My barber and more music

Sorry for the sparse posting! I now have reliable internet at home, so I should be able to do better.

I had the best conversation with a Syrian earlier this week with the barber. Right from the start, he's talking to me about the American Civil War, whether it really was about slavery, whether the North - South split in America has gotten better or worse with time, and on and on and on! A really wide range of basic factual knowledge and smart conclusions built upon it! He's a man after my own heart, a self-taught history buff, and we talked a great deal about what is going to happen in the Middle East in the next 5, 10, 20 years, be it in Lebanon, Palestine, or here. Btw, he's not expecting a Palestinian state anytime soon.

One of the best things about classes so far is that we get to hear a LOT of music. From my wide-ranging youtube listening in the past, I've been pleasantly surprised that I have previously heard much of what we listen to in class. Links to what we've been listening to:

http://www.arabicmusictranslation.com/2008/07/julia-boutros-arabic-arabi.html

Ronza singing the very eager "A trip! We're taking a trip!":
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE2va0DN95c

Lastly, a link to a song by Lena Shamamian, who I'm going to see (for $2) tonight:

http://www.arabicmusictranslation.com/2009/10/lena-chamamyan-before-dinner-qabl-el.html