Reflection...

I agree with you completely, Alexandra. I, too, feel like I am losing sanity as the days drag on and on, the work load grows and grows, and my total hours of sleep shrink and shrink. However, I am very excited about this class and I am willing to put in the hours and the work in order to gain a greater understanding of the MENA region and its components.
This past week I had to write a paper for my world politics class, and I decided to write about the United States--Saudia Arabian relations in terms of both the economy and women's rights. I discussed (somewhat poorly, I might add) the United States' interest in the region's oil versus its interest in addressing the fact that women are prohibited from driving in the region. I found a lot of interesting articles on the latter (I am very interested in human rights, especially women's rights in the MENA region); in fact, Hillary Clinton recently (as in 2011--and for the first time) outright addressed her feelings about this issue. Here is a link to the CNN article on it (if you're interested!): http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-21/us/clinton.saudi.women_1_saudi-women-saudi-arabia-diplomacy?_s=PM:US
It was interesting to read because one of the main factors that pushed her to make this statement was a group called Saudi Women Driving, an organization that (obviously) promotes driving in Saudi Arabia. This group put together a petition to bring the issue to Clinton's attention, which in many ways led to her decision to switch from quiet diplomacy to publicly addressing it. I can't help thinking how cool it is that a group of people can bring change like that!
Again, if you're interested, here is a link to their blog (all you Saudi Arabian groupies!)
http://www.saudiwomendriving.blogspot.com/
Anyway, I am excited for the class to get on a roll--I can't wait to expand my knowledge and perhaps even learn more about what I want to do with my life!

--Madeline Branch