United States – Page 4 – Jayson Casper

Our eagerly anticipated trip to the States to see family and friends and participate in Jayson’s brother’s wedding has come and gone. It was a wonderful time in so many ways, but I am reminded of the challenges of traveling with three small children as I reflect back on those three weeks.

To write all the details would take more than a blog post, and likely bore most people, so I’ll try to offer some highlights.

Our 3am flight from Cairo to Amsterdam required us to wake the girls at midnight for the one-hour trip to the airport, checking in two hours before the flight. For some reason, these two girls who sleep from 8pm to 8am most every night of their life, are always wide awake once we get them up for this middle-of-the-night flight. Their energy and enthusiasm at the beginning of the trip is enjoyable, but we know that toward the end of this two-flight, fifteen-hour trip, their over-tiredness will overtake them. None of us slept during the first flight, but I was so thankful when both Emma and Hannah konked out upon take-off on the second flight. Unfortunately, something woke both of them up about 40 minutes into the flight, bringing tears to our sensitive, exhausted 2 year old and boredom to the other. All in all, the trip went pretty well with two adults and three girls under 4, but the leg of the journey from Amsterdam to New York was a bit long for us all!

Meeting the four grandparents at the airport washed away all the tiredness and frustration for awhile, as the girls ran up and gave squeezes to all. It was the first time the two grandfathers got to meet our newborn, so the cameras were busy capturing those moments.

And, it always helps to have eight more hands to carry the three girls and luggage we brought with us. Tayta (grandmother) packed some lunches for us to eat in the car which was much appreciated by most, but reminded us all of Emma and Hannah’s tendency to get carsick. Welcome to America … where’s the bucket? Little did we know that would be a theme throughout our trip! Glad we picked up extra “air-sickness” bags in the plane.

We can’t ask for better accommodations when we are staying in America for a short time. Most of the time we are with Jayson’s family who loves to spoil the only grandchildren on that side. We have three rooms upstairs to sleep in, plus the formal living room for me to pack/unpack in, the family room which houses the girls’ toys that Emma remembered so well, and the kitchen where we eat much more than is necessary. We are truly all spoiled. Another great benefit is the side trips the girls can take with their grandparents to the library for story time, or the park for some swinging. This gives Jayson some time to keep up with his work in Egypt, and me some time to run around and gather all the gear we want to take back with us. This time, we even got to spend a night away by ourselves, which is a rare treat, and is another story in itself.

All in all, we slept in four different locations, although Jayson took a side trip giving him five spots, and logged many miles on a graciously loaned minivan driving from Central New Jersey to Eastern PA to Central PA, back through Eastern PA on the way to Washington DC and finally ending our time in Central New Jersey. Our home in Eastern PA was new to us all as my parents moved in the last year. It was a beautiful spot for the girls to play in, both inside and outside.

The guest room upstairs, which was prepared at least partially with them in mind, was perfect, as was the whole second floor which we had all to ourselves. Our youngest got to sleep in a cradle handed down through generations which first held my great grandfather over 125 years ago.

Life is different in PA as our three girls are joined by 11 other cousins and we got to spend a little time with all of them. We went on a few outings with two of the closest-in-age cousins including McDonald’s Playland, Friendly’s ice cream, and a picnic in the park.

Almost all the cousins got together for a rousing game of bowling,

and the next day enjoyed each other’s company at a big family dinner at the new house. Emma and Hannah blended in with all the cousins as if they hadn’t been thousands of miles away for the last year. It was a wonderful time to watch them ride bikes and play together. One of the highlights too, was going out to dinner with all my siblings and parents … just the adults! Great for us, and fun for the girls as two of their cousins babysat!

Life got interesting as we took an overnight trip to central PA. The girls wore out two of their uncles tackling them and running them around for two hours at a local park.

They enjoyed being read to and playing games with M&M’s and attending soccer practice where their uncles coach. The excursion would have been perfect, if not for a broken down car two hours before we planned to leave for the other side of PA, and then about six episodes of car-sickness in our borrowed vehicle which got us to our destination by about 2am.

We were really having a great time with so many different people, and the girls were sleeping well wherever we went. Unfortunately, Emma was sick on her birthday, so she got to visit a doctor in America, and couldn’t eat cake on her special day, but she was a trooper and enjoyed her brand new Candy Land and Play-Do Spaghetti Factory despite not feeling well.

We were so busy going to and fro that it was almost hard to remember that the reason we came to America hadn’t even happened yet! Our last weekend there, we headed to DC for the big wedding. All the family gathered, but pity poor Uncle Michael, who got our car repaired and was rewarded with the smell of car-sickness all the way there.

Coming soon: The Wedding…

A surefire way to determine a person’s priorities is to look at his or her budget and expenditures. The necessities of life demand their share, to be sure, but what becomes of disposable income? Check your own most recent bank statement, and take stock of the results. Are they what you would wish, or did you stumble into a situation you would like to revise?

Can the same test hold true for nations? If so, do the results reflect determined policy or simple inertia?

Many Egyptian activists have criticized the decision of President Obama’s administration to cut funding for the promotion of democracy by $5 million. Furthermore, these funds must be directed to NGOs and civil society organizations registered and approved by the government. On one hand this seems only natural – should the US government allow foreign donations to be received by quasi-legitimate Islamic charities, for example, which may or may not have ties to terrorist agencies?

On the other hand these same Egyptian activists would flip this comparison in their favor, stating that the government views ‘civil society’ as a threat in the same manner the US would look at these under-the-radar charities. Though this is a stretch, they maintain that Mubarak’s government only admits registration to those organizations which will not contest its rule. By funding only registered NGOs, it is said, the US ‘promotion of democracy’ only further entrenches the effective one party system which has existed since the military revolution of 1952.

The $5 million reduction is a full one-fifth decline from the previous allotment of $25 million. For all the grief President Bush received in Egypt for his policy in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel, many of these activists will praise him for the pressure he placed on the Mubarak government which, they say, genuinely opened the civil society field and resulted in greater freedoms across the board. Conversely, President Obama stands accused, at least by one prominent activist, as returning to the days in which the US openly ‘coddled dictators’.

When one discusses numbers in the millions a sense of precision can be lost. I live here; I have a general sense of what civil society organizations do. I have no idea, however, where even a reduced figure of $20 million is being expended. Though I don’t know who does or does not receive US aid, there are good organizations doing good work. $20 million is a staggering sum; add it up here and there and surely it can be found. It would be a fair question to research, though: However defined, does the investment result in $20 million of ‘good’?

This discussion is interesting enough, but the opening thought begged a look at priorities. A $5 million reduction suggests the Obama administration is less interested in the promotion of democracy than his predecessor. ‘Less interested’ is found to be a matter of degree, however, when the rest of US government aid to Egypt is considered:

$20 million – promotion of democracy

$35 million – education ($10 million of which is for Egyptians studying in the US)

$250 million – economic aid

Now wait…

$1.3 billion – military aid

Suddenly, $5 million becomes a drop in the bucket.

Egypt solidified its status as a close ally of the US with the signings of the Camp David accords, resulting in the reception of such aid packages every year thereafter. Since that time Egypt has fought no wars, with Israel or anyone else; why is this aid necessary?

While the Obama administration has been accused in the US as favoring Arab interests over Israeli, longstanding American policy, Obama’s rhetoric notwithstanding, has given Israel almost free reign to extend its will in the Palestinian territories. Those who push the envelope, however, suggesting Israel to be America’s 51^st state, or more cynically, America’s boss, do not realize the significance of this military aid.

A strong Egyptian military is a necessary counterbalance to the weight of Israeli forces. Both are bankrolled by the US, of course, but if there was not a readiness in Cairo to engage in military combat, Israel would have to pay no attention whatsoever to international (including US) cries for a just settlement of the Palestinian issue. US military aid to Egypt maintains at least a semblance of regional balance of power.

Returning to cynicism, however, there can be another deduction from the breakdown of US aid to Egypt. Where are US priorities? Promotion of democracy? Yes. Education and economics? Yes.

Stability of a regional player? Absolutely. The US maintains genuine interest in political reform and expansion of freedoms. Why else would it invest millions of dollars otherwise available to domestic interests? Cynicism may respond that when differentiation is lost in the understanding of ‘millions and billions’, even the drop in the bucket can appear as a sizeable investment. This number can be paraded to US voters who view America as the city upon a hill with missionary mandate to make the world safe for democracy. At the same time, the other (larger) number can assure the establishment that such idealism will only go so far.

I wish never to surrender to cynicism. Accounting, however, is another matter. As an idealistic American, I do not wish to believe our pangs for worldwide freedom are insincere. A brief look at our foreign policy, however, makes hopeful belief difficult. How do idealism and the pursuit of national interests mix in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Yemen? The world is a complex place, and realpolitik is the mastery of complexity.

If, however, these international engagements have been completely devoid of pure motivation underneath its justifying rhetoric, faith in our system, this great experiment, is severely tested. Let us then surrender to the ways of the world, the quest for empire, and ultimately, a few pages in the textbook of history for the coming centuries.

No, America is good. I will hold this like a tenet of faith. When faith is measured, though, will it be found to equal $20 million? Slightly more (if adding in education funding), or slightly less (after accounting for inefficiency and corruption)?

What does this mean for Egypt? I’m sure this is not a revelation to experts in the field who have followed US-Egyptian relations for years, but it can be disheartening for the idealistic neophyte wishing good for all. America does care (I trust) for the gradual political reform of Egypt, but it cares far more deeply for the preservation of the existing state of affairs. President Mubarak is aging, there is no clear successor, and no viable opposition. The only candidate currently attracting attention (legitimately mobilizing a popular longing for change) is constitutionally bound from running for president unless he joins an existing political party, which he has stated he will not do. What is coming next?

There is no need for fear, or hope. The ruling system stems from the power of the military, whose strongest ally is the US government. A radical departure from the status quo is highly unlikely.

Simply balance the checkbook and see.

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