海角大神

It鈥檚 early in the day, before the afternoon rush, so the server at one of Jordan鈥檚 newest shawarma stands takes time to carve a carrot into a reasonable representation of a rose before presenting a platter of marinated and grilled chicken slices to a customer.

The fast food restaurant, Enis Chicken, is one of the latest Damascus imports to Amman. Just down the street is the Syrian shop Bakdash, where the rhythm of wooden paddles beating against metal tubs rings out in tune with a centuries-old recipe that turns milk, rose water and Arabic gum into ice cream.

The shawarma stand, competing with a shop selling the more basic local version of the chicken sandwich nearby, is part of a wave of Syrian entrepreneurship that both promises and threatens to change the face of Jordan.

Over the past two years, an estimated 1 million Syrians have fled fighting in their homeland for their tiny neighbor, the latest of several waves of refugees from Jordan's neighbors 鈥� Palestinians at various points since Israel's founding, Iraqis in the wake of the US invasion, and now, Syrians.聽Fewer than half of those are in Zataari, the desolate, still-growing refugee camp that is now Jordan鈥檚 fourth biggest city.

鈥淭he people of Jordan were very much against us being here,鈥� says Madian al-Jazerah, a business owner who was among the wave of Jordanians of Palestinian origin who resettled in Amman after being expelled from Kuwait in 1991. 鈥淣ow with the Syrians it鈥檚 the same pattern."

Faced with the biggest refugee crisis in the region since the creation of Israel in 1948, the Jordanian government has warned that its population of 6 million population won鈥檛 be able to absorb more Syrian refugees and that the influx is a dangerous drain on resources.聽Jordanians slammed by higher prices for fuel, electricity, water and consumer goods due to the lifting of government subsidies are blaming the Syrian refugees for disappearing jobs and rising prices.聽

During the 2003 war in Iraq, poorer Iraqis fled to Syria 鈥� the only place they could afford to live. Those Iraqis who sought refuge in Jordan tended to be well-educated and many of them wealthy 鈥� building and buying large companies and creating jobs.

The Syrians 鈥� who are setting up small businesses and working in shops, restaurants and construction 鈥� are a different breed.

鈥淭he Iraqis definitely had money,鈥� economist Yusuf Mansur says. 鈥淭he Syrians are more craftspeople. They come from a socialist economy in a country that was large, diverse and closed for the longest time and because they were closed they learned to do things.鈥�

Filling in the gaps

Wedged between Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Jordan has little water and few other natural resources. But it has parlayed its traditionally close relations with the United States and its position as a buffer state between Israel and the Arab world聽鈥� and as a major recipient of refugees 鈥撀爄nto foreign aid that is its biggest source of income.

Many of the products sold in Jordan 鈥� from clothing and food to inlaid wooden boxes and handmade glass-- were Syrian. Until the 1990s, a ban on imported cars filled Damascus streets with vehicles from the 1950s and 60s kept running through ingenuity. 聽聽

鈥淲e were originally nomadic raiders,鈥� says Mansur, referring to Jordan鈥檚 original Bedouin population. 鈥淭he Syrians were traders.鈥�

Mansur disputes government figures that indicate the refugees are draining limited resources to a critical level, saying that those living in trailers and tents consume far less water and electricity than Jordanians. Without the influx of refugees spending money in the most impoverished areas of Jordan, he says, the kingdom鈥檚 sluggish growth rate 鈥� estimated at 2 to 3 percent 鈥� would be even lower.

Most of the Syrians work in Jordan鈥檚 鈥渦nofficial sector.鈥� At one Amman shopping mall, a Syrian salesman who says he works a seven-day week for the equivalent of $350 a month said he had been fined four times for working illegally.

Getting a work permit 鈥渨ould cost me two months rent,鈥� he says.

Many Jordanian business owners taking advantage of cheaper, experienced labor have dropped the wages they are offering.聽 But business owners say the Syrians offer skills that Jordanians don鈥檛 have and like Egyptian laborers in the country, are willing to take jobs Jordanians don鈥檛 consider respectable.

Mr. Al-Jazerah, who employs more than 60 people at two branches of his books@cafe restaurants, says he pays expatriate workers the same as his Jordanian employees.聽 His waiters include a Syrian architect.

鈥淛ordanians have finally accepted to be waiters,鈥� he says. 鈥淎re they willing to sweep floors, are they willing to be a guard in an apartment building, are they willing to wash dishes? No. 鈥�

Adding flavor

Damascus, one of the world鈥檚 oldest continuously inhabited cities, was on the silk road trade route and once the capitol of a powerful Islamic empire. Its cuisine and its culture also bear more recent traces of its legacy of a French protectorate.

At the shawarma shop, the simple chicken sandwich rolled in paper-thin bread is marinated in pomegranate syrup and scented with lemon and cardamom. It costs less than $2. The owners opened a branch in Amman earlier this year after two of their Damascus restaurants were destroyed.

鈥淪yrians and the people of Damascus in particular are known for their food. It feeds the soul,鈥� says Ayman al-Sayid al-Lahem, one of the owners.

Although it鈥檚 meant as fast food, the demand is so high that in the early evening, customers wait on the sidewalk for up to half an hour for the sandwiches.

鈥淭hese people can bring in so much. I鈥檓 finally hoping to see good carpentry for instance, or good glass blowing, or just good sweets,鈥� Jazerah, the business owner, says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e bringing in culture and that鈥檚 what people don鈥檛 see 鈥� they鈥檙e just adding to our spice.鈥�