Erin of Arabia...

has finally ventured to explore her own continent. For Spring Break 2009 (cue the MTV imagery), I took a 8 day trip to the Dominican Republic. When I told a friend, they were excited for me- a nice week long beach vacation with plenty of sun, sleep and free flowing beer.

And then they remembered it was me.

I haven't had a hot shower in a week. I took public buses, motorcycles, hitchhiked, and slept under a bug net in a house that only has water and power for parts of the day. and it was AWESOME.

My friend is a Health and Family volunteer in the Northern valley of the country with the Peace Corps. I went to visit her, her site and community, and to appreciate just what it takes to be a Peace Corps volunteer. While I know that it's somewhere in my future, it blew me away to see what it looks like and feels like on a daily basis. I saw the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, met some of the nicest people that were truly welcoming and worked through my Spanish, even as I committed grammatical mistake after mistake.

I'm transferring the pictures to my computer right now, so that I can fully appreciate the sites and culture that I was able to see. It was completely different than anything else I've ever seen, and I appreciated the chance to broaden my horizons to a new area of the world.

My friend's blog

Check it out. It's incredible to see what micro level development can do for a community, and how small projects can make a huge difference. She is building new stoves for the community which will improve the quality of life for the residents, as well as reduce the chance of dangerous lung diseases. Her current project is to build a community center/library to give the community a place to have meetings that will be stocked with a full collection of resources in Spanish, and some resources in French, for the Haitian community within her site.

We had some fun celebrating her birthday, catching up about what our friends are up to now, as well as one day in the sun just being young.

It was everything I could have wanted in a Spring Break- fun, in the sun, and a chance to do some service. Or, at the very least, witness some service.

Pictures to come...

01.20.09

I am one of the 240,000 luckiest Americans. Through the grace of God and Nita Lowey (NY-18), I received one ticket to the inauguration of Barack Obama. I've spent the last few days basking in the glory that is Inauguration in Washington, D.C. From the free concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday to the shenanigans of Tuesday, I saw my hometown, my new hometown, in a beautiful new light.

While I could wax on poetically about Washington forever, I'll instead turn to what it was to see Obama become President, right before my eyes.

It was cold, it was crowded, it was a long wait, and I was nearly trampled. By the end of the day, I had slowly regained feeling in my feet, and had managed to eat a full meal and try to drink the water that I faithfully avoided in fear of the thousands of port a potties that had overtaken the flanks of the National Mall. I met some curious people, some incredible people, some ridiculous people, and for the second time in a weekend, I saw Obama (however small he looked from how far away I was).

I also saw the entire nation embrace what I understand the American dream to be: the chance to be something different from what your family was. The chance to grow and learn and become something incredible, regardless of your background. I saw a man who is making it cool to be smart again. I saw fellow Americans who were excited at the prospect of returning to a high status in the International community. I saw the embodiment of the future of American: a mutt of races with a funny last name, taking a position that has been earned through education and experience.

I've been a rabid liberal for as long as I can remember, starting from debates in 8th grade with a classmate while wearing masks constructed from Time Magazine covers of Al Gore and George Bush. 2004 brought a new way to show my political beliefs, and I decorated my car to the best of my abilities with "Volvo Driving Liberal" and other gems from Moveon.org and likeminded organizations. I cried on election night, and remember finding some solace with my mom noting how awesome January 20th, 2009 would be.

January 20th, 2009. Bush's last day in office. The time for change. I'll be the first to admit that I was not an Obama fan. As a fellow adopted New Yorker, I supported Hillary Clinton, hoping to see the gender barrier shattered in a magnificent way. Both Obama and Clinton vote differently than I would on the issue that matters most to me (Palestine, for those of you who haven't seen my bedroom or heard a rant of mine). But when Hillary gracefully stepped aside and recognized Obama as the choice of the party, I became a loyal liberal. I knew Obama would win my vote, and after seeing the excitement in the Middle East for someone with a familiar name, I was hoping and wishing and praying for Obama.

Election night was a blur of excitement with my college friends, marking an enthusiasm for politics that reminded me why I go to AU. People were acting like it was the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards and the birth of their first child, all embodied in this man with big ears and a beautiful family. The enthusiasm was awe inspiring, and the spontaneous "God Bless America" that rang out made me feel home.

But January 20th. 1.20.09. The date that millions have been waiting for has come. From that 13 year old running around in a Gore mask to the 21 year old today that celebrated on the mall with 240,000 of my closest friends, I have seen the world change. I've seen my interests change and my passion for world politics grow. I lived through 9/11, finding my identity as an adopted New Yorker in the process. I saw the war in Iraq and the way that Arabs and Arab-Americans were treated in the Islamophobia that took over the US. I learned Arabic and lived in the Middle East for a year, identifying with this group that has been so poorly treated by America as an entity. I traveled the great cities of world, visiting Paris, Rome, Vienna, Beijing, Cairo, Damascus, Jerusalem, Beirut, Athens, Madrid, Dublin and of course, my hometowns of New York and Washington. I learned two languages and yearn to learn more.

And Obama's inauguration brought it all together. Seeing him accept the challenges facing us, seeing him embrace the America that I love, and seeing the hope of a new future mixed with the anger of a wasted past. Chants of Yes We Can mixed with loud jeers as alternating images of President Obama and former President Bush appeared on the jumbotron. Choosing to celebrate the opportunity and focus on the good was the general tone of the day, and I too choose that tone.

For me, 1.20.09 no longer marks the last day of Bush's time in the White House. It's no longer a time to be angry nor bitter, resentful nor enraged, as justified as these feelings are. It is a day to celebrate what America can be, and the role that I can have in helping shape what America is. It is also the day that I tender my resignation as a citizen of New York. Washington is where my heart is, where my friends are and where my future is.


I'll post pictures and videos later to give a feel of what the actual ceremony was like.

Giving Some Credit

My summer at home has been quite the relaxing one- I've been enjoying Sportscenter and sleeping in and a plethora of HBOs to keep me in the cultural loop. I've facebooked more than I thought was possible, and I've also managed to do a few social things here in New York.

Last night, I attended an open meeting of WesPac, an organization located in Westchester County that strives "to organize, educate and work toward peace, justice and a sustainable environment for the planet and for all people." They had an event that was written up in the local paper and I thought I would go check it out. The filmmakers had been to Amman and Damascus, two cities that were among my last stops before I flew home, so I was interested to see what they had seen and what they found meeting with the Iraqi refugee community in both cities.

It was amazing. WesPac showed the part of Andrew Courtney and Emily Perry's documentary that focused on the work of the Iraqi Student Project, something I would love to get my home university involved in. Andrew and Emily interviewed the founders of ISP (the abbreviation did make me think there was another Independent Study Project coming) and showed how Gabe Huck and Theresa Kubasak were helping Iraqi students find places in American universities. Through tuition wavers and community support, they were able to place 16 students in colleges and universities across the country. While so many people are dejected and frustrated about what they can do to help the conflict and chaos in Iraq, Gabe and Theresa have created something that can make a difference, at least on a small scale. All of these students have expressed a passion for going to the United States to complete their education, and then returning to Iraqi to help rebuild and reshape their country.

I got the chance to talk with both Andrew and Emily, as well as Gabe and Theresa, and I found myself back in a familiar circle of Arabic words mixing with English, talking about the cost of living in Jordan and how Iraqis were perceived by these host countries. In Jordan, I found many Jordanians to be sympathetic to the plight of the Iraqis, but Jordan is still attempting to address and recover from the chaos and population booms that happened from the Palestinian catastrophe (Nakba, for those Arabic speakers). As such, most Jordanians dismiss the Iraqis as people who "drove here (Amman) in their nice cars, bought up the expensive apartments, and drove the cost of living up." Gabe and Theresa said that Syrians tended to be a bit less angry at the Iraqis, and that the situation has changed because so many of the wealthy Iraqis that fled have used all of their savings and are now living in squalor in the various slums of Damascus.

Either way, it was great to be back with a group of people who are so passionate about the Middle East, and to see other people who are doing their best every day to help the Iraqi people. Check out the Iraqi Student Project, get involved- when the war is so far away, and it seems that the most you can do is display a peace sign or call your congressman, know that you can make a difference in the lives of young Iraqis who only want education so they can make their country better and stronger. (And it gave me some more ideas of how to make a difference on the ground...after I graduate in May! (insha'allah)

I'm off to Omaha, Nebraska this weekend for a family wedding and a personal reunion- I was a proud resident of Omaha for five great years. I haven't been back since 2001, so it's time to see how the city's changed and grown. Have a good weekend!

Being a Patriotic Liberal--After Arabia

In the month or so leading up to my return to America, my SIT classmates and I found ourselves enjoying "good 'ole" American music. Patriotic country tunes became our anthems, as we tried to find a place for ourselves in the ex pat community in Jordan. Uncle Sam's Pub was a great place to sit and have a beer, but the bar snacks reminded us we were in the Middle East- there were no peanuts- only chickpeas. Our anthem became the Toby Keith country song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue", which is patriotic, idiotic and offensive, all rolled into one song. We embraced the super-patriotic rhetoric because it was the complete antithesis of our experiences in Jordan. No one hated us because we were Americans- they dislike George Bush. No one wanted to kill us because we had democracy; they instead wanted to talk about the differences between our peoples. Toby Keith was as far away from our reality as possible, and in the vein of irony, we "embraced" his message as our own, at least in our own American group.

When I got back to the States, I found myself having to redefine my commitment to my country. I was no longer "min Amrika" but rather, a New Yorker, complete with accent and cawffee addiction. Listening to Toby Keith was no longer ironic, but actually offensive and wrong. I bought a 4th of July t shirt that said "FREEDOM" in big letters, but I realized that it was funnier with my SIT friends than with anyone else. Figuring out the new definition of patriotism is something that I've been doing since I got back- and something that occupied my mind on Independence Day.

The 4th of July this year was quite the experience. I was invited to speak at a picnic of the Concerned Families of Westchester, a group formed after September 11th and who really found their stride protesting the Iraq war. Among the group of self proclaimed liberals, I found myself back in a movement that I was very active in, particularly in the 2004 election. Moveon.org was one of my favorite websites, and I saw myself as a proud member of the liberal conspiracy to..take over the Drudge Report, or whatever it is we liberals do. CFOW was a great audience, and was perhaps the most well informed and well traveled group of people I've met in Westchester. There were no "did you wear a Burka" questions, but rather questions about the Muslim Brotherhood, concerns about Palestine and an understanding of the various regions that make up the "Middle East." I enjoyed my time and the discussions that followed, and the fact that it was really my first time to intellectualize my experiences in Egypt and Jordan.

Being around a group of liberals added some more fuel to my process of reshaping my own patriotism. After seeing the way that many countries work, I am very proud to be an American. We have so many great things here that we can take pride in because we, the American people, were involved in shaping them. In many countries with semi-authoritarian governments, the people take little to no pride in their country's accomplishments (save for soccer glory) because they are not personally invested or involved in it. That leads then to political apathy, which unfortunately is rampant in the Middle East. I feel no political apathy here, even after the seemingly endless primary season. This is my country, which I CAN make a difference in. We as a country have done things I'm not proud of, and things that I disagree with. But that in no way shakes my appreciation for the system that we, the American people have created here.

Of course, with any issue, I consult the New York Times, my source for life. Michael A Cohen
wrote a nice piece in the Campaign Stops blog about the partisan battle for patriotism- how liberals define patriotism as the freedom to dissent, while conservatives still focus on military service and how America is, at its core, a good thing. Check it out and get thinking- there's a lot to do in regards to the national dialogue on supporting America.

Hope everyone's having an enjoyable summer!

Niqabis in America

When I was watching TV, I came across this face. Or more accurately, these eyes.

I was channel flipping tonight, and on SPIKE TV, there was professional wrestling. For those who have not seen the absurdity that is professional wrestling in the states, it is more of a choreographed slap fest, full of broken chairs and cheap hits. I normally don't stop channel flipping for this boring "sport" but today's show was different.

One of the female wrestlers that was competing tonight on TNA was a Niqabi. That's right. Full face veil, long sleeves and long pants. The woman she was wrestling was wearing an American flag colored bikini. It was perhaps the most troubling thing I've seen in a long time. I did some research (read: Wikipedia) into the subject, and it turns out that the Niqabi is Melissa Anderson, who uses the stage name Raisha Saeed, claiming to be Syrian.

Saeed in Action

I have no idea what to make of this, particularly when I know that there are other instances of the niqab being used or exploited in ways that go against the reason that many women wear it. A classmate of mine at the American University of Cairo was researching into the niche genre of Niqabi porn, which she found to be readily accessible in many parts of Cairo. Veiling of the whole face is not done to oversexualize the woman- but rather done out of modesty and imitation for the actions of the wives of the prophet Muhammad. Raisha and her tag team partner

I have found myself more aware of how Arab and Muslim women are portrayed in the press, particularly since I still answer the question "Did you have to wear a Burka" more times than any person who has never spent time in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan should ever have to answer. No I did not veil in my time in the Middle East- it is not my religion nor my personal beliefs that I should cover my head. I covered my knees and my shoulders out of respect, but I only wore a head scarf (hijab in Arabic) when I felt it would be disrespectful not to (ie mosques, the Northern Badia, Iftar meal with my roommate's family in Alexandria, etc.).

Seeing an image of a niqabi woman fighting and rolling around on the ground with another woman was very troubling to me, because it represents the continued "oriental mystique" that is too often applied to Arab women. The character of Raisha appears in the same light that most belly dancers do- they are veiled at first, but it becomes clear that it is a charade designed to showcase their beauty to all who see. While one part of me wants to see it as progress, that a show whose stereotypical audience is young conservative men utilizes an Arab character, it is clear that Raisha is an empowered woman because of her shapely figure, which is clearly shown. She is strong and sexy and exotic, and that is not the only image that should be projected of Arab women.

Anyone else spotted the misuse of the niqab or hijab in Western culture? This example stood out to me because, well, she's a niqabi who is wrestling. Check her Myspace for more information on her- or Google Melissa Anderson.

Expect another post tomorrow as I celebrate American Independence Day, and reflect on being back in a democracy. (Sorry Jordan and Egypt...but your democracies are questionable...at best)

American Politicians and Israel: Love at First Site?

Since I've gotten home, I have become more and more interested with the historical nature and modern factors that shape the relationship between the state of Israel and American politicians. From Harry Truman's declaration "I am Cyrus" to Senators Obama, McCain and Clinton all speaking before AIPAC in the past few months, I have found myself researching the role of Christian Zionism, defining American interests in the Middle East, and what role the Israel lobby plays in determining foreign policy. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's book has been both invigorating and frustrating as I have read about why supporting Israel is not in America's strategic interests in the region. It's a sensitive subject in the US, and particularly in the suburbs of Westchester County, New York, where I live.

Normally I keep my rants on this subject contained to breakfast/newspaper review with my mom, but for this most recent discovery, I had to go to the blogosphere.
I was reading about today's rampage in downtown Jerusalem (don't get me started on calling that a rampage) when I decided to read about the popularity of Sex and the City with Orthodox women. And then the ad popped up. The top and right ads on the page are both ads by the McCain presidential campaign with pictures of Barack Obama (he's on the right) and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran. The question is posed: "Is it OK to Unconditionally Meet with Anti-American Foreign Leaders?" An earlier ad I saw on Jpost.com featured a picture of McCain and Senator Joe Lieberman, his most prominent Jewish supporter, showing that McCain strongly supports Israel. If either ad is clicked, it leads to the McCain campaign website, which points to Obama's willingness to meet with world leaders as a sign of weakness.

There are a number of things in this ad that frustrate me, and more importantly, worry me. I'll stick to the main ones, as I'm hoping that more scholars pick up on this and write about it. I'm just a college senior: what do I know?

1. The Jerusalem Post is the largest English language Israeli newspaper. I can't imagine that any other country's newspaper would be a target for a US political campaign ad. McCain is targeting Israelis (who cannot vote in the election) but more importantly, he is targeting American Jews who read the Jerusalem-based newspaper. Speaking in front of AIPAC (American Israeli Political Action Committee) is a given for any serious candidate, and the rheotoric is usually very predictable. The United States supports democracy, the United States supports multiculturalism, the United States supports human rights- all things that Israel supports as well. This election cycle's competition to be more Pro-Israel than the other opponent has been outrageous, culminating in Obama's support for a united Jerusalem, a very controversial statement that discredits any Palestinian claims to the city.

2. The assertion that by meeting with all of the world's leaders, Obama would weaken the United States. The nearly 50 year boycott of Cuba has done little to nothing to weaken the power of Fidel Castro, and Obama has made it clear that he wants to change the political system that has dominated this country in the past. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has shown himself to be a showman, more concerned with making waves internationally than truly wiping Israel from the Earth.

3. This ad is not the work of a 527. This is no Swift Boat Vets for Truth. The ad has been approved by the McCain campaign and leads straight to JohnMcCain.com. His campaign embraces this and chose this path.

After reading and thinking about this topic, I'm stuck on the words of Mearsheimer and Walt, who wrote, "In 2008, as in previous election years, serious candidates for the highest office in the land will go to considerable lengths to express their deep personal commitment to one foreign country-Israel-as well as their determination to maintain unyielding U.S. support for the Jewish state. Each candidate will emphasize that he or she fully appreciates the multitude of threats facing Israel and make it clear that, if elected, the United States will remain firmly committed to defending Israel's interests under any and all circumstances." While that's just the introduction of the book, it captures the message of the book, and explains the actions of both Presidential campaigns so far.

Advertising on the Jerusalem Post's website is the most blatent pander that I have seen towards the Israel lobby and the American Jewish community. Jpost.com has a separate section of the news specifically for the "Iranian threat." For the citizens of Israel, Iran is a serious threat that merits daily coverage on the website. McCain tries to use a cheap shot against Senator Obama by showing him side by side with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the man who has been quoted as saying "Israel should be wiped off the map". Ahmadinejad's comments are troubling and offensive, and I denounce them strongly as I do any statement that calls for the elimination of Israel. That being said, I am troubled and outraged at McCain's attempts to paint himself the true supporter of Israel, as Obama has made it clear in increasingly conservative rhetoric that he also supports Israel. Neither of these men have found the middle ground that I believe in, but by advertising on an Israeli newspaper site, McCain has gone too far for me.

I’ve been waiting for a week, and nothing has answered the question that I’ve been asked over and over. I have been with my family, I went down to DC for the weekend to visit friends and be an American college student (appreciate the pun, folks?) and I’ve battled swarms of tourists on the National Mall and around the Empire State building, in search of it.

Culture shock. Everyone keeps asking “Are you going through culture shock?” and I keep saying “not yet…but maybe tomorrow!” I had heard horror stories of people like myself who were abroad for a year and came back, only to find that they couldn’t leave their houses because of how unfamiliar everything was. People told me to avoid big gatherings, parties, or anything that would remind me of just how different I am from the people around me.

But that hasn’t been my experience. There has been no “shock”, but rather “…oh right!” moments. Examples of these:

-It’s okay to exercise outside here. Running down the street is very common, especially with your I pod blasting

-Water is readily accessible, and you don’t have to pay for it. We went to Guapos, my favorite tex mex in DC, and the waiters kept bringing more water whenever I finished my glass.

-Also on that note, I love water fountains

-The clothes are more revealing, but I’m never horrified- it’s become more of a “riiight…I can show my shoulder!”

-Toilet paper can go in the toilet, not in the trashcan. That’s nice.

-Using crosswalks is now not optional. Nor are seat belt laws.

More updates to come as I spot more differences. Life is good. No complaints here.
-Erin