He who has never made a mistake, has never done anything new...

How many times have you encountered a person who thinks s/he's better than you are? Someone who mocks your efforts and sugarcoats it as brotherly advice? ...Especially when the critisizm happens to be in one particular subject.

The Muslim Brotherhood (a political party in Egypt, and more considered to be some peole's lifestyle - which is the aspect discussed in this post) represents that annoying individual that no one seems to like, but tolerates because there is no way to get rid of them. My argument concern those who folow an overly religious and sometimes downright exstreme lifestyle only - not the political party or anything to do with it.

Simply put, the bearded young men have a bird's eye view of all those who choose not to follow in their path. Every once in a while one may approach you and try to save you from eternal damnation which will be the result of your blasphemous behavior in life. When it is your misfortune to encounter such an individual, it's not uncommon to realize that the brotherly advice you're being given is actually critisizm of your satanic behavior and more of a condescending glance of pitty upon your lost soul. Whether the subject of your defiance is mingling with the opposite sex, use of lousy language, or simply making mistakes during the ritual prayers, you shall never escape the all-seeing eye of the 'Ikhwanjy'.

My mistake was the last of the three. I was approached by such an individual who seemed to derive pleasure from telling me how I've wroged. Try as I might, I couldn't shake him off despite all my attempts. Finally I said: "He who has never made a mistake, has never tried something new!" and politely excused myself, still feeling uneasy because of the demeaningly condescending glances he gave me even as I left the mosque.

What should come first? Friendship or your reputation?...A trick question that I was faced with today. Briefly as possible, this is what happened:

The reputation of one particular female member of our group of friends is under fire. Meaning that she was seen simply standing with members of the opposite sex, including myself. Her parents found out and made a huge deal out of the issue after the entire campus starting to talk about her blasphemous behavior.
The solution to this problem to savw what's left of her reputation is to sever all connections with her male aquantances.

My question is this: despite the obvious fact that the problem from its core is rediculous and should not even be an issue, what should be done. It is the unfortunate fact of life that girls are under this kind of pressure from society, however, should they put their reputations before their friendships with the people they are about to ignore? Of course, a person's reputation amoung his or her peers is of utmost importance, but is it so wrong for people to defy the norm and simply continue with their actions despite the horrible things that would be aid about them behind their backs or even to their very faces?

Personally, I think that her course of action is the easy way out. To simply comply with society's demands without a fight to preserve her reputation as a respectable girl. On the other hand, to defy society is to sign your own death dertificate - meaning that if she does so, she could kiss marriage and a normal life goodbye!

So what is to be done in this situation? Put yourself in her shoes and think of what your course of action would be.

It's a GLOBAL economic crisis!

Just the other day I took a taxi to the medical campus because I was running late. As is the habit of most drivers, this one struck a conversation with me out of thin air. Therefore I decided to write this post as a response to his nonsense because I know better than to start a debate with someone as uneducated and as small minded as an Egyptian taxi driver.

The first putrid breath he uttered was: "America's gonna be broke! niahahaha!" which I later learned was a reference to the economic crisis, the 'great bailout' and whatnot. Ahmed the taxi driver has a theory saying that the 700 million dollars (I decided not to correct the sum) of the bailout would do nothing to save the American economy and that the treasury would become depleted and America would cease to be a world power, etc...

What is the appropriate response to a theory as ridiculous as that? Seeing it best not to aggravate the situation, I simply agreed with the theory while my insides boiled with anger and disgust. Has hunger driven people to become THAT stupid? What is this person's excuse to actually believe beyond any reasonable doubt that the lunacy that is his economic theory is anywhere near reality? What he, as well as flocks of Egyptians, seem to have missed is that this is a GLOBAL economic crisis which has affected and will continue to effect all corners of the globe. This young unsuspecting taxi driver doesn't seem to comprehend that as the situation continues to deteriorate in the US, the already on-the-verge-of-crumbling Egyptian economy will be directly affected as a result.

Instead of arguing I simply nodded and agreed with how "what goes around comes around" and comforted myself with the fact that his idiocy would eventually get the better of him. And sure it did...

Yesterday, the world witnessed a 27% increase in prices. Everything from the wheat we plant to the coca cola cans have increased in price. That includes, as I was kind enough to point out to the taxi I took, gas prices! To my surprise, I was not at all upset that the fare from my house to the campus had almost doubled. All I wanted was to see the look on that driver's face when he went to fill his tank at the gas station. Apparently, America wasn't the only one affected by the crisis :)

Catching the wrong train.

This post was inspired by a comment I received for a previous post on my blog, because I thought this was an issue worth mentioning.

Globalization has come to hold so many meanings in today's society. For most it means modernization of a country's industrial projects, or even switching from an agricultural economy to an industrial one. In many cases it may mean the transfer of different technological advances from their place of origin to the rest of the world. However, for the third world, and Egypt in particular, globalization holds a whole new meaning for its people.

The introduction of satellite television, courtesy of France, in Egypt in 1998 marked the beginning of a new era for Egyptian society. Music channels exploded into the public eye; celebrity fashion, gossip, and propaganda became the very center of people's lives. All that was new in the world of nothing was on the minds and tongues of the entire population...
If you walk in the streets of Cairo or Alexandria today, you will be amazed how low a waistline can go. With boy's crotches at their knees and girls skirts lifted as high as their necks, the influence of western Civilization becomes crystal clear. Nowadays, a celebrity's single whim can in a few days become the latest fad - like our very own Tamer Hosny and his barnyard chest hair, or Mekki and his mushroom-cloud haircut.
As far as I'm concerned, there has not been a single worthwhile achievement in the third world as a result of their so-called globalization. People today know more about Britney Spears' anti-psychotic medication than they do about the global economic crisis.

So as I continue to be forced to look at people's boxers and panties wherever I go in the street, and listen to the never ending fads, I bid farewell to any glimmer of hope of modernization, if there really ever was one to speak of. As a fitting end to this post, I'd like to say that I leave my computer now under a cloud of shame to go watch "Match the celeb to their cellulite!" since the TV has nothing of value to offer me!

With the month of Ramadan over, things seem to be coming back to what they were 30 days ago. The spiritual cloud which had hovered so obviously above our heads for this long month has suddenly vanished. Mosques have been deserted, as well as good manners and decency. The utopia which this Islamic World becomes in this short time every year has quickly dwindles into what it is so accustomed to being.

I was beginning to miss the sound of swearing in the early morning traffic, the stench of cigarettes burning away the fresh morning air, and last but not least, the sight of my fellow man gluttonously engulfing insane amounts of food in an unhealthy amount of time. There is one thing I will NOT miss, however. The infuriating nucance of having some comlete stranger come up to me and tell me to listen to verses of the Qu'ran rather than music, or to wear jockies instead of boxers, or to simply give away religious advice which I would personally rather do without.

Once again, women have removed their veils and wide dresses and exchanged them for miniskirts and push-up-bras. Personally, I don't see how this makes a person religious, but it's not for me to judge how people act - even though I think they should stick to one type of clothing instead of swtiching around in that hypocritical fashion.

When I look back, I find that I haven't made use of the Holy Month as well as I would have liked, while others did, and other pretended to do so. However, all in all, I don't think I'll be losing any sleep over the matter. In short, all is well and back to its old self again...