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I arrived in southern California two days ago and it’s really good to be home. I’m trying to rest a little and take care of things before I head out to Boston for school in less than a week. This summer has been very enriching. I first visited Turkey and Syria and then I stayed in Lebanon for 2 months studying intermediate Arabic then I went to Jordan and Egypt. There is no single place that was my favorite. Each was its own experience but I did feel more at home in Lebanon than anywhere else but that’s mainly because I was there for longer and actually lived there and made some good friends at AUB. Egypt was the last leg of a long summer journey and it was a great way to end this adventure. I spent most of my time in Cairo and a day in Alexandria. I’m in the process of buying a new laptop and when I do, I will upload all my pictures onto it, edit them, and submit them as a photo essay and post the link to it here so stay tuned.

Anyway, now I’m back and I’m trying to figure out how all of what I experienced this summer has changed me. I come home convinced more now than ever that the regimes in the region are a joke; that the Middle East has been divided into small countries or really just large neighborhoods or turfs and that each is run by a local mafia kingpin or president or king… same thing. I also come home more fervent in my support for the Palestinian Revolution. The Zionist criminal enterprise is not fooling anyone in the region and its longstanding gradual ethnic cleansing operation is blatant.

In the middle of all this, I have a new found appreciation of life in America (not its foreign policy and support and sustainment of said criminal regimes). I felt this way when I came back from Iran after 3 months 2 years ago. In the countries I visited this summer plus Iran, the smallest thing can be a task. Even waiting in line to buy a metro ticket is a struggle. Well, at least it is to someone who is not accustomed to living in the region. I mean, there is virtually no concept of a line in some parts I visited, you really just have to bunch up at the counter and fight your way through. It’s not that big a deal, but it is because it’s symbolic of so much else that makes basic aspects of life in the region difficult. I know I am generalizing, but we all do, in all honesty, so I hope you can go beyond being overly technical and see my point.

Additionally, I have a new found appreciation of Iran, believe it or not. While the ancient ruins in Baalbek, Lebanon were Roman, the pyramids in Egypt Pharaonic, and Petra in Jordan Nabataean, Iranian ruins are Iranian, more or less… a civilization. Please oh please do not mistake this as Iranian nationalism or else I may just throw up on myself a little. Nothing makes more sick to my stomach than nationalism. For instance, I just came across a group on facebook titled “The Persian Empire” and I am awe struck by how silly the group’s description is:

“All those who are truly Persian may join, for this is the Persian Empire. The Empire of the Greatest King of time, Cyrus the Great, and the Empire that extended from middle of Asia to East of Europe. We remain the reason for the existence of today’s science and knowledge for we were the founders of Alchemy, Astrology, and Mathematics. Hail all persians.

“-We Persians stand for Peace, but only with those who deserve our sympathy.

“-We will not let our enemies rest one night, until the night WE put them to sleep. Eternal sleep.

“-We mean no war or harm to anyone, but those who mean it for us.

“-We do not tolerate ANYone talking shit about us, our history, our Great King, Cyrus the Great, and our Empire in general.

“-We do not tolerate movies, or the media that creates a public opinion against us.

“-We do not hate anyone, but those who hate us.

“-We are the founders of current science, for we founded the sciences of Alchemy, Astrology, Mathematics.

“-We brought about the first religions, from which the current religions began. Mithraism, Zoroastrianism.

“-We are Proud of being the Greatest of all Empires in History, yet we acknowledge the Greatness of the chinese Empire and other empires of far east, and west.

“-We fight for our own peace, freedom, glory, and power. and those who stand against us, shall be our slaves.

“Hail all persians and their allies.”

Wow. Enjoy.