The Returning Ones

Hello!

It has been a while I must admit since I blogged last, but I am back again, this time with an interesting question: for those of us who have lived abroad for most of our lives and than choose to come back to our country of origin, are we making the right decision? Can we fit back into a society that we have been for so long far away from?

I feel that coming back to Syria was a natural choice for me, it was never a matter if I would come back but more a question of when? After completing my studies and working for a bit, I decided before I had more responsibilities to give Syria a chance, improve my Arabic and try to find work here.

I am meeting more and more people who have decided to move back after years or all their life living abroad, I think it is of huge benefit to our country to have such people moving back for the following reason.

Not everyone gets the chance to travel outside of Syria but those who have and came back are able to bring back their experiences and higher education with them enriching in turn the society here and the country as a whole. Of course there are obstacles higher up that carry more influence when it comes to change, but as long as the people themselves are exposed to the outside world, with enough people being touched, there could be enough to make an impact, a lasting one.

Another silver lining in the difficulty of doing business here is it encourages those men and women who have lived abroad to set up and open their own business instead of working for someone else, there is I feel a lack of a entrepreneurship mentality perhaps because people here are discouraged by all the roadblocks they have grown up with and so they settle for the status quo. What do you think? Are those that are coming back carrying with them positive contributions or are they naive to think that they can do good business here?

~*Syrian Beauty*~

"You are who your friends are"

First rule of Syrian Society- You are who your friends are. In other words you want to keep a good image in this society don't be seen with anyone that is not respected or from a well respected family.

Four Seasons Boulevard- You are bound to run into a handful if not more people you know at this spot, in the summer you would be hard pressed to find an empty table at one of the Cafe's - Mocha and More, Costa, Segafredo etc or the Restaurants. A great great thing about society here and one I doubt I will get used to, is when you enter a cafe or restaurant or room how you feel all eyes are suddenly on you, it's not a feeling, it's a fact. And a not so subtle one either. Girls and guys alike will stare you down as if you have just barged into their house wearing nothing but a garbage bag, no don't go check in the bathroom mirror if you have something caught on your shoe or something crawling in your hair, it's just the normal way of saying "yes I'm staring at you from top to bottom and not ashamed to let you know I am staring for as long as I like". I swear, if looks could kill well you would find blotches of blood all over the ground here!

Great place to spy on people while taking yourself away from other spying eyes yourself, is Lambroghini Cafe, highly recommend it for those who enoy the spying sport.

I honestly find it hard the lack of anonymity in this city, sometimes you just want to go to a cafe, not care what you look like not care who you're going with and just enjoy the nice weather outside. I miss anonymity that is one thing I find hard to adjust to here. The second is image image image and how HIGHLY and sometimes SUPERFICIALLY it is valued, I am a respectable girl from a respectable family if my friend has had a hard life or has made a few mistakes am I to supposed to turn my nose up at her and treat her as if she is worth less than me? Aren't there more important things in life that who your last name is, how much money you or your parents make? Why are we so fixed on image here, what does it achieve? Does it make this society better or does it instead make us go backwards in development as a society?

~*Syrian Beauty*~

Hello!

Why hello there. I guess first thing's first as this IS our first meeting. It's a pleasure to meet you, you can call me Syrian Beauty as I won't be revealing my real identity, what's the fun in that? Too often I have been in a cafe with friends having conversations and debates on a number of topics and I think, "this needs to be written down somewhere!".

This blog is a place for me and you the reader to post your thoughts. My thoughts are quite all over the place so don't expect this to be so so organized. I will try to blog once a day and pose a question at the end of each post.

I have been in Syria for not a very very long time and am still adjusting to life here, these are my experiences to that adjusment. Enjoy!


~*Syrian Beauty*~