The best feeling in the world is when I see and hear things that look and sound friendly, likethe mountains of Lebanon peeking at me from behind the buildings on my way out of the office buildingdriving by the sea side and seeing the excitement or calm of its waterOur Lady of Lebanon looking at me from the mountain top when I?m driving home from workJesus the King greeting me with open arms either before I take the tunnel to work, or on my way back home after a hectic day and traffic jammajestic mountains and valleys that go along the way when we drive anywhere beyond the seashoreold Lebanese stone houses, with or without red rooftops, deserted or still well maintainedolder city buildings with old wooden window shades and large windows and balconieschurch bells at sunrise, noon, sunset, and on Sundaysthe full moon over the mountains. It is surely closer and brighter here, no exaggerationthe little lights in the dark sea at night, fishermen at workSunrise over the mountains and sunset in the sea...All these scenery remind me why I am attached that much to my country and why I decided to came back without even thinking of a plan B.Thank Heavens for Lebanon, for being Lebanese, and for returning back Home! :)(do I sound like a broken record yet? ;) )
I can tolerate power outages, lack of water, not having a decent Internet connection, gas and food prices going up, even clashes and explosions if this should happen again GOD FORBID! I can live with crazy stupid drivers on the roads, and people who take advantage of my ignorance of the "Lebanese way", thieves and liars. I will eventually get used to all the plastic and fake people, the nannies playing with the babies while mommies are home doing absolutely nothing more important. But there's one thing that I cannot accept, will not get used to and will never tolerate.Most of you who live in Lebanon have surely been on the busy streets of Beirut and its suburbs and been approached by kids who want to sell stuff or simply beg for some loose change. Little kids of 6 years and up (I pray they are not any younger even). It really breaks my heart to see these little people with dark like dirt faces coming to the cars' windows and sticking themselves there trying to get money. This is simply NOT HUMAN, no matter where they come from and who they are.These kids are innocent. I tried once to ask a kid to put a hat so the sun won't hit him, I don't think he understood what I was talking about, as if programmed to say certain sentences only or taught the ways of begging/selling and nothing else. Last week I offered a kid beggar a candy instead, he was no taller than the window of the car. How I wished if I could just hold him, hug him and take him to a safe and happy place.Why are these kids on the streets? Why isn't anyone taking care of them? Where are the children's organizations and why aren't they doing something to spare these kids from the animals who are stealing their innocence and their childhood from them? What will become of these children when they become men and women of the world? Will they ever grow up to be any better? Will they know how to have friends, how to laugh, how to love and be happy?Kids are supposed to be at home, cleaned up, well fed, educated and they are supposed to play, smile, and enjoy their childhood, not begging for money and put in the danger of busy streets. Something should be done about that, it is seriously very disturbing, to the point that it can be a good deed to steal these kids and take them home!!!
"Alla ma3ak 3abdalla" said Tante Mountaha yesterday right before they closed the box again and took her husband's body to his last place. I am sure that God is indeed with this wonderful loving caring man. A lot of people are going to miss his smiling eyes and his fresh and young spirit. I already miss him myself. At least I got to see him before he left this world and I had the chance to tell him that I am back for good to marry and live in Lebanon and god his blessings.To his memory, I am posting again what I posted earlier... Goodbye Ammo Abdallah!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Abdallah Tohmé is a personality I grew to know and love in Zouk Mikael.Abdallah Tohmé, husband of Mountaha and father to Najwa, Father Joseph, and Tony, is a handyman and a mechanic by profession. After his retirement, he worked the Nawl (weaving) and the Marsaben (marzipan), two of Zouk's famous handicrafts; and all through his life he had the hobby and talent of writing and saying Lebanese poems (asayid).Abdallah Tohmé cared for me like one of his own children. As I wasn't dating any of his sons yet was always around his children, he gave me the nickname ofseasonal-daughter-in-law(kennetna el mawsamiyyi). His smile was filled with a fatherly love and an affection that I have not seen in any other smile. He always had time to chat and hang out and have fun with me and his children. I dont remember ever seeing him angry or grumpy.Abdalla Tohmé has been suffering from Multiple Myeloma for 3 years now and with God's will, he is still hanging on to life. I saw him last when I visited Lebanon in 2006 and I had no idea about his medical state. I saw a weak man, size less than half of the man I used to know, barely breathing and moving. Yet, when he saw me, his eyes were the same glowing loving eyes and his words, the few he could say were to tell me that "lots of people came to the Tohmé's lives and home, and that only very few left a trace, and that I was one of these very few people who will never be forgotten in this house".On Thursday July 5/07, Abdallah Tohmé's family and friends are commemorating his poems in a book. Along with over 400 people of his closest friends and fans, Abdallah Tohmé's life is being celebrated.This is a poem that Ammo Abdallah sent me in a voice letter (cassette) back in 1988, a year after I left for Canada. It's a poem he had written in his first letter to his family when he was working in Kuwait in 1956.????? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????????? ?? ??? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ???????? ?? ??? ?????????? ??? ?????? ????????? ??????? ??????????? ????? ?????????? ????? ????????????? ????? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????????? ?? ???? ???????????? ??????? ????????? ?????? ??????????? ?? ??? ??????????? ???? ?? ???????? ?????? ???? ?????????? ?????? ????????? ???? ???? ???????????? ??? ????????? ???? ?? ???? ??? ??? ????? ??? ?????????? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ??????????? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????????? ?? ??? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ?????????? ?????? ????? ??? ??????? ????????? ????? ??? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ?????????? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ????? ???????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ??????????? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????????? ?? ??? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ???????? ???? ?????????? ????? ????????????? ????? ??????????????? ????????? ???? ???? ????????? ????? ?????????? ???? ??????????????? ???????????? ??????? ????????? ?????? ??????????? ?? ??? ??????????? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ??????????? ?? ????? ??????? ??????? ???????????? ???? ?? ????????? ????? ??????????? ???? ???????? ?????? ???????????? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????????? ?? ??? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ?????????????? ??????? ????? ????? ????????? ???? ??????? ????? ??????? ????????????? ??????? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ???????????? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ??????????? ?? ??? ?????? ????? ???? ?? ??????????? ???? - ????? ????? ?? ??? ????? ??? ????? ??? 1956 ?? ??????
The company is legitimate, and so is the ad...But the Arabic language isNASTY!!This ad made me laugh with tears this morning...Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame on me!! :)
Two visits to the doctor's office now, the first one was to confirm that YES, there is something and here it is as big as a snow flake, white and attached at the side of a black hole, and vibrating. It?s been alive for approximately 4 weeks.A month later, second visit to the doctor, the thing grew even more and is confirmed to be alive for 10 weeks now. And then there was a heartbeat; it is in my body but this time it is not mine. WOW, the thing is not only alive now but also has a heart of its own beating like crazy.Of course I also have a lot of the known symptoms that tell me and remind me of the changes happening and that I?m not alone in this body anymore!What an amazing feeling to know that there?s something alive and growing in my insides.My whole life suddenly evolves around that, my diet, my health, my activities, etc. it is all in the first place for this new life?s benefit, way before it even pops out and shouts its first cry into this world."??? ???? ???? ?? ???? ?? ????? ???? ???? ????? ??????? ?????"
Yesterday I visited the outskirts of Nahr el Bared camp in northern Lebanon, the newest front of the US-led "war on terror". The camp-- the second largest in Lebanon, home to 40,000 Palestinian refugees-- is located just north of Tripoli, bordering the Mediterranean coast on one side, surrounded by luscious greenery and a highway on the other.Just outside Nahr el Bared campThe Lebanese Army has besieged and shelled the camp with the help of American weapons, express delivered over the past few days, in an attempt to eliminate 300-500 Fatah al Islam fighters who attacked and killed 27 soldiers earlier last week. Fatah al Islam is a fanatical Salafi group of Lebanese, Saudi, Bangladeshi, Yemeni and Syrian fighters who set up shop there late last year, allegedly with the help of certain individuals in the pro-western Lebanese government. Claims of outright government complicity, which first surfaced in an article by Seymour Hersh in a January issue of the New Yorker have been substantiated through interviews with the Fatah al Intifada leadership and other sources. Locals in Tripoli claim the apartments used as a sniper nest by the militants belong to Future MP Ahmed Fatfat's son. Talk about a negligent landlord who doesn't notice his upscale rental is being used as a weapons cache by a gaggle of devout foreign men.On the tenth day of the siege, the casualty numbers for civilians killed by army shells and Fatah al Islam gunfire, as well as sniper fire by a yet unknown third party, have not been confirmed as the fighting rages on. The army claims only one civilian was killed; the camp authorities and civilian population cannot clear the rubble or damage incurred to more than two hundred housing units, schools and mosques. Ambulances, aid workers, reporters and inhabitants are denied entrance or re-entrance. Estimated casualties range up to one hundred. Nahr al Bared inhabitants have drawn up a list of seventeen confirmed deaths and dozens more wounded.Names and ages of the confirmed dead on a wall in Badawe campA protest was scheduled for 12.30 in the afternoon, about a kilometer from the northern entrance to the camp. This as close as the Red Cross, Red Crescent and media can get to the camp. An estimated 10,000-15,000 residents remain in the camp.About two dozen people-- inhabitants of Nahr el Bared, some journalists and activists-- gathered, carrying banners: "More access for ambulances", "Against the restriction on coverage of camp siege. The right to know the humanitarian crisis" and "Condemn the assault on the army. Refuse to jeopardize the safety of the camp and its inhabitants."Twice as many soldiers formed a line across from the demonstrators, occasionally ordering people to move back as sporadic gunfire erupted in the distance. The atmosphere was notably tense, the soldiers aggravated by the presence of cameras. A reporter from NBN was hauled in and detained by the army. They suspected he was filming them. Other reporters have been detained by the army since the fighting broke out last week.After an hour, word came from Badawe camp that a group of displaced women and children, refugees from Nahr el Bared were going to walk to join the protest. We set off to meet them by car, to help them get through the army checkpoints. But as they were set to march from Badawe, the camp leadership prevented them from leaving.En route to Badawe, an equal number of women and foreigners were assigned to each car, to prevent Palestinian passengers from being harassed by the army. As we stopped at an army checkpoint, the soldier peered in and asked us where we were from. "Beirut," the driver responded. "Killon, al chabab? (All the guys?)" he asked. He responded, yes, and we drove on, the displaced breathing a sigh of relief.We drove around the periphery of the camp on the highway. Army tanks were stationed along the outer wall, which was lined with sandbags and mounds of dirt; we could see two or three scorched multi-story buildings and a damaged mosque.Nahr el Bared; army tank and dirt mounds outside the camp wallsRefugees from Nahr el Bared surveying the destruction of the camp from the highwayWe stopped at a building overlooking Nahr el Bared and climbed to the roof where a camera crew had set up shop before continuing on to Badawe.Badawe Camp is ordinarily home to 16,000 Palestinian refugees, but has taken in an estimated 15,000 inhabitants of Nahr el Bared who fled the fighting between Fatah al Islam and the Lebanese army. Families have trickled in every day. Ahmed, a fifty year old man, had left Nahr el Bared just that morning. His eyes were bloodshot, his clothes dirty. "They are going to destroy the camp tonight. For nothing. Fatah al Islam-- they will fight to the death." I asked him who funds Fatah al Islam and got the same response I received from a mukhabarat agent (army intelligence) in Gemmayze on Saturday night. Saad al Hariri. "We knew it all along. But why do they have do this now?" Ahmed puzzled, shaking his head.At the Ghassan Kanafani cultural foundation, a young man showed us a map of Nahr el Bared, the areas he believed to have been shelled and five places where Fatah al Islam are holed up in along the periphery."Fatah al Islam are shooting from homes right next to my house, but my house was not hit by the shells. But other areas were all over the camp," he told a group of activists and volunteers. "This area by the beach, we call it Jounieh [a Christian port town to the north of Beirut]. It's very nice," he grinned. He detailed the same story I have heard from numerous parties but have not been able to confirm, since the first busloads of people fled the camp during a ceasefire last Tuesday. Apparently one of the busses leaving the camp was stopped by unknown militiamen. They ambushed the bus, shot the driver and a pregnant woman, stole her valuables and tortured and mutilated other passengers, including children. One of the survivors is allegedly recovering in a Badawe clinic. "We have their names, the names of those were attacked and killed," he avowed.At a school in the center of Badawe, volunteers and displaced inhabitants of Nahr el Bared had planned an evening of activities in protest of the destruction and siege of their camp. The principle of the school refused to let them host the event in the school's yard. "They are selling us out," a young man protested. "They have orders not to let us protest even inside the camps." After an hour of deliberation, it was decided the event would take place without the permission of the school principle. Loudspeakers were set up as hundreds of children roamed around, playing, helping to put up banners, shouting and clapping."I am from Nahr el Bared," a seven-year old boy told me. "But now I live in Badawe". "But you are going back to Nahr el Bared," I replied. "Inshallah," he said cocking his head defiantly.A young boy selected women's boots from the relief donationsA little girl and her friends came over to tell us that "their" camp is much nicer than this one, as if apologizing for a messy house to unexpected visitors. "My camp is beautiful. Not like this," she said, waving her hand dismissively at her surroundings.Then it was time for poetry readings, speeches and finally a slide show of four hundred pictures taken from inside the camp. Much of the evening seemed geared towards the media and outside world. "Are you a journalist? Are you a journalist?" screeching children tugged at our clothes. But the media was curiously absent, and the slogans-- many of them in English-- might never be seen beyond the gates of the camp.Two or three young men dominated the evening's events, shouting through a microphone. S. said, in disbelief, "they are yelling at them not to accept food and aid and sit around helplessly."A little girl read a statement she had written from a piece of paper, to loud cheers from the crowd; a boy recited Koranic verses which were received with whoops of Allahu Akbar.Fairuz's "Al Quds fil al Baal (Jerusalem on my mind)" played; a slideshow of destruction and dismembered bloody bodies was screened from a projector. I sat next to Noor, a ten year old girl from Nahr el Bared.She began to sob at the sight of a little boy with bloodied legs followed by a photo of amputated arms; a pair of sandals abandoned in the middle of the street. She dried her tears and asked me about Germany. Candles were handed out and snatched up by all the kids.The event was over and we drove back to Beirut, mindful of slowing down at army checkpoints and the less evident random paroles. Five people have lost their lives, having failed or refused to stop for the army during the past few days. Oh, but one of the men, a cabdriver shot at a checkpoint near Beirut airport was a criminal, a forger of papers, and Syrian to top it off.To the readers who complained that I failed to express sympathy for the soldiers and did not condemn the brutal attack against them last Sunday by Fatah al Islam, I have this to say:I sympathize with the families of the young men and when I first head of the events I was horrified. But their killing does not justify the collective punishment of the camp's inhabitants, who are not to blame for Fatah al Islam's presence in their midst. On the contrary. While much of this country is misdirecting their anger and desire for vengeance against Palestinian civilians and failing to blame the parties who funded and/or tolerated Fatah al Islam, while that same army is blocking the media, paramedics and inhabitants from returning to the camp, and is executing orders that are against international conventions and law, I am more inclined to condemn the political leadership (and of course the kooky fanatics) for those soldiers' deaths.Support the army from those who put them at risk by funding Fatah al Islam; prevent efforts to split the army along sectarian grounds; protect the army from orders to fight a dirty war against civilians and their homes, against waging a losing battle against a group that should have been denied access to this country, the camps, funds and weapons in the first place.These civilians are helpless; the army is not, certainly not with the gung-ho support they enjoy onFacebookand from some of my readers.
[12:28] C0C0:shou el ghada?[12:28] MMMMMMMMM:bazella w rizz[12:28] C0C0:yumm, betmarre2leh sa7en please?[12:29] MMMMMMMMM:inteh shou ghadekeh?[12:29] C0C0:sa7en salata khodra maslou2a w nayyen w sandwish labneh w za3tar taba3 el terwi2a[12:29] MMMMMMMMM:ma byeshkeh min shi[12:30] C0C0:no ca va.[12:30] C0C0:balkeh ba3mil bazella w rezz bass oussal 3al bayt[12:33] MMMMMMMMM:leish la2, bi 7ebba karroum?[12:33] C0C0:eh akidement[12:33] C0C0:unless it doesn't turn out right hahahahahahSo I went on Google to find a recipe and make sure my meal turns out yummy the way Karam and I love it. And guess what!Better yet, try it for yourselves: Go toGoogle, type "bazella w rezz" in the search field, and check the first two results :))))The only thing I'm missing is the spices that I should add. Going simply with salt and pepper.
From Saturday May 3rd 2008, 9:00 a.m. until now, it has only been a blessing after another! All the heartaches and obstacles of the days before were all gone the minute I woke up on that morning, and hopefully it will only be bright skies from now on.I still giggle sometimes when someone calls me ?Madame? and even more ?Madame Karam? but I love it. Karam is a wonderful man and I am very lucky. Lebanon is a great place to be and I am thankful to Our Lady of Lebanon and to God for it all!
