just another reason

Why I love this President:
Obama reverses Bush Endangered Species Act

And, while I am increasingly more proud to be an American, I still often think how messed up we are. There is a new visiting scholar at school from Egypt. He has never even traveled outside of his home country, and now he finds himself here in Pullman, WA. Needless to say, after having several conversations with him he is a bit disillusioned. For one thing, Pullman is not the city I would send anybody to who is hoping to experience America for the first time. He has already picked up on the odd atmosphere of this place. I believe it's because it is a city, or more appropriately, a town, based on a transient population. There just isn't much of an established community here because the majority of the population is between 18-22, and only live here for about 4-5 years. That sort of set up means not many really go out of their way to establish much of a bond with the place or the people. He was telling me that in Cairo he loves just walking around on the streets talking with people, and here he is shocked to find that no one is talking, they are not even looking at each other. This is something I am very guilty of myself. Usually, when I participate in Lent, I try to take on a new habit as well as give something up, and I'm thinking this time around I will try to consciously acknowledge the people around me like they are real people, even if it just means eye contact or a smile.