Thoughts on Egypt

Egypt seems to be holding the attention of much of the world - or at least the media's attention, recently.  The papers have pictures of protesters all over the front pages, and the "international" section is littered with articles and analysis.  It's an important part of the Arab world.  What happens in Egypt has huge impact on the rest of the Middle East.  Others in the Middle East have been motivated by what they see in Egypt.

And as people discuss the protests, many people - including myself - tend to talk about it as they would a football game.  Or a political contest.  Detached analysis that looks at the broad strokes.  There is certainly use for this kind of discussion.  However, the discussion often gets limited to that.  It's natural, of course, if you don't have any personal connection.  I talk the same way about the uprising in Kazakhstan last year, or the protests in  Thailand the year before that.

However, with the Egypt situation, we (Alison and I) have some connections that brings it closer to home.  We have some Egyptian friends in our small group who have family in Cairo and Alexandria.  A couple teachers who are from Egypt also worry about their families in Cairo.  I also have a few students who are from Egypt, living abroad in Bahrain.

These friends have strong opinions about Mubarak and what should happen if (when?) he resigns.  They (both Christians and Muslims) have strong opinions about the Muslim Brotherhood.  However, they are more concerned about the safety of their families, particularly as the police have abandoned many areas of the city.  They speak with a tired, concerned pride of how the people in their community have come together to provide for one another as the economy continues to suffer.

Of course, no one knows what will happen.  The protests seem to have waned and it looked as if Mubarak might be able to out-wait the protesters.  However, as I read CNN this morning, it seems as if new life has been breathed into the protests, for better or for worse.  Obama, I'm sure, wants to help move things along, but I'm sure he's aware that if makes the wrong step, he may make things worse rather than better.  Caution is the order of the day, and he's wise to heed that order.  (No matter what he does, there will be much criticism.  If he does nothing, he will be accused of not supporting the "freedom agenda".  If he tries to move things forward too much, he will be accused of using US power to bully).

Whatever happens, God is in control.  He appoints rulers and he removes rulers.  In our small group on Tuesday night, we prayed the following:

• God would grant wisdom, compassion and humility to those involved in the power transition (or whatever that may be) 
• God would provide comfort for those who live in Egypt, and those abroad who worry about their families

Weekend in Qatar

This weekend, I took 6 students to a Model United Nations conference in Doha, Qatar.  If you are unfamiliar with Model United Nations, students simulate a United Nations meeting where each student represents a different country and discuss an issue and try to determine what the UN should do about the issue. Issues range from human rights issues such as migrant workers to security issues such as the crisis between North and South Korea.

At this particular conference, students from all over Europe, Africa and Asia attended, with one school even coming from the US.   It's great because the kids get to meet and interact with a wide variety of cultures and perspectives.

One of the best things about MUN is that the students need to represent their country from that country's perspective.  For instance, it is difficult for a student from a Persian (Iranian) background to speak from the United Kingdom's perspective regarding nuclear weapons!

A conference like the one in Doha is great for a couple reasons.  First, the students spend multiple days in their respective committees debating and negotiating with other delegates.  It's great to see them persevering over the long haul.  Second, because the conference is multiple days long, I get to float between the various committee sessions, listen to the debates, and get a good chunk of reading done!  Really, it's a lot of sitting around, but I'm a-ok with that.  Third, we stayed at a four star hotel (with cable!) and great restaurants.  The breakfast buffets were fantastic.

All in all, a great time.  The students were challenged, got to see Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Qatar (the hosts of the conference) and have a generally fun weekend away from home!

Eva's Favorite Things

Eva's been on the move for the last couple weeks, and its fun to see more of her personality develop.  She certainly has a mind of her own, and can be quite strong headed.  Luckily (or not so luckily for us), neither Alison nor I can blame it on the other.  We're probably both equally responsible for that characteristic.  But here are some of Eva's favorite things:

2.  Animals - she LOVES animals.  Loves them.  Now that she can walk, when I take her outside she starts to chase the stray cats.  Sometimes I'll put birdseed outside her window so pigeons and finches will come and eat.  Of course, she loves her stuffed animals (though not so much other stuffed items), and gets excited whenever grandma/grandpa or nana put the pets on skype. 

2.  Books - often in the mornings she'll pull out all the books from her shelf, sit on the floor and page through them.  Sometimes she reads silently, and sometimes she reads out loud.  It's really cute.  Her current favorites are "The Hungry Catepillar", Baby Bunny and anything that has flaps to lift up/tear off.

3.  Buttons - She particularly likes my cell phone.  I'll lock it, and she loves pushing the big middle button that lights the screen up.  So far, she hasn't been able to figure out how to unlock it.

4.  My Kindle - She found my Amazon Kindle (an ereader) the other day, and opened up the flap that covers the kindle.  She was already excited that she's found a book, but her eyes got huge when she opened it and found BUTTONS.  A combination of two of her favorite things!  That one quickly got confiscated.

5.  Putting Things in Places:  She likes the toys where you can put the shapes into a container.  However, she also puts the shapes in other places.  We've found them in cushions behind the couch, the letters bag in the Scrabble box, and in the recycling bags.  I'm sure there are other hidden treasures we will find years later.  She also just likes putting objects into containers and taking them out.  Its not uncommon for me to come into a room and find her putting all her blocks in the bin, taking them out again, and then repeating.

I could probably think of more, but I'll leave it there for now.  Not much of significance going on, so I can't use up all my ideas at once!

Eva On the Move

Eva's started walking!  In just a couple of week's she's gone from whining when we put her upright and make her walk to toddling around by herself.  In the last couple of days, her preferred method of mobilizing to destruction has been walking.  Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Eva!

Happy Birthday Eva!  On January 2nd, she turned one.  We had a very small celebration - we went to Dairy Queen and she had her first taste of icecream.  At first, she wouldn't eat it.  I think she thought it was yoghurt.  However, she came around, and eventually started eating, playing and flinging her new beloved food all around the restaurant.  Evidence below. (Overkill on the video?  Maybe.  But Grandma and Nana eat it up.)

Cultural Tidbit:  In contrast to our small gathering of three, it is customary for our friends from India to have very, very large parties when a child turns one.  I was told that this is a tradition because in the past (how long ago "past" means, I'm not sure) many babies did not survive the first year.  We went to what was described to me as a small celebration, which turned out to be no less than 50 people.  Fantastic!  Its also common for parents to shave their child's head - it helps the hair grow quicker and thicker (we are sometimes tempted with Eva's bald head).

On Saturday, we had a small gathering with some friends at the wild life preserve in Bahrain.  It's not big, but Eva was able to see some neat animals:  giant tortises, heyenas, a variety of dear-type animals, and a donkey that licked her fingers and scared her a bit.  At the end, we sang her happy birthday and she had her first taste of cake!