Yesterday and today were really something to blog about and that’s exactly what I am doing now! My day yesterday started out with almost falling out of bed after the long weekend and although I did my best to sleep earlier than usual, I really needed another couple of hours to make me human again, but eh! Sleeping will not pay the bills, does it?

After performing my morning rituals of getting ready; I headed out of the door with my sister. It was her first day at her new job and I had to give her a ride, naturally! But to do that, I had to change my daily route in order to drop her. I work in Sweifieh and she on third circle, so I drove from Sahab to the 3^rd circle and then I had to deal with the traffic from there to my office. Needless to say; I arrived at work so depressed and tired; not a good way to start the week!

Work day officially started and things became normal for a while. Some of the team members were at Webex preparing for the opening as we are one of the event sponsors. We were all supposed to be there so we headed towards Hayyat Hotel in the afternoon, my colleagues 7ala, Rasha and Wedad rode with me. Wedad suggested that I park at Zara and since it is my first time there (believe it or not), I did exactly that.

We were stopped, searched and checked; so were the car and our purses. After we were finally allowed in, we took the elevator to the floor that hosts the exhibition but I had to go get my badge and papers for the IAA conference that I am attending the next day; i.e. today!

Calling the lady who called me in the morning to ask where I was supposed to pick them up was of no use; she said go to level B, I asked in which tower? She said: who is this? I identified myself and my company and then she says: is Nisreen there with you? Who the hell is Nisreen and what does this have to do with my question? She said: ok no problem, thank you and she hung up!!

I was fuming and started talking to my cell phone repeating the word; stupid, stupid, stupid!!! I went down all levels and then climbed up again; no use! Finally; I came across someone who recognized me from VIVA article! He introduced himself and strange enough; I had just come across his blog that very same day! God was looking after me at that time!

Samer told me that I had to go to the hotel to get the IAA papers and complete my registration and off I went. Anyone who knows this hotel well will know that it is not a picnic in the park; it was a long walk! Finally; I arrived that Level B and was able to complete the task I came for, and then headed back.

I had set up an appointment with my dear friend Lina to show her a catalogue of traditional dresses that my mother makes and met her at our booth at webex. We took a small tour around and out of no where; an elderly guy comes to me and insists that he talks to me. I thought that he was about to ask me why I was taking pictures or that he will pitch me about something technical or give me a brochure, but no, it was none of the above. The main reason he wanted to talk to me was that he has a cure for my obesity! He has some magical recipe that will turn me overnight into Miss Jordan; that is if we had one! I said: thank you but I am really not interested, he said: but I can prove it to you, I said: thank you but I really don’t want to, he said: are you sure? It will make you lose weight and I said for the last time: I really, really don’t want to know about it.

Lina was shocked how he had the courage or the nerve to approach me like that and I told her that I am used to these nice gentlemen trying to cure my problem for me; every time I go downtown; someone pops up with yet another magical recipe to lose weight.

She said that she is happy with how I deal with the issue and I told her that I had learned to come to terms with my weight problem and accept these gestures with an open heart and not take them as insults. It took me four long years to understand what lazy thyroid, PCOS and hormonal imbalance really mean and I am doing my best to work on the consequences of all of the above, so I am not going to worry myself with little intrusions like that one.

After I showed Lina the stuff I brought and I hope she liked them, I gave her a short ride to the front of the hotel where she had parked and found my sister waiting for me there, took her and drove to Jebal Al Hussein were I bought some shoes; I promise you that if I did not desperately need to do that, I wouldn’t have gone but that was that.

Finally home at 10:30 and already feeling dead, I saw the family a bit and then tucked in my bed at around 12:00, I was ready to sleep deeply.

I woke up this morning at 7:00, showered and thankfully did not slip like Hala did, and made it out of the house at around 8:00. I dropped my sister at her work and headed back to Hayyat Amman Hotel to attend the first day of IAA conference. This was a whole day event with interesting speakers, but talking about it will have to take another post; probably tomorrow. Right now; I really want to get some rest because I had a really long couple of days with little rest in this hot weather; God save us in the summer!

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It is not a secret that unemployment is one of the major problems in Jordan. This is a topic that has been discussed many times and it touches the lives of almost everyone in this country.

The percentage of educated individuals is continuously increasing and the number of schools and universities is on the rise as well; this is one of the successful trades and business models in Jordan and despite that the education fees are exploding every year; more students are enrolling and more graduates are pouring the workforce on yearly basis. However; the business market takes its need from fresh graduates which is only a fraction of the real number, leaving the rest of the graduates to fall in the trap of unemployment and total dependency on one’s parents till a miracle happens.

We cannot put all the blame on the business sectors; job seekers must bare their share of the responsibility and blame.

First of all; the expectations of these students are not being managed properly; there is no career consulting services in universities; one that prepares students for the real world, so the student approaches senior year with high hopes piling up in his mind and heart to own the world upon graduation.

Of course; it would be unrealistic to think that all graduates will find opportunities on the spot and start their working life immediately after leaving university; only the lucky ones get such golden opportunities and get ahead of the others. On the other hand; our typical Jordanian student does not want to put any effort to put his/her first step on the ladder and they think that graduating is good enough to be chosen for any job they apply for when by far it is not.

In our culture; there are many factors that play major roles in forming this phenomenon; to name a few; culture focusing on shame, spoiled kids, unmanaged expectations, lack of student preparation to the working life and many others.

A thought comes to my mind as I write this; we are raising our kids to be dependent, we do not teach them to be responsible since early age, accountability has no known meaning in our lives and we do not prepare them to be the future men and women. Since early age; we do everything for our children and we give them everything they need when they need it; all they have to do is ask and they get it without putting any effort or doing anything. The idea that someone has to work in order to get something is not a factor in the way we raise the future generation and by not doing so, we are preparing them to fail, not to succeed.

One of the things that we make sure our kids must know; is that there are ranks and levels in the community. Some jobs are just considered low level and they are interconnected with poverty and shameful roles; they are beneath our sons and daughters and unconsciously we teach them to disrespect those who perform them and consider them beneath us as individuals when all people are supposed to be equal. They grow up thinking of the garbage guy as someone who is needy enough to accept this role and they forget that without him, we wouldn’t have a clean city to brag about.

We teach them that it is more important how people perceive you than making a living; so in their mindset; it is ok to stay jobless for years than to work in a construction site or as a waiter, driver, guard or any other low level job.

Mothers work hard to add a prefix to their children’s names as if they would not be proud of them or love them the same if they grew up to be just them. Unconditional love is a concept that we don’t recognize and we grew up to believe that if I am not successful enough, rich enough, beautiful enough, handsome enough, whatever enough, people would not love or accept us and we continue to pass this myth from one generation to another.

I can continue to rant forever about this issue, but it would be pointless if no one will hear. If we continue to put more weight on people’s opinions in what we do and how we live our lives, we will never rise up to everyone’s expectations and standards, hence; we continue to stress ourselves with imaginary standards that we must meet, turning our lives into a rat race, but one that has no finish line.

It is not shameful to work, it is not shameful to start somewhere, it is shameful though; to continue to be a dependent person living off the effort of others, it is also shameful to look down on people who proudly handle jobs we consider beneath us because without their work, our lives would never be the same.

Today is the day you must wake up Jordan and do something to build a better tomorrow!

At the end, Hajjaj says it best and I wanted to share this with you!
For those who don’t read Arabic; Abu Mohammed in the back is thanking the customer in an Egyptian accent to pass as a foreign worker and not as a citizen

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I just came back from Jordan Planet’s meet-up for the month of May and I really had so much fun today. It was not a large number, and every one got engaged in different discussions and shared some good laughs.

We had the meeting at Salad House in Abdoun; I really like this place as it is quiet, food is great and the service is above average, so we chose it to host our meeting for this month and it was a good choice after all.

I was in a social mood tonight and I enjoyed the chats I had with all fellow bloggers; it is amazing how you always find something to talk about with people who have so much to say and share with others, so when you are a part of s bloggers’ meeting, silence is just not invited.

Some of the bloggers who attended do not belong to Jordan Planet yet; however; they applied and awaiting approval such as my friend and colleague 7ala and my other friend Fadi K.

It was a small meeting and it was lively especially with Laith Majali as a part of the group; this guy really knows how to stir an audience and I am glad we had the meeting with him in town.

A lot of the regular attendees were a no-show this time but it is quite understandable with the long weekend and the special occasion. Speaking of which; Amman was buzzing with activity tonight, and like every year; Fastlink held its fireworks fiesta in Abdound, Al Hussein Gardens, Jabal Al Qal3a and Al Qwaismeh. Cars were decorated with the Jordanian Flag. Even some of the bloggers like Jad and Laith Majali left early to go to Al Hussein Gardens to attend the musical celebration and fireworks, and I asked them to take a lot of pictures but not to use flickr when they post them on their blogs so that fellow Jordanian bloggers in KSA and UAE can see them because of banning flickr in these countries; they promised they would do that!

A funny thing happened; all through the meeting, Roba repeatedly declared her desire to get a flag, and as we were going out, my sister’s friend gave her a ride so that she can go home with me, and he had 2 flags; a big one that he spread on the back seat of his car and a small one that was posted on the rear of his car, so I snatched the latter (after his permission of course) and made Roba’s wish come true!

Roba, that felt so cool!!

Here are some pictures from tonight, and Happy Independence Day Jordan!

I really loved loved loved this picture

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Ever since I was a little girl, I heard everyone around me cheering when Jordan’s name was mentioned and I could not understand what the fuss is all about. I got it that we live in Jordan and where it is located on the World’s map and most importantly on the Arab World map. It was emphasized many a time in our family that we are Jordanians and proud of it, but I could understand what it means to be a part of this country or what it means to belong to it.

As I started my school, my mother used to write me patriotic speeches to give in memorial days and she used to make me rehearse it in front of her tens of times to make sure that I got all the words right and that I had the right tone of voice. She taught me where I should raise my tone and what phrases I should repeat.

I enjoyed these sessions because they always ended up in cheering from students and my teachers were so proud of me and of my talent and ability to charge the audience as they used to say.

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All that was like a part of life, it was normal and I never thought about what it means to belong to this country, what does it mean to be Jordanian?

Growing up was a continuous exploration activity on my part, I kept hearing the cheers in the background but I did not know if all those who cheered understood what they are actually cheering for. I kept wondering; do they celebrate being Jordanians because they love Jordan and have the sense of belonging to this country? Or they were doing it because they were trying to prove a point to others?

It kept going through my head; if you really loved your country, you would do things that make your country a better place to live in, you would love it enough to preserve it, you will care about its future that you will give your all to make it a place that will host the future of your kids and the generations to come. If you loved your country enough, you would work harder on yourself to give it back some of what it has given you. Your country, any country in the world, needs its sons and daughters to be doers, not just cheerers.

The first time I realized how much I loved this country was when I lived abroad. Every step I took out of the place I used to live in was a step into the unknown. It almost felt like walking in the dark without any lights to make you see where you are putting your feet. I realized that what I missed the most was the feeling of being a citizen, a national of my own country. I felt that a part of my dignity was lost when I decided to leave my home, my family and my whole country behind.

I thought I was making a smart thing by seeking a better opportunity in a country that imports our talents and brains. I kept fighting the sinking feeling that I made a horrendous mistake when I left my world behind and sought the unknown. I cannot begin to describe the depression I had to go through, the ongoing phone calls that sent me straight to bankruptcy, when one day and out of nowhere, an idea popped in my head; what was I trying to prove and to whom? Why am insisting on torturing myself when I know exactly what is wrong? I was homesick; it was that simple, and at that very moment, I knew how I felt about Jordan and I knew how much I have been unfair to this wonderful country, and at that moment in particular, I decided I was coming home no matter what the cost was. Less than a month later; I was home.

The minute I set foot in the airport, the air smelled different, the colors looked different and even the frown on the police officer’s face looked good and I realized that I had missed everything about Amman, right down to the gloomy faces and lack of sense of humor. Although I don’t believe that this is true, but I missed it anyway.

On this day; the Independence Day, I declare my love, commitment and dedication to you, Jordan.

To Jordan … With Love!

كلمة حلوة وكلمتين … حلوة يا بلدي

نظرة حلوة ونظرتين … حلوة يا بلدي

كل عام وكل الأردن بألف خير

A friend of mine shared these great and rare pictures with me last night. One of these pictures is the one of Al Rawda Al Sharifa of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH); a lot of muslims may live and die without getting the opportunity of seeing it, so here it is followed by rare pictures of graves of the Prophet’s son Ibrahim and the prophet’s wives.

Click on the images to enlarge

Al Rawda Al Sharifa of Prophet Mohammed PBUH

Update (31/7/2006): Some commentors were kind enough to contact me because of this picture as it is apparently not the prophet’s grave. So this notification was necessary. Please find the related link here

Grave of Khadija (First wife of Prophet PBUH)

Grave of Prophet’s son, Ibrahim

Grave of Halima Al Sa’adiyah who nursed the prophet PBUH as a baby

Graves of wives of prophet Mohammed PBUH

Grave of Prophet’s Aunt Safiya, the only confirmed one to have embraced Islam

Graves of Prophet’s Aunts

Grave of Al Hassan Bin Ali, Prophet’s grandson

Grave of Abbas Bin Abdul Mottalib (Prophet’s Uncle)

Grave of Ja’afar Al Tayyar

Location of the battle of Badr (First Battle in history of Islam)

Grave of Imam Zein Al Abideen

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It is summer time again and the season is taking people by a craze. A lot of people, couples mainly, have been waiting impatiently for the summer because it is the time of the year when families reunite and the fun begins; there is no better time to tie the knot and finally get married.

Not a single day passes by without receiving an invitation card to attend a wedding of a relative, friend, coworker or even an acquaintance. The funny thing is that you are always expected to attend because this is what the social etiquette tells us to do. Once you subconsciously make the decision to attend, you need a new dress, a beauty salon hair style and makeup and above all, you need to extend a suitable gift.

All this is great when you really care about those getting married, but what happens when you know them only casually, or they are family friends that you probably won’t ever see again in your lifetime? What then? Should you or should you not go?

Every time I attend a wedding, I come out with the same conclusion; what a waste of money!!

So what does make a typical wedding in Amman???

Let’s forget about the residence and its furnishing, rent and whatever a house needs for a moment, and let’s just focus on the wedding party itself.

In order to have a wedding like the daughter of aunti Suha or even a better one than that of the son of 3ammo Jamal; you need to make sure that you have the following:

You need a royal wedding dress. When I say royal; I mean it, you hear me? I mean it! It has to be of silky fabric and hand decorated. The corset and skirt need to make you look like a princess; anything less than that and you will look so poor and as if you had rented the thing, shame on you!

For your groom; you need a suite of a tycoon. Shoes must match. It has to be the right size; that’s why you have to have it tailored especially for him. All accessories must be bought from global brand names because people can tell the difference you know! The tie, cufflinks and tie pin should all be original.

Now you need someone like Marwan Kheir to give you the princess look. The wedding dress will not do you much good if not matched with a great hairstyle and a makeup that hides all your face imperfections and make you look like a movie star.

Let’s talk about the party!

First of all; it has to be in a five stars hotel, because that’s where your friend Soso had her wedding last year. Flowers should be everywhere and it must be natural flowers; we don’t want people to think that we are vulgar and do not know how to plan a great wedding party. As for music, it must be the best DJ in town or better yet; get one of the hot shot performers out there; Haifa would make the wedding memorable if only she was not more beautiful than you; people will forget about you and will keep staring at her and we don’t want that on your own wedding, so it is much better to get a guy. Also a belly dancer is out of the question because we don’t want her to steal the lights now, do we?

Now, what about the buffet? It has include various dishes because people have different tastes, we don’t want them to say we are mean, so make sure you include Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Italian, Chinese, and maybe some Indian and don’t forget about desserts. Speaking of desserts, the wedding cake should be different because it reflects your taste and identity so don’t be typical!

All that and I still did not mention the ring/”shabkeh” and the bedroom furniture as these should be out of the way by now!

Is the period of 4-5 hours worth all that? Do people get high on spending their money that way? Does all this make him a better guy or her a better lady? Will this help them face the first few months of their married life when they get to know each other? Will that make them a happier couple?

No wonder that more guys are choosing to wait longer before falling in the trap of marriage and no wonder that more girls are entering the world of spinsterhood! I say it is a trap because that’s all what guys see, they do not see a woman they love and want to be with her no matter what, rather they see an empty bank account and probably a load of loans to be paid back; trust me, this is no way to start a life!

If love really existed between couples, none of these empty “keeping up appearances” actions would make any difference to them. They would take the money they have and go launch their life as a couple on a far island where they can spend a few days away from people and really make happy memories and lots of pictures to document them.

To me, a wedding is nothing more than dressing simple, having your closest family and friends around you and then a great long honeymoon, now that’s what I call a great wedding and that is exactly why I have boycotted all the weddings I get invited to, unless it was someone very special or if I had to attend.

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Don’t you think this makes a lot of sense? I mean tootsense??

Great caricature by toot’s and syntax’s one and only; Wael Attili or best known as Sha3teely!!

Thank you Wael for allowing me to use this on my blog!

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What is so special about friends? Why do they hold such a high rank in our lives?

When we are born, we do not get to choose our parents or family, we do not get to choose our names, we do not even get to choose our culture or religion as these are all pre-determined by the two people who got together and decided one day; it is time to bring us to the world.

I am reading a nice book these days and in the first chapter; the author asks the reader to imagine that one day he wakes up to find himself in land of giants. They all speak a language he cannot understand, he cannot communicate with them, they laugh at the sounds he is making, he cannot eat their food and all he can get is what they give him. They carry him around and make funny faces at him and then roar with laughter.

Then one day, he finds other individuals that have the same size as him, and they speak his language as well. They eat the same food and share the same interests. From that moment onward, one discovers what friendship is all about.

Friends are those people who understand you in the land of giants, they are those who share your concerns and joys, they speak your language. So, it comes as no surprise that friends play a major role in our lives; we cherish them more than family members at times because we got to choose who our friends are.

I had my share of good friends; I have beautiful memories that are my resort when I feel lonely and sad. I remember all the times we sat and laughed when we did not have worries in life. We used to go out and share everything; our laughs were from the heart; honest as the emotions that tickle your heart when you have a crush on someone.

Days went by and life stole each of us in a different direction; each had a new life and a new path to follow; our paths no longer crossed and we all went on in opposite destinations. It is only rare that you find someone who has the desire to keep the paths crossed despite obstacles, and no matter how hard it is to be consistent; they always find a way to communicate and keep in touch.

On the other hand; there is the other kind of friends. These are the ones that have temporary friendships that end with the stage and whenever you run into them again; you feel like they want to hide or they are not thrilled to see you or even are a bit upset.

One of the episodes of “Sex and the City”, Carrie calls this type “frenimies” as they are neither friends nor enemies; they happen to be a mix of both. I really don’t know when some of my friends turned into frenimies; we just drifted apart and we no longer felt comfortable around each other and with time; we just stopped contacting each other altogether. I know it is sad but that’s the way life goes and only those who are true friends do stick around for the hard times as well as the good ones.

I babbled enough here; and all I want to say is that I really miss my friends!

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Inspired by Hareega’s post; Look around, I remembered a flash movie that I saw a flash movie that depicts earth as a small place of a population of 100 people, keeping the percentages and proportions exactly the same.

You want to know the shocking statistics and how lucky you are? Click here to watch the movie!

(You need flash to view the movie)

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According to HRH official website:

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