Whirling dervishes

A few days ago some Spanish cultural center organized an event after the iftar (that’s when Muslims break the fast at sunset during Ramadan) in a park downtown Damascus. Since the evening was rather pleasant I decided to attend it with some friends. The show I was attending featured dervishes and I must admit that up to that day I didn’t know much about them. I actually thought they were some kind of artists, dancers. 

The show was so overwhelming I was completely absorbed in it. It all starts just with music and singing. These are prayers, and often they simply repeat the name of their God, Allah – la illa-ha illa' llah - . I found the singing extremely sad, and apparently this is a frequent feeling even though not everyone experiences it the same way.

Dervish means doorway to god or enlightenment, and they are members of the most mystical and ascetic branch of Islam, the Sufi. Mystical because they believe mainly in respect, tolerance and love. Ascetic refers to their indifference toward material goods, pleasure and comfort.

The most recognized characteristic of dervishes is the way they dance. They whirl with their white skirts flying in circles with them. They can whirl for hours, and the idea is to go into ecstasy, or what they call wajd – finding, finding God, peace.

They always whirl from right to left, emulating the movement of stars and planets in the universe, also like the movement of blood around the heart. And if we think about life, it is in constant movement, the atoms, the planets, even us humans and our own circumstances. And these movements tend to be in circles, on one hand because we tend to do everything in cycles, on the other one because we look for beginnings and ends, we complete cycles and circles.

The movements of dervishes are full of symbolism, and understanding them makes you enjoy watching them even more. The leader of the group, the master, often simply stands in the middle of the room; he emulates the sun while the dervishes whirl around him. 

Dervishes hold their hands in unique positions, full of meaning. The right hand is lifted with the palm-out, towards God and his gifts. The left hand faces down, towards the earth, both to take its sustenance and to share god's gifts.

As for their clothes, the skirt is like a shroud but also it represents the sky. The hat interestingly puts a limit to the ego of the dervish because only by controlling or even eliminating any self egos can the dervishes have contact with God. 

While they whirl they seem to abandon their bodies, their eyes look lost in the horizon, or perhaps the complete opposite, totally lost in the deepest of their own selves. It is said that while watching them whirl it is possible to go into ecstasy with them. I can tell you for me it was an amazing experience, so peaceful and deep, even though I was surrounded by way too many people and the room had too much light.

la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah la illa-ha illa' llah

 * All pictures except the 2nd one were taken by la elfa

 

The Golan Heights

I had a chance to visit the Golan Heights just a few days ago, and it was both shocking and sad. For those who are not too familiar with the Arab-Israeli conflict, this is a very rich area of Syria that was illegally occupied by Israel back in 1967 during the Six-Day War. There have been talks at different points in time about Israel returning it to Syria but it never happened. However, in 1974 Israel did withdraw from a tiny strip of land in the Golan, and then they started building settlements in the remainder of the region. 

In the strip returned to Syria there is one city, only one, Quneitra, that hasn’t been rebuilt by the Syrian government. It is a reminder of what happened here, of what the neighbours are capable of, of why they must get back the other illegally occupied territories.

When in 1974 Israel decided to abandon, and thus return, this small part of Golan, they first made sure they destroyed all of it: houses, markets, schools. Only three buildings are still standing even if completely destroyed: the hospital, a church, and a mosque.

It is absolutely delirious. Breathtaking. Creepy. Distressing.

To give you an idea, here are some pictures that I took during my visit. Fyi this area is under UN protection and in order to visit it not only you need a special authorization of the Syrian government, also you are accompanied by a Syrian policeman at all times. 

Let’s start with the hospital, and keep in mind that in war time hospitals are not to be attacked, they are a no-no target, for quite obvious reasons. 

You might be able to read in the sign “Golan Hospital: It was destroyed and changed into a firing target and training place by Zionists”.

Please take 10 seconds to look at the images of the inside walls of the hospital.

As you keep driving you reach the church. Only the main walls remain.

Then you pass the market.

And this is the mosque, which today is only a minaret from which you have a 360` view of this destroyed city that seems like hell, like the aftermath of an awfully strong earthquake, or a bomb. It is absolutely delirious. Breathtaking. Creepy. Distressing.

Just a look at what was done to the houses of people is, once again, breathtaking and distressing. 

Over 100,000 people had to abandon their homes, their jobs, their lives, to flee from the Israeli invasion of their lands in Golan. Around 7,000 stayed. Since then they have been trapped. They are not allowed to get out, to go back to their country: Syria, which is just a few meters away. The Israeli government offers them the Israeli citizenship but less than 10% has taken it in the last 40 years. Those who flee the region during the war haven’t been allowed to go back to their houses either, because the region now belongs to Israel, illegally of course.

But why did Israel take over this land? Why so many years of war with their neighbours? The answer is the strategic geopolitical position of the Golan Heights. Actually it consists of the Golan Heights proper and the slopes of Mount Hermon. This region has an average altitude of 3,300 feet but in some areas it reaches up to 9,000 feet, an outstanding position to keep an eye on the neighbours. 

Furthermore, the Golan Heights supply a noteworthy amount of water to the region thanks to the Sea of Galilee and the Yarmuk River in the south, actually between 15% and 30% of Israel's water supply! As well, a large proportion of Israel's agricultural production is based here.

There won’t be peace between Syria and Israel until Israel returns the illegally occupied Golan Heights. Israel needs to go back to the pre-1964 war borders, established by the UN. And Quneitra is a good reminder of why it is so important for Syria to get it back.

* Pictures taken by la elfa

   

Any given weekend in Damascus

You might wonder what it is like to go out in Damascus. Well it is pretty similar to any Western country, or maybe more like a Mediterranean one, like Spain or Italy. People love to get together with their friends and families and there is always time for both.

The evening can start quietly with dinner and a narguile (shisha) and then comes the usual, bars and clubs. There are hundreds to choose from. I like rooftops because the views of the city at night are beautiful and because it is nice to enjoy the breeze, when there is one.

Cafés that have narguiles usually do not serve alcohol, however bars and clubs would be empty if they didn’t serve it! But watch out, going out is not cheap in Syria. Actually life in general isn’t cheap. You might be able to find cheap food but probably as an expat you don’t want to eat in those places. As for bars and drinks, it is common to pay a cover which includes an alcoholic drink (or two soft drinks), usually you’ll pay around 15$. I was out last weekend and we had a table reserved, we had to pay 40$ each, which included three drinks, not so bad I guess, but let me tell you, they pour very little alcohol in your glass!!

Don’t expect too many people out before midnight, again this is a Mediterranean culture and it seems like it is always too early to go out, and way earlier to go back home ;) I am not sure what time places are supposed to shut down because I have never stayed until the end, I am out of practice!

Women, I have said it before, always dress up really nice, they obviously take their time getting ready, fixing their hair and make up; but men are not less and they are always well dressed, again in a Western way: short dresses usually for women, jeans and shirts for men. Women are beautiful and very sexy, especially when they dance.

It is quite common to see old expats just staring at Syrians dancing, and Syrians seems to love being watched, after all that must be one of the reasons they take their time to look so good.

People here love dancing, and they do it like pros. It must be in their blood, like Latinos. They have a fabulous sense of rhythm and no self consciousness, and they are able to move their hips in a way that reminds me of Shakira, who has Lebanese roots. Hands, arms and head movements are also part of the dancing exercise. As for the music, there is always a mix between Arabic tunes, disco music that would sound anywhere else in the world, and a lot of salsa. They love salsa and they always assume I can dance it well, I am not sure why. But trust me, I can’t! And when I see them I certainly don’t even dare trying!

The city is extremely safe and you can walk around any time of day or night, even if you are alone. Taxis will try to make you pay extra if you are an expat, but if you insist they will use the meter and then you should just tip them. Anyways a taxi can take you to the other side of town for just 4 dollars.

So if you ever decide to visit Syria make sure you keep some energy for the evening and night, you will need it! But no worries, they spend the mornings of the weekend sleeping, which I admit didn’t take me long to adapt to!
   

Life in Damascus

Many of you have asked me about life in Damascus, what a day here is like. Well I can tell you a few stories.

For instance, today we have reached 115F according to the Internet, 120F according to the Government- which is completely abnormal!! I believe statistics say the average temperature in August is 90F, and this is the hottest month of the year (but it is only the 1st of August… can you imagine in a couple weeks?). Apparently the government has issued a warning because temperatures are expected to reach 122F and perhaps up to 131F in the next few days, an all time high.

Now imagine this heat while wearing a suit… mmmh, appealing, right? And then picture yourself in a taxi with no AC, going to a meeting. Sometimes I don’t know what is worse, to have the windows open or closed. People joke and say it seems like someone has placed a huge hairdryer on top of the country and it just keeps blowing hot air.

Then when you finally get to your meeting or to the office, trying to look nice and fresh, surprise! There is no power! Because there are now way too frequent power-cuts, which mean no charger for your computer, no internet, no cold water in the fridge, and of course no air conditioning. Power cuts weren’t too common a couple weeks ago but now demand has dramatically raised and also, I just found out, when heat goes up power production goes down, so if there is more demand and less production, you end up melting in your office, or in your house (it was 97F in my room yesterday after a 2-hour power-cut).

And that is not all; there is a shortage of water in Syria, a typically dry country, which usually is no problem in Damascus because all houses (or at least the ones for rich locals and expats) have big tanks on the roof that are refilled a couple times a week. So when there is no water coming from the government pipes, the one stored in the reservoirs is used. However, these reservoirs are like huge plastic kegs and they are in the roof, under this merciless and cruel sun, 115F… can you guess? The water is too hot, it burns! So you can forget about taking a shower until night, when if you are lucky temperatures go down to 95F (35C). I swear this is true (check the picture).

So this is how I have spent my day today. But tomorrow I will tell you about my weekend nights out, which are pretty fun. Oh, fyi weekends here are Friday & Saturday instead of the usual Saturday & Sunday, so Thursday night is a big night out, and Friday night is Salsa night!