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.

What's going to happen now...

So I am home but there is still a lot I would like to write about. Some of it is the more controversial stuff that I didn't feel comfortable writing about while in Egypt and some of the stories I have I didn't want to terrify my Mother with before I got home so she could see I was safe and sound. Over the next few weeks I'm going to wrap up with the more scandalous side of my trip....the good, the bad, and the ugly.

First though I just wanted to say that I am beyond grateful that my parents let me have this experience. I really do have some of the best parents out there for letting me travel to Egypt and travel all over the Mediterranean. Thank you for pushing aside your prejudices and your fears and allowing me to go to a place in the world where most people are terrified to go. My eyes were opened and I fell completely and totally in love with the Middle East. Never in my life have I interacted with people who, for the most part, wanted to help me so much and were so caring and absolutely wonderful.

Most of all I want to thank Sarah Elmeshad for everything that she did for me. This woman is the most thoughtful, caring, determined, faithful, and loving person I have ever met. She met me at the airport when I first arrived in Cairo, got me set up with a phone, fed me my first meal in Cairo, fed me when I couldn't find food, took me to the grocery store, let me play with her children, invited me into her home, took me to buy school supplies, drove me all over the place, and bought me my last meal in Cairo. She was the best blessing anyone could ever have hoped for and I am so glad that my Aunt Anne put me in contact with her.

But what saddens me the most is that this amazing woman would be SO discriminated against in the US, and is even discriminated against in Egypt. She wears a niqob, meaning all you can see are her eyes when she is out in public. And I hate to say it but before going to Egypt I would have immediately judged her. But I am happy that she was able to show me my prejudices and I am so grateful for all of our talks about religion, politics, kids, school, work, and life in general.

Sarah you were my guardian angel in Egypt and I am so happy to have had you there.

More stories to follow!
~S

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

An interesting article

This article was in one of the newspapers on campus and created LOTS of drama in the international community...Enjoy! (all typos exist in the original article)

xoxo
~S

Atheism By: Hager Ibrahim

In a previous issue of Caravan, my dear fellows Mai Shams el Din and Heba Khalil wrote about atheism On Campus. At the first glance I was very attracted to read their articles as it is such a sensitive issue to be addressed in Egypt… well, yes AUC is still part of Egypt! I wouldn’t lie to you, I just didn’t feel well after reading. I won’t deny the fact that I know “Egyptians” on campus that are atheists, yet, I felt like I got a lot to say.

My friends talked about the Egyptian Law that AUC abides by; about foreigners on campus who feel that they are not welcomed enough; about the diversity that AUC offers; about the tolerance we shall have. Yet I wonder what is it exactly that we are requested to have in order to be tolerant enough?

We accept very liberal dressing styles inside AUC as a community, it’s not against any Egyptian law, but I wouldn’t say that our average dressing code is the acceptable dressing code within the Egyptian community. Yet, we are still not tolerant enough? I believe this tolerance issue leads us to a deeper question. As students in AUC we have to revisit out perception of out university. Is AUC actually American? Egyptian? Or simply and American-based system on Egyptian Land? To what extent are we truly conforming to the Egyptian perception about AUC what states that AUCians are spies on Egyptian land and that its youth are being transformed by the Powerful state of America to serve its own interests in the Middle East specially in a country that is considered one of the centers of Islam in the World?

Knowing that the Religious distribution of Egyptians- according to CIA world fact book 2009- is approximately 90% Muslims and 10% Christians; and taking into consideration the profound religious roots that are deepened in the Egyptian community, we find ourselves (Muslims and Christians) opposing many of what could be considered in America “Freedom of Choice”.

An American thinker would say that you are free to choose your religion, and a Religious Muslim would say that as well. Yet, a Muslim would have much more to be concerned with. We would care that Muslims stay as is, for we shall not forget that as Muslims we have the “Redda” concept that applies to Muslims who convert into other religions. Although this concept is heavily debated in religious arenas it should be taken into consideration. The same shall applies to Coptic Orthodox Christians who care to preserve their unity and belief. Additionally, a religious Muslim would take into consideration the concept of “Al Amr del maa’roof wal nahi a’an el monkar” which entails that a good Muslim shall advice others of what’s right and speak out when seeing something wrong. Finally, if a person is a true believer in any religion, he/she would probably like to see his/her children believing in the same religion out of the love of seeing the children doing what is right.

I am not sure how foreigners feel that of whether they are accepted enough on campus. But my guess is that, at the most, Egyptians are very welcoming to foreigners, and they don’t try to change them. It’s out of the concept that “it’s none of our business!” Yet, tolerating Egyptians getting affected by American thought to the extent that it contradicts their basic religious beliefs… That gets me back to the semester I spent in Portland, OR, USA. Portland is known to be a place for what’s ever is freaky and unusual in America, a place of maximum liberty, a haven for athiestsand a place where almost 10% of the population are homosexuals. A place where the last generation that considered itself Christian is over 60 years Old. Moreover, it’s a place where I found that homosexuality is encouraged more than being straight! I just wonder if this is the development of freedom of  “everything” kind of thinking, would that city exists in 50, 100 years from now?! I Doubt it! There wouldn’t be enough straight people to produce new generations!

Forgetting about the Egyptian Law, We need to ask ourselves several questions. Could we reach that stage one day? Is that what we want? Are we supposed to be more tolerant forwards accepting the existence of foreigner atheists? Are we being transformed into what America wants????

Internet in the Desert is not Reliable

Hi Everyone! Sorry that it has been a few days since I last posted. Things got busy on campus and my internet was down for a few days. But everything is fine now! Inshallah things will be fine for the rest of the semester.

I have had 4 days of my Survival Arabic class and have learned A LOT! I often find myself wanting to speak in Spanish. I have no clue why. I rarely try to speak English. But I keep thinking and wanting to respond in Spanish. On the positive side of things; I can sound out words and say them when I see them written in Arabic. I can count to 10...100 if I am awake and alert. I can say, "Hi" and "Good Bye", as well as have a few simple conversations about things like food, and prices of food/taxi fair. I am really happy that I took this class because it gave me something to do during the day and made me get my body on Egypt time. ( I still know people who are staying up until 6 am and then sleeping until 2 pm.)

Monday was pretty uneventful except for a trip into town...which became a trip to City Stars. We got into town on the AUC bus. Then found out that the next bus back to the school wasn't until Midnight. (and if you know me I am totally not an evening person.) So my friend Alison and I got a cab and went to City Stars. The cab ride was CRAZY! Picture rush hour DC traffic....with no lines on the road....and a cab driver who is young and willing to take risks. We were weaving all over the place. Making lanes (well there are no lanes....but if there were, we would have been making new ones). I am positive that riding in a cab in NYC after this trip will be a piece of cake! (There were a few times where we were so close to the car next to us that I could touch them IN THE CAR without any effort...it was an interesting experience) But none the less these guys seem like they know what they are doing.

Then we got to City Stars. (City Stars is a HUGH 7 story mall in Cairo. Name a store and they have it!) I had arranged to be taken back to school by Sarah (who totally saved me that night! THANK YOU SO MUCH!) and so while she was eating dinner we wandered around and checked out the stores. I was shocked to find quite a few Lingerie stores. What was defiantly the weirdest part of the experience was during Iftar the whole mall was empty. All the stores closed and everyone headed to the food court. WHICH WAS PACKED!! There were no seats so people were sitting on the stairs and on the floor. Also what I thought was pretty wild is that there is a place to pray in the mall itself. So maybe Monday was more interesting then I thought! :-)

On Tuesday I went to Khan el Kahlily Bazaar and it was AMAZING. (the bus driver got lost on the way there...which is not uncommon...and so we only got to spend and hour there but it was worth it!) I got a scarf which is so pretty. (I love bargaining for things!) They had lamps everywhere that reminded me of Aladdin. Tons and Tons of trinkets, scarfs, rugs, ornate boxes, and lamps. (This is totally where I am going to get souvenirs!) In order to keep track of everyone in the bazaar people looked for blonde heads. If you got separated from the group you just needed to spot a yellow head and head that direction! At the end of the evening we chilled at the coffee/Shesha bar until to bus came. I had fresh Mango juice. Words cannot describe how good it was! The tea was also wonderful and so different from the states. When we were getting ready to leave we attracted a lot of attention. Nothing bad, just a lot of waving and people saying "Welcome!". (The kids seemed the most amused by all of us!)

Wednesday was fun. After class the school provided us with Iftar and entertainment. The food was AMAZING!!! Mostly because I got to eat veggies!!! I MISS VEGGIES SO MUCH! The food here is very meat heavy, very good...but lots of meat. They set up a stage by the library and tons of tables for all of the international students and first year students. We had greenbeans, carrots, and peas. As well as chicken, beef sausage, and rice. I had water, pepsi and apricot juice to drink (IT WAS YUMMY). For desert we had pudding with nuts in it. I was full and happy!

After we ate a club on campus played a movie they made. It was supposed to show arab history through time and be a comedy. But everyone at my table got distracted when in the first 5 minutes of the show they had characters appear in black face. I was sitting at a table with 7 students (2 were African American) and 3 profs. All of the students were staring with their mouths open. The profs didn't react. So an interesting conversation got started about how, yes minstrel shows are not part of Arab history. Therefore, they probably don't realize how offensive black face is. But still, it really hit a nerve, and we all had a MAJOR case of culture shock. (Not being able to flush toilet paper was odd but you get over it. Seeing people in black face and no one reacting but the Americans. Was really weird because that ideas is so ingrained into out culture. But it is in no way present here.) Afterwards they had a DJ come and play music. It was fun to watch people dance because they don't touch each other. (They kind of hop) I found it amusing.

Yesterday I had a Bedouin night....but this post has gotten LONG so it will just have to be by itself!

MUCH LOVE!

~S

P.S. Hopefully I will be able to figure out how to post pictures with my blog soon!

Why I chose Egypt.

Why not?

I have always wanted to study abroad. Many countries have floated through my head over the years (Ones I know my parents would have been more happy with...ie England). But I have never been the one to take to easiest path...and I wanted to go some place different. It is rather simple for me to go to England or France....Egypt not so much. This provided the perfect opportunity! (And my friend Susan went. She is to blame for planting the seed in my head! :-P )

I have always been a history buff and I feel very cheated that in grade school I was never taught ancient, African, or Middle Eastern history. I do not want to be another teacher that continues to ignore half of the world and doesn't teach their students about it. Especially when ancient, African, and Middle Eastern history is arguably some of the most important and most interesting history their is! (YAY Pyramids and Mummies!) Without Muslim scholars the western world would never have known the works of Aristotle. Aristotle's works were translated into Arabic and then crusaders brought his works to the west. Muslim scholars in Baghdad invented the magnetic compass, and the lateen sail. Both of which completely altered the history sailing. And without them Europeans would not have been able to make it around the world, or to America. Muslims were the prime scholars in the world and living in splendor back when the people in England were still living a squalor.

These laps in education merely uneducates the students who are supposed to be learning. Furthermore, it breeds stereotypes and prejudices. (ie...We don't learn about these places therefore they are not important.) This is why I want to go to Egypt. I want to face every stereotypes that I have heard. I want to see for my self what it is like to live in Africa, and in the Middle East. Because clearly living in the United States has not shown me an accurate picture.

So you're going to Egypt...

Every time I tell someone that I am going to Egypt I get many different responses and am asked many different questions. Here are just a few of each. 

"Are you going to get to ride a camel?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!" (Maybe. Hopefully!!!! I really hope they just don't spit at me.)

"What religion so people practice over there?" (They are mostly Muslims, however Egypt does have Coptic Christians and Jews.)

"You know those people over there are Muslim right?!?!" (Said like, "You know those people over there are purple, have four legs, and eight eyes." Guess what Muslims are people and human just like me and you! They aren't scary I promise.) 

"You have to bring me home a Mummy!!"  (Ummm don't think I can bring one home through customs)

"You know they killed all their pigs because of swine flu." (Yup I have read the newspapers.)

"Do you speak Arabic?" (Workin on it.)

"What do people speak in Egypt?" (Arabic. But all my classes will be in English. Most of the people in Cairo speak some English.) 

"Are you going by yourself?" (Yup, I enrolled directly into the American University in Cairo.)

"Why would you ever want to go there?" (Asked to me by a guy on base at Ft. Detrick....he just got back from Iraq and didn't understand why I would want to go to the Middle East . Answer: To try to stop stereotypes that people like you keep going.)

"Wait Egypt is in Africa?!" (Yup Egypt is in the upper right hand corner of Africa.)

"Do you have to wear a Burka, hajab, scarf?/ Do you have to cover your head, face, arms, legs, shoulders, insert body part here?" (Around campus no, they are pretty chill about what you wear, you just can't be too reviling. But out in the town I need to cover up and wear long sleeves, and pants. If I go into a mosque then I would cover my head out of respect.)

"Be Safe./ You are going to really stick out./ You are blonde and have blue eyes...watch out." (I will be careful.)

"Why Egypt?" (This is asked of me by everyone and is a blog post entirely by itself.)