Highlights from DC

Just for a quick rewind, I was chosen as one of 12 freshmen to go to the Georgetown main campus in DC over Spring Break.  Our group was very diverse including people from:  Sudan, Afghanistan, Somolia, Bosnia, Qatar, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, and the US.

DAY 1

“DC, Here we come!”—Nada and I on the bus heading to the airport.

Top 5 Ways to Survive 14 Hours in the Air (and make everyone on your plane hate you at the same time):

Please Note:  I do not personally partake in any of these pastimes. 

5:  Find people who are using the complimentary eye-covering, sleep things.  Inconspicuously poke and prod them then stand back and watch as they fumble around drowsily trying to get the eye-thing off.  When they look up at you with beady, red eyes say, “Oh, I’m sorry.  I though you were my uncle” (especially if it is a woman).

4:  Go to the food and bathroom area where the flight attendants hang out and pretend to be doing your “In-flight Exercises”.  Shake, rattle, and roll making each exercise RIDICULOUS!  Block the bathroom doors if possible. 

3:  Traverse the plane several times seeing how many people you know—when you find someone you know, be obnoxiously excited to see them.  This is particularly entertaining if they are only a vague acquaintance.  If they are sleeping, be sure to wake them up just to say “hi”!

2:  “earthquakes”—shake the seat in front of you while yelling “earthquake”.  Repeat at various points throughout the flight, particularly if the said person appears to be sleeping.

1:  Go visit your chaperones in First Class—the appropriate time to make this visit is of course at the exact moment dinner is being served.  By timing this correctly, one simultaneously gets to . . .

A)    make the flight attendants move their little carts to the side of the aisle (something they hate almost as much as smiling)

B)   squish one’s rear end up against the person who just “had to have the aisle seat” in order to squeeze past the aforementioned cart.

C)   Bother one’s chaperones at precisely the moment when they’re trying to enjoy a nice bottle of Merlot.

So you get the point.  It was an interesting and exhausting 14 hours.  We arrived in DC at 7pm.  As you can imagine, getting through immigration and customs with a bunch of Arabs is no easy task.  Almost everyone in our group was stopped at customs—some for up to 2 hours!!!  Fortunately, my friends were with me when I got to customs.  We all handed him our passports, and he asked me if these people were with me.  I said, “Yes” and he just said, “welcome home” and didn’t stop any of them.  So we chilled in the airport while waiting for the rest of our group.  Of course, that was an interesting sight—5 Arabs and 1 white girl just plopped down in the middle of the airport.  People kept looking at us strangely as if we were terrorists or something.

DAY 2

A few much-needed hours of sleep later, we were up once again.  We set out for our true indoctrination into Hoya-ism—the Georgetown vs. Louisville Basketball Game!

We went all-out Hoya and painted our faces:

Nalani, one of the coolest Student Affairs people ever, didn't stop screaming the entire game.  I think she set a record or something...

The score was tied with 40 seconds left, and Georgetown’s star player hit an incredible 3-pointer leading Georgetown to victory!  Who-hoo!!!

DAY 3

The next day was our “monuments and museums” day. 

We visited the Holocaust Museum, which was very well done.  Then we walked around, and Dalal and I headed to the National Art Gallery. 

They had some INCREDIBLE art!!!  Being the art nerd that I am, I couldn’t resist snapping a few shots…

Randomly, there was this huge flower and fountain thing in the middle of the Gallery…Dalal LOVED it!

Later that evening, we set out to see the presidential monuments.  Apparently, the new “fashionable” thing to do is to see the monuments at night.  Hypothetically this would be really fun.  However, the temperature felt like about 0 degrees…

DAY 4

The next morning we headed to Georgetown University—the coolest University EVER!!!

Even the buildings are cool…

We spent the day attending sample classes and meeting with students and organization leaders to discuss connections with the Qatar campus.

DAY 5

Next Morning:  we were off to the capital…  We toured the capitol and met with a Congressman.  This fellow was deceivingly a “Republican” although his policy views were strongly un-Republican in my opinion.  Of course, what would you expect from a “moderate”… Ugh!

Later that evening, we passed out food to homeless men in one of DC’s less affluent areas as part of Georgetown’s Hoya Hope Project.  The goal of the evening was not only to pass out food, but also to talk to the men.  The guy I talked to characterized me as “a pale-faced, white girl”.  My friends were in hysterics when he said this because they LOVE giving me a hard time about how white I am!

DAY 6

We went to the Pentagon and met with the General who is the Director for the War on Terror.  She and her staff were interested to hear Arab perspectives on the situation in the Middle East.  Obviously, my perspectives weren’t Arab, but I was able to chime in with views from an American who knows Arabs and lives in an Arab society…

Unfortunately, we couldn’t take cameras into the Pentagon, so no pictures from this day.  =(  After this meeting, we met with CIA and State Department Agents.  Then, it was off to Vienna, Virginia for me.  I got to visit with Aunt Glenda, Uncle Stuart, Nate, and Ian for the evening.  Aunt Glenda made a great dinner, and Nate entertained me with several selections from his ever-growing piano repertoire.

DAY 7

After a short meeting with the Dean of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service to discuss the Qatar campus, we headed to Tyson’s Corner and SHOPPED, SHOPPED, SHOPPED!!!

DAY 8

We did some more last minute shopping, hung out, and made one last-minute run to CVS.  One of the most amazing things about the trip was CVS.  Seriously, folks, we went to CVS EVERY EVENING of the trip!!!  CVS is one of those places where you can always find something you need.  In fact, even if you don’t need anything, you are guaranteed to walk out with at least a new package of lip balm or gum—it’s just THAT tempting!

Anyway, if you cannot imagine how the plane ride was passed, please refer to the above list…  =)  Fortunately, it was only 12 hours this time thanks to the winds.  Arriving home again, I climbed into bed for a few hours before dragging myself up for my 8am Arabic class—that’s devotion, people!

We had some very fun, Worldview Academy guests all week, so I was busy just balancing school and guests!  Then, of course, Easter snuck up on us before I could even get a decent night’s sleep.  We had our usual Easter party and ate enough food/candy to hold us over to next Easter.  In fact, as I lay here on my bed typing this blog, my stomach and the pile of chocolate wrappers next to me are having a competition to see who can climb higher.  Currently, my stomach is in the lead, but it’s a tight race, and the wrapper pile might make a last minute pass.  I’ll leave you with that rather disturbing image.  =)

Rewind: Summer 2007

I know I'm a bit behind, but what better way to ring in the new year than a look at the Kent Family's 2007 summer extravaganza! Including never before seen footage and select pictures from College Station, Carlin, Reno, The Woodlands, The Lakehouse, Seattle, Juneau, Skagway, and Victoria among other places, this slideshow offers a picture for everyone (and pretty much of everyone too--that's my hint that it's LONG). Enjoy!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Dramatic Details from the World of Istanbul!

Headline 3: The Kent Girls Bare ALL for the Turkish Baths!

Yes, people. You read it here first. We simply couldn’t leave Turkey without experiencing the Ancient Baths!

To fully do justice to our experience, I must briefly flash back to a few weeks ago in Doha. We were discussing the baths, and Abby exclaimed, “I am not going nude. I’m wearing my swimsuit!” Mom responded with the classic quote, “It will be too embarrassing if we’re NOT nude!”

I want to know, since when is it LESS EMBARRASSING to be NUDE??? Seriously, what is this world coming to??

In any case, Abby opted out of the baths upon being threatened that she could not wear a swimsuit. Thus, Mom, Emily, and I set out to face the unknown. And in this case, the unknown quickly became a very frightening known!

We arrived at the baths and contemplated our “package options”. Mom chose the “massage” option while Emily and I much preferred the self-wash option. I have never liked massages. Ever. Up until this point, the experience progressed in a fairly normal way.

We went into the changing room and got our towels. Notably, it was rather awkward to completely undress, but cloaking ourselves in towels, we took the plunge. You must understand that Turkish Baths are nothing like regular baths. They are just a huge, heated marble slab on which one lies.

After quickly snapping the picture above, we walked around the corner to the baths and were completely SHOCKED! People weren’t wearing their towels—need I say more? Scooting around the edge of the room we perched precariously on the edge of the marble and just sat there half giggling, half feeling like running out of the room. One of the attendants growled at us, “Lie Down.” We responded in unison with a squeaky, “OK” and did as she asked.

Lying there staring up at the ceiling was the most awkward thing ever! And of course we looked completely ridiculous to all the Europeans because we kept our towels wrapped tightly!

Well, Mom got her massage, which I won’t go into detail about. As soon as it seemed appropriate to leave, we did so being more than anxious to escape that disgusting enclosure!

All in all, I will not return to the baths, and I suppose I can quote High School Musical and say of them, “How tribal!”

Headline 4: Speakin’ Espanol and Cruisin’ in the Snow

After a night of sleep haunted by the baths, we set out to take a Bosphorus Cruise. The conditions were slightly unorthodox to say the least—it was snowing like crazy! Fortunately, the snow let up for a moment so we could take this picture:

When we arrived at the docks, our boat didn’t set sail for an hour, so we scuttled into the nearest restaurant as quickly as possible. Our waiter was once again talkative—too talkative if you ask me. We had our drinks and then prepared to leave. Mom rushed off to the bathroom while Dad and Abby dashed outside to watch the snowfall. That left Emily and I sitting and talking to the waiter. As you know, I am not very friendly in such situations, and I didn’t disappoint in this moment. Emily, however, makes up for my un-enthusiasm with her overwhelming enthusiasm. She and the waiter were chattering away and something came up about Spanish. Well, you would have thought it was the most exciting coincidence in the world that they both spoke Spanish . . . they begin blabbering to each other and of course I have no idea what they are saying. Desperately wishing Mom would just hurry out of the bathroom so we could leave, I looked out the window. While I was thus occupied, however, “strange waiter” and Emily start motioning towards me and continue chattering with increased hand motions in my direction. So I’m thinking, “Oh this is just great…a strange Arab and Emily are talking about me in Spanish and I have no idea what they’re saying”. Awkward! Fortunately, it was at this moment that Mom re-entered the situation, and we quickly departed. You can imagine that I immediately bombarded Emily with questions about what was going on. Here is her version of part of the conversation:

Waiter: “How old is your sister?”
Emily: (accidentally misspeaking my age) “seventeen”
Waiter: “NO WAY! I am eighteen.”
Emily: “Umm… oh.”
Waiter: “You and your sister are very pretty and nice.”
Emily: “Umm…thank you.”

AWKWARD!

Dashing away as quickly as possible, we boarded the boat glad to be out of the way of the waiter and the snow. Once onboard, we whiled away the ride taking pictures and looking out the windows and the various castles dotting the shoreline.

We got off at a little village very near the mouth of the Black Sea. It was SO COLD and snowy!

After looking around the town momentarily (and there was nothing to see) we hurried into a little restaurant for lunch.

That was basically all there was to do in the town besides a hike, which it was far too cold and snowy to attempt. So we wandered around, took some pictures and then got back on the ferry to enjoy the beautiful ride home. Emily became grouchy as can be seen in this lovely picture:

Back at the hotel, we took warm showers and became unfrozen for the first time that day.

Headline 5: Freezing Weather, Frightening Terrorists, and Frantic Flights

Our last day in Istanbul began with a bang. Dad left early in the morning to catch his flight to the states for business, so it was just the lively Kent ladies wandering the streets.

During breakfast we read the news and found out about a bombing in Istanbul and another in rural Turkey. “Oh, great,” we thought. “This is the last thing we need today.” Apparently, there had also been a terrorist threat to blow up tourist sights in the city. The Turkish government took this warning to heart because there were police with huge machine guns EVERYWHERE! We weren’t sure whether to be re-assured by this measure as it was undertaken for our safety or to be distressed that it was necessary in the first place. I chose option one because fretting unnecessarily would do no good.

We determined to attempt the city tour, so off we went. When we boarded the bus, Mom insisted on going to the top, which was not heated.

It was extremely cold, and the snow came in torrents and melted upon landing, so there was the added bonus of being slightly wet as well as extremely cold. The city tour was good nonetheless. Our visibility was almost nothing, but we enjoyed what we cold see. At one particular point at which we could literally see NOTHING, Mom remarks, “I’m glad we sat up here on top so we could have a panoramic view.” Through chattering teeth, I responded, “Oh yes, because we are seeing SO much…”

After the tour we set out for Starbucks, and I can honestly say that this was the coldest I have EVER felt! Wet, Snowy, Windy. The conditions were murderous! At one point, my hair molded to my hood rather interestingly. It is slightly difficult to see in this picture, but I’ll post it anyway.

Notice I am not smiling in the above picture. Yes, it was that bad!

Around four in the afternoon, we headed to the airport and a long process of getting home ensued. After surviving almost missed flights and strange seat partners, we pulled into Al Fardan Gardens II at 4:30am. It had been a long day, but we were home. Home until the next great adventure. The End.

Philosophizing with Socrates

Let's see, I left you as we were about to head for the airport. Let it suffice to say a lot has happened in between now and then.

My super-cool new backpack:


In the Doha Airport at 3:00AM! Woo-hoo!:


Abby's chillin':

We survived the flights, only because we flew Emirates to have Video-on-demand. Seriously, no other airway even comes close to matching Emirates high-quality service and entertainment options. (If this was an Emirates commercial, this is the part where the head dude would come on and say, "They're flying Emirates. Why don't you?"...

We got to Athens, searched out the apartment to drop off our stuff and then dashed out into the city for dinner. After dinner, we walked around our area.

Of course, one cannot stay in Athens without philosophizing:


Abby and I enjoyed pretending to be eskimos:


After getting some sleep, we started afresh this morning. Figuring out which direction to go can be difficult. Fortunately, however, we have several people looking at the map (and one guy in the backgroud doing something questinable??):


We finally arrived at the National Archaeological Museum:


We saw this amazing statue, which I remembered from my High School Humanities textbook:

So Dad says, "Do you know how we can tell these guys have been working out?" We reply, "How?" He giggles, "Because they have stone hard bodies...". Wow, Dad. That's all I can say, Wow.

Yay! I found Zeus's head!:


I said, "Mom, stand next to the head and I'll take your picture." Instead of just standing next to it, however, she started hugging it or something...the guard was like, "MADAM! STOP! DO NOT TOUCH THE STATUES!" Haha.:


Next, we headed to the Ancient Agora where Socrates would sit and philosophize. If Socrates philosophized there, we couldn't be left out... Here are a few of our shots in the Agora:



Emily found this interesting Corinthian column, which spawned the creation of her new theory on Greek columns, specificully columns of the Doric Order. Check out her interesting, if a bit specious, theory on her blog (emilykent.blogspot.com).


We then made the hike up to the Temple of Hephaestus, picured in the background of this shot:

While we were up at the Temple, my family basically tried to eliminate me from the picture. Emily and Mom dragged us into this wooded area, and I had a terrible allergy attack (I mean a serious attack here, people). They didn't even seem to care, but when I finally managed to lure them back out into the open ground, Emily "credit-carded" me right as I was on the edge of the cliff so I almost fell off. I think they were secretly trying to make me fall off while I was at my weakest as my eyes poured from the allergies...

Here are a few shots of us with the Acropolis in the background:



Finally, we diecided to grab dinner at a quaint, Greek taverna. I ordered a simple salad, nothing fancy. Soon after we ordered, they brought us a large salad, and Mom thought it was complimentary with our meals. My family quickly downed the entire salad. When our food came, however, there was no salad, and we realized they had eaten mine. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled. This picture shows us in from of the taverna with Emily and Abby grinning while I pout:


I think that's all the happenings so far. It's been amazing, and I've got to get to bed because tomorrow we're hitting the Acropolis!