3alya2eyat = Aliaa's

A must watch: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

2012-01-07T23:57:00.001-08:00

"Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has spent her life challenging the powerful men who run African politics. She has been imprisoned and forced into exile – but she has also made history. In 2005, Sirleaf became Africa's first female president, defeating the football legend George Weah, who was widely expected to sail to victory on the back of his famous name." The Guardian. Watch this and enjoy the strength of a powerful woman :) Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUcvSDK-UYs

Comic of the Day :)

2012-01-07T04:38:00.001-08:00

Who is Islam?

2012-01-06T23:31:00.000-08:00

"Unless Islam is willing to make that conscious decision, then we are going to be at war for a long time." this statement was said by Rick Santorum on January, 2007. It is when I read things like this, I think "Who is Islam?" ... The -crazy stupid ignorant- people that talk about IZLAM ;p as if it is a being that they need to discuss things with, that really causes me to crack up. Since we tend to call boys and girls by the name Islam, like some people call their kid Christian, I say we get those people desperate to discuss democracy, women rights and the like with IZLAM, and we will put them on a round table with someone actually named Islam -girl or boy- and let them discuss the pressing matters! The thing that really gets on my nerves, is how people like Santorum, 'Pastor' Terry Jones and the like generalize and stereotype Muslims as if we are one person, not different people, from different races, ethnicities and countries . Sometimes I wonder, if Rick Santorum declares a war on Islam, who would he exactly fight? The Middle East -since people usually confuse between the Middle East and the Islamic world, although the countries with the greatest number of Muslims IRONICALLY are not Arab, Less than 20 per cent of Muslims are Arabs. Almost half of the world’s Muslims live in South and Southeast Asia!. Would they fight Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mauritania? Saudi, Gulf countries? Muslim Americans? Or like Rick Santorum calls them 'Islamic Europeans'?How can you be in war with a 1.6 billion people and how will you be able to spot them on the map, dude?Sometimes I think if it was not for the occasional bearded Muslim men and the Veiled women, it would have been impossible to racially profile us in airports for -wait for it- RANDOM checks.For me, people like Rick Santorum and Terry Jones are equal -in ideology- to crazy fanatics that believe Islam is not the religion of Peace. Both believe in the Radical, the War, the killing, they have an identical perspective on what -mistakenly- Islam is? What is Islam? I will tell you, "Islam" means "peace through the submission to God", it is the Religion that has 5 pillars -a lifestyle- that teaches you to be good and to do good. There are five pillars of practice in Islam. These practices must be undertaken with the best of effort in order to be considered a true Muslim: A) Shahadah - declaration of faith in the oneness of God and that Mohamed PBUH is the last prophet of God. B) Formal prayer five times a day. C) Fasting during the daylight hours in the month of Ramadan. D) Poor-due "tax" - 2.5% of one's savings given to the needy at the end of each year. E) Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once, if physically and financially able.Islam is the religion that enables every Muslim to be very close to Allah, we do not have Hierarchy in religion, Prophet Mohamed PBUH is the prophet, he delivered his message, and every Muslim is as close to Allah -God- as anyone else, all she/ he has to do is to talk to Allah, to pray and to know that Allah will answer his/her prayer."2:186 وإذا سألك عبادي عني فإني قريب أجيب دعوة الداع إذا دعان فليستجيبوا لي وليؤمنوا بي لعلهم يرشدونAnd when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me – indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided. 2:186" Peace be Upon you All . السلام عليكم

Carpe Diem

2012-01-05T07:02:00.000-08:00

I have been taking this Arabic literature course about Modern Arabic poetry, and I am loving it. I have learned in this class what I consider very valuable knowledge, I read poetry, I met poets and I came to know how beautiful our language is, that I am -now- absolutely in love with it. Our professor asked us to choose one poem that we consider a favorite -that we learned in his class. I chose this one: الطلاسم لإيليا أبو ماضي . In this poem he examines the concept of carpe Diem, to seize the day, to live life to the fullest. The romantics had a very pessimistic look towards life but Abou Madi did not, he is one of the few poets that sezied his residency in the United States of America and tried to seek true happiness. I am going to share the poem with you and hopefully you will see in it what I saw :) http://www.adab.com/modules.php?name=Sh3er&doWhat=shqas&qid=67609

Egyptian woman and PROUD

2012-01-02T00:04:00.000-08:00

من هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر إلى نساء مصر : ' هو كله ضرب ضرب . مفيش شتيمة ولا ايه ؟' هاهاهاها أنا مصرية وأفتخر ببنات ونساء بلدي

I wrote this for you!

2012-01-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

There is a blog http://www.iwrotethisforyou.me/ it is a blog that I started following two years ago. The blogger blogs something every now and then, the posts are meant -only- for this person. The blogger is anonymous and so is the receiver of the posts. This is how the blogger introduces the blog: "I NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING. I WROTE THIS FOR YOU. I WROTE THIS FOR YOU AND ONLY YOU. EVERYONE ELSE WHO READS IT, DOESN’T GET IT. THEY MAY THINK THEY GET IT, BUT THEY DON’T. THIS IS THE SIGN YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR. YOU WERE MEANT TO READ THESE WORDS." One day, I read on it something that stuck with me till this very second, it said; "You are the difference between how things are, and how things should be!" The sentences struck me. I have never been in love, but I wonder how it would truly feel to have someone altering the meaning to your existence? In cliche words, can someone really feel that "I can't live if living is without you!" REALLY? Sorry for the use of cliche lyrics, I apologize for the inconvenience ;pAnd this is a peak into the I wrote this for you Blog: "I've been thoroughly briefed on the weather. I've extrapolated your metaphors to illustrate your point. I've heard your dissertation on what's wrong with the world. I've paraded along next to your monologue. So please. For me...Fill this silence with the words you promised to say."

Random Day: 2

2011-12-25T23:27:00.000-08:00

With nothing to do with our day, rain outside and a good spirit; Marah and I decided to act like tourists. We've been living in Beirut for the past four years, so we pretty much feel like we are home in Beirut. Anyways, we took our umbrellas, the camera, good comfy boots and we walked around Beirut aimlessly for four hours. It was one of the best days ever, we had so much fun! We talked about everything, sometimes we were just silent walking the empty streets and other times we were laughing at our fatal attempts to look cute in pictures. We asked a soldier for directions and he directed us to Robert Mouawad Private Museum. "Believing in all things beautiful, a quest to bring together items of esthetic and historical value, to present a culture emphasized and never lost, no matter how diverse under the same roof, in one mansion at the very heart of downtown Beirut. The Robert Mouawad Private Museum portrays the vision and mirrors the appreciation bestowed by Henri Pharaon on his tenderly crafted collection, a gleaming reflection of the past now confirmed a guardianship into the future." it was INTERESTING and BEAUTIFUL. There were barely anyone inside, except for 4 other tourists and we were not allowed to take photos, but we managed to take two -it was so hard not to document the randomness of being in the museum on a Christmas break. But we kept thinking, how RICH is this man to buy all these things? REALLY! He had in the museum a Victoria Secret under-wear and Bra that costs 9 million american dollars! IMAGINE. Anyways, we kept walking to downtown Beirut and then around it and then we headed back to Hamra and then back to dorms. Once we were back in our dorm -dead tired- one of our scholarship mates called us to go with him and the others to the movies. We were very tired, but we thought, why not, do not say No today! We said YES. We went to the movies, we did not even care what we were going to watch, we ended up watching the Immortals -which was fun. I think Randomness has proved itself as a healthy attitude around the holidays. To Randomness :)

Ya Barney ya Fahmny

2011-12-25T02:10:00.000-08:00

I do not think anyone could have said it better, Barney Stinson; you nailed it ;p

New Year's Eve movie

2011-12-24T13:06:00.001-08:00

Marah and I decided to go to the movies yesterday. The weather was CRAZY outside, we do not own a car, so we had to walk in the crazy rain to the main street to get a cab to the ABC Mall Achrafieh, to watch the movie. Since yesterday was Christmas and the weather was crazy, there was not a single car in the street. We stood there at the corner of the street for 15 minutes in the pouring rain, till we found a taxi! Worth mentioning, that every car that passed us would prank us with speeding and getting us more wet!!! When we were in the car, we were soaking wet, we were literally dripping water. The irony is that, one of the annoying things about Beirut taxis is that even if you are walking in the street and you do not want a Taxi, they keep honking their horns and screaming "Taxi, TAXI mademoiselle? taxi, taxi, taxi" but ofcourse when you need them; they are as scarce as possible and when you are stuck under the rain, you wont even find them.Anyways we reach ABC mall, we give the taxi driver 10.000 L.L which is the known fare for a taxi in Beirut, but since he heard us talking and he knew from our accents that we were not Lebanese, he wanted 20.000 L.L! we got angry, I hate them when they want to abuse you like that! So I was like "Take it or leave it dude!" And I told Marah to step out of the car! He was screaming at us, that it is not fair, but we knew better! Its been 4 years of dealing with greedy taxi drivers. Anyways, we go up to the movies and then we discover that they close on Christmas! WHAT! Everything was closed, the restaurants, the stores and the Cinemas. By coincidence we bump into our friend and her sister, who just like us, wanted to watch New Year's Eve movie. We call another Cinema Concorde and they were open. Luckily, it had stopped raining and our friend had her car, so no more Taxi drama. We pass by the dorm, 20 minutes left till the movie starts. I change quickly and run back down! I looked like a fashion disaster and I knew it! I had my running shoes on and I was wearing jeans! when I came into the car, Marah told me "Thank Allah, that everyone is having Christmas dinner so noone has to witness your fashion crisis!" We arrive at the movies and we buy the tickets, the movie is really good! It is one of these hopeful movies about second chances and enjoying life :) Marah said "it is one of these movies that makes you feel like shit after watching it, because it is just TOO HAPPY!"When we arrived back to our room, we realized how random was the night! how we stood in the rain and did not care how wet we were, how we ignored the screaming taxi driver, how we persisted on watching the movie and how an awesome night it turned out to be! You see, it is these unplanned, unexpected events in life, when you really focus on the moment not the consequence -like getting a terrible headache and catching a cold- that sometimes are the best moments in life. And if we are not going to be as random and spontaneous in life when we are in our 20s, when will we be?Now we have to wait and see what is going to happen in NEW Year's 2012? Christmas night was fun, New Year's have to out-stand it :) inshaaAllah! What is YOUR plans for New Year's?

Is not this very cute :)

2011-12-24T00:28:00.001-08:00

أهو ده اللي صار

2011-12-21T22:58:00.000-08:00

...أهو دا اللي صار و أدي اللي كان...مالكش حق...مالكش حق تلوم عليا...تلوم عليا ازاي يا سيدنا ...و خير بلادنا ماهوش في ادنا ...قولي عن أشيا تفدنا...و بعدها بقى لوم عليا...مصر يا أم العجايب...شعبك أصيل و الخصم عايب ...خلي بالك م الحبايب...دول أنصار القضية...بدال ما يشمت فينا حاسد ...إيدك في إيدي نقوم نجاهد ...احنا نبقى الكل واحد ...والأيادي تكون قويه ...بحبك يا فيروز

State of Nature

2011-12-21T06:24:00.000-08:00

I am currently getting ready for a midterm on Locke, Bentham and Kant's philosophies. While I was studying Locke's State of Nature, I identified with his key definition of a government and its roles. It is created by the people, to protect the people from the people, but also "Government has no other end, but the preservation of property." So if a government, is hindering the property -lives, estates and liberty- it loses its legitimacy! Meen el Akher keda... NO to SCAF!

No for SCAF

2011-12-18T01:26:00.000-08:00

سؤال للمجلس العسكري : أنتم بتهببوا إيه؟ كفاية بقى

Worthless women and the men who make them

2011-12-17T02:45:00.000-08:00

I live in dorms, right? I am surrounded by girls 24/7 and we all know how women's therapy is to talk to other women! We love to tell everyone what we are going through, what are our thoughts and we always ask for advice. In my four years of residing in the dorms, I have never met a girl that is happy about her figure, there is always something wrong -and I am not excluding myself from this. Some want to lose weight, others want to gain weight, some want longer legs, others thinking of getting implants. There is always something that needs to be fixed!Today, on my Facebook feed I saw an article shared by a friend with a direct order above it "READ THIS!"The article's title caught my attention: Worthless women and the men who make them: http://www.danoah.com/2010/10/worthless-women-and-men-who-make-them.html/I started reading and I loved it. Would love to hear your thoughts on the Article :) Have a great SATURDAY afternoon.

Social Media Changing Lives

2011-12-16T11:59:00.000-08:00

Today I gave a presentation that was organized by the AUB Online Collaborative on how Social Media is changing lives. I presented blogging from an Arab Woman's prespective. This is an outline of what I said in the presentation :) It was amazing, although I was anxious, I tried to be true to myself and to the audience.I got many positive tweets :) and Followers... AWESOME :)Hello, I am Aliaa Elzeiny, I am a political science Major in my senior year and I am one of the MEPI tomorrow’s Leaders scholars. I am from Alexandria Egypt and I am a blogger. I am coming to talk to you all today about what is means to be an Arab woman blogger. Chimamanda Adichie in a TEDx talk spoke about what she called “ The danger of a single story” she said:“I'm a storyteller and I would like to tell you a few personal stories about what I like to call "the danger of the single story.“ I grew up on a university campus in eastern Nigeria. My mother says that I started reading at the age of two, Although I think four is probably close to the truth. So I was an early reader, and what I read were British and American children's books. I was also an early writer, and when I began to write, at about the age of seven, stories in pencil with crayon illustrations that my poor mother was obligated to read, I wrote exactly the kinds of stories I was reading: All my characters were white and blue-eyed, they played in the snow, they ate apples, and they talked a lot about the weather, how lovely it was that the sun had come out. Now, this despite the fact that I lived in Nigeria. I had never been outside Nigeria. We didn't have snow, we ate mangoes, and we never talked about the weather, because there was no need to. My characters also drank a lot of ginger beer because the characters in the British books I read drank ginger beer. Never mind that I had no idea what ginger beer was. And for many years afterwards, I would have a desperate desire to taste ginger beer. But that is another story. What this demonstrates, I think, is how impressionable and vulnerable we are in the face of a story.”You see she knew how vulnerable we are as readers or viewers to what we hear, read or watch. That even as an African woman when she came to write of a fairy tale, the lead character had to be a white girl with blue eyes. That is how she was introduced to stories and then she was cornered into a single story. That got me thinking about our status as Arab women in the Arab world and how we are always perceived in a single story, the oppressed. How many times have we seen people talking about Arab women as the sad black figure walking head down, silently, a shadow? How many times have we seen how they fused Arab women to Muslim women as if all Arab women are Muslim women and to them it means an oppressed women married to a crazy fanatic jihadi?I look at this picture and I think, I might look like that girl in the picture, I am an Arab woman and I am a veiled Muslim woman. Am I oppressed? NO … Were I ever silenced? NO… Did I ever get married to a sultan? I wish I wanted to defy that and as an Arab Egyptian Muslim woman I thought what a better platform to send what I need to tell the world other than through blogging? It is free, it is easy and it worldwide accessible.To blog?Noun. blog - a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies; "postings on a blog are usually in chronological order. Who is a Blogger? Someone who has something –an experience- to share. She/ he has something to SAY to the world, but do not we ALL?I did a semester of study abroad in Dickinson College, PA, USA and I remember how some people used to tell me that I am different. You see, I did not fit to the picture of their stereotypical Arab woman. So they assumed I am different. They though because I speak up, I laugh out loud in public places, I am not married and I was not forced to wear the veil, that I am the odd one out. And then when I came back to Egypt, I realized how some people when I spoke about Feminism, or about civil rights, that I was too westernized. One day at 2:20 a.m I blogged this:“ Funny how in some countries I am considered the silenced conservative oppressed Muslim veiled woman and in other countries I am the liberated feminist whom was corrupted by her western education and blogging! If I was not sure what I am; I would have been very confused :) but what am I :) LOL?"What am I? I am an Arab woman and Proud.It is through blogging that I was capable to tell those who think I am the odd one out, that I am not. You just know a single story, and through my blog you will get to know the real Arab woman, or what you do not see on T.V.They do not hear of Tawakol Karman; Nobel Prize Winner From Yemen.In Tunisia, women won approximately twenty-five percent 25% of the seats of the new Constituent Assembly. 40-45% of protesters in Tahrir Square were WomenSarah Abdel-Rahman : Egyptian journalist and blogger who was awarded the Edberg Award, a Swedish award granted for the woman’s courageous use of social media during the Egyptian revolution.This is OUR role: To tell Our part of the Story:Naomi Wolf on an Aljazeera English opinion titled “the Middle East Feminist Revolution” said: “Among the most prevalent Western stereotypes about Muslim countries are those concerning Muslim women: doe-eyed, veiled, and submissive, exotically silent, gauzy inhabitants of imagined harems, closeted behind rigid gender roles. So where were these women in Tunisia and Egypt?”So if they see these images and they think of the single story: Oppressed. I look at these images and I think, these women toppled a regime, they are POWERFUL.Arab women bloggers are Scheherazade (s): they tell their part of the story to a patriarchal king (in this case society) and through their intelligence they hook you in, till they tell you what they have to say and save the day. Through Social networks and blogging, women are able to voice their concern and their opinion. They are taking the front rows in the positive change of their countries. “…with a stage, a spotlight, and a spokesperson – women often shy away from leadership roles. But social media, through the very nature of the technology, have changed what leadership looks and feels like today. ” Noami Wolf Azar Nafisi, an Iranian author who is now living in the USA wrote in her book “Reading Lolita in Tehran” : “I want you the reader to imagine us, for we won’t really exist if you don’t. Against the tyranny of time and politics, imagine us the way we sometimes did not dare to imagine ourselves: in our most private and secret moments, in the most extraordinary ordinarily instances of life, listening to music, falling in love, walking down the shady streets or reading Lolita in Tehran. And then imagine us again with all this confiscated, driven underground, taken away from us.”Through blog you can be critical about an issue, speak up against any wrong, but also you can tell of your daily life, the normal story of your life, that someone would have never imagined, that just like everyone else you drive your car to work, you have a crush on your classmate or that you tried Yoga and it broke you!My Pen Is free:Nawal El Saadawi once said, “I am the voice of the silent majority and my dream is that this majority will begin talking. I speak the language of common sense, I belong to no political party or group, my thoughts and my pen remain free – they have not been bought by anyone” We are not Free yet, but atleast our keyboards are. Arab women, if you have a voice why do you let others voice your opinions and your thoughts. You speak up. You have a voice, USE IT...

Yoga Yoga baby!

2011-12-12T22:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Marah and I thought that we should go 'relax' in the Yoga class. Man, how innocent and ignorant were we? We were standing infront of the activity room of our GYM when the individuals that will join the class started to show up. We are talking very old people 50+. We thought how hard can it be, look at the crowd; they can easily break a bone. And then we were introduced to down dog, up dog, warrior one, warrior two and the burning of the ham string and the focus on your breathing chorus! HOW CAN SOMETHING be THIS hard? And how can THESE OLDIES do all this? We stayed for the whole class and we really enjoyed it. But we were killed by the end of the class, we could not even laugh at how we looked so old among the old ones. Looks can fool you, really.

The Balcony

2011-12-11T11:01:00.001-08:00

We have the perfect balcony in our dorm. I live on the 7th floor so when I stand in it I can see the corniche, the mountain and the sea :) At night, at any night wither it is cold or warm or very hot, I go there to sit for a while with my Ipod and probably Fairouz on, sometimes Adele and most recently Florence and the machine. I take with me a cup of a hot drink, coffee in the morning and at night Anise with milk. It really soothes me.I have been doing this every now and then since I moved to this dorm, in sophomore year. Today it hit me, that like now next year I won't be able to be in this balcony any more! I won't be in this city anymore, or in this country. I will be back home. But I know I will miss my solitude moments on the balcony during a perfect Beiruti night, while Fairouz sings to me "s2alouny el nass" and I keep to my thoughts, looking out at the dark sea with its shimmering background from the Mountain's lights. Beirut, you will always be my favorite. Beirut I love you.

Social Media Changing Lives

2011-12-11T04:29:00.001-08:00

For those of you living in Beirut, Lebanon come and be part of the Social Media Changing Lives will be taking place on December 16, 2011 at 12:00 PM at Issam Fares Hall at the American University of Beirut.The conference is open to the general public, and is free of charge. However, due to the limited capacity, it is required that you register beforehand so you can guarantee a spot.You can register here: http://smcl.onlinecollaborative.org/p/registeration.htmlI will be giving a 15 minute lecture about the Role of Blogging on the Status of Arab women and Human Rights. 5:20-pm – 5:35pm Human Rights & Arab Women ●by Aliaa El Zeiny, Blogger and Political Science Student at the American University of Beirut You can check out the schedule here: http://smcl.onlinecollaborative.org/p/speakers.htmlCome and Join us in telling a true story of the Social media :)

Founder's Day 2011

2011-12-09T02:43:00.001-08:00

Founders Day is the annual AUB event celebrating the establishment of the University on December 3, 1866. To raise student awareness of and participation in this important occasion, AUB announced the thirteenth student essay contest. All AUB undergraduate students were encouraged to enter this year's Founders Day contest, to be celebrated on December 5, 2011 at noon, in Assembly Hall. The three winning essay writers will be honored during the ceremony itself and invited to the lunch at Marquand House following the ceremony. In line with tradition, the author of the first-place entry will read the winning essay during the ceremony and his or her name will be inscribed on a plaque which hangs in Assembly Hall.Founders Day Student Essay Contest 2011 topic: "In light of AUB's historic legacy as an institution that fosters social advancement, what role can our university play in this region during the time of the Arab Spring?"I submitted an essay for the competition. I wrote about my experience as an Egyptian young woman in AUB during the Arab awakening. And I won the first place, el hamdlAllah. I read my essay on Founder's day (Monday, December 5th at Noon) in our Assembly hall, and my name will be inscribed on a plaque which will hang forever in AUB. The feeling was overwhelming, I stood there, infront of everyone and I was shaking. I am not the kind of person who is afraid of public speaking -AT ALL- but something about AUB and its history, had a huge effect on me. There I was standing in Assembly hall, in my senior year, remembering the first day of orientation when I entered Assembly Hall and thought it is the most beautiful hall I have ever seen and how awesome it would be to give a speech here. And I did :) And learned how AWESOME it is El HamdlAllah. President Dorman, introduced me and then I went up and I said: "Hello, or Izaykum -like we say in Egypt. I am Aliaa El zeiny, Senior majoring Political Science and I am one of the Egyptian MEPI scholars in AUB. It is such an honor to be able to stand here to read my essay and share my experience with you. But before I start I would like to dedicate my essay to the Arab youth who are an example of what change is and how not only the future but also the present can be bright. To the people in Tahrir square who took an oath on themselves “never again to submit to oppression or be silent to any wrong?” To the people –I know this might seem like a cliché- but to the Arab people who are breathing freedom HOREYA. To the Tunisians who started it all and to Mohamed Bouzizi and Khaled Said, May you both rest in Peace."And then I started reading my essay. Every word was honest. My essay is an experience told and a reflection of how I truly feel towards AUB, being Egyptian in AUB and being an Egyptian AUB student during the Arab Awakening.You can read my essay here: http://www.aub.edu.lb/main/Documents/Elzeiny-Founders-2011.pdfAnd you can Read about the event here: http://www.aub.edu.lb/news/2011/Pages/founders-day-2011.aspxI was proud to be able to stand there and talk of change. To tell of a people's will to find a way. To AUB, Thank you :)

On the street... It's worth it; Paris by The Sartorialist

2011-11-25T23:24:00.001-08:00

Anyone that has been out with us, knows that we would wear the highest heels ever. We are tall, we are actually taller than the average Lebanese girl, but if you are tall flaunt it, right ;) ? Anyways, since our university takes pride in its stairs and hills, wearing heels can be a suicide attempt at certain times. So the trick is to wear flats to the university's gate, change into heels right before the gate and act as if you are the graceful lady that can run up stairs in a 5.5 inch heel and make it safely to the gates!!! The Sartorialist expressed how "it's worth it" with some pictures of a woman changing from her flats into her -beautiful- heels.

IT IS WORTH IT :) Here is the link to the blog post: http://www.thesartorialist.com/photos/on-the-street-relief-paris/Thank you Sartorialist for your lovely blog posts and your interesting & artistic photos.

Jane Eyre

2011-11-23T08:04:00.001-08:00

“Sometimes I have the strangest feeling about you. Especially when you are near me as you are now. It feels as though I had a string tied here under my left rib where my heart is, tightly knotted to you in a similar fashion. And when you go to Ireland, with all that distance between us, I am afraid that this cord will be snapped, and I shall bleed inwardly.” ― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre...Are not these perfect words? Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is my new Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Think about this ;)

2011-11-21T13:03:00.001-08:00

ewww!

2011-11-19T04:15:00.001-08:00

I call them the Eww moments! What are they? let me tell you. They are the moments when you remember something stupid you did or you said. When you go "eww" at the memory of that very moment and what makes it more disgusting and more of an "EWWW" is when you remember how happy you were at that moment. Do you know what I am talking about now? Shu I hate the Eww moments, since they rain on you and then you just feel disgusted by yourself. And then you wonder; "If I am "eww"-ed by it, what would others think about it!" I realized that I rarely do something that can later be an eww except when I am not being myself. Those moments when I am not being 100% Aliaa is when the Eww-ness potential is as its optimal point.But there are other eww moments, these are the ones that happen when you have a conflict between your heart and your brain, and then most of the time I follow my heart which makes my brain go "you are going to regret this, Aliaa." And later, I fall in an eww moment.To every eww memory and every potential eww moment in my life; I HATE YOU, STAY AWAY you disturbing, disgusting and negative thoughts!!!

حكمة اليوم

2011-11-13T11:13:00.001-08:00

‎"من شرائع وعادات ... من عقائد وخزعبلات ... من دول وحكومات... من طوائف وجماعات... ما الذي تظنه يدوم ؟ " آمين الريحاني

11th of 11 at 11:11

2011-11-11T01:13:00.001-08:00

As I am writing this, it is the 11th of November, 11 o'clock and 11 minutes. Which translates to 11th of 11 at 11:11Ya salaaaaaaaaam :)

Today, again, I am part of change :)

2011-11-10T14:29:00.001-08:00

I just finished registering Online to be able to vote as an Egyptian Living abroad in the upcoming parliamentary elections from Beirut, Lebanon. There is a certain website that I was informed of by a friend, I went on it, checked my status -if I am eligible to vote. I submitted all my personal data, my ID number, passport number, etc and then I was informed that now I will be able to vote in the upcoming elections. Imagine, this is going to be the first time I ever vote and I am going to be part of the first Egyptians living abroad that are able to vote :) I feel empowered, I feel like I matter and that my country is CHANGING, no matter what others think. The Social Networks hype on the candidates and their programs shows that this time is different. We are taking baby steps towards democracy and this is refreshing, its hopeful, its beautiful. This is the link for all of you Egyptian readers living abroad:http://www.elections2011.eg/index.php/2011-11-09-20-01-43And one more thing, I am totally in love with the informative Youtube videos that tells you how to vote, why to vote, etc... Today, like Everyday, since January 25th 2011, I am EGYPTIAN & PROUD

Closer inshaaAllah

2011-11-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, I was content beyond words, I had gratitude and an overall feeling of sheer happiness. This was the time when I gave up the world to be close. I left all the material behind to be close to Allah. But then I realized I did not have a center, I was not in equilibrium. I was too weak, so I took to solitude and then realized to be truly close, I have to be part of the world, I have to struggle within life, not to be a quitter. So I thought I can be both, part of this and that, to have the material and be spiritual. But now, sitting here in the balcony of my dorm, around a year later, I know that I forgot myself, once more, to the material. You know how some of us always turn to Allah when we are in a moment of stress, of lonesome, despair, and the like? I am not there at all, bl3aks, elhamdlAllah I have been doing fine, my studies are going perfectly, I am in the best health, I have nothing to complain about. But deep inside, all this does not feel as right as it should be. I miss that time when I was walking down the hill and I started talking to Allah with absolute gratitude that I am Alive, that I know (w Allah a3lam) that Allah can hear me and knows how grateful I am that I am close. So here we go again, and this time, I want to reach that point and stay there. I am going to strive to be close, I am going to work hard to reach that luminous moment and stay there. Allah m3na :)If anyone is interested to be close, just work for it and 'inshaaAllah you’ll find your way.'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIv28pZDPYo&feature=related

Aywa b2a :)

2011-11-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

‎"Unless it's mad passionate extraordinary love, it's a waste of your time. There are too many mediocre things in life and love shouldn't be one of them." Copied*

تسجيل حالة by Jailan El Shafie

2011-10-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

تسجيل حالة-أنا الآن أبدو أكثر :هدوء-ذاتية-تفائل- لامبالاة-بهجة-نضج-أستمتاع-حياة-أنا

My Google Calendar

2011-10-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

It seems these days that my life really revolves around my Google Calendar. I started using it in July and since then; I got hooked. Every important event in my life is found in my Google Calendar. You know what, it saddens me sometimes! I feel like my life is kind of scheduled. Even picking up the food has a certain timing on my calendar, going to the GYM, going to class! It is all there. All my spare of the moment events are after 8 p.m -if my calendar allows it. It seems like you feed it information and then it controls you -that electronic monster. Google Calendar, why are you so cruel.

2011-10-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

ما سرُّ زهدك فى الدنيا يا إمام؟فقال أربعة أشياء :علمت أن رزقى لايأخذه غيرى فاطمئن قلبي .... وعلمت أن عملى لايقوم به غيرى فاشتغلت به وحدي .وعلمت أن الله مطلع على فاستحييت أن يرانى على معصية .وعلمت أن الموت ينتظرنى فأعددت الزاد للقاء ربى .

قل ما تريد

2011-10-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

I love you V

2011-10-20T02:51:00.001-07:00

Et maintenant on va où ? هلأ لوين ؟

2011-10-19T01:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I finally went to the Lebanese movie "Et maintenant on va où ?" which translates into "And now where we'll go?". The movie has been creating a great buzz everyone I know went and saw it and sometimes even twice. I LOVED it, I enjoyed every second of it and I think it was one of the bes Arabic movies I have seen in a while and actually one of the best movies I have seen in a while. I recommend everyone to go watch it.

The main plot of the movie is that a group of Lebanese women in a tiny village on the Mountain tries to ease the tension between the villagers during the Christian/ Muslim clashes during the late 20th century.Other than the fact that I really enjoyed the movie. The trip to and from the movie theatre was very interesting. This is the thing about Beirut, every second can be a potential of a great story.

On our way to the movie theatre. You know when you want something badly and all of a sudden it no longer exists. This is what happens every time Marah and I are in a rush. There are always taxis honking at you "taxi, mademoiselle?" but yesterday since we were running late and we did not want to miss the Trailers -one of my favorite things about watching a movie in the Cinema-, we were not able to find any taxis, as if they all disappeared from the face of Earth. And the couple we managed to find did not want to go to Verdun Dunes Cinema. Until we started laughing at the irony, that is when a taxi driver stopped and asked us why were we laughing :) ? And he asked us for our destination, we got in and we headed for the Cinema. He asked us where are we from? And we replied; Marah is Palestinian and I am Egyptian. The old taxi driver was Palestinian too and he asked Marah "Mn Beit meen?" from which house is she/ what is her family name? She told him. He started going on about how he knew she was Palestinian, he felt it in his heart :) he was a cute old man with a thick voice and a warm laugh. And he thought I was being left out and he started saying how he loves Gamal Abdel Nasser. الشعب يحب ناصر He asked me what do I study and I answered "Political science" ... he replied "One more Egyptian who will do something to Palestine?" And deep inside I wished the answer would be YES nshaaAllahHe started giving Marah and I advice on being careful in Lebanon "derou balkum 3ammu mn Lebnan, hadd el balad..." hehehe akh 3amu if only you knew.We arrived at our destination. We watched the movie with our other two friends. We laughed, we teared, we laughed again, we loved it and then we were going home.

So we took another taxi. And this stage I shall name it “like mother like daughter."The middle aged taxi driver seemed like he is the very talkative type. He went om & on telling us about his adventures in Greece and when he tipped the taxi driver in Greece and gave the taxi driver extra 5 pounds. He kept telling the strory in English and then translating it into Arabic. He told us about how all the descent people no longer exist on this earth and this part of the discussion led to the talk on marriage and how a man should not marry any girl, until he meets her mom. He told us how a man should not marry any girl with a bad family!“إذا بدنا أبر مخرمة ما كنت البيوت معمرة"Marah got really into the discussion, I was too tired, but I laughed and said “ih 3amu 3ndk ha2” a couple of times. It got a little bit out of hand when 3amu started turning back to look at Marah while talking and he was not paying attention to the road, so every now and then I will tell him “3amu the light is green… 3amu watch out!” All in all it was fun.Beirut. I LOVE YOU.

It is said...

2011-10-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

It is said that; 'Behind every great -successful- man is a great woman!" but no one mentioned what is behind every great, successful woman! And then I found this AWESOME picture, shared on Facebook and I knew what is Behind every great woman; HERSELF. To great women :)

Meeting Allah

2011-10-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

I was getting ready for prayer. I went and I washed. I pulled my velvet praying mat from the library over my desk. I laid it down on the floor. I put on my Veil. I got my perfume and I put some on. Marah asked me; "Why do you always put some perfume before praying?"I replied; "I am going to meet Allah!"And the reply made me in awe. Rarely do we think of it when we are praying. We are between the hands of the all merciful :) It was and still is a beautiful thought, el hamdlAllah. Btw; this is a very new habit -not the praying, but to put perfume before I pray. I saw this picture that had 2 pictures within it; the first was of a man going to meet his boss and he is overly dressed and stylish and the second was when he was going to pray and he looked like he could not care less. I felt bad when I saw the picture and that was why; since 3 weeks now; I have got certain clothes for praying and I take care of how I look before standing between the hands of Allah. Allah ythbtna.

Tumblr-ing on my blog :)

2011-10-13T03:38:00.000-07:00

I want a living room that looks exactly like this one; inshaaAllah I will :)

A cartoon that says it all

2011-10-12T09:42:00.001-07:00

CAUTION!

2011-10-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

It saddens me what is going on in Egypt. I can not sleep, I am irritated, how can we do this and we all belong to one unit, we are all Egypt?How can we ruin something that was very beautiful, something that was very powerful?All the people we lost, that were injured, all in the sake of a free Egypt; are we going to ruin that in a stupid wake of sectarianism and intolerance. I Refuse. 18 days would not go to waste, we have to focus on the bigger battle; us against the real enemy not us against each other. I am not a huge believer in conspiracy theories but can not we see the real conspiracy here? For us to think that it was better when Mobarak was on top, because -atleast- back then we did not kill each other! Please do not forget the pictures, you remember them; the ones from Janurary 2011, the ones that told of a great time when the Egyptians were praying and they were protected from the brutal forces by their fellow Egyptians? Did you forget this picture?"All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players:They have their exits and their entrances;And one man in his time plays many parts," You might think, 'seriously Aliaa; you are quoting the Cliche?' but I have a point so please do not be driven into a plot that was created for you to lose hope. Do not be a prop for the play of the Failure of the Revolution to maintain stability and security. Do not be be filled with despair. Do not lose faith in #Jan25 #Egypt... Please remain strong! Be the Egyptian that created a revolution and abolished a dictator in 18 days! Do not be the Egyptian who gave in to whatever this is!!!

Tawakkol Karman :)

2011-10-07T06:24:00.000-07:00

Mabrouk Tawakkol Karman for for being this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner :) Tawakkol Karman, mother of three is a Yemeni journalist and activist who demonstrated/ demonstrate great courage and enthusiasm in the Arab Spring.This is a blog post that was written by her; called the Girl from Yemen: by Tawakkol KarmanThe revolution in Yemen began immediately after the fall of Ben Ali in Tunisia on 14 January. As I always do when arranging a demonstration I posted a message on Facebook, calling on people to celebrate the Tunisian uprising on 16 January.We agreed that we could not let this historic moment pass us by, and that we too could spark a peaceful revolution to demand an end to a despotic regime.After a week of protests I was detained by the security forces in the middle of the night. The pressure on the government was intense, and I was released after 36 hours in a women’s prison, where I was kept in chains.After my release I continued to demonstrate .Around the country, tents sprang up for vigils, copying Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Hundreds of thousands poured into these “squares of liberation and change”. With the inclusion of all sections of society, the revolution had outgrown the student movement.In five years my country has witnessed six wars, but now the people’s guns are silent; they have chosen peaceful change. Despite the fact that hundreds of protesters have been killed by the regime, not one police officer or security agent has been killed by the masses.When snipers killed more than 50 protesters and wounded 1,000 on the Friday of Dignity, it was the young who arrested the culprits; not one was attacked or injured, despite the anger and the blood that had flowed in the streets.For the first time people in the south stopped calling for separation, raised the national flag and demanded an end to the regime. It’s been truly historic. The country is united in its aim to rid itself of the regime through public vigils and rallies, civil disobedience and slogans instead of tear gas and bullets.This is a regime that carried out 33 years of rule through blood and corruption.We cannot let the bogeyman of al-Qaida and extremism be used to stall historic change in our country; Saleh invokes this threat in an attempt to cling to power, as if he is the only one capable of bringing stability and tackling terrorism. It would be foolish to believe his lies. .If the US and Europe genuinely support the people, as they say, they must not betray our peaceful revolution. It is the expression of the democratic will of the overwhelming majority of the people of Yemen.________________________Tawakkol Karman: This 32-year-old mother of three is an unlikely activist. But as the chair of Women Journalists Without Chains she has been protesting at Sana’a University, in the nation’s capital, every Tuesday since 2007. Her aim: to pressure Yemen’s President of 32 years, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to step down. Though she’s been arrested several times, she remains an advocate for peaceful change.(TIME magazine)

2011-10-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Warning: This blog post will contain explicit details of my new heels, if not interested in heels or in fashion, please do not proceed!

SHOESSSSSSSS <3 All my friends know that I LOVE my shoes, I LOVE them! I think the best thing about any outfit is the shoes; their color, their heel, their texture, their height and the way they flatter you.Yesterday, while Marah and I were walking in Hamra with our friend Hassan heading toward our university we saw that ALDO shoes had SALE 70% OFF! We never intended to go shoe shopping but it is destiny.We went inside and our friend Hassan -he is a guy- was about to commit suicide since he went with Marah shopping a couple of times and he knows how long the shopping can take. Anyways, once inside the store, with all the options; we could not resist trying everything that is in our size :)I found the PERFECT black Platform Pump <3 and then I realized that all my shoes -except for very few- are black, but whatever they do not look the same! And plus, black goes with everything.Hassan was questioning the fact that we are going to buy shoes with a 5.5 inch heel & a 1.5 inch platform; but I guess he does not understand that we are not going to play soccer in them, so what if they are a little bit high?Now I am dying to go out and wear them, but all of a sudden all my friends have the flu. But to my new amazing shoes, Welcome to my closet :)

SENIOR YEARRRRRR BABYYY :)

2011-10-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

Aliaa Elzeiny is officially a senior. I have been trying to sit down and write a blog post that can say it all. But till now I can't get myself around the fact that in less than a year inshaaAllah; Aliaa & Beirut will part ways, the places, the friends, winter in Beirut, Hamra, Morning coffee @main-gate & Fairouz. I will postpone that post till I have the courage to write it. Beirut, I love you! Such a beautiful city, sobhanAllah. So I will settle to declaring that I am a senior AUB political Science student graduating -inshaaAllah- Class 2012 :)

We are Tiny!

2011-09-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

So I was telling Marah that this guy posted a picture on his Facebook profile that says; "Great people talk about ideas, Average people talk about things and small people talk about other people." So Marah's reply was; "Shit we are tiny!."I wish I could give up gossiping but it is just so much fun!!!

2:20 a.m thoughts!

2011-09-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

In an email that I sent to some friends telling them about my latest news and reflections I wrote: "Funny how in some countries I am considered the silenced conservative oppressed muslim veiled woman and in other countries I am the liberated feminist whom was corrupted by her western education and blogging! If I was not sure what I am; I would have been very confused :) but what am I :) LOL?"You tend to define yourself according to what other people think of you. For example, among succesful people who outstand you, you are less succesful and among less succesful people you are more succesful and that can apply to everything Education, sophistication, elegance, fashion, but does it apply to your personality and who you are?why do we have to define ourselve within a context? Why cant we just define or be defined according to what we really are? Imagine, if everyone walked around with a t-shirt that said who they are on it? Would not that be just perfect? A t-shirt custom made- just for you. Aliaa El zeiny 21, Muslim, Egyptian,single, liberal with a conservative twist!But the greater question is; would we lie on our t-shirts? Do we lie about who we are so we would be accepted by others? I remember when I first started tweeting and they ask you to write a bio about yourself; it is displayed next to your screen name and I kept thinking what should I write that would be catchy enough for people to 'follow me'? I did not think; what should I write that IS ME?So within the conext of Twitter; I would want to be the girl that will have all the cool tweets. And this is what I came up with: Egyptian blogger, studies political Science in AUB, ADORES Beirut & thinks writing your BIO in fewer than 160 chars. is absolute MADNESS or really SAD!Within the western world; I would like to be the practicing Muslim who -against her will- has to be apolagetic for every crazy lunatic that bomb something under the name of Islam. I would like to be thought of as the educated, free, young veiled woman, who is like every woman on Earth striving for excellenece within her field -in my case Political Science. But when they first meet me that is not what they see in me, I come prepackaged with "Let us free the Muslim women- including this one" card/ mentality. Within the MENA -Middle East and North Africa- region :) I would like to be the good daughter, grand-daughter, sister, cosuin, distant cousin and friend, who obids by tradition and respects culture. But at the same time; I want to be thought of as the critique of what is absurd, insane and too damn old! Even if it means I will piss off some people, so what :) atleast it means they are reading my blog! ;p Conclusion; so what if people think certain things about who you are? It is always fun to take them by surprise and show them that THEY HAVE NO CLUE.

So Simple & Straight-forward

2011-09-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

I read something today and I thought it is perfect. Sometimes, the most blunt way to say something is the perfect way to say it. Here is what I read:"I don't just want your heart. I want your flesh, your skin and blood and bones, your voice, your thoughts, your pulse and most of all your fingerprints, everywhere." Imagine what someone was feeling towards another someone when he/she wrote something this simple but yet this beautiful :) Anyways, moving on; I have news :) I am back on watching Turkish drama. Evet, I did it again. I think my seasonal addiction to Turkish shows stems from my free-time over summer/ Christmas/ Spring breaks! As ashamed as I am at this very second, but I am enjoying being lazy and useless this month. You can say that everyday of this summer vacation can be summed up in the "Lazy song" by Bruno Mars.But I have been going out, chilling with friends, going to the GYM- so I can tell myself at least I am exercising! You know. Any how, going back to our Turkish shows topic; I have to admit, it's the perfect drama with all its cliches and cheesiness; I LOVE IT <3 Its called " Fatmagülün suçu ne?" which translates to "What is the crime of Fatmagul?"Since I am in love with Turkish language, I am loving every second of this show, the language is very musical and it has these perfect sounds that we do not have neither in Arabic nor in English. This is a song from the show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psiTQwzhxJI WATCH IT and you would get what I am talking about it. inshaaAllah :)Türk çok güzelP.S: I do not have any reference to the author of this quotation and I do not own anything but my commentary on it. No plagiarism intended!

Woody Allen b2a ;)

2011-09-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

"To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness.” Woody Allen

Love in a Headscarf

2011-09-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

I am rereading one of my favourite books Love in a Headscarf Muslim woman seeks the One by Shelina Zahra JanmohamedI Love the honesty of her expression of the frustration a woman -in this case muslim- has to go through to meet someone she can see in a potential candidate (husband/ partner) within a 'traditional' setting. When I read this book during the summer of Freshman year -June 2009- I did not relate to it as much as I do now. Now it seems that the relationship between Engagement and Marriage topics is directly proportional with age; the older you are; the more often you will have to deal with it, hear about it, discuss it and at certain PMS moments even stress about it. The universality of the women-men issues just amaze me. Any woman who reads Shelina's book would relate to her, just remove the context of 'Islamic' match-making and parental guidance during controlled settings for 1st meetings; you'd have the dilemma of every woman seeking the ONE!I have realized that now the increasing momentum of these topics is making me ironic. "Now you are in your twenties, its the right time!" some would say, with a smirk on their faces; "Yalla 3awzeen nefrah beiky."I just do not get what they mean by the 'right time!' I exclaimed my annoyance to one of my best friends -who happens to be married :) : "I just do not get it E, I thought the right time comes along with the right one, not the vice w b3deen why are people making us -single girls- feel like we have an expiration date? Production date Janurary 1990, Expiration date January 2018 and better use before expiration date!" URGH!

Anyways, in the book Shelina describe this by what she calls; Six Stages of Self-pity:1. (Muslim) Women are amazing! Here women -like me and you- talk about how amazing they are and wonder how blind men can be to our awesomeness?2. Where are all the decent men?In this stage, the wondering takes the level of the 80s hit Holding out for a Hero by Bonnie TylerWhere have all good men goneAnd where are all the gods?Where's the street-wise HerculesTo fight the rising odds?Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need.3. Maybe there are no decent men left!!!! "If nobody can find them, maybe they don't exist,' (Sheline 124) . At this critical stage, the worst of men surface to the top and women are very harsh critiques. Allah by3ein. 4. Maybe we are the wrong kind of women.And this is where the talk of "its because I have a strong personality" starts to take its toll. "Men are intimidated by strong women with careers, no man would want his wife/partner to be more successful than he is!" Which I think is absolutely True. So to all the men out there who think like this, "Dude, work on yourself, OR DEAL WITH IT, not a single woman would want to be with a man that is less successful than she is or has a weaker personality!"5. Oh My God, we are never going to get Married.This is what I call the PMS talk. My mom tells me every girl goes through this stage in her life.But it is all Naseeb -destiny-, if you are not meant to get married, so what? Maybe you are better off without it. Allah knows best.6. The Perfect Man is out there Just waiting for us.The happily ever after ending to the pessimistic talk. This is where we say that he is out there looking for the One for him, just like us. I like this part, when women start discussing their lists, his personality, his looks, his style, his interests, at certain times his occupation :) "And of everything we created a pair, that happily you may remember." (Qur'an 51:49)But in the End, I should state what I Believe, and it is found in this verse of the Qur'an: "It is He who created you from a single soul, And made its mate of like nature in order that you might dwell with her in love...."(7:189)Allah m3na :) Wanna hear your thoughts! Tell me about your experiences with this topic, the ups and the downs and if you have any advice for the rest of us; you're most welcome :)

Life is Simple!

2011-09-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

This was someone's status on Facebook and once I read it I knew exactly what she was talking about. I have been preaching this for years, why do we have to over think things and decisions that feel right to us.Here is what she wrote, wanna hear your thoughts!PEOPLE COMPLICATE THINGS TOO MUCH:You miss someone? Call.Wanna meet? Invite.Wanna be understood? Explain yourself.Have questions ? Ask.Don't like it ? Say it.Like it? State it.Are you in a bad mood? Express it.Want something? Ask in the best possible way to get a yes.We have just ONE LIFE ...let's be Simple !

The Truth about Beauty- OUCH :) Joking...

2011-09-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

In an Article called The Truth about Beauty in Psychology today, the columnist expresses what is the truth about Beauty for both sexes ? What do men look for and what do women look for?
Proved it right all along, men look for beauty and hour-glass shaped women and women tend to look for that man that will provide with security and resources.
I read this around a year ago, and I wanted to share it then, but I did not! But today I feel like sharing every draft I wrote and never posted; here we go :)Totally Worth Reading. Enjoy :)But before enjoying it, remember, truth is very very harsh! It would be so nice if inner beauty triumphed over outer appearance. But men are designed to care about packaging. It's time to accept the not-so-pretty facts about looks.By Amy Alkon, published on November 01, 2010 - last reviewed on November 02, 2010
There are certain practical realities of existence that most of us accept. If you want to catch a bear, you don't load the trap with a copy of Catch-22—not unless you rub it with a considerable quantity of raw hamburger. If you want to snag a fish, you can't just slap the water with your hand and yell, "Jump on my hook, already!" Yet, if you're a woman who wants to land a man, there's this notion that you should be able to go around looking like Ernest Borgnine: If you're "beautiful on the inside," that's all that should count. Right. And I should have a flying car and a mansion in Bel Air with servants and a moat.Welcome to Uglytopia—the world reimagined as a place where it's the content of a woman's character, not her pushup bra, that puts her on the cover of Maxim. It just doesn't seem fair to us that some people come into life with certain advantages—whether it's a movie star chin or a multimillion-dollar shipbuilding inheritance. Maybe we need affirmative action for ugly people; make George Clooney rotate in some homely women between all his gorgeous girlfriends. While we wish things were different, we'd best accept the ugly reality: No man will turn his head to ogle a woman because she looks like the type to buy a turkey sandwich for a homeless man or read to the blind.There is a vast body of evidence indicating that men and women are biologically and psychologically different, and that what heterosexual men and women want in partners directly corresponds to these differences. The features men evolved to go for in women—youth, clear skin, a symmetrical face and body, feminine facial features, an hourglass figure—are those indicating that a woman would be a healthy, fertile candidate to pass on a man's genes.These preferences span borders, cultures, and generations, meaning yes, there really are universal standards of beauty. And while Western women do struggle to be slim, the truth is, women in all cultures eat (or don't) to appeal to "the male gaze." The body size that's idealized in a particular culture appears to correspond to the availability of food. In cultures like ours, where you can't go five miles without passing a 7-Eleven and food is sold by the pallet-load at warehouse grocery stores, thin women are in. In cultures where food is scarce (like in Sahara-adjacent hoods), blubber is beautiful, and women appeal to men by stuffing themselves until they're slim like Jabba the Hut.Men's looks matter to heterosexual women only somewhat. Most women prefer men who are taller than they are, with symmetrical features (a sign that a potential partner is healthy and parasite-free). But, women across cultures are intent on finding male partners with high status, power, and access to resources—which means a really short guy can add maybe a foot to his height with a private jet. And, just like women who aren't very attractive, men who make very little money or are chronically out of work tend to have a really hard time finding partners. There is some male grumbling about this. Yet, while feminist journalists deforest North America publishing articles urging women to bow out of the beauty arms race and "Learn to love that woman in the mirror!", nobody gets into the ridiculous position of advising men to "Learn to love that unemployed guy sprawled on the couch!"Now, before you brand me a traitor to my gender, let me say that I'm all for women having the vote, and I think a woman with a mustache should make the same money as a man with a mustache. But you don't help that woman by advising her, "No need to wax that lip fringe or work off that beer belly!" (Because the road to female empowerment is...looking just like a hairy old man?)But take The Beauty Myth author Naomi Wolf: She contends that standards of beauty are a plot to keep women politically, economically, and sexually subjugated to men—apparently by keeping them too busy curling their eyelashes to have time for political action and too weak from dieting to stand up for what they want in bed. Wolf and her feminist sob sisters bleat about the horror of women being pushed to conform to "Western standards of beauty"—as if eyebrow plucking and getting highlights are the real hardships compared to the walk in the park of footbinding and clitoridectomy. Most insultingly, Wolf paints women who look after their looks as the dim, passive dupes of Madison Ave nue and magazine editors. Apparently, women need only open a page of Vogue and they're under its spell—they sleepwalk to Sephora to load up on anti-wrinkle potions, then go on harsh diets, eating only carrots fertilized with butterfly poo.It turns out that the real beauty myth is the damaging one Wolf and other feminists are perpetuating—the absurd notion that it serves women to thumb their noses at standards of beauty. Of course, looks aren't all that matter (as I'm lectured by female readers of my newspaper column when I point out that male lust seems to have a weight limit). But looks matter a great deal. The more attractive the woman is, the wider her pool of romantic partners and range of opportunities in her work and day-to-day life. We all know this, and numerous studies confirm it—it's just heresy to say so.We consider it admirable when people strive to better themselves intellectually; we don't say, "Hey, you weren't born a genius, so why ever bother reading a book?" Why should we treat physical appearance any differently? For example, research shows that men prefer women with full lips, smaller chins, and large eyes—indicators of higher levels of estrogen. Some lucky women have big eyes; others just seem to, thanks to the clever application of eyeshadow. As the classic commercial says, "Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline." (If it increases her options, who cares which it is?)Unfortunately, because Americans are so conflicted and dishonest about the power of beauty, we approach it like novices. At one end of the spectrum are the "Love me as I am!" types, like the woman who asked me why she was having such a terrible time meeting men...while dressed in a way that advertised not "I want a boyfriend" but "I'm just the girl to clean out your sewer line!" At the other extreme are women who go around resembling porn-ready painted dolls. Note to the menopausal painted doll: Troweled on makeup doesn't make you look younger; it makes you look like an aging drag queen.Likewise, being 50 and trying to look 25 through plastic surgery usually succeeds in making a woman look 45 and fembot-scary—an object of pity instead of an object of desire. Plastic surgery you can easily spot is usually a sign—either of really bad work or of somebody who's gone way over the top with it, probably because she's trying to fill some void in her life with silicone, Juvederm, and implanted butt cutlets. There are women who just want to fix that one nagging imperfection. For others, plastic surgery is like potato chips, as in, "Betcha can't eat just one." A woman comes in for a lunchtime lip job—an injection of Restylane or another plumping filler—and ends up getting both sets of lips done. Yes, I'm talking about labioplasty. (Are your vagina lips pouty?)Once women start seeing wrinkles and crow's feet, the desperation to look like they were born yesterday often makes them act like it, too. Women want to believe there's such a thing as "hope in a jar"—and there is: hope from the CEO selling the jars that you and millions of others will buy him a new yacht and a chateau in the south of France. There actually is hope to be found in a plastic bottle—of sunblock, the kind that protects against both UVA and UVB rays (the skin-aging ones). But the Beauty Brains, a group of blogging cosmetic scientists, write, "The sad truth is that creams that claim to be anti-aging are not much more effective than standard moisturizing lotions."French women, too, buy into the idea that there's some fountain of youth at the Clarins counter. But, perhaps because feminism never seeped into mainstream culture in France like it did here, they generally have a healthier and more realistic relationship with beauty, accepting it as the conduit to love, sex, relationships, and increased opportunities. They take pleasure in cultivating their appearance, and in accentuating their physical differences from men. They don't give up on looking after their looks as they age, nor do they tart themselves up like sexy schoolgirls at 50. They simply take pride in their appearance and try to look like sensual, older women.To understand what it takes to be beautiful, we need to be very clear about what being beautiful means—being sexually appealing to men. And then, instead of snarling that male sexuality is evil, we need to accept that it's just different—far more visually-driven than female sexuality. To focus our efforts, we can turn to an increasing number of studies by evolutionary psychologists on what most men seem to want. For example, the University of Texas' Devendra Singh discovered that men, across cultures, are drawn to a woman with an hourglass figure. Men like to see a wom an's waist—even on the larger ladies—so burn those muumuus, which only reveal your girlish figure in a Category 5 hurricane, and if you don't have much of a waist, do your best to give yourself one with the cut of your clothes or a belt.Too many women try to get away with a bait-and-switch approach to appearance upkeep. If you spend three hours a day in the gym while you're dating a guy, don't think that you can walk down the aisle and say "I do...and, guess what...now I don't anymore!" A woman needs to come up with a workable routine for maintaining her looks throughout her lifetime and avoid rationalizing slacking off— while she's seeking a man and after she has one. Yeah, you might have to put five or ten extra minutes into prettying up just to hang around the house. And, sure, you might be more "comfortable" in big sloppy sweats, but how "comfortable" will you be if he leaves you for a woman who cares enough to look hot for him?Like French women, we, too, need to understand that a healthy approach to beauty is neither pretending it's unnecessary or unimportant nor making it important beyond all else. By being honest about it, we help women make informed decisions about how much effort to put into their appearance—or accept the opportunity costs of going ungroomed. The truth is, like knowledge, beauty is power. So, ladies, read lots of books, develop your mind and your character, exercise the rights the heroes of the women's movement fought for us to have, and strive to become somebody who makes a difference in the world. And, pssst...while you're doing all of that, don't forget to wear lipgloss.

كلمات اغنية مع جريدة لماجدة الرومي

2011-09-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

This song is a song I was brought up to. My mom's best friend used to LOVE this song and I remember that whenever we used to go out with her and ride her car, she used to put this song on. There is a certain something about the lyrics of this song, the mystery of that unknown man, sipping his coffee, smoking his cigarette and reading his paper.
Good song :)
Post title is hyper-linked to the song's Youtube video, Enjoy!

كلمات نزار قباني الحان جمال سلامة

أخرج من معطفه الجريده ..
وعلبةَ الثقاب
ودون أن يلاحظَ اضطرابي ..
ودونما اهتمامِ
تناول السكر من أمامي ..
ذوب في الفنجان قطعتين
وفي دمي ذوب وردتين
لملمني .. بعثرني
ذوبني ... آآه ... دوبني
شربت من فنجانه
سافرت في دخانه
ماعرفت اين ..
كان هناك جالساً
ولم يكن هناك ..
يطالع الاخبار
كان هناك
وكنت في جواره
تأكلني الافكار
تضربني الامطار
يا ليت هذا الرجل
المسكون بالافكار
يا ليت هذا الرجل
المسكون بالاسرار
يا ليت فكر
ان يقرأني ..
فـ في عيوني
اجمل الاخبار
وبعد لحظتين
ودون أن يراني
ويعرف الشوق الذي اعتراني ..
تناول المعطف من أمامي
وغاب في الزحام
مخلَفاً وراءه الجريده
وحيدة ..
مثلي أنا ..
وحيدة

tumblr-ing on the blog

2011-09-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

2011-09-02T19:18:00.001-07:00

“أريد مكانا أرتاح به أكثر، وأشخاص يفهمونني أكثر، وحياة تلائمني أكثر، أريد أشخاص يحبونني لأنني أنا، يفهمونني كما أنا وأتعامل معهم دون أن أشعر بأنني أخشى أذيتهم، … أن أتعلم كيف أحب، وكيف أكره، أريد أن أحبهم وأخبرهم بأنني أحبهم كما أشعر، أريد أن أبدأ حياة جديدة في مكان لا يعرفني فيه أحد؛ فأبكي متى أردت وأصرخ متى أردت وأصمت متى أردت، أريد أن أكون أنا كما أنا.. لا كما تعوّدت أن أكونْ..!”

غدير الرتوعى

Time Alone

2011-09-02T19:09:00.000-07:00

“But I think it’s very healthy to spend time alone. You need to know how to be alone and not be defined by another person.” Olivia Wilde
The concept of lonesome is scary for those who never enjoyed being alone.
We always aspire to be in the company of someone or some people, sometimes we are scared to be alone; because when we are alone, we are not alone but we are hanging out with ourselves and that to some people; can be scary!
I rarely sat alone before I left to university! I do not remember a second before my freshman year; when I was ALONE. And then I left to school and then I got lonely, the bad kind of lonely

, that kind that makes you feel you are the only one left on this planet.
Step by step I got used to it, time by time I started liking it, then it grew on me and now I long for it.
When I am home, my parents never get the concept of why I would like to be alone, it either means I am sad or upset, maybe angry or depressed! But just alone because I enjoy sitting alone does not make sense.
Imagine, if your head is clustered by thoughts and then you get the chance to sit with yourself and figuring it all out, is not that awesome.
It does not have to be an organization of the chaos of the mind, but it can be, just you, alone, maybe day-dreaming or remembering good time, reading, listening to a good song or jogging.
But Alone time is always a good time, if you know how to handle it.
Try it out :)

Of Fashion blogs and Veil/ Hijab

2011-08-31T18:40:00.000-07:00

I love fashion, it is been a growing interest since I moved to Beirut.
Before that, while I was still in school, I did not care much, why would I? UNIFORM! The worst uniform ever actually, our school was known for it! We wore dresses with a waist built in pastel colours; we looked like nannies with backpacks!
And then I moved to Beirut, studied in the American University of Beirut with the crrème de la crème of the Lebanese society; and there goes my un-interest in fashion out of the window.
Every girl I know in this university is obsessed with being 'stylish' in her own sense, wither its posh or punk and you know what they say; "you can never be OVER dressed."
Today with a plan in mind to change my style, to look more mature with a twist ;) I started obsessing over fashion blogs like thesatoralist.com and the overdressed.com
AMAZING FASHION BLOGS!
But for a crazy venture; I googled Hijab fashion blogs! NOT GOOD
I found nothing that really speaks of the 'hijab-fashion.'
During the last decade, with the T.V shows we watch on our satellite like Gossip-Girl and Sex and the City or online fashion magazines like Elle and MarieClaire the veiled girls -who can afford it- have been styling themselves to their hijabs, in their own sense of colour mixing and sticking to the rules of hijab -not tight or revealing.
You name the brand; from Hermes scarves to Christian Louboutin's shoes, even those that can't afford such luxury are taking over Mango, Zara, H&M, Forever21 and more.
But I did not find any blogs/websites that had decent pictures of -if I may call them that- fashionable Hijabis.
Maybe, One day, I will start one! who knows?
The bottom line is, the market should address this section of women, we are alot! Taking into account the Middle East and its Market, I think runways should include at-least one veiled girl!
Since we are talking fashion and fashionable, I have to mention Her Highness Sheikha Moza of Qatar. SHE IS FASHIONABLE. I believe she is an AWESOME representation of the strong, educated, Muslim, Arab woman :)

STAY FASHIONABLE GIRLS ;)

2011-08-29T13:06:00.001-07:00

I saw this as someone's status on facebook and thought its hilarious.

Happy Eid everyone :)

سحقا لمجتمع يظن اننا كبرنا على العيدية

CHANGE!

2011-08-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

Liberation of Egyptian women in Liberation square?

2011-08-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

In a country that its majority of population cherish in a girl her "feminism" regardless of her brains, one must wonder, when will we ever liberate ourselves from the fear of looking smart or powerful?
Till when are we, strong women, educated women, capable women going to be evaluated on the bases of being ambitious in relevance to acting masculine and it being seen not only as not a trait of our own sex but also a negative trait.
Me, considering myself a powerful young woman, with a strong personality means to me that I AM A WOMAN! Not a woman that is aspiring to be like a man. WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT?
We value a man for his personality, for his work, education and aspirations.
But we still value a woman for her family, her beauty, her slender and her low voice.
I am not saying that these are traits that should not be valued but I am saying that there are more to us than sitting with a smile on our faces in a gathering; when we could speak up about our political views or our criticism of certain 'traditions.'
Does not it bother every Egyptian woman when they till her “yalla b2a 3awzeen nefrh beiky” –we want to be happy for you- signifying their interest to see her as a bride and the young man of the same age group, the same people would wish he becomes a doctor or an engineer and using the exact statement “yalla b2a 3awzeen nefrh beik”?
If both the man and the woman are going to end up married at a certain point in time, then Why is it more significant for a woman to be wished a wedding and a man to be wished a career?
The president of Brazil – a country expected to be one of the super powers in the world under a multi-polar world system- is a woman, the president of Argentine is a woman, the chancellor of Germany is a woman, the secretary of foreign affairs of the USA is a woman, when will we see a powerful Egyptian woman minster? A powerful Egyptian woman minster that is not a minster of women affairs or child affairs? When will we see an Egyptian woman minister of interior like in France or prime minster like Margret Thatcher?
If Egyptians are really acquiring democracy, are calling for social equality and liberation, then EGYPTIAN WOMEN should be MORE EMPOWERED. Egyptian women are PART OF THE EQUATION.
People might think that since now Egyptian women are educated and Egyptian women work, that it is enough. But I have to break the truth for you, it’s not! The problem is not the institutional sexism any more-although it still exists- the problem is the social.
When will Egyptian/ Arab women be seen as equal and as important?

:) my mood

2011-08-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

Of Ivy Leagues

2011-08-09T01:47:00.000-07:00

Aiming high is my motto; in the process of fulfilling this motto, I started looking into MAs in Ivy League universities!
I did not lose hope yet; but seriously the requirements are very outstanding.
I always thought that YALE is a university where I could see myself. But I do not think YALE agrees with me :) they want a GPA of 3.70... Let me repeat 3.70... Unless, I lock myself up in my room next year and do not do anything but study; YALE will be one of my first goals that I won't be able to reach.
And since I never limit myself, apply this theory to every Ivy League University and then you have yourself the research I have conducted for the past couple of weeks.
I wish we can be admitted to Universities upon our wishful thinking, won't that be great :) ?
But on the brighter side, I AM ALIAA EL ZEINY. I do not give in Easily and InshaaAllah I will be able to reach my goal; so IVY LEAGUE Universities BE PREPARED :)
Marah -my best friend- has a theory; "Let us marry an Ivy League grad. rather than becoming one!" hehehe
But we will be be a student there Marah, do not worry; and marriage is at the bottom of the to-do list anyways! Not until I finish my MA in IR -International Relations- from Yale ;)
WISH ME LUCK ...

Hosni Mobrak's Trial

2011-08-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

I was studying for my final on Friday and a paragraph in the text book got me thinking; Why are some people defending Mobarak as if he was free to be the tyrant he was?
The paragraph stated; " Accountability is fundamental to any society with pretensions to being democratic... Being democratic requires a suitable system of accountability. Government organizations are created by the public, for the public, and need to be accountable to the public. The relationship between the citizenry and the government can be regarded as a principal/ agent relationship because the citizens have given their consent to someone else to govern on their behalf. Having agreed to this they then need to be satisfied their interests are being served." (Hughes 240)
Did Mobarak satisfy our interest? Did he serve anyone but his family? with 40+% of the Egyptians living under $2 per day, did Mobarak satisfy their basic needs?

Today was the first day of the trial of the former president of Egypt; Mohamed Hosni Mobarak.
For me to sit in front of the T.V at 11:30 p.m (Beirut Time) was out of the question AWESOME, to witness history witnessing a man that was not held accountable for 30 years FINALLY on trial, was beyond words.
Although, the reactions on Facebook and other social networks was very confusing. How can someone still defend a thief and consider him a legitimate president when he has been proving for the past 30 years that he does not care for Egypt, all he cared about is his sons and his pocket!
Till now, people do not get the fact that Mobarak was not our father, he is not someone we should respect just for the fact that for 30 years he held the title of a president. People should remember that Mobarak is not but an employee that did not do his job. Mobarak was our employee, he should have represented our interests. But since he failed to do so, and in-addition to that he acted in our own disinterest, taking into consideration the principle/agent relationship; he should be held accountable for the failure of governing on our behalf.
If we as Egyptians want to be considered a democracy, and to be respected as one, then the trial of Mobarak and anyone affiliated to his old regime is not an option but a Necessity.
"Accountability means, 'liable to be called to account; responsible (to things, for things)'. The basic notion of accountability is that those acting on behalf of another person or group, report back to the person or group, or are responsible to them in some way." (Hughes 237)
Egyptians welcome to the baby steps of accountability.
Today marks the start of us learning what democracy looks like.

Marah and Ali El Hagar

2011-07-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

So in the Epicness of listening to great songs, I suggested we listen to the amazing song عارفة- علي الحجار .
Half way through the song Marah tells me that she does not like the song!!!!
I break into a series of disbelief !
How can't she like such an amazing song!
One of my favourites ever; whenever I listen to this song I remember a Omar Khairat concert in Alexandria, in open Air with the amazing breeze, if it was not for the loud crowd the concert would have been perfect.

Anyways, I start reciting the lyrics to Marah in hope that she will get the lyrics better with my egyptian accent:
مش عارف ليه بتونسك بيكي ووكأنك من دمي ... على راحتي معكي وكأنك أمي ... مش عارف ليه !!!
And then Marah says something that made me fall of my chair from laughter

:شو
هاد ؟ مابديش يكون شايفني متل أمه !!
What the Fuc* Aliaa! that's such a turn-off

Marah Aqil--- you always surprise me :)
In this post too, if you click the post's title it will direct you to the Youtube video-- Enjoy :)

Ramadan- Time for Change

2011-07-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan. Ramadan Kareem to all of you :)
For those of you who do not know what Ramadan is? It's a holy month for Muslims; where we fast from dawn to sunset. We do not eat, drink, smoke, refrain from any sexual act, refrain from any abusive act even verbally and its a time where we focus on our spirituality.
Ramadan helps you to curb certain unnessecary materialistic needs, it tames your desires and teaches you to be humble.
Is not this a great chance for a change?
Last Ramadan, I did not use it as I wish I did; but this Ramadan inshaaAllah (God's willing) it will be different.
So I am sharing with all of you what I will DO this Ramadan inshaaAllah:
1. I will read the whole Qur'an
2. I will pray every night El Taraweih
3. I will wake up from dawn and I will minimize my sleeping hour during the hours of fasting so I would work more and be productive
4. I will not curse not even in my head :)
5. Every day I will watch one episode or I will research about something I do not know or would like to know more about in Islam

I think this is pretty good agenda. Hopefully, inshaaAllah I will stick to it.

Allah m3na :)

RAMADAN KAREEM

Contemplating summer nights

2011-07-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

From time to time, Marah and I would sit and remember the good old days of Abdel Halim, Fairouz and from to time time Najat El sagheera.
The music industry does not have this kind of songs any more. Everything now is short, to the point and as pointless and junkie as fast food.
Whenever I listen to these songs -the old good ones- I remeber the Northern Coast of Alexandria nights, when I used to sit with my mom, grand-ma and my aunt; listening to them and enjoying the good weather and the smell of our Jasmine tree.
I am now listening to one of my favourite songs ever; القريب منك بعيد والبعيد عنك قريب
Seriously, this song, the words, the music, the voice; its perfection.
I wonder the poet who wrote the lyrics, what kind of despair he/she was feeling.
I am contemplating sitting in the garden right now, with a cup of Anise-tea with milk and just listening to good songs.
I guess my room in Beirut will have to do for now.
But I am counting down the days to go back to Alexandria and just be in solitude in the Northern Coast.
I am tired of the Beiruti life.

I leave you now with the beautiful lyrics and if you click the title of this post its hyperlinked to the youtube video of the song.
Enjoy :)

القريب منك بعيد والبعيد عنك قريب
كل ده وقلبي الي حبك لسه بيسميك حبيب

حبيب عيني حبيب أحلامي حبيب دموعي وهنا أيامي
أهون عليم أسهر بألامي واتوه نجوم الليل بظلامي

يا رايح للي فايت لي عيوني سهرانة ولا داري
أمانة اوصف له دمع عيوني طول ليلي ونهاري
آه منك آه منك
كل ده وقلبي الي حبك لسه بيسميك حبيب

فاكر ولا ناسي ياما كنت بأسي
حتى مع الايام الحلوة وقت ما كنت باقابلك فيها
كانت الفرحة معاك توحشني قبل ما يجي معاد لياليها
كنت لسه في الحب لسه بتعلم جديد
ما كنتش اعرف ان القريب منك بعيد

يا رايح للي فايت لي عيوني سهرانة ولا داري
أمانة اوصف له دمع عيوني طول ليلي ونهاري
آه منك آه منك
كل ده وقلبي الي حبك لسه بيسميك حبيب

ياللي آمر من بعدك لقاك ياللي أمر من هجرك رضاك
يا غربتي وانت بعيد عني يا غربتي وانت قريب مني
يا حب اقول له ايه يا حب اسامحه ليه
دا العزاب هو الي يسامحه والسهر هو اللي يسامحه
والدموع هي اللي تسامحه

يا رايح للي فايت لي عيوني سهرانة ولا داري
أمانة اوصف له دمع عيوني طول ليلي ونهاري
آه منك آه منك
كل ده وقلبي الي حبك لسه بيسميك حبيب

أحتاج أن أحبك ككاتبة _ احلام مستغانمي

2011-07-30T12:41:00.001-07:00

أحيانــــاً..
أحتاج أن أخسرك
كي أكسب أدبي
أن تغادر قليلاً مفكِّرتي
كي تقيم في كُتبي
أن أتخلَّى عن وسامتكْ
وسامتكَ الخرافيّة تلكْ
من أجلِ خرافةٍ أكتُبُها عنكْ
***
أحياناً..ـ
أحتاجُ أن أكتُبَكْ
أكثر من حاجتي لحبّكْ
أن أَصِفَكْ
أكثر من حاجتي لرؤيتكْ
أن أبكيكَ.. أن أَفتقدَكْ
أن أَشتَهِيكَ.. أنْ أَستَحضِرَكْ
***
أن أسألَ عنكَ الأمكِنَةْ
أكثر من حاجتي إلى زيارتِها معكْ
أن أحزنَ
وأنا أتصوَّر حياتي من دونكْ
أكثر من حاجتي
لفرح الاستعدَادِ لكْ
***
أحيانــاً..ـ
أُحبّ ألاَّ تشغَل هاتفي
كي يزدَادَ انشغالي بكْ
أن يهزمني جَبَروتُ الحنين إليك
فأُهاتفكَ
غير واثقةٍ بأنّكَ سَتَرُدّ
أن تردّ..
فأخفي عنكَ شهقَةَ قلبي
حين صوتك يشهق بي
***
استغرَقَني حُبّكْ
أنساني أن أكتُبَكْ
وأَنَا أُريدُكَ مُلهمي ومُلتهِمي
رجُلي حيناً..ـ
وحيناً قَلَمي
فارقْني قليلاً
أحتاج أن أحبّك.. ككاتبة

في غيبتك ... __ أحلام مستغانمي

2011-07-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

For Ahlam Mostghanmi all respect; because just like her name, she gives us Dreams :)
في غيبتك ... __ أحلام مستغانمي

في جيبــي ..
مفاتيح بيوت لن نسكنها معاً
تذاكر سفر ..
لمدن لن تزورها معي
عناوين فنادق جميلة
لعشاق لن يأتوا
تواريخ أعياد
لا كبريت لشموعها ..

أمام شرفتـــي ..
مقاعد بحريه لبحر لن نراه معاً
طريق .. لن تقبل حصاه خطانا
أشجار ستعلو في غيبتك
ورود ستتفتح وتذبل
من دون أن تدري بذلك ..

The man in Bliss Street

2011-07-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

There is this old man on Bliss Street (Beirut, Lebanon), he is always sitting on the side walk, with a cigeratte pack. When you look at him, he is not the usual begger; he is excpetional.
When you look at him you can see Lebanon, you see once the glory of an amazing life and an undecided present that depends on the moments consumed on a cigeratte or a morning coffee.
I always want to talk to him; to ask him what he is thinking about? But I never got the gutts to do it.

I wonder; for the past three years I have seen him in the same street, looking at the passers-by, what does he see in us that we do not see and what do we see in him, that he does not!
Often, I find students from my university (American University of Beirut) talking to him, asking him how he is? and how is his day? It is never pity talk, mostly it is out of real interest, or a real concern on his well-being.
To me bliss street is not the same without him.
There are people that impacts your life on daily basis, without their slighest knowldge. My Bliss Man, tells me that life is worth living even if it all came down to a shadow under a tree in Bliss St.
I love Beirut.

حكمة اليوم

2011-07-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

سَـيَفـتحُ الله لكَ بابـاً كنتَ تَحسبه ... من شدةِ اليَـأسِ لمْ يُخْلَق بمفتاحِ.

Mistakes?

2011-07-06T12:05:00.001-07:00

Do you believe in making mistakes?
I do not.
I think everything is fixable.
But, is it?
Allah Yustor...

"Remember where you came from"

2011-06-21T23:45:00.000-07:00

On a Caribou cup of coffee; one of the writings said "Remember where you came from." Of all the advice on that cup of coffee, that one made me not think but shudder. Easily written on a cup of coffee, but hardly initiated by some. What does it mean to remember where you came from? I come from Alexandria, Egypt. Not that Easy.
To remember your culture, your norms, your background; is to acknowledge how changed you are from that place you once left to an new life.
Is remembrance an act of contemplating or an act of evaluation. Is change good?
Since I am a senior now, three years passed, so many places, many people and alot of change. But the thing that scares me the most is not the change, but rather going back to the place I once left. Can you have a cultural shock from your own culture? Can you re-adapt to something you once represented?
I remembered where I came from and that just made me think of the finale of this journey, what lies ahead? And at this moment, this is a very scary thought.

Having a coke with you

2011-06-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

I just saw this poem in a movie called Beast! Regardless of the movie, amusing but rather feels like one of those Disney movies, on the other hand they introduced me to this poem "Having a coke with you" by Frank O'Harra! I once took an English class about Modernism movement and I have been a great fan. Anyways, I leave you to the poem and notice how simplicity can beat all.

Having a Coke with you
is even more fun than going to San Sebastian, Irún, Hendaye, Biarritz, Bayonne
or being sick to my stomach on the Travesera de Gracia in Barcelona
partly because in your orange shirt you look like a better happier St. Sebastian
partly because of my love for you, partly because of your love for yoghurt
partly because of the fluoresent orange tulips around the birches
partly because of the secrecy our smiles take on before people and statuary
it is hard to believe when I'm with you that there can be anything as still
as solemn as unpleasantly definitive as statuary when right in front of it
in the warm New York 4 o'clock light we are drifting back and forth
between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles

and the portrait show seems to have no faces in it at all, just paint
you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them
I look
at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world
except possibly for the Polish Rider occasionally and anyway it's in the Frick
which thank heavens you haven't gone to yet so we can go together the first time
and the fact that you move so beautifully more or less takes care of Futurism
just as at home I never think of the Nude Descending a Staircase or
at a rehearsal a single drawing of Leonardo or Michelangelo that used to wow me
and what good does all the research of the Impressionists do them
when they never got the right person to stand near the tree when the sun sank
or for that matter Marino Marini when he didn't pick the rider as carefully
as the horse
it seems they were all cheated of some marvellous experience
which is not going to go wasted on me which is why I am telling you about it

-Frank O'Hara

thinking of Mahmoud Darwish

2011-06-01T05:38:00.000-07:00

I have been studying since the morning about the Palestinian question and Arafat, I have to admit although he was someone that was dedicated to Palestine, but he was no different from any other Arab leader, he was a patriarch with all there is to the definition. But a Patriarch with a cause, which always create a loved president who is more of a father figure- who sure knows what he is doing.
Anyways, since I am a crazy fan of Mahmoud Darwish, the whole time while working on my essays, I keep thinking of only one particular poem of his. This is it; ENJOY.

السروة انكسرت

محمود درويش - فلسطين

ألسروةُ إنكسَرَتْ كمئذنةٍ، ونامت في

الطريق على تَقَشُّف ظِلِّها، خضراءَ، داكنةً،

كما هِيَ. لم يُصَبْ أَحدٌ بسوء. مَرّت

العَرَباتُ مُسْرِعَةًعلى أغصانها. هَبَّ الغبارُ

على الزجاج... ألسروةُ انكسرتْ، ولكنَّ

الحمامة لم تغيِّر عُشَّها العَلَنيَّ في دارٍ

مُجَاورةٍ. وحلّق طائران مهاجران على

كَفَاف مكانها، وتبادلا بعضَ الرموز.

وقالت امرأةٌ لجارتها: تُرَى، شأهَدْتِ عاصفةً؟

فقالت: لا، ولا جرَّافةً... والسروةُ

انكسرتْ. وقال العابرون على الحُطام:

لعلَّها سَئِمَتْ من الإهمال أَو هَرِمَتْ

من الأيّام، فَهْيَ طويلةٌ كزرافةٍ، وقليلةُ

المعنى كمكنسةِ الغبار، ولا تُظَلِّلُ عاشِقَيْن.

وقال طفلٌ: كنتُ أَرسمها بلا خطأ،

فإنَّ قوامَها سَهْلٌ. وقالت طفلةٌ: إن

السماءَ اليوم ناقصةٌ لأن السروةٌ انكسرت.

وقال فتىً: ولكنَّ السماءَ اليوم كاملةٌ

لأن السروةَ انكسرتْ. وقُلْتُ أَنا

لنفسي: لا غُموضَ ولا وُضُوحَ،

السروة انكسرتْ، وهذا كُلُّ ما في

الأمرِ: إنَّ السروة انكسرتْ

Comfortable

2011-05-29T03:40:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt that the people around you have NO CLUE that you are changing. Sometimes I feel the people around me do not get the fact that I am no longer the 18 year old girl that left Alexandria 3 years ago. It is questions like "why are you so quite? " or "Why are not you talking?" and "Are you sad?" that just sets me to think that they have no idea!
You do not see the change in you untill you sit with the people you have not been around for awhile! Can it be possible that I changed in 3 months? YES, I can see it now, this past spring I grew up what equals the three past years. Coming back from the U.S.A to Egypt, rethinking and reflecting on the Fall Semester of Dickinson, going back to Beirut, being irrational for about a month and then thinking straight and realizing how childish my acts were, being honest with myself and realizing that I do not know what I want, weeks pass and I am thinking and then I realized what I want and what I need atleast for the next step, but the thing is; I forgot that as an Egyptian girl, I am part of a greater plan, I can not just BE, I have to ask, consult and dicuss. No plan is mine on my own?
I accept that, "Mom, I want to work in Turkey after graduation for a year and a half and then I will apply for masters in LSE!" SILENCE.
"Till when do you want to be alone?" someone asked, "But who said I was ever alone, if I am far it just means that I am by myself but that does not mean I am lonely!"
I want to travel, I want to see the world, I want to go to Ramallah and pray in Jerusalem.
I am in peace with myself now, I am comfortable in my skin, but I just want the people around me to understand that.

We Will RETURN

2011-05-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

PALESTINE- 15/5/2011... 63 years of Nakba- Catastrophe

2011-05-15T01:04:00.000-07:00

"This child, as you can see is neither beautiful, spoilt, nor even well-fed. He is barefoot like manychildren in refugee camps. He is actually ugly and no woman would wish to have a child like him. However, those who came to know 'Hanzala', as I discovered and later adopted him because he is affectionate, honest, outspoken, and a bum. He is an icon that stands to watch me from slipping. And his hands behind his back are a symbol of rejection of all the present negative tides in our region."Naji El Ali

"The boy went back to his family there, in the distance, in a distance he did not find there in the distance. My grandfather died counting sunsets, seasons, and heartbeats on the fingers of his withered hands. He dropped like a fruit forbidden a branch to lean its age against. They destroyed his heart. He wearied of waiting here, in Damur. He said goodbye to friends, water pipe, and children and took me and went back to find what was no longer his to find there. Here the number of aliens increased, and refugee camps got bigger. A war went by, then two, three, and four. The homeland got farther and farther away, and the children got farther and farther from mother's milk after they had tasted the milk of UNRWA. So they bought guns to get closer to a homeland flying out of their reach. They brought their identity back into being, re-created the homeland, and followed their path, only to have it blocked by the guardians of civil wars. They defended their steps, but then path parted from path, the orphan lived in the skin of the orphan, and one refugee camp went into another. " Mahmoud Darwish

The third Palestinian Intifada

2011-05-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

On Sunday May 15th, 2011, its going to be the 3rd Palestinian Intifada. People all over the region are hearing about this organization of that day, which started on FB; with a page that has been several of times been shut down.
What is the 3rd Intifada?
It is a demonstration that will be of millions of people planed for it by Palestinian and Arab youth. On the 63rd commemoration of the Nakba, this walk will be TO Palestine.
The idea of the 3rd Intifada rose from the current uprisings in the Arab world, it is called the walk to the occupied land of 1948, which its people were forced our of it. And the demonstrators will depend on the UN 194 which states the right of the Palestinian people to go back to the villages and cities they were forced out of in the war of 1948. there will be 30 focal points that spread across the boarders of the occupied land Palestine (historical boarders). Participant countries are Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.

As an Egyptian that consider herself an Arab, someone who believes in Arab nationalism, someone who is personal with Al Qadeya -Palestinian Issue- I want to be part of this Intifada. I am one of the residents of Beirut, Lebanon and being part of the Intifada is a strong possibility, I can not but feel frustrated. As much as I want to go and scream at the top of my voice "We will be back" سنعود
I am frustrated by the fact that we will be at the boarders of a -as much as hard it is for me to say this- a state that has the legitimacy to defend its boarders and it is a ruthless, inhuman state that would not hesitate to "take action" against who ever is there.
I know this seems cowardly but I can not but feel scared, I was not scared till people started reminding me how "they" won't think twice if someone -even if peacefully- demonstrated against it.
I feel handicapped and its killing me.
In the case of Egypt, when millions of Egyptians and I took to the streets I knew that there is hope, we can create change and I never feared -not even for a second- dying because I know I am dealing with humans.
But this case is different, is there hope, can we create change and the scariest part is not knowing what to expect.
To go or not to go; that is the question?
Allah yustor...
Palestine on my mind <3

Pictures WORTH Posting :) property rights to whom ever it belongs... AIn't mine, ok?

2011-05-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

APS voted Dr.Serageldin into membership :)

2011-05-05T02:32:00.000-07:00

The members of the American Philosophical Society (APS) have voted Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria into membership. This high honor was conferred to Serageldin in recognition of his extraordinary accomplishments in fields of intellectual endeavor and public service. He was nominated and elected by his peers in the Society, which has seven hundred members of eminent scholars from a wide variety of disciplines. Other members elected this year include several Nobel laureates and the newest member of the US Supreme Court. Of the 37 new members elected in 2011, Serageldin is one of eight international members.

Founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin, the American Philosophical Society is America's oldest and most prestigious learned society. It promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach. The APS honors and engages distinguished scientists, humanists, social scientists, and leaders in civic and cultural affairs through elected membership.

Serageldin is highly regarded worldwide for his attempts to combat hunger in developing countries, and his tireless efforts to re-establish the importance of science in the Arab and Muslim world.

انتخب أعضاء الجمعية الفلسفية الأمريكية الدكتور إسماعيل سراج الدين؛ مدير مكتبة الإسكندرية، عضوًا بالجمعية. وقد حصل سراج الدين على هذا التكريم تقديرًا لإنجازاته المتميزة في كل مجالات الإنتاج الفكري والخدمة العامة. وقد تم ترشيحه وانتخابه من قبل نظرائه في الجمعية التي تتمتع بعضوية 700 عضو من كبار العلماء البارزين في الكثير من المجالات المختلفة. وقد انتُخب هذا العام العديد من الحاصلين على جوائز نوبل، هذا بالإضافة إلى انضمام آخر عضو في المحكمة الأمريكية العليا لعضوية هذه الجمعية. من بين 37 عضوًا جديدًا تم انتخابهم هذا العام، يعد سراج الدين واحدًا من الأعضاء الثمانية الدوليين.

وتعد الجمعية الفلسفية الأمريكية - والتي أسسها بنجامين فرانكلين في 1743 - أقدم وأعرق جمعية أكاديمية في الولايات المتحدة. تهدف الجمعية إلى تعزيز المعرفة النافعة في العلوم والإنسانيات من خلال تميزها في البحث العلمي، واجتماعاتها مع المتخصصين، ومطبوعاتها، ومواردها المكتبية، وتواصلها مع المجتمع الخارجي. وتسعى الجمعية أيضًا في إطار رسالتها إلى تكريم وإشراك كبار العلماء في مجال العلوم والإنسانيات والعلوم الاجتماعية، وقيادات العمل الثقافي والمدني من خلال انتخاب أعضائها.

والجدير بالذكر أن سراج الدين يعد شخصية معروفة على المستوى الدولي بجهوده الكبيرة لمكافحة الجوع في البلدان النامية، وسعيه الحثيث لإرساء دعائم العلم في العالمين العربي والإسلامي.

Bin laden is Dead!

2011-05-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

Bin Laden is DEAD!!!!!!! Does that mean Arabs/Muslims won't be "Randomly" checked in airports? Or it would be Easier to get a visa to the U.S.A or Europe or ANYWHERE! Is this going to be like when a witch puts a spell on someone and the witch dies everything goes to normal, or are we still going to "fit" the profile for a while?? (this is sarcasm akeeedddd)

Obama on the other hand said (source Aljazeera.english,net),

"Tonight, I can report to the people of the United States and the world, the United States had carried an operation that has killed Osama Bin Laden, a terrorist responsible for killing thousands of innocent people," Obama said in a statement.
"Today, at my direction, the United States carried out that operation... they killed Osama Bin Laden and took custody of his body.
"The death of Bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date against Al Qaeda.
"We must also reaffirm that United states is not and will never be at war against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, in fact, he slaughtered many Muslims," Obama said.

2nd of May resolution :)

2011-05-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

For this month I promise I will do my best to: (InshaaAllah)
1. Be a nerd
2. Be more financially aware
3. Never procrastinate
4. Check my FB once a day @ night before going to bed
5. Read ever article I find interesting
6. "Try" not to gossip
This is enough, I will keep you posted about what will happen, but inshaaAllah if all goes as planned, I will be very proud of myself :) d3wtkum...

TO be Limitless

2011-04-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

Its Friday after noon and I can not help but think its a month away from finals. I just finished this movie called Limitless and I do want one of these pills! just one to keep me working with a full brain function for 3 days! IMAGINE.
Think about it, being able to use all your brain potential is beyond, think of all the languages you can learn, the books you can read, reading a book in 45 minutes won't that be INSANE!
To be able to put all the plots you thought of in a couple of books, to be able to reach the MAXIMUM of your potential! AWESOMENESS
One year to graduation and I am already scared! I keep thinking of what I am going to do next! BUT thank Allah I KNOW WHAT I WANT! I want to experience more, travel around, do internships everywhere :) and pursue my masters and who knows what's next, most probably PHD inshaaAllah.
I have a GOAL and I will reach it inshaa Allah, if only I had this limitless pill :) !!!!

CHANGE Ahead :)

2011-04-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

When reflecting on everyday of my life now, I see myself in constant change. Everyday adds to me, change me, show me what to do, what to say and how to build up & develop to be able to reach the maximum of my potential. Machiavelli said "Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times." I think every second of my life is becoming a learning experience, every new person I meet, every place I go, with some reflection, I find myself making conclusions and taking them into serious consideration and then put them into ACTION! And I am LOVING IT :)

The Tweet !!!

2011-04-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

You know you will have a little bit of humor in the morning when you are living with an American with a Jordanian twist, a girl that loves Mansaf AND Muffins :)
This is an example of one of these funny moments:
Aliaa (Me-obviously) : Tara The Israeli embassy in Egypt has a twitter account with 1,013 followers & only ONE TWEET
Tara: And what is that tweet? .... WE WON BITCHESSS
Aliaa: Enu seriously :) ?
Tara: La2 3n Jadd (seriously) shu howa el Tweet (What is the tweet?)
Aliaa (going to check the only tweet they had) : eih dah? (WHAT?) ... they removed the tweet...
Tara: hahaha

I wonder why they removed the tweet!!!

مذكرات بنت مصرية في شهر ونص :

2011-04-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

القافلة تعوي والكلاب تسير ---يناير/ 31/ 2011
الحكمة في الحقيقة -لمن لا يعرفها - الكلاب تعوي و القافلة تسير... وديه حاجة ممكن تقولها زي يا جبل مايهزك ريح! يعني من الآخر إن إنت تكون حاجة كده و تلاقي ناس كثيرة غيرانة بس إنت مش بيهمك لانك أقوي من الناس التي لا تستاهل ثانية تفكير أو قلق.
منذ أسبوع والشعب المصري "بينبح" في صوته "الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام" و احتشد الملايين في كل محافظات مصر... متوحدين تحت شعار التَغيير...
الناس تصحى تروح الشارع وتنام في الشارع وتهتف في الشارع وتطلب أبسط حقوقها في الشارع ويعلي صوتها في الشارع ويروح صوتها فالشارع ولكن الناس اللي في الطابق 90 من البناية اللي اسمها وطن مش سامعين غير دوشة! ولذلك قاموا بإغلاق النافذة وفكروا في إن الدوشة ستخمد بمجرد تجاهلها...

انتم بعتوا الارض بفاسها. بناسها
في ميدان الدنيا فكيتوا لباسها باتت وش وضهر ...
بطن وصدر
والريحة سبقت طلعة أنفاسه
واحنا ولاد الكلب الشعب
احنا بتوع الأجمل وطريقه الصعب
والضرب ببوز الجزمة وبسن الكعب
والموت في الحرب...
عبد الرحمن الابنوودي

لكن لم يحدث... وإذا بـالدوشة تعلى وتعلى فخاف مجلس إدارة البناية وطلبوا من الأمن انه "يلم الحوار" وما الأمن الا موظف يأخذ أوامر من الناس اللي فوق ويعمل شغله وهو "الحفاظ على الأمن" فقام الأمن بـعمله ولكن الناس كثيرة والأمن مغلوب على أمره وإذا بالأمن ينسحب -بأوامر أو بدون أوامر - وإذا بالفوضى تعم -بأوامر أو بدون اوامر.
و إن غاب القط ألعب يا فأر! و "مجموعة مندسة " تقوم بالسلب والنهب و التخريب! والناس الجعانة قررت تأكل
يحضرني صورة من كتاب يوتوبيا للعبقري أحمد خالد توفيق والبطل أو بمعنى أصح بطل أي كلام يعني بطل القصة بس مش بطل بمعنى الكلمة وفي القصة هو شاب مترف جدا يعيش في مدينة من المدن "كمبوندس" تسمى يوتوبيا -أي المدينة الفاضلة - وشبه الناس اللي في الطابق 90 من بناية الوطن- مش حاسس بـحاجة. وفي الصورة ده بيصف البطل حال الرعاع لما عرفوا انه ليس منهم ولكن من يوتوبيا... يروي لنا " الحقد في العيون كان واضحا جليا... ذات النظرة التي ظهرت فعيونهم وهم يهدمون (الباستيل) ... هم ذاتهم ... وإن للرعاع جنسا وشكلا موحدين مهما تباينت بلدانهم ولغاتهم... وفي الأيدي التمعت نصال لا تنتمي للمدى انما هي أجزاء من هياكل سيارات تم تحويلها لأدوات قتل.. هناك ماسورة مياه او اثنتان على طريقة عصابات (نيويورك)... أدركت إن الضربة الأولى هي التي ستفجر السد بعدها تنهال الضربات ... فقط من يبدأ بها؟" (توفيق 95)
كل من شاهد على التلفزيون ماحدث في محافظات مصر من أعمال سرقة بسبب أو بدون سبب يعرف مدى الطبقية في مصر وعندما تكون هناك ثورة للتغير وشعب 40% منه يعيش تحت خط الفقر (2$ في اليوم للفرد ) يبقى كانت المصيبة متوقعة ولكن متجاهلة مثلها مثل كل شيء في حبيبتنا مصر.
ولكن شعب مصر دافع عن نفسه وجيشه يقف معه واللجان الشعبية تحمي الملكيات الخاصة والجيش يحمي معه الملكيات العامة ومازال الشعب في الشارع يهتف من اجل التغير ويدري حق دراية إن ماحدث كان لا مفر منه ولكن الغاية تحقق الوسيلة ولكن إن سلب من الشعب الغاية حيكون كل ده طلع على مفيش؟ ويبقى فعلا القافلة تعوي والكلاب تسير ؟
وأترككم مع صورة أخري من رائعة أحمد خالد توفيق - يوتوبيا :
"لكن ثورات القرن العشرين التي تحقق غرض الجموع قد صارت تاريخا بائدا... لقد تعلم من هم فوق من أخطاء الاخرين.. لا يرى احد ثانيه شاه إيران الذي يحلق بطائرته بحثا عن بلد يأويه ولا ترى جثة شاوشكيو أو موسوليني معلقة في ميدان عام .. إن النظام الأمني معقد متطور اليوم .. هناك ستة أجهزة أمنية تراقب بعضها ومهمة كل منها حماية الحكام.. ان ثورات اليوم هي أقرب إلى الهوجة ثم تحلق طائرات الهليكوبتر لتلقي عدة قنابل وتطلق عدة طلقات فيتفرق الجميع " (توفيق 118)
ولكن شاهدنا ثورة الياسمين في مطلع السنة الجديدة يناير 2011 وسقط الطاغية بعد ماقال "لقد فهمتكم... الآن لقد فهمتكم " ولكن كان ذلك "ا ليتل بت توو لات "بعد فوات الاوان يا بن علي... فهل نشهد ثورة اللوتس ونسمع "دلوقتي فهمتكم!" ولكن حتى إن حدث... لقد آن الأوان ان يرحل فرعون...
ربنا يستر ...
................................................................................................................................................
الأول من فبراير 2011:
مبارك: مصر ستخرج من الأزمة اكثر ثقة وإستقرارا
البرادعي: عملية ترقيع الدستور لن تحول مصر إلا الديمقراطية
البرادعي: مبارك يطيل فترة عدم الإستقرار في مصر ويجب ان يستقيل

أعلن "الرئيس" حسني مبارك إنه لن يرشح نفسه في الإنتخابات الرئاسية القادمة مع تعديل المادة 76 و 77 ولكن لم يتكلم عن المادة 88 من الدستور المصري المتعلقة بـاشرف القضاء على الإنتخابات الرئاسية في سبتمبر القادم 2011 ولم يتكلم عن ترشح إبنه جمال محمد حسني مبارك بما إنه رئيس أمانة السياسات بالحزب الوطني الحاكم للإنتخابات القادمة.
طلب الشعب "رحيل مبارك" و وعد مبارك بما ليس له. لقد فقد شرعيته عندما فقد ثقة شعبه وأولاد بلاده. ولكن ماذا يجب ان يحدث الآن ؟ هل يتنازل الشعب المصري قليلا ويسمح له إكمال فترته حتى يستقر الوضع و "نلم الحوار" و يثبت الشعب حتى يسقط هذا النظام؟
أفهم من يؤمن إن التَغيير حدث وان الرئيس قام بما يجب. وأتفهم من لا يثق بـالرئيس ولا بالحكومة لأن من الآخر "اللي اتلسع من الشوربة ينفخ في الزبادي". و لأي مجموعة أنحاز أنا؟ لا أعرف. هناك شيء أنا مؤمنة به... إن أنا خائفة على مصر... خائفة من إستمرار الفوضى فتصبح مصر مطمع لأصحاب الأيدلوجيات المتطرفة و "من يركب الموجة" ومرعوبة ان يكون الوعد مثل وعود كثيرة "تذهب مع الريح"...
كأنه لم يسمع الشعب بوضوح- "التوريث" يا ريس! ولذلك أنا لن أتنازل حتى يأتي ابنه ويقول انه لن يترشح وإن مصر لن تشهد ملكية امضاء عائلة مبارك.
يجب ان يدرك القادة ان العالم قد تغير... إن الشباب وفي هذه الحالة الشباب المصري أدري من ان يضحك عليه أو يستغفل لأن هناك عالم مكشوف وعالم في حالة مقارنة متواصلة بين الجيد والأجود.
مصر الأن مختفلة تماما عن مصر يوم 24 يناير. مصر اليوم أوعى و أكثر تداخلا مع السياسة الداخلية المصرية وحتى السياسة الخارجية مع دول كأمريكا والدولة المزعومة بدون حق "إسرائيل". مصر اليوم لن تغفل عن طلب الشفافية الواجبة بين الحكومة والشعب.
لكن المشكلة اليوم إن لا احد يرى ما سوف يحدث بعد الان بين إرادة الشعب وكلمة الرئيس!
وهنا أنا لا أخذ موقف فأنا لا املك المعرفة الكافية التي تعطيني الحكمة الحقيقية7' لكن مع مجموعة ضد أخرى. فأنا لمصر وأنا مع الشعب ولكن أنا ضد الهرجلة والفوضى! وأنا الان لا أعرف من فوضوي ومن على حق!
أنا متلغبطة زي مصر بالظبط...
11/3/ 2011
"الأن نحن نقف جميعا على بركان الوطن الذي ينفجر. ولم يعد وسعنا إلى ان نتوحد مع الجمر المتطاير من فوهته وننسى نارنا الصغيرة. اليوم لا شيء يستحق كل تلك الأناقة واللياقة. والوطن نفسه أصبح لا يخجل ان يبدو أمامنا في وضع غير لائق !" أحلام مستغنمي
سقط بن علي وسقط مبارك وقدافي يثبت كل ثانية إنه مجنون.
الشعب يريد ان يعرف إيه النظام؟ في بلد في لحظة تحول نشاهد ونعبر ونصنع القرار. في وطن في حالة فوضى "جميلة" ليكون أفضل نضيع معه حتى نجد طريق عودتنا الأيام الانتصار... إلى أيام الزمن الجميل عندما كانت مصر أم الدنيا عن حق.
تعديلات دستورية و إنتخابات رئاسية وشباب مطلع على الأخبار وسوف يتغير مثل الوطن من ظلمة الجهل إلى نور المعرفة والحرية.
إلى صوت عربي واضح وقوي يساند ليبيا ويسأل هل من مزيد ؟
نحن نقف عند مفترق طريق أما أن نكون التَغيير وأما أن نكون بسلبية القادة الذين سقطوا

يلا بقى شدي حيلك يا بلدي .

Equal in Magnitude and opposite in direction!!!

2011-04-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt like you are taking part in Britney's song "Opps! I did it again!" You are in that moment and then you do the thing you've learned -the hard way- that is just wrong and sometimes annoying and you start thinking "Oh Man! NO WAY. Why am I doing this again?"
They say "Old habits die hard!". But the thing is, you are in a moment that is different, where your reactions seriously do not fit the frame. Why? because it is a different context but for some annoying reason -most of the time, an illogical reason- you keep reacting the same way, which is obviously a way that is not appropriate to the situation at all. Then all of a sudden, you got an outcome, you do not want AT ALL.
You know Newton's third law of motion?
Okay. I used to have a thing for physics when I was 15 and then I discovered that its way too hard, anyways I think I just proved Newton wrong, since the 3rd law states:

Third law: The mutual forces of action and reaction between two bodies are equal, opposite and collinear. This means that whenever a first body exerts a force F on a second body, the second body exerts a force −F on the first body. F and −F are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. This law is sometimes referred to as the action-reaction law, with F called the "action" and −F the "reaction". The action and the reaction are simultaneous.

And since all my reactions -or most of them- seem not be equal in magnitude AT ALL, I should be able to refute the law to be not THAT accurate, at least in my own physical world!
Sorry Sir Isaac Newton...

Dr. Mustapha Mahmoud's reflections on Love's existence

2011-03-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

I just recently started reading some of the works of Dr. Mustapha Mahmoud, not major works, but rather bits and pieces and I found this very interesting, the perspective of what love is and how is it founded really drew my attention

لو سألتم.. أهو موجود ذلك الحب.. و كيف نعثر عليه؟
لقلت نعم موجود و لكن نادر.. و هو ثمرة توفيق إلهي و ليس ثمرة اجتهاد شخصي
و هو نتيجة انسجام طبائع يكمل بعضها البعض الآخر و نفوس متآلفة متراحمة بالفطرة
...و شرط حدوثه أن تكون النفوس خيرة أصلا جميلة أصلا و الجمال النفسي و الخير هو المشكاة التي يخرج منها هذا الحب

If you ask me whether love really exists, I would say: Yes, it does, but it is rare. It is rather a fruit of divine Godspeed, not a product of personal endeavor. For love to occur, souls should be originally benevolent; originally beautiful. Thus, inner beauty and benevolence is the lantern from which love comes out.

Dr. Moustapha Mahmoud

Pride & Prejudice reference

2011-03-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a reference to part of the Pride & Prejudice -a master piece- book/ movie, so if you have never read nor seen it, you probably won't understand what I will talk about, this is a simple warning, so you won't waste your time. Anyways... In this very particular moment. Elizabeth Bennet is sitting on a swing for a long interval of time, swaying endlessly, wondering within her own mind at what is going on with her life, how did she reach this point of confusion of mind and soul. Back and forth on the swing, back and forth between past and present, sometimes present and future and between past and future.
What point am I trying to make here? I do not know! But there is something that I want to express but I seem unable to do it, I can not express it not even to myself, not in words nor in writing.
Just like here, on that swing, just sitting, no progress made, confused, can not even understand her own self. Let us just say that I have the worst writer's block ever and its killing me not being able to express myself..

Somethings...

2011-03-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

Somethings happen to you, unexpectedly. It just happens and you never expected it to happen now or even later. It overwhelms you and during the excitement of it all you do not care about logic, because logic can not explain surprise especially when it takes you off-guard and makes you feel, that there is something beyond you, but that does not necessarily mean you are overpowered but rather that when you are flexible enough, you shall learn beyond your expectations.
Today is not yesterday and last week is nothing in comparison to this week and at this point you realize that there is way more ahead and you are waiting, excited to see what life has in store for you.
Allah Yustor :)
كلما أمسك بحالة من حالاتي وقلت هذا هو أنا ... ما تلبث هذه الحالة ان تفلت من أصابعي و تحل محلها حالة أخرى ... هي أنا أيضا " د/مصطفى محمود

The pitcture

2011-03-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

Our Civilization sequence professor asked every student to give him a personal picture so he would recognize our faces and names! I always forget to get it to class, plus I seriously do not like that professor much, the topics are very interesting but the way he stimulates students' discussion is uncreative and he treats us as if we are stupid and I HATE THAT!
Anyways today I will give him one of my photos, that passport photo I took for my American visa. If you have never taken that photo you would not understand how bad it is, when taking this photo you should not smile or do anything but stare at the camera, so if you are not a terrorist; you most certainly become a suspect!
I look scary, I get scared from it myself.
The man at Maliks copy center when he was about to print the picture, after opening it he had this shocked face, a giggle and then he said in a very Lebanese accent "shu? lih heik?" I was like "American visa". "Ca va" he replied understandingly.
So I am going to take this very serious photo to my professor in hope that he would appreciate my seriousness in passport photos and give me a bonus for being such a serious person.

19/ March/ 2011, a new Egypt?

2011-03-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

There is a book by Azmi Bishara called Ann Takoun Araby fe Zmnana Haza which translates into To Be an Arab in this time, I read this book during summer of 2009 while I was in Beirut, the book discussed the Arab political status, identity, certain ideologies on the general status of the Arab world. But I am quoting the title of this book today because to be an Arab today has a totally different connotation. To be an ARAB today comes within a revolutionary context, with glory, with change and most important of all with Dignity, a dignity that once was lost but now powerfully regained.
Yesterday the 19th of March 2011, there was the day to vote on the referendum of the constitution, if you vote YES you accept the amendments of the 1971 constitution (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/anger-in-egypt/2011/03/20113156309594476.html), if you vote NO then you are calling for a New Egyptian Constitution.
I could not vote, since as some of you already know, I live & study in Beirut, I would have done anything to go for one day, but I could not. But since I opened my eyes yesterday, turned on my laptop and started to see the tweets, the FB statuses about voting and then seeing all these profile pictures with the pink phosphoric ink thumbs up, I could not help but tear, my country is blooming, my people are becoming aware of their rights, what it means to be a citizen, what it means to speak up and have a voice.
When I saw girls sharing photos of Amr Hamzawy -Research Director and Senior Associate
Middle East Center/ Carnegie Endowment- with his photo voting, and comments including "He is awesome" "I love him" to "<3 <3 <3", I could not but help feel this rush of enthusiasm, these were the girls that 2 months ago would share a song by Angham with a youtube video of Ashk Mamnou3 -Mohannad w Samar- does not that say that WE ARE IN A CHANGING MOMENT?
As I wait for the results, to know what is next, I feel the rush of being part of something way bigger than my imagination, I am part of a nation that is standing up for itself.
I wish I was between my people now!
And btw I would have voted NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
في كل شارع في بلادي ... صوت الحرية بينادي !!!! In every street in my country... the voice of freedom is calling

Go out of your way :)

2011-03-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

Nasılsın? Seni özledim...
Man! this is awesome! You probably have no clue what I am talking about, and if you think that by reading this post you will, sorry you won't but it is going to be exciting so keep on reading ;p
The awesome thing is; doing something you have never done before!
It is very liberating, to do something that challenges everything about you, your personality, the way you perceive yourself and the way others perceive you and even you examine your own confidence and after you are done with it, you will be like "Shit, I have guts :) "
You will keep asking yourself "Am I gonna do this?""Just do it!" And in 30 seconds you will have as conflicting thoughts as ever! And then you do it and it takes time to sink in :) And then you will think "Did I really do this?" ÇOK GÜZEL
Here is a little homework for all of you: Go do something that challenges you and then sit and think about- but do not over think because over thinking sucks... :) ! BON COURAGE & İYİ ŞANSLAR...

قصيدة احمد نجم الجديدة : عايزين نجرب خلقة تانية ولو يومين

2011-02-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

نظرا لأن النعمة فاقت حدها
ولأننا مش قدها
ولأن فعلا انجازاتك
فوق طاقتنا نعدها
ولأننا غرقنا في جمايل
مستحيل حنردها
نستحلفك ……. نسترحمك
نستعطفك …….نستكرمك
ترحمنا من طلعة جنابك حبتين
عايزين نجرب خلقة تانية
ولو يومين
اسمع بقى إحنا زهقنا من النعيم
ونفسنا في يومين شقا
عايزين نجرب الاضطهاد
ونعوم ونغرق في الفساد
بيني وبينك حضرتك
دا شعب فقرى مايستحقش جنتك
أنا عارفه شعب ماينفعوش إلا شارون وبلير وبوش
عايز يجرب الامتهان
ويعيش عميل للأمريكان
بيمد ‘غازه’ لإسرائيل
ويومين كمان ويمد نيل
أهو يعنى نشرب ميه واحدة
ندوب في بعض
ماء وماء وماء
ونفض سيرة الانتماء
وبلاها نعرة وطنطنة
تبقى البلاد ‘مستوطنة ‘متسلطنة بالسرطنة
إيه اللي خدناه م الكرامة والإباء
حبة خطب وكلام…كلام
إحنا راهننا على النظام
ورضينا بخيار السلام
بخيار حنسد عين الشمس بيه
علشان مايطلعش النهارويطلع لمين؟
حبة معارضة مغرضين؟
وحسب بيان السلطة
شلة مأجورين؟
ياعم فضك سيرة
وارضى بقسمتك
دا شعب مش فاهم أكيد
يلا اطرده من رحمتك
وإن كنت غاوي الحكم
خليك مطرحك
حاغطس واقب وأعود
بشعب يريحك
راضى وعمره مايجرحك
أخرس ومايسمعش
وأعميلك عينيه
مش كل قرش يبص فيه
مايقولش لأه، وفين، وليه
يضرب ينفض في السليم
وعلى الصراط المستقيم
كل اللي يعرف ينطقه
عاش الزعيم
يحيا الزعيم

Another LOL :)

2011-02-06T05:35:00.000-08:00

:) LOL

2011-02-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

Egypt ya Omm El Donia

2011-02-02T15:56:00.000-08:00

As I watch what is going on in Tahrir square and I hear the cries of the Egyptian people, turned against each other. Wither this is the work of certain agendas or not, I feel a certain kind of sorrow overwhelming me!
Mobarak yesterday with his speech when he mentioned that he worked for Egypt all his life -which was his will against ours- and he wants to die in Egypt; all the sentiments that sentence stirred within Egypt, I can not help but wonder; when Mobarak said he loves this country, how as a president he is allowing all this turmoil to go on, Egyptians killing Egyptians?
Mobarak you chose, against the people's demand to stay in office, then do your job!
I watch where Egypt is now, one is not secure even within the walls of his/her own house and I want to scream at the top of my lungs, if you loved Egypt, you would not have over powered your dignity on the Egyptian people and let it turn this bad!
If you loved Egypt or anyone in your past Government did -we can not accuse the new government of anything since it has not been in office except for five days- you would not have let our nationalism be questioned and our dreams to be threatened.
I see the streets of Al-Tahrir square and see what started as a beautiful dream turning into a dreadful nightmare. For the change to take place, consequences were expected, but to what extent?
I think we reached 80% of our demands and I think now we have to do what is best for this country which is to stop this corruption, who ever loves Egypt will feel my pain...
Egypt, all we wanted is the best for you and your people and we are sorry for this inconvenience but hopefully the sun will shine tomorrow, a new dawn full of hope, change, freedom, democracy, social equality and the power to do what is right.
Egypt- with a heart full of honesty, I can see you as a very wise woman that is looking at us with eyes full of questions and all we can do right now is to hug you and comfort you; that everything is going to be okay and better, we promise.
I love you Egypt

2/2/ 2011 The Egypt I LOVE & RESPECT

2011-02-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

Although today I am as confused as ever, the days before Mobarak's speech, I was against him with every cell in my body, my whole family were protesting in the streets, my uncle almost got killed on Friday. But after the looting, the runaway police and the people who just want to ride the wave to exploit the opportunity for their own agendas, confusion got to me, should we stay in the streets until he goes or should we compromise a little bit for the sake of Egypt and that the situation won't be worse.
The streets are not safe to walk in any more, yesterday I was walking alone at 2:00 p.m, one hour before curfew and the army stopped me and asked me if I am crazy to be walking alone, at 2:00 P.M!!!
And now we have Pro-Mobarak people protesting against the anti-Mobarak people in Tahrir square in Cairo and in Mahtet Masr in Alexandria, what?
I am very confused and many others. I want him to leave but I am just scared of the consequences.
The problem is he is a big fat liar, in his speech he mentioned constitutional amendments of 76 and 77 which discuss the duration of presidency but he did not talk about 88-which is the one about judiciary supervision on elections, and this was one of the people's demands. And he mentioned nothing about Gamal Mobarak running and yesterday on an interview with the new Prime Minster Ahmed Shafiq he said that Gamal Mobarak as any other Egyptian has the constitutional right to run for presidency!
This is the atmosphere so far, and who knows what's next?
But one thing I am sure of, I RESPECT our Army and the way they handled things. Mobarak wanted them to go wild against protesters just like the "security" forces, but they declared they understand the legitimate demands of the people and that they won't do anything to the protesters and for that I am grateful because it could have turned in a huge mess.
Although now it is very apparent how the USA and israel are involved into our domestic affairs which is really pissing off many people.
But the protesters had very funny chants :) like :
هم يكلوا خوخ وفراخ وإحنا الفول دوخنا وداخ
It is my favorite...
For the past week, for the first time, in a verrrrrrrryyy long time, I am TRULY proud of being an Egyptian :)
تحيا مصر

أن أكون في كلِّ التراويح.. روحَك/ أحلام مستغانمي :)

2011-01-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

ما طلبتُ من اللّهِ
في ليلةِ القدر
سوى أن تكون قَدَري وستري
سقفي وجُدران عُمري
وحلالي ساعةَ الحشرِ
**
يا وسيمَ التُّقَى
أَتَّقي بالصلاةِ حُسنكْ
وبالدعاءِ ألتمسُ قُربكْ
أُلامسُ بالسجودِ سجاداً
عليه ركعتَ طويلاً
عساني أُوافق وجهك
**
مباركةٌ قدماك
بكَ تتباهَى المساجد
وبقامتك تستوي الصفوف
هناك في غربة الإيمان
حيثُ على حذر
يُرفع الأذان
**
ما أسعدني بك
مُتربِّعاً على عرش البهاء
مُترفِّعاً.. مُتمنعاً عصيَّ الانحناء
مُقبلاً على الحبّ كناسك
كأنّ مهري صلاتُك
**
يا لكثرتكْ
كازدحام المؤمن بالذكرِ
في شهر الصيام
مزدحماً قلبي بكْ
**
كيف لــي
أن أكون في كلّ التراويح روحَكْ
كي في قيامك وسجودك
تدعُو ألاَّ أكون لغيرك

read this and liked it

2011-01-03T15:19:00.000-08:00

This was a friend's status on Facebook and I thought it is very funny, I might not agree with it but many people do anyways here it is:

قلب المرأة مثل شيكولاتة التويكس ... لواحد مش لاتنين ... أما الرجل قلبه مثل ... جلاكسي جواهر ... معه تحلو المشاركة

Out of the Blue! Wagner's Bridal Chorus

2010-12-31T15:46:00.000-08:00

Today or rather this past hour, my first hour in the year 2011 I am spending it looking at wedding dresses and out doors wedding ideas! YES, I am doing that and why I have absolutely no idea :)
Like seriously speaking, like any other girl on this planet I have an image of how I want my wedding to look like, you know the childhood dreams that grow up with you and mature as you mature from the "I want a huge dress and Ricky Martin" to "I want the simple dress and a very calm reception"...
But never did I actually sit and just waste my time making plans for something I have no idea when will it happen! I plan for things I control- or rather I think I can control-, but I do not plan for things that our out of my hand ! Common sense.
I did not realize what I was doing until I told my dad while showing him a picture on my laptop "I want it like this, a day wedding with lots of white on grass next to the beach" and my dad's expression "I know a place like this" and then the smile and then "you find your partner and the wedding is a piece of cake" and I was like "yeah that is the tricky part" :)
Today weddings were on my mind all day, especially when I found myself humming Wagner's Bridal Chorus, I was like "what is going on Aliaa?"... You know, the idea is this is exactly what Egypt does to me, I never think about weddings when I'm abroad but once I am here with all the people around me getting engaged and get married rush, unconsciously it becomes very important to me and at the tip of my head.

Wedding is not that important -I mean it is but not compared to the following ;p -, finding a "partner" is the tricky part... so for now I will just stop listening to songs that can be used as first dances and focus on doing something useful in the first hours of 2011! What a bizarre start?

But I will leave you with my favorite wedding song, this is at the top of my list! Oh man, I have a list now!!!!

Maher Zain's BarakAllah Lakum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05RsRnlclRQ

About my School El Nasr Girls College E.G.C

2010-12-27T17:49:00.000-08:00

I am a graduate of El Nasr Girls College, also known as E.G.C. I have been there since my first day of school till the day I got the acceptance to my university. I never knew what other schools looked like from the inside till the day I went to my brother's school and the first thought that came to my mind " I wish my brother's school was like mine". There is no other school in Alexandria that equals my school -I have my bias of course. Or maybe to be fair, there is no other school like mine with the amount of money paid for that school, an affordable school with extra-ordinary properties.
The history, the architecture, the space, the gardens, all that is essential to a great institution is found within the walls of this school. Because in E.G.C you do not just learn what is in the books, you build yourself, your personality, you grow up and discover who are you and who you want to be?
For many years people used to know me -people outside of my school- as Aliaa El zeiny E.G.C, whenever or wherever I am, when I introduce myself, I say my school's name out-loud, proud and backed up by a great history.
The school that great women attended like Queen Sofia and Laila Rostom, the school -by the leadership of Mrs.Enaam El Dafrawi- were we learned to be strong independent women, capable of becoming what ever we wish, from great writers, politicians, doctors, engineers, teachers, mothers, etc.
It is in everyday, that I saw Mrs.Enaam el Dafrawi walk down the corridors of our school checking on us, with her amazing grace, confident walk, thoughtful smile and the golden E.G.C pin, that I wished to be like her. She was and still is a role model of a strong woman that inspires others.
In E.G.C we were exposed to the world beyond the textbook, to other forms of education. It might have not been perfect but for the amount of resources offered to our school, the outcome outweighed the income.
It is because of my school -and my parents' excellent choice and help- that I am were I am today and I can say that for my friends and colleagues as well. Because when you are standing there and speaking out in English with perfection and you know how to carry yourself, the fist thing that comes to your mind is "thank you E.G.C"
It is when ever I am home, I pass by my school and still points at it proudly and say "This is E.G.C my School"
E.G.C is the bond you find between E.G.C students -current and graduates- no matter from which class 1937 to 2010 wherever they are, in the school's garden or infront of a bathroom in a restaurant.
Do not change how my school works because it works perfectly fine, but change the corrupt people that are not letting my school perfects its role. So if the country is messed up, do we change its name and replace a corrupt system with one that is worse, or do we think of a cure rather than a fix?
Keep the legacy going, Keep E.G.C

PALESTINE

2010-12-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

I am not going to say much, but! he lived for Palestine and he died for Palestine.
Look into these eyes and you will know, that El Qadeya was his life and Palestine was his soul.
Rest in Peace ya Abu Ammar.
Palestine on my mind ♥
And Palestine all the Way ♥