January 2006 Archives

We've all heard the call: I just wish there were more hours in the day. What are you thinkin', I want to say. That only means that we'll have more stuff to do, more work to do. You know it's true. It relates directly to the purse principal: Getting a larger purse in order to give yourself some more space only ensures that you will fill it again with even more stuff, which only gives you more knots in your already knotted shoulders!

So, a few weeks ago, I went to the Planned Parenthood in Oxford, because, well, they offer free medical exams to university students who are financially independent of their parents. Free is good, often necessary. The fact that Planned Parenthood is the only place where I can have an exam in, oh, say, an hour's drive from here is an even better reason for me to use their services. Don't worry; I'm not planning on divulging anything about my exam.

Later, a week or so after my exam, I was talking to two women who had not yet had one. They agreed that they needed to make appointments some time soon in the name of their health. To this, I offered that Planned Parenthood did have this service for an amazingly reasonable price, at a convenient location, and there are nearly immediate openings for appointments. To this suggestion, I got what seemed to be both horror and shock. The thought of stepping in a Planned Parenthood seemed to carry with it the sentence of forced-abortions or excommunication. These women stepped back from their immediate reactions and then both calmly agreed that they would rather see a private doctor. Maybe a family physician.

I couldn't understand why Planned Parenthood was so bad. There are numerous reasons for which I went there (no other options, convenient, free). Plus, the Oxford site doesn't offer ANY abortion services; they're not involved with that controversial issue for which they could be judged. I do realize that Planned Parenthood as an organization is liberal and supports a woman's right to choose, but there is only ONE site that does any work with women seeking abortions in all of the Greater Cincinnati area (big). So, it seems illogical to politicize and demonize Planned Parenthood anymore than one does for private doctors in the same area. After all, the Oxford clinic provides services that are the same as those which most private doctors offer.

Then I focused on a key word in all of this. Private. I wonder if Planned Parenthood is demonized, not for their politics or their services, which are quite similar to any other clinic, but for the fact that they largely serve poor women. Who better to blame than a feminist organization that stereotypically works with poor women? (I don't actually know the demographics of their clients, but I think that it's irrelevant for this point). The doctors who are preferred here are the ones that are available to affluent, white women. For those who have no other options and must rely on Planned Parenthood for their well-being, they are the ones that are stigmatized. Surrounding them is an image of soullessness, of welfare dependency and laziness, and indecency. This is all such a shame, because we should appreciate the responsibility that these women are taking for their health, fertility, and their partner's health, rather than perceiving them as heathens.

*Sigh*

Needless to say, I felt judged by this whole encounter, as if my decision were below me, or a bad one. I'm confused by the whole thing. What is important? If I'm a woman that is pro-life and have no other options outside of Planned Parenthood, at which point do I sacrifice my political views in the name of my health? Do I sacrifice beliefs in going to Planned Parenthood? Or, for how long will I neglect responsibility for my health in the name of my political views? If I'm one who is wealthy enough to not rely on these services, at what point do I let my political views color my perceptions of the women with which I interact, even though their circumstances are vastly different from my own? If I do use Planned Parenthood, should I feel that it is necessary to keep this information hidden from my peers?

I was reading today about what males and females find to be attractive. Specifically, National Geographic cited that men find a .7 waist to hip ratio to be attractive (nothing new when it comes to knowledge). But, it made me think. Several thoughts came to mind all at once. First: What do I find attractive in women? Second: The ideal of beauty in the US today, the waify, tan blonde, does not conform with this aspect of what men find to be attractive. Third: Rather, is the ideal of beauty is aimed at women and shaped by women? Most women will agree that they do not dress for men, and often not even for themselves, but for other women. Women's appearances are created with other women in mind. Interestingly enough, the waist to hip ratio that is seen on the waify models is one that women would find attractive on men. Additionally, when it comes to model proportions, not only are they in part created by women, but they are the images which influence women's ideas of beauty. It's cyclical. Women create an ideal of beauty, women are affected by the ideal of beauty, women push the ideal of beauty even further to the extreme? If so, when is the breaking point? This is just a thought; I'm not partial to it, nor am I really sure that it has a bit of truth to it. I would love thoughts on it, though.

Mendon and I have pets. With all of this crime in Oxford, it seems like pets would be fabulous, but I'm not sure that we invested as wisely as we could have...

Should have gotten a cactus to fight off intruders?... I call the large one Abstract Aloe, and the other is just Rosemary.

And a picture of our flat, our living room specifically, now that we have curtains and it appears to be habitable.

There are also another 4(?) pairs that aren't included. Two of them are with more of the blue and green glass beads, and the other two are like the far left pairs, except that the one with the curlies on top has square beads and the one that is all wire and a few seed beads is red, instead of black. The fish are from Israel, they just needed a transformation.

Translation: I had NO homework! : )

With my time, I also made curtains for our flat - finally - and I spent some time catching up with the chores that have been left undone.

Also interesting is the reaction that all of Oxford is having to the violent crimes that have been occurring. I will admit that the crimes are frightening (see Mendon's blog for details) and that Mendon and I have checked to make sure that our windows are locked (only one of them was...?!). He claims that we aren't changing anything in our routines... I think it's interesting to watch the way that these events change the mindsets of MU students. All of a sudden, the MUPD is handing out mase and there are forums, discussion boards, and campus club speak-outs. I was contacted (as a Baha'i Club leader) and asked to speak to stduents. It amazes me that we react so extremely only when the crime makes the news, only when it happens in a relatively small time span. I only wish that the other crimes that happen constantly in Oxford could get more press. I wish that they wouldn't be turned into humor in the Miami Student. I wish that people would be willing to recognize all of the victims that are low-profile, and willing to admit that they live in a society that creates this pain, crime, and disorder. It just amazes how blissfully we live without reality.

On another note, I'm back! Haifa was awesome and school is looking to be managable. Last Friday one of Mendon's and my profs saw us walking in the hall and asked us, "Oh, do you like eachother?" Mendon's response of "We're married" was priceless, just as much as our prof's response: "Not all married people like eachother." : ) Mendon had Andrew and Charlene down this past weekend. It was completely chaotic, but fun. Another news note, is that I'm planning on playing a recital this semester. I've scheduled it for April 15th at 3 pm. Currently, the repertoire is Kabalevsky's Violin Concerto and a few movements of Bach. More on that later. : )

At any rate, I promise, I am trying to avoid these hodge-podge posts, but I've been bad about blogging since ... October?

If only my last entry had anything to do with Christ and less to do with Christmas....

At any rate, we've been out playing for the past few days, we even rented a car. Ooooh. The first day we had the car, which was Friday, we went out to Druze village. Druze seems to be quite an interesting religion (Mark has informed me that the religion has a tendency towards the dominant religion of a settlement/area, and that it's also a very secretive religion in that only an elite few know what the religion is about and the rest get to wear hats). At any rate, Druze village is known for the sturdy glass and ceramics that they create. So, we shopped. And it felt just like India in the way that people try to lure one into a shop and they way they mostly have low-quality products. But, we found some fabulous fancy-glasses and a fancy scarf for me, too.

So, that night, we ate at Zozobra, the asian noodle bar, where I was inspired by this cucumber mint spicy noodle dish. Not sure what exactly I was inspired to do... After that, we moved on to the chocolate bar where we stuffed ourselves with hot cocoa and cake? and mousse. It was ridiculous. Needless to say, with such heavy bellies, we slept well. Until that awful, awful cat started to screech outside. at 5:30 am. That was wretched; it actually sounded like a child. But, that's all OK because 5:30 was our wake-up time.

We headed out just after that to dawn prayers at Bahji. Ah, we were so, so tired. But, we headed out for another day of Christianity at the Gallilee. We went to the Church of the Beatitudes and Capernaum. Capernaum was awesome. It is the town where Jesus did a lot of his teaching. We saw Peter's house, a 4th century synagogue, which, go figure, is right over the synagogue from Jesus's time. It was really amazing to have so much of the original town excavated and lying there for us to see. And, to be honest, I was fascinated by how small everything seemed. The alleys, the houses, the rooms... I think we were at the Church of the Beatitudes before Capernaum. The church was lovely. It was much calmer than Capernaum and quieter, too. It was a simple church. It had a green copper dome from the outside, octagonal in shape, windows all around, facing the Gallilee. I love church domes, for whatever reason. This one, on the walls leading up to the dome itself, had stained glass windows which had the beatitudes in Latin. At the top, there was a lovely mosaic dome that was gold, with a hint of blue. It was just beautiful. We also made a pit-stop at the Gallilee itself and we walked down to its rocky shores. I had always thought that Jesus was teaching on the equivalent of an island resort; sandy beaches, hot weather, nice tans, and our experience felt so different. It was moderate, and rocky, and here were a bunch of white kids roaming around. : ) We made our way back to Haifa and ate at Isabella's. I'm under the impression that it was important to Maman that we eat at an Arab restaurant? So that was much of our experience out at the Gallilee.

Sunday morning, Mendon and I were in the food center again, and the rest of the time after that, we've been cleaning Mara and Mark's flat and practicing because I gave a concert here last night. It was quite nice as a social event. My playing wasn't remarkable, but.. seriously... I'm on my HONEYMOON!! : ) So I'm not disappointed that I didn't perform like a virtuoso. Today, it looks like Mendon and I might manage to get to Bahji again, and tomorrow should be a day of Baha'i stops in Haifa (the cemetary, Monument Gardens, etc, etc). So, more on those later. For now, I have to find my husband first, and I'll be sure to blog about all of today and tomorrow's events later. Pictures if you continue reading.