Welcome...and initial guidelines...

This blog will be used in the spring of 2008 by 80+ students at Drexel University to investigate the effects of Iraq on culture and the reverse. Our goal will be to better understand why the US is in Iraq, and to question whether literature can help us on this journey.

Weekly plans and other materials will always be posted in Vista, not this blog. So go to Bb Vista to get the discussion prompts and other instructions.

I intend this blog to manage our discussions and track our collective investigation.

You should have received an email from me inviting you to become a contributor to this blog. The email was sent Monday afternoon to your official Drexel email address.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Holiday Weekend...or just a day off?

Honestly, I understand the important of Memorial Day. It is a day dedicated to those who have died to preserve the democracy in the greatest country in the world and for those who are still fighting to keep the freedom alive. We should thank them everyday, but today is a day the nation as a whole should thank them. I see that and I personally would like to thank them. But in my family, we do not do anything seriously dedicated to Memorial Day or even celebrate today as if it is a Holiday. See, my parents are immigrants, and the same goes for my grandparents. Basically, anyone from my generation in the family has been born in America, I am the oldest afterall and I was the first in my family to be born here. Everyone before me would be in my father and mother's generation and both sides of the family immigrated over after their marriage. For that reason, they see today as a day off. I am not saying they are not patriotic or have pride in America. They do, do not take them the wrong way. But for them, India is their true homeland and they honor India the same way Americans honor America.

For that reason, I did not do anything today for Memorial Day. Instead I am sitting here writing my post. It may seem as if I have no patriotism but I do. Though we do nothing today, as a family, my entire family including my extended family gets together to celebrate July 4th, Independance Day. As for today, I guess I have to admit I have done nothing, and we usually do not do much for the day. We should do something, but why do it for the hell of it; it would be better to do it when there is a meaning behind it.

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