Although more than 27 people have confirmed their attendance, only a handful appeared that night and it was a great meeting. We had a chance to talk, laugh, take pictures, discuss serious matters and even sing Abed a nice Happy Birthday song.

Another good thing was that I found some nice books and made sure I bought them on my way out. I will leave you with some of the pictures of that lovely evening and looking forward to see all those who could not make it this time in the next meeting.

Manal (Red Rose) and Muoffaq (MQabbani Minds Talk)

Daniella and Eyad (Proactivity Group)

Manal (Red Rose) + 7ala (Ro2a) + Shaden (Sugar Cubes) + Wedad (Better Life)

Roba’s Cousin and Brothers (It was really great to see you guys)

Roba (And Far Away)

Before you start thinking that I am out of my mind, let me assure you that I am ok and you are ok as well, because this is a title of a book I was reading for the last couple of weeks for my book club. Basically; the book tells stories of 26 anonymous women, married women who have been, are into and think of having an affair.

This is an every day story and is as old as the human race. Ever since the marriage institution was created, infidelity was and still is one of the side effects that some marriages suffer from. Some of the women had terrible lives with their husbands and that’s according to their own words; I still feel that it is not fair to judge by hearing one side of the story, because this book never mentions the men’s side of the story. How would we know that these women are not just making up excuses to justify their actions?

I felt that the most honest ones were those who admitted that there was nothing wrong with their lives; they just wanted more and instead of seeking that from their husbands, they chose to go to another man and look for what they are lacking in their marriages. In almost all the stories, it was the emotional satisfaction, and in most cases, they stayed with the husband because of the kids and/or financial stability … honestly; I found that very selfish because if you are not happy with your husband, you should not stay in a marriage and make him and yourself miserable, and if you are staying because of your kids, then you would not think of hurting them by risking their well being and family balance and having an affair.

Anyway; this is not why I was inspired to write about this topic; it is actually the theory that we discussed as a part of the debate. It goes as follows: The late historian Lawrence Stone says that the median duration of marriage is the same today as it was 100 years ago, when mortality rates were much higher. Helen Fisher, an anthropologist at Rutgers University, says: “The news is not that humans are adulterous, the news is that we pair up at all. I find it remarkable that we are not more adulterous.”

So, what the theory is suggesting is that monogamy might be an unnatural state, or at best a state that is difficult to maintain, and we were asked a question if we concluded that marriages are never meant to last as long as we expect them to today?

Now, isn’t that a scary thought?

I thought that this theory was missing out on the most important factor which is the people involved in the monogamous relationship. It takes at lease one couple to prove that it is possible to maintain such a relationship but through commitment, dedication and a lot of hard work because a marriage does not sustain itself by existing; in fact; it is only the beginning of the long way that two people committed to work together.

As we were discussing that monogamy is actually natural and possible; another idea popped up and that is that humans are not naturally monogamous and not programmed to be with one partner for life. Then polygamy joined the party and we starting discussing; how can monogamy be natural if polygamy is? I mean; polygamy is based on one human (man) maintaining relationships with multiple lifetime partners (women) … so which system is natural and which is not? And how can we say that both are when they totally work against one another?

Frankly; this is confusing … on one hand; if we say that monogamy is unnatural, how can we expect to live with one person for life? In fact; how can we say that marriage is a successful institution to begin with if it is based on something that is not normal and unrealistic? If we go ahead and get married with this conviction in mind, does this make infidelity expected and comes with the marriage package? Does this mean that we should not be angry and hurt if our spouses acted on their urges and had affairs or maybe lived another life?

On the other hand; if we say that monogamy is actually normal and that is the solid base on which you build a strong marriage; then how do we explain polygamy?

Interesting, ha?

So here is what I have to do and the ones I tag have to do

1- Grab the book closest to you.
2- Open to page 123, scroll down to the 5th sentence
3- Post the text of next 3 sentences on your blog
4- Name of the book and the author
5- Tag 3 People

Take the shipping clerk who realized his company did enough business with Federal Express to get not just volume discount, but a dedicated computer to track shipping orders. The clerk took it on himself to approach the CEO as he was leaving work and pitch the idea – and saved the company $30,000.
At PNC Bank in Pittsburgh, a credit supervisor did a back-of-the-envelope calculation of the amount of electricity being eaten up by the bank’s hundreds of personal computers left on by people after they had gone home. Those sixteen hours of idle time, he calculated, cost the bank $268,000 each year.

Name of the Book: Working with Emotional Intelligence
Name of the Author: Daniel Coleman

I am going to tag: I tag 7ala, Wedad, Rasha, Roba, Lina, Salam and all book lovers who visit this blog; please do share the knowledge

I really was not planning this trip and it came out of the blue; mom wanted to buy a few things and my sister said she would love to go with her; so they came to me to give them a ride; now how can I refuse something like that? Can I?

So we went downtown and I parked my car in the old parking lot, and we started our trip on foot. The first place I visited was Abu Ali’s kiosk for great books and spent some good 20 minutes with this great man, took his advice about books to read and bought me a nice collection that I will write about in another post. He gave some of the translated books and was so happy when I told him that I read them in English; he said he is proud of all of the young educated people who keep seeking knowledge any way they can, and he agreed that I take a photo of him and post it on my blog

Then we went to a falafel restaurant downtown called Fuad; it is one of the oldest and most well known and it is really good. There was this place that sells cassettes full of songs you will only hear in busses, service cars or cabs; I got me a couple of those just for the sake of it!!

My sister wanted to buy some cosmetics and that was our next station; there is an excellent place in Basman street called “3alam Al 3o6oor”, they have everything a woman can ask for, and we got ourselves some nice things including the latest eye shade colors among other stuff.

Mom wanted to buy some fabrics and that was our next station; we got some nice material and colors for a very good price and then we needed some stuff from Bukhareyeh and that’s where we headed. You can never be bored in this place, with all the things hanging above your head and calling for you to come explore and buy. I can never get over how attractive these things look even if they are placed randomly and on top of each other.

Downtown Amman is full of different flavors and originality; it is a trip that you take and despite the exhaustion you feel at the end of the day; you always want to go again and again; it is a joy that only those who love genuine and honest reflections of the place that has been there before we were even born and will hopefully continue to be there long after we are gone!!

Ever since I started learning the alphabet, reading was and still is a passion for me. I used to participate in reading contests in school and my favorite time was always spent in the library where I could get my hands on a bunch of diversified books and start reading them one after the other till I finish them, only to go get some more.

I remember that as a young girl, I was so anxious to start reading and understanding these drawings they call letters and words. My elder sister used to read out loud to memorize some of the poems for her homework, so I got them memorized as she kept reading, then I would go steal her books and open them on that specific poem and pretend that I was reading and not repeating from memory; that really made her so furious

My mother touched this passion in me and she started teaching me the alphabet at the age of 3 or 4. I remember that I used to read from the newspaper or anything I could get my hands on even before I was a first grader at school; mom and dad were really so proud of this and they showed me off to relatives and friends … that was the time … LOL

Back to now; reading is a window of learning and as they say: knowledge is power. The more you learn, the more you can understand what is going on around you. By reading; you gain the knowledge of book authors, you get an insight to their long experience that they line up for us to benefit from.

Get Caught Reading is a campaign that was started in USA and Europe, its aim is to promote reading among people, especially young generations. With the introduction of new technologies and the internet, people are spending less and less time reading; they do have the time to do everything else, but not spend some time with a book.

Another thing comes to my mind as I write these words; reading is connected to text books and studying which is not so popular or liked, because it reminds us with exams and learning responsibilities. This might drive some away from reading books in their free time and promote more fun things to do like going to the movies with friends or watching a favorite show on TV … etc.

Lina suggests that we should start this campaign in Jordan and maybe later extend to the Arab World. I love the idea and as a sign of support, I am posting about it and if you are reading these words, the message is already being passed to you and you will pass it to others, so it has already started. We just need to find some popular public figures to capture their images reading and feature them on the website.

Pass the word to others and enjoy the images I chose for you here