(Host) Tik Root has only been back in Vermont for a few days but he’s already to return to the Middle East.
Root is the Middlebury College junior who was arrested and detained in Syria for two weeks, after he pulled out his Blackberry to take a picture of a protest in Damascus.
Details of Root’s detention are widely known now. He was pushed into a car, taken to a jail, and interrogated, although he wasn’t physically harmed.
Syrian authorities repeatedly accused him of being a CIA agent or a journalist.
But already, Root is saying that he wants to return.
(Root) "It’s an amazing place with just an amazing history. And the people really do have a lot to teach us about community and just general hospitality. They’re just some of the most amazing people I’ve met."
(Host) During his detention, Root met a couple of Iraqi prisoners. They were the first to say to others in the jail that there’s a difference between the American government and the American people. Root says there’s a lesson in that.
(Root) "If they can make that distinction on my behalf, I think I can make it on theirs. So if anything, it’s kind of reinvigorated my interest in the region."
(Host) But for now, he’s staying put. He will be back at Middlebury in the fall for his senior year.