For this blog I would talk about a couple of pictures.
The first picture is of me meeting HRH (his royal highness) Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan. He is the brother former King Hussien, and long time crown prince of Jordan before he was replaced by now King Abdullah. This was an amazing experience for me (being a Jordanian of course), he is a very intellectual and influential figure in Jordan, and getting to meet him is a big deal! its not every day you get to meet a member of the royal family. I saw him in the hallway of the conference center and he was willing to talk. I explained to him that I am with the World In Conversation Project from the U.S.A and he was interested in knowing more about, so I proceeded to explain the project to him and especially our West Meets Middle East initiative. He liked what we do and found the name particularly interesting, and the project as a “wonderful and valuable thing”. He seemed extremely impressed and supportive of the project and got me in touch with a representative from a group that does similar group in New York in terms of promoting dialogue between westerns and Muslims. For me that was inspirational because at least it gives me hope that the presence of his royal highness and other members from a Jordanian delegation in the UNAOC (like HRH Prince Faisal of Jordan who is in charge of the Jordanian Olympic committee and was a speaker at a panel discussion regarding the role of sports in youth development) means that there is support for my work back home, not only in the Middle East (obviously) but in Jordan more specifically.
Keeping with the theme of support, my family is my biggest fans that shower me with support for what I am doing and working on. This second picture is of me with Sam, Laurie, and my brother Faisal who lives in Doha.
Living and working in State College, but being from the ME and having all my family back home means that those two lives never get a chance to interact, and personally what is one thing that is amazing about this Doha trip is a chance for just that to happen. My work life and family get a chance to meet my ME’eastern life and my real family. That way the people at work can see the love I have between my family members and the strong family bonds. And my family can get a chance to meet my bosses and my work family and see in first hand what I do and who I work with.