Last week one Syrian friend shared with us that her brother was diagnosed with brain cancer.  He had been having horrible headaches and dizzy spells for months, and thought it was just the residual effects of the war and shrapnel that had been lodged in his head from a previous injury. When the doctors told my friend [...]
I ran out and introduced myself to the new family who had moved in across the street, in Dari! (I’ve learned just a few words and greetings in the past month.) I had seen the man smoking while squatting on a chair on his front step. I had seen several children in their traditional clothes [...]
Afghan refugees are in Nashville, and they need our help! Nearly 300 new arrivals have been or are being resettled mostly in Northern Nashville. Many groups are working together to meet the needs of our new neighbors. Our strength is education, so we're coordinating some English classes for these new arrivals. Women's English class opportunities [...]
Chaldean Church History and Christian Diaspora (Part 3) Hannah wraps up her research on the Chaldean Catholic Church with their modern history in Northern Iraq, the destruction by ISIS, and the Christian diaspora to the West. What is the fate of Alqosh now? What will happen in the future to the church as their numbers [...]
Have you ever thought you want to branch out into some international food but didn't know where to start or if you'd even like the food? Well, we're here to give you a hand and share with you our favorite places to go in mostly South Nashville. These are the restaurants we recommend in Nashville [...]
Who's Got the Power? At the airport, I bought a phone SIM so that I would have data and emergency calling capability anywhere I went. It seemed reasonable given that my co-teacher and I were headed off on our own for a month with no language. It worked great! I texted my husband on our [...]
Thus far, the U.S. has evacuated more than 65,000 Afghans. Roughly a third are in the US, a third in Europe and a third in Asia; almost all are on military bases. As of right now (early September) we don’t know which states will receive these people over the coming months. The task of vetting [...]
Chaldean Church History and Tradition (Part 2) Hannah teaches Colleen more on the history and beliefs of the Chaldean Church in this, part two, of a three part series. This episode covers the re-unification of the Chaldean Catholic Church with Roman Catholic Church along with some of the distinguishing features of the Chaldean Catholic Church [...]
What is the Chaldean Church? (Part 1) Hannah teaches Colleen about the origins of the Chaldean Church in this, the first episode of THREE episodes on the history and beliefs of the Chaldean Church. The splits, lines, and practices help illustrate how the Christian community in Iraq came to be there and their long history [...]
5oth Episode -- How Iraq Changed Us Hannah and Colleen share the ways that Iraq shaped small behaviors in their lives including hand gestures, expectations of people, restaurant protocol, and more. These are some of the ways that that Iraq changed us and made us different from our peers here in the US. Also, celebrating [...]
