IDs

Traveling requires documents, passports, processes. Nothing is worse than growing up sans a nation, and hence any legitimate and worthwhile documentation. When I first got my hawiya in a little run-down government office, I though it was a joke. The Hawiya is one laminated card and a normal printed paper stuffed inside a gaudy, cheap, plastic folder embossed with the Palestinian seal. Printed in both arabic and hebrew, these papers remind their owners that they are occupied (as if we could forget).

I resented my hawiya because it limited where I could go. The 1948 region, Gaza, and Jerusalem are all off limits. I likened the hawiya to the Stars of David Jews wore in Hitler's Germany. A hawiya signals to young bored soldiers at checkpoints that they can humiliate and degrade us. 

Despite all of its issues, I realize a hawiya is very much a blessing. As a Palestinian living in the Unites States, this ID is the my only legal connection to Palestine. My laminated card, gives me the right to live in Palestine. As Israeli's try to intimidate and drive Palestinians out, this right is very precious. Not anyone can go to the West Bank or Gaza and simply claim Palestinian ancestry (any jew can receive Israeli citizenship). A major portion of Palestinians live outside of Palestine, holding on to our identity and rights to the land is very important. Holding a hawiya is my small connection.

Last Minute Deatils

I am feeling exhausted since I didn't actually go to bed last night. Not because of the royal wedding (though that was a nice perk). I was up writing my last research paper as an undergraduate student. I have eight pages done and need two more to finish up. My ideas are all there but I just need to hurry up and put them down in an organized and neat manner.

While in the West Bank, I want to volunteer with the Red Cross. Thankfully, I have contact so I will be able to at least volunteer once. I want to feel like I am actually doing something worthwhile for my country while I am there. This is also why I want to visit the Jenin Camp. I can talk about the occupation and its effect all day, but unless I experience it or see it myself, I will not convey the message well.

Also, give me one moment of being shallow. OMG, Kate Middleton is so pretty and I effing love her dress!

Flight in 1 MONTH!

I decided to revive my forgotten blog. Instead of my random whims, I will record my thoughts and ideas leading up to my EPIC Middle East summer travels and adventures to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the West Bank.

As of tomorrow, my family and I will have one more month before we board a VERY long flight over seas. Despite having a paper and 2 finals, I can't help searching for student blogs in the West Bank. I am getting very excited and already planning the places I want to visit.

* Freedom Theatre in Jenin
* A soap factory in Nablus
* Jenin Camp
* Ibraheemi Mosque in Hebron
* Ramallah (everywhere!)
* our old home in Jericho
* Beir Zeit University
* An-Najah university with my dad so he can show where he studied/worked/etc.

My list keeps growing and I can't wait. I am worried that with the amount of family I have in my small village, I won't be able to go off and do what I want. I will try my best though.

Berlin

The country Germany typically has a bad connotation attached to it because of its dark history. Nazis, Hitler, and the Berlin Wall are just a few examples of a past riddled with attrocity and injustice. Berlin itself has become a memorial to this long past.

My US cultural memory class today talked about Berlin remembering and embracing this past that many simply would like to forget. It would not be wise for Germany to deny the holocaust, yet it could ignore the genocide like Turkey has denied the Armenian Genocide. Yet Germany has made it a crime to deny the holocaust or promote Nazi philosophy in any way.

Treptower Park in deep east Berlin is another example of a past that Germany is not willing to deny. The park was built as a memorial of the Battle of Berlin where the Soviets saved the Germans from the Nazis. Of course this is all very subjective. The Battle of Berlin led to the split of Germany and Berlin and eventually led to the massive prison perpetuated by Soviet power through methods such as the Berlin Wall. However, this memorial still stands and is still well kempt.

http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmaltag2006/images/fotos/treptower_park_sowjetisches_ehrenmahl.jpg

Treptower Park may skim over the horrible conditions after the fall of the Nazis, but it does commemorate the end of the Naazis. Russians did fight The Battle of Berlin and they were a vital part of the Allies in defeating Hitler. This memorial commemorates that.

I really love this class because we explore the meaning behind memorials. We never think that anything is coincidence. There is always a significance to the quote that was chosen, or the location, or any other element of the memorial. This class definitely is the highlight of my week.

Let's just hope I get a good grade on this essay!   

Foofaraw

I have realized that a lot of my time is wasted. I feel like I need to take that energy that I simply burn and put it towards something productive. Perhaps clearing out the many thoughts that come to my head would be a good way to spend my time.

Dictionary.com's word of the day today is Fooforaw:

foofaraw

FOO-fuh-raw\ , noun:

1. Excessive or flashy ornamentation or decoration.

2. A fuss over a matter of little importance.

It's fate I tell you. This blog will mainly be my random thoughts that I will probably be very dramatic about but actually mean little to anyone other than me.

My time is typically spent avoiding what I actually have to do. I am avoiding:

• Editing my paper for my US cultural memory class
• Reading US foreign policy articles 43-47
• Reading for Comparative Politics the driest text book I have ever had
• Planning for my Sunday School Class and the new Arabic book that I have been forced to use (this angers me)

So as you can see, I have a lot to avoid. Mainly, I think I am also avoiding sleep. I was listening to a story on NPR that basically said that we need to change our perception of sleep as a society. Today, we see sleep as for weak people. The more time spent sleeping, the more time we feel is wasted. I think I have that perception hard wired in me as well. If I sleep, I am losing time to be doing anything else (productive or not). I also think that being surrounded by people all day, late at night is my own personal 'me' time. I don't want to waste that special time SLEEPING.

Now that we have established why I need a blog. We can move on to all of my future foofaraws.

Currently Watching: How I Met Your Mother Season 4 Episode 7