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...

Hiding in plain sight!

When the word 'crime' is brought up, a dark abandoned alley in the dead of night comes to mind, where a person is walking and looking over their shoulder for any danger than might be lurking in the dark behind the garbage bins only to be leaped upon with no warning and have all worldly possessions taken or in many cases, your very life.

What I have to say to this is: not any more! We now live in a world where someone can be attacked in the middle of the afternoon on the busiest streets in town. Of course, this isn't news to most city dwellers - it happens all the time. However, and this is the point that I'm trying to make, people just don't care any more. People lose no sleep whatsoever when they stand in the middle of the street and watch as a violent at-knife-point mugging is unfolding before their very eyes. As immoral and unethical as this practice is, I find myself doing the same when I'm put in those situations.
Therefore, we are faced with a moral dilemma. If someone is being mugged in front of us (which in many cases turns into accidental murder as the result of a struggle) should we do anything to stop it and risk being injured or even killed ourselves for the sake of a complete stranger whom you don't know would do the same for you if the tables were turned, or should we simply watch in silence under a cloud of shame?

I was faced with this question just a few days ago when I saw across the street a beggar who held a young boy (also a beggar, judging by his appearance) at knife point demanding the few pounds that he had just managed to beg out of a woman in her Lexus. There was not a doubt in my mind as I stood there and watched this happen that I was doing anything wrong. I wasn't about to risk my life for a child who would eventually die of s horrible disease from living inside a garbage dump. Which brings me to next quesrtion: is it immoral to put the lives of the higher classes before those of the less fortunate? Is a beggars life any less precious than that of an aristocrat? I know the theoretical answer to these questions, however the reality of the matter is very different, as you might have all guessed.

Finally, it is in great sadness that I admit to you that even though this happens in plain sight of everyone who interacts with the living, there is no solution in sight because people are by nature selfish and would put their own well-being before that of their fellow man.

Back to School :'(

In just four days I shall embark on the first day of my second year at university (college of dentistry to be exact). What makes this year more significant than the last is simply that now I'll be going to the actual medical/dental campus instead of being a freeloader at the college of Science. This is when I can actually become a part of the so-called dental community that I'm supposed to become a part of eventually.

As exciting as the academic part of my transition is, there is a reason more compelling for me which makes this transition all the more exiting. In the past year, I've come across some of the older classes and gotten an idea of what the next years of my college life will be like in terms of both academia and socially as well. I'm looking forward most to meeting the older classes whom I've been told are a lot more open that my own class in terms of who they allow themselves to mingle with/talk to, etc...in other words: people who are more "free" than my own class [refer to previous post with the title "free" for more information..lol]

Now allow me to be sarcastic...can it be that there are female members of my society out there who willingly shake hand and look into the eyes of the opposite sex? Do they dress so provocatively as to allow one to imagine what they would look like under suck clothes which still cover every inch of their bodies?? Is this all possible?...

Anyway, I'm simply hoping to find people with a higher level of sophistication and intelligence than the people to whose company I've been unwillingly subjected to for the past year.

Sometimes thing's aren't what they seem...

I know I have a whole other blog that discusses stuff like this, but since that was a practice blog, I'm going to post it here.

FACEBOOK: Friend or foe?

Facebook has become, at least in the arab world, the center of the lives of all its youth. No one between the ages of 13 and 25 doesn't have one (or more) accounts. It has infiltrated people's lives like an incurable disease, that continues to infect people as time passes. By this I mean that it is the number one - no exageration there - cause of any personal arguments or quarrels in the area...sometimes even on the professional level.
First, there's the issue of photos. When is it okay to post a picture of someone, and when is it not? Is there some position that is not allowed or something? also, is there some sort of guideline for commenting on photos that we should all know of? When is a joke simply a joke and when is it an insult. Why do people begin to treat each other like dirt when one deletes another from a friend list? Why should it matter? Does text have a tone, and can it be misunderstood or taken as a compliment or an insult at will? All these questions have been running through my mind because of a recent incedent because the hellhole that is facebook.
All this being said, I have no intention of deactivating my facebook account. As bad as its effect is on people's social lives, it's also a good tool to keep in touch with certain people. However, I maintain that facebook has and will always have a more negative effect on people that a positive one. Also, I intend of deleting most of my photos very soon - I for one can do without the daily drama of facebook and facebookers...

Ramadan: A month of worship?

It's been nearly a month since my last post, therefore I apologize. But in my defense, I've been quite busy (that and the fact that I had begun to run out of material.)
However, with the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan (during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset) I've found myself with more spare time than I would have liked. As always, one would expect that during this month that society become a utopia, since people should (the keyword here being: should) refrain from cursing or swearing of any kind, sex in any way shape or form, or any action that would be considered sinful or wrong in any way. Although it may sound good on paper, the reality of the matter is that as hard as people might try, it never works. In other words, people just don't practice what they preach. In fact, I hear more swearing and derogatory secual remarks during fasting times than any other time of the year, and when you tell that person what they're doing wrong, a typical answer is: "well, if she cared about religion then she wouldn't dress like that in front of a man." or anything similar.
Then of course there's the issue of praying in the mosque. People who are supposedly going to the mosque in order to worship a holy God simply go there to get into fist fights with other worshipers to get to stand in the places closest to the Imam.
Ramadan has become a sales pitch for many businesses nowadays, where a casino that offers prostitues and wine on one night will offer you a copy of the Holy Quran on the next. Not to mention the endless parade of cheap soap-operas that flood the satellite television during the month of purity and fasting.
In the end I just wanted to ask you a question. Is Ramadan actually the month of worship, or has it simply become the month of hypocracy? you decide...

Afterthought....

As an afterthought of the post about the 3 idiots I mentioned 2 posts ago, I just wanted to say that I saw the movie I said I would see (the one with the thick-haired Ahmed Mekki was in).
Perhaps I judged him a little prematurely. The movie was mediocre enough for me to not want to leave early, and was quite funny as well. Despite the few parts that were incredibly lame and boring, it was an okay movie. However, too much of the same thing isn't good either.
I mean, his predecessor, Mohamed Sa'ad, made six consecutive movies with the exact same story line and plot - eventually, and to my relief, people got bored of it, so as funny as this movie was, I don't want to see it over and over again.