Anonymous
06/16/13(Sun)15:57 No.15645037

Anonymous 06/16/13(Sun)15:57 No.15645037

Replies: >>15645084

File: 1371412665666.jpg-(556 KB, 1600x1200, IMG_2277.jpg)

556 KB JPG

>>15644990 (OP)

People delight in little things. If you're European and you speak Arabic they will treat you like a prince. Someone as civilized as a European bothering to learn their lowly language! (Someone LITERALLY said that to me once) They will give you LITRES of fucking tea, in summer they'll conjure up a watermelon or two, and if you're lucky enough to befriend a craftsman he'll make you something on the spot (I've got a tin circle, with a pattern of teacups and pots in between which you put a tealight and it'll cast shadows everywhere that a dude made for me in a restaurant). Friendships are VERY close, if you get close enough people will call you "ughuy" which means "my brother". They will do the craziest shit for you, the poorest people will break into their rich neighbours' front yard and pick roses to help you decorate your new room. Those same people will invite you to dinner and give you almost all the food they have, and saying no would offend them. Any physical fight and everyone gets involved to break it up. I ends up with two groups each holding back one person and mediating for them. No dispute lasts and the group doesn't break up until it's settled.

The secret police looks out for everyone and everything, both positively and negatively. Tourists are constantly tracked for their own safety. If any local tries to mess with tourists then the secret police are liable to jump out and rescue them. On the other hand, if you're an archaeologist like me and you go around people's houses (to hang out, for dinner, for lunch, etcetera) too often they will get suspicious and ask them questions. You are at liberty to discuss any political opinion, religious opinion, but if you say anything outrageously stupid like "Assad must go" or "Syria would be better off with a democracy" you are liable to be removed from the country, or if you're a Syrian you can and WILL get jailed, mostly for being stupid.

Anonymous
06/16/13(Sun)15:58 No.15645084

Anonymous 06/16/13(Sun)15:58 No.15645084

Replies: >>15645120

File: 1371412724243.jpg-(854 KB, 1600x1200, IMG_1453.jpg)

854 KB JPG

>>15645037

There is no real dislike or like for Assad, but if you had to choose between "people hate Assad" or "people love Assad" then they 100% love him. Syria is a very fragmented country and there are so many religious, political, financial, ethnical and national groups that without anything to hold it together it's nothing but civil war. Assad provides a lot of stability, every Syrian child gets offered education, not all parents choose to accept it though, mostly in the countryside. American companies are not allowed, however, Syria has always had strong trading relations with surrounding nations, especially Turkey, due to American embargos. There is no shortage of anything in Syria, but there isn't a plenty either. Assad is a strong and unifying figure people identify with, he is the embodiment of modern Syria which provides for the BASIC needs, people have to work hard to sustain themselves, but they are all given the opportunity to work for it. There are very few (actually, almost none) beggars in Syria.

Alcohol and homosexuality are illegal, neither are enforced. Local Syrians LOVE drinking arak (an anise drink) and mix it with water, which turns it pale white. They jokingly say on thursday night when they drink: "More milk please!". Syrian beer is VERY creamy and bitter, it takes a while to get used to, but once you do holy fuck you don't want anything else. In the countryside it's not smart to run around crying out you're gay, but if you are nobody will do anything about it. Just don't be stupid and you're fine. In Damascus there are actually gay clubs, they aren't common, and they're more tolerated than normalized, but they're there.

Anonymous
06/16/13(Sun)15:59 No.15645114

Anonymous 06/16/13(Sun)15:59 No.15645114

I've seen a video with before/after comparisons of a main street in Aleppo during the war

That shit gave me many feels

Anonymous
06/16/13(Sun)15:59 No.15645120

Anonymous 06/16/13(Sun)15:59 No.15645120

Replies: >>15645172

File: 1371412781610.jpg-(540 KB, 1600x1200, IMG_1657.jpg)

540 KB JPG

>>15645084

The food is GREAT. It's very nutritious AND fatty. They eat lots of meat and canned fish, potatoes, eggs, lentils, they all just put it on plates, you tear some bread off and scoop the food up with it. It's delicious, and there is never a worry about malnourishment, actually more of a worry about getting fat. Smoking is common, but people actually prefer waterpipes. On thursday evenings if you stroll through the streets the sweet scent is intoxicating. In summer people also tend to BBQ on the street and will invite you if you give a one too curious look. Again it's offensive to say no, you have no fucking choice but to sit down and eat.

Internet is slow as shit, and youtube, facebook and certain wikipedia pages are blocked. If you enter an internet cafe you have to hand in your passport and you can be damn sure they will check up on what you searched. Shop owners will always charge you the quadruple of the original price if you're white and think you're a tourist, which is still nothing compared to what things would cost in the west. If you speak a few words of Arabic that price falls to double the original price, and if you get sort of angry and yell "SHU NU HAATHA?!" they will offer stuff to you at bottom price.

Anonymous
06/16/13(Sun)16:00 No.15645172

Anonymous 06/16/13(Sun)16:00 No.15645172

Replies: >>15645273

File: 1371412846540.jpg-(691 KB, 1600x1200, IMG_1782.jpg)

691 KB JPG

>>15645120

People tend to not lie, and if they do, you just ask them "w'allah?" (this means: by god?) and they will tell the truth. This works better in the countryside than in the cities, but you can be very sure someone is telling the truth if you ask them by god. Adults tend to be very... mature when they're at home or on the street, hanging out, but if they're at work or they are out somewhere with their friends they turn into little kids. Guys will grab their friends' dicks and say "Hey, you feel like your wife hasn't given you any lately" or they will play stupid little pranks like trying a bottle to a clip with a piece of string and clipping it to you when you're not watching so when you get up, it goes clanking behind you and everbody gets a laugh. If you're unlucky enough, they will tie something around your head scarf, or the belt holders in your pants and then tie you to the wall.

Every rural village has one guy who is... kind of like the old wise man. It's not an official title, but everybody knows it, and everybody listens to him. He's not in charge of the village or anything, but he will arrange anything that needs to be arranged. These kind of guys are the liaisons for archaeologists everywhere in Syria, who will arrange housing for them, go to the big city to get supplies, settle disputes with local bedouins (if they camp on a dig site, which once resulted in a 50v50 brawl with one side having camel whips and tent tools and the other pickaxes and shovel, our "elder" guy, Saalim, literally came between the two groups like some sort of jesus and separated them, and settled the issue) and other things. Kids are grazing their cattle on a farmland/grassland they're not allowed to? These guys will walk up to them with a lighter and tell them to fuck off or they can run from the flames.

Anonymous
06/16/13(Sun)16:03 No.15645273

Anonymous 06/16/13(Sun)16:03 No.15645273

Replies: >>15645369

File: 1371412999274.jpg-(552 KB, 1600x1200, IMG_2207.jpg)

552 KB JPG

>>15645172

You can go anywhere, by any means, and someone will help you get it done. Walk on a road, stick out your arm and anybody passing you on a motorcycle (the main mode of transport in 80% of the country) and they will take you as far as they go, chit chatting, looking behind them, probably go like 90mph without a helmet. Local buses which are the size of vans will just take anyone in, you don't need a ticket you just pay in cash, and they can be stuffed with up to 20 people. National buses go from city to city twice a day, they're 5-10 hour runs and they will wait for you if you're like half an hour delayed or something. They will pick up anyone in any major villages or cites along the road, but these do require a ticket. The only people to watch out for is taxi drivers, because if you don't pay the right amount they want, they won't let you out of the car, which is why it's smart to arrange a price before-hand.

The secret police is not so secret, everyone knows who everyone is, they are friends with people in the cities, in the villages, in the desert. They come around for tea as friends, but they also come around for tea on business. They will get any information they need simply because that's how things work. Suspicious activities, strange things, everything. People tell them as friends, it's not snitching, it's common sense. Snitches get chased out of villages, people prefer to maintain the status quo themselves.

Anonymous
06/16/13(Sun)16:05 No.15645369

Anonymous 06/16/13(Sun)16:05 No.15645369

Replies: >>15645505

File: 1371413135852.jpg-(529 KB, 1600x1200, IMG_1350.jpg)

529 KB JPG

>>15645273

Unhappy groups in Syria are the investors, a LOT of middle-class people want to see American companies in Syria because they bring in a lot more cash than direct imports. Also there are no Hollywood movies, there are only Bollywood movies, another giant "loss" of money according to them. Kurds aren't really unhappy, but they'd rather be independent. Football matches between southern Syrian teams and north-eastern teams usually result in riots because of this.

All of this, all of this beauty, every inch of this amazing country and it's amazing people is getting utterly destroyed by western-backed "rebels" who want nothing more than a state equal to Somalia.

What CAN you do to help? Speak out, show people what Syria used to be, compared to what it is now (public executions of 15 year olds for blasphemy, beheadings, archaeological officials taken hostage to help smuggle antiquities out of the country, use of nerve gas by rebels).

Thanks for reading. Syria is still a beautiful country that can be saved, but the rebels need to fuck off. Assad is a dictator, and he doesn't shy away from breaking UN rules, but he makes Syria one of the best countries in the middle east to LIVE in and to BE in.

Anonymous
06/16/13(Sun)16:09 No.15645497

Anonymous 06/16/13(Sun)16:09 No.15645497

File: 1371413345253.jpg-(41 KB, 200x194, sadfrog03.jpg)

41 KB JPG

Why does Murrica have to come in and ruin everything?

Anonymous
06/16/13(Sun)16:09 No.15645505

Anonymous 06/16/13(Sun)16:09 No.15645505

>>15645369
greatstory/10