East in the West Guest Speaker

Sarah brought in my favorite guest speaker. I really admired the choices she made and the proudness she showed about her choices. She pretty much had a choice between what religion and life style she was going to lead. Sure her father led her in the muslim direction but she could have also followed her mother and stayed away from the mosque when her sisters and brothers went with their father. She proudly chose muslim and not only carried out her religion in her own life but now teachs about the Middle East and chose to educate others about the happenings in egypt. She mentioned she had a minor in Egyptology which is solely the study of Egypt. This is very cool to me! Because she could have just said she was from Egypt but lived in the United States which is true, but she did more than most and searched to find out where she REALLY came from. Like I have said before in many of my post, I love hearing stories straight from the persons mouth that it has happened to. This makes it more beleivable. Our movie went perfect with her discussion of when her father tries to hook her up with men. It is another interesting way just like in the movie. She also made me understand why it is okay for fathers to "matchmake" their daughters. Muslims can not go out and drink and hang out in the typical party scene where majority of Americans meet their husbands and wives. It would be very hard to find different types of people when you are in the same environment with the same people. She also did not mind that her father was doing it, she thought it was almost humorous. Another thing that was interesting to me is that she puts her headscarf on in the car to the way to the mosque. She was first to let us know that people stare at her when she had the scarf on. When she is dressed with out the headscarf she said she never gets looks but all of sudden she puts it on and people are staring in her car window. This upsets me but like someone in the class said to many people it is not that we are staring to insult the person, many think it is just interesting to see. She lives a very normal life here and does not seem like the harsh things we have heard about are happening to her. I really respect her decision to embrace her religion instead of being embarrased of it.