Contrasts

The fourth of July was an adventure. My lil bro Zeyad reads my blog and insisted that I tell everyone just how clueless I was about where we were going. Okay, I may not have had directions but I did know the neighborhood! It took us almost 2 hours to find the Ambassador's house and that invovled taking a bus from Ramallah to Jerusalem, walking from the Palestine bus station toward the Jerusalem bus station for 15 minutes before giving up and taking a 10 minute cab ride, taking a bus from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and then taking a Tel Aviv city bus to Herzliya Pituach, the suburb where the ambassador lives. We missed our stop so we had to back track a bit. After 15 minutes of walking we wanted to make sure we were going in the right direction. After some deliberation we approcahed some girls who had Americna accents. They asked where we were from and one girl squealed "I love Kansas!" in response to hearing where I am from. OK? They told us to walk toward the sea for 20 minutes. We did that and wondered around the neighborhood for a while before hailing a cab and asking to be taken to a closer intersection. We were still clueless so we asked the first girl we saw and she didn't know but then she asked a couple of girls waking toward us. Their response to being asked "Do you know where the US ambassador lives?" was "Of course!" and then they gave us perfect directions. We were 5 minutes away! My favorite part of the whole thing was when we arrived and the guard asked if we had embassy ids. I said, "No, but we're on the guest list."

Once inside, we went straight for the food and ate until we couldn't eat anymore. The burgers were bigger than my hand!

Those were the extra big plates; notice how much of the plate is taken up by the burger! GOOD EATS if I do say so myself!

I had two and nearly died of pain because it's been months since I've eaten that much food in such a short span of time. Nearly dying was worth it because those were some of the best burgers I've ever had. The cookies were also amazing. The brownies were okay and I passed on the Ben & Jerry's. After eating we took some pictures of the ocean since the ambassador's house has such an amazing view.

We had to get back to Jerusalem because the last bus for Ramallah leaves at 9:30 so we went through all of that for an hour and a half of heaven but it was more than worth it. Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet the ambassador because he was hiding out in his house the entire time we were there. He did come out for about 5 minutes but he took some family pictures and then went back inside. At one point I was 5 inches away from him! I was going to ask him for a picture but he was talking to someone and it seemed rude. I probably should have asked anyway.

I've got to give Zeyad a shout out for sticking with me. Zeyad you are awesome! There were so many times when anyone else would have just gone home but he stuck it out with me and my horrible sense of direction. All in all it was a great adventure. Here are some more visuals:

It's not a real American function unless there is an obnoxiously big flag somewhere.

I think this is supposed to represent a cultural exchange.

Last weekend I went to Qalqila to see the Israeli West Bank Barrier (according to the Israelis) or The Apartheid Wall (according to the Palestinians), up close. Here are some pics.

I hope so.

Everyone laughed when the US started talking about a wall on the border. Israel did it.

There are separate roads for Palestinians and Israelis. Anyone on the Israeli road without permission is arrested.

I don't know what to say. It's one thing to hear about these things, it's another to see it in person. As we were going on the tour I turned to one of my friends and voiced my frustrations.

It's both scary and sad how people can so easily decide that they matter and others don't. From the settlers to this wall, it's as if some Israelis are seriously suffering from a superiority complex that is horrendously impacting the Palestinians.

While my friend is as disgusted as I am, she pointed out that it's very easy to criticize the settlers and Israeli military because we can physically see the impacts of their actions. However, everyday people are no different than the Israelis we are criticizing because unless you are an ethical shopper, you send the same message every time you buy clothing or shoes from companies that utilize sweatshops: Those people's lives don't matter to you, for example. While I don't quite agree that not being an ethical shopper is synonymous with the same superiority complex, her point was taken and it's definitely something to think about.

In my argument with my best friend a few months ago, I learned several lessons. One was that your actions and words should be in sync. In that particular instance, I was doing all of the right things, but in what I will term temporary insanity, I had a lapse of judgement and said something ridiculous. Since then I've made sure to think before I speak, but it's also made me try and put everything I say and do in sync. I'm pretty sure I'm not an ethical shopper, but I think I'm going to try to be when I return. Although is it worth it? I'm just one person. I know one person can make a difference, but let's be real for a second. Am I honestly going to matter? I'm just a drop in the bucket. Also, what happens if I want a pair of shoes that were made in a sweat shop? Does that mean I don't care about those people's lives?

A few weeks after my Palestine Question class started, our professor began one class by telling us about how some American companies support the Israeli government (and therefore the Israeli military). Apparently because most companies shut down on Saturdays in Israel, these lose millions of dollars. To compensate, many companies give Israel money. I can't say that I believe that, although I did do some research and apparently there are many groups who advocate boycotting certain American companies because of their monetary connection with Israel. One supposed company is Starbucks. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Starbucks. In Wichita, the first Starbucks on the East Side (where I live) is located in the heart of a really posh area. In high school my friends loved hanging out there but I always felt out of place. Yes it's my fault for being self conscious and letting other people's wealth get to me. However, my fault or not, I developed a negative association with Starbucks, so every time I am in one, I feel uncomfortable. Hence, my friends in college and I had "Starbucks dates" with Starbucks drinks in the flag lounge, just downstairs from the Starbucks on campus. Now I said I'm not a big fan of Starbucks, but since college, I have fallen in love with their Carmel Apple Spice drink. On campus, they sell it all year round (it's seasonal) and keep a large supply of apple juice on hand because I order it so much. I think they got tired of giving me free drink vouchers. So while I don't particularly like Starbucks, the idea of never having a caramel apple spice, seems like torture. Of course, when you put it into the big scheme of things, what's a drink in comparison to someone's life and liberty? If I continue to get the drink, am I saying I support Israel or that Palestinians don't matter to me? Do I need to be ethical in everything I do? What kind of message am I sending? I feel as if I should be ethical, but let's be honest, how effective will it be? PETA's been around for a while and vegans are still an overwhelming minority. Also, major designers are still using animal furs and we're still doing animal testing. This isn't to say they have failed. They've made many people aware of their cause and I'm sure they'd like to think that the increase in organic and free range meat is something they are partially responsible for.

I'm not going to give up Starbucks or boycott companies. Mostly because the evidence that they support the Israeli military is based on the fact that the companies mentioned have "Zionist" CEOS and Israel gave them an award. I need hard facts before I join a protest. Although, I'm still caught up on the ethical shopping. Even if what other people think doesn't matter, I am concerned with the message I am sending. I want to do things that allow me to still be able to look at myself in the mirror.

Yoda once said, "do or don't, there is no try." I'm human so I'm pretty sure trying is going to have to be acceptable. I'd like to think that none of my previous purchases were from sweatshops but in the future I'm going to make an effort to ensure I only buy from companies that don't have sweatshops. I'm just one person and it's likely my actions won't have any impacts. Regardless, I'm going to make sure my actions match my words. The people in the sweat shops lives do matter to me and I don't want to do anything that doesn't demonstrate that.

Heavy stuff aside, this week I have finals. I'm not ready. I plan on spending just about every free moment studying and I'm not sure that will be enough. Depsite what happens, I'm more than ready for life that doesn't start at 6:30 am. Only 4 more days!

Continuing to engage in adventures . . .

Happy Independence Day!

As of last Thursday, I began this international journey six months ago. It’s hard to believe that more than half a year has passed. Half of my trip is over! Sometimes it feels like I’ve only been away for a few weeks. Other times I feel so distant, I could swear it’s been years.

I don’t need to tell you that a lot has happened in that time. However, only recently have I fully adjusted to this idea of being abroad long term. During the first 5 months I was too distracted to even think about what this all means. Being abroad for a year still felt like a distant dream and hadn’t sunk in.

When I went to Nepal and Varanasi I had plenty of time to think and like a wave crashing onto the coast, the reality of being abroad for an entire year finally hit me. It probably didn’t help that just before leaving for Nepal, my best friend and I had an argument and at the time, weren’t speaking. Immediately, I realized this trip wasn’t just about me. While our argument had nothing to do with this, I became aware of the fact that my being abroad is also impacting everyone I left behind. Call me selfish, but as an only child, I’ve never really had to think about anyone else. My mom is my mom, she’ll love me no matter what, so I always took that relationship for granted and only thought about myself. Yet, the consequences of the distance I have physically created between me and those I care about suddenly became apparent. I began to question if it was really worth it. I also found that I missed the comforts of the West, yet I still had 7 months to go.

When Ty Frederickson (the guy I talked about in my very first post and the guy holding the Happiness crackers box in one of the photos of my last post) was my English teacher during my junior year of high school, he said a quote by John Keats changed his life. Many who have had him as a teacher, now call it one of their favorite quotes and I even know a couple of guys who carry a copy of it in their wallets. In the midst of wondering what I was doing and why I had chosen to go half way around the world for an entire year, I recalled this quote. Ironically, my best friend had it printed in the journal she gave me before I left.

That is why I applaud the youthful dramatist, the would-be adventurer, who breaks the pattern, who with mounting excitement writes the farewell note and slips out the window at dead of night to set off afoot for the railroad yards to board a freight bound for California. I believe I know how he feels. More important, I know that he is not running away from something so much as he is running toward something: toward life; toward himself; toward an end that cannot be known.

I wish him well. His chances of finding what he seeks are never good, but they are at least better than the chances of those who stay at home, placidly accepting patterns they never made, or chose.

I have no idea what will happen in the next five and a half months nor who I will be when I finally return to the Unites States. I do know that this trip needed to happen. Despite what I may have lost or missed out on, I feel I’ve gained and experienced so much more. Part of the reason I’m doing this is because I wanted to literally see and experience things I have only been able to read about. I knew my chances of better understanding the world around me were much better if I actually went into the world rather than staying at home, so that’s why I left.

Of course, wanting to see the world doesn't mean that there isn't still a part of me that wants my little piece of America. So in honor of the 4^th of July, yours truly is going to an invitation only, Independence Day bar b que at the US Ambassador’s residence. How did I manage to pull that one off? I thought you knew, I’m kind of a big deal J In actuality, I just asked. I emailed citizen services at the Embassy and asked if they were doing anything. I was told that there was a bar b que and I was invited as well as any guests I wanted to bring. Apparently all in attendance have to either work at the embassy or be the guest of an embassy employee. Something tells me this will be one of my most memorable 4^th of July celebrations.

Continuing to engage in adventures . . .