Taking the Good with the Bad

It has been far too long since I've updated, and I apologize to all you who follow my blog. The past few weeks have been tumultuous and crucial to my future, and so I will lay them out in simple terms for you all. 

The Good
I've passed my comps! Now all that's left to do is finish out my semester with passing grades! And by passing grades I of course mean, "I must get all A's!!" Not that that matters anymore, which leads me to... 

The Bad
I was not accepted by any of the schools to which I applied. *sigh* Not this again. This time I refuse to sit around, wait, and work. I don't want just to work. I can't handle it. It drives me to insanity. Not that being in an academic setting doesn't drive me to insanity (because it certainly has), but I am restless when I am "just" working. It doesn't satisfy me. This leads me to... 

The Ugly - I mean, erm, Plan B?
I am looking for programs to send me out into the world and do good. This is not a "western superiority complex"; this is a real attempt for me to feel a connection with rest of the world, with the people with whom I share this planet. I am not out to "teach" people how to live "properly" or make myself feel like a good person for helping out the "primitive" peoples. Makes me gag just thinking about it that way. No, I am a citizen of this planet and therefore it is necessary for me to understand all earth's peoples. Hm, Doctor Who may have heavily influenced this kind of thinking for me. Ha! As soon as we find life on other planets, then we'll need to start thinking of ourselves as citizens of the galaxy or universe! So this is just a small step in that direction. We can't make quantum leaps in a single generation. Baby steps. Hopefully we'll be a better and closer global community when the time comes to deal with the rest of the universe.

Preferably, I would like to find a long-term program; ideally it would be one that offers me work and pay, not just volunteer hours, which is why I am considering the Peace Corps. With my background in Near Eastern Archaeology, I feel like work in the Middle East would fit well for me. I have a working fluency in Hebrew and have studied ancient Semitic languages, which would be beneficial to learning Arabic, as all these languages are closely related. Also, my fluency in German would show that I have the capability of mastering languages other than my own.

I think in particular I am looking for something that will lead me back to Israel-Palestine. I would like to find a non-biased group to work with. I am neither pro-Israel nor pro-Palestine; I want to find a peaceful compromise through cultural understanding and historical connections from the ground up. No single group can claim an absolute ownership to that land when there are communities on both sides who are suffering at the hands of the other. I want to work to make the voices of the silent majority who want a peaceful coexistence to find a voice, or even just to help give confidence to those immediately affected by the violence.

Yea, I think that's what I want.

But for now, I must focus on completing my degree. I only have two major papers left to write! One on current excavations in Jerusalem and how funding from particular groups can manipulate what is published - I'm pretty excited about this, particularly because I think it will help fuel my interests I have laid out above. My second paper is focusing on the themes of light and darkness in the Book of Qohelet (also known as Ecclesiastes in the Christian Bible) and look into Greek philosophical discussions on the topic. Maybe I'll compare the Greek with Qohelet because there may or may not be Hellenistic influences in the philosophy of this book. I still need to flesh out this thinking a bit more.

Alright, time to write a Hebrew essay.