Driven by Curiosity…

This has been one of the most hectic weeks for a very long time. Nassim called me few days ago and we ended up having a field trip. We went to visit one of our aunts, who lives in the outskirts of Amman. Just getting there was an adventure. Nassim has been one of the most important people in my life since a very young age.

He is the cousin that Hania and me had to take with us when we went out; he was the person who covered up for us when we needed that. He was the person who got us out of so many troubles with our parents and our school. He introduced me to markaz Haya, and sakher computer, to grandizer (I am thinking of Grandizer because i read about it in the blog of a guy called Ahmad Humeid. And the wishes prayer! (which by the way worked when we were young, I asked God to become a super woman, and Hania ask God to send her a piano, and she did get her piano at the time she asked for it… Ohh the shock! Of course I never became a super woman…but I still was shocked)

Nassim gave me my first book, which was called the prisoner of Zenda. He was the first person ever to put the idea of drawing in my head. He was the person who gave me my first cigarette (that was bad, but at least it was under supervision). He was always very involved in my life. In short, he represented the figure of an older brother, who is not so hypocrite like most of my friends’ brothers all through my life.

Unfortunately we drift apart for a while, it did not bother me because, even though we were not on daily speaking terms, I always knew that Nassim would jump to the rescue if I ever needed him, even if he was in Australia! And going with him that day broke this silence period. We suddenly started talking as if we have never drift apart… it was so nice and comfortable to talk to him, to be able to remember things and laugh, I saw him three time in 2 days, which is a record, since at some point 3 or 4 years passed without seeing him… so cheers to you Nassim, always be cool!

Comments(0)

Finally in Amman, The weather is absolutely gorgeous…

In the few hours I have been here, it seems to me the only thing people are talking about is Arafat. No wonder, it IS a very important issue. Since I came across an article called Palestine: facing the unthinkable in Arab News on November 5, issue. And in the spirit of what everyone is talking about, I actually would like to share the contents of the article. I thought it is very interesting.

Basically it starts by telling us about Leila Shahid’s (Palestinian envoy to Paris) tearful declaration of not being able to imagine life without Arafat, and takes us into a short tour about how we would have been way better if we imagined life without him ten years ago!

The setup is Madrid Conference 1992. The writer Amir taheri tells us how the Palestinian delegation was presented for the first time by a modern, moderate delegation (Haidar Abdul shafi, and Faisal al Husseini) that could not be labeled as extremist or terrorist. This delegation was presenting the normal average and most of the Palestinian people. They did not want people to die for “the cause” so that they are remembered in some poems recited by Palestinian all over the word in their intellectual gatherings. He explains to us how for us Palestine became only an abstract cause, not a concrete problem that affects the lives of real people.

The Israeli delegation became uncomfortable dealing with this genuine Palestinian delegation that represents the real people and not the “cause” so they opened a back channel with Arafat, who was isolated in Tunis because he had sided with Saddam Hussein in invading Kuwait. Arafat was feeling that he needed money and attention, and since Israel offered him both, in exchange of taking part in the charade, he was ready to sign anything to get back into the world. The rest is history.

Anyone wants to talk about anything else? How is the weather again?

Comments(2)