The First Post

Hello family and friends!

I've created this blog to share with you my adventures over the next two months. I've had blogs off and on over the past few years, but I've never gotten a chance to do one quite like this, so I'm pretty excited. My cousin and his girlfriend are on a roadtrip with a blog, my friend Danbee and two of her cohorts are on a roadtrip with a blog, so why not me too?!

First a little background:
In fall of 2007, I took my first programming course. 6.00 (Or "Introduction to Computer Science and Programming" for the non-MIT student crowd) taught me the Python programming language, and also taught me that programming was intrinsically awesome! It is certainly not required for my major, but it turned out to be one of my favorite classes here, one that gave me a new skill which I would never have taken the time to learn otherwise.

When I thought about options for the summer, I knew that I wanted to do something that would allow me to travel somewhere atypical and do something to "help the world". I heard about MEET from an e-mail spam to my old dorm, and knew that it was something that I wanted to do. It combined computer science, teaching, traveling, and had the incredibly awesome twist of a unique social experiment. I applied. I got an interview. I got offered a position, and I accepted. Easy as pie! (Well... almost... more on that in a bit.)

So, what IS this trip about, anyway?!
MEET is an acronym for Middle East Education through Technology. To quote the website...:

MEET is an innovative educational initiative aimed at creating a common professional language between Israeli and Palestinian young leaders. Working together with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MEET enables its participants to acquire advanced technological and leadership tools while empowering them to create positive social change within their own communities.

Wow! That sounds really complicated.

In layman's terms...
MEET is a three year program for high school students in the greater Jerusalem area. The first summer begins with 40 students who have no programming background learning Java for the first time. The twist? Half of the students are Israeli and half are Palestinian--two groups who generally aren't the best of friends. By working toward a common goal (tackling those tricky Java labs!), and developing skills with fun team-building activities, the participants began to form friendships across the boundaries of heritage. Students who wish to continue enter into a year long program during which they meet once a week to build upon their foundation of Java and business skills. In the second summer, students spend their 5 weeks working on one large project with a hefty amount of help and instruction from the Y2 instructors. This year, the projects include an encrypted messaging client, a "smart" picture program, and two others. Upon completion of the second summer, the students proceed to the second year long curriculum. Students gain more skills and begin to work on "real" projects for clients (this year, HP and Seeds of Peace), which they complete fully by the end of the third summer. Phew! A lot of Java, a lot of commitment, and a lot of interaction between kids from conflicting regions.

You can read more detailed information about the program on the MEET website. I highly encourage you to check it out. You can read about all the opportunities the MEET kids get, check out pictures from previous years, peruse previous projects, and if you happen to feel a little tug on your heart strings, you can even donate to the cause. :-)

Well, a bit ago, I said that getting involved in MEET was "almost" easy as pie. I say almost because unlike the other 11 instructors who are traveling with me the summer, I didn't actually know Java when I was accepted. In fact, it wasn't until after Spring Break (ie, April) that I wrote my first working Java class. Fortunately, I had plenty of materials at my hands to learn Java: the MEET Y1 curriculum! Yep, I learned Java from the very powerpoints that I'll be using to teach others! I also had help from 1.00 lectures ("Introduction to Computers and Engineering Problem Solving" aka, the Java course at MIT), and from friends who know how to program. I certainly don't know Java well enough to be a software engineer at Vecna (::winkwink::, ms), but I know enough to throw together a few classes to do simple tasks. (And even write really ugly GUIs.)

So! That concludes our "Background about MEET, and how I got involved" section.

My itinerary for the next few days looks something like this:
07.04.08 - 9:30pm (EDT) - Leave Boston
07.05.08 - 11:00am (UTC +2 [CEST]) - Arrive in Zurich
07.05.08 - 10:45pm (UTC +2 [CEST])- Leave Zurich
07.06.08 - 3:30am (UTC +3 [IDT])- Arrive in Tel Aviv

The 12 hour lay over allows us plenty of time to explore Zurich, and we have a similar layover on the return trip. Finally, I'll have a chance to open a Swiss bank account and eat some Swiss chocolate and have Swiss Miss be called merely Miss. As for what happens when we get to Tel Aviv, it mostly involves us being really tired from our long flights, and meeting someone in the airport who will take us to Jerusalem.

Though I try and try to speculate as to what the experience will be like, I haven't the slightest idea. The only concrete thing I know is that I had to buy business casual clothes because my usual collegiate apparel (t-shirts, jeans, and flip flops) doesn't jive with the MEET philosophy of professionalism. I even bought some comfortable closed-toe shoes that make me feel that I've reached at least late-thirties! My bags are packed, and all that remains left to do is to make photocopies of my passport, visit the ATM for a few US bills just in case, and mail GP (that's what I call Grandma Peach in my head) her birthday card.

The weather here in Cambridge is balmy, especially given the lack of AC in this house. It's in the mid-70s, and random thunderstorms keep popping up and flooding the basement. But I have high 80s to look forward to for the next week, and no rain. Ever. Seriously, it doesn't rain AT ALL in July or August in Jerusalem!

And now, off to the Hatch Shell for the July 3rd concert that is really the July 4th concert practice. :-)