Different.

I read on the New York Times today that Emanuel Macron has declared that Anti-Zionism is a new form of Anti-Semitism. As much as I want to talk about this, I find myself writing for a broad audience, with different opinions and different viewpoints so I will not get into this. However, what I find incredible is the extent to the disconnect in the world. I am in a place where Jews are bad people who only care about money and who rule the world. In four days, I will be in a place where Muslims are terrorists and invaders. All this in a world that is incredibly connected, one where anyone can find out the ideas of anyone else. This is a world where some cultural aspects are completely international, but it is also a world where viewpoints are radically different. How many people rail on about the evils of Islam, never meeting a Muslim themselves? It's not hard to speak about things one does not know. However, it is hard to say something worth hearing. I'm not entirely sure what I'm trying to say. I find it incredible how together and yet completely divided the world is. Western sensibilities are Eastern taboos. Things I have heard from my host family would get them arrested in Bethesda. I have learned more from this trip than I could ever have from books. I wake up every day to the calls of the minarets. In my room, the face of Seydina Limamou Laye watches over me. The world we live in is one that is seemingly interconnected, but in reality, one that is impossibly divided.

With three more days left in the country, only now am I realizing how much I've learned. This encounter with Islam has changed me politically, giving me a more militant, radical view of religion as a whole. Every day that passes is one where I am happier to have stayed. An experience like this is more formative than any schooling, any book. It's hard to put into words what can barely be put into pictures, but this place is truly incredible. I have, in some way, given up to this country. It is a land that can snap me like a twig, one that can chew me up and spit me out. I am humbled. I am humbled by this country. I don't know what the long term effect of this trip will be, but right now, I find myself craving more. I want to know more. There is so much I do not know. I have learned so much, but the main thing I have learned is that I know so little. How can I speak of anything when I barely know myself? As rhetorical and cliche as this sounds, I stand by this statement. I have found reserve in myself I never knew existed. This has pushed me to the edge, mentally, physically, and emotionally, and it has left me completely different.