Militaristic Empowerment: The Deceiving Equality of Women Soldiers in Libya

It is deceiving to say war empowers women, yet there are those who argue it does and they can be compelling. You see, in war women can seize opportunities to break away from their traditional roles as homemakers. This allows them to provide, monetarily, for their families unlike before the war due to the absence of their husbands, fathers, uncles, or brothers. Additionally, they can join the military and thereby dually fight the enemy and the system that subordinates them to men. However despite these instances I disagree that women’s participation in the military is empowering. Critical Feminists would agree and further argue that military institutions are inherently engendered, promoting masculinity and heterosexism.(i) The idea that women’s involvement in the military will “feminize” the institution is dangerously deceiving because in reality (thus far) military institutions merely militarize and subjugate women further, not truly empower them.(ii) While war can provide women with opportunities outside the home, the roles women take up are typically only in times of war and aren’t sustained in post-conflict society without a supportive social revolution. We have seen examples of deceiving empowerment in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Lebanon where women took up arms in hopes that they would gain equality by fighting alongside men; however after the conflict they were relegated back to their original roles without significant contributions to post-conflict reconstruction.(iii)

Currently in Libya women are flocking to the military to be trained as soldiers in order to participate as equals to men in rebuilding and protecting their country.(iv) Women’s participation in Libya’s armed forces is not a new phenomenon; during Gaddafi’s regime he was famous for having women as bodyguards and elsewhere in his personal army. Past involvement of women was not motivated by gender equality and Gaddafi had little commitment to improving women’s lives.(v) Today, women are eager to join the forces for a new reason: equality, but I worry this will not achieve their true goals in the long run. If the experiences of Nepalese, Sri Lankan, and Lebanese women tell us anything, it is that taking up arms will not provide women with lasting equality they seek without participation in other spheres outside of the military. Real commitment to gender equality in Libya during this transition phase requires more than just an increase in women soldiers. Instead of the military, Libyan women need a place at the negotiating table, not just a token seat; they need a voice that people listen to. Women’s equality takes a long time to achieve and I would argue that there are very few, if any, places in the world that have truly achieved this goal. However, to those who are trying there must be more options for empowerment than military participation. While women’s active role in militaries may be a stepping-stone for some, I fear that too much emphasis on equality by way of the military is not only unsustainable for women but also troublesome for society because it only increases the militarization of society.


i. D’Amico, F. (1998) “Feminist Perspectives on Women Warriors.” In L.A. Lorentzen and J.Turpin (Eds.), The Women and War Reader. New York: New York University Press. pg. 120 & 122
ii. Ibid
iii. Shehadeh, L.R. (1999) “Women in the Lebanese Militias.” In L.R. Shehadeh (Ed.), Women and War in Lebanon. Tampa: University Press of Florida. And, Alison, M.H. (2009). “Women’s Experiences in the LTTE in Sri Lanka: Gender relations and feminist nationalism.” Women and Political Violence: Female Combatants in ethno-national Conflict. New York: Routledge. And, Thapa, R. (2007). “On the Edge: The Impact of Insurgency on Nepali Women.” In A.D. Shrestha & R. Thapa (Eds.), The Impact of Armed Conflicts on Women in South Asia. Colombo: Regional Centre for Strategic Studies.
iv. Al-Shaheibi, R. “Libyan Women Train for Military.” Time World Online. September 27, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2095154,00.html
v. Ibid

Dropped off the face of the earth

Well, the last few weeks have been a nightmare. And this weekend will be the same. Hense, the lack of blogging. I need to start utilizing this space as like a live journal and reflect at the end of each day on what I am learning because my head is getting full of random thoughts! I guess I'll catch you up to speed on life here in Monterey:

Since my last blog I got the paper back that I posted on the blog and I did pretty well. I am working on editing it to be about a specific incident/war where women's stories were not taken into account in post conflict reconstruction so that it is more of a specific argument/opinion. When I finish, my professor said she'll re read it, and if it is better than this draft she is going to publish it on her non profit organization's website Wandering Thoughts!!! I'll get the link and post it if that happens! This Women in War class that I work my tail off in is almost done! Next week is our group presentations! YIKES Hense why this weekend is going to be CRAZY!

Not this past weekend, but the weekend prior, I was in NYC for the weekend which was wonderful! I saw Daniel Radcliffe (Star of Harry Potter) leave his broadway show and get in his car! HIGHLIGHT! haha I tried to convince him to come back to WA and marry Sonia, but he didn't hear me! Bummer. I went to NYC for Fall Staff training for National Model United Nations in the spring. I am the Director of the United Nations Children's Fund which is exciting. My two topics directly relate to the classes I have been taking which has been fun to write on. I got to get back in touch with many friends I haven't seen in awhile so it was a great weekend. Because of the weekend off of school though I was quite busy last week. Worth it though.

I feel so studious these days because all I do is read. I don't think I have ever been so focused! Sometimes I wonder if I am learning anything, because so much of what I read is heavy, and I feel like it takes a while to process, but I am sure I have learned something! ;) I have definitely become more aware of life around the world and views that are different, and similar to mine. One surprising element to being in graduate school is the self reflecting component that takes place. Where do you want to work? What do you want to do? What are your goals? Where do you want to be in 10 years? What adjectives describe you? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Its insane! Who knew part of studying global problems would be through studying yourself, your baises, your abilities, all sorts of stuff!

SO very exciting update in Kael's career is coming up this weekend! Kael has been invited by his head chef to cook with him at the LA Food and Wine Festival this weekend in LA!!! This is HUGE! Everyone in the cooking world will be there! He is going to be directly assisting his chef cooking with top chefs and food critics!! AMAZING! Think lots of positive thoughts for him that he is on his A game! here is the website if you want to take a look at how cool it is: http://www.lafw.com/ if you go to the Talent page and scroll down, his Chef's name is Levi Mezick. A lot of these chefs have been on the Food Network and other tv networks, own amazing restaurants around the country.

Anyway, I should get back to studying! I'll let you know how Kael and Levi do this weekend! Also I will be updating soon on whether or not I will be going to NEPAL in January!!!! Hopefully I'll know soon! And I'll explain details later (I am trying not to jinx it! hehe)

Much love,

Sash

The Power of Words

This blog post is my very first grad school assignment! a 500 word opinion piece on women's experience in war. It could be on any subject we wanted relating to women and war. I chose to write about the power of words. The assignment isn't graded so I have no clue what my professor thinks of my piece but when I get her feedback I'll share. In the meantime I'd love to hear your feedback. Also, the citations at the end are technically not full citations, they were enough for my professor to know which readings I took facts from. If you are interested in knowing the full citations for any of these (if the subject/concept seems interesting to you) Let me know. Anyway, enjoy my paper....Much Love!

“Use your words!” Frustratedly, this phrase comes to mind repeatedly as I read and analyze war and its negative affects on women; because all too often words are not used prior to conflict and women pay the price. War brings destruction to communities, suspends freedoms, and inflicts pain and suffering on all involved. While the pain of war can be universalized between men and women, women experience war differently than men; arguably because women have so many varying roles during war, many of which men never experience or have to directly face. Women’s words must be heard before, during, and after conflict in order to craft sustainable peace and fully understand the ramifications of war on women specifically.

Without their words we have no way of comprehending how women experience and cope with conflict. Women are affected by war in unique ways, differing from men namely due to their traditional roles within the home as family caretakers. Women in Nepal who lost their husbands during the Maoist insurgency took on dual roles of carrying for their children while undertaking new laborious and financial responsibilities outside of the home.(i) Mothers and caretakers however are not the only roles women occupy during war and women’s experiences and perspectives vary within the same conflict. As illustrated by the Lebanese Civil War, where experiences of women ranged from actively providing food and first aid supplies to combatants, to having violence imposed on them- making up the majority of the civilian death toll.(ii) The most horrific experience imposed on women is the far too common exploitation of their bodies becoming the battlefield for conflict; regardless of it being murder followed by publicly displaying the body to threaten the enemy as seen in Sri Lanka or the systematic use of rape as a tool for establishing power and carrying out genocide in the Bosnian War.(iii)

Whether as victims, survivors, combatants, or activists, words shape the way we understand and perceive women’s experiences in war. Gendered discourse surrounding war can oppress women and subjugate them to silent icons that must be fought for or saved by men, or even assets of national security.(iv) Words can also be utilized as powerful tools for empowerment when justly heard during times of war and reconstruction. Equal participation for women in conflict prevention and resolution, peacebuilding, and post-conflict reconstruction, as called for in Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (2000) ,(v) is absolutely essential to the future of women in war. Women, because of their unique and complex experiences in war, must be an equal part of post-conflict negotiations and rebuilding. Their words can complete the picture of war and its implications, because while men are out fighting wars, women are left to deal with their destruction. No matter if a woman is fighting in the war or at home with their families, their words must be heard: without them we only hear one perspective and conflicts cannot be truly resolved without understanding the holistic ramifications of war.


i. Thapa, R. (2007) On the Edge: The Impact of the Insurgency on Nepali Women
ii. Vickers, J. (1993) The Impact of War on Women
iii. Parrot, A., & Cummings, N. (2008) War-Induced Sexual Slavery; Nordstrom, C. (2005) (Gendered) War; Thapa, R. (2007) On the Edge: The Impact of the Insurgency on Nepali Women
iv. Sharoni, S. (1994) Homefront as Battlefield; Sjoberg, L. (2006) Gendered States fight Sexualized Wars
v. United Nations Security Council. (October 31, 2000) Resolution 1325 S/RES/1325 (2000). Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf

Pumpkin Spice and a Pacifist

Well, I just got to Starbucks after 7 hours straight of class in order to get some caffeine in me to cure my exhaustion and get some Arabic homework done with out my precious puggle disturbing me. In order to celebrate the most exiting thing that has happened to me today, and to digest the lesser exciting things that happened today, I decided to blog really quick. What was that exciting thing you ask?? I walked in to a fall decor here at Starbucks and that only ever means one thing: Pumpkin Spice syrup is back!!! Why is this so exciting? It means I can start drinking my fall drink: Pumpkin Spiced Chai! And tonight I added 2 extra shots of espresso! (I need it)

Wednesdays are always my long days but today was incredibly draining. One, I've had a headache coming on since about 3pm today, slowly, and it comes and goes...maybe that caffeine will help?? But also my Women in War class was incredibly heavy today. My professor decided we would watch documentary on women and the Vietnam War called "Regret to Inform". It was incredibly interesting and incredibly sad. In the documentary American and Vietnamese women shared their pain and suffering due to the War (All of the American women had lost their husbands during the war and the Vietnamese shared their stories of losing their husbands but also had stories of how the war affected them and their families in general). It is fascinating to listen to how the war affected the two nationalities so differently, quite obviously due to their proximity to the war, but at the same time so similarly. I am still digesting the film to be honest with you, it was quite moving, but the bottom line for me was the vast amount of atrocities committed by our military and I found myself trying to remember WHY we went to war in Vietnam and what we were fighting for. From this internal struggle, my reflections this past weekend on 9/11/2001, and the readings from this Women in War class in general I have decided I am adding "Pacifist" to my identity.

This label/day reminds me a lot of the day I proclaimed myself to be a feminist. It was in college after taking a feminist theory class and for the first time I began to understand the relevance, the depth, and the complexities that feminism offers the world and decided I wanted to be apart of that dialogue. It is interesting though because its not like I ever really liked war, so to all of the sudden be a pacifist seems funny, because on some level I always have been, but as of now I identify with the movement and what comes with that affiliation. No matter what side you are on in any war you are affected negatively. Bottom line. I understand the argument of a necessary evil but I no longer believe in the necessity of war to eradicate that evil. This proclamation so to speak is evolving I am sure. I will grow with it, into it, and perhaps away from it in the future, but for now anyway, I do not see the value of war at all. The biggest take away of the documentary in class we watched was how amazingly similar the pain the women described were. Albeit I'd argue that the pain and suffering of the Vietnamese women was/is FAR GREATER than that of the American women, if for no other reason than they did not only lose their husbands, sons, brothers, uncles, grandfathers like the American women did, they lost their homes, their villages, their livelihoods, in many cases their sexual dignity through rape and torture. With that being said, their feelings of loss, their emotions, their confusion of why this was happening to them, their pain was very similar which indicates to me the obvious fact that no one wins in war. Americans lost a great deal in Vietnam, a great deal of men and women went to fight that war, some of them willing, most of them unwilling via the Draft, and too many of them didn't return, and many who did left their souls behind in Vietnam (as one woman described of her husband who later killed himself and I find that description quite moving). Vietnamese arguable lost even more than us, their countryside destroyed, decades and decades of ramifications from agent orange, so many killed, so many people. And for what? Was there no other way to solve the problem in Vietnam? If you say no there wasn't we are on opposite ends of the spectrum, and while thats totally fine to disagree, I challenge my friends and family who see war as the only way to solve a problem to explore your feelings on this deeper and challenge you to look at the effects on women and children in every country war is waged, and in ever country that is waging war elsewhere. And you know, lets step back farther, don't just look at the women, look at the men who suffer. Suffering, pain, loss, these are words that are not subjugated only to women or only to men. They are not used to describe only one side of a war, even the conflicts most divided (like the Israeli/Palestinian conflict which is always all too easy to choose a side and be adamantly against the other which I am blatantly guilty of) have two sides and have suffering on both, albeit most wars have more suffering on one side or another.

Basic human dignity. That is all I have to say in reflecting upon my day. Have respect for basic human rights, dignity, sovereignty...whichever word you'd like to use after human, because we are all human and what we do to each other is atrocious.

On that lovely note, my break time is done, my delicious pumpkin spice chai is well on its way to being gone and I must focus on my Arabic. Its a good thing this Arabic song (one of my faves to do our traditional Dabke dance to actually) came on to remind me of the task at hand: ARABIC. I must master this language, after all our current battle lies in the Middle East, and I'd really like to utilize this language to convince someone, somewhere in this world to stop the fighting, and the way I plan on ending wars is through my words. So lets start treating lawmakers like the children I often babysat and out of frustration when they pout or try to get an unclear message across I'd say "Use your words!!".....US Government, "Use your words", thats all I have to say tonight.

Until next time, use your words!


Much love

Looking Back to the Top of the World

The internet today is consumed with news, opinion articles, analysis, pictures and videos of what happened this fateful day 10 years ago. The internet probably doesn't need any more contributors today analyzing how the terrorist actions of a few impacted the world on the morning of September 11, 2001; but I feel like sharing my perspective just in case you cared:

Have 10 years really gone by? This is what consumes my thoughts today. On one hand it seems like yesterday- like in the middle of it all I blinked and now we are here 10 years later. Then on the other hand I think to myself, of course it has been 10 years, think of what has happened since that day, think of what you know now, think of how you can analyze the situation as an adult no longer a child... it has definitely been 10 years.

"Why do they hate us?" Was a common question 10 years ago. Such a basic questions kids my age were asking to our teachers, our parents, and each other. Little did we realize it was also the national discourse that we were relatively unaware of. "Why do they hate us?" Some said its because of our freedom, some said its because of our wealth, some said its because we are imperialists, some said simply its because they are jealous. This naive question was being asked not only by us naive children but it was being asked all over the country, sometimes by even the smartest people in America. Because, before 9/11, we were naive, and if we weren't naive we just had our backs turned to a lot of suffering and instability in the Middle East and in many other developing areas of the world. September 11, 2001 did for our generation what Pearl Harbor did for my grandparents' generation: Opened our eyes to the world around us. There are countries in extreme poverty. There are countries being ruled by dictatorial regimes, but not the same as the ones our grandparents generation fought out of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, or Italy, these dictatorial regimes are roaming the mountains of Afghanistan, the forgotten corners of Africa and in plain sight of the international community in the Middle East.

"Why do THEY hate US?" it is "Good vs. Evil" the dichotomy of choice for human kind. Simple enough for us 14 year olds to understand, just like Ariel vs. Ursela, Aladdin vs Jafaar, we can wrap our heads around that...little did we understand 10 years ago that it is far a from black and white dichotomy, rather the situation is very very grey. I am graduate student now, spending most of my days reading about women in conflict, gendered warfare, feminism, children and armed conflict, American foreign policy, the current state of the Middle East, and let me tell you, 2 weeks into graduate school I have far less answers to what seemed so simple 10 years ago at the age of 14. My world is no longer black and white, good and evil. My world is increasingly viewed through a gendered lens, my world is cluttered with understanding (trying to anyway) reasons people find to fight wars. Searching for answers to questions like: why is sex so institutionalized in warfare; how can men use rape as if its a grenade, or machine gun: a weapon for war; when will women be an equal contributor at the table; when will Jews, Arabs, and Christians coexist?...the questions I ask myself in my Post-9/11 World are so much more complicated than my original question "Why do THEY hate US?" Mainly because I can see now that the world likes to operate in a us vs them world, but sometimes that just isn't the case. The September 11th that changed our world, thrust my world into political overdrive. I never really thought about it like this before but somewhere deep down this event is most likely what pushed me into my passions today.

Dana Gilbert, my dad, and I were at the World Trade Center in March of 2001, 6 short months before the attack. We were also in DC that same trip. It was a strange feeling the morning of 9/11 to wake up and see something so familiar so horribly wrong. Dana and I (at the time 14 and 13 yrs old) looked down from the Towers at Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn to a site we had never imagined before. More buildings and people than we had ever seen in our lives probably.

On the roof top we were so high in the sky I remember ducking when a plane flew above us. "Boy can you imagine if that plane got any closer?" I remember thinking....a plane did get closer, too close, 6 short months later. Even now, 10 long years later I still hear that conversation in my head from our trip. I still see Manhattan from above. I still cannot watch footage of the towers collapsing because I still have the exact same reaction as I did when I was 14...."How many other little girls like Dana and I were looking down at Manhattan from way up high but never got back down?"

"Why do they hate us" was our out loud questions, our national discourse, but the question that still haunts me and surely, and even more tragically, haunts those who lost loved ones that day is the one 14 year old Sasha was consumed with: "How many little girls like Dana and I, or parents like Daddy, were looking down that morning, but never got down safe?" For those who lost their dads, their moms, their brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, friends, cousins, grandpas, grandmas, surely they are haunted by what their loved ones went through moments before the collapse. However, the closest I could connect was the fact that there very well had to have been kids just like me there that day...this surely wasn't something only grownups suffered from. It is interesting how childhood memories stay with us so strongly. September 11 is a national memory that haunts so many, but for me, the core of it was how far away in Washington we were, but how close it felt because Dana and I were there just months before, I knew what they looked like inside and out.

On 9/11 my world got complex for the first time. America was vulnerable, which was something I had only seen in my favorite movie Pearl Harbor that had premiered in May of that same year. "A date that will live in infamy" I had President Roosevelt's speech memorized. I was fascinated with Pearl Harbor. The chaos, the war, the people, the romances split apart because of it, and now in real life chaos was happening. New York looked like a war zone. The only place I'd ever seen holes in buildings were in movies, and Lebanon. War happened in Lebanon, that much I understood...so why was a building in NYC being blown up? This wasn't just an accident like the ones I have when I can't make it between the Towers in my flight simulator game?? Someone actually did this on purpose? Is this what people did in wars? It was in Pearl Harbor...in Pearl Harbor the Japanese jets dropped bombs on the American ships and if they got shot down sometimes went straight into the ships themselves....its true--I saw it on the movie, so I knew it happened. Because yes, for me of all people, film was reality, especially at 14!.....but wait, in Pearl Harbor the American boats were Military....these buildings weren't military, the people inside weren't soldiers, they were people like me, like Dana, like dad....

My head was a constant stream line of jumbled questions and self fulfilling answers, not just that day but weeks, months even some still prodding years later: War happened in Lebanon, I knew that, but war didn't happen in America...right? Police don't carry as big of guns here as they do in Lebanon, because we don't have wars here, only one we've had was in Hawaii. They say that Arabs did this....the same Arabs that live in Lebanon? We aren't Arab though right? We are Christian? But are we still Arab? Did a Lebanese person do this? No? Ok, well then who did? Why is everyone already saying "they"? Have Arabs always hated Americans? My dad seems to like it here? I know plenty of Muslims, they love America, these people can't be representing everyone. Will there be another World War? Maybe because someone attacked us...but when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor the world was already at War...we just finally fought back, so maybe not? The world isn't at war, yet. These 2 planes won't cause a World War? Wait, there were more? In DC too? We are under attack for sure, we will definitely fight a war! Will my friends go? I'll be able to go back to Lebanon...right? Will people think my dad is like them? Will people think I am like them? No, we aren't Arab. I've been to New York, its a lot of buildings, why those ones? Was there something special that happened there? Seemed pretty boring, Dana and I found the mall, so thats too bad thats gone but what did people do there that was worth blowing up? People were just at work, minding their own business, they weren't military buildings...war was between militaries I thought?

The world is complex. Turns out it took me 14 years to figure that out. Its taken me another 10 to realize its only the tip of the iceberg. Today, as we remember those who needlessly lost their lives in a horrific act of violence, an act so unimaginable its hard to digest even 10 years later, lets remember that the world is complex. The world needs us all to think outside the box. Think outside the dichotomies governments, story tellers, policy makers, dictators, politicians, whomever, like us to focus on. Lets stop asking "why THEY hate US?" and start asking who THEY are; why so many children go hungry all over the world, including in America; why so many teens have been killed by hand guns and how did they get them; why are women all over the world raped and beat on a daily basis just because they exist; why do governments recruit 10 year olds to fight their battles; how are we honoring the firefighters and police officers who were so heroic on 9/11 by slashing public funds to firefighters and police officers nationwide in this national debt crisis; and most importantly lets ask ourselves "What can WE do to help?" Lets stop thinking as an "us" and a "them". Lets try our best to start thinking as human beings. Lets support not only those who are willing to stand up and fight for our country, but support those who advocate for violence to end so young men and women don't have to stand up and fight. Lets ask, can we use our words to solve our next conflict? Lets remember how if felt to be scared, patriotic, ready to help our neighbor, thankful for heroes who risked their lives to save as many people from the burning buildings as they could, lets remember how united we were and use that passion for good. War is not the end all way to solve a problem, nor is fighting in one the end all way to show your patriotism, so find some way to be patriotic today and everyday because there is plenty to do in this divided country we are in. While we remember those who lost their lives, in their offices of all places, lets try to live our lives in a positive way and include those lost 10 years ago in our thoughts so they can live with us and through us.

The world is complex. Try not to simplify it with "us" and "them" do this world justice and ask the complicated questions and get outside your comfort zone to seek the uncomfortable answers. Be mindful today, be mindful everyday. Today its been 10 years, it is proof that life does go on...


Until next time,


Much love

Getting organized

Today I am working on getting organized on many levels.

Level #1: "Moving in" to my new Macbook Air. I am really excited about my purchase yesterday! I have never owned a BRAND NEW out of the package computer before...actually I take that back, I think my dad did give me a Dell for college that was brand new....but you know, Brand New as in I bought it I guess! :) I am really happy with my choice so far, its a nifty computer!! I used the terminology "moving in" because I was thinking about it last night as I was transferring files, getting used to new commands on the Mac, how files are organized on this thing and all of that and it dawned on me...breaking in a new computer is a lot like moving into a new house/apartment. When you first move into a new house/apartment you can never remember which cupboard you stashed the salt, or which drawer you put the silverware in and all those fun struggles. Much like organizing a new computer. "Where are documents stored?" "How do I want to categorize my pictures...Oh wait, computer just did it for me!! WOAH" (literally my reaction to the coolest thing ever!! Computer organizing my pictures FOR ME! SO COOL). It is a lot more fun "moving in" to a computer I'd argue than an apartment.

Level #2: School. Week two of school has come to an end and things are starting to get serious. There is so much to think about and digest all the time. I try to save Friday afternoons to decompress but I think that will soon need to change. There is so much reading to digest, so many thought provoking class discussions to internally process, research assignments to start working on and on top of that, starting to think about internship and jobs...yes already. I am taking a 3 week "course" on Fridays with my academic advisor, that I mentioned last post, and in her course we are really working on how to hone our resumes/cover letters and how to present and brand ourselves for the marketplace. It is really helpful to keep in the back of ones mind because they say to really start looking into internships around November for the summer. Right now, pending a one on one conversation with Maggi, my plan is to do an abroad internship/service project this summer and use my last semester to go to NYC, DC, or wherever I can find an internship with a company, NGO, state organization, that will potentially hire me. I have a lot of thinking to do in this respect, on top of all the academic thinking to do for class! FUN. I am going to start posting more about class and what I am learning this week I think now that I have a few readings under my belt and I am starting to form opinions about things. I think I am also going to look into the feasibility of posting some of my papers from this semester up here...I am not sure if that works at all.... we'll see.

Level #3: Home. LAUNDRY DAY!!! YAY I am finally getting around to doing my laundry today. One of the hardest parts of not having laundry in the unit is remembering to DO my laundry! I know, I sound gross but its true. You have to be at home, pay attention to the clock, its so much more of a hassle than having your own laundry...oh well, guess I shouldn't complain much...at least its only right down the stairs, not blocks away at a laundromat or something! Always should stay positive!

WELLLL I guess I should get back to my studies. I have LOTS of reading to do this weekend! Also some research to do to prepare for my first few assignments. For my Women in War class my group will be researching Gender Based Violence in Refugee Camps (still need to narrow down to a specific country), my Development project is to research political development in Afghanistan with my group and we'll be writing a policy proposal to USAID (obviously a fake one to practice if that was our real job)- I think I am going to research women's participation in the political development of Afghanistan, but I still need to decide. And then for my first Policy Analysis assignment I need to pick a policy that has already been implemented and analyze it at each of its stages...this is the one I am struggling to decide what to do. SO Please feel free to leave a comment below if there are any policies you'd be interested in knowing its effectiveness, or what happened to formulate it and all that.

Time to put my brain to work!

Until next time,

Much Love

Week One Done

Well, I made it!!! One week down, tons more to go!! I am in love with school though so that is a good sign! I absolutely love my classes and my professors. My classes are: Women's Human Rights-cross cultural (focuses on Muslim majority countries! Right up my alley), Women in War (which is just half a semester), Intro to development, Policy Analysis, and Arabic!! There is a lot of reading but I am doing a remarkable job keeping up (don't remind me its only the first week). As many of you know (well lets face it how many of you even read this outside my family, so ALL of you would know...) that I am not the fasted/most gifted reader, and its something I struggle with. While, I am not getting faster just yet, I am so excited about all the of the topics we are reading thus far that I want to read it and understand everything! WEIRD :) Women and gender issues are a recurring theme in my classes which is awesome. I really think this first semester is going to set me up well for narrowing my MA from just being "International Policy Studies-Human Security and Development" to specializing in gender issues. Not to mention I have the perfect professors to mentor me along the way! My Development and Women's Human Rights classes are taught by the same professor Nuket Kardam (google her if you'd like and read her bio she's pretty incredible)...long story short is that she is Turkish and interested/studies/has worked in, all of the areas I would really like to focus on also! SO, hopefully we will become close so that I can really learn from her, and know what has been done in our field, what kind of research is lacking, basically, "where can I contribute to the field?" She is great! My Women in War professor is said to be toughest teacher on campus and she is wonderful. She is originally from India she focuses on conflict resolution and is also a very interesting woman. The readings for her class so far have been incredibly interesting, and depressing sometimes...it is women in war so a lot of it focuses on the negative impacts war has on women such as rape as a tool of war....depressing but something everyone needs to know about!! My Arabic professor is actually from a small village not far from ours and got her B.A. from the University of Balamand where I tried getting my MA last year, as you all remember! Small world!! She is great and is going to focus on teaching me more Lebanese dialect while we learn the standard language!! YAY Maybe by next summer (if) when I go to Lebanon I'll be able to speak/write/read Arabic on the formal level for a job AND Speak dialect with my family and friends! In Sha Allah as we say in Arabic, "God Willing". My Policy class is ok, the professor doesn't seem excited to teach it, its the class everyone hates including professors but its mandatory, so they rotate teaching it. His expertise is terrorism studies, specifically in the Far East ....I guess he is brilliant in that field.

My other "class" that I have is just for the first 3 Fridays of the semester and it is GREAT! It is called Career Design Strategies with my academic adviser. SO GET THIS!! Speaking of a small world, my academic adviser is not only the nicest, energetic, smart, helpful, basically any positive adjective you can use to describe someone, BUT She is from MILBANK, SD of all places!! HAHA She died when she found out I've been to Milbank, that I have family in Ortonville, the whole works! She loved it! hahaha In her class we are learning a lot about ourselves and what we want to do with our lives. She is going to help us revamp our resumes and cover letters, we are going to craft our "elevator pitch" (quick, less than a minute pitch to say to someone when looking for a job if you dont have much time) and help us craft our academic plans. I am really excited to work with her. She is just one of those people who you know truly wants to help you and definitely goes out of her way to help her students achieve their goals from what I hear.

I am going to be reflecting on this activity we did yesterday and think about things like my strengths, weaknesses, what my ideal job is, all that fun stuff...I will probably blog my thoughts and I'd love your honest (but not mean haha) feedback to help me honestly analyze what type of work I'd be good at and where I want to be in x years.

Well all, the Oregon vs LSU game is on and I am not cheering enough. Its the first quarter and LSU has 3 points, UO 0. They need my attention! :) GO DUCKS!!

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!