Tag: State Department

Guide to Lebanon Blog Posts

On By laurakisthardtIn FellowshipLeave a comment

It’s hard to believe how much time has passed since I was in Lebanon. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday and other times it feels like it was all a dream (yes, I know that sounds cliche!). Whenever I think back to those incredible ten days in Lebanon I always have a smile on my face.

In a few weeks I will be presenting again on my time in Lebanon. This presentation will be at the Hudson Library and Historical Society on Tuesday February 5th at 7:00pm. Again, I hope for those of you in the area, you will consider attending.

For anyone who is new to my blog I thought it might be helpful if I repost the links to each blog post that I made while in Lebanon. I have included a brief summary of each one.

Enjoy!

Oreos with the Ambassador = Pre-departure, reflection on orientation in Washington DC

Details from pre-departure = more information on our pre-departure orientation sessions

Walking Tour = Our first day in Lebanon we took a walking tour of downtown Beirut

All around Lebanon = Big day of touring including Khalil Gibran museum, the Cedars, and the Roman Ruins at Baalbek

Day 4 – Our first meetings = met with Michael Young, Hanin Ghaddar, Ousama Safa and Lokman Slim

Day 6 – More meetings = met with Youssef Fawaz from Al Majmoua (microfinance NGO) and toured American University of Beirut

Parliament Meeting = met with Simon Abi Ramia, member of Parliament and head of the commission for Youth and Sports

Tour of Byblos = visited Jeita Grotto and Byblos

Just Checking In = photos at the border with Israel and with UNIFIL

Music in Lebanon = details on Najwa Karam performance at the Achrafieh Music Festival and our visit to Skybar

Visit to the US Embassy in Beirut = details on the life of US ambassadors in Lebanon

ANERA = met with Bill Corcoran, president of American Near East Refugee Assosciation, who does work with Palestinian Refugees

 

Flower at Baalbek

Fall is here

On By laurakisthardtIn Fellowship, John Carroll1 Comment

I have so many exciting updates to share with everyone. I hope in the next week or two to get some full posts written, but in the mean time here are some teasers:

  • In September I went with my mom to the Global Villages Festival in downtown Akron. There were a lot of great things there and the weather was perfect. See:

 

  • I traveled with two friends to Detroit, Michigan for a weekend in September. They were doing a triathlon and I was filming them. My friend Jurell spent a year as a Jesuit Volunteer in Detroit and showed us around. We had a bunch of delicious tacos.
  • Last week I took the Foreign Service Officer Test! I will find out if I passed in about a month.
  • On Saturday 10/6 I ran the Footprints for Fatima 5K. I’m running in the Youngstown Peace Race 10K for the first time later this month.
  • This weekend I’m going to Washington DC for the International Conference of Crisis Mappers. I am very excited for this trip because I’ve been planning it basically since May!

My first presentation is right around the corner. I’m really looking forward to sharing my experience in Lebanon with the John Carroll community.

Here’s a cool photo I took of the sunrise in Detroit:

 

Visit to the US Embassy in Beirut

On By laurakisthardtIn Fellowship1 Comment

It was a real treat to visit the US embassy in Beirut. Security to get into the Embassy was very intense. We waited around for everyone to go through individually. Getting our whole group through security took almost as long as our meeting with the State department employees. I was lucky to be one of the first through security because once we were through there was an informal conversation with two relatively new Foreign Service Officers. One of them was from Ohio and did the Peace Corps! They were very open with us about their process to the State department. A helpful tip they gave us for the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) was to make sure to know the US Constitutional Amendments, as well as extensive as possible background in History. I was surprised to learn that one woman had only studied French before her appointment to Lebanon and was not required to study Arabic at all. One of the new employees had gotten their Masters in Public Policy. This was helpful to learn since I have been looking at Masters Programs.

Four main goals for the US Embassy in Beirut were outlined for us:

  1. Push back against Hezbollah – because the United States has designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization the Embassy is essential in the region.
  2. Fight counter-terrorism
  3. Aid in the Middle East Peace Process
  4. Help US Citizens in the country

Overall, the visit to the US Embassy was very informative and I really enjoyed it. We learned that the employees at the Embassy are not allowed to leave the Embassy whenever they want. They need to schedule their movements a few days in advance and be outside the Embassy for a maximum of six hours two times per week. Also they theoretically can’t have predictable movements, like going to the same bar every week, but in practice this might not always be true. It is certainly an interesting lifestyle! Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to bring our cameras into the Embassy so I don’t have any photos (the photo is from the bus on one of our many drives around Beirut). Here’s their website if you’d like more information: http://lebanon.usembassy.gov/