icyaurora8 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
icyaurora8) wrote2007-01-03 10:04 pm
icyaurora8) wrote2007-01-03 10:04 pm
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pics of dance show
Here are a couple of pics I promised a friend from my photo shoot right before my bellydancing show in November. lj-cut text="Click me to see!"
I'm the one in purple (the younger blonde is my sister, the older woman is my mother). The last pic is my fiance' and I on the night of the show, after we got done dancing.
Also... if you want to watch the video of the opening dance, you can go here. It's really crappy quality and sound, I know, but it was taken with a digital camera, not a video camera. My sister hasn't gotten a Director's account yet, so we can't upload the good videos cause they are too big.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LGDA3MhYfaE
I'm the one in purple (the younger blonde is my sister, the older woman is my mother). The last pic is my fiance' and I on the night of the show, after we got done dancing.
Also... if you want to watch the video of the opening dance, you can go here. It's really crappy quality and sound, I know, but it was taken with a digital camera, not a video camera. My sister hasn't gotten a Director's account yet, so we can't upload the good videos cause they are too big.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LGDA3MhYfaE
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Anyway, I'm just responding to your comment from the harrydraco comm over here, so as not to clog up the original post. :)
Do you mean that it's not a good time to visit the Middle East in terms of weather or politics? Politically speaking, I would say that it's rarely a good time for North Americans to be there (particularly Americans, unfortunately), but if you dress appropriately and try to respect of the right things, I would say that you should be fine. It's handy to learn a few phrases of Arabic before you go, but you can likely get by with a fair bit of English. Damascus is also a good bit less sensitive than, say, Jerusalem or Tel-Aviv or Hebron - Israel and the Palestinian Territories in general, in other words. On top of that, Syria is something of a police state, which means not so good to live in, but usually good for travellers, because crime rates are so low. In fact, when I went in 2000, I was told that it's one of the safest countries in the world to visit. Rule of thumb for dress is no bare knees or elbows, and skirts are preferable for women. You don't have to, and there will be women who don't, especially if you stay near the Christian quarter, but I would recommend it if you're nervous.
Weather-wise, yes, less ideal, but probably still quite lovely. It gets extremely hot in summer (120 F and the like!). I was there in October, and it was still high 80's to high 90's! And if you can't go now, then maybe you could plan on it for May or October or something like that? I hope you have a chance to go someday! It's a whole different world, and so beautiful. I'm a history buff, myself, and I couldn't believe that I was, for instance, actually seeing the place where Salah al-Din was buried. In the Umayyad mosque (which is, for the record, the fourth holiest place for Muslims, after Mecca, Medina, and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem), they also claim to have the head of John the Baptist (although at least three other places also claim this). Pretty cool. :)
Damascus' Old City has a Christian quarter, where the apostle who looked after Paul when he was blinded on the road to Damascus (Ananaias) lived. You can still go into his house and everything - it's on Bab Hanania, or Ananaias street. :) Also, to get there, you would enter through the same city gate that Paul would have gone through. Damascus also has a Jewish quarter. I'm not sure what percentage of the city's population is Jewish, but I believe that it's about 13% Christian, which would be pretty much all Syrian Orthodox. Syrian Orthodox services are conducted about half in Arabic and the rest in Aramaic, which is the language that Jesus spoke, if you believe in such things. (I do, and it's fine with me if you don't, but I thought you might find it historically interesting!)
(cont'd!)
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1. You need to bring your own toilet paper. I kid you not. At public bathrooms, there will be an attendant outside (whom you are expected to tip) offering a box of tissues. Most people take just one. Also, some toilets are the old-fashioned, Syrian type - what friends of mine who used to work in Hebron used to call the "squatty potty" - it's essentially a hole in the floor, with blocks to stand on at each side and a chain to pull to flush it. Can be tricky in a skirt (many of the women I travelled with just took them off, heh). The bonus is that it's actually the most hygienic way to use a public toilet, as only your shoes touch anything that anyone else has touched. Most places will have standard toilets too, though.
2. It's considered rude for people to sit in that way with one knee crossed over the other. Neither knee should be higher than the other. Not sure why this is, but there it is.
3. When you're in the market, bargain. Also, use Syrian currency (it comes in lyra, also called Syrian pounds by many travel guides). You'll get far better deals. As far as guides go, I could not possibly recommend Lonely Planet's guide to Syria more highly! It's fabulous and proved terribly helpful. Has a good phrase guide in the back, too. Back to bargaining. First off, merchants consider it a sign that you have no interest in interacting with them if you decline to bargain, which many of us would consider polite and non-heckling. They take it as the reverse, though. Being willing to discuss prices means establishing a relationship, and they want that. Many shops are owned and attended by only one person, so it's small business all the way! Bargaining doesn't necessarily mean arguing. You ask for a price, then counter with a lower offer. No merchant would ever sell at a loss, so don't worry about that. By bargaining, I got amazing prices that the other North Americans I was travelling with never got. It also helped that I was using their currency and at least attempting Arabic. For instance: the day we were all in the tablecloth section of Damascus' main souq, the Souq Hamadiyya (a souq is a marketplace, basically, and tablecloths are what Damascus is particularly known for -> damask = Damascus, yes?), I bought long tablecloth for my mother. It was green, embroidered with gold and silver thread. It's about ten feet long and five feet wide. Other women bought tablecloths the exact same size and paid the equivalent of about $40 (US). I paid $8 for mine, and $4 for two other smaller ones. When we went to Palmyra, another guy paid nearly $30 US for his camel. I paid $2.50 for mine. :P The merchants tend to be very friendly and will often offer tea or coffee. Accepting it doesn't obligate you to buy anything. There will be hawkers in the corridors, but a simple lift of the eyebrows implies a solid no, and you will be left alone. Incidentally, yes is "aiwa" or just "ai" (rhymes with "eye") and no is "la". I was never bothered after an eyebrow lift and a "la".
4. Stay near the Old City if you can. The place where Harry and Draco stayed in Old City Jasmine is real; it's where I stayed, and I recommend it. It's the St. Elias (pronounced "EEE-lee-ass", not "eee-LIE-ass") Monastery, so it's safe and clean.
(cont'd again, because I am WORDY! :D)
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6. It's safe to walk past dark. I was constantly amazed by the women and children who would be out walking alone past midnight, without apparent concern.
7. It is illegal to photograph government buildings or photographs of the current or past president. This sounds a bit silly, but honestly, they're everywhere. I took many, simply becaue it was impossible not to. Try not to let anyone see it, though. Also, some sects of stricter Muslims believe that cameras put an evil eye on people, so if you want to take closer pictures of anyone, you should probably ask first.
8. If you visit the mosque, know in advance that women have to be robed. They will give you one. You will also need to carry your shoes, but it's perfectly okay to go right inside. During the prayers, people will be kneeling by the eastern wall, so just avoid that area. You'll see them, don't worry. :P
And that's about all I can think of, honestly. In northern Syria, there is another larger city called Aleppo (Halab in Arabic). There, the main European language spoken is French. It's not particularly interesting, other than the citadel. I would recommend visiting the Krak des Chevaliers, though (if you have time). It's the largest crusader fortress in the world. Also, Palmyra is the largest collection of intact Roman ruins outside Italy and was once the major trading center of the ancient world. Pretty cool. It's called Tadmud on many maps, if that helps. You can totally do a day trip there; it's only a couple of hours from Damascus. Krak des Chevaliers could probably also be done in a day trip, if you got up early. It takes a good two hours or so to see the fortress properly, and the trip itself would probably be about three or four hours each way. Maybe not that long; not sure.
And if you're a true history nerd like me, then you'll want to go to Deir-es-Salam, just to cross the Euphrates and know that you're officially in Mesopotamia. :)
Okay. That's all!!! :D
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All of the information you gave me has made me want to go even more. It is always nice to know someone who is knowledgeable and can offer this type of thing, because I would probably be completely clueless otherwise.
I've only ever traveled out of the country twice... once to Vancouver (which doesn't count much, since I live in the US) and once to Japan. So other than really knowing quite a bit about Asian customs, from having been there and a few different classes (and select friends), I don't know much about other places except history. My knowledge of the Middle East is pretty much limited to a class I've taken, and research I've done on my own (or watched Discovery/Travel channel, lol).
Do you have pictures you could post, just out of curiosity? I would love to see some, if you can. If you don't want to post them here, feel free to email them to me also. Same name as LJ, at yahoo.com :-)
Thanks so much for the time you took to type all of this out, I really appreciate it.
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Ha ha, no, Vancouver does NOT count! :P Japan definitely does, though. :)
I do have pictures! In fact, I posted them once. Hang on, let me rustle you up a link! Here you go! ♥
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