resistance.

they were all fired up. openly discussing the corruption of kuwait, how despite what the united states likes to think, kuwait is not a democracy! there is little, if any, room for resistance. its not that the people are ignorant--they know. my students understand how their country and government operates--i'd say, much greater than many americans understand theirs. and so, i ask, where's the opposition? who is fighting the power/'the man'? well, in a word (or two), no one.

our coversation in class the past few days centered around globalization and the impacts of the WTO and IMF (which they quickly learned i am not fans of. i tried to be somewhat non-partisan, i did. it just didn't work). did you know one-third of the world's assets are controlled by the 100 largest multinational corporations?! and from this we divulged into the ruling corporations/families (often one in the same) of kuwait.

i've never seen them so engaged in conversation! the ladies were outraged. how the corruption and the desire for the almighty dollar (or KD, as the case may be) controls all. how, as one student said, "if kuwait were to burn tomorrow, some wouldn't care as long as they had their money."and, let me tell you, these are no low-income students were talking about (one gave me a ride home in her brand new mercedes yesterday). and yet, they realize that the pursuit of money corrupts their country. i asked, perhaps ignorantly, if there was any organized opposition to government corruption. immediately and simultaneously the response: of course not.

you oppose, you are an infidel. and in this part of the world, that's not taken lightly. essentially, being labeled an infidel is justification to kill you. and so, the people remain silent not out of lack of knowledge or even desire for change, but of fear.

i came across this quote not too long ago and i love it: "if you don't like the way the world is, you change it. you have an obligation to change it. you just do it one step at a time"--marian wright edelman. and today, i was reminded, that being the change you wish to see in the world is actually a privilege.

trust.

professors rarely shut there doors here. even when they're teaching. there's been numerous times i've walked by an office with purses on full display with no one in sight. in kuwait there's a level of trust (and if we're being honest, severe punishment) that no one would steal, so why lock it up? it's kind of refreshing actually--to not live in some sort of self-created prison we're accustomed to in the united states. i still feel a bit uneasy at times--just leaving my stuff (especially my lifeline--passport) out knowing that no one will take it. as if our pale skin didn't give us away as americans, i'm pretty sure our compulsion to lock every door at all times does...
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in other news, i think we've all kinda hit that point. the, "i'm ready to go home" (but not face school quite yet) point. according to jill's countdown, 34 days until we depart for the good ole us of a. next weekend we're headed to jordan for a long weekend--here's hoping that'll give us the extra energy we need to push through to the end.

lesson of the day.

know your audience.

in class today we began a discussion on economics. and seeing as about the most detailed description i know of economics is systems of allocation based on production and distribution, i decided to focus on something i know a bit more about: economic inequality. we watched a short video on the grameen bank (microlending) and did a little web surfing of kiva.org. so for those of you who may wonder if i'm at all 'holding back' my thoughts/opinions while teaching in kuwait--apparently not :).

after said fun-filled media extravaganza we discussed some terms associated with economics, specifically one called division of labor (i.e. who does what in society. this normally isn't arbitrary--usually divided along racial, class, gender, age lines...). it's actually quite fascinating in kuwait where division of labor along racial and ethnic lines is so pronounced. for example, all the coffee shop workers are asian; the lawncare men are bangladeshi; the maids are bangladeshi--you can almost look at someone and know their job. so, back to class-- thought i would use an example to illustrate. i asked, for example, who does the cooking in your house (assuming the answer would be my mother)? not so fast meredith. the first response i heard, "well actually it's a man." i was confused--a man? does she mean her father? i inquired further. oh no, she means her family has a male cook (what!?). other students chimed in and discussed the gender of their family chef. and yet another example of me forgetting where exactly i am. it's not the women who cook--it's the hired help. welcome to kuwait.