Thursday, September 28, 2006
how can you lose a 10x30x50 cms bag
This is a guide steps that you shud follow if you want to lose a luggage bag with expensive suits among other stuff packed in:
- leave the bag at the post office in Cairo unlocked with a wrongful written destination address
- send the bag by normal post
- leave the tracing code for the package locked in a closet in a locked room and take the keys with you and travel to another country for indefinitive period with nobody in town having a copy of this key
well, I'm sure that nobody on earth will gonna follow those steps unless if you want to take revenge from the micronesians who are responsible for the global warming issue in the world or you're my MOTHER
- leave the bag at the post office in Cairo unlocked with a wrongful written destination address
- send the bag by normal post
- leave the tracing code for the package locked in a closet in a locked room and take the keys with you and travel to another country for indefinitive period with nobody in town having a copy of this key
well, I'm sure that nobody on earth will gonna follow those steps unless if you want to take revenge from the micronesians who are responsible for the global warming issue in the world or you're my MOTHER
A story that inspired me!!
Well, have got this message from a friend about a true story from London.
A newly assigned Imam - muslim priest - was commuting on a normal day basis life in the same bus that he takes everyday to reach the mosque, on which sometimes he founds the same driver on charge. He got 20 pences extra in the change back from the driver, when he started thinking "I shall give it back, because it's not mine", but after thinking twice "the bus company probably gets loads of profit that such tiny amount won't make a difference with 'em". When the bus stopped for his destination, the Imam gave the 20 pences back to the driver while he was getting off, when the driver asked him "are you the new assignee for the mosque in here" and replying positively, the driver told the Imam that it's been sometime that he was thinking of paying this mosque a visit and check out this religion and know more about it, when he thought to examine the Imam first. After the Imam got off the bus, he was going to collapse and then he prayed to god, "Oh, god I was going to give up your message for 20 pences!!".
Actually, for me it doesn't matter much if it's a true story or one of those fake ones loafing thru e-mails between the different muslim communities trying to push the people more for "being good" whatever it's really good or not, but this story has inspired me toward a different thing.....it's that stereotypes or good images about different countries or cultures are formulated thru US, it's thru the travellers and expats in other countries, of course people who are open minded know that it's nonsense because you can't judge the whole group by the bad apples in it, but not everybody's broad minded enough to realise that.
A newly assigned Imam - muslim priest - was commuting on a normal day basis life in the same bus that he takes everyday to reach the mosque, on which sometimes he founds the same driver on charge. He got 20 pences extra in the change back from the driver, when he started thinking "I shall give it back, because it's not mine", but after thinking twice "the bus company probably gets loads of profit that such tiny amount won't make a difference with 'em". When the bus stopped for his destination, the Imam gave the 20 pences back to the driver while he was getting off, when the driver asked him "are you the new assignee for the mosque in here" and replying positively, the driver told the Imam that it's been sometime that he was thinking of paying this mosque a visit and check out this religion and know more about it, when he thought to examine the Imam first. After the Imam got off the bus, he was going to collapse and then he prayed to god, "Oh, god I was going to give up your message for 20 pences!!".
Actually, for me it doesn't matter much if it's a true story or one of those fake ones loafing thru e-mails between the different muslim communities trying to push the people more for "being good" whatever it's really good or not, but this story has inspired me toward a different thing.....it's that stereotypes or good images about different countries or cultures are formulated thru US, it's thru the travellers and expats in other countries, of course people who are open minded know that it's nonsense because you can't judge the whole group by the bad apples in it, but not everybody's broad minded enough to realise that.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Ramadan time
Actually before Ramadan started, I was a bit worried from getting home sick that till now I'm practicing brilliant techniques to avoid it, but was thinking that having Fitar - Ramadan's dinner - alone would be hard for me and would let me think a lot about the family and friends gatherings during that month back home, and won't help. But actually, since it started, I'm having dinner with friends everyday, which is cool.
2 days ago, we were doing this farewell dinner for a German friend, and there were a lot of random different discussions going around, when one aiesecer was asking me about Ramadan, and once at a sudden there was an absolute silence in the room and everybody were anxiously listening to the conversation. The thing that I like about Dutch that they've got in their education system a bit of info about every religion so they know such things like Ramadan and how muslims would behave during that time, etc... but though, the main debating point of all discussions was the lack of drinking during fasting. Well, me personally didn't had any problems concerning that till now, but may be because we're used to fasting and we know what kind of food we shud eat to avoid feeling thirsty during the day.
One thing that I really like about that month, that how people are trying to create excuses to handle their addictions toward smoking or other bad habits, and this supports my argument that a lot of people are looking to Islam from a superficial side, and mainly muslims themselves. I remember about 3 years ago, just shortly after quiting a lot of bad habits from drinking, smoking, and drugs, and during the first few days of Ramadan when I start feeling a terrible headache that I couldn't bear it, but discovered that it's because lack of coffee during the day, specially that I was used to drink about 7 to 12 mugs of coffee a day!! but actually, such incident made me think about the cause of the problem itself, which is the coffee addiction. From that point, I realised that it's a problem and I should stop and believe it or not, I quit drinking coffee for about 6 months after Ramadan, but even nowadays I don't drink as much as I used to and I'm totally not addicted anymore
2 days ago, we were doing this farewell dinner for a German friend, and there were a lot of random different discussions going around, when one aiesecer was asking me about Ramadan, and once at a sudden there was an absolute silence in the room and everybody were anxiously listening to the conversation. The thing that I like about Dutch that they've got in their education system a bit of info about every religion so they know such things like Ramadan and how muslims would behave during that time, etc... but though, the main debating point of all discussions was the lack of drinking during fasting. Well, me personally didn't had any problems concerning that till now, but may be because we're used to fasting and we know what kind of food we shud eat to avoid feeling thirsty during the day.
One thing that I really like about that month, that how people are trying to create excuses to handle their addictions toward smoking or other bad habits, and this supports my argument that a lot of people are looking to Islam from a superficial side, and mainly muslims themselves. I remember about 3 years ago, just shortly after quiting a lot of bad habits from drinking, smoking, and drugs, and during the first few days of Ramadan when I start feeling a terrible headache that I couldn't bear it, but discovered that it's because lack of coffee during the day, specially that I was used to drink about 7 to 12 mugs of coffee a day!! but actually, such incident made me think about the cause of the problem itself, which is the coffee addiction. From that point, I realised that it's a problem and I should stop and believe it or not, I quit drinking coffee for about 6 months after Ramadan, but even nowadays I don't drink as much as I used to and I'm totally not addicted anymore
Monday, September 25, 2006
can i speak to......what's your name?
I've got a phone call today from a number that's insisting on calling me tens of times and asking for Mr. Etien.....who I've got no clue about who this bastard is.
It went as follows:
Me: I'm sorry ma'am, but this is the call #123213 to ask for the same person and everytime I tell you that it's not his number, it's MINE!!
She: but we're sure of this number, as my colleague has talked to him over the same number last week
Me: are you sure that your colleague wasn't wasted or stoned or laid down when she was talking to him
She: yes, i'm sure
Me: so she's a LIER or you're a FOOL, go away B***H and find somebody else to get him busy
well, of course this would be the normal conversation I would have on a normal day, but it wasn't the case of today, so the Ramadan version was as follows:
Me: I'm sorry ma'am, but you've already called before and I can assure you that I don't know this person
She: but i'm sure that my colleague has called him before on this number
Me: but it's my personal #, sorry can't help
She: how long did you had it? (that sounds like an interrogation, isn't it??)
Me: few months
She: who did you get it from? (this would be so far exceeding my limits, but again it's Ramadan)
Me: I've walked with the power of my own legs and under full consciousness to T-mobile store and got the deal from a middle-aged a bit fat semi-blonde girl, who unfortunately don't remember her name
She: thank you, I know enough now
Me: Grrrrrrr....Arghhhhhh (calm down it's still Ramadan)
Hang up!!
It went as follows:
Me: I'm sorry ma'am, but this is the call #123213 to ask for the same person and everytime I tell you that it's not his number, it's MINE!!
She: but we're sure of this number, as my colleague has talked to him over the same number last week
Me: are you sure that your colleague wasn't wasted or stoned or laid down when she was talking to him
She: yes, i'm sure
Me: so she's a LIER or you're a FOOL, go away B***H and find somebody else to get him busy
well, of course this would be the normal conversation I would have on a normal day, but it wasn't the case of today, so the Ramadan version was as follows:
Me: I'm sorry ma'am, but you've already called before and I can assure you that I don't know this person
She: but i'm sure that my colleague has called him before on this number
Me: but it's my personal #, sorry can't help
She: how long did you had it? (that sounds like an interrogation, isn't it??)
Me: few months
She: who did you get it from? (this would be so far exceeding my limits, but again it's Ramadan)
Me: I've walked with the power of my own legs and under full consciousness to T-mobile store and got the deal from a middle-aged a bit fat semi-blonde girl, who unfortunately don't remember her name
She: thank you, I know enough now
Me: Grrrrrrr....Arghhhhhh (calm down it's still Ramadan)
Hang up!!
are you afraid to fail
When John Kennedy bumped into a janitor at NASA and asked him what he did, the man replied helping to put a man on the moon.
Thats a genuinely inspiring story.
And it raises the question:how many of us really understand the vision behind what we do in our working lives?
Incidentally, when the janitor asked Kennedy what HE was doing there, Kennedy apologised and admitted hed walked into the ladies toilet by mistake.
It was Thomas Edison who said he invented the lightbulb because hed previously invented 99 things that werent a lightbulb.
It was Oscar Wilde who said genius was 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
And it was someone else whose name escapes me who said We learn more from our mistakes than from our successes.
All true. Businesses make a cult of success, but the most successful people in the long run are the ones who arent afraid to fail.
Thats a genuinely inspiring story.
And it raises the question:how many of us really understand the vision behind what we do in our working lives?
Incidentally, when the janitor asked Kennedy what HE was doing there, Kennedy apologised and admitted hed walked into the ladies toilet by mistake.
It was Thomas Edison who said he invented the lightbulb because hed previously invented 99 things that werent a lightbulb.
It was Oscar Wilde who said genius was 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
And it was someone else whose name escapes me who said We learn more from our mistakes than from our successes.
All true. Businesses make a cult of success, but the most successful people in the long run are the ones who arent afraid to fail.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
one year!!
Today is remarking exactly one year from check-in to the United States of the Netherlands, which was by all means one of the superb experiences Ive passed by in my life......dear oh dear, one year!!.....however big or small this period may sound, but the things that Ive learned during this period can never be gained under no other circumstances.
One from among, is living with loads of different nationalities during this period which ranged from Austria, Iran, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Turkey, Germany, France, Spain, Pakistan, Hungary, Estonia, Albania, Greece, Poland and Ireland.
With Ramadan starting tomorrow, to end up a happy milestone in my life, which Im so excited for this year, as Im starting it with a new perspective of the religion Islam and new concepts in life. Bythe way, if anybody interested in checking my and other friends blogging about Ramdan, you can check http://ramadan.nomadlife.org/
One from among, is living with loads of different nationalities during this period which ranged from Austria, Iran, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Turkey, Germany, France, Spain, Pakistan, Hungary, Estonia, Albania, Greece, Poland and Ireland.
With Ramadan starting tomorrow, to end up a happy milestone in my life, which Im so excited for this year, as Im starting it with a new perspective of the religion Islam and new concepts in life. Bythe way, if anybody interested in checking my and other friends blogging about Ramdan, you can check http://ramadan.nomadlife.org/
what's it ;)
I feel it in my fingers.....I feel it in my toes
Friday, September 22, 2006
how do you call it......Liberalism??!!
Well, in last January I've wrote about Fulla - a veiled barby doll - which was one of the topics that media like to blow, just to sell some news beside to make a propaganda about something worthless......Anyway, I've found new news about Fulla, but this time in Tunisia, which is a country driven by an anti-islamic government and not a secular......well, to be honest, despite my religious concept/background I appreciate a secular regime that would have nothing to do with religions, as it has always leaded to unfavorable incidents.......but the Tunisian government has exceeded that limit, as they're trying to do everything to expel anything related to Islam from the country, from jailing people who goes to pray in mosques and harrasing their families, to running brothels which is culturally not acceptable, but they're trying to intrude it!!
However silly this article might seem, but it illustrates my point of view......the article is saying that the Tunisian government has made raids to withdraw this kids doll - Fulla - from the market, on fears that it may promote for girls' veiling, which the government prohibits - yes, the Tunisian government bans girls from veiling - and the same happened for all notebooks and school bags that have the doll's picture on them. At the end of the article, it says that during the past few years, the bookshops' owners in Tunisia have been complaining that a mass production of notebooks and stationaries for schools have erotic pictures, and that they would prefer to face economic losses than spreading such products!!
P.S.: in such free-speech/liberal a-calimed-to-be-country as Netherlands, I've not seen till now erotic pictures on school notebooks or bags........if anybody would spot one, can you tell me please??!!
However silly this article might seem, but it illustrates my point of view......the article is saying that the Tunisian government has made raids to withdraw this kids doll - Fulla - from the market, on fears that it may promote for girls' veiling, which the government prohibits - yes, the Tunisian government bans girls from veiling - and the same happened for all notebooks and school bags that have the doll's picture on them. At the end of the article, it says that during the past few years, the bookshops' owners in Tunisia have been complaining that a mass production of notebooks and stationaries for schools have erotic pictures, and that they would prefer to face economic losses than spreading such products!!
P.S.: in such free-speech/liberal a-calimed-to-be-country as Netherlands, I've not seen till now erotic pictures on school notebooks or bags........if anybody would spot one, can you tell me please??!!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
so7'reyat el-kadar
when people starts speaking about racism and discrimination and other related issues, did anybody said hold on a sec....what are the reasons behind this? I'm not sure if I'm going far for that, but I was just thinking how sarcastic are some of those incidents.....here we go:
the Dutch meant to be known for being racists.....specifically against Germans, but hey!! aren't Dutch aryans which happens to be the same race of Germans, or is it just the word written after Nationality in your passport??!
Some nationalities are discriminating against others, that if you trace the cultural, knowledge, and ideological background of both, you'll feel like the mouse and elephant story
This happened to me - as far as I remember - at least twice, after round of introduction and knowing that I'm Egyptian, somebody says....but you, arabs are doing this and that......hmmmm, everytime I feel like giving a rude remark saying "but if you've not been a lazy pupil in school and not skipping history classes in the morning, you would have known that Egypt has a very old culture and a very different race than Arabs........and in the modern history, Egypt has got different influences on the original culture that are still very differnt than those on the Arabs"
The most sarcastic of those is, despite all the hatered developed between majority of Muslims and majority of Jews, if you're a devoted muslim and got a devoted jew neighbor......you can celeberate together on next Sunday and every year on the same day, begining of Ramadan for muslims and Rosh Hashanah for jews, and a lot of similar incidents as both religions are using the same lunatic calendar........but - happens most of the time - if you're a devoted muslim from Egypt and your neighbor is a devoted muslim from Saudi Arabia, you can't celebrate the same event together, as the Arabs tends to believe that however developed is the Egyptian Astronomical Institution is and less developed the equivalent for it in Saudi, it has to be wrong, and consequently, Egyptians celeberate the event on a different dates than the Arabs
the Dutch meant to be known for being racists.....specifically against Germans, but hey!! aren't Dutch aryans which happens to be the same race of Germans, or is it just the word written after Nationality in your passport??!
Some nationalities are discriminating against others, that if you trace the cultural, knowledge, and ideological background of both, you'll feel like the mouse and elephant story
This happened to me - as far as I remember - at least twice, after round of introduction and knowing that I'm Egyptian, somebody says....but you, arabs are doing this and that......hmmmm, everytime I feel like giving a rude remark saying "but if you've not been a lazy pupil in school and not skipping history classes in the morning, you would have known that Egypt has a very old culture and a very different race than Arabs........and in the modern history, Egypt has got different influences on the original culture that are still very differnt than those on the Arabs"
The most sarcastic of those is, despite all the hatered developed between majority of Muslims and majority of Jews, if you're a devoted muslim and got a devoted jew neighbor......you can celeberate together on next Sunday and every year on the same day, begining of Ramadan for muslims and Rosh Hashanah for jews, and a lot of similar incidents as both religions are using the same lunatic calendar........but - happens most of the time - if you're a devoted muslim from Egypt and your neighbor is a devoted muslim from Saudi Arabia, you can't celebrate the same event together, as the Arabs tends to believe that however developed is the Egyptian Astronomical Institution is and less developed the equivalent for it in Saudi, it has to be wrong, and consequently, Egyptians celeberate the event on a different dates than the Arabs
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
New Amigos
this is such a brilliant idea for learning languages, having fun and socialising with local people.......it's the new amigos board game, which is taking place in several countries at specific places at the same time.......if you're living in France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium or Austria, pay it a visit once and you'll get addicted :)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
I've seen 4% of the world :D
create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide
This sounds like a very small portion of the world.......yeah, it's true I'm not satisfied, I want to draw some lines on my map, as my plans for drawing a line between the 2 big red spots in Eruope - the area named eastern europe - didn't work out last month, mainly because of the hassle called studying for a master degree :)
But anyway, my 2 dream trips are from the soon future - sometime between 2 to 3 years - are from the west coast of africa to the east, from Senegal passing by Mali and the west coast countries to Kenya........the second is in Asia starting from Mongolia, crossing all over China and passing by Tibet, and ending in India
The far future trip may sound like a retirement trip, but I know I'm gonna do it whatever I'll do to make it happen - incha alah - which is around the meditteranean, and the initial plan was by a sailing boat, which I've discovered that it's not that super expensive, as you can rent a fully equipped one for a decent price, but the plan may get deformed into a van trip
Anybody inspired??!
the old couples day
Saturday was the old couples day!! during my day, I had some interesting discussions with a pair of old couples......the first was on the train going to A'dam, when the guy have seen me reading a book about religions, and after knowing that I'm a muslim, he started impressing me with his knowledge about the religion, but the conversation extended to other religions as well. The guy turned out to be a Dutch Language teacher at a primary school, and he told me that they need to know about religions specially Islam to know how to deal with their muslim students specially that in his class he got 8 muslims out of 25 pupils!!
The second conversation was when I got totally lost trying to find the restaurant where my friends are dining, but I found those 2 old dudes, and when I asked them about the place, they told that they gonna walk me to it!! Amazing.....during the way, they asked me "are you from Israel??!!!" I felt like standing there with stupid face and a balloon over my head with a big exclamation mark, but telling them that we're neighbours, they - specially the woman - was so amazed and they told me how much they love Egypt, specially that they actually met in there during a vacation 15 years ago, and bang...the love story started there!! oooooh, so sweaaaaat :)
well, their reason behind that they thought I'm an Israeli, because according to them I dressed like a European (strange) and look like a mid-eastern.......good point, cheers for our cousins - that's how we call the Israelis in Egypt :)
The second conversation was when I got totally lost trying to find the restaurant where my friends are dining, but I found those 2 old dudes, and when I asked them about the place, they told that they gonna walk me to it!! Amazing.....during the way, they asked me "are you from Israel??!!!" I felt like standing there with stupid face and a balloon over my head with a big exclamation mark, but telling them that we're neighbours, they - specially the woman - was so amazed and they told me how much they love Egypt, specially that they actually met in there during a vacation 15 years ago, and bang...the love story started there!! oooooh, so sweaaaaat :)
well, their reason behind that they thought I'm an Israeli, because according to them I dressed like a European (strange) and look like a mid-eastern.......good point, cheers for our cousins - that's how we call the Israelis in Egypt :)
Friday, September 15, 2006
Islam vs. WEST
It's really amazing how people are looking into different aspects in different countries by two contrary views........some people from the west, mainly US have been criticising Egypt for not being tolerant toward integrating the Egyptian cophtic chrisitians in the Egyptian society, which for us - the "normal" Egyptians including muslims and christians and whatever - was a total shock, because for such claimers, they can just go to Egypt and see how everybody is living in absolute harmony without even caring about what the hell is your religion is. The only problem that we got in Egypt is with extremists, whether from muslims or christians and this society has never been developed to host such people, so for extremist christians who feel that they're feeling uncomfortable living in the country....el bab yefawet gamal, same for muslims.
On the other hand, there was an earthqauke of 12 degrees stroke the whole world when Mr. Piet Hein Donner the Dutch Justice Minister, has said that "we'll try to introduce all means to develop democracy in NL EVEN by introducing Sharia, if the majority of Dutch would agree to".......hold on a sec., he said EVEN.....doesn't it sound like as if Sharia is some law from mars, so he's putting the extreme as a condition?!??!
well, peace to the world......guys don't panic, the Donner didn't really meant it.......and come on he's submitted an official apology to the parliament for saying so and he claimed that it was an unofficial interview and he didn't meant Sharia itself, but used it as an example........but again hold on a sec, why those countries who're blaming Egypt for the "intolerance" are not accepting such a tiny country like NL to be "tolerant" toward such thing.........I would like to ask anybody who's a master in linguistics about the meaning of tolerance........does it mean that muslims should accept anything that are authored by the west = US, and for the west to be narrow minded toward anything that relates to Islam?
On the other hand, there was an earthqauke of 12 degrees stroke the whole world when Mr. Piet Hein Donner the Dutch Justice Minister, has said that "we'll try to introduce all means to develop democracy in NL EVEN by introducing Sharia, if the majority of Dutch would agree to".......hold on a sec., he said EVEN.....doesn't it sound like as if Sharia is some law from mars, so he's putting the extreme as a condition?!??!
well, peace to the world......guys don't panic, the Donner didn't really meant it.......and come on he's submitted an official apology to the parliament for saying so and he claimed that it was an unofficial interview and he didn't meant Sharia itself, but used it as an example........but again hold on a sec, why those countries who're blaming Egypt for the "intolerance" are not accepting such a tiny country like NL to be "tolerant" toward such thing.........I would like to ask anybody who's a master in linguistics about the meaning of tolerance........does it mean that muslims should accept anything that are authored by the west = US, and for the west to be narrow minded toward anything that relates to Islam?
Thursday, September 14, 2006
thumbs down for Hirsi Ali
was having a quick look over sandmonkey, one of those very contraversial bloggers who are claiming that Egypt is such a horrible place and there's no place there for anybody to reflect what they want to say freely, and I had some discussions with some of the bloggers there myself and was expecting those to be some ingenious super-liberal open minded dudes, who want to be activists in making our country a better place to live in........BUT unfortunately, it turned out to be some American wanna-bes, and some American kids who have got no information about anything except what they got out of media, and the worse is that they're getting only the headlines and making some propaganda out of it, but actually, this was so obvious when they started talking about some issues in the Netherlands that I'm so aware of!! I know how such people thinks, as I've already been in touch with such mentalities, that have this revolutionary super-heroic characters, from Ahamdinijad type, but on the other contrast, or even from the same type - either people calling the country to be an Islamic country and claiming that the aethistic political system is getting us toward stoneages, or people who are calling that our Islamic culture and rules are getting us more retarded and we should be directing toward the modern aethism to get more developed. Unfortunately, our major problem back in Egypt, that people understand both Liberalism and Islamic Fundamentalism in a wrong way......meaning, Liberalism has never meant to be the conversion to aethismic ideology and Islamic Fundamentalism has never meant to be wearing - Galabeya - the bedouin long cloths for men and black tents for women in a ninja-like model.
Don't try to ask me which way I would prefer, I believe in customisation - however your intelligence will lead you with such a word :)
Don't try to ask me which way I would prefer, I believe in customisation - however your intelligence will lead you with such a word :)
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
god bless the world
sometimes when you get the precious opportunity to know about many things going around this world, you would appreciate ignorance........I start thinking that knowledge creates more illetracy, and science creates more issues; for example when you know how bacteria are formed and if you leave a piece of "whatever will get in your belly" exposed to some FRESH air will get somehow millions of bacteria formed and you don't know what you'll get out of that!!
Anyway, this may sounds irrelevant but last night was having a conversation with this British expat lady who have been living in Singapore for sometime and was saying that it's a Police-state country, when everybody was like....COME ON, nobody's ever heard about any political issues in that tiny country, but she was saying.....exactly, that's the reason, nobody is allowed to talk even the expats living there or otherwise the people/businesses who let them in the countr will get "troubles". That tiny country is ruled by one party government and during election time if a district or a region don't vote for the right person.....OOOOOps, this region is alienated, they don't get a link from the subway/transportation system, they don't get enough services, water/gas/power etc....
How about the "Islamic" republic of Iran? this country that claims to be ruling according to the "Islamic" demo-cracy rules, have one of the worst cases of prisoner of conscious represented in this guy Arzhang Davoodi who got tortured/detained/everything that's unhumane practiced upon, and all that's because he produced that film about the hidden side of the government and shooting some scenes from what's happening in the reality!!
????? ??? ??? ???? ???
Anyway, this may sounds irrelevant but last night was having a conversation with this British expat lady who have been living in Singapore for sometime and was saying that it's a Police-state country, when everybody was like....COME ON, nobody's ever heard about any political issues in that tiny country, but she was saying.....exactly, that's the reason, nobody is allowed to talk even the expats living there or otherwise the people/businesses who let them in the countr will get "troubles". That tiny country is ruled by one party government and during election time if a district or a region don't vote for the right person.....OOOOOps, this region is alienated, they don't get a link from the subway/transportation system, they don't get enough services, water/gas/power etc....
How about the "Islamic" republic of Iran? this country that claims to be ruling according to the "Islamic" demo-cracy rules, have one of the worst cases of prisoner of conscious represented in this guy Arzhang Davoodi who got tortured/detained/everything that's unhumane practiced upon, and all that's because he produced that film about the hidden side of the government and shooting some scenes from what's happening in the reality!!
????? ??? ??? ???? ???
Monday, September 11, 2006
keep it a secret
was reading one of the pile of books on my desk for my research, when I've found this sentence written in the first page of one of them "if you want to keep something secret, write a book about it".
Sunday morning
what's worse than waking up earlier than a weekday on Sunday morning???! but what's better than reforming with the old fellows and spending the whole Sunday with them??! believe me it's worth it ;)
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Red pants and Pink socks
would anybody help me in the mission of finding anybody in the world who's not Dutch and wearing a red pant!!
I had this conversation today with some colleagues at work:
Femke: what do you think about a guy who wears a red pant?
Me: a Gay!!
Suzanne: how about if he's wearing it at an official legal meeting?
Me: a crazy gay!!
Ingrit: and how about a person dressed in a formal suit and wearing a pink socks?!
Me: No comment - actually was checking the color of my socks (turned out to be grey with playboy logo in light blue) not that bad, right?
Ingrit: I think only Americans dare to do so
Me: here we go, this supports my point that Dutch are racist and stereotypich
Ingrit: but I've dealt with a lot of Americans and we used to spot them from the color of their socks!!
Me: however weird some may wear, but at leat they're working effectively
Them: No Comment!!
well, I think nobody has got my hidden sarcasm....that's what I like about Dutch and I think that's why they still like my anyway :)
I had this conversation today with some colleagues at work:
Femke: what do you think about a guy who wears a red pant?
Me: a Gay!!
Suzanne: how about if he's wearing it at an official legal meeting?
Me: a crazy gay!!
Ingrit: and how about a person dressed in a formal suit and wearing a pink socks?!
Me: No comment - actually was checking the color of my socks (turned out to be grey with playboy logo in light blue) not that bad, right?
Ingrit: I think only Americans dare to do so
Me: here we go, this supports my point that Dutch are racist and stereotypich
Ingrit: but I've dealt with a lot of Americans and we used to spot them from the color of their socks!!
Me: however weird some may wear, but at leat they're working effectively
Them: No Comment!!
well, I think nobody has got my hidden sarcasm....that's what I like about Dutch and I think that's why they still like my anyway :)
Friday, September 08, 2006
go Rita go
go all the way Rita....Beavis and Butthead are waiting for you :D
Well, actually this woman is amazing, during my one year stay in NL, everytime she show up in an article/NEWS/even a discussion, it's always a big bang driven woman. As far as I remember, the most outspeaking incidents during this year, were issuing a law in Rotterdam (only in Rotterdam!!) to prevent people from using any language on streets other than Dutch!!!!! the second one was leading the Dutch government to collapse with most of the ministers resigning, when she wanted to withdraw the "prize" of having a Dutch nationality from PM Hirsi Ali - though she was a very faithful Dutch even more than "normal" Dutch - because she has acquisited the nationality for enough time......well, the latest from among is her new plan to kick some Antillean and Aruban asses from the country, breaching European convention of Human Rights.
I started to have a feeling that Rita's a samson-wanna be, and one day will be the person scratching her head wondering about the hell of the use of the red button in front of her.....and she'll press on it to discover at once that the "temple" is collapsing.
Well, actually this woman is amazing, during my one year stay in NL, everytime she show up in an article/NEWS/even a discussion, it's always a big bang driven woman. As far as I remember, the most outspeaking incidents during this year, were issuing a law in Rotterdam (only in Rotterdam!!) to prevent people from using any language on streets other than Dutch!!!!! the second one was leading the Dutch government to collapse with most of the ministers resigning, when she wanted to withdraw the "prize" of having a Dutch nationality from PM Hirsi Ali - though she was a very faithful Dutch even more than "normal" Dutch - because she has acquisited the nationality for enough time......well, the latest from among is her new plan to kick some Antillean and Aruban asses from the country, breaching European convention of Human Rights.
I started to have a feeling that Rita's a samson-wanna be, and one day will be the person scratching her head wondering about the hell of the use of the red button in front of her.....and she'll press on it to discover at once that the "temple" is collapsing.
need a memory upgrade
everyday I arrive at work in the morning, and when I'm taking my computer off my bag, I'm always wondering.....is today is the day that I'll discover that I've forgotten the charging cable at home?! and you can always spot a smile on my face when I find the cable in my bag.......but guess what, despite the smile on my face, Today is the DAY!!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Allochtoon of Autochtoon??
was reading this article that the Dutch Labour Party had an intention to submit a proposal for the parliament to ban the use of the term Allochtoon because...hmmmm.....you know.....it's not really a nice term and.....hmmmm......might seem...hmmm......a little bit....only a little bit discriminatory!!
But actually, the Dutch can't give their tendency for racism that easy, so the party decided to forget about that proposal.....you know, they're used to do that every few years, just trying to increase their popularity when they discover that the ALLOCHTOONs don't care about politics!!
But actually, the Dutch can't give their tendency for racism that easy, so the party decided to forget about that proposal.....you know, they're used to do that every few years, just trying to increase their popularity when they discover that the ALLOCHTOONs don't care about politics!!
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
My own Kingdom
was just having this discussion with my new Latvian friend Zane, who just arrived to R'dam.......she was telling me that I don't look like a person who can easily get stressed - well, though it sounds like "hey, you're so cooooooold" :) but anyway, I was thinking since that time about my special techniques of "how to get dis-stressed". Actually, that's quite effective, specially when I start counting the troubles I'm facing nowadays, I start feeling bad, and then was thinking about my poor housemates, who whenever I go back home and start random chats with.........all what they want to talk about is complaints of the house.....this isn't working, that's not clean, the landlord should do so, do that.......but I discovered that my approach is so different, as I'm a complaining person too, but if I'll be only thinking about what I should complain of.....Jeeeeeez, my life will gonna be a hell, but if you start thinking about how to solve the problem instead of complaining and then forget about the problem......that realllly works.
Anyway, I'm a happy person living in a happy world, so don't even try to get me converted :)
Anyway, I'm a happy person living in a happy world, so don't even try to get me converted :)
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
poor donkey
I don't why I've got a feeling that I know the person who's behind that.....hey housemates, does that remind you with something?! ;)
Monday, September 04, 2006
what's happening in my life!!
well, I'm starting to believe that my fate is torturing me for all the sins that i've done in my life.........good heavens, after the bank's problem, searching for a DECENT room in Rotterdam in a DECENT hood, running low in budget lately, and the nice Dutch weather - during the last period, it was recorded that this was the wettest summer Netherlands have got during the last 60 years!! and three times as recorded from the last year.
This was the latest from the FATE torturing process - last week, my boss told me that she can personally sponsor my conference fees in the biggest international conference for the topic of my thesis in England, which is A LOT!! I was bouncing from happiness, when i remembered that getting the British visa takes at least 3 weeks, and the conference is in 2 weeks time.....Schiesse.
Anyway, was randomly trying my luck over the Embassy's website, when i've found a free appointment on last friday.....I've been always trying to convince myself that Mr. Luck is standing somewhere behind me, although I can't feel his existence....I went to Amsterdam for the embassy with small birds whisteling around me, when I've found a fight going on between a British dude and the security guard of the consulate!! Guys, what's going on.....the security guard don't want to let him in, because he's got a mobile phone and it's against security regulations.....God Verdamme.....How about me!! the security guard was actually so nice that he told me, "sorry SIR, you can't get inside because you've a mobile phone and because if you'll go to the nearest shop to drop it and return back you'll be already late to your appointment, so let me tell you that your appointment is already cancelled"
Guys, some close friends, are always accusing me of being aggressively reacting in such situations, but what you gonna do if you're in my shoes?!
Anyway, don't try to think much about my reaction, I don't even want to remember the dictionary of bad words that I was trying to teach the guy in a friendly way, but i've ended it up by wishing him a good day in a "British Gentleman Style" :)
This was the latest from the FATE torturing process - last week, my boss told me that she can personally sponsor my conference fees in the biggest international conference for the topic of my thesis in England, which is A LOT!! I was bouncing from happiness, when i remembered that getting the British visa takes at least 3 weeks, and the conference is in 2 weeks time.....Schiesse.
Anyway, was randomly trying my luck over the Embassy's website, when i've found a free appointment on last friday.....I've been always trying to convince myself that Mr. Luck is standing somewhere behind me, although I can't feel his existence....I went to Amsterdam for the embassy with small birds whisteling around me, when I've found a fight going on between a British dude and the security guard of the consulate!! Guys, what's going on.....the security guard don't want to let him in, because he's got a mobile phone and it's against security regulations.....God Verdamme.....How about me!! the security guard was actually so nice that he told me, "sorry SIR, you can't get inside because you've a mobile phone and because if you'll go to the nearest shop to drop it and return back you'll be already late to your appointment, so let me tell you that your appointment is already cancelled"
Guys, some close friends, are always accusing me of being aggressively reacting in such situations, but what you gonna do if you're in my shoes?!
Anyway, don't try to think much about my reaction, I don't even want to remember the dictionary of bad words that I was trying to teach the guy in a friendly way, but i've ended it up by wishing him a good day in a "British Gentleman Style" :)
about me
hey nomaders....this is a new fella on the Nomad grounds
I think some people out there already know me, but for those who don't.....I'm Aly from Egypt, has been an @er for sometime ago, and was on the MC of @ Egypt with Tom and Tamer 2 years ago. Anyway, I'm currently living in the Netherlands, studying toward a master degree and hopefully will be nomading around for sometime before going back to the treasure island......don't guess much, it's Egypt :)
I'm using my space mainly for reflecting about what's happening to me in NL and different NEWS/situations/articles/even random information about the country, but at the same time, i'm reflecting about Egypt, personal life, and political issues in NL or EG.
I think some people out there already know me, but for those who don't.....I'm Aly from Egypt, has been an @er for sometime ago, and was on the MC of @ Egypt with Tom and Tamer 2 years ago. Anyway, I'm currently living in the Netherlands, studying toward a master degree and hopefully will be nomading around for sometime before going back to the treasure island......don't guess much, it's Egypt :)
I'm using my space mainly for reflecting about what's happening to me in NL and different NEWS/situations/articles/even random information about the country, but at the same time, i'm reflecting about Egypt, personal life, and political issues in NL or EG.
