Every man must decide whether
he will walk in the light of creative altruism
or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Tonight, while watching the news of Naji Al-Nuaimi's return, goosebumps and chills ran up and down my body.

I've been following the up to date news on his abduction and the plea of his parents for his safe return. Everyone around me, choked up with emotion on seeing such a sight. It has finally hit, people are waking up a little. We are in the midsts of chaos, but we try so hard to ignore it.

No one can fathom the fact that they could have killed him. Where have we been for the past couple years? People are being abducted and killed, and we have just felt and realized it? What will be done? What is being done?

And we say that we are one, one as arabs, one as muslims.
yea, sure, whatever.

Thank god that he was safely returned to the UAE to his family who have been awaiting his arrival and safety.

I finished finals!!!!!

Aloha to the summmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmer ;)

I don't know what to title this as,

• This weekend some friends and I stopped at the MOE (mall of the emirates) and we noticed how few muthajeebeen (women who wear hijabs) there are! It was unsettling and weird to be a mall in an arab/muslim country and be felt as a minority. what the heck?! Maybe that food court was less populated. but we got a lot of stares (and the mocking demanor) and me glaring back at them.

-note: one thing to avoid, an angry arab woman, if she is glaring, then wipe that smirk off your face-

• Is it hunting season? wait let me rephrase that MALE HUNTING SEASON?! I couldn't believe how the girls were acting over the weekend at these malls. Im not targeting any type of people, because i saw girls from all nationalities acting in the similar fashion. Is this the new trend here? Girls running after guys? Looking them up and down and giving guys winks and sleazy smiles -gags-. I remember a time when the girls would have that invisible 'FUCK OFF' written on the top of their foreheads. Now i see the guys with that same expression. haha.

• Let me add: forums are so 1999, please stop using them. People get on with life, the internet wasn't discovered yesterday. Typical topic: When a girl wants a guy, he doesnt want her: but when a girl doesnt want a guy, he wants her. Thats so pathetic and lame. Move on people!

• This weekend, I was scared shitless because of the jinn 'invasion'. Whats up with that? I know its there, but why the obsession and why do they harass people here? Can someone give me some kind of explanation? My family never talks about it. I have never had encounters with them before (hamduallah!!!!!). Its not a part of my life, but damn its huge here! I dont know where is it more scary: in Al ain (with the connection with oman) or in AJMAN?! Do people provoke them to enter their lives? its soo freakyyyyy.

• I was in a mall today and i had to wash my hands before lunch so i went to the ladies room. My friend and I go inside and there was this lady wearing a very halter top that exposed a lot of skin and flesh that most people do not want to see. I didnt notice that she was looking me up and down and giving me looks until my friend pointed it out to me. When i noticed i gave her this look like 'EXCUSE ME? WHATCHA LOOKIN AT?, I hope you get burned like a roasted pig'.

Please god why do people dress like that in the mall? This place is crawling with families!

Also ITS BURNING OUTSIDE. ARE YOU INSANE? DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND YOU WILL GET SKIN CANCER YOU FREAKIN IDIOT?!

• Let me rant about that also. Its hot outside. Really hot. For your own health, dont wear skimpy clothing, you'll get burned like never before. Also,dont pile on the makeup! You'll melt in this weather and its really gross when you see a girls foundation melting away. You can see the sweat trickling down their cheeks leaving a little trail. ewwwww.

• LAST thing, what was a certain mall in dubai thinking having a belly dancer dancing in the middle of the mall on a FRIDAY after salat al juma'a?! ARE YOU RETARDED?! I just stepped out of a masjid, where the khutba was speaking about death and how the dead only want you to pray for them. I was in tears. After the khutba a man is pleading to the people of the community to help him because he is in dire need of help. Imagine leaving the masjid and going to the mall to just to pick up a few items and you see a belly dancer dancing, half naked on a stage for a very large crowd. that is crazy. Im sorry. Totally unacceptable.

but the highlight of this weekend was:

The drive from dubai to al ain with all the al ahli fans showing off their team spirit. It was awesome! 26 years?! mabrook and you deserved to win :) good game. lmao etisalat really tried with the marketing. haha. Throughout the whole game we were chanting

" people want to know,

people want to know,

who we are, who we are,

so we tell them, so we tell them,

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

areeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

the devilssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

YOU BEWARE!

:P

also, i'd like to make a shout out to my number one team AL AIN SPORTS CLUB! woooooot.

I haven't sat down and actually had such an intellectual discussion in such a long time.
Today after a long and tiring day, I decided to sit with my dad and just chill.

The things we talked about, the topics we discussed were so profound, I just wish I had recorded it. I feel like I haven't seen or spoken to my parents in months. When you are in university studying, you become so self-centered, you completely forget the outside world.

For example, my parents didn't know for months now I have been independtly studying arabic. Actually I don't think anybody knows this.
Lately, I have had this feeling that I am lacking certain skills that will not lead me to become succesful in life (socially and professionally). I can speak arabic (with my syrian accent), but I get incredibly shy. My words get jumbled up, even though i know them. I can read arabic, but it takes time because the structure is so different. I mean I understand what im reading, but just the reading aspect is frustrating. My god, how hard arabic is! When im reading the book, im concentrating so much and im trying to really focus to understand each word, by the time i finish the page i sometimes forget what was the whole point. Its driving me crazy! Seriously, talk about your brain hurting!

So when I told my parents that i have been working on this lately, they were shocked. They would always tell me i need to work on it, but i'd brush them off. I felt that I had to do it for myself, and i want to do it, and i dont want their help. I mean it sounds kinda mean or defensive, its just that i cant stand it when people saying things like 'OH YOU NEED TO READ ARABIC OR PRACTICE IT MORE'. that discourages me even more.

My father understood my dilemma right away. He gave me tips and just said that i need to take my time and just the more i practice it, the more i will get a hang of it. He reminded me of how i began reading in english when i was younger.

After that we had the most intresting discussion about arabic poetry. I love sitting with my dad, I swear he is mesmorizing. I can't get enough of the stories he tells me about the famous poets, and how their poems are so famous, and how everyone quotes them but they are wrong!

I will make a post about them soon, when i figure out the arabic keys on my laptop (since they arent shown).

I've learned so much arabic living here, but I am not satisified with what I know. Its just so frustrating!

The Truly Great

I think continually of those who were truly great.
Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history
Through corridors of light where the hours are suns
Endless and singing.
Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
Should tell of the
Spirit clothed from head to foot in song.
And who hoarded from the Spring branches
The desires falling across their bodies like blossoms.

What is precious is never to forget
The essential delight of the blood drawn from ageless springs
Breaking through rocks in worlds before our earth.
Never to deny its pleasure in the morning simple light
Nor its grave evening demand for love.
Never to allow gradually the traffic to smother
With noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.

Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fields
See how these names are fêted by the waving grass
And by the streamers of white cloud
And whispers of wind in the listening sky.
The names of those who in their lives fought for life
Who wore at their hearts the fire's centre.
Born of the sun they traveled a short while towards the sun,
And left the vivid air signed with their honor.

-Stephen Spender

Desert Tunessss

The end of the year is coming to a close. Of course going to the desert for a day of fun in the sun is a must at the end of year.

I am, as usual, in charge of the music (entertainment). So I just burned the first cd for our crazy day in the depths of the desert. haha, check out what we will be jammin (well one of the cds).

This day will be one of the many farewell parties. 15 of my closest friends are leaving the UAE. Many tears will be shed, and they can not be replaced. I can't imagine the UAE without them. I owe the best years of my life to them.

* I was going to put tupac's-aint nothing but a gangsta party, but I think they would strangle me. haha ;)

HILARIOUS!!!!!!!

My brother in law sent me this video of a comedian performing "The Evolution of Dance".
Holy crap, I was laughing so hard. I literally had tears in my eyes. My sides ached from how much I laughed. This really made my day.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg

*props to my brother in law who always sends me random and funny things.

A little update.....

Ok firstof all, My finals haven't started yet.
I have been super busy with some university activities.

You can not begin to imagine how high my stress level has reached.
I haven been pushed to my physical and emotional limits.
Yet, I can not give up. I need to see that this is completed to prove a point that is so powerful.

Oh and believe me, our message was so loud it caused a stirr on our campus.
I promise to post about this whole ordeal once the storm has calmed and I have some free time.

Let me just leave on this note, a weaker person would have cracked. I will not be brought down. You think you can get me to crack? When you have walked in my shoes, then try me.

All I can say is... STEP UP... BITCH. STEP UP.