Why do people here love smoking? Fair enough, do it at home but not in shops, restaurants, offices, buses, taxis. It’s disgusting but it is their way of life! I think that thousands of Syrians will die of lung cancer before they hit 40. Kids smoke, women smoke and nearly all the men.
When I get in a taxi and the driver is about to light up, I tell him not to smoke as I have my daughter with me or I am allergic or I am off to an interview or something. They just take it for granted that they have the right to smoke and poison me.
My last escapade was at a nut shop. The guy was smoking and I said to him that I would respectfully like to mention something and hope not to offend. He indicates to me to continue… and then I said the following…
I am a customer in his shop and not his home.
You are selling food so hygiene is important.
You are smoking and germs from your mouth are in contact with the food I am buying so please throw your cigarette away, wash your hands and serve me.
He apologised and did what I asked, not really bothered as he didn’t want to lose the business and obviously once I leave, he would have just lit up again. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhhhh!!!!
And what about those disgusting hubba bubba’s! They’re just as bad. In restaurants people smoke them after a meal, before a meal and also DURING a meal. These places cannot forbid smoking as everyone wants to smoke and they will lose money if they prohibit smoking. I had great joy in going to a restaurant with my family and ordering loads of food, with the intention of eating, and when a guy started smoking, I asked the waiter to tell him to stop as I don’t like it and my children were with me. He said he couldn’t so I said thank you and walked out.
My next step in educating the masses is to first determine what the rules are concerning smoking in public places and then calling a policeman over to write a ticket to the culprit. I am sure I will get into trouble but the health of my family and me is important and no one is going to poison me with fumes if I can help it.
My wife smokes like a chimney but always on the balcony or near the kitchen window. When people come round, I throw them out onto the balcony to get their fix and they respect my wishes but I am sure they’re cursing.
But you know what, I DON’T CARE.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
weird shopping
The shops here are very strange. Being an old city, a lot of the shops are converted from ground floor apartments and sometimes basement and 1st ones. You get the occasional shop such as Benetton or Kickers which convert a whole building of about 3 floors normally into 1 store. They are really attractive especially at night when they are lit up. Banking laws have been eased a lot now and there is an influx of foreign banks from the Gulf or European banks with a Middle Eastern partner. They are converting whole buildings and they are quite attractive.
Shopping is a strange affair. There are different markets for whatever you want. There is the electrical market, the herb market, the plumbers’ market etc. Obviously it’s not just at these specific markets that you can buy these things but it’s so easy to go from one to other to compare the prices. Compare the prices???? Yes ‘cos a lot of them sell the same thing!!!! You need to really know where you’re going to find the shops that sell that unique light fitting or the correct Grohe douche or the fresh, ground cumin. It really is an experience…
New buildings are springing up but not enough. Syria needs investment and believe me, the money is there with the people. They know how to spend their money and if the item is available and of quality, they will buy it. The average wage is about $300 which is very low. But consider this… It is very difficult or laborious to get a bank loan. Mortgages (European way) are not available, car loans or higher purchase are just being introduced… So when someone buys a house, they buy it in cash and in full! Cars until recently, the same. Everything in fact is paid in full in cash! People have cash and even though Syria is considered a poor country, people do have cash. By contradiction, having lived in Manchester for years, people are considered rich and YET they are in debt! They don’t actually own their own homes but house prices are doing well and they grade themselves by the cost of their house(s). Like anywhere I suppose but weird nonetheless?
There are shopping malls there and again, not enough. I was surprised at the cost of some of the items there. They were cheaper than from a market in central Damascus. I thought it would be more expensive so as to compensate for charges etc. but no!
Shopping is a strange affair. There are different markets for whatever you want. There is the electrical market, the herb market, the plumbers’ market etc. Obviously it’s not just at these specific markets that you can buy these things but it’s so easy to go from one to other to compare the prices. Compare the prices???? Yes ‘cos a lot of them sell the same thing!!!! You need to really know where you’re going to find the shops that sell that unique light fitting or the correct Grohe douche or the fresh, ground cumin. It really is an experience…
New buildings are springing up but not enough. Syria needs investment and believe me, the money is there with the people. They know how to spend their money and if the item is available and of quality, they will buy it. The average wage is about $300 which is very low. But consider this… It is very difficult or laborious to get a bank loan. Mortgages (European way) are not available, car loans or higher purchase are just being introduced… So when someone buys a house, they buy it in cash and in full! Cars until recently, the same. Everything in fact is paid in full in cash! People have cash and even though Syria is considered a poor country, people do have cash. By contradiction, having lived in Manchester for years, people are considered rich and YET they are in debt! They don’t actually own their own homes but house prices are doing well and they grade themselves by the cost of their house(s). Like anywhere I suppose but weird nonetheless?
There are shopping malls there and again, not enough. I was surprised at the cost of some of the items there. They were cheaper than from a market in central Damascus. I thought it would be more expensive so as to compensate for charges etc. but no!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
astrology
I love astrology. I think about it all the time. I am currently doing an online/postal Astrology course with Noel Tyl. I am way behind on it due to the post. It sometimes takes a couple of weeks for letters to arrive from America to a couple of months. I really need to sort out an alternative method of receiving my work.
Have thought about emailing the work which is pretty obvious but I get a tape back with feedback as well as the next but one course so will probably suggest to Noel that he sends an MP3 attachment and the next course by email. This way, no postage costs and instantaneous correspondence. Should really suggest this…
Have thought about emailing the work which is pretty obvious but I get a tape back with feedback as well as the next but one course so will probably suggest to Noel that he sends an MP3 attachment and the next course by email. This way, no postage costs and instantaneous correspondence. Should really suggest this…
house work
I’ve been told by more that one person that there are about 4 million Iraqis living in Syria. If it’s not 4 million it got to be close to this figure. There are Iraqis everywhere. I mentioned that I was trying to register my 2 eldest daughters in school… well about September time, I registered my 3rd youngest in a state school. It’s much easier registering someone in a state school than a private one. I managed to wangle all her paperwork quite quickly whereas the other two needed letters, confirmation letters, stamps from British Council and British Embassy and Foreign Office in Syria etc…. Anyway, the majority of people at the Ministry of Education around September time were Iraqis. Rental prices for houses and apartments have nearly doubled and whereas haggling was/is a part of life for Syrians, the Iraqis pay full price as they have plenty of dosh. Luckily we bought another house quite cheap and are doing it up now. We started last week and it will take about 2 months and once done, we will rent it out.
Repairing or renovating property can be a very delicate business. If the neighbours are stinkers, they can complain to the council and stop the work. If you have added another room or stretched out your balcony by a couple of feet, they will knock it down. You need to then apply for licenses and pay bribes here, there and everywhere and this can delay work by months. If you use too much water or are wasting it then the water department come and fine you and even more headache as you know someone is snitching on you, BUT WHO???
Luckily, our neighbours are great and most of the wall-knocking is finished and we can now say that we installing new pipes etc and then rebuilding the walls (they won’t know what it looked like before, hee hee)
To renovate the property will cost about £4500 which is very good. I should take before and after pictures actually… Mmmm yesss… I’ll start tonight as I need to check on the progress of work.
Repairing or renovating property can be a very delicate business. If the neighbours are stinkers, they can complain to the council and stop the work. If you have added another room or stretched out your balcony by a couple of feet, they will knock it down. You need to then apply for licenses and pay bribes here, there and everywhere and this can delay work by months. If you use too much water or are wasting it then the water department come and fine you and even more headache as you know someone is snitching on you, BUT WHO???
Luckily, our neighbours are great and most of the wall-knocking is finished and we can now say that we installing new pipes etc and then rebuilding the walls (they won’t know what it looked like before, hee hee)
To renovate the property will cost about £4500 which is very good. I should take before and after pictures actually… Mmmm yesss… I’ll start tonight as I need to check on the progress of work.
good ideas
I thought I would write about some of the good ideas they have in Syria that haven’t reached the UK. I have chosen the UK as this is my home country.
The traffic system is absolutely chaotic but what they do have is a timer to indicate how long the red light has before it changes to green and a timer to indicate how long the green light before it changes to red. This good for cars as they know how long they have to wait and good for pedestrians. Excellent idea - Before you think about doing it, the idea has already been patented in Europe!!
Another one is sending credits from one pay-as-you-go mobile phone to another. I don’t think they have this in the UK but it’s so simple - you text phone number space number of credits to 1233. Easy and simple and extremely useful…
Cripes… I’m trying to think of some more ideas and can’t. I am going offline and will be back soon…….
Got one but I think I’m clutching at straws…. They have sellers going round the streets selling essential items such as tissue paper, gas cylinders, fruit and veg etc so that you don’t have to leave your house. Excellent for the elderly, the lazy and the busy…I like to think of myself as being in the last category.
I love the pay-as-you-go internet cards. They are brilliant and obviously the more credit you buy the cheaper the hour. E.g. 16 hours with the ‘AYA’ company costs about £3 and 70 hours costs about £10. There is virtually no blocking of sites and every site I need to access is accessible - even hotmail. So all this rubbish you read about concerning sites being blocked in China, Iran and Syria etc. is bull! This is for a 56k line. Broadband is available for about £20-£40 permonth depending on speed (256k to about 2Mb)
Another thing I love is the pirated software. I got the full Adobe software project that was released recently. This costs about £800 and I bought it for £5 (my friend told me I was robbed as it should be about £2!!!) Before anyone says that this is a naughty thing to do, please remember that the average wage here is about $7 a day and probably 25% of the customers are tourists.
I’ve been told Office 2007 is out soon so I can’t wait to get hold of that.
Car sharing in taxis is useful. You see what the price is on the meter when you get in and clock up your price from there.
That’s enough for now as I don’t want to waste all of my good points in one posting and need to save them for future ones.
The traffic system is absolutely chaotic but what they do have is a timer to indicate how long the red light has before it changes to green and a timer to indicate how long the green light before it changes to red. This good for cars as they know how long they have to wait and good for pedestrians. Excellent idea - Before you think about doing it, the idea has already been patented in Europe!!
Another one is sending credits from one pay-as-you-go mobile phone to another. I don’t think they have this in the UK but it’s so simple - you text phone number space number of credits to 1233. Easy and simple and extremely useful…
Cripes… I’m trying to think of some more ideas and can’t. I am going offline and will be back soon…….
Got one but I think I’m clutching at straws…. They have sellers going round the streets selling essential items such as tissue paper, gas cylinders, fruit and veg etc so that you don’t have to leave your house. Excellent for the elderly, the lazy and the busy…I like to think of myself as being in the last category.
I love the pay-as-you-go internet cards. They are brilliant and obviously the more credit you buy the cheaper the hour. E.g. 16 hours with the ‘AYA’ company costs about £3 and 70 hours costs about £10. There is virtually no blocking of sites and every site I need to access is accessible - even hotmail. So all this rubbish you read about concerning sites being blocked in China, Iran and Syria etc. is bull! This is for a 56k line. Broadband is available for about £20-£40 permonth depending on speed (256k to about 2Mb)
Another thing I love is the pirated software. I got the full Adobe software project that was released recently. This costs about £800 and I bought it for £5 (my friend told me I was robbed as it should be about £2!!!) Before anyone says that this is a naughty thing to do, please remember that the average wage here is about $7 a day and probably 25% of the customers are tourists.
I’ve been told Office 2007 is out soon so I can’t wait to get hold of that.
Car sharing in taxis is useful. You see what the price is on the meter when you get in and clock up your price from there.
That’s enough for now as I don’t want to waste all of my good points in one posting and need to save them for future ones.
New Horizons training
Training in the many private institutions is quite cheap. The courses are exactly the same as European ones and probably American ones.
I have done a few courses at New Horizons which is one of the best, if not the best, in Damascus. The prices are cheap. An MCSE full track is about $800. I am doing an Adobe course - Photoshop, Illustrator and something else that I can't remember and this will cost me about $200. They even do a PMP course which in England costs about £2000 but here, prices range from £250 to £500 if it's a week intensive. These prices do not include exams and registration if applicable. If you want to spend a good few months in Syria, I thoroughly recommend doing some of these courses. The literature is in English and the training is Arabic/English. There are some courses, the more expensive management ones with UK partnership programs that are exclusively in English
I have done a few courses at New Horizons which is one of the best, if not the best, in Damascus. The prices are cheap. An MCSE full track is about $800. I am doing an Adobe course - Photoshop, Illustrator and something else that I can't remember and this will cost me about $200. They even do a PMP course which in England costs about £2000 but here, prices range from £250 to £500 if it's a week intensive. These prices do not include exams and registration if applicable. If you want to spend a good few months in Syria, I thoroughly recommend doing some of these courses. The literature is in English and the training is Arabic/English. There are some courses, the more expensive management ones with UK partnership programs that are exclusively in English
christmas eve
I’ve been trying to sort out papers for my 2 eldest daughters since September. Due to postal problems/delays from England and Syria, I think I have finally done it. I went to the Ministry of Education and this is in Baghdad Street. It comprises of about 4 buildings and each time I went to 1 of these buildings they would direct me to another. I must have spent an hour going up and down stairs like a lost puppy BUT I think I’ve completed it. They asked me to come back after 2 days. So as far as I’m concerned, as I no longer have the papers in my possession then there is nothing left for me to. Once I’ve got these papers, my daughters places can be registered at the Ministry of Education which means that their exam results can be sent to them officially. They have, in effect, been in limbo since September 10th. This is exciting news actually!!
I also went to the Maroor which is the Transport Department. I have been driving without a license for about 3 months which is, for some reason, a prisonable offence. I was caught twice, within 10 minutes, for not having a license but managed to ‘sort’ myself out. I have a UK license but Syria is one of the few countries that doesn’t allow a UK citizen of Syrian descent to drive a car with Syrian number plates. Anyway, I need to register at a driving school for SYP4600 (about £45) and then pay SYP600 (about £6) to get my license, so I will start the process tomorrow.
What fun I will have….
I also went to the Maroor which is the Transport Department. I have been driving without a license for about 3 months which is, for some reason, a prisonable offence. I was caught twice, within 10 minutes, for not having a license but managed to ‘sort’ myself out. I have a UK license but Syria is one of the few countries that doesn’t allow a UK citizen of Syrian descent to drive a car with Syrian number plates. Anyway, I need to register at a driving school for SYP4600 (about £45) and then pay SYP600 (about £6) to get my license, so I will start the process tomorrow.
What fun I will have….
Saturday, December 23, 2006
A new building in Arnous
I thought I'd include something about a new building that is being built near to where I live. Why? do you ask. Well, buildings take ages to complete. There is one in Marjeh Square that stopped about 10 years ago and nothing has been done since. It's a huge construction and it's a pity that work has been stopped although I noticed (I think) some movement or something!
Anyway, this building. About 2 weeks ago they started doing something. They demolished, dug a huge hole and something is definitely happening.
It may be interesting to diarise it's progression.....
So 2 weeks ago they did the above...
Today, there is a huge hole...
Not sure what it;s going to be but will post something as soon as....
Anyway, this building. About 2 weeks ago they started doing something. They demolished, dug a huge hole and something is definitely happening.
It may be interesting to diarise it's progression.....
So 2 weeks ago they did the above...
Today, there is a huge hole...
Not sure what it;s going to be but will post something as soon as....
introduction
Hello to readers wherever you may be...
"I" am in Syria. I moved here with my family after living in the UK for over 40 years. I lived in beautiful Manchester where there was luscious greenery and gorgeous rain to Damascus where there is heat, occasional rain and 2 balconies for my garden!
My family love it here. There are some regrets about moving but they're not enough to make us move back.
This blog will detail some of the experiences we encounter ranging from school to work, driving to micro and food to going out and more.
I hope this blog provides information on something that will interest anyone visiting this site and obviously, I am always open to sugestions.
If it's worth putting pixels to screen I'll try and do it and with God's help, I'll try and do a good job....
Maz
"I" am in Syria. I moved here with my family after living in the UK for over 40 years. I lived in beautiful Manchester where there was luscious greenery and gorgeous rain to Damascus where there is heat, occasional rain and 2 balconies for my garden!
My family love it here. There are some regrets about moving but they're not enough to make us move back.
This blog will detail some of the experiences we encounter ranging from school to work, driving to micro and food to going out and more.
I hope this blog provides information on something that will interest anyone visiting this site and obviously, I am always open to sugestions.
If it's worth putting pixels to screen I'll try and do it and with God's help, I'll try and do a good job....
Maz
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