An Experience Unlike any Other
By Sanaa Abou Sleiman, Staff Writer

Beirut, Lebanon - It was an unforgettable experience unlike any other. At 6 in the morning, 8 students of different backgrounds and universities met up with Dr. Christine Crumrine to embark their trip to Tochni, Cyprus, to partake in a program entitled “Arab and American Identities in Tension,” part of the NGO: CCRP, Center for Conflict Resolution and Peace-building. Sleepily, we ran to the airplane before it was about to take off without us. Arriving to Cyprus 20 minutes later, we waited at the airport for the Egyptians to arrive, however their flight was delayed for hours. So we hopped onto the bus and headed straight to Tochni. Cyprus’ landscape is similar to that of Lebanon. In the village, we were distributed among different apartments and settled down. Hour by hour, new students were arriving; students from University of Washington, Seattle, and students from the American University of Cairo (AUC).

We had a common goal to achieve, despite our different backgrounds, beliefs (political, social, religious…) and age groups; a goal which was hard, but not impossible to achieve; a goal which every person should consider whenever he or she meets another person of a different background. The goal was to alleviate the tensions among Arabs themselves and the tensions between the Arabs and Americans.

During those 2 weeks, tensions rose and faded away. Friendships were formed. Even efforts at making dinner, lunch and breakfast occurred. Mike’s long lectures, Arzo’s interesting background and Christine’s therapy sessions were all events that cannot be forgotten. The trip to Aiga Napa was an outing of star-gazing, long nights on the side of the pool, drinking beer and playing cards or back gammon, throwing each other into the pool fully dressed, the so-called parties at Chris and smoking the narjileh. They were all fun parts of this experience. However what this trip taught me, and I suppose taught the others as well, is the true meaning of friendship, tension, resolution, discussion, communication, and respect. You can’t always see things from one perspective. You have to see it from different points of view as well to get the whole picture. It also taught us that stereotypes are just stereotypes, nothing more. It’s amazing how just two weeks of your lifetime can have this much of an impact on you. We went as something and came back as something else.

For more info about this organization check: www.ccrp.org

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