Category Archives: Blog

When I was staying with a kind Afghan family while visiting Sufi shrines in Afghanistan–and making all kinds of new friends–we feasted on large plates of fresh fruit after each delicious meal. Last night in Lebanon, I had dream about Afghan food–and it’s a shame we don’t have any here in Beirut…

The smell of apples arises
from the orchard of my soul.
One whiff and I am gone –
Toward a feast of apples
I am going…

— Rumi

While I was grocery shopping today in Beirut, after this morning’s bombing at the Iranian Embassy, I was surprised to see Christmas decorations being stocked on the shelves–since it seems like just yesterday that we had Christmas in Beirut.

Beirut is one of the most beautiful places in the world to celebrate Christmas–last year, some friends who were visiting during the holidays noted that Beirut had more festive Christmas decorations around the city than their own towns back home in the United States. After all, St. Nick was from the Middle East.

In addition to bright Christmas lights and decorative Christmas trees, Beirut offers a wonderful line-up of Christmas activities–like concerts of Christmas carols sung in a number of different languages, and even a bustling Christmas bazaar downtown…

This morning, a double explosion hit the Iranian Embassy here in Beirut. So far, twenty-three people have been reported killed and 146 people injured–but the numbers are quickly rising. The Iranian cultural attaché was among those killed in the attack.

It’s surreal to see a building I’ve visited before surrounded by dead bodies, fire and debris–from the double blast of a suicide bomber and car bomb. Once, when I was inside of that building, an Iranian television program playing on the second floor was claiming that Iran had captured a U.S. drone–which was shown in the middle of a large crowd that was chanting “Death to America.” This made it a bit awkward when the consular officer asked me to hand over my U.S. passport for a visa to travel to Iran…

For more details on today’s deadly bombing here in Beirut, please click here.

In the wreck of your drunken heart,
I am the sun shining into your ruin.
Long may you call this wild wasteland your home…

— Rumi

Grammy Award-winning musician Esperanza Spalding explained her motivation for making the music video above in an opinion piece today for the Los Angeles Times entitled: “Music to shine a light on Guantanamo Bay.” If you watch the video a second time, you might just catch all of the cameos…

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet her in New York–and I was as inspired by her spirit and grace, as I was in awe of her celebrated artistic genius…

Don’t feel like cooking on Thanksgiving? Well, if you’re in New York, then I’ve got the place for you. Ilili, my favorite Lebanese restaurant in the States, has cooked up quite a menu for their Thanksgiving feast. To give your taste buds a tease, please click here–each festive item on the menu sounds divine…

I can’t wait for my colleague’s new book, Geographies of Liberation: The Making of an Afro-Arab Political Imaginary, to be published this February. In this important work, Professor Alex Lubin, the director of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for American Studies and Research at the American University of Beirut, explores the historical connections between African American activists and political groups in the Middle East–within the context of how these groups “imagined” liberation for themselves and one another.

In this absorbing transnational history, Alex Lubin reveals the vital connections between African American political thought and the people and nations of the Middle East. Spanning the 1850s through the present, and set against a backdrop of major political and cultural shifts around the world, the book demonstrates how international geopolitics, including the ascendance of liberal internationalism, established the conditions within which blacks imagined their freedom and, conversely, the ways in which various Middle Eastern groups have understood and used the African American freedom struggle to shape their own political movements.

Last night, I was invited to join Sudanese friends and Sufis at a community gathering in Beirut. Since I’m currently teaching a course on the ancient history of Sudan, it was a delight to speak about Nubian pharaohs like Taharqa and Shabaka with my new friends from Sudan. The delicious cookies and sweet tea that they served added to the warm welcome.

“I think you’re starting to become Sudanese,” a kind man from north Sudan wearing a white turban joked. He had been teaching me phrases in the Arabic dialect of his hometown–and I seemed to be passing the test.

“But really,” he added, “at the end of the day, we’re all just human beings.”

Bring the pure wine of love and freedom.
But sir, a tornado is coming.
More wine, we’ll teach this storm
A thing or two about whirling…

— Rumi

Though today was a perfect beach day here in Lebanon in the Middle East, it was a totally different story in Lebanon, Indiana–as you can see in the picture above and to the left.

Earlier today, a tornado ripped through Lebanon, Indiana–leaving a demolished Starbucks in its wake. With a tornado warning issued for all of central Indiana, I’m nervous about my family’s farm, but relieved that I was nowhere near today’s tornado in Lebanon (and instead safe and sound by the sea–in Lebanon)…

African dance is coming to Beirut. Next month, Jebebara, a talented African percussion troupe in Lebanon, will be hosting visiting dance instructor, Joti Singh, for a weekend workshop in West African Dance in downtown Beirut.

Having studied West African dance and drumming in Mali myself, I’m so excited for the traditional dances of the Mandeng region of West Africa to be taught here in Beirut–with live percussion provided by Jebebara Unity Drum. So if you’re in Beirut, sign up now for this energetic and educational workshop–before it fills up. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend–since I’ll be off drumming in the desert in Africa (more on that soon)…

Since I’m Czech, in love with puppets, and teaching Plato in Beirut, I’m tempted to fly back home to New York to see The Republic, Or, My Dinner With Socrates presented by La MaMa and the Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre. Written and directed by Vít Hořejš (the most talented and dedicated puppeteer that I know), this imaginative puppet performance based on Plato’s dialogues uses writings and methods from the past to tackle some of the most pressing political and social issues today.

La MaMa Theatre, 74A E 4th St, NYC
November 29-December 15, 2013
Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays @ 7:30 PM, Sundays @ 2:30 PM
Tickets available at www.lamama.org and at 212-475-7710

Was Socrates executed by a vigilant Athenian “department of homeland security?” We may not come to any conclusions, but we hope to open a dialogue in true Socratic method. Incorporating traditional Czech marionettes, found objects and shadow puppets, The Republic is an adaptation of Plato’s Republic with elements of the Crito and Phaedo dialogues). As in the 5th century B.C., political movements led by demagogues and sophists crush the voice of reason.

If you’re in New York, be sure to czech it out–and lend your support to a unique theatre company that lost precious production materials during Hurricane Sandy–but has emerged from the flood waters with a brand new production…

Very little grows on jagged rock.
Be ground.
Be crumbled,
so wildflowers will come up
where you are.

You’ve been stony for too many years.
Try something different.
Surrender.

— Rumi

You don’t have to act crazy anymore–
We all know you were good at that.

Now retire, my dear,
From all that hard work you do
Of bringing pain to your sweet eyes and heart…

— Hafiz