Mon 14/06/10 00:43

It’s that time of the year again, Summer Break. This year I get an extra two weeks off because of Ramadon falling during the beginning of the Fall semester. The extra time is a mixed blessing, this is the first year that I was thinking that I was going to stay “low-key” on my travels and just do a trip to The States for a week. Now I almost have to take advantage of the time, I mean two months with only a week away would probably drive me crazy. So what to do…what to do?

I did a half-assed check to see if there were any tours to some place that I want to go available, but I don’t really know where I want to go, and I couldn’t find anything interesting. In the back of my mind I was thinking that England would be a good choice, I’ve never been, and it’s a good stop on the way back to the states. So I did a quick search for flights and it’s not really expensive, but it’s not cheap. I did another search for Morocco, one place that I really want to see but haven’t had a chance just yet, the it was expensive, plus I’ve been all over the Middle East and I think that I’d probably not get the most out it. So back to England…

So with the almost finalized decision of going to England, I started to wonder if I’d really get the most out of the summer just heading to one country… probably not. So I kind of decided on flying to Helsinki, Finland and backpacking my way to London.

This is what I’ve come up with so far:

July 10: Fly to Helsinki, Finland (2 days)

Stockholm, Sweden

Oslo, Norway

Denmark (don’t know where though)

Germany (berlin, and others)

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Brussel, Belgium

London, England

Edinburgh or Glasgow, Scotland

Belfast or Dublin, Ireland

London, England (leave Europe August 19 +- 5 days)

Amarillo, Texas

Clovis, NM

August 25, Dubai, UAE

Now this itinerary is really basic, about the only thing that I’m pretty sure of is that I’ll be going to Europe for about a month. Though even that is subject to change.

So many of my entries are more about me and less about the world around me. To be honest sometimes this makes complete sense, since the site is about me, but then there are other times when I feel that’s I’m being a little bit narcissistic. That’s why I think I like to write about things that I do to help others. About three weeks ago I started teaching English to some of the workers here from India. These guys are kind of considered by the average person to be poorly treated in many regards.  They live in single rooms with on average five other workers, at what the rest of us call, “labor camps.” I’ve heard many different stories about their pay and circumstances, and it’s not my purpose to make a political comment about their situations, I just want to say that I want to help if I can.

It’s rewarding to feel like I’m making someone else’s life a little bit better.

So it’s something about AUD’s administration that it believes that the bigger the name of the visitor, the better the image for the school. I don’t think anyone could argue with the logic, except to say, that maybe the money it cost to bring the former President of the United States to the school could possibly be used for other things…

Bill Clinton spoke to the AUD student body for about 1 hour and then left. While leaving, I decided to see if I could meet him on his way out. So I went down to the first floor, I was originally on the second, and there he was shaking hands. There really wasn’t much of a hassle at all. I waited for about 3 minutes and shook his and said hello. It seems almost surreal that I got to shake a president’s hand, almost as if it’s really not that impressive. In fact I feel kind of stupid just mentioning it, but in the bigger picture, I don’t think I’ve ever met a mayor, governor, senator, or anyone else in any particular important role in government before. Now within five months I’ve spoken to and shook the hands of Colin Powell and Bill Clinton. So I guess I think I want to mention it.

Fri 15/05/09 09:24

Today we distributed some food, clothing, and housewares to a labor camp near Sharjah. It was fun, and I think we helped the workers a little, at least to let them know that some people care. I can’t, and won’t, take too much credit for the venture, because I was only there for the distribution of the goods. The whole process consisted of gathering the stuff, sorting it, and then bagging it for the distribution process and I really wasn’t part of that at all. I do feel fortunate to have been able to help at least in some small way though.

For those of you that don’t know what the labor camp is, it’s a building that is owned by a company that houses their employees. Maybe a good way to help visualize it is for me to describe the situation that many of these workers deal with. Most of the manual labor that is done in the UAE is done by workers from various countries. These countries are some of the poorest in the world and are the perfect labor force for UAE’s booming economy. These building are centralized in between Sharjah and Dubai and contain an estimate 500 buildings each with each building having probably about 150-300 workers. There are no women, and no parks or much of anything else. Most of the laborers come from either India, Pakistan, or Sri Lanka… at least the male workers. and it’s generally assumed that they can’t find work in their own country. They are paid very little and most, if not all, live in a single room the size of a small bedroom with five other men. Many of these rooms don’t have air conditioning, bathrooms, or kitchens. They are only a room with six bunkbeds. This is no way a political statement at all, just merely stating what I’ve seen and what is common knowledge.

Thu 14/05/09 22:22

I had a great time yesterday. :)

Last night I took part in my second graduation ceremony since I’ve become a professor. I’m not really sure why, but I really like graduations, and for being a relatively small school, AUD has a knack for having the best I’ve seen. They usually have high profile guest speakers, fireworks, and a well rehearsed ceremony. One year, before I was here, they had Bill Clinton speak, last year they had the Secretary of Education, and this year we had Colin Powell as the guest speaker. I’m a fan of Mr. Powell’s so it was an honor to say hello and shake his hand.

I have to say though that the best, and for that matter, the worst part of graduations is seeing some of the students graduate. Maybe I just need more time as a professor to get used to seeing students move on, but for now it’s kind of sad. Last night two of my favorites left and I was happy for both of them, but sad to think I may not see them again…

A picture of some of the best students that I’ve had, and a photo of Colin Powell leaving the graduation hall. This is were I shook his hand a mumbled something like, “It’s a pleasure to meet you sir.”

I need a new camera too, look at the quality of the photos… the graduation gowns are supposed to be black and they look blue, and all the photos came out really dark. Oh well, I always say that I take photos to remind me, not for other people… and they will remind me of a very cool evening. :)

So The Fleeting Moment is long since done and all the work has taken its rightful place leaning against the wall or hidden somewhere out of the way. The only thing that remained uncompleted was the interview that PBS did on the exhibition. So in an desperate attempt to prolong my need to go into the office to do some paperwork, I decided to see if it was up on the PBS.org website… it was.

I don’t know if I’m supposed to not care, or if I’m supposed to be excited, but this is the first time I’ve been interviewed for a national network, even though it’s not on tv, it is part of the network.

I’ve always had a hard time seeing and hearing my “recorded” image and voice. I’m not sure why, but watching the interview I felt like although I didn’t embarrass myself as far as I can tell, I still felt a little weird. I look old too… what’s up with that? :)

View the video and read about the exhibition