Gas and flour are subsidized by the government here and kept at extremely low prices. There really are the essentials, flat bread is the staple for all meals, and during the cold winter months people use diesel to heat their homes. Dropping these subsidies would help reduce Syria’s deficit but it will definitely be the poorest who will suffer. To say that it is a food shortage is a bit deceptive. It is just that the food is no longer within the financial means for many people to obtain. Even if the price of bread increases by one dollar, I would still buy bread, I have the dollar to spare. However, for the poorest people, the majority of their income goes to survival. The higher the prices are for food, the more grave their situation becomes to provide for their families.

Our cities are expanding taking up land that used to be farmland and populations are growing. Not only do we have more mouths to feed on less land but we are also diverting land for food production and food itself to be used for bio-fuels. I remember when we were last in Mexico, I was reading a paper that said that one of the first acts that President Calderon did when he took office was to try to stabilize the price of tortillas. It struck me because it sounded a bit silly at first; then again, I have never gone hungry because I cannot afford to buy food anymore. Some big companies such as Bimbo, a large Central American producer, went out of business in Mexico because it was impossible for them to reach the price.

Throughout the Central American region, corn tortillas are the staple food item. For many poor families, a corn tortilla with some salt may be the only thing that they can afford to eat. Corn is great for tortillas but can also be used to make ethanol. So now, our cars will run a bit cleaner, but now the price of corn to make their daily tortillas is out of reach. Sure, it is also great for the farmers in America’s breadbasket. They will be reaping great financial benefits from their harvest but I do think it is important to consider what impact our desire to be greener will have on the world’s poor.

Energy aside, there will be an immediate need for the already vulnerable people in the world. Hopefully there will be some alternative sources of renewable energy that will not affect the food supply of the world. For now though, many people may be going hungry tonight because of rising food prices. Even organizations that are normally there to assist these people are being affected, the World Food Program’s budget is no longer sufficient to reach all of the people who desperately need aid.

I have no idea what will happen in the long run. There are some of the best minds in the world working on this issue for years I’m sure. Nevertheless, day after day, word on the streets is that times are tough and everyone seems to expect even worse to come.

We have recently re-located to the periphery areas of Damascus. I guess it would be an equivalent of Brooklyn to Manhattan. We reach the general area after a brief 10-minute stretch of highway and enter into another city setting but it is just a bit more spacious. We have views of snow-capped mountains, olive fields, herds of sheep, and large apartment buildings. When we arrived at our friends house there was something that left a greater impression on me than the scenery. I noticed that all the outdoor taps and the water tanks are all under lock and key. We soon understood why. On our second day here, the water tank ran dry.

Typically, there are government pipes that run for a few hours daily providing drinking water and there is another set of pipes that run all day long for a small fee. We went 48 hours without a drop of water from the pipes. We had some bottles of water stored that we drank from and used as sparingly as possible. It was the first time where we really had to analyze our water use. We couldn’t cook pasta for dinner; we determined that we waste too much water that we could be drinking. Washing dishes seemed wasteful; we put all the dishes in a basin so we could then re-use the dirty dishwater to flush the toilet. Every drop matters.

On our third day without water, I noticed a man with a big tank piping something in next door. It was in the type of vehicle that the neighborhood gas dealers used so I had to ask to check what he was selling. He ran a hose up to the tanks on the roof and started filling them up. For about $5.50 we were able to fill up the tanks and it was a great blessing. We filled up buckets to take showers with right away. We are masters in bucket showers from our time in the Philippines so we are able to bathe using very little water, about half a bucket each.

From our chat with the waterman, there hasn’t been much rain in the past 3 years. This year, the water shut off has arrived more than a month early. I guess this is just the way of life in arid countries. The temperature is rising and the amount of water that we have is decreasing and precious. The absence of water gives you an appreciation of how valuable it is by making you realize how miserable life is without it. I now understand the idea of putting locks on the water tanks and taps, trying to protect this valuable resource.

I got a bit angry one day when we went into a rich district in Damascus and saw a rare site, GRASS. The sprinkler system had been tampered with so instead of the gentle mist, there were small geysers. My first thought was “where is my water bottle?” so I could finally fill it up. My second thought was “our entire neighborhood gets water turned on once a week for about an hour and here they are shooting water out full blast for an apartment building’s front lawn”. It seemed like a cruel joke. I think next time we go to the rich areas of Damascus I’ll not only fill my water bottle but I’ll also bring a bar of soap.

My personal favorite are the various scientific and non-scientific explanations of why pork is haram or forbidden.  Let’s look at the different reasons:

1. In order for animal meat to be considered halal or permitted, a prayer must be said when the animal is being slaughtered.  Since pigs will eat anything, they may eat meat that was not killed in the proper manner so it will then be contaminated itself.

2. In the 7^th century, during the time of the Prophet, pigs were a vector for disease so it was forbidden by the religion to discourage its consumption to protect the health of the population.

3. Scientific studies have “proven” that pork is just plain “bad” for you, no further elaboration than that is necessary.

Now for my personal favorite…

You are what you eat!  There is a belief here that you will take on the characteristics of what you consume.  We have been told, “If you eat pork then you will ignore your wife and kids”. 

I have never paid attention to the family life of pigs, but apparently, the males are not family oriented.  Therefore, if you eat pork, you will neglect your family.  That must be the cause of all the divorces and infidelity we have in the West, we are bacon lovers!  I don’t know why we have never noticed this connection before!   I find it ironic because chicken is widely accepted here as meat but isn’t it typically one rooster mating with dozens of hens?  I’m more of a turkey-mating expert but I assume it is quite similar.  Just some food for thought.

 Later, we heard the story of what happened the night after they met us.  Tamer was excitedly telling his mother how he met two Americans and was happy about it.  Abdullah snapped “Hey, what are you so happy about?  These are the guys killing kids in Iraq”.  The mother was shocked and told Raed as soon as he got home.  The children were already in bed so he woke them to talk.  He asked Abdullah,

“Do you like Assad?” (Syrian President)

“Yes, very much”

“Well, would you like him if he was killing people?”

“NO!”

“What about our neighbors, would you hate all of them if Assad did this?”

“no…”

“Well, they don’t like Bush for what he is doing and they aren’t a part of the army either.  You shouldn’t hate them because of their president.”

 Apparently, his chat had an effect because the next morning Tamer and Abdullah were practicing English together.  At first, the story upset me.  I thought back to Abdullah’s behavior and the way that he pulled away from us when we got near now knowing that he thought we were child killers.  We are Americans and Americans are killing women and children in Iraq, therefore we must have killed women and children.  I’m glad that at least his perception has changed since having met us.

The effect of this war on children is troubling.  Most of the adults have very positive perceptions of the US.  They hate the Bush administration but have fond memories of the years before.   The Syrian children today have grown up hearing about American bombs and invasions for as long as they can remember.  They don’t share the positive memories of the older generations, they have never known a time when the Americans weren’t the aggressor.  This resentment and memories will stay with them for a long time to come.  I just hope we can restore a positive image soon so that there isn’t just the perception of America as the great destroyer. 

I recently started a private class of a brother and sister who are such well behaved children. As we were finishing up a class today they did not want the lesson to end and even tried to persuade me to stay longer. This class is on their weekend, their day off from school, they should be dashing out the door! So for one of my last days there, I was in really high spirits walking home with my flowers and crafts the kids made and was thinking fondly of Syrian children.

As we were walking home Bobby told me that one of the neighborhood kids had thrown rocks at him that morning, I guess to try to get his attention. Typically all the children in the neighborhood play in an open courtyard in front of our apartment. We are always greeted with “HALLO, HALLO, HOWR YOU?” and a lot of hand shakes and high-fives. I was surprised to hear that it was one of these kids who threw the rocks at him.

We were finally reaching our courtyard and as usual, the kids are outside playing. Today since I had all the flowers and crafts I did not have any hands free to shake hands or high-five and all of the kids expectantly swarmed around me waiting for their greetings. As I went through the door one of the little boys hit my BUTT! I was so shocked that this happened, I instantly dropped my things and spun around after him shouting “Eib Balak, wein umak!!!” “Shame on your, where’s your mother?”. This was the same kid who threw rocks at Bobby. We darted after him but he was already off to the busy Bab Mousalla district to get lost in the crowds. We waited by our neighborhood vegetable vendor hoping he would pass by again so we could scold him. All of his friends stood there with their jaws dropped and we started asking them what this kid’s name is, where his house is. Apparently his name is Jamal but they don’t know which building is his. So all the local kids and our neighborhood vendor knew he did something wrong and we were on the lookout for him.

It was such a shock to see this kind of behavior, here it brings huge shame not on the kid but the whole family. So his actions were certainly the exception, not the norm. Our friend thinks he was just trying to get our attention, and didn’t mean any harm by it. I do believe that, It was just a bit of a shock to have two extremes in one day. Dropping the flowers that one little boy gave me so that I can run after the one who hit my butt. Since the event, the little boy has been in hiding and will probably not come out for some time, after all, we Americans are the ones they think “kill children in Iraq”.

We heard no explosion and actually didn’t even hear of the news until we saw it on the internet. It was discussed mostly among the expat communities. We heard that it was a Palestinian that was the suspect but they believed the person to be working as an agent for Israel. Then again, Syria always seems to think some one is an agent of Israel it seems. Even if you have a Jewish sounding name and travel on a passport that is not Israeli, they may still think you are from Israel. There is so much suspicion between the two countries it is hard to think of them ever being able to sit down and negotiate peace while actually believe what the other side is saying.

Some people may view this assassination as a complete success. The only person affected was exactly the person they were seeking to remove. Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization but isn’t it also terrorism to rig and deploy a car bomb in a peaceful residential area with the intention of killing? And so, the cycle of killing continues with no end in sight. Strangely enough, life in Damascus is still as peaceful as ever and day to day life continues despite what impression the media may give.

It was a shock when we first traveled away from Damascus to Palmyra.  It was the typical tourist setting, restaurant owners inviting you to view their menus and souvenir vendors boasting of the quality of their merchandise.  We assumed that the tourist trap mentality was isolated to Palmyra since its economy is so dependant on tourism but were surprised to find the same attitude in Aleppo but on an even larger scale.  Souq vendors would follow us down the aisle, first asking where we are from and then go on to talk about their wares.  Normally I would have no problem with this if it were any other country.  If anything, we found less selection than in Damascus and because of the constant attention from every stall, we found ourselves becoming ugly, rude tourists.  I hate that it came to that but we were mentally unprepared to have to deal with aggressive vendors. 

If anything, it made us appreciate Damascus so much more.  Here, especially the area where we live, people don’t see us as tourist and walking wallets but as guests.  The more we see of Syria, the more we appreciate and are pleased to consider Damascus our home. 

One of the more humorous encounters was with our Iraqi friend Jamal.  One evening over tea, he was telling me how he would like to move his family to the US but had concerns.  He was asking me about teenage girls having sex without marriage and having babies at 13 years old.  I tried to explain that this isn’t common and that many women don’t have kids until they are in their 30s.  Not only did he not seem to believe me on this topic but he also was convinced that women there would be begging for sex.  I am not sure if he meant that he is that desired or if he was just inferring that American women are sexually voracious.  Either way, it’s highly unlikely for this to happen but I couldn’t convince him of that either.   Another time, his wife asked me if it is true that you can buy sex in stores the same as you buy clothes.  The first thing that came to mind was “no, that’s in Amsterdam”.  Plenty of Muslims live there too (although I didn’t say this).  

There is some truth to their perceptions of the US.  I was kicking myself because just days after I was staunchly defending that teenage pregnancy isn’t the norm, the number one Google headline was Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant.  Sex before marriage is a common thing and women have children out of wedlock.   His fears aren’t groundless but I tried to explain that just because these things exist in America doesn’t mean that they have to do them too.  I guess it is one of those things that people have to see for themselves to believe.  

I have had to look at these appalling photos more times than I wish to.  Our friend Jamal showed me the pictures of his brother’s corpse.  Our friend Maher showed us various images of Abu Ghraib repeating, “look, look”.  I couldn’t help but to cry.  It is painful to look at these images but also a bit unfair that I have to be the one to look at these photos and repent.  I didn’t commit these actions, I wish no harm would come to anyone. 

I can’t deny these events didn’t occur and that they weren’t terrible.  I cannot defend the actions of my country.  I am beyond being able to apologize for these acts.  I couldn’t help but thinking when he was showing me these pictures that America isn’t the sole perpetrator in committing these horrors.  There are innumerable instances throughout history far worse than anything that the Americans have committed in Iraq.  The main difference of why it is so offensive is that we are supposed to be the “good guys”, there to liberate a suppressed people from a brutal dictator.  Yet we imprison and torture the educated class of people and then wonder why the reconstruction hasn’t been swift.  The people with the skills to help the country to recover fled in the millions, taking their life savings with them.  The people who remain in the country fear for their lives daily since the war started and we wonder why they aren’t grateful. 

The best response that I could muster with my limited Arabic was “all war is horrible” but that certainly doesn’t say enough.  We will have to deal with the effects of this war for many years to come.  I suppose that as long as I stay in the region, I will continue to be the sole American contact to which our Arab friends file their complaints.  

“No.”

“Good, you are ALWAYS welcome in our home.”

That may be a common political question for people to ask, but it was much more powerful coming from an Iraqi family who lost everything in the past few years.  The war has turned this once affluent family into refuges in Syria where they have lived for the past three years.  Their family home in Bagdad has been flattened from bombings, countless relatives displaced, and many others have been killed. 

Despite all of the horrors they have witnessed, they still warmly welcome us to their home.  I don’t know what the situation would be if the roles were reversed, I do not know if it would be the same.  If I had to leave my country, all my friends, school, work, etc.  To have had my home destroyed, family killed, to have lived in fear and to them invite the people from the country that perpetrated these offences into my home for dinner.  I would hope that I would, I would hope that we as Americans would.  But I honestly couldn’t say.

Now having spent time here, I am ashamed to think of the stereotypes of the Middle East.  People have been very concerned for our safety here.  Children run free on the street playing, elderly aren’t just helped across the street but nearly carried, and we have peace blessed upon us countless times a day.  Ironically, the greeting in Arabic is Salaam alaykum, Peace be with you. Many women here do dress in hijab but it is not required, they do so willingly.  Woman may cover themselves in public but it doesn’t mean that they are ultra conservative or suppressed.  Teenage girls still hang posters of musicians on their walls and lingerie stores still do business. 

During the past few years, American media has been drawing a lot of attention to Islam, the injustices to woman, extremist mentalities, and the rigid religious practices.   While these may be horrible truths in some places, it does not represent the religion or region as a whole.  I have been humbled by the inaccuracies of my own pre-conceived notions of what the Middle East is and am very pleased that they have been shattered.