Chapter One

Car Photos - Lebanon

2012-01-05T08:13:00.000+03:00

Spent about two hours in the car, stuck in traffic in Beirut. It was that weekend I went to attend the Fayrouz concert, which was beautiful, btw, and no photography allowed which resulted in all my photos being of us, mostly while eating. A Lovely weekend with Baba, Isso, Dima, Reem, Omair and Muhannad.

And Music!

This City Was Not Built on Rock 'n Roll.

2011-12-25T11:21:00.000+03:00

We Built This City On Rock 'N Roll - Starship

So, ladies and gents, what do you think this city was built on?

Now, more Starship:

Not to mention, how can you not love your friends who bring such awesomeness to life?
3al6ayer Dal:

Molasses Spice Cookies

2011-12-22T22:36:00.000+03:00

Ladies and gents, I might've only just baked the BEST cookies I can ever hope to bake!! Crumbly edges and a chewy centre *heart*

Bathrooms of KAUH

2011-12-12T00:39:00.001+03:00

Yes, you read that correctly. This is a post dedicated to the terrible bathrooms of KAUH. They disturb me to no end, as if medical school isn't enough to develop OCD habits.

King Abdulaziz University Hospital is 7 storey building (including the ground floor) + a basement. The higher density of students, staff and patients can be found on the ground floor till the fifth, as the basement is for labs and the 6th floor is administration.

There is always a ladies' room that is public and more prominent on each floor, then there are staff water closets that are usually locked/hidden. This is a survey of the most prominent ladies' room on each floor.

I believe that the least one can ask for in a restroom is a door you can shut, let alone lock, but then that's just me. In all 6 bathrooms, only 5 cubicles had doors that lock, as the rest won't even stay shut. Of these 5, 3 were in the same bathroom and one of those 3 was a traditional bathroom. Out 21 cubicles.

Ground Floor:

Oh look! No door! No lights in cubicles! And did I mention that some don't even flush?

First Floor:

The door is coming apart.

Second Floor:

Tissues, at least there will be no peeping.

Third Floor:

The lock is there, but it doesn't work!

Fifth Floor:

I guess by now you got a good idea of how things look. I'm not going to start on hygiene and how the floor is always wet. It baffles me how we got the canadian accreditation. We don't even have usable bathrooms!

P.S. Those are all phone photos, excuse the quality.

P.P.S. Did I mention that I once had to lock a cubicle door using adhesive tape? Yeah. I am not amused. Though looking back on it, it's kinda funny. But still! NOT AMUSING!

Abo Farwa

2011-12-06T01:31:00.000+03:00

...Chestnuts!

My lovely Isso went out and got some today.

Not to mention, potatoes and carrots.

Post-exam baking.

2011-11-19T23:54:00.001+03:00

Ladies and gents, I give you: Rainbow Cake!

Stuff of dreams, and Pink Floyd!

Discipline.

2011-11-18T04:43:00.000+03:00

Wedding Flowers

2011-10-21T01:58:00.001+03:00

Rami's wedding went well, al7amdolila. Quite exhausting though! been at the party hall 12 hours straight, didn't even eat! Well, unless you'd consider the 3 pieces of baton sale I had with the tiny cup of tea "food".

Not to mention the existential crisis I had around fajr, poor Majed woke up to some pretty disturbing freaked out messages. I'm still not quite sure why he puts up with me.

Milkah photos [here]

And those are the pretty flowers we adopted after the wedding. They needed a loving home.

From flowers

MY BLOG TURNS FIVE YEARS OLD TODAY!

2011-10-02T00:10:00.000+03:00

Happy birthday my dear blog. Thank you for putting up with all of my self-consumed rants and borderline insane venting.

And thank you darlings for continuing to feed my egotistic insanity for so long!

Hugs and kisses xx

Cheese!

2011-09-30T06:22:00.003+03:00

Things to do on the weekend? Eat cheese, fruits and macarons!

A lovely friend of mine was fortunate enough to have parents only just returning from France, and who like having me over! Thus I take photos of their food and then eat it.

And the figs, so sweet and juicy!
AND LISTEN TO "DARK SIDE OF THE MOON" ON VINYL!! Yes, I'm fangirling.

From cheese

Chaource.

From cheese

Neufchatel is the heart-shaped one, Camembert is the other.

From cheese

The Neufchatel with grapes.

From cheese

Melting chocolate for dessert.

From cheese

Macarons from Laduree.

From cheese

Eid!

2011-09-26T22:56:00.001+03:00

It took me a bit under a month to get back to those photos. Eid was traumatising to our family.

Now, photos! We had breakfast at Bert's.

From eid

My Isso *heart*

From eid

Omair, with Rayan in the background, and a glimpse of a pink abaya! How scandalous!

From eid

Nessie's camera.

From eid

Saudi National Day!

2011-09-26T22:05:00.000+03:00

It was quite eventful and rather scary on the streets to be honest! Indoors though, we enjoyed a quiet game of 6awla followed by a not so quiet game of BSG.

From September 26, 2011

And Nessie's photos!

On Beautiful Smart Girls.

2011-09-26T20:07:00.000+03:00

I’ve always admired how well made up you always are. Even on days you’ve obviously not slept, even when I run into you the morning after your on-call you’ve not a hair out of place.

I owe so much to you. It all began in highschool when you sat me down that one evening and applied make up to my face. We were on our way to a friend’s wedding and I’ve never had make up on before. You were magical. I could paint but make-up was a whole new domain into which I feared to venture.

I’ll never forget your face the day I showed up in blue hair. We had a coffee date with your sisters and I just got back from a week at the beach. You were so bien coifee and I was all curly and burned raw. The look of sheer terror on your face at my dishevelled state brought me back to my senses. I still kept the blue hair for a bit over 2 years though.

You helped define that fine line between being made up and overly made up. And did I mention that you look gorgeous in anything?

You’re one of my oldest friends and one of the few who left a mark on who I am in so many ways. Thanks a ton!

2011-09-25T20:29:00.000+03:00

As your friend, I would contain your tantrums. But there's only so much I would take.

Too7a!

2011-09-25T02:58:00.000+03:00

Some of you witnessed my fangirling earlier this weekend over Too7a singing at my cousin's wedding. You'll have to understand that she was one of the first lady vocalists of this country and quite the oud player!

I'd listen to stories from my grandmother, rest her soul, about the days when they used to go up to Taif every summer and gather at orchards where she'd play and sing.

You'll have to understand that my primary exposure to music was by my grandmother who loved to sing (which should explain my bouts of sporadic singing). She'd sing songs by Fawzi Ma7soon and Nazim Al-Ghazali.

This is one of the few pieces I managed to salvage of my grandparent's belongings before my dad got his way with what he called "piles of junk":

From September 25, 2011

And here are some of her most famous songs:

I'll never forget how she loved this song:

Help!

2011-09-22T02:53:00.000+03:00

...Screamed the indecisive girl called "Asmaa".

Retail therapy is treacherous sea to navigate, and yours truly has fallen into it's midst! And I need help!

How could one resist buying such a beauty?

From September 22, 2011

Well, maybe the price tag, and the fact that I already have the jellies:

From September 22, 2011

Who are called Fahad, btw. Named by Reem.

But the Jellies don't have spikes and are not leather. And are unbelievably overpriced in my country that I have to buy them online to save 500 SR.

What should I do? HELP! You have 12 hours to talk me into or out of this!

Beach!

2011-09-09T20:01:00.000+03:00

Ladies and gents! I hereby present you with an incoherent collection of non-discriminating photos of our day at the beach. You have absolutely no idea how difficult it was to take non-discriminating photos that day, the rest of the photos screamed "fire me", "I'm incompetent" and "I should be working at a circus".

This post is dedicated to the lovely Ahmed, and my wonderful friends who do things worth photographing.

From Beach

Here's Saleem:

From Beach

And my cute iPod:

From Beach

And the lovely Basmah:

From Beach

And Omar:

From Beach

Suede shoes on sand, couldn't be more nonchalant!

From Beach

And Ali being adorable:

From Beach

I just love this chain Salem has around his wrist:

From Beach

Foo6a and a macbook:

From Beach

And Basmah being cute again:

From Beach

Sneak Peek: Lama and Omar.

2011-09-04T02:57:00.000+03:00

Darlings! Guess who got engaged and guess who got to shoot the party? You better have guessed that correctly!

The lovely Lama and Omar!

And guess who can't sleep before getting the entire job done and is now way past her bedtime because of a terrible habit she is to blame on medical school? Not to mention, I just realised I'm really hungry *pout*

And here's a sneak peek!

From September 4, 2011

Quite literally! And yes, I do think I'm really funny xD

On Painkillers and Dentists I

2011-08-22T16:44:00.000+03:00

Self medicating is one of the blessings, and curses, of the medical student.

For one thing, I know what I need and how much of it I need. On the other hand, I can't prescribe and I'm restricted to over the counter (OTC) medication.

Pain management, ladies and gents, is quite the field! Complex, diverse and utterly wonderful! And yours truly just happens to be a painkiller junkie of sorts. I am even writing this waiting for the painkillers to kick in as the local anaesthesia wares off.

Did I mention that I am afraid of dentist visits? not dentists themselves, just the visits. I believe that God WANTS me to be anaesthetised when at the dentist's. Nitrous oxide, topical anaesthesia, local anaesthesia, the works. I should be knocked out!

I just found me a new dentist. My old one asks me to go out with him on every visit, or at least text him on Valentine's day. Half my face feels like marshmallow as I am slowly regaining feeling in the right half of my upper lip and my cheek. This is only one of a few visits to come, of which details I shall be delighting you!

P.S. I love Isso, she's the cutest little sister and she puts up with me.
P.P.S. I am considering brushing my teeth with lidocaine. I realise it is a futile attempt, but an attempt nevertheless!

Mushroom Lasagne

2011-08-20T12:13:00.000+03:00

This lovely vegetarian promised her mother she'd make a dish for fa6oor at least once in Ramadan, and that only happened once.

I was so nervous that I wouldn't be up in time to cook which resulted in me not sleeping in the first place. Lovely, isn't it? Went to the supermarket before duhur and finished cooking by 2 in the afternoon, even though I had to make bechamel twice since something went wrong with the first saucepan. Did I mention that bechamel is exhausting? especially while your fasting and furiously stirring flour into butter. On the bright side, it tasted to good!

Oh, and I wasn't up for fa6oor on time, since I was exhausted, which should explain why the last photo of the complete dish is while it's cold.

Recipe [here]

From lasagne

Issues.

2011-08-09T11:39:00.000+03:00

Issues, I happen to have quite an assortment of those!

Father issues, men issues, weight issues, temper issues, anxiety issues, memory issues, laundry issues, OCD issues, control freak issues, post-it issues, donut issues, warag 3onab issues, processed cheese issues, yellow cheddar issues, analgesics issues, cellphone issues, hypertrophic scarring issues, shoe shopaholic issues, body image issues, specifically my nose. Too tomato-like.

I can blame society for a good number of them, my family for another good number and the media for the rest. I don't think we're born with our issues, our issues find us. You are the most suitable habitat for your own assortment of issues.

Most consider them flaws and spend a good portion of their lives trying to fix them instead of doing better things with their time, such as make origami.

Live with your issues, make origami.

On Tumblr [here]

Puzzle At Bridges IIII

2011-08-01T22:24:00.001+03:00

This is part 5/6 of the puzzle!
more photos here:
Part One: Puzzle at Bridges I

Part Two: Puzzle at Bridges II

Part Two: Puzzle at Bridges III

With the help if the lovely Rakan and Ethar

From Puzzle 5/6

MNL!

2011-07-31T16:09:00.000+03:00

I fell ill as soon as we arrived in Manila, weak stomach. Sadly, not many photos as I spent the time left making up for all I missed before leaving to Jakarta.

We stayed at The Ascott in Makati. Gorgeous view, lovely place.

From MNL

JED-MNL

2011-07-30T20:59:00.001+03:00

Thanks to the lovely Nessie I managed to survive a 10 hour Jeddah-Manila flight with the in-flight entertainment system down. How? read basically half a book, The Professor and The Madman. Interesting narrative on the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Lovely book.

Some plane photos!

From JED-MNL

Puzzle At Bridges III

2011-07-04T18:29:00.001+03:00

Part One: Puzzle at Bridges I

Part Two: Puzzle at Bridges II

Ladies and gents! My last blog post before I travel, more puzzle!

June 25th:

Meanwhile, in the kitchen...
Jastaniah makes coffee in the most professional manner, while the puzzle crazies feed their insanity outside.

and a cake for Reem as she was travelling soon.

June 27th:

Majed's shoes are too cute!

Puzzle At Bridges II

2011-06-23T23:03:00.001+03:00

This is the second part of the Bridges Puzzle series.

Part One: Puzzle at Bridges I

The 22nd of June:

And Today, the 23rd of June:

Puzzle At Bridges I

2011-06-22T16:33:00.002+03:00

Of the array of useless things I intend to waste a good portion of my summer vacation doing, this is the first. a 13200 piece puzzle! Yes, that is how desperate we are for meaning in our lives.

And this is the twitter hashtag #BridgesPuzzle

I wasn't able to join them on the first day. This is the second day Monday, the 20th of June 2011.

The third day, Tuesday the 21st of June:

Birthday Cake!

2011-06-16T21:39:00.000+03:00

The chocolaty fudgy creation that is my birthday cake ♥
I hereby spam thee with photos!

And this is a tiny mb5ara that mama got, for candles. So cute!

Lunar Eclipse

2011-06-16T01:43:00.000+03:00

My very short "Pre-Quarter Of A Century Thoughts" series [here] just ended. I turned 25. Not quite sure how I feel about it, mainly because I'm looking forward to a rendez-vous with my bed. As soon as I click the "publish post" button.

Click on the photos for the full version.

I survived for this long on this planet, I think the least I deserve is to sleep in tomorrow! Well, maybe not really sleep in, just wake up at 9 instead of 6.

Pre-quarter Of A Century Thoughts III

2011-06-15T07:31:00.001+03:00

You can either be his woman or his muse. You cannot be both.

He can either make love to you or wish he could make love to you. The unattainability of a muse is what allows her to inspire; the unknown infinitely augments this desire clawing out through his flesh and trying to reach the surface at any cost, using any means.

He can either worship you or have you. Once he's had you, your celestial allure loses its mystery and becomes a reality. Would you rather be the manna he's never had or his morning cup of coffee?

Me? I'm the girl once he's attained he completely lost interest in.

Pre-quarter Of A Century Thoughts I

Pre-quarter Of A Century Thoughts II

Pre-quarter Of A Century Thoughts II

2011-06-13T18:58:00.002+03:00

First thought on Tumblr [here]

I always thought that witnessing my first normal vaginal delivery would have me all overwhelmed with emotion and I'll come back to write pages and pages of emotional rant. But I didn't, nor was I overwhelmed with emotion.

I witnessed a miscarriage first, the abortus in little cup. She didn't even know she was pregnant. Next came a postpartum haemorrhage, and then finally a delivery.

There was a baby coming out of the woman and all I thought of was "Hmm... I see... Interesting...". Next delivery? Same thoughts.

Later on that day I couldn't help but accuse myself of being a detached, emotionless, cold-hearted excuse of a human being. I just saw what could've been a person contained in a little plastic cup, and new life emerge into this wretched place. And went out for ice-cream afterwards. Vanilla, in case you were wondering.

A Jeddawi Morning

2011-06-05T23:43:00.000+03:00

...After a sleepless night. Jawaher, Dima, Basmah, Amna, Renad and I had quite the breakfast at Casper's. A four hour breakfast.
At noon, Majed joined me for some studying. I had Ob/Gyn, and he had the homophobic book.

Disclaimer:

2011-06-05T07:02:00.000+03:00

Every medical student you know, regardless of how sane, insane or walking the fine line between them they appeared to be, is officially as mad as a hatter this month!

Why, you ask? It's exam month!

You see, at first we suddenly appear to have acquired a massive amount of skills. suddenly we're the best chefs, painters, photographers, listeners, writers, bestfriends, boyfriends, girlfriends, personal shoppers, botanists, house keepers, movie critics, audiophiles, et cetera. It is absolutely wondrous what a medical student is capable of under stress!

Don't ask us how our studies are going, what chapter we're on or if we're on schedule. You'd be opening Pandora's box. Mood swings, borderline clinical depression, crying, insomnia and even psychosomatic manifestations.

Don't ask questions, just give us a hug and accept us for who we are.

Yet another list!

2011-06-03T23:41:00.000+03:00

Here's last year's list of which only two items are left:
3- fix dresser drawers.
4- get light bulbs for my bedside table lamp.
Which I should get to.

And now, this year's list!
1- Know everything there is to know about Ob/Gyn
2- Tidy up my room
3- Get wire extensions for the lights.
4- Read the innumerable books on my to-read list.
5- Arrange shoes INSIDE shoe cabinet. Not around, not on top. INSIDE.
6- New abaya.
7- Read an arabic book or two.
8- Get those pretty amethyst flower earrings. *e7m*birthday*e7m*.
9- Fix my circadian rhythm.
10- Make mini galette.
11- See Didi and Ness more often. And you too Takrooni, stalker.
12- Have Indian food with Nada.
13- Edit the extra photos.
14- Make more backups.

Notice any similarities between the two lists? Not much has changed.
P.S. Fayiz, you can't call me Fa6oos anymore. 5ala9, i'm putting my foot down.

First Voice Note

2011-05-23T01:42:00.000+03:00

Maybe when I'm more comfortable I'll take it more seriously than a public sharing website.

Rami's Milkah

2011-05-22T01:39:00.000+03:00

He looked terrified all evening. I think he's experiencing separation anxiety, he spent all evening with mama after the zaffa.

With mama <3

Stuff I was listening to while editing...
So Long, Marianne - Leonard Cohen

THE Weekend!

2011-05-17T18:05:00.000+03:00

As my devoted readers, you should already know that my cousin, who's been with my me entire life, is getting married. Two days to Milkah!
And as the acting o5t al3arees, I hereby spam you with photos! Ok, spamming shall commence later on, after the actual milkah, but those are a few photos before lunch.

Me in a gorgeous dress, poking at poor Rami:

Rami, today, with the 3 week beard he managed to rub to my face.

strawberries

2011-05-16T03:00:00.000+03:00

Burn down the disco, hang the blessed DJ. Because the music that he constantly plays, it says nothing to me about my life.

Blueberry Muffins

2011-05-01T23:08:00.000+03:00

my lovely Isso made blueberry muffins!

And yes, that's a superman t-shirt. She's awesome like that xD

The #Saudi Education Programme V

2011-04-28T01:09:00.002+03:00

Thank you Abdullah, Khayra, Abdul Aziz Hamza, Qusai and Omair for contributing to Question IIII on my blog and on Twitter!

Question IIII: Do you know about the time The Black Stone (الحجر الأسود) was stolen? Who, When and How was it stolen? And who returned it?
Who stole it: The Quarmatians
When was it stolen: 930 A.D. and returned 22 years later.
Who returned it: It was found, lying in the middle of a mosque in Kufa with a note pinned on it. Some say they were talked into returning it, others say they simply returned it of their own will and a third opinion is that a ransom was paid. It was returned in pieces and is now glued together! True story!
How was it stolen: bloodshed, to the knees.

Now, a real question!

Question V: Do we, Saudi Arabia, Have a constitution? If so, who placed it? When? How many Chapters and Articles does it include?

Why I'm Single In Saudi

2011-04-20T00:02:00.000+03:00

Have you seen this hashtag today #WhyImSingleInSaudi on Twitter? If not, I do suggest you give it a quick look.

Going through it this afternoon, I managed to catagorize the tweets into three catagories! Sad, True and Funny!

And here are my observed tweets:

Sad:

True:

Funny:

Now, I rant! Don’t tell me you didn’t seen it coming! You DID click on the link to my blogpost, what did you expect?

My own #WhyImSingleInSaudi reason? I'm totally in love with Humphrey Bogart.

“I haven’t found the perfect guy yet”, well, guess what? The perfect guy doesn’t exist. It isn’t your bad luck, it is simply because no-one is perfect. We are all flawed. The best you can hope for is someone with flaws you can live with.

we've been brainwashed to believe in the knight in shining armour, or at least the knight in no debt. but reality bites (or blows, whichever you'd rather. couldn't help myself really, had to say that).

But he should appreciate good tea, and good music. And it would be nice if he were not utterly and most completely thoroughly intimidated by me.

Speaking of music, this has been playing in my head while I was making those tweet collages:

AND now you have a voice to read my blog in! Nessie recorded me on That Jeddah Podcast [iTunes], Episode 36: That Green Episode [HERE]

Is This It?

2011-04-15T23:45:00.002+03:00

صف عزاء وزير التجارة الأسبق محمد علي العوضي: زوجة و ابنيّ أخيه المتوفى، و أنا و أمي و أختي.
الله يرحمه و يغفر له.

He's travelled far and wide, lived life to the fullest. Why then must he have my miserable self as a reminder of his time on earth? Shouldn't that row consist of gleaming speciments of what he spent his life achieving? It shouldn't include the girl who visited him frequently whom he could never remember her name.

He spent the past few years in and out of hospitals, he had a weak heart that couldn't be fixed. Whenever we'd visit, and that was quite frequently, my mother would have to introduce me as "Asmaa, my daughter. I'm Jameela, Mohammad Amin's daughter. Remember me, Uncle?".

He did remember me once though, a few years back. I was visiting him at the hospital with mom and the nurse walks in to note down his preference for breakfast. He wanted an egg sunny side up, the nurse had no idea what a sunny side up was. Though he explained, he ended up with an omelette the next morning.

I can't help but think that i'm going to end up the same way, if not cremated because no-one is there to claim me.

I have friends and I do believe that they love me, but I don't have anyone to remind people of my life just by being there. Someone you'd look at and think: I miss Asmaa, she wasn't half as bad as she thought she was.

So many people know who he was, but none stand as a testimony to who he was. Which leaves him with his late brother's wife and sons, my mother, sister and I.

Do be kind enough to pray for him.

Directions to where the funeral is being held [here]

The #Saudi Education Programme IIII

2011-04-09T18:48:00.003+03:00

Ladies and Gents! My most sincere apologies for making you wait so long!

Question III: Who ruled the arabian peninsula before Al-Saud?
I took the liberty to state all I can find about the entire Arabian Peninsula and not just the part which is now Saudi Arabia:
1- Hijaz:

3000BC - 200BC Thamud
Caliphates and their Empires
Al Ashraf, who were loyal to The Ottoman Empire

2- Southern Region:

Minaeans
Saba + Hadharamaut + Qataban
Hemyarite
Aksumite occupation from Ethiopia: Changed the state religion to Judaism and prosecuted Christians
Sassanid Period: When the legendary Sayf Bin Thi-Yazan showed up and paved the road to what we know today as Yemen. May God aid them in their struggle.

3- Eastern Region:

The Ottoman Empire
Al-Hameed (Banu Khalid)

(If you know any more about the matter or have a source that can help, please feel free to include it in a comment)

4- Najd:

Kindah (3rd century AD)
Local tribes

(If you know any more about the matter or have a source that can help, please feel free to include it in a comment)

Question IIII: Do you know about the time The Black Stone (الحجر الأسود) was stolen? Who, When and How was it stolen? And who returned it?

That's a fun question, isn't it? I'll be searching for a serious one to post next time :)

How a 12/13 year old boy made me feel violated today.

2011-03-21T12:16:00.001+03:00

The last station of my Paediatrics clinical exam was to examine a 12/13 year old boy who was lying in bed, the doctor was sitting at a desk on the patient's left hand side and I was standing on his right.

During the examination, as i was examining his right hand, the doctor started talking to me. I lay his hand back on the bed, and my hand was resting a small distance away from it.

The boy then reaches for my hand and starts stroking it slowly, so I move my hand away, the doctor was still talking. He follows my hand and keeps tracing my hand with his fingers, and I move it away again, and he follows. Having moved my hand away three times now, I just crossed my arms.

I honestly feel violated, and traumatized. Washed my hands a dozen times since. He's a child, I don't understand. I'm disgusted.

I Should Grow a Moustache.

2011-03-07T23:39:00.003+03:00

read [this]?

The king said "the unemployed citizen", how did that turn into "unemployed males"? Aren't you all done with stealing from the people? One day your children and grandchildren will need this country, the one you're robbing now, and they won't find it.

Females are already being paid less than males for doing the same jobs. In addition, female teachers, which is the occupation most females in this country practice, are on a different occupational scale than men. They get paid less, less bonuses, not to mention not receiving a transportation allowance while not being able to drive.

Did i mention that a while ago, traffic police were considering asking every woman buying a car to present a "permit" from her male guardian allowing her to own the machine? Not sure what happened to that idiotic proposition, but if it ever falls through, I suggest not allowing males to buy kitchen appliances, furniture or even paint without their female ma7ram allowing it.

Yes, I'm THAT pissed off. I go to college in the morning, study my bum off in the evening, my house is included in Al Ruwais Project (which means the home i lived in since i was born will be demolished to feed a few men's insatiable greed. My house is not in the slums, and it did NOT drown in the past two floods. Why are you demolishing it?)

I am not ready to take out a few thousand riyals off my future pay just to accommodate a less intelligent male for the sole purpose of operating my means of transportation while I am more than capable of doing so.

And don't get me started to the state of healthcare and the judicial system. That'll take two separate blog posts, this one's just venting.

I don't feel like "half" a citizen, I'm not quite sure i'm a citizen to begin with since all my forms of identification and any acknowledgment of my existence since the day i'm born can only be verified by a male.

Old and New I

2011-03-04T23:15:00.002+03:00

This is my mode of stress relief, and this IS a photoblog after all.
This is series of photos of things i find around the house that are old and new. got any items you'd like me to photograph? feel free to contact me here or through Twitter

iPods:
My 1st and latest ones

Isso's Nanos

Vans Shoes:

On my Tumblr here and here

I Don't Want Grants.

2011-02-23T19:19:00.000+03:00

I don’t want grants.

I want 70% of my country people to own homes, with water, electricity and sanitation.

I want 12 years of formal education to be a child’s right, and I want parents who deny their children this right be prosecuted.

I want my country people to build their homes with their own hands. To pave their own roads and grow their own crops.

I want to be a citizen protected under a constitution, and when someone threatens any of my rights I will be able to quote this constitution. Because only then will no-one be able to take away my rights.

I don’t want to be regarded as a second class citizen because of my genetic composition.

I want mothers to be able to protect their children from abusive fathers. After all, they did spend nine months making them.

What do you want?

The #Saudi Education Programme III

2011-02-20T23:05:00.002+03:00

Question II: Since this is the 3rd #Saudi State, What about the first two? Who founded them and why did they end?

First Saudi State:

-Founded by Mohammad bin Saud and Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulwahhab in year 1744 A.D. with a pact between them that was sealed by the marriage of bin Abdulwahhab’s daughter to bin Saud’s son.
-The state lasted for 75 years, through which it had 4 rulers.
-It ended in 1817 A.D. with the Ottoman-Saudi war. When the armies of Mohammad Ali Pasha of Egypt, under the Ottoman rule, placed Al-Dereya (the Saudi capital at the time) under siege for a few months until it surrendered.
-Abdullah bin Saud was captured and sent to Constantinople where he was beheaded. A number of religious figures were also executed as their extremist views were deemed more dangerous than political motivation.

Second Saudi State:

-Founded in 1824 when Turki bin Abdullah recaptured the city of Riyadh from the Ottoman army of Egypt.
-It lasted for 75 years during which it had 9 rulers.
-It ended in 1891 with a battle between Al-Saud and A-Rashid of Ha’il. Al-Rashid captured Riyadh and exiled Abdulrahman bin Faisal bin Turki and his family to Kuwait.

Now, Question III: Who ruled the arabian peninsula before Al-Saud?

The #Saudi Education Programme!

2011-02-18T13:29:00.006+03:00

Lovely readers, please contribute to my #Saudi Education Programme found on my Tumblr page. Two questions were already posted: Question I and Question II.

This is a personal effort, out of my humble knowledge, because the people of my country deserve better. Our history is foggy in so many aspects, but I’d like it if some lines were drawn.

I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. This should include the basis of what we need to know about our country.

Keep in mind that I am but a poor medical student trying to make it through just like the rest of you. humble me. One question a day!

If you don’t feel like answering, at least google it. The whole point is to spread knowledge, not boost my ego.

So, back to basics!!

Question II: Since this is the 3rd #Saudi State, What about the first two? Who founded them and why did they end?

Bughdadiyah's PTSD and Why Jeddah Drowned

2011-01-30T01:21:00.004+03:00

... that's PostTraumatic Stress Disorder.

I spent almost all day with dad, we got supplies from Al Balad and passed by Al Bughdadiya.

The old Balad, as in Bab Makkah, Soog Al Bado and such, not the new buildings, were all dry. As if it didn’t even rain there as it did the rest of Jeddah. AND THEN! baba explained to me how a long time ago, there were large cisterns built underground at what is now called Bughdadiya to collect rainwater, because this was it's natural course! Those cisterns served as Jeddah's water reservoirs; which would last until the next rain season.

If you're familiar with Al Bughdadiya, you'd know Al Matbouli Mosque. This mosque was built on TOP of those cisterns. The ground underneath it is hollow, thus the floor had to be reinforced and with every heavy rain it gets flooded and the floor fails. And since the water can’t reach the cistern, it floods the area.

All rain in Jeddah heads to the sea, and most of it heads towards Ba7ar Al Arba3een. Back in the day, every sensible Jiddawi knew better than to walk into a flood, they knew their dead bodies would be fished out of Al Arba3een pond later on.

What we did, ladies and gents, was build in the way of the flood. Not around it, but exactly in the middle of it. We didn’t simply step into it and now we fish out people from all over Jeddah.

Why couldn’t we be kinder to nature? We’re helpless against it.

Photos of the 4th day post-rain in Bughdadiya:

panorama constructed from photos i shot while baba was driving, sort of spontaneous. Drowned textile shop.

Palestine street, how on earth did that happen?

found on Madinah Road, while heading to Harthy.

photos from my roof

2011-01-26T19:01:00.004+03:00

it's that time of the year in Jeddah again! #JeddahRain !
They're not much, but i didn't/wouldn't go out today. seen them photos on my Tumblr people took? that would be the reason why.

boy cleaning the roof two doors down. yes, used my stalker lens.

i'm on the roof!! i just had to post that.

it hovered for so long around my area that i had time to run to my room and replace my wide angle with a stalker lens.

click on it for the full version. watch the mother with the stroller and her children.

Anonymous Orchids

2011-01-23T21:46:00.003+03:00

so, remember the whole asmaa-started-a-photoblog-ages-ago-but-now-writes-in-it-instead? well, ASMAA HAS PHOTOS!! xD

the flowers sent by the "Anonymous Gentleman":

P.S. did I mention that i love orchids?

2011-01-09T00:18:00.000+03:00

you disgust me.

Paranoia and Online Publishing Laws.

2011-01-03T10:03:00.004+03:00

I’m paranoid by nature and I over-react at times. Most of the time I manage to tone it down but since I read the online publishing law yesterday I haven’t been able to sleep.

I wont bother you with what the law states, you can read it yourselves here, and Ahmed’s observations here, and Louai’s analysis of it here.

Now all I can think about is removing every trace of my online presence. If I can be specifically punished for non-specific acts, why risk it? This is scaring the living daylights out of me.

Am I over-reacting? What do you honestly think? What are your concerns? What are you going to do?

My Observations on Salesmen and Hijab

2011-01-03T00:38:00.003+03:00

P.S. This may as well be one of the longest blog entries i've written. but i promise you it's worth it!

I didn’t think it mattered what I looked like to salesmen as long as they made a sale. Until once I was in a mall searching for cousins who made me go back and forth a few times in front of a certain cosmetics store with a perfume guy standing outside. He didn’t even once attempt to give me a sample, he only gave ladies with covered faces and abayas on their heads.

I am a Saudi girl with very ambiguous features. With dark hair and light skin I can be any nationality as long as I speak the language, and when I don’t speak in Arabic, most people can’t tell where I’m from. It’s a blessing of sorts in my opinion.

And these are my observations:

- Salesmen in Saudi Arabia are the most prejudiced, most judgmental and the worse at their jobs compared to all salesmen I’ve been exposed to worldwide.

- They judge you by appearance and manner. Look like an average middle class girl, face uncovered and not so sure of what you want, and you’ll get mediocre service.

- On the contrary, if you represent the other two ends of the spectrum, face covered or hair uncovered, you’d get much better service regardless of what you sound like. Unless you wear an abaya so sparkly that Edward Cullen would be jealous, it’d make them all flock to sell you everything in the shop.
When in my lovely city of Jeddah, I wear an abaya and cover my hair most of the time, especially in malls. I smile at the salesman when I entre a shop and depending on his reaction I either ask for assistance or find what I want on my own.

- When I’m covering my hair, all goes well regardless of whether I’m shopping with a girl or a guy. Until I encounter a salesman who doesn’t speak English. To compensate for his lack of language, which I don’t mind at all as I would speak to him in Arabic, he starts acting obnoxious and trying to sound knowledgeable of whatever product he’s trying to sell me. Then there are those who try to flirt you into buying stuff, as are most Saudi salesmen. Disgusting.

- When I’m not covering my hair, which usually happens when I shop in the morning at malls where shoppers just happen to not be Saudi, the reactions of salesmen vary. Egyptian and Saudi salesmen are the worse.

Not to sound unfair, I’m sure there are good ones. But I have only met one Egyptian salesman whom I didn’t want to slap senseless and one Saudi salesman who was actually helpful.

They always act as if they know better. For the love of God, lip primer is NOT the same as lip gloss. Don’t act superior, I am the costumer, whatever I say goes. Don’t stare and don’t flirt, this isn’t a conversation, it’s a business transaction.

Now, Lebanese salesmen. Those are 50/50 when it comes to good and bad. One thing though: they don't stare! they still look, but not stare, which is huge difference. Some of course have no idea what they’re selling and live off the giggles of teenage girls. Same goes to most Saudi and Egyptian salesmen who can’t do their job. All they need is an accent: Lebanese, Syrian, Egyptian, Badawi, doesn’t matter as long as it’s not Hijazi girls will fall at their feet.

On the other hand, the other half has been very helpful, along with this ONE Saudi salesman who was useful and did not hit on me. All a salesman has to do is know the merchandise in the store and speak politely. When I say I’m looking for black heels I expect you to pull out every pair of black heels in the store and line them up for me.

There is one amazing salesman whom I just have to mention. He has a slight Yemeni accent, always polite and very professional when dealing with make-up/skin related issues. I had to get rouge last Eid and when I got to the shop he was on vacation, I was stuck with a non-English speaking Egyptian who tried to explain to me that the colour I picked was brown. It was plum.

Do you have any salesmen related observations?

The Second Day of Rain - Photos

2010-12-30T22:18:00.001+03:00

It started raining in the morning like it did yesterday, except today i was at home instead of being stuck at MCH Al-Aziziya (mustashfa al wilada). Around 4 pm my dad decides to take a road trip to Asfan. yes, 3asfan, a5r al donya.

Those are the photos chronologically. Home -> Asfan -> Home.

Andalus Road.

Ta7lia Street.

Almost Asfan.

Malik Road, my favourite!

Expressing Yourself.

2010-12-11T23:27:00.002+03:00

Do you believe that your blog is your space to express yourself in whichever manner you please?

I have a friend who frequently writes. His writings are not too complex, elaborate or pretentious, they are simply honest to whatever he thinks.

Another thing about his writing is his use of anatomically accurate names of body parts. A penis is a penis and not a “thingie”, a vagina is a vagina and not a “insert absurd childish name here”.

For one thing, I believe people should use proper names of everything around them, especially of things concerning taboos. If you can’t call objects/body parts by their actual names, you are not grown enough to discuss them or utilize them.

I do, however, understand how including such words in a random piece of writing can come off as shocking to a good number of people and not only in my community. A lot would consider it vulgar to be anatomically accurate. Yet, not to the extent of sending hate mail.

He’s received a very polite request to tone it down, which was very reasonable and he responded to it in corresponding manners. The rest of the “requests” he received could only be described as harsh, incriminating and very judgmental, and I applaud his short, spot on and sarcastic replies.

He’s Freudian, existentialist, a skeptic and most of the time just hoping his dart ends up on the board.

We’re not born with a road map and a compass, only a lucky few figure out how to navigate life early on. The rest of us are just hoping they don’t bite off more than they can chew. He’s trying to find his way around in his own fashion, which is very rare where I come from.

In his defense, his blog does state somewhere that it is +18, or was it +21?

If you can't handle life, click ⌘+Q.

Quite the eventful weekend

2010-12-10T11:51:00.005+03:00

Let’s start with Wednesday, shall we?

Dear Dentists: please be kinder to your patients' lips while you're working on their teeth. I now have a chemical burn in the inside of my lower lip that hurts so badly. And I look like I got a bad lip job, just half a lip. Not funny, dentists.

Other than being in excruciating pain for the past two days, I can't have coffee till Saturday. Talk about pain.

Now, on a much brighter note, guess who took photos of Robert Lacey when he was in Jeddah? Oh yes I have!! * does a little happy dance * AND he signed my copy of Inside The Kingdom * more happy dance *

And did I mention that Lama Sabri is made of awesome? Because she is.

Later on that evening, the interns who just graduated from KAU’s medical college were having a party which I shot. They all looked drop dead gorgeous and partied like no-one’s on-call this weekend (which, ironically, someone always is).

Thursday was basically spent playing Battlestar Galactica board game with Ghaida’a, Menelik, Suhail, Nessreen and Joey. And then it rained!!

Now, what are the odds of it raining in Jeddah on the day I wear suede shoes? Still, wonderfully messed up weather. Gotta love it!

I can’t help but wonder, why, dear God, did I have to wake up at 8 am on a Friday?

Anything interesting happened during your weekend? Blog it!

Confessions of A Saudi Girl

2010-12-04T22:23:00.002+03:00

My name is Asmaa, I am a Saudi girl and I have a confession to make: I have been doing my own laundry for about 2 months now. My entire laundry load, abaya to socks.

That previous statement may have made me sound like a spoiled brat but I assure you that my family is only in the middle of the financial spectrum of my lovely city. My parents spent good money to get me a decent education, but I don’t carry a designer bag.

My routine has been the same since childhood: throw my dirty laundry in the hamper and come back home to find my room miraculously tidy. We’ve always had two maids at home, and we’re only 4 people.

About 6 years back I did my first laundry load, it was summer vacation and we were spending 3 months at our apartment in Cairo. Someone had to do the laundry.

It was a front loading washing machine and I used Persil liquid detergent, a light blue liquid with an ambiguous but pleasant flower scent. At the absence of a dryer I had to hang the clothes to dry, and being on the 11th floor, that meant hanging them INSIDE the balcony and not out.

Since then I’ve only hand washed woolen cardigans and lace delicates, but never a pair of jeans. Until one of the maids had to leave.

It was just another ordinary day, got back home from college, threw my scrubs and lab coat in the hamper and went for a nap, woke up to find my mom washing my scrubs. So I had her teach me how.

As it turns out, using a washing machine isn’t as complicated once u read what all those little buttons and lights say. Also, always read the label on your clothes. ALWAYS! And now, yours truly is familiar with laundry. Oh so proud of myself!

P.S. NEVER wash your favourite tie dye t-shirt with anything, really. wash it on it’s own. I am very serious.

Fancy A Spot of Tea Love?

2010-11-12T03:09:00.003+03:00

I am having as severe a writer’s block as I’ve never had. I still have no idea how I managed to write my latest review on Divan, really, it was some sort of miracle.

I’ve been stuck with an unsatisfactory first paragraph of the latest part of the “Love” series. The ideas are so clear in my head, but the words refuse to yield to me. And so I photograph! Hooray for photography!

One thing I love is tea, and what is better than to photograph something you love. In this show and tell blog entry, I will be introducing all types of tea I found around the house: mine, my mother’s and my sister’s, as my dad takes Lipton tea, in bags.

Main types of tea, according to levels of oxidization, are:
1- Black, most oxidized.
2- Oolong, less oxidized. Though some types have a caffeine content akin to that of a cup of coffee.
3- Green, even less oxidized.
4- White, minimal oxidization.

And there is Herbal tea, sometimes made out of flowers such as Hibiscus, or fruit such as Rosehip, or plants such as Rooibus.

I'm not a big fan of the bitter footnote of some teas, as i take my tea with no sugar. Lemon grass, on the other hand, is a pleasant addition to Ceylon tea.

We’ll start with my most favourite black tea:
Earl Grey: a Mixture of black teas from China, India and SriLanka, with Bergamot oil rubbed into the leaves.

Oolong:
Formosa Oolong Ming Xiang: Heavier than most Formosa, with fruit notes. Very good studying tea, in my opinion.

Green:
Japanese Cherry Green Tea: Green tea from Japan and China, cherry pieces, silver tips. A light tea, very subtle.

Shogun: Green tea from China and India, apple pieces, raspberry pieces and rhubarb pieces. A light, subtle flavour.

Herbal:
Chinese Wuyuan Jasmine

Firey Rooibus: Rooibus tea, cinnamon bits, orange peel, cloves.

Orange Rooibus: Rooibus tea, orange peel

And now you know what tea really looks like!

Part Trois: Love and Marriage

2010-10-26T23:28:00.003+03:00

I have a wonderful cousin who’s just around 24 years old who wants to get married. And guess who’s duty it is to find the lucky lady? You guessed it! Yours truly has been bride shopping lately!

He’s been looking for a bride for over a year now. Whenever he met a girl he fancied he’d call me and ask me to meet her for coffee, which I do. And they were all perfectly sweet young ladies. Until they weren’t.

One wanted him to never talk to me or see me again. Another wanted him to stop visiting mom so frequently. A third one wanted him to stop seeing his childhood friends. A fourth one went enquiring about the market value of his family business. Sweethearts, weren’t they?

And that was when my mother suggested we do things more traditionally. My second cousin’s college bestfriend’s sister in law has a third cousin twice removed… you get the picture.

Now don’t run amok saying Asmaa wants all the girls to get boyfriends, I’m just not a fan of checking out a girl as if she were merchandise on display.

Her skin’s too dark, her skin’s too light. Her hair’s curly. She’s fat. She goes to medical school, does she intend to work after she graduates? No, after 6 excruciating years and an internship I intend to stay at home. They pry into the tiniest details of girl’s life and it’s not them getting married, it’s a guy she wont meet until both families agree on the terms of purchase. I feel terrible checking girls out, really!

The girl doesn't get to talk much. After the mothers talk, the girl is called into the room and most of the time just sits quietly on a sofa since both mothers already discussed everything there is to be known about the girl and the guy. As she sits there observing the ritual I sit on another sofa observing her and feeling like a slave merchant. Remember that scene in The Gladiator? I bet Russell Crowe wasn't required to be able to cook, clean, do laundry, iron and not break a sweat.

Families agreeing with each other is important, since you marry the family not the girl. But how about he meets her and not me? He can provide me with a list of his demands but it wont be like meeting her.

What I would really like for him is to meet a girl who can accept him for who he is, with whom he shares a common goal. Someone he’s comfortable being himself around, who wont judge him.

First two parts:
Part One: L-O-V-E
Part Two: Love is...

Book Cover

2010-09-22T16:56:00.002+03:00

If this were a novel, would you buy it?

Hijri Birthday

2010-09-19T21:22:00.004+03:00

N.B. no, i dont have two birthdays a year, i'd be lucky if i got anything on either date or anything at all.

I totally forgot it was my Hijri birthday! came back home after having lunch with mama to find Isso and some friends with this!!! and coloured flame candles! ♥♥♥

just in case you have no idea what this is, it's the cover to my favourite Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of The Moon"...

and now, muzik!

Happy Eid!

2010-09-10T09:18:00.000+03:00

Part Deux: Love is...

2010-09-07T06:15:00.005+03:00

This is what I think love is:

and these are the replies i got on Twitter:

and from @Khaled_ca:

From @HopelessP:

Love, how can it be defined
Ruled by the heart or the mind
Opens your eyes or makes you blind
Heaven or hell that you may find

You will never know when to fall
And you lose yourself control
And the changes in your heart and soul
And your willingness to give it all

The nights you spend all awake
Thinking if it is right or a big mistake
The things you will do for the other's sake
The eternal happiness or the heartbreak

Love is that indescribable feeling
It is the pure air, which you are inhaling
When you are sick, it has the healing
The compass that guide you when you are sailing

It gives you wings when you need to fly
And builds castles up in the sky
It makes you laugh and makes you cry
And it makes your tears run dry

Love is that what mends a broken heart
And keeps it safe from all the spite
Even if it is love that broke that heart in the start
Only God knows how many will be broken tonight

Edit: From comments

From @Qusay_:
"the real meaning of love?
That it just is and never yearns"
Prince - Last December

From Chiara:
"Falling in love is so akin to bipolar disorder (manic-depression) that in some studies the newly in love are used as a control group for the bipolars"

Got an answer? put it in a reply and i'll add it up here.

Part Un: L-O-V-E?

2010-09-05T08:42:00.006+03:00

Sonnet 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose Worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
- William Shakespeare

I’m sleepy, exhausted and rambling. Bear with me.

So, What is “love”? If you answered “a hormonal state”, I’d very much agree with you! “A matter of the heart”? Not much so, I’m afraid.

I love my mother and my little sister, it’s not “hormonal”. Is it “a matter of the heart”? There is an undeniable attachment, but that could simply be habitual. Like an addiction.

I love my friends, well some of them at least, and that’s not hormonal nor is it habitual. It is a very conscious decision, a logical sort of “love”.

I love Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”, anyone who’s heard that album would call my love irrational. Who’d love an album on death, war, greed and nothingness?

It sounds so perfect the way Shakespeare puts it. But has anyone else found that perfect love or was Shakespeare and everyone who’s ever written about love fascinated by a “love” described by an innominate at time immemorial?

There is the attraction, the hormonal part, the part concerned with our survival, which I think we can all agree to. Then comes the moral conduct, the commitment, the relationship. The two together make “love”, but what if one of them were missing?

1

He was attracted to the girl, addicted to her, the weight of the biological needs of the entire human race were pushing him towards her, but he was married to another woman. Is he attracted to the woman with which he shares the moral conduct of a relationship? I cannot tell you. Should he break that moral conduct and forge a new one with his new “drug”? I was hoping you can tell me.

2

He wanted to make her a home, provide for her, make her feel safe. Why her? She fit his description of the person who would make his life complete. Does he want children with her? Yes. Does he feel a pressing urge to be close to her, to touch her skin or smell her hair? No. He’s here to listen to her talk about her long day, her hobbies of which he knows nothing, the books she reads which make no sense to him. But he never told her how beautiful she was. Did he even think she’s beautiful?

That's it for today, ladies and gents. If I come across any more thoughts I'll make sure i share them with you.

Mazurka of The Sambousa

2010-08-11T21:35:00.003+03:00

Ramadan Kareeem! wishing u a wonderful Ramadan!

I wanted to make it a Valse, but they're too long for a 42 second video...

Veggie Picnic

2010-07-04T19:02:00.004+03:00

For those of you who haven't heard yet, i'm a vegetarian. I have been a vegetarian for a good 6 years. My lovely fellow vegetarian, Khayra, and I decided to have a vegetarian picnic on Saturday.

The weather was gorgeous, 7amdolila! And it was so calm and peaceful <3 We had veggie burgers, cupcakes, watermelon, cantaloup, pears, organic candy and chocolate.

Do I make you feel like flying a kite yet?

Fairooz

2010-06-26T14:14:00.006+03:00

look at what i just made xD so friggin proud of myself, so dont rain on my parade!

and fav the original on dA here

Wuff!

2010-06-24T05:49:00.003+03:00

I am a cat person, I love my Ophelia Bubbles. Got home after the shoot to hug and squeeze the poor little thing. I promise a cat post insha'allah!

A few friends and I had a little get together with 3 dogs: Darwin, Bella and Cinnamon for a photoshoot in the sun. Most of us showed up in summer dresses. Cute, don't you think?

Darwin is smaller in size than Bella and Cinnamon. He's been in a pet shelter for about 5 years before my friend picked him up. Before he got to the shelter he was thrown in the desert to die by Pest Control. He's so calm and quiet.

Bella and Cinnamon are big, noisy, smelly though they've showered and wont stay put!

Photos!!

Bella

Cinnamon and Bella

Bella and Cinnamon

Darwin <3

On raising children and trust.

2010-06-19T16:11:00.003+03:00

This was a pretty long post, so i decided to split it in half.

My mom came back from work the other day and told me this story. It stars a colleague, the colleague’s husband, the colleague’s 15 year old daughter and headmistress to the daughter’s school.

Keep in mind that my mother is a school supervisor, as are all her colleagues, they attend classes in different schools and instruct teachers about their teaching.

As anyone who’s been to a Saudi school knows, the last two weeks or so before finals are redundant. We’re all unofficially dismissed to stay at home and study. The daughter wanted to attend a day before finals just to hang out with her friends. As she got dressed and on their way out of the house, the mother noticed her daughter wearing trousers and a t-shirt instead of the school uniform.

After scolding her and telling her to wear her uniform, the mother asks the daughter whether or not she’s wearing trousers under the uniform.

Daughter: “I swear I’m not”
Mother: “lift your uniform and show me!!”

And the daughter lifts her uniform to show bare legs. She takes her to school. While the mother was at work, she receives a call from the headmistress.

Headmistress: “Your daughter is wearing trousers! Pick her up from school immediately!”
Mother: “My daughter isn’t wearing trousers”
Headmistress: “Yes she is! Pick her up now! This is unacceptable!”
Mother: “What colour are the trousers?”
Headmistress: “Beige”
Mother: “My daughter doesn’t own beige trousers”
Headmistress: “It was brown then!”
Mother: “My daughter doesn’t own brown trousers either. Are you sure it’s my daughter you’re talking about?”
Headmistress: “Yes I’m sure it is! Pick her up from school now! We do not tolerate such behaviour!”

After picking her daughter up from school, the mother interrogated her. She found out that one of her friends returned a borrowed pair of red trousers to her at school, though she swore she didn’t wear them then and that the headmistress was lying. She then beat up her daughter using a belt, she even specified using the buckled end, despite her daughter’s begging and crying.

The mother was telling this story at work as a tale of a disobedient child. As my mom expressed her strong rejection to the colleague’s methods, the colleague felt sorry for her kid and decided to confront the headmistress the next day.
Upon sharing her concern with the father later on, the father simply said: “well, what if our daughter was lying?”

I’m speechless. I’m utterly and completely disappointed at those who supervise our teachers! If those are the supervisors, what am I to expect of the teachers?

To take the headmistress’ word and not your own daughter’s? Show a shred of trust in the child you raised, or was she showing her lack of trust in her own mothering?

Do you agree to physical disciplinary manners such as hitting, spanking or slapping? Yes or no.
A slap is a smack and a spank is a blow, hitting is physical whether it is a bit or much. Please don’t hit your children. If their parents hit them, what would they say when the rest of the world treats them in such a manner?

Of Labaniyah And Writing On Books

2010-06-04T01:51:00.003+03:00

N.B. This was always intended to be a photojournal. Enjoy!

Labaniyah, second to strawberry jam and quince marmalade, was one of the earliest types of sweets I came to know as a child. It's a sort of traditional Makkawi dessert, along with Laddo, Hareesiyah, Taheeniya (and get the baladi type, not the supermarket stuff!).

Those are photos of Labaniyah and Hareesiyah, I couldn't find *cough*ate*cough* Laddo.

Labaniyah is made of milk, sugar and cardamom, sometimes topped with pistachio.

Hareesiyah is made of white flour, sugar and cardamom. The flour is cooked in ghee first until it turns brown.

And now, the part on books.

Books, the old school type made out of paper and not those you read on your iPad, bring back a lot of memories. How paper feel at your fingertips, the yellowing edges, the smell of paper. Each crease and folded corner holds a meaning. I used to dry flowers in my books on my trips, can't for the life of me find them.

I like to keep my books spotless, but when i receive books as gifts they usually include dedications. If a dedication isn't written, I demand one. Here's an assortment of the penmanship of my lovely friends. I just want to hug these books!

And now the second hand books. Those books that already lived. Precious.

Some books pose as landmarks in your own history, such as the first or last book of a series. Too bad I had no date on the Anne Rice books.

The first of "The Vampire Chronicles", sometime around grade 9 or 10.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. I was in torn jeans, a black t-shirt and had blue hair, pulled my dad into the bookstore, grabbed a copy, hugged it and begged him to get me it. Spent 14 hours in the airport waiting for a delayed flight, during which I read the entire thing. Regretted that later on during the unbelievably bumpy flight, could've used a distraction.

I may be meticulous with literature, but rather monstrous to my textbooks. I truly appreciate them, I do, but I need to memorise them as well! Do you do this to your books as well, treat literature nicely and textbooks indelicately?

I was good at anatomy, so good my book is falling apart. What were you so good at?

Another List

2010-06-03T18:46:00.009+03:00

Guess what I do when I’m frustrated? I make lists! And guess when I’m most frustrated? The wonderful month of June!

Welcome to the 1st list of the month of June, 2010!

1- fix bookcase drawers. Done!
2- arrange stuff in fixed drawers. Done!!
3- fix dresser drawers.
4- get light bulbs for my bedside table lamp.
5- tidy up. ALMOST DONE!! xD
6- buy a hard drive, that one with firewire.
7- get shoes from Abeer. Done!
8- buy those purple moccasins. Friggin broke. Done! Mama got me them for my birthday
9- find a dress to wear at my second cousin’s wedding. Done!
10- find a dress to wear to my cousin’s graduation party. Done!
11- get good sleep.
12- shoot the labaniyah, hareesiyah and laddo. Done!
13- eat the labaniyah, hareesiyah and laddo. Or not. Done!
14- get rid of this tension headache, sans painkillers.

15- edit Lujain's milkah photos.

P.S. If anyone would like to volunteer to fix the drawers, tidy up my room, give me a neck rub or get me those moccasins i want, I wouldn't object at all! you'd even get a hug and a cup of Turkish apple tea!

June 1st, '10

2010-06-01T16:15:00.001+03:00

I can’t give you contentment, if you depend on a person for it; you’ll never get it. People can provide fleeting happiness or sadness, but not contentment. This is something only you can provide for yourself. If I make you so unhappy that you become discontent, then you have a problem. I’m nowhere close to discontent when you make me unhappy.

Mood swings, even cats have those; along with dogs, hamsters and every other pet you can think of. Everyone on this planet has mood swings, even you.

I feel so friggin delusional. What was I thinking?

Us And Them

2010-05-28T13:54:00.001+03:00

“Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Guess you’ve all seen the “True Life. MTv Resist The Power: Saudi Arabia” by now, haven’t you? For those who didn’t, just follow this link and watch the entire thing, which is about an hour long

True Life. MTv Resist The Power: Saudi Arabia

Seen it now? Good. Firstly, I don’t appreciate MTv exploiting my country for entertainment. It IS entertainment, it’s not a documentary. It’s MTv, ladies and gents, don’t forget that!

Every Saudi blogger blogged about it, many of which I agree with their points of view. So as not to bore you with repetitiveness, I’ll keep the talk about it to the minimal and instead talk about how people reacted to it! Fun, don’t you think?
A bit about the video:

Firstly, the poor delusional Aziz. Guess nobody told him yet that George Michael is homosexual, that’s proly why the girl broke up with him.

Secondly, I don’t know what you think about coloured abayas, but I only got my 1st black one 2 years ago. I’m 23, not 13. My first abaya was a black one for 50 SR that I used the duration of 5th and 6th grade at school, by the end of those two years it was torn, painted, stapled and glued. Since then I got navy blue, then grey, then a striped grey abaya.

When I first met Fatima in her purple abaya last year I went back home to rummage through my old abayas but they were old and frayed.

Now, Ahmed! Wonderful job and a strong driving force, allah y5aleek lena.

The metal heads, it’s been ages since I’ve seen them metal heads. Brings back so many memories! I still appreciate me a good Opeth, Kalmah or In Flames. I can’t play music to save my life. Trust me, I’ve been trying to play piano since I was 9; but I could tell Chopin’s Nocturne no.2 in Eb, Op.9 from his Prelude no.4 in E minor, Op. 28. Just don’t count on me to play it.

AND the part you were all waiting for! What astounded me (I was going to use the word “flabbergasted” but thought I’d save you the trouble of so many letters) is the reception of this video. I’m not saying the video was perfect, but keep in mind that this is MTv entertainment.

I’ll spare you what was said about Aziz, since I believe he’s mistaken love for hormones. But then again, isn’t that love? Anyway, this is some of what was said about Fatima, notice how these blows are mostly dealt below the belt.

I took the liberty of not mentioning the ones that say that those girls are going to hell, since it includes severe misinterpretation of Islam.

Here are the racist comments, basically all stating that those are not “real” Saudi. Need I remind you “real” Saudis that a 100 years ago you didn’t have a country while we had a nationality, cutlery and chocolate. You should be thankful King Abdulaziz gave you a nationality, he could’ve simply ignored you as did the Ottomans; so play nice now. Sorry for sounding so racist.

The ones blaming us for the floods. So should we cancel the exploitation trials?

Then there is this drama queen who got a tummy ache and smashed his laptop screen as a result of seeing the video, since smashing his laptop screen is the ultimate solution to end these sinful acts.

How can we forget the conspiracy theorists? There were a good number of those, but such long comments about how the “west” is going to infiltrate our infrastructure (what infrastructure?!) using those videos of important Saudi locations!

Finally, those standing up for the girls. There are two types: the ones saying the girls did nothing Islamically wrong, and the type focusing on all the other bad things girls are doing and how those are actually good.

Not to mention the group on facebook opposing it.

And those filing for another “mujahara bil ma39iya” (boasting of sinful acts) claims against Aziz, Fatima and the metal heads. Guess we’ll know how that went by Sunday. They’re filing it on Saturday.

The song from which the title of this post comes, i suggest you google the awesome lyrics.

Down With Shawerma!

2010-05-21T09:46:00.002+03:00

So, when I read about banning shawerma in Al-Ahsa during the summer in a local newspaper a while ago I thought it was joke. Until Ahmed mentioned that he haven’t had one in ten days. Need I remind you that we have 330 days of summer in this country? And I’m just being optimistic.

The reason behind this ban is that many have suffered from food poisoning after having shawerma from a number of different venues. And as Ahmed mentioned, it’s a lazy way to deal with the matter, instead of investigating it why not simply ban shawerma altogether?

And did I mention they banned mayonnaise in sandwiches too? Yes! Finally someone took a stand against mayo! No, this time I am seriously cheering them on. With increasing obesity in a country that prevents half it’s population from exercise for religious reasons, mayo should be banned.

Shawerma is one of the relatively healthier food options, considering that almost all our national dishes require killing an animal and using all it’s body fat to flavour the obscene amounts of rice that come with it. Did I mention that I’m a vegetarian?

Obesity, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis and heart diseases are alarmingly increasing. The majority of Saudi women have decreased levels of Vitamin D, many suffer from osteoporosis.

We inherit our eating habits from our mothers, and our mothers inherit their eating habits from their mothers and so on. We don’t eat food because it is good for us, we eat food because we think it’s good for us.

Those fed more vegetables than meat, such as yours truly, end up veggie eaters. Others, such as most of our society, who are taught that meat is best food one could have, and offer, as it indicate nutritional value and socio-financial status end up devouring obscene amounts of meat; and what goes nicely with meat? Obscene amounts of fat soaked rice. Atherosclerosis, anyone? Comes with a side of bacon.

If you can’t/won’t fix your own eating habits, the least you can do is fix those of your children at a young age. They will eat what YOU put on their plate, and so will your grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

إرهاب الشوارع

2010-05-17T22:41:00.005+03:00

Ladies and gents, this is a very important message put in a very professional matter. And it comes in HD too!

This is made by Ala'a Al Maktoum who lives in Saudi Arabia. He describes himself as a "designer. musician. amateur photographer. obsessed with multimedia and movies. KFUPM graduate in architecture."

English subtitles added in the annotations.

Ninja Pissed Off At Love

2010-05-15T05:51:00.005+03:00

This ninja (girl ninja) was given to me by Mazin for my birthday a few years ago. Along with some x-mas lights et voilà!

Now, I need human models. Any volunteers?

Genetic Diseases, Do We Have A Chance?

2010-05-13T05:08:00.004+03:00

Public education is supposedly the most effective way to educate a large number of people. Medical students are required to carry out two public education campaigns throughout their medical years, one in 4th year and one in 5th year. Not to mention the numerous sporadic campaigns.

One would think that after so many years of sending out approximately 800 students a year to educate the masses in each city with a medical college, someone MUST have gotten whatever message they were trying to convey. Well, not exactly.

Hereditary genetic diseases is a large topic in Saudi Arabia. I wont bore you with statistics, simply because I don’t believe that the statistics we have are up to date and accurate. But the numbers are scary.

With consanguinity being not only the norm but at times the rule, hereditary diseases increase. Pre-marital screening is a must before a couple can marry, but the results have no effect on whether a couple can marry or not even if the results were disastrous.

Pre-marital screening includes Sickle Cell Anaemia, Thalassemia, HIV, Hepatitis B and C. Those diseases affect the offspring and the parents, and are not curable. Measures can be taken to ease the distress caused by those diseases but they affect the life of the patient until their untimely death.

Eg.1
A woman came in for pre-marital screening with her husband to-be, who happens to be her first cousin as well. He turned out to be HIV positive, she was cautioned by the clinician but still married the man. He’s her cousin, if she doesn’t marry him; who’d marry her?

She’s now HIV positive, and if she manages to have children; they’ll proly get it through vertical transmission. Need I mention that many in this country believe that contraceptive methods are against the will of God? Not having children is not an option.

Could you consider such a woman an adult sane of mind and heart?

To voluntarily contact HIV. She might be in love? Then kiss him, just don’t sleep with him, use his toothbrush or have children with him.

How did her cousin contact HIV? In this society; he doesn’t have to tell, he’s a man. Want to bet it wasn’t a bad blood transfusion in a near death state?

Eg.2
A woman came in for pre-marital screening with her husband to-be, who happens to be her first cousin as well (sense a pattern here?), all of her sisters are married to all of his brothers. One child, at least, from each of those marriages happens to have a particular hereditary genetic disease. Do you honestly think it’s a coincidence?

Does this couple to-be-wed really need pre-marital screening? The results are living and breathing in front of their very eyes, not for long though.

If the main purpose of this marriage is the children, then isn’t choosing the best mate to produce healthy strong offspring top of the list? As I mentioned previously, not marrying their cousins is not an option, not having children is not an option.

The results of those marriages, those children coming into the world with variable degrees of impairments, what is to happen to them?

Some parents take care of them, whether their child is a sickler* or a Down Syndrome. They provide them with love and care, and spend their last halala** on health care until the child meets their creator.

Others don’t. I’m not going to start on how well their raise their genetically intact children (sense the sarcasm here?), so think about how well they’ll take care of those who can’t look after themselves and need more attention. There are so many genetic diseases, the ones we test for are only the tip of the iceberg in this deep pool of consanguinity. Those diseases come with variations of mental and physical impairments, and the need for care, love and support. Three things many in our society are reluctant to show to their own parents.

Do you think, one day, we'll be able to announce to the world that we are a Thalassimia free country? or Sickle Cell Anaemia free country?

Ok, I’m done ranting for now. I was too pissed off.

* Sickler = sickle cell anemia patient
** Halala = 1/100 of a riyal. In other words, a Saudi penny.

Top Ten Works of Literature I’ll Definitely Have My Children Read

2010-05-08T03:13:00.008+03:00

if I ever do have children, that is...

I was tagged by Fadia quite a while ago for my “Top Ten” of anything. At first I was about to write my “Top Ten Beatles Songs”, but that list changes too rapidly as I adore all Beatles songs. So I decided on “Top Ten Works of Literature I’ll Definitely Have My Children Read”. So silly of me to think it would be easy to construct such a list!

I will not bore you with book reviews, those are a dime a dozen. Everyone writes a book review.

10- Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig's
Pure genius!

9- Oryx And Crake – Margaret Atwood
Dystopic and postapocalyptic, what’s there not to love?

8- Sherlock Holmes, the complete novels and sotries – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
There was a time at high school when I knew every one of his stories, word for word.

7- The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde
This man is unbelievably witty!

6- Mrs Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
So beautifully written, it brings tears to my eyes.

5- The Vampire Chronicles – Anne Rice
Read them all during high school. Anne Rice, Virginia Woolf and Sir Arhur Conan Doyle shaped the manner in which I write and speak. Combining Sherlock Holmes, Mrs Dalloway and Lestat de Lioncourt would result in yours truly.

4- العبرات - المنفلوطي
The only Arabic book I read and respected. Read at the age of 13, all Arabic literature I attempted to read afterwards had no flavour.

3- Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
Unexpected and true. Never felt characters this alive before.

2- The Unbearable Lightness Of Being – Milan Kundera
It made me rethink my life.

Drum roll please!

1- Notes From The Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky
This book gave me unbelievable insight.

Books in the photo, Top to Bottom: Notes From The Underground, Mrs. Dalloway, Blackwood Farm, Sherlock Holmes Vol.I, Sherlock Holmes Vol.II, Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance, Oryx And Crake, The Importance Of Being Earnest, The Unbearable Lightness Of Being, Anna Karenina, العبرات.

P.S. Yes, I own all the books in the photo.

P.P.S. I TAG EVERYONE WHO READS THIS TO WRITE A TOP TEN OF ANYTHING THEY ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT! xD

Thursday, May 6th '10

2010-05-06T20:32:00.002+03:00

- A friend of mine, whom I shot during “Donate A Smile For KAUH”, just called me and in a very upset tone told me that a girl spoke to her today about how students are badmouthing the girls who appeared in the video. She was hurt and asked that I remove her photo from my blog post. She doesn’t mind the video but I’ve seen my photos reach chain letters before and it wasn’t pretty at all. She’s my friend and she kindly agreed to be part of the project, I wouldn’t want to hurt her in any way. If any of my lovely readers is to find my photos on any website/blog/chain letter/facebook group, please be kind enough to inform me.

- Duha’s sister is having a graduation party tonight insha’allah! Took photos of them dentists last week so they can use it during the party/keepsake. Colourful scrubs and awesome socks!
Still, medical students and dentists are the worse models. I am the one holding the camera, you do as I say, it’s pretty simple really. I’ll let you judge if my model has a class III malocclusion and you’ll let me instruct you during the photo shoot. Alrightie?

- Bought my friends a pair of vintage polas a while ago. Here are photos of the cameras. I think polas are awesome, but I’d rather invest in something more traditional, the like a nice vintage medium format.
Photos!

Now I have me a piece of watermelon before I have to get ready for the party.

Breast Cancer Awareness and Post Earth Hour.

2010-05-04T13:56:00.005+03:00

The lazy bum I am, I have tons of blogging to catch up with.

First in order of business, you must all follow Nessreen Diana's Podcast! NOW! it's hilarious and located HERE at Jeddah Podcast!

Dr. Samia Al Amoudi hosted a breast cancer awareness day on March 21st with Prof. Benjamin Anderson and KAUH faculty members at Il Villaggio restaurants.

AND post earth hour photos! Isso made sure we had earth hour at home, I was at Coffee Republic studying for an exam. too lazy to get the tripod from my room...

P.S. the raspberry chocolate cake was AWESOME!!

Umayyad Mosque

2010-04-26T00:54:00.003+03:00

Firstly, i have a head splitting headache. been going on for two days now.
Secondly, i wish i shot more during my trip to Lebanon. This is from my little visit to Syria.

It is located in Damascus, it used to be a Basilica, and a Jupiter temple before that.

there's a colour version of it on my Flickr

Assisted Suicide

2010-04-04T19:41:00.003+03:00

This was written for my Medical Ethics one-page assignment:

Assisted suicide is when a patient asks their doctor to put them to eternal rest. In many countries this practice is either considered murder or assisting in murder, other countries have no law regarding it but still prosecute on the same grounds.

In a world where only you, justice, beneficence, non-maleficence and autonomy of the patient exist, would you assist your patient to achieve such an end?

“Primum non nocere”, or “First do no harm”, is first principle of our practice. Our sole purpose is to carry out our patient’s will to improve, as we cannot force treatment upon a patient. All we can do is offer our help and hope they accept it. We exist for them.
If a hypothetical patient were in severe pain from a chronic incurable disease and after everything was done to make this patient comfortable; he asks you to put him out of his misery. He’s going to take his own life anyway, and instead of trying and missing he wanted you to be there to make sure the first time’s the charm. Would you do it?

He is, in fact, dying; and in excruciating pain. Pain is bad, we need to relieve his pain but his pain killers are not strong enough. It is your duty as his physician to carry out his wishes and insure his best interest in relation to the four main principles of medical ethics. Putting him out of his misery would be a practice of his autonomy, and justice to other patients as they will get more attention from you and a bed will be vacant for a new arrival, it is beneficent when considering his pain but is it really non-maleficent? Death is what we try to avoid, but if death is the only way to relieve his pain; should we lead him to the guillotine?

Some may argue that in such a case a patient would be mentally unstable due to the pain, others may suggest a million different scenarios which would make me sound like a cold-blooded murderer. Furthermore, I wouldn’t know if death were to be truly a rest for that patient.

I simply would not assist in a patient’s suicide due to fear of prosecution, but I do believe that relieving a patient’s pain using whatever method they choose is one of their simplest rights. I cannot force a patient to be treated and to live better, neither can I force a patient not to die.

P.S. Keep in mind:
- This is set in a world where only you, the patient and those four principles apply.
- Suicide is frowned upon by Abrahamic religions, but not all religions/sects.
- Seppuku is honorable.
- Not all your patients will be of your own set of beliefs.

Punctuality and Smiling

2010-03-26T18:52:00.003+03:00

Case I:

The doctor arrived half an hour late. As she started speaking, Mariem raised her hand and asked: “Can you please explain to us why you were late? We have the right to know”, and the doctor replied that she was on her way from a conference and traffic is a matter out of her hands.

Her explanation on why she was late did not come out easily. Mariem had to repeat her question several times and girls in the background kept whispering “how could she ask that?!” “Would the doctor allow her to ask that?” “oh my God the doctor’s going to kick her out of class”. I think Mariem’s question was perfectly legitimate.

Call me a punctual freak, but we can all be late for class every morning following her logic. Solutions include:
1- Leaving the conference early.
2- Calling in to say she’ll be late.
3- Postponing the session back to it’s original time, as we moved it forward to accommodate her schedule.

Case II:

I believe I owe everyone an explanation as to why “Donate A Smile for KAUH” was removed, edited and reposted.

On Wednesday, a very long and elaborate email reached every doctor holding an administrative position at KAU medical school reprimanding the students who made this offensive video and how disciplinary actions shall be taken against those three students, as this video is “mujahara bil ma39iya”*.

A number of doctors stood up for us against the sender of this email, how they made him see reason is beyond my understanding; but thankfully we wont be prosecuted.

Original post [click here]

The edited video:

Two girls in this video have their headscarves adjusted in photoshop, guess which!

P.S. Don't forget to watch Kalam Nawa3em on MBC, March 28th at 11pm. They're showing a piece on Donate A Smile For KAUH! and if you miss it, watch it online, it's episode number 321.

P.S.S. Earth Hour is Saturday! Be nice to Gaia!

* "mujahara bil ma39iya" is boasting of sinful acts. punishable under Saudi law.

Origami and Quiche

2010-03-23T01:17:00.002+03:00

Four hours of forensics every morning is rather exhausting, and four hours in the afternoon of medical ethics isn't a piece of cake either. Forensics is fun, a LOT of fun, really, but waking up at 7 am isn't exactly my cup of tea.

Went over to Amna's today. Made origami and spinach quiche, which was absolutely scrumptious (and i'm not saying that because we made it, it really was good xD )

Two nesting birds. Mine's the blue one, Amna's is the red one.

Amna making a yellow crane.

Amna's yellow crane and my purple crane.

Puppies! dedicated to Jeej :D

The zoo.

Quiche!

Don't You Dare Smile!

2010-03-21T15:22:00.003+03:00

"Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws."
— Douglas Adams

King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH) is a teaching hospital. Periodic meetings are held by the hospital director and faculty members; nothing out of the ordinary here.

In a recent meeting, “Donate A Smile For KAUH” video was criticized. As a student, I wasn’t included in the meeting but bad news travel fast. A number of faculty members consider our video a form of “mujahara bil ma39iya” (boasting of sinful acts. which is punishable in this country), and are calling for it’s removal off YouTube.

Though the majority of faculty and students agree that the video succeeded in achieving it’s purpose (which is making people smile), some believe that it speaks of our decadent selves. I still don’t understand how us making a video about smiling would lead certain individuals to label us as morally degraded.

A technical note, if I may:
- Permission from KAUH director and Dean of Medicine were taken before the shooting started.
- All individuals appearing in the video signed a consent form.
- All shooting was done within hospital boundaries.

Do you think our video is offensive to you as a Saudi/Muslim/KAUH inhabitant? If so, please explain the manner in which you find it offensive.

Do you believe the video should be removed?

Any suggestions?

Original Post [Click Here]

P.S. Don't forget to watch Kalam Nawa3em on MBC, March 28th at 11pm. They're showing a piece on Donate A Smile For KAUH! and if you miss it, watch it online, it's episode number 321.

VOTE! NOW!

2010-03-15T19:42:00.002+03:00

VOTE for my friend Rayan Kattoua's music mix! it's amazing... listen to the original then give it a listen!

Monday, March 15th '10

2010-03-15T03:06:00.007+03:00

- My BB’s working again! And downloaded Seesmic, since UberTwitter wont download *pout*

-A late Happy Pi Day to everyone! Hope you had an amazing day!

- Final in 7 hours, I’m freaking out. And what do I do what I freak out? I either clean or blog.

- You are such a sweetheart, really.

- Ran out of maroon nail polish. Had to remove it from my hands anyway, since I can’t show up at an exam with nail polish on. Kept it on my toes though. I like how nail polish makes me feel pretty, like mascara does.

- Got a number of weddings coming up. When you see girls in gowns, you realize that each one of them knows her best features and flaunts them. Whether it’s her hair, eyes, lips, bosoms, waist, hips or legs. They KNOW what God gave them, but what if I’m oblivious? A tad lost on how to wear my skin.

- I misplaced my saree. I did NOT lose it, I simply misplaced it and I shall find it insha’allah.

- I am dying to dye my hair blue again. But I wont. I shall not dye my hair. 5ala9!

- I need to take this set of drawers back to IKEA.

P.S. watch Kalam Nawa3em on MBC, March 28th at 11pm. They're showing a piece on Donate A Smile For KAUH [click here]! and if you miss it, watch it online, it's episode number 321

Parasol

2010-03-05T20:30:00.001+03:00

For the record, I absolutely cannot STAND the original. No offense intended. But this is plain awesome xD

إلي على راسو بطحة يحسس عليها*

2010-03-01T09:00:00.004+03:00

* What is the English equivalent of that saying? It basically means that whoever has done anything wrong in secret thinks that everything said in public is about what they did.

I wasn’t lashing out at you, the only thing I mentioned was how I felt. My own process of thought as I stumbled, as that entry was meant to help me figure out what to do. I wasn’t washing your dirty laundry in public, it’s only my knickers on display here.

So, chill. I’m sorry you think I still blame you for anything, because I don’t. Not at all. I perfectly understand. You’re not the enemy, but I’d still rather keep my distance.

P.S. Assumptions were made as to who you are. Well, guess what? Eli 3ala raso ba67a, y7assis 3alaiha*.

P.P.S. If my last blog entry caused you any distress or discomfort, I apologize. Even if it weren't you who was meant by it.

P.P.P.S. Now reading my blog isn’t such a futile practice, isn’t it?

I've Been Downhearted Baby

2010-02-20T17:49:00.003+03:00

“Is it in his face?
Oh no, it's just his charms.
In his warm embrace?
Oh no, that's just his arms.
If you wanna know if he loves you so, it's in his kiss.” –Cher

What if he never embraced you, let alone kissed you? Whenever you sit at his table he gets up and whenever you enter a room he leaves? He clearly states his wishes to provide whatever you want/need, though he is not physically impaired he is subconsciously driven away from you.

It ended before it even began. Or was this it’s full course?

How can someone who spoke to you for hours as a friend in past years instantaneously avoid you simply because he decided to spend the rest of his life with you?

Does any of this make sense to you? It doesn’t make much sense to me.

Then those malignant thoughts start building up. Did he realize he shouldn’t’ve asked you to marry him? Is he ashamed of you? Did he realize he wanted someone else? Does he think you’re fat? Was your friendship even real? Were all those years him pretending? You can’t help these thoughts, they push their way through your busiest moments.

Not to mention the little habits you had as friends as they start bugging you. You can’t/won’t text him before college/work. You can’t/won’t send him photos of stuff before you buy them. You can’t/won’t call him to rant about your day.

Would you hate him? To forgive and forget is a wonderful concept, easier said than implemented. He left you so you won’t hate him. But can you truly forgive him for that?

The 7th Scientific Conference For Medical Students In The GCC Countries

2010-02-15T01:40:00.003+03:00

A.k.a. GCC7 [click here]

The conference we worked so hard for since last year is FINALLY here 7amdolila!

Those are photos from Saturday and Sunday. I plan on sleeping in on Monday then presenting "Donate A Smile For KAUH" [click here] on Tuesday with Ibrahime and Ahad insha'allah!

Bassem speaking!

Prof. Mahmoud Shaheen Al Ahwal speaking

Ibrahime shooting

University of Jazan's booth! I am totally in love with them. they gave me loads of flowers (ful w ree7an)

Oum Al Qura University booth

Taibah University booth

King Saud University chocolate!

Meriem explaining stuff to a doctor

Samer with GCC7 chocolates

Writing says "Laish ma7ad wagif hina?" meaning: "why isn't anyone standing here?"

Hala waiting for me at the top of the escalator

Gathering girls for the workshops

Another workshop

And another workshop!

Yes, I like signs. If you haven't noticed yet, that is.

Stapling in all professionalism.

Donate A Smile For KAUH - Snapshots

2010-02-12T11:55:00.009+03:00

The "Photography" tab on my blog includes things I like: underexposure, light streaks, lens flare, double exposure. Things that are generally considered bad photography but I find to be fascinating! This project I am about to introduce required me to do the exact opposite: nice and clean photos.

"Donate A Smile For King AbdulAziz University Hospital" is a project by Asmaa Mohurji, Ahad Yamani and Ibrahim Khayat. Photos of KAUH inhabitants (as anyone who works at a hospital knows: you don't work there, you live there) including students, doctors, nursing staff, et cetera, all smiling, were arranged into a video.

P.S. I love my friends, they allow me to photographically abuse them!

My Duha <3

Zain and Lujain

Hashim and Hasan

Rafa, Renad and Loulwa

Abeer

Noura

Roah
Her dad promised me photos of his whole team and theater for his first operation of the day. As we got there we realized his OR was changed and the number wasn't on the board!
so Roah asked a nurse: "Do you know where my dad's OR is?"
Nurse: "Prof. Merdad?"
Roah: "Yeah, Doctor Mer... I mean, Prof. Merdad. Yes."
Nurse: "OR ##"
I just find it funny how children can't call their parents Prof/Engineer/Director/Et Cetera.

Shahad and Sara

Haneen

The nicest anesthesiologist I have ever met

Dr. Mazroa and Prof. Merdad

Ibrahim Khayat

Ahad and I, shot by my little sister. I turn quite pink in the heat.

All Photos Are Copyrighted To The Awesome Asmaa Mohurji. Please Do Not Steal. kthnxbai.

The old video we had to remove:

The edited video:

Two girls in this video have their headscarves adjusted in photoshop, guess which!

Haiku I

2010-01-31T22:22:00.004+03:00

Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry, consisting of 17 moras in three metrical phrases of 5, 7, and 5 moras respectively. Haiku typically contain a kigo and a kireji.

A kigo is a word or phrase that implies the season of the poem, while a kireji, or cutting word, typically appears at the end of one of the verse's three metrical phrases. a kireji lends the verse structural support, effectively allowing it to stand as an independent poem, or it may provide a dignified ending, concluding the verse with a heightened sense of closure.

There's much more to say about haiku, but that was the long story short.

1

A caterpillar,
this deep in fall
still not a butterfly.
[Matsuo Bashō]

2

Cover my head,
or my feet?
the winter quilt.
[Yosa no Buson]

3

Summer night,
even the stars
are whispering to each other.
[Kobayashi Issa]

4

Cozy and exposed,
 smooth n soft soles
 no ticklie! 
[Takrooni San]

5

like a whole pencil,
if used too much, i can snap
unpredictable.
[Aaliyah Beiruti]

P.S. If you wrote haiku, send me it and i'll include it with my next selection!

Amna finally has a BLOG!

2010-01-25T15:35:00.007+03:00

She finally gave in to my unrelenting, unabated nagging which lasted for about a year!

I'd like you all to welcome my lovely neighbor/bestfriend/ex-colleague/chocolate oranges lover/humanitarian/sweetheart Amna Fatani to the blog sphere at her new blog "I Will Always Be Me" [click here] . do give her a warm welcome and a comment or two!

These photos were taken during a random shoot at my house in early 2009, the next day Rafid informed us that Arabian Woman Magazine would like to interview Amna. Spent that day sitting with her on the bed, laptop in front of me and Abdullah Al Najjar on the phone helping us write our response to the magazine.

Other posts about Amna in chronological order:
- Untitled V: On Courage
- Ahmed Al-Omran's "Letter To Amna"
- Since Saturday
- Cupcakes
- Saturday, December 5th '09
- Thursday, December 10th '09
- So you thought girls can't drive here?

Exposure - Part Trois

2010-01-25T05:36:00.005+03:00

The main purpose of this blog was to be a photojournal. I think this is my first real effort at realizing what I made this blog for.

We never really change over time, we only become more fully who we are. The vampire Marius said that, I think. Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles" were a big part of my highschool years.

Those are mostly snapshots, only two of them are photographs that required a setting. They are arranged in chronological order. I'd like to see where I was and where I'm going, hoping it'll give me a better understanding of who I am.

I think Exif data is on most of them.
This timeline starts two months after I got the Canon 400D.
Again, those are snapshots.

18/10/2007 - Leaf at home.

18/11/2007 - Tulip at f/36

3/1/2008 - Rami

4/1/2008 - Door at Dr. Sami Angawi's residence, Al Makkiyah. Jeddah - Saudi Arabia

4/1/2008 - View from rooftop of Dr. Sami Angawi's residence, Al Makkiyah. Jeddah - Saudi Arabia. Doesn't it remind you of a Pink Floyd album cover?

19/8/2008 - Fahad with a lighter

19/8/2008 - Razan M's watch

4/10/2008 - Rayan Kattoua

4/10/2008 - Moe Habis

Friday, January 15th '10

2010-01-16T03:30:00.005+03:00

It’s a quarter to three*. But you don’t listen to jazz. We don’t have that much in common but when we’re together there’s always a sense of comfort. I decided not to question that but simply to enjoy it.

All weekend I’ve been receiving Blackberry messages about how a solar eclipse is a form of God’s wrath and how we should all repent because the end is near and our sins caused floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and, finally, the eclipse.

Which reminds me of a bearded man’s statement once in news paper. He confirmed to the reporter that earthquakes and volcanic eruptions have nothing to do with “nature” and “earth” but is God’s wrath. And that whoever claims that nature has anything to do with it calls to the corruption and degeneration of our Islamic beliefs.

Of course! Since plate tectonics and Newtonian physics (so is non-Newtonian physics, along with Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry, let alone any postulates) are all work of the devil, seeking to divert us from the righteous path.

To use the words of a Makkawi saying, and no offence or racism intended, “ana maktoob 3ala gafaya Hindi?!”** seriously now!

“Power” and “Wrath” are two different things. An eclipse shows God’s power and infinite wisdom. How he perfectly engineered this universe for us to witness these events at such time intervals as to make them seem miraculous to us. Those are not mistakes, they are placed carefully to awe us with the beauty of his creation.

The world doesn’t revolve around us. In the cosmic sense, we are nothing. The universe wouldn’t be any different if we didn’t exist and the 3rd rock from the sun would’ve been healthier and cleaner without us. We are just lucky God chose to create us and create a gravitational singularity to start all this, if you’re a Penrose-Hawking kinda guy.

la lune by ~lil-souma on deviant ART

Lunar eclipse, Aug 16th '08. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

* check Sinatra [here]
** literally translates to: "does it say "Hindi" on the back of my neck?" meaning "I wasn't born yesterday"

On Creepiness - Part Un

2010-01-02T21:43:00.003+03:00

Now with profile picture mandatorily visible on Facebook, a tiny bit of my privacy has been lost. I was one of those whom you could see nothing of their profile unless you added them. And I only add people I have met face to face before. My current Facebook profile picture is the same as the one I’m using here, but with the rest of the newspaper showing. Racy, ain’t it?

A gentleman has been trying to add me since October 2008 and I haven’t been accepting, simply because I don’t know him. He sent me a message asking if we know each other and I replied that we don’t. With this action of mine I gave him a glimpse of my profile which lasted a month (I think? A couple of weeks anyway). We have 22 friends in common, last time I checked.

I ignored his friend request later on. On the same day I ignored it, he sent me a new one! How did he find out that I ignored it? Was he constantly stalking my page to see when he can add me again, as that would indicate that I ignored the last add?

I think this is unbelievably creepy.

He kept changing his display picture into pictures of him with a very young child, which I am assuming is his son/daughter, some of which while in Makkah by the Kaa’ba. Now, explain to me this: if he is married and has a child, what is he doing harassing a 23 year old girl he doesn’t know and isn’t even replying to him?

He then proceeded to sending me 3 provocative messages to date. One saying: “you can cancel the add now” last July, another one saying: “Still thinking !!” last December and the last one received today saying: “ur ugly !”. I am baffled by his eloquence. I am assuming that the reason for those messages us to provoke me into replying to him so he can see my profile again. Creepy pervert hentai!

First message:

Other messages:

Words To Inspire + Donate A Smile For KAUH

2010-01-01T19:14:00.004+03:00

Our "Smile!" issue will be out soon insha'allah, and we have been featured in Oasis Magazine! Awesome, doncha think? The issue is just out, thanks to the lovely Jasmine! Now go buy the magazine! You can find it in Jareer Bookstore anywhere in Saudi Arabia and in many other places in the kingdom and out [click here for a list of places to find the magazine]

I'm starting a project called "Donate A Smile For KAUH" with the help of 3 wonderful photographers: Ahad Yamani, Ibrahim Khayat and Leena Koshak. The aim of this project is to take photos of the people working/living in King Abdulaziz University Hospital smiling and to make a video out of it. If you work or study in KAUH and would like to participate, details can be found here [click here]. Shooting will take place inside the hospital from Jan 2nd - 13th 2010.

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