We need to define a few things.

First you should watch this CNN clip. It's about the move to build a mosque near ground Zero. http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2010/07/14/am.intv.mosque.ground.zero.cnn.html


Okay I'm REALLY going to try to not sound like a teacher or too condescending. (But I'm afraid both happened) One of the biggest issues I have with Americans is their claim to understand religions, cultures, and languages that they know nothing about. So today we are getting an Arabic lesson; I'm hoping this might help shed some understanding on a few controversial terms.

Every word in Arabic has a three letter root. For example
aDRoS- I study
maDRaSa- School
muDaRaSa- Teacher

All have the root patters DRS. This root pattern conveys the meaning of learning, and any words connected to the process of learning has this root, DRS.

iSLaM- the religion
muSLiM- a follower of Islam
SaLaM- Peace

The root pattern of these words is SLM. SLM means peace. Therefore, Islam means, peacefully submitting oneself to God and Muslim means one who peacefully submits oneself to God.

And the roots are very important. It is actually really offensive to call a Muslim a Muzlim. Because the root ZLM means forcefully submitting oneself to God. One letter can change the complete meaning of a word.

Islam is built on a foundation of Peace. And anyone who wants to contradict me on this I want you to look at how many people world wide have been killed in the name of Christianity since its beginning. And I bet you thought while you read that, "Well sure that has happened. But that isn't REALLY Christianity. The people who did that were not REAL Christians!" And Muslims of the world would say the same things about the "Muslims" who kill innocent people in the name of Islam.

You have to self identify as a member of a religion. You, at some point, choose which religion you are going to stick with. You could choose to have no religion, continue on the path of the religion you were born into or convert to a new one. But because you happen to be a part of a religion does not mean that you have to agree completely with the acts that are done in the name of that religion.

Furthermore, the West's concept of Shari'a, "Islamic law", is far too simplified and contorted. The Shari'a in Saudi is not the same Shari'a in Egypt. There are in fact four schools of Shari'a law (madhab) that are commonly used today; the Hanbali, Hanafi, Shafi, and Maliki schools. Each of these schools of law have their own interpretations of al-Qur'an. And there opinions often differ on the same issues. In most countries you can go to different legal scholars (qadi) and they will tell you what the different schools think about your legal problem and you can actually pick which school you would like to use. It is in countries like Saudi where the Hanbali school of law, which happens to be the most conservative, ends up giving the Shari'a a bad name. 


The Shari'a is composed of 4 elements; The Qur'an (I'm going to do a post all about the Qur'an at some point because I want to clear up some things there too), The Sunna (the sayings and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad), analogy and consensus. I'm sure that you understand what the Qur'an is, the word of God reveled to the Prophet, and the holy book of Islam. The Sunna is made up of hadith which are recordings of things that the Prophet said and did. It is believed that these sayings and actions can help every day people live their lives they way they should. Analogy means, if you were to approach a Shari'a council and ask a question about a modern issue, like is using Facebook okay with Islam. They would go to the Qur'an and Sunna and attempt to draw an analogy from past teachings to teachings today. Consensus, means gathering all of the learned scholars on the topic of a question and use all of your available methods to draw a conclusion that is founded in the Qur'an, the Sunna, and analogy. 


The Shari'a is complicated! And it is hard to study because it varies so much depending on where you are in the world. Much like how democracy varies from country to country. Compare the constitution of the United States to that of the constitution of Germany sometime. HUGE difference. 


Now we get to that scary word, the one that strikes fear into the hearts of many, jihad. What does this mean? We only hear about jihad in the sense that this woman is speaking about; a violent attack against Western Christians, or to put it more broadly, Islamic violence against everyone. Jihad has two components. There is an internal jihad. This can be related to the Christian notion of keeping yourself from sinning and working every day to be a more Godly person. And an outer jihad, and in this lies the problem. Some groups interpret outer jihad with fighting, and killing. But I believe that this violates the basic tenants of Islam. An outer jihad I would liken to the Christian notion of spreading the Word, and showing your love of God in all circumstances. It is an outer act as opposed to an inner contemplation. 


What happened on 9/11 was horrible and it is a day that I will never forget. It was also on that day that I myself found myself thinking, "Oh my God please don't ever let one of those terrorists get near me. I will never go to the Middle East. The Arabs, and the Muslims are mean evil people." But that was my ignorance; which was perpetuated by the people I lived around and with. 


Ground Zero is a place of peaceful remembrance. It is a place of contemplation, grief, and at the same time empowerment. There is no reason why Muslims should be prevented from morning, grieving, and remembering with the rest of us. I can promise you this. The Muslims of the world will be living with the remembrance of 9/11 longer and more deeply then anyone else will. Just like the Germans will forever be working to overcome the horrors of World War II. The Muslims are beyond "sensitive to our pain". They weep for us every day. They pray for acceptance in a country that prides itself on "Freedom". The whole world was hurt that day. New stereotypes were made that day. But there is still time to break the stereotypes. There is still time to BUILD and GROW. We need to break the glass ceilings of our minds. We need to embrace difference and work WITH, not against, each other's cultures, religions, and beliefs. And only then can we plant the seeds of Change. 

The Problems with Ignorance

I am loving my summer down at St. Mary's. I am learning so much and gaining tons of experience with artifact conservation, and identification; as well as archaeological practices. I work with an amazing group of people and surprisingly enough the numbers of men and women are almost equal, 8 men 7 women. In a field that historically has been dominated by men it's good to see that women are starting to show up out in the field.

The real reason why I'm writing this though is because I'm irritated and want to talk about an issue that is often pushed aside in the US. Since 2000 we have been engaged in 2 wars. And as a result the only thing that we typically hear about Israel and Palestine are when missiles are fired. When the flotilla incident happened I was happy to see that the world started taking notice of the injustices that are constantly inflicted on the Palestinian people.

As human beings we all are entitled to clean water, food, shelter, medical care, the right to live, and the right to feel safe. I think that we can all agree on this. However, these are the things that are being denied to Palestinians. In Gaza after the Gaza war in 2008 many of the water treatment facilities were destroyed. Israel does not let in cement, for fear that cement will be used to make bombs. And therefore, the treatment plants cannot be rebuilt. Furthermore, Israel has control over the pipelines which move water into Gaza and they have the ability to greatly limit the amount of water enters Gaza. I was trying to find this fact sheet I saw once but I couldn't find it....it gave the break down of what the UN says every human being is entitled to (ie 30 liters of clean water a day) and then next to that it gave the amount of that good which each individual in Gaza receives every day. It was shocking the contrast between the two numbers.

Now Israel is saying that they are letting goods into Gaza. However, in a conversation I had with a friend of mine the other day who lives in Gaza I asked what goods they were actually receiving. (I've learned to not trust news services and if I really want to know what's going on I need to go directly to someone on the ground.) She told me that the goods they are receiving are things that you don't need to live day to day.  For example, ketchup, sewing needles, and makeup. She also said that electricity is getting more spotty every day and if anything since the Flotilla incident things have gotten worse not better as Israel is claiming.

I just hope that one day people will be able to put aside all of the atrocities that each side have inflicted on the other. I do not think that blowing yourself up or planting bombs is the best way for peace. I also do not think that building walls, which have been deemed illegal by the UN, or denying people basic needs is a way for peace.

What will solve this problem is each side recognizing that in the end we are all humans and this humanity is what binds us together. We in the US also need to realize that every news source will not tell the Palestine's side of the story because each year the US gives millions of dollars to Israel so the TV stations would be reprimanded for speaking out against Israel (Israel receives the most assistance over any other country from the US....which doesn't make much sense because they are very well off...what about those third world countries where people don't have running water?) This means that we have the hard job. Seek out atypical news sources. Talk to people who have been to the Middle East. GO to Israel AND Palestine. Ignorance is Fear. If we abolish Ignorance then Fear will also disappear.

Leaving Egypt

I have been thinking recently about the things I will miss when I go home, the things I am excited to leave, and the things I can't wait to go when I get back home...here are a few.

Things I Will Miss

~The amazing weather every day! It makes waking up in the morning so much easier!
~The wonderful people I have met!!! I hope that we can continue our friendships when we go back to the states!
~It being normal to have two girls and two guy hold hands or walk with their arms around each other and forbidden/scandalous for a boy and a girl to walk hand in hand.
~Speaking with my minimal Arabic skills.
~Being able to travel to places I never even dreamed of seeing so easily.
~Bargaining for things.
~The exchange rate...I don't want to be poor again :-(

Things I Won't Miss

~Getting a lot of unwanted attention from men
~People saying, "Welcome to Egypt!"  EVERY time I go out.
~The greasy overpriced food on campus.
~Being SO far away from civilization.
~Getting ripped off because I am white and blonde.

Things I Can't Wait To Do

~DRIVE MY CAR! I can't wait to be able to go places again!
~Drink a cinnamon chai late!
~See my friends!!!! (Helen and Heather I expect a swing and poi date ASAP! Megan, will you be in any shows when I get back?! Everyone else I want to see you too!!! Facebook me and we will figure something out!)
~Have a much needed heart to heart
~Rock with my Mommy.
~Eat some amazing food that I am hoping my Dad cooks....chili, pecan pie, mashed potatoes, and corn bread....hint hint  :-P
~Seeing my brother and sister. I know through Skype that my brother Sam has grown up SO much in these past few months it is just crazy. He is 14 years old and looks and sounds like a man! But he is still as goofy as ever! I also missed my sisters first semester of college. I so wish I could have gone up and visited her!
~Go see the river!!! I need a day back at daffodil valley, wrapped in a blanket, looking at the sun setting over the river...with all the time in the world just to think and figure some stuff out.

How I have changed


~I have realized that there is a lot in this life we cannot control and I have become a much more calm and peaceful person after accepting this.
~I have learned that I know SO little about the world and the people in it.
~I realized that my education in the US was pretty horrible in that I never learned anything about international history. I have learned more living here in 4 months then I have learned in my 20 years of living.
~I have learned how to hide important details about myself extremely well. Sometimes I shock myself with the half truths that I can make come out of my mouth.
~I have learned that I can coexist with a group of people that I grew up being told by the media and some of the people around me were "evil", and "oppressive". And most importantly I learned that these two adjectives are by far the worse adjectives to describe the people I come in contact with on a daily basis.

Much Love! I'm off to Lebanon!!! I'm spending Eid with my friend Raina and her family in Beirut!!! Be back on December 1st!!!

xoxo
~S

Being Green in Egypt

When I first got to Egypt the first thing I looked for were recycling bins....and they were no where to be found. I kept searching and I found out that the American University in Cairo does have bins to recycle paper in. It is my understanding that they sell the recycled paper to NGOs to use. Then I realized that on our trash cans there are signs that say "Wet Trash" and "Dry Trash"...meaning Dry Trash are recyclable things and Wet Trash is not recyclable things. However, drama has started on campus because people don't know if the Dry Trash is actually being recycled. We (the hippie americans) are looking into this...I think it has gotten some wider campus acknowledgment though.

I clearly have gotten spoiled by SMCM who has recycling bins EVERYWHERE! You don't see a trash can without seeing a recycling bin close by. It's quite wonderful. Plus SMCM has started placing Compost Bins in places where student would be throwing away food. (eg by the dorms, by the Campus Center etc) I haven't had much stuff to compost at school since I have been living in dorms....but here we have been cooking a lot because food on campus is expensive and a part of me dies every time I have to throw away veggie bits that could be composted. I'm always tempted to throw them out in the gardens...but I know that if I do that the cats/dogs that roam campus will start roaming around the dorms and that poses many problems.

I also grew up in a house where we composted anything we could. My Dad pretty much walked behind everyone in my family my whole life telling us to turn off the lights when we left rooms. I was never allowed to leave food on my plate at dinner and we have been recycling for years. So I am pretty biased on this subject....but I feel like most people would agree with me that SOMETHING has to change and soon!

I have also seen a HUGE problem with students leaving trash everywhere. And I hate to say it but it seems to only be Egyptian/Arab students who do this. The vast majority of the school population at AUC is extremely privileged and they are used to having people clean up after them. Most of them have maids at home and they clean up after them. But they need to realize that they aren't at home! You can't just leave your trash outside of the Cafeteria and expect it to go away. Often the trash sits around for days before people can get around to cleaning it up. I have also been behind people walking down the path and they will drop trash on the ground right out in the open! I have to wonder if this is just complete and total disregard for what they are doing, or if it is because they are ignorant to the horrible consequences of constant littering?

I can only hope that AUC starts implementing some sort of active recycling plan in the near future and also environmental awareness education. Because when it comes down to it...things may be getting better in the United States with becoming more "Green"...but that is only ONE country. There are thousands of countries out there that need a complete and total U-haul.

Just something to think about...
xoxo
~S

We need to chat

Things work a lot differently here in Cairo. To put it eloquently...time here is not something that you see on a clock. It cannot be measured. It is in the sky. Especially with it being Ramadan right now everyone looks up at the sky to see when the sun will rise to stop eating, and when the sun will set to start their feasts. Ramadan is never a Grecian calendar month; it is a lunar month. It begins with the moon disappears and ends when it fades away again.

So yeah I know this sounds pretty and cool and all but what I am trying to get at is a minute...in no way means an American minute. Here 1 minute=15 minutes and tomorrow means 3 days from now. It was annoying at first. Then I thought it was kinda adorable. (In the cliche oh look at how relaxed their culture is compared to the GO GO GO type of lifestyle they have in the United States.) But it has become annoying again.

WARNING here comes the part where I vent so if you don't want to here me complain then stop reading!

So I got here and my door didn't close. It took them 4 days to make that happen.

Then when my door closed I couldn't open it with my ID. It took them 3 days to make that happen.

Today I forgot my phone in a classroom. I asked 6 security guards to open the door for me so I could go in and get it. NONE OF THEM HAD KEYS and the guy with keys wasn't coming back until after Iftar (8:30). But I did eventually get it back.

Okay thats my time rant. On to other subjects.

Also they suggested that the international students bring travelers checks with them....but there is no place to cash them on campus (the bank wont do it) and so I don't know what to do.

The fire alarm keeps going off EVERYDAY (a few times it went off in the middle of the night....the night before classes started it went off at 2 am). But they have people come and fix it every day with no avail.

Until two days ago the fire alarms all chirped in our rooms. Then after the alarm went off at 2 am the other day they started again. (They just stopped chirping today at 4 o'clock! YAY)

Then the school sent out two different and conflicting Ramadan schedules (we need a different schedule to accommodate Iftar). Which left both students and PROFESSORS confused about when classes even started. Today I waited for 30 min before my professor came because he had the wrong time for that class.

I went to add Intro to Political Science today because I need it to graduate and I figured why not take it here since their Poli Sci department is awesome. But the women who helped me was (pardon my language) but she was a bitch. She told me that I could not take the course because it was a 100 level course and I was a Junior and only Freshman could take them. (and she wouldn't even listen to me when I said that I needed the class and my school would accept it for credit.) Then asked me what my major was and suggested a class. I asked what it was about and she THREW the course catalogue at me and told me, "Look it up yourself! AND MAKE IT QUICK!". I just said yes to the class. But I got back to my room and e-mailed my school and they said it wouldn't count as the poli sci class that I need to take to graduate. So the wonderful women at SMCM who takes care of credit transfers wrote a letter for me to show AUC saying that I need this class. I really hope they let me in!!!!

(All I know is that I can be REALLY grateful that I don't ride a bus...or this list would be MUCH longer!!!)

I really love St. Mary's so much right now! This place is beautiful and looks amazing. But it can't function! (I mean even the professors didn't know what was going on!!!!!!) A few problems are excusable. Everyone makes mistakes. But really look at this list! How can this many things go wrong when I have only been here for ten days. I really hope things get better. I have faith that they will when classes get started. But if this continues I don't know if I can take it.

~S