I was attempting to explain to Abdul Summit the problems that affect the American public school system. I was concentrating on the differences between the well to do neighborhoods and the poorer, mostly inner city schools. As I told him about the poor areas in the US, he interrupted me with the one word question, “Poor?!” I had difficulty saying “Poor for America”, not because I didn’t know how to say it in Arabic, but because of the look he was giving me. Once again, I felt foolish talking about the “problems” in America. If there’s one thing that this trip has taught me, it is how good we have it in the US and how much people want what we have. I have probably been asked 25 or 30 times if I knew a way for someone to get a work visa for the US. I honestly don’t, but even if i did, I have a feeling that it would be a long shot coming from Yemen. Oh well, hopefully we won’t have any more conversations comparing the US with here in class…
Isaac