Paradise Now

I just finished watching Paradise Now, and again wow! This movie was very powerful, I almost cried haha. The movie was well done, and I think it would be extremely easy to show for a large group of students. Paradise Now would be an amazing way to actually get to the heart of the issue.
Something that really fascinated me was the preparation the two main characters went through before the initial mission. They were to be cleanshaven, they both got haircuts, dressed in nice suits, and prayed. I thought it was interesting on why they were to be so clean, so polished. My thought process led me to believe that because they viewed the mission as something to be honored, and important, they had to be clean just like when they pray. I remember from our trip to the Mosque that it is extremely important to be clean before you worship. Maybe that is the religious connection?
However, I have to note that I completely disagree with Martyr missions. Suicide is a horrible thing - wether the victim commited suicide out of personal issues, or something like this. I think any suicide mission is a horrible way to try to bring change into a country - killing yourself to kill other people, all to hopefully bring a positive change to the bombers own people, and death and destruction to the other side. Suicide Missions are like terrorism 101, it doesnt matter how 'honorable' you think it is! Suicide, and suicide missions are completely hypocritical to any religion! First of all, your killing yourself, which is a sin if I ever heard one, and killing other people, ditto.
I think Paradise Now would be good to show to older students, ones that could handle the serious subject matter of suicide bombings. I really enjoyed the film, I felt like the story was really easy to get hooked on, I was glued to the screen the entire time!

War in the Land of Egypt

Okay, first off, let me apologize on not making this blog sooner - honestly I completely didn't realize I never blogged about it!
All I can say about this story is wow! I loved it.
I think that my favorite part was how the novel was written. It was very clever, and actually did a better job engaging me into the story than most of the others have. Having the story told from different perspectives is a huge symbol in itself - It makes me think of the movie "Vantage Point". Because your getting so many sides of the story, it really depends on your own personal beliefs which perspective you like the most, or you found to have the most impact/truth etc... Also, the fact that all the characters perspectives were from different social classes also made the different points of view more unique.
But perhaps the most compelling part of the story was the issue that the speaker in class brought up (well one of them). The fact that the main character, had no perspective. This is a HUGE literary 'technique', if you will. This emphasizes how much of a symbol Masri really is. Masri symbolizes the average Egyptian, and the struggles that the majority of them have felt close to home.
Putting the characters and symbols aside, though, you really get to the meat of the novel. War in the Land of Egypt is about corruption and the awful things said majority has to fight for (and against) everyday of their lives. The title doesn't really mean an actual war that Egypt is fighting, the war is internal. People are fighting against huge enemies in their own country, like the government. Its no easy feat.
All in all, I thought the novel was extremely well-written, a great read. Also, had a lot of good symbolism and techniques I really liked.

Gold Dust

After reading the novel Gold Dust, I can really admit that I wasn't a big fan of the book. This may be because I missed out on the discussion on Tuesday, after reading other people blogs I thought that I missed a good class period! :( But, I guess I should go on and blog about my feelings toward the book.
Honestly, to me the book started out pretty slow, I just couldn't get into it. I was just thinking "Alright..a boy and his camel..." and really couldn't get out of the slump. But after completing the novel and reading some blog posts on it I can obviously make the connection between Ukhayyad and his piebald. Ukhayyad is completely devoted to his camel, he loves him like nothing else. This is very apparent in the beginning. I thought that the major reason he was so devoted to this camel wasn't the fact that he had been given the camel at a young age by an important elder, but rather the fact that the camel's breeding was so 'high-end' if you will...basically is pedigree was amazing. In the beginning, at least.
However, after finishing and reflecting on the whole novel. I could see that the bond between Ukhayyad and his camel was much more than that. If he could, I'm sure Ukhayyad would have done anything to make his camel not feel any pain, or suffer under any circumstance. Unfortunatley he may have realized this himself a little late, seeing as I view his piebald Mahri getting sick with mange to be a punishment to Ukhayyad for all of his sleeping around with girls in other places...But thats just me. But, if anything the piebald's sickness became something like a catalyst - it heightened Ukhayyad's devotion to his camel, and the two became stronger than ever.
Again, a little slow at first, but overall a good read.

Short Stories

After reading the two short stories, The Lawsuit, and A Long-Term Plan, I felt a little unsettled. I actually didn't really like either of these stories very much.
The First was about how sa young man recieves a lawsuit from a woman who used to be married to his father. The first problem I had with this story is that I was completely confused by the fact that the wife was so fine that her husband was marrying a much younger, more beautiful wife. Secondly, the brother dying in prison for throwing a lamp at his father seemed quite dramatic, even for a story, and then his father dying from stroke, then his mother dying. One right after the other.
Also, I didn't need to hear about this old womans beauty in the past. Over. and over.
I guess there was a moral to the story though, I took it as a 'what-goes-around-comes-around" type of lesson. She married an older man, possibly for money, stole the family's fortune, and then went off, tried to do it again, but failed. Lesson learned - Karma sucks.
The second story, about an old man in his seventies who is so used to loafing off everybody, not working, and being poor, becomes an overnight millionaire. He meets with a lawyer and the guy who is buying his house, and tries to tell them what exactly he is going to spend all his money on. After recieving a new haircut, shave, and suit, he is put up in a nice hotel, then seems to eat his way into a coma. And then most likely dies.
Can anyone say Irony?
What a great example of irony. A man finally makes himself the money and security he needs to live the remainder of his life peacefully, and he dies from overindulgence. Classic.

The Day of Ahmed's Secret

This story was not what I had expected from a childrens story at all, with the exception of the secret itself.
Normally, chuldrens stories in American are full of fantasy creatures, both great and horrible. Take for instance the most common children stories, like cinderella and snow white. The stories both teach lessons to children, and paint pretty pictures in little kids heads while doing so.
The Day of Ahmed's Secret, however did not. It was full of words that described the Middle East, carts, donkeys, crowded streets with merchants everywhere. At first glance the class and I thought this was part of the 'Arab Land' deal, but at closer inspection we realized that was not the case. The pictures held those things, indeed, but also showed people in modern clothing, cars, and streetlamps. No fairytale dragons, though. :)
The ending was very cute, how Ahmed went through the whole day so excited to share his secret, he wanted to wait untill he had the perfect timing. The secret being that he could finally write his name brought up another discussion - one about how old the boy is, and if the reason he is so excited to write about his name could be the fact that he is much older than originally thought. I, personally, thought that Ahmed was about 8 or 9, in which case it isnt that outlandish for a worker boy to just learn his name.

The Mosque

What an amazing experience! I am so happy I got to spend time at the Kalamazoo Islamic Center this past thursday. It was such an eye-opening experience. And I am so gracious that the Imam himself gave us our tour and answered any of our questions.

Taking a tour of the outside of the building was actually pretty cool, getting to see all the new rennovations and additions they are adding to the mosque. The architecture reminded me of the Taj Mahal, with all the pointy spires and dome-like points.

After that we went inside, and saw the main prayer room where the men pray, and also all the little classrooms they have for sunday schools. Also there was like two kitchens and two gathering halls. This place was wayyyy bigger than I thought.

About mid-way through we sat on the floor in what I think was the womens prayer room, and he explained to us how the Koran came to be and what it meant to his religion. You could totally see the passion he had held for his religion and what it meant to him. He broke through common misconceptions and stereotypes that most people have about Islam.

It was such an amazing learning experience and I suggest that everyone, no matter their religion, check out a Mosque.

You Just Cant Deny It

I loved the movie I was shown in class on Tuesday. It was called The Road To Love, and was a documentary on the homosexual lifestyle viewed from a Muslim perspective. At first I was shocked at the subject matter, but excited to learn how another culture accepts (or doesn't) homosexuality. 

I was surprised to learn that the documentary was the brain child of a heterosexual male. The opening scene depicts him standing on the very dangerous side of a balcony, with his girlfriend begging lovingly for him to come back to her. 

In the beginning he was very hesitant towards the men he interviewed, but that was understandable considering most wanted to hit on him. It started as a laughing matter, but then soon became a bigger issue when he was confronted by one of the interviewees about exactly why he chose such a subject. He had to have interest, more so than most 'heterosexual' men. 

Towards the end he did fall in love with another man, possible indirectly, causing his girlfriend to leave him...etc.

The film made me think about how, in my own culture, many things parallel, for instance hiding what your true sexuality is. While some are open about their sexuality, many are not, they fear themselves. Knowing that a majority of society wont accept you is brutal, hence why the main person in the film (forgot his name..) could have been in such a deep denial. But until he shed light upon he subject he might have unconsciously suppressed his sexuality. B

ut that's getting me started on the psychology of sexuality.

Anyway, another parallel was the fact about parents. I remember he asked directly if the parents of the person he was interviewing knew he was gay, to which the person said "Yes" He then asked if they accepted it, or something along those lines, and he said "No" with a laugh. That is like much of my friends back home. The parents know, but act like it isn't even happening. Denial, once again.

The film was extremely educational on a subject I think everyone should be more open too, in other cultures and my own. Acceptance is upon us, everyone just has to see what a commonality homosexuality is across cultures, but perhaps because so many people fear it, its one subject that will stay unaccepted for awhile longer. We have an African American president, a huge and positive leap for our country (breaking down walls of racism and prejudice), but hardly anyone can accept gay marriage? The happiness and love between two people, however, can still not be celebrated openly?  

Blood and Oil

Although I was not in the past class due to medical problems, I did see the e-mail, and watched the film ‘Blood and Oil’. I loved this film, the subject matter actually has always interested me. I have knows about the American’s addiction to oil, I see it everywhere. My mother works for the county back home, so she is always talking about oil prices with my father, but mainly just saying that she is lucky she doesn’t have to deal with them. I hear it from friends and family, and the media. With the ties to the Middle East, America has always just barged in and thought that what was there should rightfully be ours. This happened so much that eventually we wanted to use brute force to get said oil, which makes my own country seem like the big bully on the playground, get whatever we want at whatever cost, just step all over the little guys.

It shocked me to learn exactly how far though America went when it came to military force, like the whole establishment in Saudi Arabia. Also, how the Chinese and Russians were then brought into it, if we are so prepared to fight for our oil, imagine getting into it with the Chinese and Russians! All in all, this movie was very enlightening, and shows my country in a different light. I can also now understand a little more on why we are so involved in the Middle East. It all comes down to they have what we want, oil!