Sesquipedalianist

Who are we?

2012-03-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

So now that I have a chance to breathe a bit and take a break from all that back-breaking university workload, I've come back to share my perspective on things. There are two points I have on my mind which I wish to discuss, but I wouldn't do either of them justice if I put them together in one post. No one would want to read the long post that would result from my attempts, and, quite frankly, I'd probably get lost in my own thoughts. So lets just hope I don't forget to write a second post sometime soon.

I've had several books shipped for me literally from the other side of the world. They are all in Arabic. What am I to do with seven Arabic books? Well, use them to write up a research paper. In English. For a course in an American university. If you care to know why I'm using Arabic sources and not English ones, you will soon know why. I'm honestly much more comfortable with English than I am with Arabic, at least in an academic setting. You can probably tell by my choice of language in blogging anyways. I have also never done research in Arabic (copy-pasting from an unreliable website does not count). I don't even remember reading a single book in Arabic, save for some childish books from when I was young. I blame all that on the poor education system in the UAE, but you can go read about that in a post I've written a long time ago called "Being Bilingual," so I won't go into it.

All of that considered, why am I consciously choosing to torture myself by forcing myself to read several books in Arabic? Well the answer is, I have no other choice. I have no choice because of the topic I've chosen to research, of course. Because I couldn't find any English sources on the subject, so I searched for Arabic ones instead. And guess what, I found them. I found several books. All stashed up in a library in New York. Some old, some relatively new, and some that aren't even dated. I think its an adventure. This is what you go to college for. I'm excited for my research paper; sure its going to be tough trying to extract information from these books, but the outcome is something I'm hopefully going to be proud of.

Enough about my research paper now, that's not my topic. I started reading one of these books yesterday, and I learned something interesting I never new. On the very first page too. So let me discuss that.

I picked up the newest book of the bunch: dated 2008. I guessed it couldn't be that bad. I got past all the introductions and formalities, and I started reading. The first heading asks, "Who are the Arabs?" And so you read on about what makes the Arabs who they are, and what gives them their name. Now this is the part I doubt many of you know.

According to the book and its author, the Arabs are called as such because of their mastery of the Arabic language. To quote: إن كلمة عرب مشتقة من الأعراب. و قد سموا بذلك لأن الغالب عليهم الفصاحة و البيان و المنطق. The text then states that whoever is not considered عربي (Arab) by this definition, is عجمي (Ajami). There are two definitions of the latter word, one which simply means foreigner, and the other refers to the person that does not have mastery of the Arabic language, wherever he descends from.

From the above we can deduce two things: that anyone could be considered an Arab if he demonstrated mastery of the Arabic language. The other is my own deduction. Based on the above definition, I would think that none of the Emiratis, or at least a very minuscule percentage of us, could be considered a true Arab. I would say the same about the other "Arab" countries as well, but I don't think I have the right to speak for them. How can it be though, how are we allowing the Arab to die off? And yet we're still so very proud of our ancestry and who we think we are. But who are we really?

If we don't know our language, our mother tongue, then what do we know? Yes I'm fluent in English, but what good does that do when I'm allowing my own language to die off and whither away? Its not just me, or just you, its the whole community, the entire society we live in. Maybe we can't truly call ourselves Arabs anymore; but even if the Arab is no longer in our tongue, it still lives in our hearts for sure. The old Arab hospitality our area of the world is known for, it's still in our veins. And the pride we have, thats also Arab. Even though this connection is still there, I still found it extremely upsetting when I got to my conclusion. That we are not Arab until we become masters of the language like our ancestors once were. I plan to get there some day.

An Emirati would define himself first and foremost, as an Arab. But what happens once he realizes, like I have, that he cannot honestly call himself Arab anymore? Who would he be? An Emirati? By definition, a native citizen of the United Arab Emirates would have to be Arab. Wonderful, who is this person then?
People only care about ethnicity, and thus an Emirati national will always be Arab, he's safe. No one's going to go into all the technicalities of what I have mentioned. But isn't there this nudge in one's heart that tells a person of their hypocrisy? It should let a person know of their responsibility towards the Arabic language. It is because they are Arab that they should master the language. So they can say with confidence that they are Arab. Not that they wouldn't otherwise anyways...

My point is that, I always feel upset when I try to read Arabic poetry and it just doesn't make any sense. I open a book my great-grandfather wrote about 120 years ago. It contains three hundred pages of poetry: I can probably only understand about a dozen pages in total. Its hard, but I'm sure its not impossibly hard. We all read Shakespeare at some point, most of us hate him, but we can manage to understand and read it at some point. Let me say this: the few lines of poetry that I've gotten out of that book were much more beautiful than anything Shakespeare has ever written, I only wish I understood the rest.

I've been blaming my lack of interest in Arabic books for what in my view was, a lack of good Arabic novels. This books I'm currently reading, it's not a novel. I find it more interesting than most of the English readings I've done this semester. I think I've proved a point to myself. I can only hope to convey this point to you. Don't let go of this language, don't let go of who you are. I go to a university where my friends are very enthusiastic about learning Arabic, it saddens me to realize that they sometimes make connections about the language that I have never thought of before. I am Arab, I must only get a better grasp of my language. If I don't, then who am I?

I leave you with this:

ليس الفتى من قال كان ابي ان الفتى من قال ها أنا ذا

The Black Hole of Materialism

2011-12-24T09:05:00.000-08:00

One of my direct relatives got married lately, and that got me thinking about a lot of different things. That, and the fact that I go to a university that doesn't really feel like it's in the UAE. It is as if you have gotten a small sample of the world's population and made them live in one location. Sometimes, that makes you reflect on who you are.

Only after I'd finished my last exam of the semester, did I see a non-Emirati student in make up. You cannot tell the difference between relatively rich and poor students, because everyone dresses almost the same. And they dress down, not up, when they go to class. Sometimes you see the random person that is dressed up all nice and formal, but when you start a conversation with them you'd soon discover that they either have an important class presentation, meeting, or interview to attend to.

I love living amongst them, because there's nothing that dictates how a person should dress or act. There is no standard everyone has to follow. There is no hidden rivalry between people. You are free to be you.

In our society, here in the UAE, there are certain things we must do in order not to stand out, in the negative fashion of the phrase. Everyone has their feet in designer heels, they all wear the most elaborate abayas, sport the most expensive watches, drive the latest cars, and carry designer bags everywhere they go. Also, many people don't leave home without make up, wherever they may be going. There is nothing wrong in that, except for the fact that it has become the standard, that everyone must oblige and fall into this black hole of materialism from which a person can hardly ever come out of.

It's human nature to judge a book by its cover. However, we are going to the extreme. Members of our community appear to judge others based on the value of their material items. If your personal value is proportional to the value of the things that are in your possession, then it is not at all alarming to see people act the way they do. They -in a personal perspective- are not to blame; yet, in a greater perspective we are all to blame for what our society has become.

Take, for example, wedding ceremonies. For every man and woman that wed, there are around five different events where the extravagance increases in order up until the final wedding ceremony. In addition to the hundreds of thousands that are spent on the wedding hall itself, potentially much more is spent by the attendees and the bride in terms of their dresses, their hair, and their make up. Wedding abayas are also carefully crafted articles of clothing in their own right. The total amount spent on a certain couple's marriage ceremonies would inevitable exceed a million. There are weddings every weekend, and on weekdays sometimes. So much money is needlessly wasted where there are millions dying of starvation around the world. How is this justifiable?

We are very lucky, and should be very grateful, for the high status of living we have. However, this does not justify the amount of money we recklessly spend. We have all given in to the pressures of society, and our reckless spending doesn't appear so reckless to us anymore. The materialistic lifestyle we all lead may not affect some as much as it affects others; let us not forget that people have different economic status'. To some, it is so easy to follow these materialistic norms; to others, it is much harder to the extent that they may take on debts to appear like they are of equal value as their more financially fortunate peers.

A society built on materialism can never flourish. I, myself, am part of this society and I am also subjected to these norms we have come to embrace and the extravagant lifestyle we lead. It is not a very healthy lifestyle to lead however, and we should make an effort to change that. The only people I see walking around campus with designer bags are us locals. Why do we even carry designer bags to school and university?

Square one

2011-12-10T02:40:00.001-08:00

Its been so long since I posted. It's not because I've been busy, because I guess I could've always found the time, like I am now. It's because my priorities have shifted; or you could just say that I've realized that I actually have to study hard in order to pass in university.

Having taken a step forward in life, from school to university, I must say I should've expected many aspects of my life to change. But I didn't. Approaching the end of my first semester -which I'm very happy about- I've begun to put together how things have gone wrong, and how things have gone right. Life is all about experience, and with that comes trial and error, which is an inevitable part of life. Things aren't always so clear, and thus I have written this poem which I wan't you all to read and give me feedback on. I haven't written much since June, so you really can't expect much from me at this point.

I'm back to square one,
Wherever that square may be.

Square one could be
That room in which I was born in,
As a child with no care in the world.
A child with no knowledge-
No experience in life,
Unaware of the troubles
That will soon come its way.
A naive child with
blind trust in humankind,
oblivious to the cruelty of human nature.
That is the novelty of being a child.

But here I am,
Years after birth
I still struggle with finding my way.
I've roamed around
In this labyrinth called life,
Reaching nothing but dead ends
Every time I try.

Now I'm back to square one,
Wherever that may be,
And I'm lost, hurt, and confused.

Give me feedback please :) And let's see if I manage to write a proper post soon.

Reflection on Summer

2011-08-13T03:18:00.000-07:00

We all love summer. Every time a new academic year starts, our brains start their own subconscious countdown for summer. I mean, we kind of have the right to do that. Nobody likes doing homework -at least I think- and certainly no one loves studying for exams. No one likes the sleepless nights where you're trying so hard to finish up the project you've been neglecting for about a month. Its hard, its intense, and you don't really like that. You just want to sit there, relax, do nothing, and sleep.

I've never sat at home idly doing nothing for an entire summer, until this summer came along. My excuse? I could possibly get away with saying that it's a relatively short summer and I need a break from studying to mentally prepare for the transition to university... but that would be some sort of a lie. I could just say I was too lazy to do anything. And that nothing much else happened.

I always did some sort of thing in summer if I wasn't traveling. Doing nothing for over a month so far, this summer is scaring me.

Living in this modern world, everything is systematic and all the rules of going about our lives are fairly easy to read. This leaves us with almost no time to think out of the box, or do something different. These days, I suppose one cannot say that they are truly living their own lives until the get past 21 or 22. Up until then, a person's life is basically dictated. Kindergarten, school, and finally university. Now I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with getting an education, its just that the rigidness of this system seems to internally kill people's creativity. These 20 years, they haven't gone to waste at all; but science has yet to discover a proper way to educate people without messing them up in other ways.

So message number one says: Teach yourself whatever think you need to know. Just don't forget to do good in school for formalities and stuff.

So my theory is this: Because school kills so much of what we have, or at least simply oppresses it, once we're out of school we're completely clueless about what to do next. I'm not saying this applies to everyone; there are always exceptions to any rule. Yet, this seems to be the case mainly.

I like to think of each summer as a short trailer, giving you a sneak peak into what the rest of your life is going to be like. After we graduate, we shall be officially released from this elaborate educational system; and then what? Getting a job would be the most appropriate next step to choose. Still within the "system". And even then, what kind of life would you be leading if all you did was work, whether it was school work or any other kind of work. Of course everyone has to work to earn a living, but that shouldn't be the extent of one's life.

What would we be if everyone's usual routine was school, university, and then work. There has to be some life in our lives... Where and how? I don't know. Why is this system in place worldwide, and has it really proven to be goo for humankind? I don't know either.

The reason this post was written is because I felt that I needed to share my incoherent thoughts with you guys :) Nothing quite useful here otherwise..

Anyways... summer is almost over. So everyone, *insert fake enthusiasm here* be prepared for a new year!

No longer Holy?

2011-08-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: This post is based on nothing more than mere observation of the past five days.

Okay, so first of all I would like to say that I do not think of myself any better than you are. I'm not perfect, but after all, no one is...

We can safely say that a sixth of Ramadan, the most important month of the calendar to all Muslims (I hope), has passed. It has passed quite fast as well. We can also safely guess that the rest of the month will pass quite quickly as well. And before we know it, we will all be thrown back into out hectic lives of school, university, work, or whatever usually keeps us busy. How would the normal person react to this small piece of information? He would take advantage of this month of course, right? Well then maybe.. most people aren't "normal"..

The month of forgiveness has arrived, the time where the devils are chained, the time where the gates of heaven are opened, and the gates of hell are closed. Its just one month. Sadly, this holy month seems to be losing its meaning more and more as the years pass, or maybe that's just what I'm seeing.

I do know that we're not supposed to brag about the good deeds we do, I also know that many people do take this month seriously, and I do also know that I shouldn't be trying to preach anyone about doing anything before I have a look at myself first. I've got to say I'm not doing so well on the religious front myself, but I am trying. And I'm terribly sad to say that I see many people not even trying a little. After all, its just one month.

And again I don't intend to criticize, only to try to widen your eyes a little if possible. During this month, every single person has the chance to have all their sins erased. Who doesn't want that? Frankly, most of us probably commit hundreds of sins without even knowing, we don't just want to lose them, we need to. Are we doing anything about it? I'm not quite sure.

As I speak, I speak for myself as well, I could only dream of being a good enough person as I would ideally be. Yet change could come gradually, and there's no time better than Ramadan in which you can make a small, positive change in your life.

I shall now begin to analyze my twitter timeline:

Day one: Through out the afternoon all I could see we're mentions of food, cravings of food, and basically anything related to food. We know that the first day might be the hardest, but apparently Ramadan means "lack of food" to most people, rather than what the month truly stands for. There's nothing wrong with craving food.. but twitter was rather boring that day. I mean, does the start of Ramadan mean nothing more than "food"? Oh and lets not forget, after we all had food in our systems.. our new topic became TV shows. Yes, because Ramadan also means "watch TV all day".

Day two: Following the seemingly urgent need of food of the previous day, and the newly found information regarding TV show timings.. people were relatively much quieter this day. However, there was still much talk about TV show confusion.

Day three: I began starting to see mentions of people watching their regular american TV shows, and many references to music, bands, and their most recent updates. I guess a month is just too long to wait, two days are enough..

Days four & five: More of day three and a little bit of day one and day two.

No one ever said don't watch TV, though it would be much better if you didn't. You don't really want to gain more sins during the month in which you should be focused more on losing them, do you? I personally was raised to not watch TV during this month, even when I was a kid and all I watched was harmless cartoons. It may be a little easier for me, but it certainly isn't impossible for you.

The media certainly is to blame, for planning their release of tens of shows during this month. But then, if we didn't watch them, they wouldn't be there would they? What's greater than this though, is the issue with listening to music. We all know that it's Haram, and we still listen to it. Nonetheless, every year I get shocked by the number of people who refuse to stop listening to music for a mere 30 days. Some of them, thinking it is okay to listen to music after they break their fast, and some even ignoring the fact that fasting means abstaining from all that is Haram, and that it includes abstaining from music as well.

We only have twenty four or twenty five days of this month left, there is no need for them to go to waste. Again I shall say, that I do not mean criticism, or that I only mean constructive criticism. I'm sure that I am not any better than any of you. But I hate seeing the importance of this month go to waste. Respect the month, it comes just once a year. I say this for you, not for me.

A Study of Study

2011-05-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

It seems that my addresses to this topic are endless, maybe because I think it is a subject which is very crucial to discuss and examine.

I heard that once, in America, people observed a certain (unwanted?) characteristic in people of the same age. What did they do? They studied their school curricula, and they found something that triggered or built this trait in them, in a third grade text book! Now I'm sure the UAE's education system is far from even realizing that maybe, the cause of many of our major weaknesses come from something triggered by something taught to us in school.

One of the main things that I observe to be clearly present in most Emiratis is our excessive passiveness. Maybe, that is not the result of a "gene"; after all, is it reasonable to suggest that this gene is present in, and affects, 95% or more of our population? Maybe, and this is just a guess, this could be a result of the poems in our Arabic textbooks? I might be picking on them mainly because I greatly dislike the choice of poetry we are taught, but still.

How are we supposed to be proactive when we constantly read poetry about nationalism and the tragedies of war, each and every single year. I would think that our brains would automatically program themselves to be passive, as these poets themselves are. I cannot remember a single poem I learned in the last few years, which was not either a monologue of the poet's emotions, a poem filled with passive anger, or a poem about something totally random and useless. Every year, we read a poem or two about Palestine; I appreciate their efforts of keeping Palestine in our minds, but I disagree with the method. Throwing poems at us, one filled with anger and the other filled with mourning, isn't going to change anything; especially when the poet is relatively unknown and has done nothing in his life for Palestine other than write more poems. Naturally, we become like these poets, only with a lesser grasp on the Arabic language.

The only good poems I studied were the ones I studied as a child, when poetry was too simple to have a deep meaning to them. Yes, poetry is very important in Arabic literature, but that doesn't mean that we have to learn the most meaningless of poems. Seriously, why do we have to learn by heart, a poem about a lonely father? They try to justify wasting our time with these lessons by scrutinizing the text in search for a literary element they may try to teach us. Since when did school mean wasting the students' time with useless junk?

Many of us have heard in a way or another, that schooling makes a person dumber. That may be true to some extent, since it limits you to a specific style of learning, which may be different in each class, but in the end may not be your ideal way of learning. What we can notice, is that the most advanced of teaching styles allow the students to do most of the work. As education technology advances, more emphasis is put on the student self-educating themselves, students are given more freedom in the classroom, and more hands-on work is done. Sadly, our national education system fails in keeping up to date. Using powerpoint presentations really doesn't do much in improving the way we learn. We're still yelled at if we whisper or laugh in class, even if the teacher isn't saying anything. We're expected to stay still and silent for the entire class, staring at the board, while the teacher doesn't really care if you understand anything or not. You just have to be quiet while she explains to a bunch of robot human beings something they will forget the moment class ends, if they even get it in the first place. This may not be the case everywhere, but it certainly is in many schools. That is how old our education style is, and then we wonder why everyone likes English more than Arabic.

Nothing illustrates that idea more than a true story I heard a week ago. A young girl in KG1 bit her classmate. That is kind of behavior is expected of children that young, isn't it? Well this girl was suspended from going to school for two whole weeks. After the child's family struggled to change the school's mind, they reluctantly shortened the suspension period. The girl is in her first year of school, would she really know what a suspension is? Wouldn't it even have any affect on the child? What's more though, is that on the girl's first day back to school, the school placed her in an empty classroom - all by herself - for the entire day. Is this, in any eccentric way, an acceptable way to treat a child? She has probably been traumatized for life, just because she bit her friend in a possible moment of rage.

There is an endless list of negatives roaming around my head regarding our education system, however, we must also never forget that there is always a positive to contrast the negative. The two opposites may not always equal each other, but certainly nothing is all good, or all bad.

For one, every Emirati is entitled to free schooling. The UAE government has generously provided the country's youth with free education. My opinions are based on my experiences in private schools, as I have not had the chance to experience what a public school is like. That said, the fact that over 90% of Emiratis are literate and that completion of school is compulsory definitely says something about our country's effort toward education, even if it wasn't of the best caliber.

Our country does make a big effort in the education of its citizens; many, if not most, just tend to misuse them. I never realized this before; but as a high school senior who has been juggling different options of university all year long, I realize how we have many opportunities that poeple of other countries don't. Our country basically funds us to go to private university; there are many governmental organizations for this sole purpose. We have free entry to government-owned universities. Many of the companies also sponsor your studies, give you a monthly salary, and guarantee you a job. In other parts of the world, people have to stuggle in order to fund their studies by getting part-time jobs, taking bank loans, or put their families in a financially tense state.

For this, for what our country has done for us, I am very grateful. What I don't support however, is spending the government's money on an education if you don't want one. The UAE is doing us a great favor by providing us with these options, yet I see many people going into university with the aim of learning nothing at all. People apply for scholarships to study abroad, when in essence, they travel abroad for the exact opposite reason. Not everyone is like that, I won't say most of them are either; but the people which are, I do not respect. Just because you don't pay, doesn't mean that someone else doesn't. The country funds us as an investment, and I don't think the country would like to invest in airheads.

Life's Lessons

2011-05-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

Over the time frame of the last two days, the UAE has witnessed one of the most tragic events our community has ever seen. The story of a boy lost at sea, only to be found dead over 36 hours later. الله يرحمه. The story has affected me and you, and everyone around us. Right now there is nothing we can do but pray for Abdulla, his family, and his friends. Despite that, there are a couple of things that we can learn from this heartbreaking incident. After all, we witness events such as this so we can learn from them.

My mother's first reaction to hearing this unfortunate news was surprise and shock. "Wasn't he wearing a life jacket?" she said. Sadly, the greater majority of our country's youth don't think twice about their safety. In summer, we begin to hear about stories similar to this one, stories about jet ski accidents and water sports. In our few, short months of winter, we hear countless stories about dirt bike accidents. Not to mention the car accidents that happen all year round. This happens every single year. We lose young people each year because they forget to think about the risks of what they are doing, and what safety measures they should take.

Sometimes it is their own fault, sometimes it is someone else's; but it is always fate. However, it is not logical to go about the most dangerous of activities carelessly, and later blame fate for something serious that might occur. So please, we've had enough accidents, we've had enough injuries, and we've had enough deaths. If the stories of all those we've heard of before haven't changed your habits yet, let this story change you. Wear your seatbelt when you drive, wear your life jacket when you're at sea, wear your helmet when you're on your bike. You never know what happens, it's best to be prepared.

The second thing we can learn from this sad event, is not that sad actually. What happened got the whole country worrying, praying, and crying over the loss of Abdulla. It got a large group of young boys and men to gather for the sole reason of finding the missing boy. It got Shaikh Mansoor Bin Mohammed to show up and lead all the divers in the search. It got Abdulla's friends all over the place, trying desperately to do everything they could to save their dear friend; not to mention the boy's family. True, there was no happy ending. But look at the bigger picture. The entire Emirati community of almost one million, worrying about a single boy; everyone doing their share of what they could offer to help save him.

Maybe we were unable to save him, but that lies within the hands of Allah. That is not for us to decide. However, what is clear here is how close-knit our society really is. As Emirati's we've got something many societies do not have, and that is our love for each other. During no other time have I seen what happened in these part two days happen. Our community is like a huge emotional support system, where mostly, social media is the medium of communication. During times like these, you begin to see the truth. You see it clearly. And the truth about our society? We've got a loving, caring, supportive, compassionate, and loyal community. What more could we ask for?

Many would argue here, and start counting the negative aspects of our society. Normally, I would too. Anyways, there's no such thing as a utopian society; there's got to be something wrong somewhere. But today, I'd have to disagree. As long as we know we've got a community thats loving, loyal, and supportive, I would have to say that anything's possible. We don't need perfection if we've got affection. The barriers are broken now. So well done everyone, you proved yourself worthy of being part of this great society.

All in all, I can only end this by saying: pray for Abdulla, his family, and friends. Don't forget to stay safe.

Papyrophobia

2011-04-30T13:19:00.000-07:00

I should be studying; either studying or sleeping. I don't want to do neither, so what do I do? Write another blog post. In light of my life's recent events, which include studying, studying, and more studying, this is what my blog post will be about. Papyrophobia, the fear of paper. Okay, I'm not talking about the phobia; but I am talking about fear of paper nonetheless. This blog post will examine the fear of paper and how it haunts a student's life.

In case you haven't realized this yet, by paper I mean tests. I am not one who experiences test anxiety, but I do know many who do. As for me, I don't think my brain recognizes the existence of tests. That is not a particularly good thing either. So at least we know that there are two ends to this spectrum.

Personally, I believe in both the existence of tests, and the students' liberation from them. Teachers say that students wouldn't study unless they're given a test, and maybe that is the main reason poor students are loaded with tests and quizzes all the time. But really, would they have to spend so much time studying if they already know the material? By experience, I know that the only time I really study is when I do not know the material, either for my own preoccupied-ness during class, the subject's difficulty, or for the educator's failure in teaching. Maybe the teacher should spend a greater effort in teaching, or maybe you should pay some more attention in class? The world would become a happier place either way, I don't see why you shouldn't try.

So, has point number 1 reached yet? If you know your material, then there's no real "studying" involved; I wouldn't call it studying at least, more like reviewing. So if you know the material, there's no reason to stress, correct? No stress means no test anxiety, which means no fear of paper.

Now we shall examine the pros and cons of fearing paper. Pros. For one, it would make you "study" or review more, giving you a better possibility of scoring higher perhaps? It would use up a lot of time you would've otherwise wasted in being unproductive. It would also make you appear very intelligent as you would have countless conversations before and after your test regarding the material on the test. If you're new somewhere, you could also use the test subject as light conversation!

Now on to the cons of fearing paper. Eating too much food, or in some cases too little, in an attempt to feed your body while feeding your brain. Sudden memory loss as soon as your eyes catch sight of the dreadful paper. Headaches and nausea caused by excessive mental preparation to write on the formidable paper. Negative thinking and suicidal thoughts triggered by watching people have fun while you study. Darkness circling your eyes, the result of sleep deprivation because of excessive studying and paper anxiety. Also, the teacher's content over your sweaty and nervous appearance. You wouldn't want that would you?

To summarize the points stated above: there are no pros of fearing paper. So don't, just know your material.

No one is born with this fear of paper. Fear of paper is a trait aquired through bad childhood schooling. This fear of paper develops at some point in the student's life: when they either want or expect perfect grades, or when they begin to think that they are stupid and should become "smarter", or in their case study harder. Legitimate excuses perhaps, but excuses nonetheless. There is no reason why anyone should fear paper. No reason at all.

By know I would think that most of you are starting to feel how childish and ridiculous the phrase "fear of paper" seems. It's ridiculous to fear paper, right? The term "test anxiety" only gives people a (slightly) more sophisticated way to describe this fear of paper and make it seem like something worth giving much attention to. As an example, having people formally study this "phenomenon" of test anxiety for over 50 years.

You're not the only ones to blame though, teachers and educators everywhere are as well. Test and quiz every other day, its unhealthy. All they do is type up a few questions. The poor student then spends hours painstakingly studying for this test. Testing must be the most popular form of torture, which teachers use wisely, knowing that the vast majority of their classes suffer from acute fear of paper. The ultimate product of this process is endless hours going to waste every day, heck it might even be the reason of the ever increasing percentage in obesity. You never know.

In conclusion, just don't fear paper. There's no reason to fear it really; it's an inanimate object, it can't harm you. Know your material and you're good to go. Say no to papyrophobia. Life's too short to spend in constant dread of printed sheets of white paper.

DISCLAIMER: This post has nothing to do with actual papyrophobia. The terms papyrophobia and fear of paper are used figuratively for the sole means of conveying a message.

**This post was written with a humorous approach unlike other posts. Constructive feedback is strongly encouraged.

True Power: Knowledge

2011-04-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

In case anyone is wondering, the reason I haven't posted in quite a while is because quite frankly, I didn't have any ideas. There is good news though! After a conversation I had with my mom, I am now inspired to write another post which I hope will be of interest to you guys. So please read on.

The conversation all started when she made a simple statement: that I am good at almost everything, and that that's something really rare which I should be proud of. Well, why am I writing this post? I don't believe that being good in more than one field is really rare, I believe it is actually quite common. I bet all of you do really well in numerous things that have nothing to do with each other.

It is true that people do have different abilities, yet that itself does not determine anything. I'm sure you have all seen people who are naturally smart and do not study much; and you have also seen others who, despite being slightly inferior in ability, make up for that by studying harder. The outcome? They both get equal grades. Now that's just one way of looking at it; the same principle applies to all other things. You live in a place called life.

You may also come across people who may appear to be extraordinary superhero-like creatures who can do just about anything. You might see others who seem to do bad in every single thing they attempt to do. We see this quite often, yet does it sound real? No it doesn't. What if we believed for a moment that we all are these extraordinary people? I think we are, and I think I have a good enough reason to believe so. It's simple really, psychology.

My sister pitched in and said that the reason I love everything is that I love to learn. I cannot deny that, however I do have a valid reply. I believe that the love for learning is an aquired trait, something you learn as you grow, and not something you are born with. If you learn to love learning, you will, in time, learn about a lot of things and be good at most of them. Thus, it is potentially possible for everyone to succeed in various fields. Then why aren't all these people reaching their "supposed" potential? I have three things to say here. Childhood development, reverse psychology, and personal choice.

Let’s take them one by one. Child Development. The difference in thinking styles between households is more than evident. Why is that? Chances are that they were all raised the same way. There's nothing new here so far. So we acknowledge the fact that the way a child is raised affects their thinking. Therefore, it must also affect their ability in some way, right? I mean if a child is constantly being yelled at and fed with negative thoughts and remarks such as ones of stupidity, where would that lead the child? The child, once grown up, will have a very slim chance of being successful. The same, or the opposite actually, is true for a child that is constantly given positive remarks and is told that he is intelligent. This child has a much better chance of being successful in life. The subliminal mind is a very powerful device, it practically makes or break a person's life. Make sure it is handled well.

Even though what I have just said in the paragraph above is generally true, there could be some exceptions. Everything has its limits, there are boundaries for everything. Sometimes an ignorant parent might scold their child just a little too much, therefore actually increasing their chances of success as the child would want to rebel. Here is where reverse psychology comes into play. Also, if a child was convinced by his parents that he is the brightest child around, the child might turn out to be unsuccessful as he might see others who are smarter than him which could drag him into depression and misery. This fine line which separates something and its reverse is different in each person. There is no standard. Some people may try too hard, or too little, and would get unwanted results. Once the boundaries are crossed it is not easy to get back.

The third is simplest. Personal Choice. Whichever way a person was raised, there is still a reason for the human brain to exist and function, and that is to think. Yes, the way a person thinks will indefinitely reflect their childhood; however it does not stop there. A person's life is not doomed just because they had a bad childhood. And no one's success is guaranteed because they had a pleasant childhood either. A person just needs to work harder if his childhood was relatively bad, that's it. Some people just refuse to do so.

If a person would just keep an open, broad mind they would realize that nothing is horrible. They would end up liking everything. Liking everything does not mean that a person should necessarily be an expert in everything. It just means that the person can accept everything. Scientists only know one specific field, but they collaborate with others when working on projects. Collaborations wouldn't be possible if each person hated the other person's field. The same applies to us now. Don't close your mind, and never say that you're too stupid for something; that only damages your brain subconsciously. Abilities might be different, but ability only determines the speed in which a person can learn; it does not determine whether a person can learn something or not.

Knowledge is Power. There's nothing shameful in wanting to learn. The most important thing is to never refer to yourself by using negative words. What you say feeds your subconscious.

Being Bilingual

2011-03-11T06:05:00.001-08:00

I'm a proud Emirati, from Dubai; so why aren't I writing in Arabic? If I love my country so much, then why don't I write in its official language? The answer to those questions is the bad part: I can't. Yes I speak Arabic, and that isn't something I would ever let go of. However, I cannot write in Arabic. Had this blog been in Arabic, no one would read it because it would've been so bad. Heck, I wouldn't even write anything here! So, why can't I write in Arabic?

What's clearly obvious is that most people in private schools aren't very good with Arabic. The same thing is true for people in public schools, they usually aren't very good with English. There are some exceptions to this general rule, and that is why I say most, not all. If this country believes in being bilingual, as is strongly evident around us, then why is this even happening? Why doesn't the country build a stronger English curriculum for its public schools, and why doesn't it urge its private schools to provide a stronger Arabic curriculum for its students? That is the question.

We shouldn't be losing our language because of school. Yes, maybe we did "choose" to go to American or British schools, but thats only because we want to learn better English, not because we want to forget that we are Arab and become American or British instead. Having said that, another point rises to mind. The main language of instruction in our universities is English, so why the hell do we not teach people good English in our public schools. Are we really preparing them for failure in university? In reality, neither public nor private schools are ideal. Being bilingual is being fluent, and fluency is not only in speaking, it is also in reading and writing. But wait a minute, I cannot even speak formal Arabic without pausing to think, let alone write a short essay in it. Does that mean I'm not bilingual, do I know more English than I do of my mother language?

Do you guys remember our Arabic books when we were kids? In first and second grade? Hamad, Rashid, Hind and Reem. You remember them right? Our parents also had the same books. Those books were good; we actually learned something, and we even remember it years later. Now? Our books keep changing almost every year. They say they're making improvements, but are they really? There's no more Hamad, Rashid, Hind or Reem in anyone's books, instead they teach children love stories. Now which do you think is better? I doubt any of our books are being "improved".

Sometimes I find myself sitting with my mom talking about Arabic poetry, which is something I like. My mom talks to me about some famous poems, and then she realizes that I do not know them and gets shocked. Now my mom isn't really a poetic person, but she knows some of the most important poems in Arabic literature. All because of the books she was taught. Isn't that an important part of language? Classic literature in crucial to have atleast a background about. We're taught enough classics in our English classes to last us a lifetime, but Arabic? We know almost nothing. All the timeless poetry, the beautiful pieces of literature, everything was taken out. May I ask why? All I've seen in our books are random poems of contemporary writing that I personally think nothing of. For example, students in 11th grade learn a poem that goes like this "تقدموا تقدموا كل سماء فوقكم جهنمُ و كل أرض تحتكم جهنمُ تقدموا ". Perfect choice of poetry isn't it? And students are supposed to learn about "mood" through this poem, now isn't there a better choice of poetry to teach mood from?

Remember one of the Egyptian protests? "إذا الشعب يوماً أراد الحياة فلا بد أن يستجيب القدر" Its the first line of a poem by أبو القاسم الشابي, but we probably don't know who this famous poet is because he was never mentioned in our 12 years of school. Its a classic, our parents learned it in school, and it was even turned into a song. Doesn't that mean something? And thats only one of many amazing verses of poetry they got to learn, while we're busy learning about how the world is "جهنمُ". Apparently our new book is the better, improved one, right? Thats pretty evident.

And after all that, we wonder why we hate Arabic? Our books teach us nothing that would even be of remote interest to us. Random topics, irrelevant stuff, and just down right rubbish literature. Who in their right mind would like that? After all, we do have the right to dislike Arabic class.

BUT, its our language. Shouldn't we atleast put some effort in it? We already know that we've got the worst books ever; but our world is now full of resources, and we're not only limited to our textbooks. We still refuse to learn Arabic. Think everything rotates around the English language? Think again. Arabic is your language, its part of your identity, its the language of Heaven. Having crappy books is barely an excuse for not knowing our language.

So basically, I was saying two things: that if we were to be truly bilingual as we claim to be, we should have equal knowledge in both languages. And also, we should not forget our Arabic language; and because our books are a terrible resource, it is our responsibility to enrich ourselves with literature. Don't any of you feel bad for not knowing Arabic as well as you know English?

To those who truely know Arabic as much as they do another language, those who can write equally in both languages, I admire you. I hope I'll get there someday. Ideally, we'll all be great in both Arabic, English, and whatever other languages we want to learn. I hope everyone reading this thinks as highly of Arabic as I do. :)

Media conspiracy?

2011-02-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to blog about this for quite a while. Why I chose today specifically? Because I realized how people have been completely brainwashed, or lets say programmed, by today's media. Example: Lady Gaga's new music video. I'm quite sure she wasn't "Born this way," I would say that she's forced to act "this way"; by this music industry with its hidden agenda of course. Its not just Lady Gaga, but of course she's the most obvious these days.

I'm sure most of you have heard of the illuminati. A group of people who worship Satan. Basically they sell their souls for fame or money, most probably both. Word is that these illuminati have control over the global media industry. This might seem a little far fetched, but the evidence is out there and its quite believable. I am not a person who believes that everything in the world is a conspiracy, but I really do not see why this is NOT a conspiracy. You could do a little background research, but I've already done that for you. Almost 50 years ago, the American CIA launched a project called Operation Monarch which was about, believe it or not, mind control. The CIA was doing mind control research. On random US citizens. Until they were exposed in the 1980's where a cover up story was quickly made up.

Operation Monarch was a sub-project of a larger project called MK Ultra. Which was also all about mind control. What operation Monarch did was basically traumatize a person to the extent that they would develop Multiple Personality Disorder. At this point, having multiple personalities, it becomes fairly easy to program that person to their pleasure, without having strangers suspect a thing. Apparently they were planning to use this technique to create perfect spies. Even after the project was aborted, it is rumored that it was continued in secracy. Do you believe in conspiracies yet? Now lets relate this to media shall we? Or mabe the illuminati..

You know that Lady Gaga is often called the illuminati puppet right? For a good reason, she is. There are three options the way I see it: the CIA's mind control information leaked to the illuminati, there are illuminati in the CIA, or the CIA is run by illuminati. Either way, that is not of any importance right now, as we already know that the illuminati have the power to subconsciously control minds. Why do they want to do that? Well ever since we were kids we've been watching cartoons which almost always include a villain that wants to take over the world. I think it only makes sense that people in the real world want to do the same thing. Everyone knows that war never works out, and ends with more destruction than anything else. Who would want control over a destroyed place? The best way to take over the world is to..brainwash its entire population? Thats exactly what's happening.

There's not room for me to write a complete research paper on this whole matter here, so that's why I'm focusing on Lady Gaga only. And even on her, there are endless things to be said. Any regular person who attempts to look a little behind the obvious, just a little, can find a whole new world of meaning behind her songs and lyrics. That's how the music industry is confident of what it is doing, people are all brainwashed by now that they don't seem to care. They don't realize what is clearly WEIRD even when its right in front of them. Now isn't this mind control? Hypnotism is totally possible in the world of psychology, mind control is just a short step ahead of hypnotism, its basically just long term hypnotism.

Lets just talk about one thing, her name. Lady Gaga. Isn't it such a weird name? The first of a baby is often gaga. I really don't think I would publicize myself by the first word I said as a baby, would you? How about we look up gaga in a thesaurus? One entry says,"afflicted with of exhibiting irrationality and mental unsoundness: brainsick, crazy, daft, demented, disordered, distraught, dotty, insane, lunatic, mad, maniac, mentally ill, moonstruck, off, touched, unbalanced, unsound, wrong." If I'm not mistaken, not one of the above mentioned group of synonyms have a positive connotation. That's basically just the definition of her name, that she's mentally ill. By what I wonder? Notice, one of the synonyms says "touched", does that means that she's not herself? Mind control?

So now you know that Gaga the pop idot is empty minded, does she even have an opinion in the way she dresses and acts? Its just an act, planned out by the illuminati. But thats not all, they say the name might have been taken from Queen's song "Radio Gaga", whose video was "the story of a working class woman who was chosen by the elite to give life to a robot, through a mix of science and black magic". And that robot was used to corrupt the people. Does that have any resemblance with Lady Gaga? At this point, I would only urge you to type a few keywords into the google search bar if you're interested. She's pretty obvious you might not even have to google anything.

So a change of perspective: TV. Specifically, Disney. Disney is one of the largest media companies, if not the largest. I think you all might've heard of these subliminal messages hidden in Disney movies, especially classics. You should also know that Disney actually has a tradition of inserting hidden subliminal messages into its movies, TV shows as well as other things. Yes, a tradition. Imagineers (that's what they call the people working at Disney) think its a joke to put explicit subliminal messages into childrens' cartoons. Doesn't something sound very wrong with that sentence? There's obviously a hidden agenda behind that too.

Illuminati, Disney wanting to corrupt all future generations of children, or something completely different; we may never know the perfect truth. At least we should be aware of the things going on around us. Now I'm not neccessarily telling you all to stop listening to Lady Gaga or over-watching Disney productions, that would be ideal of course, but I would like to know that you are at least aware of what you're listening to or watching. Aknowledging something is always the first step to improvement. I doubt any of you would like to be mind controlled. Just keep an open mind, you cannot deny the existance of some conspiracy theories, why not others as well?

Expectations

2011-02-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

...Social Expectations.

I'm sure everyone on Earth lives within a society. Within each society there are specific guidelines which should be followed, the norms of society. Most urbanized societies today almost have the same norms, however slightly different. Dubai's norms aren't that much different. Its just that our set of norms is shaped through Islamic values and Arabic traditions.

I would very much like it if I were viewed only as me. Not through my friends, my family, how I look, how I dress, or through what I do; I would like to be viewed by who I am. But who am I kidding? We all know that that's not going to happen. So what do I do? Well I guess ideally, my family, friends, and the way I present myself should all represent the person I am inside, or at least the person I want people to view me as. What if that's not possible?

So because we sadly live in some kind of society, we have to oblige by the norms of that society. And if we don't, we are often scorned at. To add to that, we do not live in a utopian society either. I believe that utopian societies don't yet exist, and so we will continue to be judged by our appearance, and not by who we are. Solution? Let your outside appearance reflect your inside.

At some point, a problem rises. What if your inside doesn't fit in with your societies norms? I'm not necessarily talking about myself, but I have observed that there are many, not few, who just don't seem to abide by society's norms internally. These people generally branch out into two groups. There's the group which rebels, the people who don't seem to care about these norms. They are also the people who are sometimes viewed as freaks. They are the ones who choose to represent themselves for who they really are - with the exception of those who just want the attention. They are the ones who should be congratulated for their self-confidence. Sadly, society does not work that way. As far as the society cares, they are the freaks.

There are also the ones who oppress themselves and who they are for the sake of fitting in with society. Fitting in with society is important, but it is sometimes overly oppressive. They force themselves to be someone they aren't, that they could even lose track of their actual person. They might've been the next Einsteins, Mozarts, Bill Gates'; but no, because they see the importance of society and try to fit in and usually lose this chance of being something great. Isn't it agreed upon that all great influential poeple were weird? No one is simply weird, weird is a word that describes a person who is strange, strange within the context of society. I think that justifies my point.

So where's the balance? Maybe the only place you can be yourself is at home, like people say; and sometimes you can't even be yourself in your own home. The truth is that you don't only represent yourself in society. It's called society for a reason, its a community. In a community you live between people. There are the close people such as your family and your friends, but there are also a lot more people you just happen to know. Apparently you have to give them a good impression, one that abide's by the society's norms. And if that's not enough, all those people also have friends, who might very likely know you, or have friends that know you. In the end everyone knows the other, so you better not let your guard slip!

As far as I know, this is society. Follow the norms. Try hard to be like everyone else. If you can't, take a risk, you're either a genius or a freak. THE END. You don't live in utopia. In this world you represent EVERYONE you know. Be as perfect as you can.

The Girl

2011-01-31T05:22:00.000-08:00

I've been going on and on alot in my posts, or so I've been told. I guess the majority of people dislike reading. So I decided maybe I wouldn't talk so much for a change. If you check my first few posts you'd see poetry, so I decided that its about time I return with another poem. But wait, don't close this page yet, read on.

So this poem I wrote in an attempt to experiment with form and style, since I hadn't written anything for quite a while. The form might be a bit weird; its a form I'd used two years ago in poetry class, and I wanted to see what more I could make with it. I wrote most of the poem, in an attempt to use figurative language, then returned to complete the poem I'd forgotten about and realized that I didn't know what I'd oginially written about. So it ended up the way it is.
I'm guessing by now you want me to stop talking and just show you the poem, so here it is.

The door was locked
Yet I peered inside.
A small girl was in there,
Alone.

In a background of fire
And destruction she lay,
Motionless.

As if paralyzed,
By what at her age
She witnessed,
Was her body.

I looked at the sole occupant
Of that desolate house,
And cried.

So loud the cry was
That even the fire,
for a split-second,
Did shrink.

The girl did move,
Yet she was so very used
To sitting where she was;
She could not run.

As much as I could
I punched, kicked, and hit
The strong sturdy door,
Yet it would not budge.

Then the small girl,
With her slow speed,
Holding the key,
Approached.

With a wide glittering smile,
Both on her and I,
As fast as she could
She hurried.

True, she hurried yet
She also hesitated,
What was to come,
She feared

Her smile was weak,
She'd had enough,
To leave her burning home
She prepared

Slow as she was,
Impatient I grew,
Because so innocent she seemed
I waited.

I held her tight,
The scarred little girl,
A soft warm hug,
She most needed.

All she needed was simple,
Young and innocent as she was,
The little girl needed no more,
Than the feeling of love.

Yeah I guess I did a bad job regarding the form, but in the end I kind of like the poem. I don't know what message I'm trying to convey, so I don't know whether the form did an effective job of that. Anyways, I'd appreciate opinions and feedback.

Also, since this is not one of my serious posts, I'd like to thank my readers. From what I see, the only blogs that people actually read are stories, others including mine are just there for no one other than the blogger's small group of friends, right? Whoever decides to read it from that group of friends. Anyways thank you for reading my blog posts. I appreciate it. If you decide to give my blog some online publicity I wouldn't mind either, haha.

Curiosity

2011-01-25T07:28:00.001-08:00

** I dedicate this to certain people in my life, I want you all to somehow not hate "knowledge". Yes, school and university might get on your last nerve at times, but just try to open up your minds a little okay?

There are many different types of curiosity, but when I say curiosity here I don't really mean being nosy. Yeah, I do admit to being a bit nosy, but I am also curious. Dictionary.com defines curiosity as "the desire to learn or know about anything". By curious I mean that I am intellectually curious; in simpler terms, I mean that I want to learn. Goes right back to the definition right? I don't suppose many people think of this definition when they think about curiosity. But enough about me, there's something I intend to send across to you.

We tend to read our textbooks usually after being told to several times by the teacher. I am guessing that at some point, many of you have skimmed through a certain textbook, saw an interesting title, and read a page or two. On the other hand I am sure that many of you own textbooks but know nothing of what is in them, at least until its time for the exam. The textbook might not hold the solution to a matter of life and death, honestly, a textbook will never have the solution to something like that. Still, is there something wrong with learning? I don't think so. Then why do many of us despise it, even fear it?

Something really shocked me while I was studying chemistry several weeks ago. I realized that all of the great scientific breakthroughs in chemistry (and also physics), have all occured during the last century. Those breakthroughs I'm talking about are very important ones, most importantly discoveries regarding atomic theory. Had not these discoveries been made, we would be living in a world so different from ours. In the last century, protons and neutrons, nuclear fission, and dark matter were discovered. Even pluto wasn't discovered long ago! Do back a little, dark matter? I bet not many of you have heard of that term. We know that everything is made of matter right? Well guess what, its not. Dark matter, also called antimatter, is exactly what it's name suggests. For all we know, it is the opposite of matter, and it exists out there somewhere. Where? people are still trying to figure that out unfortunately.

And finally, to my point. When people first got to the notion of matter, I doubt they'd have thought that something such as antimatter existed. I mean, who would've guessed that? When Ernest Rutherford discovered the proton, which has a positive charge, do you think he kept wondering about the existance of the neutron? A sub-atomic particle with a neutral charge, pretty useless don't you think? Let's make two things clear: without neutrons I don't think the world would exist, and Rutherford most certainly did never think about the existance of this particle. So why am I going on and on about chemistry? I'm trying to make a point, continue reading.

The researchers who make such breakthroughs, like us, have studied from books. So what makes them so special? Here comes back the curiosity. What we learn, what we are taught, we take that in as facts. Hard facts that may never ever change. Many of that is probably true. Wait, remember when we were children and were taught about the solar system and all the planets? Pluto was one of them, is it still though? Science is science, it is constantly being improved. So let's say Rutherford went to school and he learned about the atom and the electron. What made him do that experiment of his and discover the proton? Obviously what they taught him at school were all facts, why bother right? Say Rutherford did this experiment for whatever reason he may have had, and got results he was surprised by and did not expect - the results confused him. Had me and my friends done this, we would have just pretended things were okay and wrote down a bunch of irrelevant things in our sources of error to compensate for what we think we did wrong in our experiment. However, Rutherford was curious, this is the difference, he spent time trying to think of why he got such results. He came up with a proton. Something totally new.

And again I went on about chemistry, I'm sorry but I just seem to like Rutherford. The proton is such a big deal you know. Atomic theory evolved from Dalton's model, which was just a sphere. If people had stuck with that model, electricity would have not been discovered, or would have been impossible to explain. Many changes have been made to the atomic theory since then. And even now, with the "modern view" model of the atom, the atomic theory is still what it is. Just a theory. You know the difference between law and theory? A law is something that is taken as absolute, something tested and proven many times. A theory is, exactly what it suggests, it is something that cannot be tested, or has not been tested. You cannot really be 100% sure of a theory since you cannot actually test it; however theories usually have strong evidences to support them. In the end, you cannot take them as absolute facts.

To simplify all my talking about random things, I intend to say that all your textbooks may not be 100% correct. They may be correct in today's standards, but who knows what's going to happen in another 100 years? I just want to say that, whatever you are studying, sometimes is just doesn't make perfect sense. You could be, and usually are, the one slacking and not putting in enough effort. But you might also potentially sense something that could be proved to be wrong in several years. Who knows? In the 19th century many people thought that they have discovered everything that had to be discovered. You can clearly see how wrong they are. Just by having read this post, you have proved them wrong.

World Economy

2011-01-06T09:19:00.001-08:00

I know basically nothing about economy or business, I just want to say this, so here goes nothing. Everytime I want to blog about something I have to do a brief search on a number of things, which will probably be the case now as well; I love this aspect of blogging, I learn a lot. Now lets move on.

So we have the producers and the consumers, export and import, supply and demand, right? So which countries are the biggest exporters? The top 4 exporting countries, in decending order, are: Germany, China, USA, and Japan. Do they have anything in common? NO, well except that they are trade partners. What are the top importing countries? Again in decending order, they are: China, Italy, Hong kong, and Honduras. Now what do these countries have in common? I'd have to say nothing. So what's the point of all this?...

I always wonder why there is not much production going on in the UAE, and all I get in response is that: 1) We are a small country, therefore we have no space for manufacturing. 2) We don't have the resources. 3) We're a relatively young country, we'll get there. 4) There aren't enough people here to work in factories.
So let me answer those excuses. Yes, they're nothing more than excuses. 1) Japan is small, so is Germany. Yes, they're not as small as the UAE, but still. Most of the country is unused space, why not use it for something productive? 2) Scroll up, China is the second largest exporter, yet it is the largest importing country. What does that mean? we really don't need to have the resources readily available. 3) So as a country we're old enough to have the tallest building in the world, but we're not ready to manufacture yet? I'm not buying that. 4) Our unemployment rate is 4.2%, which might not seem like much but is actually more than 200,000 people or working age. Also, our poverty rate is almost 20%! I'm sure those people would really want to get a job somwhere, or get an upgrade from their current job atleast. So, I would like to happily conclude that all our common excuses for not having a decent amount of good quality manufacturing are nothing more than excuses.

And again, I would like you to scroll back up and read the names of the top exporting and importing countries. They have nothing in common right? Other than China being in both lists, they're just a random group of countries located all over the world. What can we deduce? There are numerious ways of creating a successful manufacturing economy. We all know China as the exporting giant, and also one of the largest countries in the world. They must have plenty of resources right? Then why are they the largest importing country? Maybe theres no shame in import as long as it is balanced out.

One interesting thing to point out is that Japan and Germany were heavily part of the World Wars, and they were affected heavily by the destruction caused by it. However, now they are among the top exporting countries, which means they recovered completely, and very quickly. Japan's economy for examply, was shattered. The Japanese managed to rebuild everything fast, so why can't we make it from scratch?

So yeah basically, what I'm trying to say is that there is no "invisible criteria" that needs to be met so that we can produce anything. With all the technology available these days everything is possible. A country's economy should not be based solely on one thing or another. Yes, Dubai is city known for its trade, but that shouldn't stop us from manufacturing. If something happened to the world, and trade stopped, where would we be?

Gratitude: The Right Attitude

2010-12-23T03:44:00.000-08:00

As a Muslim, I know I say Al Hamdulillah, a phrase used to thank Allah, a lot. I'm sure most of you do too. However, do we just say it, or do we actually feel it? Do we actually feel thankful for everything we have? If you are reading this, you probably have a place to call home, a considerable amount of food and water in your kitchen, money in your wallet, and dozens of pieces of clothing in your closet; I would also like to think that you are relatively healthy. Congradulations, you are among the top 8% of Earth's 6 billion citizens. That percentage, believe it or not, is very close to the acceptance rate of Harvard College. So yes, you are extremely lucky. Be thankful.

In the world we live in, with all the technology and advancement, everything we could ever need or want is within our reach. Things people a couple of centuries ago dreamt of, we could now get in an instant. Almost none of us have to stuggle as much as our ancestors had to in order to achieve something. Yet, those people did things most of us are not even bothered to do. And when I say us, I mean the top 8% of the world, you and me included. They probably didn't have half of the technology we have today to aid them, yet they did things, we wouldn't even think of.

For example, the internet, a great invention created not long ago, was built for mulitary purposes. It opened great possiblities for many different fields. However, when you come to think of it, what do most of us do with it? Youtube, Facebook, Instant Messaging (IM), gaming, downloading music and movies, etc. The list of useless things we happen to use the internet for is endless. Probably the only useful thing we use the internet for is when we start writing that research paper we've been assigned several weeks back. Remember those scholars who lived several centuries back? They travelled for months to learn small pieces of information, not for school or college, but for themselves. All we have to do is press "Google Search", but apparently that is more tiring than months of travel. That is the reason we procrastinate in doing our work right?

The tools are right in front of us, everything is available. We just don't do anything with it. I'm sure those who lived before us would've loved to have the tools we have today.

Now I'm sure you're all saying, what does all that have to do with grattitude? Well just in case you don't know, gratitude is not just saying thank you. Yes, people do say that a simple thank you can make a difference, but this is not what I mean. How would you feel if you spent time and effort in cooking some lunch for a group of friends, who after being served simply said, "No thanks, we're not hungry". Technically, they did say thank you. However, they were not thankful for the food they were served; that is what makes the whole difference. Gratitude is not just saying thanks, its by showing thanks. One of the subheadings in a chapter of a book I'm currently reading says, "A World of Abundance Yet an Attitude of Lack". What the author means by that is that everything is available, in abundance and in excess, yet all we think about is what we lack and don't have. We are seldom grateful for anything.

Since we are the among the top 8% on this planet, we should act like it. It is obvious that many of us do not act that way, otherwise we would know the names of over 480 million people, considering that they would've all done something big with the resources they have. Similarly, I do not think that all the Harvard College graduates do something exceptional, as you would think of Harvard graduates. Wouldn't it be such a waste to see someone who got into Harvard, not try their best in university and then get an average job anyone else could easily get? You might say that the person did not deserve to get into Harvard; well, maybe you don't deserve to be one of the elite 8% of the world, since most of us do exactly what that Harvard student does. That particular Harvard student was not grateful for being part of that small percentage that did get into the prestigous university many dream of getting into; likewise, many of us are not being grateful for being among the top 8% on Earth.

We should be.

Dead Ends

2010-12-05T00:59:00.000-08:00

Coming back from TEDxDubai a few days ago, I felt really inspired. I imagined myself up there as a speaker. To qualify as a speaker in a TEDx conference I would obviously have to be an expert in my field, I would have to have an innovative idea. I do. The implementation however, is the hard part here in Dubai.

For over a year I've been thinking about universities and the majors that I might possibly pursue. There are over 30 universities, colleges or institutes in Dubai alone, and over 45 in the UAE. Obviously, there are many options to choose from, both in terms of university and in major. Everything is available here; law to medicine, engineering to fine arts, psychology to business, almost all of the majors available in the most developed countries are also available in the UAE.

However, the problem isn't with the majors, its about what you're going to do with the knowledge you gained after your graduation. As developed as the UAE is today, it still lacks many things. Because the country, or Dubai to be specific, runs mainly on business and trade, there is not much support for other things which might be just as important as business for the community and the country as a whole. We have so much trade and tourism going on, but do we actually have our own production lines, do we conduct research, do we actually do anything other than buy and sell?

Well, other than the things I've mentioned, we do have alot of projects going on, many of which were halted, for the sake of tourism in the country. However I do not consider these projects "Emirati" because most of them were planned and supervised by foreign companies and thus were not made by the efforts of Emirati's or residents of the UAE.

All fields of study are available here in the UAE, but all job options are not. There are many jobs which you would not be able to find here in the UAE, and a lot of what you would find might not be up to the standards of your degree. For example, engineering is a major of really high standards, here in the UAE it has close to no applications. An engineer designs and builds things, how would the engineer do that in a place which does not have produce anything? where will the engineer work? Many engineers here are given the job of technicians, simply because there is no other post they could work in. There are other majors as well that don't give their graduates many career choices here in the Emirates.

If you try to narrow down the list of majors you could study, while taking into consideration your future job options, you would only be left with a handful of fields to choose from. Business, media, architecture, and possibly IT. These, and the majors that fall under them, are maybe the only majors for which a person could get a job here easily.

Then what are all the other majors here for? Why are we given a variety of majors when most of them will probably lead us to a dead end in terms of career choice.

The current trend

2010-12-02T05:35:00.000-08:00

** I would like to dedicate this post to some of my friends, they'd probably know themselves if they read the post.

This is something I've been wanting to blog about for some time now. By trend, I don't mean fashion trends like most of you would think; I mean trends like in economics, the direction in which things tend to move. More specifically, I'm talking about the correlation between friends and relationships, and how each is affecting the other. From an Emirati's point of view of course.

In the near past, if you think about our parents' generations, you wouldn't have seen many relationships . You'd see some, but the numbers wouldn't even be close to what they are now. If you haven't realized what kind of relationships I'm taking about yet, I'm talking about love or romantic relationships or whatever you may call them. If you spend time with your parents, you would notice that they are still in contact with some old friends of theirs from university or even school. I don't think many people nowadays have as strong a relationship with their friends as their parents did that would stay with them forever. Friends in our generation are not the same as friends in the generation before us, at least here where we're from.

Friendships are mostly superficial these days. You could ask a person who their closest friend is, and they would tell you they have none. When you point at the huge crowd of people on the other side of the room they'd say, "oh, they're just the people I hang out with." So apparently, people only have friends now so they don't look like losers and so they can go out and have fun. They don't share that special bond friends are supposed to share. I am not saying that all people are like this, I'm just saying that many of them are, for various reasons some of which might be legitimate.

This leads to people feeling lonely, and sometimes maybe worthless. They try to fill this need for real friends through love. Through the search for love they expect to find someone they get so close to to replace the void they feel. Others just toy around with people to give themselves the false feelings of superiority and completeness. Love can never really replace friendships, they could only perhaps compliment them.

A person who has real friends can do just fine with or without love. A person who doesn't is forced to search for something which to fill this void of having friends; everyone deals with this in their own way, but the majority search for love. The person is not always to blame for feeling lonely, the whole community is blamed. Our community is filled with loads of backstabbers and people who are double faced that it is sometimes extremely hard to find someone to trust. Why do we all, or many of us, act this way?

Why does everyone only care about themselves? Friendships are supposed to be about affection, care, and respect to one another, not about simply having people to hang out with. Of course, there is nothing wrong with sitting with a group of people you're not really close with, but to do that all the time? You may say that there are simply no friends anymore and that you've either got this option or you'd end up having no friends at all, but I don't think thats true. There are many friends around, but you just have to take the time and effort to find them.

The deal with locals..

2010-11-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am local, don't get me wrong; but there's something really annoying about the majority of us (including me) that just has to be said.

Our school keeps us very aware of somethings that happen here in Dubai, and we are very fortunate for having that because most other schools/universities here do not, I realize that. Two days ago on Friday, I went to the annual Burjuman Breast Cancer Walkathon. It was through our teachers' efforts that many people signed up for the walkathon, and we were all excited about it. I hadn't gone to the Breast Cancer Walkathon before, and I thought that it'd be fun and interesting, and also beneficial in terms of breast cancer awareness and fundraising for research. So me and a few of my friends went. Emphasis on the few.

Yes, most of us signed up, yet only me and 3 other locals from our class actually went. Our friends of other nationalities? Almost all of them came. I'm not trying to put my friends down or anything, no one was forced to go, maybe they just couldn't come. Anyways, lets go straight to the point.

There were around 4,000 people there at the Walkathon, we really enjoyed the day. However, out of these 4,000 people, I saw absolutely no locals there! A few random moms taking photos and stuff probably for a certain purpose, thats it. I could honestly say that I felt like the locals from our school were the only locals there. It's our country, its us who should be doing these stuff, aren't we? And then everyone's all upset about having alot of expatriates in Dubai. They have a reason to be here, we honestly don't.

I mean were living in Dubai, where alot of people from all around the world would dream to be. Yet, all our lives are simply, boring, routines. We wake up, get to school/uni/work, come home, do whatever duties we have to do, we go to sleep. And yes, lets not forget to go to the mall whenever we're bored, because thats all we can do here in the desert we live in. Right? thats what we all do and think. We'll were all wrong! Dubai has so many things to offer, but we locals know nothing about the events going on all year long here. Why? We give nothing to the community, so we get nothing back.

Have you ever gone through expat websites and forums? read their magazines? You'd be amazed at all the thing's you've been missing your whole life. We, the people who've been here since birth, have contributed nothing to our community other than running the economy though endless shopping sprees. The expatriates who live here however, have built amazing organizations, and done great things for themselves and their own communities. They've built amazing relationship with people of all sorts. Thay're the ones who created the multicultural society of Dubai, not us. We've just taken the back seat, looked at whats visible, and criticized it at any opportunity we find; we never actually see what's going on, because we're not involved in it.

So all I'm trying to say is that, at least for us, the future generation, we need to step up and actually give to our community so that it would grow into a better place. Its no use staying the way we are, we'll all end up dying having done nothing noticable, nothing different. Even if its something small, we should all try to do something, even if its just taking part in events. Who knows, something might be triggered inside you, unleashing a passion you've never known you had. You never know anything until you try it.

This is one the photo's I took that day, I must say it was an inspiring morning.

No time...

2010-11-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

I stopped putting up poems on the blog for two main reasons:
- I haven't been writing any new poems ( because I had no time).
- I felt like I didn't have the time to keep the blog running and updated.

Both of those reasons, or excuses should I say, go back to the subject of having no time.
I think everyone has this issue of having no time, right? Sometimes I say if only there was an additional hour in each day; I would say that 25 hours would be enough, but 24 hours just isn't.

We'll lets do some math, a day contains 86,400 seconds. How is that not enough to finish what we have to do? An extra 3,600 seconds, an hour, will not really affect anything. We do not have enough time for anything, because we waste our times doing basically nothing useful. Then we make up for that wasting of time by reducing our sleeping time, which negatively affects the way our brains function. With a tired brain, we would be less effecient and it would take us more time to do things that we would normally do quickly. See where this goes? It might not always be a direct relationship between wasting our times and finishing things we need to do, but in the end, the two points are related.

So my new motto is that, you don't have time to do anything unless you make time.
When you want to go out, in the middle of a busy week, you make time for it. Well if we make time for everything the way we do for recreational things, then our problems would be solved.

So what I'm trying to say is that I'm coming back to my blog, but I'm not posting poems like I used to. I'm not making a new separate blog just because this one has several poems dated 6 months back, but there might not be any more poems on here. I'm going to make time to write here. I think I have some thoughts to share.

Ma3na el 9da8ah

2010-02-20T01:51:00.000-08:00

I was going through my stuff looking for a g9eedeh to post, I found this. It really sucks, in my opinion, but it kind of has a message. At least it was meant to have one.

I remember I wrote this around two years ago. I was chatting with someone who had just added me on msn, I had no idea who she was, but she was upset and she kept talking about how fake her friends were. Later that night, I felt like writing something, so I wrote this. At that time I had just started, so its probably very bad in comparison to the other g9eedeh I've posted. I just feel that something that comes from the heart would be way better than the most beautiful piece of writing in the world.

Though there are four horrible lines that I think you guys could do without..

غرقانه في بكىً كان عني غايب
مثل ماي البحر على اليرح قسوته
بكاي و نوحي على معنى كلمه يعايب
الصداقه الي من الصدق طالعه كلمته
وين الصدق عند ناسٍ كانوا لقلبي حبايب
و اليوم كلٍ منهم بان على حقيقته
كل من دخل حياتي كان الحزن يايب
لصدري ياب الضيق و لعيني دمعته

ناسٍ شافوك سلموا و رحبوبك رحايب
و من خلفك راووك الكره كيف طعنته
ما يصير الاعتماد على مطر السحايب
و الكتاب اصدق من الصاحب جملته
صغيره لكن قلبي في تجاربه شايب
و اليوم أبكي على كل حرف غلط معناته

Comments law sma7to (a)

A Villanelle

2010-02-13T02:13:00.000-08:00

A villanelle is a form of poetry. I love using this form because it gives a poem a sense of rhythm and rhyme. This specific poem was an in-class assignment, which meant I probably wrote it in less than an hour. It’s probably far from perfect; I rarely bother with doing revisions.

I cry my eyes out each night
All I ever think about is you
I need you back in my sight

With you my days are always bright
I love you and because I do
I cry my eyes out each night

Kill myself from pain I might
Even though you said we’re through
I need you back in my sight

I don’t know if what I’m doing is right
My days seem all very blue
I cry my eyes out each night

I sit here feeling hurt tonight
About what to do I haven’t a clue
I need you back in my sight

I bleed now from the lips I bite
My love for you is ever so true
I cry my eyes out each night
I need you back in my sight

Another love poem: simple, easy, doesn’t require much imagination. I’m not a great fan of love poems myself, but I find myself leaning towards that genre too often because it is easy. I don’t believe writing love poems will aid me much in improving my writing.

The romance and love genre, in my eyes, is a fairly easy once to write. Yes, when a person is just starting, this genre seems comfortable and easy for anyone to write in; it is a good starter. However I do not think that writing in this genre makes a person a competent writer. A talented and skilled writer should be able to write in many different genres; sure, each person would find their strengths in a specific genre, but I believe that no one’s strength lies in the romance genre alone.

I’m pretty sure anyone can write something romantic. I believe the love genre is a just another way of self expression. Whether a person is in love or not, wherever we may live, whatever our social status might me, no matter what our ages and genders are; all people around the world share one thing: the need for love. Children long for their parents’ affection, teenagers struggle with what they think is love, and married couples try to rekindle their love after many years of living together. It’s a human instinct. Not a fictional genre.

Mn asma3 9ootek

2010-02-03T22:04:00.000-08:00

I spent a lot of time in thinking of what poem I’m going to post first, since I’m just starting, most of my Arabic poems simply suck. At least that’s just my point of view about them; whatever I write, no matter how shitty it turns out to be, people say that its great, and I have no way of knowing if they’re being sincere or not.

I decided on a poem that was really hard to write, maybe the hardest one I’ve written; it’s not even complete. It’s the first poem I tried to write 3ala ba7ar, or ma3arf maybe it’s the first one where I succeeded in doing so. I haven’t been able to do that in any other poem I tried to write afterwards; that probably indicates how long a road I have to down in order to be a good poet.

Ktabt bs 5 abyat, hayail I really like, ana katbeh 3 abyat zyadeh bs a7s y5arboon 3al g9eedeh bdal may3adloonha. Its still incomplete to me, bs I couldn’t manage to add anything to it without ruining it. I love this poem because through writing it I discovered that ayshay maktoob 3ala ba7ar, will sound a lot better, w I really do mean a lot. You don’t have to go through all the torture of cutting up the words in Arabic class to know whether g9eedeh maktoobeh 3la ba7ar or not, it just sounds different.

Ygooloon eneh el sh3r kalam mawzoon, w since this is the only poem that is 3la wazn, ymkn hay el g9eedeh el wa7eedeh eli I’ve written?

متى ما ضاق بي العالم ... أريد الموت ياخذني
من أسمع صوتك الناعم ... أحس الغيم شايلني
و يبقى الصوت لي دايم ... صدى صوتك يراودني
و وسط الليل أنا نايم ... شفاتي اسمك ترددني
و حتى في الدجى العاتم ... أرى طيفك يلاحقني

I would really appreciate your comments =)

Loneliness

2010-01-30T07:23:00.000-08:00

Before I post anything new I'm going to post some of the poems I've written a few years ago, I thought I'd start with an English poem...

This poem is one of my favorites. I've written it for a class last year; we were asked to write a poem about loneliness, that was the only restriction we had to writing this poem. The first thought that came to my mind was to write about a child, or any person, who's sitting alone or in a dark place. But while brainstorming, I realized that that's a very literal representation of loneliness; I changed my idea.

In the end I wrote about a real person, a friend who I think as being very lonely; that might not be true, but it’s how I think she feels. I got a 100% for that poem, I tried to include as much emotion as I could; I would never have managed to write such an effective poem as this turned out to be if I'd written about that lonely child.

She’s the center of attention;
Wherever she goes they go.
She knows the latest gossip
And all the hottest trends,
What’s “in” and what’s not.

But somewhere in her face
You see the traces of a smile,
A smile once full of energy,
Forced hard to open wide
And hide that broken heart.
Somewhere beneath those lashes
Are eyes that sparkle with tears.
Through the sound of her voice
You hear a blank and empty tone.
The times she laughs are numerous
Yet, they are almost always fake.

The look on her face spells despair.

But when darkness covers the sky
And everyone’s sound asleep,
She takes of the peoples’ mask,
And finally reveals her true self.
She rests her head on the feather pillow
And sheds a million tears.

I want opinions, thoughts, criticism and whatever else you've got to say please (A)

=)

2010-01-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

Definitions-
Sesquipedalian: A long word, or a word with many syllables
Sesquipedalianist: A person which uses long and unusual words.

This isn’t another story blog, its basically going to be my online poem book. I like poetry, I never knew I would, I guess sometimes extreme boredom has its good sides. Maybe someday I’d be a good published poet, but as for now I’d like to share both my Arabic and English poems with everyone so that I can get encouragement and criticism.

Many people hate poetry, I used to hate it too, but that was because I never really understood it. We've all, at some point, felt like going to sleep while reading a poem in elementary or middle school; and many of us probably still hate the mention of poetry...but that's basically because we tend not to bother reading it as it is supposed to be read...

A poem is like a coded diary entry. A book of poems in chronological order of dates is basically a coded diary, one that anyone can read, but one that can only be deciphered and truly understood by its author. What is so great about poetry is that it contains so much feelings and emotions, which only the author would feel. A poem with no hidden meaning or idea is not a real poem to me. Each line triggers a memory, a thought, and even the emotions you felt while writing that line. A true poet, in my opinion, is one that can link his experiences and emotions to the audience's; a poet should be able to make his audience sympathize with his writings, laugh when he laughs, and cry when he cries.

I know that I am no great poet, and that I have a long way to go to get there, but I hope to be one someday. As I journey through the world of poetry I would love to see some encouragement and constructive criticism to guide me through this process. I've been told that I have talent, by friends, family and even teachers, but sometimes I wonder if that is really the case. I prefer writing in Arabic, though it is way harder than English poetry, I even tried to write a haiku in Japanese once. A disaster, simply put.

I might not post if I felt that I'd have no followers or readers, so please, even if you're only remotely interested in poetry let me know =)