أقولكم إيه حكايتي مع مصر
أنا صحيح ماتولدتش في مصر ولا عشت طفولتي في مصر
بس أنا مصرية في الصميم
و بحب بلدي، أصل بلدي دي مش حكومة ولا أرض
مصر دي أمي و أبويا إلى مدفون في ترابها
مصر هي عيلتي و أهلي
مصر هي البلد الوحيده إلى بنتميلها
مصر إلى أنا ماكنتش عايزة أسافر و أسيبها عشان حاسة و مقتنعة إن لو مش أنا و أنت و إنتي حنبنيها نعمرها ماحدش حيعمرها ويخليها أحسن
مصر مش الحضارة بتاعت الفراعنة ولا هي أهرامات و نيل
مصر هي أوقاتنا الحلوة و أفراحنا مصر هي أحزان و أيامنا الصعبة
مصر حلم جميل موجود جوا كل واحد فينا ببلد جميل آمن
إحنا جيل مظلوم
جيل تربى إنو ماييحلامش و مش بيسدأ إن بكرة ممكن يكون أحسن
جيل ملهوش حلم يجمعه
أنا صحيح مش قادرة أنزل أقف في الشارع
بس أنا أقدر أربي بنتي صح
أقدر أفهم الدستور بتاعي عشان أفهم حقي صح
أقدر أحلم ببكرة في حق و عدل
أقدر أبطل خوف من الدنيا
أقدر أفكر و أشتغل و أعمل حاجة حلوة عشان بكرة يبقى حلو
إحنا نمنا كتير و سكتنا كتير و دلوقتي آن الأوان إننا نقف يد واحدة وحنا متأكدين إن إحنا حنغير و نتغير
الله أعلم المرحلة إلى جاية حتكون عاملة إزاي بس أكيد مش حتبقى سهله
بس ده مش مهم المهم إننا جاهزين و مستعدين ليها
ولكل واحد أو واحده واقفين في الشارع من يوم 25 يناير بدعيلكم بالسلامه و بالقوه و بدعيلكم علشان إنتو بتدافعو عن حقي و حق أهلي في بلدي
ربنا معاكم يصبركم و يقويكم
I gave myself a very long vacation. Well I did blog in the middle and came up with a few posts but they were all written on the same day when I had a hit of inspiration and scheduled.
I am back now. I had a wonderful vacation with my family. I always miss them terribly so getting a month with them was a wonderful thing. I think I should thank my husband for agreeing to stay along for a whole month. Meesh, thank you because I know how much you missed Lulu and I when we were gone and for having to eat junk food while we were gone too. I would also like to thank my mom and sister. You probably have seen her comment on many of my posts as “inas”". Yup my mom reads my posts, comments and makes public comments about my weight gain. Mummy, I promise to lose the weight and stop being a sissy. There, a public promise/announcement about my weight issue. Thank you Meeema (also known as RJay or Reem my sister) for letting Lulu abuse your face creams, nail polish and perfumes. I think she is now addicted to the stuff. My sister introduced my daughter to peel off nail polish now she keeps coming up to me to show me her painted toenails and nails. I used to think parents were crazy to paint their little girls’ nails but now when I see her smile I totally get why they do it.
It was a long awaited and much needed vacation. At first it was not going according to my crazy plans or really high expectations but then I gave in and decided that there was no way things were going to happen my way so I might as well enjoy what comes anyway.
Don't they just look gorgeous?
Remember my stack of 11 books? Well I added another 8 to them. I didn’t want to buy any, nor did I plan to. But those pesky books know my name. They called my name and whispered sweet nothings begging me to buy them and who am I to refuse a book’s plea. From top to bottom they are:
Feel the fear and do it anyway by Susan Jeffers
رحيق العمر – جلال أمين
وصف مصر في نهاية القرن العشرين – جلال أمين
رصف مصر – عمر طاهر
How to travel with a salmon by Umberto Eco
مقتل الرجل الكبير – إبراهيم عيسى
Think before it’s too late – Edward De Bono
The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
You totally understand why I got them right? They’re all really really useful books. Besides they look so pretty.
So warm and cozy
My favorite mug might live at my mum’s house but my second favorite mug lives here. It even has it’s own cozy and looks so cute. I really should stop thinking about mugs the way I do. But mugs are really important. I mean who doesn’t drink at least 3 cups of coffee a day in their favorite mug? It has to be the right size, the right color and just fit in your hands perfectly. Otherwise it’s just a vessel for coffee. But a good mug is an experience worth having. Just like the perfect pair of shoes. You can think of shoes as containers for your feet, or you can think of them as the platform you stand in every day to deal with the world. They take you from one place to the next. They take you to greatness, they run with you when you run from fear and they make you look taller or slimmer if you choose the right pair. The right pair will hug your feet and support you all day long while still looking pretty and nice. I also feel as strong about my pens ( I love fountain pens) as I feel about mugs and shoes. I am not an overtly sentimental person but I guess I am a very sentimental person.
Have you ever thought about your two personalities? Your inner personality (the one that only you knows) and your outer one ( the one that everyone deals with)? I think my inner personality is an extrovert while my outer personality is an introvert.
Rain in Kuwait
It rained almost all day yesterday. I love rain. Coincidentally I turned on my iPod in the car and Tracy Chapman was singing Let it Rain. Coincidence or cosmic alignment? I love how a good rain makes everything look clean and sparkly. It is like the streets just had a shower, now if only the streets smelled like Herbal Essence shampoo I would be in heaven. I am going to miss winter. I always miss winter. Maybe I should move to a country with colder cloudier climate. I really shouldn’t drive and take pictures. But in my defense the light was red and turned green while I was taking the picture. So technically I wasn’t really driving.
Let it rain
It’s good to be home. I have big plans but this time they are more realistic plans. I learn fast. I so miss crocheting too. I got lots of lovely cotton yarn at ridiculously low prices compared to Kuwait and the variety was great too. I should have bought more but I was afraid of being caught by customs for illegal export of yarn.
I had better go now and start working on my new awesome “to do for life” list because it is really long and I really want to tick off everything on it as soon as I can because I am alive so I have to do all of this stuff I want to do.
My extended relatives don’t see me that often to tell me that I’ve gained weight.
Things cost almost exactly the same, but it feel better to pay 5 KD in Starbucks than it is to shell out a 100 LE bill. The value is the same but the number is annoying. Oh and the 1 pound coins are heavier than I remember. I read an article a few weeks back about Egyptians hating the coins and thought that the Egyptians are just complainers, but I do see their point. I always have around 10 LE in coins and they are quite heavy and have lots of volume. I think they should make them smaller and lighter which would also mean they should be cheaper. But maybe they won’t be as durable. Someone should explain why they chose that design.
Beep Beep Honk Honk, eley7eb el nabi yedrab kalaks.
WHO ON EARTH REDESIGNED THE ALEXANDRIA SMOUHA TRAFFIC MAP/PLAN? Yes I am shouting. Apparently that person was smoking pot or something because they just decided to transform two way streets into one way ones. Theoretically that is not a problem but the signs are not really clear, so you take a right and suddenly find yourself face to face with incoming traffic and thousands of people cursing you and your family right up to your seventh grandfather. They also didn’t bother to remove the roundabouts so it becomes really confusing. But then again driving in Egypt is either in your blood or not. Complaining about driving and traffic in Egypt is in all Egyptian’s blood.
But probably the most important reason is that it is where my home is.
I keep coming across articles about Egyptian government’s decision on blocking Skype. I don’t get it. Everywhere in the world people are embracing new technologies and learning to use them to make more profits if they are businesses or save money if they are consumers. Why do we always have to be the people who ban technology to force people to pay more?
Instead of banning it why don’t they regulate it so they can get paid for it too. For example why don’t they offer people the option of buying skype minutes using their top up cards and negotiate a deal with Skype to get a piece of that pie? I mean Skype Out does not have the best quality all the time, they could give users the option, they could either pay more for better quality. Besides they could make more in the end anyway because people would most probably use more minutes.
How are they going to block it anyway? I understand technically how it can be done, but will they block SkypeOut (PC to Phone calls) and allow people to use regular Skype (PC to PC) or will they be blocking the application all together?
I don’t live in Egypt at the moment, so the decision doesn’t really affect me but it bugs me. Isn’t it enough that people have to deal with loved ones living on different continents, do they also have to make it cost an arm and a leg to call them. Even if we take it from a business perspective, companies who use VOIP technology are doing business overseas, many of them exporting goods or services, why do we have to make them pay more money. Shouldn’t the government be aiding businesses that export?
The question that now bugs me, as consumers what can we do other than just accept it and live with the decision?
Is there a way to fight back?
I guess not other than finding other programs that haven’t yet been blocked.
Another example of failing to take an opportunity and turn it into success.
RJay went to Cairo Tower had fun and took some pretty interesting pictures. I on the other hand, steal her pictures and make desktop wallpaper.
The quote says: All that a city will ever allow you is an angle on it — an oblique, indirect sample of what it contains, or what passes through it; a point of view.
An Angle On Cairo - Click on the image for the full size version
I saw this quote a couple of days ago somewhere. At first I thought it was funny, then I thought it were true then decided that I could not decide what I really thought. It is true that many Egyptians are social climbers.
A social climber is someone who seeks social prominence, for example by obsequious behavior. The term is sometimes used as synonymous parvenu, one who has suddenly risen to a higher economic status but has not gained social acceptance of others in that class. “Social climber” may be used as an insult, suggesting a poor work ethic or disloyalty to roots. [from Wikipedia].
I like the word parvenu it looks and sounds smart and sophisticated.
I’ve met lots of social climbers (Egyptians) in my lifetime so I could say yes. I wouldn’t be able to judge if this were an Egyptian thing or a more global thing. Basically because you can only judge a persons socioeconomic status if you understand how things work in that country. Lots of things go into the equation like how they walk, dress, use their hands, their posture, their language, pronunciation, level of education, culture, intellect and lots of other things. In my point of view social climbers are the people who use their money to try to appear to come from a higher social status than they already do.
I don’t beleive that you are stuck with your socioeconomic status, quite the contrary I think it is a variable status and you can change it with hard work and some luck. I also believe that it takes more than one generation to make the jump. I feel very proud of people who can achieve this through education, hard work and self development. What I dislike are the sleazy pretending wannabes. Perhaps they are very obvious here in the gulf because if you have an education you can be well paid, and when you have the money you can buy the clothes, the car, the education for your children and the Asian maid. Nevertheless you still can’t buy class. On the other hand I have met many people who are not exactly well off but have lots of class and finesse. Class is how you carry yourself and handle yourself in everyday life.
So even though a person might be a social climber that does not necessarily mean they will reach the summit.
Cute enough gloves might just make me seriously consider taking boxing lessons.
People Who Deserve it is a hilarious blog, which lists people who deserve a punch in their face.
Queue Cutters. We just don’t know how to queue. It’s simple, person 1 first, person 2 stands behind him, person 3 behind person 2, ….. person n behind person n-1. The key word here is behind, not next to, not in front of but behind. The next time someone cuts in line I am going to punch them in the face and feel good about it. I also find it very irritating when there are separate lines for men and women and men think it is ok to push the women because their line is so much longer.
Naffaf El Taffaf. You know the guy? Who rolls down his window, and spits his phlegm out? Gross! I’d love to punch him in the face but I am sure it is too gross.
Sweaty Betty. Take a shower Mr. Stinky!
Eye Shadow Lovers. Some women tend to overdo the eyeshadow thing. Electric blue and powerful purple right upto their eyebrows is just an eyesore. I should punch them and give them permanent black eyes, no eyeshadow needed.
Complainers. Especially the kind that do nothing to improve what they are complaining about.
Litterers. Seriously? Can’t you wait till you find a bin? We would all like to live in litter free environments.
Nosy people afraid of the evil eye. These people are weird. They are nosy and they want to know everything about YOUR life. Like how much you get paid, or where did you get your sofa from, how happy you are in your marriage, where did you go on vacation, the details and everything, but they hardly ever tell you anything about their lives because they are afraid you might jinx them. If you are afraid of the evil eye, don’t ask people so they won’t ask you.
Find me elsewhere