American Walks Into Damascus Street Party / Cellphone video

Spring, 2009. Music interrupted my Arabic study.

I thought the music came from the Mosque -- a weeknight wedding? I walked through the neighborhood until I found the bakeshop opening.

Damascenes open their shops with parties. In the Al Midan District, a very conservative area south of the central city, only men attended the party. In the Shaalan District, I attended blasting street parties with bands, strobe lights, lasers, computer generated projections going over the high rise office towers. Even in the Shaalan, young women wore hejab with their tight pants and spandex stretch tops.

The neighborhood people very much enjoyed this American walking into their party. They immediately overwhelmed me with cookies, baklava, tea -- but no introductions to their sisters.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• American
• Damascus
• street
• parties
• with
• bands
• strobe
• lights
• lasers
• computer
• generated
• projections
• women
• girls