Friday, December 04, 2009

مش عارفة أنا عايزة إيه !!

ساعات كتير باحس إنى مش عارفة أنا عايزة إيه. يا ترى عايزة أقعد فى المدينة و اشتغل و احتك بالناس و لا عايزة أقعد في الريف و أعيش حياة الطبيعة من غير تليفزيون و انترنت و لا حتي كمبيوتر، ازرع و أربى إلى محتاجا و أعيش أورجانك :) و يمكن أفتح مدرسة و أعلم الأطفال و أحببهم فى القراءة و المعرفة. و لا عايزة أكمل دراساتى العليا و أوصل لحاجة مفيدة ممكن تتطبق و تفيد البلد بجد و بعد كده أسافر أكمل دراستى بره عشان أعرف أكتر و أتعلم أكتر و أشوف العالم. و يمكن عايزة أتجوز و أقعد فى البيت أخترع فى المطبخ و أربى أولادى صح و ابنى معاهم علاقات مميزة كان نفسى دايما اتمتع بيها مع أهلى. أو أدرس دينى بجد و أعرف و أقترب من ربنا أكتر وبعد كده أكون داعية لديننا الصح زى ما لازم يكون. حاجات كتير يمكن بعضها قريب من بعض و بعضها بعيد كل البعد، يمكن بعضها ممكن يتعمل مع بعض و بعضها لازم يتعمل لوحده. بجد مش عارفة بس إلى أنا عارفا إن أوقات كتير ببقى مش مبسوطة و لما بقعد مع نفسى باحس إن السبب فى إنى مش عارفة فعلا أنا عايزة إيه و مش عارفة أنا ممكن أنجح فى إيه و المفروض اكمل فيه و غالبا هافشل في إيه و المفروض أبعد عنه. و فى النهاية الأمر بيفضل معلق و بافضل أحاول فى كل الطرق يمكن مرة أوصل للطريق الصح.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

In their shoes!

I regard teaching as a very influential profession. I’ve always liked it and think a lot that if I wasn’t an engineer; I’d like to be a teacher. Or may be when I finally retire, I shall go to some rural area, build a school there and start changing the world :). I may be thinking in this way because I had some teachers who have really changed my life and I’d like now to mention them by name to show my gratitude to what they’ve done to me or just to the kind of teachers they have been. They were both my teachers during the preparatory stage; my Arabic teacher Mr. Ahmad Suleiman, and my English teacher Miss Hayam.

Beside the great message that teaching can deliver and all the nice things such process may involve, it can be really hard and frustrating. I’m not going to talk about the situation of our educational system, because it’s really bad and just talking about it is depressing, I’d rather talk about a personal experience that I’m having. For about a month now, I’ve been teaching Arabic (Egyptian Colloquial) to foreigners (actually they’re just two) as a volunteer in a non-governmental organization that offers free course to students, mainly by other students. Such courses include language courses that are preferably taught by foreign students who happen to be in Egypt. In return, such students need to learn Arabic in order to be able to communicate more easily in their daily lives. When I volunteered I was planning to teach computer but it somehow ended up with me teaching Arabic. This is almost my first experience in teaching and though it may seem easy, because after all it’s 3amaya! It isn’t that easy at all. This is because 1st 3amaya has no rules, 2nd many rules in Arabic hasn’t a match in English, 3rd the last time I studied the rules of Arabic (grammar and such stuff) was back in high school and now I don't remember most of the rules. I’m trying to do my best but I really feel bad and become frustrated when I find my students not paying attention, making gestures that show that they’re waiting impatiently for the lecture to end or at least don’t get what I’m saying. I feel that I must be interesting all the time and that my students should understand each and every word of what I’m saying.

After this experience I really became more compassionate with all the teachers I’ve ever had, because I simply stood in their shoes! I felt that I should have paid more attention and should have never fallen asleep during the lectures, even the boring ones :).

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Treat people in the way you’d like to be treated not in the way they treat you!

In my trials to follow the manners of a true Muslim, I tend not to judge others, I try to find excuses for them, I try to see things from their perspective etc. Also from my readings in management and communication skills, it is always mentioned that this is the best way to deal with others and have successful communication with them. The problem is that not all people follow the same attitude and though I may be doing my best to deal with people in this manner, I many times get shocked with their mean attitudes. At the same time I find others around me, who doesn’t try to presume the good intentions and see things from others perspective, are less socked because they saw it coming or at least have always presumed the worst scenarios. I began to doubt my policy in dealing with people, though I don’t feel like changing it because I think that it’s a good policy after all and presuming good intentions is better that presuming bad ones because by then dealing with and trusting others would be really hard and life would be miserable. So should we just keep the good intentions and try to see things from others perspective, or should we do that while being cautious to avoid latter shocks or would it be easier to presume bad intentions and worst case scenarios from the start?!

Monday, October 26, 2009

What lies beneath

We’ve a general tendency for not believing our government. Whenever someone in authority shows up on T.V. to give a statement or something, we usually doubt everything he/she is saying and try to search for the truth between the lines; though he/ she might actually be honest. This attitude from us is most obvious in the times of disasters and crisis. When we hear, for example, that a plane crashed somewhere in the world and hundreds of people died, the government quickly declares, may be before any other country, that all the Egyptians who were on board of the plane are safe and sound. This turned into some kind of a public joke such that whenever an accident happens, we quickly say that for sure all the Egyptians are fine.

The whole world was suffering from the last economical crisis (recession) whereas the finance minister declared that our economy is doing just fine and was minimally affected! I’m not an expert in economy and I don’t claim to understand its theories well but if the speaker is a fool, the audience shouldn’t be.

To my good luck or bad luck, I can’t really tell, I work for the government in an important ministry. So, I’m sometimes aware of what is going on behind the scenes. That is why in a recent crisis that we faced when the ministry officials showed up on T.V. to assure the people that everything is fine and that the government has made the best it could, I wasn’t really assured because I knew that things weren’t that fine. Indeed great efforts were made but as usual the work wasn’t perfectly finished. It seems that the government is more concerned with the image that reaches the population than the actual work that affects them.

I became very depressed when I examined this situation because I measured on that all the other declarations I hear from different officials in the government and I completely lost trust, because I realized that things aren’t as good as they say, if not worse.

I believe that we’ve all the right not to trust our government because it rarely says the truth and has never been a “transparent” government. It’s better to tell your people that things are bad but every effort is made to make them better, than to tell them that everything is perfect while they can see in their daily life that they aren’t. I think that I’ll feel more secure if the government adopted this attitude.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Dignity….to where?

El Sawy Culture Wheel launched an awareness campaign lately to restore dignity to the Egyptian society. They called the year of 2009, “The Year of Dignity”. The campaign had four main focuses; among which is a program aiming at eliminating the profession of “Begging”. They asked the people not to give money to anyone who asks for it in the streets, transport etc. because this would encourage them to continue doing so. The good thing is that, for them, things didn’t stop here but they had a plan to support people in need. They said that they’ll make some sort of database with the names and data of the individuals & families who can’t support themselves. Then according to the condition they can give them monthly salaries or make them small projects that would allow them to afford themselves and quit begging. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to the volunteers’ monthly meetings after that, to see the progress of their project or idea. Anyway, this made me think of whether I should really stop giving money to people who beg and does this apply to those who sell products in the streets or transport? Because, you know, most of these people are actually begging while pretending to sell their products. In the following lines I’d share with you some of what I see daily regarding this issue, may be we can decide together whether we should give those beggars or not, whether we should buy from beggars disguised as sellers and what to do about those who really sell goods in the different ways of transport.

Situation 1:

A middle-aged woman gets on the bus and starts asking the passengers for money to buy a life-saving medicine for her daughter. She tells us that she had to take permission and leave work for some time to get the money and also tells us that the shot her daughters need costs 150 L.E. She finally adds that if it wasn’t for the sake of her sick daughter she wouldn’t be begging in this way.

Now, let’s analyze this situation. First, when people give charity to those they don’t know (in the streets, transport etc. ), they don’t usually give large sums because they’re in doubt that the beggar may not be telling the truth but they might give money anyway so that they can relieve their consciousness. So, if the woman was telling the truth, how could she imagine that she can collect the 150 L.E. in a couple of hours or so? And wouldn’t it be better if she tried to do some serious work, like cleaning a house or mopping a ladder (especially because she seemed pretty healthy to do so), instead of begging in the bus? One might say that it’s humiliating to clean others houses, but I don’t think that it’s more humiliating than begging!

So the conclusion is that I think that this woman is a liar and whether my idea is true or not, I wouldn’t be giving her money under any circumstances.

Situation 2:

A young lady gets into the ladies carriage in the underground. Shortly she begins to get out her goods and show it to the passengers and sell. I didn’t buy anything from her and didn’t really bother to examine her goods but I rather examined her situation. She was well-dressed and from her appearance and behavior I could tell that she had some sort of education. I admired the fact that she chose this job instead of begging or more worse do other illegal or unethical work. I thought that I can buy things from her to help and encourage her, but here rises another problem! The underground police forbid selling in the stations or carriages and they usually chase such sellers. I don’t know the real reason why the police forces are doing this. May be it’s the preservation of our civil appearance! May be this is because of the beggars disguised as sellers or may be there is a law that forbids selling in the underground. I really don’t know.

My conclusion here is that, if this young lady or whoever was selling something that I need I’d buy it even if it was sold elsewhere in order to help such people. As for the police, why don’t they interview such sellers, take their names and ID numbers, etc. and those who are really selling would be given some sort of permission to do so. This way the process would be organized and those who are seeking to earn their living decently won’t be punished because of those who don’t.

Finally..

The previous two situations repeat everyday as well as tens of other similar scenarios and I believe that we should all agree on the right behavior towards dealing with the problem and stick to it.

The topic is open for discussion!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Why things are not surprising anymore?!

I remember the surprise and amusement I used to feel whenever I visited a new place, a nice feeling of excitement and happiness that I don’t usually experience in my ordinary days. Now all such feelings are gone. I don’t know exactly when this lack of amusement sensation has started but lately I just don’t enjoy my time and have fun easily. The little things that used to elevate my spirits don’t do that anymore; Fairouz voice early in the morning, a nice act from a stranger, a cup of coffee “mathboot” with a favorite book, a sudden visit from a dear friend etc. I was in Matrouh a while ago. I remember the first time I visited Matrouh, about 7 years ago, I was amazed by the view of the sea with its extremely pure water and different colors that change within the hour; the clean weather and many other beautiful things that I can’t recall now but just recall the feeling. May be I’m getting old! Really, I lately found out that the more experience you gain in life; the less you enjoy its little things. Though I think that it should be the other way round; the older you get, the more you appreciate life little things because by then you know how precious they are. I just hope to have these first time astonishing and amusing feelings again.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Thanks my dear friends

I took the step I’ve been delaying for a long time and quit my current job. There are chances of going back but this is not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about my colleagues, my friends at work. I recall many situations when I was really angry with them. I remember times when I felt that they don’t stand me and wish if I were gone. I remember our quarrels over work-related issues as well as other issues. But all these memories now seem very small and trivial compared with all the care, love, and support they've showed in the past few days. They stood by me like I never thought anyone would. They fought for me and God knows the bad and terrible situations they’d to go through because of that. I can’t find the words to thank them and express how I felt today but I’d really like them to know that I love them and I shall never forget their stand. And if I were to return to work, it would be only because of them. But if I was unable to come back, please forgive me and support me always.

Thanks:
M.I.
H.M.
A.S.
E.R.
E.Kh.
F.A.
Sh.M.A.
F.A.M
F.Z.
Ch.S.
A.R.
A.F.

Though I'm usually a forgiving person, I'm unable to forgive this time and I can't help praying Allah to show M.S. the same misery he'd shown to others and make him regret it a millions time.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

No matter what*

No matter what they tell us
No matter what they do
No matter what they teach us
What we believe is true

No matter what they call us
However they attack
No matter where they take us
We’ll find our own way back

I can’t deny what I believe
I can’t be what I’m not


No matter what they tell you
No matter what they do
No matter what they teach you
What you believe is true

No matter whom they follow
No matter where they lead
No matter how they judge us
What we believe is true

* Parts from a song for Boyzone

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Is it really a Masculine community?!

I hear people in the media, especially women, talk a lot about how we’re a masculine community. I usually don’t really get what they mean by that but I think that it refers to how our community differentiates between males and females, in favor of males, giving them more rights and privileges. Anyhow, in a recent business trip I had two situations that reminded me of this concept and I’m going to talk about them now. I was going to supervise the handover, installation and operation of a piece of equipment in a place outside Cairo; as a service to another department ‘A’ in the organization where I work. I was on the mission with a female colleague ‘X’ and a male colleague ‘Y’. I’ve done the same job before and so I had more hands-on experience than my colleagues. Though this was pretty obvious, every now and then one of the staff to whom we were delivering the service, takes my “male colleague” ‘Y’ aside and talks to him about something related to the work we were doing. He does so as if we weren’t qualified enough to be talked to, just because we’re females. And though ‘Y’ told him to talk in front of us because we’re all in the subject together, he kept doing the same silly act till we finished our work and left. The other situation happened earlier when we met to start our journey. First, came a guy from department ‘A’ who is supposed to take care of administrative issues during the trip or at least that is what we were told. He asked me about who else is coming and when I told him that ‘X’ and ‘Y’ were, he simply said that “If I knew that ‘Y’ was coming, I wouldn’t have come. I just came so that you won’t be alone”, i.e. if I knew that a male was coming, I wouldn’t have come. Actually I was offended by what he said but of course he didn’t feel so at all and probably thought that it was a natural thing to say. I wouldn’t be bothered if such gesture came from a friend or a colleague because it would have meant that he really cares and not that he thought we weren’t up to the situation and needed baby sitting. Also in the latter situation, someone who really cares would act like a man not just like an image of a man. So is it really a masculine community?!






2 6 2009

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Everyday Stuff in the Underground

Last Thursday, I was at Giza underground station, after driving my sister to the train station. I wasn’t really in a good a mood and as usual began thinking if I’d have the same fight telling men not to ride in the “ladies only” carriage (not the ladies only carriage till 9 pm). I always feel bad when I stand still and don’t take an action in such situations. I feel negative and I don’t like this at all. Anyway, as soon as I got into the carriage I found that the men number outweighs the ladies number, twice at least. So I decided that it won’t be a fair fight and didn’t talk, feeling bad about myself. I won’t talk about the men who sat comfortably while ladies with children stood right under their nose. I’ll talk about a man who got on board to beg. He was rather young and used a wheelchair to move. He asked people to help him and some responded and gave him money. Then a station came, he rushed to the door, while one or two were stretching out their hands to give him more money. He couldn’t get out in time, so he decided to wait to the next station. While waiting he began another begging round. I noticed that he was rather rude while moving through the carriage, asking people to free room for him to pass. I also noticed that both his legs were moving and that he just had some sort of a dermal disease in one of his legs. He was definitely not paralyzed. He got off in the same station as mine and rushed out so that he can get into the next carriage. He shouted at the people who were descending from the carriage in a very rude way so that he can get on board. The door almost closed while only one of his feet was in, so he suddenly stood still, jumped in the carriage and then dragged his chair behind him. I couldn’t help laughing, rather loud, to myself and wondered will the people in the next carriage give him money?!

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Demascus

I saw this magnificent play at El Saway Culture Wheel last Sunday. I was fascinated by it and since then I've been thinking about it a lot. I thought of sharing it with you and may be writing a review, but as I'm not an expert or even a good critic I stepped back. Then I read this really good and expressive review today and decided to share it with you. May be those outside Egypt may have a chance to watch the play. Enjoy!




دمشق‏..‏ المسرحية الزائرة
بقلم : محمد سلماوي


كيف مرت هكذا مرور الكرام هذه المسرحية الرائعة التي جاءت من بريطانيا لتعرض في القاهرة ليلتين ضمن جولة لها في الشرق الأوسط زارت خلالها بيروت وعمان ودمشق وتزور بعد القاهرة تونس والاراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة؟

إنها مسرحية دمشق التي كتبها المؤلف المسرحي البريطاني ديفيد كريج وعرضت بنجاح في كل من إدنبرة ولندن ونيويورك وموسكو‏,‏ وهي تنتمي الي فئة قليلة العدد من الأعمال المسرحية والفنية الغربية التي تحاول تقديم صورة للعرب مغايرة لتلك النماذج النمطية التي تزخر بها بقية الأعمال الفنية المستقاة من وسائل الاعلام التي لا تبحث إلا عن الإثارة والتشويق‏.‏

ولقد سبق أن شاهدنا لمسرحي بريطاني آخر هو ديفيد هير مسرحيات عظيمة تنتمي لهذا التقليد‏,‏ كما ظهرت بعض المسرحيات الأخري في بريطانيا وخارجها بعد حرب العراق تقدم موقفا ناقدا لهذه الحرب لكنها ستظل حتي الآن الإستثناء وليست القاعدة‏.‏

وتروي مسرحية دمشق قصة بول الاسكتلندي الذي يصل الي دمشق لعقد صفقة مع مسئولي التعليم في سوريا لبيع كتب جديدة لتعليم اللغة الانجليزية للطلبة في المدارس‏,‏ وهو متأفف بعض الشيء لوجوده في منطقة حرب كما يوصف الشرق الأوسط في النشرات الإخبارية الغربية‏,‏ بالاضافة الي أن وصوله يتوافق مع يوم عيد الحب فالنتاين الذي كان يفضل ان يقضيه مع زوجته في بريطانيا‏,‏ بدلا من أن يمضيه في مفاوضات مضنية لانقاذ كتبه الخاصة بتعليم الانجليزية من براثن الرقابة المفروضة علي كل شيء في هذه المنطقة من العالم‏.‏

لكن سرعان مايكتشف بول مع تقدم أحداث المسرحية أن الشرق الأوسط ليس المنطقة الخطيرة المليئة بالحروب وبالعنف والإرهاب حسبما تصورها أجهزة الإعلام‏,‏ وحسنا فعل المخرج ان جعل ساحة الاستقبال بالفندق الذي ينزل به بول والذي تجري فيه جميع أحداث المسرحية‏,‏ تتضمن في خلفيتها شاشة تليفزيونية كبيرة تعرض الأحداث المضطربة التي تقدمها أجهزة الإعلام طوال الوقت عن الشرق الأوسط والتي تتعارض تماما مع المناخ السائد في بهو الفندق‏,‏ وهكذا يسقط المؤلف أول حجر في ذلك البناء الزائف الذي يتصور الناس في الغرب أنه يمثل حقيقة الأوضاع في الشرق الأوسط‏.‏

وحين يصطدم بول بقائمة الممنوعات التي تفرضها الرقابة علي كتب تعلم الانجليزية التي يقدمها نكتشف من خلال المناقشة ان المطلوب حذفه من هذه الكتب ماهو إلا المفاهيم الخاطئة التي لا تأتي إلا من عقل يجهل تماما حقائق الوضع في هذه المنطقة من العالم‏,‏ وبهذا المعني يبدو وكأن العقل الغربي هو الذي يفرض الرقابة علي الحقيقة‏.‏

وتتعرض المسرحية أيضا من خلال شخصية زكريا موظف الاستقبال الشاب بالفندق الي تلك الفكرة النمطية السائدة عن الشباب العرب والذين تصورهم علي انهم مهووسون بالجنس ولا يسعون إلا لإقامة علاقات مع السائحات الأجنبيات‏,‏ فأول شيء يسأل عنه زكريا حين تتوطد علاقته قليلا بـ بول هو إن كانت أية فتيات قد حضرن معه من اسكتلندا‏,‏ ثم نراه بعد ذلك حين يتعرف علي فتاتين أمريكيتين يطلب منهما الصعود الي احدي غرف الفندق في التو واللحظة‏,‏ وقد صورت هذه الشخصية الكوميدية بطريقة تثير التعاطف معها بشكل كبير خاصة حين نعرف كيف ان الفتاتين الأمريكيتين اللتين لا نراهما قد أمضتا السهرة تسخران منه‏.‏

لكن مع تقدم أحداث المسرحية فإن بول البريطاني المتحضر الذي جاء ساعيا لتعليم العرب اللغة الانجليزية مثلما سعت بلاده مع الولايات المتحدة لتعليمهم الديمقراطية في العراق‏,‏ يطلب من مني التي بدأ يشعر نحوها بالعاطفة أن تصعد معه الي غرفته بالفندق في التو واللحظة‏,‏ وهنا تسقط تلك الفكرة النمطية عن الشباب العرب ويبدأ المتفرج يسأل نفسه إن كان البشر جميعا متشابهين في أحاسيسهم الطبيعية‏.‏

علي أن أهم ما تسقطه المسرحية من أكاذيب حول العرب هو تلك العلاقة الأبوية التي كثيرا ما سعي الغرب لاستخدامها من أجل الوصايا علي الشرق الأوسط من خلال الاستعمار الذي كان يقوم دائما علي دعاوي بالية بأنه يسعي لتمدين الدول التي يستعمرها‏,‏ فرسول التعليم في هذه المسرحية والذي يسعي لتعليم السوريين اللغة الانجليزية هو الشخصية الوحيدة في المسرحية التي لا تتحدث إلا لغة واحدة هي لغته‏,‏ بينما وجدنا بقية الشخصيات لا تتحدث إليه بلغتها وانما بلغته هو‏,‏ أي الانجليزية وبعضهم يتحدث الفرنسية أيضا‏,‏ حتي ذلك الشاب زكريا الذي لا يجيد أي شيء في حياته نجده يتمكن بانجليزيته الركيكة من أن يتفاهم مع النزيل الاكستلندي‏,‏ بينما نجد هذا الاخير يعاني طوال الوقت من محاولة توصيل مايريد التعبير عنه لمن حوله‏.‏

ولأن المسرحية لاتسعي لتزييف الحقيقة في الشرق الأوسط فهي لا تقتصر فيما تقدمه علي الحقائق الايجابية وحدها وانما تحرص علي تقديم الحقيقة بشقيها الايجابي والسلبي‏,‏ فهي أولا تتحدث عن عظمة مدينة دمشق التي تعتبر أعرق مدن العالم والتي بنيت بشكل آدمي وليس بشكل آلي كالمدن الحديثة‏,‏ ثم هي تتحدث عن جمال مساجدها القديمة وروعة جبل قسيون‏,‏ أما القيمة الكبري في هذه المسرحية فهي البشر أنفسهم الذين يظهرون بشكل يجعل المتفرج يتعاطف معهم باعتبارهم أكثر انسانية وربما أيضا أكثر تحضرا‏.‏

والمسرحية لا تغفل أن هناك احتلالا إسرائيليا تعاني منه الأراضي العربية سواء في سوريا أو لبنان أو فلسطين‏,‏ وأن هناك غيابا للكثير مما يتطلع اليه الانسان العربي من حرية وديمقراطية وفرصة للعيش الكريم ولتحقيق ذاته في المجتمع‏,‏ وفي هذا فإن زكريا الذي ينتحر في نهاية المسرحية هو التجسيد الحي لذلك الشعور بالاحباط الذي ينتشر في المنطقة‏,‏ بينما تجسد مني غياب الحريات الشخصية ويجسد وسيم ازدواجية المثقف العربي‏,‏ لكنهم جميعا يقدمون شخصيات رائعة هي بالتأكيد أكثر رقيا من رسول الحضارة البريطاني الذي حين يأتي وقت مغادرته البلاد يشعر بضآلته المتناهية التي تتناقض تماما مع زهوه وثقته بنفسه في بداية المسرحية والاستخفاف الذي كان يعامل به أهل البلد آنذاك‏.‏

لقد كان علينا أن نحتفي احتفاء أكبر بهذا العرض المسرحي المهم فعروض المسرح البريطاني لا تأتينا كل يوم وهي حين تأتي لا تكون بروعة هذا العرض وما يقوم عليه من فكر جديد كان علينا التفاعل معه بشكل أفضل بأن نعطيه فرصة للعرض أكبر من الليلتين اللتين عرض خلالهما علي مسرح ساقية الصاوي بالزمالك‏.‏

Friday, March 27, 2009

Earth Hour 2009: A Billion to Go Dark Saturday?

Ker Than for National Geographic News March 26, 2009




Starting in New Zealand's remote Chatham Islands, thousands of cities, towns, and landmarks around the world will start to go dark for Earth Hour on Saturday evening. Up to a billion people worldwide are expected to participate in this global voluntary blackout by switching off their lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time. The movement, sponsored by the conservation nonprofit WWF, is designed as a symbolic gesture in support of action against global warming. Now in its third year, Earth Hour has been attracting some high-profile advocates. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently pledged his support for Earth Hour, saying it has the potential to be "the largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted." Secretary-General Ban urged people to participate as a way of letting politicians know that they expect progress at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December, when world leaders will meet to draft a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol. Other big names endorsing Earth Hour 2009include actors Edward Norton and Cate Blanchett, musicians Alanis Morissette and Big Kenny, and the band Coldplay.





Landmarks at Night





Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 with about two million participants. By 2008 the event had spread to nearly 400 participating cities in 35 countries and 50 million participants. (See before-and-after pictures of Earth Hour 2008.) As of press time, more than 2,800 cities, towns, and villages in 84 countries worldwide are expected to take part in Earth Hour 2009. World landmarks such as the Empire State Building, the Las Vegas strip, the Eiffel Tower, Rio de Janiero's statue of "Christ the Redeemer," Athens's Acropolis, Egypt's Great Pyramids, and Rome's Colosseum will also slip temporarily into darkness. "Sometimes it takes a while for a good idea to get out there, and this year we're really hitting our stride," said WWF spokesperson Leslie Aun.





Earth Hour: Energy Saver?




While Earth Hour is important as a symbolic gesture, it would be even more valuable if the energy savings of the event were known, said Mary-Elena Carr, associate director of the Columbia Climate Center in New York City. "The issue is whether it goes beyond a 'really cool' event and leads to anything tangible," Carr said. "If there was an idea of how much energy was being saved, people could take measures to lower their energy use in a systematic and practical way." Unlike in previous years, WWF is not releasing energy-savings estimates for this year's Earth Hour. "We think the value of Earth Hour is the lights going off," WWF's Aun said, "not the energy savings."




I'm in...Are you?!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

I’m feeling good or at least I was…

Yesterday, I had the final exam for level 2 of the German course I’ve been taking. I got ‘A’ just like the 1st level. It really felt good, thought it is not a big achievement (you know what; it’s a big achievement. It’s just this silly voice inside my head that underestimate everything I do lately and keeps telling me that no matter what I do, it’s not enough. I just hope for this voice to shut up and only talk whenever I’m really not doing a good job). I woke up today in a really good mood and so I started listening to all the optimistic songs of mounir that would help keep the mood going. I though of making a play list of all such songs so that it’d be ready whenever they are need, which happens a lot lately :( I thought of “اخرج من البيبان، الحزن قام حفر عفر، افتح قلبك، ألف لأ ولأ، الفرصة، الفرحة”. I succeeded in keeping the good mood till the middle of the day, when things at work started to pull me gradually out of it, but I’m not going to talk about this…at least not day.

As you can see, I didn’t quit and I’m spending my days at work as some sort of punishment. I couldn’t take the decision and resign. I’m just waiting and hoping for some miraculous event to happen such that voila…I’m out of the office. I thought of doing something silly so that I might get fired but I didn’t find it a good idea and unfortunately also unlikely to happen. I don’t want to stay in my current work and at the same time I can’t switch to a new work right now because I need more time for myself and moving into a new job needs more time and effort dedicated so that I can prove myself in the new workplace. This is of course in case I found another job, because as a result of the global economic problem, people are just being fired not hired!

Always try to keep in a good mood, Tschüss! (Bye bye in German)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Face Recognition and a general information test

This photo was sent on my email today. The sender asked me to recognize the characters in the photo. He said that if I could recognize 45 characters, then I'm very intellectual; 35 a good intellectual; 25 not so bad; 15 need to know more etc. I found it a nice challenge and thanks God I managed to cross the 45 limit. So, why don't you give it a try?

P.S. Right-click on the picture and choose open in a new tap or window, to get a better, enlarged view of the picture.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Should I quit?!


Would you continue working in a job that doesn’t satisfy you, just because you can’t afford staying at home or at least don’t want your parents to pay for your expenses again? I’ve been trying to find an answer for this question for quite some time and I can’t really come out with an answer. I’ve been in my first and only job for about 2 years and a half now. When I first got employed along with a number of my colleagues at college, we used to have discussions about whether what we’re doing is worth it or not, whether it’s needed or not etc. Back then I had some doubts but I believed that what we’re doing is a step on the way, though not the optimum. I don’t recall doing something I’m not convinced with, technically, but I’ve seen people around me doing so. This made me think that if I was ever asked to do something that I’m not convinced with only because my manager (who is very stubborn, usually can’t see anything except his point of view and has a rapidly changing opinions for similar situations...a typical Egyptian manager) believes that this the only way it should be done, I’d simply quit. You might be wondering why I haven’t been in such situation for this long time. Well, the good thing is that my manager respects me a lot and unlike my other colleagues he can sometimes listen to me and be convinced with my opinion. Actually, I’m always the one in charge when he or the vice manager (who I & her agree alot and are almost friends) aren’t around and in fact this represents another problem…leading peers. A while ago I was really considering quitting because the work environment became really stressing. I couldn’t stand dealing with my colleagues at work because most of them don’t accept as their leader, not because I’m not qualified or bossy or things of that sort; just because we’re the same age and things shouldn’t go this way (but if any of them was chosen to lead, it would have been because of his/her qualifications and great managerial & leadership skills. Ironic, isn’t it?). Back to where I started, should I quit? Calculating the losses and gains, what I’d really lose is my salary and contact with the field, though I can’t stand the idea of working just for money. I don’t think that I’ll suffer from boredom because I’ve a lot of things to do in my life, mainly working on my master. And the good thing about finishing my master is that, I might get out with a result that can be sold and somehow have my own business. Anyway, I don’t want to put too much hope on that as I’m just getting started. So, should I quit?





16/2/2009

Sunday, January 04, 2009

I'm worried

I don’t know why I am feeling that a bad thing is going to happen these days. Though great things are happening to me and I’m about to take big steps concerning my academic career; I can’t resist this feeling. Every time the phone rings, I feel that it is going to carry bad news. I think that this permanent worry state started with the series of sudden deaths in the family, which made me always worried about my beloved ones. Lately, I managed to deal calmly with all the actions of fate except death. I can’t imagine what I can do if I lost a beloved one. I know that this is lack of faith in God but I can’t help feeling this way. The permanent worry state comes and goes with time. I’m suffering from it nowadays since the house in front of us went of fire. Then another house (in front of my aunt’s) went on fire as well. Back then I answered the phone to find my aunt talking in a hysterical way and asking me what she shall do! Also we had a series of illness in our small family; nothing serious but still a reason for worries. Also the fact that 2 of my sisters live in another city & another country is always a reason for worries; especially when they’re on the road. When such bad thoughts attack me, I read El Gazaly book “Renew your life”. In this book he handles the famous book “Let the worry & start your life or دع القلق و أبدأ الحياة” from an Islamic perspective. This book really calms me and let be re-believe that everything happens for a reason and that whatever happens to the one who believes in God is always for his good. Unfortunately, I don’t have time right now to re-read the book. I just hope that after writing these words and letting these feelings out, my mind would stop the bad imaginations and future anticipation. What a nice feeling to start the New Year with !



4/1/2009