Whenever anyone says “the weather is too good to be stuck at work” a certain memory pops into mind.
I was taking a course in Kuwait University one year, and it was a Wednesday. Back then Wednesdays ruled! Well on that day everything was especially glowing; the weather was changing…clouds were crowding the sky. Ah it was a perfect day for an outdoor brunch.
As I was walking to the class with my friend, another friend of ours joined us, and he spoke about how the weather was too good to be stuck in a class room. We all agreed and nodded along until we got to the class.
Three hours later, I was in a car with a bunch of other close friends and we headed to SAS to have brunch. I didn’t attend the rest of the classes that day and kicked the weekend off early. And on our way there we witnessed a car accident, the car turned over and crashed, lots of smoke and stuff, but we weren’t close enough and we continued our way to SAS. We spent a great time that weekend because of the lovely weather. That guy was right, the weather really was too good to be stuck in a classroom.
Come Saturday, a friend and I were walking to our class room, and we stopped at an announcement board to read what’s new. That’s when we saw that A4 paper with the bad news. Our friend who didn’t like being stuck in a class room on a cool weathered Wednesday skipped the rest of that day’s classes, just like I did, and he went to the gulf road instead, just like we did, and he, unlike us, had a car accident there. Passed away on the spot.
I can’t forget how eager and happy he was that it was finally the weekend. May God rest his soul and protect us all.
After going through many hotels on the net my brother decided on Hotel Chateau Frontenac. It was one of the more affordable ones and was close enough to the Champs Élysées. The hotel ended up being a very good choice. We needed a room with 3 beds coz we were 3, Me, my Brother, and Mr. ½ Cream Milk. So they gave us the junior suite, and we knew what a junior suite in a hotel in europe meant, it meant a room that fits 3 people (not fancy), nothing more and nothing less Read the rest of this entry »
I just came back from a one week vacation in Paris and I miss it already.
I spent the first day of Eid in Kuwait with my family and flew to Paris at night. We arrived in the morning and we didn’t spare a minute and went straight to La Duree for breakfast, after dropping our luggages at the hotel Read the rest of this entry »
Envy and el7asad is something mentioned in the Quran, it’s not something we’re debating nor questioning. But don’t you think we’ve been giving too much credit to the “Evil Eyes”?
People can’t have a bad thing going in their lives and not blame someone for the misfortune. No one can get into an accident anymore and not contribute it to an evil eye. it’s always 7asad, always an animus someone who has an eye out on them.
I knew it got out of hand when my brothers accused a post I did of causing harm to a member of our family. Yep they think my post had something to do with it. This means that il3ain il7arra can now travel through the internet!
I know another person who was telling me that she doesn’t share her travel plans anymore, reason being: “I went through many serious cases of 7asad and ended up not enjoying my vacation because I shared my plans with my relatives.”
Are people taking it too far? or maybe having an answer as to why things are going wrong and accusing an outsider is far more convenient than having to search for one’s mistakes.
I don’t know if I’m overly open when talking about things that are going in my life, or if people are getting overly secretive. One thing I know though.. People are giving way too much credit to il3ain il7ara.
My friend owns a ‘Cafe & Restaurant’ place in the Free trade zone near Villa Moda, and the Place is called Centro Cafe. They recently started offering food on their menu, however, the menu isn’t officially printed yet, and they wanted to have some pictures taken of some of their dishes. I was asked along with my 2 friends HBZ and ½ Cream Milk to do a photoshoot for the menu. We agreed!
My friend bo9ale7 who is the marketing guy at Bubbles diving center called me one day and said they’re arranging for a diving trip to Jeddah, in a place called Al laith to be specific, and wanted to know if I’m in. I was very hesitant to go to Jeddah for 2 reasons, one being the place itself, Jeddah, Why on earth would any one want to go to Jeddah? I know Jeddah ’3air, but still. Two, If I wanted to dive in places other than Kuwait, I’d go to Sharm Alshaikh! an obvious diving destination. Yeah so I was hesitant. I didn’t give him my answer till I learned that 3 of our mutual friends are going Read the rest of this entry »
My Mom just told me that her dentist told her they’ve ordered laughing gas (Nitrous oxide) and they’ll receive it soon.
It never occured to me to ask for this laughing gas as a form of anesthetic instead of needles. Is it available in Kuwait? My Mother’s doctor was excited about it when she was telling her.. Mom goes to a private clinic, not a well known one, so I’m not sure if they’re behind when it comes to this Gas, or is it because this Gas isn’t available/used in Kuwait.
Any idea? coz I’m sure gonna ask for it instead if it’s available.
I get sore throat all the time, and this made me to try out lots of medicines and all kinds of throat lozenges. Nothing worked better than this medicine pictured above. Chloraseptic is available in Kuwait, I bought mine from Boots.
I’m back! I spent my little vacation at the red sea and I’m very annoyed that it ended! I spent the last few days at a place called Al leith, I don’t know how to spell it, but it’s 2 to 3 hours south of Jeddah by car, and we spent the whole 5 days on a yacht, very far away from land. With no mobile service and no internet. Yep. Secluded, no ringing, no buzzing and no nothing. just us, the sea, and… the sea. A Great fully loaded post is coming up soon inshallah, but right now I need to get some sleep.. my head is twirling and I feel like am still in the sea.
The video above is a one I shot during one of the dives. The corals and the visibility is amazing. it’s in a place called Canyon Reef, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You guys wouldn’t believe how beautiful the place is!
I’ll be leaving today to Jeddah on a diving trip with Bubbles Diving Center. We will be living on the boat for the entire journey, and have unlimited dives. UNLIMITED dives! It’d be a minimum of 3 times a day.. for 5 days.. yeah I’m gonna hate the day I got my license, but that’s alright, as long as I’m away from the daily routine I’ll be happy, even if it just for a few days.
I’m gonna be away till tuesday. I’m going to post all about it when I come back. Wish me luck!
Mishary take care of the blog. I have spies everywhere
I once was inspected by the Saudi border officials, and was asked to declare whether I had x rated videos on my laptop. I was asked to start up my laptop and show them what kind of videos I had on it. Upon asking the border official what kind of files he was looking for, he responded with “A7na shabab wen3aref ba3ath.” As funny as that may sound now, I wasn’t laughing then, and he was dead serious. Adding to the “maskharaness” of this whole situation, the gentleman didn’t have any clue how to use a Mac. He then went on and asked me to do my own search for nasty videos on my laptop. In my turn, I asked what word he would like me to do a search for, and thats when he finally felt silly, and let me go.
For my brother’s wedding (Milcha) we chose Jane Packer Flowers to take care of the flowers for this occasion. We called them to arrange for the whole thing, and they asked to visit us and take a look at the place so we could select where the flower would be and all. Then we chose the flowers and colors.
Kuwait’s Kindergartens back in the day used to be from 8am to 4pm. They used to provide the kids with lunch and snacks, and they also used to let them nap during noon time.
I showed my mother the picture above, and she remembered the big hall where they used to sleep. She had this to say:
“I remember that big hall, and I remember that I cried for a whole week because of that hall. I hated the idea of sleeping in that hall and I didn’t like leaving home to Kindergarten in general. My father didn’t like seeing me crying like that and decided not to have me go to the kindergarten anymore, and instead remain at home till it’s time for 1st grade (ibteda2y).
I have a cousin who is my age, but was a year ahead of me in school, I didn’t realize the reason behind her being ahead of me till recently.. I was sorta punished for not attending Kindergarten.. they made me stay in 1st grade for 2 years. I don’t know how they did that, and how my family allowed that to happen. But back in the day, Kuwait wasn’t so organized when it came to matters like this (kanat 3ayma isalfa).”
I think this system of having the kids nap at noon time was stopped during the 70′s or early 80′s. I remember in our days we used to have breakfast and snacks.. no naps, and we’d leave home early, 12:30 or 1pm tops.
According to the email I received the picture was taken at Balqees Kindergarten in AlDasma.
I met INM right after becoming friends with his brother Mishary, and we clicked immediately. I’ve always been pretty selective when it comes to friendships and I really believe that having a big number of friends doesn’t prove anything, but counting the number of times a friend stands by you is what really matters, and going by that, I consider myself a very lucky person to have such great friends.
INM got married today (Malach). Congrats ya INM! 3albaraka o bittawfeej inshallah!
I’ve spent lots of years in college, I didn’t have it as smooth as other people did, mainly because I screwed up big time and neglected what should’ve been my main concern. I think it’s very normal to worry about these things a couple of days, a couple weeks, a couple of months after graduation… but not 2 years later.
Yesterday I had this recurring dream, I don’t know if you guys have dreams of this nature, where I’m 2 weeks away from my last day at school and I discover that there is this one course that I totally forgot about and that I haven’t attended any of it’s classes nor exams. The dream is so real that I wake up miserable in the midst of the night, and when I go back to sleep I continue that same dream again! These types of dreams happens at least once a month..
We had a conversation early on, and the phrase “Women shouldn’t be allowed to travel alone” was said and then followed with harsh remarks about women who do travel alone. (remarks towards the women and their families). I want to discuss this.
But first I want to say that I won’t be getting into what Islam had to say about it, I don’t know what was said, and I don’t want to get into how many “exits” are available for such a rule. That being said, I want to say a few things of what I think of that phrase:
1-First of all, I think we shouldn’t be conditioned by what people think is acceptable.
2-I think that nowadays people are being selective as to which rule they follow and which rule to skip when it comes to religion.
3-I think if a woman ever had to travel alone, it is up to her, and her husband/parents. And it is not right to judge a woman’s morals or her relatives’s solely by their decision to have the woman travel alone.
4-I have a problem with the “shouldn’t be allowed” part, because I think people should be convinced rather than forced. Or else why bother?
Ok, now that I’ve said these 4 points, I wanna also say that I partially agree with that phrase.. However, what I don’t agree with is the judging part. When I was abroad, I’ve seen many girls who were studying abroad by themselves, without any family member, and some of them were far more worthy of respect than many of the girls who aren’t “allowed to travel alone”.
As I was getting out of the parking building near work, what sounded like a big wooden board fell and made a very big sound, I felt my heart in my throat when that happened. It was funny the way I flinched, but then a group of insanely terrified pigeons started flying directly at me, they managed to avoid me, but one of them while avoiding me crashed real hard in the wall next to me, the poor thing. My mouth managed to spit out a curse, Allah yakhthich, and I walked away from this hazardous spot.
2 minutes later I had to get back to the car to get my iPod, and I saw this cat eating a pigeon. I’m guessing its the same pigeon that crashed earlier. Allah khathaha. RIP.
I completed 36 hours without a mobile and I have mixed feelings over this. I think it’s a relief to be untrackable for a while (I don’t like that we are always reachable), I enjoyed being a bit out of reach today.
On the other hand, it feels like you’re lost and totally out of the loop.
I’ve sent my Bold to a phone shop that my brother recommended but they don’t know what’s wrong with it. The Bold has been giving me lots of trouble, I’m actually glad that it died. Mishary is giving me his curve instead till some new Blackberry phone is released. By the time Mishary passes by and drop his mobile it’s going to be 48 hours for me without a mobile. Nice little experience, but I wouldn’t do it again.
