Arab Parents

My experience with my Arab parents in one image

Growing up in America with Arab parents is, well, certainly an interesting experience. From a young age, I've been raised to have different values and mindsets than my American peers. My mom always reminded me not to forget about my culture, faith, or where I came from. Of course, I completely understood where she was coming from, seeing so many people from so many different cultures completely letting go of their background, and even feeling ashamed of it. I wasn't like that at all, while I definitely did deal with identity issues in middle school and beyond, I always felt a strong sense of Arab and Muslim pride in me, even if it was hard to find it at times.
Arab parents are nothing less than strict and well-- pretty harsh, but hey, that's the cultural norm. Any
Arab child is familiar with the muhtrug, which even the thought of brings up both tears of laughter and fear. Being an Arab teenage girl, I am expected to do my best in school (well, I mean most families expect that), dress modestly (no shorts, tank tops, dresses, etc. yeah it's quite a bother), not be out at night, and not hang out with boys. While this doesn't seem too harsh, when put upon a rebellious girl who wants to experience teenage life as it is, some problems arise. Often when I'm out with friends, I am expected to be back earlier than my other friends, my clothing choices are sadly limited, and I often have to cancel out on outings with my male friends.
I of course know why my mom enforces these rules. As I stated earlier, she wants her children to have a strong sense of their faith and culture, however when enforcing these strict rules on her children, there's more of well, a tendency to rebel. Which I have done many times, and got caught. Of course nothing morally bad, but merely going against my parents' rules and wishes.
Anyway what I'm trying to get at, is no matter how strict the rules are parents will enforce on me, I will likely go out and experiment with teenagehood anyway-- like talking to boys, wearing dresses, and staying out past curfew, and that's merely apart of life.

International Adoption in America

Since I was young, I knew I'd adopt. Not because I'm infertile (as far as I know I'm think I'm capable of bearing children), not because I believe the population is exploding and that we should regulate how many children people can bear, because I definitely believe in personal freedom. I wanted to adopt because-- why bring children into this world when there are so many children already brought into this world just in need of having a loving supportive family and home? 

Adoption can be a beautiful thing, however, it is a very controversial and difficult process. We must take into account the financial aspect that comes with adoption, the many months and years an adoption process goes through, the kind of psychological and traumatic issues the child has, the family the child comes from, and your family values and what they assume to get out of adoption. To put it bluntly, the process of adoption is not a walk in the park, and in some ways definitely not as easy as having your own biological children. 

Over the years, a significant amount of adoptees come into families that are abusive and treat them differently from the biological children. Coincidentally, a lot of these families are extremely religious evangelical conservatives who adopt older children and have big families. Take Hana's (and many other Ethiopian adoptees) stories as an example. They pressure many mothers to give up their children "to give them to a better family." And it's not just evangelicals who do this either, many people in their home countries coax mothers with large amounts of money to give up their babies for adoption, and many of these mothers come from poor impoverished backgrounds. 

The adoption black market, where children are traded around underground, is also an issue as well. Many adoptive parents decide that they don't want their children anymore, so they sell them underground. One case of this was the Illinois couple Nicole and Calvin Eason, who decided to adopt a 16 year old girl named Quitta, and later decided they didn't want her anymore so they sold her off, shortly after she went missing.

To adopt in the most ethical way possible, you need to make sure your potential adoptee comes from a well known and trusted adoption organization, you are capable of dealing with the many struggles and difficulties you may face while dealing with your child, and making sure the family the adoptee comes from wants personally to give the child to a better family. These facts aren't to scare people away from adoption, they are just the mere realities you must face if you want to adopt. 

Diversity in America: Good or Bad?

America: The Country of Immigrants they call it. We are known to be a land of sanction, freedom, and opportunity. That's what we're supposed to be built on, right?
Fast forward a good, say, 300 years later and many die-hard patriots (you know, the ones who live in the heart of the South, drive pickup trucks, and plaster the Confederate flag whenever they can) are frightened for the future of America because we are one of the most ethnically, religiously, and racially diverse countries. We are continuing to be the Land of Immigrants, however this time, many of us aren't white.

In 2012, minority births outnumbered white births in America,

and having started just this year, minorities have outnumbered white people in U.S public schools. So, what does this mean for the future of America? What will we look like, say, 20 years from now? Are the great liberties and freedoms our forefathers worked to build diminishing with the aliens coming into our country every day and taking our jobs?

Well, no, not really. First, off, immigrants are not stealing jobs from U.S. citizens, in fact, if we threw out every illegal alien in the country, our economy would plummet, because they are in fact, taking jobs no one else will take. From dishwashers, maids, garbage truck workers, meat and dairy factory workers, and many other unappealing careers, these are really most of the jobs illegal immigrants take, because well, what other job would they be able to get? And really, who else would take these jobs?

Second, diversity is more good than bad. While diversity can lead to resentment, hatefulness, and the like, it creates a wide variety of influence, ideas, attitudes, and mindsets. Being among a diverse community, you learn about the many lives and experiences of others from all over the world and you are brought new ideas and fresh perceptions. Diverse communities will bring about diverse schools, giving children a wide variety of cultures, which will make them better prepared for the world ahead. Take my friend Annabelle for example. Being friends with Annabelle this year, has brought us both many new experiences and mindsets. For me, it's because she's Catholic, and for her, because I'm a Muslim Arab, which is something she was never exposed to at her past Catholic school. In a recent conversation, she admitted that by being friends with someone not white, she had learned a lot and it had opened her mind to many new ideas. Well, that made me feel pretty flattered.

I digress, being in a diverse community teaches us a lot. We can and DO benefit from these communities in a variety of ways and learn a lot about other beliefs. We are working our way towards more open and diverse minds.

Volunteering Abroad: Is It For You?

The idea of joining the Peace Corps is something that to me- sounds both terribly interesting and excitingly frightening. Spending a year or two volunteering and giving back while making the experience of your life in a far off mysterious country does sound very appealing to someone like me, but you could also see why it would be absolutely terrifying to others.

While it's incredibly difficult to get into the Peace Corps, it's something I definitely aspire to do when I'm older, perhaps after college. With a doing a little bit of research way ahead of my time (hey I'm curious), it sounds like a process I would be willing to do. At least, for now. Because my goals and aspirations will definitely be different when I'm 22, but for now I can always dream. 

Anyway, getting into the Peace Corps is a challenge, to be able to, you must go through a long application process that can take months, medical examinations, and application expenses, as well as travel expenses once you actually get in. Then, through the Peace Corps, you can choose over 140 countries to be apart of ranging from the Caribbean, South America, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. You can work in education, agriculture, the environment, health, community and economic development, and youth in development. So there are various opportunities for everyone. You must go through an intense language program that teaches you all you need to know about the language a few months before you begin.
Fortunately, the Peace Corps isn't the only volunteer abroad program you can join. GoAbroad, CrossCulturalSolutions, and Projects-Abroad are a few of the many programs you can go through to volunteer abroad and give back to the global community.
So now that you may be actually interested in it, what exactly do you have to go through when volunteering abroad? Well, from what I've heard, it's definitely not a walk in the park. You are surrounded by a completely different culture, away from your friends and family, surrounded by people who look at you in a strange way. You must deal with a new lifestyle, most of the time not as luxurious as the one you had back home, since you are in developing cities and villages.
All in all, it is said that while this may be very different from what you're used to, it will be an experience of a lifetime. You will be meeting new people, learning new things, passing on your own knowledge, and most of all making a positive difference to the community around you.
With that being said; I can't wait.

Days of Glory: The Forgotten Heroes Of WWII

Rachid Bouchareb, a French Algerian filmmaker, tells the heartwrenching yet amazing story of WWII's forgotten soldiers, who were left scattered in the remains of the many damaged ruins of what belonged to that war.

This film was based off of the many colonized African soldiers who were recruited for the war, and were to ultimately give their lives for France. The movie focuses on 4 main characters, all from different parts of Algeria who are both Berber and Arab: Said, Yassir, Messaoud, and Abdelkader, who are faced with cruel and hateful torments, yet are still there to stand up for a country where the torment comes from: their "beloved" France. 

To put it bluntly: I loved the film. I watched it with the family, because they too, had an interest in what the movie was about. There were many things about my own culture that I learned because of it and it almost made me proud to be an Algerian, because I witnessed the heroic actions and behaviors of people from my own country and the cruel colonization they had to deal with. 

Onto the criticisms; as an Algerian with grandparents and great-grandparents who witnessed what the colonization was like, there were some historical faults with the movie. In it, it was almost as if the characters were excited to fight for the motherland, that they were about to experience a new adventure and make new experiences. In reality, this was not the case. Many Algerians were resentful and did not want to participate in the war, however were forced to because, well, that's colonization. Other than that, I believe it was quite historically accurate and gave a good representation on what it was like to be an African soldier fighting for a war that didn't benefit them, and the blunt differences between the actual French soldiers and Arab soldiers and how they were treated. 

I won't spoil too much for you, but at the end of the film, it took a lot to hold back tears. It was a very emotional experience and afterwards it gave you an account of what happened to these African soldiers after the war. Many were not given pensions for their participation in the war and trials to receive these pensions are to this day ongoing. 

To wrap it up, if you are interested in history and culture, I would definitely give this film a waitch. It was a pretty accurate representation of the life of a colonial soldier and taught me a lot about it. I would give it a solid 9/10.

Whirling Dervishes: The Practice of Spiritual Meditation

Recently, I've taken a great interest in Turkish culture. To the point where every time I bring up anything to do with Turkey and it's culture, my exchange sister laughs because well-- sometimes I can talk about it a lil too much.

Anywho, a prominent part of Turkish culture is this mystical and mysterious practice called sufi whirling. Here's a video:

Any foreigner witnessing this practice might think: "What in the world are these men doing? Are they crazy? Aren't they getting dizzy?"
Just experiencing a one on one spiritual moment with God. So yes, maybe crazy depending on where your religious viewpoints lie.

These men are Whirling Dervishes of the Sufi sect of Islam, they call themselves the Mevlevi Order. Sufi Muslims are those who practice the inner mystical dimension of Islam. They devote themselves to becoming closer to God and embrace His presence in life. They do this by practicing various forms of dhikr (which is what the Mevlevi Order is considered), muraqaba, and making visitations to many historical and spiritual places. These men can not only be found in Turkey, but in many different places in the Middle East, such as Egypt, Syria, etc.

To participate in this kind of dhikr, you probably need to have a strong stomach, something I'm definitely not cut out for. Not only that, but you also must have a strong devotion to Allah and probably have a devoted interest in Sufism. To begin the practice, men wear a white frock with

 a black cape over it, as well as long felt caps with a turban underneath. A sheikh sits in the corner and as the practice begins, each man takes his black cape off and greets the sheikh, then he begins to begin the spiritual ritual by spinning in a 360 degree circle on his left foot.

This leads me to wonder how exactly this kind of ritual might bring one closer to God. Is it the trance that it brings to you when you are in the middle of it? Or might it be testing yourself to your limits? The practice is referred to as Sama- or physical meditation. Meditation gives us a heaping amount of physical, mental, and emotional benefits. It enables us to think clearly, de-stress ourselves, and our happiness and creativity increases.

Whirling Dervishes are a powerful practice that shape the culture of mystical Islam and Sufism. It is a dynamic and energetic ritual that brings a strong presence of Allah to those who practice it.