3/21/2007

The last few days have been busy for me. I've seen my responsibilities increase quite dramatically, partially as a result of my own ambition, partly as a result of things finally starting to come to fruition. I'm now teaching three classes, an English class the university, as well as the two classes I'm also teaching at Amideast. I'm also heavily engaged with organizing the student English language radio program as well remaining actively seized of all my projects within the public relations department. Recently I've increased my work in general with the English department as well. I've been, and will continue to, volunteer in the English language lab. This may be one of my most enjoyable activities here at the university.

Yesterday, while holding my drop in hours at the language lab, I was able to sit and chat with a number of English students. Most of them told me how they were frustrated that they never got a chance to speak with native English speakers and they really appreciated the opportunity. I thought for the most part I'd be helping to correct their compositions while volunteering, but it turned out that they mostly just wanted to speak with me in English. I was more than happy to accommodate them. One of the students made a lasting impression on me. We talked about a project that she is working on, in which she is researching the role of literature, in what she called "the consolidation of imperialism". I learned through our conversation that her project is encompasses much more than what her title would have you believe. Specifically, she is focusing on rhetoric from President Bush's speeches, and how this may add to or reinforce a sense of orientalism. She asked that I help her with her project, so over the next few weeks I'll be working with her in order to research our President's rhetoric, and hopefully help to uncover some of this "neo-orientalism". I'm really quite interested in her project and I know that by working with her I'll probably learn more from her than she will from me.

I also learned the student is an author of short stories. She told me that she writes these stories in Arabic however, because there is so much emotion in them, that she believe to translate them to English would dramatically alter their meanings. She did tell me one of the stories, which was quite interesting, which she wrote as part of an assignment with the aim of explaining the idea of "national unity", obviously a reference to the recently formed National Unity Government. She narrated to me a story she had written, about a Palestinian boy, a student at An-Najah who comes to campus one day and is overwhelmed by the different flags and mottos that are on display this day. The flags and mottos are symbols of the different Palestinian political factions, green for Hamas, white for Fatah, and so forth. She told me how the boy was overcome with emotions at first but then remembered his loyalty to a particular faction. The boy was then approached by another boy, who was loyal to a different faction. At first the boys were confused as to their separate loyalties, but through examining the faction's different mottos they discovered by mixing the letters that make up the different mottos, they were able to generate a new motto, which had a similar meaning to both of the other mottos. In the end, the two boys walked away, arm in arm, understanding that they were both of one faction, a Palestinian faction.

I really enjoyed her story and hope that in the future I'll be able to work with her to translate it properly into English. I'm looking forward to our future conversations.
On Monday I finally got to meet my SAT students for the first time. Most of the students speak excellent English, and have aspirations to study in the United States. The meeting was arranged because some of the students were skeptical as to continuing the SAT class, given the fact that their previous teacher was forced to quit, and that the dates for the exam are not flexible at all. I think by briefly chatting with them that I was able to reassure them that I'll be able to properly prepare them for the exam. I hope I don't let them down.

Last night at my flat I lied down to read, as I do every night. I recently withdrew a book from the university library which is titled, A Muslim Primer. Towards the middle of the book I found some illustrations which explained how to conduct the Salat, the Muslim prayer which is conducted five times a day, the second pillar of Islam. As I read my roommate conducted the prayer in front of me, as he frequently does. As faith runs deep in many Americans, and many Israelis, so does it in Muslims throughout the world. I frequently ask Palestinians where they find hope in their current situation, and most reply with a similar response, that they find hope in god.

After reading for just a short period of time two of my roommates asked if I would assist them in writing English resumes, which they will need to apply for doctoral scholarships throughout Europe and the United States. This task was quite cumbersome, as neither of them speaks English well, and my other roommate was only acting intermittently as a translator. After a few hours however we were able to draft two very nice resumes which I hope will help them in their pursuit of scholarships. I feel that my roommates do so much for me, feeding me, making me tea, and just having me as a guest in their flat, any time I have the opportunity to help them I truly cherish it.

Before going to sleep Rabeh and I enjoyed some argilah in bed. We talked about U.S. Security Council vetoes, and he asked me if I were president, would I order the same vetoes. The question was a very difficult one that I don't think can be answered with a simple yes or no. I told him that in most cases I probably wouldn't veto certain resolutions, but that if I were president that I'd hopefully work diligently towards solutions before such resolutions come to vote. Rabeh also asked me about Watergate, which I explained in depth for him. I'd studied Watergate extensively in my final years of grade school, and it's still a topic I'm quite fascinated with. "I always hear "Watergate", and until now I never knew what it meant….I hope to make more argilah for us", he said. "You are a gentle man Jed". I told him I thought the same of him, and laid my head down to rest.