Skip to main content

The Library's Dusty Shelves.




I finished my AP Environmental Science class and walked to McDowell High Media Center for my Media class.  I didn't exactly know what I was going to do today, maybe learn something new about books?  Or perhaps read a new nonfiction book?  My spirit was really happy, and I walked through the doors smiling after knowing in AP Environmental Science that if everyone lived like me, we would have needed six more planets of Earth...  That wasn't something to smile about, but it seemed funny to me, for I had no idea about the number of miles that I travel, drive, bike, or walk every year, so I simply typed long numbers which had three zeroes in front of them.  Were my numbers right?  God knows, but, things seemed funny.  I don't drive, I'm from a farms area in Saudi, my mom is a recycling-aholic, and my host family in the US composes vegetables and never throws them away to replant them later.  Six Earths sounded a lot for a sixteen-year-old, that's why I had a huge smile on my face, while I laughed from the inside.

Anyways, I went to Ms. Hall, and she told me that I'll be whipping the dust off twenty-one book shelves.  "Wow" I told her.  She accompanied me to my section, and showed me the proper way of cleaning shelves, and removing dust.  But before that, here's the thing that made me laugh when she left me there.  Just two days ago I cleaned a bathroom, and that was only my third time ever in my whole lifetime.  I was imaging my Filipino and Indian Housemaids, and I just felt so weird towards myself.  How come I've never cleaned a bathroom?! -I laughed again-.  I told my parents, and they were really happy that I actually did that, they even told me to send their huge thanks to my host-mom.  New experiences, people.  Cleaning a bathroom, washing my clothes, walking a dog, helping in washing the dishes, vacuuming the living room, and now whipping dust in my school!  Believe it or not, I felt really good upon doing all of these things.  Exactly one month ago I was totally dependent on our housemaids and driver to do everything, even my bed sheets were different every week.  But I got the chance to put myself in their places, and appreciate how I lived.

Whipping off dust in the school's library not only made me sneeze, but it also gave me a lot of knowledge just by reading the books titles.  I read names of religions that I've never heard of before, saw pictures of different authors who seek to change or at least influence a life through their nonfiction work, and I read about how we can live in peace with our own selves.

Being happy after doing some chores is really weird, and I also wrote in my application when I applied to the program ''I am REALLY excited to have chores!".  I really don't regret doing that, because I realized how cleaning should be really precised in bathrooms.  I learned that you can never mix different colors of clothes with white after all of my white shirts turned to light blue.  I discovered new, and exciting things about dogs in walking Titan and Leo.  I didn't learn much in helping with the dishes except that I heard lots of wrestling stories from my host-dad who was a wrestling coach, and whom I help with the dishes.  And by dusting the library's shelves, I believe that those books titles, and the knowledge that they've given me shall help my brain, and can for sure make me live in peace with myself, and with the decisions that I make.  We only live once, chores won't make us tired, they'll make us stronger by thinking of others who do them for us, and they'll build a better understanding of how we view the world, our world. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hoping before McDowell's School Board

Not every exchange experience is the same, simply because every student is different, and every place is different too. Comparing an experience to another is a huge mistake, yet looking at each one individually triggers curiosity to those who are not part of it to know more.  Not every day is rainbows and sunshine, but surly not every other day is clouds and rain. One bad day shall never ruin a year long experience, and one good day will create memories that will spring in the happiness of many other days to come.     My day today was one of a kind. A day that shall keep me motivated for a good period of time. It's a day that I can smile at and tell myself that I actually invested my time in the project of my successful ways of living. I'll never be the wise person who advises people with powerful talks.  I'll never be the big boss who's in charge. Instead, or at least for now, I am going to live for the present and do my best in influencing a change in this community.

24 في الرضا، الامتنان، والاستقرار.

يقال في أحد كتب باولو كويلو أننا جميعاً في رحلة سعي دائمة في البحث عن "الكنز الكبير" في حياتنا. الكنز هنا  تعبير مجازي، ولمخيلة كل قارئ الحرية في السفر لأبعد المسافات في تصور طبيعة هذا الكنز، سواءاً كان علم، صحة، مال، أو غيرها من الأمور.    لذلك، ماذا لو ابحرنا قليلا لسا بخيالاتنا، لكن بواقع هنا وهناك. بما نراه اليوم في حياتنا من أشخاص، ما نستشعره حولنا من نعم من الله، ما نسمعه من واقع، ما نتنفسه من هواء بارد صافي، ما نتعلمه من دورس، ومن رفقة من هم حولنا من أشخاص نحبهم ويحبوننا، نقدرهم و نحترمهم، ونسعى في رحلة البحث هذه أن نكن على قدرٍ كامل من الوعي لإدراك وجودهم وكل هذه النعم حولنا.     اليوم أصبح عمري 24، وأكتب هنا بالعربية لعلي أستمتع ببلاغة هذه اللغة وجلالة حروفها التي تكون لنا معاني. استذكر السنة الماضية من عمري، وسنواتي الأربعة والعشرون هذه، وكل ذكرى كانت جزء من رحلة السعي هذه تجاه وجهة مختلفة.   أستذكر قصص تسميتي بـ "رزان". كيف كان هناك يوما في مجلس جدي فهد وعاء لقرعة أسماء مختلفة لربما كنت لأصبحها يوما، لكن والدي ممازحاً أمي وأخواتي، أخذ مسؤولية الكتابة على

Twelve Countries Uniting with Love for One Nation's Host Families

Sending small messages to more than five continents and ten countries could be extremely hard.  But finding the people who would respond to my messages with open hearts and a loud "YAS!" to something that I had to say was a piece of cake.  Having those strong connections made my last few nights light with happiness, because I was reminded through my friends' words, reactions, and pictures that the future really does belong to those of us who care about making it a better place to live for all.  We all shared one similar past during our time as exchange students in the United States in the school year of 2014-2015.  We said "Yes" to a new life that was full of new adventures and wild experiences.  We agreed to cross the Atlantic and the Pacific, because we strongly believed in our power, future, and in our own selves.  Age was not an obstacle, for we drew an amazing picture of America.  Yet the most important parts of this whole year were and forever will