Whats happening in Syria???? I have NO IDEA!

          As I said in my previous post I really have no idea what is going on in Syria. Even though I live here what I see in the street and what I see on the news seems to be completely at odds with each other. I have however noticed a change in the mood in Aleppo. Just a week ago I was complaining that I couldn’t sleep at night because of all the young guys driving around honking their horns and cheering for Bashar until 3 in the morning. Now I am sleeping quite well and the number of flags and Bashar window decals has decreased dramatically. I have also noticed a change in the attitude of the Syrians I know here. At first they would all tell me not to worry and that nothing could really happen in Syria, and that everyone loved Bashar. Now they seem worried, and tell me not to travel in certain areas. Personally I think the Syrian people have plenty of reasons for revolution, and this idea does seem to be spreading despite concessions from the government. Sadly many of these concessions come at the same time as security forces are using live ammunition on protesters, which has caused a lot of hostility from the people towards their government. I still think the media has been irresponsible and tried very much to make Syria out to be the same as Egypt, when it is obviously not the same, but I wouldn’t say that nothing is happening here. The question of what is happening or what will happen is completely over my head though, and I think it’s completely over the heads of most people. So just keep that in mind when reading or watching CNN or Aljazeera. They like to pretend they know what’s happening and what will happen, but I’m pretty sure they are as clueless as I am.

            On a completely different note I have decided to leave Syria a few weeks early on May 1st. This really has very little to do with the situation here since I don’t even have a good idea what the situation is here. The only reason I would say it has anything to do with the unrest in Syria is because it will allow my mother to sleep better at night. The real reason I have decided to leave a little early is financial. I came here under the pretence that I would be working enough to pay for Arabic lessons and save money. This has not turned out to be the case. I will be lucky if I come home having saved enough to cover the cost of the plane ticket to get here. Also my chances of finding good summer employment are greatly increased by coming home a little early. My Arabic has greatly improved and so I can say I accomplished my main goal of coming to Syria and now it is time to go home.

My plan as of now is to be home in Chicago for the summer and then head to Jerusalem at the end of August to begin a Jewish studies program at Pardes. I have a lot of other plans for what I will do while I am at Pardes including bringing as many fellow students as are willing over to the other side of the wall, and volunteering at the Jewish/Palestinian Pre school at the YMCA in Jerusalem, but those stories will have to wait for “A Jew in Palestine….. Jerusalem Edition.”