Employment

IMG_0075, originally uploaded by bartemeo-negro.

For those of you who don't know yet, I found some work over here. I've got a friend who works for an NGO and their trying to open an office in Damascus. He knew I was here, so there you go. Right place, right time. It's the end of Ramadan, Eid, which is mainly a week long holiday, so nothing has gotten off the ground yet. I'll say more about it when there's something to tell. Right now, though, it's an offshoot from their work in Baghdad. There are a lot of refugees here from Iraq that the local gov isn't able to provide for. We'll be trying to help them find medical attention, access to shooling, job training, etc.

Also, more pics on my flickr page to come soon. I was in Aleppo a few days ago and I'm heading to Bosra tomorrow.

Note to self

The bus system is actually quite complicated for such a small city. Usually, I try to save money (and occasionally time) and just walk, but some places are at least an hour's walk. That gets rather old on a regular basis.

So, today, I decided to attempt using one of the larger buses to make it across town in one go. This, I will never do again. It was remaneiscant of the Guatamalan Chickin Buses, but hotter. There was standing room only, but the driver kept stopping every 3 minutes to pick up more people. The jerky driving, heavy exhaust fumes, and crampped conditions weren't so bad until an elderly man began throwing up in the middle of everything. Fortunately, I was out of range, but I got off asap and walked the rest of the way.

Welcome to Damascus

Welcome to Damascus, originally uploaded by bartemeo-negro.

So here I am in the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. It was old when Abraham came through here much less Paul or Muhammad. So if you've seen the movie "Spy Games" that came out a few years ago, it looks a lot like that in the new city. Of course the old city doesn't, and there isn't any war damage. But as far as the style of buildings and the view from the top of one, etc.

20 million people live in Syria. 5-6 million live in Damascus which is probably only 10-15 miles in radius. Things are cozy... and smoggy. Streets are a 24-7 traffic jam in which lane markers would have been a suggestion if they were visible. If there's 2 feet between vehicles, the taxi behind will try to squeeze into it. Much of the cities substantial police force is relagated each day to enforcing traffic intersections and round-abouts. It seems all a bit too much at first, but you get use to it. Also, I'm not really sure if the word "seatbelt" exists in the Arabic language.

People are pretty nice here and surprisingly laid back. They don't speak much English outside of the Diplomatic and backpacker regions, but they are willing to help if you look helpless enough. But I"ve done well enough for myself getting around and buying food, etc.
Arabic is leaving me a bit befuddled for lack of the ability to memorize vocabulary in the arabic alphabet, but I'm getting there. It's only my 3rd week.

Throwing your garbage out is a little different here. In the States, we let it pile up in a big plastic bag under the sink and throw it into a dumpster or roll it out to the street corner in a big plastic trash can. Here, you tie it up in little plastic grocery bag and take it down stairs with you when you head out each morning. Then you just throw it on the sidewalk in front of the building and walk away. Later on, the street sweepers come by and pick everything up. My neighbor even throws his out the window from the third floor onto the sidewalk. It's all completely normal here.

There should be more photos to come to help all of ya'll get a better feel for where I'm living now. Getting to the old town where the only appropriate internet cafes are is a bit out of my way though. Postings may be intermitant.