Syria before the uprising (part 2)

I've put together some images of Syria in the years before the uprising. While some may be familiar hopefully there are a more than a few you've never seen before.  Here's a look at Syria's wallpaper.

Lionised and loathed

"Assad Love" used to be Syria's most popular sport (after backgammon of course) but obviously not through choice. With informers on every corner you'd better hang your Assad picture where everyone can see it or you leave yourself in danger of being called a "zionist traitor", by anyone with a grudge against you. It's not any exaggeration to say that many Syrians live in constant fear that Assad's secret police coming might knock on their door at any time. Sleepless nights are common but I didn't have that problem as I always slept in my Assad pyjamas. If you thought you knew everything about 1930s style 'cult of the leader' iconography, please read on.

I took this picture within minutes of arriving in Damascus for the first time, and was promptly ushered in to what I soon discovered was a police station. I'd heard pictures of the president and his Dad were everywhere but I got excited when I saw them both together. As soon as I clicked the button I noticed the soldier in his 'soldier box', and he noticed me. I did what anyone would do in this situation,  I started walking and pretended that none of it had happened, and that I didn't know the soldiers following me and shouting, were in fact shouting at me. The fact remains though, not many people have this picture. 

I'm probably the only person to have exited a Syrian police station without a beating or paying 500 lira in the form of
a  handshake

The unwritten rule of the regime is: if in doubt just make the poster or the flag as big as possible. If you can stick next to a historic citadel, all the better.

If I was really low on confidence, I might believe this

I'm not sure if this followup is genius or just laziness. 

Even if I was really low on confidence, I wouldn't fall for it again

No need for elections in Syria when popularity is clear for all to see.

If this is the standard of Assad's graphic design team, I'd fancy my chances getting a job 

Deir Ezour may look like a forgotten ghost town from a horror film but "we are with you"nonetheless.

Never mind about the state of the roads, buildings and public services the most important thing in every town is the posters.

This is the bedroom of a seventeen-year-old boy. The juxtoposition of the children's toys and the shrine to Basil Al Assad makes this the most disturbing scene I have ever witnessed in my life.

Just in csae you missed it this kid was seventeen !

When you've plastered Assad pictures over your house and the place you work why not stick him to a nearby wall.

Just in case you've forgotten who's in charge

Assad's happy smiling face endorsing your tours. This is a marketing man's dream.

Take a tour across Syria and get make new friends with the nice men who will follow you everywhere you go and appear in every hotel stay in

The (lion) king is dead but long live the king

Fading but not forgotten, in the forgotten outposts of Syria

I was told by security not to take a picture of this. This is the best of the three.

I find stencil Assads irresistible 

Basil is to stallions as Bashar is to My Little Pony

Groomed to be president

I was repeatedly assured by rich Damascans (who'd never been out of Damascus) that Syria was "not a poor country" . With so much money to spend on magnificent structures like this I now feel very stupid.

The Syrian Baath party was founded on two defining principles: the eagle and the lion.

The 'mosaic' movement lies somewhere between the 'neo-classical' and 'modernist' movements of Assad art.

The man who drew the president with oversized hands was summarily executed, and rightly so

Got a fire? Why not call the Assad fire brigade.

Non-Assad endorsed firemen are 35% less efficient, according to the Ministry of fire and truth

After Bab Alhara "Assad your ride" is probably Syria's favourite TV programme

Windscreen Assad

Being able to reverse park with a "rear windscreen Assad" is part of the new Syrian driving test

Syria before the uprising

For those who are new to Syria, and for those with fading memories, I thought it might be nice to 

revisit some images of the country when it was virtually unknown to the world. 

Food

Nothing sparks nostalgia quite like the thought of food. Syrians are probably more proud of their cuisine than anything else. Certainly visitors to Syria are generally swept of their feet by the gastronomic riches on offer. However, much of the food served in restaurants is not what Syrians eat at home. Eating with a family is obviously where you will find the good stuff

Syria does not need Ronald McDonald, Hamburglar or Grimace

The Assad sandwich suddenly makes sense now

Syria means 'falafal" in Arabic (surprising and also untrue). There is only one other phenomonen that will stop Syrians dead in the street apart from a tense moment in a Turkish soap opera, and that is the fine art of falafel sandwich making. No matter how many times they've seen it, people are hypnotized by it.

The key to this falafel was the combination of yoghurt, tahini, pomegranate sauce, and of course the 15 lira price tag 

If you don't know a good dentist, don't go to Syria. 

There wasn't much else to do in Deir Ezour at night

Two Syrian women prepared the biggest feast known to man. This is five per cent of it.

Syrian women produce more 'yebra' per minute than any other women in the world* 

*(source: Arab books of records 1974)

According to a popular Arabic saying, "anyone who doesn't eat 'saaj' is not a man". This man knows that well. 

This flavouring is called 'zaatar' which means wild thyme/time

The humble broad bean (or fava bean in American English) rose to international prominence, from relative obscurity, in 1991 after the release of the film The Silence of the Lambs. In Syria, 'ful' served with liver is optional but to eat it without lemon is a serious crime.

The less you sell the better the presentation looks. 

These were the days when you could get your lunch as well as decent change from a fifty.

2009 prices were cheap, even in 2009

Bakeries on every corner is my kind of country. 

If I could only eat one food it would probably be this ( but not from this guy)

N.B I was reliably informed ninety per cent of the time I ate or drank anything in Syria that it was (nudge, nudge) "good for men".  This perhaps explains why everyone has so many children.