Sweet Home Alabama

We are finally in Montgomery, Alabama after a long trip all the way from Bozeman, Montana. More from here later.

Goodbye Montana

So today was our last day in the state of Montana. We spent the day doing meetings and had a chance to meet Governor Brian Schweitzer who used to work in Saudi Arabia in the 1980’s and spent seven years there. It was certainly refreshing to meet an American official who lived in our country and know about our culture. Tomorrow morning we will fly to Montgomery, Alabama in our third stop to learn more about the civil liberties movement. It should be interesting.

Yellowstone National Park

Back from Yellowstone National Park. Now I probably have not seen much of the world, but these colorful lands have to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is amazing that when you go to spend some time in the nature you realize how we human beings are always touched by the simplest things in life, like sitting on the grass by the river talking with a friend or walking slowly between the long trees. A lot of emotions and ideas are floating in my head upon returning from Yellowstone but I don’t think now is the right time to bring them out. Some pictures can be found here. I leave you with this fascinating scene of the Old Faithful geyser erupting like it has always done for thousands of years:

Colorful

Our second day in Bozeman, Montana, was good. Aside from the regular meetings, we got a chance to visit a middle school were we met American kids and answered their questions about Saudi Arabia. We also enjoyed some home hospitality in one the most beautiful places that I’ve ever seen in my life. It was unbelievably awash with colors and had this amazingly peaceful feeling. A group of the Saudi Students Club have come to meet us while we were there, and they even were nice enough to invite us for breakfast. Tomorrow we will spend the whole day in Yellowstone National Park, a place everyone here says is fascinating. Later folks.

Montana

Ramadhan Kareem everyone :-) Here is the view from my room window in the Holiday Inn of Bozeman, Montana. It was a long journey from Washington DC through Chicago to Montana but we are finally here. The place is very different and quiet, but we are interested to explore more.

On our last day in DC we finished our meeting early so we got a chance to go to George Town and visit the National Gallery. More pictures can be found here. This picture is particularly dedicated to my friend Roba: Eat your heart out!

So Many Meetings, So Little Time

It’s the sixth anniversary of 9/11 today and all American flags here are at half-mast. Other than that, few things around here seem to indicate the occasion, and people don’t probably want to bring it up when we are talking. Yesterday and today were filled with meeting starting at 8 and finishing around 17. Tomorrow should be the same too.

Yesterday’s meetings included a talk about federalism and the US system of government, and a meeting with the Commission of Civil Rights. Today we met with the program officer and had lunch with her at a good Lebanese restaurant. We also got a chance to meet a representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Later on we went to the US Department of Justice where we learned about the Americans with Disabilities Act, something that every country should have an equivalent for.

Over all the meetings were interesting and educational, and the people we met were friendly and nice. All meetings are off the record so I can’t tell you much about what we discussed but I will probably write more later about my personal impressions. Tomorrow, we will meet some people at the Department of State and the Center of Immigration Studies as well as CAIR people. That would conclude our stay in D.C. and we will fly the next morning to Bozeman, Montana.

I went out to have dinner with two American friends tonight and it was really great. I really wanted to have more free time to do stuff like that: go sightseeing and meeting people away from the official settings, but unfortunately our time here is very limited and our schedule is overloaded. Later folks.

Experiencing Washington DC

Today is our second day in the city and we got a chance to go sightseeing. The day started in a not-so-perfect fashion as our tour guide didn’t show up this morning and one of the translators had to do the job. After we got back from the tour we decided to go to the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian. We have had a good time there though we wished if it had more about space than air. Later we went for a walk around the museum and spent some time at an event called the Black Family Reunion. I got back to the hotel to relax a bit and write this post, and will probably go out tonight but we have not decided yet what to do or where to go. Recommendations appreciated. Here is some pictures from today.