Prestigious

One of the most prestigious moments of my Exchange year: Rigoberta Minchu Tum, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate asked me to have a lunch with her.
21/4/2011. At Western Michigan University. Peace Jam conference 2011.

Camel, Desert and Me.

-*Dude, One camel? Nah, I've got two camels and I ride them both together, y'know. You wanna know how? Simple.. I put my one foot on one camel and the other foot on the other camel and stand straight like this (folding my arms across my chest).


 -Yeah, this is how we roll.. I know.. Cool. Right? *.. *


-Wow, Pakistan is cool man! *
 The statement read above are not true at all. Do not trust any of the crap there.
The conversation started in my A.P. Bio class when I gave a presentation on Pakistan on my first day of class (this helps making friends and it's your mission to spread awareness about your country). At the end of the presentation my classmates were asking me questions. In one of my classes someone asked me,


- "Do you have food in Pakistan?". 


-I replied "No, We eat sand and mud. Which is more delicious than your Mcdonalds burger. You should try it y'know". *face-palms* 
I mentioned it in my A.P Bio class and one of the guys asked me: 


-*"Do you guys ride camels to school in Pakistan?"* (yes, I was disappointed 'cause I din't expect it from a senior at high school) *giggles by the whole class*


- I said "Yes, we do. It's fun".
 
Since that day, everyone in that class started talking about American stereotypes about the rest of the world-specially Pakistan. I always used to make fun and jokes out of the stereotypes and we just used to laugh it out in our class. 
The joke grew bigger and bigger and eventually people started to ask me about my camel's name. It was no more limited to my little class, it was spread all around my friends in Drama too.
I asked my friend Jake Claflin to name my camel-since he was the first person to start it- and he named it "KANGAROO"!  *Yeah, I know it's weird but I liked it.*
-My friend Nate Kilian even thought that Pakistan's National Animal is Camel- which is just ridiculous. 
-My friend Max More thought the lump on the camel's back is to hang the backpack on for school- God, Nooo.. we've got good cars (that are from China *wink wink*). 
-My friend Taylor Petri thought that we wear turban Arab hats and cloacks-Pakistnais are more Asian than Arabs. So, that is also not true.
The camel joke grew bigger and bigger becuase I gave presentations about Pakistan in a lot of my classe around school. it has became so popular, that my Drama friends Adam Walters, Jilliane Hook, Alex Henry and Riley Baker have even decided to form a facebook group called "Camel buddies".
We just can't stop ourselves from laughing when we talk about camels.
The stupid stereotypes can be very annoying and sometimes bullying, but the point is to learn from it. I am here to tell Americans about my country and make them understand how it actually is and that the Media is Never Right! 

If the comments ever bother you as an exchange student, the only solution in to Laugh it Out! Yes, make jokes like I did. Join them in their stereotypes and have fun imagining things you never thought about. It's actually interesting to see how far can your imagination go.
  We are here to have fun, so why not?? And the most important thing is I made friends. I got to talk and be friends with my classmates because of my camel that doesn't even exist.Yes, it helps!
In the end, I would thank all the wonderful people to make my day everytime in A.P Bio and make me laugh. I love my camel buddies!
Stereotypes are actually amazing if you are optimistic!