Welcome to Damascus

Boston: 3:50 PM 22 May
Damascus: 10:50 PM 22 May

Arrived in Damascus this afternoon after a 1 ½ hour flight from Cairo on EgyptAir. Before the plane even left the ground, some men several rows behind where I was seated began yelling loudly in Arabic. Unable to understand their words (the argument was apparently regarding one man’s the want of an aisle seat), the behavior was in extreme conflict of my understanding of proper airplane manners. However, no one was escorted off the plane or visibly disciplined—the man was simply given his seat and he stopped yelling. One of the flight attendants said it happens all the time that people will change their seats and sit where they want on the plane, disregarding their assigned position. Had we been in the U.S. this man would have been promptly removed from the aircraft. While his behavior startling and unsettling, I cannot say I was surprised that he wasn’t removed—things just seem to be handled differently here. Everything is more casual, leisurely and cohesive, but also works against a conservative system of class, baksheesh and constant police surveillance. For example, our friend Karim wasn’t allowed into Flamenco hotel and was charged a cover at Goal, where we have all been let in without question, this man disrupted and disturbed an entire airplane of people and was obliged his demands for an aisle seat.