Cheerleading Diplomacy...Bring it on Again

Before I expand upon this tale, I want to state that we are completely safe here.  The worse thing that could happen is something nasty with traffic.  In terms of terrorism, Jordan, and especially our team are very safe....

Turns out there was a reporter in the stands at the Iranian handball game.  He did his duty and gave what would have been a very boring sports recap a personal twist.  He managed to send his report back that included the highlights of the game as well as our presence.  Screaming cheering american kids supporting the arch enemy of their government to a win in handball.  Apparently we managed to make not just the print media, but radio, and television as well.  The commentary that came with it went something along the lines of this...

“The Iranian Handball team beat Bahrain in the Asia cup for youth with no small help from their cheering fans.  These fans consisted entirely of American students.  As George Bush prepares to make war on Iran, his children (Hey, that’s us!) cheer on the team.”

Normally making the news is something I prefer to never happen if we are abroad, but this is a diplomatic exception.  I honestly do not know what military, if any, action will be taken against Iran.  The fact is though, there is now a small portion of Iranians who know that not all Americans are bad.  This is real grass roots diplomacy.  We now spend our evenings talking to the coaches at night.  Zainab translates, which is also quite a sight to behold.  She picked up her farsi skills, which from what I could tell are damn near fluent, after living there for just one year.  This once again backs up my plan of if I ever find myself dictator of a country; I am forcing every student upon completion of the 11th grade to go live abroad in areas where America might not be the best anymore.  Get out of town, and head to the Middle East, or South America.  By the time that generation attains power, all foreign policy issues would be taken care of.  Imagine the influence spending a few hours cheering on Iran has had on their team, their families and their compatriots.  The possibilities are endless.