Home Sweet Home

البنات المقطقطة

2006-12-12T22:00:00.000+03:00

فى نوع من البنات لما تتكلم تلاقى نفسـك عند سـماعها لا إرادياً بتدور تحت الكرسـى على قطة جعانة مسـتنيه حد يحدفلها لقمة ولا حاجة وبعدين تكتشـف إن النونوة دى كانت طالعة من البنت الجالسـة أمامك وليس من تحت الكرسـى كما أعتقدت

النوع ده من البنات ممكن ناس تعتبره رقة، يعنى بنات بسـكوت كده بتتفتفت لما تتكلم. أنا بقى ماليش خُلق على البنات المقطقطة دى. بصراحة بزهق، مش بس لأنهم بينونوا، لكن لأن معظم المواضيع اللى بتكلموا فيها بتكون مواضيع قططية خالص

المشـكلة بقى إن فى واحدة أعرفها من فصيلة القطط بضطر أكلمها من وقت لأخر. وفى بعض الأحيان بيقى حظى وحش وأضطر أشـوفها، فقبل ميعاد المقابلة لازم أرتب فى دماغى شـوية جُمل كدة على قد ما أوسُـم علشـان هى أول ما تبدأ تتكلم بأخودلى تعسـيلة سـريعة كدة لغاية ما تخلص اللى بتقوله وأصحى على صوتها بتسـألنى رأيى
فأقوم أنا بقى رده رد عبقرى من الردود اللى أنا مرتباها قبل الخروجة، حاجة كدة زى: الجو جميل، شـئ عظيم، كويس خالص
يعنى... أهو أى كلام يا عبد السـلام، يعنى حاجة كدة زى متقولوا فاصل إعلانى قبل ما صحبتنا تعاود النونوة، أقصد الكلام. وبعد نهاية اللقاء أرجع إلى بيتى و أحمد الله وأصلى ركعتين شـكر إن المرارة لسـة مكانها و ماطئتش

أنا بس نفسـى أقول لهؤلاء البنات المقطقطة أو القطط المبنتته إن الرقة ملهاش علاقة بالسـطحية والمواضيع التافهة والكلام بنرة تثائبية كأنها حدوتة قبل النوم. كمان علشـان تثبتى أنوثتك الطاغية مش لازم تكون المواضيع كلها عن العناية بالبشـرة و المكياج والموضة والفنانات. كما أنه لا علاقة بين الرقة والنطق الصحيح للغة العربية، يعنى مش لازم تنطقى الصـاد، سـين... والقـاف، كاف... و الضاد، دال

(مع الاعتذار للقطط السـيامى والبلدى والرومى وجميع الفصائل الأخرى)

Strangers in a Mall

2006-12-06T00:04:00.000+03:00

She walked into the main gate of the shopping mall holding her young daughter’s hand. She was talking to her kid and moving her eyes among the huge number of people in the place when suddenly she saw him in front of her.

He was as smart as he used to be as if the years did not pass. She could even smell from a distance the perfume that he used to wear. He was talking to a young woman and they seemed to be having a debate. She wondered who she might be. Maybe his wife… but she doesn’t appear to be his taste!! He used to like elegant and stylish women and this woman is far from being his style. Maybe his taste has changed, it has been 10 years after all, and people change.

The little hand of her daughter woke her up when she pulled her to the window of a toyshop. She moved towards the shop like a hypnotized person. She even allowed her daughter for the first time to go messing around in the toyshop. She could think of nothing but him and how would her life be like if they had a traditional end for their love story.
She remembered how each of them used to love the other secretly, and the day he revealed his love to her. She remember every single detail till the day he asked her to forget all about him cause he was not ready for a serious commitment. She recalled her tears, her broken heart, her sleepless nights… she remembered the pain he caused her and how much she hated him at that time.

How would her life be like if she got married to him 10 years ago? She wondered. She wanted from her heart to turn around to the main gate in search of him, to see him… no, to let him see her… to ask him if this was his wife, if he was happy? Or maybe she wanted him to see her and regret that he didn’t marry her, to see that after 10 years she was still as elegant as she used to be and as young as ever.

She woke up in the middle of her thoughts for the second time by hearing her kid’s voice saying “ok mummy, I’ll take the BRATZ girls”. She walked towards the cashier, paid the money and looked to her little daughter who resembled her father very much. She remembered her husband and how sweet and kind he is. She felt blessed for having him in her life. She blamed herself for thinking of an ex-love while she had such a great love in her life. She felt so much ashamed of herself for such thoughts.

She held her daughter’s hand again and went out of the mall towards the parking area. She drove her car heading to home but unconsciously she went through the CDs in her car and played a song she used to love 10 years ago, their song….

I care not what the world may say,
Without your love there is no day,
So love, this is my song,
Here is a song, a serenade to you.

Quote of the day!!

2006-11-28T15:24:00.000+03:00

"Good friends and fish stink after 3 days"
Ben Franklin

عمار يا مصر

2006-10-08T23:32:00.000+03:00

من اسـبوع كدة اتخبط فى نافوخى و قررت اشـترى بنطلون جينز. من باب العلم بالشـئ أنا سـبت مصر من 8 سـنوات تقريباً و علاقتى بأرض الكنانة تلخصت فى الأجازات السـنوية أو النصف سـنوية. يعنى بمعنى أصح عملية التسـوق فى الاسـواق المصرية اتلغت من زمان من قاموسـى. ماهو أصلى بصراحة مش حضيع الشـهر الأجازة فى اللف على المحلات

المهم، من يومين كده قررت أن بما أننى عدت إلى الوطن عودة مؤقته فمفيش مشـكلة بقى من زيارة سـريعة كدة لمحل جينز محترم. فعلى السـريع قمت ببعض الأبحاث الميدانية للتعرف على محل يكون محترم وكويس و إبن حلال علشـان مضيعش وقتى على الفاضى. أسـفرت هذه الأبحاث عن محل واحد هوا اللى عليه العين

ولاد الحلال جزاهم الله خيراً قلولى عليكى وعلى محل إنرجى فى المهندسـين، وعنها، مكدبتش خبر، ركبت الناقة وشـرخت على إنرجى. الجدير بالذكر بقى إن أخر مرة أشـتريت فيها جينز من مصر كان من حوالى عشـر سـنين وكان بقى جينز مجبتهوش ولادة، كان سـعره 250 جنيهاً مصرياً. و فى نفس الحقبة الزمنية دى كان فى جنزات كتير أرخص من كده بكتير، نظام 100 و 150 جنيه، بس كونى بقى عايئه ومديئة قررت أشـترى أبو 250 جنيه و إنشـلا ما حد حوش بقى

المهم، نرجع مرجوعنا لإنرجى، المحل عبارة عن 3 أدوار. دخلت الدور الأول وكلى إقبال على الحياة و بدأت ألقى نظرة، لقيت المعروضات عبارة عن قمصان أو تى شـرتات منقطة أو مخططة أو مشـجرة أو مطرزة بكم هائل من الألوان، حاجات لطيفة خالص، بس الملفت للإنتباه إن مقاسـات المعروضات تعتبر كبيرة شـوية
بصراحة، شـميت ريحة غدر فى الموضوع. فندهت الأسـتاذ المبجل المسـئول عن القسـم وسـئلته بكل بسـاطة: هوا لو سـمحت الحاجات دى حريمى ولا رجالى، أصلنا بقينا فى زمن اليونى سـكس والواحد مبقاش عارف الراجل من السـت، بصللى كدة باسـتغراب وقلى: طبعاً رجالى
طبعاً طبعاً ماهو واضح بس أنا سـاعات بعانى من العشى الليلى بعيد عنك

المهم، طلعت بكرامتى كدة على الدور الثالث حيث الملابس الحريمى
الراجل، و الابتسـامة من الودن للودن: بتدورى على حاجة معينة يا أنسـة
أنا: بنطلون جينز ميكونش لو واست (أى وسـط سـاقط) و يريت بقى لو يكون بلو بلاك، واخدين بالكو، وكمان بتشـرط. أرشـدنى الرجل الى المكان المعروض فيه البنطلونات وقال لى ولسـة بقه من ودنه اليمين لودنه الشـمال، على فكرة إحنا عندنا خصـم 30 فى الميه
بدأت اتفرج على الموديلات فى صمت وأحاول أن أجد طلبى، وبعدين أتخبطت فى نافوخى لتانى مرة وقررت أبص على كرت السـعر، يعنى من باب العلم بالشـئ
للوهله الأولى لم أسـتطع تمييز إذا كان الرقم ده السـعر ولا الكود ولا رقم كده بيتفائلوا بيه وخلاص حيث أن الكرت كان مكتوب عليه 1150
بصيت على الجينز اللى بعده لاقيت مكتوب عليه 970!!! وكان فى واحد شـعبى كده مش أد المقام بـ 780 جنيه

أنا بس عايزه حد يقولى هوا أنا إللى تخلفت بسـبب بعدى عن مصر وهوا ده العادى ولا المحلات دى محلات مرش (غسـيل) أموال ولا الناس فى مصر فلوسـها كترت وخلاص مبقناش من دول العالم الثالت

حد ينورنى الله يخليكو

تحديث: بعد خبتى التقيلة فى إنرجى ذهبت بمحض الصدفة إلى كرفور البوابات كما يطلقون عليه، فوجدت هناك محل بولو يعلن عن خصم 50% . أنا بقى قلت أيه فرجت خلاص وكنت أظنها لا تفرج. والحمد لله الذى لا يحمد على مكروه سـواه وجدت الجينز عندهم بـ 2250 بس عليه 50% خصـم و بسـؤال الأصدقاء أكتشـفت أن هى دى أسـعار الجينزات ذات المركات العالمية بس أنا اللى متأخرة شـوية

الحمد لله، مصر لسـه بخير... وعمار يا مصر

Hazelnut Cappuccino @ Pasqua

2006-10-02T01:38:00.000+03:00

Yummmmy:) اللهم إنى صائمة

Happy Blogging Anniversary

2006-09-26T23:53:00.000+03:00

I am back… did you miss me?:)

Ok I have been away now for almost 2 months. My life was so busy during these couple of month. However, I had a dream a couple of days ago that a hacker has taken control over my blog and erased all my posts and posted his own cause I have been away for a while. In the dream I called nerro and I was in a severe panic telling her what happened to my blog. I wake up in the morning with the desire to write something new but I was too busy and my thoughts were scattered.

A minute ago I was thinking of blogging and how much I miss all the bloggers, when I remembered that last week I completed a year of blogging. I started blogging on the 14th of September 2005 … waw time flies … as if it were yesterday:)

Anyway, I just wanted to wish myself a happy anniversary:) … no, no, no… in fact, I wanted to post something new about the new turn in my life. However, I have many details here and I am not sure you’ll have the time to read a long post like this one. So, I will post a quick sentence to comfort my dear bloggers/ friends who have been asking about me either through e-mails, phone calls or dropping a comment on my blog. Thank you all for your concern:)

Well, I am back, but this time I am no more “Away From Home”. I am back to my Home Land, Egypt. I will stay here for a while due to some major changes in my life. I will write a separate post about them soon.

Before, I go… I wanted to wish you all a Wonderful RAMADAN. Kol sana w entom taybeen

Qana Massacre – kids killers

2006-07-31T01:51:00.000+03:00

60 peaceful civilians were killed, among them were 37 kids...

Who is the terrorist and who is the victim??

The pictures are stronger than any words….

حسـبنا الله ونعم الوكيل

Squeaking Wheels

2006-07-27T03:09:00.000+03:00

It is now 3AM I am still awake. The wheels of my brain need some rest. They are working 24/7 ever since he told me the latest news. I am worried to death. I am hiding my worries cause I don’t want to bother him.

I don’t know shall I be happy for that news or sad!! I am neither of them, just WORRIED.

The wheels are squeaking now, they need some maintenance… maybe some grease will work. Naaay, all I need is some rest, some good sleep. I don’t guarantee to find brain spare-parts; hence, I have to switch it of for a couple of hours.

Oh God, help me… choose for me … do I really have the choice!!!

Save the Lebanese Civilians Petition

2006-07-19T16:07:00.000+03:00

Please go to http://julywar.epetition.net and sign the Save the Lebanese Civilians Petition and forward this invitation to your friends.

Lebanese civilians have been under the constant attack of the state of Israel for several days. The State of Israel, in disregard to international law and the Geneva Convention, is launching a maritime and air siege targeting the entire population of the country. Innocent civilians are being collectively punished in Lebanon by the state of Israel in deliberate acts of terrorism as described in Article 33 of the Geneva Convention.

Egypt, Sweet Egypt

2006-07-06T13:29:00.000+03:00

I miss Egypt,
I miss my family,
My mum and dad,
I miss my friends,
Oh yeah I miss my friends a lot,
I miss a good laugh
I miss a true advice,
I miss a sincere “I miss you”
I miss a joyful outing,
I miss my home, my furniture, my knickknacks.

I miss Egypt,
I miss the streets,
I miss the Shooting Club,
I miss Café Rosters,
I miss Chills and Spectra :)
I miss my scarlet Corsa (I sold it and it will be my first vacation without my tiny lovely car:(

It is very weird, people living in Egypt want to leave it and are dying for an opportunity. On the other hand, people who live outside Egypt are always carrying her in their hearts and dream of the day when they go back.

I am coming TONIGHT. I am so excited and worried at the same time. I will stay for almost 2 months.
Maybe I will be more fortunate to see all my friends bloggers in Egypt this visit. Anyway, please contact me on my e-mail, so we might prepare and “bloggers’ outing” isa :)

Miss Muslim

2006-06-28T13:55:00.000+03:00

Dilar Sadiqova, 17 years old is MISS MUSLIM.

The contest was held in Tatarstan, a country in East-Europe where Muslims make up 60% of the population. The competition included 56 contesters and 8 of them reached the final. The criterion of Judging was based on Quran memorization and recitation as well as answering some cultural questions. Cooking and sewing were considered a plus for the competitors.

The competition did not include any swimsuits unlike the rest of the traditional beauty pageants. The competitors were dressed modestly and had their hijab on. The judges were looking for brains and religion not for bodies and looks.

Trust No One - Part 2

2006-06-25T14:06:00.000+03:00

I am forcing myself to write this post. I want to get this out but I have no energy to do it. Still I know I will be relieved if I talk about it.

Once upon a time there was “me”, living alone "here" away from my homeland, then came a woman (my neighbor) and acted nicely and tried to befriend me. The woman was not my type, 48 years old, heavy make-up almost naked, and everybody in town warned me not to know her cause she is a bi****. Anyway, I said “en ba3d al zan ethm” and that the woman is so nice to me and that what really matters.
Then our husbands were introduced and the relation is now a family friendship. One day this woman her name is (D) introduced me to (R) saying how (R) is nice, decent and bla bla bla. Later, my husband was introduced to (R)'s husband too and now we are 3 couples.
They are older than us but w eh ya3ni mosh moshkela, no problem, (D) 48, husband 53, (R) 42, husband 55. That is why, I always feel I am getting old, as everybody around me is old, all the outings are for old people, they dress old, mosh really old, but for example, when they go out to dine, they dress up as if they are going to a wedding party, the man wears a suit and the woman wears her heavy make-up & lo2lo2 w bro2ro2.
At the beginning of the relation she used to tell her "children" tell "aunt Wonderer” so & so, the "kids" are 23, 21, 17:). Then I suggested that Wonderer is enough but she insisted that the 17 year old boy should tell me aunt, fa ana olt mashi aunt… aunt.
Anyway, mosh hena el moshkela. We kept on knowing them she is spoooooooore awi awi zeyada 3an el lozom. Ms. boobs for everybody, el khair lel gamee3, but it is none of my business. So, we kept going on in the relation with (D) with no problems at all, just lately I felt that et’7ana2t men being motakalifa, nezam ro7t lebanan w I bought mosh 3arfa eh, mosh 3arfa bekam… ro7t masr and I met Hosny Mubarak and he invited me for lunch but I was busy w mosh fadyalou, keda ya3ni, takalof ziyada 3an el lozom, bas mosha moshkela bardou… oult ya wad tanesh '7alis.

Anyhow, (R) ba2a, the woman is nice, tayeba bas baida (kindhearted but brainless), ya3ni mokh youk, no common ground at all but I managed, ediny fi el hayef w ana a7ebak ya fanannas. I used to complain to (D) that (R) is a good person and her husband is a decent guy but there is one thing I hate about them. They always visit us very late at night, always at 10:30 or 11:00pm without a prior call or notice, keda ‘7abt laz2.
tin, tin
We open the door… and ta ta
“hiiiiiiii, do you have any coffee for us”
w ana tab3an bakoun ba'3ly, ya 7alawet el sa’7an.
Well, I used to tell (D) that their visits are considered hectic to us as they never leave before 2:00am and we have to get up at 7:30am,
I wanted to send them a hidden message that I dislike that, and that it is very inappropriate to visit someone without a prior notice. I used to tell her that I like the guys, they are kind w kolo but I don’t like tenten, allahom eg3alou ‘7air midnight visitors.

Anyway, ana ba2a estarselt ma3a (D) and spoke freely, thinking that she is a good person and we are having an intimate chat. However, 2 weeks ago I found (R) calling me and meday2a awi. She told me that (D) told her so & so; which is literary every single word I said plus 7abet ta7abeesh keda 3ala el mashi
like:
If I were in your place I will never visit Wonderer again.
Did you see Wonderer? kant bardo "lawya ‘7el2eteha fi weshek"?
When (R) said that the weather was hot when she visited us, (D) said hot wala Wonderer la'7batetek?

She said things to (R) and she told her incidents that happened between the 2 of us to give her proof that she is saying the truth.
The problem ba2a that I had to lie and tell (R) that (D) is a lair and that she is most welcomed anytime at my home and that el bait beteha and stuff like that. Ya3ni kont 7a2oul eh?!!! I couldn't say the truth, the woman was wounded, her pride was hurt, (D) gave her an over-dose. Yes, I wanted to send her a message but not to wound her.

She told her that I had a fight with my husband “men ta7t rashom” (because of them) cause he felt it was ok for them to visit while I felt it was rude, el tafasil kanet we7sha awi.
Now I have five problems:
1- I feel myself soghaira awi and a lair.
2- I can't look in (D)'s face without having the feeling that I want to vomit.
3- (D) doesn't know about the confrontation between (R) and I. She thinks that I am a crazy person acting weirdly; also, I need to pull her hair and call her names but I can’t do it.
4- (D)'s husband is a very decent guy and he doesn't understand why the hell are we acting weirdly lately and he thinks that we are crazy w nakreen el gemeel and he doesn't know that his wife is a bitch.
5-(D) used to be a very nice person and I still remember many nice gestures of her. However for me, it is like a person who drew a very nice picture and made an effort to draw it perfectly and then once he finished it he got a bottle of ink and covered it all, so people now find it hard to remember the true picture.

Now, I can’t confront (D) because I can't trust her anymore. She will do her best to prove the story true to (R). Also, she might call me on the phone while (R) is in front of her to let her hear the conversation, she is wicked and she can do anything. She might even record our meeting or something … mafeesh 7aga be3ida 3aliha after what she did.
I don’t want a confrontation with R & D cause I know I did a mistake to talk to D about R.

I can’t take it anymore, don’t know what to do. I can’t act normally with D and smile in her face while deep down I want to slap her. I am wondering everyday, why did she do that?

Touta tota khelset el 7adouta

Trust No One

2006-06-22T13:35:00.000+03:00

I wonder why do I keep trusting unfaithful people who are not worth my trust?!!!
Am I that stupid to keep on making the same mistake over and over?!!!!!

Mute

2006-06-11T14:04:00.000+03:00

When I started blogging I was very energetic. I used to publish a new post almost every day. I used to check blogs more than once a day to check if bloggers replied to my comments or added new posts.

Now I have too many things to blog about. I have many ideas struggling in my head wanting to get out. I need to talk them out; I need to share them with somebody. However, I feel that something is holding me from writing. I can’t organize my ideas, I don’t even have the power to write or read any blogs.

What is it with me? Blogging used to take me out of my boredom and loneliness and I need to blog now more than ever, still, I can’t blog.

Maybe it is just a phase and soon I will be myself again… don’t know…

هيفاء جيداً، هيفاء خالص

2006-05-30T14:58:00.000+03:00

ليك الواوا، بوس الواوا خلي الواوا يصح
لما بيست الواو وشـلته صار الواوا بح
بقربك خلينى أغمرنى ودفينى
أنا من دونك، أنا بردانا أح

إذا كنت عمال تُهروش فى دماغك و تفكر فين سـمعت أبيات الشـعر دول. ياترى فى ربعيات الخيام ولا فى الإلياذة والأودسـه، أحب أقول لك لأ، لا دى ولا دى
بيتين الشـعر دول يا سـيدى مأخوذين من القصـيدة التى قامت بغنائها مطربة الألفية الثالثة والرابعة والعصر الجوارسـى وإحتمال الفيلنت سـتونز كمان المطربة الحسـناء هيفاء.
وطبعاً طبعاً هى أكيد تقصد بالواوا الشـرخ الى بين دول الوطن العربى وهى بتدور على واحد تايه بيوس الواوا - أى الشـرخ العربى. فقد تكون الاغنية فى ظاهرها اغنية "هيفاء خالص" ولكنها فى باطنها اغنية تدعو الى التضامن العربى ولم الشـمل كده
شـفتوا الزاى انتوا كلكوا ظنكوا وحش وعلطول ظالمين هيفاء

You can find the link for the song here...

Help needed

2006-05-15T08:30:00.000+03:00

I have noticed on visiting my blog, that sometimes part of the text is hidden and it is difficult to read the rest of the post. When I encounter such a problem, I simply highlight the rest of the text, and then ta ta... it is back again... magic.

I guess, it is a problem with the new template. Can somebody tell me what to do?
In fact I like the template and don't want to change it, but it is causing problems!!

An Ode to Grandma

2006-05-14T20:59:00.000+03:00

Every time I think of my grandma, I remember this old lady with the fair complexion, wrinkled face and gray hair, sitting on the sofa at my parents’ place. My grandmother was diagnosed Alzheimer almost 10 years ago. Alzheimer is said to be the disease that steals the patient’s memories and send him back to his/hers infancy. However, in my opinion, this disease does not steal only the memories of the patient but the memories of the people surrounding him as well.
Today, I thought about that and I decided to fight the memory-thief and to try recalling my lovely granny that was there 10 years ago, not the one who wets her bed and waits for someone to spoon-feed her.

My grandma is my mum’s mother. She used to live with my uncle at his place and she is the one who raised-up my cousins and I. My mum used to go to her work early in the morning and drop me at my uncle’s for my granny to baby-sit me. I was my grandmother’s sweetheart; she used to love me more than any other grandchild in the family. She had a tiny figure, about 155cm tall, she used to wear a formal outfit (a jacket and a skirt) and till the very last minute before losing her conscience she insisted on wearing 3cm heals:)
I can’t forget her sitting on the couch, allowing me to comb her and put my tiny hair-pins in her hair. She used to laugh all the time, I never, saw her sad, although she had the entire world’s burden on her shoulders, yet she never complained.
I still see my mother and I coming back home and going to the kitchen to find -to our surprise- that granny has been there. She came while we were away, opened the door with the copy of the keys she have and left us a couple of cooked meals which she knew that we love them and mum as being a working woman doesn’t have enough time to cook them. I still recall myself tiptoeing to reach the pot and see what’s inside it and scream of joy to see the stuffed vine-leaves arranged in organized circles in the pot:)

Before one of my birthdays, she knew that I wanted a dressing-table toy. It was quite expensive and my mum told granny not to buy it and granny said that she won’t. On my birthday, I found her knocking at the door and when I opened… oh my God, I can’t forget this moment no matter how long shall I live. I still remember it as if it was yesterday although I was almost 8 years old. I saw grandma at the door holding a big box in her hand and by the first look; I could guess what was inside it.
In the box, there was a fairly big pink dressing table with drawers full of fake makeup and hair-rolls. The mirror was hidden behind pink shutters and there was also a tiny comb and a tiny brush. It was the best birthday gift I got ever. I still remember my voice asking my grandma “why did you buy it granny? You said it is very expensive!” and she replies “nothing is expensive for my sweetheart, el’3aly yer’7aslek”:) She was the sweetest person that ever lived.

Oh my God, look at her now. She doesn’t recognize any of us, absolutely nobody at all. She can’t walk, she can’t talk, she can’t feed herself… simply, she is not here anymore.

**********************

Dear Grandma,

I just wanted you to know how much I love you. Maybe, I can’t show you my love now, and even if I try you won’t feel it. I want you to know that when I look at you I see this old wrinkled face but I know that behind the wrinkles lay the biggest heart I ever saw.

From your granddaughter,
With love,

**********************

سأل رجل عبدالله بن عمر
أمي عجوز لا تقوى على الحراك وأصبحت أحملها إلى كل مكان حتى لتقضي حاجتها

.. وأحياناً لا تملك نفسها وتقضيها علي وأنا أحملها .. أتراني قد أديت

حقها ؟ ... فأجابه ابن عمر: ولا بطلقة واحدة حين ولادتك ... تفعل هذا

وتتمنى لها الموت حتى ترتاح أنت وكنت تفعلها وأنت صغير وكانت تتمنى

لك الحياة

Soon I won’t be able to blog

2006-05-12T11:17:00.000+03:00

In case I vanish suddenly from the blogosphere, I want you to know the reason behind my disappearance.
I am sooo angry...
Today I was checking my blog when I found and strange “No Entrance” sign with a note that the site is blocked by my ISP!!!! After changing many paths I was able to log in to my account. I said maybe it is just a temporarily mistake. Then I started checking some of the blogs I usually read when suddenly I got another note that made me freeze:

“Access to the requested page has been denied, you are seeing this error because what you attempted to access appears to contain, or is labeled as containing, material that has been deemed inappropriate”

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat… Inappropriate!!!

These are just some ordinary blogs, no politics, no religion, no pornography!!! Why did they block them for God’s sake?!!!

I am fuming, I know that soon they will block blogs, they did the same thing with all the chat sessions and they unblocked them just a year ago. It seems that they are afraid of giving the people an un-censored area to express themselves.
Blogging is one of two things I enjoy doing in my lonely, stereotyped “Away from Home” life.

I just can’t believe it…

My Pleasant Dreams

2006-05-07T21:04:00.000+03:00

I want to dedicate these two line to thank my two lovely friends tota and Ahmad for being so considerate.

As you’ve noticed, I have recently changed my template, I liked everything about it except the comment underneath the picture “My Once Pleasant Dreams”. I didn’t like the word ONCE but when I tried to remove it, I was left with a gap in the middle of the sentence and I was too lazy to do anything about it. So, I decided it was ok, I said to myself “e3mly nafsek mosh wa’7da balek”. But the truth is that, the word kept annoying me, very gloomy and depressing. Till Noblese, asked me in a comment about the reason behind this ONCE. When simply I replied that I hated it too but couldn’t do anything about it, I found a comment from Ahmad asking me to send him the photo to remove the word ONCE for me. I really appreciated this nice gesture from him, it was so nice of him to offer something like this.

Then today, I found a new mail in my mail box, I clicked the icon expecting an e-mail from Ahmad, but to my surprise I found it from tota, and guess what was it about?
It was the flower picture WITHOUT the word ONCE:) I was speechless, didn’t know what to say. She is so sweet, she simply removed the word and re-wrote the phrase and sent it to me. She read the comment and knew that the word bothered me and surprised me with her e-mail. I even liked the font she used more than the original one.
I was like, Oh my God, I really have friends out there. Although I haven’t met neither of them but they both were willing to help me even without asking them.

I am really grateful. I couldn’t do anything but posting these few line as sign of being thankful for the two of you:)

Thank you,

Lebanon Trip

2006-05-07T16:51:00.000+03:00

Ok, what should I start with? … mmm too many actions, too many details…
Ok, let me give it a try,
Last Thursday, we decided to go to Lebanon. It was my third visit to the country, and to be frank I didn’t enjoy the first 2 visits at all. I had the impression that, there are only two things you can do there, either to go shopping or to eat out. So, being and anti-shopping person and due to the very expensive prices I didn’t benefit from the first option. As for the second option, eating out, we went to nice places but I stayed with the feeling “then what?”.
This time I decided to visit Lebanon with a different approach. I contacted Ahmed and asked him for some tips and site-seeing. I took the list with me and we rented a car with a driver as we know nothing about the directions there.

We reached Beirut Thursday night, checked in, and then went to dine-out with some Lebanese friends at a Chinese restaurant called “Le Jardin de Chine”. The place was wonderful, the atmosphere was no relaxing and the food was good. Afterwards, we took a drive in Beirut’s streets and then back to the hotel as we were dead tired.

The next day, Friday morning, we woke up early and headed to the mountains. We started with a place called Dair el Qammar, the place is simply “Earthly Heaven”. We took a lot of pictures there. Then our next station was a place called Moussa’s Castle. It is a place which was built by a man called Moussa, he built it all by himself, nobody helped him. Imagine only ONE person building a castle, it took him almost 61 years and he is still adding to it. He wrote a book about his journey in life and called it “7elm 7ayaty -The Dream of my Life”. He finished our tour in the castle and then we went to take the car to our second destination.

On our way, we found a guy who makes “mana2eesh 3ala el saj”. Although I wasn’t hungry but I couldn’t resist having a man2oushet genba w za3tar, it was hot and juicy and simply YUMMMMMMY:)
Later, we reached Bait el Deen. The place is a huge magnificent palace, I really enjoyed every single moment there, the building the view… everything. I wished to live there forever:) I took a lot of photos, I really enjoyed doing that.

Then, we went to the real cream of journey Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve. The place is absolutely wonderful, a breathtaking experience. Although it was very cold up there, yet I couldn’t dare to complain. Another thing that I noticed is the spirit of the guards there. The man who accompanied us as our guide was talking about the forest as if every tree was his beloved woman. He kept explaining how much effort it took them to maintain this place and how proud he was working in this place. I really enjoyed it and I am planning for a hiking trip during my next visit to Lebanon isa:) And of course we didn’t forget buying some stuff from the Al-shouf cedar society products such as, honey, jams, olives… etc.

Shortly after that, we went to have lunch and on our way back we went through some villages on our way like Sofar, Aalay…etc and then back to Beirut.

At night we went to downtown, the Solidaire. We sat at a coffee shop and I took my latte, then we had a walk around and eat ice-cream. I once saw the pictures of the place during the war and after the renovation. You can never believe how it was and how it is now. No wonder why the Lebanese love their leader “El Hariry” that much. The guy really did a lot to Lebanon. They say that “he built the country with his life and liberated it with his death”, allah yer7amouh.

On Saturday, we went for a walk and a little bit of shopping (just for the souvenir sake) and then we went again to the Solidaire to have lunch in a restaurant called “Al Karam”. The food was delicious and the company was wonderful.
Then at 7:15 we left Lebanon with a determination to go back again soon isa.

* Special thanks to Ahmed for the tips he gave me to make my trip very special:)

Don’t imitate innovate…

2006-05-02T15:41:00.000+03:00

Did you see this Television Ad? I guess my maid saw it too.
Today I caught her boiling some herbs in the electric kettle!!!
Thanks God she didn’t use it to boil a chicken:)

1st of May, Labor’s Day

2006-04-30T12:59:00.000+03:00

I wonder what was my mum thinking about when she chose the “Labor’s Day” to deliver her baby:) Yes Tomorrow is my Birthday and I will be 32 years old.

Oh My God, 32 YEARS OLD, I can’t believe it, can’t I reverse the number?! I meant what is wrong with 23, it seems fair enough for me. I am not convinced with the fact that, I am 32. The problem is that I don’t act like 32, I don’t look like 32, and above all I don’t feel like 32.

I remember 10 years ago, exactly on the 9th of September 1996, I was a fresh graduate on my way to my new job. It was my first day; I still remember every single detail as if it were yesterday. I remember my mum’s voice asking me about the work environment and whether I like it or not. These were my exact words: “I met a very nice woman (M), although she is OLD, 32 years, but I didn’t feel any age differences”. I even asked (M) if she wants me to call her “Madame” or “Engineer M” as I felt I am too young to call her by her first name! However, she told me that it is fine to call her just “M”.

Today, after 10 years of this incident, I see myself like M, 32 years “young” and soon I will be 40 but I will always have the heart of a 20ish year old girl (at least I hope so). Anyway, I learnt my lesson. Now I never call anybody old, not even my parents. I changed my view about being OLD.
As long as, you are not holding a stick in your hand and wetting your bed, then you are not old yet. Now I view 85 as old, or maybe not:)

Anyway, Happy Labor’s Day to all our fellow labors:)

أفلامنا الحلوة

2006-04-25T18:22:00.000+03:00

نفسـى أعرف مين مصمم رقصات الأفلام العربى بداية من القرن التمنتاشـر وحتى وقتنا هذا، حيث أن جميع الرقصات تتميز بتشـويح بالأيدين ورفس بالرجلين... فشـر عجين الفلاحة شـخصياً

والملفت للنظر إن المشـهد دايما يكون نهار خارجى مع القليل من الليل الداخلى وفجأءة و فى وسـط الشـارع المزدحم وبقدرة قادر يطلع الإخوه والأخوات الراقصون والراقصات من تحت طاءطييء الأرض، جوم مينين... الله أعلم؟ وبعدين يباشـروا فى الرفس والتشـويح فى جميع الاتجاهات
كنت قعده دلوقتى اتفرج على فيلم من العينة دى، الفبلم بطولة فنانة معتزلة (الحمدلله) و شـوية فنانين كدة نصهم مات والنص التانى على وشـك. والمهم، الفيلم عبارة عن رقصة طويلة جيداً ويتخللها بعض المشـاهد التمثيلية اللى ملهاش لزمة طبعاً وأكيد قصة الفيلم دى أخر حاجة نفكر فيها

بس اللى غيزنى بقى وفارسـنى إنى قدعت اتفرج على الفيلم لغاية ما خلص وكتبوا فى الأخر "البداية" يعنى على سـبيل التغيير
طيب أيه بس إللى زنأنى على الغولب ده، يالا... معلش عقلة تفوت ولاحد يموت

Quote of the Day

2006-04-14T11:05:00.000+03:00

Man complicates simplicity and calls it progress.

المولد النبوى الشـريف

2006-04-10T21:09:00.000+03:00

حدث هذا الحديث بينى و بين إبنى (6 سـنوات) امبارح بعدما رجع من المدرسـة

هو: هوا صحيح يا مامى بكرة عيد ميلاد النبى؟
أنا: أيوه يا حبيبى
هو: طيب مش حنروح بقى نشـتريلو الهدية؟
أنا: لأ يا حبيبى، النبى (ص) مات خلاص بس إحنا علشـان بنحبه لسـة بنحتفل بعيد ميلاده حتى بعد ما مات
هو: هوا شـكله إيه النبى يا مامى
أنا: إحنا مانعرفش شـكله يا حبيبى
هو: يعنى شـكله زى ربنا؟
أنا: لأ يا حبيبى، شـكله راجل عادى بس إحنا منعرفش شـكله علشـان مات من زمان
هو: طيب هو لسـة سـايب فى بيته الطباخين؟
أنا: طباخين، طباخين ليه يا حبيبى؟
هو: علشـان يعملوا التورتة والجاتو بتوع عيد الميلاد
أنا (ضاحكة): لأ مافيش ولا تورتة ولا جاتو
هو (متعجباً): ولا تورتة ولا جاتو!!! أومال حنعمل إيه بكره بقى
أنا: كل واحد يقعد فى بيته ويقرأ شـوية قراّن
هو: يعنى يبقى إزاى عيد ميلاد من غير ولا تورتة ولا جاتو!!!؟

كل عام وأنتم بخير بمناسـبة عيد المولد النبوى الشـريف

crossed out

2006-04-09T20:29:00.001+03:00

I have crossed one point out of my list. Finally I had a haircut:)

I like it that way:)

Tagged again

2006-04-09T19:37:00.000+03:00

Thank you Ahmed andNobelese for tagging me:)

1.Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
كانت الطائرة أمامهم كبيرة الحجم، أشـبه بالسـفن الفضائية

2.Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
Yeeeeees, and then what?

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Cartoon:)

4.Without looking, guess what time it is?
7:15 PM

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
7:06 PM quite close:)

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The A/C (yes, I am cold and I am putting the A/C on in April while everybody is wearing summer clothes, any objections?:))

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
This morning, went to the hairdresser to have a haircut.

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
MIB’s website

9. What are you wearing?
A training suit.

10. Did you dream last night?
I think so, but I can’t remember it.

11. When did you last laugh?
Last night when I was playing cards with my husband:)

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Two deco pictures ( I made them myself) and an oil painting.

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Yes, the 3 eyed creature that nerro talked about, came here to ask about her address:)

14. What do you think of this quiz?
Entertaining.

15. What is the last film you saw?
Sera3 fi el Wady, Staring Omar Sherif & Faten Hamam, a piece of work.

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
Start a business.

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.
I am prettier than Catherine Zieta Johns (of course you believe me, don’t you? huh)

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Actually they are 3 things, remove country boarders, unite the language and the currencies. (I wanted to unite the religions too but that needs a magic stick)

19. Do you like to dance?
Yes, but I never dance (I am a very shy person).

20. George Bush.
Yuk

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
I’d like Judy very much.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
I already called him:)

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
I am already living abroad.

24.What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
Don’t hesitate, come on in.

25. 4 people who must also do this meme in their journal.
Lazem 4 bas... Doshar, me, Dallula, ATC, loulou, tota.

Swiss Guards

2006-04-08T12:00:00.000+03:00

This is a picture of the Swiss Guards guarding the Vatican.

January 22nd, 1506, is the official date of birth of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, because on that day, a group of one hundred and fifty Swiss soldiers commanded by Captain Kasparvon Silenen, of Canton Uri, passed through the Porta del Popolo and entered for the first time the Vatican, where they were blessed by Pope Julius II. Swiss Guards have protected 42 popes since then.
A Swiss Guard should be Catholic, between 18-30 years old and have completed military service and high school in Switzerland. They serve for 2 years, with the possibility of extending the period. They are highly characteristic with their loyalty to the Pope and the Vatican, they are willing to sacrifice their lives for their sake.

The uniforms which attract so much attention were not, as originally thought, designed by Michelangelo. In fact, they were designed by a Commander, Jules Rupond, in 1914-1915. The uniform was paraded in Pope Leo X inauguration ceremony in 1514. The red, yellow and blue are believed to be the colors of the Medici family.

Today, they are made by one man, Ety Cicioni, the Swiss Guard tailor. They are made from 146 separate pieces of fabric, tailored to each individual Swiss Guard and taking up to two months to make.

Self Note: With all my due respect, I still hate the uniform, they look like a troop of clowns rather than guards or soldiers!!

Things to do ...

2006-04-07T00:35:00.000+03:00

I am posting this to remind myself of the things I have to do:

1- Wake up early … ( I am fed up of staying the whole night awake till dawn and sleeping till midday) 3amla zai el wataweet keda, I was never like that, it is not me at all:(
2- ~~Have a hair-cut, zeh2t w 3azya shiwayet ta’3yeer (bored & need a change).~~
3- Finish reading Angels & Demons.
4- Finish the homework that nerro asked me to do, keep your fingers crossed ya nerrora:)
5- Start a French course.
6- Finish the doomed Deco picture that I started last century.
7- Buy some new stuff (brown shoes, mats, tablecloth, side lamp for my bedroom…etc).
8- Dedicate more time for my son.
9- Have daily morning strolls, ya3ni menha reyada we menha fos7a.
10- lose a couple of kilos, I am 56 and I am dying to be 53 mmm 50 will be great too but I can never reach 50k me’3air ma yen2louny 3ala el mostashfa:)

P.S. I have to do these things this year, not next year, not the year after…

Conclusion: I have to get up early, it is the key to finish all my tasks. But how can I do it while I sleep at 2 or 3 am daily … specially after changing the clocks to the summer-timing. My biological clock is messed up, mela’7bata 3ala el a’7er.

Expressing Oneself

2006-04-05T00:17:00.000+03:00

I was feeling so bored so I decided to check some new blogs. I started to check the sidebars of my favorite bloggers, and bit by bit I started entering a strange world of some alienated people.

I came across an immense number of bloggers who are writing with the same spirit, frustration and aggravation. They are all sharing the same un-balanced souls. I felt a strange gloomy feeling after reading their blogs to the extent that I decided to shutdown my laptop and save my soul these kinds of blogs.

However, instead of shutting down my computer, I found myself writing this post.

ليه الناس فى مصر بصفة خاصة وفى الوطن العربى بصفة عامة عندها كل الإحباط ده. واحد حيقوللى انتى مش عايشـة فى الدنيا ولا ايه. أيوه عايشـه فى الدنيا وكل حاجة بس مش لازم يكون التعبير عن الغضب بالشـكل ده. احنا عملين زى اللى جاب علبة حبر وراح دالئها على لوحة، راح الحبر مغطى على كل اللوحة ، الحلو والوحش فيها. يعنى مش لازم غضبنا يكون مصحوب بالالفاظ الرزيلة و سـب العيشـة و اتهام المصريين بأنهم سـلبيين وراضيين بقليلهم والسـلام

I know our country is neither the Utopia nor the Land of Milk and Honey, but can someone tell me where can I find them?!! They simply do not exist. You can find problems in the most civilized countries and the huge number of suicides in these countries is a proof to what I am saying.

Eclipse & Earthquake on the Same Day

2006-03-30T01:49:00.000+03:00

It is past midnight. I am home alone. My husband is out and my son is sleeping in his bed like a little angle. I am surfing my favorite blogs, checking my mail, googling, in other words, killing time.

Suddenly, I felt the sofa is swinging, the doors are slamming, the whole building is dancing. Oh my God, it is an earthquake. I throw the laptop off my hands and ran to my son's room recalling all the safety regulations concerning earthquakes. I ran to snatch my son off his bed and hold him underneath a door frame (7al2 el bab). It was a couple of seconds or maybe less, but for me it seemed eternity.

It was the eclipse this morning and now the earthquake, ya rab ostor.

I have experienced many earthquakes before since the one of Cairo, October 1992. However, I never felt so terrified. The mother in side me panicked, my son … my son…
My husband is not here, I am all alone, what if the building collapse, how will I carry my son… what shall I do?

Sub7an allah, our reactions varies according to our status, I remember I was laughing while everybody else was screaming during October 92 earthquake. Call me crazy, but I was excited to experience something new like earthquakes. I am not psycho or anything, maybe God gave him a kind of tranquility to save me the horror of the moment. However, it is different this time, I wasn't worried about myself, I was worried about my son. It crossed my mind for a friction of a second "will I be able to save him if the building collapsed (la qadar Allah)".

I wonder, how my reaction changed 180 degree just because I became a mother.

Politics & Religion for the 1st Time

2006-03-27T20:53:00.000+03:00

For the first time in my blogging-life I feel like talking about politics & religion. However, I want to talk about them from the humane side.

A couple of days ago, I heard someone talking about Caliph Omar Ibn Al Khattab, al farouq. He was saying that one day Omar Ibn Al Khattab (ra3) was going for a night stroll to check upon the people in the country. While he was walking he passed by a house of a milk-woman. He heard the woman asking her daughter to cheat the customers by adding water to the milk, but, the girl refused doing that. When the woman told her daughter that nobody can see them and that she has to do what she was told, the daughter replied that "God can see us".

Omar heard the girl's reply and was impressed by her honesty. The next day he talked to some men about the incident and nominated her as a good wife for anybody who wants to get married. At this point, Omar's son asked to marry the girl and Omar was so happy with the choice and the marriage ceremony took place right after that.

Try to compare this story to what is going on these days. Name only ONE president/king who is willing to let his son marry a daughter of a milk-woman.
NO FURTHER COMMENT …

Yesterday, I was sitting with some people who were talking about politics, to be specific, they were talking about President Nasser & President Sadat (former presidents of Egypt). They were almost fighting, some were Nasserians and anti-Sadat and the others were just the opposite.
The first group was saying the Nasser was a fair ruler who wanted to have a classless society and distributed the lands on the farmers equally …bla bla bla. However Sadat was a traitor hiding in a movie theatre when the revolution was talking place out there.

The second group said that, President Sadat was a great man who went to Israel putting his life at the stake to reach "Camp David Settlement" with the Israelis in order to get back our land, Sinai. It was in his era that Egypt knew the real meaning of PEACE. On the other hand, Nasser was a tyrant & a dictator; during his reign the prisons were full of innocent people who dare say their opinions… bla bla bla.

I was silent during the conversation, and some people noticed that. When I was asked my opinion I said that both presidents allah yer7amhom (may their souls RIP) had their achievements & their flaws. Now they are both died, your debate is useless and a real waste of time. Why don't you rather speak about the contemporary politics instead of wasting your breath in a worthless conversation? As if we have no problems these days to discuss.
NO FURTHER COMMENT…

The Good Old Days

2006-03-22T22:04:00.000+03:00

This post is inspired by Nesrina. She talked in her last post about how she used to spend Fridays in the garden of her grandma's villa together with Nerro and the family kids.

Her post took me back in time when I used to spend my days in my grandpa villa with my 3 cousins that were almost my age. Our parents used to go to work and drop us on their way at our grandpa's. We used to spend our days playing in the garden, trying to shake the Mango tree in a competition to see who will succeed in getting a Mango fruit. We used to chase butterflies, play hide & seek, run bare footed on the grass, smell the flowers, feel the grass, sense the cold summer breeze on our faces.

On the Ad7a Feast, my grandpa used to get the butcher and let him slaughter the od7ia (sheep/cow) in the garage of his villa. All the family members used to gather in his place to celebrate the feast. Children in their new clothes from tip to toe, feeling proud of their new outfits, waiting for their 3edia (money) given by the elders and teasing each other with the amount of money they collected.

I can't forget the huge tree at the entrance of the garden that goes up almost as tall as the building. It was a cozmorou tree, or so they called it. It was a kind of an exotic fruit that I never saw except in my grandpa's garden. There were also Guavas, Mandarins, Green Apples, and Grapes in addition to different kinds of flowers.

In the year 1886 my grandpa passed away. Although, I was only a small kid when he died, I still remember him and miss him so much. I spent the most beautiful days of my life with him. Allah yer7amou…
After his death my uncle lived in the villa for a while and then he had to sell it as it was a family inheritance.

One day, six years ago, it was June 2000; I was feeling so sick for those old days. I had a wave of emotions to my grandpa and the days where everything was peachy just like his garden.
I decided to go and have a quick look on the villa, just a quick glimpse to remind me of the "good old days". However, I am still regretting it till now, ya retny ma ro7t.

A company bought the place and took it as their premises. I asked the gate-man to allow me in the garden for only 2 minutes telling him that I used to live in this place long time ago.
I took my steps in the garden noticing the dirty ground and the negligence shading the place. The building that used to be covered with green climbing plants is now a yellow lonely building. The cozmorou tree was still there, but beside it was a shabby place which is supposed to be the room inhabited by the gate-man. The lovely garden gate wasn't there anymore; the garden was nothing but a deserted place with no trace of the flowers and the lovely fruity trees. Instead of the grapes pergola with the ancient pharaoh picture engraved on the wall they built a place for the gate-man to wash, sleep and bread his chickens!!! The garden was nothing but a filthy dirty place. The Mango tree was nothing but a sick, old, fruitless tree. Hanging lines with clothes on, chicken running loose, dirt everywhere … I felt I was in a nightmare, as if someone stole my memories all of the sudden.

I left quickly the place, thanking the guard for allowing me in and ever since that day I never tried to pass by the so-called villa again.

Translated Literature

2006-03-13T10:54:00.000+03:00

I used to be against reading translated literature, as I preferred reading a book in the writer's own words. That is why I used to read either Arabic or English books. These days I tried to give translated books a try.

I decided to start with Paulo Coelho. A Brazilian writer who became one of the most widely read authors in the world today. His novel, The Alchemist, was translated into 59 languages and more than 56 million books were sold worldwide. Coelho has won many international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum and France's Legion d'Honneur.

I started reading The Alchemist, as it is considered to be Coelho's masterpiece, then moved to Veronica Decides to Die, then The Zahir, and finally The Fifth Mountain.
In fact, I read the above mentioned novels not because I loved the author but because I wanted to know what is it so special about him.

In my opinion, I find Coelho a good writer. I liked in his novels the suspense element he adapts to keep the person reading till the end. I exclude The Zahir as I found it just a diary of a man deceived by his wife. However, I couldn't find that special thing that made him a worldwide read author!

Unconscientiously, I found myself comparing him to the Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. He was born in Cairo in 1911, began writing when he was seventeen. His first novel was published in 1939. The appearance of the Cairo Trilogy, Bayn al Qasrayn, Qasr al Shawq, Sukkariya (Place Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street) in 1957 made him famous throughout the Arab world as a depicter of traditional urban life. With The Children of Gebelawi (1959), he began writing again, in a new vein that frequently concealed political judgments under allegory and symbolism. In 1988 He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Not to mention of course many prestigious awards as the State Recognition Award in Literature in 1968, the Decoration of Republic of the 1st Order in 1972 and the Collar of the Nile which is the highest order in Egypt in 1988.

He is now the author of almost thirty-two novels, thirteen collections of short stories, and more than two hundred articles. Half of his novels were adapted for the cinema, theater and television which have circulated throughout the Arabic-speaking world. He describes in his novels the life in the old Egyptian alleys accurately. You feel that the characters in the book are alive and showing every tiny detail. His work deeply steeped in local reality.
Since the appearance of his first translated novel Midag Alley-(Zakakel)in 1966, his novels have been translated into many foreign languages including both the English and the French languages.

Midag Alley (also spelt Midaq Alley) was adapted for the Mexican Cinema 1995 staring Ernesto Gomez Cruz, Maria Rojo and the Hollywood actress Salma Hayek who is Mexican born yet came from an Arabic origin.

Squeak, Squeak...

2006-03-10T14:26:00.000+03:00

Someone once told me:
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease” and it really worked.
That made me wondered do I really have to squeak to get my rights!!

The 7th year's Itch

2006-03-05T01:25:00.000+03:00

Yesterday, was my 7th anniversary. I am gonna buy an anti-histamine just in case it starts itching:)
Rabina Yostor:)

Strange

2006-03-01T17:38:00.000+03:00

I have noticed something that grabbed my attention for the past couple of days. I have this link in my sidebar that shows me the visitors online and there countries.

Most of the time, I have the same list. Sometimes, I can even guess who the person online is. So, when I find "1 visitor from USA", I guess that might be, Jane, if I have one visitor from Romania so it is Alina, a visitor from Switzerland might be Noblese, Lebanon might be Ahmed, khookh or eve, visitors from UAE might be loulou or ATC [I am not including chari as she has left the blogosphere:(] … and so on. Of course I didn't include Egypt as I know many Egyptian bloggers and guessing will be impossible.

Anyway, these days I have noticed that something strange is going on. My sidebar link is always showing a huge number of visitors and from new countries that never came to my blog before. What is weirder, that they NEVER leave a comment, as if they are just surfing the blogosphere to look for a specific piece of information and they vanish again.

I will give you an example of what I saw today & yesterday:

Yesterday:
You have 21 visitors from 10 different countries!!!!
Australia: 1
Canada: 1
Denmark: 4
Egypt: 1
France: 1
Germany: 1
Italy: 6
Norway: 1
Singapore: 1
USA: 4

Today:
You have 12 visitors from 8 different countries!!!
USA:3
Belguim:1
Canada: 1
Chili: 1
Italy: 3
Spain:1
Netherlands:1
Taiwan:1

I won't be surprised if I find tomorrow 7 visitors from Mars and 12 from Jupiter!!

Thank You

2006-02-26T22:19:00.000+03:00

I am back, and I've missed you all sooooo much.

I have been away for a while. The past 3 weeks were the toughest in my whole life. However, I guess I have finished a great part of my mind-inventory and it is possible now for a soft-opening:)

Some of the bloggers here have been very supportive and they helped me a lot during the past miserable period. I'd like to dedicate a special "Thank You" to every person who tried to relieve my pains and dry my tears either through phone calls, SMS, e-mails, or even by placing a soothing comment on my blog.

To every one of you, I'd like to say:

THANK YOU …

Inventory

2006-02-15T17:42:00.000+03:00

Have you ever thought of your mind as a big warehouse full of ideas?
This idea clicked to my mind yesterday due to some circumstances I am going through. I discovered that I need a quick mind-inventory.

Yes, mind-inventory … I have to pause for a while and think. Some of the ideas in this warehouse need to be renewed, others need some maintenance, others need to be depreciated and few need to be reserved. I discovered that if you can't change your world, try to change yourself. The problem now is that I am sure that the change will never be for better.

I hereby temporarily close this site for mind-inventory till a further notice.

Sorry ...

2006-01-27T01:44:00.000+03:00

I have deleted the last post cause I felt that it might hurt the feelings of a decent person whom I consider a friend/brother. I don't want you to defend yourself anymore and if you want further discussion for this matter, it might be through the e-mail.

P.S. your identity is still hidden as I deleted the post just after you posted your comment. Sorry again if I hurt you, or caused some bloggers to misjudge you.

Congratulations Dear Chari

2006-01-21T01:34:00.000+03:00

Hello everybody,

I am writing a one-sentence post this time.

I have just hanged up the phone with Charismatic Soul, she had her "erayet fat7a" and the engagement party is next week ISA.

Congratulations Chari, Alf Alf Mabrouk … you deserve all the best.

Good Luck Dear,

P.S. to my non-arab friends "erayet fat7a" is a small ceremony prior to the engagement party.

Blogger's Gathering 2

2005-12-31T19:47:00.000+03:00

Dalulla, Doshar and I decided to meet and move from the blogosphere to the real world. I have talked with them on the phone but that our first meeting face-to-face.

Dalulla asked us to visit her at her place as her lovely son Omar was sick and she wasn't able to go out. It was ok with me although I was dreaming of Roastery's Hazelnut Cappuccino but Dalulla made me a lovely mug of Cherry Tea instead:)

So Tuesday morning Doshar picked me up and she was kind enough to give my son a ride to my parents' place. Then we went to Dalulla. I really appreciated Doshar's effort that day. She drove a long distance to pick me up, drive my son and then to dalulla's place and then give me a ride to my parents' and then back to her home … poor Doshar:)

We went to Dalulla at almost 1:30 pm. She has a very warm and cozy home masha'allah. When she opened the door, I was silent for a moment, she looked very different from the photo. Maybe because she was veiled in the photo she sent me, and also she is very petite. I was glade to find someone who is shorter than me hehehehehe.

We had a very warm stay, I didn't feel that it was the first time to see them. I felt as if I know them long time ago. On our way to Dalulla's, Doshar and I got some foul & ta3miya sandwiches (popular beans sandwiches). We asked dalulla to prepare the tea which was essential for the foul & ta3miya hehehehe.

We spent a wonderful time together, and I have to mention Dalulla's lovely son Omar, rabina ye.7alih, he is an adorable kid. Dalulla let us in every room in the house, even her own bedroom as if we were life-time friends. She also showed us the new towels she bought. The point is, we were acting in a very spontaneously way, not like people seeing each other for the first time. I didn't feel any kind of tension that one normally feel when meeting new people:) We also called Me on the phone to tease her and tell her to try to come to Cairo, and she was met.3aza (teased).

We left Dalulla's at almost 6:30, i.e., we spent 5 hours together, 5 lovely hours:) Then I went with Doshar to a shop (kazaloon) cause I needed some material for my work. You can see Doshar like a kid in a toyshop, she was impressed and kept talking about how much she enjoyed the shop.

Then comes something new,

This morning, I had a wonderful walkup call from one of my favorite bloggers NERRO. I was extremely happy with her call, and we decided to arrange a meeting soon insha'allah.

I am telling you people, if you ever feel a kind of attachment to any of the bloggers here, don't hesitate to contact them. Believe me, you won't regret it:)

Bloggers' Gathering:)

2005-12-28T13:54:00.000+03:00

This is my 7th day in Cairo... A week is over already...

Yesterday, I went with Doshar to visit Dalulla at her place. I really enjoyed the stay, and it was quite a long visit:)

The details in the next post isa:)

Cya later,

Happy New Year

2005-12-21T14:34:00.000+03:00

Dear All,

I am leaving for Egypt tomorrow:) I will be away for almost a month. I can't wait to see my parents, family and friends:)

I won't be able to blog frequently, I am not sure if I will have enough time. However, I will make by best to drop by every now and then to make sure that you are ok:)

I know it is a bit early, but I am not sure if I will be able to blog and tell you

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY:) MAY ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE:)

Better Early than never:)

Will miss you all,

Sincerely,
Wonderer:)

Job Offer

2005-12-18T21:51:00.000+03:00

I have finished my Photoshop course last Thursday. One of my assignments was designing a business card. I designed the card and showed it to my tutor who was impressed and he showed it to the woman who owns the Center and she was impressed too.
In fact, for my, the card was fine, but not waaaaaaw or anything, I was surprised when they liked it:)

Anyway, the woman offered me a job. First task was designing a card for a shop. Ok … this part is easy, no big deal:) Done …

Here comes the difficult part. She is establishing a web-designing team and she wants me to be part of it. She wants me to take part in Designing, HTML, and English Language Editing.
I was mute when I heard the offer. I told her that I am glad to work with her but it is a very big responsibility and I may not be fit for it. After all, I am still taking my first steps in the web designing world. I asked her, why me??????? Isn't it better if you used the person who gave me the course?!!!!! She answered that he will be there too, but she needs a person who has an artistic talent for designing and a good command of the English Language (you can hardly find people here who understand English).

I didn't know what to say. I kept asking her, are you sure you are talking to the right person?!!! And she kept confirming!!!!!

Am I up to this responsibility?! I don't know! My greatest fear is to look like an ignorant in the middle of PHDs.

The Dying Business!

2005-12-13T21:35:00.000+03:00

Today, I went to a bookshop to try to get a friend of mine a book that she wants. This bookshop is one of ONLY TWO bookshops here, as I am living in a very small city! When I asked the guy about the book, he said that he never heard about it! So, I told him the exact name of the book and the author and asked him to try to get it for me. However, to my astonishment the guy apologized for not being able to order more books because he is shutting down the business. He said that he wants to GET RID of the books he already have!!!

"Shutting Down the business!!!" I screamed "But why?!!!"
"Nobody reads these days" he said pitifully "It's a dying business"
"But it is a waste, it is a good bookshop, the best in the city" I said.
"Nobody cares for book nowadays" he said pathetically
"Yes, maybe it is better to open a CD shop, everybody cares for songs and video clips…" I said sadly and walked away.

Reasons ...

2005-12-12T01:49:00.001+03:00

I was talking to friend a while ago and she told me this sentence that is still ringing in my ears, "everything happens for a reason".

I found myself starting to wonder how did I start blogging?! It was last September, when I got an mail and then everything came along...

One day, I got an e-mail from a person whom I didn't even recognize her name as she was using her middle name instead of her family name! Unlike me, I opened the mail, as normally I delete mails from people I don't know as I am afraid of viruses. I opened the mail to discover that it was from a friend that I didn't see since the university days. Maybe I saw her once four years ago and that was it. I knew from some friends that she is now working in the States.

First of all, let me tell you that the mail was directed to more than 20 people, and I guess that she added my name by mistake cause this was the first mail I received from her for years!!!! In the mail she wrote many details, her work, her fiancée, her life bla bla bla … However, one sentence grabbed my attention in the mail, one normal sentence …

She said that she is starting a new addiction, every day she comes back from work to start BLOGGING!!! That was the sentence, nothing more, nothing less. She didn't mention what blogging was or what was her user name or anything, a big fat PERIOD.

At the beginning I said maybe blogging is something related to her work, which I have no idea about it till now!!! Then I found myself curious enough to search the net for the word "blogging". The first option on the Yahoo search-engine list was a link to a site of one of the bloggers (M).
When I started reading it, I got very excited and wanted to comment. However, as long as the blog does not accept anonymous comment, I had to create my OWN BLOG:) Ironically, I stopped reading M's blog long time ago, although he was my first window to the Blogosphere.

My point is, like my friend said, everything happens for a reason. I was so lonely and desperate. I was not enjoying the company of the people I knew in my real life "Away from Home". I got this strange mail from this old friend just to introduce me to a new world. The BLOGOSPHERE …

Maybe some people and saying that I must be crazy to prefer my virtual word to my real one … but yes, it is the truth!! Strange but true.
Here I can choose the people I like to know. However, in my true life there are people who I HAVE to know, cause as simply you don't have the option of choosing when you are away from home.

Yes, everything happens for a reason, and the reason of receiving the mail was to introduce me to this virtual world and hence, to get me out of my loneliness and isolation.

Appreciation ...

2005-12-10T00:24:00.000+03:00

Stream of Conscious

2005-12-05T01:48:00.000+03:00

I don't have something in mind to write about. I just wanted to talk to anybody. You all know I am here "away from home" and away from family & friends as well. I am so lonely … so miserable … so sad.

I thought of quitting blogging for a while as I am feeling down now, and I don't want to bother the bloggers with reading pessimistic posts full of tears and sorrow.
The only thing that stopped me from quitting is that you are the only people I can talk to. Although I am living in a virtual world, it is still better than my real vacant world. I am asking you to try to tolerate me these days. I know I am not a good company, but I can't help it. I decided to stop commenting in your blogs till my mood is better. I don't want to have a negative influence on you. I will start commenting when I feel I am not a burden anymore, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe never … who knows!!!

It is past midnight now, my son is sleeping and I am home alone. I need to talk to anybody, anybody ya rab… I am all alone.

Why sometimes life becomes soooooo tough. Why can't we live in peace? I always see the statement "Rest in Peace, RIP", but I never saw "Live in Peace". Is peace becoming an issue related only to dead people?

Maybe if I kill my heart, then I will Live in Peace, LIP. What do we need our heart, our emotions, and our feelings for? It is much better to use our MIND. People can hurt your heart but never your mind.

Long time ago, a friend told me, "Love yourself, you are the most important person in any relation". I am sorry I didn't listen to her… I should have listened… I am always MY last priority … People comes in the first place and I come at the end of the list.
Today, I discovered how stupid I am. When YOU put YOURSELF at the end of the list, you will REMAIN there forever. No one will care to put you at the top or even the middle of the list. No one will care…

I am sorry guys, I know I am such a pain in the neck, bas ma3lish, you are the only people I talk to these days.
Bear with me my stupidity and negative attitude and pray for me please.

* Special thanks to Around the Clock & Dalulla, you proved to me that there are still good people in this world – el donia lessa be.7air.

I hate you then I love you

2005-12-03T17:55:00.000+03:00

You make me sad
You make me strong
You make me mad
You make me long for you

You make me live
You make me die
You make me laugh
You make me cry for you

You treat me wrong
You treat me right
You let me be
You make me fight with you
I could never live without you

I hate you
Then I love you
Then I love you
Then I hate you
Then I love you more
I love you more

(Duet: Celine Dion & Luciano Pavarotti)

Turn Back the Clock

2005-12-02T15:35:00.000+03:00

I need a time-machine,
I need an undo button,
Can't turn back the clock...

Divorce!!

2005-11-25T22:10:00.000+03:00

Did you ever think why divorce rate is increasing among the youth generation?! Why the old generations had this "till-death-do-us-part-marriage" while we can't?!!
Is it because, life is becoming more stressful?
Or is it because of the feeling of equality between the spouses?
Or maybe because no one is willing to compensate?!!!!
I wonder,

El Ard Bitetkalem 3araby

2005-11-23T01:50:00.000+03:00

I hate televisions. I hardly watch a TV. I'd waste my time blogging or reading or even sleeping rather than watching the television. I believe that TVs are the Twentieth Century worst invention. It is a "communication-killing-tool" in the houses.

However, tonight, I am home alone and for quite a long time. I blogged, browsed and checked my e-mail, and then I felt extremely bored. I am not in the mood of reading and still too early to sleep.

Ok, let me use this invention to kill time "we amry lelah". I kept going through the channels for a while, but discovered that all the channels go from bad to worse. Normally, I watch only Channel 2 or 4, but tonight I am not in the mood neither to concentrate in an American Movie nor to follow a talk-show on 4.

Being stupid enough, I decided to watch some video-clips on this channel called Melody Arabia!!! I watched this creature called Jad Shouary (or whatever), in a song called banadilk (I am calling you). I didn't get the idea of the song!!! Is it supposed to be a romantic song or an aerobics session or a bikinis fashion show?!!! I found this guy standing by the side of a swimming pool with some bikini girls and everybody is jumping … we 3alashan nezawed el tina balla, at the end of the song everybody jumped in pool … leh???... ma3rafsh!!!!

Ma3lish, having one Jad Shouary is never a problem as long as we still have many good singers!! The next song was named ana Haifa ana (I am Haifa), by the miraculous Haifaa Wahby. Then another song by someone called Rolla, I don't even remember the name of the song. It is not worth the effort!! La2 ba2a … it is too much.

Guys, I swear I cannot remember on single word of any of these songs!! They are just identity-less songs or I can rather call them multi-identity songs. The disaster is that, those songs are supposed to be ARABIC SONGS transmitted on Melody ARABIA!!!

El ard bitetkalem 3araby …

Abdel Halim Hafez … may your soul RIP.
"el 3omr kolo a3eesh le7obo … men .3air ma2olou ana ma7ebo" (I will live my whole life for his love, without even telling him that I love him).
Allah yer7am our great singers and allah yer7am the ARABIC MUSIC.

New Tag

2005-11-20T14:29:00.000+03:00

I have been tagged before to do the seven and the five … etc. I always wondered who started those tags. Where did they come from?!

Now I decided to start a new tag. In fact, I wanted to publish this post a couple of days ago, but I was afraid it might be a stupid idea. I mean I always receive chain messages/posts but never started one. Now I decided to initiate this after reading Nightlegend's comment on the post "2 phone calls", which was quite encouraging.

Now, it is my turn … I have always had some fantasies concerning the looks of the bloggers here:) It is like reading a story and imagining how the hero and the heroine look like. I remember, long time ago when I read the book Nadia, I imagined the heroine in a certain shape. However, after seeing the movie, I was angry cause it destroyed the imaged I have for her. Of course, the movie was a master piece but my heroine was blond and So3ad Hosny wasn't:))

Now, let me tell you how I think every blogger here look like:)

1- Charismatic Soul:
She told me that she is 160 cm height, so this part is fact. Let come to the fiction, she has brown wavy hair (medium length), brown eyes, olive complexion, always wearing casual clothes.

2- ATC:
I already know how she looks like. However, I always imagined her with long curly black hair, don't ask me why?:)

3- Me:
She is petite girl with fair complexion and whenever she comes to my mind, I imagine her wearing a pink hijab. I don't know why, maybe because of her pink rose:)

4- Loulou:
She is tall, maybe 170 cm height, skinny, and with Miriam fares curly hair as she said in one of her posts:)

5- Tota:
I always relate her to the color blue. She is medium height, brown hair.

6- Doshar:
She is a veiled girl, who is always talking and full of life.

7- Dalulla:
She is a petite veiled girl. She is very calm and she speaks with a voice like a radio announcer:) calm, peaceful and low voice:)

8- Nerro:
Fair complexion, light brown medium length hair, 165 cm height, very sure of herself:)

9- Lasto adri:
A young girl with dark hair and always have a pony tail:)

10- Rain:
She has medium height, with brown straight hair and brown eyes.

11- Nightlegend:
He is a tall guy (fact), skinny, with black hair, black eyes. I don't know why I always imagine him with obvious cheek bones, (blame it on the picture you are using:) Sometime, I figure him like Ahmed Mazhar but with a tall body.

12- Tamer:
He has already posted a photo of himself, so he made life easy:)

13- Khookh:
He is new here, I didn't form a idea yet, maybe he looks like, a Lebanese TV introducer, who used to introduce a program two years ago on MBC, its name was 7orouf we olouf (letters and thousands). However, I can't remember the guys name:)

Anyway, lets get started, now I am tagging everybody in my left sidebar to do the same:) Draw a picture for all/some of bloggers in your sidebar/favorite list. Also, don't forget to tell me your comments about the way I visualized you:)

swing

2005-11-19T20:18:00.000+03:00

swing ... swing ... swing ... swiiiiiiiiiiing

2 phone calls in one day:)

2005-11-16T23:55:00.000+03:00

This morning, I got a call from one of my most favorite bloggers/friends here, Around the Clock. I feel we are developing a very warm relationship. We were on the phone for about half an hour (overseas call) discussing very personal matters, as if we were a life-time friends:)

Now, I got another phone call from her and we kept laughing and chatting for another 15 minutes:) Maybe everyone here is wondering how could two strangers who have never seen each other be friends?!

Yes it happened, she sent me some photos, so now I know how she looks like, I also know her voice and above all I know her ideas. I guess that is more than enough to build a friendship.

Thanks to the blogosphere, now I know many bloggers who I consider virtual friends. Also, I got to know two bloggers in my real world Around the Clock and Charismatic Soul. I am even planning to meet Charismatic soul in Egypt insha'allah on our next vacation:)

Thank you ATC, you are such a wonderful person, and your calls meant a lot to me:)

Concan past midnight

2005-11-14T02:43:00.000+03:00

I am sitting now in the reception area of my home, it is 1:30am. I have guests right now (2 couples, and one of them is accompanied by their daughter). I guess you are wondering how come I have guests and I am blogging!!!
You are right, it is not a sign of hospitality!!! However, if you know what is going on here, you will change your mind.

They are playing cards, actually they are having a fight because of cards. We got to know these people a couple of months ago. I enjoyed the first 2 visits, when we used to talk and maybe eat or drink something. Then it developed to be only cards visits, playing concan and that's it.

I really hate it, I don't mind playing cards but not every time, and not from the very beginning of the visit till the very end. There is not any kind of interaction between the people here, they are just burying their heads in the cards and every now and then, they rise up their heads to have a fight and shout at each other and then bury their heads again.

I never play with them, every time they come, they start playing together and I sit to my laptop blogging. I wonder, do I have to stay up till past midnight to watch people playing cards?!!! Both my husband and I will get up at 7:30am tomorrow while the other two couples sleep till 11:00am or 12:00pm as they have their private business and they don't have to show up early in their offices!!!!

I wish if I could till them goodnight and go to bed and leave them with their cards ...

DOOMED

2005-11-08T21:56:00.000+03:00

Imagine if you have a relative who is a real pain in the a**. He really gets on your nerves every time you see him. He has a master degree in "lousy arguments" and vexing people specially YOU. Imagine that you have to deal with this person on daily basis!!! You cannot cut him off, he is relative but at the same time if you keep dealing with him you will either commit suicide of kill him.

What will you do??!! …

Every time he annoys me and I am just about telling him "mind you own damn business", I remember the prophet's saying(PBUH):
"ana za3imon … … wa baitoun fi rabad al janna leman taraka al mera2 wa en kan mo7eqan"
Meaning: God is promising a place in heaven for the person who cuts the arguments short even if he is sure that he has the right opinion.
Also the phrase from Quran, (not sure of the exact words):
"wa al qathemeen al .3ayz wa al 3afeen 3an al nas"
Meaning: God like people who can suppress their anger and forgive the others.

However, we are humans, we get angry, and most of the time we can't suppress our anger special when you are dealing with a person who keeps on irritating you INTENTIONALLY and you HAVE to maintain your relation with him.

I guess I am doomed …

The Dress from Outer Space

2005-11-05T15:43:00.000+03:00

Last Thursday, I decided to go find myself a dress for my sis-in-law wedding party. I went to the "only shop in town" that sells evening gowns. It also happens to be that the owner of the shop is my neighbor and my friend as well. So I went to pay her a visit at her shop, however, I wish if someone told me not to go, ro7t we yaraitny maro7t.

It seems that I asked for a dress from Mars that doesn't exist on planet Earth and of course to find that dress we need the assistance of some professional aliens to accomplish the mission for us!!

What I asked for is a simple dress with a very simple design preferably without any embroidery or beads. I also asked for something else that was totally unacceptable from my friend and the girls working in the shop!!! I asked for a dress that is either sleeveless (cut) or japounaise (1/4 sleeve). That is, I do not want to wear an off-shoulders or a striped dress.

The first sentence the woman said after hearing my request was "you won't find any"!!. At the beginning I thought that she didn't understand what I asked for, maybe she thinks that I am asking for a dress worn by a celebrity in a Hollywood movie!!! I just wanted a simple dress for God's sake. She started showing me some "half dresses" … yes I really mean it … "half dresses. I guess the tailor didn't find enough time or material to finish the dress. Then, she asked me to try them on to see what we can do to cover them up.

Well, I tried more than ten dresses on. A dress that shows my belly, another that shows my breast, a third one that shows my back and a forth lump sum dress that shows literary … everything. Again, I said to myself maybe the woman misunderstood me, after all I am using an Egyptian dialect that is not so familiar to her ears!! I told her, excuse me "D", I am looking for a dress not a lingerie. She looked at me as if I am an ignorant person asking for one of the "seven impossibles".

Anyway, the dress was not the problem, the problem was the stupid argument afterwards between "D" and her friends on one side and I on the other side. They kept accusing me of being an old-fashion person who is coming from the Stone Age.
"D" told me that the wedding ceremony is a family party and there is no big deal to wear a dress that shows my body cause the people at the party will be respectable and trustworthy people who will never look at me in a bad way (bassa we7sha!!!). I tried to tell her; this is my religion, this is my culture and that is the way I think and believe … but in vain.

I don't know … Do people consider a person who respects his/her religion and culture a retarded old fashion person?!!! Do I have to show my body to be a civilized and sophisticated person?!!! I came back home feeling down, I don't know way!! Maybe, because I didn't find the dress I wanted, maybe because I hated the discussion that took place, maybe because I felt that there is no common ground between the people here and I!!!

My Eid Vacation

2005-11-05T15:36:00.000+03:00

My Eid vacation was a disaster. First of all, it was only two days off, Thursday and Friday:(( On Thursday we had lunch with some friends then went to there place and I started searching for a dress (will elaborate on my next post) while my husband was waiting for me and boredom is killing him.
On Friday, we stayed at home, the weather was extremely cold and raining like hell. It was so gloomy outside not encouraging at all for any outdoors activities. Moreover, a friend promised us to come in the morning to spend the day with us, he kept us waiting then he called at 3:00pm after seeing our 120 missed calls on his mobile to say that he won't be able to come!!! Another couple promised to come to our place at noon (after 9:00pm) and again they called at 11:00pm to say they won't be able to make it!!!!
It ended up spending the whole day at home waiting for The Invisibles to come and visit us.

What a vacation!!!!!!!!!

Happy Eid to Everybody

2005-11-01T16:50:00.000+03:00

Tagged - Seven ...

2005-10-28T14:20:00.001+03:00

Tagged by Charismatic Soul and Loulou, thanks gals.

Seven things I plan to do:

1- Find a good job or start my own business (a "handmade ornament" gallery or a bookshop with a cafeteria that allows the ppl to have a look at the book before buying it) or maybe both businesses:)
2- To be less stubborn.
3- To worry less.
4- To learn French (comment ca va:)))
5- I'd like to learn Salsa (of course the dance not the tomato salsa:)) but it is just a wish, I am not planning to take any serious move:)
6- Finish the "decoupage" picture that I have started a year ago:))
7- Give my son swimming classes ( 3alashan 3andi 3o2da) :))

Seven things I can't do:

1- Worry less.
2- Be less stubborn (I am Taurus).
3- Eat alone.
4- Swim (3aib awi bas ma3lish).
5- Eat sea food … Yuk:)
6- Wear red leather pants (very attractive!!).
7- Have a true first impression (I am always deceived concerning that matter).
8- Smoke (ma3lish ... one more detail):)

Seven things I say most often:

1- Betharag!! (you are kidding).
2- I used to say "asasan" (basically) but when ppl made fun of me I changed it to "Aslan" … see the difference:))
3- Ye.7reb bait keda *blush*
4- Yady el nila *bush*
5- Ooops
6- Ya salaaaaaaaam
7- Walahy al 3azeem?? (in a sarcastic tone) :)

Seven people I want to pass this tag to:

1- me
2- tota
3- dallula
4- rain
5- lasto-adri
6- nerro
7- doshar
8- Tarek Amr (malish I added an extra one:))

P.S. If I tagged someone who has already did it, never mind, blame it on my mumps:))

Not CYBER friends anymore

2005-10-28T13:25:00.000+03:00

I don't know what to say, I wanted to dedicate this post to two of my favorite bloggers here. The relationship started as bloggers and then cyber friends and now it is more than that …

They are not cyber friends anymore, they are true friends and very dear to me. I guess you are wondering who are they?! They are Charismatic Soul & Around the Clock.
They both sent me e-mails last night filled with warm wishes and prayers for me to get better. Moreover, I found Around the Clock calling me this morning on my cell phone to make sure I was ok and wish me good luck.

I was really touched, I wished we were in the same country to go and see them. I am glad I was introduced to the blogosphere cause I got to know them.

Thank you for being my friends:)

It doesn't rain ... it pours

2005-10-27T13:56:00.000+03:00

Today, I got up in the morning with a face that looks like a balloon.

I went to the doctor and guess what did he say??

I have MUMPS ... غدة نكافية . It is the second time I get infected ... they say it happens!!!!!

Al 3ashr Al-awa.7er

2005-10-23T13:57:00.000+03:00

During the comming 10 days, I will lessen my visits to the blogshere. I won't disappear but you won't see me as often. I will try hard to read more Quran and pray.

Allahom a.3fer lana zenobina wa a3fou 3ana, enak ar7am alra7meen.

Quote of the Day

2005-10-21T23:31:00.000+03:00

الكلمة نور و بعض الكلمات قبور

(A word is LIGHT, however, some words could be GRAVES)

I guess we (bloggers) have to stop for a while and think of this quote since we have nothing here -in the blogsphere- but WORDS.

Learning HTML

2005-10-19T17:20:00.000+03:00

Yeeeeeeeeeees, I did it. Now I know how to add links to my page.

Ok, let me tell you the story from the beginning:

I started blogging last month. I followed the steps, created my blog, wrote my posts … and then what … nothing … a big fat PERIOD.

I noticed that most of the bloggers created nice blogs with interesting side bars showing their favorite blog list, the books they read, the clock, and maybe a photo of their favorite music album … etc,

How the hell did they do that??!! … beats me … absolutely no idea … blaaaaaaaaaaank!!! I felt like an illiterate in the middle of PHD's.

I posted a comment in one of the blogs asking the blogger to tell me the steps of how to add a picture of the book I am currently reading. I received two replies for my comment. A reply from the blog owner telling me the steps, she was very decent and helpful; however, I couldn't understand a word from what she wrote.

The second comment was from a guy "J" who really estafazny awi. He replied in two words "learn HTML". Honestly, I was offended:))) I felt like an ignorant … I was really met.3aza awi … why couldn't he simply say it in a nice way, for example, "I advice you to learn HTML, cause it will help you … blab la bla". Yes, I admit his short answer and the way he said it, teased me:)

Anyway, I said to myself, ok … I will learn HTML Mr. "I know everything". And as I'd like going by the slogan "what one man can do another can do", I called a computer center and asked for the course and started last Sunday. Today was my 4th lesson and tomorrow is the last one. The guy told me that normally they give the course in ten sessions, each is two hours, i.e., twenty hours. However, in front of my enthusiasm and my background he decided to shorten the course to eight hours only, distributed on five days:)

After taking the course I discovered that my question to the blogger, was just like someone asking you to write down for him the steps of how to drive a car:) Yes, I admit it was a STUPID question.

Today, I was able to create links to my favorite blogs … I am still stepping my first step in the world of HTML. Who knows maybe, I follow it with some more courses.

I am writing this post to tell "J", thank you, I really mean it. Yes you provoked me … but it worked for me. I am so excited about the course and I am enjoying it very much.

Again … THANK YOU.

Do you believe in GHOSTS - Part II

2005-10-16T00:25:00.000+03:00

Do you believe in ghosts??! Do you believe in black magic??! Do you believe in a3mal (spells)??!!

My answer is yes & no … I believe in the existence of al-jen and in magic … simply because they are mentioned in the Holly Quran. However, I never give them a real thought … I guess it is not that easy to practice magic and cast spells. In fact, I never really bothered myself with the answer of these questions. I always thought that most of the people practicing magic are nothing but abra gadabra (mosha3wzeen ya3ni).

What made these questions pop up into my head is an accident that happened to me and till now I didn't tell anybody except my husband a two of my neighbors about it.

In the place where I live, people tend to depend on a3mal (spells). They are always talking about magic, fortune telling, spells … In other words, they are very superstitious. I always make fun of their beliefs and tell them that they have to leave this kind of thinking to illiterate and ignorant people.

Anyway, about a month ago, something really weird happened to me. I didn't tell anybody about it cause people will say that I am an ignorant superstitious person. Anyhow, I decided to tell you about what happened cause I am sure that there is a scientific explanation for it, although I have no idea what can it be.

One day, I got up in the morning to find that my pajamas pants are full of holes, yes many big holes!!!! This is not everything; I also found that the bed sheet is completely torn. Seriously … Konafaaaa:)) walahy el melaya zai el konafa:) Only from my side, as my husband side was completely perfect. I want you to bear in mind that the sheet is new. I searched the bed for a bug or something … nothing absolutely nothing?!!! I pulled the sheet from my husband's side to find it very strong and new!!!

I called my husband at his work to tell him, but he couldn't imagine the site and told me "balash habal, enty 7ateshta.3aliny 3ala el sob7". I could my neighbor, she thought I am kidding but when she felt that I am serious, she offered to come and see for herself.

Anyway, part II of the story is even more enjoyable:)

My neighbor "D", is a very nice woman, she loves me and treats me as her young sister. "D" kept screaming "oh my God, oh my God", then she called another neighbor "G" who came to join her in the screaming show:) At that time I was laughing like hell, hamm yebaki we hamm yeda7ak:))) "D" ran to her home and came back holding the things "G" asked her to bring. She brought a green plant, bo.7or (scented coal) and mab.7ara. They started their silly rituals while I am still laughing!! They gave me that angry look and asked what was funny?!! They lighted the bo.7or and placed the plant in a glass of water, then, they poured some of the water on the floor beside my bed, and ba.7arou the whole bedroom. I left them to finish their lousy rituals and when to the hi-fi to play a Quran CD. They kept telling me that someone has casted a spell on me and asked me not to joke about it as the country here is famous of black magic!!!!

Of course, I didn't pay attention to what they said, but I kept thinking of a scientific explanation for what happened. When I was tired of thinking, I decided to forget the whole issue.

I don't know why I decided to share this experience with you, although I told no one about it?!!! I guess it is the core of blogging … to write about what pops up into your mind without asking about the benefit of that.

Have a good day …

P.S. These are true pictures of the bed sheet and my pajamas.

Do you believe in GHOSTS??!

2005-10-14T21:06:00.000+03:00

Do you believe in ghosts?!
Do you believe in Black Magic?!
Do you believe in Casting Spells (A3mal)?!

Will elaborate later on ...

Tagged

2005-10-13T00:31:00.000+03:00

random things about myself:

I have been tagged by charismatic soul, me, around the clock,doshar. Thank you guys:)

* I am an only daughter. I have neither brothers nor sisters. I used to complain about being alone while I was a kid cause I wanted someone to play with me. My mum used to tell me that I can always play with my school mates but I used to reply that I want someone to play with me at home. During the university days, I never complained about that matter again as I had many friends who were (are) very good people and they were able to compensate my sisters. By the way, I am very stubborn (blame it on my star sign, cause I am a Taurus). I am 155 cm tall (blame it on my mum's genes:))

* I was graduated from the Faculty of Arts, Department of English. I loved my study very much, I adored novels and essay writing … they were my passion. The 4 years of the university was the best in my life. I had many friends, we loved each other like real family. I still see them every time I visit Egypt, and we also e-mail each other and talk on the phone from time to time. They are really the best thing that happened to me during the university days:)

* I am a mother of an adorable son who is 5 years old. He is extremely naughty but still adorable. He has a strong personality (no kidding) that attracts the attention of everybody:) I am also a wife of a stubborn but a decent guy. I am 155 cm tall and my husband is about 185 cm tall … what a match!!:)))

* I used to work in a decent company in Egypt. However, after I got married I had to leave me work to travel with my husband, and ever since I wasn't able to work again. I am living in a small city, with absolutely no job opportunities and they work 2 shifts here, a morning shift and an afternoon one. Therefore, I can't even think about working as I have no relatives here to relay on them concerning taking care of my son while I am at work. I am very ambitious; hence, I am not satisfied with being a house-wife.

* I am talented in some kinds of artistic crafts. My friends are encouraging me to start my own business especially that, people are not familiar with what I make; therefore, I will find an open market with no competitors. However, I guess I a lazy to have my first step.

I will only tag "tota" cause she is the only blogger I know who didn't write her details yet:)

Home-Sick

2005-10-10T17:11:00.000+03:00

I miss Egypt. I really miss being at HOME. It has been 6 years now while I am still "Away from Home". I visit Egypt at least once a year. I was there 2 month ago. Still, I am home sick. Maybe because of Ramadan, I am feeling this kind of home-sickness. When I call my family and they tell me that they are gathered to have Iftar (breakfast) together, I feel this bitter feeling inside me "yarait kont ma3ako".

I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss the streets. I even miss "Café Roastery" in Mohandseen, my favorite place for gathering with my friends. I guess this is life, "you meet to part".

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

2005-10-08T23:04:00.000+03:00

Imagine that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. One day long ago the Martians, looking through their telescopes, discovered the Venusians. Just glimpsing the Venusians awakened feelings they had never known. They fell in love and quickly invented space travel and flew to Venus.

The Venusians welcomed the Martians with wide open arms. They had intuitively known that this day would come. Their hearts opened wide to a love they had never felt before.

The love between the Venusians and the Martians was magical. They delighted in being together, doing things together, and sharing together. Though from different worlds, they reveled in their differences. They spent months learning about each other, exploring and appreciating their different needs, preferences, and behaviour patterns. For years they lived together in love and harmony.

Then they decided to fly to Earth. In the beginning everything was wonderful and beautiful. But the effect of the Earth's atmosphere took hold, and one morning everyone woke up with a peculiar kind of amnesia – selective amnesia.

Both the Martians and the Venusians forgot that they were from different planets and were supposed to be different. In one morning everything they had learned about their differences was erased from their memory. And since that day men and women have been in CONFLICT.

(from: Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. By John Gray)

My Most Hateful Trait

2005-10-06T21:57:00.000+03:00

Today I decided to write about one of my most hateful traits.
I guess today is not my day. I really hate it when I get annoyed for a very trivial reason and I keep depressed for the rest of the day. I can’t get out of this mood no matter how hard I tried.

This morning my husband was talking to his friend, who has just got engaged, about the things he should look for in a wife. He told him that she should be “metrabya, bent nas and betesma3 el kalam”. He even made it worth by saying that it is enough for him to be convinced 60% of his fiancée to marry her. To tell you the truth I was really PISSED OFF. I told hold him that I totally disagree about the word “betsma3 el kalam” cause a woman should be convinced by your ideas in order to “tema3 el kalam” or else it is better for him to marry a cow rather than a woman. The second thing is that I hated him when he said that 60% is enough average to make a guy marry a woman. I felt that he was telling me that he was convinced only 60% when he married me. I felt that he really hurt my feeling and pride in front of his friend.

Although, I know that my husband loves me very much and that he was just telling his friend that, in order not to make him hate his fiancée as it was obvious that he is not convinced of her, still I was angry. I know that maybe I am exaggerating, I know that my problems are very minor compared to those who have real problems. However, I am still annoyed.

RAMADAN KARIM

2005-10-06T21:53:00.000+03:00

Ramadan karim to all f you. Hope all your prayers come true.
Siyam Maqboul insha'allah

TO BE OR NOT TO BE

2005-09-18T17:27:00.000+03:00

Have you ever felt depressed for no reason?! Have you felt that nothing is going in the right direction, although nothing has changed to give you that impression? I used to be a very active person, working in the morning and having my post-graduate studies in the afternoon. I used to be very ambitious, the sky was my limit. Then everything has changed.

I got married, traveled to an Arab country with no job opportunities at all, stayed at home to perform my duties as a decent house-wife. Now I am 31 years old, married for about 6 years, during which I did nothing at all. On my 30th birthday, I felt so much depressed, not because I am getting old but because I felt that I achieved nothing during these past 6 years. Some people considered that getting married and having a family is an achievement itself. However, I say that even a CAT can raise a family, that doesn't make me special.

I searched eagerly for a job in this country but it was in vain. The problem is that I am living in a small governorate and not in the Capital. It resembles el-Suez or el-Sma3ilia in Egypt. I also tried working from home, like a translator or something, but that was difficult too. I tried part-time jobs, freelancing, everything including starting my own business… but all my efforts were useless.

Finally, I got a job offer two months ago. I was asked to work as a school teacher for kindergarten. Although, I didn't like the idea of teaching to kids, however, I didn't mind, coz that was the only choice I had. I went for an interview, and they accepted me and asked to start working tomorrow the 19th. To make the long story short, I discovered that the people there are totally disorganized, irresponsible and unqualified. I felt pissed off during my first confrontation with the management. Moreover, the salary was very frustrating (however, this is not the issue). To conclude, I kicked the whole opportunity in its teeth.

Now, I am confused, was what I did right or wrong? Was that "batar 3ala el ne3ma". I got a chance … and I just blow it.

The problem is that I felt that teaching KG is far from being ambition!! However, is it better than staying at home, better than nothing?!!

Can you advise me of something??

The Manners of Discussion

2005-09-15T15:22:00.000+03:00

Two days ago I was watching a program on Dream 2. It was a very "Hot Discussion" concerning "ready-to-cook" food, especially, the semi-fried food. There was a guest talking about his products and the mechanism of producing this kind of food. On the other hand, there were a couple of professors talking about the dangerous side effects of boiling oil more than once. One of the professors was accusing the guest of selling CANCER in an attractive box.

Anyway, the program could have been a success, however, the shameful way of the discussion used by the guests and introducer of the program, turned it to be a total mess. Everybody on the show was shouting and accusing, but no one was listening except to his own voice. The discussion gave me a headache and I changed the channel although I was INTERESTED in the topic. I felt I am watching some sellers in a grocery shop who are having a fight over the price of (kilo el tamatem).

This incident reminded me of a word said by Dr. Zowail in one of his interviews. He said after leaving to the States, he discovered that, if he wants people to listen to him he has to keep his voice down and know how to listen to others. He said that people in civilized countries do not like high voices and if we (Arabs) want them to listen to our ideas, first, we have to learn the manners of discussion.

Nowadays, Arabs are trying to imitate the West in their style of living, their looks, and their fashion. I only wish if we take from the West their scientific achievements and civilization instead of being fascinated by the outer superficial layer of the Western Civilization.

AWAY FROM HOME

2005-09-15T02:54:00.000+03:00

I chose for myself the name "Away from Home" cause that is what I really am. I am an Egyptian living in an Arab country. I won't mention the name of this country for two reasons. First, to talk freely about my experience without hurting the feelings of its native-readers, and the second thing is, not to "bite the hand the feeds you". I always complained about Europeans and Americans coming to Egypt and then saying bad things about us. I used to tell them "if you don't like Egypt, you are most welcomed to leave it". That is why; I don't want to fall in the same trap.

The people in this country are quite friendly and decent. However, I feel that I can't easily fit. It grabbed my attention that the women here are killing themselves to look like Haifaa Wahby and Nancy Agram. They don't mind going through painful plastic surgeries just to look like these celebrities. You can hardly see a woman walking down the street with no make-up on or a simple pony-tail. The popular issues to talk about here are; fashion and beauty salons.

It really bothers me to see that kind of superficial women. It is great to take care of one's look and figure, but, this is not the most important thing in life. Sometimes, I blame it all on the media. The media is brain-washing the women these days, driving them away from reading, talking about serious issues, fighting for their ideas … I wish to find a way to change this attitude. To convince women that they are not just Barbie dolls. They are humans with BRAINS after all.

Greetings to Everybody

2005-09-14T11:02:00.000+03:00

Dear Bloggers,

This is the first time for me to blog. I liked the idea of sharing each others thoughts and experiences. I once had an addiction for chatting but I stopped it long time ago cause I had a feeling that I am getting old for it. I didn't like the questions asked by chatters concerning how do I look like, how old I am, my martial status…etc!!! I felt that chatters are just a bunch of kids who want to waste their time … nothing more, nothing less.

When a friend of mine introduced me to blogging, I found myself diving into a new kind of addition. I liked the idea of talking about life issues, funny stuff or serious ones, it doesn't matter. What really matters is to find people who are willing to share your thoughts and ideas as well as theirs.

I hope to accept me as a new member of the bloggers' family:)))