Tuesday, January 30, 2007

MABROOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!












** The hats off to you boys!





UAE won the Soccer Gulf Cup!!


party on down,
Al Emarat wonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!

Friday, January 26, 2007

A quote to ponder about

"Here a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The answer is, of course, that it would be best to be both loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose will find greater security in being feared than in being loved. . . . Love endures by a bond which men, being scoundrels, may break whenever it serves their advantage to do so; but fear is supported by the dread of pain, which is ever present."

-The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli





Save the cheerleader, Save the world.
I saw one episode of HERO'S and I got hooked.
hmm maybe hooked is not the word im looking for
..maybe obsessed?
I watched the entire season ..YESTERDAY!
All I can say is..ITS AWESOME.
I use to love xmen cartoons as a kid, so you can understand why this appeals to me.
Its a must watch show.
here is an overview about the show:
As a total eclipse casts its shadow across the globe, a genetics professor (Sendhil Ramamurthy, "Blind Guy Driving") in India is led by father's disappearance to uncover a secret theory -- there are people with super powers living among us. A young dreamer (Milo Ventimiglia, "Gilmore Girls") tries to convince his politician brother (Adrian Pasdar, "Judging Amy") that he can fly. A high school cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere, "Ice Princess") learns that she is totally indestructible. A Las Vegas stripper (Ali Larter, "Final Destination"), struggling to make ends meet to support her young son (Noah Gray-Cabey, "My Wife & Kids"), discovers that her mirror image has a secret. A fugitive from justice (Leonard Roberts, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") continues to baffle authorities who twice have been unable to contain him. A gifted artist (Santiago Cabrera, "Empire"), whose drug addiction is destroying his life and relationship with his girlfriend (Tawny Cypress, NBC's "Third Watch"), can paint the future. A down-on-his-luck Los Angeles beat cop (Greg Grunberg, "Alias") can hear people's thoughts, which puts him on the trail of an elusive serial killer. In Japan, a young man (Masi Oka, NBC's "Scrubs") develops a way to stop time through sheer will power. Their ultimate destiny is nothing less than saving the world…
Here is a link so you can watch some episodes
happy viewing :)

Thursday, January 25, 2007


The other day, I had a slight twinge of homesickness. This usually happens during my midyear break. I wanted to be back amongst the people I grew up with, meeting on friday nights in the masjid for the halaqa's. Being together, no worries, no stress. Everyone is relaxed and chilled out. I found out the other day that the concept of having a 'Halaqa' group in the middle east is unheard of. Thats strange to me, because I grew up always being in one. We talked and debated about islamic topics. Every week we alternate and one person leads the halaqa. Its great, and the food at the end is pretty good too. ;)


So this slight homesickness lead me to the Zaytouna Institutes homepage.

and guess what I found? I thought it was random, but a really great idea. They now provide podcasts from Hamzah Yusef lectures, Imam Zaid Shakir, and a few others.


Here check it out :
http://www.zaytuna.org/podcast.asp

:)

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Finals are finished!!

* The Syrian pavillon at the global village

Its so good to be on break. No hassels, no worries at the moment. Im enjoying my time in Dubai before I head to the mother country, Syria.
Im a little ashamed at the fact that I haven't gone to Syria in 5 years. I use to go every summer and have a blast with my cousins. I guess its natural that you grow a little distant from them. People begin to be more concerened with their immediate family and the drama that comes with it. Its even more strange that im traveling alone. Im use to having my siblings as travel companions. My parents want me to get use to traveling to Syria alone, and to make it an annual visit. They pulled the guilt trip on me, saying "Would you go to Syria once we are dead?"
Of course I would go!!
Inshallah khair, Im sure Im going to have a blast. I even motivated my cousin who lives in the states to meet me in Sham (Damascus). The more, the merrier, right? haha.
By the way, the picture above was taken at the global village. I thought the Syrian Pavillon was pretty impressive. This is the first time so many vendors all over the global village asked me if I was an islamic convert. Thats it, I am now going to speak english with an accent. While in Iran, at the islamic art booth, the man tried cheating me because "I was a rich american convert".
:/
oh well, inshallah the man will make use of all that money I gave him. It was pretty upsetting. Allah yahdey, andI hope he changes his point of view. Why would he cheat another muslim? Thats not very islamic behavior.