Driven by Curiosity…

Today is my last day in saudi Arabia. it is funny… as i came here on 1/1/2004 and i leave on the 31/12/2004.

It really was not a bad experience at all… as a matter of fact, it was very interesting. I met so many nice people, and have been through so much this year…. one thing for sure, i have learnt about the concept of solitude, as for the first time in my life i was faced with so much free time, and i had to use my imagination on how to fill it out. But everything comes to an end and this is the end of my idle days.

I will actually miss few things here…mainly:
1- the warm water in the swimming pool… i hate cold water, and swimming in the very warm water in Jeddah at night feels like floating in psace.

2- I will miss the constant feeling of challenge and thrill that i lived here when walking in the streets, for i never covered my hair, not because i have anything against hijab, on the contrary i really respect women who reach this high level of looking beyond materialistic stuff ( if they actually wear the hijab out of conviction)… but i refuse to do anything so personal that is imposed on me by anyone, wether family or society or laws…

3- I will miss the great frienship bonds that form in this country, because everyone is in the same boat, everyone is a stranger with no family, and so they substitute that with the support of their friends… it is something that i have never experienced anywhere else

Anyway… a new page opens in my life…what is next…. only God knows!

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I was looking up some information about “Alexandria… New York” film directed by Youssef Chahine, to realize that it is actually the fourth movie… if you are interested in knowing more about the three previous movies that make the Yusef Chahine idea of an autobiography, read on about the Alexandria Trilogy. And by the way it makes a nice last minute Christmas gift the information was taken from the some NY movie award website. Movies are:
Alexandria.. Why? / Iskandariyah leh?

The first film in Chahine's autobiographical Alexandria trilogy, ALEXANDRIA, WHY? was a (widely banned) revelation in Arab cinema for its use of first-person narrative and for testing boundaries of cultural identity. In 1942, as Rommel's army nears Alexandria, some cheer the victors, Jews prepare to flee, and a vengeful aristocrat buys British soldiers to seduce and kill them–until he falls in love with one young captive. A young student (Chahine's avatar) adores Shakespeare and Hollywood, dreaming of studying filmmaking in the USA, but as he discovers the lies of European occupation and Americanization, and experiences a sexual awakening, he profoundly reevaluates his identity and allegiances.

An Egyptian Story/ Haddouta Misriya

The young protagonist from ALEXANDRIA, WHY? Has now grown older and is ailing with a (highly symbolic) heart condition, serious enough to require surgery. During the operation, a child embodying his conscience tries Yehia for the crime of betraying his ideals. After a lifetime of witnesses offer testimony, Yehia's conscience loses the trial and–a redundant organ–is expelled from the filmmaker's body. Will the loss be fatal?

Alexandria again and Again/ Iskandariya Kaman u kaman

Taking a stand for democracy, the entire Egyptian film industry goes on a hunger strike. Yehia, a director, joins the strikers. As demand follows demand, Yehia daydreams about Amir, the young actor he loves and whose career he has launched. But then he meets the beautiful Nadia and gradually falls in love with her. After the strike ends, Yehia decides to make a movie with Nadia.

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