Midnight Musings

I thought I'd try dialogues, but right now my mind doesn't flow in dialogues. I know it'll come more natural once I actually start writing in dialogue, but right now the dialogue flow is blocked. And I don't feel like exerting effort. I'm feeling very emo. That word kind of bothers me. A word that has slowly slithered its way into the English language. Meloncholic. It's so much more poetic. Anyway... Here's an excert from the big project. I know it needs to be cut down quite a bit, but it's a start, eh?

CHAPTER (Unkown): NUMBERS AND FIGURES

"Did you know only 20% of Americans own a passport? Really. It explains why so many of them are ignorant *****."

I didn't bother to listen to the rest of his tirade. I had heard it before. Somewhere. From someone. But who? As Dror went on about the pitiful Americans, I racked my brains trying to remember where I had had this conversation. And then it hit me. Some other Israeli, one that still made my heart flutter when I thought of him, had told me all this before not so long ago. That 20% of Americans were ignorami. I guess it didn't matter so much anymore. He'd gone back home months ago. 

"How many Canadians do you think have passports? Only 20%? Canadians aren't rude like Americans. I met this Canadian guy... Really..." Like all the other Israelis I had met, Dror had the same forward, almost abrasive personality. I got the feeling he wouldn't care if I drifted in my thoughts a little longer.

It was like training all Israelis went through before they travelled. The Ministry of Foreign Information. Only 20% of Americans have passports. Only 20% of Americans have passports. Only 20% of Americans have passports. It wasn't just an approximation. For Israelis, it was a fact. There were other little "facts" most of the Israelis I met would spit out at random intervals. Maybe they were the truth. Maybe it was just Israeli propaganda. Who knew? I didn't have enough information to negate it with.

If I thought about it though, most countries had their little spiels and knowledge of an other people. Just the other day, I had read in an El Salvadorian newspaper: 33.3 million Canadians expected to visit El Salvador this year alone. Now correct me if I'm wrong and I've been maleducated on the topic of my own country, but I was under the assumption Canada's population was approximately 33..... Point 3 million. Apparently the El Salvadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expected that each and every Canadian would step foot on El Salvadorian soil in the year 2008. It baffled me.

"Really. Let those Americans do what they want. I don't want them coming to my country anway. It's better for me if they don't get passports. I'm hungry. You want to find some place to go for lunch?"