fled the country finding refuge in Syria. These people brought with them a lot of money and immediately decided to invest in houses and apartments. Demand was higher than supply and prices skyrocketed fourfold. Many Iraqis then requested political asylum in the US or Europe and some went back to Iraq, but the prices of Real Estate stayed the same making it almost impossible for regular Syrians to have access to houses. Therefore it is normal to find three generations living under the same roof.
Family is extremely important for Syrians and too many times we went through the same line of questioning: "What are your names? Are you married? How long you married? How many kids? Our answer of "None" would be followed by a long silence with disapproval in their eyes and then with almost looking for a justification they would stare at Steve's genitals. Things got funnier once Steve got smart and started saying "Everything is OK there".
In terms of weddings we found out that in Syria the groom also gives a stipulated amount of money to the father of the bride. But in this case the father uses that money to furnish the house of the newlyweds. I guess every culture has its formalities! Weddings seem to last only for a few hours and men and women & kids celebrate in different rooms. Previous to the celebration they decorate cars with balloons and bows and parade the couple through the whole town - while honking!
Yes, as I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, honking seems to be a national pass-time in Syria. During the whole month we got little to no rest. So I know you are wondering how come we came to enjoy our stay that much? Let me add more questionable facts...
Crossing the street: Survive or not survive, that IS the question every time you decide to cross the street. We learned our lesson a few years ago back in Saigon, Vietnam and here is our answer: once you start you never go back. Just look forward and walk at a steady pace. A plus we found is that the whole country has great public transportation and very easily found.
Another lesson learned when we traveled through Southeast Asia was that it would be much easier if we both had the same nationality in our passports so we are both eligible for the same rights. We decided it would be easier if I traveled with my American passport instead of my Argentinean one. I felt that in Syria it would have been the other way around. People love Carlos Menem (former Argentinean President of Syrian descent) as well as every possible Argentinean soccer player. Steve had a hard time when we learned that we were being followed by one of the many secret agencies they have in the country. People we met for drinks or dinner were questioned afterwards: ' Why are you with the Americans? What do you talk about? Why did you say "see you tomorrow instead of Goodbye"?'. Yes, they were listening and from a short distance. It's impossible for the untrained eye to recognize them, they are dressed as civilians and don't work alone. To me it was almost fascinating! We were really being followed and watched! Life does exceed fiction!
Having said that, we felt super safe at all times and I even dared to be on my own in the streets a couple of times.
Syria gave us our first contact with the Semi-nomadic Bedouins. These people move constantly and have managed to almost stay back in time in terms of their living accommodation (tents in the desert), but have exchanged the camels for the more modern Toyota trucks form of transport.
The pictures of the king are everywhere. From sign posts in the streets to stickers in cars, from t-shirts to photos in every shop. Although they claim he was democratically chosen, it seems to be under the kind of Democracy in which he succeeded his father at death. Also, the government "democratically" decided to block major Internet sites such as You Tube, Hotmail, Blogger.com, and so many more. But as we say in Spanish "where there's a rule there's a trick to get around it" and some of our connections gave us proxy addresses that we could use as "bridges" to the outside world.
We found way more people in Syria than in Turkey that spoke good English, with many of them we were able to have in depth and rich conversations that were very enlightening.
About the dress code I can say that women love "Bling, Bling"!!! Everything is shiny, sparkly and they dress the young girls like mini Madonna's. Aleppo was far more conservative with women wearing the black Muslim robes and headscarves and men wearing the white or beige robes with Muslim crocheted hats or typical turbans.
Syria was extremely attractive from a photographic point of view and we took countless pictures of colorful and exotic camels as well as Bedouins smoking the "Shisha" or "Narguileh" (Water Pipe).
The whole country was very inexpensive and between low prices and people's hospitality it was rough at times to burn through our money, something that was very welcomed for our long term budget.
The people of Syria were a definite highlight, everyone from those that we met through the sites we are members of to those that we met in the streets, to the vendors that we visited regularly to the staff at the hotels we stayed were extremely hospitable.
And needless to say, we were extremely disappointed when the US took matters into their own hands and attacked a village in the eastern part of the country along the Iraqi border on October 26th. The country was shocked and Damascus became a scene of anti-American protests, the US Embassy where we had voted closed down as did some other US founded Institutes and Schools.
We had experienced an amazing month in Syria and both quietly regretted having to move on, but Jordan was awaiting.
Gaby
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