no...no... :(
+Sandmonkey
You know when you get into that mode where you don't measure days by sleep anymore? Time is the hours between each test. Those are the times where you are lost in a realm between books, real life and friends.
It is true that I am now focused on my finals. But in the back of my mind, there is a lot going on. If you are group studying, every once in a while you find that interesting conversations arise during breaks.
One topic of course was about the situation in the middle-east. More specifically, Lebanon. Very interesting comments and debates. The most interesting comment was made by a jewish-born-but-not-practicing friend. He said that, what happened in
Lebanon is like Rwanda. The Shi'ite and Sunni are like the Hutus and the Tutsis. I didn't agree with him. I didn't WANT to agree with him. I told him we live in peace. We have enough problems as it IS. No, it isn't the beginning of WWIII. NO, there won't BE civil wars. NO, we are not taking 1 step forward and 10 backwards. NO more.
Please no :( Please. I am young. I have dreams. I want to travel the world. I want to have children. I want to raise them in a happy environment. I want to have endless family lunches that only discusses fun stuff. I want to read more books. I want to find out what other technologies are we yet to invent. I want to make more friends.
I want to be happy without being scared, worried or guilty :(I'm not alone. Stop the hate. Get a life.
Accounting Final test - in less than 7 hours
I can't sleep again. I have a lot I would like to blog about, but I have been studying for the last two weeks. More intensely so for the last three days. It's almost over. Technically, I passed for my degree. My practicum team presented to our supervisor on Friday - and we passed! I only got two more finals on Monday and Tuesday. I finished studying for Monday's test on Friday and Tuesday's test on Saturday. So intense. I can't sleep. You know, I like you bloggers, all of you...the nice, the amusing, the fake, the smart, the dreamy, the sincere, the airheads, the entertaining, the rude, the informative and the plain dumb. Saudi blogs in particular, you kept me in touch. This is the first time in KSA's history people in saudi arabia can actually socialize (sort of). More about that later - i promise. Soon, I'll be back and blog from Saudi and hope my favorite links don't get blocked. I can't wait for the summer. I'm sad my UN application got rejected because I am under 25. I wanted to volunteer in a field mission. Things are getting worse in the middle east. I asked my boss to allow me in my contract to have the freedom to leave for a year or more to volunteer at a field mission after I turn 25. I can't sleep. Did I study enough? Did I study too much. Goddamn caffeine.
Amusing: Why should you marry a blogger (or not!)?
+Sugar Cubes
+Khalida
+Jad
You know what's funny?
- When you got qualifications for a scholarship that are better than 1000 others who received it, but you don't get it because you are a girl and didn't pay the right people
- When some people change their mind and decide to be nice and make a big fuss about you because they want to be associated with your success
- When a measly, young, silly male 'cousin' tests your 'honor', while your own father treats your word as gold
- When you find out that your dream is possibly at the only place you never considered
- When you seem to be moving at the same trajectory as everyone else, yet always with something quite...off
- When you doubt yourself at the time everyone believes in you most
- When the biggest nerd in class calls you a geek
What a joke.
Cisco Systems Employee
I made a decision. I accepted the job. Riyo, here I come =)
Masha'el Al-Shememri in Nasa
Sorry!
Hey, I'm back. My blog was out for a day. Fixed the code. Thx W!
Useless
There is nothing more humilating for a man than being useless. The men who are in charge or have some say or control over whether a country like Isreal rape a country like Lebanon are bunch of useless peices of shit. You are not men. You are ugly, selfish cowards. If you don't have the balls to do what it takes then why don't you just abdicate from your positions and allow the men who ARE willing to put themselves on the line and GET THE JOB DONE take charge. You yellow bastards are a disappointing disgrace. You shame yourselves and your families. A real man protects his people and doesn't look out only for his interests. Allah(God) will judge you harshly.Read
Fleeing from Lebanon
My very good friend Shimozi made it out alhamdilla. Read her amazing post about her experience. I still have a couple more stuck there. There is no way to contact them :( There are a couple of bloggers as well who are/were there or have family; Blackorchid, Trevelyana , Confused Arab Chick's grandmother, CD's parents and Didi's family. I am sure there are many more. God help them all.
| Your Linguistic Profile: |
| 55% General American English |
| 25% Yankee |
| 15% Dixie |
| 0% Midwestern |
| 0% Upper Midwestern |
considering...
The chance is here. Will I do it?
How safe is it? =)
In Toronto
I love big cities. I have always been a big city girl and always will be. As much as I love little old Waterloo, I need to take a vacation every once and while. Come to the big city, breathe in the livelihood, take in the energy...it's very invigorating. However, this weekend was not one I have planned to take a vacation from Waterloo. I came because my brother wanted to go to a Nickelback concert...whoever that is. So, being the older, responsible sister, I came with him. I gave all what he needs. I bought the ticket online, printed out, figured out how to go to Toronto, where to stay, the location of the concert, how he can go and come back and most importantly, gave him money. Yea, I know, I'm a dream sister. I cook his favorite dishes too ;) Except for fried stuff. I refuse to cook anything fried :S Sadly, that kind of eliminates 80% of what he eats! hehehe. In my house, you eat broccoli! So, while I wait for my brother, I pretend to get some work done. Instead of work (come ON people, it IS friday!), I find myself pondering about some issues of my life. I was thinking about how my mother is always right.For years, I yearned to jump off the 'nest' and fly. Now that I'm freakin flying all over the planet, there is nothing I want more that to go back to that cozy nest. I guess it's a more innate desire to settle down. I've had my share of experience of being 'on the road'. The last year in particular has been intense. All this responsibilities of breaking away from your parents suddenly shoved in my face. I am reminded of something I read a while ago: Do you know what the ultimate sign that you have grown up? It is when you reach down the kitchen's sink and remove the gunk that is blocking the water from going down! LOL. It's true, isn't it? You grow up watching the adults do that kind of stuff and it never occurs to you that you will EVER do that icky crap. You can always call mom, dad, whoever. LOL. Then one day...one day...it creeps up to you...one day you reach out, full-force into that sink and fish out the potatoe peels. You suddenly stop. For those who know me, they know how I sound when I say: EEEEEWWWW.LOL. I am sorry for those of you who think this is disgusting. But I meant it as a metaphor (It is generally a good idea NOT to peel stuff in the sink!). I am trying to communicate that kind of mindset where you suddenly realize...I am independent. Not the stupid, feminist, destiny's child-type of fake independence. But that quiet and very real acceptance that you really have said good-bye. Good-bye to being a confused, frustrated, intimidated young girl. That might sound as a good thing, but those things gave you excuses. Excuses to behave as haphazardly as you like. Excuses to have mood swings. Excuses to sway from being totally rude to sweet as candy. Not that I ever was really like that, but you know what I mean.Wanting to go back to the nest does not mean I don't appreciate how much I grew up. On the contrary, I want to go back because I want to give back to my family. I want to contribute and help. I want that settled down, secure feeling =)Which reminds me, my brother is still out. I am thinking about giving him a call just to 'check-up on him'. Maybe nag him a bit about not staying out too late. My mom would be so proud LOL =))Peace out.
Gone Camping!
Last weekend we went up to Muskoka. A professor invited us to his cottage by Severn Falls. It was FANTASTIC. maaaan... I LOVED it.
We raced around the lake in the speed boat, went tubing, waterskiing, kayaking, had a BBQ, fireworks and played the guitar by the campfire. It was the ideal camping trip. Particularly because I got to sleep INSIDE the cottage instead of outside in a tent :P We also had electricity and running water (hehehe). However, I did gain more confidence in myself that I am tough enough to go to a *real* camping trip :P I think I fell in love with Canada all over again...
Some speakers...
The following are some notable speakers we had in MBET in the last term that I personally liked. I just didn't have the time to blog about them. Here is a quick look =)
Dr. Brian OrendTalked about Ethics, from a philisophical point of view. Very sharp, friendly and fun personality. He challenges you and your thoughts when he speaks. I am going to read his latest book as well as a book he recommended about Ethics from a feminist point of view.
Eugene RomanVery smart guy! One of those larger than life personalities. He was one of the five-people team who invented some major breakthrough in laser technology. He was the final speaker of the year and talked to us about going out there and thinking out of the box, not taking things at face value.
Women's Rights
I was very upset when I read this post in Arabic by a fellow blogger, Raed Al-saed. It is a month old, but I have only came across it recently. Nevertheless, I felt so strongly against it that I had to post my reaction.While I always respect freedom of speech and the right for everyone to have their own opinions, I cannot stand ignorance! Raed put a disclaimer saying that he received this article as a forward in his email. However, that does not exonerate him from being affiliated to such an ignorant expression of opinion.My argument is simple. I have three points to make:- While it is true that there women as described in the article, he failed to recognize that there men that are jut as shallow, under-educated and useless. It is unfair and ignorant to generalize.
- The article describes a vicious cycle of ignorance. Men look down at women because of the way they have been raised, the women they have lived around and how their role models treated those women. When you shut-off women from participating in serious issues as well as fail to emphasize on them how important it is to be educated and a contributing member of society, what happens? They end up becoming individuals who are EXACTLY as described in the 'humorous' article. I do not blame anyone who ridicules a person who IS ignorant, useless and unsophisticated. However, the more you shut-off women, the worse the situation gets. I don't see how this is funny.
- It is foolish to discourage those women who did manage to escape the viscous cycle of ignorance. Those women are highly educated, qualified and not shallow. While there are some characters whom we may question their intentions, that is applicable to both men and women. I believe, however, the more there are people contributing to society, the more there will be people with good intentions who will weed out the pretenders.
Women's 'rights' in Saudi Arabis did not suddenly pop up after 9/11. There has always been great female role models. Those women are educated and contributing members of society who are great examples for both boys and girls.
I was offended. Ignorance is not funny. It is sad.
interesting read
