Return and Review

Re-arrival to America has been rather seamless. I am happy to be home, but I am even happier that I went. My time in the Middle East was life changing and eye opening. It is very difficult to summarize my time there, but more than anything I will remember the people I met, the Egyptian and Syrian students especially. Everyone has been asking me all kinds of questions about my trip, and I truly feel that so much is misunderstood between our cultures because of a lack of travel to these areas. As I mentioned in my first post, it is uncommon for Americans to visit the Middle East, often opting for the tropics or Europe. For students especially, however, programs like this one allow a frame of reference where we can actually speak knowledgeably about the places and people we have visited. Aside from sounding like a shameless promotion for the Dialogues program, I can honestly recommend such voyages to everyone I know. Almost everyone has asked me about safety concerns during my travels, and I can sincerely say that I always felt very safe. As one of our professors put it, one advantage to authoritarian governments is that they do have tight control over the people, and therefore a tourist can feel very safe. It would be important to read (a lot) about the places you were visiting before you went, however. I would recommend catching up on the last 60 or so years of history in the region, specifically American foreign policy. Happy travels…

Aspirations and Art

Today we had a lovely tour of the brand new Islamic Art museum here in Doha.

Museum of Islamic Art

The really wealthy get to enter the museum by boat

Pathway into the museum, its over the water

Pages of the Qur'an from the 6-7 century

Beautiful building across from Museum

We rushed (literally, ran to the van) to make it back to the hotel in time to watch President Obama’s speech in Cairo to the “Muslim world”. I thought his address was excellent; he made solid points with some concrete actions. More actions are of course necessary to back up what he said. I was especially happy to see him quote the Qur’an as often as he did. I am curious to hear the reaction of people around the world now, how he measured up to their exceedingly high expectations.

Obama on our hotel TV

So off to the plane tonight! Will post reactions upon re-arrival to America.

Pride and Patience

*** There are three new posts below this one, check it out. : )

Ever since getting home from Paris last December, I found myself suffering from a lack of adventure and excitement. Northeastern was nothing academically or socially compared to my time in France, and life seemed a monotonous routine. This trip was exactly what I needed to reboot my system. The constant hammering and processing of information and consistent adjustment to our schedule and maneuverings was a fantastic experience.

People have already asked me how this trip has changed me and indeed, there is no way this 5 week adventure in the Middle East could not be life changing. Besides gaining more patience and perspective, there are a couple specific ways that I feel I have changed. I have decided to stop eating cow or pig, or any meat other than seafood and chicken. This decision has been in the making for years, but was confirmed by the witness of some butchering around the region. In Cairo, animals were butchered right in store fronts and carcasses were hung prominently in many windows. In Syria, I saw a sheep butchered in the street, bloody skins stacked on trucks, and many dead animals in windows. Of course, one can find similar practices in France where dead animals are proudly displayed in any market. In any place, I would rather not partake in eating something that I cannot even witness dead without feeling nauseous.

Another serious change concerns alcohol. In an attempt to be considerate/adapt to the traditional Muslim culture which is prevalent in these countries I decided before I came here not to drink on the trip. I am not a serious drinker at home, but I enjoy champagne and wine since France especially. I broke my own rule twice- both because of types of ‘social pressure’. At my roommate’s birthday party at the King Tut Discotheque in Luxor where the owner made her two cakes and basically provided free drinks, I had a Heineken. The second time was a result of intense social pressure by of all things, our Syrian hostess at Chillo’s Club in Damascus. “Why aren’t you drinking?” She demanded. “Oh, well, I guess I was trying to be considerate of the culture?” I said. “But it is an open bar! You like wine? I get you wine.” And that was the end of it, I had a glass of wine.

What I did not expect is that I would feel prouder than ever to be American. Oh man does that sound cliché. It is almost hard to write. But I think it is unfair for radically conservative republicans to monopolize the phrase (they can have the song). I am proud for lots of reasons. Obama, of course, is one. But being a part of change is greater than Obama. Living in a society where not only can I say what I want, but if I feel passionately enough I can enact real change. My brother and others will call me an idealist. Fine, I know I am, always have been. But I don’t think anything great was ever accomplished by a pessimistic attitude.

~ * ~

Randomness and Riyals

When I was in high school, my psychology teacher told me about an exercise called ‘free write’, to get all your thoughts out on paper without any self-censorship. When I was having a hard time focusing and processing in Cairo, I attempted this exercise. This is what appeared in my notebook:
Overweight people. Female circumcision. Food. Hooka. Dirt. Pastries. Cabs. Holes. Police follow. Homosexuals. “America is our Godfather”. Looks. Stares. Faces. Frowns. Poverty. Child sleeping alone at station. Man standing. People laughing. Groups of boys. Car accident. Blue collared shirts. Smoking. Talking. Games. Bowtie shaped crepe. “Good French schools here”. TV stations. “Only rich women can have sex”. Learning Arabic. Trash land. Zebeleen. “They are not all poor, just invest money differently”. How is that possible.

We have now dealt with 3 different exchange rates. 5.6 Egyptian pounds to the dollar, 46 Syrian pounds or lira to the dollar, and currently in Qatar it is 3.5 Riyals to the dollar. All of this math makes me desperate for my calculator (or my friend Chelsea who is a math major) at home, the one thing I should have brought. Otherwise, I can safely say now that I packed very well and I have been complimented on how little I brought. I was also thrilled to be able to donate some clothes in Syria, hopefully they will go to Iraqi refugees.

On TV right now in my hotel room is coverage of Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia. “I want to create a better dialogue” he said in an interview earlier this week. This is why I voted for Obama. How appropriate for our program and what a perfect conclusion for our trip to see what he says tomorrow at his speech in Cairo.

My view on Inauguration Day in DC.

I feel like I could give Obama a little advice at this point: Continue to change the dialogue-stop automatically labeling “terrorist”, what we call terrorist groups can be freely elected political groups. Try to feel the pain of being occupied by Israel, and understand their reluctance and skepticism about creating a viable peace. Stop unconditional support for Israel with real consequences to back up requests like “stop building settlements”. And, remember the diversity of the Middle East, or Arab world. I found it somewhat strange that he is addressing the “Muslim world”, considering that there are many Arabs who are Christians, Druze, non-believers, etc.

Things that blew my mind:
-    A high up at the Arab League saying many would consider a bi-national state for Israel-Palestine. How on Earth.
-    The Mayor of Quneitra explaining the trauma of occupied life for Syrians in the Golan Heights “Would any human being who enjoys a particle of morality accept this?” he asked us.
-    A journalist at Al-Ahram explained hatred of America. “I look at it differently; it has to do with the cultural mythology of American society. It was established and created as a transitional society for Israel before the state of Israel was created. And this affected the culture, especially the political culture. I try to tuck this in the back of my mind. I think the US is really very much a part of Israel.” I do not deny that Israel has historically had an enormous amount of influence/lobbying in the US government. However, to assert that the US was created as a transitional society for Israel is absurd.

Specific revelations I have had:
1)    The Arab-Israeli conflict is truthfully, wherever we went, the number one concern for people of many classes and backgrounds.
2)    Almost everyone is ethnocentric, or believes that their country is the best. Even if they are aware that they have less political freedoms than others.
3)    My dad was right about talking to people- just ask them about themselves. People love talking about themselves and their family.
4)    I feel like a lot of problems we have between east and west is due to language barriers. The majority of Westerners do not know Arabic to the extent that Arabs know English. If we cannot even learn the language, how can we expect to communicate openly and productively? The languages are really different, but definitely not impossible to learn.

Qatar: Land of steel and sand

Right now, as I sit in my posh Mopicken hotel room, my view from the 25th floor is rather dismal. As I discussed with Steph last night, we feel like we have already left the Middle East. Doha is a bizarre land, straight from a science-fiction movie. I expect to see Will Smith flying around in a car. A feast of modern architecture, towers of steel buildings soar upwards. They cover the dry land made of sandy dirt and concrete. The sun is powerful but foggy because of the sand, and everything is dusty. The city is right on the water, the Persian Gulf but it doesn’t feel at all like a “beach town”. New towers are being built in every direction, construction zones and cranes are everywhere. The wealth in this area is astounding.

Skyline of construction

Closer view of some buildings

A building through our bus window

There is an ice rink in one of the enormous malls. Why.

And then there is the heat. Unlike anything I have ever seen, the temperature here today was about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. It felt hotter outside today than in the hotel’s sauna. For the brief periods of time I was outside the last couple of days, I found myself literally moving slower, as if shutting down. I could not really open my eyes, and found it difficult to breathe. At this point of heat, being covered definitely works to your advantage, since the sun is so powerful. My mom said to me before I left that I would probably find people covered themselves more here because of the weather. In this particular environment, I would say she is definitely right. The men traditionally wear a white long sleeve/long pants garb with a head covering. What I do not understand, at all, is why the women traditionally wear the same but in black, and sometimes with their face covered as well. I am sure everyone is aware that black is the worst color to wear in intense sunlight. Why, then, must women wear this color. Tradition? Oppression? Choice? Self-inflicted pain in reverence for Allah? Social pressure?

The only answer I have was given to me by Raya, the editor of the very popular website IslamOnline.com, and a woman who herself was fully veiled for several years. Raya explained that there is a Hadith (the contextual stories of Quranic verses) which justifies women being completely covered in black. This Hadith says that when Mohammed announced the verse which calls for women to be modest in their dress, his women followers were found the next day to be dressed “like crows”. And apparently people have historically interpreted this to mean that women were dressed head to toe in black. In my Islam class last semester, we spoke a lot about how the Hadiths are not always relevant or reliable, but include a lot of writing which can be used to justify certain practices in Islam. For example, what if crows at the time were in fact white? Can we really know what looking like crows means? I don’t have any problem with women wearing a veil, if it is their choice. But why black?

Qatar seems to be famous for its freedom of speech in an area traditionally with less freedom to say what you want. Yesterday, we toured the international headquarters of Al Jazeera, the most popular Arab/Middle Eastern independent satellite news channel. The channel is known in the region for tackling issues head on, without bias, and with context. We met with a Program Editor (a Brit) and the Head of International and Media Relations (a Canadian).

Al Jazeera English television studio

Obama was on their computer's screensavers

Talking with the people behind the curtain

A political cartoon hanging in their office

“I want to take Al-Jazeera with me” Steph just said, sitting next to me finishing up her blogs. We have really enjoyed Al-Jazeera English, a station that reports news without all the glitz and unnecessary drama of stations like CNN or the dreaded Fox news.

The people we met with at Al-Jazeera explained their freedom to report what they want from the haven of a country where the royal family has taken pride in Qatar’s freedom of speech. As long as they have that support, their funds are basically limitless. People from all over the world are drawn to work at Al Jazeera, for its strong credibility as a real news organization, with a focus on finding the voices of the traditionally unheard, from the southern hemisphere. Many people back home have a misguided idea of Al Jazeera, as the medium through which Al Qaeda launches its videos etc. This is simply not true.

I asked our presenters about Al Jazeera’s reaction to Obama choosing the other major news channel in the region, Al Arabiya, for his first televised interview in the region. At first, they said they were simply happy about the interview for the region’s sake, but eventually admitted that it must have been a tactical decision on the part of the Obama administration to avoid direct interaction with Al Jazeera, but they hope this will change in the future. Especially since Al Jazeera English will be broadcasting from Washington DC beginning next month.

Today we heard from a producer at the Doha Debates center. The Doha Debates are an important forum for discussing a variety of issues to do with the Arab world or Islam. (Learn more www.dohadebates.com). They are conducted entirely in English however and the prestigious and highly educated people they choose to debate are required to speak English. This struck me as odd, and I asked the producer about it. She explained that the targeted audience was mainly English speaking. From what I can tell, English speakers in this region are the upper class and highly educated. So it sounds a bit like the elite sitting and discussing the commoners’ problems without involving them…but I could be wrong, something for further research.

Syria conclusions: Sanctions and Silk

“It is difficult to bear the brunt of 40 years of frustration,” Jared explained, after our professors asked our thoughts about a meeting with the Syrian Minister of Information. He is right; I think we all felt we were representing the US in Syria, which can be good or bad, depending on the subject. While we were in Syria, I think people were just really looking for us to say we messed up, and we will fix things. Or, more specifically, they wanted to hear that we hated the Bush administration, agreed on the blunders in Iraq, and that we wanted Obama to help create a viable solution in the Middle East peace process by ending unconditional support for Israel.

For me personally, none of this was hard to say since I agree. I know some of my colleagues had some trepidation in Syria as far as expressing themselves. And I did self-censure my blog posts to a certain extent. It was obvious we were followed and watched, and I just wanted to be sure to be careful while under the gaze of the Syrian government.
What I am happy to say now about Syria is that it is a beautiful, extremely diverse country. Self-titled the ‘cradle of civilizations’, the sheer amount of cultures and civilizations that have passed through the region does make it truly unique.
As far as the government is concerned, the people are seemingly obsessed with their leader Basher Al-Assad. His picture is absolutely everywhere. All over. In every room and hallway of every governmental building, his portrait was even in the copy room. Everyone I asked, even if no one was around, said they absolutely loved him. “He is doing so much to lead Syria to the future, for education”, a student told me. Alright, I thought, I mean some of our country is kind of obsessed with Obama. I get that. But what happens in Syria if they don’t like their next leader? Do the Syrian people have the means or ability to seriously react to a poor leader? For example, with regime change, like we finally did by overthrowing Bush? I am nervous for the future of Syria in that sense.

While touring the Golan Heights, already overcome with emotion, a very inquisitive Syrian student asked me a bunch of questions about the US. He very politely told me that in the US we think we are free, but we are only free to follow one specific track. It was an astute observation, if it was true. I replied that we do in fact have freedom of choice and that we can and do jump the track all the time. Besides being involved in national decisions, I explained how local politics work. I was a delegate to the Massachusetts State Convention which voted for Governor Deval Patrick, and every citizen can vote for or against proposed motions on ballots.
He was also very curious about gay marriage, something I am adamantly for. I told him I knew it would be difficult for him to understand, and maybe hard to hear since homosexuality is such a forbidden subject in many countries. Surprisingly, he had an extremely enlightened view about it, agreeing that people should be able to love who they want, and even proposed his belief that being homosexual is something people cannot control and even something that might be predetermined.

The people we met with Syria were all really concerned about the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act (SAA) of 2003, recently and surprisingly renewed by President Obama. The act affects a variety of things which I explained in an article I wrote for the main page (www.northeasternjournalisminthemiddleeast.wordpress.com). After reading the entire act through twice, I was startled by a couple of things. It is extremely outdated first of all, the US complains about Syria selling its oil to Iraq under the Saddam Hussein regime. As far as punishments, or sanctions, it calls for restricted travel of diplomats at the UN in NYC and in Washington DC to no more than a 25 mile radius from those two cities. It also says to “Reduce United States diplomatic contacts with Syria”. This is something I will never understand. At what point do less dialogue, conversations, and argumentations help foster agreement and understanding? It is a stupid policy. After some research on the act, I think that Obama renewed it solely for political leverage as he moves forward in the peace process. It was probably a smart move, to have something to reward Syria with if it makes sacrifices in one way or another.

A few of us were fortunate to meet Muhammed, the owner of a wonderful boutique in the Damascus hotel. He gave us tea and gifts, and even dressed me up in a traditional silk woven hand made Syrian bedouin outfit! It was worth thousands of dollars.

Honor and I outside the Ummayad Mosque, wearing my Godmother's beautiful silk scarf!

Bacchus and Baboons

Before we left Thursday night, we were witness to an amazing traditional Syrian wedding right here in our lobby. We saw the men drumming and chanting, and the traditional sword fight.

The arch the groom walked under

The weekend has passed very quickly for me here in Syria. On Thursday, just before the spa experience, I learned about the weekend plans- to head north. We left Friday morning for Maaloula, about an hour north of Damascus. This is the only town in the world where Aramaic is still spoken, the language of Jesus. We went to the Convent of Saint Serge and Saint Bacchus, a beautiful building hundreds of years old built into the mountainside.

So much luggage, ready for Aleppo, Jared in between

The city of Maaloula

The Convent of Serge and Bacchus

This man followed us on our hike, driving past and parking so we would buy nuts/fruits from him

Winding around in cave paths

Modernization?

Donkey

We continued along Friday to the famous town where Crac des Chevaliers is, the castle of the crusaders, it is one of the largest and oldest in the world. It was a gorgeous castle, with incredible views.

Crac des Chevaliers

Me at the castle

Views inside the castle

Aqueducts

Me and Steph on the outer walls

Beautiful mountains, our hotel is down there somewhere

On Saturday, we woke up at our lovely hotel and moved northwards towards Aleppo, final destination. On the way, we stopped at a town with very famous water wheels.

Water wheels

Our driver got an ice cream while we looked at the wheels. He was such a great driver. Over 10 hours total all weekend he drove, and the bus was supplied with water in a cooler, bananas, and apples for us. We also watched movies- Mamma Mia, Kingdom of Heaven, and Tristan and Isolde. Strange combination of films…

Driver with his ice cream

Once we got to Aleppo, a town only 1.5 hours from Turkey, we went to the Citadel there. It was enormous, up on a hill, orginally with a moat and drawbridge.

The bridge to the citadel

My lemon mint drink, so refreshing, it was HOT- about 96 in the sun

The group finds some shade

Hiking up the citadel interior

After the Citadel, we checked into our hotel in Aleppo- it was amazing, with an enormous courtyard all the rooms looked out on.

My door is at the top of the stairs on the left

We went to the suk, or market Saturday night, an enormous market, the biggest in Syria. Famous mostly for Armenian silver, soaps, and linens. There was a really interesting contrast here, tons of stores that sold all types of lingerie, some quite riske, while the majority (if not all) of the women we saw at the market were completely covered in black, head to tow, some without eye holes, and were carefully examining the lingerie in lots of stores.

This man made a pair of earrings for me on the spot that I designed, from pearls and Armenian silver!

We met this French couple at the market, where we all sat and had tea in one of the shops. I was ecstatic to practice my French with them. They are 3 years in on a 13 year bicycle trek across the world. An incredible couple. I am hoping to welcome them to USA when they make it there in a few years.

Today we woke up and went to a mosque in Aleppo, and then had an uneventful 5 hour ride back to Damascus, save the fact that we met baboons at a pit stop.

The baboons in this decrepit cage devoured the bananas we gave them and it was possibly the cutest thing ever.

Pressure and Pause

****Please see new pictures on yesterday’s post “Birds and bombs”.

Today we met with the Minister of Information, another cabinet member and obviously a very high ranking member of Syrian government. It was a different format than we have been used to here. The set up was more like a press conference, with plenty of Syrian media there. The tables were turned on us (mostly on Professor Sullivan) a bit as well, since the Syrian media asked us many questions about US policy in Syria, about Obama, and of course about the Israeli occupation. Professor Sullivan did a really good job answering some tough questions. For example, how we differentiate between resistance and terrorism. It is an important question, as the saying goes, one person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. Professor Sullivan’s answer was simple and accurate in my opinion. “When innocent civilians are being killed, it is terrorism”.

Our group here has had many discussions about how we feel as ambassadors or at least representatives of our country here. The pressure is even greater since Americans do not often visit the area, let alone visit with Syrian cabinet members, and so we know that our viewpoints are very important. It is a lot of pressure for a group of young students to have, as we try to represent our country well, maintain our personal opinions, and also remain objective (as journalists and political scientists) in our assessments.

In order to release some of the intense pressure we have been feeling, a bunch of us decided to take part in the ultimate relaxation experience, a Turkish bath or hammam. We were guided tonight through some winding and strange smelling streets to a random door. We were led inside by our guide Osama, and separated into men and women changing areas (in the same room, but separated by hanging towels). I am pretty sure that normally people go naked but we were all much more comfortable wearing our bathing suits. They rented out the whole place for us, so we could go in together. Normally, it is only men in the bath and women have specially allocated hours twice a week. Also, normally a woman would go with the women in the spa, to wrap them in towels and scrub/massage them. But, since we had men with us, none of the female workers were allowed in. Despite all this protocol, we had an amazing time. The bath consisted of several rooms full of varying levels of steam, lots of faucets with cold and hot water, and a room for the scrub and massage. The soap was about 100% olive soap, it was lovely. The scrub was a bit harsh but replenishing and of course very cleansing. I would definitely recommend the experience to anyone. After about an hour, we left the spa and had dinner (while all wrapped in our towels).

Relaxing after the bath experience

Me, Christina and Honor eating some dinner. The bananas were from Ecuador.

James and others enjoying themselves

Birds and Bombs

Today we went to Quneitra, about an hour west of Damascus. The province is 1860 square kilometers and 1260km of that is under Israeli occupation, the Golan Heights. Part of the town has been kept as it was after the 1967 war, as an exhibition of the brutality the war resulted in. Before viewing the destruction, we were fortunate to meet with the mayor of Quneitra.”They destroyed everything,” he said, “man, stone, and trees”. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the forefront of everyone’s minds here when discussing relations with the United States. Our visit to the Golan was a rare and fortunate opportunity exemplified by the fact of national news coverage of the event (a few students were interviewed). For now, I am just going to let the pictures speak for themselves, as I gather my thoughts and delve into more discussions with my peers. It is an extremely sensitive topic, and I want to be sure to discuss it with as much reflection as it deserves.

Olive orchards and snowy mountaintop on the way

UN checkpoint

Our meeting with the mayor

One of dozens of destroyed homes

Hospital window with bullet holes, the hospital was used for target practice after the initial destruction

hospital facade

Inside the hospital

A bombed out Greek orthodox church

Our police escort

me and a UN soldier at the border with Israeli occupied lands

Birds were everywhere throughout the day. They reminded me how nature endures as humankind destroys itself.

Syrian flag with Israel occupied Golan Heights in the background (they are on top of the mountain)

The Scottish thistle in Syria! The climate is so interesting at the Golan. The temperature was absolutely perfect, and one of our hosts told me that one translation for Golan is beautiful weather.

Barbed wire seperates us from field with land mines, and Israel on mountain in distance. The land mines have even recently killed and mamed people and animals in the region.

Rich talking with a high ranking Syrian army official

One of the reasons the Golan Heights are so highly contested is because of their richness as an agricultural area. In addition to the temperate climate, the soil here was made originally from volanic activity and is ideal for many types of crops.

Supermarkets and Sanctions

I just got back from the supermarket in the mall across the street. Christina P. wanted to go get food (KFC in fact) so I went along. I took the opportunity to try wearing my headscarf, to see if I got a different reaction from the locals. In fact, I did get quite a different feeling from people. I cannot quite pinpoint it yet, something along the lines of either simply blending in or feeling more respected. I don’t want to read that much into it, of course. But I definitely got a different vibe.

Today we met first with a group of Syrian students at Damascus University, the largest university in Syria with 130,000 students as opposed to Northeastern University’s hefty 23,000. It was an awkward set up, with all Syrians on one side of the room facing the Americans directly across. We overcame the initial language issues (us speaking too fast) and the general uneasiness that comes with a confrontation of this sort. The dialogue was organized to be an exchanging of stereotypes we had about each other’s cultures in order to learn the realities behind them, if any. One of the most striking things we heard was a woman expressing her sadness that all Americans think she is a terrorist and hate her because she is Arab. “We would like to be friends with you, to show you who we are. Why do you not welcome me, I want to love you, I know we can be friends”. It was such a heartbreaking lament, and of course we immediately responded that obviously we don’t feel this way (that all Arabs are terrorists) but instead we feel proud to represent people in our country who want to fix these stereotypes.

We did not have too many stereotypes about them to present, because we are so cut off from Syria, I doubt the average American knows anything at all about the country. The Syrian students, however, did have some other really interesting stereotypes about us, for example that American women do not care at all about their appearance (which we mostly disagreed with, although after living in Paris I am shocked at the NU students who meander campus in their sweatpants or pajamas), that American men are presented in movies always as a superman who can do anything (interesting point to reflect on), and that Americans are not as family oriented (for example, young adults do not leave home here when they turn 18 and there is no such thing as nursing homes). As one student explained it, “Family in our society is founder of morality”.

We also spoke about veiling and dressing issues for women. Someone asked one of the veiled girls what she thinks of us being unveiled. She thought it was fine because we are representing our culture. But she explained she would have a problem with a Syrian girl dressing very immodestly, because this is not her culture. The same Syrian student asked us what we thought when we saw a woman in a full length black covering. “She must be so hot” Dani replied, with resounding laughter on both sides. I asked what we should think, having at this point only the perspective from Raya who said it was about submission to the husband’s will. To my surprise, the students confirmed what Raya said about the full covering, it is most often done to respect the father or husband’s will. This does not apply at all to the headscarf, or hijab, as one student pointed out she wears her headscarf in defiance of her father who is not religious.

When we broke into smaller groups, I was speaking with a student and learned that she studies French literature, and plans on studying in Paris soon. We switched to French, which made it a whole lot easier to communicate. She was a Christian, and was explaining to me how in Syria, it doesn’t matter so much what religion you are. They all grew up together; there is no clear line between the Druze, Muslims, or Christians.

After this meeting, we moved along to meet the President of Damascus University. He spoke a lot about wanting more collaboration with American universities, but being stifled on the American side of things because of our government. They prevented one of his colleagues from finishing his PhD degree because he was Syrian, by not renewing his visa. This year they sent 200 PhD students to France, 95 to Germany, but only 2 were allowed in the US. He also explained how academic partnerships could lead the way for broader diplomatic relations. I completely agree. Exchange programs are crucial in increasing dialogue between our cultures. And many of the problems between us I truly believe result from a huge lack of information, on both sides (but more on ours…).

The President of Damascus University, second from left. Giant picture of the president of Syria behind him. These portraits are everywhere.

Tonight we met with the Minister of Higher Education, a high ranking member of the government. It was interesting to see how quickly talk about education turned into talk about the peace process, resolving issues in the Palestine-Israeli conflict. As I explained yesterday, it is all so closely related here. Anything we talk about has to do with this heart wrenching situation simply because the conflict is next door; these are their neighbors, family, and friends. It was interesting to learn that any Palestinian or Iraqi refugee is given full benefits of higher education in Syria, and pays the same tuition (near nothing) as Syrian citizens. They don’t even officially call them refugees, but prefer the term guests. He said that 30,000 Iraqi students are enrolled in Syrian universities. And while the UN has given funds to other countries to accommodate the influx of Iraqis, Syria has gotten significantly less money.

We spoke a lot about the Syrian Accountability Act today. This is the act that outlines sanctions against Syria for whatever reason from the US. Unfortunately, Obama has recently renewed these sanctions. Emily and I are working on a story about the act for the main blog page. So you will learn a lot more about it soon.