Mar 3 post--

Today is March 2 and I had interesting conversations with two young women during the day.

Shariqa—who I would guess is about 20 years old—was born in Bangladesh and is Muslim. LJ & SK—Got you map out? If you can find Pakistan and India, look in that neighbor for her country. She's studying economics in Spain and has participated in several international conferences on government corruption. Shariqa wants to work against people breaking the law in government, sports, business, banking, and taking advantage of others. She doesn't like it when people take or make money in unfair ways, and she figures she'll be in school for at least five to seven years to be learn how to do something about it. Shariqa doesn't think she will be able to get a job in her country when she has finished her education. It seems that, if females have been away for a very long time, people of the Muslim tradition in her country feel that they've become “too western” like American or Europeans in their thinking and behavior. Shariqa points out that her brother went to England, became a doctor and was able to “go home” and get a job. Shariqa thinks this is not right, and perhaps that's an example of her changing. She invited me to her international law class when Desmond Tutu—The Arch—will be speaking to them, and I can't wait.

The second young woman I talked with is Jessica, and she is a junior at a private college in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jessica has wanted to be a middle school teacher for as long as she can remember. She loves that age group! (LJ—I think you'd love Jessica if you had her as a teacher next year.) Jessica has been involved in schools for many years, and this year worked in a K-8^th grade school as part of her education. Before the Semester at Sea voyage, she told a sixth grade class about what she was going to do, and she's been doing a blog for that class. She's writes about her experiences, posts pictures, and even videos! Students ask her questions and she answers each student individually by email. Jessica has been collecting examples of projects she's done with schools in order to show her efforts and achievement—she's putting a portfolio together to be ready for the job search when she graduates from college. Anywhere on the east coast of the US is fine with Jessica—she doesn't like “extreme weather”-- so anywhere but Maine or Florida.

Two "interpert" students came on board when we set sail out of Burma.  As we prepare to go into Cochin, India soon, I will collect some interesting "tid bits" for you.  One of those tid bits is that most marriages are "arranged" by the two families not based on love.  I remember when I was in Pakistan a young teacher told me her marriage had been "arranged" and she grew to love her husband.

Tomorrow is a B day, and I turn the clock back for the second time since I boarded in Singapore. Going west, I keep getting more “fall backs” and no “spring forwards”....Perhaps you could ask your mom and dad about time zones. Maybe google it! Again, it's a map thing.