Salaam min Kabul!

Salam min Kabul!We have arrived safely in Afghanistan and are staying in a guest house run byAfghans for Tomorrow, a grassroots organization which runs schools forgirls/women and agricultural restoration projects. This place is nothing likewhat we see in the media or even in the 'enlightened' pop culture books on theshelves now. I think I'm in love with yet another country. This may be a bitlong because I probably can't write again while traveling. Read on for firstimpressions of Kabul, and last impressions of Beirut!A quick lesson regarding women: only 1/3 to 1/2 of the women in Kabul whom I'veseen on the streets (lots) are still wearing the burqa. Most women have adopteda knee-length dress and thin pants, much like what we would call 'Indian' or'Chinese' dress, and prefer the long shawl-hijabs draped loosely over theirheads. Others wear tailored suit jackets with long flowing skirts, like inHebron. Some women will wear them around their necks but not over their headsaround the office, and only put them on in the street. This was true at theairport also. Others wear the long coats like in Palestine, or the cape-likeabayas of Iraq, or the long body shawls of Iran or Pakistan. There's a lot ofvariety. So far we've met tons of women movers and shakers, as well asstudents, and will be meeting many more. Those women who do wear the burqa doso either because of family requirements or out of long-term habit. Some womenwho need to beg for money wear it to preserve their dignity and anonymity.There are also security reasons, such as traveling in areas where there is highcrime/ on the open road. Men used to be required under the Taliban to wear longbeards, and about half of them have shaved theirs now. Most men, young and old,wear traditional dress of the knee length shirts, baggy pants, vests, and ashawl. The headwear variety is fun: turbans; drivers' caps, fez, white skullcaps, baseball hats, or nothing at all. There is a headdress like thePalestinian keffiyah but it's plaid rather than houndstooth. I realize that forsome of you whom I'm writing to, this last paragraph will make no sensewhatsoever. The rest of you hopefully will at least remember my pictures.At our guest house, the cooks, housekeeping staff, launderer, and gardeners areall men. The house is very tidy, the food delicious (lots of garlic) and ingeneral I like the idea of domesticated men. Perhaps this idea will catch onsoon in the U.S. ;)Our guide, Walid, who is a French professor at the University of Kabul and the Uof Colorado, says that the situation is better than it was a year ago, inregards to general security in Kabul, etc. We can't really travel outside thecity, though. For the destruction which is still visible everywhere,particularly in our area of West Kabul, he says 'This is nothing'--all of thearea where we are was completely destroyed during the war. Many of thecollapsed buildings are still present. There are even more bullet holes in thebuildings here than in Beirut.It seems that massive international humanitarian aid is what is driving theprogress of reconstruction. People are generally not happy with the U.S.presence, though it is far less noticeable than it was in Iraq. Of the war,Walid says, "Afghan expatriates are generally happy that the US finally decidedthat the Taliban wasn't such a good ally." Basically, people have felt used bythe US for a long time, first as pawns in the war against the USSR, and now asagainst the Taliban.The infrastructure is similar to that currently of Iraq, with no electricity orrunning water, or closed sewage systems. You have to be a little careful not tofall in the deep open gutters. It gets dark at 7:30 and they turn on thegenerator until 9, then it's lights out until daybreak at 4:00. They pump waterfrom the well and we shower with a bucket and dipper, not unlike my time inHebron. Cellphones are everywhere and internet cafes are cropping up, though Imay not be writing again from here--like Iraq, areas frequented by foreignerscan be targets. So for once I will play it a little bit safe, no?Afghans, as I've heard before I came and as reiterated now, want Americans toknow that they are not in the Middle East, and they are not Arabs. They arePersians, and this is the far east. Some of Arabic cultural practices aresimilar, others are very different. More like Iraq than Palestine, and heavilyinfluenced by India. The facial features of the people are more Asian thanArabic also. Our guides say that the difference between Arabic and Persian(Farsi, Dari, and Pashtun) is like that between English and French. There aremany shared words and similarities, but if you don't know both languages, youcan't communicate. I understand quite a bit, but people don't understand me.Not that my Arabic is that great.Nonetheless, Walid says many people who visit here via Global Exchange or othergroups come back to volunteer, most often in training the teachers in English.I haven't made any commitments yet, but I really loved the girls' schools whichwe visited today. I made friends quickly. If anyone is interested, I can sendyou the information to volunteer!In the AFT schools, they use a new method for teaching Qur'an, which emphasizesless the memorization of verses and more the critical interpretation skills forunderstanding the scripture. Basically, it's the switch that we made a fewyears ago in confirmation teaching. They also use this curriculum to teachPersian literacy. They teach a full college-prep curriculum as well asvocational skills, recognizing that some girls want to go on to become doctorsand engineers, and others may get married and can only work a trade from theirhomes while keeping the house. Several of the girls were denied educationpreviously, and are starting first grade at age 18. However, they studydouble-time and complete two grade levels per year. It includes English andcomputer skills. Amazing.For fun today, we also went to the Baghe Barbur gardens, a palace, mosque andwalled garden built by the founder of the Moghul empire in the 16th century.Beautiful! It was on the front lines during the civil war and heavily damagedin '93, but is being rebuilt (like Syria and Lebanon's ancient sites) by the AgaKhan Trust.--------I did get in a really nice visit to the Near East School of Theology and theAmerican University of Beirut. AUB has a master's program in Near East Studies(Arabic, history, and literature, etc). and NEST has a one-year exchange inChristian-Muslim Studies. Both programs are really compelling. I just have tothink about what's possible for me. The last few days I spent in Beirut reallyendeared me to the city. At NEST, I also ran into Dina Tannous' cousin Ashraf,who is in his first year there. He is eager to visit the US again and spendmore time with the ELCA youth programs. He had also thought about going toWartburg or LSTC. What a neat guy! He's brilliant and extremely good-natured.At NEST I also learned that they used to have a seminary branch in Iran until afew years ago, and still receive Protestant seminary students from Iran mostsemesters. I spent a long afternoon there, a generous hour with the presidentof the school (a mid-career Lebanese woman named Mary Mikhael) and after lunchis coffee hour(s) with both students and faculty every day. Dr. Awad is a NewTestament professor whom I made friends with very quickly. I'd love to take hisclass sometime. He was really open with the students and they felt free todebate back and forth on both politics and Biblical studies alike--something Iloved about Wartburg and have very sadly missed since coming to LSTC, to be veryhonest. But I still would miss people at school if I were to leave any timesoon. So, I'll at least slug out another year or so at LSTC and then who knows?There is time to think and listen to the spirit. And I still have to fit in ayear in Hyderabad in India at the Henry Martyn Institute eventually....I'm looking forward to a week at home in Iowa after my return, then coming backto school to tutor incoming international students and pull togetherpresentations about these countries. I hope to hear from you all, and I boughttea and will plan a welcome-back tea party at my apartment sometime soon!peace,Le Anne

Greetings from Beirut!

June 8, 2005

Marhaba min Beirut!Well, the group which I led is on their way home. Just a few days to go beforeI fly to Kabul, and I'm getting excited. I guess if I don't get this letterwritten now it might not happen, especially since Afghanistan will be sointense. Really, I'm trying to rest up before I get there. Along with learningthose Persian languages, watching al-Jazeera, and reading _From Beirut toJerusalem_ , a big thick book with tons of detail on the history of Lebanon andSyria. Tomorrow I'm meeting people at the Near East School of Theology near ourhotel for lunch and a get to know the school visit. Hmm... do I see 'exchangestudent' in my future? Seminary on the Mediterranean does have a certainappeal....anyway, there is a possibility that I could lead the next trip here inthe fall, which I would love. I feel very much at home here, and could loveboth these countries almost as much as I love Palestine.My friend Natalie from seminary quotes a t-shirt which says 'Beirut..I love it!'but wasn't sure if I should come. I have found the city to be a psychologicalwonder. It is being quickly rebuilt, and has a very easy-going, Mediterraneanstyle to it, sidewalk cafes and flowers and brick-paved pedestrian zones; I havefelt very safe and welcome here. However, every last block of the city stillhas bullet holes. Churches, mosques, hotels, schools. Haute coture boutiques.Government buildings. Skyscrapers. The physical scars remain, though the cityis very much alive. Of course, I think a lot of pain still ebbs beneath thesurface of the people, as well as fear. It could all happen again. That wasthe fear of this spring. I wish I had more time here to talk to people, but atleast I'm making friends I can write to later. Meanwhile, to see whatincredible destruction took place before and how much has been rebuilt gives memuch hope for Baghdad. I don't know about Fallujah. What we did there was evenworse than Sabra and Shatila. But hope for Baghdad is enough.I realize now my first message from the trip simply disappeared. This toldabout my experiences in South Lebanon, (yes, that South Lebanon), being asked tospeak on short notice at a press conference on South Lebanese Independence Day,and being on pan-Arabic TVand radio. This was a bit anxiety-producing as thepress conference had been called by a certain sheikh in a certain politicalmovement known in the area... If you read Arabic, you might find an article inal Mustaqbul paper from two weeks ago; basically I said that I believe humanrights and nonviolence are essential for children grow up with hope for apeaceful future. Later, we were treated to lunch in a beautiful restaurant inthe hills. It was a reasonably pleasant and safe trip there overall.I also wrote of our visit to the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps,the ones which Israeli-backed Christian militias entered and massacred thousandsof people in 1982. There is an enclosed garden now over the site of the massgrave which holds many of the bodies, which had lain in the streets several daysafter they were killed. We also passed a small mosque which had been so full ofbodies that they had to turn it into a masoleum. A few years ago I learned thedefense mechanism of never imagining my own family members in a situation whereI would lose them in war. It is too hard to cope with the overwhelming emotionsof such a place as it is.But life in the camps goes on. We also met with the Najdeh association forwomen, which includes vocational training and domestic violence programs inseveral of the camps throughout Lebanon. The woman in charge, Leila, knows myformer boss from Nazareth, Aida. It's a small world. We're invited backtomorrow as well. Leila's relatives all moved to Canada a while ago, but sheremains to be a leader, "until we can all go back to our homes," she said.Amazing strength.The last thought is that a new friend yesterday told me I speak Arabic'cocktail': a little Palestinian, a little Iraqi, a touch of Jordanian; myArabic teacher is Syrian, my textbook is Egyptian, and now I'm in Lebanon. BonApetit!I'll try to write more in a few days, so much is going on that it is hard to putit all down at once. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!peace,Le Anne

Greetings from Syria!

Marhaba min Syria!I am not sure if my last note got through from Beirut--the internet has beenpretty shaky traveling around. Of course, problems are not anything new forusers of our seminary system ;) We have just arrived in Aleppo after comingyesterday from Lebanon and having seen the Krak des Chevaliers and today thecitadel of Aleppo. You might call this the 'Crusaders and Muslims' warfaretour of the Middle East, for all the archaeological sites that have beenexcavated and restored in these two countries. I feel I now know more thanI ever wanted to about the use of boiling oil, particularly from theCrusaders but indeed on both sides. But remants of former militaryinfrastructure does make a good backdrop for discussing the political issuesof today, of which we have been doing plenty also. I think I learned morein the past week than I did all last year. (The visual aids do help).This has been the most amazing 'insider's view' of both countries, not justpolitically and religiously but also in the history and culture. The guesthouses and restaurants where we've been include carefully restored old Arabhouses. There is often Arabic signs with French subtitles in the museumsand streets, so I am getting plenty of practice in both languages. Iespecially appreciate the practice in reading the elaborate Islamiccalligraphy on the fortresses, since this was not exactly covered in ourclassroom textbook!To see Syria and Lebanon with so much restoration of the historic sites andpreservation of Arab culture, I have a lot of hope for some time in thefuture for Palestine. It is truly amazing here. Of course, Palestinianshave done so much already to preserve their culture and history,particularly in the major cities. To explain more, large quarters ofBeirut, Hama, and other places were completely destroyed, or at leastheavily damaged; acres of olive trees and other agriculture devastated--andnow, after the war, and granted, with a lot of financial backing, so muchhas been rebuilt. Even the olive trees are coming up again in parts ofSouthern Lebanon. This is not a reason to become complacent about humanrights abuses in Palestine or the rest of the Middle East, but it is acomfort when I hear word of yet more tragedy taking place. But in reality,the only loss in war which truly cannot be replaced is the people. That isstill hard for me to deal with.I am still enjoying being a trip leader for the group of ten, despite thepresence of two very hard-to-please women (read: perpetually grouchy).Everyone else is great, very flexible. And that mediates the other two. Wealso have a local guide, a Palestinian refugee whose family was originallyfrom Nablus who grew up in Damascus, with a very good sense of humor andcharm. He is from the Hinnawi family, and knows exactly where his houseused to be, near the Palestine Hotel in the old city of Nablus. I haveprobably passed it myself several times during my visits there. We stayedup quite late last night talking about the invasion of Nablus, when I wasassigned there to document the atrocities.All the Palestinians we have met in both countries have been very openabout their frustrations that the Right of Return for the refugees has beenso ignored in the past several years due to the fighting within Israel andPalestine. The situation in Lebanon is more desperate for refugees [nolegal work permits, ability to own property outside the camp, or money forhigher education], but even still, Hussein would go immediately if given thechance to return--and he is a very successful business owner and universitygraduate. I mentioned in my last letter that we visited Sabra and Shatilarefugee camps just outside Beirut last week; we will visit another camp nearDamascus. We will also meet with Armenians here to learn more about thegenocide and how they have coped in the diaspora.We will be in Syria until the 6th, when we return to Beirut, then I'll havea few more days to cram-learn Dari and Pashto before heading on to Kabul. Idon't know if I'll ever get to make another trip to Afghanistan (so I'll bestocking up on extra rolls of overpriced film here), but I would very muchlike to return to Syria and Lebanon again, and I may try to wrangle a dealto lead the next group in October during fall term break.I hope you are all having a good Memorial Day weekend if you are readingthis from the U.S. Hope to write more soon!peace,Le Anne