Say What Scares You

This post is one that struggles to break out of my grasp. I can feel it wanting to escape, but I cling to it, trying not to let it escape lest it reveals something true about my life. I think we all have things we want to say about ourselves, but choose not to as a self-defense. I am no different. It's strange this blog that I have created. By the very title I make the bold declaration that I know there is Soul, and I am dedicating this indefinite personal editorial to its discovery. But what Soul am I searching for? My own, no doubt - and the Soul of every person on this Earth. The closest thing that I have discovered to what I would call a living Soul is something so simple as the Self. I reach inward, a brief recluse from the confusing surrealities that surround me. I reach in to find that Self. Because I believe by rediscovering my Self I can touch my own Soul and thus the Soul of every person I encounter. And therefore I travel and live and love. Let this brief testament be my statement of Purpose.

Reaching Out and Reaching In

Life gets a little difficult at times, even in paradise. I've said time and again that I couldn't be happier to be living in Oman - and it's true. It's also true that I miss things from home, or more accurately, I miss people from home. I miss things too, places and qualities and values from home. It's sometimes hard to connect with everyone here. It's hard to find those deep, personal connections that come from truly knowing someone - who they are, what they've done, what they want. Despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to land any ears with my calls. I suppose part of it is that I haven't really been reaching out. I feel very reticent to open up sometimes, because the values and lifestyles that they espouse are so starkly in contrast of what I see around me. At first it seemed very subtle how different life was going to be here in Oman from life in the United States, or even Morocco for that matter. But things are truly different - and all these realizations I'm coming to are challenging me to learn how to adapt yet again. So it seems that I must reach in before I start reaching back out.

One place I have been able to reach out are a few good friends who are there for me through the graces of technology - notably my girlfriend Amie, my family, my Brother Matthew, Danielle and Mix. Even the smallest of connections seem to go so far, and the little initiative that someone takes to send an unexpected email reaches far into me and charges my soul's battery.

This is by no means a post about thoughts of surrender. Oh no, not even close. I've been here before, in different countries and different circumstances to be sure - but my heart remembers well. These times are good times too. This is where real people are made. This is where real courage and determination come through. This is the point where I get in touch with my spiritual core. And then once I do, I reach back out that hand to the world.

A Little Taste of India in Oman

As has been iterated to me several times, India and Oman have an intimate history. The two cultures and countries have been exchanging people and and goods for centuries, probably millenia. Therefore, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise to me when our good Indian friend in Oman Deepkamal invited us to participate in an Indian festival being hosted in his neighborhood. However, as I walked into the venue, had a little traditional food, and then started participating in the traditional stick dancing that is such a part of Kuvrati culture, I couldn't help myself from thinking - I can't believe I'm in Oman right now. From everything that I could see, Brett, David and I were the only people present who were not Indian themselves - there were certainly no Omanis there. Yet, what struck me as incredible was not my own contrast with our Indian hosts, by simple visuals and our bad dancing, but the simple fact that this festival was taking place in Oman. None of the women were veiled, men and women were free to speak and interact, and a likeness of an Indian god was present where those who chose were free to make their prayers and offerings. And this festival was not done in secret. To be completely honest, I couldn't believe that I was in a Muslim country.

Maybe it is simply due to my own ignorance about the true tolerance of Islam for other people's cultures and beliefs. Maybe it is simply another testament to the openness and warmth of the Omani people and culture. Perhaps it is a little bit of both.

After the last week's events of the Eid celebration, which itself alone was enough to move mountains within me, and then this simple show of acceptance and openness, I cannot help but to say that I love this country.

Oh yeah, and the festival was a blast too.

If the Whole World Was Omani...

Eid Mubarak.

My sense of Oman was forever changed this weekend. I was but a foreigner in a foreign land, learning to love that land - and then the people decided to love me. As I begin to reflect on the gift I was given on Saturday, I come into a new human perspective - I was witness to a kind of unconditional love of sorts, expressed through the open arms of brothers and sisters I never knew I had.

I don't know what pushes the Omani people to be as open and welcoming as they have proven themselves to be. It cannot be explained simply through Islam, otherwise the entire Islamic world would be this open. It is something deeper, something so purely human that compels Oman to open its arms to an outsider and proudly share with them their lives and their traditions. Perhaps it is a pure curiosity about the lives of others, and an honest pride in the purpose and meaning of their traditions.

As I was invited into home after home this Saturday, filling my stomach to the brim with fresh fruits and coffee, and then each neighbors home recipe of meat and spices, I began to wonder to myself if I had ever been treated with as much warmth and hospitality by complete strangers. The funny thing was, I did not really feel like a stranger at all - in a strangely familiar way, I felt like I belonged. The incredible thing was that I saw no discrepancy in attitude between generations. From the oldest man to the youngest child, their community, homes and hearts were open to me.

The communities in which I was participating in the Eid celebrations certainly had a unique character to themselves. Everyone knew everyone else, and were probably related to one another in some way or another - which may have led to the particular sense of identity in community that I sensed there. Of course, some individuals were more willing to talk with us than others, often times based on their level of English and my brief flashes of clarity in my Arabic, which led to deeper connections with some than others. But what I will hang on to from this experience, is the desire and effort of that particular few to connect and communicate through their openness and sharing trust.

My perspective on giving has forever been changed, along with my understanding of what acceptance of another truly means. In fact, my understanding about the kind of person I continually strive to be is changing as well. If I can strive daily to live the open and welcoming life that I was treated to this Eid

...Maybe the World Would Be a Better Place.

Changing Paradigms

I am coming in to a new realization of myself. Threw new conversations about age old topics like love and morality, ideas about right and wrong - what it really means to be alive - I am finding new ways through which I can relate to myself and hence the world. I'm not yet sure what this will mean for me, but there is something new moving within me. I leave it at that to reflect on what that thing really is.

With the Higher Education

Refer back to the title of my previous post - shazaam.

We had a great day with the Ministry. Our presentation went wonderfully and our host seemed genuinely interested about what AIESEC has to offer Oman. We will be giving them more soon. After that we met with an SQU official who was very welcoming in his reception. We talked about the wonders of Oman for about 15 min before we even talked about business. And after our presentation, he offered us a chance to visit his hometown with him during the Eid Festival coming up next week. I think this is about the 3rd or 4th offer that we've gotten - we have to take at least one up!

We met up right after the meeting with our student friends at SQU. We've been able to branch out and meet more students. There are some very exciting individuals that we're talking to, and they are so excited to have AIESEC come to their university - they are already volunteering their time and energy to support us as we work to get the administration's permission! I'm so impressed already with the caliber of the young people in Oman. I couldn't be more excited to start working with them.

After the work day was over, we quick got out of our pimp suits and jumped into our street clothes to head back to SQU. A couple of student groups were holding an iftar dinner and celebration, and the three of us AIESECers were what developed into the guests of honor. I was hoping to slip without too much into the festivities, or at least not make anything that could be interpreted as a flashy show - the reason being that we have been told that SQU's administration is a little wary of foreign involvement with their students. Of course, when I bring it up with students they try to quell my anxieties, so we just all got on with it. Things moved along quite well, I got to speak with some more new students (new to me) and even practice a bit of my French with a Belgian Omani who had lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the last 13 years. It's almost comical how distinctly Brett, David and I stick out in a group of Omanis. All the boys dressed in white dishtashas and all the girls in black abayas. Of course, it's impossible to miss us. We invite curiosity with our simple presence.

After dinner, the excitement started. There were a series of prayers and readings from the Qur'an, all of which were unintelligible to me as they were naturally done in Arabic. I was able to pick up a few words that I know like, "in," "to," "day," etc. And then almost like it was an established progression, the student hosts quickly moved into a series of gag games. The three of us watched as the students had a banana eating contest, an orange juice drinking contest, a "pick the coin out of the plate of flower with your teeth first" contest, with a finale of a "tie a balloon to your ankle and stomp everyone else's balloon - last person with a balloon left wins" contest. I was quickly picked out of the crowed to tie the first balloon around my ankle, and then recruited my compatriots into the games too. The game started, and after a bright flash, Brett "Turbo" Borkan was the only one left with a balloon. Prizes galore, everybody wins - and I came home with a pair of candle holders. It's time to go candle shopping.

We topped off the night with a round of barefoot bowling at the student center on campus with a couple of our new friends. It still amazes me how Omanis are able to bowl in their long dishtashes. Kudos my friends.

Also, here is a quick video to check out. Brett and I made it for our LC in Madison - with the critical help of David Ziser. Hope you enjoy it.

Shout out to Mad Town!

Movin and Shakin

So tomorrow constitutes one of the biggest days of meetings that we've had while in Oman. We will be meeting with the Ministry of Higher Education, which is essentially the top dog around here when it comes to the direction and programming of institutions of higher learnings. While the meeting is designed to be an informational session for us to present to the ministry, it is our first formal presentation to the government and will be telling for us in future encounters. I have to say it came about quite fast, set up by a contact we made last week that actually followed through with a promise (and even during Ramadan). We weren't exactly expecting it, but thankfully we are prepared and ready to go. Our second meeting is with an official at Sultan Qaboos University which is considered to be the Holy Grail of universities in Oman, as it is the oldest and most government-esque uni around. It carries the Sultan's name for Gosh Sake. It's about time we get them warmed up to the amazing opportunities that abound for their students in AIESEC.

We are on the upswing of one of those rhythmic cycles I alluded to in a previous post. Things are starting to materialize in a real way which is changing our sense of time through the increased activity. And our perspectives of the culture and country will change shortly too, I have no doubt. The more people we meet the more our concepts of what Oman is change. They are wonderful revelations to be certain, and I look forward to the many new and exciting developments that they will bring. I will do my best to document them here so that everyone can keep up on the excitement too.

American Omani Ramadan

I started my fast today. I've decided to go all the way through till Eid in joining with the rest of the Omani community in their celebration of this month. My reasons for not participating early on were that I was not living or working with a Muslim on a daily basis, and therefore it would be difficult for me to maintain that sense of community and unity that is the Ramadan experience. For a while it was enough to simply observe a little from the outside - the stocking up of groceries the night before the first fast, the closing of all restaurants during the day until the sun went down, the restrictions on water or food consumption in public places.

It was strange that at first I felt guilty for not observing the fast, like I was breaking the rules, even though I am not myself Muslim. Yet there is an energy here that moves without words that seemingly pervades all aspects of life, and reminds you of where you are and what is happening. And so a bit guilty I was.

My decision to begin my fast has more to do with my desire to understand the community of which I am trying to become a part. I want to integrate myself into the people and culture as much as possible, and feeling what they feel is part of that - through doing what they do. Actually, those desires thrust themselves upon me, and it was not until I actually began the fast that I understood all the things that it could actually teach me.

The act of fasting is so very personal as each person has to cope with the challenges on an individual level, yet the support of the act in common provides a foundation for unity unlike any I have been able to see before. I have been told things like this about Ramadan before, but like most other understandings, you must live it to know it.