We got off the train and looked at the station – classic architecture for a European train station. I really appreciate the visual language that I can understand, since my Arabic is still basically non-existent. I can say salaam (hi), assalamu alekim (hello/peace be upon you), na’am (yes), shrukan (thank you), leh (no), marhaba (welcome); that’s about it, and even then I mostly get nods that they understand that I’m trying to say something. When I say shrukan (thank you) they often smile and answer “you’re welcome” – I like to think they appreciate my effort, even if it doesn’t amount to much. Even Calvin finds that although he has quite a vocabulary in Arabic, and undersands grammar and tenses and such, its often times hard to communicate basics – the pronunciation is so different I guess. This is even when someone really wants to understand us because we are trying to buy something.
Our experience of the Middle east has been nothing like the parts of Europe that I’ve been in – most people we have encountered here speak no or extremely limited English. Most cab drivers do not speak any English, often do not understand our pronunciation of the names of hotels/restaurants, and many have trouble with our maps, even with Arabic. (You can choose the more expensive white or even silver cabs instead of the cheaper yellow cabs and there is a probability, but no guarantee, that the driver will speak a couple words of English – our limited experience doesn’t back the claim. Mostly we use the cheap yellow cabs.) Once we do manage to communicate the place name, they are much more likely to talk with someone in another car or on the street to figure out the location than to consult a map. One time a guy (pedestrian) of whom our driver asked for directions asked if he could get in the cab with us to help us, to which we said ok, figuring we would owe him a tip when he got us to our hotel. Instead he showed our driver the way, and then said nice goodbyes without any chance for us to give him a tip – just a nice guy! Even in the hotels most staff speak very limited or no English, with usually one or two people who speak moderate level English. At the top end hotels you get more staff with English skills- Aqabastaff were local but spoke perfect English, Petra staff were quite fluent as well. I don’t mean to be demanding or sound like there is some reasonable expectation that others should speak my language, that would be rude. But I am in pretty deep water here – I can’t even match the Arabic word as written for me with the signs on the streets (when there are any). Luckily we are very good at finding our way around by watching the shapes of the streets and recognizing buildings, using the sun and my tiny compass for basic directions, and can almost always trace my steps back across the city if need be. Also I’m pretty fearless and have lots of energy, and people are generally nice.
So, as I was saying before wandering off (see I said I could find my way back), Damascus is much more European looking than Amman or even Aleppo, specifically more French influenced, with streets in the new downtown/business area radiating from a centralcircle with a monument/statue in the middle, grand boulevards, park spaces, French influenced architectural style of grand buildings (Baroque), and sidewalk cafes. There are many more sidewalks, crosswalks and lights, and while its still not enough to make walking as comfortable as I’d like, its much better than either Amman or Aleppo in that regard. We went out to eat around midnight and the streets were very lively, we could get dinner, snacks, sweets, fruit smoothies, etc. Alternatively we could have sat in a cafe and smoked a nargileh/hookah, or at least Calvin could have – but those places were obviously very smokey and those places at least 90% male, (maybe entirely male but I didn’t want to stare long enough to know), so not much attraction for either of us. We’ve seen numerous bakeries with tall, elaborately arranged piles of pastries, mostly with lots of pistachios, butter and honey. We finally went into one and bought a small pastry, and the guys were trying to talk with us and gave us a couple more just to engage us and tell us they like Americans,(in their 5 words on English)! The pastries were extremely fresh and very good – I think these were special treats for Eid-al Ftr. Overall we have encountered many Syrians who have gone out of their way to say nice things to us about America and Americans.
The Old City is truly amazing, and very different in character from the grand boulevard style. There is an ancient Citadel and an ancient walls around the city, with a Roman Gate, ancient mosques and churches. Everything is extremely pedestrian scaled, and makes one feel like you’ve gone back in time at least several hundred years (although there is electricity, lights, plumbing, etc). There are very long very high roofed souks in most of the entrances, extending out in various directions, and then twisty winding paths/roads through old buildings of a couple stories tall, interspersed with numerous mosques and churches. We generally could not see past the immediate close buildings to any landmarks, or track blocks, or even head in a consistent direction – great fun for exploring. The exception is “Straight Street”, which is straight and was a tremendous help to us when we would wander and get totally turned around.
It was extremely crowded when we were there, for the end of Ramadan, Eid-at-Ftr, with thousands of people celebrating. The crowds were predominately families with little kids and large numbers of groups of boys/young men, and smaller numbers of groups of women and girls. We did not see groups of mixed gender teenagers/young adults, in stark contrast to the States where that is a major grouping. For the most part males stay in their groups, and females stay in theirs, except for families with young children who often have multiple generations/extended family together. We did observe a few risque young couples on some darker back streets, a couple even holding hands – perhaps in the heat of the celebratory mood they had thrown caution and their norms aside! Its so odd to me that even married couples are not supposed to touch in public – if Mark were here I would have a hard time not holding his hand (I miss you, honey!).
Damascus’ Old city is also appropriately famous for grand Damascene homes with open courtyards in the center, converted to hotels/restarants (as we found in Aleppo as well). Soft fabric ceilings have been added to protect from the sun, along with fans and air conditioning, creating a very airy and beautiful space, which is then decorated with ornately painted walls, intricaate mosaic floors, colorful blown glass vaces, china displays, etc. (This architecturalstyle of an open central courtyard would seem work very well in the similar heat of the American southwest/southern California – given how well adapted it would be for the climate I’m somewhat surprized that we haven’t seen this built in CA.) The classic Damascenestyle alternates light and dark horizontal stripes of stone – quite flashy. We ate in some excellant restaurants of this type, mostly Arabic food with French influences.
Unfortunately they do let cars drive in the Old City, (although they are only given a little deference when its so crowded). The good news is that they do not proved excess parking in the Old City, the bad news is that the relatively small number of cars being driven around (mostly taxis in our experience) take up too much space and detract from the experience, making people let them through. (Imagine taxis driving slowly through the heavy crowds at Disneyland on the day after Christmas and you get some idea of the effect.) Of course this is not an amusement park – people live, work, play and pray here. Still, they could really use some traffic management. I’d think that some combination of restrictions on cars during the busiest hours, providing for deliveries at off hours, combined with pricing car admission at other times with the funds going to support the local infrastructure (which could use it), could go a long way toward improving conditions. I also think that an official “walking taxis” system, where one could go to a gate and be walked to your destination could be very popular for tourists (Syrians as well as foreigners). I’d guess that many people take taxis because they can’t find the restaurant on their own. Calvin and I found some of the ones we looked for, based on recommendations and directions, but at other times just could not, to our frustration, so I think there is a market for walking taxis (and perhaps additional tasteful signage), and it be much less intrusive for everyone else. (And no, we did not resort to a taxis, it just seemed so inappropriate, and besides the riders actually were going much slower than walkers due to the crowds.)
I’ve read on-line that there are some plans to demolish some parts of the Old City, which I think would be a major mistake for Damascus both culturally and economically. It is such an important center for the community due to the history, architecture, mosques and churches, shops, excellent restaurants, and attractiveness for walking. Its also a huge tourist draw, for these same reasons, and tourism is a valuable component of this struggling economy.
So I must say that Damascus is my favorite city that we’ve been to. Aleppo may be more genuinly Middle Eastern, – I almost think its like the Bakersfield of Syria, with much a much more localized mentally. Following along, Damascus is like San Francisco – more cosmopolitan, with wonderful restaurants. Damascus is a wonderful combination of old Middle Eastern and French influence. I love the amazing walled old town with the artists, and also the vibrant modern aspects. All in all its a place I could definitlty see going back to sometime.
I was chatting to our parents last night–they too have been following your blog. I think that you should take heart in that transit and urban planning actually seems to have good effects. Look at economic planning–great idea of the 20th century that Didn’t Work. At first glance, it would seem that something as important (and often awry) as the economy should be planned. Yeah, well. So how do we know what things actually work out better if planned and managed?
Or, from my own twisted perspective, when are we dealing with temperature control for tropical fish–research the right temp and maintain it for them–versus amphibians–provide a gradient and let the critter pick.
It does seem that transit/urban planning needs to at least provide a fair bit of infrastructure and some pricing to encourage desired behavior, rather than totally free form. Encouraging for your job, eh?