Damascus residents try to keep life normal in the face of ongoing conflict

(31 Oct 2013) The residents of Damascus are trying valiantly to maintain some sense of normality in their lives, amid the ongoing conflict in their country which has killed many thousands of people, and displaced millions more.
When night falls, many Damascus residents lock themselves in their homes. But some venture outside to the city's cafes, bars and clubs, many of which have remained opened despite the war on their doorstep.
"Every time we hear the sound of bombing it makes us feel so bad," said Titar Sahinian, a singer in the Roma cafe in the Old City of Damascus.
"But as I said before, life is going on and we have to move on," she added.
Roma Cafe is located in the heart of the historic Old Town of Damascus, renowned for its nightlife before the war, and in the evening the atmosphere here is still buzzing.
It is not just cafes and night clubs in Damascus that are keeping their doors open.
Shops, businesses, and the famous Al-Hamidiyah market remain open for business as usual, but the conflict that has reduced parts of the capital's suburbs to rubble is never far from people's thoughts.
The day is often punctuated by the sound of exlposions and ambulance sirens.
Several mortars have landed in the vicinity of the Roma caf�.
The cafe owner Rami Dahbour said Damascus residents have got used to the war.
"People want to live. People are afraid when a mortar hits nearby, but the next day everything is ok," Dahbour said.
On a typical evening at the Roma Cafe, it is hard to imagine you are in a country at war with itself.
Customers sit chatting, smoking flavoured tobacco from water pipes, and singing along to the music.
"War can't stop life," said Damascus resident and cafe customer Odday Al-Khayyatt.
"Of course we now have special circumstances here in Syria because there is war and a bad situation, but we can live, we have life here."
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[@tywuh7totr703]

Syria have a beautiful culture its a shame what's going on and people fleeing the country

[@mohamdarwad6680]

in the last 5 seconds what's the name of the song

[@elcodicenegro1981]

...esas imágenes deber ser que molestan a EEUU, a Estado Islámico y las monarquías sátrapas del Golfo Pérsico y de por ello la guerra en Siria.