I'm temporarily starting to write in this blog again.
Although I'm no longer traveling abroad and therefore don't have very many exciting things to write about, I think it may still be good to keep those who I do not see very often updated in my life. I started off college following my sister's idea of an "update email" and even though it was a great idea, it very quickly was abandoned.
The thing is, I'm horrible at "keeping in touch". I hate the phone, letter writing becomes a major task for me, and emails...well I just don't keep up with them. When it comes down to it, I'm not the best communicator. This I believe is a problem that needs to be addressed. So to begin addressing it, I'm going to make a commitment: for the next month I will be committed to writing some sort of update on this blog at least once a week so that those who care to know what is going on in my life, have a chance to hear about it.
Biggest change in the moment: my time as a soccer player is officially over. Many of you already know that I tore my ACL this past September during one of our Pre-season games. That injury ended my time on the field, but it didn't end my place on the team.
I'm so thankful for the season that I had even though it wasn't at all the season I had imagined for myself.
Anyway, it is now officially, officially over. Season is done. My soccer career is done. and I am beginning the process of disengagement from the identity I have held since a child. I am no longer an athlete. Sounds dumb I know, but athletics have determined and influenced a large part of my life since I began investing my time in them at the age of five years old.
While it's strange to think that that part of my life is over, it's simultaneously intriguing. What am I moving on to? The end of athletics marks the beginning of the end of college for me. It is the preview of my life 6 months from now when I graduate and am officially independent. On my own. An adult.
My whole life is lying ahead of me.
Like I said. Intriguing.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Why have I never read Wendell Berry before?
The Wild Things.
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
-Wendell Berry
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
-Wendell Berry
Monday, May 10, 2010
boarding at this moment so not finished
So everyone keeps telling me to update my blog or at least, as my mother has put it, “finish it off”. I thought it had been established that I had kind of failed at the whole blog thing- apparently not. The thing is, it’s kind of difficult to update or finish it off when so much has been left out. There’s no way I can go back and summarize things efficiently enough to continue on, and I’ve been onto the next adventure already so how can I end things when people are wondering about my current happenings in Paris?
Here’s what I’ve decided to do: pour myself a glass of wine, turn on some Devendra Banhart, and hope that these will result in a successful blog post.
Ready. Set. Go.
Last time I wrote on the blog I had given a summary of my group’s travel through Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and had mentioned maybe a little about Israel/Palestine.
Can I just say that Jerusalem is one of the most interesting cities I have ever been to? It’s modern—go figure—yet it has so much Biblical/ancient history. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Europe has history; I know. But Europe’s history is not this ancient and it’s not as religiously meaningful to so many religious groups: Jews, Muslims, Christians, Mormons…
Jews living in Jerusalem are diverse. You’ve got the Ashkanzi (originally from outside of Israel/Palestine region) Jews and the Hasidic (from Israel/Palestine) Jews. With Ashkanazi Jews you’ve got people from all over the world. A family would walk by in their Jewish orthodox style of clothing and the children would be pale, freckled, and red-headed. I’d turn my head slightly and see another Jewish family walking by who were black. I was mesmerized by the differences. I wonder if that’s how some people feel when they come to cities within the States and see the diversity.
I wasn’t expecting such physiological diversity within the Jewish population in Jerusalem. Actually, I’m not sure if “physiological” is the right word but I’m not sure whether “ethnic” would technically work either because isn’t “Jewish” technically an ethnicity? What the hell does being Jewish mean? Does it simply mean someone who is practicing the religion of Judaism? Is it an ethnicity? Is it just a bundle of cultural traditions? What is Jewish? I still don’t know because as I learned, there are lots of different divisions/labels within being Jewish. There are Secular Jews, Traditional, Orthodox, Ultra-Orthodox, Messianic, Christian Jews, and the list could go on…
My favorite thing to observe while in Jerusalem, were the styles of clothing. You had the tourists from all over the world wearing their garb- South Americans, Africans, Europeans, Australians, North Americans…and then you had the Jewish locals/tourists who were wearing modern styles of clothing, those with modern clothes but wearing the Yarmulke and tassles, those wearing their black dress clothes with their top hat and tassles, and then some of the Russian Ultra’s wearing their robes and furry hats that look like tires on top of their head.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Overview
It's been a long time since I've posted and I apologize.
I've started writing many times, but every time I begin, it gets interrupted and then another couple days go by and the update I was going to post becomes totally outdated.
I don't even know where to begin. So much has happened since my last post.
First of all, I'm no longer in Cairo. On March 17th we embarked on "Travel Component."
Our first stop was Istanbul. What a rush. After spending 2-3 months in desert and city, it was exhilarating to see grass!
The air was clean, cold, and crisp. We had a bit of drizzly rain the first two or so days and with Istanbul being on the water and hilly, I was reminded of Seattle.
In Turkey we spent our days listening to various speakers (journalists, AK Party, residents, etc.) on lots of topics...secularism, Islamism, Turkey's foreign policy, the Kurdish issue, the EU, the Armenian "genicide" etc.
From Istanbul we traveled to Ankara, the capital, for a few days and then on down to Syria. I don't know why we Americans paint a picture in our head of a dry, dust ridden Middle Eastern Region. Yes there's vast desert in certain regions, and other regions may be more on the dry, dusty side, but there are so many areas that are fertile and alive with color. Syria was beautiful to drive through. It was so green.
On our way to Damascus we stopped at one of the largest (or THE largest) crusader castle left in the world. [If only I had made the trip there as a 10 year old. I would have been in Heaven exploring the underground passageways.] It was a cloudy/rainy day when we went to the castle so unfortunately we didn't get to see the apparently spectacular view that one gets standing atop the castle on the hill. It was still really cool nonetheless.
On our way to Damascus we also stopped in Maloula (one of 3 aramaic speaking villages left in the world) and visited St. Tekla's shrine and an old Orthodox church.
In Damascus, we spent basically all of our time in the Old City. We saw the house of Ananias (who healed Paul when he went blind) and the Ummayid Mosque (where, supposively, they have John the Baptist's head). There were lots of Iranians in the Old City, especially at the mosque, and it was interesting to see their reaction to seeing Americans...it was fascination/excitement. Apparently Iranians rarely come in contact with Americans, if at all, and so we found ourselves to be the subject of a lot of camera lenses. There will be dozens of Iranians taking home pictures of their "American friends". haha.
Anyway, from Damascus we moved on to Amman, Jordan. We were only there for a day basically, and spent it at the Dead Sea. and Yes you can literally sit in the water reading while floating as if you were sitting in a chair.I wonder if swimming through space is a similar feeling to swimming in the Dead Sea? I was weightless.
So from Turkey, Syria, and Jordan, we have made our way to Israel and occupied Palestine.
More to come.
I've started writing many times, but every time I begin, it gets interrupted and then another couple days go by and the update I was going to post becomes totally outdated.
I don't even know where to begin. So much has happened since my last post.
First of all, I'm no longer in Cairo. On March 17th we embarked on "Travel Component."
Our first stop was Istanbul. What a rush. After spending 2-3 months in desert and city, it was exhilarating to see grass!
The air was clean, cold, and crisp. We had a bit of drizzly rain the first two or so days and with Istanbul being on the water and hilly, I was reminded of Seattle.
In Turkey we spent our days listening to various speakers (journalists, AK Party, residents, etc.) on lots of topics...secularism, Islamism, Turkey's foreign policy, the Kurdish issue, the EU, the Armenian "genicide" etc.
From Istanbul we traveled to Ankara, the capital, for a few days and then on down to Syria. I don't know why we Americans paint a picture in our head of a dry, dust ridden Middle Eastern Region. Yes there's vast desert in certain regions, and other regions may be more on the dry, dusty side, but there are so many areas that are fertile and alive with color. Syria was beautiful to drive through. It was so green.
On our way to Damascus we stopped at one of the largest (or THE largest) crusader castle left in the world. [If only I had made the trip there as a 10 year old. I would have been in Heaven exploring the underground passageways.] It was a cloudy/rainy day when we went to the castle so unfortunately we didn't get to see the apparently spectacular view that one gets standing atop the castle on the hill. It was still really cool nonetheless.
On our way to Damascus we also stopped in Maloula (one of 3 aramaic speaking villages left in the world) and visited St. Tekla's shrine and an old Orthodox church.
In Damascus, we spent basically all of our time in the Old City. We saw the house of Ananias (who healed Paul when he went blind) and the Ummayid Mosque (where, supposively, they have John the Baptist's head). There were lots of Iranians in the Old City, especially at the mosque, and it was interesting to see their reaction to seeing Americans...it was fascination/excitement. Apparently Iranians rarely come in contact with Americans, if at all, and so we found ourselves to be the subject of a lot of camera lenses. There will be dozens of Iranians taking home pictures of their "American friends". haha.
Anyway, from Damascus we moved on to Amman, Jordan. We were only there for a day basically, and spent it at the Dead Sea. and Yes you can literally sit in the water reading while floating as if you were sitting in a chair.I wonder if swimming through space is a similar feeling to swimming in the Dead Sea? I was weightless.
So from Turkey, Syria, and Jordan, we have made our way to Israel and occupied Palestine.
More to come.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Homestay Week
February 14th-20th.
Well remember when I wrote that I was hoping I wouldn't end up living with a family far away?
My morning/nightly commute was about an hour to an hour and a half...one way.
Lovely.
Each morning I would wake up at 6 am...walk out the door by 6:30...walk through the dirt allies to meet up with another girl from MESP who was staying in the same neighborhood and then we would begin our commute together.
Picture a small old van in the worst shape possible...dented, scratched, rusted, doors that won't close fully, zero shocks to absorb bumps etc...
We would begin our day riding one of those until we got close to the metro station where we'd be dropped off. Then we'd get on the metro and ride it for about 14 or so stops (almost always having to stand b/c of the crowd).
For those of you who asked: No I was not able to ever read or get hw done or have a nice quiet time during the commute...not possible with Egyptian public transportation.
After a long ride, we'd get off the metro downtown and head up to the street where we would catch a taxi to take us to Aguza where class is.
Long process.
But actually, it really wasn't too bad.
My family would probably be considered lower or lower middle class and from what I gathered, were pretty conservative Muslims.
The family structure in the house was interesting.
I was living with a mother and three girls...ages 10, 13, and 20.
Olah (the 20 yr. old) doesn't actually live with them, but was staying there since she was on holiday for school. Her father passed away when she was young, and her mother remarried and had two more children (the two other girls in the home). So Olah lived with her siblings from her mother's 1st marriage and her grandparents.
The current husband wasn't there at all while I stayed with them because he works as an engineer in Saudi Arabia.
[This was nice because I didn't have to worry very much about dressing as conservative inside the home as I would've if a male had been around.
But...I think it also took away from the experience because I wasn't able to see the husband/wife and father/daughter relationships played out.]
Happenings/Thoughts:
-Besides class and my commute...I did basically nothing all week.
Really. Seriously.
I went outside of the home with my family only twice the entire time. The first time was to walk with my 3 sisters to their aunts house (which was in the same neighborhood so hardly counts). We sat there talking with her for about 20 minutes or so (and when I say "we sat there talking" I really mean they sat there talking and I sat there smiling, looking from person to person trying to guess what in the world they were saying).
The second time, was on Friday when we traveled to their cousins' home (in a different neighborhood in Cairo) and spent the day in their flat with them.
-From the moment my family woke up, to the moment they went to sleep, they had the tv on...this is the norm here. Family interactions at home take place in front of the screen. They don't even necessarily watch the screen all day, but it's definitely always on, and they're always in front of it.
-Egyptian hospitality revolves around food. They love to feed their guests LOTS of food. When you finish a plate of food, they automatically fill it with more. If you tell them "La'a Shokran" (No Thank you) they insist. Doesn't matter how many times you tell them you're full, they always want you to eat more. Ha. So basically I got stuffed with food for the week.
-I had bits of interesting conversation with my sister Olah about Islam, Bin Laden, Bush, Obama, the taliban, family, and also Judgment Day according to Islam. I would write it all out, and actually I did write some of it on here, but I had to delete it because it took up way too much room. If you want to hear about it, then let me know and I will give you a bit of a summary.
-I learned that Egyptians are very dramatic. Actually I had learned this already in being here, but got to see even more of it during home stay. Interactions between people/family members are way more dramatic than you see in the States (except for maybe my family). There were a lot of times when I would watch and listen to my family speak with each other and I had no idea whether they were having a serious fight, or having a normal conversation.
Overall, I had a great week with my host family. They welcomed me into their home lovingly and the whole experience definitely gave me more insight into the culture, and what life may be like for some Egyptians in Cairo.
Well remember when I wrote that I was hoping I wouldn't end up living with a family far away?
My morning/nightly commute was about an hour to an hour and a half...one way.
Lovely.
Each morning I would wake up at 6 am...walk out the door by 6:30...walk through the dirt allies to meet up with another girl from MESP who was staying in the same neighborhood and then we would begin our commute together.
Picture a small old van in the worst shape possible...dented, scratched, rusted, doors that won't close fully, zero shocks to absorb bumps etc...
We would begin our day riding one of those until we got close to the metro station where we'd be dropped off. Then we'd get on the metro and ride it for about 14 or so stops (almost always having to stand b/c of the crowd).
For those of you who asked: No I was not able to ever read or get hw done or have a nice quiet time during the commute...not possible with Egyptian public transportation.
After a long ride, we'd get off the metro downtown and head up to the street where we would catch a taxi to take us to Aguza where class is.
Long process.
But actually, it really wasn't too bad.
My family would probably be considered lower or lower middle class and from what I gathered, were pretty conservative Muslims.
The family structure in the house was interesting.
I was living with a mother and three girls...ages 10, 13, and 20.
Olah (the 20 yr. old) doesn't actually live with them, but was staying there since she was on holiday for school. Her father passed away when she was young, and her mother remarried and had two more children (the two other girls in the home). So Olah lived with her siblings from her mother's 1st marriage and her grandparents.
The current husband wasn't there at all while I stayed with them because he works as an engineer in Saudi Arabia.
[This was nice because I didn't have to worry very much about dressing as conservative inside the home as I would've if a male had been around.
But...I think it also took away from the experience because I wasn't able to see the husband/wife and father/daughter relationships played out.]
Happenings/Thoughts:
-Besides class and my commute...I did basically nothing all week.
Really. Seriously.
I went outside of the home with my family only twice the entire time. The first time was to walk with my 3 sisters to their aunts house (which was in the same neighborhood so hardly counts). We sat there talking with her for about 20 minutes or so (and when I say "we sat there talking" I really mean they sat there talking and I sat there smiling, looking from person to person trying to guess what in the world they were saying).
The second time, was on Friday when we traveled to their cousins' home (in a different neighborhood in Cairo) and spent the day in their flat with them.
-From the moment my family woke up, to the moment they went to sleep, they had the tv on...this is the norm here. Family interactions at home take place in front of the screen. They don't even necessarily watch the screen all day, but it's definitely always on, and they're always in front of it.
-Egyptian hospitality revolves around food. They love to feed their guests LOTS of food. When you finish a plate of food, they automatically fill it with more. If you tell them "La'a Shokran" (No Thank you) they insist. Doesn't matter how many times you tell them you're full, they always want you to eat more. Ha. So basically I got stuffed with food for the week.
-I had bits of interesting conversation with my sister Olah about Islam, Bin Laden, Bush, Obama, the taliban, family, and also Judgment Day according to Islam. I would write it all out, and actually I did write some of it on here, but I had to delete it because it took up way too much room. If you want to hear about it, then let me know and I will give you a bit of a summary.
-I learned that Egyptians are very dramatic. Actually I had learned this already in being here, but got to see even more of it during home stay. Interactions between people/family members are way more dramatic than you see in the States (except for maybe my family). There were a lot of times when I would watch and listen to my family speak with each other and I had no idea whether they were having a serious fight, or having a normal conversation.
Overall, I had a great week with my host family. They welcomed me into their home lovingly and the whole experience definitely gave me more insight into the culture, and what life may be like for some Egyptians in Cairo.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Siwa
There is NOTHING like the desert.
This was my favorite trip yet…
Siwa is a town located in an oasis in the middle of the Saharan desert (close to Libya).
One of the first things we did in Siwa was rent bikes in town and ride to a local’s home to hear all about the culture of Siwa. It’s very different from Cairo…way way way more traditional. Ex: girls get engaged as early as 7 or 8 years old…and while engaged the male can only see the girl once a year during the engagement for literally maximum 12 seconds.
After he shared with us, the males in our group left and some local girls came so that we could ask them questions and get a taste of what life is like for a female in Siwa. The girls were all family members (cousins, sisters, mother, aunts, etc.) of our local friend so he was able to be present to translate for us.
Interesting:
-The parent-child relationship is extremely different…The daughters don’t really ever talk with their Father, and conversations with their mother are basic, concerning only practical things. Very surface level…nothing deeper.
-We asked a girl (8 yrs old) if she was excited to get married, if she was looking forward to it but the response we got was one of almost confusion. Marriage for them is simply something one does…like going to the market to buy food or cooking etc…there’s not the same emotional attachment to it as in the West.
-We also tried asking what “Love” meant to them, but this question didn’t facilitate much of a response because the girls had nothing to base it off of, nothing to compare…they don’t interact with males at all unless they are a family member.
-Even Siwans love their television (one thing you notice here in Egypt is that EVERYONE has a tv and at least in Cairo it is the norm for a family to have the tv on from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep…all day is spent in front of the tv)
-Sadly the Siwan culture is changing and modernizing because of tourism. There aren’t that many foreigners who visit Siwa compared to many other locations in Egypt, but the Egyptian government has decided (against the will of the community) to build an airport there…this will drastically change the culture and destroy the traditions….
After our time with the Siwan girls I and a few others explored the “Old City” in Siwa and biked to the Oracle and some Hot Springs. We somehow missed the Temple tho and ended up biking out into the desert for quite a while before realizing we were definitely not headed in the right direction (fun detour tho!).
Then that night we biked to a nearby salt lake to swim, rode back in the pitch black night, and went back to our “hotel” for dinner around the campfire accompanied by a local Siwan band.
Friday.
I and another girl in my group stumbled into the shop of the only Christian in Siwa. He invited us through a side door that led into his “home” and served us tea while we sat and chatted (via his 11 yr. old boy who spoke minimal English). He told us that there’s no church in Siwa so the only time they are able to go is during summer when they drive a few hours to the closest town that has one. We had a cool conversation even though we were only using basic language.
Later.
We took jeeps into the desert.
If only I could adequately describe the majesty of the desert…
Sped through the sand in the jeeps, up and down the dunes, weaving crazily right to left.
Illhamdulilah there were no crashes.
Drove to a giant dune and sandboarded (not as cool as expected…the boards didn’t work too well—and also more painful than expected)
We also drove to a cold spring (how the heck it stays as cold as it was out in the middle of the desert, no one knows) a hot spring and then stopped on top of a giant dune for the sunset. The drivers then made a little fire in the sand and we sat around drinking tea and eating dates (which Siwa has A LOT of).
That night we slept in the desert in giant tents (or some slept under the stars) and I froze to death even with all my layers. I brought my smartwool long underwear tops and bottoms that I use for skiing, smartwool socks, sweatpants, a fleece, another fleece on top of that, hat, and gloves. Even with all the layers, it was one of the most miserable nights of my life. Haha. I was SO thankful for morning.
More updates to come...hopefully I can get caught up.
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