Reflection 6

So first off, I've recommended the documentary we watched last week to plenty of people. I'm not sure why but I just really enjoyed it.

But on a more relevant note..

The readings this week made me think about cultural diffusion. As someone who is always fascinated and enchanted by other cultures, I simply find it mind blowing when others prefer to stay in their own ignorant bubbles. Cultural diffusion is a fact of life. When cultures intermingle and learn from each other, more is possible than ever before. It's as simple as thinking about it in terms of cooking. You can cook a soup with cabbage and carrots, or you can make a stew with thyme curry and pepper mixed with tomatoes and onions and potatoes. Why have something bland when you can have it enriched? Of course, not all combinations work, and quite literally some combinations can be explosive and disastrous. But this is just talking about it in the simplest of terms. I started thinking about this when one of the readings went from talking about peaceful movements in the MENA region to the Iran revolution, when the US supplied Pahlavi's army.  It's not really cultural diffusion since it's not like Iran didn't have arms before, but it certainly affected the country and it's people. When countries interact, theres a give and take. Even in war.  You can look at a country's food and architecture and you can see how it's been affected by countries that have occupied it or from refugees that have come to settle there.

I've lost my train of thought....

 I feel like every time I hear about something violent starting up in MENA, the US is right there hiding in the thick of it. Even in the early 20th century.