Sunday, June 29, 2008

Got Buffalo Milk?

This was my favorite buffalo calve. In Egypt, buffalo milk is very popular and important to the Egyptian diet. It is 97% fat, which is what the people need since they cannot afford a lot of food, they need to get fat in their diet any way possible. 

Egyptians are just now starting to produce milk like we do in the US- before each farmer would have two or three cows and they would milk them for their family. While this still continues today, there are hopes that this will change for matters of efficiency. Also, a cultural mind-set that serves as an obstacle is that traditionally you give milk away as a gift if you have too much and to have to sell milk is shameful. While this practice isn't in full service, and the buffalo are still a little wild, there are hopes that changes will occur. 

Rolling down the Suez

 After we toured the Grains Inspection Lab in Port Said, Egypt, we were taken on a boat ride on the Suez Canal. For me riding a boat between Africa and Asia and between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea was more exciting than seeing the Pyramids. This was a great chance for our group to meet some of the Egyptians and we were able to ask whatever questions we had. 

A Life Lesson

This is my most memorable moment. Granted I was sick and running to the bathroom every 30 minutes that day, I will never forget the hospitality these women showed us. Living off of less than $1 a day, the women are involved in a cooperative where they are given seven goats that they bred for milk, meat and to sell for money. Their husbands can only find seasonal work so now the women, who only have a 30% literacy rate in Morocco can help to earn money as well. 

Part of Morocco's literacy and poverty problems come from the previous Moroccan King who didn't want farmers to move to the cities because they made the cities look bad. He said that, 'In Morocco there are the rich and then there are the less rich.' He did not acknowledge the countries problems. The new king on the other hand sees the importance of education and is now helping every child to learn to read and write, even if it means employing nomadic teachers to follow the sheepherder families to educate their children.

The biggest surprise here was how much heart the women possessed. I was taken back when it was translated for me that one woman was giving me her blessings and wishing me the best of luck in my future. It amazed me how much these women wanted for me, a person who already had more than they could ever imagine. Their excitement to see our group will stick with me forever- I hope to someday help them in a way that allows them to continue to help themselves. 

There's no such thing as a free lunch

This picture was taken during a break from our meal at the berber tent. We were first served an appetizer of fire roasted lamb liver- which tasted delicious, even to the picky eaters who were not told until afterwards what they had eaten. We were also served flat bread and the national drink of Morocco, hot green tea. I enjoyed the tea a great deal- which is good because it was served to us everywhere we went!

During our break we visited the farm owners field close by where workers were harvesting wheat by hand. The field was small and on a steep incline- which is probably why I saw the tractor in the barn and not in use.

Pictures from Morocco



The second picture is of me with an International Harvester that came out of France. Knowing that I would be working for the Red Power Round Up- where all the International Harvester collectors bring their tractors for a little show and tell- I had to get a picture with an ole Red.  first picture is when we are a traditional Moroccan meal in a berber tent- the food was delicious and it was fun and relaxing to lie on carpet and pillows, eat until you couldn't eat anymore and look out at the rolling country side. 

The third picture is of Muhammad, a sheepherder since the age of 14, who we stopped and visited. We were able to ask him any questions we had about his nomadic job, lifestyle or whatever else we may want to know. He was really nice and keeping with the Moroccan characteristics, he was a humorous man who joked saying, "I will come work for you. I have my papers and ID I can leave right now and go to the US and herd your flock of sheep!"

I was taken aback by the hospitality and sense of humor that the Moroccans possessed. I also saw these character traits of ours hosts in Egypt. So far I have a very positive image of North African and Arabic people. They seem very kind and excited to see visitors as well as those who may someday help them improve their agriculture situation. 

Why go to the Olympics?

'If you're ag journalism why do you want to go to the Olympics?'

This question never ceases to surprise me. If you had the opportunity to intern at the Beijing Olympics, or any Olympics for that fact, wouldn't you? While I have studied abroad a couple of times studying agriculture, I have never had a real internship or been abroad for journalism, which is the other half of my major. Besides taking advantage of an amazing opportunity, I also feel that there is a lot I can gain from working at the Olympics. Now I will get to be trained and test my skills in communicating and interviewing different cultures. People from all over the world, from all walks of life, will be at the Olympics- I am preparing myself the best I can for the inevitable culture shock of it all. I love different cultures and people, traveling and communicating. While I will not really get much information about agriculture, that is okay- I am still feeding my passions of international travel and communication. What better way could you think of to practice cross-cultural journalism than entering yourself into a room with hundreds of different cultures and given a special badge and the chore of interviewing athletes when they are done competing?

While I have no doubt that I will be star struck at some point in time, I keep reminding myself that these Olympians are about the same age as me- we have just taken different paths in life and will be playing different roles at the Olympics. I'm sure all of us there, regardless of if we are Olympian, reporter, volunteer or spectator, will be nervous, excited and awestruck all at the same time. 

So to answer the question, in short, the Olympic internship is giving me the opportunity to practice cross-cultural journalism in an international setting. I will gain experiences that I will carry with me throughout my life and far into my career. 

God has presented me with a wonderful opportunity- I would have been foolish to ignore it or doubt myself. If God can lead you to it, He can lead you through it. I don't expect this to be easy- but nothing good in life is; I want to have to work hard, so that at the end of the day I know that I truly accomplished something. 

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

I'm back!! And preparing to leave again!

I got back from I-CAL (Intercollegiate Agriculture Leadership) a few weeks ago. We spent two weeks looking at the agriculture in Egypt and Morocco. The program was partly funded by the Untied States Grain Council so we were able to see how they have impacted international agriculture- I hope to post more on my experience later- it was amazing. Of all the countries I have ever been to, Egypt and Morocco had some of the friendliest people in the world, with New Zealand close behind. I have never seen such hospitality- it ran deep, regardless of whether we were speaking with Egypt's minister of agriculture or if we were at a women's cooperative in Morocco that were living off of less than $1 a day. Pictures  and stories to come later!

I also just finished up a long weekend, June 11-14th at the Boone County fairgrounds where I worked with Kyle Spradely, an Ag Journalism Senior, taking pictures for the annual Red Power Round Up. I have never seen so many International Harvester tractors in my life! We took pictures of restored tractors from all over the country and attendees from all over the world- including New Zealand and Japan! It felt like I was back home- surrounded by tractors and people wanting to talk about their farming equipment. It was a great experience and I will be working on the show book for that here shortly once we have a meeting and the pictures are ready. Hopefully this will turn out to be a nice piece for both mine and Kyle's portfolios. 

Not being one to sit still- I am preparing to leave for Beijing, China for the 2008 Summer Olympics the first of July. I have started to pack now so that when the time comes, I can spend my last few days in the states working on the Red Power Round Up book. I have also been working on catching up on some readings to prepare myself to interview gymnastics athletes once they are done competing. This should prove to be a great journalism internship. I did find out the other day that the exact translation of trampoline- which is an official olympic sport- from Chinese to english is "bed bouncing"! How's that for fact of the day? But I need to get back to typing notes from I-CAL, just wanted to share what all I was up to- I can't even imagine how next summer can compete with this one! Each summer in college gets better and better, at some point in time there has to be a plateau- unless someone sends me to Iceland...