Rima Abdelkader

Janine Materna is running for New York City Council to represent the South Shore of Staten Island. She’s the same age as former U.S. Congresswoman Susan Molinari when she ran for the same seat. Twenty-six year old Janine received both the Democratic and Working Families Party endorsements making her the Democratic nominee against incumbent Republican GOP Councilman Vincent Ignizio. Staten Islanders from the 51st district will vote on November 3 in the general elections. Rima Abdelkader takes an intimate look at mounting a first-time campaign.

Multimedia story to come.

Emilio Martinez lines up every day with the other day laborers on Forest Avenue just off the Staten Island Expressway, hoping for a job even though he occasionally won’t get paid for the work.

(click photo for story in The Dinar Standard online)

Meeting with Syria’s Grand Mufti Hassoun

Syria’s Grand Mufti Hassoun from Rima Abdelkader on Vimeo.

Here are two cultural performances at a local Syrian public theatre called Nabil Younes captured by AMLN administrator Lena Rizkallah:

Check out www.amln.org/blog for more posts.

-Rima Abdelkader, Social Media Coach, www.amln.org/blog

I was in Syria for about three weeks coaching both American and Syrian students in social media through the American Mideast Leadership Network (www.amln.org/blog).  Facebook and YouTube are banned in Syria, so I updated my friends, family and colleagues about my experiences through Twitter (www.twitter.com/rimakader) and Vimeo.  I just returned, and have compiled some of my experiences from Syria through a David Letterman-type top 10 list of “You Know You’re in Syria When.”  I’ve added more than 10 though.  Feel free to add on.

You Know You’re in Syria When…

1. There’s an argillah cafe in between two gas pumps (seen this in Aleppo!)

2. Your roommates think the chair you added on the balcony to overlook the beautiful Damascus mountainside is really just a clothing line (experienced this on the very first day, and we all laughed when I explained why I put it out there in the first place ).

outside my hotel balcony at the Sahara Hotel in Damascus

3. The national anthem is number one on the Syrian Billboard Chart Top 10 list (No, not literally . But, Syrians take pride in singing their national anthem, and sharing it with others.)

4. An extra prayer for Internet connection has been added to the daily five prayers (No, not literally . But, I’ve experienced that Internet access is hard to come by.)

5. There’s no shortage of humus! (Humus is a staple. It’s added to breakfast, lunch and dinner here.)

6. A motorcycle hits you on the way to the Souk (No, I haven’t experienced this, and hope not to. But, the locals say motorcycle accidents happen frequently.)

7. The day doesn’t start until the night, and even then, that’s too early (On the very first day we arrived to Syria, people were picnicking at 12am.)

8. A missed call is really just a voicemail message (It’s very expensive to leave voicemail messages, so Syrians leave a missed call instead.)

9. When a Syrian says 5 minutes, that usually means a half an hour (experienced this on several occasions when asking how far it would take to get to a certain destination .)

10. When the proper greeting should be “Sabah il leil” (Good night) instead of “Sabah il khair” (Good morning) (See 7).

11. When the cars have the right of way (See 6).

Aleppo morning 2009 from Rima Abdelkader on Vimeo.

12. When “arguiling” (or the Arab-English word for “smoking the water pipe”) is the second popular language next to Arabic (thanks, Samaan!)

My Syrian friend Gharam "arguilling" with her Polo drink in front of her or what we would call a virgin Mojito in the States. Gharam joked that a professional "arguiller" is one who can both smoke the water pipe and eat at the same time.

13. There’s always time for the debka dance:

(great video of our debka experience with some Syrian bedouins from our Syrian friend, Baraa Khadra)

14. When the Taxi driver invites himself to have knafeh with you and your friends after taking you to your favorite knafeh destination.

Syrian Taxi driver having knafeh with us in Damascus.

15. When a wedding doesn’t start until after 1:30am:

16. When your Syrian friends don’t forget your birthday:

17. LAST BUT NOT LEAST When you can’t take a bus ride without singing and clapping to Syrian songs:

Here I am explaining how me and my American friends tried to follow along to these great songs on Aghla Shabab, a popular Syrian TV show:

The challenge of surviving and thriving in New York faced by refugees who have fled the dangers in Iraq. Reported and produced by Rima Abdelkader.

Street vendors protest new proposal to let business improvement districts control vendor policies. Geneva Sands-Sadowitz reports. Video and production by Rima Abdelkader.

Street Vendors Rally at City Hall from Rima Abdelkader on Vimeo.