Recently I have been having random experiences that involve really awesome people and the sense that God orchestrated this chance meeting. Do you ever have that feeling? Like, I would think this is coincidence except it is just too awesome to be coincidence!
Like a couple of weeks ago. One of my Arabic professors emailed me and asked if I wanted to go to an elementary school to volunteer there with an activity they were doing involving Arabic, Spanish, and Chinese. Even though it meant I would have to leave work early and leave one of my classes (not to mention the drive to Lehi...) I only thought about it for about 5 seconds before agreeing to go. I mean, how awesome would that be, right?
Although I actually ended up doing almost nothing (they had a real Arab there. What did they want me for?) I met two very cool people--one (the real Arab) was from Morocco. His name was Mohammad. He used to be Muslim. And now he is Mormon. In addition to the coolness of that alliteration, I felt that this was an important person for me to meet. I mean, how many Mohammads from Morocco do you know that have been baptized into the church? And 10 days after September 11, 2001...his story sounded pretty crazy and awesome.
And the other woman there? An American (also Mormon) whose husband was Arab, from Ramallah. And his family still lives there. When I mentioned my desire to write a book about Palestinian women in the West Bank, she said, "Well I know a lot of those..."
And I just thought, wow.
And then! Just when I thought things couldn't get any more crazy and ideal in my life, I stayed after one of my classes a minute to talk to my professor (the one who knew the guy from 1837...). Since he is a visiting professor from Chicago, I asked him if he knew anything about the center for Near and Middle Eastern studies there, since it is one of my options for grad school. Although he didn't know anyone who taught there personally, another student who was waiting to talk to the professor said, "That is where my husband just finished his PhD! In fact, we are flying out to defend his dissertation next week!" And then she invited me over for dinner to talk about grad school at Chicago.
Finally, another day I was talking to said professor about a paper that I am writing for his class. And he mentioned something about "when I was teaching in Kyrgyzstan..."
And I thought, "I used to think you were cool, but now I know you are cool!" Because I have been reading about Pakistan recently (in "Three Cups of Tea") and I have suddenly become a bit more interested in that area of the world. Because actually all the "stan" countries (Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan) lie between the "Middle East proper" and China.
A sort of bridge between my two worlds.
Weird, huh. And then I thought, I want to go to Kyrgyzstan!
What a crazy life I have, eh?
Where don't you want to go? :) I want to hear about your possibilities for grad school when I come.
ReplyDeleteBreanne! First of all, I think I know that Mohammad too!! We were in the same ward in Heritage Halls, and he was always saying, "Life is good, and we are blessed," with a big smile. It became, like, our ward saying. He's very cool. Second, I feel bad, but I had no idea you were home! I am so behind! And third, thanks for reading and commenting on our blog so I could find yours! You are so cool! And we are in California for the summer, going to Colorado for grad school in the fall ;-) Keep in touch! We love you!
ReplyDeleteActually...it was probably a different Mohammad. Because this one had older kids (elementary/high school). But there is no shortage of men named Mohammad in the ME...
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