Solar Energy! It's What Easter Is All About!

I had the wonderful opportunity to help install a solar electrical system and celebrate Easter, Orthodox style!

We spent a full day installing solar panels, which will be used to collect light energy from the sun and convert it through a very fascinating process to produce electrical energy!As far as alternative energy goes, solar energy is my favorite! I dig the scientific process of a light ray knocking off an electron from a silicone molecule, time and again, to produce a flow of electrons - which is electricity! It's fantastic! It's simple! And it's technology that's 50 years old or older! Unfortunately, this alternative energy is also the most polluting. That sounds shocking, but the truth is that the processes needed produce the silicone, solar cells is dependant on many toxic chemicals. Bummer! But in the end, you have a product that is inert to the environment and will produce "clean" electrical energy for many years!

In Bulgaria, electricity costs around 6.4 cents per kilowatt hour (according to today's exchange rates). However, European law dictates (in Bulgaria) that if you hook up solar panels from your home and introduce the electricity produced back into the grid, the electric company is bound by law to buy the electricity from you at 69.6 cents per kWh! It's a fantastic deal for the homeowner! Word on the street is that this is done to stimulate alternative energy production in Bulgaria. I personally feel that the law will change once the government finds out about it.I was a little bit bummed that the energy harnessed from this process was simply going to be sold back into the system rather than used at the home which holds them up. But realistically, I can see the economic incentive in what this project is about. Plus, when I rationalize that every kWh produced by these solar cells is one less kWh needed from hydroelectric or nuclear energy production, well, I feel mighty fine about the idea.

The idea of this project, which was written by PECSD, is to educate a small community that has never seen solar panels about different kinds of energy sources. In addition to that, the project is a test to see if a small, poor community can find it financially feasible to purchase and operate this kind of system. (The difference being that this is traditionally a system that one would find in the states, or Germany, where people have money and motivation to invest in such things.)

For a full day, we were installing these eight photovoltaic modules, and then the rest of the weekend was allowed to happen!In case you were wondering, the Orthodox Easter is celebrated near a month after the Catholic Easter. I, being without religion, don't really care about the significance of this. I was simply excited to partake in some kind of local, traditional festivities!

The celebration started with the whole family gathering around the table. Each of us selected a hardboiled egg that had been painted that morning. We then smashed our eggs together with the people sitting at the table to see who had the strongest egg. Iliyan kept saying it was a contest for the kids, but I could see that he dearly wanted to have the strongest egg. There's no prize, but glory, and he was going for it! Unfortunately, he lost to a six-year-old girl named Blagovesta. Better luck next year, Iliyan! Next came the food!We started with what appeared at the time to be an unending salad. Granddad was on one end of the table complaining that he can't eat salad on account of not having any teeth. The rest of the family yelled at him to just eat and pointed out that he does have teeth. Bulgarian family dynamics are quite different than in the states. Kids live at home until they're married. And sometimes, they still live at home even after they're married. The bonds between siblings and parents are much stronger than what I've observed in the states, but at the same time, it could appear to an outsider (me) that there's a complete lack of respect for one another. The situation can look like it changes on a dime, but in fact there is a deep respect for family members here. Any one of the kids would jump to be first to donate a liver to the drunken uncle - if only it were possible.

After the salad came a huge selection of meats to go along with the wine, which I forgot to mention that we were already drinking even before the salads came. The main course was a sort of rabbit stew that was amazing! I gorged myself properly but eventually found my limit. I finally stopped eating to the sound of, "Hey, why aren't you eating anymore? You're too skinny."

We passed the rest of the time laughing and joking and eating desert! Easter desert is a sweet bread called, 'Kozunak' and it's quite nice. We also spent a bunch of time talking about American politics. Of course, their news covers our elections, so they know exactly what's going on. The issue is, they don't understand any of it. I have to say, I'm in a bit of the same boat. I keep getting the question: "So who's gonna be the next president? The black man, or the white woman?" I've started telling people McCain. They love talking about American politics with an American, but alas it was time for me to go. My train was waiting for me at the station so I had to hit the road. I received some very pleasant goodbyes, and a bag of food that will probably last me a week! Iliyan's father walked me out to the street and with a tear in his eye, told me that I was his boy. It took me completely by surprise, as he's not the emotional type. Not even after all that wine. I gave him a hug and promised to return. And I will.

I left their home and headed for the train station, still drunk. Over the three day weekend, I had eaten more than I had in the full previous week! I forced food down, beyond what I thought was my limit. The food was absolutely delicious and my glass of wine was never less than half full!

My time in Bulgaria has been GREAT! It's like I never left! I love being here, and I love what I do when I am here! I got to help with the paper recycling campaign. I got to help with the biodiesel project that I started. I got to clean the beach. I got to install super solar cells! And I got to translate a whole bunch of documents and emails! I bonded with people who I see more as my family than as friends! Man, and I even got an amazing Easter dinner! It's hard to leave a place, and a feeling like this. But knowing that I'll be back someday makes it a bit easier to pack my bag. Plus I'm running out of time, and I already ran out of money... =)

The Buck Doesn't Stop Here!

Amongst Bulgaria's problems is a complete lack of governmental leadership. The government that currently exists is so corrupt that the EU has stopped most development funding. Many people here have a lack of faith in anything positive to come from either the EU or the Bulgarian government. I understand - it's tough to have faith when you live in the poorest EU country and see your politicians driving nicer cars than politicians from other EU countries. It's an odd situation in Bulgaria - communism hasn't yet been weeded out of politics, neither has corruption nor mafia influence - even after 19 years of "democracy"! The 45 years of communism that this country endured has really taken a toll on the mentality of its people. Bulgarians have been conditioned to leave the power in the hands of the government. Unfortunately, the government's hands are too tied up with mafia influence, communist bureaucracy, and outright corruption that there just isn't room on the agenda for any kind of progress for the country. That doesn't bode well for an elected official who actually wants to influence positive change! Lucky for Bulgarian politicians, that's not what they're interested in. Perhaps that's why anyone who plays a significant role in the advancement of Bulgaria is smart enough to not run for office!

For our Earth Day celebration, Supercross08 worked with Yo Ho Hostel to organize the best beach clean up that Varna, Bulgaria has ever seen! The just-hearted folks that run Yo Ho Hostel are constantly involving themselves in environmental projects! They even have plans to clean the beach again after the tourist season - no Earth Day necessary! Together, we set out to inspire people to take responsibility for their community!

We started off the day at 10 AM with about 25 people. Most of them came from the group of girls I wrote about in the previous posting. 25 isn't a lot. But as the day went on, we were joined by the Bulgarian Scouts, passers by, EVS (European Voluntary Services) and Peace Corps Volunteers, as well as other late risers! It was an extremely successful action! For nearly six hours we filled bag after bag after bag, until the beach was clean! Garbage bags were provided by a local trash company called Adian, and the Bulgarian Scouts brought along some gloves for people to use! The Bulgarian Scouts are like the Boy Scouts of America, but they include girls! Take note, BSA, tolerance, respect, and integration are fine values to instill upon youth in addition to tying knots!

We cleaned about a mile of coastline that hasn't yet been "purchased" by someone to open a club or a bar. Of course, the majority of the waste we collected was leftover from the nearby, already existing bars and clubs. For me, this is a sign of irresponsibility on the part of tourists, clients, bar/club owners, and particularly the local government for failing to enforce regulations.The "undeveloped" beach (the part without bars or clubs) has a nice pedestrian walkway. Pedestrians, often unwillingly, share it with cars as it runs the length of the beach. It's located about 40 or 50 meters from the water - the only thing separating the two, is sand. While collecting pollution from near the walkway, I continued to encounter construction debris. This was because of two things: 1) the walkway is being widened and 2) new bars/clubs are being developed. I asked one of the guys from Yo Ho Hostel whether we should be cleaning up their garbage, as they were still about, or should we leave it for them to throw away when they finish. His response was, "It doesn't matter who you ask or whose responsibility it is, everyone will tell you that it's someone else's job to clean this." Later in the day, I roped myself into a conversation with Kiril Yordanov, the mayor of Varna who has to have all his decisions approved by the Bulgarian mafia, though rumor has it he's allowed to take potti breaks and order from a menu on his own accord. I asked him about this destructive phenomenon. He competently answered, "Responsibility? What's that?"

It's a bit frustrating that most of the stuff we were finding came from existing, nearby establishments who are unwilling and uninterested in helping maintain the natural health of the environment. One would think that upon bestowing the perspective that it's more appealing for clientele to come to a nice place rather than one with litter all about, it would be enough to influence an owner to be responsible for the area around their establishment. Well, One is wrong! It's just a little glimpse at the bigger picture of how Bulgaria deals with environmental issues. It screams of careless, unsustainable practices as it yields a quick profit in the short term for a select few people who are "connected", and loads of problems for the rest of the community in the long term.

If I hadn't spent the day with optimistic, willing-to-help, responsible people, even I would lose hope for Bulgaria! Fortunately, these promising agents of change are the youth of this country. Meaning, they're tomorrow's leaders. And fine leaders they'll prove to be, too! They have the morale character that allows for the benefit of the many, and they have the aptitude needed to be able to influence others to do good! They are the solution to Bulgarias problems! Just so long as they stay out of Bulgarian politics!As we spent the day saving the world, it was fun and entertaining to receive the reactions of people walking by. The looks on their faces ranged from 'What are you doing?' or 'Why bother?' to 'Gee wiz, you guys are great!' and 'Can I help?' It was the positive reactions that I found inspiring and hopeful. This community is well ready for positive change. They just lack adequate political leadership to guide them.

At the end of the day, we celebrated with a concert! One of the owners of Yo Ho Hostel is the lead singer of a band called "Pizza" and they played a rockin' show that night! Ending a positive day with positive energy is my idea of success!

Here's Your Song and Dance!

Do you remember the holiday I kept going on and on about? Well here are a couple videos so you can feel like you too were there!


This is the "baba kick off" to the celebration that is lazarov den!


Young girls go from door to door singing and dancing for the community. They receive gifts of eggs, sweets, and money!

Sing a Little Song! Do a Little Dance!

Nearly a year ago, Tim and I were in a village called Asparuhavo for a week-long summer camp. (Click here to read about that wonderful experience.) Today's post, is an update on that story!

The letters that the children wrote to the Ministry of Culture and Education, which were written in an attempt to save the village's only school, were answered via a nationally televised press conference! I was sooo excited at news of this event! Go Democracy! Our Asparuhavo group got to meet with the minister and state their case as to why this 150 year old school should be saved. In fact, it's one of the oldest Bulgarian schools in existence due to the "destructive tendencies" of the Ottoman Empire. The minister listened to their plight and agreed that something should be done, but stated that unfortunately, the preservation of the school didn't lay within his jurisdiction. He instructed that they needed to convince the mayor of Asparuhovo to hear their cause. Their request to the mayor to save the school went unanswered for quite some time because of the normal speed of political happenings and an extra hurdle, local elections.

Almost our entire group traveled back to Asparuhavo, in part, to celebrate Lazarov Den but also to give a presentation to the community on the value of Asparuhavo's continued existence. This holiday consists of young women dressing up in traditional clothing and going from house to house to sing ancient songs. The owners of the houses would come out and give the girls money or sweets. It was fun to watch. But before those celebrations were to begin, presentations were to be made.
The whole thing started with a group of the young girls, all dressed up for success! They did a little song and dance and everyone entered the culture center for the presentation. A few key folks said some words of thanks and then a group of old grandmothers sang a few traditional songs. Finally, our group got the chance to present the significance of this particular village to the community.After the presentation, the girls asked the mayor if he had been able to come up with an idea for procuring funds for the school's continued existence. His response was translated to me by four or five kids at the same time. I think he said something to the affect of there not needing to be any more discussion on the matter and that he would not close the school. His response was met with laughter, and at the time I wasn't sure if the laughs were at his expense, or the student's question. It was later explained to me that through the actions of these children, the mayor had decided to not close the school! However, this turned out to be a typical, misleading politician's response, as he failed to mention that he would in fact discontinue public funding for the school. The trick being that he won't technically close the school, but after teachers' salaries are cut from the payroll it will be they who will close the school. He later took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this school's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" All the people answered, "Let it's blood be on us and on our children!"

Is there any better way to secure a future for your community than by taking away the tool with which to educate your youth? I think it was the Romans who said, "Let us destroy our schools so that the next generation will be adequately prepared to take over the leadership of our magnificent society. Without knowledge, our youth will be able to care for our aging population. Without education, we will continue to be a prosperous people."Closing the day, we all went back to the place where we had classes a year prior to hang out and reminisce. They made final plans for the next summer camp, which is to happen this summer, and they did 'the horo' and sang! It was a great day! I was stoked to see the group again! And I was excited to receive their excitement at seeing me! I wish more could be done to preserve this historic and much needed school but at the end of the day, there just isn't enough money. Of course, I believe that if Bulgaria was more responsible with how money was dealt with, then issues like the death of villages in a this country wouldn't exist. Can anything be done? Well, some British investors are increasingly playing a role in stabilizing village populations. Why, there are already plans to turn this particular school into a hotel!

Corruption has the ability to rain down upon us all and inconvenience our comfortable lives. But just when you think you're gonna catch a cold, the dry towel of foreign investment comes along to save the day. The only thing left to wonder is, did all that dirty and foreign money wash away the culture and traditions or just buff out a few tarnished spots?

Ooh No! There Goes Supercross08! Go, Go, Debtzilla!

It may be the end of Supercross08 as we know it, but I feel fine! Together, Tim and I accomplished some rockin good things!

We had good times and difficult times, and in the end it wasn't time that we ran out of, but funding... Stupid money. I'm proud of what we've done, and I'm proud of what we've learned. Every experience and every person we've met has given us something dear that we'll cherish for the rest of our lives. Unfortunately, it's ending. Kind of.

Tim has decided to go home. For that story, you can visit his blog. I have decided to embrace my future! And by that, I mean "embrace my debt" in order to continue traveling! I intend to continue to meet and converse with people, and to continue with the goals of Supercross08! I will put forth all my effort to spread peace through dialogue and cultural exchange! And where possible, I intend to meet with youth organizations and schools to facilitate discussion groups, as consistent as possible with how we had done it in the past.

Both Tim and I brought something unique to the table in all our work together. From organizing meetings and facilitating discussions, to casually meeting people on the street and learning about them. It's been a project of a magnitude beyond what either of us had hoped it would be. And I'm going to do my best to continue on with its spirit! Of course there's no possible way I can even begin to try to fill his shoes, but I will do my very best to outgrow my own!

Now then, read on to learn about our final event together!We participated in the 3rd Annual Chirpan Soccer Tournament Fundraiser! Our buddy, and fellow RPCV Trevor, started this tournament in his Peace Corps Bulgaria days. The Volunteer that replaced him continued this tradition and did a fine job of it!

There were 11 teams of Volunteers and Bulgarians! A mix of all levels of age and skill, but everyone had the same capacity for a good time! Tim and I dressed up, for the first match, in costumes to commemorate how cool we are. I was the Ninja Defender, and he was the Super 80s Star. Together, we managed to take our team to the championship match against the best Bulgarian team that's ever played the game! I think they were elite professionals who had taken an interest in the local competition and felt it in their best interests to enter the competition in order to help with the fundraising for those less fortunate! The truth is, basically, they were old men with nothing to do on that particular Saturday.

We played our hearts out! It was our fifth or sixth match of the day - no other team had played as many matches as we had because of the odd number of teams! We rocked their asses! And by that I mean we didn't let them score! Not once! Of course, scoring for us wasn't really ever part of the equation for this match as the ball was constantly on our side of the field. At the end of the two grueling halves the score was zero - zero! We were flabbergasted! It went to penalty kicks! Each team member had to take a shot from midfield on a goalieless goal. At the end of their five shots on goal and our five shots on goal, the score was an unsurprising four - zero! We had just won second place! =)At the end of the day, the tournament/fundraiser had raised 400 levs (about $300 USD, but if you wait a week it'll be about $400 USD) for the At-Risk Youth Fund!

I had a great time playing with the new Peace Corps Volunteers as well! They're a GREAT group and they reminded me how much fun I had had in the Peace Corps!

Next on my plate is an Earth Day Beach Clean Up in Varna! It's gonna be the best Earth Day, ever! The beach doesn't even know how clean it's gonna be!

Success in Rakitovo!

We met up with a gal from our Peace Corps group who decided to stay on for a third year. Apryl was one of only two volunteers in our group to extend, and she's doing a might fine job in her cozy little mountain town!

Rakitovo is home to about 5000-ish residents, and it's cold in the winter! For example, if one was to say, spend the winter in Northern Africa and the Middle East, and then happen upon a town in the mountains of Bulgaria called Rakitovo, one might say it feels colder than winter! Even in the spring! I can personally verify this claim.

Apryl is a volunteer for Future Foundation, but seemed to better fulfill her roll as a Peace Corps Volunteer much more by all the extra activities she's taken on. We were only there for a few days, though, she probably does loads more when she's not hosting Supercros08! She's a pretty impressive gal!

Apryl organized a couple discussion groups with quite a diverse range of community members. Our youngest participants were in 7th grade, and our oldest were... old enough. =) Different minorities and social classes were represented and everyone had come together to talk to the likes of us! Our first group met in the evening at a local cafe and our second and third groups were classrooms full of students!We kicked off our meetings and quickly became deeply immersed in a discussion about the implications of Bulgaria's accession into the European Union. We presented a few starter questions: "Is the EU a good thing for Bulgaria's development?" and "Is the EU a good thing for opportunities for Bulgaria's youth?". We then played a trick on them and crossed the questions: "If all the educated youth take advantage of the EU and leave Bulgaria for work or study opportunities abroad, how can Bulgaria reach it's development potential?" I thought for sure we had stumped them! But to my surprise and delight, we received some very nice and enlightening responses.

Aside from a few of the older participants, who are forever faithful to the days of communism when "everyone had a job, and everyone had money", the general attitude was that people were glad to have been accepted into the EU. They believed that through European funds, they can develop their country to a point that it can be established and sound on it's own. Sustainable. That is, as soon as they can get hold of, and end, all the corruption and scandals that plague this nation. They talked about one agricultural program that had been devastating to other programs. Millions of dollars of EU money was being stolen under the guise of this program so the EU froze all funds for these types of programs, affecting many more people. I think the idea is: hopefully someone will learn something soon. As to the second question we had for them, we found that most, if not all, youth wanted to leave Bulgaria in search of opportunities for either work or school. The EU obviously makes this easier for them because there are less visa restrictions. In fact, they don't even need a passport to enter other EU countries!

When we asked our paradoxical question, they didn't hesitate too long in responding. It seemed the general consensus was that their idea was to go to a foreign country to learn something via university or work, and to bring that knowledge back with them to Bulgaria. Ironically similar to what Tim and I are doing with Supercross08! They couldn't give an estimation for how long they would like to be in a foreign country for, for work or higher education, but it was clear that they wanted to return to Bulgaria for their love of their country. Exclaimed one participant, "And Bulgarian men are the most beautiful in all the world!" Slight pause. "Oh... Sorry." =)

It was really nice to see Apryl again, and to do a project in her community! It was also nice to see a bit of her life: we "helped" with English classes (sorry Apryl), we sat and talked with her friends from the community, we watched her teach Spanish, and we attended a student vs. teacher volleyball fundraiser for a kid with cancer from the community! We stayed long enough in the community and get a nice idea for what life must be like in Rakitovo. In this cold, cold mountain town, I found it very gratifying to encounter the warm hearts of it's inhabitants!

Be Kind to Your Peace-Footed Friends!

The United Nations mandated University for Peace accepted my application for graduate study in the MA in Natural Resources and Peace Program! Soon, I'll be the smartest person I know!

I'm currently smiling and accepting any of the following: Words of praise or encouragement, positive reinforcement in the form of persistent pats on the back, foot-in-the-door connections to scholarships, student loans or other tuition aid programs, victory hugs, and roses!

This is the next obvious step in saving the world and learning Spanish (the university is in Costa Rica)!

Smoked Turkey Homecoming!

Our unsuccessful attempt to leave Syria entailed a four-hour bus ride that cost less than one dollar to get to a place we didn't even want to be! We walked up to the ticket counter at the bus station in Aleppo and asked the guy working if he spoke English. "Yes, yes, yes." was his response. We told him that we wanted to go to Antakya, Turkey. We tried to emphasize the fact that we wanted to go to Turkey to clarify any potential miscommunication. Again, he responded with, "Yes, yes, yes." "Turkey!?" we asked with enthusiasm! "Yes, yes, come.", he commanded.

He led us to the bus, of which, he was the driver, and we found our seats. Four hours of winding, mountain roads pursued. We knew there had been some kind of mistake because the town we left, Aleppo, was very close to the border - and after a couple hours of no border we realized we were heading in a wrong direction. In another country this might not have been cause to worry. But Iraq is right next door and I've heard it's not the most pleasant place to be in at the moment.

Around 8 or 9pm, the bus made it's final stop. On the side of a dark road, in the middle of an unknown city, we questioned the ticket seller/bus driver where he had taken us. "Turkey?", we asked, already knowing well enough the answer. He hit realization like a brick wall and seeing it on his face brought endearment to a frustrating situation.

I wanted to ask for a refund on my sub-dollar ticket, but my cheapness has already started annoying my travel companions so I let it go.

Mr. Driver walked us to a nearby intersection and pointed to something. He was giving us directions. To what, we had no idea. My optimism came into play and told me it must be the border! Then my logic smacked down my optimism, and we followed his directions to... the bus station. Thanks, guy.

We were in a town called Latakia, Syria, which is similar sounding, I guess, to Antakya, Turkey. They're essentially the same place for anyone with an accent. But they're very different places for anyone with a map.

Stuck for the night, we decided to find a cheap hotel and make the best of it. And that we did, with a bottle of wine we'd been carrying around for just such an occasion! Travel Tip #238: Carry a bottle of wine just in case you end up in Latakia by accident.Upon our successful second attempt at getting to Turkey, we discovered prices had gone through the roof! Gasoline is over $10 USD per gallon! Granted, the USD is at a shamefully low value, which continues to burden us greatly, but 10 bucks a gallon?! Dang! Needless to say, there were no more four-hour bus rides for a dollar to be had.

We spent the day arguing with bus companies and traveling to Capadocia. Turkey is sort of a transitional country between "Arab-world capitalism" and "the-rest-of-the-world capitalism." That is, prices become less negotiable and more fixed here. In most of the Arab world that we saw, the price of something depends on how you look - combined with how much you proceed to argue. What I remember of "the rest of the world" is that there's the same price for everyone - with slight exceptions for students, old folks, etc. - and they're generally posted. In Turkey, we saw an interesting combination of the two practices. This, many times, consisted of an exaggerated, written or verbalized high price, which was followed by a "special discount" for being their new friend. And by "new friend" I mean, "the person they're talking to at that moment."

We met our hosts in a town called Kayseri, in central Turkey. For a few days we basked in the glory of Turkish hospitality! It was a fantastic few days and we got to see and experience some wonderful things!
After our first few days of Turkish prices, we decided to make a straight shot for Bulgaria instead of exploring more of Turkey. We took a travel break in Istanbul and then pushed on to Bulgaria - my second home!We immediately went to see my host town, Krichim, where I learned to speak Bulgarian, and "grew up" among some amazing families!I can't describe how good it feels to come back to Bulgaria, to be somewhere I kind of understand, to speak the language, to order a glass of wine with dinner, to flirt with waitresses, and to pay posted prices that are the same for everybody! We hung out with friends, told stories, talked about our project, and had a fantastic time!
It was everything we needed before our next project in Rakitovo with Future Foundation to talk about Bulgaria's accession into the European Union from students' perspectives.

What?!? Are you Syria!?!

I had thought that no country could compete with the hospitality and friendliness of Egypt. I was wrong. Syria impressed me beyond words in every possible way! Perhaps it's because main-stream tourism has not made it here to corrupt the local culure. Despite the media's best efforts, I felt extremely safe and genuinely welcomed everywhere we went!

Team Awesome arrived to Damascus without a hitch and found ourselves a hotel near the center. It's a big city, with lots happening in every direction. We explored the old town around the market place and Omayyad Mosque. Ancient streets ran this way and that - each offering something else to explore. There was so much character to this thriving town, and it gave off a vibe of unmatched friendliness that put us at ease and opened a lot of doors to really see the culture!

Omayyad Mosque was my favorite! The courtyard was filled with families, children, and friends. It was like an extremely crowded park of picnickers, only these people had come to pray and be social. Kids ran and played, women talked about whatever women talk about, and men walked arm in arm - a show of friendship and affection. It was peace in the very definition of the term.

I was inside the mosque and an old man spotted me taking pictures. He waved me over to him where he sat with his grandchildren. He motioned to me that he wanted me to take a picture of him with the two young ones. I obliged and they went rigid in pose. After taking their picture, I showed them the back screen of my camera so they could see the image. He motioned that he wanted a copy of the picture. I asked if he had an email address, thinking "email" was a pretty universal word, and he nodded yes. I opened my notebook and pointed to another email address to make sure he understood and then pointed below it and handed him my notebook and pen to get his address. He signed it, thinking I wanted his autograph! It was all I could do to not bust up laughing, but I persisted in trying to communicate with him despite his lack of understanding English and my lack of understanding Arabic. No use. I thanked him for the picture as well as the autograph and bid him farewell.

I have to admit, I was quite nervous about coming to Syria. After all, I read the news. I hear things like Syria supports Hammas' and Hezbollah's ambitions of destroying Israel. I'm aware that the United States is one of Israel's only friends. I can see that the U.S. is the only nation that supports Israel's brutal and condemning policies towards Palestinians. I know that my president, as embarrassing as he is, called Syria a rogue state and invaded a neighboring country with unclear and debated motivations, which destabilized the entire region to a degree that even my mathematical skills can't seem to calculate. And worst of all, I know that my passport, with a picture inside of it of my beautiful, smiling face connects me to all those negative and appalling things! I can see quite clearly the logic that citizens of this particular region of the globe are angry with citizens from the state responsible for supporting such heinous negativity. Thing is, I didn't encounter any major hostility at all!

Take away the bad politics - which seem to be managed (or mismanaged if you prefer) by the few - and you have a clear picture of the humanity that is the Syrian people. Likewise, the American people. Seeing and showing these pictures was a great and growing experience for me, and my traveling companions! Nearly every smile I gave was returned. Syrians, even upon hearing that we were American, welcomed us to their country and asked how they could help us, if we needed help.

If politicians truly represented the people they govern, the reflection of those peoples' cultures and courtesies could end all conflict! The source of conflict, I'm convinced, is in the misunderstanding of the two or more conflicting parties. Though perhaps it's not so simple? Perhaps there are other dynamics that play significant roles in inequality issues inhibiting peace? Perhaps age old conflicts with forgotten reasons still provide fodder for fantastic feats of foolishness? Or perhaps we should simply try a little harder to understand who these different people are - and investigate whether or not they're even that different at all. We set out to learn of one group who had this exact purpose to their being!

Up in the desert mountains outside a tiny town called Nebek, exists a Catholic Monastery devoted to bridging the gap between Christians and Muslims. In 1982, Padre Paolo, a Jesuit Monk, was assigned to the Deir Mar Musa Monastery. His assignment: "Harmony building". He prefers that term as it is more holistic than "dialogue". His priorities were:

1. A spiritual life.


2. Social responsibility and environmental awareness.


3. Hospitality.

With these goals, he set in motion events that have built this monastery into the beacon of peace, and indeed 'harmony building' that it is today.

The monastery was first constructed in the 6th century, but was in disrepair when he arrived. In 1984 he began a series of summer youth camps to rebuild and expand the capacity of the building. By 1991, he and a staff of volunteers were able to permanently reside at the monastery.

Padre Paolo focuses on similarities between religions to connect the misunderstood gap between practitioners. He said that monastic life is understood by Muslims, and he emphasizes the commonalities - prayer and worship. Conversely, he said asking questions like, "Why did God create Muslims?" helps to address a perspective that Christians can identify with. He continued in saying that, "In the Bible and the Koran, many true things are named in different ways. The question is needed - how is the other, part of my own system?" The connections he drew were that Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet but deny he died on the cross. He asked if that could be interpreted in a different way, and answered, "Yes!" which can open the mind through different interpretations.

He closed our discussion with, "We are a little cell in a big work that is in the Middle Ages, culturally and spiritually. We need to convince the young people to stay on your aim, despite the contradictions around you."

I don't necessarily agree with his religion, but I was extremely impressed with his methods for peace and harmony building! He's found his true niche, one at which he is exceedingly excelling! He said that every Friday (Islamic day of worship) Muslims flood the monastery grounds for a relaxing picnic and worship. He has open and free dialogue with everyone who visits, giving him loads of opportunity to bridge the gap between Muslims and Christians - and he capitalizes on every one of those opportunities!

Now then, if only we could get Padre Paolo to run for office!

How 'bout "Jordan" for a Title?!

While waiting for a ferry from Egypt to Jordan, we began a couple new friendships with other travelers heading in the same direction. Of course the primary objective of our project is to make connections with local people, but it's been quite insightful to speak with other travelers on things to look out for. And so we plunged into the Middle East as a group of Americans, seven strong!

On our way to the ferry, we met Danielle, a gal from California who just quit her fancy pants corporate job to explore the world and learn a bit about herself. She hasn't left our side, and has been very welcomed company along our journey.

On the ferry, we connected with the Chang Gang, a mother and her three boys who are taking 8 months to explore the world and incorporate what they learn into their education. Denise (Mom, a teacher), Josh (16), Steve (14), and Ben (11) were a bundle of different kinds of energy and a true inspiration! The kids are still enrolled in school and receive homework from their teachers. Moreover, their classes back home have incorporated the Chang Gang's trip into the curriculum, using their eyes to relate the parts of the world they're encountering back to the classroom! How's that for alternative education?!

We stuck together like glue, and called ourselves Team Awesome! Our first mission was to explore Petra. We spent a full day walking through the old, abandoned city turned tourist attraction and one of the seven modern wonders of the world! We explored caves, talked about our life experiences, marveled at how nature had created such a beautiful place and man had manipulated it in such a fantastic way, and tried our best to control our shock at how magnificent a site Petra truly is! We returned to our hotel, exhausted... but not too tired to gorge ourselves on a delicious Jordanian feast and enjoy each other's company for a bit longer.

In the morning, we set out for Amman, the capital. The Chang Gang had a couple homework days scheduled so they retreated to a hotel to complete existing assignments, coordinate with teachers back home, and read up on their next sites. While they worked, Tim, D, and I met up with our couch surfing host, John. He's a British fellow who's been living in different countries for past years in two year stints with English teaching contracts. We had some fantastic conversations on what he's learned in the world, and his perspective on the way things are.

We learned the state of things in Jordan through John's eyes. We dearly wanted to set up a discussion group to talk about the Israeli/Palestinian/Arab conflict and then contrast it with a similar discussion in Israel, but John said it was such a sensitive topic it would be dangerous to bring it up. We learned this to be more or less true in talking to the few locals that we did indeed connect with. It seemed most of the people in Jordan were not Jordanian. They were displaced Palestinians, local Palestinians, displaced Iraqis, Kuwaitis, and loads of Egyptians. And even though the Egyptians come here looking for work, there exists a 40% unemployment rate! But apparently not all of this is from lack of available work. Life is expensive in Jordan - the Jordan Dinar is stronger than the U.S. Dollar, even though that doesn't say much these days. Despite the high cost of living, people seemed generally happy. They were even pretty welcoming to the fact that we were Americans in their country.

While John was at work, we took a day trip to the Dead Sea - the lowest point on Earth! It's 420 meters below sea level! The lowest point on the surface of the Earth! In case it's not part of your common knowledge - the Dead Sea is A TRIP! It's a big ole lake between Jordan and Israel that has such a high salt concentration that nothing can live in it! So the water is crystal clear, very stingy, and people are abnormally buoyant in it! I performed all kinds of scientific tests on it! Such as:

• How far can a person walk into the water before floating? Before the water passes your shoulders!
• How long can I keep my body vertical while floating? Not long! It was tough to keep my feet from floating to the top!
• How far out of the water can a person float horizontally? 'Bout half way.
• Can a person swim down below the surface of the water? This test was inconclusive because when I tried I found out that the water burns my eyes more than any other chemical burn I've ever felt. When I asked if Tim and D saw me go below the water, they laughed and told me my ass never made it below the surface... I was crying, but not because they had hurt my feelings. It was because I couldn't wipe the salt from my eyes. I cursed my positive buoyancy while I ran for the showers on the beach.
• How bad does the salt water sting a person’s eyes? Very bad! Ouch! It stung my tongue too!
  

At the beach were a couple of pools filled with fresh water. The water was very refreshing, but I felt like I was an awkward rock with limbs trying to swim. I pretty much went straight to the bottom. No more cursing my positive buoyancy skills!

We also tried out the natural skin cleansing and enrichment of Dead Sea mud. It just seemed like hippie cosmetics to me, and it smelled like sewage... hippies...

We hitched a ride back to Amman and met up with the Chang Gang for Steve's 14th birthday party! It was a night of celebration and future planning! We discussed how we were going to get into Syria. Problem is that Syria requires a visa to enter, and the only way to obtain a visa was to go to a Syrian embassy in our country of residence. Well none of us were going to fly home to jump through those hoops so we just went straight to the border, smiled as big as we could, used our cutest Arabic, were the least obnoxious we could have been, and waited. And waited. Our other Peace Corps friends had tried this maneuver before - one pair had to wait 10 hours, the other guy was temporarily detained and questioned in a holding cell!

In just a hair under 3.5 hours at the border we were welcomed kindly into Syria - a characteristic which proved prominent of this misunderstood nation.