While the international community is focusing primarily on the Syrians who have fled, millions are still living in fear throughout the country. It's difficult to imagine being trapped in the middle of a warzone. And picture this: house after house, business after business on street after street all of them, without windows.

Beyond the bloodshed, this is one of the telltale signs of Syria's war. Windows in many of Aleppo's buildings are shattered now replaced by plastic sheeting.

That's especially true in the city's al-Midan neighborhood caught between government and rebel forces.

"Every month or so, we get shelled and every window pane we have is shattered. We changed the glass the first time, then the second time and then a third time, and it was always the same. Now, look, I no longer bother putting up anything," said Ammar Wattar, resident of Aleppo's Al-Midan neighborhood.

Aleppo was once home to more than 2 million people making it Syria's largest city. It's unclear how many are still here but for those who have remained, running a business is anything but easy. Especially when that business is selling glassware.

"We can no longer get any merchandise because there's no safety and too much shelling. The first time my merchandise was broken here, I couldn't replace it because of the lack of safety," said glassware shop owner Mohammad Bouz.

"Throughout the war, Syria has suffered almost every human crisis imaginable from food shortages to bombings. But it's the seemingly simple things, like replacing a broken window, that become so much more complicated in the middle of war."

"At any moment, another plane can fire and the glass risks getting smashed again," said beauty products shop owner Abu Ahmad.

The price of glass has gone up some 800 percent since the war began. While nylon plastic sheets like these are six times cheaper than glass, they come with obvious drawbacks.

"Nylon doesn't protect from heat and rain. It doesn't block the noise either and I feel like I'm in the street," said Mohammed Jokhdar, resident of Aleppo's Bustan Al-Qasr neighborhood.

Still, in a country where up to 470,000 people have been killed surviving is really what matters most. Even without windows.