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.  =)

"The Apple of my I"

I hit the books again this week.  Yep, that means dusting off those notepads and pulling out the rusty Arabic vocabulary.  However, rather than bore you with excruciatingly predictable comments on “the first week of school,” I’ve decided to utilize this moment to bring you a random but fun “school secret.”

I have always been overjoyed at the fact that my name contains the letter “I”.   For one little line, it is a remarkable letter!  There are endless possibilities in the “dotting” of one’s “I”.  I have experimented open-mindedly but usually end up back at the classic "heart" for a dot.  If you are wondering what this has to do with the school secret, don’t lose faith yet.  For you see, I liked my writing class a lot in Junior High.  For several years, we focused on creative writing, which involved tenacious vocabulary expansion.  Now I don’t mind telling you I had a fairly good vocabulary.  The embarrassing part is that this vocabulary expansion was in part fueled by my desire to find new, exciting words containing plenty of “I’s” for dotting with hearts.  Yes, I was known for slipping in an unnecessary use of “ubiquitous” just so I could dot both “I’s” with hearts and make a curvy little “q”.  Even in Latin class, I would choose to write sentences with words requiring “I”.  This was rather clever of me even though it was pretty dippy.  The only problem with my mastermind determination in this area was that Joey figured out what I was doing from the beginning.  And he was relentless in his teasing about things such as this.  His persistent banter about my strange obsession drove me to give up the quest for “I” words.  Thus, if my vocabulary has dwindled from its former mélange of meaningful expressions, I know whom to blame.

So, the school secret of the day is indeed the letter “I,” which has always been the “apple of my ‘I’”—sorry for that rather ridiculous pun, I just couldn’t resist.  :-)

In other news, my past two posts appear to have been extremely full of foresight.  For you see, this week I was treated to that odious—oh, excuse me.  Did I say odious?  I meant edible of course . . . wink, wink.—brew which my mother is so very fond of.  Yes, the resplendent halls of our villa overflowed with a whiff of broth (note the sarcasm as this broth obviously has no flavor or scent).  In any case, I slurped it up like a four-year-old with a slushy.

My post prior to the one on stew also becomes rather ironic given the times.  It was, as I am sure you remember, concerned with “The Road to Plato’s Academy”.  Well, I have once again departed down this highway of knowledge over the past few days.  In my Political and Social Thought class, we are reading none other than Plato’s own little devil, The Republic. 

Interesting read altogether, but I am most fervently troubled by Plato’s view of human nature.  I seem to have an uncanny knack for finding “human nature” discussion questions.  When I brought up the subject in class today, my querulous classmates bemoaned my persistence on the subject, asking if I “try to find human nature problems in everything we read”.  I responded that one’s view of human nature is key to one’s worldview.  It becomes a question that merits scrutiny no matter what text one is reading.  With an apathetic groan, my ever-intrepid classmates acquiesced to my request, and I had my say about what I consider Plato’s huge fault.  While he acknowledges that humans are driven by “appetites” and “desires” for unworthy things, he tries to find a remedy within the human saying that each human being contains a “divine spark” of goodness which must be enkindled into a full flame of goodness.  In this soul, according to Plato, Reason would rule and all other “desires” would serve Reason.

Now I could go into a loquacious tome on the problems with considering Reason the highest good, but I really must get back to actually reading Plato instead of writing about it, so I will be brief.  Can one really suggest that a disillusioned soul (seeking fulfillment of its appetites and desires) would find something better on its own or even within itself???  That is what Plato is suggesting, is it not?  That humans have the divine spark (of Reason) within them and that they can enkindle it?  While Plato astutely realized the human condition to be plagued by a problem, an imperfection, he couldn’t see beyond the human.  He looked for the answer within the human instead of within God.  And it just doesn’t work like that.

OK, enough fun for now . . . back to my innumerable readings.

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

My Big Fat Greek Vacation

Where to begin...I haven't written in a few days because we have been running around like crazy! We don't get home until the evening, and I go to bed uncharacteristically early when traveling (Mollie will remember the "travel schedule").

On our second day in Athens, we explored the Acropolis. It was amazing!


The Theatre of Dionysios was one of my favorite parts. This past semester I studied quite a bit of Athenian Drama from the Festival of Dionysios. Thus, I was enthralled with the theatre as I imagined the Trial of the Dog in "The Wasps" or Clytemnestra's cold-blooded murder of Agamemnon! I couldn't believe I was actually seeing the place I had been imagining for so long!



My family finally managed to drag me away from the theatre even though I wanted to stay and re-enact the entire Oresteia! We made the hike up to the Acropolis, and let me tell you, it was quite a hike! As she panted up the slope, Emily exclaimed, "If I was climbing all this way to pray for something, I would expect to get what I was praying for. This is exhausting!" I agreed with Emily, but then, I've never liked having to over-exert myself. :-)

When we got to the top, we rested for a moment on the steps of the gate before heading inside:


Once through the gate, it was SO windy! We feared we might be blown away! Despite the wind (and ongoing restoration efforts), the Parthenon was majestic. I could imagine it in all its glory years ago!



After running around on the Acropolis a bit more, we explored the Temple of Zeus, which was very impressive. As you can see in the picture below, only a few of the once 104 columns remain, but they are enough to convey a sense of awe at what was once there.

If nothing else, we are certainly learning a lot about columns. :-) Oh yes, we can now tell you all about the Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, etc. You may have even read Emily's theory on Doric Columns on her blog.

We finished our day with a trip to the Parliament Building. Now I have an interesting history with guards of this type. When we go to take a picture with them, I always want to say something because it's too awkward not to say anything. In London, I went up to the guard and said, "Hello," but my family claims it was not a normal hello, but a very strangely pronounced hello. In any case, this meeting went off slightly less ridiculously because I focused on saying "Hi" in a normal voice.


The guards do a strange little dance, which is pretty entertaining expecially when coupled with their "traditional outfits." Mom says we shouldn't laugh at their outfits since that's "culturally insensitive of us." We really can't help being a bit mirthful about it, however. Lest you think me "culturally insensitive," I shall not make any direct statement regarding the outfits, and you may make your own judgment based on the picture below.

Thus ends Day 2.

Day 3 began early in the morning with another ride on the Metro. I shall grant the Metro to be intriguing even if it is rather disgusting in every other respect. Label me as a snob if you must, but I am not particularly fond of squishing myself into an enclosed compartment with a large group of people all the while moving at disconcerting speeds underground. Nevertheless, the Metro has made our visit to Athens much easier than it might have been, and I am grateful for that.


Once reaching the port of Pireas, we boarded a ferry for Aegina and an hour later landed in "Aegina Town." Yes, they're rather ingenuitive when it comes to naming...I mean, "Aegina Town," that's deep. :-)



After eating at an adorable cafe where we sat on the veranda overlooking the port, we contemplated our options for exploration. I was at first in favor of hitting the museums and such as usual. Emily, however, nearly had a breakdown claiming, "We always have to visit the nerdy, educational sights!" Lest we lose Emily's attention, we determined something other than museums would have to be attempted. Thus, we arrived at the idea of renting mopeds and exploring the island. Unfortunately, Mom had forgotten her driving license at the apartment in Athens, so she couldn't rent one. I found that very ironic--they rented a moped to the 16-year old girl who told them she'd never driven a motercycle (me), but they refused to rent one to the 46-year-old woman with years of driving experience (Mom). I was a bit nervous because I generally only do very safe, normal things (like museums). I knew Emily would be extraordinarily disappointed if we didn't do this, though, so I threw caution to the wind (literally because it was intensely windy on that island!)Dad took Abby on the back of his moped, and I had Emily for a passenger. It was quite a frightening experience because the driving on the island lacked regulations to say the least. People kept nearly running us over as they insistently passed at the most inconvenient moments. As if this passing and watching for traffic wasn't enough to keep me busy, we were also driving along a twisty road on the edge of a cliff looking into the water. It was incredibly beautiful and scenic, but you can imagine the stress of such an undertaking! Fortunately, half-way through the drive we at least got into the mountains where it was steep but less cliffy. Despite all of this pressure and stress, the mopeding was quite an experience, and we had a BLAST!



The day ended with this lovely sunset as we floated back to Athens on the ferry:


Today is our last day in Athens. We briefly hit the town to explore the Ancient Cemetary and the National Gallery of Art, but those pictures will have to wait for another day because I think I've done plenty of blogging for one day. We have LOVED every minute here, and I think Dad speaks for all of us when he says, "I've kind-of fallen in love with Greece myself." Now we're back at the apartment packing up and getting ready for the 12-hour overnight train ride to Istanbul, Turkey. Emily is going to be my sleeping car partner, so I'm sure I'll have many interesting stories to tell by the time we reach Turkey! Our time here in Greece has given a whole new meaning to the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"! This has become "My Big Fat Greek Vacation!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

I hope you are having a wonderful day! Our celebration has been crazy, but fun!

I got one really interesting gift that I just can't resist sharing . . . Do you ever worry about your clean and dirty underwear getting mixed up in your suitcase? Does the mere thought of this nightmare keep you tossing and turning in that hotel bed? Are you one of those obsessive compulsive people who freaks out if anything is moved in their suitcase because they suddenly aren't sure what's clean and what's dirty. Yes, I'm sorry to get personal here, but it happens to the best of us. I mean underwear are about as personal as it gets, and sometimes organized underwear can make the difference in helping you feel at home. Thus, I present to you . . .

THE SENSATIONAL, THE SPECTACULAR, THE STUPENDOUS . . . TRAVEL UNDERWEAR PACKER!!!!! (A special thanks from Hailey for this useful yet fun gift!)

Run out and buy it people because this thing is a true gem!!! It's already packed tightly in my new travel backpack, which by the way, is very exciting!

Dad is a "bag man." Every Christmas we end up with some kind of bag. Last Christmas we got travel computer bags. This Christmas, things got cooler with travel backpacks designed for heavy-duty backpacking in Europe! Dad got tired of carting around large suitcases full of clothes, so we've now stepped it up a notch with these sophisticated but trendy backpacks! They're large enough to facilitate a fairly long trip without too much difficulty. There's a large duffel bag type section which connects to an actual backpack section. Very fun!


Unfortunately, however, with the advent of these new packing instruments, I've had to forego packing my traditional 5 or 6 scarves and their matching hats. Indeed, this is a hard blow, but I shall just have to manage. :-(

In other news, apparently Santa thinks I have sinus problems (perhaps he read my recent blog on the NeilMed Sinus Rinse...). Everyone's favorite "man with reindeer" brought me this little beauty...


Abby took off her "cute clothes" before we could snap a picture, but here's Emily and I on Christmas Eve . . .


Christmas morning went off without a single problem. Here's the lovely Brenda (Mom) preparing to host the brunch . . .



Well, that's all for now, folks. I've got to hop in the shower and get ready to head to the airport! Next time I post I'll be in the beautiful Athens, Greece. Until then, don't forget to be on the lookout for your very own special "travel underwear packer" while you're doing that after-Christmas shopping!! ;-)

I hope your Christmas has been filled with family and friends, but most of all, a realization of the amazing gift God gave to us in His son, Jesus Christ! I am reminded of that breath-taking moment in "A Charlie Brown Christmas." As the characters suddenly begin asking what the true meaning of Christmas is, some say "getting presents," etc. Then, Linus steps out of the crowd, blanket in hand, and reads the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. When he finishes, he says, "that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." Perhaps we too need a Linus in our lives to remind us "what Christmas is all about."

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life," (John 3:16) "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13). "While we were yet sinners, Christ" came to earth as a lowly man, and "died for us" (Romans 5:8). As Linus would say, "that's what Christmas is all about."

Gingerbread-Housing

The floor is covered in little dots of gingerbread dough. Frosting globs are flying across the kitchen. Candy is appearing in strange places around the house. All of this can only mean one thing--LET THE GINGERBREAD-HOUSING BEGIN! Yes, "gingerbread-housing" is a verb in my vocabulary.

Once a year for practically as long as I can remember, we have pulled out the cookie sheets and begun the baking. The process is long and arduous, but always yields satisfying results! Early this week, Abby and I whipped up the dough. Then came the most difficult step. In order to ensure successful architecture, the pieces must be the exactly perfect thickness. Too thick of pieces leads to a house that will not stand up or stick together. Too thin of pieces means broken pieces. Indeed, the pressure for perfect rolling is intense! While this pressure has been known to drive some to insanity, I do not balk in the face of such intimidations. If you don't mind a bit of boasting, let me just say that my pieces were the perfect thickness. Truly, it was masterpiece rolling!

The baking also requires talented artisanship. The pieces simply cannot be too soft or they will fall apart. However, one must be extremely careful lest they overcook and become too crispy (leading to cracked, broken pieces). Of course, all of this pressure must be balanced out and managed by stuffing one's emotions with lots of gingerbread dough! ;-)

Creating the concrete also presents a difficulty. If your frosting is too thin or liquified, the houses will not stick together. But if it is too thick or doesn't contain enough moisture, the houses refuse to comply. Actually, even if one manages to create the perfect "concrete," there is no guarantee one's house will stick together. So as you can see, the construction phase is extremely trying. Sticking the pieces together requires intense perseverance and patience. You have to hold them until the frosting dries enough to stay hard.

Now those of you who know Emily...I am sure you cannot imagine her putting together a house. You are correct in that assumption. I had to enlist the services of Emily's best friend Nicole for the house construction. While Nicole and I held the houses together and held our breath in anticipation of any problems, Emily went flitting around the room stirring up all sorts of trouble. She did, however, capture a little video on the construction sight. Please note: we did not originally plan on posting this video on the blog, so it's kind-of silly. You have been fairly warned.



After much hard laboring, the houses were finally put together (and if you're wondering about my orange hair in this picture, please refer to my last blog)...



Now all of this baking and constructing leads up to the annual Gingerbread House Party at the Franklin's. Here are a few shots of Emily, Abby, and I decorating our houses. We decided to coordinate our houses this year to create a little storefront street. I made a little Cigar Shop. Emily chose a Skate Shop with a skating pond out back, and Abby devised a cute, classic candy shop...




A quick flashback to the Gingerbread Party 2006...


And now back to 2007, here are the finished houses...

If You Only Knew...The Things I've Seen, The Things I've Done...

Wow. It's been a while since I've written, and life has gotten crazy!!! I'm already five and a half weeks into my first semester at Georgetown. On my first day of class, I picked up my books--a total of 28! Of course, I was totally overwhelmed by this mountain of reading, but by the end of the day, I also had about 36 essays (over the semester) to worry about. If that's not overwhelming, I don't know what is!

Since that day, I've read and read and read and read... I've also written and written and written and written!!!! My life has been a constant whirlwind of work, but I've enjoyed it! Unlike my classmates, I am motivated by the fact that being a student is what God has called me to do at this point in my life. Therefore, I believe it is my duty to be a student to the best of my ability.

Classes have been amazing! I can honestly say that my professors are brilliant even though I disagree with them on so much of what we study! Theology class has been eye-opening for several reasons. My professor is a Catholic Priest, and while we may both be Christians, our differences in Theology are many! We have disagreements almost every class. We argue over the depravity of man, free-will, purgatory, the sacraments, exclusive vs. inclusive Christianity, "confession", and so much more. Learning about Catholic views on all of these issues has been interesting, but its made me even more convinced about Reformed, Calvinist doctrines!!!

The great thing about Georgetown, is that we don't save our theological, ethical, or political arguments for the classroom. The Student Lounge is always a lively floor for discussion. Yesterday, we had a heated argument over Islamic justification of polygamy. Many of my male friends insist there is nothing wrong with having multiple wives and plan on having several themselves. Personally, I think this is absolutely revolting (and I didn't hesitate to tell them). Discussions like this are plentiful...when its not about polygamy, its about Lebanon/Egyptian relations or Islamic works-based justification. We argue over anything and everything, but we have a great time!

I've made a ton of friends from all over the world--Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt, Sudan (or, as she insists, Nubia), Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Oman, India, Pakistan, and Afganistan...just to name a few. :-) It has been a BLAST learning about their cultures and traditions. This past weekend I attended a traditional Qatari iftar. We are in the middle of the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan, so the Muslims are fasting all day every day from sun-up to sunset. When they break their fast at sunset, they have "iftar", a traditional meal usually eaten with friends and family. One of my Qatari friends invited me to her iftar party, and it was SO MUCH fun! Of course, since men and women don't mix very much in this culture, the party was only for women. We ate Qatari food and sat on the floor on "majlis" cushions--a very exciting experience for me! :-)

I've got to go to bed because I have a huge Economics test tomorrow, but I'll write more soon! I assure you, I have many more stories to tell... :-)