Years that ask questions

Just before I left for Chicago, a dear friend gave me a box of quotes, pictures and fun facts, one for each day of the upcoming year. The other day my fun fact was that “the average 4 year old asks over 400 questions a day.”

After working with the Kindergarten class, I would believe it. The kids are super adorable

and full of curiosity. Now most of the time I don’t actually understand what questions are being asked, as they are usually in Arabic. Ok, they are always in Arabic. Sometimes I can figure out what the questions are, but usually not, so most of the time a question or statement is jabbered at me, a confused look passes over my face and the child scampers off to continue whatever they were doing.

This whole process can be pretty frustrating. The not being able to understand or respond or even communicate basic requests is challenging. But the beautiful thing is that it has taught me the universal language of high 5s, smiles and goofy faces. On these days it is amazing to simply be surrounded by the easy joy and amazement of children.

Yet, many times I end up feeling like the four-year old asking 400 hundred questions: “Shu hada?” (“What’s this?”). Shu ismek/ismak? (What’s your name (m/f)?). My questions are usually answered with a following response of laughter, rolled eyes and as much frustration and indignation as a 5-6 year old can muster when I totally butcher the pronunciation of the word they have told me.

But the questions continue outside of school as well as I continue to try to navigate around. Questions about where things are, questions about what things mean, questions about the culture, questions of how things work, questions of who people are and so on and so forth.

While sometimes all of these questions are frustrating and I am often left with more questions than answers, there is a great joy in learning again to look with the inquisitive eyes of a 4 year old. To question everything around me and find joy in discovering an answer.

I leave you with a quote that accurately describes this year for me, plus some pictures of cute children to make you smile.

There are years that ask questions and years that answer.

~Unknown

Big Strange Family

I don't think of it as
working for world peace,
she said.
I think of it as just trying to get along in a
really big strange family.
(StoryPeople)

We have been here for a week and a half now, and it has been quite the experience. As we have started to orientate ourselves to this place, I have come to love the people, the places, and the food. Yet, in the midst of all of this orientation, I have spent a lot of time trying to understand what it happening around me. I struggle to grasp the language, the politics and the geography.

It is a challenge to find the words to share all of these experiences, and should the words be found it would have to be a really long blog. So, for now I will leave you with a story that has provided me with inspiration, hope and joy.

Today was my first day at Beit Sahour School, where I will be working for the next year. We spent a fair amount of time just hanging out in the library and doing a few random odd tasks, as we get more familiar with the school our jobs will become more clear. However, at one point I was asked to join an interview of a younag woman, 15 years old. The interview was for a chance to go to Poland for a conference about conflict resolution and I was asked to join because I was a native English speaker.

This young woman was asked to introduce herself and a few other questions but her answers to two of the questions stood out to me. The first was when one of the interviewers asked if she would have any problems working with Israelis or Jews, and her response was pretty simple, but also profound: “No, because they are humans too. It doesn’t matter what Israel’s policies are…They {the people she would be meeting} are just human beings.” She continued on to talk about wanting to share her story, and try to understand how they felt and why they felt the way they felt.

A bit later, she was asked how she would feel working with Muslims. Again, she responded similarly, and talked about “that if we believe that we are all from God” that we should “get to know each other and understand for ourselves.”

This young woman was only 15 years old, but in her words I found a light that I had forgotten as I struggle with the enormity of the challenges and struggles around me. My year here is not about solving the conflict, rather, it is about learning about and creating a new family.

Ahlan Wa-Sahlan

Whenever I go on a trip, I think about all the homes I've had & I remember how little has changed about what comforts me.
(StoryPeople)

We safely arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon after about 16 hours of travel. Jeff and Julie, our country coordinators, meet us in the airport and whisked us away to the Mountain of Olives (you’re jealous aren’t you?) where would be staying that night. After we found our rooms, we went to meet up with a bunch of wonderful people and looked out over the city, saw the Dome of the Rock, played some volleyball, ate some delicious pizza, and finished the night with some worship.

The days in between our arriving and now, have been a bit of a blur. We have had 4 Arabic lessons, been to the Old City, ate a lot of falfel and hummus, drank a lot of tea, went to Yed Vashem (Israel’s Holocaust Memorial), played more volleyball, had an impromptu jam session,introduced myself fi arabi (ans ismi Alma) and so much more.

It has been busy, and sometime chaotic, but nevertheless it has been simply wonderful. There is a lot that is new and unfamiliar but within all that is constantly changing I find myself being constantly surrounded by things that are familiar. Our first night here we bonded over a game of volleyball. Our jam sessions and worships have included some of my favorite worship songs-“We are Called”, “Prince of Peace” and “Blessed be Your Name” to name a few.

However, one of the most comforting things has been the sense of welcome that I have felt. The title of this blog, “Ahlan wa Sahlan” is an Arabic phrase of welcome. According to my Arabic teacher it literally translates to “Family and Plain” which comes from “May our house be to you as if it were your family’s, as a flat plain where you walk easily and in security” or “You are among family.”

On Monday afternoon Laurin-Whitney(my roomie, aka LW) and I, got to move into our flat and meet our host mom, S. She welcomed us in, showed us our place, invited us up for tea and assured us if we needed anything we should just ask. Later that evening, we meet up with the rest of our group and another host family for supper. After we gorged, and I mean gorged these people know how to do food!, as we prepared to leave, S. pointed to us and said to the other host mother “These are my daughters.” We had known her less than 5 hours and we were already being introduced and welcomed in as family.

This is not uncommon. Everywhere we go we are deeply welcomed, and our attempts at Arabic are greeted with enthusiasm, even if we are barely muddling through. In an early e-mail that Julie sent to the other YAGM at my school and myself, she told us that the vice principal of the school had said “one week they'll be nervous and after that, they'll be family.” At the time I had doubted it a bit, but after 5ish days, I am not so skeptical anymore. As the busyness settles down, or at least takes on a new form, I am excited to continue to get to know this place and to grow in this family.

May you be among family and may you walk easily and in security.

Doorways

Today is the day. In just a few short hours, I will be getting in a shuttle to take me to O'Hare, then a flight to Frankfurt and finally to Tel Aviv.

As I stand in this doorway to this new adventure saying my final goodbyes, I recalled this quote from Alan Alda's book Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. It is a quote from part of his speech at his daughter's graduation from Connecticut College in 1980.

Deep in our hearts we know that the best things said come last. People will talk for hours saying nothing much and then linger at the door with words that come with a rush from the heart. Doorways, it seems, are where the truth is told. We are all gathered at a doorway today. It's the end of something and the beginning of something else. And my guess is there will be a lot of lingering at the door today with the hope that one of us will say something that will somehow express what can't be said in words.

We linger there with our hand on the knob chattering away like Polonius to Laertes. Now remember "neither a borrower nor a lender be"... and don't forget "This above all: To thine own self be true and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." But the very best things said often slip out completely unheralded and preceded by the words, "Oh, by the way."…..

Don't ever aim your doubt at yourself. Laugh at yourself, but don't doubt yourself. Whenever you wonder about yourself, look up at the stars swirling around in the heavens and just realize how tiny and puny they are. They're supposed to be gigantic explosions and they're just these insignificant little dots. If you step back from things far enough you realize how important and powerful you are. Be bold. Let the strength of your desire give force and moment to your every step. Move with all of yourself. When you embark for strange places don't leave any of yourself safely on shore. They may laugh at you if you don't discover India. Let them laugh. India's already there. You'll come back with a brand new America. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory. Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. It is not the previously known. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can't get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you're doing, but what you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself.

Well, those are my parting words as today's door closes softly between us. There will be other partings and other last words in our lives so if today's lingering at the threshold didn't quite speak the unspeakable, maybe the next one will.

The full text of the speech can be found here: Alan Alda Speech

Readjustment of Goals

It’s not a failure. Its just a readjustment of goals.
-Cindy McPeake

I don’t remember the exact context for this quote, but at some point during lunch as we were talking about failures, one of my fellow YAGM’s offered this wonderful piece of re-framing.

In the past week, as we have waited for visas and flight plans this has been incredibly helpful to remember. But, we have finally accurately readjusted our goals and we picked up our visas from the Israeli consulate yesterday and have flights booked from O’Hare on Saturday at 3:40 pm and arrive in Tel Aviv on Sunday at 3:00 pm.

I am so excited to finally have my visa in hand and a departure date. But this advice is something that I will carry with me for the next year as I encounter challenges and events that I perceive as failures. They are not failures, they are simply a readjustment of goals.