I sense that over the coming days and weeks, little things like this will expose themselves and I will truly realize the enormity of the amazing and life-changing experience I have just endured. Far too much has gone through my eyes, ears, nose, mind and heart to even being to process it, but slowly it will come in fits and spurts.

If I have absorbed no new information or skills from my travels, I will know it was not without benefit. I have had almost two months, not only to learn about a new culture, but more so I have had that time to examine myself. Unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations force us to turn the questions on ourselves when we ask them of others. If I take nothing else from my time in Egypt, Syria and Qatar, it will be an awareness of myself and a lasting desire to continue learning who that person is.

The original Extenders in the desert.

In every meeting with a high-up official, from the Arab League in Cairo to Syria’s Minister of Higher Education, there was served an abundance of beverage and sweet hydration. The large conference tables were lined with glasses, water bottles, mango or orange juice containers along with pens and sheets of blank paper. After the meetings would start, one or two men would begin to make tinkling noises about the room as they handed out the hyper-sweetened tea in small glass cups and saucers. They were always intent upon serving all members of the meeting, no matter how awkward the seating arrangements in the often cramped rooms.

In Syria, there came a special surprise in Turkish coffee. Less than a shot of the most potent, blackest coffee ever known. I sipped it once, ignored all other times, and patiently waited for the inevitable tea. The tea was sweetened well beyond sweet, often in what tasted like a combination of both sugar and honey. Quite the treat to keep one awake during meetings.

Pres. Obama spoke of the need to move on from negative stereotypes and the past and to strengthen relations between the Muslim World and the American West based upon mutual respect. Peaceful dialogue between the two huge multi-faceted demographics would hopefully extinguish the Western concept of Islam as a violent, barbaric religion, and acknowledge (and too eliminate) the perception of the U.S. as being a “crude empire.” To fight negative stereotypes wherever they appear is much easier said than done. As I experienced earlier in my own Dialogue, when talking about stereotypes the stereotypes themselves tend to get in the way. There are so many nuances to our different languages and hidden misconceptions within communication and culture, that I believe true understanding is nearly impossible. But respect is always possible, though extremely hard to grasp when people are seemingly forced to hold emotional biases by a faith or moral code that disables them from thinking anything other than Truth. In a way, it is hard to get to the supposed important issues when clear communication alone is difficult to manufacture.

“If we only view conflict from one side, we will be blind from the truth,” Obama said, moving on to the situation between Israel and Palestine/Arab world. Both sides have played the victim, suffered greatly, and fought in search for their dignity and homeland. This Dialogue of Civilizations has opened up the opportunity for many of us to view the conflict from a point of view that many feel is not available in the United States due our country’s affiliation with and support of Israel. A political bond that some other countries see as being so close that, as Syria Minister of Information pointed out, Israel is controlling the U.S. rather than the opposite. Professor Sullivan guided us to observe our informants with precautionary extreme prejudice, as many were clearly offering up rehearsed propaganda. Acknowledge but don’t accept or reject. This was especially true in Syria, not only during our visit to the Golan Heights. It is important to sympathize but not to blindly follow.

Obama also noted that it is important that Arab nations no longer use the Arab/Israeli conflict to distract from other problems. Classmate Lily Sussman asked of the Minister of Information, at what point does the conflict over dignity become “enough” and a need to focus on other national issues, unemployment, poverty, healthcare, comes to pass? His response was that it was the “mother of all issues.” But where will they be when they must deal with the shock that their “mother” is gone?

“Faith should bring us together,” said Barack Obama, speaking to the fact that religious freedom is integral to groups of people living together in peace. Religious tolerance not only enables peaceful dialogue but also allows for that talk to be turned into tangible service to build up and strengthen communities, cultures and nations. The Golden Rule of do onto others and you would have done to yourself, appears, in one way or another, in a plethora of different creeds and religions. The rule, Obama said, once “pulsed in the cradle of civilization.” Now more than ever, this canon should be taken to heart as a means by which to develop dialogue, respect, and peace in a world that feels to be slowly falling apart.

Our dialogue with a group of Syrian students at Damascus University was meant to focus on stereotypes. We had a lack of stereotypes due to our lack of exposure. To be honest, I never even thought of Syria (in general or as part of the Arab world) before the planning our travels. On the news, many Middle Eastern countries are mentioned: Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Saudi, Kuwait, Egypt, Bahrain, etc; even during stories on the Israeli-Arab conflict, I have no recollection of Syria being in the mix. (This is quite surprising considering we have visited the Israeli occupied Syrian Golan Heights.)

For the most part, it felt as though the other students were offering up stereotypes of the stereotypes we held as Americans. For example, all Americans think all Syrians (as part of the Arab world) are terrorists, or that we hate them. Of course, we attempted to dissuade them of this way of thinking while at the same time not making blanket statements and generalizations of our own. While I cannot speak for all Americans of our vast cultural and ideological spectrum, I do believe that America is moving forward with their global mindset and becoming more culturally sensitive, accepting and educated. At the same time, our small group of NU Dialoguers is a specific group of individuals that just by being here are clearly interested in and valuing Arab and Middle Eastern culture, so our own biases are surely swayed in this respect.

Another student said she would not take up an opportunity she had to study in the U.S. because she was scared of being treated differently because of her headscarf. No doubt she will be treated differently, even without it she would be. We are treated differently (negatively and positively) here and it has not prevented our travels. I hope she will change her mind.

There are two topics of our discussion that stick out in particular. The first: one of the Syrian students asked why do we Americans make no effort to be friendly with the Syrians (or Arabs) when they do put in an effort? The student offered up the story of her four uncles who live in Washington, D.C. and have not been treated well, or found comfort there (I am unsure of her exact reasoning.) When I asked her to clarify the efforts of Americans—was it because they don’t travel to Arab countries or because they don’t befriend the Arabs in the States?—she said it was in general, either way really. She explained that she wants to be our friend and to love us but we don’t seem to want the same. This truly hurt.

For fear of appearing self-righteous, I kept my mouth shut. My personal life did not need to be thrust into the spotlight of such an environment, but here I can at least let out some frustration.

I love an Arab and he is my best friend. Indeed, it has been the truest friend-making effort I have made since coming to university. To be missing Burhan so much, to be so close to his home while he is so close to mine, only exacerbated the distress her stereotype presented. I have made an effort to know and befriend the Arab world and Arab culture and continue to do so every day. I have to if I am to make my relationship work. Really it is required of any relationship, friend or romantic, no matter where he or she comes from, close or far. In the simplest sense, here I am in front of this student in a cultural dialogue, through which we both are attempting to grow closer and learn. The very fact that I am in Syria, is this not an effort? Are not Americans trying?

I do not feel the need to love everyone, or even to be friends with them, but I do believe that respect and kindness are a must in encounters. I am not required to be friends with every American I meet and should not be expected to be friends with every Syrian, Arab, or anyone else I come across—it simply is unrealistic. There are cultural differences, personality clashes, and ideological disagreements that can make any two people simply not get along. That is why, when a stranger says they want to love me and be my friend, I cannot take it personally. Hopefully, the student meant it on a broader sense, to love Americans as a whole, for Syria and the U.S. to be allies or at least at peace with one another. But the fact that she can make this statement of where she wants to go makes me wonder where she is coming from—does she hate Americans?

The second idea that touched close to home was the idea of family. A Syrian student commented that American families don’t socialize together, and move away from each other. It is true that we are a more wide spread and mobile culture in terms of family geography, but we still socialize with our families. We told them how we too (although admittedly not all) eat dinner and talk and all that jazz with our families. But the concept went deeper and was not truly able to materialize into what the real differences are: the idea of compliance to, and protection of, the family unit. My parents would never tell me what to, or try to influence my decisions. If a decision were mine to make, they would expect me to be the one to make it, and would not impose too much of their own opinion. Of course I would (maybe) listen to what my parents had to say, but I could never obey them if it meant going against my true feelings. It scares me to think that someone else’s mother has the power to affect my own life, by way of influencing her son. And yet his respect for her and his family is a strikingly inviting and attractive quality.

Welcome to Maaloula, land of Aramaic.

Le Krak des Chaveliers (Crusader Castle)

Your's Truly at the Citadel castle.

An olive and pistachio tree in Abraham's Mosque at the Citadel castle

An early evening in Aleppo brought Andrea, Stephanie, Christina and I to Medina Souq, where we traversed the winding alleys of the market looking for silver, scarves and soaps. The confused look in our American eyes sparked a young merchant to ask if we were tourists and to invite us to his shop for a look and some tea “for hospitality.”

Mahmoud makes Andrea custom pearl earings.

His small shop displayed silver bangles, beaded jewelry and silk scarves as we drank flower tea with sugar and he offered to make custom earrings and necklaces if we found none to our liking. After about an hour, he led us down a maze of streets to his uncle’s antique shop where Andrea and Christina were hoping to find a few small daggers. Waddah, Mahmoud’s uncle offered us tea,“for hospitality,” and ensured us the “student price” throughout his shop, a gallery of art-antiques, folklore and oriental souvenirs.

We sat drinking the tea with cinnamon on a small couch with two other tourists. Learning they were from France, I quickly pointed out Andrea, our French extraordinaire, in part to end the awkward silence separating our two groups. They have been on vacation for three years! Isabelle and Bruno have been riding their bikes all over Europe and the surrounding region and don’t plan on going home until they are “tired.” Bruno foresaw another 10 years of riding; 3 years in Asia and then they hope to see the Americas. I told them when they were in the states they should head to Harris Cyclery if they need any fixing and Andrea invited them to stay at her home in the Berkshires. They update pictures to their own blog every 15 days.

Mahmoud, Me, Isabelle, Waddah, Bruno, Christina, and Stephanie at Waddah's shop (l to r)

After a long while at Waddah’s, as he continued to attempt a sale with Andrea, as we attempted to leave. She was clear in her decision of “no” but eventually made the purchase, cracking under the pressure. Tired and spent (both literally and figuratively) we needed Mahmoud to lead us out of the market towards the direction of our hotel. As we walked, he was questioned by men in uniform—shop owners are not supposed to walk with tourists or shout at them, because the tourism police don’t want foreigners to feel harassed. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped to peak some famous Syrian soaps, made here in Aleppo of laurel and olive oil, and then in a small shop for some sweets.

Each event we attend is a strange formal surprise, as we are always unsure of what to expect. Today we met with the Minister of Information in a press conference with some members of the Syrian media.

Syrian television camera man and microphone man.

I do not like press conferences, although I am told they are different in the states. The video and cameramen kept knocking my knees and stepping on my feet and in my sight line. The minister and his translator, as well as members of the press core, continued to talk over each other. Often, Arabic sentences or side comments were left without translations, and though they weren’t intended for the entire room, this felt a bit rude. The physical discomfort made it hard to completely focus in on the verbal content of the meeting.

The Syrian media was also present during our meeting with the Mayor of Quneitra before touring the Golan Heights. There too I felt annoyed and uncomfortable by the constant shuffle, disruption and imposition of my personal space. My face was on Syrian television news.

Be sure to read the blogs of my peers for more (actual) insight into the intense meeting.

President Bashar Al Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic.

Everywhere we go, this man is watching us. His portrait is plastered on billboards, buildings, in classrooms, and even on the entire back windows of cars. This lows my mind for several reasons, including:
1. Does he hang them up or do people hang them up on their own accord? I am guessing it is some sort of mandate since it is a consistent image and size and is everywhere?
2. Why didn’t they photoshop out his stubble? It also seems as though he should have more forehead wrinkles considering all the worrying I assume a president would do.
3. The American Embassy in Egypt only had an 8 x 10 of Pres. Obama and Hillary and a pixelated computer print out of Biden in their entrance hall above their security check-in.

A few students are doing a photo-essay of the Pres’ portrait so look for that soon on the main blog.

“If you don’t have a past, you’ll never have a future.”

On our first full day in Syria, our guide, Osama, educated us a bit on Syria’s cultural history with a tour of the National Museum. There we saw many old Syrian and Islamic artifacts including carved tablets, Roman statues, iron jewelry and ancient clay cookie cutters, to name a few. One exhibit was a very old synagogue dated from the 2nd century CE. While synagogues and mosques are free of imagery that could be considered idolatry, this synagogue was special and rare because its walls and ceilings were completely covered in frescos of Scriptural scenes. Osama pointed out one wall’s painting of the Jewish woman Esther, whom Osama said is the woman depicted in Starbuck’s logo (due to the companies Zionist leadership.)

We also visited the shrine of Salahuddin at the Umayyad Mosque, the Azem Palace, the Christian section of Old Damascus, and the adjoining market place where you can find the most delicious falafel wrap sandwich you will ever eat. The tiny stand is adorned with lettuce and other fresh vegetation and looks like it belongs in that painting where the man’s face is made of fruits and vegetables. The falafel men behind the window partner the donut shaped falafel with a glorious combination of fresh fruits and veggies including lettuce, tomatoes, sliced lemon, and mint, tied together in a fresh pita. For 25 Syrian Lire, or less than 50 cents, it is the most lovely fast meal you might ever find. For my first one, it simply smelled so amazing and felt so clean and fresh, I didn’t even consider that maybe I should be a bit careful with the vegetables, etc. It was quickly devoured and we returned the next day. Delicious.

Another big deal here in the Middle East, or at least Egypt and Syria is fresh fruit. After our 25 SL meal, I had a fresh squeezed orange juice for 150 SL. Another flavor that cannot be missed is cantaloupe juice! I cannot wait to go to Haymarket after my return home to stack up on the melon and attempt to recreate the refreshing green drink.