Istanbul

After just returning from Beirut, my visit to Istanbul seems like a while ago, but it was such a great city, it warrants a post. After finishing the exam for level four, I headed to the airport for a quick two hour flight to Ataturk Airport (Ataturk is everywhere in Turkey, though his picture doesn't frequent public spaces quite as much as the Syrian president). My mom was waiting for me at our hotel when I arrived that night. Our hotel was in the perfect location. We were right behind the Blue Mosque, and could see the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea Strait from both windows.

We stayed in Istanbul for five days, and I really enjoyed just walking around the city with my mom. We visited several amazing mosques (the Blue Mosque, the New Mosque, another smaller mosque behind the Spice Market, and the exterior of Suleiman the Magnificent's mosque [the actual mosque was undergoing major restorations]). We also visited the Hagia Sophia, which is absolutely stunning. The dome is so large - Notre Dame could fit inside as could the Statue of Liberty, if that gives you any reference. First a church built under the instruction of Justinian, then turned mosque, and now a museum, it is really beautiful to explore. We also toured the Topkaci Palace, which was once home to the great sultans of the Ottoman empire. The harem was especially beautiful, with the walls covered in blue floral tiles. The palace has great views of the Golden Horn and the Black Sea Strait. Mom and I also did some shopping at the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market, sampled turkish delights and baklava off the street (sometimes our only dinner), visited the new city, tried Raki (something we had to do in Turkey, but I won't drink it again... not a fan of licorice), and went to a Whirling Dervish performance.

Istanbul is a fairly western city. There were many tourists (one day we saw an international car rally taking place between the Hagia Sopia and the Blue Mosque). Though a large majority of the population is Muslim, women are not allowed to wear the hijab in public schools or if working for the government. Turkish hijabs are also very different from Syrian ones - they are brightly colored silk, for the most part. Turkish tea is also different - made from two kettles, one stacked on top of the other. The top kettle holds the strongly concentrated tea, and the bottom kettle has boiling water. Both kettles are poured into your tea cup. The ice cream is a very strange consistency - stretchy, if that makes sense. And no hair gel! Or at least not enough to notice.

Istanbul is a beautiful city with a lot to explore.

identities and gum

One of the neat things about living in a foreign country is that no one knows you, and you can adopt several different identities. Though it's hard to remain anonymous in the Middle East with blond hair and blue eyes (I roll my eyes every time I hear Syrians say "foreigner" in Arabic with their friends... I relate it to living in Coronado and us locals talking about the Zonies.), I have been given several new names. As it has been my entire educational career, the attendance sheet lists my name as Jane. I tried correcting my teacher in level 3, but Haley didn't stick, and for a month I was Jane to my classmates and teacher (thankfully I was Haley in level 4). The guy at the internet cafe I frequent says "marhaba" to Janey every day. My host sister calls me Halhoola (her nickname for me). And for about the first month, my host dad called me Helen (for some reason, Syrians have a hard time saying Haley, even though they have all of those sounds in Arabic, maybe just not in that combination). So I have learned to answer to Jane, Janey, Halhoola, Helen, and Haley (though I will forget this once I return to the states, so don't even try). As per identities, while I'm walking through the souq I try to put on Melanie's Parisian, don't mess with me, face. It actually does reduce comments and blown kisses. To wandering salesmen trying to sell me tissues or other trinkets, I use the Syrian "no" - an upward tilt of the head with a click of the tongue. Meeting for drinks in Bab Touma, I greet friends with kisses on each side of the face (a custom I've noticed everywhere except the states - why is that?). I really enjoy the diverse community at university.

Speaking of university, I took my final exam for level 4 today. Yesterday I had my interview portion, and today was the written exam. The written exam was actually fairly difficult. I wrote my essay about water pollution, the reasons why some people care about the environment while others don't, and countries exporting their productions and pollutions to third world nations (mushkila kabira). In shah Allah, I'll be in level 5 next week.

Yesterday as I was walking up the hill home, the man at the corner store waved at me and gestured me over. I bought colored pencils from him a couple of weeks ago and since then have always waved and exchanged "salaam"s (peace) whenever I pass his store. Yesterday he asked me how I was (Kefik? - How are you, Sloonik? - literally, what's your color?... my favorite Arabic phrase, Sho akbar? - what's the news? ... all of these are asked during a greeting, and then you are asked about your family, friends, relatives, etc etc. Greetings are very long in the Middle East). After replying with "I'm good!", the shopkeeper told me my Arabic has improved a lot since the last time we talked (I don't know how he could get that with just one word from me) and handed me a free pack of gum before I left his store. People are really friendly and generous here. I'm loving it.

And now, in just a couple of hours, I'll meet my mom in Istanbul for our little rahla. !! I'm really excited to see her and go exploring with her. Ela ekqa, ya Syria (until we meet again).

Pictures

and here's the website to all my picture albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/jhwright11

enjoy.

Quneitra

I visited the ghost town of Quneitra today. The city lies in the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria and was destroyed during wars between the two countries. Here's wiki's page for a better history of the place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quneitra

And here are my pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jhwright11/Quneitra#

It was really interesting to explore the city. The complete destruction is unbelievable (and totally pointless in my opinion). Check out my pictures. They will do a better job describing the city than my words can.

Easter and Embassies

Happy Easter everyone! I went to a Catholic church for both Good Friday and Easter with my friend, Melanie. Both services were in Arabic. I was surprised that the Good Friday service was very crowded, with people standing in the aisles, whereas at Easter service there were plenty of open pews. I went to two different churches though, so that may affect this observation. The Good Friday service was very long. After a little over two hours, Melanie and I were starving (it was 8:30pm, and I had only eaten breakfast that morning). We slowly make our way out of the church (as I said before, it was very crowded) and found that it was even more crowded outside, with a big parade going down the main street (blocking our path to food). We listened to the marching band, watched the priests carry crosses and the altar boys and girls carry candles, and saw fireworks from the roof of a nearby building. After the parade had returned to the church, Melanie and I headed to Bab Touma and the old city for falafel sandwiches (Melanie wasn't eating meat for the week before Easter).

Sunday I didn't have university because of Easter (in Syria, and a good amount of the Middle East, or maybe just the Levant, Christian and Muslim holidays are national holidays). I went to church again with Melanie. This time the service was much shorter. After the service the church's marching band played in the courtyard, and then Melanie and I went to a nearby cafe and I enjoyed an American cup of coffee (I've missed it soooo much... Turkish and Arabic coffee is good, but very different). As we left the cafe, we were greeted by a parade in the middle of the street. Our first parade that day. There were flags, the church marching band, and cute little kids. Apparently each church has their own parade, because just 15 minutes later, yet another parade comes down the street, with a different marching band from a different church (sometimes when I'm in the old city for drinks on weekend nights I can hear the marching bands practicing at the churches). So that was fun to watch. Melanie hadn't eaten meat or sweets the past week, so we bought some chocolates in the souq, ate chicken schwarmas, and enjoyed freshly made strawberry juice. And we spent the day walking through the old city, sitting in the park, on stairs, on curbs, at the hijaz (four different places), people watching and talking. It was a beautiful day. When we were sitting on the stairs, a Christian family went into a nearby house. They wished us Happy Easter and asked if we wanted water or anything else. Ohhh Middle Eastern hospitality is so great.

I also have a new pick-up line/phrase to add to the list. As Melanie and I first entered the souq in the morning, one of the shopkeepers said to us, "Welcome ladies! Want to have an orgy?" in English. I'm sure he didn't know what he was saying. But that was absolutely ridiculous. I've also had a couple of men on the street ask for change, which is code for asking for sex. I don't understand why they think they can get away with that with foreigners, because they most definitely wouldn't be able to say that to Syrian women. Melanie and I were watching cute little boys riding bikes in the park, and we lamented the fact that in a couple of years, they'll turn into obnoxious macho teens/men. I just have to keep a sense of humor with all the comments, otherwise it gets to be too much.

Besides those couple of male episodes, I had a great Easter weekend. Though men say things all of the time, blow kisses, and what not, they (for the most part) won't ever try to touch me (they can get in a lot of trouble), so I do feel very safe in the city. My neighborhood is especially great and full of embassies. On my service bus ride to the President's Bridge I pass by the French, Turkish, Italian, American, Iraqi (ironically the Iraqi embassy is right across the street from the American, and the Cuban embassy is also a couple of buildings down), Serbian, Qatar, Japanese, Saudi Arabian, Libyan, and Polish embassies. All on just one short bus ride. I really like seeing all of the different nationalities. So everyone, rest assured that I am very safe in Damascus and really enjoying my time here. I have exactly one more week of class left, and then I head to Istanbul to meet my mom for a little vacation before we both return to Damascus, and I start my last Arabic class at Damascus University. My time here is going pretty quickly.