hmm interesting

other than smashing my glasses into pieces minutes before i got on the plane this trip, i had something else happen to me.
in the course we were asked to present ourselves and say who we were, what we did, and what we did when we're not at work i.e. hobbies and interests.
that third question just left me speechless.
what do i do when i am not at work?
what hobbies do i have?
sleep? play scrabble almost once a week? go out and sit in cafes? facebook?
shit yaani!
everyone had something to say - ice hockey (yes they were a bunch of swedes), jogging, playing with their kids,,and i had nothing..

so i am on a quest for a hobby. i tried singing in a choir but it was boring. so what do i do? i am unathletic as can be, i am too old to learn an instrument, and no i won't learn to cook - fuck that...
i think i can safely blame AIESEC for not giving me enough time to develop a hobby when i was in college.. but you know i pretended AIESEC was my hobby.
but now AIESEC is over
and i must find a hobby!

count to 10, breathe, think happy thoughts, go to happy place

This is what i tell myself when i read yet another article about the Saudi rape victim who got punished for getting raped.

Because if i don't this happens:

I would like to raise a motion for us to swap this "let's wipe israel out of the map" campaign, and turn it into "let's wipe Saudi Arabia out of the map".... followers? anyone?

Or let's list down every Saudi Royal and hunt down each of their mothers, daughters, sisters and wives and put them in a dark room with a bunch of the perveted sexually suppressed egyptian men roaming the streets of cairo and see what happens.

Or better yet, let's just put all those royals in a room with me and a nicely sharpened ready-to-slice knife and see what happens.

See, i told you i would do this....

Ok remember, count to 10, breathe, think happy thoughts, go to happy place
count to 10, breathe, think happy thoughts, go to happy place
count to 10, breathe, think happy thoughts, go to happy place
count to 10, breathe, think happy thoughts, go to happy place
count to 10, breathe, think happy thoughts, go to happy place
count to 10, breathe, think happy thoughts, go to happy place

Un-Egyo-Ness

So summer of 2008 i want to visit the US, which has been the plan for a while now.
My un-egyptian-ness is that i have started planning from now. Getting advice, planning basic itinerary, plane ticket, cities i will visit, sorting out accommodation and friends' travel plans, you know the basics.
In 2 months time i will start researching the exact places i want to visit before i move on to putting together the daily plan for my vacation; say around april.

Every person i have met finds it absurd that i am doing this. And finds it even more absurd that i am starting this 7 months in advance.

a somewhat promising development

"Egyptian court convicts 2 police officers for torturing a bus driver
Pair jailed for three years
Case came to light after a video of the abuse was posted on the Internet"

CNN Article

While this is no indicator of any consistent effort to eliminate, minimize or even reduce torture in Egypt; this isolated event is still promising.
It's a positive step taken by the judicial court and it's a testament to Egyptian Bloggers and their ability to make a difference.

The Egyptian blogger who posted the horrendous video was featured in this week's Edition of CNN's Inside the Middle East.
So to all the cynics who think one person cannot do anything, that blogger has just made history.

cursed

for trying to be a perfectionist in a place that stretches its arms to welcome mediocrity like a long lost child

Nisrin!

She's tiny and white.
She's quiet and discrete.
She wakes up when i sleep
and sleeps as the sun goes up.
She seems innocent and sweet.

But is she?!

Under that soft, quiet, innocent looking exterior lies an angry beast waiting to come out. It lurkers around waiting for the right moment to attack!
Hiding behind her American sense of personal distance and her occasional half-hugs and rare cheek kisses, lies the real Nisrin.

The real Nisrin comes out every............

Scrabble Night!

Passive aggressive is not her style. Why be passive when you could be actively aggressive?

Exhibit A:
Kent Babin - in an excerpt from his blog post he says:
"The second round featured new teams, new attitudes, and an increasingly hostile Nisrin. She threatened physical and verbal violence on no fewer than twenty occasions."

Exhibit B:
Annika Rudback - Here are quotes from last night's game:
Nisrin: "If you can't beat 'em, Kill 'em"
Annika: "It's if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"
Nisrin: "Not for me it is"
5 minutes later
Nisrin: "Come on Annika, if you don't go right now i will jam that pencil in your eye-ball"

Exhibit C:
Chris Pflaumer - This is a well-deserved comment that Chris gets from Nisrin every 5 minutes:
Nisrin: " CHRIS, YALLA" and then bangs her hand on the table so her rings make a loud squeaky noise

Last but not least...

Exhibit D:
ME!
Me: " what the fuck niso, stop making noise with your feet, it's either your feet or your hands yaani"
Nisrin: "Sorry, i ...."
Me: "am a smoker?"
Nisrin: "No, I have ADD"
Me: " And by ADD you mean..."
Nisrin: " Annoy the hell out of luli? Yes"

I rest my case!

Liscence Renewal - First time is definetly NOT a charm

I woke up in the morning with a smile on my face. It was mainly due to my latest shopping conquest the night before. Charles and Keith has 60% sale so i got the most gorgeous stilettos.
Now if you're a girl with a big shoe fetish you will understand the kind of high i was on.

I was mentally and physically prepared for a long day renewing my licence for the first time. Armed with a lot of positive attitude, my outfit was carefully planned. Comfortable shoes that look a little like Sister Erica's from my school days, Jeans - i expected dirt, a carefully selected top that is to be worn by an 80 year old woman with a cleavage going all the way to my neck (quite a contrast to my look the night before), and long enough that it would work as a mini dress for an anorexic size zero model, and on top a flowy shirt, with long sleeves. My futile attempts at getting as little attention as possible was very smart of me. Good girl luli!

So the first part is to get my tickets and pay for them. Much like every other desk at that place, desk number one had no line for women, scratch that, it has no line - period. So i must squish between a big concentration of taxi drivers. The thought makes me tingly in all the right places! HMM! From Desk number one, i go to desk number 2, 3,4,5 back to 2, then to 3 again then to 6 then to 7 and then i am done! Mind you Desk 2 and 4 are on the ground floor, desk 3 and 5 are on the top floor and desk 6 and 7 are in a different building.

I got my glorious tickets which were 500 L.E. It was so fascinating i took a photo

The tickets say i have the following fines:
21st of February: Talking on the phone and crossing a red light - it took place in the East district in Alex
On the 21st of Feb i was at the office preparing for my flight in a few days. I was no where near Alex. Plus, we're in Egypt you need to have a traffic light to begin with in order for cross a red one!
11th of April: Halting traffic and parking in a no parking spot - it took place in the East district in Alex
On the 11th of April i was at the office. I had a flight 2 days after. So i could not have been in Alex
27th of April: Ok that time i was in Alex, so i guess it could be valid. It's a fine for going in the opposite direction
17th of June: Parking ticket - it took place in the East District in Alex
On the 17th of June i was at the office with meetings booked and all. I was not in Alex

I argued with the officer there and he reduced it to 50 L.E.
Alas i paid and off i went to start renewing my licence - coz this was 1/4 of the job!

So off to a new building. I go from Desk 1 to Desk 2 back to desk 1 then to desk 3 then back to desk 1. Desk 1 is a nice man with a beard (i didn't know there were any of those around) He told me go to desk 4 give your papers and they'll give you your licence. I slipped him a tenner and happily thought i was almost done. Little did i know that this was only the beginning.

Desk 4 was full of men, men and more men. No line of course. My positive attitude failed to serve me as i struggled to get in the crowd. That's then mommy came to the rescue. After 90 minutes at this desk they gave me a piece of paper. That paper needs to go to the computer department so they can issue the licence. So off i go to the next floor.
After 60 minutes the offices calls my name and my father's name which is music to my ears. my licence is done! ( In Egypt you have 4 names, yours, you fathers, your grandfathers and a family name)
As i am going i check it out, and it says: Jaylan Abd El Salam Mraasi Zaki. Sadly it's not my name. The number on the licence is also not mine. A 3 has been switched with a 2.
I guess it's expected when all of the writing is done by hand, and very fast.

I go back to desk 4 and employees are leaving. After 30 minutes and some 5 attempts i find a guy who gets my folder and fixes the mistake. I slipped him a few pounds of course.

So off i go to get my licence again at the computer room, when they reply to me with brilliant news (insert sarcasm) "The electricity is out".
Another 45 minutes of waiting and the officer calls my name gives my the lisence with the right number, right name and after 5 and a half of grueling hard work.

I should have felt victorious since i managed to get my licence in a day - which is not always a possibility.

Somehow Victory was not the feeling that prevailed.

the day after the night before

So i am completely engrossed in Mcdeamy's and Meredith's plans in the elevator and i decide to multi-task and arrange my bag.

I take out my train ticket and tear it to pieces. Once i do that, i jump up and let out a big scream which puts my dad on his feet asking "WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?"

Turns out the ticket i just tore was not the ticket i had just used. It was the ticket i just bought to use tomorrow.

So i was left with this:

Some time after that, and a bit of scotch tape and this is what i ended up with:

Now i just hope the train conductor is nice enough to accept this and does not charge me another time.

Summer is over and winter is almost heeeere!

I never thought i would be that excited coz summer is over - but i totally am!
Summers in alex meant beaches, swimsuits, lovely tans, half naked boys, AIESEC fun, traveling, time off from studying - a constant PARTEEY!
Over the years i enjoyed a lovely month in England which was amazing, a month in Turkey that was just one big party day after day (oh what i'd pay to do that again!), an adventurous trip to Korea with Shady - pretending we were married so he would bargain for me, checking out hot US marines walking the streets and awwing at corny asian boy bands and doing loadz of stupid stupid things, and germany - the trip of death!
I have also enjoyed the summer nights, the partying till dawn, the nights at poo's, the sneaking around my mother at 3 am - those were the days!

But now as i have so obviously and sadly grown up into a career ahem "woman" and moved to the big C summer is just a blub of sweat waiting to hit you at the next corner. Time off in the summer is not in sync with your friends, and it's short, it's hot and stinky and there are all those fun things around you just can't to because of that thing called J O B!

Winter is, however, GREAT!
All the kids go home early -> less traffic!
No more sweating -> finally contacts, make-up and hair is possible!
Great breezy weather -> dressing up is fun again!
No more A/C -> now people can actually listen to my singing in the car - lol!

So i am feeling ACTIVE! and this winter is going to be the winter of A C T I V I T Y!
no more meeting in people's houses and all that crap!
So here's what's gona happen:
- Day trips to Mansoura, Fayum and Rashid
- More feluccas than ever
- More walking around old cairo and attending street concerts
- Enough with the coffee shops - it's time for CLUBS!
- and activities need to involve some "activeness" i.e. bowling, airhockey, walks, mid-night horse backriding by pyramids and stuff like that
- dancing - needs to happen more often!

Let the winter BEGIN!

4th time's a charm!

Last weekend i went to siwa, and i have about 18 bite marks to prove it!
The trip was great!
Some serious sandboarding, driving on sand dunes and swimming in hot and cold springs was exactly was i needed.
All my intchiness and bites are a sweet reminder of the two nights spent watching the stars and hearing about Luke's college and frat days and Annika's travels accross the globe!

Now, it's back to reality :(

Premier Week - well it's about freaking time!

YAYAYAAAAy! i am getting all psyched up about all the shows coming back!
abc looks like it's ready to kick some ass!
i can't wait to snuggle in bed with some ice cream over the season's premiere of Gray's anatomy - i have already watched the promos like a zillion times!
i can't wait to gossip about gabi's discovery in her wedding and what the other DH crew has been up to.
sadly we have to wait a few more months till Lost is out but it's ok i'll be busy with all those new shows. They are also exciting! private practice with the gorgeous red head and quite a few promising other options.
must get that anonymous browsing going so i can enjoy all the shows starting NEXT WEEK

YAY!

sorry for the dorky post but i LOVE TV!

the world of spices

So on my newly adopted live-till-i-am-a-hundred lifestyle i have had to give up a few unhealthy habits and start up new ones. One of which is to substitute those deep fried chicken into grilled ones.
After about a week of putting soy sauce and chicken onto the stove i decided it was time to change. This was partly because i was embarrassed by Kent - he was coming to visit and if he'd seen my soy-chicken fiasco he would not give me a break. I chopped some tomatoes with it and Kent was happy, and so was I!
The next time i was waiting for the meat to cook i looked around and saw Nisrin's glorious collection of spices. I lined them up and smelled each and everyone of them. And trust me - with my un-recovered nose, that was hard. Initially i was inclined to put a bit of everything from sweet basil to Cinnamon on top and see what happens. Then i wised up and picked my two winners: Sweet Basil and Allspice. The third one was garlic powder, but again i imagined Kent's mortified eyes if i used garlic powder when i had fresh garlic right there in the kitchen. So i chopped off some garlic and put it all in there.

The result - GREAT! i have been eating this mix for 2 weeks now. I am going to get bored from it in a few days and decide to put new winners,, i am thinking curry and something else i don't know yet.

So i am finally giving up my "the only spice i eat is salt" attitude, and i am now a spice believer.

bring on the spices!!

Rant

A lot can happen in the first hour of waking up that determines your mood for the day.
Today my bawab (door man) decided to interfere with my daily rituals that set me off to a good or okay day.
He volunteered to tell me that the guy from the phone company that came to fix my phone (2 weeks late by the way) was pissed that i did not give him any money. So my bawab gave him money. So i told him not to go around giving money on my behalf or for me, it's his JOB to fix phones and i pay his company enough. His justification was that if we don't tip him then the next time a phone stops working in the building he will not come straight away and will stall for a couple of days before coming to fix it.
This is just classic! if the bawab expects me to give him his money back then he is WRONG! if he has too much money and wants to be charitable, he can do so on his own budget not on mine. And if he can do that then we are obviously paying him too much, that an electrician working for the phone company is getting charity from a bawab!

As for that idiot phone guy - if he wanted a better job, he should have studied well in high school and got into a good FREE university and make more instead of playing in the streets, smoking up and watching porn and end up in some technical institute that would make him blue collar for the rest of his life. I shouldn't pay for his poor choices. And i know the bullshit about him not making enough money and life is expensive and he has to feed his family - but he should have thought of that when he smoked his J instead of going to class!

I hate that everyone expects a tip to do THEIR FREAKING JOB!
I really hope Nasser is burning in the depth of hell right now with whips and hot flaming stones being constantly thrown at that fragile useless communist body of his, and when i meet him there i will give him a nice big kick in the crotch...

I am having a bad Egypt day!

Bye bye wisdom

My vacation is coming to an end. I took 3 weeks off and one of them was spent in bed recovering from a procedure i had to do, basically i had some sinuses problems and had to get it fixed and while i was under i decided it's time to take out those 4 wisdom teeth - which has been on my to-do list for a year now.
So i successfully dodged a visit to the dentist - YAY!
I am slowly regaining my sense of smell,, well really slowly
and now it's time to pack my bags and go back to the big C to get on with the rest of my life.
So i have made a list of things that should make me happy to be going back to reality:
1) i get to use my favorite toothbrush again - i have missed my blue oral B :)
2) work wanted to avoid me being back with a frown and decided to give our paycheck a little nudge so YAY!
3) no more freezing in A/C - courtesy of (mom's) menopause
4) scrabble time
5) starting to shed off the vacation weight and a hopefully a little more

ok i am out, that's it...

it's full on vacation blues till next weekend :(

Never again!

Day 1 post surgery, never ever ever again!2 year cold is not that bad...

never gonna happen, no liposuction, no c-section....nothing - general anesthesia is my enemy!

I have mastered sign language because speaking is not an option at the moment. And not being able to talk is torture for one outspoken talkative gal like me.

no pwesents this time

so - no postings in a while, i was busy tanning.
I made it up to alex and spend most of my days being a beach bum. Kent finally made it out here and i am expecting him to name me the one and only Alex Champion :D

My vacation time ends tonight - tomorrow i go in to do some small procedure and will probably spend the rest of my vacation high on pain killers

if you are up for a laugh, come keep me entertained

ok i am bored!

It's been 2 days in my vacation and i am bored...
i've organized my drawers, done my finances, arranged the book shelf, cleaned a bit, organized my room, done all the handwashing, done like 6 loads of laundry, fixed the wardrobe, watched like 10 episodes of scrubs, gave myself a pedicure and showered like 5 times

and I AM BOOOOOOORED! it's too friggin' hot to stay without A/C and too fucking crowded to venture out in the horrible cairo streets. UGH!
i know alex won't be much better but at least i know where i can find a treadmill that won't cost an arm and a leg.

my last scrabble night with kent is tomorrow - i am still hoping something would happen and he'd end up staying in egypt for a little longer. scrabble night won't be the same without his trash talk and good food.....
i can't remember the last time i felt like this bout someone leaving,,,,,, luli sad :(

Reflections of a chair

- there are only so many times you can shout " HEY AIESEC"

- sore throat is a must, voice loss is optional

- twister can be a dangerous sport

- how did we ever go on for 4 nights with 4 hours of sleep?

- god we're gettin old

- new game: 7ammo

- do not play bullshit with abdou

- gossiping was invented by egyptians

- AIESEC Egypt can run a conference that starts and ends on time

- Nader cannot dance

- Alex ppl are awesome! i can finally stop holding my breath for them

- AIESEC Egypt Rocks!

- I decided, i like AIESEC again...

2 hours of pure and utter bliss...

were the ones spent watching Pirates of the Carribean at world's end!

After a long long wait - i finally watched it, and the wait was worthwhile!

the saddest thing is that the film had to end :(

uhhh talk about the best 2 and a half hours i have had in a long long time

now i will sleep with a smile on my face

the cook, the winner, the smart one, the clumsy one and the STAR!

Those were the participants of this week's version of scrabble night!

The cook - Mr. Kent Babin

The smart one - Annika with her yummy Jordanian sweets

The clumsy one - she almost broke her ass

The winner - your truly (no surprises there)

and The star - Brit boy Chris P.

The real star of the night was Chris - his effect was evident when Kent almost rolled on the floor with laughter and when my lungs started to object from all the laughing.

I will safely conclude that the reason why i lost the first game is because of Chris's commentary on his almost-ribbon-of-participation-worthy performance.

He even left a heartfelt note for our clumsy little girl who managed to make break a chair and her butt, well almost

Mr. Peace envoy to the middle east!

Ok, i think the news has just become more entertaining than it has ever been.
Yesterday the front page of CNN was filled by none other than Paris Hilton coming out of prison, no no not the other news around the world - no - paris comes out of prison, hard core news!

Today BBC has the most entertaining "Have your say" about Tony Blair - Bliar as some like to call him - being the new peace envoy to the middle east.
For once i am speechless - i will let the masses on have your say speak for me..
I especially want to point out this comment which had me laugh out loud in the middle of the quiet office.

"very amusing! what next. Salman Rushdie to be appointed UK's High Commissioner in Pakistan? George Bush to be offered a Chair in Philosophy at Oxford? Prince Charles to become King of England?"
haward, düsseldorf

Seriously - who needs comedy channels and E!

School was in session!

So we've decided to make Tuesday the weekly Scrabble night.
A strong new comer has emerged: Annika, the first guest at Casa de lulinis.

Kent was schooled! Schooled like never before! Even nisrin beat him. Not a good day for "the babin"

He however was the King of the kitchen - he made my i-want-to-live-till-i-am-a-hundred-diet seem so easy with his italian chicken and peppers and risotto-like rice.
My mom could very well have a shrine and temple dedicated to kent for making me finally eat peppers.

It's sunday,,,,,

the beginning of the week

Bring it on Babin

Ok i said i will say something nice about Kent, so i will keep my end of the bargain..

So we've decided to turn our Scrabble challenge into a league instead of a tournament.
So after i beat him the first time (and i didn't gloat at all!) yesterday it was his turn. Although 1 points and 6 points difference is small it still counts - so i humbly accept the loss of a battle but not the whole war :D

(P.S. nisrin did not stand a chance)

Well i guess kent nailed the night, 2 games of scrabble won, awesome french toast for desert and a colorful apron with a beautiful bow at the back!

Add to that the company of two gorgeous young women and you've got the luckiest guy in the world.
Guys, feel free to envy him ;)

6 flights - 10 days

I just finished that! An interesting conference at work, a refreshing weekend with a good friend and a much needed business trip that i can finally cross off my list.

So I spend the last weekend in Mamlo, Sweden - a beautiful little city that is connected to Denmark with a long bridge. My friend, Sandra, studies there so i paid her a visit.
Sandra, as an encouragement decided to let me take charge of the whole weekend

Now, if you know sandra, you'll know that it's a hard thing for her to do - she's a lot like me. Which also means she's GREAT!

So day one - shopping and talking and eating light, fat free food! Best way to spend the weekend..

Day two COPENHAGEN!

OH i have not had so much fun in a LONG LONG time!

So first we ventured out (an hour late of course) to see the little mermaid,,, my childhood star!

After a good hike in acceptable european weather, beautiful ice cream and loadz of pics we decided to take a boat trip around all the canals.... that was almost perfect! if it werent for 5 loud abnoxious italian guys sitting at the back being.... italian!

Then i FINALLY made it to an amusement park! YAY - roller coasters and swinging from 63 meters above the earth.
I was scared! but i am glad i did it... i did miss the pantomime show - it would have been awesome to see one for real :(
We also saw some sharks,, and my friend thought i was crazy as i sang baby shark all the time


I had been inspired by Jen in this video:

I got home on thursday at 3:30 and had to be ready in party mode in 4 hours. Clean house, shower, look pretty, oder drinks and snacks and make sure surpize welcome back party for nirsin goes as planned.
It was a blast, partly due to the fact that is was FULL of nomadlifers!
superluli, nisrin, dodyg,kent,tom,christhebrit, brodie, arthur, farzina, mustafa, purveya el hindeya, askoura, maidaoud, meyouka, martha, nora,kaitlin.
There were also a bunch of other almost equally as cool as the nomadlifers,,, almost!

Thanks you guys, you were PERFECT!

I dream of..................ABN AMRO?????

yes, i do!
Last week i had the most bizzare dream ever. Now we all know there's been a lot of talk about the take over of the bank ABN AMRO, it's all over the news, and we all know that ABN AMRO is a big partner with AIESEC... other than that i would never ever have anything to say about this bank, i have no further interest or further knowledge about this institution.

So i dreamt i was at a party somewhere, and the people from the Supervisory Group who conicidently were from ABN AMRO as well were there. I look at the ABN AMRO sign and realize that because of the take-over it has changes its name to AOO AMRO, which sounds stupid. So i go find the SG people and tell them that the new name sucks and that i will always call it ABN AMRO
then i leave and go to the party where i pass arthur (who works at ABN AMRO) by at the party and say hello and continue on with my way into the crowd.

now how the hell did that dream happen?!
i woke up thinking WTF?! and it's been a few nights and still WTF?

i need this

a mind of my own?

Recently i have discovered that in a lot of instances i don't have a mind of my own. Contrary to common belief i am not at all stubborn, and i am quite the obliging little kid.
Mainly with my parents.
My new house it basically my mom's house. I let her do everything, structure everything and do everything her way. It was my way of thanking her for everything she was doing. i say " yes mama" "ok mama" "7ader mama"
But now i am having second thoughts!
I have always wanted a punching bag, a walk in closet, a big mirror accorss the wall, an empty house. instead i got a shit load of furniture and 5 beds and 3 wardrobes. and i live alone!
why should i accomodate for the visitors?!

If i am not gona do what i want now, when will I?

The question is how do i take a step back after so much has been done.... and how do i stand my ground and do what i want? and tell my mom to butt out!

A plan is in progress!

Count those blessings

Yesterday I received a very friendly reminder to count my blessings..
So my new house seems to be that of an ant colony as well.
Me - being fully prepared for the worst, i got professionals to spray the house for every type of insect there is so well that you can still smell the spray after a month... yes it's the smell of safety....
But that only solved part of the problem - now, each day i stumble on a dozen or more dead ants.

So while i was getting all worked up about all those dead ants and it's been bothering me for a while now, a friendly visitor crawled out of the drains (i suppose) and decided to wander around the house. The poor bastard didn't make it past 2 meters (remember the srpay!) and it died a slow miserable death.
And while a dead cockaroach sure beats the hell out of a live one, it also reminded me that dead ants are not so bad,, it could be..worse so much worse... especially with my designated cockaroach killer/dispenser hanging out in the hot deserts of america.

So it's 2 am and i realize that this "i have been meaning to" approach i have had towards sealing all the holes and drains is not going work. So i waged a campaign to seal every hole and drain regardless of size and place and finished my task sucessfully at 2:30 with only a little sweat!
Needless to say i slept with a big smile on my face and the sweet smell of disinfectant on my hands :)

P.S. Ant colony, if you are reading this don't think i have given up on you...i WILL find you and eliminate you at the source...i called for back-up (i love u mom)
your end is near, very near...

i know it's evil

but i and very amused by the fact that Paris Hilton's gona do time in prison.
I wish i were there to watch :)

and man the excuses she gives, could she be any more blonde?

New Look

Ok, so my blog's been pink since December 2004.
It's about time i changed it.

I think this look suits the twenty-four year old me - elegant, but cool ;)

Uhm but don't get too excited, pink will be back after a well deserved break (and maybe with a different template if blogger would get on with it ba2a)

Birthday jitters

If you have been hanging out with me lately, you might have noticed how i am getting all psycho about turning 24 in a couple of weeks.

I hate my birthday, it's always a crappy day and i have the worst memories on it! and when i rule the world i will remove the date 29/4 from the calendar.. that's how much i dislike it!
As if i didn't need any more reason to hate my birthday this year i turn 24, TWENTY-FUCKING-FOUR! which makes me old! yes old! no one says a 24 year old kid, or 24 year old girl, it's 24 year old woman! WOMAN!

I remember in a wedding like 10 years ago they asked all the young people to go get their pictures taken. I saw my second cousin and her husband joining us, she must have been 24 or 25 at the time. I looked at her with surprise and told her very innocently "Sherine, they said young people - why are you here?" - i swear i was dead serious, not trying to be a bitch or anything, i like this cousin.
I also remember looking at the mid-twenties crowd and thinking "man their life must be so boring, they are old - they have no fun"

And now nature has taken its course - and i am part of the friggin crowd!!
I still need more FUN! and damn it i don't feel old! i might look old, but i am not! College was a blast, but the fun can't end
..and it won't!

SO! for my birthday i will do something different! I will live a lie, and pretend it's my sweet sixteen that i wasted smoking shisha in a dodgy café being third wheel to my friend and her boy.

So the plan? DREAMPARK! a day at the amusement park where we will laugh and giggle like teenagers, and scream and get wet like kids and hang out and have a good time.It is the year where i will finally get on that Top Spin and enjoy it and maybe i might even try the Rocket... maybe!

Bring on the roller coasters, car races the angry rivers and all that JAZZ!

28th of April 10 am meeting point at Tahrir Square!
BE THERE or BE SQUARE

Pop, goes my heart

can't get the song out of my head...



and the hip action

Two Months

This is how long it's been since i have been to Alex. It's the longest time i have ever stayed away. My busy travel schedule followed by the move has made it impossible for me to go.
And the thing is, i am not going to be able to gofor another 2-3 weeks.
That's kinda crap coz i am missing out on so much......

:(

BBC's have your say

For a few days BBC had a "have your say" about the consitutional changes here in Egypt
It's a really interesting read http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=5913&&edition=2&ttl=20070329134053

The formation of political parties with religious agenda has always been banned, it was inserted here as camouflage, a cover-up for the 2 most threatening ammendments: the first being the so called "anti-terrorism law" which says that if you are a suspect of terrorism then the gov can pretty much do anything to you - this has the exact same functionality of the emergency law - except the emergency law was a temporary thing (even if it lasts a very long time) but an act in the consituion is no longer temporary, it's a fact - and needs another consitutional ammendment to undo.

The second thing that people are not talking about is how the prime minister has been given a lot of importance. We now have two acts in the consitution which state who takes charge if something happens to the president. The old act says it's the head of the parliament or the head of the supreme court, and none of them have a right to run for an election. This act is still there, and there's another act that says that if the perisdent is unable to perform his duties then his VP or the prime minister take his place. And nothing is said about their right to run for presidency. This is a little confusing,,,, and since when can the prime minister fill in for the president?

The BBC thing is interesting because it shows how successfull the government was in covering up the real changes - so many people are focusing on the no religious parties thing, and don't focus or notice the other changes.

I would also like to point out this following comment which deserves an applause:
Till the US and the West keep their eyes closed on the so called democratic set-up in Egypt it will have no impact whatso ever whether rules are amended or not. Hosni Mubarak is going to place his son as his successor and it is all being planned for it. So much for democracy in the ME.
Siraj Ahsan, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

And when was the last time you got to vote for your favorite Emir? BTW its not the USA job to provide Democracy to you or anyone else. Blame game gets real old.
[cynic555], United States

Seriously, Gulfies need to learn to put a sock in it sometimes. Just coz their gov buys off their silence doesn't make them any better.
And i agree with cynic555 - the blame game, enough already....

Moving...

Ok you must have heard, i am finally moving to a new place! The last few days have been super productive, getting all the furniture, the appliances doing all the cleaning and moving stuff from house to house.
And the result? I feel like a truck ran over me, repeatedly - and i am still not done...
I am being a good sport and looking forward to having an elevator, a fully functioning washing machine, a fridge that doesn't need constant defrosting, a tub, and a comfortable couch..finally...

It will be some time till casa de luli is fully functioning, but the essentials are there:
E! Entertainment and Internet (well..almost)

I have also managed to postpone my travels for a couple of weeks so i am actually in the country for two weeks in a row! YAY :)

It's been a good week ... i got to fly business class for the first time (Alitalia business class does not count) and i think i will start buying lottery tickets from now on so i can do this more often

Now all i need to do is get rid of the pink finger i got while voting in the referrendum.
It is a sophisticated system where the government makes sure you don't vote twice by having you dip your finger in some ink after you cast your ballot.... yes very sophisiticated....

Some thoughts

inspired by recent news about terrorism

The human body is a magnificent organism, it takes in its energy from the surroundings, uses it and throws away all the harmful things - by, for the lack of more eloquent wording, shitting for example. The shit is a necessary evil, but it is controlled, cleaned and managed effectively.
When the organism faces some challenges with fullfilling its regular processes and systems, the result is excessive discharge. The human-being cleans it, and tried to fix it using a number of preventative and theraputic measures.

If we think of the Muslim population as an organism similar to the human body - it too has its discharges. One of which being terrorism and violence. Both of which are natural and found all the time, but the organisim deals with them and cleans them out. They are after all a necessary evil. The organism itsself is not evil.

And now this organism is failing to fullfill its regular processes and work effectively and has been having exessive discharge for a while now.
The organism has failed to show any capacity of cleaning its own shit, and therefore others start intervening to clean it, since its starting to make their world stink too.
On top of that the organism is neither capable of taking the necessary actions to fix its processes and systems to stop this excessive discharge nor does it seem to take any preventative measures to stop this from happening in the future.

So like a child the organism has to rely on others to do these things until it can stand on its own two feet. Others will only provide the temporary solution - they will only clean out the excess, but its the organism itsself that will rise to the challenge and end the problem once and for all.

So what i am trying to say is - we created them, they are our product so it's our job to annihilate them once and for all. All efforts by others are just drops of water on thick bricks of stone.

Is this true you guys?! LOL

Your Personality Is Like Marijuana

You're laid back and easy going, so much so that taking a shower is often too much trouble for you! Nevertheless, you're quite popular, and many people enjoy your company. You're rarely turned down. You're prone to giggle fits, paranoia, and forgetting where you are exactly.

What Drug Is Your Personality Like?

Dream, Dream,,, Dreamy!

On my way back to my hotel from a night out in stockholm, i was on the underground when i turned to see something that put a big dreamy smile on my face..

Yes, it's a live size poster of Dr. McDreamy! And it's ALL over the Stockholm subway...
Sweden has one of the highest female representation in parliament and cabinets in the EU (according to BBC) - which sure helps making this country very very female friendly.

And what better way to please the masses of women than a poster of Derek McDreamy smiling at you as if you were the center of his world.

Now if the Cairo Subway had the same thing i will oh-so-happily squash myself in that sinky sardine tube :)

Bye-Bye for now!

A few hours ago i said "maashi-okeeey- yalla- buy-buy" to my one and only Nisrin!

Niso is travelling to the US for 2 months and leaving me with an empty empty house. She will also not be here to help me through the tough time ahead,,, my 24th birthday (old old old)

She has almost left so many times but i feel this time it's for real!

We will meet again...

15th of May Nisrin! 15th of May

Blogging live from East Africa!

It is a beautiful morning here in Addis and the weather is fantastic!

Ethiopia from what i have seen is B E A U T I F U L!
Though i am having quite a pampered and breif experience here i can still sense the cool vibe from the city! Ethiopians are nice, friendly and the women all look very very good!

Business travel sucks in a way that you do not get to experience the country or life - you are busy and in a hurry. But it's a good way to test a place. And this is one place i am returning to.
I will definetly plan a holiday here once and explore this inriguing country.

This is my first non-arab african country - so it's purely african, and i am liking it. Addis bears a small respeblence to cairo - much quieter, smaller and less urbanised of course. But strangely enough Cairo resembles Addis more than it does to Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis or Khartoum! Cairo and Algiers, tunisia and tripoli are nothing similar to cairo - they look different, feel different and sound completely different.
Maybe we are more african than we think...

Anywayz - this trip has renewed my interest in this continent and i think after my next planned trips to Turkey 07, New York 08 and our one and only neighbouring non-arab country 09 i will definetly have my REAL East African experience.

an interesting flight

So on my flight back from Algeria to Egypt i found some sports team on my flight who looked like they just came out of an addidas ad.
So i asked one of them:
me: so what team are you?
him:zamalek
me: so you play football
him:yes
me: really? which team?
him: we are the main team
me: you mean the one we see on TV
him: yes
me: oh - so did you win?
him: yes
me: good for you

I am sure the guy thought i was from mars since i didn't recognize any of them.

The pilot decided to start take off a little earlier than he should have and had to stop in the middle and the plane swirled from side to side giving us all a scare - thankfully everything went ok after that.. it's good Egypt Air didn't crash the plane with the whole zamalek team on them - otherwise they would have been in quite a pickle!

How Haraam is the Pig?

So i was reading this blog post - and it reminded me of a curious question i had.

In my ever growing addicion of Gray's Anatomy i came across an episode where an orthodox jewish girl was supposed to have heart surgery and replace something called a valve. The spare part would come from a pig.
Now the girl - being quite religious - rejected to put a non-kosher thing in her body.

So i am curious - does that mean that here in egypt and in the muslim countries they do not perform this operation?

Any doctor out there?

a much needed reality check

So my boss gave me this book called "Taxi" by Ahmed Al-Khamisi, which is an arabic book about the experiences that the author had with Taxi dirvers in Cairo.
We all share a common dislike for Cairo Taxi drivers since they a) ask for a lot of money b) never stop for you c) feel free to pleasure themselves while looking at you in the mirror d) do i really need a d?!
This book shows a side of the poverty stricken population of Egypt that it leaves you confused.
You cannot excuse their bad behaviours (nothing is an excuse for sexual harrassment) but you get to see the other side of the coin.

I think the book is a marvelous read - good realitiy check, good time to think about how lucky you are and what you want your role in society to be; it's also funny and interesting, gives you a great insight on the egyptian citizen and what goes through his/her mind.

I wish there was a translated version for all international readers, i would translate it myself if it weren't illegal.

If you can read arabic, i advise you to check it out...

Cairo-Algiers-Addis Ababa-Cairo-Rabat-Casablanca-Stockholm-Gothenburg-Frankfurt-Cairo

This is my life for the next 3 weeks
I am all packed up and ready to go - i miss Egypt already and i haven't even left.

Exciting thing?! Meeting some nomads, thea the malteser in Algeria, Suzanne and reda in Morocco, and maybe jingwei in Stockholm (if she replies to my comment on her blog)

From chokingly hot, to beautiful and breezy, to down-right-ass freezing here i go

what a week

What a fabulous week!
Jen was here since tuesday and since then it has been non-stop fun. From khan-el-khalili, to Odeon, to Horreya, to Maadi, to Carrefour of death, to chillin at tom's and andrew's to my very apparent road rage it was a hell of a week!

It was great catchin up with Jencp - she's one hell of a girl! next time - New York New York!

V for Vendetta?

oh no, it's valentine's day! Hooray! (insert sarcasm here)
I will spare everyone the typical rant about the commercialism of this day and what it stands for since it will only highlight my growing frustration from being single for the last 24th years!
I started my day by my newly acquired bed-mate's alarm and doing breathing exercises to hold it in till the bathroom's empty!
Then i hovered around the house and inspected how badly my cleaning lady cleans, joined Facebook - and got my new water heater installed.
Sadly the new one is not bigger than the old one, so our hopes of showering straight after each other has been desroyed.
I guess we could keep showering together then... haha

Kait's here

The weather is great!

The weather in Cairo was G R E A T today - it was so good it had a positive effect on my mood.

I escaped the office for a long lunch/trip to the bank and got a chance to enjoy the sun for a good 30 minutes!
If this weather stays the same, then Wedensday i will spend my day on the balcony with some lemonade...............and of course my laptop :)

I can Skate!!!!!

After much hesitation I decided to bring it on and try skating for the first time ever!
I was a little worried since I am a little too old and too unfit (now that’s a euphemism) to be doing that, but being kick-ass in rollerblades encouraged me to try!


It was A W E S O M E! Unlike all those little kids around me I did not fall once – mind you I was a tad less adventurous than they were.
I picked up fast and within 20 minutes I was skating around the ring with little problems. It’s exactly like rollerblading except a whole lot more slippery. It was not hard at all, which was a surprise. I thought I would make a complete fool of myself, but I recon in one week I could be pretty sleek and smooth.



If it weren’t for every single muscle in my leg and foot cramping I would have had a much more difficult time letting them go. Maybe the size was too small?!



It was a true Borås, Sweden experience! Except for the skating shoes which were made in china – haha.

there's a whole lot of grey in the world...

.. so why does it bother people so much to be in the grey..
Some kick-ass girl is apparently involved with a non-Muslim guy and wants to marry him, but is afraid to tell her parents.
Typical story,,,happens a lot here.
Now marrying a non-Muslim to me doesn't seem like a bad idea, the less Muslim you are the less prone you are to growing a beard and wearing galabeya trois quarts. No matter what kind of Muslim you are, someone can come in and meddle in your brain and convince you that this superficial expression of personal beliefs is actually what Islam is all about. Now if you are not a Muslim then you have natural anti-bodies towards that disease-ridden way of thinking.
So YAY!
Marrying a non-Muslim guarantees also that your kids will accept and embrace both religions since they belong to both, this makes them less appealing to the ever growing anti-non-Muslims predators. So you might actually have a pretty decent kid!
Marrying a non-Muslim double's your feasts and presents! Which means on top of the Muslim eids (2), new year, prophet birthday you get Christmas, Easter, and new year or you get Hanukah (which apparently is only big on TV and not in real life) rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, etc.

Now say you are involved with a non-Egyptian or Arab then his family probably doesn’t give a rats ass what his ID says – hell his ID probably doesn’t say his religious affiliation. And even if they do care, they would be disappointed but won’t disown him (only our Egyptian parents think disowning is a logical course of action, bless their pretty little brains)
Now said individual can just convert on paper and you can avoid all the social scrutiny. And come judgment day you can make your case to god and see what happens.

If said individual is in fact Egyptian, then you move aboard – tell his parents that the girl has converted, tell her parents that the boy converted – and avoid putting both parents in the same room discussing this. Or you can just wait till you’re forty by then your parents will be happy you not marrying an ape – anyone would do!
But to be honest in that case – you are basically screwed – you gotta make a choice or move on.

The solution is all grey! Nothing is black and nothing is white – just a whole lotta grey, and it’s ok – grey’s in fashion this year – check Instyle magazine (it's in my bathroom library)

The ultimate Scrabble challenge

Since Cluedo (Clue) is no longer a challenge - i always win no matter what - i have embraced playing scrabble!
While kait and nora didn't prove to be much of a challenge, roomie nisrin was a little harder to beat.
So that's 3 native speakers down!
My next challenger is Mr. Kent Babbin - fellow blogger and AIESEC Alum - who for some reason i think will be very good at scrabble.
In a couple of weeks - once i am done with this months round of globe trotting - Kent and his dictionary are invited over to my place where i will try to kick his ass and the gloat about it for the rest of his life...and mine :)

Kent, I am officially chanllenging you to a game of scrabble

P.S. spectators are allowed at a minimal fee - haha

My Cairo Champion

Following on Kent's cairo champions i chose my Cairo champion for the month.

Purveya el Hindeya has managed to beat kenny (el masri) at autobees comblee (scategories) in BOTH english AND Arabic..
This is why she's my cairo champion this week - you go girl!

sooo creepy

parents somehow think that their kids listen when they start a sentence with "when i die you should.....". Usually this is my queue to tell them to shut up.
Except yesterday when my dad started his sentence he made me listen - and then he went off to tell a really creepy story..
Apparently some actor a while ago died and 6 months after they buried him they opened the room where he was put to bury another relative and found him dead on the strairs leading to the door. Apparently he got up, realized what had happened to him and either starved to death, or died for some medical reason.
He told me another story about a woman also buried but still alive, and someone heard her screams from nearby and got her out.
Even more troubling is the fact that that actor probably had the best doctors in egypt, but apparently even the best doctors in egypt cannot tell whether somone is alive or dead!

I am trying to investigate and see if that's just an urban legend - but if it isn't, it's really creepy! Imagine waking up in your tomb. it sucks - non-muslims would wake up in a coffin, and muslims will wake up to a small room full of rottening dead relatives!
i wonder which is worse..

SNOW!

So sweden decided to give me another good reason to love it - SNOW...
Yes i have whitnessed snow for the first time,,, and it was totally worth the delay in my flight! totally, i mean comon, when am i ever in a hurry to go to germany... (sorry i like to bitch about it)

Now since i was with work, all the people were old and boring (as usual) so i couldn't really have a good time..but still.. S N O W!!

I hope i never get old and boring....

winter sportin'

Well i finally know what i will do, if i end up spending a winter in Sweden (or marrying that swedish prince)

SKATING!!

Ok so this is my first glimpse of R E A L ice! It wasn't snowing (damn you global warming) but they had an ice ring - not wax like we got back home.

Then i played this game on ice - cold cold room!

needless to say i sucked, but i had fun

And this is me acting really cool about falling, ass on ice!

I also got a chance to see all the pretty girls dance on an ice ring, and damn they were good! it was only some girls having a good time, and they were sooooo good.
Then when they were done, the boys started playing ice hockey in full gear..

Tomorrow i should be spending my night in Germany - i hope i can survive this large concentration of ..well.. germans...

my corner

you know staying in a hotel for a week,, you gotta give it a touch of you...
That's my corner in the comfort jazz hotel!

I am walking on air...

yup that's what it feels like waering this

It's pink , it's glittery and it's mine!

In your face cold cairo winter!

what's up with the villages?!

I am in the airport looking for somewhere to have breakfast (at 1 pm haha) and i find out that the round food court in the airport is called "Food Village"
I happen to work in a place called "Smart Village"
and to see lions here you have to go to a park called "Lion Village"

what's up with egypt's fascination with villages!

i recon there are more villages out there that i do not know about...

contrary to common belief

i HATE studying!
Being a nerd doesn't mean you like it, it means you just do it......

:(

2007 - the year of Luli

It's is 2.5 hours past new years - it's officially 2007!
2007 will be the year i turn 24. As a wise man once said (Dody): 25 is when it all starts to go downhill, this means that 2007 will be my last year going uphill!
So i'd better make my new year's resolutions good ones, so here goes

1) During 2007 i want to have my last coke/pepsi drink. Just drink a can and then say it's the last coke/pepsi can i will ever drink.
I should also start the soda-pop anonymous (my name is luli and i am a sodapopoholic) and then later on write my book " a million little fizzy soda bubbles" (sorry james frey)


2) 2007 will be the year of low carbs! Right now i am pretty sure i will eat myself to death by the age of 30 - so i got 7 years (almost 6 now) to make sure that doesn't happen, coz well you can't rule the world when you're like......dead

3) Go visit America!!! Yes, the MET, Elis Island, the Sex and the City tour, national archives, the white house and a game (baseball or football or basketball,, still don't know)

Good things come in threes :)

Citystars vs Airport

The Cairo International Airport does not have dogs sniffing your bags - no dogs for security - none i have seen anyway.

Citystars - a large shopping mall - and nile city - a cinema theatre and office building - and the Semiramis Intercontinental have dogs searching you when you get it.

I hate going home!

I officially hate it. I go home every time and it all fits in prefectly!
My dad nagging me to come see him all the time, my mom being very affectionate and sweet as always, my grandma bitter as ever and still smoking like a chimney, my sister bitching and bossing all the time, and my bro who is so chilled and spaced out in his own little world of computer downloads and playstation 2 and my other brother with his 5 lunches, 4 dinners and 3 showers per day as an attempt to evade studying.
I normally like cairo, like my house, don't mind the 6 flights of stairs (lately), have fun here.
I stay in cairo for a while and then i don't want to go to Alex, the minute i go to alex i end up not wanting to leave.
So now i am back in Cairo and all i wana do is go back to Alex,,talk about withdrawal syndrome

My Bowling break through!

2 nights ago i rellied up the troops and ventured out on a night of bowling.
My first game i got a lame 55 - ranking last - nothing out of the ordinary!
So my second game i paired out with small-town-american Nirsin who is known to be good at bowling.
And while Nisrin brought out the best in me - 3 strikes and a spare - i brought out the worst in her - the only game with not even one spare!
This is why the Khattab house - May and her american cousin - beat us by a 9 point difference.
That does not by any chance undermine my achievement.
For the FIRST time ever i do not rank last, and i get a score of 107!! Wohoow! an 8 point difference from the top score of the game!

O plumber, where art thou!

3 days, 10 calls and 5 different appointments and still no plumber... and the situation is getting worse by each minute,, well by each "usage" is more accurate.
While in the civilized places the phrase goes "the customer is always right" in Egypt we have the not-so-equivalent " the customer is wrong,,fucking wrong".

You call Mr Plumber and be abso-friggin-lutly friendly and ask him to go through the immense trouble of visiting you in your house to do his job and get paid for it. ahh and what a thing to ask, it's like asking him to donate his kidney without any anesthesia.
So he gives you the proverbial, i will pass by when i finish my work,,,uhm isn't going to people's houses and fixing their plumbing your job aslan?!! so why is it that my request for his plumbing services not considered as "work"?!
Result - Day number 3: toilet is leaking all sorts of things and Mr. plumber still has work!
3 days of no plans, no gym, no going out, of staying home, baking a pie and making the most delicious pasta sauce ever (which sounds so insultingly housewifie) and watching "married with children" "The nanny" and "Paris and Nikky's E! true Hollywood story" (2 hours of the Hiltons is just too much!) and still NO FRIGGIN PLUMBER!

While i am hopeful that day 3 will be the promised day - i am also thankful for limewire and grey's anatomy which should be entertaining my day 4 god forbid

Jackie?!

On thursday i went to the National Bank of Egypt to get my credit card (they don't send it for you) - i picked up the envelope, and forgot to get the PIN number (apparently they don't send that one either)
The envelope was addressed to Jacklin Abd El Salaam Mohamed.
Needless to say, that's not exactly my name :)

exhausted!

I haven't had a day off in ages, and it's finally catching up to me...last weekend i spent my only day off - friday - sick of "Chili's of Death" and cleaning my own puke. I guess i really need to give a big shout out to thank nisrin for the hand in that cleaning - I hope i never have to do it for you (for your sake, and mine), but i will do it anywayz!

My new year's plans are crap! I am honestly too scared to go to dahab - so i think i will not go....and bayfest is fucking expensive. Maybe I should opt for a quiet new year's?

I am making my new years resolutions and i have a brand new entry:
Go to America!
Yes i want to go on holiday for 10 days to New York - that's it! I am doing it! So i am saving up - and i will stop my mad shopping spree that's been going on for 3 months! (damn you sweden for your good shopping)

One day left for my long weekend.........yawn

LinkdotNet is the worst internet service provider (ISP) in Egypt

Yes! it's official, Not only is their internet really slow, their fees too overpriced for the shit they provide, they also have the worst cusotmer service in the world!
If i ever see the general manager of Linkdotnet i will spit on his face for doing such a lame-ass job!
Die Mother-F***er Die!!

Any idea how i can make this post be the first search item found on google?!
I really want to screw their asses right now!

you live you learn

my work colleague with me in sweden keeps going on about how much he misses his 4-month old daughter, and how it's the first time he's been away from her and how he really wants to go back to see her and how he dreamed of her last night and how he's waited so long to have a daughter and he doesn't want to leave her.
It's really cute...

It's funny, i never really thought fathers miss their kids. I mean sure it's nice to have 'em around, when they're being nice and cute and not annoying, but to go as far as miss them?

He's no Roger Moore

but the new james bond sure is good.

and in light of that i am planning a poker night......

A very late thanksgiving

Living with an american has finally paid off. This year Nisrin, motivated by nora and naynay, decided to cook a turkey for thanksgiving. We made it 2 days late, and due to some cooking drama had it 6 hours late, at 11:30 pm to be specific.
Our little "family" gathered up to eat, Me, nora, naynay, sarah (nisrin's friend), Purvi, Shahira (nora's friend). Mai was also part of the gang, but couldn't stay out that long - we saved her a share.

Nisrin cooked the Turkey Sahira and I carved

Sarah made the gravy

Naynay made the sweet potatoesNora made mashed potatoes and corn on the cobpurvi wanted to guarantee some veggie friendly food - she made pastaI had the most difficult task of getting the drinks

And at the end of this fabulous group effort we got around nora's dining table and had a mouth watering meal

followed by a nice cuppa tea and star shaped chocolate cake

How we made it up my six flights of stairs after this big meal is a wonder!

It was a lovely day of cooking, playing sharades, chatting, gossiping and of course eating.
At the end of it i gave thanks for having such wonderful friends, I know i do not say it enough, but it's true.

Arrived

Yes, i am in Sweden - finally.
It's more beautiful than i last left it :)

it had to happen i guess

I am stuck in vienna, missed my connection flight - for more than one reason all of which are my fault.
I hope one day i can laugh about this, right now i couldn't be further from laughter.

I have a date with a giant toblerone

Weekend in Amsterdam!

So THAT's what they mean by autumn!
Yup i finally got to see that season for real - the yellow, brown and red leaves - and of course the cold!
I had me some fun Amsterdam time with the help of the greatest hosts ever! arthur, Aly and Lieke (who despite not having a blog, is still cool!) were awesome! It was great catching up.

Spend some good reflection time at the Anne Frank's House, and some not-so-fun time at the Hash Museum (it sucked ass)

What struck me most in the Netherlands was their railways - i had to travel a bit for work - and it's friggin' awesome! So reliable, well developed, and connects every town! WOW!
KLM was also a pleasent surpirse - nice food, and awesome entertainment!

Enywayz - next step Boras, Sweden - get ready for some serious ass freezing next week!

Stay tuned for my next post about my tantrum with the egyptian airport authority - i think we should give se3idi's a break and use them for all our jokes!

A hollywood movie about Egyptian Police brutality!

Well we had to see it coming people!
Rendition
Looks like it's gona be big - Reese Witherspoon - an Oscar Winner and Jake Gyllenhaal - an Oscar nominee!

Plot goes as follows:
"Witherspoon will star with Jake Gyllenhaal in Hood’s next film, Rendition, written by Kelly Sane. The plot finds a CIA analyst (Gyllenhaal) whose world starts spinning out of control when he witnesses the brutal interrogation of an Egyptian-American by the Egyptian secret police. Soon, he’s on the run for his life, and must in turn help the tortured man’s pregnant American wife Isabella El-Ibrahim (Witherspoon)."

Funny thing - the movie, which takes place in Egypt is shot in Morocco and South Africa.
It's quite a trend to have movies whose plots take place in Egypt being shot in Morocco. (English Patient, Mummy Returns)

...

did i mention i have a really cool boss?

little victories!

So i went to the gym - a salsa-style work out.

1) i found 40 pounds in my gym pants pockets! YAY!
2) I had my first gay-salsa-instructor experience - it was hillarous, i do not think i will miss this class, like ever!! I had to stop myself from giggling at every one of his moves and words.
I now understand why my guy-friends never wanted to learn latin dance :P
3) Sex and the City re-runs are BACK!! The early pre-plastic-surgery episodes when they were all still relatively ugly.

..okay my last point was not related..but it's still a victory

Next Stop: Amsterdam

Just when i thought November will be spent purely Egyo-style, my inbox thinks differently.
Next stop: Amsterdam! It's exciting,,, everyone i have met who has been there, loves it.
So i am getting ready to party-- Netherlands style!! only 10 days to go!

Dismissive attitude

Though my dismissive attitude has gotten me into many arguments and discussions and attacks from bloggers, friends and family - it is my security mechanism for living in Egypt.

You generalize and dismiss - very simple

1) Government and politicians: thieves with no integrity
2) Egyptian lower class men: sexually frustrated pigs
3) Egyptian upper class men: sexually frustrated schovenists
4) Egyptian lower class girls/women: mean bitches who think that all upper class girls/women are promiscuous
5) Egyptian lower class veiled girls/women: veiled bitches who think they are so righteous and uncovered girls are the sinners of death and are inferior to them
6) Egyptian upper class girls/women: stuck up and arrogant and fake
7) Egyptian upper class veiled girls: brain-washed and trying to brain-wash you!
8) Forgeiners living in Egypt: the typical expat attitude - this place is a shit hole, and i am so much better than you
9) Egyptian bloggers: poor them! an ant that is trying to single-handedly kill an elephant
10) Police: un-educated stupid useless suckers , i will take the law into my own hands, thank you very much! (bring on the pepperspray)
11) Religious People: People who over-advertedly advertise their religion - therefore are fake and all about appearances
12) Religious figures: they are politicians

The list is endless.

While this maybe heartless, cruel and politically incorrect, it's the only way i have remained sane over the past few years. And i think most of the people i know are like that - just a little less vocal about it.
Putting all those people at a level below you makes their acts excusable - if you think we are all the same you will constantly be disappointed because people do not have similar values and the society is almost lawless, i.e. there's no agreed upon code of conduct in the country. What is acceptable? What isn't? different answer in every class and every gender.

But truth be told - one gets surprised in many instances. I always remember to give some people a small chance, they sometimes surprise you.

One thing you probably didn't know about me - i used to be quite socialist, part of me still is - but being elitist reduces much of your frustrations when living in Egypt.

This post is inspired by the latest events in Cairo - thus the anger and bitterness level are higher than normal.