Making Progress in Kuwait

Assalamu alaikoum wa rahmatAllah wa barakatoh,
Sorry for the delay in posting, it's been a busy week. Every day the past week I have wanted to share with you but by the time I get to posting, I'm too sleepy to write. I hope I can still remember the details of this past week.

On Saturday of last week, I found out at my meeting for the Mock United Nations team that I was selected as one of the 6 delegates to go to the Bahrain MUN conference. I am very excited about that. I will be representing Panama in the General Assembly. It is a way to learn about how the United Nations work while at the same time addressing and learning about important global issues. I feel very honored to be representing my university in Kuwait there. I was also hoping to have the chance to see more of the gulf countries while I was in Kuwait and this gave me that chance!

That same day, I went with some other students at my school to the orphanage here in Kuwait. We took many toys and games and things for the children and played with them all afternoon. It was very nice but at the same time it is hard to see that there is so much suffering in the world. It inspires me to work harder to make a difference. I hope there was some way we could raise funds to improve the facilities there for the children. It seemed pretty barren when we went and to not have a family or parents is hard enough let alone grow up in a miserable place. I hope we can do something about that, insha Allah.

The other day I went with Sofia and Kara to futoor at her in-laws' home and there were about 25 ladies there. It was a lot of fun. We were making up for the days we missed in fasting during Ramadaan. Sofia gave a nice lecture about the pillars of Islam after dinner. Sofia has been so helpful to me while I have been here in Kuwait and she is very gifted at teaching Islam masha Allah.

On Tuesday, the honorable ex-president of Costa Rica came to do a speech at my university. His name is Jose Maria Figures-Olsen. He has done many innovative and inspiring things for the world and for his country and region. He has also inspired many people to do the same, including me. I hope to make a difference in this world in one way or another and insha Allah Allah will help me to do it, and I will give it my best effort. I actually had the chance to meet him. Our first meeting was not at all how I imagined or expected it to be. Before he arrived, I had asked the school if it would be possible for me just to say hello but they told me it was not likely because of his security and because it was a very controlled event. They told me however that he would be answering questions after his speech, so I could try to ask him one. So I went to the speech early, waiting to get a good seat. I was standing outside the conference room with my Kuwaiti friends. People were coming in and out of the conference door as I stood out in the hall preparing for the event. All of a sudden, Mr. Figueres' head poked out of the door. Noone recognized him right away except me. He is very unassuming-looking and so is his character, very approachable. I immediately greeted him with "assalamu alaikoum," to which he responded "wa alaikoum salam," with a very nice accent I might add. I then asked him "como estas??" which is Spanish for; how are you? He responded and from there we got into a conversation. He was shocked to have found a Spanish-speaking person in the middle of Kuwait and more so that I was from a country in his region of Central America. We immediately hit it off and made a connection. We talked some more and I introduced him to my friends and some of my teammates as well. His speech was absolutely amazing. Very well done and very inspiring. It lasted about 2 and a half hours but it went by so fast. Everyone fell in love with his way and his words. He has a way with people that is electric. He has an amazing way of thinking and such an open mind. He has done a lot for my region and my country through his different approach to politics, business and change. His speech was about Global Warming, the impact of business on the environment and how addressing ecological concerns is a business opportunity in itself. He is a big proponent for integration, or regional cooperation and developing regional relationships based on respect. I hope I can work with him in some capacity some day. He made a note to give to my mom who had worked in the Ministry of Agriculture just as he had at one point. She used to do a lot for social problems among the indigenous people in Guatemala and also admires Mr. Figueres. You can read some of his speeches to get a better idea at www.josemariafigueres.org

I am excited because I finally registered for an Arabic course at Kuwait University. AKHEERAN!!!!!! (That's Arabic for FINALLYYY!!!) ALHAMDULELLAH
It will begin on Sunday. It is 2 hours a day for 2 days a week. The teacher seems very good. I also started my Tajweed class today. It is excellent, alhamdulEllah. We learned many aspects of the character of the letters in Tajweed, and the terminology that go with them. It is a very fascinating subject to study. It reminds me of linguistics. Tonight we learned some Tajweed rules and worked on memorizing Surah At-takwir (Arabic: سورة التكوير ) (The Overthrowing). (Recitation of Takwir by Su'ud Shuraim in Mecca http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzgcCw_yy5g) If you want to learn more about tajweed rules, you can find some on
http://quran.al-islam.com