Get Salty!

It rained this morning. When I woke for class and walked into the kitchen I was shocked at the absence of light and the preponderance of gray outside the windows. This was the first time since I've been in Israel that the entire sky was gray. And while it is an all too common occurrence back home, it is a very rare phenomenon over here.

Today also marks the fourteenth anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Perhaps this was a heavenly way of denoting (mourning) the occasion.

In a strange way, it was the ideal weather to end one heck of a long week.

***

Arabic is by far the best class. Dr. Hakim is loud, abrasive, witty, and brilliant. One of the girls in our program told me yesterday that he is the top Arabic teacher in Europe and Israel. I believe it.

He interjects humor seamlessly with discipline. He expects the best. He accepts nothing less. He told us yesterday that everyone must understand everything and that we cannot and he will not go any further until we're all on the same page.

To quote Titus, it was basically a declaration of "Leave No Student Behind"--or perhaps a take off part of the Army Ranger Creed.

Now that all the students have finally arrived, we number a little more than thirty people from all over the globe. And I've noticed that there are definitely small groups forming within our program. Whether or not things will stay that way until the end remains to be seen. Some of these people I've mentioned a great deal since I've been here. Others I have not.

I think it's appropriate at this juncture to mention a discussion that's caught on in the past few days. Dustin and Ryan were joking earlier this week about the "positions" everyone in the class would play if we were all on a football team.

So with that context in mind, I'll get down to business.

***

Titus and David are both former Marines in their early thirties. They're both married. They're both from Oklahoma. They both know each other from back home. And they both moved to Israel with their wives for the extent of the program.

I am not certain what nickname Titus had when he was in the Marines, but I imagine "The Professor" could have easily been one of them. There are few people I've met that know more history than Titus. He can tell you troop movements during the 19th Century Great Game between Britain and Russia. He can rattle off Churchill quotes on a whim. He knows an impressive amount of U.S. history. And he never speaks without thinking.

One of the most impressive things about Titus is that he served in the Marines before going to college. His stint ended just two months before 9/11. In Fall of 2001 he took his military scholarship money and enrolled at the University of Oklahoma. When the towers fell just a few weeks later he signed up for the Army National Guard. There's not enough good things to say about the guy.

In my view, I think Ryan and Dustin are spot on. Titus is definitely the quarterback.

David is quiet and reserved, but extremely analytical. And when the situation arises, he has shown a propensity to come up and get the job done if others cannot. This makes him a defensive back. I'm thinking free safety.

There's also Tyler. Tyler is from Florida and graduated from Florida State. He didn't come to the Ulpan during the Summer. He knows a decent amount of Hebrew and apparently studied Arabic for a while. He's extremely laid back and effuses a fraternity vibe that is familiar and comfortable. Tyler is our tailback.

Tatianna is a native of Florida also. She spent her undergrad years here in Israel at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya where she received her degree in Counterterrorism. Now that is what I call a practical major.

She's never shy about asking a question and she knows a great deal about radical Islam. Like the rest of us, she is frustrated by the pace with which we've hit Arabic and she lets Dr. Hakim know it. She is astute, confident, and pretty. And I get a distinct impression that she doesn't take any crap off of anyone.

In her own words, she claims herself to be one of our outside linebackers.

Peter is one of Dustin's roommates and hails from the Netherlands. He has an insatiable appetite for learning that has as much to do with nurture as it does with his natural intelligence. He is from a small Christian hamlet that apparently few people have heard about. And Peter is here because of 9/11. He told me this one day during a walk and it literally caused me to stop mid-stride. I had never heard a European make such a statement.

In fact, 9/11 apparently affected Peter a great deal. And the thing is, he never saw the actual footage. His family doesn't own a television. It wasn't until years later that Peter ever watched what happened that day. But he knows all too well what occurred thereafter. The ensuing Islamist chaos that has spread throughout the Netherlands with the murder of Theo van Gogh, the death threats on Dutch parliamentary members by radical Islamists, the exile of outspoken reformists like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and the growing Muslim population has Peter worried about his nation's future and the future of the Dutch identity.

I don't think there's any doubt that Peter is our kicker. He's the one that is often overlooked but is the guy you may have to rely on to put you over the top.

***

Huoshin is a graduate of the University of Washington. He is ethnically Taiwanese, but is an American citizen. He speaks fluent Mandarin, German, and English. He is a Christian. And he spent time doing research in Washington D.C. for the U.S. Navy on "future warfare technology." Pretty freaking sweet huh?

Huoshin has a great sense of humor and is always up for basketball. He's also in our krav maga class where he routinely shows up a few minutes late--much to the chagrin of Sinsei Avi (aka Splinter). Huoshin is just one of those guys you know you're going to like as soon as you meet him. I didn't have to see his devotionals or his Bible at his apartment to know that he was a Christian. You can just see it in him.

He's definitely one of our wide receivers.

Then of course there's Ryan, Dustin, and Dominique. Ryan's quizzical tendencies and curiosity allow him to excel in this environment. He is not afraid of being wrong or being corrected. He just wants to get it right. It's a trait that I both admire and envy. He of course is a phenomenal roommate and a very devout Christian. He's definitely one of our wide receivers and is willing to risk going after the long ball.

Dustin more or less has maintained his status as BMOC in both a literal and metaphorical sense. His Midwest sensibilities keep things "real." He works hard, doesn't like being bad at anything he does, and is willing to push through even when it gets difficult. Yea, he may wait a little longer than he needs to (as a fellow procrastinator I respect this), but he's going to get the job done. Dustin is the foundation. This makes him our center.

Dominique (aka The Quebec Cowboy) is...well...Dominique. The Dominator is even-keeled whether we're being bombarded in Hebrew, lambasted in Arabic, or bludgeoned in any of the other ME seminars. Dom is a defensive end. Contain. Contain. Contain. Seeing as how he's a Canadian, I think this makes perfect sense.

And according to Dustin and Ryan, I'm apparently the strong side tight end. I know my job. I know my area of responsibility. And I know it well. And if need be, I guess I can get us a few yards along the way. I'll accept that role happily. It's better than being the slow, space-filling hog of a nose guard.

There are many others that comprise our eclectic contingent that hopefully I'll get to know better. And there are some folks that I'm certain will crop up from time to time in the future. People such as Naomi from the Netherlands, Shoshi from New York, and Matt (his real name I will not disclose ). Matt was/is in the U.S. Army and spent the better part of five years (2003-2008) in Iraq. He speaks Arabic. And just from talking with him briefly a couple of days ago, I can tell that he has seen a lot. Maybe too much.

I hope to get to talk with him some more and learn about his experiences. He seems like a really interesting guy.

As time goes on, we'll see what kind of team has been assembled over here. In the immortal words of Coach Sprouse, we're gonna have to be "salty" if we're going to succeed.

The Iranian conference is about to begin in a couple of hours. I'll be sure to provide details of it later this weekend.

Shabat Shalom,
Drew

P.S. There are 1,730 ways to say "camel" in Arabic.

But there's only one way to fry them.