Survival Camp (See pictures below!)

There is a club my school, Haigazian, called the "Extreme Sports Club" and they do activities such as rafting, hiking, biking, caving, snow caving and others. Because the activities they do are mentally and physically challenging, you have to go through a test called "survival camp" in order for them to learn if you are strong enough to enter the club. This is my "survival camp" story...

First of all, we met at Haigazian at 11pm. We drove for 2 hours into the mountains where we were dropped off and had to hike for an hour in the dark to find our campsite. We had to do some trust activities and then we were ordered to go sleep somewhere. No tent, no fire, just the cold hard ground. Then we were woken by yelling and flashlights in our eyes at 5am (still dark) to start running. Then we proceeded to go for a 2-hour hike before the sun even came up. When we arrived back at camp we had various tasks to do. We had to make a shelter, make a raft, make traps, purify water, make fire without matches(never actually happened) and make a stretcher...all with the tools of mother nature and some rope. Also, throughout the day, they would make us stop and do races and push-ups and sit-ups and a variety of torturous activities.

When we were working on the raft in the river, I had to leave the water after about 30 seconds because my feet were so cold that they hurt. When we finished the raft we had to swing from a rope, Tarzan-style, and plunge into the river. After we all did it and were freezing, we were told that we had to stay in the water for 2 HOURS! I thought it was a joke because I honest to God thought we would get hypothermia. But once I realized it wasn't a joke and went along with it, it turned out to be SO fun. By the way, I was the only girl and all the boys were sitting on the side shivering and complaining while I swam and slipped and climbed happily ahead. It has to be the Yooper in me. You guys wouldn't believe it if you saw me. Because I was so tired and overwhelmed and not believing where I was or what I was doing, I got into that wierd mood where EVERYTHING is hilarious and so I was splashing through this river laughing hysterically at the boys and myself and just having so much fun. Probably cause it was the only option other than crying.

After this escapade through the river, we collected firewood, did some rope climbing and relaying, obstacle courses and climbing in uncomfortably high trees. After it got dark we had some reflecting time around the fire and then we were told to go sleep in our shelter. After a couple hours, a couple guys came and "kidnapped" one of the guys and took him blindfolded into the woods and tied him to a tree (please reference the picture below). Then they came back and kicked down the shelter and told us to go find our friend in the woods. When we got back we had to take an actual test (on paper). This was around 1am and I have no idea what I wrote but I'm pretty sure it was garbage which is bad because they said the results are a big part of their decision.

THEN, they told us to pack our stuff and it was time to hike back to the road. My body hurt so much that I could barely walk, my backpack was full of soaking wet clothes, so it was twice as heavy as on the way in, but the idea that it would soon be over helped...a little. We start walking back and realize that the way in had been steeply down-hill which means that the way back was steeply up-hill. I also want to explain that this trail is not like any trail you have walked before. There are points where you are actually climbing rock ledges with a backpack on your back, a sleeping bag in one hand and a flashlight in the other. It was kinda hard.

I was in the front of the group coming back and all of a sudden we heard someone screaming in the back. Someone had fallen off the trail (there was a steep ridge all along the trail) and hit a tree and badly injured his leg. The group started screaming for us to find branches(in the complete darkness) and take off our clothes to make a stretcher. All the while this guy is yelling and moaning. You bet your boots I was calling on my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Finally, we made a stretcher and the guys have pulled him back up onto the trail and start carrying him so we have to carry their bags on top of all our own stuff. The guys with the stretcher went ahead and eventually we realized we had been split into 2 groups and we were lost. For some reason, I wasn't scared...just really annoyed because we were exhausted and didn't have any food or water. We decided to keep following the path rather than sitting in hope that we would reach a road sooner or later. Eventually, after this 2-hour ordeal, we reached the road and guess what? The guy who had "broken" his leg was walking around and laughing. It was all part of the "test". I just lay down in the middle of the road and went to sleep. We still had to wait for the bus to come pick us up, drive 2 hours back to school...at which point I had to walk back to my dorm...where I ate two tangerines and collapsed at 4:30am.

So this is the thing...I won't even find out if I am accepted into the club or not until Friday. I don't know how I appeared to them but after thinking about it for a couple days now I realized that I should be really proud of myself. I think that was one of the hardest things I've ever done and there were so many times, especially near the end, when I couldn't imagine taking one more step...but I did and I did it with spirit.This experience really made me aware of how young I am and that I should be thankful for this body I have that is capable of carrying me through such an experience. Another thing that really surprised me is that I was never scared (except for a moment in the uncomfortably high tree) and it never crossed my mind that I wouldn't be able to do something. I was ready for everything and I feel so brave and confident about different aspects of my life because of what I have proved to myself.

Also, you can see from the pictures that this is one of the most beautiful places ever. On the river, under the stars of Lebanon, with waterfalls and mountains on all sides. I'm so thankful that I got to experience Lebanon this way.

All in all, would I do this again? Um...no. I have honestly never felt more like my actual life was so bad that I had to be dreaming. When we were lost at the end I kept telling myself to wake up. But, since I am stupid and the fact is that I did enter blindly into this experience, I have to recognize that it was really worth a lot to me in terms of what I got to see, what I learned about myself and how it changed me...so there.

The only thing that made the experience bearable was the other guys who were going through it with me (the five of us in the picture with the shelter and the raft). We complained to each other and made fun of everything when the others weren't around and took good care of each other.

Just hope that the next time you get lost in the wilderness, you're with me. I'll take good care of you.

Smoking in Lebanon

I feel like almost everyone around me smokes...especially people my age. I feel like in the U.S. smoking has become really taboo. It is frowned upon and the laws really encourage an anti-smoking attitude with the cigarette taxes and laws about where you can/cannot smoke. When I first arrived in Lebanon, I had to get used to the fact that it isn't illegal to smoke in restaurants here, as it is in Chicago. Pretty much everywhere I go I'm caught in somebody's cloud of smoke. In Chicago, it is even illegal to smoke in front of the entrance to a building. Here, students smoke during school workshops and events and on the bus to events. Of course, I have serious issues with the cigarette industry because I think it really is evil and when you buy cigarettes you are making bad people very rich, but being in Lebanon reminds me that it certainly isn't the government's job to tell people what to do in regards to a matter as personal and mundane as smoking cigarettes. I think people should be able to make the choice but I am thankful that I can eat in a restaurant and not have to inhale cigarette smoke. Again, I am seeing these two extreme sides between the U.S., which always seems to be way too much into peoples' personal business, and Lebanon, which may be in need of a few more laws to keep people safer. It is a very tricky balance and no government has ever found the "right" or the "best" way to govern. All I know is that a man was smoking IN THE GROCERY STORE this morning and it bugged me.

BLEEP

It is a little strange to watch TV here. They play American movies and edit out, not only the sex, but the kissing as well. In addition to bleeping out swear words, they bleep out the word "God" on certain channels. I have only watched Lebanese channels since I've been here so I don't know if the American cable channels that can be purchased are edited as well. Probably not...there wouldn't be anything left of the shows after everything was bleeped out on MTV.

Out of the West

I have realized that for the first time in my life my education is not revolving around the West. Even at my univeristy in Chicago, my political science classes hugely revolved around American politics and cities and Western philosophies. Also, all my textbooks were written and my lectures were presented by people with Western mindsets.

I will remind you that the five classes I am taking this semester are Middle East Politics, Eastern Religions, Karabagh Conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, New Testament and Politics of East Asia since 1945. This is really a breath of fresh air for me. In my opinion, the students here have a much better knowledge of world history and geography. I think American students are taught the same basic version of world and U.S. history over and over again and I am realizing that the account of world history that I have learned is really inadequate. People here know about all sorts of things that I haven't even heard of and I am constantly looking these things up on Wikipedia so that I don't feel stupid when they are brought up in class.

Another thing that is different about university here is that I DON'T HAVE TO BUY BOOKS! The teachers know that most students can't afford them and that they have the means to photocopy them so I pay like $10 for a photocopy of a book that might cost $140 in U.S. This is definately the way it should be...there are just less rules and laws in general and everything still works. Of course, it isn't great and there are a lot of things that could be better, just like anywhere. I feel that I have only been confronted with two extremes. The U.S. is SO rigid. You get in trouble for everything. Here, people can't believe that it's against the law to smoke in front of the entrance to a building in Chicago or that there are tickets given for littering and that I can't park my car in front of my own house at night. The U.S. is so excessive in controlling the mundane everyday aspects of peoples' lives which is interesting because we also have the old cowboy mentality of rugged individualism and of course, the free market system.

However, I recognize that in Lebanon, there also exists an extreme. It is common for me to see people driving around with babies and little kids sitting in the front seat on their mom's lap. There is A LOT of garbage in the water and people frequently just throw their garbage out the car window onto the street. I know that these are largely cultural matters in addition to legal matters and in different countries there exist different ideas about what is good or bad and dangerous or not dangerous.

Sabtieh: Pictures of my family's neighborhood

I finally posted all my pictures of Sabtieh. This is a neighborhood where my mom grew up and where my grandparents still live. The signs pointing to Middle East College are at the top of the hill in Sabtieh and that is where my mom went to college. This is also the neighborhood where my parents got married. As you can probaly tell by the shrines, this is a Christian neighborhood. There are shrines to the Virgin Mary everywhere. They are along the roads and inside the entrances to apartment buildings. They are really beautiful and colorful. As you can also see, the neighborhood is made up of a variety of buildings. Some buildings are very old and are still marked by signs of war, but most buildings in this area have been rebuilt and still look brand new. The wildlife that grows in this country is amazing. You can see the beautiful flowers. There are no sidewalks in this neighborhood and the cars drive very crazily all over Lebanon so I have to pay very close attention when I go walking on these steep hills with all the bends in the road. Also, all over Lebanon, there are little stores called "dikenas". These are tiny little shops owned by a family with quick groceries. The cool thing is that everything can be found on this one road which makes up the center of the neighborhood. You can just walk across the street to buy fresh bread or vegetables. You don't have to drive "downtown".

Sensitivities

Everyday I am learning about the sensitivities that are present here in Lebanon. In my previous post I mentioned my Eastern religions teacher and now I have another story to tell. I am also taking a class on the New Testament. The teacher was giving a basic history to put the Bible in historical context for the class. Before he could do this, he had to explain that he is not a Zionist and that he is not expressing political views in this class, just telling the facts. The issue was that he had to talk about Jesus being a Jew. Again, something that would absolutely not be an issue in the U.S.