Creeping optimism in Damascus
People shop in the Hamidiya souk in Damascus’ Old City.
(Liliana Nieto del Rio / For The Times)Isahak Kraymeen sells tamarind juice at the Hamidiya souk in Damascus’ Old City.
(Liliana Nieto del Rio / For The Times)Women shop in Jaramana, a densely populated suburb of Damascus. The neighborhood, to which many people displaced by the war have moved, is under tight government control.
(Liliana Nieto del Rio / For The Times)People meet at a cafe in the Old City of Damascus to smoke water pipes and catch up over tea and coffee.
(Liliana Nieto del Rio / For The Times)Elementary school children hold portraits of Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, and his late father, Hafez.
(Liliana Nieto del Rio / For The Times)Pro-government pioneers in Damascus’ Dumar neighborhood. The elementary school children are part of a ruling party youth group.
(Liliana Nieto del Rio / For The Times)A monument honors those killed in a double car bombing nearly three years ago in Jaramana, a densely populated suburb of Damascus.
(Liliana Nieto del Rio / For The Times)Elementary school children in a ruling party youth group wave Syrian flags along a street.
(Liliana Nieto del Rio / For The Times)