Getting ready for dinner/saying goodbye

From June 4th.

Right now, I am sitting in Rachel, Lilly and Asha’s room, watching videos on YouTube and chatting with James, Steph, Honor and Christina, who also made a guest appearance in this room intended for two. It’s crammed, but it’s comforting.

“You will always be my Jasmin,” Christina just said to Asha, who is of Indian descent. She took pictures of her dressed as Jasmin for her 3-year-old niece to see.

James just handed his half eaten apple to Rachel, who is now finishing it off. It’s a testament to how close many of us have grown over the past five weeks. I said this earlier but this trip has exceeded my expectations on so many levels, but largely on a personal one.

The last time I went on a trip with twenty five people my age was in 2005, when I was 17. I felt unsure of myself and was nervous to open up to people. To make a long story short, I was a teenager.

When we would go out to nightclubs to dance, I would more or less stay in a corner, waiting for my friend Sam to stop socializing and sit with me. On this trip, I was working out choreography with some of the people here. Caitlin taught us all “Oops, I did it again,” and I had my own rendition of “Womanizer” that I shamelessly shared with the group.

We’ve all shared a lot on this trip, from room space to bathroom time to stories from our past, and to everyone who shared with me their intimate or personal tales, I thank you. If this trip has taught me anything, it’s that we are more alike than we are different. We have all had pasts, we all have scars and we all have dreams. From what I have learned, the different experiences we have had throughout our lives may have taught us the same lessons.

Being a part of this group has been an honor, and though we may not replicate these experiences, I will cherish them.

Tonight is the last night we will all be together in Qatar. Tomorrow, eight of us will return to Cairo. Seven of us, including me, will stay in Cairo for two weeks, while one of us, Lily Sussman, will stay for a six months.

We have a dinner planned for tonight, at a restaurant in our hotel called Wok Mee. If the name doesn’t give it away, it’s an Asian restaurant.

I don’t know if we will all be together again. Individually, I’m sure many of us will stay in touch, but whether or not we will meet as a group is not something I can affirm, though I believe there will be a reunion in the near future.

Once again, I’d like to thank everyone who made this trip everything it was.

And to my few dedicated readers, thank you.

Sean

By the way, Steph just finished the apple that Rachel handed her a few minutes ago.

I was like a paparazzo that night!

Lisa and I

From Left: Mel, Caitlin, Me, Sam and Emily

Clarice and I

From Left: Christina Petrucci, Steph, Me and Andrea

My roommate, Nick, and I

Dani and I

From Left: Ian, Colby and I

From Left: John, James and I

Steph and I

Edwin and I

Lisa and I (again)

Gabby and I

Carlene and I

Asha and I

Rachel and I

Pictures from the Museum of Islamic Art

Some of what I saw…

The exterior of the museum

Inside the museum

Daggers from India

Plates from Turkey

Fountain head from Spain

Necklace from Spain

Plate from Iran or Central Asia

Nothing short of elegance

Doha, Qatar-It’s a city like no other I’ve been to.

“It’s the most elegant place I’ve ever seen,” Carlene, my professor, said on our ride over to our hotel, the Movenpick.

It was an interesting contrast from Syria and Egypt. First, most of the city’s residents are not natives; most are from countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and India. Second, the country’s weather redefines the term “desert heat.”

Syria and Egypt were warm, but Qatar was blazing. When we arrived in Doha, the capital city, on June 1, at about 9 p.m, it was 105 degrees outside.

Now, in conjunction with the heat, a third difference arises. There are hardly any people who walk outside.

“You don’t walk in Qatar,” Nawaf, a reporter I met in our hotel said. “Everyone drives here.”

Which is why I took a taxi pretty much everywhere I went.

Cabs have been so inexpensive here in the Middle East that I don’t know how I will manage to pay 10, 15 or sometimes 30 dollars for a cab in Boston or New York. It’s a good thing there’s public transportation in those cities that I’m familiar with, but even that is becoming more expensive. I’m going to have to make some cutbacks.

It’s gonna be tough.

We were told that Qatar would be expensive, and in comparison to Egypt and Syria, it was. Still, we were able to find dinners for less than 10 dollars and from what I was told, the market was not too expensive, either.

PHOTOS

Doha

A view from the bridge

Christina Petrucci and Honor playing in the water

Will I be switching from The View?

The original plan was to go to Egypt, Jordan and Qatar. Around February, those plans changed and Syria replaced Jordan.

I was a bit disheartened.

Not that I wasn’t interested in going to Syria. I was. I had a few reservations, but I understood that it was an opportunity that doesn’t arise often.

But back to Jordan.

I may have mentioned this earlier, but I remember watching The View about a year ago, when Barbara Walters mentioned a conversation she had with the king of Jordan, who said he loved The View, and watched it often. If my memory serves me right, Walters told the audience he said that five episodes are aired on Sunday. I wanted to explored this.

I didn’t get the opportunity to do so on this trip, but my experiences have outweighed that. However, I will take my time to enjoy The View when I get back to the states.

Anyway, I have a new series I’d like to check out, and that is The Doha Debates.

While The View and The Doha Debates are different, an element of similarity exists, and that is the opportunity to hear multiple perspectives.

On June 4, we all went to Education City to see what goes into The Doha Debates.

It is a series that was first launched in 2004. It is hosted by the Qatar Foundation for Education Science and Community Development, and chaired by Tim Sebastian, who founded them and acts as a moderator.

The production process begins with a controversial statement. The team, which consists of six members, discusses different political, economic and social issues before agreeing on a motion, which should evoke a strong “yes” or “no” response from viewers before hearing the debate,

Then, the production team looks to book 4 guests, 2 for each side of the motion.

“We look for guests who will really defend their position,” Tanya Sakzewski, producer of The Doha Debates, said. “The worst is having someone a bit in the middle.”

Recently, guests discussed (debated) whether Muslim women have the right to choose their partner for marriage.

Other motions include:
-This House believes that Arab states should hand over the Sudanese president to the International Criminal Court
-This House believes the Middle East would be better off with John McCain in the White House
-This House believes it’s time for the US to get tough on Israel, which took place in Washington DC
-This House believes it is time to talk to Al Qaeda

“It is a free speech forum, where we have editorial independence,” Sakzewski said. This type of robust debate, as we have learned, is not commonplace in the Middle East. A Rosie/Elisabeth brawl would not necessarily take place on a local news channel in Syria or Egypt, which is why The Doha Debates is unique. It is an opportunity to hear two perspectives on relevant and often ‘touchy’ issues.

I’m excited to watch them, and they’re available online.

The Doha Debates.

Al Jazeera

From June 3rd.

We went to Al Jazeera yesterday, which was officially launched more than 13 years ago, in 1996.

It was funded by the royal family of Qatar, and acted as a bridge between the east and the west, Muhammad Hibautallah, a human resources representative, said.

“It’s an open dialogue with all nations,” he added. The original crew consisted of 20 members, he said.

Since then, Al Jazeera has covered events like the Niger famine, the killings in Darfur, and events in regions like Afghanistan and Iran. In addition, Hibatallah said, Al Jazeera was able to cover the conflict in Gaza because they have a bureau there. Al Jazeera has 70 bureaus around the world, and 4 broadcasting centers in Kuala Lumpur, Doha, London and Washington DC.

Since 1996, it has entered more than 150 million households in 105 countries, he said, and in July, will be available in Washington D.C. and 20 other American cities. The channel, however, is currently banned in some countries in the Middle East like Bahrain, he said.

Unlike most news stations, which act as government mouthpieces, Al Jazeera doesn’t face interference from the Qatari government, though it is difficult to report from some countries like India, Richard Lewis, a program editor at Al Jazeera, said.

“The Arab governments don’t like us,” Lewis said. “The people who love us are the people on the street.”

We went on to see the production rooms, and saw the control room that the documentary, “Control Room” was based on.

We were there for a total of two hours.

I’d like to learn more about Al Jazeera and its history.

This timeline is a good start. (Courtesy of journalism.org)

Al Jazeera, Doha, Qatar

All of us on the way to Al Jazeera. Thanks for looking excited, Steph.

Al Jazeera in action!

Control Room

Al Jazeera Arabic

We also met a political cartoonist, Shujaat Ali, who works at Al Jazeera. His work is amazing. Click here for his website.

Shujaat Ali

George W. Bush with Osama bin Laden

Angelina Jolie (among others)

Golan Heights

The first time I went to the Middle East, I went to Israel.

I loved it, and I will return one day.

I went to visit family and we saw cities like Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The Golan Heights were not something I was interested in seeing. Mainly, because I didn’t know if I could find stray cats and lizards there. As an eight year old, I was basically oblivious to the nature of the conflicts that Israel is a part of. I choose my words carefully, and hesitate to write that because I know that the slightest alteration in semantics can completely change the meaning of the situation.

It’s not something I picked up in my twelfth grade English class, where we analyzed just about every piece of paper with writing on it. Those concepts that were more theoretical three years ago became apparent during my stay in Syria.

I can’t speak on behalf of the Syrian population, but from meeting with the officials that we met with (the mayor of Qunayirah, the minister of information, and representatives from N.U.S.S.) it is apparent that they blame many of their issues on Israel.

“The occupation (of Golan Heights) is the mother of all issues,” said Mohsen Bilal, Syrian minister of information, during a press conference. And beyond the rhetoric, the maps that I spotted in that office were of Palestine, not Israel, or Syria, for that matter.

Those maps were located inside a Syrian television studio.

So, back to Golan.

We were accompanied by members of N.U.S.S., which is the National Union of Syrian Students. One of them sat next to me on the ride over, and as we began speaking, he asked me, “First time to the Middle East?”

“No,” I said. “I’ve been to (cough/mumble) Israel, (PROJECT VOICE) AND WE JUST CAME FROM EGYPT.”

His face said it all. He was so excited to speak with me earlier, maybe thinking that I would be easily influenced by their cause to fight “Israeli Nazism,” but when I mentioned that I had been to Israel, the excitement faded from his eyes, and his smile dimmed a little bit. Luckily, we dropped that part of the conversation.

The road to the Golan was beautiful. We saw the Sheach mountain and thousands of olive trees. Our tour guide, Osama, told us that there are just about 87 million olive trees in Syria.

After passing through security provided by the United Nations, we met with the mayor of Qunaytirah, which is a part of the Golan Heights.

Since 1967, “this government has suffered a lot under Israeli aggression,” he said through a translator. “It is out of the question for us to leave one particle of sand in Golan.”

More than 245 towns and villages have been destroyed, he added.

He continued to explain why Syria and the Syrian government resent the Israelis.

Of course, America wasn’t left out of the conversation.

“Former President Bush spoke about democracy,” he said. “There are more than 4.5 million orphans in Iraq, 1 million widows. This is the democracy of Bush.”

The mayor, however, spoke more calmly about President Obama’s administration.

“We hope [Obama] will put pressure on the Israeli government,” he said. “First is the Palestinian problem, we hope he is successful. We are not optimistic.”

The ONE word ALL travelers should know

Learning a language is useful. In America, many believe that everyone should learn English.

Not just American citizens, but everyone around the world. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen an American tourist return from somewhere in Europe or Latin America to say, “the trip was great, but they just don’t know English.”

The idea that Spanish will be just as common of a language as English in America frightens some.

Now, whether or not that will be the case is not something I can speak to.

However, if it is the case, and one is reluctant to learn another language or unable to, for that matter, they should take the time to learn at least one word: bathroom.

It’s vital, especially in a country where the water is bad or the food is laced with laxatives.

Think about it. When you need a bathroom, and I mean desperately need a bathroom, you won’t want to fiddle through a dictionary or scroll through a map. You’re going to want to run up to the first person you see and have them point you to the right direction.

Now, whether or not you are willing to learn how to translate the structured sentence is arbitrary. You won’t have to say, “Can you point me to the bathroom,” “which way to the restroom,” or even, “where’s the lou?” Simply blurting out the translated noun, “bathroom” will do the job.

I should know.

The Middle East has not been kind to my stomach. The first few days we were in Cairo, most of us got sick. About seven people got sick the first day, and probably about nine the next. I was on the second shift.

I thought I was immune to these 24 hour viruses, but it turns out I’m not. My stomach was awful. That’s all I’m dispelling.

That was the worst it’s been this whole time, but I had a vacation to attend to. We were off to Luxor the next day, so recovery was a priority.

Then, in Syria, I got sick around the fourth day there. I blame the lamb.

That’s when it hit me: HAMEM. That means bathroom, and it’s all I needed to know.

You can play charades with some words and waste a minute or two trying to convey your word, but would you really want to act out bathroom?

Since then, I’ve had no issue communicating this with Arabic speakers. I say the word, and they point me in the right direction. Simple.

So, future travelers, if you are going abroad learn the language, and if you aren’t going to, at least know “bathroom.”

Aleppo/Maaloula (May 29-30)

We just got into Aleppo today, and it is beautiful.

It has an old feel to it, winding roads and grand walls.

I got a bit lost, though, navigating through the streets trying to find my hotel room. We are staying in a hotel called “The Martini,” and it is comprised of at least three buildings that were once a part of someone’s home.

The market is supposed to be beautiful here. We’re only here for a night, so I won’t be able to check it out, but from what I saw, and the gifts that people have come back with, it looks nice. Rachel and Asha bought these gorgeous scarves. They were apparently a tad expensive, so I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t get a chance to see the market; I’ve actually managed to spend less than $200 my whole time in Syria.

Tomorrow is our last day here (in Syria), so I will get a few more gifts for people.

It’s also Rachel’s 22nd birthday, so happy birthday to her!

—

Yesterday we went to Maaloula. It is the language of Jesus Christ, and can also be heard in Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ.

A Lebanese priest conducted a prayer in the language, which was interesting to hear, not that I could decipher it from other languages.

The ride over there was gorgeous, too. We drove through the hills, and saw the Shaech mountain, which is probably the only place you can find snow in Syria, though Omar, one of the students travelling with us told us that every so often it snows in northwestern Syria, which is where we are right now.

We also saw Krak des Chevaliers, which is a beautiful castle that was built during the Crusades. It is grand, and captures most of the attention granted to the hill it rests on. Inside it is hollow, a bit cold and dark. If you raise your voice anywhere inside the structure, you will hear it amplified.

One young boy performed the call to prayer in a section of the castle, not to actually inform people, but to show us how it would sound. He was young, probably about 13, and his voice reflected that.

He sounded nice, though.

In a way, it reminded me of my Haf Torah portion.

Vayekrah el Moshe, vayedaber adonay elah… I would need to hear it once more to remember it.

View from Krak des Chevaliers

Asha and I at Krek des Chevaliers

Krek des Chevaliers

Way past my expiration…

It’s about 4 a.m. in Syria, twelve hours after my usual bedtime.

I’m sitting in the lobby of the Carlton hotel, all the lights are dimmed and the only ones here are at the reception desk.

My legs are sweating from my laptop being on my lap for the past three hours, with nothing to block the heat but a nylon laptop holder lined with cotton. The heat has since traveled through my legs, into my chest and through my arms. I’m perspired, but I couldn’t be happier.

Why?

An obvious reason is that I just completed an article that took me longer than I anticipated to finish, and by longer, I don’t mean hours, or even days. It’s been about two, maybe three weeks.

In addition, I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had over the past few weeks, being here in the Middle East. Not only the reporting opportunities, but the chances to meet people I would have not met had I stayed home, or even took courses at school.

Finally, by some stroke of luck, I connected to the Internet (and didn’t even have to pay). But that’s not why I’m happy. I just spent the last hour or so speaking with my closest friends from home. I miss them so much, and can’t wait to see them.

Anyway, I figured, since I’m already up, I might as well blog. It’s been about a day or so. When we went to Aleppo, I wrote up a passage to post, but the Internet was giving me some trouble, so I will post that one soon. Probably tonight.

That trip was fun. Interesting, undoubtedly.

For my benefit, we got to ride on a bus for a collective total of twelve hours. I say that without the slightest hint of sarcasm. I genuinely love long car rides. Always have, so long as I’m not the driver.

I sat with Rachel today, and we listened to my iPod. Surprisingly, she enjoyed my music.

“I grew up with Celine, Mariah and Enya,” she told me.

Except for the ladder, we’re on the same page.

It was her birthday tonight, so we all went out to a small rooftop restaurant in old Damascus. It was beautiful.

There was twelve of us, so we took up one long table. Omar joined us, which was great. He is a Northeastern student whose parents are from Syria. He comes back just about every summer, he told us.

Having him with us has been great, in that he speaks Arabic fluently, and happens to be a really nice guy. He may come to Qatar with us tomorrow. A few of us spent half the night trying to convince him to come.

He brings the same comfort to this trip that my dad does to many of the trips I’ve gone on, in that they both communicate with the locals. Every time we travelled as a family, my dad was really the only one to put any effort in to learning the language. I’ve been trying a bit, but it hasn’t been too successful. Hint: he dictionary that Jared gave me does not have any creases on it.

Anyway, I ordered something called “Toshkah,” which is basically a lamb sandwich cut into a few different slices. I kept calling it “Koshka,” which is “cat” in Russian. I’m telling you, if you ever want to find out how many foreign languages you know, travel anywhere, they’ll come out. Soon enough, my ten words of H***** will start coming out. I’m gonna hope that they don’t slip out while I’m here, though.

Dinner ended around midnight, and a few of us went back to the hotel, while the rest stayed at the restaurant for some time.

I came down to the lobby, and haven’t moved since.

But I will.

Like, now. It’s off to bed for me. Goodnight.

Just a few thoughts…

Over the past few days, we’ve had many interesting encounters and experiences.

Right now, I’m honestly too tired to write about them and I’d rather write about them at a time when I can dedicate my full energy to them.

For now:

Today was somewhat of a workday, with a trip to the spa, as well.

The spa was over 800 years old, and located in a back ally in Damascus.

It was more of a bathhouse, but an interesting experience nonetheless.

Surprisingly, I didn’t want to go. I actually wanted to go on a hike with Nick, Jared, Rachel and Lilly. However, I didn’t want to risk the chance of losing my thirty dollars.

These days (with this economy) I’m a bit more careful with thirty dollars than I once was.

I blame/accredit my newfound frugality on Egypt. After realizing that I can live on something like ten dollars a day, I’m hesitant to return to the United States, where the cost of living (especially for me) is much more expensive.

Still, I am fully aware of the fact that when I land at Logan Airport, I will call Marissa, and discuss our plans to go to Fugakyu.

I’ve been thinking about home quite a bit lately. I miss my friends and family a lot.

It’s been about seven years since I’ve been away from my family for more than six weeks. Even in college, I go home about once a month.

This has been an experience for me, going on this dialogue.

I remember being so nervous before I left.

Being here, with 24 other students, Professor Sullivan and Professor Hempel (Denis and Carlene), has been such an experience for me.

A great one.

I told Carlene this earlier, but I just wanted to share it with everyone (AKA my five readers, including Sandy Raymond).

My exhaustion is preventing me from further expressing and reflecting on my time here in Damascus, but I will write more later.

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHELSEA! MISS YOU PLENTY AND HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR DAY!