The South Side
Why is it always the south side? "The South Side of Chicago," the southern suburbs of Beirut, just about the whole southern hemisphere.... It seems that the south side of town is often the less affluent, and less appealing area. Damascus is no different. The northern side, I'll admit, is surprisingly developed, clean, and attractive. It's far from a modern looking city, and there are certainly no modern architectural spectacles like in the gulf, or some of the new buildings going up in Beirut. There actually seems to be some urban planning, along with some very attractive neighborhoods and areas. It certainly looks more ordered than Beirut--but it lacks the personality and style of Beirut.
In fact, the city is quite beautiful at night. I spent Thursday night in the hills above Damascus enjoying the view. Unlike Beirut, which is a very hilly city, Damascus is almost completely flat and lies at the foot of the hills that flank its northern edge. From the hills the panorama is reminiscent of LA--although without the grid layout of the city. The most immediately striking feature is the pattern of green lights across the city. All of the minarets are illuminated with lime-green lights, and when viewed from above it creates a beautiful and almost haunting scene. I'm still struggling to think of the movie it reminds me of--Blade Runner comes to mind but that's quite the right picture. It's a kind of post-modern thing, but not a dystopia, so it's not Blade Runner, but the green towers remind me of some film....
The south side isn't quite as nice however--granted at night it blends into the wash of lights. But, driving through during the day, it's clear that the south side is lagging behind the north. As well as being home to more of the city's poorer people, it's also home to many of the Iraqi refugees who fled to Syria. The country is "home" to an estimated 1.5-2 million Iraqis, and many lack jobs or services. It's not a pleasant situation for any of them, especially the younger women. I'm not going to go into a whole diatribe on this topic--but I'll refer you to the work of Jasna Zajcek, a German journalist I met in Beirut who covers cultural, social, and human rights issues. Google her and see what you come up with, and helps if you read German...
Anyhow, I rode through the south side on the way back from a trip to Bosra and Swida. Bosra is home to an ancient amphitheater and some other lovely ruins. 
It's still amazing to think that people just left all this old stuff lying around, in all these random places. The funny thing is, places like Bosra and Palmyra were in the middle of nowhere back when they were flourishing, and they are still in the middle of nowhere. Granted, there is some development around those spaces--but Palmyra is particular is in the middle of the desert, but thousands of years ago, it was a vital location on trade routes and part of the Roman Empire.
The Bosra amphitheater is still used today, and as an audio geek, I'd love to hear a concert there to get a sense of acoustic design from centuries ago. Apparently, Julio Iglecias performed there a couple of weeks before I got there, so I missed that one. Maybe they have an email list to announce the shows coming up at the amphitheater... Maybe the can just send the details to my blackberry...
