In an
attempt to keep my promise of writing for half an hour every week, this blog
entry for the week. I guess one of the things that has kept me from writing
regularly lately is the feeling that nothing particularly special has been
happening in my life. However, as my brother would tell me: everything depends
on your perspective, i.e. how you look at it. As I recall the events of the
past couple of days, I actually realize that my “ordinary” working week is
actually quite extraordinary for any normal person. Yesterday I was in Beirut,
today I am in Cairo, and tomorrow I am off to Jeddah. Now while this may seem
ordinary for a consultant like myself who is always on the move, I have met
some people who have never left their country, let alone their city.
I
believe this extensive travel is become to seem more and more ordinary simply
because the world we live in is becoming more and more interconnected and
globalized. While it may seem hectic traveling all over the place in such a
short period of time, I must admit that I find it absolutely thrilling. I love
change and exposure to new things, and traveling definitely satiates this
passion of mine. I remember when I was in college, I would enjoy going to
Washington D.C. from Charlottesville. The bus ride would take four or so hours.
While most people considered the length of time the bus would take to be the
biggest drawback of the trip (the car takes ~2 hours), I found it to be the
most enjoyable. I loved looking out the bus’s window and watching the scenery
of the gorgeous Virginia countryside that we would drive by.
Back in
college, taking a road trip to another city was a big deal for me. It was like
the ultimate getaway. I never imagined that I would be traveling between
countries in a single week. I must admit that the reason I love traveling so
much is because one learns so much just by observing different things. When one
is taken out of their comfort zone, he or she is impelled to dwell on his new
surroundings and compare them to his or her natural habitat.
My stay
in Beirut for the past two days allowed me to reflect on Egypt. I have a
tenacious love for my country. It saddens me to see what it is going through
these days, but what I have seen in Beirut gave me hope. Despite all the
political turmoil it has gone through, Lebanon seems to always pull itself
together and thrive. The Lebanese are highly intelligent and extremely
hardworking. Despite the sectarian divisions between them, they have somehow
managed to work together to make a modern Westernized city in the heart of the
Middle East. Working from my company’s office in Solidare (a high-end business,
commercial, and residential district), I was impressed by how such a small
nation could attract so much investment and develop a fully-fledged service
sector.
I
understood how they were able to pull off such a miracle when I visited the
American University in Beirut’s campus. It dawned upon me that what makes
Lebanon what it is education. Lebanon’s education system has produced the
highest caliber work force in Arab World. I work with some of the most
intelligent people I have ever come across at my company, and most of them are
Lebanese. I pray that we Egyptians come someday understand the value of investing
in education and the unlimited returns on investment it could offer us. Personally,
I try to learn new things everyday so that I could become a better employee,
citizen, and person.
That’s
concludes my half hour of writing for the week. I hope with that I’ll be able
to maintain my weekly writing schedule during my upcoming busy travel schedule.
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