Coincidence, Fate, or Destiny

Where to begin. Should I start with how I climbed the mountain where Moses got the Ten Commandments, or start with the part of how both our train and our bus was full when we went to buy our tickets and ended up spending a day at a coffee shop in Cairo until our next bus came, which broke down 4 times?

Oh wait, I think I just began. So this weekend got off to a rocky start. With so many tiny obstacles that we could have taken as a sign to go back home. But some of us, me, were determined to make it work. If we were going to Sharm and Sinai, the by golly we were going.

I'd like to think the time we had was worth the struggle we had getting there and that the places we went, and things we did at the times we did them were not mere coincidence because we ended up meeting some awesome and shared some awesome experiences together that we will never forget.

It's been a while since my last update and I have a lot to catch you up on.

It's not about how you start, but how you finish

It's not about how you start. It's about how you finish and everything in between.

Best Weekend of My Life. EVER

So I'm pretty sure I just had the best weekend of my life. When you think of Egypt, the first thing you think of would probably be a camel or the Pyramids, maybe even Valley of the Kings. Now whenever I think of Egypt I think of Siwa.

Siwa. What is that you may ask? Well I had been wondering the same thing for several weeks as Kassi and Shauna planned away. Apparently it was an Oasis in the middle of the desert. And a fine one at that.

So let me begin with getting there. We decided to leave around 10 o'clock at night. Hop aboard a bus and travel what we thought would be 10 hours away from Alexandria. So that we could arrive in Siwa around 7am in time to meet our tour guide and begin our day. Little did we know that we would begin arrive 2 hours early before the sun had risen and we bugged by men--who's intentions may have or may not have been so swell, as they offered to take us to the nearest hotel.

One of our program directors said that Egyptians were always willing to help out foreigners, but still at 5am in the morning, we decided to stick it out at the bus station until our guide arrived. His name was Muhammad and he was probably one of the nicest guys we'd met. Luckily he'd answered the phone and headed over and was at the station in what seemed like 30 minutes. He came up to us, and asked for Kassi...and inside I'm thinking God I hope she didn't give anybody her name because this could be anybody.

now PAUSE can I just say that one thing I've learned on this trip is the importance of trust. Trust in two ways.

One

Back home, I'm the one who plans, plans, plans, and I often have the attitude of "if I want something done right, I've got to do it myself" but being here I've learned that it's nice to have someone do the planning. Though it sometimes throws me for flips because I want to know every single detail about every little thing right then and there, I've learned that patience is just as important as that trust. And I think that also flows over into our relationship with God. We want to know everything. Often times God will give us a desire, or a vision and we wonder how exactly are we going to get there and he doesn't show you everything you want to see because A) you might not be able to handle all the details of the unforeseen, B)He gives you one step at a time and will light your path only so far in order that you stay close to him and trust him.

The second lesson of trust came as the day went on. Now that I think about it, there may even be three lessons. But continuing on with story. The main reason we drove out at night was to avoid staying in a hotel so that we could just sleep on the bus and start the day when we got there. Well there wasn't too much sleeping on the bus because we made a few stops in between, there were movies going, and music, and seats being kicked, and it was cold! Anyways--at about 5am that hotel was sounding pretty good. So when Muhammad got there we asked him about one--he asked us about prices and we said the nicest of the cheapest.

So he took us to his pick up truck where we climbed in the back all six of us girls--me, Maddie, Shauna, Gabby, Kassi, and Betty Loraine and took us to a little hotel. We rang the doorbell and Yousef the owner of the hotel let us in. We then debated going right to sleep or going to watch the sunrise. We were all pretty agreed on sleeping until Muhammad pointed to the place we'd be seeing it from. We all agreed, locked our stuff up in our room and went to watch it rise.

It was probably one of the prettiest sunrises I'd seen as the sun rose up over city and the rosy color shown on the city, the dunes, various plateaus, and the very spot we were sitting upon. Afterwards we went back to our hotel that we go for 40 guinea (8 bucks a room) that fit three people comfortably. We basically used it to crash for the next 3 or so hours and as a home base for the remainder of the day. The hotel also had bikes that we could borrow for like a dollar and we went to Fatnas Island...which sounds like fatness island, but it was beautiful and there were some fallen palm trees that we climbed and stood on over the water. Gabby and I climbed on top of one that grew sideways and it was really cool. There was also a spring there and we met a guy from Japan who was traveling Egypt by himself. He was accompanied by the Egyptian guy who claimed he didn't know how to swim and wanted us to teach him. We didn't buy it. And it's a good thing because he eventually was asking for our phone numbers--which you don't give out to men. and as he was leaving kept asking how to get back to town. It was pretty lame because there was only one street out there. Stupid man haha and as we rode our bikes we left him in the dust as he asked to kiss us. no no no no no. lol




The second half of the day included Sandunes and sandunes galore. I'm really tired right now! We got back a few hours ago, but i wanted to at least start writing!

Until then....marinate on this

so that afternoon we went out for our desert Safari. We met up with Muhammad who gathered everything up into our Land Cruiser and we headed out. Probably about 10 minutes into the ride we were out of the town and looking out into the desert. Our driver pulled over and let some of the air out of tires...i thought that was a little weird because earlier that day when we were riding bikes, my tire pressure was a little low and when we went from regular cement to a patch of sand the bike would slide....and sometimes i'd fall off! ALSO that was the first time in like 10 years that i'd ridden a bike so i was a little rusty!

Anyways, I kept wondering why he'd taken the air out. It was obvious from previous experience that day that air in the tires is something pretty necessary...in fact necessary in every day life...but i guess this was how sand roading works. you want to slip and slide? i didn't want to get stuck in the desert. good news is we didn't :) though that would have made this story even more interesting!

so we were off...i couldn't tell if we were going 90 km/h or 90mp/h. Either way we were going realllllly fast and you could also see all the tracks from other cars and all the dunes just passing by! Our driver even made some sharp turns and then all of a sudden dropped down like 30 freakin feet! we all screamed and then realized that it was just the beginning.

for about an hour we were driving around hills and these really tall dunes going around corners that made the car tilt sideways. Call me crazy...i know doing that was

but sooo many times i doubted my driver just like how sometimes we can doubt God and i had to remember that these guys had done this several times and there were tracks where other cars had taken the same path. I just had to trust them. Yes....it was risky, yes we could've been hurt, but what's life if you don't take chances, if you never feel your heart pound, if you never have a little faith that things are going to be alright

Later on we even went to the random hot and cold springs that were in the middle of the desert. They were always surrounded by big tall patches of grass. We thought it was so crazy.

One of the things we girls did along the way was take pictures. TONS of pictures. they're on facebook if you haven't seen them already. When we first left Alexandria re realized that when we sat down together the 6 of us wore 3 different colors--and the 2 wearing the same some how ending up sitting next to eachother. We thought it would be a fun competitive adventure, but eventually after seeing how awesome everything was--we thought it would be the perfect place for "boy band" cd cover pictures. and so every once in a while throughout the trip we'd be like "BOY BAND PIC" and we'd all stop and pose. It was a lot of fun :)

So we went to various hot and cold springs and even went sand boarding. Yes, sand boarding. A little mix between snow and sand. I'd never done any type of boarding and had a blast at my first time. The only bad part was: that after we slid down the sand mountains, there were no lifts to bring us back to the top....so we have to climb up all by ourselves! lets just say i was REALLY sore and tired.

soon the sun was setting. We started at four and our adventures lasted until dusk. We watched the sun set over the dunes from the top of another set of dunes. It was gorgeous. and can i just say that the African sun is really so much bigger than anywhere else? There's just something about it that makes it sooo BIG and so bright and soo beautiful. As the sun went down, Maddie (my roommate) and I decided to do the same. There was a little thing we used to dO when we were kids, and we found it only fitting to do the same here. Roll down the dune as if we were rolling down a grassy hill.

And we did. And it lasted a long time and i could feel the sand and just when i thought I was coming to a stop I'd keep flopping and flopping.

It was fun. And yes I was covered in sand, but it was well worth it. We'd be sleeping out there anyways. No big deal! So after the sun set we went down the biggest hill we'd gone down yet. We stopped our car right at the edge so that when we got back in it was on!

The hill was crazy big, but once again I could see the tracks where the other cars had successfully gone down. A little nerve-racking because it seemed like we would flip but never did...it was basically a sand rollercoaster <---how cool would that be to get back in the states? We also went looking for fossils. Did you know that the Sahara desert used to be under the ocean?? How awesome is that? The whole desert. I think its so funny because there were some parts of the desert where you could see rock plateaus and it was so wierd to think that maybe just maybe there was some undiscovered land that had been covered by a flood thousands of years before Which makes me get into the part that was soo amazing--the deeper part of our tri
?p. So far I've talked about all the stuff we've done, but I've really just scraped the surface. There's so much more that I will write on in a bit! but once again it is really late and i'd rather expound up on it at a later time when i've got more energy :)

until then!


PS i've got to tell you guys about my new arabic skills and some culture stuff! theres only 3 weeks left (really two if you don't count travelling) in sha'allah we'll be going to israel and jordan. we figured it was a must because how often are you in the Middle East?


Alright so this weekend was awesome. Fii hakiika (in reality) all of that pretty much happened in the same day. We drove out one day, hung out and explored the next, and then drove back the following day. So in that one day--that awesome 24 hours--it was great seeing God reveal himself through the desert and scenery that we came upon. It was great to see how endless and timeless things can be. The desert was so vast, so huge. The idea that the hot springs and cold springs are all that are left from an ocean that covered the Sahara years ago. The idea that perhaps underneath that sand, underneath the rocks and fossils that we'd found, could be another civilization completely blew my mind. The idea that mumkin (mapybe) Earth is really just a bunch of mountains on top of mountains....perhaps just a bunch of pointy pieces shooting up from the center is kind of weird but makes sense when you think about it. And not pointy as ohh i'm going to poke you, but pointy as in layered and mountainous.

Think about some of the ancient civilizations that have temples high up on a hill, and then how there are homes built in the mountains and stuff, and then how we can live where we are now-- while the largest mountains aren't even above the surface, but deep in the ocean. Are you imagining this?

To me it would look something like this. I know. This is a werid. And yes even I'm a little weird. Okay maybe a lot weird. But still do you get what i'm saying? maybe this one will work better

Yes, this is MUCH better! the red is the mountains and such where more fossils and civilizations might be! I think its pretttttty cool the sand is what we have uncovered so far!

anyways it was mind bending to think of all the possibilities! who knowwws maybe adam and eve are down there somewhere!

Also, spending time just sleeping under stars next to a giant sand dune was also very surreal. The weekend was really. Whethere it was riding bicycles and climbing plam trees, to sitting in a cold spring with fish swimming around it in the middle of the desert and sleeping in the sand (we had mats) was quite the experience. I remember going and just thinking this cannot be real life. But it was. This is real life and this is Egypt.


I remember writing in one of my scholarship essays or college application essays about how i used to want to be an actress in an adventure film (still that would be great) and then how awesome it would be to actually have your own real life adventure. It seems like now I'm actually having one.... and it seems like it could be just the beginning


Next up, Mount Sinai and Sharm el Sheikh. Where Moses got the 10 commandments and a caribbean like tourist spot reknown to europeans!

I leave in roughly 1 hour! Until Next time

Happy Birthday to Me. Happy Birthday to me

So turning 20 in Egypt is bitter sweet. Bitter because I am no longer a teenager and will really really be considered an adult...not like when you turn 18 and are legal. i think its different when you're completing a decade. I remember when I completed my first decade...haha I was turning 10 years old and I practically begged my parents for a birthday party! After all I was no longer in the single digits <

And I am. Out in the world. I'm in Egypt. I've met some great people who have made me feel at home here! Last night some of the Egyptian girls in my dorm came and surprised me at midnight with a cake...it was delicious by the way. hazelnuts, fruit, chocolate, creme, and jelly. I think it was one of the best cakes I've had! They sang happy birthday in English and Arabic and were soon asking where the music was! And I was like I'll get some and they were like arabic music arabic music and then one of the girls went down and brought back her laptop and I soon found out what the music was for.

They were going to belly dance for me! Now that might sound weird. Like they should be doing it for men...but here they do that to celebrate eachother's birthdays. And they are extremely talented. It was cool seeing the girls who are normally in their hijabs and stuff groove to the music! And a lot of their moves weren't too different from the ones back in the states...but they had an upper hand...they had a little sheer scarf belt that they wrapped around their hips and it chimed as they danced! It was so cool. And then they took turns and then it was my turn and that was interesting. Now I'm not a bad dancer or anything...I mean i'm by no means good, but i'm not bad! But let me tell you their acts were hard to follow up! They had so much control...part of me thinks they were better than Shakira! It was awesome.

So we ate cake, danced, and headed to bed. I had a test the next day, as well as a quiz...which I need to work on my spelling of Arabic words because though I can say stuff I can't spell at all! Anyways...I had class...that was a normal day...but one of our teachers gave us this coffee candy and I'm pretty sure Gabby (one of my wonderful fellow first years) and i were pretty much bouncing off the walls. But no one else was...I think it's because we both had like 3...i tried to contain my energy...key word being tried lol

sooo then once the school day was done, some of us decided to go to McDonalds to eat/celebrate lol...we were getting tired of dorm food! Thennnnn later Jillian, who started dancing with the kid at the festival, who also happens to be a freakin professional masseuse gave me a foot massage! It was soooo good...I practically fell asleep and then Shauna came in with a little neat fiddle thing that she got from Cairo and sang happy birthday to me with kassi. ANDDD then we all went out for ice cream...it was pretty much the whole crew of the 24 guys and girls in the program minus a few ( who shouldve beeeeeeeen there) and then a few of the girls in the dorm. It was good. Had some hazelnut gelatto and tiramsu. The place was called Mr. Cream and is basically like Pacuigos back home but half the price and bigger servings.




Then we went to Mermaids which is like our little American home away from home. It's basically a bar that has all these little foods and specialties and really good chicken. There's a wierd thing on the menu called Viagra...but its not the pill. hmmm. soo maddddieee supposedly put a little word in that it was my birthday...and the guy we think that the guys that work their actually went out and BOUGHT a cake...because they definitely wouldn't have a delicious vanilla creme fruit cake just lying around. It was delicious as well and super nice! and we hung out and chatted until about 11 when i came home and started writing this!

Soo I guess you can say that today has been a good day! I was bummed about not spending it back home but the girls and guys definitely made the day worthwhile and I'm glad I was able to spend it with them! I'm one of the babies of the group and they made me feel extra special and I'm so thankful!

Feed the Kitties?

Soo how about an update on that mall and market situation i mentioned a few blogs ago? If you haven't read it yet, I mentioned that the majority of the malls (i'm making that assumption based on the 3 or 4 that i've been in) are not really geared and marketed towards the people that live here.

and I said that i'd definitely have to swing by those markets. WELL this is exactly where the Egyptians shop! They had everything from traditional and modern wear, to silver and gold, to electronics, to food, all at super low prices that they were willing to bargain even lower for. They say in Alexandria owners will give you prices 4 times higher than what they are willing to receive in a payment and in cairo...practically double that!


There were so many people out and just walking and shopping. I definitely felt like I had to hold my purses and stuff close it was like a giant flea market! but definitely really cool. they even have scent shops where they will mix perfumes and stuff for you. they basically have anything you could think of. ALSO people will have their little huts/stands/mini buildings and stuff where they sell stuff and will often lay out purses and ties and stuff on the sidewalk...but when a police officer is nearby you hear everyone shouting to put stuff away because apparently its illegal to sell stuff on the street like that.just thought that was interesting!




KITTTIES

there are a ton of cats in egypt. they are like the american squirrel and they get in cat fights ALL the time. literally. i no longer equate the term cat fight with girls but rather actual cats. And you see them like every 20 feet and sometimes they all huddle together and you can tell they are SO hungry. they are all really skinny, and some of them have little eye bugs and they water all the time and flies hover around them.



So me gabby and maddie decided that after dinner we wanted to go feed the kittens. we had some extra fish left from dinner and these weird potato things that i wrapped in pita bread.


So we finished up and went on an excursion to find hungry kitties...and in addition to that...go to the ATM machine, andddd the post office where we got side tracked by trees and really cool looking cemeteries and the wash bowls located in them. I've got to say, that when people lose loved ones over here, they really go all out with nice tombstones and stuff and you can tell that they really respect the ones that they've lost, and in a way celebrate their deaths by ordaining their section with all sorts of things. It was also really cool seeing all the different languages that the stones were written in. Some we had no idea what the language or dialect was


along the way we ran into these guys who slowed down to walk with us...it was totally obvious what they were doing...but its funny because we can judge people and not talk to anyone...but whats the point of visit and being emerged in another culture if cant accept it you know? so we talked to them a little and they were super excited that we were from america and that they could practice their english with us and eventually gave us his card...which he made himself and was dying to give out...it was cute. we dont even know what his job was...but he was pretty much in college and with a business card

then we changed streets and came across a homeless guy who was sleeping. he was soooo dirty...but we coudlnt help but have compassion on the guy. He was so dirty that at first glance you might think he was just a pile of trash on the ground. and im not kidding. and im not trying to be rude or judgemental at all. thats just how it was. it just saddened my heart, and even though we were on a mission to feed the kitties, i couldnt help but put a little bit down for him. and even though he wouldnt know who did it when he woke up...part of me was hoping that he would be thankful. part of me was also hoping that he wouldnt be like....who does that person think they are leaving food for me like a dog. But what was i gonna do? I had to do something. so i walked up and placed a little bit of the pita wrapped potato on the ground for him. and felt like i was doing a good deed that hopefully he'd appreciate...but either way even though i didnt get to see his reaction i still feel good. i hope it made his evening and i hope and pray that he's able to find a job and a home. and is able to clean himself up!



Matthew 25

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

New Beginnings Conference

Soooo the conference! I ended up going. And it was awesome. I learned a lot, and made some really good contacts. Pretty much everyone who was there was either a politician, founder of an NGO, a professor, religious leader, entertainer, or someone who's done something great in their lives. People like the former US Ambassador to the Netherlands, the producer of 24, directors from Yale University, a famous egyptian actor and so much more! These were just a few of the people I got to know. So it was kind of intimidating being there but at the same time I felt like I was in the presence of greatness.

Here's a little memo about what I took away

i thought it was interesting how they were really focused not so much on the political rhelm of collaboration but rather on individuals like people to people connections and organizations for business and education but the conference recognized art...because it's something shared everywhere and is something that bonds us within a culture and cross culturally...whether through music and movies or through dance

Something they also focused on we the different types of stereotypes that middle eastern countries have about americans that they gvt has given them through censorship in the school systems. All the Muslim culture knows about Americans is what they see on tv. Complicated and sometimes crooked political figures--which something that is common everywhere, promiscuity in digital media and in music, that we are all self centered and have ulterior motives in the things that we do, and pretty much not a good a people. Instead of the Iraq war...they call it the Iraq invasion...its interesting the different dynamics

But at the same time, we are both blinded. I think we have more stereotypes--perhaps worse ones about them. I know I did when I first came. I thought everyone was out to get me. that every man was dying to "take" me away and i'd end up like the girl in Taken. Scary right? Because our media portrays Muslims as Islamic extremists, terrorists. When in reality most of them are not. It's just a group of people ruining the reputation of their people. Terrorism is not part of the Islamic faith, nor is part of any faith <--at least I think.

and in the case of women--how sorry we a of there that they have to wear a hijab, when it's actually their full out choice to wear one at all. It isn't because their homelands say to wear, it's part of their faith. They see their bodies as sacred and thus feel the need to protect, and keep it sacred in all aspects. ...and all we here about muslims is terrorism when terrorism isnt even part of the islamic faith or any faith for that matter

One we talked about the differences, we mentioned a lot of talked about our similarities. Basic neccessities of life, employment, food, a roof over your head, education. Things that are common to us all. We all want equality--and in the case of women, in some places it takes longer to develop. They talked about how often times (primarily in the Middle East for this example) society is shaped by the culture and not by the religion because in the Qua-ran, men and women are supposed to be equal, but that's obviously not being played out in real life.

So western culture and middle eastern culture are both being misrepresented whether it be through the media, or education. It wasnt we started talking about education i realized how true it was. the conference focused a lot on youth and as a student in grade school the middle east wasnt even mentioned until college really. Sure it was mentioned after 9/11 but that was about it. So all I knew was the people in the Middle East wanted to kill our people...sure it was one group of people, but as young as I and many of my friends were that was the image that we were given.

Since I've been here, all my stereotypes have been dismissed. Not everyone is out to get me, and women do not feel tied down because they have to cover their bodies--its a choice that they make because they treasure them so. The people are here are so welcoming and so friendly and they love Americans. And they love Obama. He's really been a beacon of hope to the people in this area. As he tries to bridge the gap and break down the stereotypes that we have for one another. Because God knows feelings have been hostile and a little iffy since the attacks.

So the conference focused on different countries working together to improve education and share technology, so that they too can progress towards a better tomorrow. I thought it was pretttttty goood :) There were many proposed projects--perhaps I will share those later, or you can just ask me!


Alright enough for now...! bye bye

Updateeee!

Things to discuss today:

Shopping in Egypt. I’ve come to the conclusion that just about all the malls are geared towards tourists. granted I’ve only been to 3, but still. If you’ve been keeping up with my blogs, you know that I’ve mentioned Carrefour City Center. I’ve gone 4 times in the two weeks that I’ve been here. Every time my heart aches because I cannot buy everything I lay my eyes on. Some of the cutest clothes I’ve seen have been here in Egypt, and you don’t see many Egyptians wearing them. I mentioned earlier that the clothes were very different and girls were able to dress up their Muslim wear and Hijabs, in such a way that I—being a non-Muslim American—would wear. I don’t know. It just seems weird that at most 4 stores in a mall of at least 50 stores contain the apparel that is respected and accepted for women to wear.

And this isn’t even about the clothes that they can’t wear. It seems to me that many of the businesses here aren’t marketing to all the consumers. Primarily the ones that live in the country! But when I think about it again, most of the Egyptians I’ve been around aren’t necessarily made of money and shopping in the malls. And the places that tourists tend to flock to are the malls…which undoubtedly we all pretty much did. It was our first few days and we kinda flocked to those more familiar places. I think as time goes on and the deeper we get in the city, we will come across stores and maybe even mall type places that are almost exclusive to Egyptian shoppers.

It’s time to hit the market. I bet they will have more traditional wear. Where do all the other Egyptians shop? We see tons walking around the mall, but what about the others!? This will be something to stay tuned for!

Until then….here are a few things you can also look forward to!

Traffic Stories

Night Life in Alexandria

Belly Dancing

Egyptian Snacks

The Gym

Kids and People in General

Commerce

Events that we attend

Hazelnut Chocolate

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Awesome Opportunity

SO I am an International Relations major and I just found out that 10 minutes walking distance from where I'm living in Alexandria, they are going to be having a conference titled....wait for it: Initiatives in Science, Education, and Culture Towards Enhanced US-Muslim Countries Collaborations. I know...it's a mouthful...the shortened more common name is : The New Beginnings: US and Muslim Relations.

I think that's pretty cooooool...It's a follow up on the speech that Obama gave in Cairo a year ago but here's a little blurb on a summary!

The BA is organizing an international conference titled: "Initiatives in Education, Science and Culture Towards Enhanced US- Muslim Countries Collaborations" during the period from 16 to 18 June 2010. It will bring together a diverse group of scholars, clergymen, community leaders, political figures, education experts, university students, faculty members, technology consultants, and library professionals from the US, Egypt and many other countries around the world. The conference will be structured around three main themes: Education, Culture, and Science and Technology, exploring each of them in conjunction with four cross-cutting tracks, namely, Youth, IT, Media, and Women. The uniqueness of the conference lies in that it will come up with a number of specific follow up projects and activities and will focus on building a digital social networking to connect people together, particularly youth.

Here are a few of the topics for the conference

Reconceptualizing the Role of Education in the Dissemination ofKn owledge

Adoption of Modern Technologies for a productive Society

New Opportunities for Youth Engagement in Science

Education as an essential tool of eradicating oppression against women

Ways & Means of Promoting Cultural Diversity in the Media

Cultural Issues & Women’s role in Human Development

So yeah...I'm kind of excited about this conference. Don't know if I'm going yet...It's invitation only...but I've sent out a few emails so we'll see if people respond :) I'm keeping my fingers crossed! This is such a great opportunity and after attending soo many conferences and being involved in Model UN...it seems that attending this one will be another knowledge bomb! I love learning stuff and the idea of being in the center of the preparation for the future! haha ANYWAYS. that's that.

I'm super excited and Everyone says I'm super prepared...I brought pretty much everything with me from silverware to fingernail polish....and get this...I even brought a suit just in case something like this occured! Hopefully I'll get to put it to use and my over-preparedness won't be in vain!

Bikini or Headscarf--Which offers more Freedom?

This is just an article I found today while on CNN...thought it was kind of interesting.

You should skim through it! It's about a daughter who's half Lebanese--and the American mother struggles with the idea of her daughter wearing a headscarf and living what she feels is a normal life


I think it was an interview that she had with Oprah

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/personal/06/09/o.daughter.muslim.scarf/index.html


Nine years ago, I danced my newborn daughter around my North Carolina living room to the music of "Free to Be...You and Me", the '70s children's classic whose every lyric about tolerance and gender equality I had memorized as a girl growing up in California.

My Libyan-born husband, Ismail, sat with her for hours on our screened porch, swaying back and forth on a creaky metal rocker and singing old Arabic folk songs, and took her to a Muslim sheikh who chanted a prayer for long life into her tiny, velvety ear.

She had espresso eyes and lush black lashes like her father's, and her milky-brown skin darkened quickly in the summer sun. We named her Aliya, which means "exalted" in Arabic, and agreed we would raise her to choose what she identified with most from our dramatically different backgrounds.

I secretly felt smug about this agreement -- confident that she would favor my comfortable American lifestyle over his modest Muslim upbringing. Ismail's parents live in a squat stone house down a winding dirt alley outside Tripoli. Its walls are bare except for passages from the Quran engraved onto wood, its floors empty but for thin cushions that double as bedding at night.

My parents live in a sprawling home in Santa Fe with a three-car garage, hundreds of channels on the flat-screen TV, organic food in the refrigerator, and a closetful of toys for the grandchildren.

Oprah.com: An inheritance story you won't believe

I imagined Aliya embracing shopping trips to Whole Foods and the stack of presents under the Christmas tree, while still fully appreciating the melodic sound of Arabic, the honey-soaked baklava Ismail makes from scratch, the intricate henna tattoos her aunt drew on her feet when we visited Libya. Not once did I imagine her falling for the head covering worn by Muslim girls as an expression of modesty.

Last summer we were celebrating the end of Ramadan with our Muslim community at a festival in the parking lot behind our local mosque. Children bounced in inflatable fun houses while their parents sat beneath a plastic tarp nearby, shooing flies from plates of curried chicken, golden rice, and baklava.

Aliya and I wandered past rows of vendors selling prayer mats, henna tattoos, and Muslim clothing. When we reached a table displaying head coverings, Aliya turned to me and pleaded, "Please, Mom -- can I have one?"

She riffled through neatly folded stacks of headscarves while the vendor, an African-American woman shrouded in black, beamed at her. I had recently seen Aliya cast admiring glances at Muslim girls her age.

I quietly pitied them, covered in floor-length skirts and long sleeves on even the hottest summer days, as my best childhood memories were of my skin laid bare to the sun: feeling the grass between my toes as I ran through the sprinkler on my front lawn; wading into an icy river in Idaho, my shorts hitched up my thighs, to catch my first rainbow trout; surfing a rolling emerald wave off the coast of Hawaii. But Aliya envied these girls and had asked me to buy her clothes like theirs. And now a headscarf.

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In the past, my excuse was that they were hard to find at our local mall, but here she was, offering to spend ten dollars from her own allowance to buy the forest green rayon one she clutched in her hand. I started to shake my head emphatically "no," but caught myself, remembering my commitment to Ismail. So I gritted my teeth and bought it, assuming it would soon be forgotten.

That afternoon, as I was leaving for the grocery store, Aliya called out from her room that she wanted to come.

A moment later she appeared at the top of the stairs -- or more accurately, half of her did. From the waist down, she was my daughter: sneakers, bright socks, jeans a little threadbare at the knees. But from the waist up, this girl was a stranger. Her bright, round face was suspended in a tent of dark cloth like a moon in a starless sky.

"Are you going to wear that?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said slowly, in that tone she had recently begun to use with me when I state the obvious.

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On the way to the store, I stole glances at her in my rearview mirror. She stared out the window in silence, appearing as aloof and unconcerned as a Muslim dignitary visiting our small Southern town -- I, merely her chauffeur.

I bit my lip. I wanted to ask her to remove her head covering before she got out of the car, but I couldn't think of a single logical reason why, except that the sight of it made my blood pressure rise. I'd always encouraged her to express her individuality and to resist peer pressure, but now I felt as self-conscious and claustrophobic as if I were wearing that headscarf myself.

In the Food Lion parking lot, the heavy summer air smothered my skin. I gathered the damp hair on my neck into a ponytail, but Aliya seemed unfazed by the heat. We must have looked like an odd pair: a tall blonde woman in a tank top and jeans cupping the hand of a four-foot-tall Muslim. I drew my daughter closer and the skin on my bare arms prickled -- as much from protective instinct as from the blast of refrigerated air that hit me as I entered the store.

As we maneuvered our cart down the aisles, shoppers glanced at us like we were a riddle they couldn't quite solve, quickly dropping their gaze when I caught their eye.

In the produce aisle, a woman reaching for an apple fixed me with an overly bright, solicitous smile that said "I embrace diversity and I am perfectly fine with your child." She looked so earnest, so painfully eager to put me at ease, that I suddenly understood how it must feel to have a child with an obvious disability, and all the curiosity or unwelcome sympathies from strangers it evokes.

At the checkout line, an elderly Southern woman clasped her bony hands together and bent slowly down toward Aliya. "My, my," she drawled, wobbling her head in disbelief. "Don't you look absolutely precious!" My daughter smiled politely, then turned to ask me for a pack of gum.

In the following days, Aliya wore her headscarf to the breakfast table over her pajamas, to a Muslim gathering where she was showered with compliments, and to the park, where the moms with whom I chatted on the bench studiously avoided mentioning it altogether.

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Later that week, at our local pool, I watched a girl only a few years older than Aliya play Ping-Pong with a boy her age. She was caught in that awkward territory between childhood and adolescence -- narrow hips, skinny legs, the slightest swelling of new breasts -- and she wore a string bikini.

Her opponent wore an oversize T-shirt and baggy trunks that fell below his knees, and when he slammed the ball at her, she lunged for it while trying with one hand to keep the slippery strips of spandex in place. I wanted to offer her a towel to wrap around her hips, so she could lose herself in the contest and feel the exhilaration of making a perfect shot.

It was easy to see why she was getting demolished at this game: Her near-naked body was consuming her focus. And in her pained expression I recognized the familiar mix of shame and excitement I felt when I first wore a bikini.

At 14, I skittered down the halls of high school like a squirrel in traffic: hugging the walls, changing direction in midstream, darting for cover. Then I went to Los Angeles to visit my aunt Mary during winter break. Mary collected mermaids, kept a black-and-white photo of her long-haired Indian guru on her dresser, and shopped at a tiny health food store that smelled of patchouli and peanut butter. She took me to Venice Beach, where I bought a cheap bikini from a street vendor.

Dizzy with the promise of an impossibly bright afternoon, I thought I could be someone else -- glistening and proud like the greased-up bodybuilders on the lawn, relaxed and unself-conscious as the hippies who lounged on the pavement with lit incense tucked behind their ears. In a beachside bathroom with gritty cement floors, I changed into my new two-piece suit.

Goose bumps spread across my chubby white tummy and the downy white hairs on my thighs stood on end -- I felt as raw and exposed as a turtle stripped of its shell. And when I left the bathroom, the stares of men seemed to pin me in one spot even as I walked by.

In spite of a strange and mounting sense of shame, I was riveted by their smirking faces; in their suggestive expressions I thought I glimpsed some vital clue to the mystery of myself. What did these men see in me -- what was this strange power surging between us, this rapidly shifting current that one moment made me feel powerful and the next unspeakably vulnerable?

I imagined Aliya in a string bikini in a few years. Then I imagined her draped in Muslim attire. It was hard to say which image was more unsettling. I thought then of something a Sufi Muslim friend had told me: that Sufis believe our essence radiates beyond our physical bodies -- that we have a sort of energetic second skin, which is extremely sensitive and permeable to everyone we encounter. Muslim men and women wear modest clothing, she said, to protect this charged space between them and the world.

Growing up in the '70s in Southern California, I had learned that freedom for women meant, among other things, fewer clothes, and that women could be anything -- and still look good in a bikini. Exploring my physical freedom had been an important part of my process of self-discovery, but the exposure had come at a price.

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Since that day in Venice Beach, I'd spent years learning to swim in the turbulent currents of attraction -- wanting to be desired, resisting others' unwelcome advances, plumbing the mysterious depths of my own longing.

I'd spent countless hours studying my reflection in the mirror -- admiring it, hating it, wondering what others thought of it -- and it sometimes seemed to me that if I had applied the same relentless scrutiny to another subject I could have become enlightened, written a novel, or at least figured out how to grow an organic vegetable garden.

On a recent Saturday morning, in the crowded dressing room of a large department store, I tried on designer jeans alongside college girls in stiletto heels, young mothers with babies fussing in their strollers, and middle-aged women with glossed lips pursed into frowns. One by one we filed into changing rooms, then lined up to take our turn on a brightly lit pedestal surrounded by mirrors, cocking our hips and sucking in our tummies and craning our necks to stare at our rear ends.

When it was my turn, my heart felt as tight in my chest as my legs did in the jeans. My face looked drawn under the fluorescent lights, and suddenly I was exhausted by all the years I'd spent doggedly chasing the carrot of self-improvement, while dragging behind me a heavy cart of self-criticism.

At this stage in her life, Aliya is captivated by the world around her -- not by what she sees in the mirror. Last summer she stood at the edge of the Blue Ridge Parkway, stared at the blue-black outline of the mountains in the distance, their tips swaddled by cottony clouds, and gasped. "This is the most beautiful thing I ever saw," she whispered. Her wide-open eyes were a mirror of all that beauty, and she stood so still that she blended into the lush landscape, until finally we broke her reverie by tugging at her arm and pulling her back to the car.

At school it's different. In her fourth-grade class, girls already draw a connection between clothing and popularity. A few weeks ago, her voice rose in anger as she told me about a classmate who had ranked all the girls in class according to how stylish they were.

I understood then that while physical exposure had liberated me in some ways, Aliya could discover an entirely different type of freedom by choosing to cover herself.

I have no idea how long Aliya's interest in Muslim clothing will last. If she chooses to embrace Islam, I trust the faith will bring her tolerance, humility, and a sense of justice -- the way it has done for her father. And because I have a strong desire to protect her, I will also worry that her choice could make life in her own country difficult. She has recently memorized the fatiha, the opening verse of the Quran, and she is pressing her father to teach her Arabic. She's also becoming an agile mountain biker who rides with me on wooded trails, mud spraying her calves as she navigates the swollen creek.

The other day, when I dropped her off at school, instead of driving away from the curb in a rush as I usually do, I watched her walk into a crowd of kids, bent forward under the weight of her backpack as if she were bracing against a storm. She moved purposefully, in such a solitary way -- so different from the way I was at her age, and I realized once again how mysterious she is to me.

It's not just her head covering that makes her so: It's her lack of concern for what others think about her. It's finding her stash of Halloween candy untouched in her drawer, while I was a child obsessed with sweets. It's the fact that she would rather dive into a book than into the ocean -- that she gets so consumed with her reading that she can't hear me calling her from the next room.

I watched her kneel at the entryway to her school and pull a neatly folded cloth from the front of her pack, where other kids stash bubble gum or lip gloss. Then she slipped it over her head, and her shoulders disappeared beneath it like the cape her younger brother wears when he pretends to be a superhero.

As I pulled away from the curb, I imagined that headscarf having magical powers to protect her boundless imagination, her keen perception, and her unself-conscious goodness. I imagined it shielding her as she journeys through that house of mirrors where so many young women get trapped in adolescence, buffering her from the dissatisfaction that clings in spite of the growing number of choices at our fingertips, providing safe cover as she takes flight into a future I can only imagine.