Older and less understood than other Arab cultures in South Paterson, the Syrians have an ancient story to tell. And much like the Road to Damascus there is an “ah hah” pay off at the end. It is Bible-speak for the mother of all epiphanies paved with the magnitude of St. Paul's transgressions, including his attempts to wipe out Christianity, in which all was forgiven. One just might need an epiphany to figure out who the Syrians are and why they’re here in the midst of Whitman’s “beaten up and tragic…industrial chaos”.

 

It begins with their history, which is, by all accounts, among the oldest in the area, stretching back to the early 20th century, as the first Arabs to arrive and set down roots here. What made them immigrate. What they eat. How they differ from other Arab cultures, will be eye-opening for the “Suburbanites”.

 

The real Damascus (Dimashq,commonly known as al-Shām also known as City of Jasmin) is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is perhaps the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world. Since the copper age from about 8,000 BCE with a population of about 1.6 million people.

 

But a jaunt to the Damascus of South Paterson is easier and begins at Fattal's Syrian Market (975-977 Main Street (973) 742-7125 where the owner, Norman settled forty years ago. He is cautious and diplomatic. Formal, yet hospitable. And avoids the obvious Middle Eastern hot button topics. But I persuade him to talk about what’s in his store that is particularly Syrian and he says, diplomatically: everything and nothing. We are Arab, but “from all over the world” as he puts it. According to www.cafe-syria.com “Syrians place a high degree on tradition and present themselves well both at home and abroad. It is normal to find Syrian families all over the world who still live their lives as if they were in the Old Country.” So, in keeping with tradition, he does and he doesn’t. His store is, and it isn’t, Syrian. This trait of cultural ubiquity has its roots in ancient Greater Syria, when encompassed parts of Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories and parts of southern of Turkey including Alexandretta and the ancient city of Antioch, the pre-Islamic capital of Syria. To understand Syria is to understand much of the Middle East.

           

And so, there is a little bit of the bazaar in his market. Things for getting and spending. A travel agency.  Display cases unabashedly brimming with eye-popping trays of 18 and 24K gold bling. Overall, despite the powerful influence of Islam in people's lives, some elements of folk religion persist. Particularly in rural areas, there is a strong belief in the evil eye as well as in jinn (spirits). And Fattal’s has an entire display case devoted to them. Though Syria is not tribal like Saudi Arabia, it is stratified and the caste system is alive and well. Norman being fair, male, and of the merchant class, chances are he would’ve fared well no matter which country he chose. There are also things for cooking. Like Halal meats and the indispensable Seven Spices. Rice. Middle Eastern canned vegetables. Pita. Racks of honeyed sweets. And more than a dozen kinds of olives. For a quick take out or lunch there’s a sit down area to eat garden variety Arab dishes to savor. The food is good and honest. Try the hummus on Syrian bread (pita). Also try their lahim biajeen (pronounced LAH MAHZHEEN) which are meat pies on Syrian bread.

 

Though Syria is homogenous, Sunni, and over ninety percent Muslim, there are a few ancient tribes. And one in particular speaks the language of Christ: Aramaic. And here just might be the epiphany. A culture that contains a language from a religion found everywhere on earth, and yet is extinct. Spoken in Mesopotamia about 14 centuries ago, it is now modern day Hebrew. Syrian culture is omnipresent and yet hard to pin down. A little like Norman. In addition to Fattal’s, the other  game in town is Nouri Brothers Syrain Bakery a block away at 999 Main St Paterson, NJ  07503 Phone: (973) 279-2388 which has been around for about twenty five years. Though it is smaller and mostly bakes breads, it is equally authentic.

 

Aleppo (named for Syria’s second largest city) is THE Syrian watering hole. THE restaurant for local Syrians (and Egyptians, Palestianians, you get the idea) at 960 Main Street Paterson, NJ 07503-2307 (973) 977-2244‎ or (973) 569-4545, open from 9:00am-10:00pm. It is owned by the charming and jovial Mohamed who also immigrated about 40 years ago, with a not too different immigrant story to tell about the need to get out from beneath the shadow of his great father and strike out on his own. The sign on the outside reads Al Safa, but that was the old restaurant. They haven’t gotten around to changing it, but it doesn’t matter because anyone who comes here knows what they’re looking for.

 

The quintessential Middle Eastern host he welcomes everyone from“the boys” to local families with babies in tow and serves up the home grown dishes. Halal, roasted or grilled chicken or lamb with side dishes of rice, chickpeas, yogurt, and vegetables. Mezzeh including hummus, a puree of chickpeas and tahini (ground sesame paste); baba ganouj, an eggplant puree; meat rissoles; stuffed grape leaves; tabouleh (a salad of cracked wheat and vegetables); falafel (deep-fried balls of mashed chickpeas); and pita bread. Olives, lemon, parsley, onion, and garlic are used for flavoring. Tea is as ubiquitous as the Hookah pipe flavors ranging from apple banana peach rose cherry and just about every other flavor in between. Weekend evenings you’ll find him orchestrating several dining rooms, glad handling, and shaking it with the belly dancers while seating new customers.

 

The Road to Damascus may be an ancient one, but along the way, embracing the deep connective roots of the Syrians to much of the world, is an epiphany we can all share.

SIDEBAR

Seven Spices

2 tablespoons ground black pepper, 2 tablespoons paprika, 2 tablespoons of ground cumin, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, 1 tablespoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

 

Next up: Little Lebanon -- South Paterson, NJ.

1Palmyra Ancient City

2Syria Map Highlights

3Aleppo

 

4 Syrian Delicacy

5 Fattal's Halal Meat Market

6 Fattal's 18 & 24K Gold Jewelry

7 Fattal's Bakery

8 Fattal's Halal Meat Market

9 Fattal's Specialty

10 Fattal's Market

11Fattal's Syrian Specialties

12 Fattal's  Jewelry

13 Fattal's Gold Coins

 

 

 

 

 

SOURCES

 

Books

 

Axtell, R. (1997). Do's and Taboos around the World for Women in Business. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

 

Dresser, N. (1996). Multicultural Manners. New York: John Wiley.

 

Foster, D. (2000). The Global Etiquette Guide to Asia. New York: John Wiley

 

Huntington, S. P. (1996). The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster.

 

Morrison, C. B. (1994). Kiss Bow or Shake Hands. Holbrook, MA: Adams Media.

 

Ball, Warwick. Syria: A Historical and Archaeological Guide, 1998.

 

Beaton, Margaret. Syria, 1988.

 

Beattie, Andrew, and Timothy Pepper. Syria: The Rough Guide, 1998.

 

Galvin, James. Divided Loyalties: Nationalism and Mass Politics in Syria at the Close of Empire, 1998.

 

Hopwood, Derek. Syria, 1945–1986, 1988.

 

Lye, Keith. Take a Trip to Syria, 1988.

 

Mulloy, Martin. Syria, 1988.

 

Quilliam, Neil. Syria and the New World Order, 1999.

 

Sinai, Anne, and Allen Pollack, eds. The Syrian Arab Republic, 1976.

 

South, Coleman. Syria, 1995.

 

Tareq, Ismael Y., and Jacqueline S. Tareq. Communist Movement in Syria and Lebanon, 1998.

 

Wedeen, Lisa. Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria, 1999.

 

Winkler, Onn. Demographic Developments and Population Policies in Ba'athist Syria, 1998.

 

 

 

Web Sites

 

Destination Syria, www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/mea/syr

 

Guide to Syria, www.middleeastnews.com/syria

 

Syria: A Country Study, www.lcweb2.loc/gov/frd/cs/sytoc

 

Syria—The Cradle of Civilizations, www.arabicnet.com

 

U.S. Government, Department of State, Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook: Syria, www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sy

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paterson,_New_Jersey

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_to_Damascus_moment#Feast_Day

 

http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Syria.html

 

http://www.syrianhistory.com

 

http://www.cafe-syria.com/Culture.htm

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic

 

http://syrianamericanclub.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=55

http://www.syriatourism.org/index.php?newlang=eng

 

 

 

Awni Abu-Hadba came to the United States to improve his English-language skills. He stayed, he says, “to take his chance at the American dream.”

Following in the footsteps of an older brother, Abu-Hadba, now 59, arrived in America in 1970 from his native Palestine after graduating from Birzeit University in Ramallah. Nearly 40 years later, he is one of the best-known and most influential members of the large Arab-American community of Paterson, where he has held the appointed position of deputy mayor since 2002.

Paterson, long a magnet for immigrant groups, began attracting new arrivals from Arab lands as early as the 1890s. Today, those of Arab descent—mainly Lebanese, Jordanian, Syrian, Palestinian, and Moroccan—account for more than 10 percent of the city’s 145,000 residents.

Like many Paterson newcomers, Abu-Hadba initially found work in the city’s textile mills. Hoping for more, he studied business and political science at Passaic County College and William Paterson University, and later took classes in the insurance business. His big break came when an Italian-American friend and mentor sold Abu-Hadba his insurance agency with nothing more than a handshake as collateral.

At 26, he briefly returned to Palestine to find a bride. There his uncle’s wife introduced him to Mayson, an ebullient woman from Bethlehem. “Not exactly a traditional arranged marriage,” says Abu-Hadba. “But you could say it was a really good referral.” Together they have raised five children; two are married with children of their own. Following Palestinian tradition, the other three—all in their twenties—still live at home with Awni and Mayson.

Although they cling to their ethnic traditions, Abu-Habda says he and his wife chose to raise their family in America “because of the opportunity of a better life, health, education, safety, stability, financial opportunities, and freedom of speech.”

It was not until 1984 that Abu-Habda really began to understand how to exercise some of America’s freedoms. He recalls the moment vividly. “There was a funeral at our mosque, at the Omar Mosque, on Getty and Crooks. Hundreds of cars lining the street were getting ticketed. Friends and family were complaining. But they didn’t speak English. I did. So I went to the officer and I said, what are you doing, this is a funeral! Can’t you let us park here? And he turned to me and said, ‘You may have 100 cars here, but your numbers don’t count. You see that house over there? They count. They have four votes. You are 100 cars, but you guys are 100 zeros’.”

For some it was a funeral, for Abu-Habda it was an awakening.

He and others began to organize the Arab-American citizens of South Paterson with the aim of gaining political visibility. Those around Abu-Habda wanted him to run for the city council, but keeping a pledge to his father (who feared for his safety), he chose not to seek elected office.

Instead, Abu-Habda learned how to make things happen as a community organizer. “It’s easy to get involved,” he says. “You can create change and decide a simple thing that makes your life better. America is the greatest country for community involvement.”

Abu-Habda was a natural when it came to courting the city’s leaders. He remembers stunning the Arab community during one election campaign when he walked up the street with longtime Paterson Mayor Frank Graves, a Democrat, and then came back the other way with his Republican opponent.

Today, political candidates in Paterson routinely seek his support. In addition to serving as Paterson’s deputy mayor, a largely ceremonial position, he is involved in national issues via the Arab American Institute and the Anti-Discrimination Committee.

The events of September 11, 2001, presented a unique challenge to Paterson’s Arab community. Soon after the tragic events, reports emerged that several of the 9/11 hijackers had been living in Paterson and nearby Wayne in the months leading up to the attacks. The news generated suspicion in the surrounding non-Arab communities. Retailers felt a sharp slowdown of business and all Arabs experienced a palpable chill.

Abu-Habda rejects any notion that his community supported the attackers. “Those terrorists were not from our town,” he says. “There were several Arabs found in that apartment in Paterson, sure, but they didn’t live here. There were only here for a few months. Nobody knew who they were. The Arabs here are Americans like anybody else. Our children go to school just like anybody else. We dismiss their evil. They are not human. Three hundred Muslims died that day.”

The good news, he says, is that the situation has improved with time. Business is back on track, and even though there have been terror alerts since 9/11, these days they do not seem to affect the status quo in Paterson.

Although he is an important community leader in Paterson—and runs a bail-bond business in the city with his eldest son—Abu-Habda long ago followed the pattern of other immigrant groups and moved his family to nearby Wayne. Living in this suburban melting pot is highly attractive to Mayson, now XX, and a jean-clad, stay-at-home American mom.

On her deck, overlooking the sprawling backyard, she points out the surrounding houses. “It’s like the UN here. We are so lucky,” she says. “This is my Polish neighbor. Oh what a wonderful woman. How many times she helped me when the kids were sick. Cooked for me. We watched each other’s kids. On this side is my Jewish neighbor and they have a couple of kids too. When they were little, we used to say our street had the answer to the peace process.

“Next door,” she continues, “they are Italian. All the kids grew up together. It’s all I’ve ever known since I came here when I was 15 with my husband. I love it.”

 

 

1)    Gated Communities/Insecure American Edited by Hugh Gusterson and Catherine Besteman

The Insecure American How We Got Here and What We Should Do About It Foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich

Americans are feeling insecure. They are retreating to gated communities in record numbers, fearing for their jobs and their 401(k)s, nervous about their health insurance and their debt levels, worrying about terrorist attacks and immigrants. In this innovative volume, editors Hugh Gusterson and Catherine Besteman gather essays from nineteen leading ethnographers to create a unique portrait of an anxious country and to furnish valuable insights into the nation's possible future. With an incisive foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich, the contributors draw on their deep knowledge of different facets of American life to map the impact of the new economy, the "war on terror," the "war on drugs," racial resentments, a fraying safety net, undocumented immigration, a health care system in crisis, and much more. In laying out a range of views on the forces that unsettle us, The Insecure American demonstrates the singular power of an anthropological perspective for grasping the impact of corporate profit on democratic life, charting the links between policy and vulnerability, and envisioning alternatives to life as an insecure American.

"The Insecure American turned out to be a revelation—by turns alarming, depressing and laugh-out-loud amusing."—Eugene Robinson, Washington Post

"During the last half century, America morphed almost seamlessly from 'the Age of Anxiety' into 'the Age of Insecurity'. The threat of nuclear annihilation hovered ominously as a Damoclean sword, and while there are residues—that anxiety has been substantially replaced by a gnawing sense of more local insecurity—from employment and healthcare uncertainty, to expanding gated communities and food-supply woes. This is as rich a collection as one can find that provides compelling accounts for how and why this has happened."—Troy Duster, Director of the Institute for the History of the Production of Knowledge at NYU "If ever the United States was a country of shared prosperity, it no longer answers to that description. The consequences for American families, particularly those at the bottom of the social structure, but increasingly in the middle class as well, have been devastating to their pocketbooks, their confidence, and the hope that their children will be able to make it in the world they are inheriting. This distinguished group of anthropologists trains an ethnographic lens on the impact of growing insecurity on the social fabric of the nation. Concerned citizens, fellow social scientists, students, and policy makers should pay attention to their message."—Katherine Newman, Princeton University, co-author of The Missing Class: Portraits of the Near Poor in America Foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich Acknowledgments Introduction Catherine Besteman and Hugh Gusterson

Part One Fortress America

1. A nation of Gated Communities Setha M. Low

2.Warmaking as the AmericanWay of life Catherine Lutz

3. Republic of fear: The rise of Punitive Governance in America Roger N. Lancaster

Part Two The New Economy

4. Neoliberalism, or The Bureaucratization of the World David Graeber

5.The Age of Wal-Mart Jane L. Collins

6. Deindustrializing Chicago: A Daughter's story Christine J.Walley

7. Racism, risk, and the new Color of Dirty Jobs Lee D. Baker

Part Three Insecurity as a Profit Center

8. Normal Insecurities, Healthy Insecurities Joseph Dumit

9. Cultivating Insecurity: How Marketers Are Commercializing Childhood Juliet B. Schor

Part Four The Most Vulnerable

10. Uneasy street  T.M. Luhrmann

11. Body and soul: Profits from Poverty BrettWilliams

12. Useless suffering: The War on Homeless Drug Addicts Philippe Bourgois

13.Walling out Immigrants Peter Kwong

Part Five Insecurity and Terror

14. Compounding Insecurity:What the neocon Core reveals about America today  Janine R.Wedel

15. Deploying law as aWeapon in America'sWar on terror  Susan F. Hirsch

Part Six Insecurities of Body and Spirit

16. Death and Dying in Anxious America  Nancy Scheper-Hughes

17. Get religion Susan Harding

 

2)    “ I am Blessed” and why Kathy Griffin was right when she told Jesus to Suck It.

3)    Patterns, relationships, connections, link back to what?, key concepts, key ideas

4)    The Market Day

a)    Review film

b)    Idea to do something with it

5)    Birth in four cultures

a)    Anything in 3-4 cultures

6)    Those Who Work And Those Who Don’t, review book

a)    Do you need to, is it an American Capitalist construct?

b)    What about the teen work ethic, how does it affect older working professional work ethic, has it changed, why has it changed, who changed it, has it changed for the better? what does the data say? This is a subject of my upcoming thesis for the UNT -- MA Distance Learning Program in Applied Business Anthropology. Here's what I would argue: I don't think this generation of kids is any threat to the older workers. There is a great disparity between the Gen X Gen Y work ethic and the Boomers.  One study from Northeastern University alone showed that since 1978 (coincidentally I worked @ McDonald’s during high school at this time) the nationwide percentage of 16-19 year olds with summer jobs hit the lowest mark in 2007 with a paltry 39.5%.

7)    Pink Ribbons Inc. A Corporate Dream Come True review the book

a)    Write a critical essay about it since PT&Co.

b)    How critical illness fuels the cause-related economy

8)    Trust: A Comparative Study and the gated community, self imposed gates/ghettos/lookout over Newark

9)    Fear and Insecurity in the Community: Who is the real boogeyman? Osama or your mama?

10) Bowling Alone/Better Together

a)    Interview 65+ and ask about neighborhood

b)    Interview 35+

c)    Interview 15+

11) Hygiene: A Comparative Study on how we are neurotic about hand washing, but then we are filthy about our homes Oprah show

12) Class size: A Comparative Study China/US/

13) Beauty around the World, fashion Encyclopedia, Oprah show

14) Socialized or Civilized – Oprah show

15) Are too many students going to college? Fordham University Press book

16) Dangerous Citizens The Greek Left and the Terror of the State Neni Panourgiá

17) The urge to “ prevent this from happening again”

18) “changed forever”

19) End of The Hamptons – review title

20) People at Work – review title

21) Beyond Camptown –review title

a)    East River shanty town - In New York City, there was an extensive Hooverville/shantytown on the west shore of Manhattan, along the NY Central RR tracks on the upper west side, where Riverside Park now stands. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_is_a_shanty_town

22) Growing Older In World Cities- review title

a)    Athens Kiosk “a form of retirement”

23) Madonna: Polish, Black, Pop, and Sardinian

24) Hard Living on Main Street

25) We Dance When We are Sad: How The Greek Kefi Experience Will Teach You How To Love Your Life and Why Our Culture Prevents It

26) Repatriation

a)    The consultation process and new collaborations

b)    Displacement/endangerment of people and artifacts through conflict

c)    Diaspora cultural communities

d)    Return of economic migrants

e)    Memory, identity and temporality

f)     Global discontinuities in repatriation policy

27) Degrees of Dispossession

28) Textures of Contras

29) Nadir Pulitzer Prize Literature Winner

30) Rachel Carson’s why and how she got to write, don’t write until you have something to say

31) Pre-School In 3 Cultures

32) Culture of Success – 3 Different Views – 3 cultures

33) Ethnicity Inc. review the book

a)    Stuff white people like – neighborhoods, oh how cool

34) FGM The Semantics of Female Genital Mutilation, Circumcision, Cutting

35) The Tourist’s Gaze, Cretan Glance

36) Person and Place: The Deployment and Neglect of America’s Anthropologists in WWII

a)    and how it’s not the same thing at all now:

b)    40% Less Death

c)    http://www.aaanet.org/cmtes/commissions/CEAUSSIC/index.cfm

d)    Why Hinton thinks it’s a good idea

e)    Why Setha won the Anticipatory also, so does she agree?

37) Where did Old 42^nd Street Go?

38) Where have all the theaters gone?

39) Ethnolanguage.com

40) The Lost Children Of The Sun

41) Wasting

a)    Food: thttp://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/11/27-1h

b)    Products 99cents Stores

42) Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture

43) Why Manners Matter

44) Unleash you Inner Anthropologist

45) Think like an Anthropologist

46) Spent – In all Senses

47) Born Round – Book Review

48) Empathy Gap

49) Waiters: A Cross Cultural Comparison

50) The After Dinner Walk: The Space Walk, But Do they?

a)    How Diaspora Communities Behave in their Foreign National City and why A Comparative Study in 3 Communities Little Lisboa, Little Bombay, and Montclair

51) Submit the 2 pieces to AN

52) Why Little Lisboa Works: The Organic vs. the Grafted

53) Duarte as an example of overdevelopment

54) Duarte, Bradbury, Lower Duarte, Below The Tracks

55) Observing The Observers

56) RHWO: NJ/AT/NY/CA

57) Portrait of an American Aristocrat: Ben Franklin’s Descendent, Those Cole Haan Portrait (K

58) Documenting Gated Communities:  Park, Erwin Park, Llewellyn Park

59) The origin of the Tuxedo

60) Concepts of Safety in Five Different Communities: England, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Montclair

61) Why Do They Smell The Same: How 3 Italian American Cafés Capture the Essence of Culture A World Away

62) An Irregular Migration Path: Why Some Italians migrated from West Paterson, NJ To Chicago, IL

63) Anticipatory Anthropology – Helicopter Offspring in the Workforce 20/20

64) Clash of Entitlement: Prince of The East – Prince of The West

65) MLM: How Culture Fosters Selling Up: Korean, Latin American, American, Japanese Cross Cultural Comparison

66) John Noble Wilford Writes about Anthropology NY Times

67) Anthropological Provenance

a)    Frazer

b)    Boaz

c)    Mead

d)    Geertz

e)    Hall

f)     Kluckholn

g)    Hoffstede

h)   That school guy

i)     The Belgian Guy

68) Title of Publication: PoptKultr: Taking Anthropology Down From the Trees And Connecting The Dots (or how to understand what’s in front of you and work your way backwards like a graduate student)

69) Der.org

70) Think and Grow Rich In American vs. Think and Grow  Deep: The Anti-Intellectual Movement in America. Be smart, but not too smart, like monks In The Name of The Rose) do we have to leave all the knowledge in the labyrinth? Gore, Obama, and Roosevelt and why Roosevelt fared better because he was like a father figure

71) Class size does not matter: A cross cultural comparison in China, India, Greece, America 4^th grades

72) 10 Questions for the MA Thesis in three companies from LinkedIn Survey

73) The GenX Work Ethic 20/20

To a certain tribe of residents known as the “Suburbanites” who live in neighborhoods with “good schools”, South Paterson is the “lower east side.” The archetype for hardscrabble, east coast towns, typified by dicey neighborhoods, mom and pop bodegas, and abandoned brick factories. The East Side High of North Jersey in need of some serious discipline and cleaning up. Once an epicenter of industrial revolution producing cotton, silk, trains, and iron it’s hard to imagine anything eloquent about Paterson, much less South Paterson, but there is.

 

The incongruities begin with its literary history. The subject of a modern epic poem William Carlos Williams called “Paterson”. Described as “Whitman's America, grown pathetic and tragic, brutalized by inequality, disorganized by industrial chaos, and faced with annihilation. No poet has written of it with such a combination of brilliance, sympathy, and experience, with such alertness and energy.”  If Paterson’s literary history was uncharacteristic, what other incongruities lurked on the South side?

 

South Paterson is made up of Turks, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Home to the largest Turkish-American immigrant community in the U.S. – at last count about 20,000, down from about 60,000, fifty years ago -- and the second largest Arab community after Dearborn, Michigan. Visit these streets on a Muslim holiday and you’re likely to see the kids who attend Prospect Park public schools hanging out, observing the festivities with their families.

 

And not unlike the Middle East, South Paterson’s Arab and Turkish neighborhood -- bordered by Madison Avenue to the north, Crooks Avenue to the south, Hazel Street to the west, and East Railway Avenue to the east – also has an identity crisis because it is alternately called Little Arabia or Little Istanbul by outsiders. But according to frustrated locals – though you won’t know it, because that’s not a Turk’s style – one is either a Turk or an Arab, not both. Both can be of the Islamic World, religiously. Turkiye is secular, not Islamic. It is a buffer to fundamentalist Islam, but itself is neither East nor West, which defines both its problem and its blessing: its heart is in Asia (Ankara) but its face is Europe (Istanbul). As with South Paterson, it only looks Arab. Upon closer inspection of the business signs and you realize, they are not Arabic.

 

The contradictions keep coming, for we have crossed the great divide from West to East. Turks also read right to left. Like Greeks, they say “no” by nodding their head up and down, much like we gesture yes. And “yes” is a downward nod, which looks like the Western gesture for “no”. Once past the cultural reversals, preconceived notions, and unfamiliar language and you realize you are in the land of Oz. Not the mythical place on the hill ruled by a little man behind the curtain, but the real thing. An authentic cultural experience subtitled by genuine, warm, and open people. In Turkish “oz” means “authentic”.

 

The smell of something grilling lured me into a local eatery slash watering hole where a few of the neighborhood men check in to say hello, use the phone, catch a soccer game, or a smoke at “Oz Karadeniz” 1023 Main St. (973) 523-7779 where I had a succulent grilled Chicken Doner Kebab platter with bulgur wheat and pilaf, and a nice big plate of Cacik Yogurt sauce with garlic and dill. I swilled it down with pure peach soda. Best part of the meal was talking to Ahmet, the owner about the neighborhood. He explained the meaning of the handmade artifacts on his walls and introduced me to the “boss” (his wife) making delicious dips and salads along with his daughter-in-law. His grandson, Joseph doing handstands on the chair of my table was a charming little kid with big brown eyes. I thanked him profusely for his hospitality, and left feeling satisfied.

 

Drizzly and gray, I was about to head home when I wandered next door to the only Turkish book shop in the tri-state area called “Zinnur” at 1019 Main St. (973) 278-6662, run by Zinnur -- previously seen hanging around next door at Oz – who (before I knew it) poured me a glass of Turkish tea in a delicate little tulip glass an homage from the Lalezar era of the Ottomans. Quiet and ready to listen to my questions, he and a store colleague and another guy who was just passing through, reminded me that the rest of the world still takes to stop. And. Talk. To an ethnographer reporter, a citizen diplomat who would tell the real story of Oz to the Suburbanites.

 

I stopped off on the way home at Taskin, the Turkish bakery where again, I was shown the famous Turkish hospitality inquiring about the Turkish flat bread called “Pide”, handmade and brick oven baked. They come topped with sesame seeds and black caraway seeds or plain for sandwiches or table bread. They took me behind the counter, showed me around while the smell of fresh baked bread intoxicated me. A poster for the Turkish-American Festival was thrust into my hands www.njturkishfestial.org . They wanted me to tell “everybody” to come. There’s a flag raising ceremony on Thursday, May 14th in front of Paterson City Hall (155 Market Street) in front of Clifton City Hall (corner of Clifton & Van Houten Aves.) and lots of parading, eating, music entertainment, singers, musicians, folk dancers, food, vendors, games, prizes & surprises

children's activities. With all this culture right here in North Jersey, who needs Ninth Avenue?

 

Next up: The Syrians of South Paterson, NJ.

 

Lisa La Valle-Finan is an Intercultural trainer, writer, and the Creative Director of getGlobalized™. She’s been traveling and writing for 25 years, speaks French, Italian and Greek, and welcomes all comments and can be reached at crossculturalpro@yahoo.com. More information can be found on the company’s website at www.getGlobalized.org.

 

 

 

 

 

SOURCES

 

Books

Axtell, R. (1997). Do's and Taboos around the World for Women in Business. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

 

Dresser, N. (1996). Multicultural Manners. New York: John Wiley.

 

Foster, D. (2000). The Global Etiquette Guide to Asia. New York: John Wiley

 

Huntington, S. P. (1996). The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster.

 

Morrison, C. B. (1994). Kiss Bow or Shake Hands. Holbrook, MA: Adams Media.

 

Web

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paterson,_New_Jersey

http://www.jstor.org/pss/1207405

http://www.answers.com/topic/paterson-new-jersey

http://www.answers.com/topic/paterson‑new‑jersey

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E0D7143FF93AA15753C1A9609C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

http://local.yahoo.com/NJ/Paterson/Food+Dining/Restaurants/Middle+Eastern

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF‑8&um=1&q=middle+eastern+restaurants+paterson+nj&fb=1&view=text&sa=X&oi=local_group&resnum=1&ct=more‑results&cd=1

 

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Welcome to my blog about ethnic neighborhoods in New Jersey.

I am Intercultural trainer, writer, and the Creative Director of getGlobalized™. I've been traveling and writing for 25 years, and speak a fair amount of French, Italian and Greek. I welcome all comments and can be reached at LLFinan@live.com

More information can be found on the company website at www.getGlobalized.org

 

_____________________________________________________________________________
Lisa La Valle-Finan
PR&I Communications, LLC

http://www.getGlobalized.org

http://twitter.com/getGlobalized

http://blog.getglobalized.org

http://knowneighborhood.ning.com

v. +1.973.337.6895    |    e. llfinan@live.com    | s. llfinan  

A little local knowledge goes a long way