Welcome to America, My Syrian Friend

I don't know you yet, but welcome to America, my friend! I am glad you're here. We are an immigrant nation, and you are our newest members.

In my travels in different parts of the world, whenever I ran into people who'd visited Syria, they told me how warmly you embraced them, how good they felt while in your company, and in your country. I thought, I must visit Syria some day!

But horrible events intervened, smashing your communities, your livelihoods, your families. You were forced to become rootless, wrenched from your homes, but lucky enough to be alive.

I wish we weren't meeting under such circumstances. But I'm happy we were able to make a place for you here.

A fellow blogger, Wandering Earl, was one of the folks who shared how he loved your country. Here are a couple of his posts about Syria:

From which I borrowed the title to my post today: Welcome to Syria My Friend (2010). An excerpt:

.... from the moment I crossed the border into Syria, just about every single person I’ve met, from the hotel manager to the falafel vendors to the shop owners to the strangers I’ve passed in the street to ‘Tony’, the old man who sits in a chair on the sidewalk every night puffing away on his shisha, has welcomed me with nothing but a cheerful smile and open arms. I am simply unable to recall any other country that I’ve visited where I’ve been so instantly and warmly welcomed and I still cannot believe how many people have approached me in the streets just to literally say the words “Welcome to Syria my friend!” (I’m not sure if they learn that line in school but even those who don’t speak English know these words.)

The Most Important Word in the World (2010). An excerpt:

Finally, I had found a town in Syria that was not as ridiculously super-friendly as all the rest. I had been expecting it to happen at some point, because, after all, it would be impossible for every single city, town and village in this country to maintain such a high standard of hospitality. ... 

And so, on my third day, while I was wandering the streets of [Palmyra] in search of a local place to eat lunch, I was no longer surprised by the lack of assistance I received. At one point, I simply gave up, stood on a street corner with hands on my hips and made the decision to buy some bananas from a shop near my hotel instead.

Of course, as most travelers would learn to expect, that’s also the very same moment that I heard a voice, in English, say “Hello.”

I turned around and found a middle-aged local man standing before me with a huge smile on his face and so I naturally returned his greeting, although all I could muster was a quick, mumbled “Salaam”. He then asked me if I was lost and when I explained that I was simply looking for some good local food, he didn’t hesitate for even one second before patting me on the back and stating, “Let’s go!”.  He then led me to his minivan which was parked across the street.

The next thing I knew we were speeding through the backstreets of Palmyra. ....

Welcome to America, my Syrian friend.

Credit: Refugees Welcome Music

Other posts related to Syria here.

 

Rootless Relocation, Part 1a: Where?

One spring day

One afternoon this past spring, sitting on a marshrutka traveling from Rustavi to Tbilisi, I thought:  

To Tbilisi from Rustavi via marshrutka

If I want, I can spend one year in a different place in the world for the rest of my life.

Really slow travel. 

Between Lalibela and Addis. Ethiopia

 
So where will I go?

You'd think the first question would be, where do I want to go?

But it's not. Here are some questions that come before:

What do I want?

Climate, geography, culture, vibe, demographics, recreation, access to local, regional, international transportation, access to family/friends, challenge ...

What do I need? 

Income opportunities, cost of living, standard of living, access to health care, access to internet, level of perceived safety ... 


Are there deal breakers?

Too hot/too cold, too big/too small, too homogenous, no nightlife, community's politics, human rights, crime rates, language, too remote/not remote enough ....


What destinations are on my general list of places to explore in the future?

For example, here are places that are on my current list. Some of I've been to before and others are new to me:

• New Mexico
• Mexico 
• Colombia
• Guatemala
• Ecuador
• Ethiopia
• Yemen
• Syria
• Iran
• Libya
• Rwanda

For me, at this time, the primary drivers telling me where to live next are:

Access to family. I feel the need to be within fairly easy access to/for family for the next one or two years. I define "fairly easy" to mean within a day or two's drive or a flight less than eight hours. The flight also needs to be reasonably economical.

Climate. Not too hot and not too cold.

Geography. I want to be close to mountains.

Cultural and language diversity. I want to be able to continue with EFL and also to enjoy intercultural experiences.

Money. The cost of living must be relatively low and there must be income opportunities.


The need for family access rules out all but:

• New Mexico
• Mexico

I could make a weak argument for Guatemala, if I were interested in living in Guatemala City, but I'm not. I'd want to live near Lake Atitlan, which knocks it out of the accessibility category, both in terms of flight costs and multiple-transport transfers. Quito, Ecuador, a beautiful city and perfect climate, wouldn't be too terrible for flight time, but the cost would be prohibitive.


So between New Mexico and Mexico, which? 

See Rootless Relocation, Part 1b: Where?
 

Where to Go in 2012

The New York Times proposes this list of 45 places to go in 2012.

On my short list for 2012 are: 

• More of Georgia (Svaneti, Kazbegi, Vardzia, Davit Gareja, Batumi, Kutaisi)
• Turkey (Istanbul)
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan (if I can afford the $200+ visa for Americans, which is what we charge Azerbaijanis to come to the U.S.)
• Iran (if things quiet down to the default level of tension)
• Albania
• Mexico
• Guatemala
• New Mexico

Some time ago, I wrote about:

• Least-visited countries in the world; and 
• Syria as a destination

I can't get enough of this video on Syria. I love when people mix incongruent features in their art, like when Blind Boys of Alabama sing Amazing Grace to the melody of House of the Rising Sun. In the case of the video below, the creator mixed Syrian images with a Creedence Clearwater Revival song. It works.





And as a lagniappe, here are the Blind Boys of Alabama singing Amazing Grace. I heard them live at the first Roots 'n Blues Festival in Columbia, Missouri. 




What's on your domestic or international travel list?

Syria: On My Short List of Places to Visit

Credit: Merriam Webster

Everyone I know who has gone to Syria loves it. It is on the short list of places I want to go. After its current troubles subside.

Why do people love it? The friendliness and graciousness of the people, the history, the scenery ...

As for friendliness, here's what Wandering Earl had to say in his post The Most Important Word in the World, "Finally, I had found a town in Syria that was not as ridiculously super-friendly as all the rest. I had been expecting it to happen at some point, because, after all, it would be impossible for every single city, town and village in this country to maintain such a high standard of hospitality. ..."

... and then tells the tale of going to the camel races with a new-found friend.

Here's an odd but compelling travel video for Syria. A CCR song for background, of all things.  



For some reason, Wandering Earl's post reminds of the unfriendly response an American United Airlines employee gave to a distressed German passenger in Chicago's O'Hare Airport. A German woman came up to the gate counter, in a panic about getting to the right gate on time, trying to get information about the correct gate from the counter employee. The United Airlines employee, after brushing the German woman off curtly, called after the woman as she ran away to another gate, "English! English!"

Ick.

This was a shame, as that poor tourist left with a poor impression of Chicaogans, when in fact, what I remember most about my visit to Chicago a year ago was how friendly the people were!

[I learned from a customer service study that it takes 10 positive encounters to offset every one negative encounter, and this holds true in business and personal relationships.]