December in Damascus

It's official--Jill and I are returning to Damascus in December for two weeks of training. Jill will get to travel outside Damascus to visit schools where inclusion is taking place (Homs and Tartus). We are both scheduled to participate in a national conference on disabilities and conduct trainings for nonprofits.

I will be visiting University of Damascus and conducting workshop on drama and disabilities.

Full schedule but we are very excited about seeing all our friends and continuing our work.

Our trip runs December 3-17, so keep a watch for blogs.

Last Few Days In Damascus

Our trainings are done and we are on the down slope of our stay in Damascus. Although we are ready to head home, we will miss this great city and the great people—friends—we have found here. Several of them have hosted us over the last couple of days.

Last week, Hazem (our greatest champion here) and his parents took us to “the world’s biggest restaurant” according to the sign outside. I didn’t count, but they told us the restaurant could serve 6,000 people at one time—most in outdoor gardens. It was huge, but since temperatures have hovered in the min-90s for the last week, we ate in a huge banquet hall.

Yesterday, Maya (Jill’s interpreter friend) took us to a gallery opening in the Jewish quarter of the old city. Although there are few Jewish people left (although some remain), the area has been taken over by artists. We visited the gallery of Moustafa Ali, one of Damascus’ most famous. It was quite a place with cellars filled with artwork.

Later, we had dinner with people from the embassy and a member of AAMAL’s board and her husband. We ate on the roof of a hotel owned by Marie (the board member) and her family close to Bab Toume. Bab is Arabic for gate and there are seven in the old city, with our hotel close to the eastern gate—Bab Sharqi. Makes it very easy to direct taxi drivers, because they all know Bab Sharqi. Dinner was lovely, although Jill is still recuperating from a stomach virus that really knocked the wind out of her sails.

On the way home, we passed Eureka, this really cool pizza shop we’ve had take-out from several times. One of the owners who knows us rushed out to say he had seen us on TV last week. Unfortunately, he didn’t ask for our autographs.

Today, Moutaz, Ruba and their son Kareem drove us into the mountains to see Maloula, a Syrian Orthodox Convent. Quite impressive. The story goes that a young girl, Takla, had run away from home because she had become a Christian in 45 AD, but her father sent servants to retrieve her. When she reached the mountains they opened in front of her and she escaped the servants. The convent lies in the mountain range that separates Syria and Lebanon, and for all the world looks like parts of Arizona—including the scorching heat.

T.V. Stars

One of my media friends, Kinde, has a TV show on Syria TV, state-run satellite station, and invited us to appear. It was live and dealt with disabilities and what we were doing in Syria. The studio was a quarter of the size of my studio at Sprayberry, but the crew was very professional. It went great. Jill was a star. We talked about our workshops and how impressed we are with the commitment Syria has to advance the lives of the disabled. I felt right at home and Jill had to stop me from playing director.

The next day one of Jill’s friends, May, invited us to the country home of another friend. After bumping through tiny back streets about 15 miles north of Damascus we reach the house. We discovered that this was a ‘summer home’ and once inside, found a lavish back garden with grape vines everywhere and a swimming pool—but nobody told us to bring suits. Damn, could have used a swim in this heat. There were several other couples and Maha (May’s friend) set out yet another lavish Syrian meal. These meals seem to overflow the table and Maha’s husband insisted we try everything on the table. Then fruit in the garden. Then sweets. We should have walked back to the city to walk off the dinner.

Tonight we had dinner at a lovely outdoor restaurant with Moutez, the PR director at AAMAL, with his wife and child. It was wonderful to see them caring for their 18-month-old boy. It took real restraint on Jill’s part not to bring the boy back with her. Rubara works for the first lady. We discovered the first lady spent her first 25 years in England—her father was a surgeon there. The president was an ophthalmologist in London and that’s where they met. We are going to find a way to meet the first lady, who is the patron of AAMAL, when we come back in December.

Tomorrow is my final day of training. This group has been a bit more contentious than in March. Actually, only one guy seems to question things I say. I think it is working for me, because the others are seeing his reluctance to consider new ways to do journalism. The rest of the group has been very supportive and seem genuinely interested in expanding the coverage of the disabled. In fact, two of the young people from March (who were back in May)—Milia and Arwa—will adapt the workshop and present it to new groups of journalists starting in July. It is so great to see such energy and commitment. They are part of a small cadre of young people who have big plans about changing how journalism is done in Syria.

Dinner With May

Wednesday, we were invited to dinner with one of Jill’s participants, May, who works for the Ministry of Education and also heads a women’s organization—a very influential person.

She selected a restaurant that gave us an Indian Jones-esque journey through the back alleys of the old city. Our friend at the hotel told us to go left, go right and then ask somebody. We finally found it, but had to backtrack because the restaurant was in the Moslem quarter of the old city and didn’t serve drinks.

The dinner was to begin at 9 PM (yes, our bedtime). Syrians prefer late dinners even though they still arrive early to work the next day. Yikes. We could only do that once, but it does allow us to go to any restaurant at our normal time (6 PM) and ALWAYS find a table—usually the only ones in the place.

There were a dozen at dinner and everyone was talking at once, which was fun. The waiters started to bring wave after wave of food—dishes piling up on top of each other. The dishes were fantastic—hummus, dips, salads, chicken, lamp, beef. I looked at all this then at my watch realizing I would be going to bed stuffed.

Not to worry. We left at 11 PM (the rest of the folks were there until 1 AM) and walked more than a mile back to our hotel. Now we know why there are very few overweight people in Damascus—you walk everywhere.

We spent the morning at AAMAL and then Jill was off to the Ministry of Education for a meeting. We have another meeting at 5 with the media folks I met in March. Jill said the meeting went very well, with the deputy minister for research accepting all of the surveys Jill’s team has been working on to assess teacher and parent attitudes about inclusion. They also presented a rubric to be used to evaluate inclusive classrooms this fall—the minister was doubly impressed with that.

Tomorrow, we will be interviewed live on Syria TV, a show about disabilities. The host was one of my participants in March and it should be fun, but we spent the morning for an outfit for Jill to wear.

Our Anniversary

What a memorable place to celebrate our 36th anniversary. Our friends at AAMAL gave us a surprise party not with one but three cakes (there goes the diet). They are so kind to us, always solicitous about our needs. We had to take the hear-shaped cake home with us and had some this morning—again, not a ‘healthy’ breakfast.

In the evening we went to the Cham Palace Hotel that has a revolving restaurant that gives a great panoramic view of the city. Good food and incredible view.

Jill has almost finished with her workshop—getting the participants ready to re-deliver training for including students with special needs into the regular classroom, which begins Fall. We had thought about visiting other cities over the weekend, but since the temp is supposed to be in the high 90s, think we’ll hide out someplace cool. Besides we are scheduled to return in December when we will be able to travel more.

Check AAMAL’s website—Jill is featured on front page. http://www.aamalsyria.org/ (you can translate through Google)

My training doesn’t begin until Sunday, although I’ve spent the week with the PR team at AAMAL going over a long list of questions.

We continue to be amazed at the openness and friendliness of everyone we meet—from our friends at AAMAL to shopkeepers and even taxi drivers. Jill no longer freaks out when we get into the cabs. It seems they negotiate the streets with the skill of ice skaters (maybe more like hockey players without the crashing into each other).

Arrived In Damascus

Well, we’re back. Trip was fine, although 14 hours in a jam-packed airplane was not the most exciting part of the trip. We landed in Dubai on time and found our hotel right in the gate area. For a place in an airport, it was fancier than most places we’ve stayed. Had fish and chips at an Irish Pub, also in the airport. Flight to Damascus next morning was lovely—Jill says we are only allowed to fly Emirates Air from now on.

We are staying at the Hanania again, but they put us in a bigger room up four flights of stairs, but the room has more desks, more windows and its own terrace. As we walked to the hotel, several of the shopkeepers greeted us like we were old friends—a real sense of home away from home.

Spent Sunday at AAMAL. Jill met with her participants from March. Jill says they were even sitting in the same seats they had in March. She had a wonderful time with them and continues until Thursday. I found out my training was to begin Monday, then it was changed until next Sunday. We have learned to expect the unexpected.

It is great to be back in Damascus. Feels like we were here just a few weeks ago, everything is so familiar. Had dinner last night in our favorite restaurant, but this time the awning covering the courtyard was pulled back. Great to have that el fresco feel. The weather is wonderful—cool, dry and sunny. Only supposed to be 78 degrees today, down to 58 tonight.

We're Off (Flying that is)

Well, the day is here and we're just waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport. No way we were going to have the kids drive us, since traffic is a nightmare and we would be panicked. We return 5:30 AM, June 7th, so we've arranged for a round trip on the shuttle.

We have been working on new presentations and hope we can advance the training we did in March.

Fortunately, we will be staying in the same hotel--Hanania--in the old city, which is so wonderful because we know the area so well.

Can't wait to see all our friends and get to work.

Back to Damascus

As many of you already know, Jill and I have been invited back to Damascus to continue the work begun in March. We leave May 20 with an overnight in Dubai. We will be in Damascus two weeks.

Jill will be meeting with her workshop participants and visiting schools. Students with special needs will begin to enter regular classrooms in Fall. This will be piloted with about 1,000 kids throughout the country, but that may be ambitious.

I will be meeting with my workshop participants to discuss what stories they have been able to work on since I left. We will also examine ways to find and prepare stories--most likely focused on Jill's inclusion program. There is also a chance I will be working with a new cadre of journalists, meeting with an ad hoc committee of journalists, etc.

We are so happy that we will be staying at the same hotel--Hanania. We loved the place and the people who cared for us there. Will be like going home.

Once again, we will count on Seth to post our blogs because we can't get access to the site from Syria.

So keep watching and reading.

Final Blog

Final Day in Damascus. We can’t believe that two weeks have gone by so quickly. We leave tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. to Paris then on to Atlanta. It will take a while to comprehend all we have experienced here, but the most profound impression is how warm and generous the Syrians are. We assumed the folks we would be working with would be friendly, but everyone we’ve met from cab drivers to our hosts at the hotel to the guy who runs the fast food restaurant around the corner has been so warm and generous. Although Syria doesn’t have the same level of wealth as the U.S., it is obvious the Syrians enjoy life.
Language has not been a problem. Many Syrians have a bit of English and are more than happy to practice. What can’t be said is usually be worked out in other ways. We have seen many foreign visitors, but few Americans, which is a real shame. This place offers everything from 2000 year old Roman ruins to a mall that would fit nicely in Buckhead. Moving around the city is a breeze, unless you actually watch the cab driver weaving through traffic bumper to bumper—and horn to horn—with hundreds of other cabs. Even Jill was able to sit back and relax—well, maybe not relax, but not screaming hysterically.

Jill had her final session with the administrators who had come from around Syria to learn about inclusion. They worked hard trying to integrate the concepts of inclusion into an education system that until now has not provided disabled children with access. These people realize the difficult task ahead of them, but most seem ready to take on the challenge. After the session, there were gifts, photos and hugs. They all seem to appreciate the effort Jill has made to explain inclusion and provided a process.

We have met so many wonderful people it is sad to realize we will not see them on a regular basis. But there is always email and AAMAL, the organization that brought us here, is already working on ways to bring us back. This was a trip of a lifetime for us. To be in Syria, to work with some outstanding teachers and media people, to make what we hope will be lasting friendships and to realize, yet again, what a small world we live in.

P.S. Jill is on her way out to go shopping with the vice-president's (not Biden) daughter-in-law. Her husband, Ali, the vice-president's son is the man for whom we have been working the last two weeks.

Our Hotel

We have been at the Hanania Hotel for over a week now and loving it. The hotel is just inside the east gate of the old city, down a cobblestone alley lined with small shops and an even smaller alley to its front door. Like most of the restaurants in the old city, our hotel is a converted home built around an open courtyard. There is a narrow entrance way that opens into a marble plaza with tables. In better weather, breakfast is served there. The rooms (nine total) hang precariously over the courtyard, reached by steep stone steps and balconies. Everything seems made from stone, even the insets for holding artwork. There is art everywhere. Our small room has five pieces of original art as well as a vase that must be a couple of hundred years old in what can only be described as a ‘shrine.’

The room is twice the size of a good cruise ship room, but gives us plenty of room. The walls are stucco, the framing heavy wood, open beam ceiling and heated marble floors. The bathroom is wonderfully appointed with rain shower and plenty of hot water. The most incongruous piece of furniture in the room is the 40” LG flat screen TV. That and the fact we have wireless internet.

There is no restaurant at the hotel, but they do serve breakfast. Each morning, we work our way down a narrow flight of stairs to what must have been a storeroom with arched stone walls and ceiling. Breakfast includes juice, coffee, rolls, yogurt, olives, cheese and hard-boiled eggs. The young man who serves is so nice as are all the people working here. We dropped off laundry yesterday morning, expecting it may take a day or two, but it was returned neatly folded last night. The people who run the place seem very relaxed, but they are also extremely efficient.

Even though we are in the middle of a sea of houses, it is surprisingly quiet in our room except for the occasional vendor hawking wares. The first day we passed through the alley, all the shop owners wanted us to come in. When we told them we were here to teach Syrian teachers and media people, they immediately dropped their ‘sales mode’. Now they just wave and smile as we pass.

Surprise

So we met the man who owns our hotel today. He’s a radiologist and a good friend of Tarif Backdash, an internist and the person responsible for us being in Syria. Seems every doctor we meet has four or five jobs. After a few minutes, he asked if we would like to accompany him to a Syrian Orthodox shrine in the mountains. But of course.

Ayham Adib bought the hotel two years ago and renovated it himself. It’s only been open a couple months, but has already been written up in the NY Times.

Anyway, he first took us on a walking tour of Bab Touma, which is the north gate of the old city. The gate itself dates back to Roman times and portions of the wall still stand. As we dodged cars on the way to his SUV, he explained that in Damascus, there are ‘spontaneous’ crosswalks, just like driving is ‘spontaneous.’

We wound our way into the mountains northeast of Damascus—these are the mountains that separate Syria from Lebanon. The trip took an hour and we ended up on top of a ridge at a huge building clinging to the side of the mountain. It is the convent of Our Lady of Saydanaya, and as Ayham explained, people—Christian and Moslem—come from all the area to offer prayers. The convent itself was established in 547 AD, but expanded over the centuries. The main attraction is a painting of Mary they say was painted by Luke—as in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. As part of the experience, you go into a tiny room that has an ornate cabinet where the painting is housed and light candles. Quite the mystical experience.

Our Day

First, a notice to those who may be following our blog. Unfortunately, we are not able to access blogspot here, but Seth has agreed to post for us. So we can’t respond until we return. (By the way, every young person here knows how to circumvent the blocks placed on Facebook, etc. We went into a shop the other day and a young boy was playing on a handheld. I asked if he was playing a game. He said, “No, I’m on Facebook.” Ah, technology and youth).

Our Day. Each morning, our driver picks us up in this fancy car with the AAMAL emblem on it. We think this might get us through traffic a lot faster than other cars. He whisks us to AAMAL headquarters, which is a very modern, all-marble building guarded by two ‘suits’ in sun glasses. A little woman immediately asks us what we want to drink and brings tea and coffee to wherever we are.

Our translators are waiting for us—these folks are remarkable. Not only do they translate, but they are able to convey the emotion behind the words. They are so sweet and want to help in any way they can.

Since many of our trainees have never even been around someone with a disability, they are in awe when we explain that the disabled are first and foremost people. As Richard’s translator, who is disabled, says if we can just raise awareness, we have done our jobs.

At the end of the day, our driver brings us back to the old city where our fabulous hotel sits and we collapse for an hour. When we say ‘old city,’ we’re not talking ‘old Roswell.’ The walls of the old city have been around for centuries, most homes built before 1800.

Now it’s time to find a restaurant for dinner. Wandering out into dusk, we walk the narrow streets of the old city crowded with shops, people and, unfortunately the occasional car trying to work its way through roadways just barely wide enough to pass.

We have had fabulous meals everywhere. At first we thought we might have to jump a taxi to find restaurants, but there has to be 20 within a short walk of our hotel. Each is set in what was once an old home, the main dining area in what had been open courtyards. Because the weather is still cool (by the way, I saw lots of snow on the mountains west of the city today), the courtyards are covered. But we can just imagine what it must be like to eat under the stars here. Guess we’ll just have to come back. Every restaurant has a full bar, but Jill has made it her mission to teach every bartender in town how to make a martini—so far not too successfully.

Dinners aren’t cheap. We typically pay around $50 a meal, but since the embassy is picking up the tab, we aren’t too worried. The food ranges from very good to fantastic. It seems to be a blend of Syrian cooking overlayed with French. And they always provide dessert. Usually a plate of fruit, but last night they brought Napoleons and what had to be home-made ice cream. Even Jill, who NEVER eats desserts had to try it.

Although we are really enjoying ourselves, we also think we are doing important work here. And by the responses of our trainees, we believe we are making a difference—if only to change attitudes about Americans. But the bottom line is, we want to change attitudes toward the community of disabled in Syria.

Our New Friends.

Although Jill has another week with her trainees, I finished my workshop today. The director of AAMAL asked me to have coffee while my participants were working on results and asked if I would be willing to do another training next week. Since Jill will still be training, I said yes.

I need to talk about the folks in my workshop. Most were from Syrian media—radio, TV, newspaper & web. It was a great mix of senior and young reporters—most of the young being females who spoke perfect English. If I could only clone these people and bring them back to Atlanta. They were so involved, so sincere and so eager to advance the image of the community of the disabled in Syria. They were so inquisitive that I only got through half of the powerpoints I had created. But it doesn’t matter because the discussions were so intense and exciting, we ran two hours over each day. After the session, they received lovely certificates and crowded around the stage for pictures—of the group, of one another and of me.

I was taken by the seriousness with which they participated in this workshop. It’s clear the media here is desperate to cover a population that until now was hidden from sight. What made the experience even more poignant was that my interpreter, Hazem, is in a wheelchair. One of the young girls came up after today’s session and said it was the first time she had interacted so directly with someone disabled and realized that she was looking beyond his chair to see the person. A great Ah ha moment.

Given the people I met this week, I think Syria’s media is in great hands.

Shopkeepers

The old city has thousands of tiny shops selling everything from souvenirs to spices. There doesn’t seem to be a central location for those who are souvenir shopping, and locals and tourists mix easily in the streets (dodging cars that seem to be weaving through what should be pedestrian walkways). The shopkeepers seem in no hurry to sell anything. No hard sell here. In fact, several times shopkeepers have left their small stores to show us around. When we do stop to look, it’s as if they are more interested in talking than selling—a really pleasant experience.



We pass one shop close to our hotel and the owner stepped out to greet us in perfect, Brooklyn-tinted English. He explained he had lived in New York for many years but decided to return to Damascus to run his family’s business. Instead of trying to sell us something, he wanted to know why we were here. He suggested places for us to visit and even invited us back to his house for dinner. I can’t imagine the owner of the Gap in one of our malls doing that. Maybe we need to bring some of these folks back with us and open a customer-service training program.



Jill plans to do some serious shopping this weekend, but for her, this is like dropping a kid in the middle of Disney World and saying have fun. I’m afraid she will overload with all the choices. Her one big purchase—a scarf—took almost 15 minutes. The shopkeeper wanted to show her everything in the store, and when he found out she was here to teach, immediately cut the price in half. So much for haggling.

Traffic.

It appears that most roads in Damascus have 3 3/8 lanes, although there are no lines on the road. And no stop lights. And no cross walks. Consequently, drivers use speed, guts and horns to navigate. And pedestrians tend to walk into the flow of traffic as though not realizing a huge bus is about to run them down. It would be fascinating if it wasn’t so scary. But nobody seems to notice the suicidal traffic patterns. Oh well.

Another good day of training. Jill did find out that her training has been cut by another day. Since her people come from all over the country, they didn’t want to go home, come back for one day, go home again and then come back. Who can blame them.

We finally get our missing piece of luggage. The agency where we are working has sent someone to pick it up. Nice to have people with pull around. In Arabic, it’s called wastah—big shoulders.

The rains have stopped and there is a beautiful blue sky. Not supposed to rain for the rest of the week, although it doesn’t seem to slow anybody down.

After several tries to find a Syrian restaurant that serves something other than French food, we were told by a young Danish couple staying at our hotel on a short vacation from their jobs in Ethiopia about a lovely Syrian restaurant that actually serves Syrian food. Yeah, your read right—Danes from Ethiopia visiting Damascus.

Despite heavy rains, our first day of training seemed to be a success. We are being sponsored the Syrian Organization for the Disabled (AAMAL). It is the main body that brings together government, nonprofits and media to enhance the education, work and image of the disabled. Its building reflects its importance to the country and includes a training center and offices.

Jill is working with mostly school administrators from around the country who are expected to train their teachers in inclusive education. Of course, they have fallen in love with her and she has them doing lots of hands-on activities.

I am working with media people and some PR people from nonprofits. The idea is to find ways of using the media to advance the goals of AAMAL. Good bunch of folks--very open to discussion and change.

This morning was the kick-off, supposedly at 9 am. While we sipped tea and Turkish coffee in the director's office at 9:30 we began to wonder if we were ever going to begin. Jill finally jumped up and shouted "I've got to set up my room!!!" Needless to say, we got under way shortly after. Of course, given our styles, we are already behind schedule...but we'll get everything done. And the fact Syria TV had a film crew in our faces didn't help the timing. We are so shy.

We are staying in the old city, surrounded by centuries-old walls. The place is a labyrinth of narrow streets crowded on both sides with shops--a souvenir shop next to a barber next to a butcher next to an everything shop. We were surprised walking back from dinner tonight by the fact that some shops were selling alcohol. So much for the Middle East image. Also, the streets were jammed with young people. And I swear I was in South Philly with a bunch of Angies and Tonys. Very swarthy guys, so naturally Jill has fallen off the sidewalk several times.

I will probably be visiting media outlets and Damascus University next week while Jill finishes her training. We found out today that next Monday is a national holiday, cutting her training by one day. As our friends here say, Muffi-moosh-gala--no problem. We will have the weekend (Friday and Saturday) to explore beyond the old city, including the hills that rise dramatically to the west of the city.

Arrived in Damascus after 11 hours in the air. Stuck in New York for two hours because of snow, then an hour for de-icing the plane. Yikes. When we arrived, a little man was standing at the gate with Jill's name on a card. He was our driver and walked us through the "diplomatic line."















Anyway, we felt very important. Of course, that feeling faded when we realized one of our bags--the one with all Jill's clothes--was still in New York. But Jill's a trooper (and Damsacus is full of stores). Our hotel is in the 'old city.'















It is a converted house and is lovely. We were going to take a stroll after a wonderful night's sleep and ended up wandering through endless streets of tiny shops for five hours. We also managed to spend all the Syrian money we had in the process.




















Ah well. Trainings start tomorrow and we are both excited.

In Amman

We are sitting in the Amman airport awaiting our flight to Damascus. Flight from New York was delayed two hours because of snow, but when we got on the plane. found out that there were only 50 other passengers. Had whole rows to ourselves, so we were able to get some sleep.

Of course, Friday disappeared in the time shift. We woke up expecting breakfast, but got another dinner.

Our flight leaves at 9:45 pm but is only about an hour. We're beat, but excited.

Well, we fly out today. First to New York (five hour layover--where's the bar?); next to Amman Jordan (11 hours); finally to Damascus. We will arrive there @9:30 pm (3:30 pm here). Embassy is sending a car to pick us up. Wonder if there'll be little flags on it?

Jill was packed three weeks ago; I can't find a suitcase. Since we are taking gifts for our participants, we have a suitcase jammed with pens, notebooks, etc. generously donated by our respective schools. But that means we'll have an empty suitcase coming back. What ever will we fill it with? I'm sure Jill will find something.

We are taking laptop, video camera, still camera, phonograph (just kidding). The hotel (here's link http://www.hananiahotel.com/) is supposed to have WIFI. Wow. So, we hope we will be able to post photos of our adventure while we're there.

Almost Ready To Go

As most of you know, Jill and I have been asked to assist the Syrian Ministry of Education with training teachers and ministry personnel. Jill will work with teachers to prepare them for the inclusion of students with special needs into the regular education classroom. I will work with the ministry to develop a strategy for bringing greater media attention to the disability population.

We are excited about the possibility of working with a group of people so desirous of advancing people with disabilities.