Pulling the puzzles apart

Chance Favors the Connected Mind

2011-11-23T19:41:00.001+04:00

Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from – Steven Johnson (2010)

Chance favors the connected mind. That was Johnson’s lastsentence in this TED talks presentation in which he spoke about researchingwhere ideas come from.

He gives points that support the theory that ideas buildslowly over time, that are more likely to happen in chaotic environments (suchas the coffee house in the age of enlightenment in England) and whenpeople share thoughts and problems, this is also known as the liquid network.

The slow hunch is that an ideas is never just suddenlyone thing that is clear in your head but rather a process that builds over aperiod of time slowly. He gave an example of Darwin mentioning in hisautobiography that he came up with the theory of natural selection in an eurekamoment but when a scholar looked at Darwin’s notebooks he found that he had thetheory months before he had the euphony. The point from this is that ideasbuild over a period of time.

This is only a very short summary of the TED talk I watchedbut you can also read more about it in his book (Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation) and youcan watch this video which is a summary of the book on YouTube, I ratherenjoyed watching it because of the way it explains everything by drawing it.

Most of the ideas I had (Good and bad) didn’t happenwhile I’m sitting down and pushing myself to think of an idea, and most of myideas I remember having while talking to someone about something unrelated tothe issue and suddenly I would get this idea and usually end up saying outsomething unrelated to the conversation and confuse the person I’m talking to.The other time that I had any good ideas was just before going to sleep whenI’m half awake and when I wake up in the morning if I didn’t write it down Iwould wonder if I actually dreamt it. Then there are the ideas, most of theseare at work, when I discuss the issue I’m trying to resolve with a colleagueand find a great new idea together.

National Days

2011-11-16T21:10:00.000+04:00

While driving around AlAin tonight I realized that national day decorations in the streets are not a interesting as every year even though this year is the 40^th national day. Usually, by national day AlAin would light up with decoration lights and people from all over the country will come to AlAin to see it but this year you could drive a few roundabouts without see any decorations.

This made me think of National Day in the UAE which is one of my favorite holidays because it always signifies the beginning of winter and rain and so you can see everyone decorating their cars and spending time outdoors either in the desert, parks or any outdoor restaurants and cafes. It’s also the only holiday that you can see physical signs of celebrations everywhere in decorations and festivals unlike Eid holidays, which are more about spending time with families and friends. I feel bad for countries that don’t have national days to celebrate their love to their country and share a holiday with all their few nationals regardless of religion or ethnicity (countries that do not have a national day are UK and Denmark).

What always interested me about national days is that all the national days that I know about are during a time of the year that the weather would be at its best in the country. Such as December in UAE, and Qatar, May in Germany, July in the US and Canada, which could lead us to believe that people are more willing to work, be positive, and build countries when they are happy with the weather. (That was a joke…)

With all this national day talks, I started reading about public holidays in different countries and found out that we don’t have as many public holidays as other countries, for example in the US, they have ten public holidays, in India they celebrate 16 public holidays, Britain has 8 public holidays and we only have 7 (New Year’s Day, Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet), Leilat al-Meiraj (Ascension of the Prophet), Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan), Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), Al-Hijra (Islamic New Year), National Day. That said some of our holidays are more than one day depending on the day of the week (if it’s on a weekend like National Day this year then we don’t get a any days off for National Day) and I don’t know about the other countries exact number of days.

Arabic or Gibberish

2010-10-27T23:34:00.001+04:00

People who know me know how I have never been good at communicating in Arabic (not that I'm any good at it in English, but...). Unfortunately, my first job was in a very strong Arabic environment, where people don’t even just say thank you, their thank you’s are very long and last for minutes. When people ask me how I’m, I just say I’m well, thank you (Alhamdullah I’m fine) but they would say it in so many different ways that half of the time I don’t understand what they were saying.

I often (It actually happened ALL the time!!) embarrassed myself with my lack of knowledge of their arabic. I remember in my first few weeks, I had to do a presentation and the manager I was presenting to kept saying “Bayed Allah Wayhech” and I had no idea what to say because I kept translating it to “May God whiten your face” and just wanted to say “your face!”. I later mentioned this to my brother and turns out you actually do say “Wayhech Abyad” (Your face is white). It sounded ridiculous to me but hopefully one day I will be able to say it without laughing.

What I’m trying to say here, is that if you have kids, then teach them the national Arabic dialogue wherever you live, or just send them to some friends in Al Ain for the summer if you’re local. It will make it easier for them to fit it and understand different people, even in one culture.

Growing up

2007-11-21T21:21:00.001+04:00

Spend in pure converse our eternal day;
Think each in each, immediately wise;
Learn all we lacked before; hear, know, and say
What this tumultuous body now denies;
And feel, who have laid our groping hands away;
And see, no longer blinded by our eyes.
-Rupert Brooke

I came to the conclusion that a person never realizes how much he has grown as much as when he read previous writings of his; journals, blogs, personal emails, etc.

There is no better proof of the things I did that I regret and things I said that certainly shouldn’t have been said. Things that seem trivial now meant so much before and I just wonder how silly and self indulgent I was.

I look around me and I see people, especially young women, living very superficial lives and I tried to make more of my life, but after reading my history I realized that I might not have been superficial but I still was not the person I thought I was; I didn’t live up to the image (not physical!) I had of myself.

I guess that is what growing up and learning is all about, you know more today that you did yesterday and hopefully less than what you will tomorrow, or as Lincoln said it "I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday". I know today that I’m not the same person I was six months ago, and that scares me because it makes me wonder who is the person I’m going to be next year?

This was like a wakeup call to remind me that every single decision I make today, is going to shape my future, whichever path I choose to take today, every hour I was I can’t rewind.

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
-Robert Frost

Midterms are over ... almost!

2007-10-31T14:49:00.000+04:00

Why is it that the last exam is always the hardest to study before? I just get tired from all the exams and the studying, and it all feels like it has been going on forever. While studying for the last exam you can think of a dozen other things that you should be doing, and you get tired faster and an all-nighter seems impossible. On the other hand, when you do well on your last exam all the other grades seems irrelevant and you just want to celebrate.

There are only two courses that any student graduating from UAEU must to take: Islamic Law and Emirates Society. Emirate society is a nightmare to most students in the university and I really didn’t understand why and so in a moment of idiocy I decided that I will take it in Arabic instead of English, I had many reason for doing that one of which is that it is about time for me to improve my Arabic and learn more about my country – in Arabic. Don’t I regret that decision now though, oh yes I do. The teacher seemed like a nice guy, I enjoyed the lecture in general and actually listened to what he was saying, I wrote pages and pages of notes (in Arabic!) and was very confident about doing well, I went to the exam and thought I did great since I wrote all the points needed. Here is what I’m proud of; I wrote two essays in the exam each a page long! The teacher was not as impressed about my answers as I was it seem because he didn’t give me a 100 (I think he really hated my handwriting!), he previously warned us that anyone who questions him about his grading in the essay questions will regret it because then he will open the book and if the student didn’t answer word for word from the book he/she will lost marks. After the exam he said something about the students having bad handwritings, misspelling some words and not underlining key words.

I was so mad, and still am because this course is for all students in the university in all levels and I don’t see why they should make it such a nightmare to the students, why not make it interesting to learn about your culture and history for once?!

I don’t care though because I did great in all my other exams so Egyptian Professor teaching Emirates society and enjoying a power trip is not worth ruining my day. (Can you tell I’m trying to convince myself? I really should have taken that course in English.)

Eid Mubarak

2007-10-18T03:55:00.000+04:00

Belated Eid Mubarak to everyone!

I hate saying Eid was not great but it was not, it felt more like a long weekend where you just have to socialize with people and be nice. Since this Eid was not very enjoyable we are trying to plan something more fun for next Eid but I’m not sure it will work out because exams seem to stick with Eid these days, midterm exams after this Eid and final Exams after next Eid.

What makes us Muslims

2007-10-02T21:34:00.000+04:00

[This post is basically me stating my view regarding what was posted on: Exposing Muslims against Sharia]

It’s a plain fact in life that things change, ideas evolve and cultural norms adapt to the changing environment, but what do we do when the change start affecting religious beliefs and values, and where do we stop and what should we hold to and what should be changed. It’s a sensitive issue in the society and many people deny and can’t accept that we should try to make the best of everything, of course their actions don’t agree with what they say but that’s another story. If we’re not going to change for ourselves then we should think about doing it for our children because we don’t want them to grow up with conflicting ideas in a multicultural society.

That said, there are things that we can’t afford to lose in Islam and our beliefs, they are plain facts that every Muslim knows and whoever doesn’t believe in that or can’t accept it – maybe they should go and give the religion they are self-tailoring for themselves a name other than Islam.

Islam is simple and direct unlike what people think, to be a Muslim you have to believe in some things and do some things that has been craved in our minds since we were kids, so I don’t see how grown up can’t remember them and hold dearly to them?

Articles of Faith (Arkan AlEman) –

Believe in Allah (an only God)
His Angels
His books of revelation (Quran, Torah, Testaments, Bible and more)
All His prophets
The day of judgment and the afterlife
Faith in divine decree whether it’s good or bad.

Five pillars of Islam (Arkan AlEslam) –

Declaration of faith (Alshahada) which goes “I believe that there is only one God and Mohammed is his messenger”
Prayer (Five times a day at designated timings)
Fasting (Seyam) in the month of Ramadan
Zakat – almsgiving in a certain percentage according to a person’s assets.
Hajj – Pilgrimage to Makkah at least once in a Muslim’s life to those who are able.

If you don’t believe in those things then you can’t call yourself a Muslim anymore because how can you identify yourself with a group of people when you don’t believe in what holds the group together?

Summer thrill

2007-10-02T11:44:00.000+04:00

Last summer I finally convinced my mother not to completely freak out and let me ride the slingshot, or it was more like I ran away from her and went to ride it and when she saw them pulling me up she just held the metal and started praying.

I rode it with my brother and sister and after the guys tied us up they said that I’m the one who will have to pull the trigger when we get up and let us loose, it sounded to me as if he was saying “just go up that building and jump.”, just plain instructions and I told him in plain words that I don’t think I can do that but he ignored me and pulled us up. On the way up I was freaking out and holding my brother’s arm so hard I wonder how I didn’t break it or something. When it was time to pull the trigger, I decided that I need to fix my Hijab, just to buy some time you know, and then I got this idea, I will just pull it only a little bit and tell them it’s not working and I’m trying. What happened though is that I just did that and I didn’t realize what happened until I was halfway down – it actually worked and we were falling!

It was the most exhilarating experience ever, I came down and wanted to go up again but they didn’t let me. After doing that I felt like I can ride anything and would really like to bungee jumping and free falling, I love thrill rides!

"The flight suits are connected to flight cables and on pulling their own rip cord, riders plunge in a 30m free fall at 80 to 90 km/h towards the ground before the swinging upwards in a 180 degree arc and then straight down again."

Pictures from the park's website:

Tied up and ready to go and I would guess the guy is telling them they will have to pull the cord, their expressions are just priceless, at least no one took a picture of me at that point this close.

They are flying!

Free to write again

2007-10-01T15:18:00.000+04:00

Since the chance of me being jailed for writing here is null, or at least they say so, I decided I will try my hand at this again.

Now no one mentioned anything about torturing or killing me so I will still have to watch what I write until further notice from higher authorities that I’m to live. For now.

To those people who take life too seriously they don’t get a joke if it slapped them on the face – that was a sarcastic comment.

Ramadan Mubarak to everyone, and good luck in trying to make the most out of the last ten days, don’t forget that this might be your chance to get a free ticket out of hell. J

UAE vs KSA

2007-01-27T21:46:00.000+04:00

For some unknown reason to me, I feel like laughing my evil laugh so HA-HA-HA-HAA!

Friends and family are gathered in our house all watching the game between Emirates and KSA, they're all so excited and I'm sitting in a living room next to the one their sitting in so I can just see their expressions but not the match and they would scream and jump every now and then.

I have a feeling that we're going to lose but they got mad when I mentioned that, my grandmother gave me this 'look' and was like 'have faith' and then mom started trying to give the Saudi's the 'eye' and her mom started lecturing her about it and telling her that she shouldn't do that, don't pray against any one and just watch. I really enjoy watching my parents being lectured at by their parents, especially that they're good children and therefore actually listen and in a way I feel like they turn into little kids, I'm sure they don't enjoy it though.

Mom decided that we're going to have '7ameer bread for dinner but she wants to watch the game so they got the stuff in the living room and they're baking bread there – kind of chaotic but the house smells good, I will go eat.

I still think we're going to lose… Those Saudi's are so tall and the Emaratis are so short. And even if we won this game with will lose against Oman! I'm such an optimistic person!

UPDATE:

WE WON! It was the best goal ever in the last minute too! So awesome! Everyone was jumping and screaming and the whole house was shaking!

I was not sitting with them but then went to eat and said 'Now that I'm here, we will make a goal!' and we did!!! (even though I was saying Saudi will win, i just said that because from past experience that team I'm against always win, believe me, it's true)

Now we're going to play against Oman on Tuesday and hopefully we will win, but mom said how they might because they (Oman) will be going to Bahla today.

People are actually celebrating it big, I can see the fireworks and can hear the cars beeping. I wonder if we're going to sleep tonight from all the noise.

I wish I know why

2007-01-26T17:47:00.000+04:00

Here's an insight on what my life has been like lately. Since I finished exams I have been basically doing nothing except chilling which means thinking about life in general, then I had to spend some time with family. I have never been one to go on and talk to people; I have my 'personal space' issue, so don't jump on my face and start talking.

I didn't grow up around locals, I actually didn't grow up around anyone except my family and didn't even hang out with my cousins so when I grew up and started spending some times with them I saw things as an outsider would. 3lo g mentioned guys holding hands, I faced a similar problem with my female cousins (since no one else would dare come that close) and in the end I just had to go out and say it loud 'don't touch me!'. Maybe it's the norm and nothing is wrong with it, but I'm going to live my way.

Even with my family, I sometimes don't understand their beliefs and ideas and it almost always starts a discussion that I just end because I feel nothing is going to change them, but then sometimes these beliefs, if not changed, are going to effect my future and might hurt me so I just keep on talking and talking – nothing changed yet. Most of these discussions are what I would consider 'racist' but they say it's not that as much as about the culture and society, but if they're not welling to change then how do they expect the society to change, while if they started changing few things then by time everyone will come to accept it and change too, especially that they do that the power to change.

They're just so happy and proud that they're locals that sometimes that cloud their judgment and they would say things that I don't think are even acceptable in Islam. Most of the time these discussions evolve around issues such as marriage and politics; who is fine to marry and who is not, and who is okay to rule and have a high position and who is not. Then sometimes the debates start because of a simple action or saying and grow into this big issue that makes me so mad (I'm really good at just shutting up when I get mad though).

Like last week I challenged my younger brother to braid his hair in Kenya (global village) and at the time I honestly didn't think of it as a challenge that would cause such an issue as much as something he should do now when he's young and enjoy his life. He went and did it and it was so cool, I would post a picture if I can but I can't. Anyways, there we are walking around and we see dad in India and show him the hair and he gave my brother the evil eye and my brother says "MJ dared me to do it!" and then I get the evil eye so I walk away. I still don't get what the problem was and why did my dad get so mad at us but he did and it was like a complete disgrace to the family, they didn't even ask the reasons of why he did it after he blamed me so maybe my dad was more mad that my brother would do such a thing as a challenge (he said something like 'if MJ dared you to jump off a building, would you?') I remember braiding my hair in London when I was 12 or so and walking around so happy with my hair and white boots and I didn't think my dad minded but turned out that he was mad but let me go with it, his reason was that someone might think I have some (how do I say that?!!) African? Blood in my! Which is so wrong to say and harram!

The summary is, I'm the one who always causes such trouble (nothing new there, at least no one was physically hurt this time!) but I still don't know why!

Can anyone please explain why it's such a 'wrong' thing for guys to braid their hair? (He's only 15!)

Break

2007-01-18T03:00:00.000+04:00

This is my favorite time of the day, until sunrise; it's so quiet and peaceful you feel like you're the only person in this world. Of course, most people waste it by sleeping at this time as they are taught to feel that it is the "right thing" to do, when it's just believed so for some unknown reason to me.

I finished exams yesterday and thank God it all went well. If anyone out there thinks that getting good grades is all about being clever and studying hard then I'm forced to just disagree with you, it has a lot to do with luck, or what I would call luck since I don't know what it really is. Now I don't have to think about anything school related until the 11^th of February, not that I think much about it anyways.

We had some plans for this holiday but then some uncle of mine decided to get married and therefore ruin our plans which mean I will be stuck in the country for this holiday. The only thing I know we will do is going to the desert and that will mean I have been to the desert this year more than I went in the past three years.

I watched the opening ceremony for Khaliji18 today and thought it marvelous, my favorite part was when they painted Sheikh Khalifa's picture, and no one guessed that they would do that! The fire part of the show was really interesting to watch too.

Then the game started, everyone was so excited about it and cheering, but we lost. I personally think it was an unfair game which is why I only watch the first half, and the referee has every reason to sleep with one eye open for the rest of his life.

Africa sweet Africa

2007-01-17T06:55:00.000+04:00

My house is turning into Africa!!!

I will barrow Biz's African Drum and...

Lala kahle

In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight

Imbube

Ingonyama ifile    
Ingonyama ilele    
Thula

I have my last final exam in an hour and have been studying all night... Almost.

I spent few hours playing wii too.

I will go have some hot chocolate then. I also have a cookie.

in the jungle, the mighty jungle...

Eid Mubarak

2006-12-30T02:07:00.000+04:00

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.

2006-12-19T22:54:00.000+04:00

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

2006-12-19T22:00:00.000+04:00

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!

2006-12-19T13:01:00.000+04:00

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

2006-12-11T21:47:00.000+04:00

*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?

2006-09-27T17:44:00.000+04:00

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

2006-09-24T13:19:00.000+04:00

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

2006-09-20T10:58:00.000+04:00

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

2006-09-18T10:15:00.000+04:00

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

2006-09-18T10:03:00.000+04:00

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

2006-09-08T23:00:00.000+04:00

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

2006-08-14T21:37:00.000+04:00

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?

2006-08-11T19:53:00.000+04:00

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

2006-06-30T13:12:00.000+04:00

(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

2006-06-22T03:28:00.000+04:00

"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!!

2006-06-20T05:57:00.000+04:00

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?!

2006-06-18T21:00:00.000+04:00

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'

2006-06-18T17:50:00.000+04:00

(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

2006-06-17T19:47:00.001+04:00

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...

2006-06-17T19:47:00.000+04:00

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

2006-06-17T17:32:00.000+04:00

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

2006-06-15T17:59:00.000+04:00

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.

2006-06-10T14:08:00.001+04:00

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...?

2006-06-10T14:08:00.000+04:00

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

2006-06-09T19:48:00.000+04:00

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

2006-06-08T15:52:00.000+04:00

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

2006-05-30T18:19:00.000+04:00

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!

2006-05-28T21:11:00.000+04:00

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

2006-05-20T17:52:00.000+04:00

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

2006-05-15T12:53:00.000+04:00

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

2006-05-13T10:31:00.000+04:00

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.

2006-04-25T22:53:00.000+04:00

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

2006-04-24T19:33:00.000+04:00

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

To educate them...

2006-04-23T18:22:00.000+04:00

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

2006-04-22T14:32:00.000+04:00

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

2006-04-22T13:06:00.000+04:00

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…

2006-04-18T10:37:00.000+04:00

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

2006-04-17T12:54:00.000+04:00

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

2006-04-16T15:28:00.000+04:00

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

Zephyr

2006-04-16T13:36:00.000+04:00

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.

2006-04-11T11:45:00.000+04:00

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?!

2006-04-10T15:05:00.000+04:00

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

2006-04-08T11:21:00.000+04:00

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!

2006-04-04T21:23:00.000+04:00

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

2006-03-28T14:04:00.000+04:00

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

2006-03-16T00:09:00.001+04:00

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.

2006-03-14T10:19:00.000+04:00

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!

2006-03-12T19:41:00.000+04:00

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

2006-03-07T20:26:00.000+04:00

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!

2006-03-06T14:28:00.000+04:00

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!

2006-03-05T21:10:00.000+04:00

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!

2006-02-28T22:39:00.000+04:00

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!

2006-02-27T14:17:00.000+04:00

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!

2006-02-24T21:58:00.000+04:00

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.

2006-02-20T13:45:00.000+04:00

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

2006-02-19T23:06:00.000+04:00

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.

I was right...

2006-02-18T10:55:00.000+04:00

I never thought that heav'n would lose its blue
And sullen storm-clouds mask the gentle sky;
I never thought the rose's velvet hue
Would pale and sicken, though we said good-by.
I never dreamed the lark would hush its note
As day succeeded ever-drearier day,
Nor knew the song that swelled the robin's throat
Would fade to silence, when you went away.
I never knew the sun's irradiant beams
Upon the brooding earth no more would shine,
Nor thought that only in my mocking dreams
Would happiness that once I knew be mine.
I never thought the slim moon, mournfully,
Would shroud her pallid self in murky night.
Dear heart, I never thought these things would be-
I never thought they would, and I was right.
Dorothy Parker

Thursday = Family Time

2006-02-17T01:18:00.000+04:00

Its part of the culture here I believe, but it can be a Thursday or a Friday. In my family it's s Thursday because Friday we go back to Alain, so today was one of those Thursday's.

The only interesting part to me is not seeing family and smiling and answering the question of 'how're you?' one hundred and one times, I just like sitting and listing to the topics discussed, and the topics can be so random that I sit there not listening to what they are saying but thinking how they got to talk about that.

In the past few months, politics, economics and religions have been the main topics, like probably every other family they talked about the new cabinet and I agreed with almost everything they said except the part that some of the new ministers are not 'pure Emarati's' but originally from Iran and therefore 'Eyam' or '3eyam', I was about to slap someone when they started saying that because we all are Emarati's and we are all living in this country and we all want to give it back and make it a better place so who you great-grandmother is is not an issue, if the person is a local who wants to give to this country and is a hard worker then I would vote for him/her to be there because that person deserve it more than a Sheikh who got it only because he is a Sheikh and wants the title, not because he worked for it.

Now it's a different matter if that person doesn't deserve the position and only got it because he works for some Sheikh and would clean their *&^% if he was asked to.

Gas prices where talked about in every gathering.

Crime was one of the main topics, and it scared my mother that she said we might get a dog again. A Pakistani guy raped and killed a local woman in Sharjah and everyone knows about it so how come I didn't hear of it?

Maids and them raising kids was another issue discussed, some new stories about maids abusing kids and how women never give up, they would be talking about it and then go 'MY maid is different!'

… If they only know!

Never send your kids with the driver alone, even if boys.

If you have to work and leave your children with the maid, don't do that, take them to a nursery.

Cars and window's tints were discussed, if you are a women you can have more tint and when a police guy catch you just tell him to go talk to all the guys and then come to you because you are a woman and so has the right to it! (I'm joking but I swear that a relative did it!)

Ajman smells so bad, you can't breathe!

Cars and which ones use more petrol – Lexus's use double what a Nissan's use.

Go read the Universal Islamic Declaration of Human Rights; link is at Emarati's blog.

Philipa Gregory is one of the best authors ever – I love her books!

Let's paint

2006-02-11T14:40:00.000+04:00

The prophet Mohammed PBUH was insulted and hurt by the Jewish and the nonbelievers in Makkah, and he never insulted them, he lived with them, did business with them and then prayed for them, what does that tells us about Islam?

Maybe Muslims around the world should stop for a minute and think, think of why were these cartoons printed and why do people all over the world has a certain wrong view about Islam, why are all these people against Islam.

We, as Muslims, can't deny that the picture Muslims around the world are painting of Islam is not a really nice one; if you ask a western about Islam they would think of 'Afghanistan', 'Bin Laden' 'oppressed women', etc. knowing that, what should we do to change it?

It's marketing.

Was the decision to boycott all Denmark products the right decision? I can't decide that because you need to study it and think; I know thought that what happened in Syria and Lebanon was not the right decision, it was completely wrong and actually hurt us more than it will help, it just help in sketching more lines that shows we are violent in that painting. I also know that I have my own view and know what I would do if I was given the decision.

I would demand an apology and make sure I make them understand that I don't accept what they did; I might decide to stop importing their products if they didn't accept that what they did was not acceptable.

I would put more effort on improving the look or their view of Islam and try to show it with my behavior and acts, not by reading papers or talking to them about how 'good' Islam is, because what is good? I have to show it!

Talking to someone about how Islam is 'good' would be like going to a non-Arab and telling him that the Quran is a miracle and expecting him to covert, Quran is in Arabic, how can you expect them to understand it's miracle? Quran in English or any other language is a translation of a text and no more, there are probably many mistakes in each one of them; the miracle of the Quran is that there is not even on single mistake in it and that is in Arabic.

I think I went out of topic here.

Some Muslims got so angry at these cartoons to the point that they started to insult Christianity, Judaism and other religions. How can they insult other religions and prophets? How would this help us as Muslims or people living in this world? First thing, it's prohibited in Islam to insult any prophet and your Islam is not complete if you don't believe in all prophets. The result of such an act would be more hatred from all sides toward the others which is exactly what we don't want.

I will stop writing and pay more attention to what the professor is saying.

Books distribution

2006-02-08T21:06:00.000+04:00

Every female student who has been to UAE University will know what I'm talking about when I say 'the books distribution nightmare'.

Every semester, more than 15 thousand students has to go through a killing routine to get their books, girls faint and other puke from the bad smells, and most of them will be pushed and hurt one way or another and I would guess that most of them will leave with their books and a ripped abaya.

It would be an average of 350 students every hour and so around 5.83 every minute. If there are 3 windows then each one will have to do 1.94 every minute. Thinking of the workers; it's impossible to work smoothly especially that some times are more crowded because of the schedules.

Yes, it was scary going to the building and seeing all these black waves of women fighting to go through because they never heard the term 'in line'.

Students first go to a room where there are 3 computers and one printer and most of the time on the computers won't be working too, they are given a transaction and then they go to another room with 8 windows and give the transaction and wait for their books.

Through out of my years in university, I have been saved from the nightmare one way or another and I only tried once and left with no transaction but with a ruined abaya. My sister would get my books, or I would slip my ID with a friends and she will get me the paper. Last semester I went a week early and when the guy said he can't give me my books I was like 'okay' and was turning to walk away when he spilled his drink and I gave him a tissue so he asked for my ID and my friends' and gave us our books!

I went yesterday to get my books and oh my shock when I saw that they changed the whole system!

It's in the 'gym' which is more than just a gym and I used for many things. You enter and they give you a number and you sit in chairs, which are so comfortable btw. There are 14 windows and extra people who help the 14 at the computers. Over each 'station' there is a screen that shows the number of the student who should go and they also call the number and to which screen.

So I was sitting there with my friend, eating and chatting and we could also have used the internet; why can't student appreciate what they have? I heard some students complaining that they have to wait 'forever' to get their books! I left with my books around 20 minutes after I came in, last semester I would have waiting for at least 2 hours! I honestly felt like slapping all these whiny girls!

It's interesting how they changed from a 1990's system to a 2006 system in one semester!

Just another day at university

2006-02-07T14:33:00.000+04:00

I didn't write much in this blog because I couldn't thin of anything to write; because I couldn't think of the purpose of this blog and everything I could think of writing about sounds personal and so I just post it somewhere else.

From this day, this blog is to write about my life. I will write about every day's incidents in my life; a young Muslim and Arab women enjoying her years in university.

A group of university students from America visited the university and I was one of the students who represented our university and met them, which was really interesting even though at some point it felt as if the main purpose of this is for our university to take pictures and write about it in newspapers which was really frustrating.

It took place in the Medicine College since that is the only university campus in which female and male students can have easy access. They first made a presentation and then showed a very boring video about the university, almost everyone was falling asleep while watching it and then suddenly it said 'laptop is running out of battery' and turned off, which was really fun and everyone woke up and laughing and was happy again.

After we went to a conference room and the students met the vice chancellor and asked him few questions. When he left they took the 'male' students to another conference room and we stayed to talk with the female students and they asked us many interesting questions and we wanted to talk more but they made us leave!

Most of the questions where about our culture and Islam and our views as women about them all, they said that since they came they never got the chance to talk to women and really wanted to talk more to us, I didn’t even get to ask them anything.

If we talked more they would have realized that we are younger than them, around 3 to 5 years? I'm just guessing here.

We will try to do this again, but next time we will ask them to stay longer and visit all the campuses and meet more students; the university should just realize that the point of it is not related to media, we need these people to come and see and learn more about our culture and religion.

(the picture was taken last spring on Mosaic day in the university when more than 8000 students put a piece of mosaic in the border of the largest mosaic in the world - it's supposed to be anyways. The mosaic is now in the university's Maqam campus)

JUMP!

2006-02-01T19:57:00.000+04:00

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.- Mark Twain

It's good in every way to do something new, something that will make your heart beats faster, something that before you do you know that it's not safe, that it won't be all fun, but just do it because normality and consistency kills something inside every person whether they realize it or not; it's their choice if they want to live with that or not.

I always hated to be just 'one of them' but I found today that I also don't like being the different one; being starred at and talked to as if you are really from a different plant.

Go out there and do something you thought once you would never do, go jump in a freezing pool or try some new food or buy an extra bright or dye your hair a new color try to have fun doing it do.

My best wishes to all these people out there who still have to go to school or work tomorrow, I feel sorry for y'all because I got Monday off and tomorrow too!

For the first time in a long time, I can't think of a book to read so please if anyone out there in this world has some really good books recommendations, I need help!

(This post was written yesterday but I couldn't post it because internet is not working at home, Etisalat better fix the problem before Saturday. I know where the boss live and his children! *devil face*)

Home sweet home

2006-01-27T22:03:00.000+04:00

The drive back to Alain after few weeks in Dubai was so calming and beautiful; I was so happy I'm going home. I couldn't stop looking at everything around me and thinking how people should spend more time looking at the small things around them; the blue clear sky and the sand dunes with green tree in between makes a great portrait that I would never tire from.

They always say that you don't appreciate what you have until you realize that you might lose it and lose it soon, which, I believe, is true. When I realized that I might move to Dubai and my drive to school will be around 30 minutes instead of the SIX minutes here; I almost had a heart attack.

I think of how lovely the sky looks at sunset every now and then, it's so full of colors; orange blue red and all that is that can be made from these colors, I just can't forget how I felt once at sunset when I was driving in the car, the sun was straight ahead, so big, huge, and full of color, it just makes me think of bigger things and life.

This brings a question to my mind, it is a normal thing for friends to call each other when they look at the sky and see how beautiful it is? When they look at a full-moon and feel so fascinated with its beauty?

Because we had to stop somewhere on the way home, we didn't take the usual right when you enter Alain. For some reasons, which might be the songs I was listening to, I kept thinking of when I was a child and what everything meant to me, everything reminded me of along time ago (yea, right, like 4, 5 years ago? I'm just feeling old, like I already have a history! :D) I saw the sign to Hilli and couldn't stop laughing and for some reasons I remembered this one incident when a friend suggested we skate anticlockwise and a guy kicked me in the stomach. I remembered how stupid we were (doesn't mean I'm not stupid now) and smiled.

I saw that same friend just few minutes later which was so weird and brought back memories best forgotten.

I'm back home and back to my life and the one I love. University starts tomorrow, which is not great but also the best thing that can happen in the world. Good luck to everyone!

Give Thanks to Allah

2005-12-28T22:14:00.000+04:00

Give thanks to Allah

Nation of Islam

The rumors are true; Michael Jackson did join the Nation of Islam.

He sang it for him because they supported him when he was sued.

Michael Jackson played with a rich kid from Nation of Islam, the child of someone with influence and so as to keep things quiet he did the song.

As a brother in color, and to support the Nation of Islam he did the song.

here

6. WE BELIEVE in the judgment; we believe this first judgment will take place as God revealed, in America.
12. WE BELIEVE that Allah (God) appeared in the Person of Master W. Fard Muhammad, July, 1930; the long-awaited "Messiah" of the Christians and the "Mahdi" of the Muslims.

* A

nyone who comments and call him MJ will be shot on the spot; call him Michael, Jackson, Michael Jackson, Jackass, whatever you want but NOT MJ.

Finally Finals

2005-12-28T20:33:00.000+04:00

Reading all the Arabic newspaper, not scanning them, but actually sitting down and reading them.
Catching up with people I didn't talk to for months! I mean, I have to talk to them at one point or another, so why not now?
Checking every website that was mention in my MIS book while I was studying; there are examples of every website that can be found online.
Reading books at 2 AM that I had for months and never cared to read more than three pages from.
Checked the yahoo chat room about Islam, for the first time and I couldn't stay for more than 15 minutes, if not less.
Finding in necessary to calculate my average one hundred and one times before each final exam and how much points can I miss and still get an A or such.
Finishes the exam fast and decide how many points I might miss and guess my grade.
Calculating how many credit hours do I have until I graduate and how many courses should I take every semester to finish in such time.
Thinking of were I'm going to do my internship, even though I still don't have to think of it.
Exercising is good for my health.
Playing computer games..
Finding it so important and vital that I discuss important issues in the world with friends.
Writing this.

I'm going to stop at 13; I don't want to give a bad impression.

Maybe I should write a post about the difference between being an IT student and a Business student, that would be fun.

Change

2005-12-26T12:44:00.000+04:00

"Any change, any loss, does not make us victims. Others can shake you, surprise you, disappoint you, but they can't prevent you from acting, from taking the situation you're presented with and moving on. No matter where you are in life, no matter what your situation, you can always do something. You always have a choice and the choice can be power." -Blaine Lee

The mall story

2005-12-21T20:11:00.000+04:00

Last week I went to Mall of the Emirates with my family, they went to the food court while I went with A and F to Starbucks to get drinks. When we went to the food court we found M talking to a lady and the lady was raising her voice and pointing at M rudely, when we asked what's going on, we were told that the lady is wearing nasty clothes and was sitting in a way to reveal as much as possible (she was not wearing underwear this time!) and when M asked her to sit and try to cover herself the lady started yelling at M and telling her it's none of her business and that she is not Muslim, M told the lady that 'I don't care what your religion is, I just don't like to see such things in my country' and the lady said something which meant in short 'you cover yourself here, but when you leave your country you take everything off.' She also said something's about this country and how people here are just stupid or something. That just pissed M off and she just tried to ignore the lady so not to make a scene but the lady won't stop saying rude things. That was when we came; I asked where is the lady and her group from and was told from Colombia. A tried to calm everyone down and told the lady to just let go but she wouldn't and so she went to call the security guy. I was sitting there waiting for A to come back and the lady started shaking and laughing at us, I got so mad and felt like slapping her, honestly I did feel like slapping her, but since A is going to call the security, I thought we should give them a chance to do something about it. When A came back with two guys, they ladies started laughing and saying side comments to each other, M told the guys what happened and she told him that he better do something about it or she will take this whole thing to higher authority, because her wearing that is something and her insulting the country and its people is something else. I guess the mall's security saw in the cameras the chaos around us and so few other guys came who were not wearing the uniform. When they guy started talking to the lady she said something about how she respect this country and such, she also told him that what she is not wearing anything bad and stood to show him and the guy was like 'I don't want to see!!' just when the other guys came and pointed at A and said 'you see her! How she is covered and all? When she leaves this country she takes off all her clothes' and because her English is bad she tried to get the message over by motioning how she would take off her bra! That was what they other guys heard and they told her and the ladies with her to take their food and escorted them out of the mall. I forgot to mention that we found the ladies are originally Lebanese and that they understand Arabic.

That was the story; do I need to comment on it? I will leave that for the comments.

GCC

2005-12-20T12:39:00.000+04:00

Yesterday, I read in the gulfnews that in the GCC summit they decided that 'Iran is not worrisome' and I was surprised and confused because few weeks ago the UAE minister of foreign affairs Rashid Abdullah had an interview on TV and he was so clear in stating that Iran IS worrisome. It turned out that Amr Moussa - The Secretary General of the League of Arab States is the one who said it is not worrisome and so this is what was written in gulfnews about it, I'm going to post it here because I want to highlight few parts.

Abdullah dismisses Mousa's concerns

Dubai: UAE Foreign Minister Rashid Abdullah has brushed off a letter sent to the 26th GCC Summit by Amr Mousa, Secretary General of the Arab League. He said Mousa should worry more about the security of the Gulf region.

The letter, part of which was published by a Kuwaiti newspaper, criticised the GCC position on Iran's nuclear programme. Mousa reportedly urged the GCC to "support" the Iranian position and "focus more" on Israel's nuclear arsenal.

"We appreciate the worries expressed by Amr Mousa, as an Egyptian citizen, over the Israeli nuclear programme and we share them. But in the Gulf, we have fears and worries from the Iranian programme. Mousa should also talk about that," Abdullah said. "If Mousa doesn't agree with us, that is his business."

The letter also accused the GCC of exerting undue pressure on Syria and blaming it of killing former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri. The Kuwaiti newspaper described the letter as "outrageous."

In that interview few weeks ago on TV, the reporter said that the minister was so direct and answer questioned directly not like people in politics in the Arab world, he stated that the minister said more than they usually do.

Books

2005-12-19T14:12:00.000+04:00

Veronika decides to die – Paulo Coelho

Veronika seems to have everything she could wish for. She is young and pretty, has plenty of attractive boyfriends, goes dancing, has a steady job, a loving family. Yes Veronika is not happy; something is lacking in her life. On the morning of November 11th 1997, she decides to die. She takes an overdose of sleeping pills, only to wake some time later in Villete, the local hospital. There she is told that although she is alive now her heart is damaged and she has only a few days to live…
This story follows Veronika through these intense days as, to her surprise, she finds herself drawn into the enclosed world of Villlete. She begins to notice more, to become interested in the other patients. She starts to see her past relationships much more clearly and understand why she had felt her life had no meaning. In this heightened state, Veronika discovers things she has never really allowed herself to feel before; hatred, fear, curiosity, love – even sexual awakening. Against all odds, she finds she is falling in love and wanting, if at all possible, to live again…

I want to read that book! I didn't like the only book I read by Paulo but I think I will like this book more!

I also finished reading Leo the African, it took me such a long time to finish which really annoyed me so I stayed up last night really late to finish it and I did. I liked the book more than I thought I would. I don't know how true is the history in the book, which didn't really matter much to me because I don't know much about the history of that time, it was interesting to read a book written about a different place and different people than Henry VII, and to think that the two books talk about the same time and lives so different.

My man, my leg and other theories:

2005-12-17T23:24:00.000+04:00

My man theory:

When a wife talks about her husband, she says in Arab 'Rajlee' or 'Raylee' which means my man, and is also so close to the word 'my foot'. A woman says that because deep down in her subconscious mind she thinks of her husband as her foot and that she can takes him with her wherever she wants to go.

Love theory:

People can only love one person at a time. So if a husband loved his wife and she died, he will still love her but his love to her will 'dim' with time and he will be able to love another.

This theory was discussed after Biz told me that in Leo the African he will not go back to Heba.

It's Christmas... in Dubai.

2005-12-17T14:40:00.000+04:00

Christmas tree in Mall of the Emirates!!

The lights in Mall of the Emirates, they are soo cool! I want some in my room!

Globalization

2005-12-11T13:56:00.000+04:00

Competition is good because it brings out the best in each country, company or person.

I started reading 'The world is flat' by Thomas L. Friedman; it is about globalization and the history of it. I never really thought I would be reading such a book, but my father gave it to my sister and the maids put it in my room, so I read a chapter before I sleep.

The book is interesting as it describe few things; the author said how globalization went through three steps:
1. Globalization 1.0: is up to 1800; when the competition was between countries.
2. Globalization 2.0: is from 1800 to 2000, where it was about cooperation's going international and competition between them.
3. Globalization 3.0: since 2000 the competition started between individual.

Globalization is when companies and individual work internationally, when Taxes of people in the US are done in the US, when CEO's in America and Europe has personal assistants in India, when call centers in America and the help line for Dell, Microsoft and so many other organizations is in India, when a city in China is to Japan what India is to Japan.

I don't know much about the author of the book but I know he is Jewish plus I know everything that was written in the book about him. My sister said that she saw him once in TV and that he was talking about Muslims and Islam in a not very nice way.

In our business courses, we are studying about organizations going global; maybe they should start giving more courses about 'the individual' and how can represent our selves in this world. Where are we, as Muslims, in this world? Some people would say that Dubai is the New York of the 21st century, but where does that put us as people who are from UAE or live here?

I can't really talk about globalization or debate the book since I didn't finish reading it, I will probably not finish it either, and it is always nice to know about everything and anything. Also, I don't have the book while writing this, so I just wrote what I can remember, and I think I remembered more that I thought I would!

nothing

2005-12-09T22:29:00.000+04:00

Most annoying thing ever: to forget the book you are reading in the weekend place and so have to postpone reading it for five days. (the book is leo the african! and I just got to the really good parts yesterday, should have stayed all night and finished it.)

I was ordering ice cream and the guy who was taking my order was smiling weirdly at me and I guess he was just high said: 'you want snickerdoodle?' I smiled back at him and said 'Yes! I want snickerdoodle!' and my sister who was standing next to me couldn't stop laughing; the word snickerdoodle is funny by itself, and when a guy say it while smiling like a 'cheese' smile, that is hilarious. To me at least, I'm easily entertained. :)

Someone I know was driving and putting some raseed in his phone and the window was open. When he finished, instead of throwing the card from the window, he threw his phone! I think he deserved it because I keep telling him not to throw things like that! so people of the world, stop throwing stuff or you will end like that guy! hahaha.

Lost

2005-12-07T23:11:00.000+04:00

When I started this blog, it was to be anon and it was to be about nothing personal. Now, I don't care about that, even if someone found it, I don't care if they learned things about me that they didn't know; this is me, live with it.

At one point in my life, I was so centered and knew what I was doing, school was everything to me, and making my parents proud was so important to me that it pushed me to do things many people wish they can do, I did them and never for a minute stopped to think about it all, I thought it was normal that people should be like that.

I lost it all; I don't know what I'm doing with my life anymore. One of the saddest moments in my life was when I realized that I can't remember when was the last time that I opened a book to study, maybe last year because I don't remember studying this year at all. I'm still getting A's but that's not the point, I want to learn and now I don't feel like I'm learning, I don't even give my full attention to the professor in class.

I'm feeling bad about myself now, and about some decisions I made in my life not because of the decisions I made, but because of the person I'm turning to. Not knowing what my situation is going to be next year or few months from now is not helping either; I'm so tired from it all. Maybe starting university young was not such a good idea, or maybe it was because it gave me more time to find myself, but I'm just losing myself.

Did I sound like a sick, depressed teenage there? I'm not. J

Thank Allah, for you are going to die.

2005-12-07T11:49:00.000+04:00

'Too often, at funerals, I hear men and women believers cursing death. But death is a gift from the Most High, and one cannot curse that which comes from Him. Does the word "gift" seem incongruous to you? It is nevertheless the absolute truth. If death is not inevitable, man would have wasted his whole life attempting to avoid it. He would have risked nothing, attempted nothing, undertaken nothing, invented nothing, built nothing. Life would have been a perpetual convalescence. Yes my brothers, let us thank God for having made us the this gift of death, so that life is to have meaning; of night, that day is to have meaning; silence, that speech is to have meaning; illness, that health is to have meaning; war, that peace is to have meaning. Let us give thanks to Him for having given us weariness and pain, so that rest and joy are to have meaning. Let us give thanks to Him, Whose wisdom is infinite.'

- From leo the african By Amin Maalouf

Domestic help! my ...

2005-12-06T19:22:00.000+04:00

Why would a woman leave her country and come to work in a country she barely knows anything about? Why would she leave her family and the town she never left in her life to travel for hours in a plane she has never been in before? Why would she go toward a life she knows nothing about? Why would she go work for someone she doesn't know or even speak the same language as him/her?

She would only do that because she needs to do so, because she has to go make money for her family, children and herself. I grew up being told that they are poor and that maids left their families so we should make them feel at home. First thing a maid is told when she comes to our house is that she is not allowed to 'touch' any of the kids because that's the mother's job. We knew we had maids to help in the house so my mother would have more time to spend with the children. How did affect the person I'm now?

I always thought that it has nothing with the person I'm now, because I know how to do everything myself I just don't help around the house because there are maids who are paid to do that, I just know everything and if the situation needed, I will help; I was always so sure of that. I grew up and met people and made friends and realized that not everyone lives the way I do, my friends started calling me spoiled and lazy, some family members started calling me that too, which made me stop and think, and I'm still thinking.

People who look from the outside at a certain class of people might think differently, but I feel I know why many people have maids the way they do. It is not about 'needing' the help; why would three people need a domestic staff of 20? It is not about 'the help' because the maids are not helping anyone, they are doing the job; they are raising the kids, and running the house in short.

These people have maids because of their prestige and to tell people they have a certain number of maids, because they are too lazy to get their own water or take their own clothes from the closet. These people are SPOILED (with a caps lock!) and sick, because someone who does something only to show people IS a sick person. The main idea of a maid is to help someone and to make life easier, not to run every single detail of the house. The idea of a maid is to help around the house NOT to raise children.

Parents who hand their kids to the maid from the first day should know that when their children grow they will understand that, that their parents didn't take care of them, that the maid is the one who raised them and spent time with them, and not because she love them but because she was paid to do so; these children grow up with no love surrounding them.

A maid will never love a child the way his mom or dad can love him or her, she will not have the same patience and care toward them. A mother gets tired from raising her child and might raise her voice in a moment of anger; what would someone expect from a maid who doesn't even love the child, let alone if she hates him!

I would think people would learn from the stories that we hear about maids, but each 'lady' comes and says 'oh my maid is different' how would she know? Few weeks ago, a video was showed on TV of two maids who were alone in the house with the kids and hit them, for god's sake, the video was shown on public TV, can't people just think! The mother of the kids who were hit only fired one of the maids and sent her to the police, she said she can't get rid of two because who will take care of the children! I think that is just sick, I can't believe she did that, didn't she stop herself for a minute and thought what her children will think of that, now and when they grow up, does she think they will forget? I can guarantee to her they won't.

There are a countless number of stories about maids who worked as nannies, some which I heard or saw myself. A maid will never raise a child, she only washes the child and feeds him and that's it, who will teach the child? what will a child learn from someone who doesn't speak his language and barely had any kind of education? I know many people who were raised by maids; one of them told me 'she hates her mom and wish she is dead', how cruel is that? And who is the cause of that? The mother, Father, Child, or the maid?

Identity and home

2005-12-04T19:24:00.000+04:00

For the past few months I have been thinking about a person's identity, or more like 'what defines a person' or 'where is each person from?' and why is that important to people, why can't each person be their own selves, why can't that be enough?

I'm Emarati and I live in United Arab Emirates, some people would ask where the problem is then? Isn't it enough that I know that? I think it is enough but many people don't, they need to know which Emarate I'm from, if you don't give a direct answer to that then there got to be some missing pieces in the puzzle they are trying to put together.

My question is where I'm from? Is it the place where my parents grew up in and then left? Or where I was born? Or where my passport says I'm from? Or where I spent most of my childhood in but never really 'fit in' or where I spend my weekends?

I have never had a problem with that; I don't even think of it as a problem because to me it isn't important where I'm from. I'm just trying to understand and find answers to why is it so important to people here.

Growing up I was not aware of how important it is to people here to put themselves in groups of people, until I came to the point where I had to be around local people who are not family. I was shocked when they asked me 'what tribe I'm from?' and 'who is my tribe's Sheikh?' and such questions. The looks I get when I tell them that I don't know what they are talking about, my family is my family and my grandfather is my oldest figure, isn't that enough? People always ask for more. After sometime I got tired from explaining my history to every person who asks me where I'm from and started giving them the first answer that comes to my mind.

When I talk to my family about it, they tell me what I already know that it's not important. I was told that some people are just 'different' and that they care more about materialistic things. I was told to work hard and try to make something of myself because the work you do and the person you make of yourself is what's important; each person is their own free person, they can make whatever they want from what they have and were given.

Some might wonder and ask 'shouldn't I be proud of my family?' I'm so proud of them, I'm always remind of how great and special they are but I'm not proud of them because of the name they carry or the money they have; these are things that can be lost or taken. I'm proud of who they made themselves to and of all the work they did trying to make this world a better place; these are things that will be printed in history even if the history of simple things, it's a job done that can't be deleted even if some people chose to ignore it.

When I think of my situation, I think of other people who are lost between countries and remind myself that it's not important where the person is from, what's important is what each person think and make of himself.

Is that what they think?

2005-12-03T16:24:00.000+04:00

It is always interesting to know what the other side thinks and why do they do such things that you don't agree with them, because maybe if you know why they are doing it then you would be able to explain to them why you think what they are doing is wrong. Maybe it will change both sides perspective.

I was walking in a mall in Dubai with family and friends last week and the people we saw, what they are wearing and the way they are acting was just so inappropriate. Just as we were leaving and my mother was fid up with all that she saw these group of women and one of them was wearing such a low waist jeans with a white boxer under it, that just pissed mother off and so she went to her and said 'excuse me, your underwear is showing' The lady lowered her underwear when mother told her that, but the other lady said to her 'it's ok, it's a free country' and they walked away. Mother followed them and said 'it's not a free country, it a Muslim country. You are free in your country but not here.' The ladies just walked away and went in a taxi. By the time I was told what happened and my friend wanted to go lecture them they were in a taxi.

Is that what people think? That this is a free country and they are free to wear whatever they want? If that is what they think then they need someone to tell them that that is not the case. This is a Muslim country; they should respect that and the culture.

After thinking about that for hours I thought is that what everyone wants or only me and a small group of people? Maybe most people don't care about it anyway, I don't think I would have cared as much as I do now, I mean I won't even think of it if not for my family and the way this drives them crazy.

I don't want to sound like I'm against foreigners living here; they are part of this country's foundation. I just wish they would respect the religion and culture more. I'm confused. :S

The other Boleyn girl – Phlippa Gregory

2005-11-30T10:28:00.000+04:00

I didn't think I will ever finish reading this book, even after many people recommended it to me, I always thought history is not my thing. One day though, I opened it to check it out and know exactly what it is about but I couldn't put it down and stayed up all night reading it. I think the book is great! Even if you are not interested in the history itself, read the book because it's such a great novel.

What made the story even more interesting is that I have been to London tower and the tour guide showed us where Anne Boleyn and many other people were executed, where she was locked before she was killed, it was the same room that she stayed in on the night of her coronation; so I could picture the place and the people when I was reading the book.

The book starts with the execution of the Duke of Buckingham, Mary who is the narrator in the book was only 13 then, and she was sitting watching the execution with everyone in the court and she thought that the king will stop it at last minute, but he didn't, they did cut the duke's head and took it to the king.

Mary was sent to the French court with her Brother, George and her older sister, Anne when they were all children. She came to the English court at the age of 12 when she married one of the king courtiers. Two years after her marriage, the King 'noticed' her and made it clear he was interested in her. Her family, the Boleyn Howard's, forced her to leave her husband's bed so that she can be the king's mistress and try to give him a son to hold him, because Queen Katherine didn't give him a son and she is getting old. Mary did stay with him for few years and had a daughter and a son from him, but just after she had the son and while she was still in her bed, the King got interested in her sister Anne and was in love with her and wanted no one but her after that.

Mary was allowed to go back to her husband, and he took her. He started taking her out and they were lovers for the first time, they loved each other again but before Mary go to tell him that she does love him he died from a plague.

Anne Boleyn did her evil work on the king, he was enchanted by her and wanted her so badly that he divorced his wife Queen Katherine by saying that he shouldn't have married her in the first place because she was his brother's widow, Anne made him forget how much in love with Katherine he once was.

After marrying Anne, she did give him a daughter and then miscarried few times, every time she does her family try to hide it from the king and everyone else, but in the last time there was no way they could do that and the baby who was dead turn out to be a 'monster' as they called it. What you get from the story is that she had the baby from her brother, and by the end of the story her brother and four other friends of his were executed because they were accused of sleeping with her too.

Mary found a guy who loved her and who wanted to live with her in a farm with her two children, she wanted to live with him there. They got married in secret and then went back to court, but no one knew they are married until Mary was pregnant with his baby and everyone had to know about it. After her sister and brother were executed, they left and went to live in the farm house.

Even after knowing all that about the story, or if you already know more about the history of it, the book is still worth reading.

The society

2005-11-29T13:33:00.000+04:00

When we see how the society here is changing so fast, people would say that it the society here is multi-cultural but I would say it is becoming a culture crasher. When you look at how the people here behave, they no longer are attached to their religion or culture and if you ever ask them why they are acting in a certain way they give answers like we are 'westernized' or 'trying to fit in', but fit in where? Can't you just try to learn good things from other societies but still never forget who you really are?

When you walk in a mall and an emiraty woman gets asked why she is wearing what she is wearing, while another lady who is barely wearing anything is never asked, and also is best served anywhere she goes!

When you see people smoking around children and no one comments on that because the people who are smoking are not locals and so no one should say anything to them, everyone is expected to welcome them with open arms no matter what they do or how they dress, and when you come to think of it, this would probably never happen in an American or most European cities, I'm not saying that those cities or the people living in them are any better than us, but why can't the people here take the good qualities in the so called western society?

What point did we reach when little boys comment about 'two men going to the same toilet cubicle' and when little girls are insulted in their face because they are emiraties. Smoking is accepted, the Hijab is mostly worn as a cultural dress not as a religious dress.

People are judged by what they are wearing, what car they are driving or what bag they are carrying.

These are only simple things, there is much more that my fellow bloggers already mentioned, my point of writing all that is, shouldn't we as Muslims protest and try to change this, if not as Muslims then maybe as people with morals and values who are expected to raise their children in this society that is becoming worse and worse everyday.

That was me ranting to myself at 3 in the morning, so excuse the mistakes. :P