Two years ago today, September 22, I met 62 other people,
people fresh out of college, people who had left the job market after a number
of years, people who had retired, people who were about to step into the
unknown. We came together in a
hotel in Philadelphia, said goodbye to our loved ones, filled out some
paperwork, and the next day, boarded a bus which took us to New York City to
fly to Azerbaijan, a country of almost 9 million Muslims. Two years ago, we circled each other
warily, trying to determine who these people with whom we had volunteered to
spend the next 27 months of our lives were. It seems like a lifetime ago. It seems like yesterday.
I know I wrote something similar last year at this
time. This year, I write
this in the wake of a series of protests that have swept the Muslim world,
reacting to an atrocious video that depicts the worst, most degrading and
insulting stereotypes and misconceptions about Islam that anyone could possibly
have made. I know, I’ve watched
the video twice. My host family
asked me to translate it. I sat in
front of the computer screen, unable to comprehend what I was watching. In part, this was due to the fact that,
in addition to being an offensive and degrading, it’s a horribly made movie with
almost no thread connecting scene to scene. It’s bad in every possible sense of the word.
I didn’t start writing today to review the film. I wanted to write because on this date,
I celebrate living in a Muslim country.
Azerbaijan is not a perfect country, and its people are not
perfect. Of course they’re not, no
one is. But it is important to
remember that while some people who practice Islam have killed and are killing
throughout the world, they do not represent the entire faith. I hope the images of people from Libya
have reached the American media, images of men, women and children holding
signs apologizing and condemning those that turned to violence in the wake of
the attacks. These Muslims honored
and celebrated the work of Chris Stevens, the ambassador to Libya, and a former
Peace Corps Volunteer.
For two years, I have had the pleasure to live amongst some
of the kindest and most welcoming people I have ever met. The two families I have lived with
while serving here in Azerbaijan, particularly my family in Ismayilli, have
treated me as one of their sons.
When I am ill, they take care of me. When I am happy, they celebrate my achievements. When I am frustrated, they listen while
I vent. When it is my birthday,
they baked me a cake, and made me a birthday dinner. They shared their holidays, their ideas, their beliefs,
their lives, with me. The
generosity they have shown myself and other Peace Corps volunteers who have
visited is the greatest thing I will miss when I return. They make me happy to have guests, they
make me proud for people to know I live with them.
I have had the fortune to live in two predominantly Muslim
countries in my life. For nearly
four years, my family lived in Jakarta, Indonesia. We were there when the World Trade Center was attacked. And while security at our school
increased, and some of our friends moved home, we never felt as if we were in
danger. Our neighborhood was not
the area where a large number of expats lived. It was our families, our Dutch neighbors, and Indonesians,
all centered around the local mosque.
Our neighbors came to us, and told us that we never had to worry; they
would watch out for us.
These countries do no represent the entire Muslim world,
just as the United States does not represent all of the West, or all of
Christendom. But here I am, having
lived through six years in two different Muslim countries, and I have never
felt safer as an American than I have in these homes. For over a quarter of my life, I have lived with caring and
thoughtful people. These years
have been some of the most memorable and formative moments of my life, and to
the people, the families, the Muslims, that have been a part of my life, I
thank you.
UPDATE: Word has hit the media that protests have started in
Baku, though the police halted them and many who were involved in any violence have
been taken to jail. The fact that
protests have begun here in no way changes how I feel about my time here, nor
does it change any of my feelings about safety here in Ismayilli.
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