Note To Self

- First Impressions Never Last. I am a living proof.
- I need to go exercising.
- I miss Ramadan Already.
- I need to focus on my pre-masters.
- You can't change people, you can only change the way you deal with them.
- Do3aa is Magic!
- Never go to the movies fel Eid.
- People are NOT stupid. Strange, I know.
- Competition: I hate and can't live without it.
- I need to travel abroad. I need to travel abroad. Ya Rab bas maykonsh lel 3elag.
- I am currently suffering from AMDS: Animated Movies Deficiency Syndrome.
- Family is the best thing. Even when you are fighting
- Hope is the second best thing. Even when you are disappointed.
- For the first time in my life: I decided I'll help my little sister in her studies.
- I hope i never quit blogging. It is very relieving.

Gazmet el 3eed :)

You are looking at my new greyish-black shoes! There are 3 special things about this pair of shoes:

1- They are bought with my first salary.
2- I will wear them isA on the first day of Eid.
3- Now me and my sister will have 2 black shoes to share instead of 1.

:)

Updates:

- I never visited that shrink btw, the appointment was postponed until after Eid. I guess I will have more days living in this phobia
- I am praying so many este7'ara's for a new job opportunity. I have no clue what to do. I have until after Eid to make my decision. It's with a less salary but a lot more challenging ENJOYABLE job than the one I am in right now. HELP!
- Mom: Masr ta2reeban el wa7eeda elly sayma ennahrda.
Me: LOL, men kotr matrya2na 3ala Lybia awel Ramadan.

Learn Dee..LEARN!!

Civilizations

I had a very interesting conversation with my father yesterday. He was telling me about the "circle of life",exactly like in that lion king movie.

He felt that I am not very "happy" in my work with a pre-mature judgment of the work place and that I am rushing any successes or that i have a too early "i wanna make an impact" attitude. He is very right. I spent exactly 1 month and 3 days at work. Nothing dramatic happened that would make me want to quit. But also things are having a slow pace.

My father started talking about civilizations!

"The earliest civilizations started around the rivers. A very prosperous environment, The land, the climate, the food. Things were (relatively) easy and people settled down around the rivers and started farming and agriculture.They had a lot of resources and they were lucky,They built up their civilizations very fast. Think of it: Egypt, Iraq, China. The oldest civilizations ever.

On the other hand, civilizations that had to build up the hard way and "yen7atoh fel sa7'r", may not have grown as fast but they are far more powerful economic-wise and endurance-wise. They grew slowly but surely.They started from scratch. They had to create their resources. Today, Europe, Japan and the US lead the world. While countries living by their rivers are doing the same thing for 7000 years. "ma7alak serr"."

Things almost never end up the way they started and there are a lot of ups and downs in life. He is right(again).

My father then told not to rush.He told me, "patience my dear, patience..patience or you're grounded!".

Lamma neshoof!

The Best Words

Fadfadation's last post reminded me of an even more stunning event that happened in the mosque at taraweeh time, or more accurately the break in between.

A few days ago,The Sheikh was talking about some topic I don't really remember. Anyways, the Sheikh then said that today we have a gift. Something that is better than "el ard w ma 3alyha".

He then said " ma3ana ragol 3ayez yosh-her eslamoh"

People's voices suddenly roamed the place "Allaho Akbar" and "Masha Allah" and "Sob7aan Allah"
and of course there were people who were like "howa aal eh? aal eh?"

He then gave the microphone to the man.

"Ashado An La Elaha Ellah Allah, w Ashadoh Ann Mohammadan Rasoolo Allah. Radeetoh Bellah Rabban w bel Islam Deenan w Bemo7ammdan Nabyan".

He had a deep voice. He sounded nervous and relaxed. He sounded sincere. He sounded very cautious, saying every word slowly as if he could absorb it and take it in. As if he didn't want the moment to pass. I think he thought about his life before and how it will turn to be. I think he would have have thought about all the things that he used to do and will never do again and all the things he will do that he never did before.

The first prayer, The first sojood, the first tasbee7, the first Ramadan, the first Eid.. :)
Converting to Islam. An everlasting drastic change in a person's life.

The Shiekh then said "Alhamdollelah w Allaho Akbar..Man kan yoreed an yanzor e Ragol laysa 3aleeh 7'atee2a ..fal yanzor le haza al ragol."The Shiekh then continued the prayer."Qoomo ela salatokom Yar7amkom Allah"

I had the same contemplating reaction as fadfadation's. I spent a few moments thinking..We say Al-Shahada several times a day. We say it very fast more like,

"ashhadoanalah-elah-ellahallah-wahashodoanna-mohamadanrasoloallah".

We say it without thinking of its impact or depth. We rarely say it slowly as the man did. We don't appreciate its blessing and we take it for granted. We take our Islamic identity for granted.

I was very happy to witness such an incident. I was curious of course to hear about the details and what made him convert. But really that didn't matter. What matters was that he converted :)

I came back to my mom telling her the whole story, with more drama of course. She very peacefully said " yeaah..deh a7la kalemat..Radeto Bellah Rabban w Bel Eslam Deena w Be-Mohommadan Nabyan"

p.s: Ramadan arrab ye7'las :( ..wel 3eed gaii :)

Ana mesh osayar oz3a..ana taweel w Ahbal !!

Next Saturday isA, I will be visiting a Shrink (a.k.a psychiatrist)

Well, I had my part of 6 months living in fear and anticipating any bad thing that might happen. I grew out of it ofcourse..But I have living in chronic fear from something else since Monday12th October 1992. Sounds familiar?

Yes, Its earthquakes. I fear earthquakes and I don't seem that can get it over with on my own. I am continuously anticipating an earthquake. I wake up in the morning wondering if it will occur today. I go to sleep wondering whether it will occur while I am sleeping.The though of Earthquakes comes to mind not less than 50 times a day. To tell you the truth, it is hard enough for me writing this and spilling it out.

My father has told me that this is "ellet Eman beallah".That i should have more faith than this and not let outrageous thoughts possess my life. I tried.Not hard enough i admit. But again I think I need help. Professional help.

I remember crying more than once telling myself that I can't live like this. I have a very troubled memory on the days of the earthquake and the aftershocks. Childhood memories are very deeply engraved in one's brain and stay with them almost forever!

So My father took the initiative and took an appointment for me next Saturday. It is very funny as an experience going to a shrink. My picture of a shrink is Abdel Menem Madbooly and that guy from "analyze this". I feel sorry for shrinks sometimes. Listening is very tiresome..and alot of times you might feel telling the patient "Go get a life will ya?!"

I feel that deep down, the guy would be like "zelzaal eh bass! howa el wa7ed na2es..nass ma3andahash mashakel w beta2llef 7aga te7'aaf 3aleeha!!"

Very True.Very Funny. :)

Will keep you updated!

The Call(s)

I recently changed the mobile profile. it doesnt ring nor vibrate. Just flashes the caller's name/phone.
Today i placed my mobile behind the laptop and forgot all about it.
I opened the mobile @ 12 to find 11 missed calls.All of which are from my sister.

I thought something happened. I said 7'eer allahoma eg3alo 7'eer..and I called.

Me: Aywa ya sherry feeh 7aga?
Sister(in a tired angry voice):gjoe, enty labsa el gazma el sooda?
Me:
Me:
Me: Aywa ya cherry feh moshkela..?
Sister: Asl ana kont mettal3aha 3ashan albesaha..w kaman mesh la2ya wala daboos 3ashan el tar7a..enty betakleehom walla eh..feen el dababees?
Me: Sorry ya cherry wallahy.. ma7'tesh baly..Im sorry
Sister: Tab a3mel eh delwa2ty?
Me: elbesy gazma tanya (duuh!)
Sister: la2 ana 3ayza albes el gazma deh bezzat..ana elly kont mettala3aha
Me: Tab a3mel eh ya cherry ya3ny..ana fel sho3'l.
Sister: 7'alas 7'alas..mafeesh moshkela..ana hattasaraf bye.

1 minute later:
Cherry calls.

Me: Aywa ya cherry feeh 7aga tany?
Sister: gjoe howa enty labsa eh?
Me:
Me:
Me: Eswed ya3ny..el monto el eswed 3ala el jeeba el baige
Sister(Suggesting a brilliant idea): Tab matelbesy el gazma el bonny..ma7desh wa7'ed baloh
Me: Cherry ya 7abebty ana fl sho3'l..mesh haynfa3 aagy le mazagek ya3ny..
Sister: la la la..ana ha3addy 3aleeky..te7ebby agblek anho gazma?
Me: te7ebby tedeeny be anho gazma?
Sister(laughing): agblek anho wa7da ya gjoe ?
Me(In a i-dont-believe-we-are-sisters tone): Hateely elly gabohaly in my birthday ya cherry.
Sister: heeeh...7ader :D

2 minutes later:
Cherry calls.
Me: haa ya cherry weselty?
Cherry: ah betahaya2ly..howa e7n feen yasta M?
Me: tab ana hanzelek
Cherry: okay.
Me (Still on the mobile): Enty feen ya cherry ana mesh shayfaky..
Cherry: Bossy waraky.
I see the car, hang up and hop in:
We switch shoes. My sister laughs.I comment by saying that I will blog about this btw..
She tells me "la2a ya gjoe matfda7neesh". I give her the "watch me" look and hop out of the car straight to the blogspot.com.

P.S: I know what you must be thinking..eh el nas elly ma3andahash 3'eer gazma sooda wa7da deh..I don't have anything in my defense other than..we have alot of brown shoes (Just in case!):D

Work Work Work

I started work first of this month. and let's just say that I was excited to get the job (although it was totally unplanned for) and I decided to give it a shot. Like any other job, it has its good sides and bad sides. This morning i feel like "I dont see myself in this job 2 years from now". Other mornings I feel like "This job would be great once they start giving me tasks".

I am still at the learning phase. I have a mentor whom I should be asking about how the business works and I also have to learn about this software. The thing about the learning process is that it is not methodological. Reading and asking questions sometimes isn't as smooth as one might think. I also have to grasp the concept of "co-workers". People that are not friends but I see them more than I see my family members.

Given that I decided to look at the bright side of things. I will list down the things that I like about the job(Although momentarily, I don't really like it) .

1- Generally, I should be grateful of getting a job 2 months from graduating, with a reasonable salary.
2- Work is a 5-6 minutes walk away from home. It takes the same time as it takes to finish an M&Ms.In Ramadan specially, being this close from home sure is a blessing.
3- The turnover in the company is very very low! People have been working in the company for years and years and years..People seem to like it here. I don't know what do they like in it awy..but turnover is always a good sign.
4-I am working in an IT team of 22 members (They hiring a few more). I believe that a team of that size is reasonable for an individual's work (like myself) would have a significant impact.
5-The software i am learning belongs to a flourishing and a rare field. Redzo claims that afterwards(let's say 1.5-2 years from now) my salary would be doubled. Lamma neshoof ya Redzo!! I must also mention that it was Redzo who told me to send up my CV and give it a shot(Many thanks..for now :P).

To be honest, the main thing that I don't like about this job is that I am not working in a software development house but rather a support function in a company. This means that there are no standards in the way things go.The team are hard workers, devoted and respectable but are not very professional.Aaah! And my mentor!! I am really having difficult time dealing with him. He is very good mentoring-wise, as in he is never hesitant in explaining (more than once)anything that I dont understad. That's enough right? Naaah! He gets on my nerves.Something in the way he talks and deals with other co-workers. He is what you can call "stiff". Not rude. But stiff.


Seems like survivable.I don't want survivable. I want enjoyable. I'll give it more time of course.I hope I don't regret it!

This is not a commerical

This is the only fanoos I found at home. I love Ramadan. It is for sure the best month of the year.It has been said so in the Quraan. One night is far better than a thousands months.

Ramadan! I miss thee! I mean I love the traffic from 3 to 5 .If you want to go anywhere and started to be on the streets at 3, you would reach your destination at the exact time if you moved 10 minutes before the eftar!
I love how all egyptians ironically gain wieght in this specific fasting month.I mean people have been packing the streets to get all the "Yameesh" as if they were hibernating for winter! I mean com'on people!

I also miss the "7'eyam" with all the sheesha and the chit-chats..There are also the nature-friendly "7'ema" with just the chit-chats.

I am so looking forward to this "so7oor 3ala an3'am el DJ" in some fancy restaurants...
And never forget those 15+ different exclusive Ramdanic TV series. I wonder how many of these series would be exact copies of last year's and the one before and the one before.

Ramadan is a one of a kind opportunity to gather and socialize with friends. you can't get a better atmosphere..People suddenly realize that they have all the time in world,not to read Quraan and Pray a little extra, but to stay all day in the kitchen preparing for the breaking the fast meal..as if we have been fasting for a whole month not just half a day through which we were already sleeping aslan!
And given that I just started work, I can't wait to deal with all my co-workers and manager whom have not had their cigarettes and morning-mood-fixer cups of coffee.

Ramadan I miss thee!!

huh?!

So yesterday I was calling the pharmacy to get some medicine for my father. I dialed the number and before even completing it, I heard that lady's operator voice saying something. I didn't pay attention to it and I thought I just dialed that "raqam tamen zeyada" wrong. I dialed again and here she goes again.I listened to what she was saying "men fadlek da3 el samma3a" I waited to hear the whole message... It turned out that this was the whole message "men fadlak da3 el samma3a,Please something something down"..I was like..huh?! tab tell me why you are not in the mood to process this phone call..I mean what's your problem lady why can't I make that call!!wenty malek a7ott el samma3a walla la2..men fadlek enty mesh 3ayza asma3 sootek.

Stubbornly, I dialed again. She says the stupid message again.I think that this message contains some condescending tone. Its unclear(I understand the part where I have to end the call,but WHY?) and annoying. I might be overreacting to be actually blogging about it. But its like in the movies when someone is calling 911 and another person tells them "Hang up the phone" in a you-have-to-obey attitude.

The expected end:we didn't pay the phone bills..it seems that I inherited my Procrastination habits/talent from my parents :)