Jim Corbett National Park
By rsiminkas | June 2, 2008
After an exciting ride on the Indian Railways, we have finally arrived in Ramnagar! We left from the Old Delhi Terminal and it was pretty chaotic. When you enter any large Indian train station you will encounter what seems to be a sea of people lounging the floor waiting for their trains. More well to do families seem to have thought ahead and brought thin sarongs to spread out to slightly protect them from the filth of the floor. Others, such as us, just plopped down where ever.
We had arrived a bit early and our track was not yet announced and had some time to kill. At the New Delhi station, they had the tourist booking office that had comfortable chairs and fans to keep you comfortable while you wait for your train. We didn’t know of such a place at the Old Delhi terminal so we just dropped our bags where ever we could squeeze in. Luckily I had some playing cards with me to pass the time and many people were intrigued by our game and even the legless beggar took time to stop and watch on.
Once our track was announced and we located it, we discovered that they had two trains posted for the same track at the same time. Last minute, they switched our train across the platform and when the train arrived everyone started making a mad dash to try to find their assigned car. We had unfortunately been on the exact opposite end of the train and had to run all the way down dodging huge wooden cargo carts, people sleeping on the floor and other frantic passengers. We were relieved to find our bunks and we were very grateful to have anything at all since the train was so full.
We arrived in Ramnagar at 6 am and simply followed the stream of passengers to find our way to the center of town and hopefully the park’s reception office. When we got to the office, there was already a crowd of people trying to get their day pass tickets but they wouldn’t open the office for the muli-day visits until 8:30. Once they opened the window (although they were sitting there the entire time since 6 am) there was a dash once again for the window and it seemed to be every man for him self. We were lucky and got one of the last beds in the cabin that has electricity and dining hall. During our crowd surfing on the line, we met Cecile and Paul from France and Mirko from Germany. We all decided to pitch in for a safari car and driver to lower the costs. We were all people traveling for long periods so every rupee counts!
Finally after 5 hours of waiting in the office and haggling over the price for 3 days in the park with the drivers, we were on our way into the Jim Corbett National Park. It looks like it will be very enjoyable; we got a good price, good company and good weather! It is great to be out of Delhi!
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Choo Choo!
By rsiminkas | May 31, 2008
Today was a very laid back day. We woke up very late, it was nearly noon by the time we got to breakfast. We leisurely made our way over to the train terminal and popped into some shops along the way. Sure enough, as we got closer to the train station, people tried pointing us to the ticket office, which is actually the wrong office. I still don’t know what they actually do in this wrong office, maybe they sell fake tickets? Thankfully we already knew exactly where we needed to go to make our bookings.
The intimidating and ridiculous Indian Rail System in the end proved to be rather smooth. The wall of the office has an array of hand painted numbers which represent a certain train line and time. Our train to Ramnagar for the Tiger Park of course was nowhere to be seen on this wall. We simply just followed their requested procedure. First we filled out the forms which required our personal details and these mysterious train numbers which we are magically to know. We then take these forms to the man at the desk closest to the door. He then enters our desired travel dates and destinations in and thankfully was knowledgeable of the train numbers. He then writes the specific train number on each of our routes and we then take these forms to the furthest desks to another man. He then enters in the same information, double checks our routes, times, dates, and ages (apparently age is important and listed on our tickets) and finally prints our tickets. All in all it went smoothly and we successfully managed to get all the train tickets we need for our time in India.
We are looking forward to getting out to Ramnagar and the tiger park. So far, our experience has been more commercial and limited compared to Nepal where I think we were able to become better acquainted with the people and their way of life. We may not get the chance to interact with many people in the park but it will be nice to get out in nature and actually see the sky…maybe even a tiger or two!
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Arrival in India
By rsiminkas | May 30, 2008
We have finally arrived in India after years of planning and reading. We have expected seething masses of people at every turn and complete chaos everywhere. We were surprised when we landed and every actually went smoothly! All of our bags made it beautifully from our short flight from Kathmandu. We went straight to the pre-paid taxi stand I read about and purchased a 250 rupee cab to Pahar Ganj. We got in our pre-paid cab and anticipated him trying to divert us from our hotel of choice for his recommendation. We successfully got to our hotel and got the room we wanted at the rate we had hoped for, much to our driver’s dissatisfaction. No extra commission for him that day for bringing a referral, oh well!
Pahar Ganj in itself is a surprising area to be the tourist hub. The paved roads are eroding back to dirt paths from the constant stream of people, cars, bicycle rickshaws, motorcycle rickshaws and cows. Flies are also surprising, India has over a billion people and probably 100 billion flies. Some areas are so thick with flies that your vision is obscured and worse yet is that they stick to your eyes. The flies must be attracted to all of the cow pies that the sacred animals leave on the streets. Knowing that this is a main tourist strip, I am surprised that they don’t at least try to sweep the streets more if they will have the cows roaming like they do.
This was the way I pictured more rural towns to be, not a busy district in the middle of New Delhi right off one of the main train stations! To be fair, certainly not all of New Delhi is like this. When we were first driving in from the airport we were on brand new 3 lane roads, saw lots of greenery and everything seemed fairly efficient. It is a stark contrast to the area where we are staying. Despite the muck, dilapidation and the chaos, Pahar Ganj was great for us since the rooms are affordable, there are lots of great little eateries around and tons of shopping.
After settling into our room, we set off walking to try to go to the central area. Every time we stopped to try to look at anything somebody would stop and talk to us to try to direct us to the Tourist Bureau and/or Connaught Place. Also along the walk there was a stream of boys who one after another touched my arm and I shouted “STOP”. If we were in Syria I would have shouted “Haram” or forbidden but then again people in Syria wouldn’t have done this.
There were a lot of similarities to Manila for me, so it wasn’t a huge shock . There were a lot of street kids comparable to the amount we would encounter in a Filipino city. The infrastructure and transportation are also extremely alike; the cows are a new twist though.
After all the walking in search of the center where we expected all of the ATMs and restaurants to be, we finally relented and got a taxi. We were tired of all of the people trying to help direct us, the boys bothering me, and the new street children friends that I made that just wouldn’t go away (I was getting hungry and tend to lose my patience when I want food).
We had our first and only all beef-less McDonald’s. Curiosity got the better of us, who could resist a curried McChicken burger?? We spent the rest of the day happily jumping from one State Shopping Emporium to the next. Tomorrow we will make our first attempt at arranging our Indian Rail tickets, which every one makes a big fuss over. Hopefully we will have luck and get all of the tickets we need.
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Food Shortages
By rsiminkas | April 23, 2008
You may have heard talk about the global food shortages on the news recently. It seems that we may soon feel the effects here in Syria soon also. Already the prices of bread products have increased slightly but there could be much more to come.
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.
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Life Without Water
By rsiminkas | March 30, 2008
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.
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Pork: The ultimate home wrecker
By rsiminkas | March 21, 2008
Talking with different people here, I have heard many explanations for Islamic practices. We briefly had an Algerian roommate who liked to put Islam in scientific terms. For example, when Muslims pray, they kneel and touch their head to the floor. She explained to me that this is because, scientifiquement, human beings have a negative charge and the earth has a positive charge, so the action of performing the prayer balances the charge. I found this interesting because there was no explanation as to what happens to us if we are negatively charged nor did it matter to her. Scientists have discovered the Earth has a positive charge and humans have a negative charge so the salat prayers are essential. It’s settled!
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 7th 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.
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Tamer and Abdullah
By rsiminkas | March 5, 2008
While visiting Deir ez Zur, we met the children of our friend Raed. Like all Syrian children, they start English education quite young. Tamer was eager to practice his English with us and was quite curious since we were the first Americans that he ever met. Abdullah, the younger boy, was extremely quiet the entire day we spent with him. He would recoil a bit when we would try to play with him. Raed would joke that Abdullah missed his mama and that is why he doesn’t want to play.
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.
Topics: Syria | 1 Comment »
Naughty Children
By rsiminkas | February 23, 2008
Today was one of my last days teaching at Berlitz. One of my favorite students, Mohammad, brought me flowers. This really touched me, primarily since he is 5 so you know he had to ask his mother to get them for me or told her about me but also because I don’t feel that I have been particularly successful as a teacher. I guess regardless of that, the little ones like me. During recess Mohammad is always a few feet away from me, my little shadow. I will even miss Omar and Laith, who are the naughtiest ones.
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”.
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Car Bomb
By rsiminkas | February 16, 2008
On the evening of Valentine’s Day, there was an explosion in a residential area of Damascus. It had been a car bomb that killed only one person, a Hezbollah leader.
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.
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Damascus: Home Sweet Home
By rsiminkas | February 13, 2008
We have received a warmer welcome here in Damascus than we ever anticipated. Our recent visits to both Palmyra and Aleppo have made it blatantly clear just how special this city is. Granted, most areas aren’t so aesthetically pleasing, but the beauty and wonders of Damascus lie within its residents. We feel genuinely welcomed by the incredibly friendly people. We can stop and chat with the storeowners with no pressure to peruse their goods, they are just happy to have met us and show us hospitality.
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.
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