Modern Ruins

Welcome back, avid reader.

1. I took these pictures of a huge, unfinished, and/or shelved mosque the other today (see what consumed most of my day and brought me to central Damascus below). Sadly, these pictures fail to capture the size and ambition of this project. In terms of downtown Damascus, nothing else takes up an entire city block, not even fancy-pants-5-star hotels or the big domestic banks. On my first trip to the University my sarcastic and bright German flatmate pointed it out to me. According to what he’s been told, the mosque was an Iranian sponsored project, construction starting shortly after Khomeini came to power; however, due to structural deficiencies (it was going to fall down) it was abandoned. Furthermore, he said that tearing it down would be too expensive and or dangerous. This section is in bold because I’m trying to get some information and perhaps you, avid reader, can contribute some knowledge to my post. If you know anything, feel free to post a comment or e-mail me a link or some information. I’m curious to know more about the mini-history of this building.

I asked a taxi driver a few questions about the building today. He said it was either started or abandoned or something 15 years ago: clearly a few glitches still remain in my spoken Arabic. He also said something about water being underneath the building: a problem for sure.

It is strange. Surrounded by stunning Islamic architecture, some of the most ancient and studied in the world, I’m drawn to this unfinished shell of a building. Sometimes ambition and failure produce more interesting stories than that of ho-hum success. My German flatmate told me of his plans to e-mail Christo and have him do some insane instillation on the unfinished mosque: say cover the whole of it with tin foil or the dark green cloth of Islam. However, in terms of symbolic politics, I highly doubt a Western artist will be able to transform, recast, veil, or ‘improve upon’ a somewhat disappointing spiritual icon of Damascus. The broad metaphorical meaning of such an act would be a bit dicey. I hope this shell stays around for a few hundred years. Syria is not short on ancient ruins that mark the coming and going of different epochs; so perhaps it isn’t at all inappropriate for us moderns to add to the rubble.


2. What was I doing downtown? Well, two nights ago I went to go withdraw some money from the ATM. I had been told (by other students) that I ought to use ONLY one specific ATM: the Saudi/French bank right outside the gates of Bab Touma. Give me a ‘Check Minus’ on listening skills and staying on task, because I saw an ATM and thought why not? Well, the ATM swallowed my one and only means to money and didn’t give it back. So I went to three different branches of the same Syrian Bank, slowly making my way through and around various layers of bureaucracy. After lots of walking and a cab ride, I found myself on the VISA floor of the Main Bank. They promised me that they would fish my card out and told me it would be an hour. After being sitting in a juice bar and finding myself totally engrossed in a Sesame Street styled kids show for an hour, I returned to the bank and was delighted to wrap grubby American hands around my plastic. Everyone I dealt with was very nice – and person-by-person – increasingly helpful. In terms of ‘freaking out’ - I surprised myself with how calmly I dealt with all of this. Of course, having made good new friends who offered me loans right away was central. I guess being a new arrival in a place allows one to chalk everything up to an adventure. Had the same thing occurred in the United States, I’m sure I would have just been annoyed. All things considered, it was bordering on but not quite rolling-in . . . the fun zone.


NEWS FLASH: Cue up the Jefferson's theme Song - I'm movin' on up - to another house. Sadly, it isn't a dee-luxe apartment in the sky, nor is it on the east side, but it is far better than my other place: better lit and much larger room along with a Western toliet as well as a quiet place to study. I'm pretty happy about it.