Syria, Day 37 of 85: I need more hours in the day

This is my day.

*places pie*

This is what portion of my day is dedicated to work.

*removes half of pie*

This is what portion of my day is dedicated to eating and sleeping.

*removes quarter of pie*

This is what reading manga on my computer does to what remains of my day.

*takes hammer, smashes remaining quarter of pie repeatedly*

Just so you know what to blame. I’ll begin updating regularly again later this week, when work takes a break from kicking my ass. Unfortunately, I can't even finish this post with the pictures of babies and kitties I've taken...I need an FTP upload program that I can actually get to work.

Syria, Day 24 of 85: A very tiny post

Good news! I've now officially been told by too many sources to ignore to stop talking politics here. Like, because it's best for me to stay apolitical. *cough* For all of you who wanted to debate, I'm sorry, but this ends the poli talk. I'm sure I'll hear about this from Ben at a later date. And by "hear about," I mean he'll come armed with graphs.

In far more exciting news, guess what I saw on TV the other day? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dubbed over in Arabic. Not even the new season--the old one, some episode about gypsies and a train heist. It was one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

Syria, Day 23 of 85: More political anger

Here's an English translation of Assad's speech. And some Syrian stats. And I'm sorry, but I'm not done talking about this...I'll post pictures of babies and kitties the next time I post, I swear.

I've been a news junkie the past few days, absorbing almost anything I can find on Syria and reactions to the speech. You know, one thing I haven't seen mentioned much is the fact that Syria isn't just being cornered by America, it's (at least unofficially, if not officially) being cornered by the Islamic militants. In case, uh, EVERYONE hasn't noticed, if you're a Middle Eastern country that's trying to get along with America, some terrorist comes and blows you up for being a traitor. Didn't Jordan suffer like that? The "new" Iraq? And although it's less clear who's behind the Lebanon attacks, they're no stranger to bombings, either. Syria has been mercifully spared terrorist attacks, and I don't doubt that's at least partially because Assad is staunchly against Israel and hasn't let himself become an American puppet. He's helped fight terrorism before, and he's complied with America on many occasions, but he's not America's lapdog.

Oh, and let's be clear--Israel is a huge, huge issue over here. And if I hear one more person write it off with, "Oh, the Middle Eastern countries blame Israel for everything," I'm going to tear out my hair. Yes, plenty of people blame Israel for more stuff than it deserves to be blamed for. Yes, far too many Palestinians have blown themselves up to kill innocent Israelis (and killing innocent people for any cause is never okay). But y'know what? Israel pulls so much shit--SO MUCH SHIT--that countries like Syria have every reason to be pissed at it. Do you want Syria to accept you and Israel, America? Because they're not buying Israel, with their illegal settlements, their tanks running down neighborhoods, their convicted-war-criminal Prime Minister. They have every reason to hate it for moral reasons, and since Bush is so bent on "doing the moral thing," he should understand that. Oh, wait! His morals are the only ones that count. Because trying to slip Christian values into a religion-free government and making everyone do what he, a born-again, thinks is right has nothing in common with the religious fundamentalism he hates so much.

We can't let terrorists run our lives. We can't let people think terrorism is a valid way of getting a point across--remember Spain, and how a bombing changed the outcome of an election? A little piece of me died that day, and I think the world is now a worse place because of it. But at the same time, we can't ignore the fact that terrorism is terribly prominent these days. Since 9/11, for all of Bush's efforts to "stop terrorism," things have gotten far, far worse. Putting a new government in Iraq? Oh, that's worked. America's plans and goals and missions to make the Middle East a better place have worked about as well as throwing a chunk of sodium and a gallon of chlorine into the local lake to make it saltier.

So pretend you're Assad. You don't do what the UN wants and what America keeps yelling at you to do, and you risk sanctions...and a possible invasion from America down the line, since they've been known to pull that crap. You do whatever America says, let them spread their influence in Syria, let them push for government reform...and you've got BORDERING COUNTRIES potentially pissed at you for selling out. Bush keeps yelling at Syria for letting terrorists pass from Syria to Iraq, so he obviously believes terrorists are on Syrian territory a fair share of the time. Doesn't he realize that Assad has to think of that? That Assad can't just do everything America says, because these terrorists despise the American government and pass right on through Syria? Giving America too much too soon puts innocent Syrian people at risk for retaliation from angry psychos.

It's easy to talk about clean-cut justice from the air-conditioned White House. But the reality is that terrorists are running around the Middle East, and it doesn't take much these days to get them to come after you. Assad has to balance the West crushing him from one side with the militants crushing him from the other. Oh, on that note, a fun little fact--Assad isn't a fundamentalist, nor is he even Muslim.

Assad's already said he wants to cooperate with the Hariri investigation, but he wants to compromise. The White House, of course, is pissed that he's not just bending over. Can the US please, PLEASE at least tone down its international bullying and its condescending language? I don't know Assad's intentions, obviously, but I wish the White House would get its collective head out of its collective ass and realize that pushing any Middle Eastern country into reform can lead to a lot of blood and a hell of a lot of hate. Why do you think the US is so scared of Iran? Why do think Iraq is on the brink of civil war?

God, these posts are making me angry.

Syria, Day 20 of 85: Assad's speech, and Reason #265 for my hating George W. Bush

I had a really happy little post to put up today, but I think it would be inappropriate to go with it and thus ignore the significant political activity of the past 12 hours. And since politics are never happy...I now have a less-than-happy post.

About 10 hours ago, President Bashar Assad addressed the Syrian people in a highly-anticipated speech about Syria's role in the international community. For those who don't follow foreign politics, here's the best run-down I can give without double-checking my facts (so please forgive any inaccuracies and post corrections if you have them; I'm not the best at following international news):

-6-8 months ago, an explosion killed Rafik Hariri, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. A lot of people--but most especially Lebanon--thought Syria was behind the killing.

-Bush jumped on the bandwagon, using Hariri's murder as a springboard for ordering long-standing Syrian troops out of Lebanon. Syrian president Assad said, "Working on it." Bush said, "Now." Assad pulled out all the troops.

-An investigation began to find the truth behind Hariri's murder. The UN got involved, Lebanon and America got itchy...and then, maybe a month or two ago, one of the Syrian intelligence members who was scheduled for investigation suddenly "committed suicide," taking all his knowledge with him. Bush, Lebanon, and the UN were not pleased.

-About 3 weeks ago, Bush and the UN started pushing Syria harder, demanding they cooperate with the Hariri investigation. Notably, said investigation started cornering Assad's incredibly powerful brother-in-law.

And then, today, Assad spoke to his people about all this. The streets of Damascus were crowded and throngs of students (as young as high-school-aged) filled the University of Damascus to hear their president speak. To oversimplify, he said this:

"We'll cooperate to an extent, but we won't roll over and die."

It was a more aggressive speech than I think a lot of people were expecting, and even had some pretty unusual criticism of the Lebanese government. Assad said that various powers are trying to divide Syria and continue the already-underway destruction of the Arabic culture. He pretty much said that the Syrian people need to stick together against this outside aggression.

I'm not going to take a side in this--I'm just a bystander with limited information. If you want more educated commentary on this whole thing, I direct you to syriacomment.com. But there isn't a doubt in my mind that America is using the whole Hariri murder as an excuse to get the world to turn on Syria. Hell, it's a powerful Arab country that Bush hasn't either chained to his administration or blown the hell out of yet. Time to move! And Bush's international policy bullshit--aka treating every other country like the kid who kicked over his sandcastle, his evil and insubordinate underling, or the mentally-retarded step-son he keeps locked in his attic--has been particularly bad with Syria. For example:

-Bush says Syria is letting insurgents and militants and other nasty people into Iraq, so they have to put a stop to it. Syria puts in an effort. Bush says it's not good enough...despite the fact that the area between Syria and Iraq has LOTS OF DESERT FILLED WITH WANDERING PEOPLES WHO AREN'T REGISTERED IN ANY NATION. "Spend all your time and money doing a ridiculously hard thing because I say so, and because I started a war I can't handle!...That's not enough time and money! BAD SYRIA!"

-Bush says Hariri's murder just brings up the fact that Syrian troops should be out of Lebanon immediately. Assad pulls out the troops, surprisingly close to immediately. Bush continues to push the Hariri investigation whilst trying to demonize Syria. "Look, my American people! Syria's not cooperating with us! WHY AREN'T THEY COOPERATING WITH US?!...Although ignore all the cooperation thus far."

No, Syria isn't doing everything America says, but would you? The concessions Syria makes--serious concessions, mind you--are never enough for America. America went to an unjust war with a Syrian neighbor. America's given money and weapons and power to Israel for years, when Syria's been at war with Israel for years. If you were Syria, would you do everything America says? Would you do anything America said?

I'm just honestly sick of the way America picks and chooses its evil Arab nemeses based on the "Do they agree with us or not?" test. America: "Disagree with us? We'll use your scandals as a reason to threaten and/or invade you. Think America is a-ok? We'll ignore all your shit." *cough*saudiarabia*cough* Bush does the same thing with his staff. "Agree with me? Then here, here's an extremely important job you're not qualified for." *cough*FEMA*cough* At least his own party called him on that when he tried to put his right-hand lady friend on the Supreme Court.

I haven't seen the American news in weeks, but I sincerely hope Syria's protests have been broadcast there. The people aren't blowing things up, they're not burning effigies...it's been students with signs chanting in the streets. I drove by a crowd of students--both Syrian and foreign--setting up station at a busy street intersection and drawing honks from pleased drivers. I read protest signs on Arabic TV, noticing the painted English words were things like "Illegal" as opposed to "Die." If American media hasn't completely dropped the ball, they'll show their images of burning cars in Iraq next to the peaceful, educated political protests in Syria. God knows the Americans need to see it's not all death and destruction over here.

When my aunt picked me up from the airport 20 days ago, the first thing she said--with a sad smile--was "We're afraid Bush will kill us." I told her there was no way Bush could justify a war just because he didn't like the way a government operated...but, then again, that's what I said about Iraq.

Syria, Day 12 of 85: Everything about me is starting to make sense.

Today's the last day of Ramadan, so in 11.5 short hours I'm done with fasting for a while. I say "a while" because I have to make up 17 days I missed this season because of poor health, traveling, and girl stuffs. 13 out of 30 days is a weak Ramadan, Maggie. Weak! And I had an awesome 20 days last year. Sigh...but since I have until next Ramadan to make up those 17 days, I'm going to enjoy my regularly scheduled eating for at least a few weeks.

I was dying to do some geeky posts on my livejournal about manga I'm currently in love with, then reminded myself that I'm in a thousands-year-old culture right now and haven't posted anything about that. Now I'm prioritizing. On a related note, why am I such a loser?

My trip getting to Damascus was about 25 hours door-to-door, and involved a 9-hour layover in Russia. I had Euros on me, but I know 2 things in Russian: how to say "good-bye," and how to say "bless you" when someone sneezes. My spectacular language skills necessitated my communicating via pointing at the airport eatery, and thus I spent those 9 hours enjoying sustenance in the form of a small bag of pistachios and a coke. Before I make the return trip, I'm learning how to say in Russian, "I would like an enormous meat sandwich."

I had my fully-charged laptop and Gameboy with me as well as a slew of new games, but I barely touched them during the trip. My hours in the airport and waking hours in the plane were mostly spent contemplating the universe (read: fantasizing about ridiculous things, like Tokyo street gangs and How Awesome Is It That My Left Thumbnail's That Long?) and listening to the 4 CD mixes Becca made me as a going-away present. The mixes were so awesome, so filled with nostalgia, I just...didn't need anything else. She is awesome, and her awesomeness is reflected by her music collection.

On the last plane--the one from Moscow to Damascus--I was crammed into a tiny piece of scrap metal Aeroflot figured could make it the 3.5 hours to Syria. Neither of my two reasonably-sized carry-on bags could fit in the overhead compartment, so they went under my seat and on my lap. I lost most of the feeling below my waistline, but I guess that's what I get for...having carry-on bags for an international trip. I was on the aisle seat next to a nice Russian woman and her adorable 9-year-old son, and about an hour into the trip I figured a little Gameboy might be in order. When I turned it on and started playing, the lady and her son talked in Russian, then switched seats so the boy could be next to me and look over my elbow. Since I'm an adult and he's a child, I offered the game system to the boy, but he shook his head. His mother explained, "He doesn't play--only watches." This pretty much broke my heart, so I went through my games in the hopes of finding some universal game he could play without any real gaming experience (or knowledge of English). And then I remembered I was in Russia. Needless to say, he spent the next 30 minutes playing my Tetris.

Since arriving in Syria, I've discovered that every unique quality I have, every strange desire or inexplicable compulsion, can be traced to my heritage in this place. My study is only qualitative so far, but I'm working on a graph.

1.) Babies are everywhere. EVERYWHERE. And if there's a baby, you pick it up and shake it and kiss it and make it kiss you back because you're in charge. Then you put it down, wait until it's doing something, poke it until it's annoyed with you, then revel while it attacks you with its squishy baby fists. My God...I thought only I did that.

2.) Wild kitties roam freely in the streets. They stare at you, come when you make kissy noises at them, circle you a bit if they think you're cool, then go back to slinking under parked cars. There are no filthy, stupid dogs. Maybe...maybe they're all dead.

3.) The stinky, awesome foods here can rival the stinky foods of any nation. I've had grape leaves wrapped around nuts and croissant filled with olives. I've washed down goaty cheese with coffee you can chew. Please keep in mind that despite these foods, my body itself is still as fragrant as a rose garden in the dewy morning.

4.) The boys touch each other here in platonic love. Like, a lot. Two guy cousins in their 20s will high-five, pull it into a hug, then kiss on both cheeks. Two boys will walk arm-in-arm in the streets, or sit next to each other and drape arms over shoulders. I was nearly killed by a college-aged boy who wanted to dive and grab his friend on the street in a headlock/head rub, regardless of the bystanders in his way. It's so very entertaining.

5.) Nobody here seems to stress about much, and they party whenever they have a free moment. They go to work, they come home, they eat, then they party at night. Oh, they love the night. "You're going to bed?" asks my aunt, who's in her 50s. "But it's only 11 pm!" "You're doing work at 1 am?" asks my cousin, fully dressed and smelling like Axe. "Why aren't you out on the crowded streets partying with me?" I watched my cousins give their young children chocolate on a school day at 10 at night. The Fat Baby (a cousin--he literally has a onesie that says on it, in English, "FAT" for no discernable reason) played with me after dinner one night, watched me fall asleep on his couch, then woke me up three hours later by slapping on the pillow by my head. "What?" he asks with his sinister baby eyes. "I'm not done trying to eat your precious things yet!"

So yeah, that pretty much explains...my life until this point. I never figured I'd get an explanation.

Oh, and I already have a favorite Arabic TV show. It's a comedy about a Muslim farmer and his godless wife getting into really strange situations. They even had a Very Special Episode where they learned that communism is a bad idea. Oh, how I’m so happy that I'm not kidding about that.