tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39820333290819072142024-03-13T02:58:07.344+00:00In Randa's WordsWhen you come to think about it, there is nothing better than words for describing every moment in life. This blog is a display of my words as an aspiring Journalist but also as a girl who has a lot on her mind.In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-29579648482325689952011-02-05T21:46:00.001+00:002011-02-06T08:00:05.282+00:00The diary of the Egyptian uprising in Randa's Words<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0KJ6hpWgqXGZDL9ahnwyy5bIiL0MPG8Tk7nuQysvwdxynrESrE2ZgT3Xc3H2kcx5YGe3QzO2q_JU_PVzpb398ubIHjvtGV3qt4bQxzW854CNvwNCfl6S3n_wKGcvXwCg_zB0pwb97XMJ/s1600/P1000725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0KJ6hpWgqXGZDL9ahnwyy5bIiL0MPG8Tk7nuQysvwdxynrESrE2ZgT3Xc3H2kcx5YGe3QzO2q_JU_PVzpb398ubIHjvtGV3qt4bQxzW854CNvwNCfl6S3n_wKGcvXwCg_zB0pwb97XMJ/s320/P1000725.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Randa El Tahawy</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
It was not easy to start writing this post as my thoughts have been scattered everywhere lately. I was caught up in what is currently happening in my country Egypt, some may refer to it an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Egyptian_protests">uprising</a> others as a revolution,a crisis, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698">unrest</a> whatever name it has, to us and to me what has been happening since Tuesday January 25 are historical events.<br />
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I would like to think of myself as a journalist -debutant- is more appropriate and I also don't see myself as a direct actor of this revolution-I was not there in Tahrir Square every day and I haven't spent sleepless nights there-which I regret and blame it to the fact that before being a debutant journalist I am after all an Egyptian woman.<br />
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Yet, I am proud to have been part of this movement, to have witnessed it and to have participated in a way or another. I have been glued to the TV since day one, with my laptop tweeting and checking Facebook with the phone stuck to my ear debating with friends and family.I even had dreams about it.<br />
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Thanks to wonderful journalists, bloggers, tweeps( <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/Randaeltahawy">Twitter </a>has been the most powerful tool of this revolution) and anyone who shared their thoughts through <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a>, their opinions, their videos:<br />
We made history. <br />
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Many have put their lives in danger for unveiling the truth and for protesting for a cause that we all believe in: to see a better future for Egypt.<br />
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I sometimes have feelings of being a stranger in this country- that I have some missing parts from the Egyptian culture- but I never felt as much love for Egypt as I feel now, never felt as empowered and optimistic about Egypt.<br />
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I am not writing this post to dictate my opinions and spread my political knowledge-that needs to be polished- nor to report on the events that have been happening since January 25. I am not afraid to say that there are a lot of things I didn't know and still don't know, I am often naive and I fell a lot of times for the manipulative tactics of the government to scare the average citizen and spread the feeling of panic and chaos in these events.<br />
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But I know what I thought and how I felt during these 12 days-when the internet was down I was making notes of what I feel and what was happening on my calendar's phone- and that's why I want to share it and document it because I now have even more faith in my words and believe that what we witnessed in this revolution is why I am a journalist.<br />
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I want people's voices to be heard, I want freedom, equality, justice and tolerance. I want to inform people and this is why my following post will be featuring my diary the past days of the revolution. The Egyptian Uprising of 2011 where we all had one voice.<br />
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As far as the situation is right now, life seems to be pretty much back to normal for the average citizens, many are going back to work tomorrow (Sunday) and the curfew has been eased up to start from 7pm until 6am. Still events keep unfolding but sadly I fear that the passion will be slowly fading away.<br />
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<div><br />
</div></div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-48077703388188339572010-05-02T21:14:00.002+01:002010-05-02T22:49:45.088+01:00Travel Feature: Bits and Pieces of Literary Paris<meta content="" name="Title"></meta> <meta content="" name="Keywords"></meta> <meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta> <meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta> <meta content="Microsoft Word 2008" name="Generator"></meta> <meta content="Microsoft Word 2008" name="Originator"></meta> <link href="file://localhost/Users/macbook/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link> <style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPVDyrEpYgNFnoZKjQpqq9uWnTID-clQQSBDDNThQMfhuF4YoeVAcTDaBbBNmQxcG1pCGN6fgx9J6oxZibW1_i-gW6FAqsD6T8SRzbUn1RTJ04Z3xcBmsFdijEdY2yIZTX8xXUOUYCu7C/s1600/P1020733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPVDyrEpYgNFnoZKjQpqq9uWnTID-clQQSBDDNThQMfhuF4YoeVAcTDaBbBNmQxcG1pCGN6fgx9J6oxZibW1_i-gW6FAqsD6T8SRzbUn1RTJ04Z3xcBmsFdijEdY2yIZTX8xXUOUYCu7C/s320/P1020733.JPG" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-US"> Paris April 2010</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN-US"> In the Parisian Metro, trains have their walls decorated by poems. This carriage has French poet Paul Verlaine’s verses about finding a woman that he loves and who would love him as well. Springtime in Paris means sunny afternoons, gardens packed with couples, and families but also means it’s the <a href="http://www.printempsdespoetes.com/">Spring of Poets.</a></span></b> <o:p></o:p> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">To<span lang="EN-US"> discover literature and poetry in Paris and stay in tune with this event organi</span>sed by the ministry of culture celebrating poetry, <a href="http://www.paris.fr/portail/Culture/portal.lut?page_id=5851">Le Musee de la Vie Romantique</a> also known as Hotel Scheffer Renan (16 Rue Chaptal-Metro Saint Georges) has a gallery dedicated to French writer <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=George+Sand&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a">George Sand </a>where her belongings and paintings are exposed. Surrounded by leafy streets, the mansion’s entrance is decorated with little trees and flowers leading to a charming garden where, a grandmother and her granddaughter are reading the newspaper on one of the benches. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMb7hXOwGsGPuZ0w8ls6MdDLsZi-ScWI1eEbWPiBEWUejd7B0AJSSkg0PRjXnMyH2C_mfF9UytTFl68rj4G8RQi_Nvh1YtyJep7fhkVsyySW8HBWQbcrRg78QvM2EL4JGxt5ufd2-E6tGl/s1600/P1030092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMb7hXOwGsGPuZ0w8ls6MdDLsZi-ScWI1eEbWPiBEWUejd7B0AJSSkg0PRjXnMyH2C_mfF9UytTFl68rj4G8RQi_Nvh1YtyJep7fhkVsyySW8HBWQbcrRg78QvM2EL4JGxt5ufd2-E6tGl/s200/P1030092.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">Le Musee de le Vie Romantique is dedicated to the arts and literature of the romantic movement of the 19<sup>th</sup> century, it is located in the 9<sup>th</sup> arrondissement in what is called the New Athens an area that used to be inhabited by artists, explains conservator Marie- Claude Sabouret. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">With <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin">Frederic Chopin</a>’s melodies playing in the background, an important guest of the hotel, the house has a “writer’s circle” room on the ground floor with a sculpture of Sand’s bust and romantic portraits on the first floor. “The painter Sheffer used to have guests of the literary Paris of the period here. They all lived in the area and would have debates about literature and politics, which is why the museum and the new Athens were important in those times,” says Sabouret. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the visit through the museum and the courtyard, a few streets away is Rue Notre Dame de Lorette where <a href="http://www.albion-paris-hotel.com/">Hotel Albion</a> is. The two stars hotel set within typical French apartments has a central location where Boulevard Haussmann and the Opera are only a short walking distance away. The hotel is small but cosy and serves the purpose of sleeping in a clean comfortable room. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">A walk through Boulevard Haussmann along the luxurious <a href="http://departmentstoreparis.printemps.com/">Printemps </a>and <a href="http://www.galerieslafayette.com/">Galeries Lafayette </a>department stores leads to Place de l’Opera and the <a href="http://www.operadeparis.fr/cns11/live/onp/">Opera Garnier</a> where Place de la Concorde and the <a href="http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp">Musee du Louvre</a> are also nearby. The whole downtown area of Paris can be easily walked in 30 minutes while passing through these iconic monuments without taking the metro. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbG7ZAipYr4idzJyAGP8lXrwm0mwS2MgBVDCi4fRZweTftbcwOgED-oq99vNzC1ZQ2bCpELgoPumi9eE8NOmESWyiiF55p7p7VEpAzVFnbMb1n4luFxPr66ZOw_ylUdtY7lE0IGMTRuPJ/s1600/P1020746.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzbG7ZAipYr4idzJyAGP8lXrwm0mwS2MgBVDCi4fRZweTftbcwOgED-oq99vNzC1ZQ2bCpELgoPumi9eE8NOmESWyiiF55p7p7VEpAzVFnbMb1n4luFxPr66ZOw_ylUdtY7lE0IGMTRuPJ/s200/P1020746.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Road to Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris </b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">Standing in front of the Obelisque, the walk to the Louvre through the leafy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuileries_Palace">Jardin des Tuileries </a>is more enjoyable than in the busy streets and crossings until the glass pyramid entrance of the museum. After walking through rue Rivoli and Chatelet, the Seine is finally showing with the afternoon’s reflections of the sun. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.notredamedeparis.fr/">Notre Dame de Paris </a>Cathedral is standing on l’Ile de la Cite a footbridge away carrying all its history and its iconic figure from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo">Victor Hugo</a>’s book <i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> revolving around the cathedral that led to its renovation in the 17<sup>th</sup> century. While standing on the “Parvis” of Notre Dame and contemplating it, the legendary French writer and poet’s words about Paris are echoing, “He who sees Paris thinks he sees the bottom of all history with heaven and constellations in the intervals”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">A few minutes away from Notre Dame passing through the Flower market of the island and the footbridge, is Ile Saint Louis, a smaller island on the Seine. On the corner of the Quai d’Orleans is “Le Flore en Ile” café with an ice cream stand of the famous French <a href="http://www.berthillon.fr/">Berthillon </a>house of sorbets and ice cream packed with masses of people impatiently waiting to get their share of flavours before they all vanish like the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgEgJiEsdwZ09t3rF-hqgw0oGrhH7hhZ4i4snmROMJ92GSgE4NagcI55NhSwU1QYoBYwgExHyOej11bGxgZo_Pz17rKspvmtrZNMRDprpSDqgCUBzWmJii2YXUt1Cku5bbn61-hfBrEzC/s1600/P1030028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwgEgJiEsdwZ09t3rF-hqgw0oGrhH7hhZ4i4snmROMJ92GSgE4NagcI55NhSwU1QYoBYwgExHyOej11bGxgZo_Pz17rKspvmtrZNMRDprpSDqgCUBzWmJii2YXUt1Cku5bbn61-hfBrEzC/s200/P1030028.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">With their cones in hands of either Chocolat Blanc or Cassis the few flavours remaining, people walk down the stairs of the bridge to sit along the bank to enjoy a close-up of the river. A woman facing the river is painting the portrait of springtime in Paris on this side of the bank were people are silently watching the flow of the Seine while eating their ice cream a couple of hours before sunset. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">When the night starts to fall, the bank empties little by little from people who are heading back home for dinnertime. A metro ride from “Cite” to “Alma Marceau” metro station, reaches <a href="http://www.chezfrancis-restaurant.com/">Chez Francis</a>, a restaurant set on the corner of the Pont de l’Alma, with a direct view of the lit <a href="http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/index.html">Tour Eiffel</a>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> Food, Tour Eiffel and Croissants</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The menu is simple and traditionally French with a starter for cheese lovers like the “Soupe Gratinee a L’Oignon” a salty but sweet Onion soup covered by a bed of melted Gruyere cheese and bread croutons. While waiting for the main dishes, with the window view of the Tour Eiffel lighting up every hour, a couple sitting on the table beside who went for the Royal Seafood platter are slurping their mountain of Oysters, Gambas and all kinds of crustaceous with an embarrassed laugh. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">The very typical French “Steak-Frites” arrives on the table with its juicy meat and chips glowing from the plate accompanied by a soft buttery Béarnaise sauce made of herbs. For dessert, sweet crunchy caramelized custard Crème <span lang="EN-US">Brûlée</span><span lang="EN-US"> seals the deal for the night. <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">Early morning is a good time to experience the traditional Parisian Breakfast along with literature in Café de Flore in Boulevard Saint Germain,(Metro Saint Germain des</span> <span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">Prés)</span> <span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">in <a href="http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/French_Regions/Ile-de-France/saint_germaine.htm">Saint Germain des Prés</a> in the 6<sup>th</sup> arrondissement home to the existentialist literary movement of writers such as Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir who were a known clientele of this café. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">Every year, <a href="http://www.cafedeflore.fr/">Café de Flore</a> hosts a ceremony for the Flore literary prize and displays in its windows the last winning book. With a menu looking like a book that has a quote from Sartre, the sme<span style="font-family: inherit;">ll of fresh coffee and crisp buttery croissant reaches the nostrils from the bar of the place. After a café au lait, the French version of coffee with milk, a crispy buttery croissant and a tartine-confiture, which is a slice of toast bread accompanied with jam, anyone could melt into the setting of this intellectual slightly arrogant place that is typically French. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYVQlDMn73h2iZmBaj7lgm73pxIw51qyFh8aVWDzMbhrZ8IuEG2OhNRrB2uvXZUtugtDfmY2J1gBS5UJe4u_j4lS2ggjZNY-0XzzPUeiN0549jHfuCRspmaojSizpZtfI9oIi5Az3hF8M/s1600/P1020887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibYVQlDMn73h2iZmBaj7lgm73pxIw51qyFh8aVWDzMbhrZ8IuEG2OhNRrB2uvXZUtugtDfmY2J1gBS5UJe4u_j4lS2ggjZNY-0XzzPUeiN0549jHfuCRspmaojSizpZtfI9oIi5Az3hF8M/s200/P1020887.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">When the café starts to get busy, to get more into the literary setting of Saint Germain, a few minutes away from the Boulevard is the Palais and <a href="http://www.senat.fr/visite/jardin/index.html">Jardins du Luxembourg</a>where the Senat, one of the branches of the French parliament is located. In one of the lakes of this 23 -hectares garden, some ducks are finishing off a session of what seems to be them taking a bath next to one of the famous statues of the garden of French writers such as George Sand, Gustave Flaubert, and Stendhal but also artists such as Frederic Chopin and Ludwig Beethoven that are spread across the charming pathways with pine trees and weeping willow trees. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;"><b>Maison Victor Hugo </b> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">A heart to heart experience with literature and history is a few metro stations away in Bastille where <a href="http://www.paris.fr/portail/Culture/portal.lut?page_id=5852">La Maison Victor Hugo</a> is located in Place des Vosges in the Marais district. Hugo lived in this townhouse for 16 years that has been now turned into a museum. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtMaH_B4V9L7Hy0UTW9FpmbTaCMg0KFfY8CzV6gTpo67A_1EHtLMhHzhraXzoL4jKUKyYve5QuOy45IUmLRXjk-fLy0F40SxX7Hn0HKFJMCPB9szAhydPGtj433QjUj28tNtSc9Um7-Ec/s1600/P1030095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtMaH_B4V9L7Hy0UTW9FpmbTaCMg0KFfY8CzV6gTpo67A_1EHtLMhHzhraXzoL4jKUKyYve5QuOy45IUmLRXjk-fLy0F40SxX7Hn0HKFJMCPB9szAhydPGtj433QjUj28tNtSc9Um7-Ec/s320/P1030095.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">The visit to the house is set across three periods of the writer before, during and after his exile that was due to his political views and writings. In the rooms of the house, writings and portraits tell the story of the writer of <a href="http://www.online-literature.com/victor_hugo/les_miserables/">Les Miserables</a> with his affection for his daughter Leopoldine who died at the age of 19.</span></span> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><meta content="" name="Title"></meta> <meta content="" name="Keywords"></meta> <meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta> <meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta> <meta content="Microsoft Word 2008" name="Generator"></meta> <meta content="Microsoft Word 2008" name="Originator"></meta> <link href="file://localhost/Users/macbook/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link> <style>
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</style> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">After a trip back in history, an afternoon walk down the trendy Marais district sets the time again, with lovely boutiques and bistros across the streets like Les <a href="http://www.cahierdeparis.fr/1_Caf%C3%A9+Les+Philosophes_214">Philosophes café,</a> “the philosophers” ( Rue Vieille du Temple) literary Paris will always be found in the streets even in the café’s names. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Photos by Randa El Tahawy</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">http://randaletahawy.net</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><meta content="" name="Title"></meta> <meta content="" name="Keywords"></meta> <meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta> <meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta> <meta content="Microsoft Word 2008" name="Generator"></meta> <meta content="Microsoft Word 2008" name="Originator"></meta> <style>
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</style></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;"></div><div></div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-52486080466051966472010-01-10T19:36:00.005+00:002010-01-10T20:18:01.805+00:00Sad Coptic Christmas for Egypt<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhi1yridhAUrqruOlNXC_0dIB9gMIw4hpIEixoT7hRY8EQHb0ICiXsqg3_uH8DovdoeCrBbsVe9koepsBXZV0eZvTfupK-U9xdmbKOOV91lC8IAfAJbNiYhyphenhyphendu3Ip3CdwWq24iQIH05qe/s1600-h/Barcelone+20-26+Janvier+2006+046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXhi1yridhAUrqruOlNXC_0dIB9gMIw4hpIEixoT7hRY8EQHb0ICiXsqg3_uH8DovdoeCrBbsVe9koepsBXZV0eZvTfupK-U9xdmbKOOV91lC8IAfAJbNiYhyphenhyphendu3Ip3CdwWq24iQIH05qe/s320/Barcelone+20-26+Janvier+2006+046.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581"><b>The <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8445838.stm">recent violent </a>clashes between Muslims and Christian Copts in Egypt are an embarrassment to all of us Egyptians. </b></span><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">With the killings of 6 Copts on Christmas's eve, it is very sad to see that the spread of the idea that Christians and Muslims cannot coexist is present in our society.</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">I have seen two bad reasons that have been attributed to this mounting of violence<b> :</b></span><br />
</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span id="goog_1262820732581"><b> </b>This shooting in the village of Naga Hamady could be the<a href="http://thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=26948"> revenge of the relatives</a> of a Muslim 12 year old girl who was raped by a Christian in the town in November<br />
</span></li>
<li><span id="goog_1262820732581">A video by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebaPS-NO1C8">Al Jazeera </a>says this violence comes from a hidden political agenda for the next elections this year</span><span id="goog_1262820732581"> </span><span id="goog_1262820732581"> </span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">The police is also widely criticized for not acting when these kinds of incidents happen. </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">In a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/jan/07/egypt-coptic-church-shooting">video</a> on the Guardian newspaper's website, while the shooting was occurring I heard a man screaming "the police are watching and not doing anything!". </span><span id="goog_1262820732581"> </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">Those are definitely not valid reasons for killing innocents. Is this hatred between the two religious groups in the name of God?</span><span id="goog_1262820732581"> </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581"> </span><span id="goog_1262820732581">"There can be no violence in the name of God."<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jPYcqAHmc_7hW_b_C9NcafHZJkWw"> Pope Benedict XVI </a>is right it does not make any sense to me that hatred is spread for religious motives. </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581"><b>Copts in Egypt</b></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581"><b> </b></span><span id="goog_1262820732581"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copt">Copts in Egypt</a> are a minority, they make around 10% of the population who is mainly Muslim. </span><span id="goog_1262820732581"></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">The truth is that as a minority, they are treated in a marginalized way with a lot of their rights being baffled. </span><span id="goog_1262820732581">A very important problem in the society <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8424599.stm">is the conversion from Muslim to Christian and carrying a Christian ID. </a></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">I find if very hard to understand why in Egypt our religion is written on our identification cards. It is just plain discrimination. </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">Those ID cards are just contributing to the split of our society. Many places do not employ Christians or employ only Christians and no Muslims. </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">Recently when I was with a friend in the car </span><span id="goog_1262820732581">at a traffic checkpoint the officer stopped us for the usual check of the car's license. </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">After checking my friend's ID and of course seeing that he was Muslim, the officer told him "I stopped you because I thought you were Christians" and laughed. </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581"><b>Contradictory way of thinking</b> <br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">What does this say about our Egypt? When are we going to stop thinking in such a medieval way?</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581"><br />
How can we have such double standards. I can't stop but think of how Muslim reacted to the Swiss ban of Minarets or even to the Prophet's cartoons incident. </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">We become angry and say that we Muslims are being discriminated against and called terrorist in the world when we do exactly the same with other religions. </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581"> When we will stop preventing Christians and any other religions from practicing in Egypt, and stop thinking that being Nazis is good because Jews deserve to die, this is when it will make sense to speak up against Islamophobia. </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">Until then, we should shut up and try to learn the concept of "Practice what you preach". </span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="goog_1262820732581">(Photo by Randa El Tahawy) <br />
</span><br />
</div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-42711178146473625902010-01-09T17:51:00.006+00:002010-01-09T23:56:20.895+00:00Stop Harassing us!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOe8LjUvLZSf7bDVXPHjLgNlaaTmyY_5axGPk8fLP07rlJf8py-lFeaKwWUY5e0h7ASkhLcTOlJUgSu8qCJVFOPIxiFi-aoT0yGcTR1blg8v8SuL5nGzntYlx1GFMm6t4Z033q3fygGsaX/s1600-h/IMG_0762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOe8LjUvLZSf7bDVXPHjLgNlaaTmyY_5axGPk8fLP07rlJf8py-lFeaKwWUY5e0h7ASkhLcTOlJUgSu8qCJVFOPIxiFi-aoT0yGcTR1blg8v8SuL5nGzntYlx1GFMm6t4Z033q3fygGsaX/s320/IMG_0762.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<b>Middle Eastern men need to understand that women are not sexual objects and will not remain silent. Sexual harassment whether it is physical or verbal has to stop. </b><br />
<br />
Sexual Harassment in the Arab World and especially in<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7514567.stm"> Egypt </a>is a redundant topic because until today it is still not resolved.<br />
<br />
Until men governed by their filthy sexual instincts understand that women do not deserve to suffer their frustrations, we will keep fighting. <br />
<br />
I have reached a level where I cannot possibly tolerate this anymore and any women should not stay silent because it is not normal to be called names or looked at like a piece of flesh.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, any Arab woman who lives in a Middle Eastern patriarchal society uncounsciously becomes acostumed to this treatment by men.<br />
<br />
<b>The walk down the streets</b><br />
After living in Cairo for more than 15 years, when I walk in the street it is becoming a routine for me to be called names and be followed by men and cars. When it gets physical, this is when it is too much.<br />
<br />
Still, now that I am not in Egypt anymore it keeps hunting me. I often get messages by men on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook">Facebook</a> flirting and call requests on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype">Skype</a>.<br />
<br />
Most of the times they are really stupid and entertaining, but when I reject a call from a man and he sends me a message insulting me with unspeakable offensive words I refuse to stay silent and passive. <br />
<br />
Who gives men the right to treat us this way? What can we possibly have done to make them think that they have the right to refer to us as dirty sexual objects for their pleasure?<br />
<br />
Egyptian activist <a href="http://www.c-we.org/eng/show.art.asp?aid=559">Nehad Abul Kosman</a> is right, " We are facing a phenomena that is limiting women's right to move...and is threatening women's participation in all walks of life."<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyx_wGt_6f1jahq-CnWGWXhOe23eUo3RHPT5HAtASao4C4a-eMMeu8KnpfROys5uuFqqo9NCqRVdKLUcsj2ibCxWkxh5BjE3HJ3xWgBfWB_zviGVP71eIOxRdHuOpZjN8ern4YFAb8OIs/s1600-h/IMG_1039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyx_wGt_6f1jahq-CnWGWXhOe23eUo3RHPT5HAtASao4C4a-eMMeu8KnpfROys5uuFqqo9NCqRVdKLUcsj2ibCxWkxh5BjE3HJ3xWgBfWB_zviGVP71eIOxRdHuOpZjN8ern4YFAb8OIs/s200/IMG_1039.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<b>A disease in the society<br />
</b><br />
An article by the <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iidoHMTy-5acCoKKFeK5eXO3eOMAD9CJP4SO1">Associated Press </a>says that because women do not take a stand and report any abuse, this on-going disease remains in the society.<br />
<br />
Also, laws in the countries <a href="http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/978/fe1.htm">do not criminalize</a> those abuses and the constant idea that it is the woman's fault because of her appearance is a common belief.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ecwronline.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=english">The Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights</a> (ECWR) gives the figures of Egypt: <br />
<ul><li> 83% of Egyptian women experience sexual harassment</li>
<li>62% of men admitted harrassing women</li>
<li>53% of men blame women for it </li>
</ul> On the bright side, many women in Egypt have been reacting to this with groups and campaigns like <a href="http://communitytimesmagazine.com/">Community Times Magazine</a>'s campaign "<a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=238249674302#/group.php?v=info&gid=76118521688">Stand up to Sexual Harasment"</a>.<br />
<br />
Let's all hope that the <a href="http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100106/FOREIGN/701059825/1002/NEWS">proposed laws in Egypt</a> to criminalize it will succeed so that we finally teach those men a lesson : Respect<br />
<br />
(Photos by Randa El Tahawy)In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-46353670984469753152010-01-07T17:58:00.001+00:002010-01-07T17:59:22.999+00:00Only in Egypt: Funny anecdotes<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">In Egypt, a lot of <a href="http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=Only+in+Egypt&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=nxBGS4XwJdDY4gbXyKj6Ag&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQsAQwAA">unusual situations</a> may happen to you and be striking if you are not used to this country's way of functioning: The Egybtian way!</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
As tourism is one of the most important sources of income for the country, many work in the industry and for that, a strong command of languages is a must especially in touristic areas.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE5DErh4Zcia1YVQMd5Fr_kBs9gQoZL0J1EDToVg22_O6PabxHvE2pvqRQTAP5UZRM_G6q9GAw1oQcBRJJHSnFPWvjgdYs4Sx114XJVikdEcBDSPV_XI6XIyktw0_R0XDHlKQIUPyf6erD/s1600-h/P1010485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE5DErh4Zcia1YVQMd5Fr_kBs9gQoZL0J1EDToVg22_O6PabxHvE2pvqRQTAP5UZRM_G6q9GAw1oQcBRJJHSnFPWvjgdYs4Sx114XJVikdEcBDSPV_XI6XIyktw0_R0XDHlKQIUPyf6erD/s320/P1010485.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
</div>English is the most popular language in Egypt and many Egyptians do know how to speak it but might struggle a lot with pronunciation and especially spellings.<br />
<br />
The funny thing is to find those mistakes in the most touristic places of the country like this picture of a restaurant's menu.<br />
<br />
Although the food was delicious the first impression was not promising.<br />
<br />
See, in Egypt the pronounciation is slightly different than the normal English<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi26FkwWBRinwlygUpO0nbl-rnWAXVoJj-IZlQq4xXVuzbwX9dS1_bd2CqqV8Ui1HL30AYim13QVUYQDf8qIrR-w-Y2o1GHxpQ7bTSr49vZpnSaAC7ueXCMNTDK3qanPnQeAvDcPj86OeAB/s1600-h/P1010517.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi26FkwWBRinwlygUpO0nbl-rnWAXVoJj-IZlQq4xXVuzbwX9dS1_bd2CqqV8Ui1HL30AYim13QVUYQDf8qIrR-w-Y2o1GHxpQ7bTSr49vZpnSaAC7ueXCMNTDK3qanPnQeAvDcPj86OeAB/s200/P1010517.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><ul><li>The "P" doesn't exist in Arabic, Egyptians will transform every P with a B (Egybtians, Botetos stands for Potatoes) </li>
<li>You will also find the other way around, people using the P for words with B to show that they know that they are 2 letters, a Mopile is a Mobile phone and Crap sandwich is Crab sandwich </li>
<li> Also some words combined together do not make a lot of sense even though the terms do exist but not exactly put that way (See Picture)</li>
</ul><b>The President and the Traffic</b> <br />
Everyone should know that the Egyptian president, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosni_Mubarak">Hosni Mubarak</a> plays a very special role in the functioning of traffic. <br />
<br />
If by unfortunate circumstances you end up in one of the major roads of Cairo and apparently Sharm El Sheikh as well, do not worry if the traffic suddenly stops from one side : Mubarak has something to do with it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP-3fNU6GclkEDE6ZDLm-iYLd0mLErifvQwyvcf1EkSd8KyaipEGeTamPEQSMbPUDrzqkUwbYJ7Mu-wEGgr1bP-gaWf-mMwU44pgNufg4rXXuO-4E2pazttQTMyS5J0_6v5aEnLuvFUWt/s1600-h/P1010452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP-3fNU6GclkEDE6ZDLm-iYLd0mLErifvQwyvcf1EkSd8KyaipEGeTamPEQSMbPUDrzqkUwbYJ7Mu-wEGgr1bP-gaWf-mMwU44pgNufg4rXXuO-4E2pazttQTMyS5J0_6v5aEnLuvFUWt/s200/P1010452.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
Ask around and people will tell you "someone is passing" or "he is passing".<br />
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Yes, in Egypt, when the president decides to move around, the roads are closed before he even gets ready to move until he comes through.<br />
<br />
You can be stuck in the traffic for more than an hour and if you are walking in the streets you will not be able to move unless the President has passed.<br />
<br />
<b>Speeding Tickets</b><br />
In many developing countries money speaks louder than anything else. Bribery is always a must if you want to get away with endless bureaucratic procedures or get away with anything.<br />
<br />
Recently, traffic laws have changed in Egypt and if your caught crossing the speed limit you will get a speeding ticket and pay the fine like every one else.<br />
<br />
But what happens when the officer's checkbook has no paper anymore?<br />
<br />
He will just tell the officers to let everyone go through the traffic checkpoint without being stopped for speeding.<br />
<br />
There are always solutions for everything and this is the Egybtian way of life!<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(Photos by Randa El Tahawy)<br />
</div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-70583104752363392802010-01-06T15:48:00.115+00:002010-01-06T18:24:41.903+00:00Snow Day for Westminster's Students<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4i9FLrUgdsJyFNVWp6Wj9GWszDS0ROu2k4X4FqWtmbZ3aTPaIoPkKwrbDRTw-qvNoiI2daPvDj-Pd6DL1d0HavfOudAdefGegqDQLvLeFYh8lynpbj3UD4NwDnlWmkH2UhGFXxSrMFWZ/s1600-h/P1010613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4i9FLrUgdsJyFNVWp6Wj9GWszDS0ROu2k4X4FqWtmbZ3aTPaIoPkKwrbDRTw-qvNoiI2daPvDj-Pd6DL1d0HavfOudAdefGegqDQLvLeFYh8lynpbj3UD4NwDnlWmkH2UhGFXxSrMFWZ/s320/P1010613.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Harrow Campus of the <a href="http://www.westminster.ac.uk/">University of Westminster</a> was shut today due to heavy snow throughout the whole day. </span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span><br />
The campus located in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Borough_of_Harrow">northwest of London</a> <span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>was functioning during the morning but had to close around 12pm because of the heavy snow announced for the day.<br />
<br />
Students were asked to leave in the middle of their classes ensuring they go back home before the whole area shuts down including the transportations.<br />
<br />
Many schools and businesses were shut today in the area and are likely to remain closed Thursday said the <a href="http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/localnews/4837132.Schools_likely_to_be_closed_tomorrow_due_to_snow/">Harrow Times</a> Online newspaper.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJQPXKh54xJLQpkwTBOiL_0mlBwsYI7NS2V_0t8qeF-FmbsI8JcPWpahjUWKLeY7Elu23QU8Sblz6DnmmTq4iPMxb_HoQGMoGSfNcvMTIhcAwnQ7M7fNQNz9Y5eYVrnsOlkIoGrpjFwpi/s1600-h/P1010653.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJQPXKh54xJLQpkwTBOiL_0mlBwsYI7NS2V_0t8qeF-FmbsI8JcPWpahjUWKLeY7Elu23QU8Sblz6DnmmTq4iPMxb_HoQGMoGSfNcvMTIhcAwnQ7M7fNQNz9Y5eYVrnsOlkIoGrpjFwpi/s200/P1010653.JPG" /></a><br />
</div>Despite the disruption of classes and work, many students were out enjoying a Snow day, playing and creating snowmen.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Coldest Winter</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span><br />
This is the coldest winter the UK has faced says an article published by <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/05/uk-faces-coldest-winter-weather">the Guardian. </a><br />
<br />
The<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8442739.stm"> BBC</a> and the <span id="goog_1262793074730"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1262793074734"><span id="goog_1262793074735"></span>Daily Telegrap</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_1262793074731"></span>h <span id="goog_1262793074736"></span></a>also refer to it as the longest cold snap for almost 30 years.<br />
Media reports many road disruption for cars, but also airports closing down and flights cancelled or delayed.<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">S</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">ome hospitals have been forced to suspend their operations says the Daily Telegraph article while others implemented emergency plans to deal with the severe conditions. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stephen Davenport Senior meteorologist at MeteoGroup was quoted in the Guardian saying </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">"</span></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">the way the conditions are set at the moment I think the cold weather is not going to change for som</span><span style="font-size: small;">e tim</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">e.</span>"</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Striking Temperatures around the Globe</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIkKT_-1zROPBtAUf9ykV342ySA-x_VwTtoTmAhcB4LQN2azTxT167LxmzzU6EzFGa7WIuD4sTMI2ZfoHMmRdKqSWm0rvLOvYUCr0OEVh8hnaV1dljnmnZdQJUyOs_isgYOLevvERtB6H0/s1600-h/P1010437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIkKT_-1zROPBtAUf9ykV342ySA-x_VwTtoTmAhcB4LQN2azTxT167LxmzzU6EzFGa7WIuD4sTMI2ZfoHMmRdKqSWm0rvLOvYUCr0OEVh8hnaV1dljnmnZdQJUyOs_isgYOLevvERtB6H0/s200/P1010437.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">People on one side of the globe are struggling through icy conditions while others are lying down on the beach struggling with sunburns. </span><br />
</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li>Some of the temperatures recored across the UK are striking like -18 degrees in Aberdeenshire or -14 degrees in Aviemore. </li>
<li>Europe also faces severe weather conditions with, -22 in Poland, -14 in Stockholm and -4 in Glasgow</li>
<li>The Middle East on the other hand is facing warm weather with sunny summer days in cities like Luxor (Egypt) with temperatures ranging from 27 to 30 degrees</li>
</ul><br />
<br />
(Photos by Randa El Tahawy)In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-41927839908844521732010-01-05T21:06:00.003+00:002010-01-05T21:10:40.109+00:00Sunny Holidays in Sharm El Sheikh<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVyrhfuHVK6-0O-huIlqNXXqQxt-ONnIbkpzg9_4pEE376b646Q3-XKrMQOzuy0CxxVZzwJO0n2haWCYhJnh9aVC75DEwBdR09Nmxx7cvjlEAFGeKQ-3Lw1JygD7OfEraAiCI9JNvEnFqw/s1600-h/P1010226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVyrhfuHVK6-0O-huIlqNXXqQxt-ONnIbkpzg9_4pEE376b646Q3-XKrMQOzuy0CxxVZzwJO0n2haWCYhJnh9aVC75DEwBdR09Nmxx7cvjlEAFGeKQ-3Lw1JygD7OfEraAiCI9JNvEnFqw/s200/P1010226.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharm_el-Sheikh"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sharm El Sheikh</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> is one of the top holidays destinations for tourists and locals in Egypt. It combines all the right ingredients for a perfect vacation with an Egyptian touch. </span><br />
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Located in South Sinai, Sharm El Sheikh is five hours away from Cairo. It has an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharm_el-Sheikh_International_Airport">international airport </a> with flights serving many cities around the globe.<br />
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What's the fuss all about?<br />
<br />
Sharm El Sheikh, or Sharm for locals is not only the City of Peace, where President Mubarak holds his talks and <a href="http://www.allconferences.com/Regional/Sharm_El_Sheikh/">conferences</a> .<br />
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It is the Egyptian Las Vegas with much more like:<br />
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<ul><li> The Red Sea. Forget about all the beaches you visited, the Red Sea is one of the best in the world. Ayman Taher a pioneer in underwater photography says in his book that the Red Sea is <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=9A2Nor5b74YC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Ayman+Taher+Sinai+book&source=gbs_book_other_versions_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q=Ayman%20Taher%20Sinai%20book&f=false">the Mecca of underwater photographers.</a></li>
<li>Water Activities, with the best Diving and Snorkeling. You have an open live Aquarium available all for yourself<br />
</li>
<li>Sun, Sun and Sun, it is always Sunny in Sharm (I got a tan in December)</li>
<li>Food, Egyptians do love food so you have a wide choice</li>
<li>Party all night long, wild crazy nights happen all day</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh145F_BSLrTa_jSLuPVkFAGSVTtyLQf9EYf4jy_lR5Fn1U0kdWUmPojAifo8FUZBSq2XmEMV3hzkPfyD4PRhRB0ZkCj3CJZZ0rFfrKL2PwnfOKi7hKkUILqGE1MF_F7jaOtNde66uNIIfJ/s1600-h/P1010492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh145F_BSLrTa_jSLuPVkFAGSVTtyLQf9EYf4jy_lR5Fn1U0kdWUmPojAifo8FUZBSq2XmEMV3hzkPfyD4PRhRB0ZkCj3CJZZ0rFfrKL2PwnfOKi7hKkUILqGE1MF_F7jaOtNde66uNIIfJ/s320/P1010492.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Naama Bay where it all happens</span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div>Naama Bay is the hot spot of Sharm with all the hotels, restaurants,shops, pubs and clubs. You will find all kinds of hotels there from three to five stars usually fully booked.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>In Naama after soaking the sun on the pool or the beach you can have a nice walk along the pathways with many shops then have a Shisha at <a href="http://www.tchetchecafe.com/">Tche Tche</a> coffeshop. At night you could go for dinner and late night clubbing.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div> For an experience of good dancing, I recommend<a href="http://www.pachasharm.com/"> Pacha</a> , the renowned club for a wild night of fun although its crowd can be a little weird. Little Buddha is also one of the top-notch clubs there, a bit pricey but worth the quality and the good atmosphere.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>If you're not up for a wild night, a very good place to go is <a href="http://www.cameldive.com/about/camel-bar">Camel Bar</a> at the Camel Hotel. They have good live entertainment, screening of football games and one of the best burgers in town.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>You will find Naama Bay as the busiest around Sharm El Sheikh, it has all the activities and can be sometimes overcrowded. People from all over the world come there but also a lot of Egyptians who leave the stress of the city to go wild.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chill and Fun</span><br />
</div><div> Sharm El Sheikh is this city where you go only to have fun and explore the wonders of Sinai and the Red Sea. This is why five days around would be enough for you to chill and relax.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>For Egyptians, it is a city where everything can happen. Apart from the many foreigners, you will find lots of Egyptian locals working there in the tourism industry, upper middle class people looking for fun and honeymooners.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Other than Naama Bay, you can also find nice activities around the Hadaba and a new spot called <a href="http://soho-sharm.com/">Soho Square</a> with shops, restaurants and bars.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Sharm El Sheikh is surely a top holiday destination with its peak season all year long but the busiest is in December and April-May. The best times to go there are in June and July although the weather will be extremely hot.<br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>(Photos by Randa El Tahawy)<br />
</div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-2004444047247441712009-12-25T18:23:00.006+00:002010-08-12T16:42:59.993+01:00Amr Khaled : The modern preacher<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A new reality TV show will launch on January 8 on Dubai TV called </span></span></span><a href="http://www.mujaddidun.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Al Mujaddidun.</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> The show was created by Amr Khaled a famous Egyptian preacher and is said to be inspired by the Apprentice, the American TV show.</span></span></span><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuoxWf3xLw6XvFTV1i0L3RzURoFLkNRS0qMCT6SHL7d9htkNnUaTwlfDgDVGDNq8gDsH1vdkLMofYfXnNURGhVOMZFAGqxp4gn2JpsH9fq93u4aSdb5kfgSVxZGvNzoZPl-rQVmnwGcqkt/s1600-h/Blog+turquoise" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuoxWf3xLw6XvFTV1i0L3RzURoFLkNRS0qMCT6SHL7d9htkNnUaTwlfDgDVGDNq8gDsH1vdkLMofYfXnNURGhVOMZFAGqxp4gn2JpsH9fq93u4aSdb5kfgSVxZGvNzoZPl-rQVmnwGcqkt/s200/Blog+turquoise" /></a><br />
</div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Amr Khaled, has gained enormous popularity in the world of Islamic preaching and was ranked in 2007 the </span></span><a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1615754_1616173,00.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">13th most influential people</span></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> in the world in the Time magazine. </span></span><br />
Why is this Egyptian scholar often referred to as preaching rock-star so different from the others?<br />
There are a lot of reasons:<br />
<ul><li>He is young and quite fashionable unlike the typical old -shcool preachers with long beards and jellabas<br />
</li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">He is very knowledgeable and is currently doing a PhD in the University of Wales</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">He has a very modern and sociological approach to religion and is very much focused on inspiring the youth</span></span></li>
</ul><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Due to his growing popularity and often controversy about his way of preaching he was removed from Egypt.</span></span><br />
</div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Too much religion?</span><br />
</div><div>At that time, some used say to that he was told to leave Cairo because he had too much of a religious impact on the society which was too influential for the government .<br />
</div><div><br />
Also, some rumors used to say that the women from the President's family wanted to get veiled because of him.<br />
<br />
At that time, it was a very normal social phenomenon to see women getting veiled after listening to Amr Khaled's preaching.<br />
<br />
</div><div>It seems like he had put the whole country in a higher level of religious fervency. Young and old people would always swear by his shows, his cassettes and website.<br />
<br />
</div><div>But his ban only helped him gain more popularity and he was broadcasted by many satellite channels.<br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The right language</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">It could be true that Amr Khaled's approach very much differs from the traditional </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Azhar_University"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Al Azhar style of preaching.</span></span></a><br />
</div><div><br />
This is the key to his success, he is the modern preacher who knows how to talk to the youth and focuses on Islamic behavior rather than actions .<br />
</div><div><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">In a recent article by the</span></span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8414422.stm"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> BBC</span></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> a girl was quoted saying "he speaks our language" referring to Khaled and why he has so much impact on the youth. </span></span><br />
</div><div><br />
In fact, his show is all about the community and how to make the 16 contestants who come from various Arab countries active.<br />
</div><div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px;">"The aim of it is not to make money, but to make the youth ready to support the society," he told the BBC.</span><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">With his modern take on religion and society how can Amr Khaled not be one of the most influential people in the world? </span></span><span style="border-collapse: separate; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px;"><span style="border-collapse: separate; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Photo by Randa El Tahawy) <br />
</span></span></span></span><br />
</div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-42258350693388283082009-12-21T15:52:00.033+00:002010-01-06T19:06:57.789+00:00"Not In our name" seeks to stop war<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_vtw01grfp9nRlhwjAbsHouFaG5Mbd0qtZYdvb8OWxqsZ_mh0zI-0oKzRUbYxhcQ9MYFy-8ha4tgvpIwmZHoTj0dIHDt-JFPXy8J9OHZpo7ESdMUJsFwEzeK_PqOQZ4UIekcICEY268n/s1600-h/IMG_1039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_vtw01grfp9nRlhwjAbsHouFaG5Mbd0qtZYdvb8OWxqsZ_mh0zI-0oKzRUbYxhcQ9MYFy-8ha4tgvpIwmZHoTj0dIHDt-JFPXy8J9OHZpo7ESdMUJsFwEzeK_PqOQZ4UIekcICEY268n/s200/IMG_1039.JPG" width="200" /></span></span></a><br />
</div><span style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 32px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">From Northern Ireland, to Lebanon “Not in Our name” transcends all the political borders giving an account of how nine men were able to fight for a country across their continent.</span></span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><br />
</div></div><ul><li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Colm Bryce, Gary Donnelly, Kieran Gallagher, Michael Gallagher, Sean Heaton, Jimmy Kelly, Eamonn McCann,Paddy McDaid and Eamonn O'Donnell call themselves </span></span></span><span style="color: #4a2387; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.raytheon9.org/"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">the Raytheon 9.</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #4a2387; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">They decided to go against the law to make justice by storming in a Raytheon arms factory in Derry, Northern Ireland , during the Israeli Military campaign against Lebanon. ( 12th of August 2006)</span></span></span></span></span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The poignant movie premiered on the 30th of November in London by Renegade Films, succeeds in sending a wide political message to the audience about civil action. </span></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Featuring interviews from Tony Benn, president of Stop the War Coalition and political activist and actor Mark Steel "Not in Our name"depicts the story of how a group of men were determined to take actions and stop the war crimes in the Middle East. </span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">No to Raytheon in Derry</span></span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #4a2387; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.raytheon.com/"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Raytheon Company</span></span></a></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> , a major American defense contractor, known to be one of the largest producers of</span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> a</span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">rms and guided missiles opened its office in Springtown, Derry in 1999 and has been widely opposed since. </span></span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The film shows police footage of how the nine men stormed into the plant throwing computers and papers away from the windows of the building, hanging signs such as “Raytheon has been now Decommissioned”.</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The men's message was to take a stand against the company that was believed to have a practical impact on the civilian casualties and atrocities happening at the same time in Lebanon.</span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Standing up for Lebanon</span></span></span></span></o:p><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Raytheon 9 say in fact, that a Raytheon Guided Bomb Unit was used in the Israeli air strike on July 30, 2006 against the South Lebanese village, Qana. </span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The attack targeted a three story building causing the death of civilians who were mostly children.</span></span></span></o:p><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Although archives footage of the atrocities of the Lebanon war was shown those strong images were wisely emphasizing the men’s cause.</span></span></span></o:p><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Motivated by their fight against war, the nine men visited the village of Qana. The film shows a moving and a life changing experience to the audience.</span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> Through the men's eyes we witness the damages of the war hear the experience by meeting with the families of the victims.</span></span></span></o:p><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Raytheon 9 were arrested for 36 hours and put on trial charged of unlawful assembly and aggravated burglary but were later released.</span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><br />
</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> “You have no moral obligation to obey a law that doesn’t go with your belief,” said Colm Ryce at the London Premiere screening, recalling what the judge had told them after the verdict.</span></span></span></o:p><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(Photo By Randa El Tahawy)</span></span><br />
</div></div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-23040666424063975092009-11-30T16:24:00.007+00:002010-01-06T18:55:49.874+00:00Let's leave history in the past<style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWYdfoJdrlQbfPFFu3C7kPxdPKRHsWVjiUMgUwDcM_pTq45wNVoUngJ_0l_htnYf7RyAt4niAJD5uIOUJEHBLCLaI412PL3ugv7gzlGDBQsNJRQOStn1Ki7eRUHT5hMeLwZYgkZMI1wbk/s1600/IMGA0161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWYdfoJdrlQbfPFFu3C7kPxdPKRHsWVjiUMgUwDcM_pTq45wNVoUngJ_0l_htnYf7RyAt4niAJD5uIOUJEHBLCLaI412PL3ugv7gzlGDBQsNJRQOStn1Ki7eRUHT5hMeLwZYgkZMI1wbk/s320/IMGA0161.JPG" /></span></span></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Claire Noble, Photo by Randa El Tahawy) </span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">She refers to where she was born as the North and where she lives as the South like it was all one country. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">What Claire Noble 23, means is that she was born in </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Northern Ireland</span></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> part of the United Kingdom but now lives in the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Republic of Ireland</span></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> a separate state, and this did make a difference in how she was brought up. </span></span><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“When we moved it was like a different country,” she says with her soft voice, “ I used to stand out because I was from the North.” </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">After her dad bought a nice farm while driving by in Galway, Ireland, Claire at that time 13 and her family moved from her hometown Fermanagh. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“I was excited but didn’t want to leave because I didn’t know anything about the country.”</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">She recalls how difficult it was for her to settle in a new country always feeling like she is standing out because of her origins. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“ People had so many stereotypes and used to ask me those stupid questions about the </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Republican_Army"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">IRA</span></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> (Irish Republican Army) and the religious origins of my surname, Noble.”</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Getting used to the label</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Despite hearing those stereotypes and living with them everyday, Claire doesn’t blame anyone, “ a lot of the people I knew never got out and didn’t really know what they were implying.” </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">She adds that it is normal to find people trying to put an identity label on other people. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“ Settling was hard but I also saw it as an adventure, there are always advantages from moving.” </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As every teenager would normally do, Claire wanted to fit in and remembers how she was easily led and made unfortunate friendships. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“ I lost my strong Northern accent in two years and when I used to go back to the North my family would make fun of my new accent,” she says. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A move that shaped her personality</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">If there is one thing Claire learned from having to juggle between two cultures it would be questioning what is wrong and what is right. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">She also discovered her passion for reporting on current affairs and realized that she wanted to be a journalist. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“When you go away you realize so many things about yourself,” she says.</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">With time, Claire is still learning about her herself and being a </span></span><a href="http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/media/journalism/ma-journalism-international"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Master student in Journalism in London </span></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">is surely helping her get a clearer picture. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">“ I am proud to call myself Irish living in the South but holding on to Northern Ireland.”</span></span><br />
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</div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-29690590766051866432009-11-19T01:38:00.020+00:002010-01-11T13:45:32.277+00:00Egyptian Football Fans attacked in Sudan<b>Egyptian fans going to support the national team playing for the World Cup qualification game against Algeria were attacked in Sudan after the Algerian team won 1-0. </b><br />
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Buses going to the Airport were surrounded by Algerian fans throwing stones, breaking glasses.<br />
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Egyptian Talk Show <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/alyawmyat">AL Kahira Al Youm (Cairo Today)</a>, reported that many Egyptians are in great danger and were seriously injured where some of them managed to hide in several places.<br />
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Phone calls were aired on the show, with many Egyptians panicking and seeking the help of security forces. Presenters including Amr Adib were losing their tempers angrily shouting on air the information.<br />
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Security forces are still trying to control the situation sending rescue to the fans in order for them to reach the airport.Other sources say that planes already started to take off.<br />
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Sources who phoned the show from London said Algerians have been attacking Egyptians in London with one attack reported near Edgware road in London.<br />
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<b>Facebook Users Updates <br />
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<div>Facebook's statuses updates and video postings about these attacks were constantly being updated. People are angry, outraged and disgusted:<br />
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Many are worried about their relatives or their friends trying to get back from Sudan. Some posts included emergency numbers for people stuck in Sudan.<br />
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Others were letting know people that planes are ready to take off from the stadium or have arrived from Khartoum in Cairo. <br />
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<b>Other news sources?</b><br />
</div><div>Other than the Egyptian press, I still haven't seen any other news report from any other news agencies. Why is that? Not in the Agenda? Where are the correspondents?<br />
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It is not important enough that people are being attacked over a football game?<br />
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And the Egyptian team lost what would have happened if we had won!!<br />
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I cannot believe I am not able to get a proper news source updating me on the situation. Thank you Facebook.<br />
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<b>National Outrage </b><br />
</div><div>As every Egyptian I am outraged, I was rather sad and disappointed when Egypt lost the game but now I do not even have words to describe how I feel.<br />
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<a href="http://in-randas-words.blogspot.com/2009/11/let-battle-begin-14th-november-2009_03.html">It is not football anymore, it is becoming politics but ugly politics.</a><br />
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The point was to go to the World Cup in 2010 to be proud of our Egyptian team but not to turn these games into a war leading us to despise, insult and attack a nation.<br />
</div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-80971157282766890332009-11-11T22:36:00.010+00:002010-01-06T19:03:42.506+00:00Egypt: Taking our country for granted?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuSmDuUYRk5YBPOw9VO4RSy5-cEnrzeJDQs13_zKpxzWsbtkJEdLwwuFcDJq2JW_7b_JlFwCZn49ub8cs5QoqSLYScWkw874Td8qHDM9RGbpRyuEc1FrNyiexmhzOn3L_F5TyAVFLpSJ4/s1600-h/Egypt.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402990853547796546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuSmDuUYRk5YBPOw9VO4RSy5-cEnrzeJDQs13_zKpxzWsbtkJEdLwwuFcDJq2JW_7b_JlFwCZn49ub8cs5QoqSLYScWkw874Td8qHDM9RGbpRyuEc1FrNyiexmhzOn3L_F5TyAVFLpSJ4/s200/Egypt.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a><br />
<b>After nearly two months living in London, I am realizing, how we do take Egypt for granted and should work on improving it.</b><br />
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Instead of leaving Egypt and living the life abroad I think we should all think about ways to improve it and make it better.<br />
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As much as I am enjoying the many advantages of living in Europe, I realize more and more that people like me should always come back to their homeland and bring back something with them.<br />
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I also got so inspired by a friend of mine from the program Diala, a Palestinian from Ramallah who has much passion for her country and is very much fighting for her land and for her cause.<br />
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Take a look at <a href="http://diala-freedom.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-culture-under-their-name.html">her pos</a>t it is amazing. <br />
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She do knows the value of having a country, a culture, a history and a land and she is truly working serving her cause, as a Palestinian but also as a Journalist.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">A Better Life Abroad?</span><br />
<div>A recent <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8342741.stm">article by the BBC </a>was talking about how many Egyptians dream to leave Egypt and go work in another country for a better life.<br />
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They are not to be blamed, the economy is not helping, people are under-appreciated in their field, society and culture make it very hard for anyone to fulfill their dreams and the government is to be blamed for that.<br />
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As an Egyptian you are not being treated as a citizen who has his full rights, you are not the priority, money is.<br />
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<ul><li>Your lost bags will always be found in less than 24hours if you are not Egyptian.</li>
<li>You can swim in El Gezira club and visit on a Friday if you're a foreigner but if you are Egyptian you can't.</li>
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</div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Money, Power and Connections<span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Egyptian are not even equally treated in regards to each other and do live in the same standards.</span></span><br />
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<ul><li>Average citizens do not pay for their driver license and do not have people who clean for them and drive them around town.<br />
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<ul><li>If an average citizen commits a crime his dad will not get him out of trouble because he knows someone in the army.<br />
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<ul><li>An average citizen cannot afford the American University in Cairo and spending 100 pounds for food when this 100 pounds is almost his monthly allowance.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Fascinating Potential</span><br />
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I will never forget one of the interviews I conducted with a French woman, Veronique Sedrot who owns a boutique hotel in old Cairo <a href="http://www.leriad-hoteldecharme.com/hotel_en.html">Le Riad. </a><br />
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She made me feel so fascinated but at the same time so ashamed. She spoke about Egypt as if it was her country, talking about the wonders, the culture, the social scheme everything she said about Egypt was true and amazing.<br />
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Take a look at the hotel and the website and you will understand how she sees Egypt and the pictures actually do not lie. So why, her and not us Egyptians?<br />
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</div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-54966242993321954682009-11-09T23:14:00.009+00:002009-11-23T18:14:52.191+00:00London Lighting Up!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yMoS8mFCb57653wMDpkc0vziEz2gSe9GrmAT-T4WMydwinSlS1qgrtrqWkHLJz3tkGrzHggRbCLzI6G7CMos7vpwmy5YYLsoHPNvjx-YZrPRaVjkNUyNkWEywheD-XcQlqGrYskPn0Vr/s1600-h/P1000662.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402269854175963410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7yMoS8mFCb57653wMDpkc0vziEz2gSe9GrmAT-T4WMydwinSlS1qgrtrqWkHLJz3tkGrzHggRbCLzI6G7CMos7vpwmy5YYLsoHPNvjx-YZrPRaVjkNUyNkWEywheD-XcQlqGrYskPn0Vr/s200/P1000662.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a><br />
<div><b>It seems that last week's theme was "Lights On" for London. </b><br />
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With the famous start of the Christmas Lights on the 3rd of November and on the 5th of November Bonfire Night-Guy Fawkes Night celebrating the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605.<br />
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</div><div>Last Tuesday, the streets of London all started the countdown to spreading the Christmas season!<br />
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On the 3rd of November at around 18:00 Oxford Street, Regent Street and Leicester Square were all illuminated by the spirit of Christmas with the theme of the year the movie premiere of A <a href="http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/achristmascarol/">Christmas Carol</a>, showing in 3D.<br />
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A private event for the movie premiere was at Leicester Square, with a red carpet and the whole square turned into a movie set, with chorals, guests etc... it was an interesting event even though the host was quite annoying.<br />
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You got to hear Andrea Bocelli sing the theme song of the movie and see Colin Firth and Jim Carey in persons!! (On a screen actually but they were right behind the barrier where I was standing).<br />
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Other than that you could just enjoy the lovely Christmas lights all around Oxford Street and Regent Street, making the city taste a little different.<br />
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Although I do not celebrate Christmas, I got really happy and excited from those lights capturing each of them on camera.<br />
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It really changes the mood of the streets, instead of having a busy city, with people rushing all over especially since this new Oxford X crossing, that I cannot understand.<br />
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It just brings joy to people, preparing for the holiday season, family reunions, trips to various destinations, lots of gifts and shopping, great food...<br />
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Yes, it's a time to be merry and it is very much needed after hectic months like the past ones for everyone especially me.<br />
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</div><div>As for Bonfire Night, the actual night is on November 5th, yet many events were taking place on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th.<br />
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Fireworks display and funfairs were all over town mainly in parks.<br />
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The Victoria Park fireworks display was an amazing one, the theme of the year was "Great Balls of Fire", the event started with a funfair from 14h00 but the actual display was at 19h45, accompanied with rock songs that all had to do with Fire!<br />
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It was a truly great experience to see those stunning fireworks while listening to songs about fire like, Fever, Light My Fire and many more.<br />
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It reminded me of the 14th of July fireworks celebrations in France when I was little.<br />
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I don't really know what is so fascinating about fireworks, but you can never get tired of it, always amazed and hearing the crowd going "aaah" when there is a big firework firing up in the sky.<br />
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Although we had been standing up for hours in the cold, as soon as it all started, the sky as well as our faces just lit up!<br />
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</div><div><div>Those two events were great experiences where people got amusingly charmed by lights and fireworks.<br />
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It is an interesting aspect of the London lifestyle where you enjoy the beauty of the city by doing simple yet amusing activities with massive gathering of people.<br />
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Next week will certainly have lots of events around town coming up and if you're looking for a fireworks display there is the <a href="http://www.timeout.com/london/around-town/event/157944/lord-mayors-show-and-fireworks-display">Lord Mayor's show</a> on Saturday the 14th, an all day parade with fireworks at night, welcoming into office the new Lord Mayor of London. <br />
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</div><div>(Photo By Randa El Tahawy-Victoria Park)<br />
</div></div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-25673594619782476002009-11-02T22:02:00.007+00:002010-01-06T19:11:26.833+00:00Let the Battle Begin: 14th November 2009, Egypt V.S Algeria<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jWUUFrqLHZaLw5pKKCK4peg3e4Lq-GXQA-GRKtbwqpeRl9iwxG9DTOgCx9AWLn8gcn-PWqYeilL4ZR_s8KeOvuG2LDVexnsTM5YIVUvf3kZpT8-tjH_CUlM3zwjX0RXN6OEELJTP3Rcp/s1600-h/Novembre+2005+051.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399633333220950242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5jWUUFrqLHZaLw5pKKCK4peg3e4Lq-GXQA-GRKtbwqpeRl9iwxG9DTOgCx9AWLn8gcn-PWqYeilL4ZR_s8KeOvuG2LDVexnsTM5YIVUvf3kZpT8-tjH_CUlM3zwjX0RXN6OEELJTP3Rcp/s200/Novembre+2005+051.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt;" /></a><br />
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<b>Described by Egyptians as the game of the year and even the game of the decade the upcoming World Cup qualifier match against Algeria on November 14th is the talk of the month in Cairo.</b><br />
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Egypt has had a long history of clashes in football with North African countries but especially with Algeria. With the race for the World Cup qualifier this month, Algerians are now becoming the enemies.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">History Repeating Itself?</span><br />
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The upcoming game will be a trip back in history when, twenty years ago, in 1989, Egypt won the qualifying game against Algeria 1-0 with a goal from Hossam Hassan who became a football national hero since.<br />
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<div>Egypt needs to beat Algeria by a three-goal margin to advance to the World Cup for the first time since 1990. A win by a two-goal margin will set up a playoff game on the 18th of November in a country chosen by the FIFA as neutral soil.<br />
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</div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sports and Politics</span><br />
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There seems to be a war taking places between both sides with many open forums about the game turning into heated conversations with much hatred and insults. The Egyptian media is angered by the provocative comments from Algerians and retaliates with its own provocation. One Egyptian presenter even called on supporters to camp outside the Algerian players’ hotel when they come to Cairo to prevent them from sleeping. This is exactly what happened to the Egyptian team when they were in Algeria.<br />
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The debate has also gone into politics with an Algerian writer refusing to have the Egyptian visa stamp saying, “Egypt is a disgrace to Arabs and sold Arabs and Palestinian to Israel”, criticizing the Egyptian government’s foreign policies.<br />
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</div><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Battle for the Cup</span><br />
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</div><div>Discussions have been taking place for weeks over the newspapers, television programs and the Internet with heated clashes against Algerians supporters and passionate support messages for the national team.<br />
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</div><div>Videos and groups are flowing all over the Social Networking Website Facebook, with titles such as <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=154963168149&v=wall">“Egypt Beats Algeria Our World Cup Dream”</a> and “ <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=154818173578">I was not there for the 6th of October war but I will be there for the 14th of November war”.</a><br />
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</div><div>Views and expectations are mixed for the outcome of the game. Algeria has more chances to win, as it will not be easy for Egypt to score three goals. However, Egypt has won the last two editions of the CAF African Cup of Nations and is supposed to be much stronger especially with its thousands of supporters at the stadium.<br />
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“I have been waiting for this day for twenty years and we are the African champions, we deserve to go to the 2010 World Cup. We are waiting for the Algerians in the stadium of hell,” says Hany Youssef a fervent supporter of the national team ( who helped me come up with all this info)<br />
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Egyptian player Ahmed Hassan was quoted in a <a href="http://new.filgoal.com/English/News.aspx?NewsID=61062">news article</a> saying: "Cairo Stadium might accommodate only 80,000 spectators, but I would like to tell the Algerian players that the 80 million Egyptians will be present. The venue will turn into a stadium of horror.”<br />
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</div><div>Violent clashes are known to occur between supporters during significant matches like this one. Some Internet groups have warned women not to attend the game at the stadium because of the possible violent encounters that will take place in the “stadium of horror”.<br />
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(Photo By Randa El Tahawy)<br />
</div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-1107471573857226022009-10-27T20:08:00.007+00:002009-11-02T22:22:01.390+00:00London Fashion Freestyle<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjme2GXy2HeHNJru9pWbhs2VG_eThpSg3Z8OmAlJjsuCx-5-jMHVj_1tpl_5rEFvBNDFFSeEDB3E5GbChAuUFEw3h3dKwH_X9tIOWk26jgFNg8i3olskRBsZTW0emQsb9Nrt-wQqAX4Lt/s1600-h/DSC01350.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhjme2GXy2HeHNJru9pWbhs2VG_eThpSg3Z8OmAlJjsuCx-5-jMHVj_1tpl_5rEFvBNDFFSeEDB3E5GbChAuUFEw3h3dKwH_X9tIOWk26jgFNg8i3olskRBsZTW0emQsb9Nrt-wQqAX4Lt/s320/DSC01350.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397389644239365890" /></a>As a very curious person and a Journalism student, I tend to look at a lot of things around me. You have to keep the observant eye, always searching for something. Also, as a woman, there is one thing I particularly enjoy looking at everyday : the million different styles and outfits that people put on. It is amazing how everyone is just so unique in their way of dressing, their hairstyle, their bags, shoes everything.. rarely will you find two people wearing the same things. I just thought about how everybody is just different and expresses this difference without any shame and without even being aware. <div><br /></div><div>It makes me think about Egypt a lot, and about how every girl looks like the other one. Who doesn't have a Longchamp Bag? Ray Ban aviators? ( or the latest fashion item, just go to AUC or the ultimate place-to be Tamarai to find out) I personally love my Longchamp bag, it is so practical and looks so nice, as for my aviators, I think they're amazing, they look good on everyone, and they make me feel hippie. But sometimes it gets just so annoying and so strange to see how everyone is looking the same. Same style, same clothes, same hair do, even same way of dancing! I don't think it has anything to do with being a fashionista, I can't think of a specific reason for this because I sometimes do follow these trends. </div><div>Although all my friends in Cairo call me Rambo when I wear it, I love wearing my hippy-rambo headband but I only wear it on two occasions, on the beach and when I'm out at night(sometimes I end up by removing it because of the weird stares I get). In London, I wore it more than once and I did not get any comment. I wear my super hat ( I know someone who particularly hates it) and no one says anything and I just love it! </div><div>When I look at people around me, especially at university I see them wearing items that I would never have thought could be combined together! But still, it looks nice you know why? Because it is their own way of putting it together expressing their uniqueness. </div><div>I know that girls all wearing the same clothes and looking all alike is a widespread phenomenon called "fashion" but there is a difference here, in London, you can wear the "in" item any way you like it or you can just not wear it, nobody will look at you and judge or criticize. <br /></div><div>I guess this also has a lot to do with the culture. If you think about it, freedom of expression is not only about politics but about everything and in Egypt I don't think there is freedom of expression at all. I don't want to generalize but being part of the mainstream is so easy and I sometimes fall into it , I admit. We are being dictated everything in our life. We are brought up in a way that standards always have to apply. But says who? Who made these standards? I am not playing the role of the Arab woman who comes to be liberated in Europe, but I just ask myself why do we all follow this mainstream? What is wrong with being yourself and accepting others the way they are? </div><div>It is part of our judging culture in Egypt , I can't stop thinking about how people stare when someone just enters into a place and no it's not the- normal stare- because- someone- just- walked- in, it's the who-is-she-what is she wearing-is it a Prada bag- isn't she loulou's cousin -stare. Trust me, I know this look, I once caught myself doing it and I got it from other people so many times. </div><div> About fashion in Egypt, we must not forget that there isn't a real wide range of places to shop at, this is why you will find every girl wearing the same Zara, Mango name any brand, name any item. Still, I am pretty sure that in London many girls must shop at those stores but we can't see it, and it is because they have their own sense of fashion. </div><div><br /></div><div>When we look at something like Portobello Market (the picture), it is amazing to see how many items are so unique, you have so many markets, so many stores that cater to everyone, every size, every shape everything! Why don't we have things like this in Egypt? Although we have this new trend of small vintage boutiques, they are so expensive, plus, it is the new trend to be vintage and buy from boutiques. Still, I am sure there are alternatives and ways of being unique in fashion but still, I see this step being very hesitant in Egypt. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Isn't it enough that we have to deal with the issues we have in our complex society, like the poverty, the twisted politics, the corruption, the backwards mentalities and so on. I think it is time to start opening our minds a bit, at least by wearing what ever suits us and what ever we like and by accepting other's style. That's a good start for freedom I think. </div><div><br /></div><div>(Photo By Randa El Tahawy)</div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-71384206831576989822009-10-22T14:17:00.008+01:002009-10-27T20:04:42.560+00:00Representing the people? Egyptian Apathy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuckxOodHj2JtLuM1snel326VoKbhCKH0i0KwPFVZj1BM044WETifoQl7unL7eZIoJTmXFM6jHXSDIbf2uom_DANlXG2yTHdwSlx9GnJeJjwuJMR4E15ZuPIDYarjyqkqO-BxcYP3Xb7Yd/s1600-h/P1000437.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuckxOodHj2JtLuM1snel326VoKbhCKH0i0KwPFVZj1BM044WETifoQl7unL7eZIoJTmXFM6jHXSDIbf2uom_DANlXG2yTHdwSlx9GnJeJjwuJMR4E15ZuPIDYarjyqkqO-BxcYP3Xb7Yd/s320/P1000437.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397372293551960098" /></a><br />On a visit last Wednesday to the Parliament, or I should say Westminster Palace, I noticed many things and asked myself a lot of questions.<br />I never saw my Parliament, I never went to Maguliss El Shaab,( i.e The Egyptian People's Assembly or lower house) nor to Maguliss El Shoura ( The Consultative Council or upper House.) Is it even open to the public? I should look into that.<div><br /><div>I am aware of its role and I have seen some sessions on TV but they were about angry MPs being thrown out of the room, throwing shoes or protesting, nothing very informative.<br /><br />One of the things I felt as an overall impression after this experience at the Parliament is how U.K citizens and to my experience British citizen, are very much in touch with their politics and their representatives at the parliament.<br /><br />I guess in my case, it is a lack of information because I still need to do some effort to get infiltrated into the Egyptian society because of my background but als0, I am sure my case is the same for a lot of people. We don't really know anything about our parliament, most of us do not really know who is our local MP. Well actually, if I talk about the group I fit in and the generation I come from, some of us do not even know how to read and write Arabic which is very sad but true. Still I do not think that language is such a barrier so I wonder: Where does this apathy come from?<br /><br />We have been so alienated by our government never seeing an end to the oppression the misinformation, the corruption and all the other majors problems that Egypt has, to the extent that we do not even care or we are not even aware of our local politics. I am fascinated by how citizens in England are so aware of their politics, so active in their communities.<br /><br />I was amazed yesterday when we saw David Cameron ( leader of the Conservative Party) come out of the house of Commons so casually whereas in Egypt, you only get to see Fathi Sourour or any other parliament member in VIP events if you are an average citizen( putting journalists, activists aside). Then, the guide explained to us that you can even meet your local MP out of the session and talk about your issues and sometimes let him ask questions for you at the session. I noticed some firefighters all gathered outside of the session probably from a union asking for issues being all united and active.<br /><br />In the recent past years the youth in Egypt has started to move. I will never forget the 6th of April strike, a movement that was created by the youth and that spread through networking and Facebook. The power of internet in Egypt is great, blogging, groups etc.. we are starting to get pro active in the community and this is a good start. But still, there is this lack of action and a kind of apathy regarding politics and organizations.<br /><br />It is such a wide topic that needs experts and analysts it is all interrelated to so many issues and problems in Egypt. To put it simply, I do not have the feeling that I am being represented in the parliament, I do not have the feeling that I am a citizen in my country. Not only we have a lot of social restrictions, we also have political ones and on top of all of this, our voices are not even heard by the government because we are too passive to participate.</div><div><br /></div><div>(Photo By Randa El Tahawy, part of the Parliament)</div></div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-32551121980646707482009-10-20T00:24:00.002+01:002009-10-22T14:04:41.631+01:00The Reuters DreamI don't know if at some point in every journalists life Reuters means the top of the top, the thrill of a journalist's job. Journalism at its best wow "Reuters". Even though I had a preview of a Reuters bureau before, I still get so fascinated by it. On Monday, with my MA class we went to visit the headquarters of Reuters next to Canary Wharf Station. Just by getting out of the tube and seeing the tall business buildings you feel important. There it was, the huge Reuters building with the headlines, the stock market. We were all so excited we took pictures outside of the building we even took pictures of our badges (My name was spelled wrong as usual but it's fine it's Reuters!).<br /><br />However, I guess some people with me may have had this impression after leaving the building : Wait, where are the reporters screaming with the latest scoop, the big TV screens with the latest event, this media rush we saw in the movies? Well this is not Reuters. When I went for a small internship at the Cairo Bureau, Jonathan Wright at the time the Bureau chief and the reporters there made me understand that this was just an image of Reuters that people often get especially eager little journalists like myself. What really happens is what we saw today: a big newsroom full of computers, people talking but mostly computers and phones.<br />It is kind of disappointing when you have these images to see the calm newsroom, all the people talking and discussing, all in a very serious atmosphere. But when you come to think about it. Those editors that we saw, they are responsible for all those instant headlines, those top stories that we see everyday from Reuters. Managing the world desk, managing the financial, equity and monetary policies stories etc... is a big job. Not only you need to be an experienced, quick editor but also an amazing writer and have so many communication and management skills. Great journalist, great editor, great everything! If you see the amount of stories that go on the wire every day it is simply amazing. It is like a big news factory.<br /> Reuters might not be the experience of running in the streets with the latest scoop, hiding behind a car while a town is exploding but it is creating news in a major factory experience.<br />When you see how a news agency functions in such harmony, so quickly and so efficiently it just makes you confused as a journalist, thinking that the world is so big. Still, it is nice to know that there is always something going on. Something significant.<br /> I don't like Financial news and the other types of it, I am trying to like it but it is so hard for me. Unfortunately what we usually don't know is that the major news from Reuters are financial and the rest is all media and general news.<br /> Here are some facts Anne Senior told us when we were at the visit ( it might not be completely accurate but it is just and idea) and I just think it is amazing. Reuters works with around 20 languages in almost 22 different countries and they select around 800 pictures per day to publish! <br />So, after all Reuters still sounds "wow" to me.In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-68102048527411508872009-10-18T19:23:00.007+01:002009-10-22T14:07:11.913+01:00The Twitter Trend <meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/localstorage/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0clip_filelist.xml"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal.dotm</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>486</o:Words> <o:characters>2775</o:Characters> <o:company>University of Westminster</o:Company> <o:lines>23</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>5</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>3407</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>12.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:drawinggridverticalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:dontautofitconstrainedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} @page Section1 {size:595.0pt 842.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US">I joined the world of Twitter today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US">I was quite opposed to joining it as I thought who would ever want to follow my daily updates on Twitter? Ever since I started my MA I noticed how Twitter has made many achievements in getting the news quick with journalists' tweets or with the average citizen's post on the scene of a major event. I already knew it, but I became more aware of Twitter's power when I started my Journalism courses. Also, when </span><strong style="font-weight: normal;">John Gripton</strong></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"> the News Editor of The Online version of Sky News came to Westminster and spoke to us, he mentioned Twitter almost a thousand times; focusing on how important it was for him as a source but also as a medium for spreading the news fast. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US">When I tried to describe Twitter, I didn't exactly know how to describe it, I just said "it is like a social networking website, where you publish your updates like on Facebook when you publish your status". Does the sentence even make sense? I honestly still don't know how it works, I tried to upload a picture but could not find a professional one so I kept it for later, then I just made my first post which was Randa: trying to figure out how this thing works" or something like that. But I have one follower already! Well I also subscribed to follow her so I guess it is not a major achievement. But I am also following Reuters, BBC, Sky News etc… Since my main purpose of joining Twitter is to enter the new world of online journalism, blogging, tweeting etc.. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US">Anyway, I think those kinds of things are very important for us aspiring journalists: Trying to get into the journalism world especially the modern one. Even though I would not compare my blog posts or Tweets to those of an experienced Journalist, I have to keep this in mind " Citizen Journalism" you never know, I might be posting ideas or noticing something that really means something for the world of news?( plus I’m not only an average citizen I am still in the process of becoming a journalist) I guess my ideas and thoughts are still worthy maybe not breaking news worthy but at least news worthy if you take them from the angle of "exploring the learning journey of an aspiring journalist". (The purpose of my blog actually)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US">So Tweeting, Blogging, Facebook updates and all of this, it is quite important to have in order to know what's going on in the world or in a specific community. This is exactly what </span><strong style="font-weight: normal;">John Gripton</strong><strong style="font-weight: normal;">,</strong></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"> was saying. They were looking into all of these social networking websites to understand what happens, what are the latest issues that people are facing because after all, our audience is the people. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US">Here is an example, I am not in Egypt anymore but when I get into Facebook all I can see is groups about the upcoming match between Egypt and Algeria ( I also have a source that keeps me updated especially on those topics) but it was everywhere, pictures, groups, videos, because this game is so important for Egypt, we could be going to the World Cup! I also saw many things about The Aqsa Mosque,<span style=""> </span>so mainly all the issues that matter to the people are spread on Facebook through groups discussions, pictures, videos and updates. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: arial;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal" ><span style="font-size:85%;"><span lang="EN-US">So yes, these websites are important, from now on I will not think I am wasting time by getting on Facebook and reading every single update of every single person on my Friends list, “no it's not Stalking, it's the new Journalism”. </span></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-9226390030528746442009-10-12T23:42:00.010+01:002009-10-22T14:09:28.483+01:00Artificial Virginity Sold to Egypt<span style="font-size:100%;">This is a story that we were asked to write up in a news exercise. I particularly chose this story as it raises many debates and issues about Egypt and the double standards that live in our society. </span><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Thursday 8th of October</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-size:100%;" >:</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Virginity Faking Device Stirs Controversy in Egypt</span></div><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="center"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b style=""><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Cambria;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span">A Chinese-made device enabling women to fake their virginity could be banned if Conservative Egyptian politicians succeed in their campaign.</span></span></span></o:p></span></b></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="article" style="font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family:Cambria;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span">Sheikh Sayed Askar, a member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood who is on the parliamentary committee on religious affairs, told the Daily News Egypt that the government must take responsibility for fighting the product to uphold Egyptian and Arab values.</span></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Cambria;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The Artificial Virginity Hymen kit distributed by the Chinese company Gigimo and advertised for export to the Middle East costs around $30 (£19). The product simulates virginity by leaking a blood-like substance when inserted and broken.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> Reports say the device is intended to help newly-married women fool their husbands into believing they are virgins, an essential marriage requirement for women in much of the Middle East.</span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> The kit is also seen as a cheap and easier alternative to hymen repair surgery which is secretly carried out by some clinics in the Middle East.</span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><span class="Apple-style-span">The anger over the device raises many questions about Egyptian society that condemns pre-martial sex despite it happening commonly.</span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Lina Samaan, an accountant quoted by the Los Angeles Times, said this debate raises many questions about the double standards that often apply to women in Egypt.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" lang="EN-GB" ><span class="Apple-style-span">"Sex is a right for every woman but unfortunately we started turning to products like these because men - even non-religious ones who have sex before marriage - wouldn't marry a girl if she's not virgin."</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">-End-</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" >Clearly, there is a problem. The issue here at hand is not whether the product should be banned but rather questioning its existence. Did people lose their mind and became so shallow on lack principles that women need a product like this? What does it say about our culture? We are so wrapped with double standards that a Chinese company is selling us this product to make our lives easier. I wonder how they knew this product would appeal to so many women because if it was not that appealing then no controversy would have surrounded the virginity kit. I am just so surprised by the lack of principles this product creates. I have many opinions about this or I should say many points. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" >First of all, as romantic as this could sound but Virginity is not something that can be faked, people did you forget the whole meaning of it? This post should also be called "the controversial piece of fabric" (i.e my previous post a month ago). What happened to our mind us women, you men, that a simple piece of skin makes you lose your principles. How can a woman vows to marry a man basing her fist intimate symbolic moment on a lie that she is a virgin. I cannot imagine myself spending the rest of my life with a person and hiding one of the most important aspect of my life (yes it is important we should not be afraid to accept that sexuality is important). </span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" >Women who resort to this have issues but sadly it is not their fault, the society is at fault men are at fault. Because women cannot be accepted as sexual being outside and inside of their marriage. Still just because men and I confidently say most Egyptians men think that a girl who is not a virgin is not worth marrying does not justify lying and drowning yourself in those dark ages ideas because by faking the virginity those women are promoting those stupid thoughts. We women say that our submissive situation is like this because men are in power, because a man can do whatever he wants but a woman can't, the society sets the rules etc... but do you think that by doing this you are protecting yourself? </span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" >By letting products like this invade our minds and brain wash our thoughts we are just letting the society win, the society that dictates how we should behave, think, and live, this society that causes for so many of us women to fall into depression and live miserable life. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.1pt 0cm; text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Cambria;font-size:100%;" >Virginity is an important issue in our societies and I agree it is important as it is important to any woman in the world. But judging a woman by a piece of skin is just becoming so sad. It is such a big debate because we should not forget to mention that it deals with religion and the Arab world lives under the principles of Islam. But I will not go into that as my points of view about religion only concern me and God. If someone really has faith and truly believes in God and wants to follow religion then let him follow it right. Whatever it means for this person to follow it right, as long as there are no Chinese products to hide the true nature and needs of this person. </span></p>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-1223659819398445712009-10-12T23:34:00.002+01:002009-10-12T23:39:35.436+01:00Blog Updated The blog will be updated everyday or at least 3 times a week. It will be featuring some news and more journalism related posts as I have to do it for my Masters program. <div><br /></div><div>This being said, I would like to say that the picture that appear on the blog unless I did not state that I took them are not mine, and I just learned today that technically I stole them. So sorry...</div><div><br /></div><div>Enjoy the new features of my blog, it really needed a fresh start. </div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-65525130805688938732009-08-17T10:19:00.007+01:002010-01-06T19:12:55.265+00:00The so controversial piece of fabric<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNhKgUx_Vai_gZLku5ledvzagQUnlQBi4vxPTpyO0f71ToQCqMkm_7OTSXdrJA8ccpA-VI6IJs2vuHSvYe7oX8m1t-8vNFshmcbmPITZFsCyEpRNjb3NET7YsEfiDl5RYzHJryBtW1-0Z/s1600-h/+veil+your+lollipop.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370922831075832018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNhKgUx_Vai_gZLku5ledvzagQUnlQBi4vxPTpyO0f71ToQCqMkm_7OTSXdrJA8ccpA-VI6IJs2vuHSvYe7oX8m1t-8vNFshmcbmPITZFsCyEpRNjb3NET7YsEfiDl5RYzHJryBtW1-0Z/s200/+veil+your+lollipop.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 141px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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I came across an article today in the BBC about France and the debate about banning the Burqa (where everything is covered including the eyes). I have mixed feelings about this issue, because it involves many problems for me as a Woman and as a Muslim. I completely understand why having Burqas would be a danger in society, how many stories did we hear about people, mostly men covering up with Niqab and pretending to be women and doing all sorts of stupid crimes like kidnapping children and many more So yes, if it is banned in public places as a measure of security I completely understand why we should ban it or at least ask those women in public places to uncover their faces so that there could at least be any kind of social interaction.<br />
I remember back when I was at AUC, there was this big controversy and court case about girls wearing niqabs on campus and I remember the girl in question was with me in Psychology class. I remember our professor would let her sit at the back of the class but tell her to remove the face veil because she wanted to be able to interact with her.<br />
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Anyway, my problem is not with the banning, it is rather with how the French put it, as my sister says, they are so arrogant to think that this is what will help women free themselves and have an identity. The article says, "Mr. Sarkozy said it was unacceptable to have women who were "prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity". I don't like the fact that they are putting all veiled, niqab or burqa women in one big bag: Oppression. I am not pro veiling but I am pro freedom of choice, those liberators think that by banning it they will help the poor little oppressed girls. No, that is wrong, this way you are confusing them more and imposing your ideas? What if this girl is convinced that this is the right thing? It's all about what she wants. I understand that most of the time it is not the girl's choice this is why I'm in a dilemma because I don't know how we should handle this sensitive issue. I think that a piece of fabric is not a factor of how religious you are, religion is about you and God. Many girls especially in Egypt weir veils and niqabs and do not display a single religious or moral value in fact, they do the opposite (sometimes veils are covers for prostitutes). On the other hand, there are so many intelligent, free spirited well educated and completely happy about their choice- veiled girls. My perfect example is one of my cousins she was so annoyed that people would think that she has no social life no normal girl's stuff habits because she was veiled. I will always remember a note she wrote, she was saying things like I'm a girl too, I too cannot go out of my house without make up, I look at hot guys etc... All of this just to prove my point, the piece of fabric is not an indicator, not a restriction it is all relative. So who are we to say that by banning the burqa we are liberating women? I was trying to find an alternative solution instead of banning it but I honestly can't what about the oppressed girls? What about the security?<br />
<br />
It is such a shame that a piece of fabric is causing so much controversy closing people's mind and making them do silly things. What killed me the most is my discovery. A campaign called "Veil Your Lollipop" supporting the idea that this piece of fabric is a way to protect women from sexual harassment WHAT? Yes, see the picture, we have the depiction of a woman as a lollipop (the disgusting Egyptian kind of lollipop not even Chupa Chups) one is wrapped with only one fly trying to touch it and the unwrapped one is full of flies stuck on it. So technically unveiled women are filthy like shit keda (it attracts flies) and because they are not veiled they are more prone to sexual harassment! Can you believe this? The problem with this outrageous campaign is that it is in a way justifying sexual harassment. Why would a guy even harass me whether I am veiled or not! He should not even be looking! So to protect ourselves from the frustrated Egyptian animals we have to get veiled, like that is going to make a difference! These days men would harass a cat if they could grab it like a woman.<br />
But anyway, what's going on with people's minds? Veil, Niqab piece of fabric no piece of fabric, this is supposed to be a matter of choice and non merci we don't need liberators.In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-41820334660455044042009-06-08T08:07:00.004+01:002009-10-18T19:06:20.423+01:00Hopes and Promises: Obama day in CairoThe post comes quite late but honestly these days many things happen around here.<br /><br />Thursday 4th of June 2009 President of the United States Mr. Barack Obama came to Cairo to deliver a speech to the Muslim word at Cairo University (and my dad was there!!!).<br /><br />I think it is something that should be marked in my blog's history. Frankly speaking we are all somehow skeptical of the outcome and of the speech itself but come on people he is quite the character and knows how to speak!! I personally liked the speech, Obama is charismatic and I guess for now this is enough for us to have a tiny bit of hope or not? Or at least enjoy watching his speech and reading his words? (Too simplistic?) Last week was all filled with articles, comments, forecasts etc.. Oh and don't remind me of how everyone was talking about Obama coming to the city, the traffic where is he going when is he coming, trying to know what he will visit etc... The nicest thing was also that everyone was warning us that this day we all have to stay home because of traffic because we know that when things like this happen in Cairo they can block any street even it is on the other side of the city and has nothing to do with the speech location. So work gave us a day off!! And oh la la the streets were sooo empty it was amazing. I wish Cairo was that empty everyday life would be so much easier.<br />So yes Obama Cairo Day was important last thursday it was a highlight ! <br /><br />Politically speaking and all of this, frankly, I don't have much to say, it's true that we heard many of these statements before and had hopes and promises, but I don't know, politics is not my playground it is just too messy, dirty etc... I just like to be an informer and my mission is to be able to speak the truth and state the facts so that's it I like to wait and see and observe.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;" id="DetailedTitle">Full text: Obama's Cairo speech</span><a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/20096410251287187.html)"> (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/20096410251287187.html)</a><br /><br /><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></p>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-44153326278125518892009-06-02T12:15:00.005+01:002009-06-08T08:03:02.687+01:00My Work in Community Times!!Community <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Times'</span> website is now <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">functional</span>, you can check out all the articles on www.communitytimesmagazine.com with my work of course :). I wrote the latest one several months ago but we decided to publish it in the June issue. I am really proud of this article as I spent a lot of time researching and asking around. I got a lot of interesting info and I think that this issue is really important, violence and education. Many conversations and debate either start or end up from the same point. Education in Egypt has to be improved and from that, many steps can be taken to improve the lives of the people. Enjoy...<br /><br />The copy pasting does not work properly so check the links on Community Times' website. (Merci Alex!)In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-54818795956580879102009-05-31T22:59:00.009+01:002009-05-31T23:47:11.084+01:00Week End Song: It's a Fire<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">No picture for this week end, I was at the beach the sun was shining and everything was good. However I have a song that is always in my mind whenever I think about people, life in Egypt, society and interactions etc.. The lyrics are not enough to grab the mood of the song because the music and the voice are amazing so check the song if you're interested. I am not sure everyone likes Portishead's style it has this strange mysterious side that I personally really like. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It's a Fire- Portishead </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">'s a fire<br />These dreams they pass me by<br />This salvation I desire<br />Keeps getting me down<br /><br />Cause we need to<br />Recognise mistakes<br />For time and again<br /><br />So let it be known for what we believe in<br />I can see no reason for it to fail.... ...<br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cause this life is a farce<br />I can't breathe through this mask<br />Like a fool<br />So breathe on, sister breathe on<br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />From this oneself<br />Testify or tell<br />Its fooling us now<br /><br />So let it be known for what we believe in<br />I can see no reason for it to fail...<br /><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cause this life is a farce<br />I can't breathe through this mask<br />Like a fool<br />So breathe on, little sister, breathe on<br />Ohh so breathe on, little sister, like a fool</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /> My interpretation might be wrong, I would really like it if I had other opinions about the song lyrics, feel free to tell me even though I know no one will, I am still a small blog! So, it is not really clear what the song is about, but the part in bold is my favorite part no one could have said it better than this. This life is really a joke and wearing this stupid mask is suffocating! I don't know it just makes me wonder ...I may take the song personally but don't tell me that we are not all wearing a mask and sometimes we have different ones that we adjust to the situations. Don't get me wrong, I know that no one can be a 100% purely transparent. I just think that in my situation I sometimes wear a mask and it annoys me to admit it which is why this song really makes me feel good because I really wish everything was easier and we could all reveal ourselves without having to pretend anything. </span></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I am an open book I don't like to hide anything I can't hide anything, but it does not work that way in life. I don't know maybe it's Egypt, me, my mixture of cultures my ideas or my craziness. Whatever it is I am sure that life would be so different if we all did not have to pretend that we are this or that because at the end it doesn't matter "this life is a farce" and the persons we are fooling are ourselves. We are the ones who are left alone with our conscience and ourselves and we all know what we are whether we like it or not. I know I don't have to wear this mask but trust me it is inevitable but I guess I am not wearing it when I am writing all these posts and it feels good but still...</span></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> I honestly try a lot not to care about anyone's opinion on my posts, if I wanted I would have written a lot of crap but it is not necessary because I know that I won't like it because it is not that easy letting the mask go. It is a dilemma, I think for me the questions are, Taking off the mask? Keeping it? Wearing it from time to time? After all we are all afraid that we are better with the mask but then again we never know so let's all "breathe on, like a fool". Bon, that's enough I can keep the rest to myself behind my mask ;) </span></div><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><br /></div></span></div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3982033329081907214.post-89331854166617029362009-05-28T10:10:00.005+01:002009-05-28T16:35:56.597+01:00Khiyara!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEJvG8yHPD2-DUBm4XFTLrD3-VyMFsP1j4Za0mYQKyLT0RyCuzQOBi_cWmV9OGBqBNOqGO6LwOQqCTEYUSt2lRVbqCcOUnyeJnpiFe_et4kkHGGo50IOq8GPkb3IXyC3gyuPFkcHTansr/s1600-h/cucumber.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEJvG8yHPD2-DUBm4XFTLrD3-VyMFsP1j4Za0mYQKyLT0RyCuzQOBi_cWmV9OGBqBNOqGO6LwOQqCTEYUSt2lRVbqCcOUnyeJnpiFe_et4kkHGGo50IOq8GPkb3IXyC3gyuPFkcHTansr/s200/cucumber.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340800192249623874" border="0" /></a><br />In Egypt, they say that life is like a Kheyara (cucumber) yom fi idak we yom fi tizak! (one day in ur hands once day in ur ass!) The kheyara has been in my hands for this past month and I have been holding it proudly but now it came in my ASS!!<br /><br />My previous post was about "Justice at last" haha isn't it ironic don't you think (3ala raye2 Alanis) I got robbed in front of my house!!<br /><br />Parking my car all happy and proud of my 2hours work out, I decide to throw everything in my bag which never happens (if you ever saw me gathering my stuff you will see me always holding everything in my hands especially my phone Ipod and Keys,) anyway, im holding the stupid gym bag (that I wish was on the other shoulder!! )with the other shoulder holding my big bag with all my stuff and then this car that I will bomb( as soon as I spot it again),slows down next to me. I knew there was something fishy, I tried to move away but my reflex as you should know is a bit slow and then one thing led to another this son of a**** grabbed my bag and next thing I know I am running( trying) and shouting insulting him in Arabic eheh( it was funny because I was in the middle of my street with all my neighbors, my parent's friends insulting the guy ehe what a Lady eheh but I really don't care I will not show respect in those circumstances!) ( oh and I forgot to tell you how after the incident eheh the doorkeeper of the building next to me wanted us to go together in my car chase the robbers eheh) Back to the story... <div><br /></div><div>That was it, in tiny seconds I lost everything, it's not a big deal actually because half of the things that were in the bag, half of the people in my country don't have access to them so let's not be materialistic( it was hard at first I must say but I am trying). The funny thing is that I only had 20 pounds in my wallet ( but there was my phone and my Ipod but then again if u sell those it's not that much) so my bag was not a real treasure for him unless Greek facial Yogurt cream was what he was looking for!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Of course I was feeling horrible, it's such as disgusting thing to happen to anyone. What annoyed me the most is how fast it happend and how I keep thinking that I could have prevented this from happening. I saw the car slowing down why didnt I take a bigger step towards the sidewalk why?? I am sure he must have thrown my bag in the street and only took the valuable things which is why I wanted to go on a mission and look for my bag (my fixation was on my Green Morrocan pencil case and a baby picture in my agenda!! You have to understand that in those situations you tend to lose your mind a bit) But of course everyone told me I was crazy eheh I know..but I had some hope. What is funnier is how after the event (let's not call it an incident it's to dramatic) I was suspiciously looking at all the cars around me searching for the Mitsubishi Lancer 200o model either silver or golden-beige ( im pretty sure it's golden beige) ouh!! if I find this car again stop me eheh I will commit a crime! (as if I could ...).<br /><br />The other thing that annoyed me the most is that according to the neighbors it is the fifth time it happens in our area. I heard many stories of guys grabbing a girl's purse and running away in the same car and I was surprised. Same story, same car!!! So what the hell? Is it that hard to put some security cars in the area and find the guys or do we need to hire a special secret unit for the crimes of a golden Mitsubishi in 21st Isaac Jaboc street?<br /><br />But on the bright side, I got to go to a police station( it was a small one) for the first time in my life! ( im still a little girl yes..) and it was interesting, I was not surprised as I hear many things about police stations in Egypt and all the system but seeing it live was another thing.<br /><br />Walking in the dusty room, with old couches, small chairs with a portrait of our beloved president ( a portrait of him 20 years ago) we went to see the amin shorta ( i am sorry im really bad with the official names in English ) with his pinky finger nail( you know the small one with the only one long disgusting nail) and the typical moustache eheh. It is amazing how he can talk on the phone smoke a Kilobatra cigarette, pick his nose and ears at the same time!! I felt the irony when he was talking to us and calling his supervisor about us he was saying come fast it's a journalist(haha right?). I knew in his mind he was saying "Oh it's just a little spoiled girl from Masr El Guedida who got her Longchamp purse and her Fendi sunglasses stolen"(I'm not showing off and I actually feel that it's a shame to spend money on material stuff that can disappear in a second but I'm a girl after all) . <div>To the shorta, a small incident like this seems insignificant I know Egypt has many other problems but if we can't fix a problem like this( same car, same area, same scenario!!) how will we fix the bigger ones? People are starving and are repressed in Egypt and there is no such thing as social equality but what can we do? It's hard to realize that you don't feel safe in your own country. You don't even feel safe towards the police in your country(They are the ones who harass us most of the time!). I am 21 after all, I am a grown up what do you think would have happened if I went alone to the police station? Nothing and until now, nothing happened to my case. </div><div><br /></div><div>I keep thinking, this stupid inhumane being stole the bag to do what? Looking for money to survive? I don't think so, he was in a relatively good car (compared to the majority of other cars in the street ..I have a Mitsubishi and the older model) Did he want money for drugs? Probably yes, I think I saw him smiling... but why me?? Anyhow....<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So going back the amin shorta, the way he treated the smaller officers (3assaker) was really bad, you see how abuse of power is a vicious circle, the sad thing is that it has to be this way, you're not going to yell at your supervisor are you? But sorry I really don't get this whole sacred thing about hierarchy in Egypt, in fact I hate it I am pretty sure I can find anyone with a worse job than a zabet let's say and who is more decent. (You know my whole adventure it's pretty small actually but I like to entertain myself...this experience really made me feel in the movie Heya Fawda the latest Youssef Sahin movie) when I was telling this story to a friend he told me "Welcome to Egypt"... yes welcome to Egypt sadly, but it shouldn't be this way. </div><div><br /></div><div>To my surprise, when I went to the big police station of Heliopolis, I found it very nice compared to the small unit I saw the day before. But I guess the Heliopolis Police station is certainly nicer because it is kind of a nice area in Cairo, (the zobat looked nice also, u know they were not like Mr.fingernail amin shorta). Also the paperwork came really fast I thought it was going to take forever. Well, we had to wait for the ma2mour for half an hour for a stamp!! because his majesty was taking an inspection tour oh la la. </div><div><br /></div><div>So it was not that bad after all, I got the khiyara but I try to take it well eheh oh no that's disgusting let me put it in another way. I tried to learn from this experience new things and at least it got me thinking. Where is the core of our problems in Egypt? We have so many but where is the root? Stealing happens everywhere, but it's sad, I want to walk safe in my country, I am really tired of all this pressure... Wearing unrevealing clothes, not walking at night alone, not driving alone, not speaking freely, I can't do anything normal alone! Sometimes I wish I was a guy in this country...because being a woman is hard trust me but let's not get carried away this topic is big and trust me I have things to say! </div><div><br /></div><div>Look out for the mystery robber in a Mitsubishi car women! And to my robber, " May you choke eating my yoghurt cream, get cut from my pencils and keys, electrocuted by my phone, blinded by my sunglasses and get deaf from my ipod na!" </div></div>In Randa's Wordshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476981444435772161noreply@blogger.com1