I am glad I made it to my graduation, not because of the ceremony itself (even though it was very emotional) but because it felt like a closure to my brief affair with my MA degree…. it really felt like a delicious affair. Very intense, very satisfying…yet very painful when it ended. 

I loved every second of my experience during the MA…and I embraced it with all my heart.  I was the geeky student who sat in the first raw and contributed an opinion when necessary and when not. I was one of those who prepared before class, and studied afterwards. I enjoyed every joke, every new thought and every debate… I derived pleasure in reading not only the required material, but all the material around the required material….  I researched, studied, wrote, debated, and read and read and read because I felt that there were twenty something bare years behind me (even though I was initiated on reading at an early age). I wouldn’t believe what an abyss of ignorance my mind was; when i started my MA I had just realized the depths myself.

I am one of those who would not mind spending their lives being perpetual students. My friends often make fun of all the degrees that I dream of being awarded. I want a degree in English language (I have never done English properly, and looking back, most of my English teachers were as foreign to English as I am to Italian!), and another degree in Journalism. I would love to do counselling or psychology because people fascinate me and a PHD in Anthropology… once I have all these degrees, I would feel that I achieved the level of education that i deserve  … (Yes I am a nerd and I am proud of it!)

Instead of any of these exciting degrees i did Computer Science for my undergraduate! for me, it was the most useless degree in the world .. since my knowledge in Molecular Medicine (which is zero)far exceeds my knowledge in computers! I blame myself firstly, but i also blame our lovely educational system that does not allow students to study what they want, but forces them to study subjects based on their Tawjihi grades. I did not do that bad. M GPA was 86.something out of 100. However in my year, for some odd reason, everyone did better!

I remember i went to university to register, and the registrar told me that i did not qualify for public university, for the minimum GPA for girls was 89 and for boys 81… I was very angry and shouted at her… i said angrily:

Are you telling me that i, the one who spent my whole year studying can’t go to university, but some boy who spent his year playing cards can go?! 

Looking back, of course i understand that the country needs a quota system for education… if there is no quota system, boys will end up not educated and girls will end up with all the education….Girls are already far more advanced in every aspect in Jordan… and this is creating an imbalance in the society… so how about adding education to the mix?

The point is i ended up in a private school trying to decipher computers… and even though i graduated with a high GPA, the knowledge that retained is almost zero… i secretly felt ashamed of it all… and waited till i could afford it to enroll myself in a respectable MA program  that would make me proud… I treat my computer science degree like a hideous scandal, hoping that no one will find out about it…

and finally now i can proudly say, I am an anthropologist and a youth expert…

Getting back to London….  what I loved even more that getting a decent degree was living in London on my own. In grey, cold London I started walking… I roamed the city for hours and hours like a lost soul… i discovered far corners that no one cares about…I visited markets that are listed in every guide….I was amused by Camdan Town … the way they sell pot so rudely is just corking! ….i bought my food at borough market  every week… and i enjoyed the hustle and bustle of Portabello Market… 

It was there in London that I learnt the beauty of mobility… the meaning of freedom … and in one those cold lonely walks in the heart of Greenwhich village i met myself…. ( i was having a coffee in cafe Rouge there! I am kidding but this is considered sentimental crap even for me!)… it was there in London that I learnt who i am, what i wanted from life and where i belonged…  

I am going to enjoy my next few days in London… I will walk in the rain and enjoy the solitude of beautiful London.

Till Then… enjoy London.

Near North Greenwhich, isn't this rain amazing?

New Cross is a very special place

This would be our esteemed Dean

 Now these following pictures are taken by a friend in 2006.. but i will use them since i feel they represent London for me.The Glorious Oxfrd Circus

Camdan Market in the rain

 

The world is a beautiful place, camdan Town

The glorious Oxford Circus