Author: jparson1

I figured a really cool blog to talk about with my readers would be to just reflect on what I’ve been talking about over the past weeks. The world currently is in a bit of a hole. COVID-19 has affected every country, and even though America seemed to not think it’d be a big idea we have more people infected than any where else currently.

Over the past weeks the Middle East has begun to fall into a tourism crisis, as well as multiple wars and sieges ravaging the area. Not to mention the fact that oil barrels are being sold for so cheap that many companies will struggle to even break even on their sales.

While I feel like most people around my age are simply worried about be stuck at home, not being able to party, or be at college. I want everyone to consider just how lucky we are to have a home to go to, and that everybody sitting here doing their classes is lucky to be in the situation that we’re in. And to offer even just thoughts to the people not just in the Middle East, but anybody in a lesser situation.

It’s hard to imagine what COVID-19 could do to countries already affected entirely by war when you live in a country where currently the worst thing going on falls quite short of that. Yemen currently is under siege from a Saudi based Militia, and an Iran based Militia. One of these Militia’s recently attacked an oil line. Luckily this oil line was not in use, but the group that did it won’t take credit. Neither side has made a single claim or message regarding the attack.

This country has many many people left stranded due to the war, which means during the COVID-19 pandemic they can not take the precautions necessary to combat the pandemic. It’s sad but extremely true and something I think that everyone should take time to be informed upon, to see just how good we have it in America.

There are hopes that this stalemated war, will come to peace talks because of the current situation of the war. Definitely something to follow and look into if you’re not doing anything at home! None of the information above, is mine. It was all presented to me by the Middle East Monitor, and I simply analyzed it for my colleagues to be better informed.

In my last blog I touched a bit on the Middle East and it’s tourism economy tanking. However I ran across some Tok Tok posts recently, that alarmed me. These were videos of people getting gas for as cheap as less than a dollar per gallon. Absolutely unreal right? It seemed fake, fake enough for me to do some digging.

After I began to research this I found that not only was it true, but even my gas station is selling gas for $1.34 per gallon. As someone who is used to paying $2-3 per gallon this is absolutely unreal gas prices. While as a consumer this must be great, I quickly thought about where the majority of oil comes from in the world. And what that would do to their economy.

While digging through news articles, I found one from hurryietdailynews which I credit this information to, that showed the statistics on country growth. While I won’t get into insane specifics, all of the major oil countries are either projected to grow much less than they were going to, or are expected to sink more than they were expected to. Countries. Not the oil companies themselves, the countries that they inhabit. It’s very sad to see the COVID-19 crisis affecting the world in this way, and crazy how much you can find interest in on something as simple as Tik-Tok.

While pondering things to write about today I came across a rather interesting article about something that I’ve been yet to think of. During all of the outbreak the only thing I feel that I’ve thought about is how much longer I’m stuck in my house, and when am I going to be finished with online school. I’ve been researching the stock market, and keeping in touch with basic world news.

However after tying both these world interests and stock interests together I found an article that was rather alarming. The Arab Tourism Organization has projected to lose $40 Billion, if the COVID-19 virus continues to ravage the world in line with its projections through the end of April.

This was a huge shock to me just to read, I mean 40 billion dollars? That’s enough to shut down probably hundreds of vacation areas, imagine the restaurants or shopping areas that purely rely on tourism to come around. A truly sad number, and sad to read about for the people that will be affected by this.

Any of the above factual information is credited to the Haaretz news paper, I am not claiming as my own. Simply analyzing it, and giving other people things to think about.

Since my theme for blogs this week has been news in the Middle East and Corona Virus in the Middle East. I figured that it would be appropriate for me to write about what I’m reading from their news compared to what I’m experiencing in my own home.

While reading news about the Middle East it’s very easy to tell that the virus there is taking control of the entire region, with it’s statistics rapidly approaching those of Italy. The US is also exponentially climbing in number infected as well as number dead, this number just surpassed over 2,000 people today.

Of course not on the same level as the Middle East, but definitely similarly, Indianapolis simply does not have enough tests to test people who aren’t high risk. As I am a healthy 19 year old, I have been presumed positive by the state, and asked to self quarantine for 2 weeks. My mother can’t even get tested yet, and she has Lupus which puts her at a very high risk of being a fatality from this disease.

This though just doesn’t even touch the fact that many people, such as in Lebanon like we talked about earlier. Just aren’t even being communicated with simply because of documentation. I just found it interesting to compare what’s happening in my house, to what I can access on the news.

I recently read an article about the Corona Virus in Lebanon and how it’s being handled. Quite frankly it was tough to read, whilst reading through it it wasn’t hard to be able to see that the government is struggling to figure out what they need to do to combat the virus.

As nerves continue to rise in Lebanon the hospitals are now turning away undocumented people of Lebanon with no test at all, or requesting a ridiculous price for the test. The effect of this is leaving many people afraid and untested, possibly fearful for their lives. In some cases this isn’t even their fault, as an awful practice in Lebanon is for abusive migrant employers to take their employee’s documents when they begin work to discourage them from leaving their post. It’s a sad, but interesting situation happening in Lebanon.

All of the information presented was given by Aljazeera, I’m not claiming any as my own simply analyzing and discussing it.

While browsing for news that would be interesting to write about I found one article that was more than interesting. The COVID-19 virus is actually starting to slow down the war in Iraq. Iraqi parliament actually requested the US to withdrawal completely from the area, and while the US did deny this request they are pulling plenty of troops out of the country. Iraq is in a lot of distress right now, they actually don’t have any labs in country that can test for the corona virus so for the most part these tests have to be flown out to German military bases to be tested.

While the US is pulling many of its troops out of the country it is making some uneasy, as a lot of places in Iraq don’t even have the water necessary to hydrate it’s people to combat COVID-19. The country is surely weakening, and I for one would be curious about what a terrorist group would try to take advantage of in a time like this.

Even though none of this information was mine, credit can be given to the Haaretz News Website. I think it’s important for all of us to be educated on situations like these. In America our worst problem currently is not having enough tests to get people tested. Just imagine if we didn’t have enough water.

I felt that this could possibly be an intriguing topic and it certainly panned out to be so. I figured it would be really fun to compare to almost polar opposite forms of prayer. I mean as a non-denominational Christian I feel like our prayer is very low key. I can have a conversation with God whenever I feel like the time is right, and really however I feel like doing so. There aren’t really any rules to what I do or what I say, it’s just that I should keep in touch with him however I see fit.

While researching Salah, Islamic Prayer, it’s easy to see that it’s very much more structured that what I’ve previously described. While I could pray before I go to sleep just in the comfort of my bed, in Salah there is a proper cleaning before hand and clothes required. In Salah everything is written for you, even the direction you will pray in, and the positions you will be in whilst you pray.

Even though some people may find this way of praying very different, or some may say extreme. I find it interesting and I think it’s honestly a beautiful thing. It’s a different kind of bond with their God, and I respect it very much so. I feel that while the Islamic people go through every one of these steps, their connection with God is unique. I enjoy reading and learning about the uniqueness of this relationship that they have.

During the time of starting off on our electronic learning days and no-longer staying at college I figured it would be appropriate to touch on COVID-19 in the Middle East. What better thing to talk about than the countries we are currently addressing in class, and the thing that’s put us all studying at home stuck behind our screens all day.

A minor coincidence in speaking on this topic side by side with the corona virus is that Iran is one of the most widely hit countries by the virus with almost 16,000+ infections in the country. The Middle East is now one of the countries that is beginning to shut down. I for one am extremely curious as to how this is going to bode for a region that is generally encapsulated by war and politics is going to handle the entire process. While countries left and right begin to shut down and try to plateau this disease, this region of the world has a rather insane amount of people affected by the disease.

Now though not only is the country beginning to close down, even prayers are becoming cancelled, not just the closing of bars and restaurants. These prayers as well as even pilgrimages have been called off. An insane thing to see while the world is being ravaged by a new virus, while we in America seem most stuck on all these things that we don’t need such as the NBA. Some people can’t do the things that they feel their religion most calls them to do. Just something I think everyone should be thinking about.

While considering options to blog about I ended up running across one from the past that I think would be rather fun to do so. I feel as if today in America for the most part when people think about Chinese food we have a very poor idea on what it really is. Maybe it’s Panda Express, or maybe it’s some other random restaurant that is near your house the serves a questionable chicken that couldn’t possibly be just chicken breast doused in whatever sauce that you asked for.

While in Washington D.C. my uncle asked me what kind of food I would like, and I told him to pick his favorite spot. He said there’s a Chinese restaurant he loves, and that it was actually something that their Culture would serve each other. Not food just catered toward Americans. When we went very little English was spoken, but we made it clear that we wanted culturally rich food. They then gave us whatever they felt we’d like, and let me tell you what. Every ingredient was the best, most fresh ingredients I’ve probably ever had. The chicken fell apart in my mouth, the beef was clearly smoked to perfection. And it was still to the day some of the best food I’d ever had. The noodles and rice were all perfectly cooked and seasoned. Everything complemented everything on the plate that I had.

To this day I haven’t been able to find a restaurant that has competed with the level of food that I had. I obviously still can’t compare this to food straight out of China, but it’s the best by far that I’ve found in America. I encourage everyone to try and find a restaurant like this, and eat the most culturally rich food you can find.