Lori Merrill's Sabbatical
May 8th:
It is hard to pinpoint what causes friendships to form, but it’s easy to recognize once they exists. It is also sad to admit that it’s been awhile since I made a new friend. Life is always so busy that it usually feels like there is not enough time to handle the lifelong friends I’ve already made, let alone add new people to the list. I think that is what I like most about sabbatical… it slows the pace down. At a slower pace I have had time to have conversations with so many people, and I have added to my list of lifelong friends.
This process started way back in Chicago last summer when I attended the Religion and Society Inter-Faith Delegation, sponsored by the National Peace Foundation and the Islamic Society of America. Over the course of the weeklong delegation I added many treasured acquaintances to my list, and three friends. I keep track of the acquaintances through Facebook and occasional emails, but it’s the friends that cause me to pause and think about them for no apparent reason. Of my three Religion and Society Friends, it is likely I will never see one of them again, but he will remain my friend, the “Green Sheik” from the United Arab Emirates. Luckily, Sahar Taman and Jodi Wolk live nearby, and I get to see them quite often.
During the time I spent in Boston working with Axis of Hope, I was able to add Carl Hobert to my list of friends. Carl basically has no free time, yet he manages to add friends to his list everywhere he goes. From Boston, to Phoenix, to San Francisco, to DC, to his beloved Rwanda, Carl adds new friends to his busy life, while at the same time attempting to make the world a better place… not an easy task to say the least.
When I was at the United States Institute of Peace in DC last winter, I added Dave Anderson to my friends list. Dave is the retired Lt. Colonel I wrote about in an earlier blog entry. In spite of his busy teaching schedule at the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Dave managed to provide me with the connections I needed to make my trip to Kosovo easier, and my Lebanon studies more productive.
During my time in Kosovo, I have made two lifelong friends that I will very likely never see again once I return. This fact makes me sad on a profound level because these two people have already had a huge impact on my life.
I have already mentioned Drita in my previous entries on Mitrovica, but she is worth focusing on a bit more. Not only is she open, and warm, and friendly, and loving… she is all of these things after having lived through years of war, oppression, and genocide in her homeland. Drita is quick to laugh, cry and love. She is also the one who is responsible for the five pounds I have gained on this trip. In spite of having little to call her own, she goes out of her way to make me feel welcome and special. I truly love being around her, and I will miss her when I leave.
Ardiana Osmani is a twenty-four year old Albanian woman who has lived through hell most of her life, and yet she is wonderfully alive, open, and a force to contend with. I was introduced to Ardiana on the first full day I was in Mitrovica. I don’t know why we bonded, but after a very short acquaintance she let me know her life story. Talking about what happened during the war is not something Ardiana does very often… it is too hard to cope with the memories she usually keeps just below the surface. She told me she trusted me to know her story, which makes me feel honored. Retelling her story is something I will write about in a future post. For now I just wanted to note that this remarkable young woman is my friend. She took me to meet her family, and we sat in the dark at her home--- One of Mitrovica’s many power outages--- drinking Turkish coffee and enjoying the fact that we are now friends. The rest of the story will take me awhile to process, but I will reveal it to you in this blog when I am able.
It is hard to pinpoint what causes friendships to form, but it’s easy to recognize once they exists. It is also sad to admit that it’s been awhile since I made a new friend. Life is always so busy that it usually feels like there is not enough time to handle the lifelong friends I’ve already made, let alone add new people to the list. I think that is what I like most about sabbatical… it slows the pace down. At a slower pace I have had time to have conversations with so many people, and I have added to my list of lifelong friends.
This process started way back in Chicago last summer when I attended the Religion and Society Inter-Faith Delegation, sponsored by the National Peace Foundation and the Islamic Society of America. Over the course of the weeklong delegation I added many treasured acquaintances to my list, and three friends. I keep track of the acquaintances through Facebook and occasional emails, but it’s the friends that cause me to pause and think about them for no apparent reason. Of my three Religion and Society Friends, it is likely I will never see one of them again, but he will remain my friend, the “Green Sheik” from the United Arab Emirates. Luckily, Sahar Taman and Jodi Wolk live nearby, and I get to see them quite often.
During the time I spent in Boston working with Axis of Hope, I was able to add Carl Hobert to my list of friends. Carl basically has no free time, yet he manages to add friends to his list everywhere he goes. From Boston, to Phoenix, to San Francisco, to DC, to his beloved Rwanda, Carl adds new friends to his busy life, while at the same time attempting to make the world a better place… not an easy task to say the least.
When I was at the United States Institute of Peace in DC last winter, I added Dave Anderson to my friends list. Dave is the retired Lt. Colonel I wrote about in an earlier blog entry. In spite of his busy teaching schedule at the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Dave managed to provide me with the connections I needed to make my trip to Kosovo easier, and my Lebanon studies more productive.
During my time in Kosovo, I have made two lifelong friends that I will very likely never see again once I return. This fact makes me sad on a profound level because these two people have already had a huge impact on my life.
I have already mentioned Drita in my previous entries on Mitrovica, but she is worth focusing on a bit more. Not only is she open, and warm, and friendly, and loving… she is all of these things after having lived through years of war, oppression, and genocide in her homeland. Drita is quick to laugh, cry and love. She is also the one who is responsible for the five pounds I have gained on this trip. In spite of having little to call her own, she goes out of her way to make me feel welcome and special. I truly love being around her, and I will miss her when I leave.
Ardiana Osmani is a twenty-four year old Albanian woman who has lived through hell most of her life, and yet she is wonderfully alive, open, and a force to contend with. I was introduced to Ardiana on the first full day I was in Mitrovica. I don’t know why we bonded, but after a very short acquaintance she let me know her life story. Talking about what happened during the war is not something Ardiana does very often… it is too hard to cope with the memories she usually keeps just below the surface. She told me she trusted me to know her story, which makes me feel honored. Retelling her story is something I will write about in a future post. For now I just wanted to note that this remarkable young woman is my friend. She took me to meet her family, and we sat in the dark at her home--- One of Mitrovica’s many power outages--- drinking Turkish coffee and enjoying the fact that we are now friends. The rest of the story will take me awhile to process, but I will reveal it to you in this blog when I am able.
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