Friday, September 29, 2006

Gym, Again

Today I started going to the gym again. It has been 10 months since the last time. I hate the first day. You begin with energy, sweat, feel a few cramps, end up tired. Then when you want to take a shower you can't even shampoo your head... you feel crippled.
But it is a most needed start (I need to get rid of my skyrocketing cholesterol, and stay fit of course).

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Also...

I got my syndicate ID, finally. No photo is to be provided.

Getting the tickets

In a matter related to the anonymous comment on the previous post, I set off today to get tickets for the Saturday concert.
Step 1: I arrived at the ministry of tourism near the old fair ground. Wrong building. They sent me to the main building. There I found the place where they have the invitations; it is called المراسم, which doesn't make sense to me. Anyway the guy there said there are no tickets. I asked around a bit and decided to go back to the same office, being nosy, to ask where I can find them. At this time, another officer, a female, arrived and I asked about invitations. She asked me what side I represent, and told her that I represent myself only. She gave me a ticket for the Friday event as a "reward" for having bothered myself to come. I simply said I don't want it because I will not attend alone, so she gave me another. The rest she said were to be sent by name to certain people. So now I have two tickets for Friday which I don't want (the same event different day).
Step 2: On the invitation card it says the French Cultural Center has tickets. So I walked there and asked for invitations. He grabbed a bunch of tickets, took out two for Saturday (They don't have Friday) and gave them to me saying these are the last two!!! so now I have 2 Friday and 2 Saturday tickets.
Step 3: I passed by the tourist information center in 29th may street. They had the festival postures all over, so I asked for tickets. They answered: you don't need them, you'll get access at the door!!! Well, not me this time.
Step 4: We made some phone calls to people we know and through their useful help and reference I called the French Center and they promised to reserve 2 tickets for Saturday for me in my name. These two my friend will get for me, as my face is familiar now to the French Center guy.
Step 5: Maya suggested the possibility of swapping the Friday for Saturday tickets. So I made my dad call and ask (I have just talked to the same guy in the center) then went with my dad and he got in to get me two tickets for Saturday. Again my dad said that the guy had a bunch of tickets available at hand.
So now I have 6 tickets for Saturday, which what I need.

السندباد - رحلة الأرجوان

Last night we went to this show by Inana Troupe in the old citadel of Damascus, currently renovated and maybe open to public. Some parts of it may still be used as a prison. But anyway, I saw the ad in a news paper a couple of days ago and decided to go. Few of my friends also decided to join me, and so we were five altogether. The plan was to go early to find seats because the invitation was “open to public = الدعوة عامة”, and I didn’t want to end up with no seats as happened in the George Galloway lecture.
As we arrived, the security guards asked us for “the invitation cards”. We told that we don’t have any because the invitation was “open to public”. They said: no, you need an invitation card. For some unknown reason, I had this inspiration and cut off the ad from the newspaper just before I leave (shown in the picture). I presented it to them and said, this is what the newspaper says. They started to argue about the opening being only through private invitation, so I asked to talk with the organizer. No one made a lot of fuss and they let us in, nicely I might add, as an “exception”. And we seated ourselves in good seats too.
The worst thing about the evening was the presenter, who spoke good Arabic and French, but spoke English like a Chinese person newly learning English (with all due respect to the Chinese). Then there was a nicely made short movie about the monuments and silk roads in Syria, followed by a short speech by the minister of tourism.
The show was about the Sinbad travel through regions penetrated by the Silk Road, and dancing performances of Asia, Europe, and Arabia. The site being in the old citadel gave the show an ancient vibe. There were about 90 performers constantly changing roles and clothes, which were rich in color and style. Horses and camels were used and the show lasted just more than an hour. It was a very nice show, well organized and played. The music tried to match each region of concern with an oriental touch of course. All of us were happy with being able to attend it.
After that we took a stroll to a place called Leila’s. we were very hungry, and none of us had anything since lunch (none of us is fasting, and it is Ramadan now), it was already 11 PM. We had some hookahs and the special سحور as our meal, a variety of dishes were scattered on the table so we could satiate our hungry stomachs, I think I ate the most. Overall we were very satisfied with the event and what followed, but some people were missing (like my fiancée).
On Saturday a musical concert is being held as part of the Silk Road festival. I will attempt getting some invitation cards this time through another adventure tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

أوراقي... أوراقي

كادت الذكرى السنوية لـِ.... هل حزرتم؟؟؟ الذكرى السنوية لتقديمي طلب إحداث اختصاص جديد في الطب التلطيفي تحل. وأعتقد أنها توافق الشهر المقبل. ومعها أيضاً طلب تسجيلي في نقابة الأطباء (الذي تم) ويتبعه إصدار هوية نقابية معها.
الحال هو نفسه في الحادثين. لا شيء حدث على الإطلاق مع أي من الطلبين (أو التأخيرين)، مع بعض التعديل.
ففي الأولى، أصبح الذهاب إلى مديرية الامتحانات أمراً عادياً ورتيباً خاصة بعد الزيارات العشر الأولى. وكل مرة هنالك عذر. أولاً فكت اللجنة ولم يتشكل لجنة جديدة. ثم تشكلت اللجنة لكنها لم تجتمع، وبعدها اجتمعت اللجنة لكنها لم تراجع إلا 5 إضبارات من السبعين المتراكمة. وبعد ذلك لن يتم البحث بالاختصاصات التي لا تحتاج إلى فحص (كالبورد الأمريكي) لأن الأولوية لطلاب الشهادات المطلوب منهم الجلوس إلى الامتحان. ثم بعد ذلك ألغي الاجتماع لأجل مسيرة ما، ثم لم يجمعوا الخميس الذي بعده.... ثم قيل لي أن النظر بالاختصاصات الجديدة مؤجل الآن، وهكذا دواليك. علماً أنني قدمت طلباً لإحدى قريباتي في الصيدلة وتم الموافقة عليه رغم أنه كان يحمل احتمالاً كبيراً في ألا يتم ذلك.
وكل هذا وأنا وإضبارتي (إضافة إلى غيري وأنا واثق) تراكم الغبار في غياهب خزانة ما أو درج ما. طلبوا مني الشكوى لوزير الصحة، وغني عن التذكير بأني فعلت بالطبع. ولم ينجم عن ذلك أي شيء بعد رغم أننا أوصينا بالشكوى. وطبعاً ما يقوله الجميع لي، بما أن شهادة الطب الداخلي قد عدلت لي، يمكنني الممارسة كيفما شئت (يعني وأنا لم أمسك مشرطاً في حياتي أستطيع أن أقوم بعملية الزائدة لشخص ما دون أن يحاسبني أحد!!!).
اليوم وبعد انتهاء زيارتي، مررت على قسم الامتحانات لأراجع قوائم المرشحين للامتحانات، إذ أن امرأة أخي منهم. وكان هناك لبس في الاسم إذ قدمت القائمة باسم د. يانا فلان (د. يعني دكتورة)، ولكنهم حولوا الاسم إلى ديانا وطلبوا كتاباً من مديرية الصحة بتصحيح الخطأ الذي قاموا هم به. ولكنهم قالوا بعد المشاورات الهاتفية بين حمص ودمشق أنهم سيصلحون الأمر. طلبت مراجعة القوائم، فتمت إحالتي إلى قسم الحاسوب. وهناك طلبت قائمة المرشحين للاختصاص في حمص... وطبعاً لن يندهش أحد إن قلت أن الاسم كان لا يزال ديانا. وهنا قلت لعاملة الحاسوب أن الاسم هو يانا وليس ديانا. فما كان منها إلا أن قامت بحذف حرف الدال من القائمة الالكترونية وقالت أن الأمر تم تصحيحه. هكذا بكل بساطة دون لا كتاب ولا مراجعة مسؤولين ولا سين أو جيم.
على كل، فيما يتعلق بالأمر الثاني بشأن الهوية النقابية، فقد كنت كالعادة أذهب مراراً إلى نقابة أطباء دمشق وأسأل عن الهوية. طبعاً أول مرة قالولي أنه يلزم شهر كي تصدر (لا أعرف لم الشهر إذ أن كل الهوية عبارة عن قطعة من الورق ملصق عليها صورة مجتزأة مع بعض الكتابات ومغلفة بالنايلون أو ما شابه، في حين أن الهويات المدنية وشهادات السوق تصدر في يوم واحد). انتظرت شهراً وعدت فقيل لي أنه يوجد تلكؤ في الهويات. وبعد فترة أيضاً اكتشفت أن هنالك 100 هوية متسلسلة، ورقمي طبعاً معها، تم تجاوزها لأسباب مجهولة. وفي كل مرة كنت أراجع بعدها كان يتم تجهيز بعض الهويات إما قبل أو بعد رقمي. آخر مرة ذهبت كان يوجد فقط 8 هويات من هذه المئة لم تتم وقيل لي راجع بعد 5 أيام إذ أنهم وعدوا بإنجازها. طبعاً أنا راجعت بعد شهر (مع إعطاء مهلة) ولم تكن موجودة. عندها قال لي موظف النقابة أن جماعة النقابة المركزية لا يفهمون إلا بهز البدن وفرك الأذن.
أخذت رقم النقابة المركزية وتحدثت مع المسؤولين في قسم الهويات. أعطيتهم معطياتي (الاسم والرقم) وشرحت لهم الوضع، وتعللت الموظفة بوجود مسائل مالية بين النقابات وعندها بدأت الصياح والشجب ورفع الصوت:
"صرلي سنة ناطر، لأيمتى بدي ضل...
"إذا انتوا عندكن مشاكل مع بعض عاقبوا حالكن مو أنا بدي أكل العقاب...
"ما عم ندفعلكن الاشتراكات منشان هالخدمات الهزيلة...
"ما منقدر ناخد وصفات بدون هوية، نروح على المكتبة بدون هوية، كذا بدون هوية..."
وإلى آخره مما لا أذكره. قالت لي الموظفة اتصل غداً ونكون أخدنا خبر الهوية.
كالعادة أعطيت مهلة يوم زيادة واتصلت اليوم. ولدهشتي قالوا لي أنهم حضروا الهوية وسأستلمها غداً من نقابة دمشق. أنا لن أصدق هذه المعلومات إلا بعد أن استلمها فعلاً.
فالخلاصة إذاً، الأمور سايبة، وما في شي بيمشي إلا بالعياط، أحياناً.

Friday, September 22, 2006

The Damascus Dream Part 2 - By Tony

1- Well, before I start talking about night life and entertainment facilities in both Damascus and Detroit, I couldn't help my self not commenting on the seatbelt law that they started to apply 3 weeks ago while I was in Syria (well, the law of using seatbelts while driving was issued 4 years ago... but suddenly they started applying it in AUG/2006).
The strangest part is they obligate the driver to put on the seatbelt but not the passenger (the guy sitting next to the driver in the front) and I am 100% sure that we are the only country in the world that enforces the driver only seat belt law.

2- Night life: in Detroit night life is exclusively Friday night and Saturday night. That means if you try to hang out in a bar or any other entertainment place other than those 2 days you will be the only person in town that is trying to have fun at that day.
Well, in Damascus night life is simply 7 days a week. And there is more than that, there is the evening life where people start warming up by having a walk in القصاع/الصالحية/باب توما areas up until 9 pm. After that they rest for some tea or coffee in the new chain called “In House Café” or if you are old school you may go to "La Noisette", and if you are new to town like me you may do that at "Steed cafe" or at "Dominos".
Needless to say that evening life phenomenon in Detroit is only in one place which is at home, because you just want to catch your breath after 10 hours of work and you just don't want to go anywhere.

3- After-hours: it is where people go and have some food after finishing the night life phase. So in Detroit it is usually between 2-3 am because all entertainment centers should be closed by 2 AM.
In Damascus, surprise surprise, there is no after-hours simply because entertainment places don't close before 5:30 AM. And I got to see the sunrise in more than one occasion.
And guess what when I first got to Syria I was worried about not having enough time to spend with my family because I have lots of friends that I have to hang out with.. but don't worry, night life doesn't start in Syria before 1 AM so u will have more than enough time to spend with the family before you start your sahra.

4- Finally on my way back to the airport, there was a huge sign written in Arabic just 1 mile before you hit the airport and it said “البلد بلدك” which mean “this is where you belong”. Aaahhhh, it did make me tearful... well, my heart started beating again... I have to admit that I fell in love... and it is with you... Damascus... I know sooner or later I'll be yours.

Tony

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This finishes the second and final part of Tony’s Damascus Dream.
I think that Tony could have added five or six more parts to the dream. I myself made zillions of comparisons and commenting and criticism when I first came. But the way I see the Damascus Dream is through the wish, and the will (which only a few of us share), to come back to this city with all its goods and bads, knowing at the same time the differences that exist between the two places, and I don’t mean Detroit per se (I myself would never choose to live in Detroit for example).

So from now on, Tony will only post in the comment section, unless he comes up with a third part that he wants to share through here.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Decor Expo

Yesterday I went with my fiancee to the Decor Fair in the Four Seasons. Lots of people and lots of furniture. Did I also say that driving in Damascus is becoming more horrible and tiring? Car dealer should refuse to import any stick shift car and force people to by automatic. I am starting to get cramps in my legs every time I drive, and from now on, I will count to 100 before driving in the city, or at least across it.
But what am I talking about? So the Decor expo was something nice. Furniture and home equipments were anything from Egyptian drama style (which I resent and hate and..) to modern. From tiny to bulky. One thing for sure: none seemed fit for small houses or medium ones. Most need lots of space (at least this is how I saw it). And I felt the target was a certain group of citizens :p
Anyway, the mere sight of the nice pieces is just salivating and fills one with the urge to have his own space (big space) to fill de novo ad lib (yes, that's Latin, and no I don't know it).
I was amazed at the number of interior design places in the city (and were showing there stuff), you never think of such things until they are brought to you out of nowhere.

And Oh.... I forgot to mention, an architectural company was showing projects to be. One of them was Regent Resort near Lattakia, and the other was....... any wild guesses??
You got it, the Yacht Club in Lattakia too. Finally we have enough wealthy people who own yachts to the point that they deserve a yacht club for them.
I hope I live to see that day and comment.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

The Damascus Dream Part 1 - By Tony

As evident in a previous post, my friend Tony was in Syria (Damascus mainly) for a month or so. Now that he is in USA again he asked that I post his dream on my blog, which I am letting him do. So here it goes the Damascene dream as seen by Tony, Part 1. Needless to say I made minor editings.

The Damascus Dream (PART1)
-every thing started in year 2000; me and few other colleagues from the class of 98 including Bassam will get a contract to start working as physicians in US hospitals making what everybody called at that era "the American dream"
-year 2006 my first trip to Damascus in 4 years... a new era has come and suddenly everybody is talking about "the Damascus dream"
-the cornerstone of any civilization is the advancement of transportation and telecommunication aspects in the society so let's compare :

1- cars: in the suburbs of Detroit (where i stay) the cheapest 2007 car model u can buy is around 10 000-12 000$... in Damascus there are 15 different kinds of 2007 car model that u can buy for a total of less than 8000$... not forgetting that cars don't die in Syria.. every thing is fixable (our previous car was a 1976 Renault 12 and to the moment we sold it my dad was convinced that this car can still function for 20 more years)

2- the concept of the rush hour: (when the city is jammed with cars driving one behind the other) In Detroit, rush hour is split to 2 periods; morning (7:30-9:30 AM) and evening (4:30-6:30 PM)
In Damascus rush hour is simply from 8:30 am until midnight...
You will be the luckiest ((يعني أمك داعيتلك)) if you can get to the city center in 45 minutes wherever you are driving from inside the city.

3- The mobile: ( each time i say cell phone instead of mobile people thinks that i am speaking Russian language and nobody understands what i am talking about) well i had to hide my mobile from the moment i hit the Syrian land simply because the transporter who carried my bags in the airport had a newer and much better version than mine because the cell phones in USA are outdated comparable to the one we have in Syria.. a 15 year old cousin of mind suggested that my cell phone belongs to the Museum of the ancient history

4- TV: in Detroit I pay a total of 99$ a month =1200 $/year to have 70 cable channels + 10 Arabic satellite channels
in Damascus you pay an average of 200$ (+) for one time only to get an access to More than 400 different digital satellite channels.
To make it more simple the only sport channels I can watch in Detroit are the 2 ESPN channels, in Damascus I counted 13 sports channels.. and for a single guy like me this huge number of sport channels is capable of keeping me from thinking about getting married / without the feeling of any kind of deprivation..almost/ ..........
to be followed in part 2


This is me and Tony in front of شاورما الرحمة on the last night for him in Damascus.
Needless to say, Tony will not be responding to comments here, because he doesn't have access. But comments are welcome. Posted by Picasa

Monday, September 11, 2006

Some logic really works sometimes

A few days ago, I saw a bunch of workers digging a hole in front of the building where we live in Damascus. When I asked them what they were doing they said that a post, that was somewhere else, should be here instead of were it is now. At first they talked about a road post that was no more than 2 meters away and was there for years. I learned later that they were talking about one of the new city posts for doctors and stuff.
I was able to stop the guys from finishing and make them pause until the weekend is over. I wasn’t able to get the number of the lady engineer who was in charge. I then left town for a couple of days. Of course they suggested extending a claim after they are done with work (نفذ ثم اعترض).
Yesterday, I saw different guys continuing to dig, so I asked them about the work permit, and the number of the engineer directly supervising them. Then I talked to him.
I mentioned that it is inappropriate to have the post where it is planned to stand, and that it should be kept in its place or moved somewhere else.
He explained how it was placed wrong to start with, and this is intended for people to see and read, so I told him that he was planning to have the post placed behind a tree, and that no one would read it, and that this is unacceptable. Then suggested that they use the other corner of the street where there is nothing to block, and nothing blocking.
He said that he is only a عبد مأمور but he will see and talk to the workers.
To my surprise, after I returned home 8 hours later, the hole was gone and there was a new one with electrical outlets placed on the other corner.
Good news is... some people really can be convinced with logic as opposed to following concrete rules.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Today I Feel


Here is an idea for those who are willing to go through its process.
1- Take self pictures in different expressions
2- cut your head off the rest of the photo
3- match expressions and heads
4- Print on a magnetic board (I haven't done this yet)
5- make a magnetic empty square
6- place square daily on appropriate feeling. For some this will be the same face everyday, LOL

This idea is inspired by an already existing Today I Feel board, with cartoon faces instead of mine. Yours can be next. Posted by Picasa