Unite4seven

Aslamu Alykum :) 

Hello Everyone... 

Since I am back to Beirut, the weather has been amazing! Sunny, warm and very little rain! I DO NOT LIKE THAT :) yes when it is winter, it's supposed to be Cold, Raining and freezing; so we can go up to Faraya and Ski (which I totally suck at, but I love it too ;p ) ! 

Anyways let us get to the point of this post. 

A couple of weeks ago in my Political science class, our professor, when we were discussing Nationalism; said that Arab Nationalism does not exist. That there is nothing that unites us as Arabs, as one except -maybe- for language which is deteriorating anyways.

As for me; I got really uncomfortable, since I believe in Arab Nationalism, I believe of our common history, our common language, our common fight PALESTINE, even if we are not the same -no one is- but we share together in this area -the Middle East- what unites us together as a group of people that share many values and customs. 

And here comes the proof, I will take this to my political science teacher and tell him "See this is Arab Unity, this is Arab Nationalism and this is what I have been talking about"

Seven, a group of Arab climbers that are united to show the world that there is another side of the Arab world that has never been viewed on News Networks and great media productions. 

A group of Arabs, that are united by a common cause, they shared the same concern and worked on creating a positive energy to send a very optimistic message to the world that "We Are Arabs, and HERE we are"

To give you guys a clearer view; this is a part of an introduction about themselves:

“High-octane reality TV show that puts the Middle East on the map in a new way.

Plan A, a Beirut-based creative agency is proud to announce “seVen”, a reality TV show that will document the first ever Pan-Arab expedition to complete the famous Seven Summit mountaineering challenge. seVen will follow the progress of a Pan Arab team of  climbers as they strive to conquer the worldʼs tallest mountain peaks, a challenge only completed by just over 300 adventurers worldwide since itʼs creation.

Plan Aʼs Creative Director Amin Sammakieh says,  “seVen has all the elements for a gripping series.  It is reality TV at its best – drama, action, and documentary all in one.  These men and women are actually risking their lives to raise awareness about their countries, and more importantly, they are united as a team, ready to work together to prove themselves and to put the Middle East on the map in a new way. ”"

I am really excited to see this and I can't wait to see what comes next, inshaa Allah this experience will really achieve its goals and Good Luck to all the SEVEN team :) 

As for my political science teacher he would be seeing many videos about Seven for the rest of this Semester. 

I encourage you guys to stay tuned to their videos and blog posts: 

On Wordpress: http://unite4seven.wordpress.com/

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/unite4seven#p/a

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=218184735821

Twitter: http://twitter.com/unite4seven

Back to Beirut

Christmas break is over.
New Year's here...
I have my plans ready for the year 2010 :) & inshaa Allah I will achieve them.
Two weeks passed in Alexandria doing absolutely nothing :) that was good for a change
And now I am back to Beirut, fall semester finals are soon and I should start getting ready inshaa Allah.
But No matter how many years you stay away from home and travel around! It never feels normal after being with them, living with them for a couple of weeks to go back and be alone! It always gets to you; no matter what.

الله المعين

Present...

It is scary to wait and anticipate for what comes next! 

It is the hardest thing in the world to do your best and wait for the results because YOU NEVER KNOW, you can never know what is there when you are not there and even when you reach there you keep thinking of the other there you have yet to reach. 

It is heart breaking to build your own plans and then destroy them yourself since you simply could not keep up to them. You are the only one that knows the plans but the heart break comes when you know you have failed yourself to achieve what you have longed to achieve! What a great lose and what a self demolition when you know you can't keep up to your OWN standards. 

We keep waiting for that time when everything will turn out great and then it comes and it is not as great as we have aspired and then we persist on wishing for the next time to come that might be better and all we do is wait from one time to the next and we forget to live in the time in which we are present. The present where can create our best time if we know that we own this time that we live in! 

The time that has passed died and the time to come is powerful and we are weak since it holds information that we do not own and therefore it is in charge of what is ahead! 

Be the master of your present time; do not regret the past, do not wish upon the future, enjoy the present, plan for the future but do not let the plan own you since you own the plan... 

“You can’t do this, it is known, and it is our culture!”

This Post is for Every Arab Woman, who will totally relate to what I am about to say! Every Laila on this planet -Kolena Laila Week

Blog to be heard

I have written before that the problem of the Egyptian woman is the patriarchal Egyptian man…

And still the dilemma persists

You know what is the biggest lie used to make the woman shut up and give up her simplest rights? When she is told that “You can’t do this, it is known, and it is our culture!”

Since our culture for decades have been distinguished by male dominance and the oppression of the other half of the population, therefore our So-Called culture is male oriented. Basically we are mostly given an invisible handbook to “function” according to how a male can be satisfied.

And since in this patriarchal system, freedom of thought and critical thinking is not highly appreciated and rarely practiced, therefore those set of rules survived the ages of time and grew to what we identify now as our culture, that we have to respect, stick to and not criticize; it is not only a taboo but also considered as abandoning our identities.

For example, the simplest example is going out with other sex, I am not talking about dating here, and I am mainly talking about opposite sex acquaintances.

A girl that does not have any male acquaintances and has the least interaction with males, is looked upon as inexperienced and therefore a “good” girl.

A young man that does not have any females’ acquaintances and has the least interaction with females; is looked upon as inexperienced and therefore WE HAVE A PROBLEM since now he is a “too Good” boy maybe even “worse” he might be shy.

In this situation the girl would be motivated to keep herself on the gracious route of being an inexperienced being but the young man would have the attention of the family and a high motivation to be more out there and to know girls!

But does not it take a girl to know a boy and vice versa, is not this a great hypocrisy when we want all boys to know girls and all girls to stay home, then who would meet whom!

You know what seriously drives me crazy? When the mom advices the good and shy girl that the bad boy who knows many girls always look for the good and shy girl to marry. But is not that unfair to HER? Why would she LIKE and ADMIRE something in a Man –being a bad boy- when she has tried all her life to be the Good Girl? To stay away from becoming everything HE IS!!!

And the dilemma goes on! Since all our lives have been designed to fulfill their own fantasies!

I would like to stress a point here, that all the mentioned above is about culture and it has nothing to do with religion….

I need my Alone time!

You know what really pisses me off -excuse my langauge- when people do not really get it that you want to be alone!
When I say I want to be alone, I do not want you to keep asking why, please tell us, sharing is caring... blah blah blah... When I  need to be ALONE I am not asking for attention, it just means I want NOONE around! So do not keep asking questions and making your own resolutions of why I feel this way!
I am not depressed nor heart broken! I just need to be alone with Aliaa El zeiny ONLY! Why is it very hard for you to accept that?
Around myself I do not have to be nice, I do not have to act or be wise or act intelligent or try to impress anyone. I just can be ME, no questions asked...
So when I tell you that I need to be ALONE!
PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE...
Do not bully me through nagging to drive me crazy to tell you the reasons since most of the time there are no reasons! I just want to be ALONE... why do I have to have a reason for that?
I know you care and I appreciate that & cherish it... but just leave me Alone for a while...

Life's Simple pleasures

Inspired by a friend I will do a list of  MY most simple pleasures:

1. Praying to Allah especially during "Sujud" (just like you nermo :p )
2. The first sight of your parents in the Airport
3. Hugging my grand parents
4. helping an elderly and getting a prayer from them :)
5. Hearing the Rain and the wind outside the window during night
6. Having coffee in the terrace on an early cold morning
7. Seeing a familiar face in an unexpected place
8. Getting your favourite song on the Ipod when you are not looking for it
9. When you make a little child giggle
10. When you play with a cat and it wiggles its tail
11. Finding money in an old jacket
12. Seeing a cartoon that I used to watch when I was a kid
13. Anticipation of traveling while riding the taxi to the Airport
14. The scent of new books

15. Drinking soup when your cold

16. Getting a comment on your blog post
17. When you have a to do list that all has been checked as done
18. Feeling really cold and wearing a very thick jacket :)
19. Sleeping in bed after a long day
20. The first bite of a hot chocolate cake
21. The last line of a Novel
22. Riding in the Car during Rain while listening to Fairuz during Morning
23. Hearing the "Bosta" Song for Fairouz "Yekhrebyt 3eyonik ya 3aliaa shu helween"
24. The smell of wet grass after rain

Why? I just Do ...

Most of you who have been devoted readers -btw u guyz rock :) - know that I have been trying to become more Religious and more aware of my religion ISLAM.
I have been -El hamdolelAllah, Thank Allah- trying to find the suitable atmosphere, friends, knowledge that keep me trying to achieve my target and help me become a better Muslim inshaa Allah.
Thank Allah all has been going on great, seriously once you set your mind to do something and you orient yourself towards it, it seriously happens. I have met great people, I have been up to the challenge and I am working harder 'cause I really want THAT!
Today when I was praying I felt so happy and excited for the fact that I know that while I am praying I am standing between the hands of Allah! How GREAT is that!
I mean when you really think of it, it is beyond words...
And after I was done I was very hyper and happy and I felt very blessed that I got this feeling back, the feeling that I am not praying only because it is a must! But in-addition to that I am praying because I LOVE IT!
And then I was telling this friend about how amazing it feels, but she did not get it!
And she asked me why do you love Allah so much؟ I was amazed, speechless and I kept thinking about reasons and I got caught up in all the reasons why! But how can I be so naive to actually think of that?
Is there anything in me, around me, everything, anything, on this planet and in the Universe; known to me and not known that is not a valid reason that I love Allah!
So she asked me : why do you love Allah so much?
And I asked back: What is not to love? I just DO :)
Thank you Allah

أشهد ان لا اله الا الله و ان محمد عبده  و  رسوله