Habits from childhood

When I was a kid, I had many habits. When I look back at them I start laughing. Here are some.

Every night after having dinner I felt that I had a duty to do. It was to bring a piece of bread and smash it into tiny pieces. Then, I used to throw them affront our house to feed the little insects, especially ants, because they were very dear to my heart.

Another habit took place on the roof of our house, where I used to gather different materials like flowers, leaves, water, juice, mud, pieces of paper and many other things that are not related to each other in any way. I used to squeeze, smash, and mix them together. It was like an imaginary game I had to play almost every day, in which I imagined the roof of the house as my secret lab where I made medicines. After making the medicine I had to declare what disease it can cure and of course no one could prove any failure in any of my experiments because no one simply tried them out! That made me consider myself as a great scientist.

There is one more habit to be mentioned but I’ve  known lately that I wasn't the only kid having it. It was to run all the way to the roof whenever I saw a plane flying above the house. After reaching the roof I used to put my hands up, jump and shout happily "baba Qabuse hiiiiiiiiiiii."

By: Amira Al Maawali

This how I see it ...

I took this image from today's issue of ALWATAN newspaper.. It expresses the reality.






by: Amira Al Maawali  

when will we learn ?? :(

What I read in today's local newspaper really shocked me. Only one week passes and 19 of us die because of car accidents.
According to "ALwatan" newspaper the number of accidents that occured between 10th and 19th of sep is 141 accidents. 192 people got injured and 19 others got killed.
It is difficult in Oman to find a family that hasn't lost a member or a relative in a car accident !!
I wonder what does it take  for us to learn to respect the rules, and be careful in our driving. Unfortunately our roads are filled by crazy drivers who do not respect the responsibility that they take once they sit in front of the wheel.  




A person's recklessness leads many other innocent people to death.

By: Amira Al Maawali

A Place from my Country

While I was enjoying my time in Pullman, my sister was having a great time in our green Salalah. Although I have been to Salalah twice, I will never mind to go again.
Salalah is a city that locates in the South of Oman. In July and August, deep green covers the place, and  while the rest of the population of the Sultanate complain of extreme heat, the temperature in Salalah drops to less than 7 degrees Celsius in the evening.


Here are some pictures of the green Salalah.

 By: Amira Al Maawali

A page from my diary (2)

“Ms. Al Maawali,

On behalf of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication …”

 This was the beginning of the first e-mail I got from WSU. I was sitting on the floor of my room in Muscat. My back was leaning on the pink wall of my room. I will never forget that moment as it brought many feelings to my heart. It made me feel that I am about to start
something serious and big. That e-mail made my fingers shake and my hair stand on an end. I started drawing pictures in my mind of how this experience will enrich my knowledge, about how Pullman is look like, about the new friends that I am going to make, the different cultures I am going to meet, and the lessons I am going to learn.

 Then I noticed “Peterson, Jeff to me “ at the top of the e-mail. I wondered a lot about him. How is he look like? How will be our first meeting? What kind of stereotype does he have about the Middle East? And many other question marks started flying above my head.  

 On 17^th of June, we got our first chance to meet Dr. Jeffery. He was there for us, as he always remained, waiting with Dr. David at the airport. We were exhausted, sleepy, excited, sad and happy, but as soon as we met them we got the comfy we needed. As time went by, I saw in Dr. Jeff something I didn’t find in any other teacher in my country. He allowed us to see his casual side. We got the chance to meet his wife and children. He danced in the 4^th of July with us. He was kind enough to devote over a week of his life time just for us and away from his family.

What Dr. Jeffery did for us is unforgettable and will be always thankful for his kindness and effort
with us.  

By: Amira Al Maawali
25 th, July 2011

A page from my diary

Yes, I am Conservative. I don’t sing on streets. I don’t dance in public. I draw lines when dealing with guys. I like to speak, walk, and act gracefully. That is who I am, and that can't be changed by a setting. The thing is that I didn’t know how conservative I am until I reach the USA. The cultural shock I got was not only from Americans, but also from the Arabs with whom I lived and studied. Although I am open-minded, I looked closed among them. I felt wired. I wanted to fit in, and be myself at the same time. Somehow that wasn't easy!
But as time passed by, I could find my way to them thanks to  a person who inspired me and taught me a lot about dealing with others from different backgrounds and cultures. That person was Dr. David. He was neither Muslim nor Arab, but I felt that he understood me before the Arab students who were at my age. Thanks to him I could express myself and be open to others. I learned from him to be a part of the group without underestimating my values and principles. He made each of us feel worthy and interesting.  As we had to say good-bye to him we felt that we were about to get separated from our kind father, big brother, and dear friend.
As I got to know each member of the group I saw in each of them something unique and worthy. I found that they are not that different from me and that many of them share me the same interests. 
This experience gave me 17 more brothers and sisters, and handed me precious opportunities to meet people whose touchy personalities left golden fingerprints in my life forever. Dr. David, Dr. Jeffery, Mr.Ryan, Dr.Benjamin, Dr, Mirat, Kelsy, and my host family thank you for everything.






By: Amira Al Maawali
22th, July, 2011

Don’t waste it without smiles

If you have made a mistake,
don’t panic nor shake,
just take the lessons,
and smile for the next missions


If you were stabbed in the back,
don’t waste a tear for someone's lack
in boldness and courage to face you,
so smile and accept the issue


If you are living a failures chapter,
don’t let yourself down,
and remember that progress goes bit by bit
and smile. Giving up does not fit!


If your heart aches for a dear's death,
gather yourself with a deep breath,
learn to move forward,
and smile again to the world


Never abandon yourself to grief,
and always have a strong belief,
that God is in your side
so from smiles do not hide


Smile now. Now smile.
Never delay a smile,
cause you exist here once.
Don’t waste it without smiles


By:Amira Al Maawali

Food in the USA

Here I have some pictures of the food I tried in the USA

The group dinner

About Umaima Al Hosni

The Bread’s Journey

You wake up, grab your chair, Join the breakfast table, and fill yourself with the energy you need to start your day. But, have you ever taken a thoughtful look at the bread in front of you? Have you ever asked yourself about the process that brought this bread to your plate?
Guess what, the bread story does not start by you buying it from the nearby grocery; its story starts way before that.
Probably, the mother land of your bread wheat is another continent. The United States, which ranks third in producing wheat after China and India, exports about 23% of world wheat. There are many wheat farms in the United States; only Washington State has about 40,000 wheat farms. To narrow down, Pullman, WA exports 20% of its wheat to the Middle East. Farmers in Pullman use high-tech procedures in planting and protecting the wheat from different risks. Diseases, like stripe rust, threats like wire worm can form a serious problem if neglected. Farmers depend on natural rain fall in irrigating. Farmers have to wait until the wheat grows enough to be harvested. “Planting wheat doesn’t take that much work” Larry Cochran, a farmer from Pullman, said. He owns a farm of 2000 acres, and the only farmers who woke there is his wife and himself.
Farmers have to wait until the wheat grows enough to be harvested. Harvest usually takes place when wheat begins to turn to a golden color. A huge machine called a “Combine Harvester” is used to harvest the wheat, and separate the chaff from the wheat. The wheat then is put into a large container. The straw can be either sold for animal food, or cultivated. The wheat, on the other hand, is then taken to the silo, which can hold up to 250 Tons of wheat. It is the place where the wheat is cleaned and dried. The next step is separating the inner white piece from the outer skin. The course of breaking, sifting and reducing continues until the flour and bran is totally separated.
Wheat is then exported from Pullman to different places around the world including the Middle East. It is exported as flour, grain, and couscous. It is taken into barges, and then it gets transferred to cargos. The ships reach its destination, which could be your country. Wheat gets distributed to the bakeries and markets, where you find it, buy it as bread, or bake it at home.
So next time, before taking a bite of bread, remember of the long journey that brought your bread into your plate.


By: Reem, Salwa, & Amira

camping

It was my first time to camp! The weather was quite cold. But as soon as a fire took  place we all gethered in a circle. We got the chance to talk and play with Americans students.

Native Americans

What a day!!!


It was a real fun to learn this much about the lifestyle of the Native Americans. We went to a museum
that showed us the interesting life that Native Americans had ones here.

To the Lake

I will always remember the 3rd of July ..
I went to a lake with Dr. David and some friends. We did some hiking together and then we did some shopping. The views that we enjoyed from the ship were unforgettable.
Thank you Dr. David for such a day.

with the seniors

we did today some more community service at the seniors house. we chatted with the older people about everything. We played with them and had a great time. We were really happy as we made them happy.

farming

It was my first time to try the farming work , but guess what, I enjoyed it. I had a real great time there. And I have learned a lot about the environment.
I hope to go there again and do some more environmental service.

Every day is an adventure ... Today we tried the Korean restaurant.

learning is fun ^_^

I have never been to a more crowded place!!

To the Cinema

when the idea of going to the cinema came up, everyone got excited. But i think no one was excited as much as I was. Maybe because I have never been there before. It was a gold chance. I knew that after that night I will say that my first time of going to the cinema was in the USA.
We walked and walked. and it seemed to me that we will never reach it. What hindered our progress even more is that we didn't know our way..


About an hour later, we found ourselves finally there. Most of us didn't like the movie, and some of us took a taxi back to the dorms, yet everyone had a great time. Being together, I guess, was our real source of enjoyment.

ohhh green Pullman,,,

we love you,,,,

the first thing I bought from the USA ^_^

A Father and a Mother in the USA

One of the amazing experiences I have ever had was the chance to spend a night with an American family.
Ghinwa, a student from Lebanon, and I spent our second night in the USA with an American family. Mr. Saied and Mrs. Maryam took a good care of us. I took them as a father and a mother in the USA. In fact, one day I was doing some shopping with Mrs. Maryam and I run into a friend at the supermarket. Spontaneously, I found myself introducing Mrs. Maryam as my mother in the USA!
Both Mr. Saied and Mrs. Maryam were very kind and generous with us. Moreover, having fun there is not the only thing that I am happy about, because that experience showed me the real life style of an American family. And, staying with that family in particular rectified my idea of how Muslims are treated in the USA, since the family was a Muslim one that has been in the USA for over 30 years.

my room in the host family's house