Days go by...

One country music song says: Days go by... and indeed they do. Two years of studying in the US are almost on the edge of being finished, and going back home is something that i have to think seriously about in the next four months or so. These two years are probably the most beneficial and rewarding experiences I have ever had, especially regarding education, meeting new and very interesting people from whom I have learned a lot, and also acquiring a new set of hand-on experiences. Nevertheless, i still have tons of things to learn after going back home, especially learning how to cope with the monotonous way of life in there and the killing routine of paper work, which absolutely drive me crazy.

On the other hand, living away from home taught me zillions of important things. Probably the most important of them is that the word HOME has become the dearest word to me because I realize now why home is such a big issue to all of us. HOME means everything: it means spirituality; it means living with your dear family and friends: it means the basic elements of our live with which we were born and which we value as the "sources of our being" as the linguist and the philosopher Kenneth Burke said.

Indeed, I have come to realize that Syria, my best and dearest home ever, will remain the only place that i am obligated to serve and work for its benefit. You might say that this is mere chauvinistic and knightly approach that drives us to become ideal and not practical. Reading the daily news about what is happening in Syria is in fact very discouraging, especially for people who always dream about a civilized and advanced Syria. Corruption, routine, backwardness, ignorance, economic disorder, the continuously expensive living... etc, are all understandable causes to hate the situation in its entirety. Well yes that is true, but we should not forget that civilizations rise to power and fall and then rise as a natural cause and effect cycle. So I really believe that we Syrians have an enormous capability to begin change withing ourselves, and then begin changing our societies to the better, and by change i mean investing time to our best and benefiting from the huge resources that we as a country have.

Anyways, in order not to get off track, which is becoming my unpleasant habit whenever I write about something, I can say proudly that my days in the US have taught me a great deal, both in the positive and negative sense of the word, and that I am sincerely hoping that i will be able to learn more when i get back home, especially that now there is a big demand on those who have acquired skills that are not usually available in the Syrian society.