A Rose For You

Oh, I just can't believe it! Almost a year! I don't want this blog to die. Not the idea of losing readers but the idea of keeping track of the stages of my life. This blog has been a really nice place where I was able to convey my thoughts and communicate with others.

Anyways, I hated the look of the shoes so I decided to post the first flower from our garden. We are so happy that we MOVED. It's been ten months now. We left the fourth floor and the beautiful view where you can see all of Amman and moved to a ground floor where we have a backyard and it worths it. We ate apricot, lemon and green cherries. We are waiting for grapes. I started gardening and I have plenty of plants. still trying and doing my best and experimenting the type of soil and what atmosphere certain plants prefer.

So, Karam graduated last week from his class. Ironically he will have to redo the class next year because officially he should be three years old to be in kindergarten. And he will in 20 days inshallah. My big baby boy is almost three now and my second baby boy is jumping inside of my belly as I am writing these words.

Oh, and a major change happened during the previous month. I rented a ceramic studio and started working and held a winter art camp for young girls. It went really nicely but closed it last week be prepared for the next baby. During this period I met people who can help me to go on with my ceramic career and I gallery owner visited my and loved my work and she wants me to display them at her gallery. Still working on that. and I also made over 30 ceramic artworks to prepare for a coming exhibition inshaAllah.

This is just an update, hopefully I will try to write at least monthly
That's all for now, see later

Busy.. Out of Reach

As I have no excuses for not posting, I thought I should update whenever I can so I won't end up with lots of things to share which usually I end up not sharing at all.

Last month I was busy finalizing my thesis and taking ceramic course at Sharjah's Institute of Arts in addition to going to my atelier and having fun playing with clay and glazes. During this month I attended so many art exhibitions and had the chance to catch up with artists/ art fans and my art teachers and colleagues.

Among the exhibition I attended I went to Sharjah's Art Museum. It was the opening reception of Old and New exhibition by students of The Institute of Arts for Special Needs. The nice people I met two years back in the Heritage Festival in Sharjah.

Last Sunday I attended a friend blogger's wedding. it's been a while since I dressed up. I felt like a princess :D It was a very nice wedding and she was so beautiful.

At my atelier, I've been working on a testing new clays and glazes and experimenting new styles and techniques and I sort of found my thing! I created a page for my atelier on Facebook then had to hide it because I was not posting. Social networking needs a lot of follow up. And I'm so not free for that right now. I created a blog for the same perpose and then didn't publish a thing too :|

My sister's family were staying with us for the last two months. Lyann is such a CSI girl (that's Cute Sweet Innocent just like what her T-shirt says!). It's been two days since they left us. The house is calm and sort of weird without her noise and smelly brown stuff! I miss her already.

What else? I miss Iraq Blog Updates and the posts by Khalid Ibrahim. I used to check one post which is enough to update me about the Iraqi Blogsphere! I still wonder why they deleted the blog.

That's all for now
I hope I won't stay away longer

Anything But My Bathroom

So, the hour I spent today sterilizing my bathroom was unplanned. When jiddo (grandpa) came to visit last year, he stayed in my room and took over my bathroom. I spent about a year in the guest/maid/ laundry room or call it what you will. It's a small room with its bathroom where I spent most of last year studying and preparing for my previous thesis. Such a small room where I used to sit on my office chair and move from here to here, because there was no there.

Back to jiddo's visit. Or right after that, when I discovered the seat of toilet was a bit loose. I told my dad to inform the maintenance back then. then jiddo came to visit again and it was all forgotten. Then my sister Sana finished her study and came to live with us. With her first visit to the bathroom she fixed the loose seat! Thanks Sue :D

Last month I came from Jordan and found the seat loose again. Told dad to inform the maintenance department and next day they came and fixed it. Thanks BUT from that day I noticed spots of water, then bigger wet areas and my sister checked and said the tank is leaking. "So they fixed the seat to break the tank" I believe. We informed the maintenance and they sent a worker and oh my he said the tank is leaking! I thought "we told you so!"

So we waited almost two weeks! and today they sent Mr Know-How-To-Fix-Things and he did fix the tank. While Atta doing her mission of sterilizing the bathroom she discovered now the seat is terribly loose. So they came to fix the tank and break the seat!

First time I tried to flush the toilet an aircraft was in the air. But the sound was sort of coming from the tank! OMG then it landed there I think and a bomb sound was made to announce "the tank is Full" :S

What I am annoyed about is not the broken things or fixing them or the aircraft sound. I'm only annoyed about the idea of a stranger in my bathroom. You should see me, hiding inside my room telling dad to watch the man and not let him touch a thing. I never go in and never want to see someone there. A couple of times I would ask dad what did the worker exactly touch in the bathroom. Dad rolls his eyes and mumbles a couple of words and mention an OCDic friend and move on with his life, while I keep scrubbing every inch in the bathroom.

That's all for now
I wish dad can fix it

Seeking Fresh Air

It's been a week since I started my morning walks to the lake. It all started when R called and said "I'm going for a walk to the lake, please don't say you're busy studying or talking to Khalid". I rolled my eyes for sure but kept telling her I meant to walk to the lake this week but needed a merical to get me out of bed. She made fun about me supporting her for going to the lake and tried to make sure that I'm not saying complements or going to the lake just because it's officially called Khalid's Lake. (where I have to add a secret here that KJ and I are planning to go to the lake soon and add the phrase "and Atta" on the lake sing :D )

So off to the lake, with my cap and tennis shoes on, ten minutes and I'm there. Looking at the magnificent view; the bring sun, a blue sky with cotton candy white clouds here and there, the sound of the waves along with birds songs. It's still too early to feel the burning sun of UAE but yet not that early to feel the coldness of the early morning.

Forgetting my study and the burden it puts on my shoulders with every morning, which feels like a monkey hanging over my neck, I take my steps smiling at the wonderful morning and crossing my fingers wishing I would accomplish something today.

Now I'm going through a weird phase where I want to share all about my dreams and plans as well as the huge amount of inspiration I have for making new collection of ceramics. But I find myself confused whether to publish my work and art using Attawie or should I start an official blog with my full name to post. If I started a new blog for my art are would I link it to this personal blog? Do I want Attawie blog, my den, to be public to friends and family, here where I write my words right from my thoughts? Not sure yet, but until then I'll be sharing here.

 

Snail

That's all for now
let's wait for more

Distributing Smiles :)

After the date was set, tickets were booked, luggage packed, 28th October, my dad, sister and I were in the airport to fly to Amman. My mother came from Amman only the night before and the plan was to join us the next week. But, mom's relative decided to join us and fly to Amman too.

Carrying too many big bags we were transferred to Overweight luggage. It was 7:30 in the morning and our flight was 9:30. The lines were still empty. We were the only family there weighing our bags the woman on the counter said "you may leave to Amman but I'm afraid the old lady won't" We all had huge exclamation marks over our heads. She added "Her passport is an S"

Attawie's thoughts were "It's ok, no problem. She can go back but I'm leaving to Amman, to KJ, to do the civil marriage papers. Calm down, smile and breathe."

The old lady worried and nagging how to go back to the city with all her bags. My dad went to check the airport security if the regulation is right and she can't fly with; my sister busy with weighing bags and putting tags. And Attawie was distributing smiles here and there pretending there was nothing.

Almost an hour passed and we're still in our same place. The airlines were waiting for a Jordanian authority to wake up and report to work, due to time difference, so they can give us instructions. We waited and waited and people start to come and go. The airline employees' shift changed and the new people are asking what the story was. We explained to them and one of them was really worried and stayed with us giving us consolation. She said "I'm new here, almost a month. But let me tell you that I was given instruction not to let any Iraq or Palestinian on the plane without calling my immediate boss. It's a rule". Attawie was standing distributing smiling here and there and announcing "I'm the bride".

Almost two hours passed and we're still in our same place. My sister called the Jordanian embassy to check if an Iraqi with an S passport can enter Jordan. They said there is such regulation but since the passenger is a resident in another country then there's no problem until 2010. We informed the airlines and the airport security and they said they have to check with the embassy themselves. And Attawie still distributing smiles here and there assuring herself "it's nothing!"

An airport security officer was really nice; he said the airplane won't fly without you even if we had to delay the take off. He stayed with us for so long and kept assuring us there won't be a problem.

For me, I was ready to fly that day no matter what. It's a matter of booking a taxi and finding someone to carry the relative's bags and send her to the city. As simple as that, a piece of cake. But she was so worried about leaving and not leaving, mumbling and nagging and talking to herself. I really like the lady but "hello! I'm the bride" it should be all about me, me and me!

Dingdong "Alnidaa alakheer lirokab al ri7la raqam XYZ almotawajiha ila Amman"

- Atta: what was that?
- Sana: didn't notice.

Dingdong "This is the final call for flight no. XYZ heading to Amman"

Attawie starts distributing smiles extensively. Next moment another Airport officer comes and stands next to our luggage on the scale. He starts saying words in his walky-talky I couldn't understand and whispers to the airlines employee. The bags went in and disappeared from our sights. We're given a paper to pay for the overweight luggage. The Airport Officer No.1 accompanies us to the accountancy. We're sent in the lift to gate…" na'a no gate, an airport officer will receive you there".

My sister with her knee injury, dad with his right thigh torn muscle, the old lady with her back pain, were all meters behind me when the lift door was open. I found the officer and quickened my pace. The officer said something in his walky-talky and in seconds a female officer received me. She said where are the rest? I pointed at them. Now I was runny with her and followed by the rest. She said something in the walky-talky and added "I've got the bride. The four people are following". Another female officer received us and she was accompanied by a guy dressed in formal airport uniform. He took me to the airline's desk to take the boarding cards. Passports were with my sister. He said follow me and they will get the cards. We headed two floors down on feet and there UAE officers were waiting for us and a big bus took us to the airplane. The hostess received us with smiles pointing towards ours seats; the only empty seats on the plane. Felt all eyes were staring at me. I was thinking "OMG they must be saying this is why we're ten minutes behind schedule" So I had to continue distributing smiles!

Within seconds we were flying in the sky heading to Amman. And Attawie still distributing smiles but instead of praying silently in her heart she was now thanking God everything went great.

That's all for now
But there will be more later :)

Words I Want to Share :)

My Dear Blog,

I am aware I've been away lately, unsure if it was the lack of motivation or being busy with life. It's not that you're not part of my life, on the contrary, at times I see you as the mirror that I look into to show me what I've done and reflects to me whether it's right or wrong. You even helped me evaluate myself, my thoughts and deeds. You've been the door to a whole new world to. Giving me the chance to express myself, introducing me to friends, opening my eyes to appreciate life from different points of views.

Knowing that I've been away for several reasons doesn't mean I don't care about you, neither does it mean I don't want to share with you. For that I'm sharing a secret I've been hiding for a while. I'm going to have a niece! (the secret I talked about earlier) :D

Yes, I know! It means I'm going to be a khala (an aunt). I'm going to be "cool auntie atta" :D

Unfortunately, I missed most of the shopping and preparations for the baby. One because my sister is living in Jordan, second is about me being busy or not there when my mother and Sana went for shopping. I did attend a couple of shopping trip (or was it three times?) and I got something for the baby. It's this tiny stand for bathing. I've never seen one before but the moment I saw it I thought "yay, we put it inside a tub or sink and put the baby on it" it looks like a tiny slide with Pooh and the gang (or was it Tigger? I sent it months ago).

What else did I miss to tell you lately?

Oh! me and another Iraqi female bloggers met at Zhra's for Fotoor (the meal for fast breaking) and then we had to hurry up and sit in a the car just like "Sardine fish in a can" as Zhra calls it. We were in a race with time to catch Isha Prayer (The last of the five daily prayers) followed by Tarawee7 (Ramadan night prayers). The Imam was Salah Bu Khatir, one of the best Quran Reciters I've ever heard(Click to listen)(Click for Translation). When I heard his voice of the first time, was about 18 months ago, I thought he was The best reciter ever.

It was my first time to pray in a masjid in UAE and it's the first time to pray Tarawee7 outside my home. The feeling of being one among those who pray in a group is amazing. How the people are scatered here and there and in one phrase said by the Imam they all stand in in straight lines with not a word to utter is such a feeling that cannot be described in words.


Click to listen :)

Today is the 19th day Ramadan, this night we're going to start the first day of the last ten days of Ramadan. They are considered the best days and they are yet to come. It is believe that the Night of Al-Qadr (The Night of Decree) is one of the last tend nights in Ramadan (Read the links for listening and translation).

oh, and yesterday 9/9/2009 at 9:09:09 was Dubai Metro opening!

A lot is going on in my life and on my mind and I needed to write this and clear my thoughts and hide in my den, at least until Eid. So my dear Blog, even though I'm away but I'll always come back with news and secrets I want to share.

*My calligraphy says: Mobarak Alaikum Ashahar (مبارك عليكم الشهر) May this month be full of blessings to you :)

That's all for now
Until I can share some more.

An Open Window to my World.. Have a Peek

First of all hi everyone
I miss blogging. I miss sharing (but not food). I miss writing poetry. I miss a lot of things but somehow 24 hours per day is very little and I'm wondering again if we could add 8 hours for sleeping to the 24 hours.

A lot happened during May. Many things took place apart than Bu Qtair experience my sister's airplane. But I'm not sharing everything :)
After celebrating my sister's birthday and hospital visit and checkups; I had the chance of meeting a group of Iraqi female bloggers. It was different from other meetings for we had an exact purpose for the meeting other than just to get to know one another (I'll think of sharing later).

A couple of visits to our relatives; they are leaving back to Germany for good. I'm going to miss those five little ones horribly. Whenever I see them I take bunch of photos knowing they are growing up so fast (mashaAllah) but never thought I see them off so soon. Yes, we Iraqis always travel, and yes we have to leave and say goodbye (as touta says) but the bad thing about it is that we never know when, where to, why and how.

As for my atelier, the unwelcomed visitor disappeared and I'm glad for that. Hopefully I won't see him again on the walls, ground, TV or anywhere else. As for my work, I've been working on a collection of letters as per N's request. She wanted me to make the initials of her little ones. If it turned out cute I might share some photos.

My sister Sana left to Amman and I have no one to annoy. The house seems so calm lately. I'm thinking of flying her airplane now but there's a missing battery.
Another reason for being busy, as if I don't have enough reasons, is that I joined the institute of Arabic Calligraphy and Ornament. It's something me and my friend R were thinking of since we were done with the Art institute. After about a year the plane was executed and it feels like we're back to kindergarten. Now I'm sharing photos but please NO laughs.

This is Diwani and you can read about it here. or just write Diwani in Google Images to see the beautiful photos available on the net.

 

Alf

 

Ba'

 

Dal

 

Ra'

Any my favorite so far, ladies and gentlemen, the Seen

 

That's all for now
and stop laughing at my handwriting

*Peeks & Runs*

While my sister and mother are watching the American Idol finale; I chose to disappear in the kitchen because I'm no longer interested in that show. I've never really watched any season other than season five 2006 when Taylor won. I used to spend most of the weekends with Hana Banana and she was a huge fan of Daughtry, which made me sort of a fan. Now every season in the same for me, even the Arabic version, one season and I'm bored.

Back to the kitchen, nothing serious is going on, Iron Chef Mario Batali was busy with small lobster on Fatafeet TV, so I was just following mom's direction and dicing boring vegetables and boiling them. Rumor has it there will be chicken and vegetables pie.

Anyways, I've been busy with university papers, which still have some work to do. Busy with my atelier and the gekos and how to get rid of them. I can't believe they kept me away from my work for about a week! I just hate them and can't stand them being around, so coward, silly, weak, call me what you will.

Yesterday, I spent the entire day at hospital doing check-ups and thank God, I'm all fine.

That's not all but at least for now
Talk to you soon

No Bells!

Apart from the weird cough, and the cough syrup I'm taking every six hours that makes me shake my entire body like a dog that just came out of water, I can say I'm relatively fine. But I'm warning you. You need a muzzle to read the entire post.

The birthday girl couldn't sleep last night because of the cough. Therefore, spend the day in bed aching from the numerous injuries she received yesterday in the park. The badminton champion ship was called off because of the terrible wind. We enjoyed football and cycling instead – which explains the additional pain I'm feeling. One of the girls and I got the double driver with two extra seats and we took the kids for a ride. It was fun. The bell was not working so we had to scream at people "no bells" or at times "Aaaaaa". Hills were really fun.

It was like a joke to all of us in that huge bicycle. I didn't plan for it but the steering wheel as well as the brakes where under my control. With each turn and crossroad, or downhill everyone was screaming in happiness and the wind was giving them a refreshing sense. Two weeks back we saw four guys flipping the carriage over their heads. We laughed as they laughed at themselves. One the other hand, me w the three kids and the friend next to me, no bells, heavy wind, and the crowded park; it WAS a huge responsibility.

At times my sister would drive in front of us and ring the bell to make people avoid us. But that wasn't the case at most of the time. The kids asked me to go to the fountain and we went and enjoyed water drizzle on our faces. Then they kept urging me "sara3a.. sara3a" (i.e sur3a = faster faster). I gave them that joy but we ended up in a downhill garden. They kept laughing while I managed hard to get us back to the aisle.

Later we ad chocolate cake as well as English cake after the delicious kebab, chicken and don't know how many kinds of salads. I didn't help in BBQ but I helped in keeping the kids busy and chitchatting next to the BBQ area.

***

Absolutely, there would be time in my journey where I'll be in a trouble where I'll need to take a breath, look at the scene and try my best to get out and I will be able to find my way of it all by myself. Other times I may need to ask a friend to "ring the bell" for me, it's alright to ask for help. Life is like this but we need to have faith.

A couple of hours back I blew my candle. Yep, one musical funny candle. This year, I'm keeping my wishes, hopes and dreams to myself : ) I feel I'm older this year and a lot wiser and taking things more serious. I'm thankful to God, I'm thankful for all blesses in my life. And thank you for being a friend in my journey.


That's all for now…

And hopefully, there would be more

You name it.

Oh… it feels like ages since I posted something.

The flu, cold or whatever you call it, started as a runny funny nose. On day two it accompanied fever. Day three developed a throat pain for the early morning, stuffy nose during the afternoon and then was crowned with a silly cough. Next day that silly cough became seriously not silly with a snoring sound at the end.

Doesn't it seem boring?

Today I decided to take my sister to the sport equipment shop in the neighborhood. I told her it's across the main road, to encourage her. After her nap she woke up unlike herself, I mean not grumpy. Or maybe she would be like that only when I keep bugging her to wake up.

Put my jacket and took my purse and we closed the door behind.

When walking, I tend to have big fast steps. No turning left or right unless I'm crossing roads. Straight-faced me with no smiles and my head lifted a bit high but keeping my eyes where I'm stepping. My eyes move quickly to scan ahead, ground, slightly left and right. I forgot all about my sister's problem with her legs and kept telling her "hurry up".

This made me feel guilty most of the way back and forth when it hit me she just can't.

Before we reach the store, I told her pretend we're not interested and that we were just looking. I wear this indifferent face whenever I'm buying a thing. We found what we were searching for. "featherballs" and their rackets. The ones we got, has been giving us hard time due to the cheap price. Checked almost everything in the store and then we got what we wanted and walked home again.

I love this game. I've been playing it since I was second grade, I think. During the war we used to have daily tournaments. This sport was everything to me at certain age. I would play it at school, in the club, in our garden, at the neighbors' garden, in the street and everywhere I could carry it. I felt I was superior! My serve was really remarkable and I used to give names to each one, just like the baseball animation we used to watch.

My sister and I were grade 3 again!

We played for more than an hour, in our room! Each one of us was sitting on her bed, with her racket in her hand and we played Reeesha ("feather" as we call it in Arabic.)

Tomorrow morning, with other three families, along with my weird cough, we're going to Za3beel Park. I think it's the hugest park in the UAE. Kids will be there and three birthdays in this month will be celebrated with a big chocolate cake tomorrow.

That's all for now… and

I'll update you who'll win the tournament.

Just Another Virtual World*

It never stops bugging me how some people spend hours and hours surfing the net on useless stuff. I am not against enjoying technology or sharing information publicly but at times I'm certain that some people are just killing time, time that can be invested in a different way to make the world a better place.

Years has passed and I'm receiving invitations to create accounts on Classmates, Friendster, Hi5, MySpace, Orkut, bebo, Facebook and such social networking communities. And what bugs me the most is that the same people who invite me for certain network are inviting me for another! how do they manage to keep up with their profiles on each? How do they have time to update and check friends' account? and I complain about time!

After finding my inbox full of email invitations for Facebook from friends, relatives, colleagues and fellow-bloggers as well as people I don't even know, I decided to get myself an account and see what is it all about. Clicking the link I discovered the site was Blocked in UAE just like Urkut, Flickr and some other networks. I felt it was a relief for me. Once I'm asked about my Facebook account or sent an invitation I would simply say "it's blocked in the UAE".

Months or maybe a year passed and I hear the fuzz about Facebook. We take photos in a gallery and I hear "I'll put it on FB". We go to the park and I ask for a copy of photos and the reply is "check it tonight on FB" I need a link regarding a matter and I get the reply "Will post it on FB"!

Last Ramadan I was introduced to a girl. She was studying media in AUS and she wanted me to write her some inspirational talks to publish regarding surviving a war. Insisting that I have an influential personality she said I defiantly want to add you to the group I created on Facebook to inspire the youth. I told her I don't have an account she gave me her email and begged me to create one and add her. I wrote her email somewhere and forgot her name.

Also Last year we were visiting a family friends and while talking I discovered that their daughter is in touch with people went to my school. I asked her for their emails and she said "Add me on FB"!

I never bothered and checked what Facebook was until Hana - before she left to NZ -told me we can keep in touch through Facebook and it's a really good way to be updated. I told her I don't have an account and that I tried and it was blocked and she told me it was working now and she herself created the account for me.

Automatically I found friends and relative. and I just forgot about the account until I started to get emails notifications about lost friends and grade school colleagues who found me! It was overwhelming to find most of the people we thought we lost after all these years. Some left Iraq before we were introduced to the internet so we lost contact. Others were just busy with life and someway or another just disappeared.

Sharing photos is great but still I don't want to post my photos on the net even if there's a user control thing where I can moderate who sees these photos. And with all the hackers stories we hear... No thanks.

Anyway, that's not what I want to write about..

When I started this post I was just about to release sort of anger that didn't know how to be freed! Finding a notification that "A friend" is playing with her pet in Virtual Pet Society.. or "A friend" was sold for $5000 in Friends for Sale society.. "A Friend" reached level 28 in Mafia.. on and on I'm bugged with time being wasted in an absurd way.

I'm not in a position, nor anyone in fact, to tell people how to spend their time or where to focus their energy. One can only hope that we can invest our time to make the world a better place. But lately I've been wondering "Can we? are we supposed to do so? and how?"

People seem to be funny on virtual network societies, even when they post something devilish and evil or wage wars against each others. Death threats sounds funny! Most of them has galleries to present smiling faces, others are engaged in gardening trees and virtual flowers, exchanging gifts, cards, cupcakes and other virtual stuff. Even when they yell with CAPS on they seem funny and friendly.

Maybe by deserting real life and living a virtual one is helping people to live the way they wish to live..the style and the people associated with. They can create themselves on such networks. To share what they want to share and hide whatever they wish to hid. Their profiles represent who they want to be and that way they can control how they can be seen by others.

*I was searching on the net when I found a blog with such title. I had to say that in for copy rights :)

No more Silence

It started just like any picnic that was arranged spontaneously after the phrase "we're doing nothing too" and "so let's go to the beach". But when the car moved I thought we were taking a different road so I asked I discovered that they changed the destination and we're going to the lake.

The setting is very relaxing; green grass, hundreds of palm trees, a couple of meters deck next to Khalid Lake. Usually we sit in the area before al-Nour mosque. But our relatives were waiting for 200 meters after the mosque. They are planning to leave UAE for good and thought it would be a good chance to take a voyage in the lake. Without farther waiting we took a boat and enjoyed the cold wind which seemed a glimpse of Baghdad's winter.

Two other families joined us. One joined to drink tea and leave and the other came to stay. The place was crowded as usually but there were no signs of joy. Even the children playing here and there were not loud nor seemed funny as usual. Talks varied from news on TV and crab hunting activity to 5 –years Miriam who started to pick her clothes by herself.

A police box followed by police motorcade passed by and my father said "they must be transferring criminals" and he continued his previous subject. The number of policemen kept growing in the area. Looking at the road there were still more and more police cars. I stood up and looked around and found a gathering of people next to the mosque. I thought it was a fight or something like that but after a moment I figured it out. This must be for Gaza.

The number of people started to grow and they started marching towards us. My mother suggested pulling our seats and stuff to make way for them. My sister and I hurried spontaneously and joined the march. After a couple of minutes mom and dad were next to us. Once the march passed us we returned to our place but my sister and I were not satisfied. We left our company and joined the crowd to support Gaza.

Checking "My life list to do"

I'm not a big fan of New Year activities and such but I have to admit it does implement certain significance regarding checking "my life list to do".


Stuff I liked about 2008 (I can call them personal victories)(not in a specific order, well maybe just the first two):

First personal exhibition
Participated in two painting competitions and won third place in both.
Decided to take double majoring MBA and still working on my thesis
Co-organized a training program and delivered the icebreaker
First time to meet deaf and mute group of people and communicate with them
Took a class of Ice skiing
Tried water jet skiing for the first time
Had my eye fixed with Lasik surgery
Learned some new techniques and tricks in drawing
Was able to attend a play by kids for Refugee world day
Met khlalid jarrar and his mom faiza alaraji
Went to 4D theater
Forced a ball to rest in peace in its final destination, the pocket during playing billiard (naah that's nothing)
Impressed myself and others in the cooking field
Went to several international exhibitions which visited UAE
Went to Dubai Tennis Championship Final (Feliciano Lopez played beautifully and Roddick was rude. if it wasn't for his serve he wouldn't win.. oh and I have to say I had a VIP seat as a gift for my birthday from a friend but that I didn't occupy and moved to the public seats but still close enough to the American ambassador and heard Roddick when he said "there's so much crap is going on.. let's stop the game" So unprofessional to say that to your audience and the ambassador who came to see the game! oh I was supporting Lopez and did carry Spain flag)

Got rid of the 4th wisdom teeth
Found many of my old friends on facebook
Tasted crab for the first time among many other adventures in food

Ghada and nassir got married and they are waiting for a baby (I'm so happy for them and wish them the best) :D
N gave birth to her second child Totti (what a lovely child)
Obama won and Bush got what he deserved
Got 7aboob and ma7boob :D (my cell phone and laptop)

Not so cool stuff (there were much more but somehow they skip the mind :D )
Had to say goodbye to Rabab (teacher of History of Art who became a good friend of mine)
Got 3 fish: Kha'9ra, pinky and burtoqala, who eventually died
Adopted 7ashara and pet her for almost two weeks before she left this world

Can’t think of anything else right now
Sorry if i forgot something but if I remembered something i would update the post.

That's all for now
And for 2008

Happy New year everyone

7ashara* is Fine :D

7ashara broke my heart today, she looked dead and lifeless which freaked me out. I tried to move her but nothing worked. I was about to say goodbye and leave her to rest in the trashbin but after a while she surprised me and moved! She made up my day.

Oh 7ashara is my new pet.. she's an earthworm that I found in lettuce..

I'll post her photo soon :)

*Insect

Khadhra Died :(

I know it was expected by my sister and I sort of talked my self into taking it easily but still it's sad.

I thought this fish was going to last a bit longer. The energy she had was promising. Her last minutes, even though it was very easy to figure out that she was struggling, there was still hope.



My parents never approved home pets. We had a series of sad stories with dogs. Gimmie died of old age and sickness, Blackie poisoned by neighbors, Nanno was kidnapped from the street after I gave her a bath. And many other dogs at our grandparents' home.

As for cats, my sister and I used to feed cats secretly to keep them in the garden. Somehow we were attached to a cat that gave birth in our backyards. We played with one of the kittens and the mother cat abandoned it. We did our best to keep her but she died young. My dad and I buried her and kept it a secret form my sister and told her that the mother came and took her back.

During 2003 war, we were staying at my mother's uncle's, a cat gave birth in the garden and I liked the orange one and called her Mishmooshti (from Mishmish ie apricot)took care of her and fed her and she grew into furry-orange-hairball. Don't get excited, the neighbor's dog ate her!

Fish.. where do I begin? We had a black one called Abaska, can't remember much about her except that she DIED. Khookha and Khaz3al also were a merry couple but one day during cleaning their place my sister put them in the sink and added tab water. oh I forgot to say it was August and the water was boiling. She literately boiled them.

While my sister was studying in Jordan, she had Meme and another fish id don't remember. The one I that I don't remember died the first day I think. Meme followed it after a while. Then there was Puspus. She was a suicidal fish. My sister says that Puspus may have thought that she could fly or live outside water. She managed to dive Outside water twice but my sister was able to put her back in water. Someday my sister woke up and found her on the carpet!

Then there was Tiswahin (i.e best of all) and she was tiswahin for real. She used to make sounds and jump up and down the moment my sister step a foot home. She was something else. The second day I arrived Amman, my sister and I got Buqla. She is a stupid fish, dull and ate nothing until I started to grain the food for her.

Buqla, as seen in the previous post, developed a friendly personality after two weeks. She started to kiss our fingers and make clicking sounds in the morning or sometimes even at dawn to wake me up :) she's staying at my sister's friend.


The box which was given to my sister's friend. Buqla :)


At certain times I wished I had a hamster or a bird. But my family never approved such a thing. It's easy to get attached to pet and sooner or later you have to let them go. Until then I'll be happy to have my lifeless-limbless-Pet I have since late 1990s, which I just discovered I never gave it a name!

Pinky and Burtuqalla Died :'(

I know this could be the shallowest post ever, especially after the previous one but Pinky and Burtuqalla died :'(

The first thing my sister and I did after we arrived to the UAE we got three fish. Three tinny colourful ones. We couldn't decide their names so I call them according to their colours until we find proper names. The green one I liked the most. I call her Khadhra. She seems very respectful and elegant and I don't know why I feel related to her. Maybe because I have sort of greenish eyes and think that green suits me :|

Pinky was very energized and hyperactive. And after couple of hours we knew she can't be called Pinky because she seemed very bossy and had leadership quality. S/he started pushing the other two away. As for the orange one, Burtoqalla, she was defensive but nice.

I had a dream yesterday that I was changing their water and putting them in an empty jar!!!




My sister woke me rather late this morning smiling and laughing and saying "Pinky and Burtuqalla died". I opened my eyes and asked "no kidding" and she kept telling me all about how she found them dead this morning and she throw them in the garbage :(




I feel guilty. I insisted that we should get three because i don't want them to be lonely. I picked them one by one. I refused to change their water because i wanted to make sure about how to take care of them. Was about to call a friend to ask her from where she adds the water and how many times to feed them a day. Because the Chines guy who sold them could hardly communicate!

Staying up late, I was the last one to sleep yesterday. I didn't say good night to them!! It makes it harder for me because I fed them and they didn't eat a thing.

Please pray that Khadhra would live a longer life and enjoy it :)

Here's Buqla, the fish we left in Jordan with my sister's friend. I hope She's doing fine. I miss her terribly!






That's all for now!

I'll Be In Amman... Again

Last time I left Amman, almost two years back, I said I won't be coming any soon again. I left friends and family knowing I won't see them for a while. Driven mad because of the bad treatment I received at the airport, the offensive speech I heard, I don't even want to remember that day. But it kept haunting me during my visit. I wrote it minute by minute in my diary. Even though it was hard for me and it wasn't just my problem but a problem almost every single Iraqi went through, I decided not to post about it and not to make a international issue. Many bloggers had a say in that matter and my story is just one trifle one compared to the stories when Iraqis were asked to go back home, or had to spend the night in the airport.

I'm going to Amman for my sister's graduation and to meet friends I've missed for so long. I don't know when I'll be back but sooner or later I'll have to :D
I'm taking my papers with me to work on and some molds I have engrave for my ceramic.

That's all for now

Wisdom-free!!!!

So I had that naughty wisdom tooth extracted. Let me tell you how it went:

Woke up, took a shower, had a cheese sandwich, brushed my teeth. oh silly me not that part!!! ok ok stepped into the car, dad drove, reached the clinic, grandpa and I went in, stepped into the clinic... what not that part !!! oh, it's alright. My fault.

Dr. Ahmed received me with a smile, asked me if dad or jido are coming in for support. I answered no. My sister Sosa jumped into my mind. She was there for me during both operations 2005. but this time I don't need anyone. We had a chitchat about the situation in Iraq and how it's getting hard to get a visa to Jordan. We remembered the last time I visited him in his clinic in Baghdad.

Obviously he wanted to ease my mind with his talk because he's not a big chatter and he rarely talks when I pay him a visit. Last time I went which was about three months back I had a sore in my mouth which was killing me. A year back he changed three fillings. oh and those new ones are white ceramic and hard to be noticed.

Back to the subject. I've always liked the patient's chair at the dentists but this one is cooler than any chair ever. It even has a TV screen which makes you feel like sitting in a spaceship. To tell you how it went: Sat on the chair, it was lifted up, glided a bit to the back, I opened my mouth, Dr sprayed anesthesia spray, then came the needle (which I closed my eyes in order not to see, that's the only part that freaks me out, therefore, I don't want to see it so I won't have to feel it, a self denial thing). Dr Ahmed asked me to close my mouth a bit, did something and asked me to wash my mouth.

Straightened the chair, Dr Ahmed said something I couldn't get, was it "Done" or "that's all about it" I didn't get it because my eyes were stuck on that big tooth while still stunned and asked him "You took it out?!!! wow" He gave me instructions about how to deal with the post extraction treatment and food. Before I leave he explained to me how it went on a big poster hanging on the wall.

I can't wait to eat vanilla pudding : )

I'm sitting with a frozen broad beans bag on my cheek because the Mozzarella bag didn't last but few minutes, oh i mean because I forgot to put the icebag in the freezer : )

That's all for now

Some Unnecessary Wisdom

It was summer 2005, after graduation, when I had two operation to get my three wisdom teeth extracted. It was awful during and after the extraction. I'm not the kind of people who would complain about going to the dentist. It could be because I had the best dentist on earth ever. I'm not joking about that. But I go to the clinic, sit, open my mouth, forget completely why my mouth is widely open, close my mouth and leave. what a happy experience.

Dr Ahmed had a clinic in Harithiya area in Baghdad. We knew him since forever because his parents are my grandparents' neighborers. Since the 7th grade I haven't been to any other dentist. He had a big fish tank next to the patient chair where you can forget the entire world and enjoy looking at it. Even though I don't remember it was there after the war. Dr Ahmed's clinic was the last place I visited before leaving Baghdad. He left Baghdad after that and we met him briefly in Amman when he was trying to get visa to some other place on earth.

When I needed to get my wisdom teeth extracted 2005 he wasn't there. I had to go to my uncle's friend, a Jordanian dentist who studied in Germany. I'm not used to say bad things about people therefore I'm not going to write anything about that experience other than "the operation looked like putting your feet against the wall to pull the stuck door open". Do you get the picture?!

I had to stop eating about two weeks or more because the operation took two sessions, an entire week between them, and I had to reschedule and push the second session another three days. The bottom line I lived on yogurt drink, cold banana flavored milk, cold coco drink, and after a while I started to drink soups.

Destiny played its part and I came to UAE to find that Dr. Ahmed is settled down in Sharjah and his clinic is only ten minutes away from our place. and that's where I'm scheduled to have my fourth wisdom tooth extracted tomorrow morning 10 AM.

Wish me luck and send me recipes for fresh drinks that I can make use of during the coming week :)

I have this list:
1. Yogurt drink (ready and canned by Milco)
2. Avocado-lemon-yogurt drink (which I invented, oh and it's not sweet.. I add salt instead)
3. Carrot-orange juice
4. Coco drink

As for meals:
1. Broccoli soup
2. Cream caramel
3. Puddings
4. oh and definitely mashed potatoes at a later stage :D

Isn't odd to have four wisdom teeth when they say it rarely come out. I still have the other three in a small box that when I was trapped in heavy metal thought I would make accessories out of them. imagine tooth earing or necklace!

That's all for now

Happy Birthday Sosa-Lola

She’s this cute, childish, loveable, funny, spontaneous, smart girl, not because she’s my sister but because for some mysterious reasons, it’s helpless not to fall for her or not to like her. She Sosa lola, my youngest sister. No matter how old she gets, we see her as we’ve always knew her “noq6a” (a dot or a point)

I can go on and on talking about how we enjoy our times together but you’ll never get the picture. We invented games, invented words. We made practical jokes, we made fun of everything. .We wrote songs together and we wrote movies, but above all we had our own way to sing. It’s this silly kind of singing that makes anybody who listen to us drop down laughing. I would sing and she would add the beats and tempo in a very funny way, moving her hands as if she’s drumming. Oh how I miss her.

One of the games we invented was “khamsha mino yukhmosh awal?” don’t worry, you won’t find any of these words in a dictionary. Simply because they are made up. “khamsha” from “khashim” (=nose) and a driven fake verb “yukhmosh”, “mino” (=who), and awal (=first). So the game is “who would snatch other’s nose first?” We were in kindergarten when we invented the game. And the best place for us was our parents’ bed. We would lift our hands straight up vertically and say “khamsha mino yukhmosh awal?” And that’s when all the fun begins. Many times the game ended with a fight or at least one of us crying.

Sosa has a major crush for Tigger.Oh yes, of Disney’s Winnie the Pooh family. She made the entire family along with her friends fall in love with this creature. She considers him her pet. Unfortunately Tigger the Tigger and Tigger The Baseball Player are with me now and not with Sosa. She only has Tigger the Baby. Hopefully the entire family reunion will be the coming August. Pray for them :)

The “noq6a” is graduating this summer inshalla. She’s studying Finance and Banking. From the 9th grade, Sosa made up her mind and decided she doesn’t want to waste her time on chemistry and physics nor on geography and history. She wanted something she liked way much better: Business. She was the first one in the family who would say it firmly that if she won’t go to a commercial school she won’t study at all. Amazingly, she made this precedent decision and she graduated from her commercial high school as one of the top 10 students. That year, she spent it alone with my father in Baghdad. She refused to leave Baghdad even with the worst situation to live let alone to study, even after my eldest sister, my mother and I left Baghdad. Dad had to stay with her so she would be able to graduate.

To Sosa, the bravest tinny girl I’ve ever known, I want to say Happy Birthday. May all her wishes (the good ones ha ;) ) come true. May God bless you, guide you and lighten your way.