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They really do that in some countries, where they have a lot of car plants and where most people can actually afford gas.

If any of you would like to donate a car, old or new (it does not make a difference), please drop me a line. I know people who desperately need cars and I am positive this mighty good deed will book you a front seat in heaven. Guaranteed.

I retain the exclusive right to take my pick of donated cars for my personal use. If you have a problem with that, contact my lawyer.

In the meantime, take a look at my wish list which was just recently put up after I succumbed to the temptation (and gave in to friendly nagging) of having one for the grand public. This list is under The Box category in the babylonian sidebar.

May I also remind you that my birthday is on August 13th?

The hunt for waffles has been on for around a year now. I tried Cozmo, C-Town and Safeway to no avail so far and I am growing very distressed. I would like to share this little incident that I lived yesterday whilst trying to find out if the people at mighty Cozmo had the goods.

I went down to the grocery department and, yes, I enjoyed the nice spacious areas between the lines and what not. A lot of foreign people as usual, but that’s to be expected. I headed to the frozen foods and took a stroll by the cold containers: pizza, kobbeh, burgers, half-fried chips, strawberries, peas, puff pastry, all sorts of very cold things but no waffles.

After, what, 15 minutes of carefully checking if the frozen foods section can satisfy me, I decided to head to the bakery to ask the employee who works over there whether or not waffles exist in this Cozmo. I got there and there was an African couple talking and ordering some bread so I waited.

I waited. The couple were done but I still waited although the man clearly saw I wanted to ask/order something but he did not even look at me. At this point I realized I may be just a tad too short for his eyesight level (he’s exactly as short as I am, no excuse) so I stood on my tippy toes and asked another man standing behind him ” Excuse me, do you sell waffles here?” - The other man told me to ask the first guy, the one who did not see me.

So then I got really bored of standing there and being ignored and I jumped in and asked Mr.superbaker. If I wasn’t mistaken at reading his face and body language, he did not like it that I talked to him in the presence of that couple (who were talking to each other at that moment). But at any rate, he asked me what waffles were and I explained. He was really, really upset that I was talking to him! I am not sure why, I can be pleasant when I talk to strangers.

“La2, mafi” - without even looking at me and sort of shaking his head to say “Off you go!”.

Now I realize it is hard to understand why I am very upset at this Cozmo’s employee, you weren’t there to see how different he treated the African couple. Is it because I asked him in Arabic that I received this second-class treatment? Should I have asked him in one other language, after changing into some comfortable I’m-an-angry-teenager pants and looking “foreign”?

This sort of mentality that insists on treating Arabs and the Arab culture as inferior to anything Western/foreign, no matter what, will keep on holding us back- and to see this behaviour coming from one of your own is what’s most painful about it.

So today was my official graduation day. I was done with school in January but university policy has it that the ceremony is held in June. On Monday, June 19th, we (students of the faculty of Arts and the faculty of Law) had to go for the graduation rehearsal.

Needless to say, everything started late on Monday. We got there at 8:30 AM and had to stand with the masses to get a card with the seating number and such and that took around two hours. The rehearsal itself started at 11:00 AM and ended at 1:30 PM which translates to : Burn baby, burn.

Those are some pictures from Monday:

Today was fun although I totally hated Ziad Marzouqa for not coming (he was fun at the rehearsal but he skipped today and I had to small talk with someone I don’t exactly like), but the guy is ill so I’ll forgive him in some other life.

My mother, father and sister attended the ceremony and it was nice to see them seated perfectly in front of me as I had instructed them. So many other students were clueless as to where their families were, but I knew exactly where mine was and what they were doing: they were right there for me to watch the whole time.

My sister did an excellent job at taking nice pictures and capturing video and she even got me some balloons! I tried to have the university photographer guy take as many pictures as possible of me and my friends, tomorrow at 8:00 AM I will camp in front of the main gate of the University of Jordan to hunt for my pictures. Pray for me.

This entry comes your way because A- Amino let the cat out of the bag (thanks, you’re so nice 3an jad) and B- Qwaider asked why I haven’t mentioned anything about the whole deal, and C - sharing is caring. So there, hope you will enjoy the following shots:

What is democracy and does it extend beyond theory? What do you think?

For each ecstatic instant
We must an anguish pay
In keen and quivering ratio
To the ecstasy.

For each beloved hour
Sharp pittances of years,
Bitter contested farthings
And coffers heaped with tears.

- Source

Amazing tunes and beautiful dancing - that’s what Adiga music is. It is by far my favorite type of audio, alongside bellydance music.

I remember when I was just a child my mother and my aunt (her sister) would arrange for us to go watch live performances at Jeel club in Amman. Those were one of the best times of my life, I loved the theatrical nature of the stories of each dance and the music was divine.

The reason why I am writing this is that I have been listening to Qafa music over and over again for the past couple of hours and it’s magical the way this music gives me energy. It makes me want to do something, what, I do not know.

I love clapping to Adiga music, I love tapping my feet (because I cannot dance) as I sit mesmerized looking at the Pshinawa (occordion player), and I dissolve in it like nothing else. The exciting cries of Adiga men beside the Jagg (dancing area) drive my adrenaline levels up,up,up.

My heart is beating so fast. It has been some time since I’ve last been to a live performance or a fantazeyyeh. If you’re going to one, take me with you! I should be able to treat this subject with more detail and I might even try uploading a music sample but in the meantime you can check Zaid’s great blog on Circassians.

Back to my passion. Heart is beating so fast!