Tuesday, September 29, 2009

First Week of School

I moved into my dorm room this past weekend. I am staying at the Near East Theological Seminary which everyone refers to as the NEST or in Arabic, kiliyet lehoot. My roomate's name is Anita and she is from Armenia. I ask her MANY questions about what it is like to live in Armenia and questions about Armenian history and attitudes. She is incredibly kind and loves to go exploring with me and talk about everything. She is the perfect roommate and I know I'm really lucky to be put with someone who I can be good friends with.

There is a big Lebanese-Armenian community in Lebanon. This is a new dimension of Lebanon that I am just learning about. All of a sudden, I am going to an Armenian school, my roommate is from Armenia and everyone around me is speaking a mixture of Arabic, Armenian and English.

The school I am attending is called Haigazian University and it is an Armenian institution. However, the make-up of the school is roughly 40% Lebanese-Armenian, 50% Arab-Lebanese or just Lebanese, and 10% other Lebanese minorities. The school is about a 20-minute walk from the place where I sleep. These are the classes I am taking this semester:

1. The History and Politics of the Karabakh Conflict
2. Middle East Politics
3. International and Political Relations in E. Asia since 1945
4. New Testament
5. World Religions: East

I think that these classes and class discussions will be particularly interesting in Lebanon. Even today, before he even introduced the class, my Eastern religions teacher gave the class a speech about how we don't have to worry about him getting in trouble with God for teaching us about other religions. He said God knows what he believes and he will be fine. He kind of apologized to the class for having to teach about non-monotheistic religions which would NEVER happen in the U.S.

Also, the instruction is given in English, but teachers and students will ask and answer questions in Arabic and I love it because it really makes me feel like I am in a classroom in Libnan.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Correction!

Hi everybody! I want to give you all some information about the pictures below. I previously titled the pictures of the buildings "Sabtieh, the place where my family is from". I took the pictures looking right down the hill from my aunt's balcony so I thought it was the same neighborhood but it is NOT. The name of the neighborhood is Zeitrieh (I hope I am spelling it correctly). The distinction is important because Sabtieh(where my family lives) is a Christian neighborhood and Zeitrieh is a Muslim Shia neighborhood. When my mom was growing up her neighborhood was shelled by fighters in Zeitrieh and many of her neighbors were killed and homes were ruined. Looking out over Zeitrieh can bring back many bad memories for people who had to endure that time. My uncle recalled a woman, who lived in the building behind his, hiding in the hallway with her two children when the shells came and her throat was cut by shrapnel. She died in front of her children. Lebanon has a very sad and complicated past which dictates the present and the future in huge ways. I am learning more about this everyday as I talk to people. There are people who will disagree with me, but I believe that all religious and political sects have both contributed to the problems and suffered as well. Through all the history here and all the wars, all the groups have caused some pain and felt immense pain. As it is with all wars, it is the innocent everyday people who just want to be able to go to work and buy groceries, who suffer the most. As I said before, my aunt and my mom warned me not to talk to people about politics and these issues but I have found that people my age, studying at the university, are very interested to talk about these subjects and have incredible insight. I talked to the president of Haigazian this morning and he told me that in the past there was never a demand for political science classes and now, all of sudden, many young people want to study politics. Some students here have expressed hope in Lebanon's future and want to help make it better. I have also talked to students who believe that voting here is useless. They refuse to vote because they don't think any of the candidates care about what is best for the Lebanese people as a whole, but rather, have their own monetary interests and political ambitions in mind. This is going to be a very interesting place to study political science. Check in soon for new pictures of the REAL Sabtieh!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Check out the pictures I just added below. My aunt works 6 days a week so Sunday is really saved as the day for rest. The big meal in Lebanon is not dinner as it is in the U.S, it is lunch, or "ghada" in Arabic. On Sundays, a big meal is prepared for lunch and then people spend time with the family and maybe take a drive. So my aunt took me up into the mountains and it was SO beautiful as you can see from the pictures.

All week I have been hearing these loud banging noises and I think that they are guns but no one reacts to it so I figured it was okay. Today I asked my aunt what it was and she explained that during Ramadan, little kids buy fireworks and play with them all day. When I tell my brother, Elie, he will want to move to Lebanon and be adopted into the Muslim faith.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Marhaba! I've been in Lebanon for a few days now. I'll be staying at my aunts house for about another week. The neighborhood where she lives is called Sabtieh. It is the same neighborhood where my grandparents live and where my mom grew up. Lebanon is very hilly. I freak driving on all the steep hills and narrow streets. There aren't really any rules when it comes to driving. There are a few street lights and stop signs but people don't really pay attention and nobody enforces any rules regarding traffic. I rarely see police but there are soldiers everywhere which is pretty different from the U.S. The style of clothing, of housing decor, of relating to people, is all very different. Also, the electricity is a big problem. It goes off all the time and you never know if there will be warm water or not. I had a really cold shower this morning! I have been advised again and again not to talk about politics, even in class, with anyone. This may be a problem since I am going to be taking all political science classes. I've been advised to just be objective and not reveal my opinion. Anyone who knows me knows that that will be quite difficult. I'm just going to have to evaluate situations as they arise. I like to state my opinion and have conversations but I am also good at recognizing the right time and place to do so. I think I'll be just fine:)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

I also want to comment on the title of this blog. I named the blog after one of Lebanon's national forests, "The Cedars of God National Forest". The cedar tree is Lebanon's national symbol and it is also on the Lebanese flag. I also chose the name because the cedars are incredibly beautiful, really a national treasure, but they are in danger of becoming extinct in Lebanon. Also, Lebanon is a country with constant political problems which are often veiled and manipulated by religious rhetoric. This is a country that consists of people of many different religions but what really stands out to me is that everyone I meet, whatever their religion, has so much faith. I wish that around the world people could focus on that similarity rather than making rules to separate us from each other. When people argue and get so mean about religion and politics, I look to nature and really believe that it is the only thing we can truly say came from God. When I see the magnificent ancient cedars in the mountains of Lebanon, I know that they are "cedars of God". Salam!
Marhaba! That means "hello" in Arabic. I fianlly figured out how to use this blog. When I logged on my blog was in Arabic which was a bit of a problem so I had to figure out how to change it back to a language that we can all understand. I had a long (12 hour) flight from Chicago to Jordan which was brutal and then a nice short flight from Jordan to Lebanon. My aunt Amal and my cousin Semer picked me up from the airport and I am staying with them for about a week because my semester doesn't start until the end of September. It has been great staying with m family. Amal only speaks to me in Arabic which is exactly what I need. I get pretty lost sometimes but I'm learning to just ask questions, A LOT of questions. It feels strange being here because on the one hand, I know that I belong because this is where my family is but at the same time, I can't speak Arabic fluently. Everyone expects me to understand everything they're saying and I just don't but it has only been A DAY and I've already learned so much from being forced to only use Arabic. I have realized that I know a lot more than I thought I did. I'm saying words that I didn't ven realize I knew but at the same time I am constantly reminded of how much I don't know. But we all need that in life in general so it's all good. I'm really happy and I truly feel like I'm in the right place for this point in my life. I am ready for a change and a challenge and I already know that that's what I'm in for.