Wow I Really Suck!

I just looked at my screen and realized I haven't written anything this year. I guess I haven't felt much like writing. I also feel so frustrated and tired I don't even want to think about some of the problems that arise during my school day.

I have turned to a new way of coping...trying to understand the culture in hope of a good explaniation for why things are the way they are. A few friends have been on the recieving end of this query and have been very helpful. Finding a "feel" for Arab culture is a very fluid endeavor. I think I can provide a decent summary of American culture to most people here, but I have been hard-pressed to find someone who can relate their culture to me with the same confidence and ease.

I believe part of this problem lies mainly with how completely different the Arab world really is. I know everyone has Iraq on the brain, but the parts of the Middle East can't really be lumped together with that much ease. Not all arabs are the same. Firstly, I had to minimize my request to "what is Syrian culture" becuase Arabs in different parts of a country can be so different that lumping them together is impossible. With help I defined Syrian culture as lifestyle, quality of life, and expectations from society. For instance, in America we lead similiar lifestyles in that we are educated similiarly, we are similiar consumers and producers, and depending on ethnicity and socio-economics, we expect the same freedoms from our government.

In Syria there are many degrees of socio-economics, but mainly there is a wealthy class, and a poor class. When I say wealthy I mean having the ability to purchase luxury items, travel on vactions, and afford automobiles and other "high cost" technology for the region. The poor live at a sustenance level, have few or no luxury items, can't vacation further than local regions(many can't afford a Hajj), and travel by service microbus mostly. The seperation between these two groups is gastly. The guestimate for the poor, under previous definition, would range in the sixty to eighty percent range. There is a dwindling middle class here and a small upper class that would make up the "wealthy" statistic. This in mind, the few on the top end enjoy private schools and have far more freedoms to educate themselves outside the country for long periods of time. The poor classes have shoddy at best public schools that do no more than indoctrinate into the ruling political machine and maintain a level of ignorance in a society that claims to be well educated. Different ethnic groups such as Armenians and Kurds live outside the norm of society living within their own communities, speaking their own languages, and resenting being resented. The Kurds have been dealt the worst hand. Even here they are treated as second class citizens by society and shunned from many political events in fear of them gaining any sort of political clout. From what I have seen they definitely take advantage of the free university system, eventhough it seems unprofessional and trite.

To understand Syrian culture I find I have to understand the dark side of Syria to understand where the good lies.

THE DARK SIDE
It really hasn't been hard to find the darkness here as there is mass opression socially and politically as seen from Western eyes. What some call a close family system I call slavery; women are second class citizens that have legal rights but no rights outside the family. What some call devout religion I call control; the amount of ignorance perpetrated in the form of religion is just shocking. Some families are wonderful and some devout people love thier God, but many families take the social control and religious lifestyle too far. I have had many conversations with Christians and Muslims from strict and non-strict backgrounds. There is a feeling here that most people only act so devout because they are supposed to. I have seen and heard things that would make any Westerner blush, and yet I saw and heard them here. The hypocrisy of this place is amazing. One on one people want to seem Western and free, but return them to their friends and family and they are quiet and obedient, shying away from any social or familial criticism. The gossip vine runs long. When it comes to gossip, large cities might as well be small villiages because everyone will know what you are doing or did instantly. This is a society of "tattletales" and "I told you so's." Actually there wouln't be that problem if there were opportunities for individuals to get education and find employment, but unemployment is huge and unless your family has a job for you, you are really S.O.L. As for women, the situation is worse because you are raised to rely on your family, not support yourself, and obey. Obviously there are many families not like this but from what I can tell(and I have really dug on this one) if they are not this way they are an extreme minority. The tragic thing is girls are raised here like show-ponies. Once they reach a certain age they are let out of the stall to be trotted around and looked at, and then put away and groomed. This is their life. Maybe get married and mate, but this is still done in Syrian show-pony fasion. Dating here is called being engaged. If you are in your mid twenties and not married yet there might be gossip that you are a whore, lost your virginity, are crazy or problematic; you get the idea. If you go against your family you will be beaten into submission, and this place is one of the MOST progressive Arab countries. Once they get married the show-pony husband will go to his job which he has never had before, and work his ass off to support the princess-like needs of his show-pony wife. Add kids. Let them run free because you can't be bothered to do anything with them becuase you are a princess rock star that needs to find popularity and fame. You get the picture. If you don't I can explain away the rich parents I have seen free-range their kids and not even show up for a meeting cause they are sleeping at two in the afternoon, or show up looking like Britney Spears just after a stage concert, allthewhile still wearing the giant rock-star glasses. It's like that. If the parent aren't rich then enter devout religion over the show-pony lifestyle and imagine what kind of neurosis that will build in a child.

I could go on forever about what socially annoys me here, but nothing will change without the right political climate. The same people have been in control of this region for five thousand years. It isn't the same family or even the same religion. It just hasn't been THE people. The place has been ruled over since the beginning of time. It hasn't worked yet and it never will (pay attention Iraq). Every great empire had brought their version of peace, but every great empire has fallen, and these people have been RULED for that long. Imagine what that does to the psychology of the masses. Talk about learned helplessness, people here don't even try anymore. Instead of nurturing their growth into a democratic lifestyle as you would a child who needed to learn to behave, we (the US) have threatened them with just being ruled again. Good Job George. Being in the classroom all day I realize that this country is the one child that acts out because it is a latch-key kid. It's parents were never home, and when they were they didn't spend any time with the kids. This is a place that needs to be nurtured and guided, not punished and threatened.

I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT
It took a long time to find, but I have found many amazing things in Syria. Firstly, it has some of the richest world history when compared to most other countries. The historical sites here are amazing. This place is one of the oldest inhabited regions on earth. Mankind learned to live together here (not very well obviously) long before Plato's Republic. The artwork and music of this region is ancient and important. As far as fine arts is concerned, this country is one of the beginning pillars to the world of art and music as we know it. The largest mosaic in the world is located just down the road. For as much as they dislike each other, the people here are amazingly welcoming to foreigners and have been known to be that way for some time. If it wasn't for Phonecian traders we wouldn't have our alphabet as we know it today.
Obviously these are some well known attributes of the Levantine Middle East, but with my search I have found more. The increasingly small middle class is the cultural life-blood of this country. During this day and age the rich want to be rich, and the poor don't know any better, but the middle-class has held on to the importance of education, understanding the fine arts, literature, and debate. If you find those imprisoned for speaking out they will be from an educated middle-class. Poetry readings happen behind closed doors, and plays are performed critical of modern government. Humanitarian groups secretely meet proudly discussing ways to make thier country better. Ambitious twenty-somethings can rattle off great ways of improving the economy, and even better schemes for escaping it! The main point is that even though there is a vary dark side to Syrian lifestyle it is in an infancy of cultural reform. The miniscule changes enacted by the government relieve huge pressure from advocacy groups and intellectuals. With every tiny withdrawl of control the "middle" asserts itself back onto the scene of Syrian life with art shows, plays, and open debates about reform. I have always known change was coming slowly but I never realized what type of change was upon these people. With little efforts made by the goverment the Syrian culture could again be widely accepted as being as amazing as it was once known.

In my search for finding culture here I have found a small peep-hole into what no Westerner could ever imagine. A thriving scene of intellectuals and artists, writers and producers, professors and businessmen. All living life in what I would call "Arab Culture." From the beginning I have stated to most who asked the difference between this country and mine is the ability to chase a dream, and hope that the dream can come true. Looking through my peep-hole I can see that others DO have this dream for their own country. A country that needs them so much more than they need it. A country that is spiraling down the drain of social and economic innequality. A country that could easily attain greatness. A country called Syria.