eavesdropping
Spent much of the weekend being the responsible student: researching (in arabic! huzzah!) at IFEAD or doing language homework. Felt very virtuous, but it did nothing to enhance my general outlook on life, which has been a little opaque of late: a combination of "accursed depressing war" and "I've been here for HOW many weeks???
Answer to the last question: almost 8.
So, this afternoon I decided to leave the house and go on a photo shoot. Nothing like a touristic ramble to improve the mood. I've been wanting to do a blog post on women in Syria for ages, but first I need some good visuals. Thought the area around Souq Hammidiyye and the Ummayid Mosque might be a good place to park and get some pics.
Some success, but not enough for the post. In the meantime, thought I'd share the following conversation, overheard while surreptiously snapping photos. It was in dialect arabic, unless otherwise noted, so the translation's rough--but true in spirit.
Local #1: "Hey, look at the foreignors!"
[group peers at 3 foreigners sitting nearby, one making a phone call, the other 2 talking amongst themselves].
Local #2: "Do you think they're American?"
Local #1: "Maybe. Hey, one of them's speaking Arabic!"
Local #3: "I like foreignors, they're... " [cute? entertaining? didn't catch the word]
[collective whispering, laughter]
Local #3 (in English, under breath): "Hello... how are you... "
Local #2 (English): "How are you from?"
Local #1 (English): "No, no, 'where are you from?'"
Local #3 (English): "You are welcome to Syria!"
[Laughter, especially when they notice foreignors' amused smiles. Local group is clearly torn over whether to approach foreignors and actually make comments directly. Eventually, locals' friends turn up and distract them, so contact is not made. Other than a bunch of semi-flirtatious glances.]
Sounds like a typical Middle Eastern exchange, right? Local men making a move on foreign females? Well, it would be, except that in this exchange, the genders were reversed. The locals were young women, and the foreignors were slightly scruffy western guys. I'm not suggesting gender equity is in full bloom in Damascus, but if anyone suggests that Syrian women don't look, they're either deluding themselves or not paying attention.
Answer to the last question: almost 8.
So, this afternoon I decided to leave the house and go on a photo shoot. Nothing like a touristic ramble to improve the mood. I've been wanting to do a blog post on women in Syria for ages, but first I need some good visuals. Thought the area around Souq Hammidiyye and the Ummayid Mosque might be a good place to park and get some pics.
Some success, but not enough for the post. In the meantime, thought I'd share the following conversation, overheard while surreptiously snapping photos. It was in dialect arabic, unless otherwise noted, so the translation's rough--but true in spirit.
Local #1: "Hey, look at the foreignors!"
[group peers at 3 foreigners sitting nearby, one making a phone call, the other 2 talking amongst themselves].
Local #2: "Do you think they're American?"
Local #1: "Maybe. Hey, one of them's speaking Arabic!"
Local #3: "I like foreignors, they're... " [cute? entertaining? didn't catch the word]
[collective whispering, laughter]
Local #3 (in English, under breath): "Hello... how are you... "
Local #2 (English): "How are you from?"
Local #1 (English): "No, no, 'where are you from?'"
Local #3 (English): "You are welcome to Syria!"
[Laughter, especially when they notice foreignors' amused smiles. Local group is clearly torn over whether to approach foreignors and actually make comments directly. Eventually, locals' friends turn up and distract them, so contact is not made. Other than a bunch of semi-flirtatious glances.]
Sounds like a typical Middle Eastern exchange, right? Local men making a move on foreign females? Well, it would be, except that in this exchange, the genders were reversed. The locals were young women, and the foreignors were slightly scruffy western guys. I'm not suggesting gender equity is in full bloom in Damascus, but if anyone suggests that Syrian women don't look, they're either deluding themselves or not paying attention.
posted by Emily at 7:33 PM
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