The Workaround...

*Borrowed from the www.chalkboardmanifesto.com

Three Reunions Down, Two More to Go

Meeting people you haven't seen in quite a while can have one of two effects:

• You meet them and it is as if time had stopped since they've left
  
• You meet them and think surely there was a bigger reason why you were apart in the first place

First Move Guide by Gizmodo

Number #1 Egyptian Pro

That's how my coach swings (c:

2010: A Warm Welcome

I'm bidding farewell to 2009 with neither much regret nor with much grudges.  It was pretty eventful, starting out bumpy and roughly, with good and bad news along the way, experiencing disappointments, bereavements and some beautiful moments as well; new found passions, losing myself and then finding it again along the way, physical trauma followed by perfect healing; looking back, I can't help but wonder how on Earth did I manage to get through all this!  After a seemingly endless journey, it is ending on a really good note for me, it depends on how you look at it of course (c;
Leaving the fading 2009 behind, I'm looking forward to 2010 and will embrace it with open arms; I'm looking forward for the planned out kickoff, I just can't wait; I'm seeing so many prospects in the horizon, I also can't wait to work them out to get them to materialize into the long awaited realities.
All that I can do now is hope for the best, and pray that 2010 good days exceed by far it's bad ones.
Happy new year everyone (c:

Evolution of the Human Brain

My almost three year old experience with my nephew tells me that babies are smarter than most people take them for.  They are people also, only mute for a very brief period of their lives, so others would mistake them for dummies instead.  Once they start talking, they don't take anything you say for granted but rather start questioning everything: they keep asking why this is wrong, and tell me why should I listen to you rather do what I want to.
Facebook has also exposed me to teenagers I once knew as kids, and the idiocy I keep seeing in their posts is just preposterous.  It seems as though peer pressure and going with the flow is much more stronger than the urge for stopping one second and questioning whether this flow makes sense or not.  When they were kids they were just as skeptic as my toddler nephew, now all they do is keep on forwarding chain letters and having weird posts all over.
The question is, is it part of the human growth that the brain declines into the pits of idiocy, or does it just take a break in the teenage years of one's life, and then picks up again?
I'll keep a watch and hopefully I may find an answer in a few years time!

Couldn't Resist...

Makes You Want to Get Mugged (c;

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Following my previous post, I really wanted to listen to the original song so I found:


..a version by The Muppets:


..and an amazing Indian twist:


Enjoy...(c:

--W Z J

Season's Greetings

Even though I don't officially celebrate Christmas, but this time of year has always gotten me humming Christmas carols all month long (December I mean).  For the past couple of days I've been humming one particular song, so I'm going to dedicate it to all those celebrating Christmas, and to everyone else, happy holidays (c:

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Five gold rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five gold rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree!

A Beautiful Night Sky

It is the first time in a long while since I last saw a night sky full of beauiful stars and crowned by the three days old new year's crescent. Simply beautiful, reminds me of my childhood's Agami star gazing nights.
Too bad we are approaching the "capital" the view will vanish soon.
It was worth noting though...have a good night everyone!

Sour Grapes

Everyone has expressed their feelings toward the shutdown of OC, except for me trying to be practical and not cry over spilled milk!
Well, I was the first to accept it, saw it coming and felt internally at peace with the whole idea of someone taking the decision for me to leave, rather than walk away from my comfort zone.  It seems I'm still grieving and I'm suffering the delayed discomforts of what happened almost four months ago.  Everybody had said all the good things about OC, but it still didn't make me feel any better, it rather made things worse!  So I'm going to try to find everything negative about it maybe it could help me reach closure on the subject.
So I should officially hate OC, here's why:

• For being too good to be true and not lasting long enough, you really have spoiled every single opportunity for me to like any other workspace!
• For being my very comfortable second home, a person should only have ONE!
• For converting me to sympathize with socialists, when I was fanatically conservative!
• For being so close to my house, now I feel everywhere else is a headache to reach, even if it's within the same neighborhood!
• For teaching me to like Cheikh Imame, I blame you for eternity.
• For making me meet the craziest bunch of friends, whom I can barely live without seeing everyday, for God's sake, we are all dispersed about greater Cairo, it's a pain to meet and even more pain not to!
• For sneaking in the idea of open source and free software, now I can't stand MS products nor am I tolerant with their bugs anymore!
• For crawling under my skin without me noticing, now everybody is thinking I'm crazy for not letting you go!
• For not being fulfilling financially, but perfectly fulfilling on every other level, I was practically a slave and perfectly happy to be one!
• For being on the 11th floor, that didn't help at all when the elevators broke!
• For giving me the best in life, and the best surprises I had ever gotten; I feel I peaked too early!

For that I should forever hate you, and I hate you with all my might because nothing else compares :'(
..I sure hope that would help me get over you!

Smooth..(c;

Egyptians Do Love Their Long Lines!

Egyptians nowadays do not get tired of talking about voting for Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of IAEA, for President in the 2011 elections.  Facebook invitations to supporting groups and fan pages are pouring like heavy rain.  Newspapers, visual media, and political analysts are exhausting the topic day and night.  This is all because ElBaradei ansewered a question about the prospect of his candidacy by saying that if he considers, which he hadn't just yet, he won't run under any political party but rather run as an independent.  He also mentioned that he won't participate in the elections unless he has guarantees they are going to be free elections rather than a cooked up fiascoes the like of what we usually have in Egypt!
All this fuss and the guy has not considered candidacy yet, and as usual Egyptians are trying to hold on to imaginary rescue ropes, that may or may not materialize, instead of taking a positive stand towards their actual problems.  Thousands of Egyptians are lining up behind the wishful thought of ElBaradei for president; simultaneosly thousands of Egyptians are lining up to go pay the unfair real estate tax imposed by an unjust and apparently vindictive government (vindictive against its own people rather than actual enemies and trespassers!).
The lining up in the former situation should be done when the person in question, ElBaradei, in fact run as an independent candidate for the presidency office rather than line up based on speculations or hopes.  In the latter situation, there should be no lines in the first place, for God's sake you are giving this government money because you are taking the burden of your shelter off their backs.  You are giving them money, they should line up before the people not the other way around.  You are giving them money, they should treat you like proper banks treat their respective clients.  You are giving them money that it is not rightfully theirs, so you can avoid paying more in case they catch you not succumbing to their public robbery.
It is really a sad picture to see a great number of people are being publicly mugged in broad daylight by their government of thieves, and the thieves are being condescending to the victims and ask them to patiently wait for their turn to be robbed!
We're living in satiric times indeed!

Same Blog..New URL

I've been reluctant to change the URL for some time, but I've taken the plunge today.  The new one is: http://WonZeeJay.blogspot.com
Same blog, just different URL, I'm just trying to make it more relevant.
If you are wondering how so, the relevance I mean, thanks to my friend R. he called me the name One-Z-Jaz, since his wife is a Double-Z-Jazz ;)  It sounded a bit Chinese when he first said it, and so I decided to keep the Chinese twist to it!
So if you enjoy my blog, keep enjoying it, and if you don't then just ignore and move on with your life(c:

Have a great day...

Compliments to the Chef

Moghul Room, absolutely impressive, there is nothing about it that hadn't exceeded my expectations, even though I heard raving reviews about it and it was highly recommended before I even went.
A big thank you to the best friend, I had a great time as usual, it's your company that makes all the difference!
..and for the 100th time, COMPLIMENTS TO THE CHEF :D

Traffic Enigmas

Three things I cannot really get over in the Egyptians traffic behavior:

1. Not making way for ambulances even when the sirens are deafening; if you really can't care less, at least let it pass to save your self a blinding headache after so much noise in your ears!
2. Traffic jam because of an accident; I wish this was happening because people are helping out, no, they are rather watching the victim(s) like they are watching TV!
3. Bridal motorcades swinging and making stunts in vital routes; this is a brand new thing, I can't trace it back to more than 2 years back, but really if you're so high and want everyone to be happy with you, I seriously doubt that's the way to do it, I'm sure everybody else would be cursing the unholy wedding occasion since you are jeopardizing their safety on the streets!

On another note, look closely you can really see people's personality doesn't change much when they're driving:

• Someone who cuts in lines: you'll see that same person cutting in in front of you to go up/down a bridge for instance, feeling that s/he deserve to get their before you maybe?
• Someone who is insanely slow on a highway (in a pretty good car I'm not talking about low capacity 126): that must be a cold apathetic person!
• Someone who leaves their car wrapped in the manufacturer's plastic and doesn't ever use the car AC: someone who doesn't know how to enjoy the gifts life throws their way, what are you saving these things for, for the person who'll buy the car used from you?!?!
  
• Someone who doesn't remove their hand from the horn, even when really s/he is driving alone in an empty street, I bet that's someone who doesn't stop talking to, maybe just maybe, hear what the other people have to say!
• Someone who drives carelessly, inappropriately slow or fast, doesn't get parking right, zigzags, and two scared to squeeze in between trucks, buses or heavy traffic, also too afraid to move the car lest it gets scratched..I can bet you anything it's a WOMAN and she thinks she can get away with anything just because of her gender! (Feminists hate me, and men stupidly look at me while saying thing knowing that I myself drive and all, well one should say the truth when it's due, no matter what)
• Cab, bus, and microbus drivers seem to have a secret vendetta with privately owned vehicles, very symbolic of the existent social and economical gap between the two!
  
• Don't even get me started on driving instructors, who I believe keep telling their students to ignore the horns and keep on driving slowly in the middle of a busy street!  That's the way for bad drivers proliferation, just what we need!

That's all for today's traffic spill...

P.S. Last year when the new license plates came out, I hated them but i decided they are a good way of standardization on the national level, no some black and some white, license plates.  Guess what did I see last night?! A black car with tinted windows, have the new number, but the plate is black, handwritten, and with "magles shaab" logo!

شر البلية ما يضحك

أنا طول عمرى أقول العيال كبرت فيها عبرة لكل مواقف الحياة

Quality Time Recipe

In case it's been a while since you've seen your favorite friends, here's a recipe with guaranteed success:

1. Get together in your or one of their houses
2. Turn off the cell phones
   
3. Order in
4. Get engaged in a new and/or interesting activity that will allow for talking and bonding
5. Stay a little late, don't mind the curfew ;)

Try it. Savor it. Enjoy the after taste of the evening (c;

EIIR with 11 Presidents

An interesting collection of pictures showing how time had taken its toll on the British monarch actively receiving 11 US presidents throughout her long reign...Long Live the Queen!

Queen Elizabeth with Barack Obama


Queen Elizabeth with George W. Bush


Queen Elizabeth with Bill Clinton


Queen Elizabeth with George Bush

 
Queen Elizabeth with Ronald Reagan

 
Queen Elizabeth with Jimmy Carter


Queen Elizabeth with Gerald Ford


Queen Elizabeth with Richard Nixon


Queen Elizabeth with John F. Kennedy


Queen Elizabeth with Dwight D. Eisenhower


Queen Elizabeth with Harry S. Truman

يا ست هانم...حسنة لله

ملاحظة لا أستطيع تجاهلها و هى أن الشحاتين، مش الشحاتات، بينشنوا على الستات أو البنات عشان ياخدوا منهم فلوس!!! من يومين بالظبط و أنا راجعة من الشغل لاقيت واحد بينادى و يقول "يـــا ست هانم..." فبصيتلوا ظناً منى ان حاجة وقعت منى أو حاجة، لاقيته بكل بجاحة بيقولى "حسنة لله الله يسترك!!!" بصيت حواليا لقيت ما شاء الله رجاله تسد عين الشمس ماليا الشارع، بس برضه سألنى أنا اللى فى سن بناته على حسنة

هو جرى ايه للمواريث الشعبية بتاعت "أنا ماكلش من عرق الستات" كناية ان الراجل مش حيسيب مراته تصرف عليه و على بيته، و الا الآيه الوحيدة اللى حافظنها [ الرِّجَالُ قَوَّامُونَ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ بِمَا فَضَّلَ اللَّهُ بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَبِمَا أَنفَقُوا مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ ]( النساء : 34 ) و طبعاً بينسوا جزء الآية اللى بالأحمر!!! و قال ايه كل الناس تقول "ظل راجل و لا ظل حيطة" طب بأمارة ايه؟!؟! على الأقل انا مش متوقعة الحيطة تحمينى و لا تصرف على البيت، لكن مش اى راجل يبقى أحسن من ظل الحيطة!! بيقولوا ما هو البنات بتشتغل و واخدة فرص الشغل كلها، أنا بقى بقول اذا اردت ان تطاع فأمر بما يستطاع، يعنى مش معقول ييجى عريس يقول انا فى اول حياتى فمش حدفع لا مهر ولا شبكة و لا حفرش بيت، بس عايزك تقعدى فى البيت تربى العيال و خلاص.  يعنى مش قادر يصرف على نفسه و على البنت اللى حيتجوزها و بس، لا و عايز يقعدها من الشغل و تجيب عيال، طب حتصرف عليهم منين...حاجة تجنن

أنا مش بقول ان ما بقاش فى رجالة كويسين، بس مع الأسف بقوا عملة نادرة و مهددين بالإنقراض!  فى أخر الكلام أحب أحيى الرجالة اللى بجد، و للرجالة الثانية: ربنا يكفينا شرّكم

Egyptian Nationalism

A new kind of nationalism had risen a few years back, precisely during the 2006 ACN, and that is related to football.  The Egyptians suddenly found themselves united through the absurdity of this game and swept by the undeniable feeling of belonging to the country.  Many people have commented on the phenomena and dismissing it as showing how shallow have we become as decedents of the people who built the oldest and greatest civilization in human history.
Well I've always been inclined to say that at least there is one thing that is making the Egyptians happy, and make life bearable through the everyday struggle for living and driving through the busy and messy streets of Cairo!
Last weekend I have come to another analysis triggered by a couple of incidents:

1. An article in Al-Masry Al-Youm daily newspaper for Rula Kharsa, speaking about how did the love of our country had been reduced to a football match, and the flag being the symbol of this superficial love, would be rising high if, and only if, our national team wins! OUCH! She was comparing this love to the pride of the Americans of their great nation despite the fact that the majority of the Americans originally come from countries all over the world, and do not have historic attachment, unlike us, to their land.
   
2. A stupid rumor about shutting down the Cairo-Alex Desert Road, a vital route for my weekend commute, that led to a fight with the police call center 122, because the person on the phone was rude and condescending to me, being the inquiring citizen with supposed rights!
3. Yesterday I heard on "90 Minutes" the talk show, the governor of Kafr Sheikh trying to escape responsibility over the fatal accidents of a ferry boat and a speed boat in Rashid, saying that the authority is fed up of the people's negligence and there is really nothing to do anymore! My answer to that is RESIGN for God's sake and let someone who's more capable handle the negligent people!
   

Well that really made me go back in time and remember one stupid song "متقولش ايه ادتنا مصر، قول حندى ايه لمصر" with the word to word translation of "don't say what did Egypt give us, but rather say what will we give Egypt!"  This song is the actually the policy of the Egyptian government towards the people in a nutshell.  Even the Egyptian police's catch phrase that has always indicated that the police is in the people's service, it has changed suddenly to "the police and the people are in the service of the country."  Well what is that supposed to mean, I know the army services the country, but the police should be there to help people out, and that's indirectly helping the country!
The concept of unconditional love, I believe, only exists in the parents' love for their child, and specifically the mother's love.  The dad tends to want his kids to manifest some greatness giving him the satisfaction of knowing he had made a good investment decision.  While for a mother, no matter what her kids turn out to be, she still loves them like she had loved no one else.
Even in the relationship of God and humans, I believe in most religions at least, you can only commit to God, religion, and its teachings if the rewards are worth your while.  You'll be good because you're seeking heaven and a good afterlife; you won't be naughty so Santa will give you the Christmas present you wished for, etc.
Now tell me how can anyone expect Egyptians to love their country when they get nothing, absolutely NOTHING, out of this love! On the contrary they are expected to give in taxes, double taxes, and even more taxes without even seeing that reflected in public health care, proper roads or clean streets.  Clean streets leading to side topic of Ahmed Ezz a couple of weeks ago claiming that the presence of garbage in the capital's streets is a clear evidence that people are living a luxurious life because they are heavily consuming; with the same concept does that make Sweden a poor country because of its spotless streets?!
In reply to Rula Kharsa's article on why Americans seem to love their country more than Egyptians love theirs, below is quick comparison on what each country has to offer to its people:

 

Item	Egypt	US
Passport	Need a visa for almost every single country in the world	Use it like an ID pass anywhere worldwide (almost)
Citizen	No value whatsoever	Valued and appreciated
Presidential Election	Only whoever the incumbent has in mind can run (tailored conditions)	Anyone who's born in the US can run
Taxes	High and no return	High with evident return
Transparency	None	High
Government	Puppet	Effective

As a closing note, it really breaks my heart when I think about the goings on that way, but because at heart I am really Egyptian and proud, I hope that one day I can say it and mean it and everybody else can see it without asking themselves "why would she?"

جنى المصباح

Author: Unknown

لقيت الفانوس مرة ودعكته          طلعلى عفريت قاللى شبيك لبيك قلت خلاص الذل أنا ودعته         ويا عفريت بالطلبات هاهريك قالى هأوأو يا إنسان                   دانا العفريت بن الجان ما يهمنيش مكان وزمان              واطلب وعندى البرهان قلتله عاوز قمح زُرع فى مصر     ومسؤولين يبطلوا فشر وحكومة متعصرنيش عصر        ومرتب يسترنى لآخر الشهر وعاوز عيش بدون طوابير           وحكومة ضد التبذير وانتخابات من غير تزوير            ورئيس سابق أشوفه كتير وعاوز فى بيتى كيلو دقيق            وسبب مقنع لأى حريق ومجلس شعب بدون تصفيق          وفى كأس العالم لينا فريق وعاوز أزور شرم الشيخ              وصباعين كفتة اللى فى السيخ وأشرب مرة عصير بطيخ            وأخرج من القسم بدون تلطيخ ونفسى الضحكة ترجع تانى            وحتة لحمة كندوز أو ضانى وجنيه مصرى زى البرانى           ورصيف للمشى أنا وخلاّنى رد العفريت عليا بغشم                 وقال يا مصرى ماكنش العشم بص.. أنا ممكن أنقل لك الهرم           واسدلك الأوزون اللى اتخرم وأرجعلك الأكل اللى اتهضم           وأعملك بقرة من الغنم وأعملك قصر من العدم                وأقولك معنى شرم برم بس طلباتك طلبات ملموس            عقله خلاص أكله السوس ده تخطيط يا بنى ومدروس            إنك تعيش على طول موكوس وأحنا بناخد منكوا دروس              إزاى نخلى العفريت متعوس ويا رب ترجعنى تانى الفانوس        وزى بعضه أعيش محبوس بدل ما أخرج واتبهدل زيك            وأعيش موكوس على متعوس

Near Death Experience

How come is it that one doesn't get to enjoy life until they are faced with death at some point.  Most of the time the reaction is simply embracing life and experiencing all what life has to offer no matter how risky or how may others perceive you, that would lead to ridicule at times!
I think I'll choose to live by my standards instead of waiting for an eye-opener moment like this!

The Ugly Truth

Last weekend I went with my cousin and her friend to watch "The Ugly Truth" which was highly recommended by one of my friends, N.  Well, as all romantic comedies, or chick flicks, they give me an inevitable bipolar reaction: right after the movie my spirits are sky high, 5 minutes later I sink into depression.  Why? I had an online conversation with N yesterday asking me if I had liked the movie.  We talked about the expectations that filmmakers, especially at Hollywood, set so high, swarming the audience with the Gerard Butlers and the Katherine Heigls, that when you hit reality neither we find our Gerards, nor the guys find their perfect Katherines!
As N very wisely articulated it, the guys are turned off with that not so perfect superficial reality of the Middle Eastern girls, and simply either give up or try to change the girl into a Katherine; while we on the other hand girls go past their initial disappointment of the lack of Gerard's looks and try to find the Gerard deep inside, but sadly that also won't exist.
Hence, it is the UGLY TRUTH of relationships nowadays.
I recommend this movie for the laughs, Katherine's wardrobe, and a nice dose of Gerard Butler ;)
Back to work...

Obsolete Technology Sheep (c:

Happy Eid

 

A Well-Deserved Salute

Just like most peace-loving Cairenes,  I tend to overpay for my cab trip across town, to avoid the inevitable profanity in case the fare was not good enough in the eyes of the receiving party!  So my daily cab fare from my house, Shooting Club, to the office, Moustafa Mahmoud square, I pay L.E. 5, quite a high price for a trip literally down the street, but good old Cairo cab drivers taught us to think otherwise.  Note that I go back home on foot, approximately a 15-minute walk!
Well, a couple of weeks back, the cabbie from my morning ride wanted to give me back my change!!! I was in total shock when he insisted, so I actually fought back for him to take it (better him than the greedy ones, I thought).  I believed this was once in a life time incident and I didn't think twice.  Surprise! Surprise! Just this morning a totally different cabbie did the same thing.
Well, at least this gave me some hope that there are still decent people living and struggling to make it in our beloved country.
I salute you and pray that I would meet more of you daily.  Dear cabbie, you really made my day (c:

Row over a Football Game- What's REALLY Cookin' Here?!

I'm amazed by the media craze over the commotion created before, after, and during the FIFA World Cup qualifiers between Egypt-Algeria
I mean people, especially those living abroad, had been tirelessly complaining about mistreatment, indignation, and acts of violence towards Egyptians from hosting countries, and especially the Arab ones. These attacks are also being committed against Egyptians in their homeland, and the media, police, and political leader would always shake it off as: these are our brothers, they are our guests, allow it to pass this time, turn the other head, and other infuriatingly passive comments that helped non-Egyptians to carry out their trespasses!
So my question is why now, what is so different about those incidents taking place either in Khartoum or back home in Cairo that is causing such a tremor? What is being cooked up for us this time? I wonder!
Since when do all the people see eye-to-eye on the same controversial issue, and how come the government, the opposition, and the people are all united on one front all of a sudden, sadly a stupid football game, when these trespasses had been the norm in the past, and we've always been instructed to suck it up!!!
I for one can't forget the incident back in 1989 when one of the Algerian players blinded the Egyptian national team doctor, what have we done back then? We let it pass!
Did the incident of the Algerian team's bus stoning arise from a 20 year old vendetta? In the eyes of the world, including foreigners living in Egypt, we started it. I don't blame them, we asked for our rights or taking our revenge for something that happened many years ago, which we have let go of at the time.
Our untimely vengeance took away our respect and credibility in the eyes of the world, put our people and team at great risk, and revealed our lack of judgment and proper thinking.
Every passing day confirms my view of my country as a cattle herd controlled by a few cowboys, directing them, to stop, act, and go back to the barn. It is sad, but it really hurts to see my once great country with unrivaled heritage, can go easily down the drain and diminish into a pathetic barnyard!
I can't resist the ominous feeling that something is being maliciously cooked up here, that might come in the form of stand by the Mubaraks Egypt saviors for 30 years and many more generations to come.
Have mercy on us oh dear God!
I'll close my note with: "إن الله لايغير مابقوم حتى يغيروا مابأنفسهم وإذا أراد الله بقومٍ سوءً فلا مرد له ومالهم من دونه من والٍ"

Breaking news.. Celebrity Dies from Swine Flu

He is dead with Swine Flu...And we all know who gave it to HIM

And if you don't...just scroll down and see

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**Disclaimer: I do not own the idea of this post, I received it as a forward on my e-mail with no mention of the original author, and I just liked to share it here at my e-space...so Enjoy!

Dark but hilarious (c:

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

New Items in Stores NOW!!!

So I found these extraordinary items in stores in Kuwait and I was wondering if there is actually a physical and moral excuse to their presence:

• At a hardware store, True Value, I found a fold in three mat to place under a car's tires to help it out of the snow. Well as far as I know, snow is unheard of in Kuwait; if it ever happened and some hail came down, I don't think it would've ever gotten to the extent of piling up and burying a car under!
  
• In Marks and Spencer I found a "same sex civil marriage" greeting card!!! Even if a lot of people are coming out in this part of the world, which I doubt since it is illegal, where exactly did they get a license for a civil marriage, also non-existent in Kuwait??!!!

Funny, no?

Trapped in KUWAIT

So my vacation was not half as bad as I expected it to be, actually it was great I must say. I had two full weeks of following the Kuwaiti scene one-on-one. It is interesting to report that so many changes had taken place, yet nothing has really changed at all!
Whatever I'm going to be spilling in the few following lines is not really complaining, instead those lines will act as notes to self of what I've noticed during my extended vacation in Kuwait. (yes, a vacation in Kuwait, please don't laugh!)

1. More than ever Kuwaiti girls are maintaining some kind of uniform, or style or whatever they call it, I guess to pinpoint each other without much trouble. (telling if you're Kuwaiti or not) Well, I don't want to be mean, at least for the sake of one Kuwaiti who I'd never would wish to offend, but seriously it is just plain funny. Basically they have a huge Hijab-do, I'm sure covering up a great hair-do underneath the veil, high on the center as if they are having a covered-up chignon. They also tend to wear the same exact veil material with different colors, it's basically a solid color material with sparkling beads on one edge! The way they pin it on is exactly the same. Kind of a 1984 deja-vu. RIP Orwell!!!
2. It's 8 AM and all the girls are wearing makeup fit for a wedding party!!! I wonder when do they have to wake up in the morning to fix their faces!! (I remember my professional makeup session took a full hour by the makeup artist and it still looked pale in comparison to the kind of makeup I see here)
   
3. For those who used to insist for some weird reason that I look Kuwaiti, I blame my eyebrows, rest assured I'm 100% sure that I don't look like one any more (c; (Yaaaaaayyyy me)
   
4. So 15 minutes to 1 PM I was running late to go pick up something from the store before the mall closes for lunch time. The parking lot is packed, and I noticed that 2 Kuwaiti girls are heading for their car. (remember you can spot Ks and K-nots) So I back up a little to make way for her to take her car out and I go in. I wait for 7 full minutes and nothing happens, not even the ignition starting. So I decide to leave looking for another spot thinking that they might be waiting for somebody. So right after I leave, I look in the rear-view mirror, and I see her leaving the spot. (Suddenly it hits me that I didn't look like a K, and hence I don't deserve the honor of her leaving me the parking spot) Funny, is it not? Well it didn't really anger me, surprisingly, probably because I was just on time right before the store and the mall closed, but I just can't grasp how would someone take it so seriously to act in such a away. All I felt at that moment was this exactly: يا حرام.
5. Based on points 1, 2, and 4, I have for the first time get a first hand taste of pure racism that I didn't even feel in Europe despite my headdress!!! Of course, if you know me well, you will know that أنا مش بسكوت و حعرف أخد حقى. That's true, it came by coincidence walahy, but the mom ya haram tries to make me speak French by speaking French to me and urging me to reply back in French too. So wherever we go we speak in French as usual, we noticed that this makes Ks very uncomfortable and self-conscience because:
   a. they don't get a word of what we're saying
   b. they can't guess to which nationality do we belong
   c. they think we are making fun of them in French (LOL! و الله ابداً, though it's very tempting)
   So they end up treating us really nicely, win-win; again I feel: يا حرام.
6. Tab3an we know how much Ks love Egyptians! (yeah rightttt!) Well those who go to dear old Egypt come back with the worst memorabilia from there: driving style and manners! For the first time since I started driving, I notice that people here in Kuwait sometimes بيكسروا عليا, tonight I was surprised with a dude taking two lanes و موسطن نفسه على خط الحارة, and finally الفايق الرايق إلي بينشن عليا و يأسدنى وراه. Thankfully not many go to Egypt, but mashalla their impact is screaming out there in the streets; again: يا حرام.
   

I'm still hanging around here for sometime, because of the trap, so there should be more updates to these insights I believe. GTG take some rest...
Ta Ta

Too Much of a Good Thing

I've been in my comfort zone for a little bit more than two years and a half, totally avoiding Cairo's traffic at all costs. It's not that I didn't drive at all, but at least I was not forced into it. I had the luxury of turning my back to it all.
Having this kind of rare bliss, I counted my blessings every single morning, and bragged about it to anyone who cared to listen. So, it turns out I officially JINXED it!!!
A week ago all I could hear them say, "..in two months be prepared to face your worst nightmare, AGAIN!" I'll have to deal with all the noise, the stupidity, and the rediculous normally 15 minutes drive that shall take at least 1.5 hours per trip on a normal working day. The erratic moods resulting from traffic jams and watching an embicile passing in a motorcade. Weekends at home because I physically and mentally not prepared to face the streets again on my days off.
The past two years brought me back to my good old self; I hate to see the second-half-of-2006-me coming back to life. I thought I've finished her off for good, I hope this crazy city doesn't revive her.
Another thing I wanted to get off my chest; it seems that this blog is turning into anger, worries, negative feelings, etc. outlet (c:
Ta Ta...