Group dinner

Thursday 19 June

The morning session as usual started at 9.a.m and the topic was " American Literature and the Ideas of America" presented by Messenger. It was a nice one because it has a link with the previous sessions.

We usually have a lunch break which last for one hour ( from 12.30-1.30) I tried to have lunch in the the restaurant which is below our class building but the food was terrible !! I wonder how Americans enjoy eating such food!!!

The afternoon one (which started at 1.30 p.m ) dealt with the topic " American Dream as Symbol, myth and Historical Event" ,presented by both Messenger & Peter . The topic was interesting but all the participants were dozing ( I am one of them because I am used to take a nap in the afternoon) the afternoon!!!

In the evening all the participants had dinner in the reading room that was locked for the SUSI course only. Everyone brought his/her dinner and some of them offered stuff from their countries and had dinner and of course took photos!! We had fun eating and talking about our countries!!

I wish you a nice summer Vacation

At last teachers !! summer vacation is tomorrow.
I wish you have fun and enjoy it after this long academic year. You did well and worked hard so you really deserve it!!!

My favourite topic : Politics!!!!

Wednesday 18 June

In the morning , at 9.30 a.m. all participants went downtown Chicago to meet an attorney: Gary Isaac, at Mayer Brown Office in a very high skyscraper. The conference room was on the 32 floor in Hyatt Building. Gary and two of his colleagues has been working on a campaign to give the Guantanamo Bay detainee the right for trial. The talk was followed by a discussion. I was the first to talk about the negative influence of this prison on the reputation of the US in our region. The discussion went on and it was mostly from Arab participants who were questioning the US government's foreign policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict and some other related issues. It was a great discussion!! I wish it lasted longer! there were many issues to be raised......Others should hear our voice ..right !

In the afternoon, we had a session at 2.15 p.m on " Industrialism, Capitalism and Expansion" by Eric. It was mainly a political discussion with the focus on the American election and American policy. I didn't participate although many of what had been discussed was motivating and I had a lot to say but I decided to be a listener this time and wanted to hear from others !!! This was followed by a presentation by Eric about WW2 and the role of the US in that war!!!

Getting serious!!!

Tuesday 17 June

Today is the first day of the course. We had two sessions. The morning one started at 9 a.m and ended at 12.30p.m. The topic was about " Values, beliefs,Artifacts & Acts" presented by Peter. The afternoon session started at 1.30 p.m and ended at 3.30.a.m. The topic was "Fundamentals of American Political philosophy " presented by Stan. The two sessions were very interesting and raised many critical ideas to reflect on!!!

At 4.p.m Neil took us to the University library . Two librarians showed us around and explained to us how to use the computer and library Resources . Here I am after the tour posting on my blog before I go to my room and have a nice shower, pray and sleep.

University ID, Bank account, Instructors introduction & Group photo

Monday 16

I slept well last night alhamdullelah. Today morning, we all went to the University to issue an Id with Neil and Emmy. Then, when the cards were ready, we went to the bank to open an account. This process took longer than I expected!! Later we all met at 1.30 p.m. for a meeting with the instructors who will be leading the sessions for the next coming days. Peter, Eric and Stan, talked about the syllabus and what is expected from the participants. We were showered with more reading materials and a book to add to the pile of books and materials that were nicely put on my bed when I arrived!!! I hope I could read them all!!

In the afternoon, all participants and instructors took a group photo.

University of Illinois Neighborhood Tour

Sunday 15

I couldn’t sleep at night because the resident in the room on top was having a party (loud music and banging on the floor) until 2 a.m. I hardly could sleep then I woke up for Fajer prayer at 4 a.m. and couldn’t go to sleep again! I was awake until 7.a.m when finally I slept, I heard a strong sound! It was heavy rain and hailstones!!! It lasted for more than two hours and I thought today’s tour to the University of Illinois neighborhood will be canceled because of this bad weather! Surprisingly, when I got ready at 9.30 a.m. and went downstairs to the lobby where we should all meet, participants started to gather. Later, Eric and Neil arrived! Peter started with a talk about the history of the city of Chicago until the rain stopped and then we headed to the tour which lasted for about 3 hours.

The university is too big (the size of Hamad Town)! It also contains ethnic villages like the Italian, polish, Greek and Mexican!!!

After that we went to Downtown Chicago (The Center) and Peter talked about the history of the development of the area where the first American skyscraper was built!!

In the afternoon, we were free to have lunch and go to the lake of Michigan and the Millennium Park. The lake was magnificent with the view of the nearby skyscrapers and the boats. I saw this lovely view from the plane when we reached Chicago!!! I will try to post the photos when I have time.

End of Torture... Beginning of Fun

At last the torture of being locked in a small seat in a flying box is over!!! It took me 22 hours to reach Chicago! I was in Bahrain Airport on Thursday at 10.30p.m. The plane departed at 1.20 a.m. It arrived at Frankfurt Airport on Friday morning at 7.45 a.m. I had to wait for two hours to board the plane to Chicago. It departed at 10.45 a.m and arrived at 6.45 p.m Bahrain time ( 13.45 Chicago time)...... so I left Bahrain on Thursday and arrived to the US on Friday !!! Today is my second day and I still feel exhausted because I didn't get enough sleep. Guess what? I had a very nice company on the plane, the passenger next to me on the plane slept immediately when the plane departed and started his symphony of snoring!! imagine the situation , to be locked in a place that you can't leave for 8 hours and forced to listen to this live concert ! it was a real torture!!! I am sure God will reward me for being very patient !!

Today morning we had an orientation session at 9 a.m. Eric and Neil gave the participants a detailed information about the whole programme. Particients introduced themselves and then we had to fill in some forms ( we also had a nice breakfast). It ended at 13 p.m ! I immediately headed to my room, prayed and went to bed. I had a nice nap !!!

In the afternoon the participants had a dinner at Chicago Fire House Restaurant . The food was great and we had a great time chatting and listening to talks by University of Illinois instructors who will lead the coming sessions ! the programme seems very interesting , I wish you were all here !!

Salam

Dear Friends and colleagues....

It will be nice to keep in touch with you on my blog so don't hesitste to drop me a line