2008 Woodie Awards
In living color: Perspectives from around the world
Alexandra Ferrara
Issue date: 9/5/06 Section: Opinions
"So, where are you from?" a heavily accented male voice asked me. He stared at me intently, studying my face to figure out my ethnicity before I even replied. Hesitantly, I responded, "United States. I'm an American." The whole group chuckled. Out of about nine people all hailing from countries between the Dominican Republic and Afghanistan, I felt quite foreign in my own country.
I spent my summer in Washington, D.C., at the United States Foreign Policy Institute. One summer at the institute provided me with experiences most 19-year-olds don't have in a lifetime. Our group met with a First Infantry Division tank battalion leader, currently on hiatus from commanding in the Sunni Triangle, Iraq; we met with two former Ambassadors to South Africa; resident scholars from the Pew Charitable Trust think tank; and Foreign Service agents from the State Department recently back from being stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
All these esteemed men and women impressed me and left me with insights into possible career choices for myself. However, nothing impressed me more than the three young men that I now have the privilege of calling my "habibi," or "good friend" in Arabic.
Two of the men were from Beirut, Lebanon, and the other was from a small village in Palestine. Their political savvy, humor and intellect astounded me. Their extensive knowledge of their respective countries' political history was even more impressive. A.J. could recite historical dates and happenings relating to "Filastin" politics of biblical times, and Jad, our lion-hearted Lebanese comrade with a taste for Machiavellian political theory, would comment on the appropriate uses of hard and soft power within the American political arena. He would debate anyone and everyone willing to on an assortment of topics, yet never made an enemy even after heated arguments. I even had the pleasure of watching Anthony, our soft-spoken Lebanese friend, quarrel live on Hardball with Ann Coulter. Not one to usually confront people (and the one time he does it's Ann Coulter), it was his undying love for his war-torn country that provided him with the audacity to stand up to someone marked for her heartlessness. After he challenged her vicious statement regarding the current situation in Lebanon, she seemed thoroughly frustrated with him and had no acerbic comeback. Kudos, Anthony.
I spent my summer in Washington, D.C., at the United States Foreign Policy Institute. One summer at the institute provided me with experiences most 19-year-olds don't have in a lifetime. Our group met with a First Infantry Division tank battalion leader, currently on hiatus from commanding in the Sunni Triangle, Iraq; we met with two former Ambassadors to South Africa; resident scholars from the Pew Charitable Trust think tank; and Foreign Service agents from the State Department recently back from being stationed in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
All these esteemed men and women impressed me and left me with insights into possible career choices for myself. However, nothing impressed me more than the three young men that I now have the privilege of calling my "habibi," or "good friend" in Arabic.
Two of the men were from Beirut, Lebanon, and the other was from a small village in Palestine. Their political savvy, humor and intellect astounded me. Their extensive knowledge of their respective countries' political history was even more impressive. A.J. could recite historical dates and happenings relating to "Filastin" politics of biblical times, and Jad, our lion-hearted Lebanese comrade with a taste for Machiavellian political theory, would comment on the appropriate uses of hard and soft power within the American political arena. He would debate anyone and everyone willing to on an assortment of topics, yet never made an enemy even after heated arguments. I even had the pleasure of watching Anthony, our soft-spoken Lebanese friend, quarrel live on Hardball with Ann Coulter. Not one to usually confront people (and the one time he does it's Ann Coulter), it was his undying love for his war-torn country that provided him with the audacity to stand up to someone marked for her heartlessness. After he challenged her vicious statement regarding the current situation in Lebanon, she seemed thoroughly frustrated with him and had no acerbic comeback. Kudos, Anthony.
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