From Midwest to Mideast

Learning to Ski in the Middle East

2012-02-26T15:14:00.000-08:00

Like most Americans, if you told me a couple years ago I would learn to ski in the Middle East, I would have called you a liar unless you specified I would be skiing on sand dunes. But as it turns out, Lebanon has amazing ski slopes high in the mountains. After midyear exams, our school sponsored a ski camp by taking our students to stay in a hotel near the slopes. Our headmaster is an expert skier, so I got to learn from him alongside the students who were learning to ski for the first time.

Fellow teachers and our awesome headmaster.

What I lack in grace and agility I was somehow able to make up for strength. With the help of other teachers and students, I was able to pick up the basics pretty quickly. Soon I was teaching younger students myself. Then on the second day, one of my students taught me how to make sharp, controlled turns down a steep slope. The next thing I knew, we were on the ski lift to the top of the mountain in the picture below.

Day 1, I learned how to start and stop.
Day 2, I made it down the backside of that mountain without falling.

I was chaperone for a room with eight 6th graders. The first night, half of them gorged themselves with candy, sodas, and even Red Bulls and then refused to go to sleep. I was finally able to silence them around 2:30 but they had set an alarm for 5:30 even though breakfast wasn't until 7. I'm so glad I teach high school and don't have to deal with them every day. I enjoyed hanging out with some of my own students and getting to know them a little more as friends instead of just as pupils. Some of my 10th grade boys invited me to watch movies with them and surprised me when I found out they enjoyed the Happy Tree Friends videos I was introduced to at Ohio Wesleyan.

After three nights in a room full of 6th graders and two full days of skiing, I was beat.

The ski camp had to end 2 days early because a blizzard started snowing us in at the hotel on the third day and the buses had trouble getting us out. Getting back home was an adventure. We sent the younger students ahead until only 11th and 12th graders were left. Then we climbed on top of the seats in a bus filled with ski boots that we had to return to the rental place higher in the mountains where vehicles kept stalling in the snow and had to be pushed.

Pushing one of the buses. The snowbanks on the sides of the road are taller than us.

Overall, ski camp was excellent. Even though it ended early, the skiing was exhilarating and the people I was with made the whole trip fun. I hope to do it again next year.

War in 2012?

2012-02-13T02:48:00.001-08:00

The more time I spend in Lebanon, the more I love it! And yet the more concerned I grow about political circumstances in the broader region that have the potential to disrupt life here.

Lebanon has been flourishing thanks to a long period of relative peace. Some Lebanese here remark that 2011 was an interesting year because they watched half the other countries in the region dissolve into chaos during the Arab Spring, while Lebanon served as a model of stability. For much of their lives, it seemed to be the other way around, with neighboring states witnessing Lebanon's struggles. So 2011 was a welcome turn of the tables here. But cautious optimism for permanent peace is grounded by a common awareness that circumstances can change rapidly, and some people here have even remarked to me that Lebanon seems "due" for war in 2012. Although I believe Lebanon can achieve the peace its citizens desire, there are mounting tensions in parts of the Middle East that have a growing potential to erupt into a regional conflict in which Lebanon could be stuck in the middle. So here are some of my thoughts and a couple links to some of the articles I've been reading:

When my 11th-graders performed a UN Security Council simulation about Syria in the Fall, they perfectly predicted the outcome of a real-life UN meeting that was held this past week: Russia and China cast a double veto against condemning the Syrian government's violence against reformists. Peaceful protests started in Syria as part of the Arab Spring last March, but as the government increasingly put down uprisings with deadly force, the opposition increasingly fought back. Now there is concern that Syria is facing an all-out civil war. Lebanon, meanwhile, is divided about how to respond to Syria, with different groups supporting different sides. This is mostly manifested politically, but this weekend the disagreements escalated into a gunfight between neighborhoods in Tripoli. Two people died and a dozen were wounded, but fortunately the Lebanese Army stopped it before it got worse. One of the teachers I live with is from Tripoli and she went home for the weekend but when she came back she said everything was fine.

Since my students enjoyed the first UN project, we had another simulation after Christmas in which Iran followed through on its threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil supply passes, in retaliation to sanctions placed upon it by Western countries seeking to deter its nuclear weapons program. I hope real life doesn't play out like our model UN did this time. In it, Russia and China refused to pressure Iran to keep the strait open. So the United States and its allies prepared to force the strait open militarily, to which Iran responded with a threat to attack the US and its regional allies.

Could it happen? Unfortunately, it is a real possibility made worse by the fact that it is an election year in the United States. This is because candidates feel pressured to score cheap votes from the majority of the American public that is too short-sighted to understand that bombing the crap out of people they don't like can have disastrous long-term consequences. In this case, one of those consequences is that an attack on Iran could get me, my students, my friends, and the rest of Lebanon stuck in the middle of a war. How? Well Iran's allies would probably end up fighting with its regional adversaries, which means Lebanon could become a battleground in the middle. The dangerous brinksmanship politicians are playing with is worrisome.

I would urge my friends at home to speak out against war-mongering. The same neo-conservative commentators who scared America into war in Iraq are now trying to do the same with Iran. And politicians like to make bold claims about using military force to show they are "tough". Unfortunately, most voters are gullible enough to think a short-term use of military force means strength, even though true strength comes from the wise application of economic, cultural, diplomatic and military tools to maximize a lasting peace. And as Stephen Walt has been arguing, from a realist perspective, an attack against Iran would distract the United States from its strategic national interests. There was a good piece in a Lebanese paper explaining that war isn't in the interest of local groups either. But there are a lot of actors involved with complex motives and limited options, so predictions are difficult to make.

Rest assured, if I ever thought I could be in real danger then I would definitely get out of the way. But there are a lot of people I care about here and unfortunately not everyone has that option.

For the time being, I feel as safe as I would in the United States. I feel grateful that my time here has been peaceful and pleasurable. And now that I've finished my last day invigilating exams, I feel excited that I can spend the next few days away having fun in this beautiful country!

I Thought I Was Done Losing Sleep Over Exams

2012-02-06T01:59:00.000-08:00

January was rough. Don't worry, I'm perfectly safe. I just didn't post anything because I felt like I spent almost all my time since the week of Christmas sprinting to fulfill my students' curriculum before their mid-year exams. And that sprinting is completely metaphorical because I ran less in January than I have in any month since my early years of high school. I have settled into a comfortable teaching style, but it is a ton of work. I spoil my students with visuals and notes written out for them on powerpoint presentations, which I use to tell history more like a story to keep them involved. It's great, but I spend hours every night making hours worth of powerpoint presentations for the next day (not to mention mastering the material not covered on the slides so I'm prepared for daily oral examinations from my students' questions.) And with 4 years worth of curriculum - including one I'm making up from scratch because this is the first year Lebanon has a 12th grade - I'm honestly doing more schoolwork and losing more sleep than I ever did at school, including my enjoyably challenging years at Ohio Wesleyan. And missing a deadline is not an option because I would basically be letting down dozens of kids.

Many of my students could care less how much effort I put into their education. There are a few troublemakers who actively work to undermine me and stubbornly refuse to apply themselves. But I am also blessed to teach some bright students who are engaged and even appreciative. An honest one even called me "spectacular" and said he could listen to me teach for hours. Some students force me to waste time on classroom management because of ignorant or hostile distractions. I feel bad sometimes because I hear that a lot of our students have difficult family situations, but from my perspective that's no excuse for being mean and disruptive. When they frustrate me, I just have to remind myself that those who want to learn make it worth it when I see that they are actually learning and even enjoying it.

I thought I would have a break last week because my classes were mostly review for the exams, but I nearly ended up pulling a couple all-nighters because I was writing two-hour exams for each of my four grade levels. You thought studying for exams was difficult? Try mastering the material to the extent that you can write one. Then there's the challenge of selecting what information is the most important, finding a way to put it into question form, making sure that it is challenging enough without being unfairly tricky. I consider my exams to be works of art. Maybe I'll post one if anyone is interested in matching wits with my students.

This week is light because the students are taking the exams. I hope our internet starts working better during that time because I wasn't able to upload pictures to this post and I have a lot to share from our week off at Christmas. But afterwards I'll have the challenge of grading the exams. The one part of teaching more frustrating for me than disruptive behavior is grading open-ended questions and essays. It's really important to teach my students to write, but I agonize over judging the quality of their arguments and the extent to which they deserve credit for being partially accurate or when they are vague or when I suspect them of cheating. I hate knowing a student has cheated even if I can't outright prove it, but I caught three students cheating red-handed on a test a few weeks ago, including the girl whose mother plagiarized for her AND her brother. A lot of the students here don't seem to care much about cheating. There's a phrase in Arabic that roughly translates: "The clever one gets away with it." I never thought we had such a big cheating problem when I was in school but I don't know if that's because midwestern culture is more focused on merit and integrity or if I was just ignorant back then.

Even though I respected teachers a lot before I came here, I have WAY more respect for them now. I may feel a little overworked because I'm a first-year teacher with all four grade levels on my plate at once and to be fair I am working harder than necessary by my own choice because I care about giving my students spectacular lessons. But I completely understand why about a third of new teachers quit within 3 years. I may not plan to be a teacher beyond my time in Lebanon, but now that I'm living the life (and mostly enjoying it despite the stress), it gives me perspective on America's education troubles and our national debate over teacher salaries. Assuming a teacher's effectiveness could be accurately measured, schools should be competing to hire the best teachers they can by offering salaries more reflective of the job's challenges. And yet teachers get scapegoated for budget deficits because people think they are lazy for starting work at 7 and ending at about 3 in the afternoon, with summers "off". Sure there are some lazy teachers and sure the unions are too strong in their ability to protect them, but in my experience classes are the easy part of the day. My most exhausting part of the job is the preparation behind the scenes, which results in overtime that more than makes up for having a couple months to plan for the upcoming year.

I am eternally grateful to so many of my teachers at Stow-Munroe Falls and professors at Ohio Wesleyan who obviously worked hard because they cared about us and not because they wanted an easy paycheck. They really made a difference in my life and I can only hope I'm having a fragment of such impact on my own students.

The weather has started to improve. January was basically a rainy season, but the past couple days have been sunny and in the 60s. We can still see snow on the mountains though, which is good because two weeks from now I'm going to learn how to ski!

White Christmas Break

2011-12-28T14:56:00.000-08:00

Ski slopes. Were you expecting sand dunes?

If you told me a year ago I'd make a snow angel in the
Middle East, I would have sworn it would be in sand.

Since we didn't have a white Christmas where we live, the day afterwards we drove up to a snowy area in the mountains. In Lebanon, you don't wait for the snow to come to you. Instead, because of the stark elevation shifts, you go to the snow. We went to Faraya, a mountain we can see from our school (like in the second-to-last picture in my previous post). We went sledding and had some snowball fights. Then we traveled some of the back roads through the mountains to get back to Beirut.

Christian-majority towns set up decorations in their town
squares and no one seems to have a problem with it

And to think how much fuss a nativity on public property would cause in the States...

View of sunny Beirut (the peninsula) from the cloud line in the snowy mountains.

Merry Christmas from Lebanon!

2011-12-24T10:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas tree in front of Hariri Mosque in Martyrs' Square.

City Mall decorated with a life-size nativity
display made entirely from choclates.

Yes we celebrate Christmas here! About 125 miles north of Bethlehem (the same distance between Cleveland and Columbus), Beirut has been bustling with holiday cheer since Thanksgiving. Lights and decorations are prominently displayed in public spaces. Stores blast carols over the loudspeakers. Shoppers scurry to purchase gifts. In this Muslim-majority country, Christmas is for everyone - not just Christians.

Santa's House in downtown Beirut.

Our school spent the last 2 weeks preparing for Christmas as well. Carols were sung in Chapel every morning. Homerooms were decorated for a competition. There was even a school-wide "Secret Santa" gift exchange. And everyone participated. I kept having to remind myself that even though it's a Christian school, most of the students are actually Muslim. This past week was a spirit week, so the students dressed up according to Christmas themes instead of wearing their uniforms:

Can you guess which students are Muslim and which are Christian by looking
at them when they're dressed in Christmas colors? Neither can I.

Some of the students in the social justice group I advise wanted to send a Christmas message to the rest of the world. They are aware of the bad rep the Arab world gets in Western media. News stories from the region are often accompanied by images of angry people burning flags or holding hateful signs. But my students want you to know that while many people may have a legitimate beef against certain countries' policies, the depiction of people living in the Middle East as violent and divisive is not representative of their reality.

So the students made signs of their own in order to stage a protest for peace. Their signs wish you "Merry Christmas!" and "Peace on Earth" in Arabic as well as English. The writing on the Lebanese flag (that's the Lebanese cedar, not simply a cut-out Christmas tree) is the verse about Lebanon from Psalms 92:12. My students want you to know that there are millions of Christians living in the "Muslim World" and that the vast majority of people from different faiths live in peaceful coexistence. My students want you to understand that the Lebanon they know and love is modern, beautiful, and diverse. But most of all, my students want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas this holiday season! And so do I.

Coaching in Tyre, Racing in Beirut

2011-12-14T17:09:00.000-08:00

Walking the course through the hippodrome.

Our school's running team had it's first couple competitions in late November. One was a 5k in Tyre, a sunny city on the coast in southern Lebanon. We arrived early enough to walk part of the course and I was surprised to be directed to some ancient Roman ruins. The students would be running through a 2000-year-old hippodrome and along ancient Roman roads for the final kilometer! After exploring a little, we chose to do our warmup there. Then the students were bused to the starting line while the other coach and I stayed in the ruins to cheer them on and record their times (and take pics while we waited). The fastest student from another team finished in 17:30. Our fastest student completed the course in 22 minutes - a 6th grade prodigy who beat all our high schoolers.

The following weekend was the annual Beirut Marathon, which is the largest running event in the Middle East. It's basically a national holiday by the scale to which it is advertised and celebrated. The vast majority of participants don't do the whole marathon - instead, according to the Beirut Marathon Association, over 20,000 people do the 10K later in the morning. And they do it the Lebanese way. As described by my friends here, this basically consists of getting dressed up in fashionable sportswear with your friends, jogging for 2 minutes, and then stopping catch your breath because you're afraid of sweating in public. Pass a Starbucks or McDonalds? Just stop there for some drinks or snacks before walking the rest of the course! Huge groups walk the course together, carrying banners and wearing costumes and shirts to promote different causes. Along the course are stages with bands and dancers to entertain participants as they walk by. Different corporations hand out goodies along the course, so instead of just water stops you have grocery stores giving out samples of juice, Snickers handing out candy (as if they were energy bars), and even stores handing out tissues (to wipe the sweat from your forehead)!

Every year, our school has several hundred students and teachers dress in purple (our school color) to represent ourselves and our chosen charity, "Animals Lebanon". Getting stuck in a "race" behind thousands and thousands of walkers in a runner's nightmare. I tried to take some of our runners as close to the front as we could so that we would have a fighting chance. Everyone who didn't have enough "wasta" (social connections) for a placement near the front was hopping a fence to force their way toward the starting line. We followed suit. Even still, it was about 5 minutes after the race started before we reached the starting line. Fortunately, the times are recorded by chips that don't activate until you cross it. But unless you're at the very front, once you've crossed the start you still lose so much time trying to run through all the people walking obliviously in front of you! I stayed with my students for about the first kilometer because I had been sick for the past 2 weeks and my training had been poor so I thought I would be more useful running with them as a coach. But they wanted me to run my own pace instead.

Running throughout Beirut was surreal, striding through streets I had been to before only when they were congested with traffic. The city was beautiful and invigorating, warm shorts-and-tshirt weather the last Sunday of November. And the festive atmosphere - the music and costumes - all inspired me to keep increasing my pace, passing more and more people. Crossing the finish line in Martyrs' Square with a time of 41 minutes, I placed 49th out of over 20,000 participants. A student told me on Monday he was watching the race on TV and saw me finish, and then the camera cut back to the starting line where people were still beginning the course.

Finishing top 50 out of 20,000+.

I spent the next couple hours after the race trying to shepherd all the students from our school after they crossed the finish line. I was proud of some of the high school members of our team who fulfilled the goal I gave them of finishing in less than an hour! What about the 6th grade prodigy? He and his friends stopped to eat at KFC.

Lebanese Birthday

2011-12-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was my first birthday abroad. Thank you to everyone who sent me encouraging birthday wishes! My new friends here made it a special day as well. We went to a restaurant where we shared dishes of Lebanese cuisine. I can't describe or pronounce some of the dishes, but hummus and chicken liver were among them. Overall, it was quite good. Then for desert, I was surprised with a cake which did not have candles, but instead had flares shooting out of it!

I cut the cake with the knife upside down - as is tradition. It had a piece of chocolate on top with frosting reading "HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYL", which is the way my name is spelled phonetically in Arabic - fitting for a Lebanese birthday!

Roadtrip Through Northern Lebanon: Three Seasons in One Day

2011-12-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

Tripoli's sunny coast and palm trees make it feel like summer
even with snow-topped mountains towering in the distance.

And I say "I liked breakfast in Tripoli"

Crusader castle in Tripoli.

A few weeks ago, our headmaster invited us to join a roadtrip. We took a van up to Tripoli for breaksfast. Tripoli felt like summer because it is on the sunny coast. But from there we could see the snowy mountaintops we would be driving up to see Lebanon's legendary cedar reserve. A wintry wonderland after the first snowfalls in the mountains, it is a last refuge in a country that was covered with cedar forests thousands of years ago before nearly all of them were cut down. Today the cedars remain dear to the Lebanese as a symbol of their national heritage - a cedar is proudly displayed on the Lebanese flag. Along the way to the cedar forest and after, we passed through areas where leaves were changing colors, reminding us that even though the coast felt like summer and the mountains felt like winter, in some places Lebanon was having an Autumn that made me homesick for Ohio. After the cedars, we traveled up and over the Lebanese mountains to the Bekaa Valley. Here are some pictures that do not do justice to what we saw:

Group pic at the cedars.

Someone carved Jesus into a cedar
that had been struck by lightning.

The year's first snows in the mountains made the cedar
reserve a winter wonderland.

Even high up in the mountains, we can still see the sea.

House with an "sea-side view" - from afar.

We became stranded when the power-steering fluid in the van was
leaking, so the headmaster drove away with his wife to find a mechanic
while we ate lunch.

Naturally, we decided to explore the road after we finished eating.

This mountain valley was cold, so we decided to start a fire for warmth - not.

You know those signs that say "Watch for falling rocks"?

The sun dips behind the mountains we have traveled through.

The barren top of the last mountain before reaching the Bekaa Valley

This was the last picture I was able to take because we ran out of sunlight. It's a shame because looking across the Bekaa Valley is an amazing sight - your vision spans half of the country to the Anti-Lebanon mountains on the other side, which are the border with Syria. We plan to return during daylight when we have more time.

Happy Lebanese Independence Day!

2011-11-22T05:26:00.000-08:00

Today is Lebanese Independence Day, so we didn't have school yesterday or today. Last night some of the teachers and I went to an Independence Day party at a club in Beirut. It was put on by a fun group of people. Here are a couple screenshots from their facebook event:

The second post requires some explaining, as it is a bunch of things that have gotten Lebanon excited lately but no one outside would know about. Jeita Grotto is a national landmark that was a finalist for the "7 Natural Wonders" contest. "I follow Rivers" by Lykke Li won't stop playing on the radio. (Has anyone in the States ever even heard of this song? I have no idea what music is popular outside Lebanon anymore). Lebanon won a soccer game against Korea and apparently it was one of the greatest Lebanese sporting achievements of all time. Saad Hariri, a progressive former Prime Minister and son of an assassinated former PM, started tweeting. And MTV (a channel completely unrelated to our MTV) aired a live discussion about Syria between Lebanese politicians that ended in a literal fight.

So the party was fun for awhile. They gave out shots of watered-down Arak, a Lebanese drink that tastes like peppermint. We talked to some interesting people. The music was pretty good at first. There was a pause at midnight so everyone could sing the national anthem. They threw about a hundred paper flags from the DJ booth. I was surprised when most of them ended up being trampled on the floor. Those that were saved ended up folded into paper airplanes that we tossed around for awhile. But then the music became repetitive and a lot of people started smoking (I hate that there aren't laws against smoking indoors!). So we left early by Lebanese standards. I hear that normally a good party doesn't get hopping until 11 and will last until about 4 am. I'll update this post when we get pics.

That's it for social life. Here's a forewarning that the rest of this post is me sharing Lebanese history, which I am oddly more passionate about. I took a break from the curriculum for Friday's classes for a "teachable moment" about the history of Lebanese independence so my students would understand what they were celebrating during the long weekend.

The Phoenicians dominated the Mediterranean.

Lebanon became an independent country on November 22, 1943. But in order to help my students understand the significance of independence, I asked them if they knew the last time Lebanon was independent before then. The answer is the time of the Phoenicians, a sea-faring, trading people who dominated the Mediterranean during their peak. So if you're wondering how long ago that was, I should tell you the Phoenicians also invented the first alphabet. We're talking old Old Testament. Then during the 500s BC, Phoenicia was conquered by the Persians and was subsequently passed from foreign rulers to foreign rulers (Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Muslim Caliphates, Catholic Crusaders, Kurds, Egyptians, Ottomans) all the way until the 20th century.

The first Lebanese flag, drawn and signed by members of Parliament
during the first few days when they actually agreed about stuff
instead of literally fighting on national television (not that US
politicians are any better - i.e. "Supercommittee FAIL").

The land that would become Lebanon was part of the French Mandate when the Allies divided the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in WWI. France separated Lebanon from the rest of its mandate, Syria, in order to create a smaller Christian-majority country. The French created a government for the Lebanese "protectorate", but retained authority over it. Then during WWII, France fell to Germany so the Lebanese asked for independence ("How can you 'protect' us now?"). The free French government promised Lebanon independence in 1941. The Lebanese had their first election November 8, 1943. However, when the new government amended the French-created constitution to declare Lebanon's sovereignty, France arrested the government. Protests and international pressure ensued, so France released the government and officially recognized Lebanon as independent on November 22, the first time this land was free of foreign rule in about 2,500 years!

When I reached this point in the lecture, my students would cheer. The first class broke into the national anthem, so during my break I downloaded it for subsequent classes to sing as well. For a country so divided between different religious groups, it was good to see people united by patriotism.

What's in a name?

2011-11-13T14:35:00.000-08:00

I would have a difficult time guessing the religious identities of most of my students based purely upon the way they look, dress, and behave. But for many of my students, there is a clue that would immediately convey their religion through a single word - their name. For most Americans, parents seem to choose a name because of the way it sounds. For most Lebanese, parents seem to choose a name because of its meaning. Often the meaning is religious. So sometimes I could draw conclusions about my students. For instance, when I see the names Matthew or David I could assume they are Christian. When I see names like Omar or Mahmoud I could assume they are Muslim AND specifically, that Omar is likely to be Sunni and Mahmoud is likely Shia. The Sunni/Shia divide within Islam is a big deal in Lebanon. At this point, I only know a few of the religious name distinctions and I want to keep it that way for the time being. There are also names that are Arabic words without a particular religious significance: Nour means "light", Emira means "princess", and Wassim means "handsome". Since Arabic is used by Christians and Muslims, these students could be of either religion.

In a country obsessed with sectarian divisions, I desire to see past the religious identities my students project. As their teacher, I would rather focus on their identities as young adults trying to make sense of a complex, changing world. My first priority is "John the aspiring artist" instead of "John the Maronite Christian", or "Hussein the aspiring dentist" instead of "Hussein the Shiite Muslim." Not that religion isn't important - it certainly is. I have a duty to help my students make informed decisions that will inevitably be influenced by their values, sometimes in religious terms. But for most people here religion seems to be chiefly about what politico-cultural group they identify with rather than what they actually believe. Moreover, my primary job is helping them think critically and communicate effectively about historical and current events - regardless of their religious perspectives. So I don't want to consciously or subconsciously treat them differently based on what religo-polito-cultural groups they are part of. Therefore, I am satisfied being blissfully ignorant about the religious identities of my students for the immediate future. Sure, it is a curiosity. Later on, it will be interesting to speculate about how their religions seem to influence them - their social interactions, their opinions, their interests. But first I want to get to know them as people.

Adventure at Nahr Ibrahim ("Abraham River")

2011-11-11T17:12:00.000-08:00

The river valley into which we ventured.

The weekend before last, my school's headmaster sent an email to our group of teachers inviting us to join a quest into the depths of a legendary river valley:

Our fellowship sets off along the mountain trail.

"We will be going to the secret place at Nahr Ibrahim, and depending on
the air temperature, we will be visiting The Cave of the River Dragon,
Gollum's Lair, The Pool At The End Of The World and several other
wonderful places. All these are inhabited by trolls and/or large snake
like creatures."

A mountain towers majestically over the river canyon below.

The headmaster (our fearless leader) and I contemplate
climbing the mountain on a summer expedition.

The headmaster's advice about what to bring included this description:

"I will leave one T shirt, a towel and the socks in the van so that when I come back from the walk

covered in mud and the blood of the slain beasts, I will be able to change into something that will not terrify the inhabitants of the distant villages we will be travelling through. I will not be changing my swimming shorts because they are coloured red and the blood will not show."

Finally, because he is British, he added:

"Coffee and tea will be served with biscuits at the river side."

I'm determined we'll conquer that majesty before I leave Lebanon. Stay tuned....

Some shortcuts we took were plummeting descents.

We reach the river, which we later walk through.

Down in the river valley, some of the leaves are changing - the first signs of the season I miss
most in a country where most places, including the part where I live, are green year-round.

The American couple brought their daughters along for the trek. They are
troopers, but they missed out on some of the more fun explorations.

Though the coast is still warm (in the 70s F), the valley in the shadows of the mountains was about ten degrees cooler. Lebanon doesn't have an "autumn" on its semi-tropical coast or high in its coniferous mountains, but fall was setting in here. It was a bittersweet reminder of running cross country in parks back home. We crossed through a shallow portion of the river before stopping on the bank for hot drinks and biscuits (cookies).

Eventually we reached this pool where we could journey no farther by land.
We contemplated whether or not to continue, considering the cold, and then...

... one of the Lebanese teachers leapt in fully clothed without warning!

We reached a pool where we could continue no farther except by swimming and walking through the water toward the river's source. The water was so cold, we were considering waiting to come back during the summer instead - when one of the Lebanese teachers who lives with us suddenly jumped in fully clothed! Inspired by her bravery, and the headmaster's creative tales of what lay ahead, several of us followed and the headmaster led us onward through caverns and over boulders shaped like monstrous dragons and other petrified beasts. Of course I couldn't take my camera because it isn't waterproof.

We had to turn back before passing the waterfall or reaching the end because some of us began to shiver and convulse uncontrollably. The water here was colder than most ice baths I've taken, and colder than the source of the river in Blagaj, Herzegovina. But it was worth it and I look forward to returning to see more.

We dried off in a sunny spot on the shore, but rain started pouring on us during our return journey, so we were thoroughly soaked for most of the afternoon. But only a few of us had actually drawn blood. All in all, the adventure was an amazing way to experience some of Lebanon's wondrous natural beauty.

Pics from Exploring Beirut

2011-10-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, a couple other teachers and I visited the "downtown" area in the evening to visit a cafe where a musician was performing the oud (a Middle Eastern guitar):

Can you imagine your 2nd grade teacher smoking hookah?

Then on Saturday, we walked several kilometers in the city exploring places I hadn't been before:

The National Museum is great inside, but I was confused when I saw these
ancient artifacts strewn through its yard, exposed to the elements.

The inside of the National Museum was fascinating. They have artifacts from throughout Lebanon over a time-span of thousands of years ranging from prehistory to the Bronze Age, the native Phoenicians and their Egyptian partners, the periods of domination by Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, and the spread of Islam. Standing before marble thrones carved millenia ago made me laugh at how excited we get in the U.S. when we see a chair that was carved during the Civil War 150 years ago.

Though I miss autumn in Ohio, I appreciate the many flowering plants that
continue to bloom in late October in Lebanon's subtropical climate.

This pic represents so many of my observations of Lebanon thus far. The war-torn building and the
yard in the forefront indicate enduring wounds and neglect. Yet we also see the natural beauty of
flowering plants and palm trees which at times make this place feel like a tropical paradise. We see
nice cars and crisp new buildings, including the "Living" real estate agency on the left. And
towering in the back, we see the cranes that show how Lebanon is constantly rebuilding.

Resting our feet at "Pinkberry" in the posh ABC Mall.

One of the many churches indicating that the Achrafieh neighborhood
around the mall is Christian.

We continued walking west into a more "genuine" part of the Achrafieh neighborhood. The
red cross above the street is one of the territorial symbols apparent in Christian West Beirut.

Other territorial markers include small shrines to the Virgin Mary. We could see that people
are living in the half-constructed building on the right. Our walk through this neighborhood
prompted another teacher to remark surprise that Christians were living in such conditions.

The "Arab Spring" in My Students' Eyes

2011-10-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

My 11th graders are learning about the beginning of the Cold War and two weeks ago one of my students was asking questions about why people in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe didn't rebel against the totalitarian government. She saw this as a weakness on their behalf, but I was trying to help her understand the circumstances they faced. The conversation ended up turning over to a modern parallel - the protests in neighboring Syria which have been violently suppressed by the Assad regime. Lebanese society is divided between groups who support different foreign powers, and one of the most important is Syria. So opinions among the class varied. Some of the students questioned why the U.S. and other countries haven't intervened like they did in Libya, while others accused the Western media of ignoring the alleged violence carried out by supposedly peaceful protesters.

At that point in the curriculum, we were focusing on the formation of the United Nations. So in order to help them understand how the Security Council operates, I broke my students into teams to represent the 5 permanent veto-wielding members (USA, China, UK, Russia, France). Each student wrote a brief paper on their country's position regarding an issue the UN Security Council recently voted on: whether or not to implement sanctions on Syria to pressure the Assad regime to halt the violence against civilians and enact reforms. Because they were assigned to represent an assigned country's position and not necessarily their own, it helped to defuse the political tension.

My students debate during a model UN Security Council
Meeting. The girl standing is an American. My classroom is
in the "dungeons" below the school. It used to be a "gym"
before it was converted (hence the ping pong tables).

The day the paper was due, we devoted the entire class to a Model UN session so that they could debate their countries' positions in-person. My students were hesitant at first, but as they started to debate each other, it was clear that they were having fun. Before when I gave them notes, they had a difficult time understanding the UN's often-contradictory dual purpose of protecting both state sovereignty and human rights. Then, when we staged the mock Security Council meeting, these hypothetical values came alive as they realized which of the two values their countries prioritized in this situation and how that affected their votes.

This past Thursday when news of Gaddafi's death broke, there was a general excitement in Lebanon. Many of my students were happy to discuss the event for my class's "Current Events Day" on Friday. Some of them debated whether Gaddafi deserved to be killed without trial, demonstrating compelling arguments on both sides. Some doubted whether a stable democratic government could replace the dictatorship. But all agreed that Libya was better off with Gaddafi gone. I was proud that the United States earned a positive reputation from this foreign policy success by using our resources to counter oppression and promote democracy. This is one situation where we are seen as a partner of progress rather than as an agent of imperialism.

The youth here seem to want political reform throughout the Middle East, and some of my students demonstrate strong opinions about what this region needs. With other Lebanese high schools and universities discussing the "Arab Spring" in the classroom, I feel that I have an obligation to help my students be aware of the historical events taking place around them while also being conscious of my own biases and limitations. I can only hope to help them understand the world better and develop skills so they can be the change they want to see.

"Dear Sir, I helped my daughter cheat. Please don't penalize her."

2011-10-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

I've been in Lebanon for a month and have completed 3 full weeks of teaching. I've had a lot of highs and lows with my students. Today I'm writing about an unfortunate but entertaining low, so tomorrow I'll counter it with a dose of fun and optimism.

I told my students on the first day when I handed them my syllabus that cheating, including plagiarism, will result in them having to redo the assignment for half credit. Unfortunately, I had to enforce this rule last week after I discovered a series of grammatically correct sentences in a student's paper and typed them into google. So I gave her the paper back with a score of 0/100 and told her to redo it without plagiarizing. That evening, I received the following email:

Dear Sir,

Sorry for the inconvenience.

My name is X and I am Y’s mother.

When you gave Y the Nationalism assignment, the router at home was then down,

she was unable to do it herself; A colleague of mine did it for her.

I will be very grateful if you could give her a chance to do it again and earn all the credit, not just half.

Thank you.

Yours truly,

"A colleague of mine did it for her"!? So this woman is basically telling me that she helped her daughter cheat and therefore her daughter shouldn't be penalized for submitting a paper she didn't write? The kicker is that not only did she have over a week to write the 1.5 page paper, but internet access wasn't even necessary for the assignment! Despite my frustration, I attempted to write a diplomatic response. Here is an abbreviated version:

Dear Mrs. X,

I am glad that you care about Y's education enough to contact me. However, the fact that a student's mother helped the student cheat does not excuse that student from cheating. I also care very much about Y's education, which is why I believe it is necessary that she learns to do her own work. Critical thinking and effective communication are two of the most vital skills for success in college or the workplace. When a student does not do her own work, she fails to develop either.

Cheating is self-destructive and morally wrong. The cheater is harmed because the cheater does not learn. Other students are harmed because the cheater's marks are unjustly inflated in comparison. At the college level, plagiarized essays earn zero credit without the option of resubmitting them. Some LES teachers have the same zero-tolerance policy. I try to be compassionate by helping my students learn from their mistakes, so I allow them to redo the assignment for half credit. My rule against cheating and the consequences of breaking the rule are clearly presented on my syllabus, which I encourage Y share with you.

Internet access was not necessary to complete the assignment. The only resources needed were the handouts given to students in class and the students' own life experiences. No outside research was necessary.

As a courtesy, I sent an email to the class a week before the assignment was due to clarify the directions and provide advice, which I repeated in class the following day. I have included a copy of this email in the postscript. I hope that Y will be able to use this advice to help her think for herself and write a quality paper.

Best regards,

Mr. Herman

A couple weeks ago, a Lebanese teacher who is about my age told me that most Lebanese are naturally dishonest. They will tell you what they think you want to hear, and they will avoid accepting responsibility at all costs. Unfortunately, because the culture is so relaxed most Lebanese are also generalized as lazy. Mind you, these are things the Lebanese teacher was telling me about the way he views his own country and how he wants it to change.

The combination of laziness and dishonesty results in a cheating epidemic. Sometimes the parents even condone it because they think they are helping their kids. I have actually started priding myself by catching cheaters - I see it as a challenge. So for my weekly quizzes, I have been passing out alternative forms that look identical on the surface but are actually different. For example, when I write "Match the explorer to his description", a student will see the names at the top as "A. Christopher Columbus", "B. Ferdinand Magellan", etc. However, the student next to him will see "A. Ferdinand Magellan, "B. Vasco Da Gama", etc. So the cheaters copy all the answers from their neighbors and consequently their answers are all wrong. 3 of my 16 freshmen earned zeros on that quiz and coincidentally had the exact same answers as their neighbors who did the quiz correctly!

There are many things I appreciate about Lebanese culture, but cheating is not one of them. I will be trying my best to change this aspect of the culture among my students.

Commitment of Responsibility

2011-10-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

In order to stay in Lebanon on a long-term visa, all foreigners are required to visit a local government office and sign the following form:

Commitment of Responsibility

I, the undersigned, commit myself under pain of legal prosecution and of immediate deportation from LEBANON in case of breach of the following conditions:

1- Exercise of any activity constituting a community, confessional, or religious instigation, or impairing common life in Lebanon.

2- Exercise of any activity constituting a criticism or an instigation against the Lebanese State and its legal symbols, and against its foreign and inner policy.

3- Exercise of any activity constituting a criticism or an instigation against any other State and its symbols, excepting Israel.

Such requirements are seen as necessary due to Lebanon’s long history of tensions between different political and religious groups. Foreigners have indeed instigated conflict in the past, such as during the civil war between 1975 and 1990. In addition to domestic disputes, Lebanon essentially became a battleground between warring countries as local factions were supported by foreign powers.

Different groups here strongly disagree over whether certain countries such as Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or the US are friends or foes of Lebanon. This is why we are banned from criticizing countries in condition #3.

Israel's exception to the rule shows how it is the one state that unifies all Lebanese in unquestioning hatred regardless of their political or religious differences.

Conversations with Those In-the-Know

2011-10-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Over the past week, I was fortunate to have some good conversations with people who have spent way more time in the Middle East than I have. I had the privilege of Skyping with Benjamin Orbach, the director of America's Unofficial Ambassadors, an organization dedicated to building positive connections between the Muslim World and America. AUA has a goal of committing 1,000 Americans to at least 1 week of service in the Muslim World by the end of next year and I am one of them. If you visit their site, you can find out how you can volunteer too. Ben gave me some great advice about how to interact with people here in ways that will reflect positively upon America while helping me gain cultural experiences. He also suggested that I get involved in something outside of school or make an effort to get away from it sometimes since living here literally gives me no separation between my home and my workplace. I fully intend to follow this advice and branch out once I learn how to manage my workload.

Last week, the Bible teacher invited me over for dinner with his wife and three young daughters. They are from Illinois and have lived in Lebanon for over 3 years as missionaries. They made the first authentic midwestern meal I've had since I left home, complete with hamburgers, deviled eggs, and potatoes. It was delicious. We ate on the patio of their apartment, which overlooks a valley leading to the sea. During the meal we started hearing gunshots, but the family was unalarmed. They have grown accustomed target practice taking place at some rocks behind a church visible from their balcony.

Some young men use the rocks behind this church for
target practice.

I asked the parents if they felt this was a safe place to raise their daughters, who are between the ages of 3 and 7. They said it was. I asked what they would do if there was another war like the one in 2006 and they said they would ask the headmaster since he has lived here his whole life, through civil war and foreign invasions, despite being British. The Bible teacher said they would consider fleeing to Damascus, which I thought sounded odd given the current instability in Syria. But there is a perception here that reports of violence in Syria are overblown.

One afternoon I had tea with the South African teacher. She has lived in Lebanon nearly her entire life (her parents were missionaries here since the end of WWII, so she grew up here). She has also lived in Syria and she likes their president Bashar al-Assad despite the fact that he inherited the dictatorship his father established 40 years ago. In her opinion, Arab countries need strong dictators to maintain order. Coups would happen every few weeks before Assad's father took power. No one knew who was in charge half the time and nothing was accomplished for the people until Hafez al-Assad's brutal rule provided stability and development. She pointed out that no country can achieve true liberty and justice. For example, even liberal democracies like the United States torture and detain people without charging them with a crime (her favorite show is "24"). I responded that perhaps some systems can come closer achieving liberty and justice than others, such as those with institutionalized and respected rights. At least the US has a free press and active civic organizations seeking to expose and stop such human rights violations. It is difficult to determine the truth of what is happening in Syria because they have no free press - just the state-run news blaming unrest on "armed gangs" supported by "foreign interventionists".

Since she lived in Lebanon before, during, and after the 15-year civil war, the South African explained to me the changes she has witnessed in Lebanese society. The war pitted towns and even family members against each other as each of the quarreling religious groups splintered into politically divided factions. When the war "ended" in 1990 the underlying political issues were never really resolved - people just eventually tired of fighting. But they isolated themselves among their own groups so that now certain neighborhoods and streets are territorially claimed and many people avoid interactions beyond their communities. From my perspective, the isolation of people and ideas within the factions reinforces distrust because it creates a divisive worldview. One sees his group as a "self" versus the "other" without ever making the effort to understand what other people think and why. This may seem closed-minded, but after everything Lebanon has been through it is understandable that isolation seems safe. And it isn't as if most Americans don't prefer the comfort of self-reinforcement to the necessary challenge of understanding others either. That challenge is one of the reasons I'm here.

Running in Beirut ... or is this L.A.?

2011-10-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

The palm trees, wide streets, skyscrapers, and sea make
think more of California than the Middle East.

Last weekend, I fulfilled my goal of running on the Corniche, the long wide walkway that wraps around Beirut between the city and the shore. Afterwards, we changed into street clothes and had an inexpensive lunch before walking through some of the city. I have posted some pics from the outing.

I had expressed my interest in starting a cross country team at the school once I had settled into teaching, so I was pleased last week when the principal passed me on his way down the stairs and simply said, "Kyle, you're organizing Beirut Marathon" as he walked by. I didn't know what that meant, but my gut instinct was "Yay!".

Yes, that is McDonald's. To be fair, it was cheap and I tried the
'McArabia' (beef on pita bread) instead of American food.

It turns out, every year the school sponsors several hundred students to participate in the first 10k of the Beirut Marathon. Nearly all of them walk it Lebanese style, which means getting dressed up in fashionable sportswear and then veering off-course to Starbucks a few hundred meters in.

The principal presented me with two goals. The first is to recruit 500 students to participate in the marathon on November 27. I told him I could help by offering training for anyone interested in trying to run as much of it as possible.

The second goal is more in line with my vision of a "team": to train a handful of serious runners who can represent the school competitively at the marathon's 10k and at other races that take place in Lebanon throughout the year.

My fellow teachers accompanied me to the Corniche because
I wouldn't stop talking about how much I wanted to go.

The Corniche runs by the site where Lebanon's former Prime
Minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated in 2005. Today, a statue
stands in his honor but the political implications remain unresolved.

So yesterday I held a meeting for anyone who was interested in marathon training. 27 students showed up, grades 6-12, of various levels of experience. We will have our first practice after school this Friday. I will have to test their fitness and then sort them into groups that will meet on different days of the week: one for students just learning to run and one for athletes with the potential to compete.

November 27 isn't far away from a training perspective, so I was already wondering how much we could accomplish in time for the 10k when the school's athletic director approached me with news that we were invited to participate in a 5k next Sunday. We haven't even had our first practice yet! We better get running...

The remains of Beirut's ancient Roman baths are preserved
beneath the fancy downtown shops called "Beirut Souks."

That Country We Don't Talk About Here

2011-10-08T05:29:00.001-07:00

My first week of teaching has been completely exhausting (hence no blog updates til now), but the students have motivated me with moments where they demonstrated that they actually learned something in my class.

Yesterday we had our first "Current Events Day" (something I plan to do at the end of each week). I showed some of my older classes an episode of "The Colbert Report" that aired on Sept. 22 featuring coverage of Palestine's request for statehood at the UN so that we could have a discussion about the Arab-Israeli crisis. The episode included an interview with Jeremy Ben-Ami, the founder of "J-Street", a pro-Israel and pro-peace lobby (distinguished from other Israeli lobbyists who according to the Report's perspective are anti-peace).

I wanted to show my students a perspective they may not be used to - that of a Jewish organization that actually supports compromise with the Palestinians instead of simply dominating them. My students are so used to the idea that Israel is evil because that attitude is pervasive in their society. They lived through Israel's attacks on Lebanon in 2006. I had to sign a statement that I have never been to Israel in order to receive a Lebanese visa. Sometimes people only refer to Israel as "that place to the south" or simply "that place we don't talk about." I am trying to help my students think more critically so that they can see a diversity of views and make informed decisions instead of simply accepting what they hear. I want them to see that not everyone living in a country is the same, so they shouldn't stereotype and be quick to cast blame.

The US gets a bad rep here because Israel is the #1 recipient of our foreign aid even though it is a developed country that can clearly take care of itself. Basically, we pay for Israel's military. There is a bridge near the school that was destroyed by American bombs dropped by Israel in 2006. Ironically, following the ceasefire the bridge was rebuilt using money provided by USAID. So in case you wonder how your tax dollars are spent, here is a case where they were used to blow up a bridge and then rebuild it.

Despite such efforts to improve its image by at least cleaning up after some of the destruction it helps sow, the US looks bad in the Middle East because of its one-sided support of Israel. I tried to help my students appreciate the difficult position President Obama is in because while on the one hand, he wants to improve US relations with the Muslim world, on the other hand he is constrained by ill-informed public opinion in America. When President Obama voiced support for compromise with Palestine, he was viciously attacked by political opponents and the media. His position is that Israel and Palestine need to agree on mutual swaps of land in order to achieve a lasting peace. But neither side is willing to compromise. He has been accused of "appeasement" by Rick Perry and of betraying Israel by other Republicans for even suggesting compromise.

Unfortunately, most Americans are not informed on this issue enough to see past such political attacks (thanks to our biased media). Most Americans don't realize that Israel is building settlements in the West Bank to colonize Palestinian territory or that it is denying Palestinians basic human rights. On the other hand, I had a discussion with my students about how supposedly "pro-Palestinian" countries such as Lebanon deny Palestinian refugees basic rights in their own countries.

Some of my students said it seems unfair that Palestinians in Lebanon must live in refugee camps and are ineligible for many jobs. Some of them hope that President Obama will take a political risk to support Palestinian statehood (I told them he definitely won't). One of them even suggested that the Palestinians be given some land in Siberia for their country since no one lives there, at which point the rest of the class erupted in a spirited debate. What happens at the UN has yet to be determined. Most likely, nothing significant will come of it. But I am looking forward to helping my students understand it and develop their own informed opinions.

The Student Becomes the Teacher

2011-09-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

My classroom is typical by American standards, including a projector so that
I can display power points and videos. The students expect visual stimulation.

My first day of school as a teacher was a half day so I only met 3 of my 5 classes, but it was intense. First impressions are important and it's weird to think that the perspectives 70 students have towards history, civics, and current events could be in my hands.

The one thing I was nervous about before I came to Lebanon had nothing to do with wars or social unrest or living in the Middle East; I was nervous about teaching. Sure, I spent the summer trying to teach myself to teach, but I've never received any formal training or earned any teaching certificates that are usually required. I would have been just as nervous if I was taking on the responsibility in the States. Lebanon lacks standards that America and most other countries have to prevent inexperienced people like me from being hired. Before I came here, I saw a frontpage story on Lebanon's main English news site that began: "A lack of guidelines and assessment regulations is leading Lebanese high schools to become saturated with under-qualified teachers..." So yes, I am one of those villainous under-qualified teachers saturating a Lebanese high school. But I take it as a challenge to prove that I am capable.

I received a lot of helpful advice from the more experienced teachers. Almost all of it regarded classroom management and the need to start the year as a strong and strict authoritarian. This seemed to reinforce a feeling I sometimes had as a student that some teachers care more about wielding power than inspiring interest, which can make learning seem like a chore. Now I understand that sometimes it is necessary to start strict because you can always lighten up later, but if you start the year too friendly and relaxed then you cannot become stricter later. The principal's philosophy is that you should always strive to be respected and never to be loved because if the students respect you they will end up loving you more because they will learn more than with a friendly teacher who is too accommodating.

The principal and many of the teachers have a rule that students must stand when they enter the classroom. So this morning after I greeted students at the door by handing them an assignment to begin, I walked to the front of the classroom and asked: "Do you stand when your other teachers enter the room?" Slightly panicked faces looked up from their assignments as the students awkwardly scrambled to their feet. I paused for a few seconds, expressionless, as I scanned the room with my eyes. "You may be seated." In that moment, my nerves disappeared and I knew I was in control.

Some of the 34 students in my 10th grade class were talking instead of working on the assignment while I passed out name tags and answered questions, but I will have to be strict with them. They should get the message when I deduct points from the assignments they failed to complete because they didn't care to use their time properly. I probably would have been horrified by the previous sentence if I had seen it 5 years ago, and now I can't believe I'm in the position where I feel it is justified.

I originally thought my 12th graders would be mixed in with my 11th graders since there are only 3 of them, but now I am teaching them separately and it will probably be my favorite class. Up until this year, the school only taught through 11th grade, but Lebanon's education standards changed. So now I get to teach them a completely new curriculum based on their needs and interests. We had a good discussion today, basically sitting around and talking about what topics might be fun to study.

A Little Fun Before the First Day of School

2011-09-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

Monday, we had our first faculty meeting. The principal scolded us for being "60 times worse than the students" because we couldn't finish a simple task in silence as we had been instructed. Once we had reviewed some school bureaucracy and rules, we debated whether or not the students should be allowed to wear Birkenstocks (I didn't know what they are, but apparently they are 'classy' sandals). Students here are required to wear uniforms and may not wear head coverings, nail polish, or excessive makeup. Students may not talk politics and, new this year, the staff room must be politics-free for the first month. One expectation I am secretly looking forward to is that students should stand up when I enter the classroom as a sign of respect. I am writing on my syllabus that they have the option of clapping, cheering, and chanting my last name as well, a la The Colbert Report.

Tuesday, I visited downtown Beirut with two fellow American teachers. Here are some pics:

Martyr's Square has many layers of history, from resistance against the Ottomans during
WWI to 21st century protests. The bullet-riddled statue has survived civil war and foreign
intervention, but stands as a testament to the perseverance of the Lebanese people.

"Downtown" is the name of a district in the city that has many high-end shops. It was
reconstructed intensively after the civil war and seems European with a Lebanese touch.

Downtown Beirut's central square has a clocktower surrounded by wide pedestrian streets.
The tower contains a 4-faced Rolex clock. Behind it is the blue-roofed Hariri Mosque.

The "Corniche" is a pedestrian promenade that runs for several miles along the city's coast.
I saw many runners there and I hope to run there too even though it's a half hour by bus.

Sunday Church in the Middle East

2011-09-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

Fellow international teachers gather to sing "Happy Birthday"

Sunday the international teachers were invited to headmaster's home (which is also inside the school) for a lunch in honor of the French volunteer's birthday. We also played a rousing game of Taboo.

Rainbow seen from our window.

In the evening, some of us went to a church called "Tent of Praise". It was in the redone basement of a shopping center, complete with a stage where a band rocked Christian music before the service. It seemed like a typical charismatic Baptist service to me, except for most of it was in Arabic. Luckily they had headphones with English translations - we were the only non-Arabic speakers present. There were banners and pictures with traditional Christian symbols like crosses and doves and fire, but they were embroidered with Arabic script. Participating in this worship service made me think of comments I heard in America about people in the Middle East hating Christians. But this faith community is thriving in Lebanon along with about a third of the country who also identify as Christian. And if I hadn't been in church with them, I wouldn't have been able to guess their religion if I saw them on the street. They are just the same as everyone else.

Where Do We Go Now?

2011-09-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we saw a Lebanese movie called Where Do We Go Now?. It hasn't been released in the US yet, but if you can find it I highly recommend it to anyone interested Lebanon or Christian-Muslim relations in general. It is about women in a remote Lebanese village who go to extreme measures to prevent the men from starting a religious conflict. It is lighthearted and funny but also poignant and dramatic.

An adjacent church and mosque are a common sight in Lebanon.
In "WhereDo We Go Now?" they are sources of both division and unity.

People here are excited because last weekend it beat out big Hollywood pics to win the fans' choice award at the Toronto Film Festival and has a good chance of winning an Oscar. All the more impressive is that nearly the entire cast is composed of nonprofessional actors who really live in the remote area where the movie was filmed. We were shocked when we found this out afterwards because the movie is so well done.

This film is an important representation of Lebanon because the country is about two-thirds Muslim and one-third Christian, and the government's structure institutionalizes the religious divide (in which Muslims are also divided between Sunni and Shia). For the most part, groups have coexisted peacefully for centuries except for occasional periods of bloodshed such as Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Today, there is still a pervasive concern that political disagreements could escalate into religious war if people do not diligently pursue peace.

Although I must be careful talking about sensitive topics like religion and politics, I am looking forward to class discussions on such issues because we are a Christian school but most of the students are Muslim.

So Far, So Good

2011-09-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

The past several days have been tiring but fun. Now that it's set up, here are some pics of my flat:

Thursday, one of the other teachers took me down to the cafeteria to meet some of my students who were here for summer school. They are old enough that I felt like I was meeting freshmen at Ohio Wesleyan. An American girl told me that she and her brother lived in the Middle East (Egypt, Jordan, Syria) their whole lives because their parents are missionaries and they were attending school for the first time after being home-schooled. One of the teachers told me later that they had fled Syria last year to escape persecution.

Later Thursday, I went for a 45-minute run. Hills and traffic are a challenge, but there are great views of the mountains, the city, and the sea.

View of the city and sea from a bridge over the highway next to our school.

We took a school van to the grocery store, which was very similar to American stores. One happy exception: fresh-baked bread. I bought a loaf of whole grain and was going to make a sandwich but ended up eating half of it plain because it was so good.

Lunch at a restaurant near our school. I ate a labneh (Lebanese yogurt)
sandwich and the girls ate mankoushe (sauceless Lebanese pizza).

Friday night we attended a house party for the international volunteers hosted by a couple of teachers. Their daughter asked some of us if we wanted to sneak off to watch the season premier of "Glee" during its first airing on Lebanese television. We accepted the invitation, and then I found out that the daughter will be one of my students as well. She and her parents lived in America for 4 years and she plans to go to college in the US, but she says she wouldn't want to live there because Lebanon is her home.

En route to the house party farther up in the mountains.

First 24 Hours in Lebanon

2011-09-21T13:40:00.001-07:00

After over 24 hours traveling, I've just completed my first 24 hours in Lebanon.

Coast of Israel. I wish I could visit! Unfortunately,
I would be banned from Lebanon and most Arab
countries if I had an Israeli stamp in my passport.
6 different people checked my passport
when I arrived.

The West Bank (Israeli-occupied Palestine)

So far, the Arab people have been very friendly. A Palestinian med student started talking to me during my layover in Amman. I asked him what he thought would happen with Palestine's impending bid for statehood at the UN. I told him that most Americans don't understand the Israel-Palestine situation. Our leaders would contradict American values by refusing to endorse Palestinian statehood, but they would do veto it anyways because they are politically weakened by special interests. He told me the ultimate consequence would probably be war. I asked why and he shrugged. People just see war as a natural when they are stuck in a cycle of hate and have no alternative for survival. But he assured me that he respected all religions and emphasized love instead of hate.

Desert in Jordan near Amman Airport. Luckily, Lebanon has no deserts
and is more fertile than most of the Middle East!

On my flight to Beirut, I sat next to a Jordanian businessman who studied at Purdue. When I told him I'm from Ohio, he praised Midwesterners as "humble," "hardworking", "conservative", and "more honest". He referred to the East Coast as "snobs". He told me I would love Beirut but he said that in the Arab world, Lebanon is also known its snobs ("preoccupied with appearances and showing off"). It was interesting to hear his perspectives but I will try not to pass judgment myself.

Downtown Beirut viewed from the Damascus Highway.

The other volunteers are very friendly and seem like a fun group, which is good because in addition to working together we will also be sharing a living space. Our apartments are directly above the school's office so we literally live in the school. Our rooms could appropriately be described as larger, nicer dorms. But I'm not complaining because it's free housing! We share a large living room and a kitchen with a beautiful view. My room has its own sink and luckily there is only one other male volunteer and two bathrooms reserved for males so there is one for each of us!

View from our kitchen.

Since I was the last volunteer to arrive, we had a meeting this evening where we each summed up our lives in 5 powerpoint slides. The US is well represented (Oregon, Florida, Alabama, Massachusetts, DC...) as well as England, France, Sweden, and South Africa. Next we drove downtown for dinner. Parts of Beirut are very cosmopolitan and reminiscent of Europe. Unfortunately, because it was night and we were driving, my pictures of downtown were just blurry lights. We got sandwiches from a shop called Barbar and I ate a delicious chicken shawarma.

Fellow teachers enjoy shawarmas downtown.

Later, one of the girls offered to go jogging with me. She showed me where to go to avoid heavy traffic, but hills will be impossible to avoid. At least they offer a pleasant view!

Preflight Expectations

2011-09-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Minutes before departing for the airport, I am anxiously looking forward to meeting new people, experiencing a charming culture, tasting renowned cuisine, and visiting beautiful and historic places. Even though I have never met any of the people I will be working with in person, and even though the politics of the region seem chaotic, I'm not very nervous. Other teachers from the school, especially my predecessor, have been extremely helpful giving me advice. I followed local news via dailystar.com.lb all summer. I've done enough research about Lebanon that I should feel comfortable finding my bearings when I get there. But I still expect surprises; you can only learn so much from books, websites, and videos - there is nothing compared to actually being in a new place!

My three flights (Cleveland-Chicago-Amman-Beirut) will take over 22 hours including layovers.

Thanks to Ohio Wesleyan's "Theory to Practice" program, I had the privilege of traveling to Pakistan, Bosnia-Herzogovina, and China with some amazing friends. One of the most significant take-aways from all these experiences is that while the media exploits the smallest hints of conflict and obsesses over fringe groups, most people are focused on going about their daily lives, providing for themselves and their families, and hoping for a peaceful, prosperous future. This is as true of the United States as it is of the other places I have visited. We have our own share of crazies and criminals in America. No place is perfect. But most people are decent and make an honest living. I am confident that despite the news stories we may hear from the region, it is true of Lebanon as well.

Aerial Pic of Beirut: The school where I will be teaching is in the suburbs southeast of Beirut. It appears
to be in a very hilly area between the hot Mediterranean coast and the cooler Lebanon mountains.

Lebanon was a major tourist destination in the '60s before it was ravaged by war. The country still retains many of the draws it had then - a more liberal culture than most of the Middle East; a relatively strong middle class (besides Palestinian refugees); ancient historical sites including Roman ruins and Crusader castles; a lush and diverse terrain including sunny beaches, snow-capped mountains, fertile valleys, and cedar forests; and a temperate Mediterranean climate in which its is sometimes supposedly possible to spend the morning skiing in the mountains and the afternoon sunbathing on the beach. In recent years, tourism has risen again and the New York Times picked Beirut as its #1 tourist destination in 2009. So I am cautiously optimistic that my two years in Lebanon could feel more like an long vacation than a job in a former war zone. Nevertheless, I will be careful - as I would be anywhere.

Thanks for all the well-wishes and prayers I've been receiving! I can't wait to update you when I get settled in!

The Decision: Why Teach in Lebanon?

2011-09-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

I have a long-term career objective of influencing and representing America's foreign policy, perhaps by joining the U.S. Foreign Service as a diplomat. My goal is to be in a position where I can help make progress on some of the inter-related challenges that are facing our global community - including security, development, and sustainability. However, international relations is a difficult field to break into. A graduate degree and international professional experience are necessary for most jobs.

So in April, while I was agonizing over whether to go straight to grad school or to gain professional experience first, I decided to look at international job listings. I focused on the Middle East because of its diverse and fascinating cultures, the opportunity to learn Arabic through immersion, and my interest in U.S.-Muslim world relations. Misunderstandings between Americans and citizens of Muslim-majority countries are among the worst in the world. Yet mutual understanding and cooperation are vital to international stability - especially in light of the current wave of democratization we know as the "Arab Spring". A couple years working in the Middle East could give me valuable insight into perspectives and ways of life that America's citizens and policy-makers desperately need to understand. And on the grassroots level, I could make a real difference through people-to-people interactions as an unofficial American ambassador.

Lebanon is in the heart of the Middle East, a fascinating region most Americans don't understand.
Yet building mutual understanding and cooperation are vital to global peace and prosperity.

On idealist.org, I found a job listing in Lebanon at an English-immersion school founded by Christians. The teaching position was for 9th-11th grade history, geography, and civics. This listing excited me because I could make a positive impact in the lives of young people by teaching subjects I am passionate about. There is no silver bullet that can solve the challenges of security, development, and sustainability, but education is one of the most promising tools we have. I also felt called to this position because of the school's values and the opportunities I would have to continue my faith journey. I was even invited replace my predecessor as faculty advisor to a student organization focused on faith and service - similar to groups I was involved in at Ohio Wesleyan.

I was ready to commit to two years of teaching when I was presented as the top candidate for a phone interview with the headmaster. One of the questions I asked him was about the "athletics" team listed on the school's outdated website. His response: "Well, we have some students who can run but we don't have anyone to coach them." So of course I volunteered! That sealed the deal.

Last Supper at Smith: I'll miss my OWU teammates dearly, but at least
I can continue running with a new team - this time as the coach.

As though through divine providence, I was invited to continue many of the same endeavors that enriched my life so much at Ohio Wesleyan: learning about cultures and history, expressing my faith through fellowship and service, and running with a team. But this continuity is also a transition toward maturity: the student becoming the teacher, the disciple becoming the mentor, the athlete becoming the coach.

Welcome to My Blog!

2011-09-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this site is to keep my family and friends updated during my adventures as a history teacher in Lebanon. I will share my thoughts and experiences as I adapt to Middle Eastern culture and as I encounter new and challenging perspectives. My intention is for this blog to be interactive, so ask me questions and share your thoughts as well!