Syria is a land of contradictions. While the government heavily censors web access (Facebook is banned, as is Blogger but I've managed to break through via Mozilla Firefox) the streets around Aleppo - the country's second largest city - are littered with lingerie stores selling an array of neon coloured undergarments that would put Amsterdam's Red Light district to shame. Every house, flat or shop boasts a satellite dish - Aleppo from the air resembling a pock-marked teenager - with said-satellite television offering more than a hundred (graphic) Arabic porn channels. And yet of the few women seemingly granted 'street privileges,' all are covered from head to toe in floor-length overcoats and veiled burkas that shroud even their eyes from view. So just who is wearing the lime green knickers?Crossing the border on Thursday - border control yet another example of Middle Eastern inefficiency where no fewer than six men are employed to do the work of one, as another half dozen look on smoking cigarettes and sipping tea - we spent the afternoon roaming through the souks. After buying a small child's weight in scarves, Boyfriend dragged me out of the musty, smelly mayhem (where lamb carcases hang in the open air next to stalls selling dried fruit, nuts and sweating cheeses) and back to our hotel.
On Friday, Islam's day of rest, we walked the deserted streets to the historic citadel. Aleppo is another city claiming the title of 'oldest inhabited city'; it's citadel a testament to the notion that at one time, the city was in fact quite grand. The hill, on which the ruins of a fortified medieval palace (c.1100 CE) now stand, is claimed to date back to the 3rd century BC. Sadly restoration of the site has slowed to a near standstill. The ruins reek of urine and the pathways and remains lay covered in people's rubbish. With most of the visitors local Syrians - we were among perhaps a handful of Westerners visiting with the masses - it's hard not to chastise the locals for their lack of pride in their great city's monument.
Looking out over the high limestone walls, across the great expanse of Aleppo - the city spanning 16,000 km² with a population just under 5 million - our 360 degree view was bleak. Searching for areas of vegetation left us wanting, with the only dots of green the patches of dying grass amid decaying buildings. It seems that repair and restoration is an unfamiliar concept to 'modern' Middle Easterners. Decrepit buildings are simply propped up with wooden sticks and new constructions are left incomplete to avoid paying the full amount of home owner tax. Even the 'grand' government building at the base of citadel hill had broken windows and debris spilling out into it's courtyard.It baffles the mind as to how the same region that founded the civilised world, where impressive structures were built to stand the test of thousands of years, can now be so backward. Dust and dirt is everywhere and no one seems the least bit concerned. Travelling through India, Peru and even parts of South East Asia I found the same, poor people living amongst their own squalor. It costs nothing to pick up the rubbish strewn over your own balcony, roof top and outside your own front door - nothing except time; and time is certainly something the people seem to have in abundance.
Sorry, but my (independent/liberated/Western) female mind can't help but judge.
Note: Top pic courtesy of Bugbog.com, rooftops thanks to Flickr.com
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