I've just returned to Dimashq from Bosra, the site of a beautiful, and mostly intact, Roman amphiteater seating up to 15,000 people. The old city, which still has about 1500 people living in it, has numerous Roman columns still standing, the remains of an ancient church cum mosque, and a ruined cathedral that still has part of a picture of angels and whatnot painted on plaster. There is a reservoir on the top of the hill, and down in the old city there were baths, which you can still see, that had hot and cold running water.
If you make it to Bosra, ask for Ahmed Maqdad to guide you around. He's a 25 year old guy who's been guiding there since he was 8, and has worked with some of the Italian archeaological teams. He knows his stuff, and is a very nice and generous guy (he bought me dinner!). He says houses in the old city are selling for 20,000,000 Syrian pounds (around USD 400,000), which is a considerable increase just in the last few years. Based on our further discussion, the price increase is being driven by the government, which is willing to purchase the old houses so it can tear them down, then use the basalt stone blocks from which they are built to rebuild portions of the old city. (I would guess that some of the blocks came from there originally anyway, as people pulled from the rubble of old building to build new houses.) Ahmed will also sell you what he claims are genuine antiquities that he's found throughout the ruins; coins, figurines from the Roman era, Byzantine crosses, etc. He claims it's legal, but I'm somewhat dubious, although as he says, similar items are for sale openly in the souk in Damascus. But even if it's legal to take them out of Syria, I'm not entirely certain about the legality of bringing them into the U.S.
Back in Dimashq (Damascus), I had lunch with Maher, who said that he's noticed that fewer women are covered up than before. He's hopeful that the religious fervor that stimulated the building of so many mosques is waning. I have to hope he's right.
Last night I turned on the TV in my hotel room, and stumbled across the beginning of the Dutch-Italian European Cup game. Having married into a Dutch family, I have become a fan of the Orange. Their 3-nil victory was a huge win for Holland--maybe their biggest win in decades. (And the fact that they were clearly offsides on their first goal doesn't matter--they solidly outplayed the Italians, and would have won 2-nil if that goal had been nullified.) I'm sure my wife and father-in-law are quite happy today.
This is my last post from Damascus, as I am about to grab a taxi and head to the Airport, where I will spend the next 29 hours traveling (about 8 of that just sitting in airports waiting to transfer). It will be good to be home. As much fun as I've had, it will be nice to get back to a place where there are few car horns, where I can see grass and lay down on it, where I can have peanut butter, and, perhaps my strangest craving, where I can get some good Thai food.
Showing posts with label Damascus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Damascus. Show all posts
10 June 2008
07 June 2008
More Roman Ruins
On my third attempt, I finally got to the National Museum in Damascus when it was open. More Roman antiquities, and Byzantine, and Bronze Age...it's overwhelming.
The museum is chock-full of sculptures, friezes, mosaics, manuscripts, textiles, tombs, etc. My favorite piece was a curved bas relief, apparently once part of a massive column, that depicted the Roman Emperor Trajan speaking to his troops. There were over 30 separate human figures in the piece, and each wholly distinct, with its own facial expression. Unusually, several figures in the foreground were depicted from behind, bringing the viewer into the image as yet another listener standing behind them. One figure had his eyes away from the emporer, trying to calm his horse. The quality of the work, the sculptor's skill, is incredible.
The tapestries room has some silk pieces that were imported to Syria from China in the 3rd century--and we talk about globablization as though it's something new in human history.
A security guard took me to a couple of locked rooms, one a synagogue discovered in the 1920s and transported to Damascus, and the other a tomb, with the most incredible sculptures, that had also been brought from somewhere else. When you go, be sure they open up the synagogue and tomb for you, they seem happy to do it, and you won't regret asking.
Outside, in a sort of plaza with a winding path, are hundreds of stone tombs, statues, large vessels, mosaics, and capitals of Corinthian columns--hundreds! I'm sure I was walking around with my mouth wide open, and several times I just burst out with, "My god!" because it was all so unbelievable. Dumbfounded. Just absolutely dumbfounded.
And to think I began the day upset because my plan to go to Bosra didn't work out.
The museum is chock-full of sculptures, friezes, mosaics, manuscripts, textiles, tombs, etc. My favorite piece was a curved bas relief, apparently once part of a massive column, that depicted the Roman Emperor Trajan speaking to his troops. There were over 30 separate human figures in the piece, and each wholly distinct, with its own facial expression. Unusually, several figures in the foreground were depicted from behind, bringing the viewer into the image as yet another listener standing behind them. One figure had his eyes away from the emporer, trying to calm his horse. The quality of the work, the sculptor's skill, is incredible.
The tapestries room has some silk pieces that were imported to Syria from China in the 3rd century--and we talk about globablization as though it's something new in human history.
A security guard took me to a couple of locked rooms, one a synagogue discovered in the 1920s and transported to Damascus, and the other a tomb, with the most incredible sculptures, that had also been brought from somewhere else. When you go, be sure they open up the synagogue and tomb for you, they seem happy to do it, and you won't regret asking.
Outside, in a sort of plaza with a winding path, are hundreds of stone tombs, statues, large vessels, mosaics, and capitals of Corinthian columns--hundreds! I'm sure I was walking around with my mouth wide open, and several times I just burst out with, "My god!" because it was all so unbelievable. Dumbfounded. Just absolutely dumbfounded.
And to think I began the day upset because my plan to go to Bosra didn't work out.
03 June 2008
Syrian Hospitality
A couple days ago I went up the mountain to the town of Zanadabi. Looking down the hillside, I could see some neighborhoods with lots of trees (most of the mountain is bare), and it looked so inviting I decided to try to get there. I ended up walking 2 miles down the main road that goes back to Damascus, without seeing a side street that went where I wanted to go. Just as I was deciding it was time to turn around, I came up to a type of garage half-filled with sacks of cement, and a man sitting on a green plastic lawn chair.
He looked up at me, smiled, and immediately got up and offered me his chair. I accepted, and he got another chair and sat down beside me, and we tried to converse, but without much success. He offered me tea, and had to run across the street for water, which he got started boiling on a hotplate, then ran up the street to a little store to buy the tea. All that for a stranger who was just passing by. I sat there for about 1/2 and hour, and we exchanged names and contact information.
Although I am subject to a few wary looks, most of the people I have talked to are very friendly and helpful. One evening I asked a man for directions back to my hotel, and he seemed not just pleased, but honored to be able to point me in the right direction. There is a characteristic gesture, putting the hand over the heart, that they make in these cases. I don't understand it's exact meaning, and when it is proper to use it, but the general message of good will is very evident.
He looked up at me, smiled, and immediately got up and offered me his chair. I accepted, and he got another chair and sat down beside me, and we tried to converse, but without much success. He offered me tea, and had to run across the street for water, which he got started boiling on a hotplate, then ran up the street to a little store to buy the tea. All that for a stranger who was just passing by. I sat there for about 1/2 and hour, and we exchanged names and contact information.
Although I am subject to a few wary looks, most of the people I have talked to are very friendly and helpful. One evening I asked a man for directions back to my hotel, and he seemed not just pleased, but honored to be able to point me in the right direction. There is a characteristic gesture, putting the hand over the heart, that they make in these cases. I don't understand it's exact meaning, and when it is proper to use it, but the general message of good will is very evident.
02 June 2008
Wireless Access, Too
The small restaurant I had lunch at today has wireless internet access. Mind you, this was not in a Sheraton hotel, but in the crowded, narrow alley filled with tailors, shoemakers, and other little types of businesses--that is, a typical developing world alley.
I don't normally travel with my laptop, since I like to go light, so it's no benefit to me. But it clearly was to the two patrons checking their email and scanning the news.
Once upon a time I thought that capitalism was bad...but then I hadn't yet studied economics or travelled to Damascus. I am more and more amazed all the time at the power of markets and the entrpreneurial spirit, and at the ways the market works to the benefit of average people.
I don't normally travel with my laptop, since I like to go light, so it's no benefit to me. But it clearly was to the two patrons checking their email and scanning the news.
Once upon a time I thought that capitalism was bad...but then I hadn't yet studied economics or travelled to Damascus. I am more and more amazed all the time at the power of markets and the entrpreneurial spirit, and at the ways the market works to the benefit of average people.
Livin' it Up on the Internet
I'm amazed, but only partially, by the number of internt cafes available. My friend, Maher, said before I came that he had heard that one opened up in Damascus. What an undercount. There're 4 million people in Damascus, it's a big city, so I wouldnt't try to guess how many there are, but I haven't had trouble finding them, just as I didn't in Dubai.
Consider the economics of it. Buy a half-dozen to a dozen used computers,a few chairs and desks, and that's your capital investment. It's really, really cheap. Heck, I could get this many computers for free from my college, and Goodwill won't take them, so the market for used PCs of that sort has to be a buyer's market.
Then you rent a small shop space. Fortunately, to serve the clientele you're most likely to get, you can do that in a place where the rent won't be high... a place where backpacking travelers (the luxury hotels provide internet access to guests) and either immigrant workers or families of workers who have emigrated cluster. And young people, but not rich young people or they'll have it at home.
And for that small capital investment, a person can open their own business, becoming an entrepreneur and improving their life. Maybe after a few years they sell it and move up to a more lucrative business, or maybe they save and open another internet cafe.
And this is how the developing world will develop, if their governments and well-intentioned but misguided development agencies will leave them alone.
Consider the economics of it. Buy a half-dozen to a dozen used computers,a few chairs and desks, and that's your capital investment. It's really, really cheap. Heck, I could get this many computers for free from my college, and Goodwill won't take them, so the market for used PCs of that sort has to be a buyer's market.
Then you rent a small shop space. Fortunately, to serve the clientele you're most likely to get, you can do that in a place where the rent won't be high... a place where backpacking travelers (the luxury hotels provide internet access to guests) and either immigrant workers or families of workers who have emigrated cluster. And young people, but not rich young people or they'll have it at home.
And for that small capital investment, a person can open their own business, becoming an entrepreneur and improving their life. Maybe after a few years they sell it and move up to a more lucrative business, or maybe they save and open another internet cafe.
And this is how the developing world will develop, if their governments and well-intentioned but misguided development agencies will leave them alone.
31 May 2008
Touring Damascus
My hotel is a very charming old-fashioned place near the city center of Damascus. Here's a picture of the lobby, snagged from their website.
The room is small by stylish, only $50 per night, and within walking distance (albeit a fairly long walk) to the Souk al-Hamidiya, the main souk of old Damascus.
My friend took me on a long walking tour of the old city. We went to the Omayyad Mosque. The site was originally an Aramic temple, then a Roman temple to Jupiter, then became a Christian church. When Kaleed Ben Al Waleed conquered Damascus, he turned parts of it into a Mosque, and for a while Christians and Muslims both used it, staying to different sides. Eventually it became just a mosque, but not just a mosque--a very special one. It containst the tomb of Salah al-Din, the great warrior who died in Damascus at the end of the 12th century after beating hell out of the Crusaders.
The Mosque also contains the tomb of John the Baptist...that is, the tomb of his head. Muslims consider him a prophet, and there was a great crowd around his tomb, with only about three of us being non-Muslim.
Most interestingly, the Mosque also contains the tomb of another head, that of Husayn, Mohammed's grandson, who was killed in a dispute over the Caliphate that led to the Sunni/Shiite split. His head was buried here as a sign of strength, and is an insult to Shiites (who, to add another layer to the intrigue, are mostly Persian (Iranian), while Syria is, of course, Arabic. Although Syria is predominantly Sunni, as is the Mosque, it is a place of pilgrimage for Shiites, who come to pay homage.
But not far away, in the old city, there are also numerous churches, including Greek Orthodox and Armenian orthodox. Damascus was a Christian city before Muslims conquered it, and still has a large Christian population that worships openly. And unlike most Middle Eastern states, a person's identity card does not list their religion.
The room is small by stylish, only $50 per night, and within walking distance (albeit a fairly long walk) to the Souk al-Hamidiya, the main souk of old Damascus.My friend took me on a long walking tour of the old city. We went to the Omayyad Mosque. The site was originally an Aramic temple, then a Roman temple to Jupiter, then became a Christian church. When Kaleed Ben Al Waleed conquered Damascus, he turned parts of it into a Mosque, and for a while Christians and Muslims both used it, staying to different sides. Eventually it became just a mosque, but not just a mosque--a very special one. It containst the tomb of Salah al-Din, the great warrior who died in Damascus at the end of the 12th century after beating hell out of the Crusaders.
The Mosque also contains the tomb of John the Baptist...that is, the tomb of his head. Muslims consider him a prophet, and there was a great crowd around his tomb, with only about three of us being non-Muslim.
Most interestingly, the Mosque also contains the tomb of another head, that of Husayn, Mohammed's grandson, who was killed in a dispute over the Caliphate that led to the Sunni/Shiite split. His head was buried here as a sign of strength, and is an insult to Shiites (who, to add another layer to the intrigue, are mostly Persian (Iranian), while Syria is, of course, Arabic. Although Syria is predominantly Sunni, as is the Mosque, it is a place of pilgrimage for Shiites, who come to pay homage.
But not far away, in the old city, there are also numerous churches, including Greek Orthodox and Armenian orthodox. Damascus was a Christian city before Muslims conquered it, and still has a large Christian population that worships openly. And unlike most Middle Eastern states, a person's identity card does not list their religion.
30 May 2008
Damascus
Coming into Damascus from the airport I was at first dismayed as we passed a large number of extremely ugly block apartment buildings, all in a uniform dismal gray. This is, technically, a socialist country, and that sight certainly seemed to confirm it. Worst of all, more are being built.
But my hotel is in the city center, the old city, and it's beautiful. That is, if you like old style buildings, in various states of repair, from nearly falling down to elegantly renovated, which I do. I had a nice walk with my friend, Maher, earlier, and after dinner took a long walk around myself. This district has what I like in a city--lots of people out walking in the evening, browsing in shops, buying ice cream cones, having a late dinner, or just sitting in a sidewalk cafe drinking tea. As dark as it is, it feels safe, safer than I ever felt in San Francisco after dark. I hope that's not just an illusion, and of course it could be this particular district.
Syria is culturally and politically fascinating. It's technically a secular and socialist state, governed by the Baath party, an Arabic nationalist and socialist party, originally with a hefty dose of Marxism, which accounts for it secularism. But its nationalized industries are faltering badly, and it's trying to shift to a more market economy. Unfortunately the government doesn't dare shut down its money-losing businesses because it fears throwing so many people out of jobs. But its secularism makes it a more liberal culture than you would expect. While many, it seems most, women wear headscarves, very few wear the full hijab, and many do not wear even the scarf. Many of the younger women in particular are dressed very stylishly, verging on provocatively. Stores, like the Bennetons I passed, have window displays with mannequins in short sundresses or bikinis. This ain't Saudi Arabia by a long shot.
And when I sat down to write this, I found this page in the recent history on the computer, about gays in Damascus. Not exactly an open topic, it appears, but not too deeply hidden either.
But my hotel is in the city center, the old city, and it's beautiful. That is, if you like old style buildings, in various states of repair, from nearly falling down to elegantly renovated, which I do. I had a nice walk with my friend, Maher, earlier, and after dinner took a long walk around myself. This district has what I like in a city--lots of people out walking in the evening, browsing in shops, buying ice cream cones, having a late dinner, or just sitting in a sidewalk cafe drinking tea. As dark as it is, it feels safe, safer than I ever felt in San Francisco after dark. I hope that's not just an illusion, and of course it could be this particular district.
Syria is culturally and politically fascinating. It's technically a secular and socialist state, governed by the Baath party, an Arabic nationalist and socialist party, originally with a hefty dose of Marxism, which accounts for it secularism. But its nationalized industries are faltering badly, and it's trying to shift to a more market economy. Unfortunately the government doesn't dare shut down its money-losing businesses because it fears throwing so many people out of jobs. But its secularism makes it a more liberal culture than you would expect. While many, it seems most, women wear headscarves, very few wear the full hijab, and many do not wear even the scarf. Many of the younger women in particular are dressed very stylishly, verging on provocatively. Stores, like the Bennetons I passed, have window displays with mannequins in short sundresses or bikinis. This ain't Saudi Arabia by a long shot.
And when I sat down to write this, I found this page in the recent history on the computer, about gays in Damascus. Not exactly an open topic, it appears, but not too deeply hidden either.
My Inner Economist Screams
This morning at the Dubai airport I was at first delighted to see that they had free internet...for about 2 seconds, before my inner economist hollered at me. And then I thought, there will be an undersupply/overdemand. And sure enough, I had to wait in line. But it's not just that the free-ness created more demand; it also caused people to linger longer, further delaying other would-be users.
That was the overdemand side. The undersupply came in the form of non-working terminals--the first three I tried to access! (Of course I got to them first, they were the first to open up because no one lingered at them.) The grubby little storefront internet cafes near the Gold Souk in Dubai, which were not free (although at 85 cents an hour it was almost like free to an American) were in better operating condition--all their terminals worked. Of course they were doing a booming business, and a down terminal meant a loss of revenue.
The only surprising thing about the event was that I actually bought in to the idea of free internet service for a moment. I guess my inner economist was still drowsy.
And now I sit in an internet cafe that is right beside my nicely old-fashioned hotel in the old city district of Damascus, again blogging effortlessly at a pittance per hour. The concept of government providing for the public good is so compelling, but it just turns out so often that greedy individuals just manage to provide it so much better. "Invisible hand" indeed.
That was the overdemand side. The undersupply came in the form of non-working terminals--the first three I tried to access! (Of course I got to them first, they were the first to open up because no one lingered at them.) The grubby little storefront internet cafes near the Gold Souk in Dubai, which were not free (although at 85 cents an hour it was almost like free to an American) were in better operating condition--all their terminals worked. Of course they were doing a booming business, and a down terminal meant a loss of revenue.
The only surprising thing about the event was that I actually bought in to the idea of free internet service for a moment. I guess my inner economist was still drowsy.
And now I sit in an internet cafe that is right beside my nicely old-fashioned hotel in the old city district of Damascus, again blogging effortlessly at a pittance per hour. The concept of government providing for the public good is so compelling, but it just turns out so often that greedy individuals just manage to provide it so much better. "Invisible hand" indeed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)