Middle East, here I come!

In a mere 6 days, I will be leaving the comforts of Harrisonburg and venturing into my cross-cultural adventures in the Middle East. My belongings are currently scattered throughout my room, waiting to be packed into a large (and very empty) backpack which will soon become a very full travel-mate. This blog is a way for me to update friends and family back home with journal entries, pictures and musings. Enjoy!

You may be curious about my blog title: James and the Giant Lemon. The other evening I watched (for the first time!) the movie rendition of the fantastic Roald Dahl book which may or may not be the source of my namesake.

As I listened with anticipation to the soaring melody of "My name is James..." and watched with awestruck wonder as seagulls tied to strands of spider string lifted the peach safely out of the shark-infested water, I came to a realization. There is not much different between James Henry Trotter and James David Witmer Souder.

OK, we have our differences, one of which being that my loving family has not been consumed by a rhinoceros and I am not enslaved to evil aunts named Sponge and Spiker. But we are both named James, and we are both preparing for an epic journey across the ocean.

What's with the lemon? you may be wondering. Well, I am in the process of finishing a book entitled "The Lemon Tree" by Sandy Tolan, a book outlining the history and complexity of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. This book has given me a broader perspective of the conflict, of which I hope to gain even more insight (or confusion) as I experience the area firsthand.

Thus, I have chosen a lemon as my mode of transport across the Atlantic over a peach. Or perhaps the "giant lemon" could be a metaphor for the world, and I being a mere traveler across its surface. Either way, if I find myself in unfortunate situations during my travels, perhaps I will be reminded of the old saying: "If life gives you lemons, make peach juice, then sit back and watch the world wonder."