"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see."

I will be completely honest. I had a hard time deciding how to approach the idea of writing in a blog for school. On one hand, this blog represents a grade, and I wanted to be able to use it as a tool for reflection. On the other hand, I was concerned about the amount of personal details I deemed acceptable to include. As I write this now, I am still deliberating over the best method.

To begin with, I recently graduated from University of Michigan with a degree in social anthropology. After many years of changing paths (creative writing, philosophy, fashion management), I settled on anthropology. I had fallen hopelessly in love with the subject, though I quickly panicked about what I could do with an anthropology degree. I had a carefree desire to see the world, live among the cultures of numerous people, and learn about other ways of life. In my dream, I would write everything down, and use it as a way to teach others.

I can't remember the exact moment I decided to become a teacher. It was somewhere between my deep yearning to travel with eyes wide open and the hope to educate others on all types of culture. I wanted to bring anthropology into the classrooms, to prepare future generations for the reality of the world. To ease the transition from being a high school student, stuck in a small bubble, to becoming a college freshman. Most importantly, I wanted to help those who would choose to enter the army (and other services). I thought it important to educate them about the country they would be defending, and to share with them the cultural knowledge of the place they were fighting in.

I kept thinking on friday that with technology, I might be able to use anthropology in my courses. For instance, the only blog I have ever read is titled Baghdad Burning by Riverbend. Riverbend is an Iraqi woman who chooses the blogosphere to write about her daily life during the current war. Out of work since the american occupation, Riverbend tries to tell both sides of the story, while she is caught in-between. In order to protect herself and her family, she adopts the name Riverbend. Last anyone has heard from her, she was crossing the border into Syria in late 2007. (If interested: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/).

Would it be possible to be able to link students from America with students from all over the country? Would teenagers be able to understand cultures better if they were told by another teenager? How could this work? - like a modern day pen pal system, or through blogs? When I think about becoming a teacher, I imagine incorporating multi-cultural readings into my literary english class. I dream about assigning each student a culture that they must become familiar with and then teach about it to the rest of the class. But now, I also wonder how to use technology with these lesson plans.

When I was introduced to Riverbend's story, my curiosity about the world, and about the way others live, grew. Here I was, reading a blog composed by a women my age. Her life completely interrupted by a war that my country was also involved in.

What I hope that you get out of this blog, and my ramblings, is this: I want to find a way to impact my student's lives, to open their eyes to the world around them. To introduce them to the vast amount of cultures that differ from theirs. And now, I am adding technology as a way to do so.