I just spent 35 minutes of my cardio, turned to the left—CNN blaring in the background—while a young woman told me about her 6 month stay in Lebanon. In a poll, the majority of Americans side with Israelis over Palestinians. She said it was no place for a woman. She had two babies and was showing with her next. This is all about religion, she said. What religion are you? She said, we came back to the US, and now I’m divorced. He was abusive (may have used the word “beat”). Those people are extremists, she said. There, she felt like Oprah. There, she and her husband were American—they were loved and hated. She got caught up, couldn’t stop, and stories flooded out, all from just 6 months in Lebanon.
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SHEREWIN 
you should have told her that you have a friend who used to live in lebanon… OREGON, that is… And then went on & on about how yeah, of course, that Lebanon, Oregon was about religion mostly so you completely understood… That there were extremists there that both hated & loved americans… And a lot of the women felt like Oprah… And were beat for it… I mean, haven’t we all wanted to beat Oprah at some point or other?…
people… fukken people…
loveme.
This woman took me off guard. She looked and talked like she was straight from the ghetto, and made strange, potentially offensive comments, but she also said a few things that were profound.