Voyage (not really but it sounds more adventurous that way)

To celebrate the end-of-term (what?! How did that happen so fast!) I am heading on my first European extravaganza since having arrived in London. I am going to Portugal and the south of Spain for 10 days with three girlfriends. Then off to Israel to see my family. I will post pictures and funny cultural commentaries when I find cheap internet cafes. Happy holidays!

Falling in love

I may have fallen in love with London tonight. Anyone that knows me well knows that I get pure joy out of pedestrian-friendly cities that allow me to discover new crannies or just feel the pulse of the city. I had that "ah-ha" moment with London tonight. I finally saw in it some of the qualities that I love about two of my favorite cities. It has the spirit of Tel Aviv- where spaces are always boisterous and alive and people spill into the street at all hours. Yet it also has that importance and centrality that Washington DC experiences, where big ideas are always formulating (that's why I love TED so much!). The feeling that one can do impactful work during the day and have endless opportunities at night just vibed with me as I walked home with a friend from the Rotary Fish & Chips event in the misty rain. Something clicked in me and it made me wonder if this is the beginning of feeling less like a visitor in someone else's city...


(A picture of the London night sky- courtesy of Google search)

The Giving Difference

A Jew, a pastor and a Catholic are sitting at a restaurant... sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? Nope- it was our table at a Rotary lunch meeting with the St. Pancras Club. It seems that wherever Rotary is located, beyond just doing good, diversity converges and conversation flows freely. The three of us got into a really interesting conversation about charitable giving- obviously an interest of mine from my work with NGOs and my desire to work in the third sector in the future. The Pastor argued that one of the disadvantages of a welfare state, such as England, is that there is significantly less charitable giving. People are less likely to contribute to prevailing social ills because they believe that the state should and will take care of the issue. This conclusion is quite rational since people pay relatively high taxes and the state finances most basic needs. I thought about this as I walked home- Do Americans give more on average than other nations? Would this decrease if the US instituted national health care or nationalized other programs? What are other repercussions of such a policy shift that are currently not being discussed in the media?

Of course I had to check the facts for myself. Turns out the Pastor was right; According to Philanthropy UK, in 2006 Americans contributed £145 billion (or 2.2% of the GDP) to charities as compared to Brits giving £15 billion (or 1.1% of the GDP). So the previous question stands- what are the hidden consequences- good or bad- of nationalizing health care in the US? Readers (all two of you) feel free to post your thoughts in the comments space.

The Paradox of Development

I seriously love my classes. I have always loved school so that isn't new for me, but there is something unique about going to grad school in that I ACTIVELY chose to return to school. For most privileged Americans undergraduate is a given- the actual university and degree is the element of choice. I don't know many people that didn't go to college immediately after high school (with the exception of those that did gap year in Israel). So graduate school is different in that you realize that there is some opportunity cost in not doing something else but you still find school to be the best move at that moment. For me it was a very active decision- I had a great job with Teach For All and a wonderful life in Israel. Most people wouldn't leave that comfort and security. But I also knew that I wouldn't have the type of career or impact I wanted unless I got a second degree in my field.

But I digress- so my classes have been very engaging. My program, Development Studies, gives us a lot of flexibility with our courses as long as we can prove they are relevant. After much vacillation and even a last minute class switch I decided on the following for this term:

• Development: Theory, History, and Policy (our required course)
• Complex Emergencies
• Global Civil Society
• Social Research Methods in Developing Countries
• Business Model Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid- a really interesting pilot class that will be official in 2010-2011

My professors are incredible. Beyond being leading thinkers in their field, they are very warm and responsive. That may be partly because our department only serves graduate students so all of their attention is focused on us. They constantly encourage us to see them before/after classes or discuss dissertation ideas with them. And because our seminars are only 15 students, they know all of our names.

However, the content has become increasingly more complex over the last 7 weeks. We began with historical perspectives of 'development' and have moved into more modern-day issues. And I often find myself sitting at the end of class thinking, "Wow, that is heavy" or "Where do we even begin in order to solve that issue?" Just this week I wrote a paper about the role that social/economic grievances play in causing complex emergencies and another one about the impact of colonialism on Africa today. I find that the more I learn, the more I realize how complex and interwoven these issues are. Where does one start 'development' work when everything needs to be transformed?

Yesterday I had a very cool opportunity to see a play sponsored by Save the Children and EveryChild. The play, titled Listen to Me, follows the stories of marginalized children from Bangladesh, India, Columbia, Malawi, Guyana, Wales, Cambodia and more. The two organizations interviewed over 400 children whose basic needs are not being met to create this performance in honor of the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The play was unbelievably powerful- we heard the story of an innocent 16-year old Cambodian who was accused of rape and sentenced to 15 years in jail, and of a Bangladeshi girl sent to bonded labor in order to support her family, and of an Indian girl who said, "Because of my caste, my fellow classmates ignore me and won't mingle with me or sit with me. Even teachers won't touch me after knowing that I am from an Arunthathiyar community. In some situations I cry and ask- why has God made me born in this region?" I had goosebumps throughout the performance as I was thinking of the millions of children around the world who are born into a life of poverty and inaccessibility. Just heartbreaking...

Tonight I went to see the movie 'The Last King of Scotland' about the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin who killed more than 300,000 people during his regime in the 1970s. I walked away once again realizing that the challenges that many African countries are facing are so deeply rooted it is hard to know how development workers can really create any systemic change. How does the 'developed' world help poorer nations provide for their citizens in a way that is not-patronizing and culturally-sensitive? Where do you start- with deadly epidemics such as HIV/AIDS or education? Governance or infrastructure? These Sisyphean issues are so daunting. I am sure that as we dive deeper into our coursework and learn of the successes that have been achieved, my optimism will rise again and my faith restored in our ability to make small differences that together amount to big changes... that is preciously why I joined Teach For America after all. But right now, the task before me seems colossal.

(I can't end a blog entry on such a pessimistic note, so am including this link to an inspiring story in CNN about Plan International's work to register the 'invisible children' of the world who, because of their lack of proper identification, can't access basic things like education, health care or government offices.)

Scholarly Experiences

I have been so busy that I have hardly had time to write about my experiences thus far as a Rotary Scholar.

Link weekend
I hadn't been here more then a week before I had my first Rotary event at Leicester (pronounced Le-ster). All of the scholars studying in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland were invited to this cute town in the midlands for a retreat. The highlight of the weekend was meeting the other scholars and spending time with my host family- Rotarian Kevin and his wife Elisa. We managed to see the National Space Center, meet the Mayor, and have a Barn Dance (I still can't really explain what that means, but definitely an experience :)














*Myself, Rotarian Kevin and fellow scholar Angelo; Mayor of Leicester speaking to the scholars

District conference
My host district, London 1130, had its conference a few weeks ago in the seaside town of Eastbourne. We had amazing weather and it was the perfect weekend getaway from London. This was a great opportunity to see Rotary in action here and meet Rotarians from other clubs Nicole Dryburgh shared her truly inspiring story with us - by the age of 20 she has achieved amazing things despite being deaf, blind and wheelchair-bound from her fight against cancer. She is now raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.


Bush Hill Park Club
My host club has been very gracious- inviting me to club meetings and their annual Fish and Chips event at the Motor Museum. I have been assigned a host counselor, Dan (pictured here with his wife Wendy, another Rotarian) to help me throughout the year. It has been fun to get to know them and I look forward to many more events in the upcoming months.


Socializing with my fellow scholars
Not surprisingly I have spent a good bit of time with my fellow scholars. Whether at a wine and cheese night, or meeting up at a pub, we always manage to have fun and inevitably end up talking about the various British things that astound us (examples- how inefficient banks are in London, why the tube line you need never seems to operate on the weekend, etc). Here are just a few of my favorites.














*At a pub with two scholars who are also studying at LSE; at the London Symphony this past week.

On the Defensive

I am simply exhausted. You would think it would be due to the immense workload or the intensity of my schedule. No, I am exhausted from being an ambassador. I cannot keep track of how many times I defended Israel this week; whether through spontaneous conversations about the Middle East or loaded questions about Israel's role in prolonging the conflict, I have constantly been on the defensive. And it is exhausting! I knew that this year in London would have its challenges, and especially with respect to my birthplace, but I never suspected that I would have to exert this much energy to showcase the various dimensions of the conflict that people don't hear during a 3-minute news bite. Very intelligent people have tried to simplify the problem to simply Israel as an aggressor or occupying power without realizing the complexities and nuances behind these powerful words. Some fail to learn their history before making harsh judgments. This afternoon my professor compared Israel to apartheid South Africa- a statement that beyond just being unbelievably upsetting, if perpetuated could have serious implications on how Israel is treated by the international community (as if it isn't ostracized enough already!)

It is very isolating to constantly feel like you have to defend your country. Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with all of Israel's policy decisions- just like I don't agree with a lot of U.S. policies- and I can criticize both because I feel a) informed and b) have an interest in actually improving the situation. What upsets me most are those people that just make statements who have little understanding of the region and its history and whose positions just perpetuate an already sensitive situation, rather than being solution-oriented. The precariousness of this balance is further demonstrated by the way that Israelis have to engage themselves while living abroad. Last week the Israelis at Goodenough met to discuss what events we want to host this year for the community and how we want to "appear" to outsiders. No other community has to think so critically about the image that it sends to the rest of the college because it is so loaded and quick to be judged. Israel and the Middle East conflict has become such a weighty issue that each action or lack thereof impacts others' perceptions.

I recognize that I need to displace this feeling of "bearing a responsibility" because it will become too much at times. But by nature I CANNOT ignore misrepresentations or half-truths - not of Israel or any other issue. I am a student after all because I want to engage with others in serious discourse that challenges us to think more critically about ideas and beliefs that we hold to be true. I expected others to want to do the same and I hope that is still the case... I am willing to do that with my own beliefs.

You Can't Take the Mediterreanean Out of the Girl

I went to the dining hall today to see what was on the menu for brunch. Seeing the many varieties of pork products, dough items, and a sorry selection of cereals, I turned right around and headed to my local grocery store. As I was standing in line to pay for my chosen items, I realized that you can tell a good amount about a person by looking at his/her grocery basket - is s/he a snacker, has a sweet tooth, a health nut, an organic food junkie, etc. Needless to say mine is quite representative of my Mediterranean background. Items of choice:

• Fresh bread
• Hummus - a must
• Mozzarella cheese - you can never go wrong with cheese
• Olives
• Wine - I will be bringing it tonight to a friend's party
• Cucumbers and tomatoes (I am really missing the small Israeli cucumbers... they are so much tastier than the falic looking ones that are sold in the US and UK)

Even though I am loving that cheap Indian and Chinese cuisine is always available here, I am missing my Israeli food right now. Bon appetit :)