Tag: GPS
Jaramana
by ano on Mar.03, 2009, under where am i?
The Jaramana Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Damascus, full of Assyrian Iraqi and Iraqi refugees. Many Druze live here, along with gypsies surrounding the camp.
St. Ephraims Syrian Orthodox Church
by ano on Feb.17, 2009, under everything
The church overlooking Amman
On Monday, I had the opportunity to meet some extremely dedicated individuals who through years of hard work have been able to dramatically change the lives of many Christian refugees from Iraq, both Assyrian and Armenian. I got here through the help of Nuri Kino, an Assyrian-Swedish journalist and documentary filmmaker based in Sweden. In 2007 he wrote an absolutely chilling piece about the status of Christian refugees in Jordan titled, “By God: Six Days In Amman”. And because he is a far better writer than I am, I strongly urge you to read the article. I contacted him for help with my project and he put in touch with Hanna Shamoun, one of the church elders and community leaders devoted to helping the refugees here in Amman.
GPS
by ano on Feb.16, 2009, under everything
There’s a slight difference between no plans and no preparation. While I had no concrete plans for the next 10 weeks, I hope I’m at least adequately prepared. Case in point: GPS. I have yet to find a single straight street in Amman. Very few of the streets have street names, and even fewer have street signs. Maps only have the major streets, and the directions you get from people or in guidebooks are something like this: “Cross the street from Hashem’s Restaurant, enter the unmarked alley, and it will be the third unmarked door on your left, go up three flights of stairs.”
The only thing that has kept me somewhat sane is my handhelp GPS which I preloaded with maps of Jordan and Syria that were generated by users. While not completely accurate and unlabeled, I can at least track where I’ve been and make sure I can get back. Also very helpful for dropping pins at cool cafes or restaurants (such as the one I’m sitting in now, writing this blog post). I will also be geo-coding my photos and placing them on interactive maps so you can see where things come from.
As an aside, pretty cool to know that the GPS works even on the plane (and is an approved device, don’t worry!).
584 MPH at 34,000 feet? Awesome!
Downtown Amman
by ano on Feb.13, 2009, under where am i?
The illustrious Cliff Hotel…my second floor window opens directly into an alley full of shops. Right below my window is a falafalateer (is that a word?) that fills my room with a deep fried odor, and an arabic CD/Tape seller, who plays his samples LOUD until about 3 am.
View Larger Map
this is where it starts…
by ano on Feb.10, 2009, under everything, where am i?
A recurring theme on this blog will GPS updates. I’ll be posting my coordinates periodically because at this point I dont have a clear itinerary (which I’m very happy about, but a lot of people can’t seem to wrap their heads around). I will also be geo-tagging some of my photos and putting up maps, so you’ll be able to follow my tracks and see where in the world certain photos were taken.
