“From the Movies and the Music Videos, I Thought All Girls in America Were Like Britney Spears”
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 08.05.05 | 10:49 PM ET
So says Kaoutar, a 17-year-old girl from Morocco. But that was before she came to the United States as part of the U.S. State Department-sponsored Youth Exchange and Study Program, launched in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. According to a story in the International Herald Tribune, while some U.S. efforts to improve the country’s image abroad have been criticized, the youth exchange program is “a notable exception.” The program appears to be changing minds.
To be sure, several Middle Eastern and North African students who recently spent a year living with American host families had some complaints—“I had to carry a map with me because no one knew where Syria was,” one student remarked—but they were also at times pleasantly surprised. “I found people going to church a lot, and some are really conservative,” remarked a Tunisian student who had anticipated finding more sex and booze. “I found the people more friendly than I expected. I thought all Americans were for the war, like the government. But some people are different.” Chalk it up to another victory for the tranformative power of travel.
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
