Eid Mubarak

Have a Happy Eid everyone.

For more information on how to send me my Eidiya (or gifts) contact me by email. Thank you.

Update at 10:54 PM: This was the best Eid ever! I don't think I have laughed this much in a very long time or made people around me laugh like this. It reminded me of Eid when I was a kid and everything was great about Eid. How was everyone's Eid?

The story of Starbucks, London, and Mice.

Starbucks fined over mice!

and for something who was bitten by a mouse once, this is a nightmare come true.

I really think British people should not be allowed to have Starbucks, they don't appreciate coffee anyways, and don't know how to sell it. That's what I thought last summer, but after reading this, turned out they don't... Okay, I will stop here before saying something very insulting to British people which i was going to say. I just don't like to generalize.

Lecture

I attended a lecture today at the university by Dr. Gary Weaven from the American University about "Working in a multicultural Environment". It was really interesting and I enjoyed it a lot, it made me think about deeply about more things and understand other people more. I need more time to write exactly what I think about it all but just wanted to say that he's going to AUS tomorrow (Wednesday) and to RAK on Thursday. If you can make time, go!

He liked my purple Nikes! :D

More about cultures later.

Help!

Okay. It's time to start panicking but I'm going to write instead. I was just sitting here so happy that my class is canceled, I'm drinking my favorite drink from Starbucks and I'm going to have squids for lunch (they're actually really good, if you don't know that they are squid before you try them) when I realized that NEXT WEEK IS THE LAST WEEK OF THE SEMESTER.

When teachers tell us about projects they just say 'it's due last week of the semester' they don't say 'in two weeks' (even if they said, it wouldn't probably make me start working earlier anyways) so I really have to start working...

One of the projects is worth a lot but I can do in few hours, problem is that I will have to make my other group members work which might be a little problem. The other project… well, there got to be some advantage about your younger sister being in the same class, and same group with you.

On another topic, I thought a female would win the election in Dubai but none did, and the only female winner so far is from Abu Dhabi and a professor in UAEU. Hopefully, Sharjah will have another winner from UAEU, even if not a female.

Did anyone in Alain notice the sky/weather yesterday? The sky was blue on one side and very cloudy on the other, like my room was sunny, I go to the living room and I can see clouds from one side and the sun coming for the other side. At one point it rain but the sun was so hot in some areas. It was pretty confusing, you can't decide what to wear!

I have always wanted to say this to people who live in Dubai and are stuck with all the construction, in Alain, I see the red and white signs and think 'oh, wow, we've some construction going on in Alain' but it turn out they're only fixing the flowers. It's not always the case, but it happens a lot.

Pictures

*They passed by to say hi last weekend when we went to the desert.


The past few weeks were busy and chaotic in many ways, at one point I took my blog offline and deleted few posts. Hopefully, I will be writing again here again but in the meantime here is a link to a flickr account created by Arabized and I, you can currently see the pictures from our desert trip. You shouldn't miss the comments on the camels' pictures on flickr, they're hilarious.

Pictures

Why can't kids be sweet?

I missed my class at 8 this morning and decided I will take the whole day off and a very long weekend.

Around 2, my cousin's kids came from school and two of my cousin's are staying with us for few days so I decided I will do something good to the world and baby sit them. It all went very well at first, I gave them lunch and they ate it like good kids – if you would ignore the fact that they insisted on have berry cocktail on their rice with the meat.

I think the berries might have something to do with it because those three girls TURNED WILD! They started running around the house screaming and throwing things around. I yelled once and one of them was like 'so what? What can you do to us?'

I got so mad because no kids talks to me like that so I said 'I will give you a time out in the bathroom and lock the door'

That worked for about five minutes.

At that point I decided even helping in the kitchen can't be that bad and called mom to tell her but she talked me into giving it another try.

I decided to try some TV but turned out they're not the kind to sit and watch TV but to jump over chairs and tables.

After trying to calm myself down for few minutes, I just started yelling and took them all back to the games' room – which is not a bad thing for them when I think of it now. Anyways, this time another one of them turned to me and was like 'you don't scare me!'

After all the yelling I don't scare her?

I yelled louder this time and warned her that I will send her to downstairs to her mother and she won't get to play with the girls.

That worked for like 5 minutes and then they got into playing playstation for few more minutes and I decided I will leave them because they can manage like that and I'm so sick from sitting in the games' room.

Now I'm just writing this and they're walking all around the house… I'm going to buy myself some ice-cream later.

Two of them were whispering to each other and going downstairs, when I asked them where they're going they said they want to see my brother's teacher and she's downstairs, then they came back and were like whispering how she's 'Jiniya!' then they took the youngest and told her they're going to see her again but that she should kiss the Jiniya and you should just look from far away. Not only are they annoying, they're racists too.

Ramadan

One of my favorite things about Ramadan is going to pray Taraweeh in the Masjid because you go pray and come back and have nothing to do, nothing to worry about. If I decided to pray at home, I will end up praying after 11 and doing nothing before that except sitting and thinking how lazy I feel after Iftar. Anyways, so Friday night I was excited waiting for them to say if tomorrow is Ramadan or not so I can go pray.

My sister made the mistake of telling my grandmother who was visiting that Saturday is Ramadan before they announced it and didn't she get a look! No physical harm was done though.

Apparently my grandmother says that Saturday can't be Ramadan because President Gaddafi said that it's Ramadan before Maghirb in Libya, so as far as my grandmother know, if any other country said Saturday is Ramadan then they're just following Gaddafi. It's nothing new though, she's always saying for one reason or another that those people don't know anything and they give us the wrong dates.

My sisters and I then walked to the Masjid to pray – that Masjid is one of my least favorite. The architecture is so beautiful but the people who pray there are just nasty. They ladies smell so awful that I keep wondering how can they stink like that, what did they eat or do to smell like that – I though it was impossible. Also, every woman would come with her herd of kids who would play around, scream and run. It was a typical nightmare in Ajman.

Yesterday, we came back to Alain and went to pray in the Masjid near our house, it's such a nice Masjid and the Imam, masha'allah, is so good (people from all over Alain come to pray in it) and people smell nice here. The secret is to find an old lady and pray next to her – they always have gallons of perfume on them.

I wonder what we are having for Iftar today...

Technology, Entertainment and Design

I found the TEDtalks podcast and have been listening to one every now and then and finding some really remarkable and recommended them to many who also enjoyed listening to them. Just listening to all these people share their ideas and thought is amazing and not something you would find everyday.

Here is a link to link to their website and this link to its blog.

You can also find the podcasts on iTunes, just search for TEDtalks in podcast.

Enjoy.

Personality test

Here is a link to an online personality test.

This one is very accurate and to the point, even though not everything is really sweet, I mean who would really want to know how 'friendly' they are?

I did it and the results were kind of things I known but most I was not really aware of. I also shared it with my sisters, mom and friend and they shared theirs which kind of helped in understanding them and helped them to understand me – they got me all wrong when I asked them before.

Education

Here is an interesting article about the education ministry.

"We want to elevate the standards of education by creating a motivational academic environment. We are in a process of redeveloping the educational system across the country. Our utmost priority is to consider what is in the best interest of the pupils. All the elements involved in the educational system will undergo extensive changes," - Dr. AlNuaimi

Well, Hello there, but it's about time someone did something about the educational system here and in the article they sounded like there would be some changes.

I wonder what would be done about this textbook. Last week a book that showed policemen as the 'bad' people in society (Grade 5) and orders were that the pages that include that lesson should be ripped from all books.

Maybe I should have switched my major to education; this is interesting, well keep you updated.

My classes this fall

Summer is over and so is first week of classes, which was hectic and frustrating. I couldn't decide how many courses I want to take because I don't know how many more semesters I'm willing to spend in the university. I finally decided on five only which means I will have five more semesters including the internship. This will make my mom happy because she will have her dream of me and my sister graduating in the same year; just think of how cute that would be! –Slaps self-

I planned it all along time ago, my schedule, and that I will not take a class at 8 in the morning because I don’t want to wake up that early during Ramadan. I ended up registering afternoon classes and was happy with that only to go to one class and find that the teacher was changed and this teacher can't give us at that time and only time that would be okay for everyone is 8 in the morning. I didn't cry. It's just going to be so annoying to go two days a week at 8 and the other two days at 12, and finish at 6:20.

Alain at 8 in the morning is different and special, there is actually traffic especially near the schools' road, and the weather is so fresh and people are just calmer and I feel like they're thinking deeply about all the details – or maybe it's that they're not thinking but still asleep and therefore so quiet.

I, so far, like all my classes and professors and hopefully they're as good as they seem to be. What I find entertaining is that in most of the classes the teachers are so funny but only me and my friends get their jokes and laugh while the other girls are just sitting there starring, some might laugh after we laugh by few minutes just to show they understood.

I can't remember many incidents but in marketing class the teacher was talking about how a person can be a product, like Paris Hilton, then he went quiet for few seconds and said 'she can be a service too'

Then he was telling us how when we go to an interview we're selling ourselves… in a good way.

Another professor told us a story that happened to him in the male's campus. He was sitting in the advising office when this Japanese guy came to register and he wanted to register 8 courses (no the normal in the university is five, and only A students and graduating students can take 7, no one takes 8!) when they tried talking him out of it he told them how in Japan everyone takes 8 courses. Later, my Prof. saw him around and they were talking when the Japanese student told him how 'books here are HUGE; in Japan they have smaller books. (Palm size) I just busted out laughing at that even though it was at 8 in the morning, I just can imagine Japanese people carrying around a smaller version of our books.

That's what is going on in my life and insha'allah I will be updating more now; I have a lot to say about the change that's going on in the university.

Mindless and heartless

I have been thinking about historical novels and realized that all the ones I have read circles around one topic: war. About what started a war, what ended it, which killed who, how people lived through wars and after them. I came to the conclusion that history is made by wars; wars are what makes up history.
We, human beings, like to believe that we have brains to think and that we actually use them and are always so grateful to God for that. In reality though, we do all have brains but most are not used, left to rot more like.
It's all part of being a human being, most people don't appreciate what they have unless they worked hard to get it or until they lose it, we don't have brains because we worked any harder or because we are special, we have brains only because God gave them to us, just like a leg or skin.
We all have hearts too, that's what's supposed to make us alive (does not using it make us less alive?) but how many use theirs to feel?! (Okay, feelings are from the brain but it's simpler to think of feeling and thinking as two separate things even though in reality they are intertwined it would be complicated to separate them.)
I therefore came to the conclusion that most people can only use their mind or heart but very rarely both, so at any people in time a person would as a rule be heartless or brainless, choose your pick. There are some exceptions to that one of which would include people who can use neither.
If people actually think and feel them why are they killing in every corner of the earth! Why is there more hatred that oxygen in the air! I didn't realize I'm so angry about what is going on in the world until I started writing this. I feel lost and wish I can find answers, how can someone hurt a child, let alone kill on? How can anyone kill for the sake of killing, just to make a point!
With all the fury in me, I find it easier to live believing that man is doing what he's doing because he is not thinking rather that doing it because he thought long about it and believes it's the right think to do. How would I tolerate living in such a world otherwise?!

What happened in Heathrow?

Thursday morning, and just as we were leaving to Heathrow we got a call from the embassy telling us that 'we're not allowed to carry anything with us except money – no handbags, no books, no mobile phones… nothing' so we just put all our handbags and stuff in our bags to be checked in, but we still didn't really know what's going on and just went.

We checked the radio in the car but they didn't say much about Heathrow except talk about the traffic which was more than usual but not bad. We went to check in our bags we could see that people were just getting the news because they had their handbags and were carrying stuff, the staff were giving out plastic bags for the essentials only which includes passport, wallets, sunglasses.

The interesting thing was that gulf air is in the same terminal with American Airlines which probably meant they need to check more with us. We went through three check points and they four because they were checked one last time before boarding (gate next to ours too.)

Everyone was confused and there were armed police everywhere. I didn't know what to expect or what might happen next, then something funny would happen and when I laugh I think 'well I be laughing when I later think of this day?'

By the time we got to the duty free I felt like I have queued more than I did in a very long time!

And all that before coffee!

The announcement said that we are to expect a 2 hours delay and flight to America 5 hours delay, ours was 3 hours late and I know that some flights to America were canceled when we were there. Then few hours after we left they closed the airport.

I don't mind flying in general but I was so jumpy on that one! I kept thinking and imagining things, funniest was when we were over Iraq and I could see lights and was watching outside the window when I saw this really bright dot, I closed my eyes, opened them and felt like it's coming toward me, I don't know why but I thought it must be a missile or a plane or something and it's going to hit us and we are going to die. In a second, I jumped from my chair, hit my sister who was sleeping next to me, tripped over nothing and fell down in front of my mother who was sitting in the chair behind me. When I got there I realized that the missile probably missed because I'm still alive so I just walked away.

The bright light turned out to be a full moon but because of the clouds I couldn't really see it and only saw a part of it – I can be very dramatic sometimes I guess.

Out of everything that happened what I minded the most was flying without books especially when I found that we could have bought books from the duty free, they never were more true when they said 'they will have to do with our movies and magazines'. I also so badly wished I had a camera.

We had problems in booking our flight so we had to change plane in Bahrain to Dubai, we missed that one but booked on a later one, it's a short flight but when we got to Dubai and because of congestion we kept flying and flying for more than 20 minutes, those were the one of the worst things, I just wanted to touch ground and we could see planes around us – not nice.

All in all, it's good to be home and I don't think I would be going to London anytime soon, for this to happen to us two years in a row when we didn't really plan or want to go to London in the first place!

Gone With The Wind

(This was written Thursday night)

I have been wondering lately why do I love reading novels so much, and more than few answers came to my mind and all of them, added together, made sense, but only when I was reading 'Gone With The Wind' did I realize the real reason behind it all.

I read to live in other people's shoes, to know what they have experienced in life and what emotions they went through, to know what makes them happy and what break them, where they lived and where they've been to. I like to live these life and add their experiences to mine, believing that knowing more about that would make me understand people and this world better. I read novels to live with these people for few hours and then come back to reality and be glad and happy with my life, and appreciate everything in it much more.

I believe I have never read a book like 'Gone with the Wind', and I have a very strong feeling that I would never enjoy and love a book as much as do it. It's the story of something that actually happened (Civil War) and then the story of people who lived it, their thoughts and feelings, what they did and what they have been through. It takes you from how a plantation is run to politics, to love and marriage, death and loss, sickness, and people – I believe people are the most difficult of all that – and yet you're not bored by it, but rather would want to spend as much a time reading it to know what would happen, but with every page, you wish you can stop pages turning because you don't want it to finish.

It's also the first book I read that explained slavery in the US from a white person point of view. White people thought the black people are happy and couldn't really understand why does the Yankees what to set them free! It was also a shocking knowledge how much the Yankees and the Southern used to hate each other, I never thought people from two different places who hate each other that much can actually live with each other later.

I spent hours on it, the last being more than 10 hours last night, I just couldn't sleep and when I was told in the morning we're going out, I just smiled and couldn't stop smiling all day to the point people were wondering what's going on with me? Only my youngest sister guessed that I read a very good book but she dismissed the thought because it sure is something more. Nothing would have stopped my smile – not even when I found that a favorite shirt was ruined.

I think the way I think of books might be weird to people, stupid to others, or confusing, and very few might get what I'm talking about in this. If there is an excuse to my rambling, it would be that I didn't sleep and need it desperately.

Dorothy Parker

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity."
- Dorothy Parker

I have never studied poetry and I don't think I ever well, but I do enjoy reading it a lot and Dorothy Parker is the poet tonight. Even though she was crazy and tried to commit suicide and all – she's fun! And aren't all the great poets depressed, sad and weird?

Finis
Now it's over, and now it's done;
Why does everything look the same?
Just as bright, the unheeding sun, --
Can't it see that the parting came?
People hurry and work and swear,
Laugh and grumble and die and wed,
Ponder what they will eat and wear, --
Don't they know that our love is dead?

Just as busy, the crowded street;
Cars and wagons go rolling on,
Children chuckle, and lovers meet, --
Don't they know that our love is gone?
No one pauses to pay a tear;
None walks slow, for the love that's through, --
I might mention, my recent dear,
I've reverted to normal, too.

Many of her poems are full of emotions and meaning that the reader would feel with her but then she would end it with a line or two that just makes me smile.

Observation

If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again,
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much,
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.

Distance

Were you to cross the world, my dear,
To work or love or fight,
I could be calm and wistful here,
And close my eyes at night.
It were a sweet and gallant pain
To be a sea apart;
But, oh, to have you down the lane
Is bitter to my heart.

When will it be over!!

Is it only me, or there's nothing to do in the summer here?

I wish I took summer courses or did an internship because this life is not working well with me, I need something to do, a project to work on and reading and writing are not enough.

I have finished exams two weeks ago and I don't think I want more than two weeks of holiday because I feel, like, wrong – I'm doing nothing and I'm wasting my time doing nothing.

It's like because I'm not busy, I'm not even reading or writing much. I don't function properly if I'm not busy.

Help?

Can you or can't you?!

I didn't know comments were not allowed to comment on my blog because I get few comments.

So if you can't comment, poke me, send an email, and I will just go back to my old layout.

Thank you.

Notes on 'reading Lolita in Tehran'

(This was written Friday night)

I don't usually feel comfortable readings books that might insult or criticize Islam in anyway but this book is different; this is Iran.
I have only read 44 pages so far and therefore I'm not going to judge the book (even though I can say I'm enjoying reading it) but here are some things I felt like writing that the book made me think of:

Reading a book is something, writing about the book is something (I'm really bad at that!) and discussing the book with others who read it is something else. That's my favorite part, because then you noticed things and think more deeply about what you have read, and all that turn reading any book into a learning experience.

Iran scares me and I don't know much about it, it has always been like this mystery throughout my life and I guess it's time to read and learn more about its history and culture.

Is freedom doing what you believe is right, or doing what your family and society think is right? Or maybe it's what your family and society think is not right. On of the women in the book used to wear the veil before the revolution and even though she was different, it was what she believed in. after the revolution, when all women were forced to wear it, she said it lost its meaning to her because nothing any longer is about what you believe in or what you think – it's about what you do to survive.
It's like in KSA where everyone is covered, but look at Saudi's when they go abroad – they go overboard with what they wear. I'm not saying we don't have this problem here, but at least it's much better.

FIFA is not only about football

You can't miss this article on gulfnews!

It's not all about football for the lovers of sexy men

These are some of the most entertaining paragraphs:

For millions of TV viewers who are following the World Cup, there is more to admire than mere dribbling and back-heel passes, namely, legs shaped as though sculpted, seductive smiles and disarming gazes.

Political tensions notwithstanding, the team whose players have caused the greatest stir with their looks is Iran. Young German women and girls scramble to get autographs from the raven-haired, intense-eyed Iranians.

The tall, strong players of Ivory Coast have also set many a heart aflutter.

"Nesta is a Mediterranean beauty," it wrote. "He has a classic countenance, fine facial features, and a glance that's simply stunning." The Danes, who failed to qualify, can afford more neutrality.
The Argentinians have their charms too. Most striking about them is their luxuriant hair,

And not only women, gay men's favourite pinup boys include Ljungberg, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko. Or so it seems judging from gay Internet sites, where photos show the players scantily clad and in daring poses.

There are more attractive footballers out there, waiting to be discovered during the World Cup.

By the time the final rolls around on July 9, perhaps we will know who the top beefcake is.


Good God. I don't wear contacts when I'm watching the matches unless the two teams have close colors.

Tagged...

I was tagged by ahmed...

20 Years Ago I...
o Was not born…
o I guess I did nothing because I was not born.
o I was to be born in a year.

10 Years Ago I...
o Realized I'm not as stupid as I think.
o Went to Cardiff. (It's the most random place I have been to… Why there?!)
o Broke my 3 years old sister's hand – It was an accident.

5 Years Ago I...
o Was a nerd.
o Saw a woman poop in an airport and walk away, a guy went to take a picture. I didn't take any pictures.
o Was harassed by a drunk guy in Australia

3 Years Ago I...
o Didn't graduate from High school
o Got to university
o Met Biz and thought she was the most random person ever and I scared her by telling her "My dad knows your dad"
o Ran into a roundabout pole walking in the street because I was busy talking to friend and I had a white mark on my abaya and Shayla. Was very entertaining.
o Had local girls with me in the same classroom for the first time.

1 Year Ago I...
o Transferred colleges from IT to business.
o Decided to go to London because it's the safest place I can think of – it got bombed.
o Tried to learn how to drive in the desert but was told that 'I failed with honor'

So Far This Year, I...
o I hugged a huge teddy bear in Toy Store, Mall of the Emirates.
o I jumped in a very cold swimming pool fully clothed in January after I finished my exams.
o I had a cocktail that looked like dirt.
o Was in an X5 with 7 other people – it was an experiment.
o I took so many pictures.

Yesterday, I...
o Watched a world cup match in Chinese.
o Watched 'Meet the Fockers'
o I started reading 'Reading Lolita in Tehran'

Today, I...
o Woke up very late.
o Will go swimming.
o Realized I didn't give a friend her birthday card. (It was last November)

Tomorrow, Inshallah I Will...
o Read.
o Swim.
o Eat ice cream.

In The Next Year, Inshallah, I Will...
o Have one more year to go of university.
o Study more. Read more.
o Try to go to a wedding. (I have never been to a wedding before because I hate it and no one hates me for it from my family because they just think I'm weird)

I Will tag...
o Everyone I know was already tagged… so anyone who reads this and was not tagged – do it.

Small things

One of the most special memories I had growing up is staying up all night in the summer just to hear all the Adhans from the different masjids – in a way it was a scary, but also very calming and I loved it.

I forgot that and only remembered it this weekend, as I was up at Fajr and heard all the Adhans and I couldn't stop but smile and was so happy to hear it and then realized that I have missed it living in Alain and Dubai – I was in Ajman.

Some time ago, all 'adhans' in Alain where unified, then some time after they were not allowed using the outside microphones for Fajr prayer, when I asked why they did that, I was told that they did it because there're people who are not Muslim or people who don't pray and it's disturbing for them.

Friday morning I was thinking of that and how our country is turning into such a globalized place and even the small things that defined it and made it special are taken day after day – is that what we want it to turn to?

These thoughts were not about prayers or anything in particular, just in general, if small things from our culture are cancel because they would disturb others, then what would be special about it? Aren't the small things what add up to define something?

It would end up being like eating pizza with no tomato sauce or cheese.

Three reads

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
Was, generally speaking, an interesting and funny read with lots of sarcasm and jokes about simple things in life that make you think more about those things and why are we doing them. Even though, sometimes while reading that book I was like 'what's the point of all this?!'
It's not a favorite book and a good read of you like these kind of books. There were some parts that I wanted to type here because I liked them but I gave it to a friend so maybe some other time.

Middlesex: A Novel -- by Jeffrey Eugenides
I decided to read this book because of many recommendations and the awards it won – I was disappointed by it to the point that I didn't finish it; I was disgusted.
So maybe the topic of the book is weird but I just couldn't read after I found that the girl/boy is like that because her/his grandparents were siblings – I find that a very sick thing, so I didn't read it…

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon
Almost finished with it and I'm loving the book and it sure is going to be added to my 'recommend to everyone' list. The 15 years old boy in the book has Asperger's Syndrome and when you read the book you understand exactly how he's thinking. Also, when I was reading some of the reviews on the book some people with the same problem said that that book is the best one that describes exactly how they think.
Basically, they can only understand facts and give facts and they have a very unusual way of reasoning things. He doesn't understand metaphor and he can't lie too, because to answer a question truthfully you only have one option but to lie you have infinite options. For example, if he had cereals of breakfast and someone asked him what did he have, he can either say that or lie. If he lie he can say anything starting with 'I had pancakes' or 'I had a burger in New York' or I had "a monkey in china"*** and there're an infinite number of options that his mind can't handle.

*** These are options I made up not from the book.

hello yellow.

Brazil! … All the way! … I guess.

Why did I finally get to choose Brazil?

First, no one is with Brazil at home which means there are going to be so many debates and… fights. Very much fun.
Second, I was told but from a not so trustworthy friend (on this issue only!) that when Portugal took over the UAE in the 18th century they married people here (Unlike the British!) Therefore, that means that maybe some of my ancestors are from Portugal (My dad didn't think so… or so I guess from the look he gave me "MJ, are you high?!" me: -points at friend-)

Long story short, Brazil talks Portuguese and therefore, maybe just maybe I have so Brazilian blood in me!

I couldn't find any other reason to vote for any other team, I was going to go for Germany but was told that everyone think they're going to lose, and was going to Vote for England but almost everyone at home is with England and it won't be fun…

Therefore, England better not win or I would be devastated!!

Why do people watch TV...?

I never watch TV, and by never I mean I might only watch some once every few week and only because it's there and someone else is watching it.

Today, I actually sat there with everyone else, first to watch the news and got sick of it and left. Then I came back for the World cup only to find that there's no world cup on the TV I'm watching and I was too lazy to move to another room.

I'm sitting there and we are checking all the channels and I honestly was shocked by the number of music channels only because those channels being there mean someone is actually watching them, and therefore how many people are watching those channels in the Arab world – It's a very sad thing to think of.

It's time something is done about that.

We then watch Oprah with Queen Rania, it was really interesting, I mean I'm just so proud of the queen and the way she represents Arab and Muslim women. She made a point that women are not oppressed and that you don' have to be covered head to toe to be a Muslim…

Mango

Why is the color orange 'orange' and not mango?

I was thinking about mango, and how it plays such a part in the summer here. Dates are important too, but I don't care about those – I'm in a mango mood.

There're so many different kinds of mango that almost everyone knows about but not many know about green mangos, they're soar and you eat them with salt… mango with salt? Yes and it's really good too!

I remember we once were eating some and an American friend was there and she tried it but had this disgusted look on her face and then said 'Those apples taste funny!'

It's one of those jokes that will never be forgotten.

For some unknown reason to me, I sat and watched the news with my family, and I wish I didn't. Everywhere is being bombed and people are killed everyone and I just think 'what did I do to deserve the life I have? And what did these people do to deserve to the life they have?'

I just couldn't watch more after the beach that was bombed in Palestine, I mean those people were going to the beach and it's weekend, the last thing I would expect is to go back home an orphan, or to lose a child on the beach… Why's life so cruel?

I'm off to live through another summer day and guess watch the World cup opening later tonight…

I need to pick a team, I think I did few weeks ago but I can't remember which team now. Last world cup, I was voting for France and they lost so badly…

This year it would be … England, Germany or Brazil.

TBR

Finals are over and summer is here and what else is there to do than read? Well, I can think of few things but none would occupy my time as much as reading, so this is my TBR (to be read) list for the summer which I put together while studying so some might change but most of these books I want to read so badly.

1. kite runner by Khaled Hosseini
2. The history of love by Nicole Krauss
3. The hornet's nest by Jimmy Carter
4. Small island by Andrea Levy
5. Captain Correlli's mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
6. The count of Mont Cristo by Alexandre Dumas pere
7. A suitable boy by Vikram Seth
8. The broker by John Grisham
9. Love in the time of cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
10. The beach by Alex Garland
11. Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides
12. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
13. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
14. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America (Vintage) by Erik Larson
15. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
16. An Evening of Long Goodbyes : A Novel by Paul Murray
17. Bel Canto: A Novel by Ann Patchett
18. Gone with the wind by Margaret Mitchell
19. On Thin Ice by Cherry Adair
20. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
21. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan : A Novel by Lisa See
Tangerine Dream (Paperback) by Ken Douglas, Jack Stewart
23. Walk-On by D. Mikels
24. Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
25. We Need to Talk About Kevin: A Novel by Lionel Shriver
26. Dead famous by Ben Elton
27. The Autobiography of Malcolm X : As Told to Alex Haley (Mass Market Paperback) by Attallah Shabazz
28. Fahrenheit 451: Rad Bradbury
29. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
30. Me talk pretty one day by David Sedaris

I would be expecting so much book talk on this blog this summer, so I warn!
On another topic, just now another sand storm started and it's cloudy ,so it will probably last for few hours and then it will rain some, just like last few days, it's what I would guess a typical Alain weather. Oh well, at least everyone else think we're so lucky because it's raining!

[EDIT]
... and it's raining!!!

Materialistic Women and Families

Here is a piece of information about Emirati women and how they treat their men.

If the man is perfect (that's a rarity as woman always want more things and mafee shay e3jebhom!), he would get everything he wants and the woman would be always smiling or cooking or whatever and then telling her friends about the latest gift he got her, or where he took her last weekend. Yes, he should never forget the gifts, holidays, cars, etc.

Now this is my favorite part, if the guy is not really nice, like for example if he didn't get her a gift on a birthday or decided they're not going abroad in the summer…

Her first instinct would be to: spend his money, as much as she can, waste it right and left, she don't have really like something, just buy everything you feel like you want or you don't want.

This is getting so sick to the point that a father would come to his kids and be like "I'm not taking you anywhere for the summer, but I will give you a certain amount of money" The kids would be happy with that; they all should be slapped, father and children.

Everything is materialistic and kids are growing up with that, their parents don't want to spend time with them and therefore pay them for that time, when the time they would have spent together as a family is not something to be traded for money.

That would be a first instinct, if he didn't learn from that then come other kind of punishments that I really don't know much about, but I know if she knows what she's doing, she won't be stupid enough to, for example, kick him out of the house, no, she would be doing something more torturous such as talking to him, then talking some more.

Women drive me crazy, I swear. Just by the time you figure out how their minds work, yours stop working.

This might not make much sense, but I have to go back to my studies.

The red devil!

Whoever read Biz's blog already knows how crazy the weekend was (It actually was crazier but I can't say more about it here)

My almost favorite part was on the way back from Alain and the party we had in the car because of all the cars going to Al Ahli and Wihda team! We took few pictures but they were not really good and then decided we need to do something and join the party so we found some red baby balloons and whenever we see a car designed coming we open the window and throw some out. I know that might not have been a good idea for a highway but it was fun and I don't think the people in the other cars minded, if they did… they need to chill.


Al Ahli won and they played very well, we were cheering all through the game except for the few people who were with Wihda, and by the way, I think Wihda didn't deserve that goal they got, yes, they didn't and that's exactly why they scored a goal for Al ahli by mistake.

Note: I know this is a little late but I have final exams!

In the exam today, the teacher kept smiling and smiling and I just couldn't stop thinking 'Stop smiling, it's not funny, please leave.'

It's a red, white and blue world

That wall behind them is where we start the tour and it's an American history timeline

Then there're some historical figures and Biz wrote: "These men were welling to make a difference, they indeed made a change" Then there are some posters that were sent to us by the Embassy about America 24/7, they're actually pretty interesting.

THIS IS OUR KITCHEN and it's all HANDMADE by us, we did everything, painted the wall, made the kitchen cabinets and over from foam, drew the window and did the floor too, this part took forever to finish but we were so happy and proud of the outcome. Now if anyone wants a kitchen just give me a call. We also got some 'America food' mainly brownies and cookies and red apples and lemonade, plus this was a very good reason for us to get Starbucks and McDonald's every now and then. Few novels were also put on one of the shelves.

Then come the American map that I posted earlier, we also did it ourselves and thought it wouldn't come out okay but it looks so nice if I may say so.

Hollywood!! It's not clear in this picture! And some random pictures about the 'American culture'

Today when we went to university we found our gate broken and thrown outside because the whole festival is over, it's just sad that we worked so hard on it and now it's over. I'm sorry some of these pictures are not so clear, I might change them if I get any better ones.

Have fun.

In God We Trust

Every two years or so the university holds a global village kind of thing in which students from all the different countries and students associations participate and each do their own country.

Two years ago, my group did part of UAE and it came out great, and this year the made us choose between UAE and USA, we chose USA because when we did UAE some American students helped us, so we're going to help them. Also because we wanted to send a message to everyone about USA and most importantly educate the students about it.

I thought that some people might not really like that idea, I just didn't expect them to fight it this way – people are so stupid and ignorant.

It first started with students talking in the hostels about it, and then cuss words were written on our gate (a guard was put to make sure that's not done again). I thought it's all about students not being educated enough or open-minded to get it, but then employees in the university started talking about it. Two military vehicles were put in the university, one is like the first one from the UAE to enter Iraq in the gulf war or something and the other one was Sheikh Zayed's Allah yurhamu, and rumors came out that some American Military vehicles with American flags on them were parked in the university – some people are just too lame.

And when the American flag, along with all the other countries' flags were put in the university, and all around it, people really hated us.

The opening was last Monday and we were so proud and happy of the outcome, everyone loved it and Sheikh Nahyan liked it to the point that we got him to mark all the places he have been to in America on the map we made.

After that, it was open for everyone and got so crowded, and our corner had the most action and fights, students would come in yelling at us, to the point that I thought some of them would start breaking things, but then we would take them in a tour and explain everything to them and they would love it and thank us before they leave. I was surprised by how much people don't know about the US, and yet they hate it so much, some students went on to say things like 'we didn't know there were Muslims in America!' 'I didn't know there were Masjids in America!' etc.
The funniest thing so far is how so many students when asked who was the first man to step on the moon say 'the Saudi Sheikh Sultan…' he was not the first, and he didn't even go to the moon, they paid two billions for him to just go the space.

To be continued…

They lighten our days

A two year old and four year old girls heard their mother more than once say something like 'close the door before mosquitoes fill the house!' so once, they were playing in the background and their dad kept checking on them and doing something in the house, usually leaving the door open so he can hear them, but by mistake, he closed it once and when he came back out, the four year old said 'baba, you closed the door on us!'
Two year old: 'He thought we're mosquitoes!'



Same two and four year old were playing in a room while their aunt was praying.
Two year old to three year old: 'you farted!'
Four year old: 'no I didn't!'
Two year old: 'yes you did!'
Four year old: 'if I didn't, and you didn't, then it must me Aunt X!'

…Aunt X is praying.
Still praying.




A three year old girl and after her first day in school came back home and while playing with her dad screamed: 'baba! You're 7mar! (Donkey!)'

The father was so shocked that he just laughed because he knew she didn't mean it. It's one of three:
1. She didn't know what's a 7mar or donkey.
2. She love donkeys and it was only a way of showing her love.
3. She had an Egyptian teacher who told them calling someone a donkey in Egypt is a good thing.

Oh yez I notezd.

Out of all the different accents I have to listen to and understand on a daily basis, or something close, I find the Egyptian accent the most difficult to understand.

I hate ordering from Pizza Hut because they're all Egyptians and I stand there for I don't know how long trying to explain what I want because I don't understand their Arabic or their English and they don't get what I'm saying, very confusing. Also, they always act as if the problem is in me…

This semester, I only have one Egyptian teacher and I gave up talking to him a long time ago, because it can be really embarrassing for me when he talks to me in Arabic or English and I don't get what he's saying, and I'm always expected to repeat what I said few times for him to get it.

Ok, these are few examples that I remember from class:
Teacher: 'something something will cause the something to be fucktuated'
Me thinking to myself: I'm pretty sure it's not that! Guess he meant fluctuated.'
Brime, I'm guessing it's prime but I have a very strong it's something else…
Parzentage, okay this one is eazy!
Infest, I believe infesting has nothing to do with finance so it is for sure invest.

I'm not criticizing anyone or anything because I know myself that I get all 'blah blah blah' and no one understands what I'm saying when I'm tired – both in English and Arabic.

Dubai - SZR

No need to say anything, ha? a picture is worth a thousand words...

To educate them...

Education has been taking a lot of my time, not educating myself because I'm always doing that, but I have been thinking so much about the quality of the education here and how much it needs to be improved.

That take me to the topic of how much it cost, so I just did a simple calculation. If we say the tuition starts at 4000 in KG1 and then increases by 500 every year.

That will sum up to 101500 for each child.

That's impossible though because it will mean that the tuition for grade 12 is 10500 which cannot be. All the schools I know cost at least 12000 for a G12 and could go up to something more than 30,000.

Oh, books and activities where not included.

Add to that, that the quality of education is so bad that many students take extra classes which cost 100-500/hour.

When I realized how much it actually did cost my parents to educate me and my siblings, I had a talk with mom.

It's all about the car you drive

Cadillac Escalade

Cadillac EXT

Which one would you rather drive? and don't say neither, please. If you don't know which one, then just say the EXT, because if you say the Escalade then one day you will have 7 kids to drive them around in this car. or whatever.

UAE university - CIT building

UAE University is spread over 7 different campuses (maybe more!) all around Alain. Female students are all in one campus except for the Medical students who're in Tawam Hospital and IT students who are in Jimi campus.

The IT students study there because the administration thought that it's more convenient for the teaching staff to be in one place and female and male and female students there. So there is an 'open space' office for the teachers with two doors on each side, one to the female part of the building and the other for the male and each is open for two days every week.

Female IT students have to take courses in Maqam campus so it's very tiresome and not convenient at all for them to keep going back and forth. They won't have to go through that for much longer though because the IT building in Maqam campus is almost ready, you can check the pictures here.

With that the male students will be worse off (I'm in micro-economics class. :P) because they will have to travel back and forth between Jimi and Maqam, and there goes their allowances on petrol.

And the train took off…

Out of all the ministries in the UAE I believe that the ministry of Education is the most difficult to fix, as someone once said "it's the ministries' crematory" "محرقة الوزارات".

Now everyone knows how badly education in the UAE needs to be changed, improved, and made better in whatever way possible, I'm just wondering, is the current minister the one who's going to do that, or are we to wait few more years, generations, for the right one?

Dr. Hanif has been a minister for few months now and the thing he do the best I believe is pose for pictures, he is in every single newspaper every day, how's that going to help the ministry?! It needs someone who works night and day for this country instead of someone who attends every single party where there are any Sheikhs.

One other thing he is good at is talking, he talks, talks, talks about everything, yet he never says anything about what is being done to change the education here!

I watched an interview he had on TV last week, not because I'm interested but it was the only available entertainment in the car, and Dr. Hanif was talking about everything that the people don't want to hear or things that are none of his business. He talked a great deal about a university that's opening in Dubai when he has nothing to do with higher education! Then he went to talk about his kids when honestly, I don't think anyone give a damn. All he was saying are general things that could be said about any other ministry instead of talking as an educator, about education, which is what the people want to listen to and know about.

My favorite part was when he said و انطلق القطار or 'the train took off', talking about the ministry of education and all the changes. First thing that came to my mind was "he's joking, he didn't really say that!" turned out he did and he was not joking about it.

People, you've been warned, the train took off, so sleep with one eye open!

Two things I don't get are, why did he choose a train? It's not part of the culture and there's not train in the UAE, wouldn't it be more interesting if he changed it to something like a Bus? I see the connection between that and schools, or maybe a camel? Just to make sure that kids are connected to the culture. The other thing is, what did he mean by it taking off?

I might just contact the administration in the university and see if they can give us a new slogan, maybe something like ' و انطلق الصاروخ أو الكونكورد ' 'the rocket took off, or maybe the concord'.

On second thoughts, we will leave the rocket for a university in RAK.

I will just observe and see where the train is heading.

Marshmallows and dogs

BREAKING NEWS: SUMMER IS OFFICIALLY HERE.

No more marshmallows I guess, but we can always burn some in the kitchen.

I don't like dogs.

I like dogs when there is a barrier between me and them, I like them from very far away.

We have two dogs at home, they are so very loved by everyone but not me, I can't stand one of them especially because he always jump and look extra excited when he sees me!

Now every time I go home or when I'm leaving, all the workers have to leave and take the dogs away from the main gate for me to jump for the car to the door. Very silly and stupid, but I can't stand them! He licked my brothers feet once and I can't imagine what would happen to me if he did that to me! I might just have to cut it.

It's very weird to go to university not wearing contacts! I can't tell if someone is looking at me and so I chose to ignore everyone.

Also, the girl next to me is wearing a very ugly shirt, now I can see that! (not Biz, the girl next to her.)

*This is a picture of scooby-doo being hanged, he is still there, i'm guessing DEAD.

Interesing failure

Go to Google and type 'failure' then click 'I'm feeling lucky'; very interesting indeed. :D

Zephyr

It can be so soft and soothing,
Caresses your face and lightens it with a smile,
Warms your skin, to warm you deep inside,
You breathe it, it's all you can feel and think of,
Its scent would be embossed in your mind,
With it are memories of joyful times.

It touches you, holds you,
Entwines you until it's all over you,
Then it would move along with its life
But will always bear your aroma with it.

When your scent eases down,
It will once more grant you a call
You feel alive yet again with your first breath of it.

The memories flood you,
You feel like grasping it, clinging to it,
You just want to embrace it,
Keep it with you eternally
For you can't exist without it,
Every breath you take without it hurts.
You yearn for it because you want it,
And it wishes to stay.

You want it because you live to grant it its wishes;
You want it because you dwell in its happiness.

Whoever said you can have everything you want?

It's the breeze.

The breeze can never stay still,
The breeze can't move as it desires
There is a more powerful energy that moves it.

Even love can't beat all,
Even with all the love it has for you,
It can't stay; it's time to go home.

GoodBye.

Men are forced to get married too.

Everyone knows that Islam doesn't allow forced marriages; probably most of the people who read this would say that they would never force a sister, daughter or any female relative to get married when she doesn't want to, thank you but I'm not looking for that.

I have seen many girls forced to get marry without wanting to, but they had to because he's her cousin and they dont want jepordaize the relationship between their families.

A Girl talked to me few weeks before her wedding and said 'I don't want to gey married now; I don't want to marry him! I just want to study.' A few weeks after she got married, she would say something similar. Then she gets pregnant and I feel like something inside that woman died. She is no longer the person I knew. I can feel and see that she's not happy, but what can I do about that?

I can write.

I heard girls talking today and one of them was telling the other about her week. Her sister in law had an operation and can no longer have babies. The girl went on to say 'She doesn't deserve it, I feel bad for her, but not for my brother because he deserves it for the person he is'.
That same girl began talking about her brother who is in jail and ite not the first time . Her father is so sick from what her brother is doing. That same brother is getting married this summer and he's marrying his cousin!!

So I guess it's okay for him to marry a cousin and treat her like a worthless piece of shit. You know, because its his cousin.

The divorce rate is very high in the UAE, and in Alain it's probably the highest. It's getting higher and higher every year. Its just going to get higher. What is being done about that?

Are women the only ones being forced to marry?

No, men are marrying only because their mothers or relatives are nagging them to do so. I'm serious !!! It's here where men get married when they don't want to. It's here where gay men marry females to shut people up. It's here where a married guy would talk to have 'few' other girl friends and his wife knows all about it, but she justs shut up. It's here where men marry to have children who will add to their "prestige". Why?

I know about a woman who was telling her friends that she knows her husband talk to 'girls' and was asking for advice. Her friend just told her to" Shut up, keep to yourself and live with it, for your children's sake!!'

Is that the right thing to do for the kid's sake? Can a father like that really help raise your kids? Do you think he would raise them correclty? I don't think so.

To every man out there who is getting married for his mom to leave him alone, please, be a man and say no if you're not ready for this because there is no law that says you will go to hell if you don't marry before you're 40. Just don't do it if you don't think the girl is the right one, not even if you have the least doubt, because you will just be killing her and hurting your kids.

Women! You shouldn't be letting any person whatsoever force you to marry someone you don't want to marry! You will just be ending your life because when you get married it feels like you were just born and this is your life.

Living with your family until you're 40 is far better than living a life like that!

What can I do?!

I have been trying to stay away from news of any kind this past week because it's just so depressing. International news about Iraq, Palestine, Terrorism, war, and death, then gulf news 'nation' section is full of negative things about this country; I'm not denying them, I just don't want to know them, I don't want to know who killed who, who rapped who, I don't want to know about all the labors here who has almost no rights, I don't want to read anything negative because I'm just so sick from it, it makes me feel so useless.

I have been deleting the daily headlines from NYtimes before I open it, then yesterday I didn't. I opened it and skimmed through all the politics only to read about a 'disease' so I thought at least in that I would gain some knowledge and started reading; I wish I didn't yet I'm glad I know about more about it.

"lymphatic filariasis, a disease in which clusters of four-inch worms as fine as
blond hairs nest in the lymph nodes, the body's drainage system, stretching them
until lymph fluid can only drain downward.
To anyone who has visited poor
tropical countries or seen pictures of the disease, the instantly recognizable
symptom, which afflicts both men and women, is elephantiasis: legs so swollen
that they resemble an elephant's."

Around 120 million people in 80 countries has the disease so you would think that people will know more about it and serious steps will be taken to eliminate the disease which experts says can be done in few generations if drugs were added to salt in the countries affected.

"In poor countries like Haiti and Guyana the disease hangs on. It does not kill,
but it crushes people's spirits and often leaves poor farmers unable to work,
which can mean starvation.
The limbs cannot be surgically drained because the
lymph fluid swells all the tissue instead of filling a pouch. The damage is
permanent, because the overstretched lymph nodes do not shrink again; the worms
eventually just die inside them.
For people with elephantiasis, big pants
will not hide their affliction. Funguses that erupt between toes stink and draw
flies. Children can be mocking. Lovers can be cruel."

Now I know why I would never have studied medicine, I can't stand reading about diseases and thinking of how much pain the people are in and I feel useless yet again.

I think every person should give something to people who are in such situations, donate money and if you don't have that then maybe an act of kindness that will brighten someone's day. Or go donate blood!

This is the link to the article, you can also see some pictures.

Randomness

Is it a Dubai thing or what? That whenever someone is missing for few hours first thing you think of is 'car accident' and grab the phone to call the police and ask. It's a scary thought, but someone I know is usually home before 10:30, he didn't come back until around 12 and his phones was closed, I freaked out!

This week is registration week and in hope to prove to myself and everyone else that 'I CAN DO IT! I CAN DO IT!' I'm going to take two courses in Arabic next semester! God help my GPA though.
So which of these courses should I take?
Arab-Islamic civilization
Contemporary Civilizations
Global Issues
Individual & Society
To me they all sound like so something I wouldn't take but I have to take one of these courses to graduate! Vote people!

It's also pretty windy today which is not good because we walk in the university a lot so you see abayas flying everywhere.

Sitting here in the food court with friend and sister, sister decided to speak Arabic (Note: before coffee) so she said 'mawjat al7ar' bacseer elyoom'
Biz with her Syrian background said: 'why would it happen today?'
Sister: 'Batseer not Bet9eer!'
Biz: 'You said bet9eer! Will it happen?'
Sister: 'it's not going to happen! It will go! Batseer!'
Biz: 'that's not Arabic!'
Sister: 'it's Arabic! It's from 'sataseer! Satath hab!'
Biz: 'you idiot, why didn't you say satath hab in the beginning'


Batseer in Emarati Arabic is it will go.
Bet9eer in Syrian Arabic is it will happen.

Everyone is visiting!

Isn't our university turning into THE hot spot to go to these days?!

Two weeks ago Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak visited the university and a huge party was held on Mother's Day on her honor! The party was great, everyone came and well, I just loved the fireworks! After the party, everyone was talking how it was so great and they loved our university!

Woot! Woot! We rock!

Today Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid visited our university!!!

He also liked it; at least he didn't find problems to comment about except I believe he felt bad for the men because their campus sucks. The thing is, he only checked the new building in our campus which is good, but also bad. The building is the best building ever and it's actually really cool, he went to classes, to the cinema, walked in the food court and drank tea with milk!
It's good because he saw the best part in our university but bad because he didn't see how horrible the old buildings are and maybe made sure the university gets the funding to build the new campus faster. But still, our old buildings are better than the men's campus!

I finished midterms today so hopefully I will be writing more here, I just can't think of anything to write for this blog!

Thoughts going through my head

These are my thoughts, many might disagree, and others might agree, just come out and say what you think.

or should I say 'these are some of the thoughts going through my head'? (props to Biz. :P)

You can't go on living and making the most of this life, achieving your goals, etc. before trusting your foundations, before accepting your roots, where you come from, before taking your identity as a whole and acknowledge is as what makes you the person you're now, and part of that is your dreams. You need to live with it, allow it to be part of you, because it actually is.

A good thing or bad, that's not for you to decide, you shouldn't keep things inside, accept them and then decide if you want to keep it and let people see it, or if you want to tossing once and forever. Make sure you are throwing it away not hiding it in the basement.

I need a holiday! Seriously, I need to GO AWAY!

It's not like I'm spending so much time studying and I need a break, no, I'm not studying much even though I have mid-terms, it's just that I'm always so tired so I'm constantly wasting my time doing nothing and everything at once.

Three more days of March, and then April, and then my Birthday and I don't care whatever think but I feel like I didn't do enough in life!

Let's say I'm 20, so I'm going to live to be 60 then I live one third of my life! I mean 40 sounds like a million years from now, but to think of it as a ratio from your total life, it just sound too short and I will never have time to do what I want to do!

News:
I believe the women way of solving the pigeon's problem is showing better results that the men's way as there are barely any pigeons on our neighbor's house, they all moved to our house. :P

Malsoon's speaking skills is improving significantly; I think he is showing more progress than me! Last week when I was leaving the house I said 'bye Malsoon' and guess what?

Malsoon was like 'bye Malsoon!'

I was dancing! He sounded so…Malsoonish!

I love it when he starts talking to the birds whistling near his window. He goes 'Malsooon?' on and on, and they keep whistling and then he starts blabbering. There are two schools at home about what he is thinking when he is doing that.

- After he says Malsoon and they don't speak people, Malsoon is probably thinking 'god! They are so stupid and ignorant! They can't even talk! I mean come on!'
- Malsoon is actually telling them 'my name is Malsoon, what's yours?'

Mid-terms are this week, it's going okay so far. Thanks God.

Have a good day and keep smiling, it confuses people. :)

I'm innocent

The upcoming UNICEF charity song 'I'm innocent' by Neil Monteiro is available online and will be for few more weeks.

I would suggest you all be nice and go download it from this link.

You can then help promote it, tell people about it, copy it on CDs and sing it (only if you have a nice voice) and tell me about the song. Then ask people to donate a simple amount of money and take it to the UNICEF in your country. The money will be used in that headquarter then.

And btw, this was taken from sleepless in Muscat, thanks Ali.

Flowers make me happy.

After a long day hopping from one class to another at the university; talking to people, reading, writings, studying, and meetings and planning, I leave my class and walk tiredly toward the gate.

I walk through the food court and see all these students, studying, talking, eating, laughing, crying, sulking, or just sitting there wondering what are they doing in such a place. Then you notice the professors here and there just there to grab something to eat before running to their offices or classes or maybe back home where the food is so bad that they are instead eating at the university.

The food court is the heart of the university; it's where you breathe all that youth energy and vibe and feel it.

Women from different nationalities and backgrounds each has her own history and plan for the future and is here for a different reason; they all meet here.

This week there is a flowers festival and so the food court and corridors are crowded with flowers and plants – it's a green world in our university this week. J

I had to stay for an hour after classes on Monday so I decided to go check the flowers. I blocked all voices because it was so crowded and walked back and forth many times; I just couldn't have enough of the flowers and plants.

I don't know flowers and plants because memorizing names would be such a headache for me, but I love flowers and I know that, the roses were so nice and they wouldn't sell them because they are not for sale. I almost cried right there and then because I wanted those roses!

I wanted to buy a flower for many people but didn't buy any because they wouldn't give me the roses I wanted!

I left the building and was feeling so light, as if I was flying not walking outside. The green grass and blue sky just makes me high when there is no burning sun.

I didn't want to walk on the pavement; I wanted to walk on the grass. I didn't want to walk straight and get there fast; I wanted to capture the moment and save it for a bad day. I didn't want to block the sounds; I wanted to listen to the birds and the quietness.

Thinking of a day like that will always bring back a hint of a smile, and that's what I want to remember after I graduate.

I felt so happy and wanted to share that.

What's something that you will miss in your routine these days when these days are over?

Java!

I just spent more than few minutes playing with Java, he is the so sweet and cute, you are welcome to play with him! He can turn his head in a circle like this... *tries to turn head around* ouch. I can't, but he can!

If you think i'm stupid, then I can just blame 3lo because I found the link in his website! (6)

I have so much work to do and so I can't do anything.

Brainstorms

Before you read this, please do this.

Think.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.

What's the first thing that comes to your mind?

Please comment and say it.

We were in a meeting yesterday and to organize the brain storming session and because everyone was so dead and tired, I decided to just write everything that first pops in everyone's mind when I say a world.

I said: "UAE, what's the first that comes to your mind!'

First answer I got was "desert and a white land cruiser'

Few other students agreed that that is true, they think of similar things.

Here are some of the answers I got for different Emirates:

Abu Dhabi:
Etisalat tower
Streets and buildings
Some poetic things about how the people are nice, etc.

Dubai:
The name of a certain hot guy – I told the girl that that is not going to help in our project.
Burj alarab – I thoughts that is old!
Shopping and malls – duh!
Construction – Thank you, but we need positive!
Skiing
Hotels
Madinat Jumeirah – I need a holiday.

Notice that none of the girls there were from Dubai and so no one said Traffic, or maybe it's because I was screaming "POSITIVE"

Sharjah:
Museums
Cultural
Heritage
Bad traffic.

Ajman:
The winner answer was: Bad smell, very smelly indeed.
Beach. – Abu Dhabi beach, Ajman's branch

Ras Al-Khaimah:
Space station!

No one thought of mountains?

Fujairah:
Oldest Masjid in UAE.
They have a tunnel that goes in a mountain.

Umm al-Qaiwain:
They have a big roundabout where kids play football!

After few minutes, we stopped this because it was not helping much. The meeting was a success though because we got what we want.

HOT!

There is a serious problem with the AC in a building in the university where I have THREE classes today! So all day, I have been hopping from one hot class to another! I'm exhausted!

To anyone who is in charge of this AC problem,

Please solve the
problem before you sweat and burn in hell for making us go through
this.

Thank you, I appreciate all the time you spent thinking about
'inferior' students and trying to solve their problems.

I would
just like to note that the university is here for STUDENTS to STUDY, not for
you
to rot in an office in the fourth floor.

Yes, I know where your
offices are.

And I'm writing this during class so if you have a
problem with that, just go knock your head on the wall behind you.
Whenever I look up and see the sweating teacher, I feel bad for him and
then I feel worse for me because HE IS NOT WEARING ONE HUNDRED AND ONE
LAYERS OF
CLOTHING.

Just a student from this #$%^ing university,

MJ

What's your favourite ice cream flavour? I wouldn't mind any now.

Class is over, i'm off to buy myself some ice cream! :D

TAGTAG!

I was not going to do this, but since i'm so busy and don't have the time to think of something to write, I decided to post it and entertain anyone who reads my blog. :)

Four jobs that I’ve had:-
Math and IT tutor for freshmen students. (Ah. That was a complete headache and I just remembered that I hated it to the point that I didn't go collect my money.)
… I never really had a job. Even though I kind of do something now but I don't want to talk about that because I don't get paid.
Oh wait, my dad pays me to study. :D

Movies that I could watch over and over:-
Pride and Prejudice (BBC)
Sound of Music
Wimbledon
Mulan (yes, the Disney Mulan cartoon!)
I will stop here because I always feel like such a … girl.

Four places where I’ve lived-
I have always lived in the UAE except for sometime in Riyadh but I don't even remember that.
Four TV shows that I like:
I don't watch TV.

Four places I’ve vacationed:
UK
Gold Coast, Australia
Cape Town, South Africa
Malaysia
Just had a long discussion about where to go this summer with family, the world seems so small.

Four of my favorite dishes:-
Lasagna
Grilled fish, white rice and green salad.
Yalanji
Caesar salad and Greek salad.

Four sites that I visit daily:-
Gulf News
All the blogs I read
Webmail / Hotmail / Gmail
Google

Four Books that I’ve read this past year
Blink! The power of thinking without thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Few books by Phippla Gregory
I Capture the Castle -- by Dodie Smith
My Sister's Keeper : A Novel – Jodi Picoult

Four Bloggers that I’m going to tag with this:
Everyone was already tagged! But if there is anyone out there who was not tagged and is part of the uae blogging community, then just go do it.

Scooby-Doo! Where are you!

I discovered something about myself!

I almost never sit and give my back to the door!

How did I get to conclusion? I don't know, but I remember that I thought of that before I sleep and thought of where I sit in all my classes, of my bed's position, my place in the living room, my place in our dinner table, etc.

… and then I had some weird dreams.

Then woke up to my sister talking about Scooby-Doo! Yes, the same Scooby-Doo from CartoonNetworks.


Why?

Our neighbors who didn't move to their house yet hanged two Scooby-Doo's from their roof.

Why?

I will just tell you the whole story.

Few weeks ago, the 'men' came and tried shooting all the pigeons and scare them away, but the problem is, they came back.

Ladies and gentlemen, the men's way of doing it didn't work this time so the women took charge.

Today, the women came with two Scooby-Doo's and a Pakistani guy and hanged the two Scooby-Doo's from the roof to scare the pigeons away.

So do you think Scooby-Doo is capable of the job? He will spend the night hunting ghosts (from all the running I see him doing on CartoonNetworks I'm guessing that's what he does…) and the day scaring pigeons away.

Genius idea of the women, isn't it?

I will keep you updated with the results of this experiment. :)


By the way, I don't think they meant for it to be a Scooby-Doo, they just wanted a dog!

It's raining – Alain is the place to be!

It rained all over the UAE, but Alain people know how to celebrate and enjoy it like no one else. :D

Rain in Alain is different too because the weather is not as polluted, and Clouds, green of plants and sand dunes make such a nice picture. Rain in Alain is not grey from all the pollution and dust in Dubai, its clean!

Friday, as we were driving back from Dubai we passed by "7araka" and oh my. It was all covered with cars!! Everyone was outside! Everyone was going there, and there was traffic in Alain and not in front of private schools, no.

It was a rain festival.

They hold events there whenever it rains, so the police and 'ta7areyat' come and they arrange the cars and everything and guys get to "e5amsoon" in turn and all.

I took some pictures but they are not as good as the videos.

When I called my brother to make him feel bad about 'oh all the fun he is missing' he said that Dubai Marina is just perfect and talked about it and made me wish I was there.

Oh yo Bald guy!

My younger brother is getting so into Arabic poetry and reciting it, his Arabic teacher asked him once to show the other students how poetry should be recited; he went out and recited this:

يا صلعة لابي حفص ممردة
كأن ساحتها مرآة فولاذ
ترن تحت الأكف الواقعات به
ا حتى ترن بها أكناف بغداد

Which he memorized from satirical poetry and the guy is basically saying that your bald is like a mirror, and if I touch it the sound would echo all over Baghdad.

The teacher got mad at him; even though I don't think she should have because it's Arabic poetry!

My brother went on to tell her that 'it's Bin ElRomi' and to explain it to her… she still didn't let him say another one.

I found that he knows more than I do, which is basically nothing. He told me this one too:

يقتر عيسى على نفسه
و ليس بباق و لا خالد
فلو يستطيع لتقتيره
تنفس من منخر واحد

Which is that this guy is saying that the other guy is so cheap and greedy that if he could he would breathe from only one nose. (One side!)

(This will probably be my last post that includes arbic, it took me forever to write and edit it, and then I still couldn't do it the way it should be - two columns.)

Pretty deep.

In my communication skills for business first class, the teacher was asking my friend which high school she went to and my friend also mentioned the school I went to but the teacher assumed one way or another that I went to a different school, and I only knew that two weeks later.

Last week, I was leaving class and was ready with my iPod on and all, when she caught me and started asking me questions; I answered but kept walking toward the door. Her husband came, I smiled said hi and thought that now is a good time to leave class, when I was at the door she said 'oh she is the one who went to *insert school name*' and he was like 'ooh!'

I didn't know what to do, I might have told her that I didn't go to that school if she mentioned it when I was the only one there, but the way she said it to her husband, I felt bad about telling her I didn't go to that school.

She then turned to me and asked 'do you know this person?'

MJ: 'eh no' *is walking out*
Husband: 'do you know this person?'
MJ: 'no' *I'm no outside the class and they could see that I was not really paying attention to what they are saying because I had iPod on*
Husband: 'the principle…'
MJ: 'ooh!' *runs away*

In another class…

I like to write my notes on the computer because I always lose papers, they get all mixed on paper, it's neater and easier to study from and because I already have to use the laptop when I'm studying so it's easier to have everything in one place and always with me.

I was answering questions and debating things with the teacher and the teacher kept calling me 'o'7t MJ' (sister MJ) but because the students didn't get what I'm saying, he started explaining it to them in Arabic and English. I thought that now is a good time to read my notes, organize them, and add things to them.

He kept talking and talking.

… And I opened a website and started reading.

'o'7t MJ, what do you think?'

I look up to find that teacher and students are all waiting for my answer.

I think… 'Crap! I'm in trouble!'

And I just said the last number that I heard another girl saying '350!'

WRONG ANSWER!

The teacher had the evilest smile on his face, I could see that he was thinking 'I got you didn't I? Acting all smart and here I got you! You better learn!'

Teacher: 'it's what you were just explaining to us MJ, the answer is 500 because…'

I was going to go after class and show him my notes, just to prove that I was not playing… not that much at least.

The very real Malsoon

The very real Malsoon *insert my family name here* drinking pepsi, but found it's empty and still won't give it back! (no one was holding the pepsi for him in the picture)

He is the cutest thing ever. and so clever too!

He thinks of himself as part of the family, and that he has the right to everything just like every one of us, he has to eat, drink, play, talk, walk, etc. when we do. Only thing he doesn't have is a laptop, and he gets so annoyed when we all use ours and he doesn't have one and so tries to break the laptops or cut the wires.

I love him when he is walking around and then hears my dad's voice and run to him! He does run!

He acts so human at time with all his face expressions. When you talk to him, he turns his head to one side as if he is really listening to what you are saying.

oh, he is an African grey parrot.