Before coming to the Middle East I was asked multiple questions that were related to safety within the region. A very common one was in regards to aren't you afraid of getting caught up in a protest or a revolution? At this time people did have in their minds the current events that had been happening in Egypt and Tunisia. It is very true that the Middle East and Arabs have been having more protests and revolutions this year. It is commonly known as the Arab Spring and even now in December it is still unclear of what the future holds for these particular places. Tunisia has successfully held there first free elections where they elected an individual who is a part of an Islamic party. This new leader in Tunisia hopes to instill ideas of " Islamist and pro-democracy, modern, open and consensual" (article from the Guardian). Than there is Egypt who has started the process of elections after some violent clashes happened in Tehrar Square. These clashes were in regards to the military trying to put off the elections for a greater period of time, and obviously the people did not agree with this concept. After the death of Gadhaffi, Libya is ending its bloody revolution and they will eventually seek new fair leaders. Plus currently in Syria the "revolution" gets bloodier each and every day. Eventually President Assad will be forcefully removed, but most likely not until after many more deaths.
Than there is Jordan that has been peaceful. Jordan's neigboors always seem to be in some kind of revolution or call for change but Jordan is not. While here I have heard about some protests and demonstrations that have happened. This is mainly because the study abroad program sends mass texts to everyone letting us know what is going on and to avoid the area. On the campus itself I did witness one protest but it was in regards to the university government elections. Even though Jordan has remained peacefull it is very interesting to be living in this region during this time period. Back home I study Criminal Justice and Criminology and so I don't get much exposure to these international topics. While here though my classes did have me looking into these topics, and so in the future for many years to come the Middle East will be a hot topic.
Two of my Arabic finals were today and the rest of this week I have two more parts to the Arabic finals. Area studies classes will be wrapping up this week and I simply have one presentation in one of these classes. It seems to be getting colder and colder each day so when I make it back home to Arizona it will be a relief. Will write later when I have time. إن شاء الله
Than there is Jordan that has been peaceful. Jordan's neigboors always seem to be in some kind of revolution or call for change but Jordan is not. While here I have heard about some protests and demonstrations that have happened. This is mainly because the study abroad program sends mass texts to everyone letting us know what is going on and to avoid the area. On the campus itself I did witness one protest but it was in regards to the university government elections. Even though Jordan has remained peacefull it is very interesting to be living in this region during this time period. Back home I study Criminal Justice and Criminology and so I don't get much exposure to these international topics. While here though my classes did have me looking into these topics, and so in the future for many years to come the Middle East will be a hot topic.
Two of my Arabic finals were today and the rest of this week I have two more parts to the Arabic finals. Area studies classes will be wrapping up this week and I simply have one presentation in one of these classes. It seems to be getting colder and colder each day so when I make it back home to Arizona it will be a relief. Will write later when I have time. إن شاء الله
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