I'm going to Syria...

I love saying that, but I shouldn't. I was at a hep rooftop party in Soho (okay, hanging with kids that lived on my floor back freshman year of college) and the conversation turns, as it does, to studies and future plans. This conversation is one I have had many times, with the parents of the kids I tutor and babysit, random men at bars, my friends parents, my podiatrist, others, and is one I am likely to have again - and love.

The other participant inquires about my studies - Politics and Middle East Studies. Since the latter is not a common major, something along the lines of "We could sure use people to fix up that place" or "that's a useful major nowadays!" is said. I ask about their studies, or job, or life, depending on their current phase of life.

"So, where are you living next year." And then, I get to say the delicious words themselves: "Oh, I'm going to Syria for a year."

"Syria??" Then I get to hear about how crazy I am, or was North Korea too tame, or why not Iraq? Cocktail in hand, I can regail them with stories of renting a car and driving through Southern Lebanon - Hezbollah country - before the 06 war or "almost getting kidnapped" at the Syrian border or of protesting with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. And my political opinions on various Middle Eastern governments, movements, or foreign policies are respected (despite my sometime unpopular positions) because I am a crazy motherfucker who is going to go to Syria for a year - I must know shit.

I shouldn't like the reaction I get from "Syria" because it reveals how the media here makes us believe the image of angry mobs of Middle Easterners is the only one. True, a lot of people in Syria (and a good many other countries) are not fans of our government, as are many people here. But as an American in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan I heard much more about the cousin in Virginia and the brother in New Jersey than rants about America. People know that venting such feelings to me is not going to change shit since I'm a lowly backpacking student with no hand in American foreign affairs - at least not yet.

So I shouldn't enjoy the adventurous and brave image of me people create when I tell them I'm going to Syria. Rest assured, I'll get sick of it soon, just as I got sick of telling people that no, I didn't have to wear a burka in Egypt. But for now, I'll enjoy it. And I promise that this will be my first and last intentionally pretentious entry.