a lone thought

there's something to be said for waiting until you're ready.

i heart ketchup

Three tomatoes are walking down the street, poppa tomato, momma tomato, and baby tomato. Baby tomato starts lagging behind. The poppa tomato gets really angry, goes back and squishes him, says: "catch up!"


french fries anyone?

7 things you never knew...

Lazo "tagged" me in order that I may give up seven random things about myself. This may be a bit self-indulgent, but today is Eid (celebration of the end of Ramadan), the party of all parties, so...cheers.

1. I hold the record for the mile (5:13) and the two-mile (11:06) at Carpinteria High School, since 2002. Yes, I was a runner (aka crazy person).

2. When I was six years old, I prayed and asked God for a little sister, and that's how Bethany happened.

3. I've climbed 6,000 steps to the top of Tai Shan, one of China's five holy mountains.

4. I prefer to sit on the floor, and eat with my fingers.

5. My favorite sound is made when the librarian opens a library book and stamps it with the due date. I love the smell of libraries too...of all books really. I loooove books.

6. I love to sing, especially when I feel awkward, or when I'm trying to memorize something in Arabic.

Actually, in fact, my life is a musical.

7. I genuinely enjoy doing the dishes...you can take the rest of the house. ;-)

Aight...time to pass this on, even though I dont think I even know three other people that read my blog...

Katie!!
Aubrey!!
Lisa!!

Haha.

the rights and the violence...

I wonder how a Christian can believe in the promises of God to Israel, especially regarding their right to the land, and reconcile that with the forced displacement of Palestinians and the continued violance against them?

Many things I have read recently have prompted this question, including this article. There is a strong sympathy for Palestinians among my friends and classmates here in Egypt, contrasted with the pro-Zionist perspective back home in the states. At this point, I'm rather disgusted with both sides of the struggle really. But I really hate what I see happening to Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza...and I almost feel guilty about that because I believe in Israel's rightful ownership to the land based on the promises of God.

Is there a biblical Human Rights perspective that can properly address this issue?

I went into a mosque with a friend the other day so that she could pray. I sat down and waited somewhat awkwardly while she performed her prayer, quietly praying under my breath because I didn't know what to do with myself...as I looked around at the huge ceilings with ornate patterns, I was torn between a strange feeling of peace and a strong sense of conflict in the spiritual realm. It was really quiet and cool, and relatively empty of people, but imagine when it's full of devoted muslims on their face in prayer, what is really going on there in the spirit? Is the Holy Spirit there, duking it out with the forces of darkness?

I almost got this sense that it was empty of the Lord's presence up until the moment I took off my shoes and tiptoed in, and then I asked Him to come, fill the place, surround us with His loving kindness and touch my friend's life.

and I wondered...can I even spend time communing with the Lord in a place of false worship?

what do I want to know...?

Research paper time...I have two this semester, one for my Intro to International Human Rights Law, and the other for Migration and Refugee Movements in the Middle East and North Africa.

So, what will I write about? I'd ideally like to begin research in an area that will be relevant to my thesis, but I don't know if that's realistic considering that I really don't have a clue yet where I want to go with my thesis research. My first thought: Uganda. Of course, but I don't feel a sense of excitement about that, like I want to explore different parts of africa, or the middle east. Then again, it's probably smartest to pursue area with which I'm already familiar (and care deeply about) instead of starting from scratch...Right now I'm leaning toward doing my Intro to IHRL paper on a human rights issue related to the war and displaced persons in northern Uganda. Which leaves my other paper, which can't be about Uganda because it's a class about North Africa and the Middle East. We had some reading about the Palestinian/Israeli conflict that I found really interesting, and also about Iraqi refugees. If I do research into refugee/migration issues into one of those areas, maybe it would be wiser (easier??) to do my other paper on a human rights law issue in the same area. Or maybe it would be too tricky to write two related papers without them overlapping beyond what is appropriate.

I need a really good research question. I have lots of interests, and random little questions in my head, but nothing worth anything. Are IDP camps violating people's right to movement and access to water or land? The US manufactures much of the arms in the world, so where do they go? (what armed conflicts?) Child soldiers in Uganda, terrorism in Israel, trafficking in South Africa, torture, religious persecution...what do I really want to know? I need ideas!!

people are silly

Sometimes i feel like we live in denial of the unwritten, unspoken world that exists between humans in relationship. Most people are familiar with the concepts of verbal and nonverbal communication, but nonverbal communication isn't just eye contact and how you cross your arms and sweating and all that, it's the combined force of everything you do with your body yes, but it's a comprehensive electric-ish undercurrent that you send out to everyone, EVERYONE does this! and whether you pick up on it or not, you can always tell how someone feels about you when your interacting with them, or only I can?? Maybe it's some personality thing that I have, but I feel extra sensitive to it, and I desperately wish more people would just be real (for lack of a better word--i'm venting). I notice it the most after I spend time with friends that are "real," meaning they're saying what reveals their true thoughts, acting in a way that reflects their true intentions...then I encounter someone who hides behind petty smiles and disingenuous behavior, and I sense something almost palpable in the air between us, and my insides are screaming: this is humiliating! cut through the crap and give me something organic, something that's yours! What do you do with people like that? Cut them out of my life? Wait for them to...whatever? Give them a piece of my mind? Let it go?

I wish the unwritten reflected the spoken, i wish the intangible matched the solid....really, I just wish certain persons wouldn't double cheek kiss me.