Ghassan Goes to Washington

This July, Ghassan Johnny Altawil landed at Dulles International Airport and did what most first-time visitors don’t: he went straight for the metro.

He had never left Palestine before.

“The first thing I noticed was the amount of U.S. flags everywhere,” he said. “It felt much more patriotic than any other airport I ever flew from.”

He would spend the next month at Georgetown University as part of the Sir John McGuckin Internship Program, established by the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem to give Bethlehem University students real-world professional experience abroad. Georgetown University, a fellow Catholic institution, has been a long-standing partner in making this possible.

Bus routes to Georgetown had been rerouted for the city’s 250th Independence Day celebrations, adding an extra hour to his trip. He was grateful for it.

“I still remember getting off at Farragut Station. I even remember the unique scent of the streets while waiting for my bus. That feeling of getting dropped in a new place entirely, where everything around you is different from what you always lived with, was a rush by itself. The kind of rush that makes you want to chase it your entire life.”

A Month in the City

Ghassan spent July at Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), working across the University’s administrative and cultural offices, an accounting student learning how a major American university operates from the inside.

Outside the office, the city kept surprising him.

One afternoon, a new friend from Bethlehem University, an English Literature alumna now pursuing her PhD at Georgetown, invited him to watch the World Cup USA vs. Turkey match near the Washington Mall.

“The First Time Ever”

Loretta, a Georgetown student, invited Ghassan to spend his birthday with her and her friends Elizabeth and Alex, starting with dinner at DC Smokehouse, a Washington BBQ institution.

Then, after a movie in the dorms, came his birthday cake.

“It was actually the first time ever where I got surprised with a birthday party,” Ghassan said.

Loretta later texted Mimi Kirk, Director of Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies: “Ghassan is officially Americanized! He loves BBQ.”

The next morning, he left for a day trip to New York City.

What He Carried Home

By the end of July, Ghassan had ridden the metro across a city that had slowly become familiar. He had watched soccer with a fellow BU alumna near the Washington Mall. He had celebrated his birthday with new friends in a new country.

One of the things he admired most about Americans, he reflected, was their willingness to speak out, to ask uncomfortable questions.

“They know that if you don’t speak out against something, it will never change,” he said. “I want to start applying that in my own life.”

He flew back to Bethlehem carrying new friendships, unforgettable conversations, and a rush he intends to keep chasing.

---

Ghassan Johnny Altawil is a Bethlehem University accounting student from Bethlehem, in the West Bank. The Sir John McGuckin Internship Program, established in 2010 by the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, provides Bethlehem University students with international professional experience and cross-cultural learning opportunities.

The program honors the legacy of Sir John McGuckin, former Lieutenant of the Order’s Northwestern Lieutenancy, whose commitment to supporting young people in the Holy Land continues through each student it serves.