When you're back!

"And when you're back I will remove all the traces left by anyone and will leave you heaps of my traces that no one can ever remove"

Antizionism!

We cannot be anti-semitic nor anti judaism, the Jewish religion, I mean the real one that is not related to that modern Israel, is a wonderful religion and the closest to Islam. However, when you want religion to serve your political targets, it's not religion anymore. We, or at least myself, anti zionism, that is how that vermin started to grow, Israel has a black horrible shameful history that makes a normal human being feel just one thing, disgust, as much as the holocaust drive the same feeling. Israel is a vermin, I say it out loud it is a vermin and will perish, either by Arabs, by Moslems, by Iranians or even by an outerspace attack, I don't really care, it will perish simply because what is built on wrong will never survive, insects in general have a very short life cycle, so just wait and see.... Again I repeat I am not against the people of Israel, I pity them and I wonder how can the survive when they are surrounded by all this hatred and when their history is so shameful and black and disgusting, I really pity them. And I thank God everyday for being a Muslim Egyptian with all the negatives that we can see in our life nowadays still we have a legacy that enlightened the whole world, a legacy that did not include the Nazists, the Fasicts, the world war of Europe, a legacy that did not include the murder of natives, the use of atomic bombs, the double standard and biased unhuman politics of USA. I am proud and hard times do not erase history, read history and see the future of Israel and USA.

Banat Al Riyad

Banat Al Riyad is the first novel for the Saudi femal writer Ragaa Al Sane3. Apart from the problems that the book tackles and exposes while taking us deep into the lives of four Saudi young women on their first steps in adult life and as a reader I really consider this book as a typical modern 21st Century novel, written in the form of weekly mails as each chapter is an email sent by the female writer every Friday. Each chapter starts the way an email starts with the address and subject...etc so it really feels like you're reading an email. The writer begins each mail with quotes, poems, verses from the Koran, hadeeth and sometimes Do3aa. The mails are like TV series where the 4 stories all run in parallel exposing the differences in characters, events, reactions but still they all share the same feelings and problems. The narrating style of the writer is so catching with its simple free flowing sentences, the dialogues are so real and the way she wrote English sentences in Arabic was really innovative. The novel as a whole reminds me of the works of Ehssan Abdelkoddous, the very famous Egyptian writer whose works were very famous in bookstores, cinemas and TV from the sixties till now. The similarity is mainly in the simplicity of the narrating style, the focus on women and their relations with men and reactions to such relations in addition to the oppression they face in our societies. One last word, the novel is a must read and especially for those who liked The Yaakoubian building, the novel, they will find Banat Al Riyad somehow similar in style although the content is very much different. I guess we will see this work soon on TV in Ramadan

Kinds of Love

“Most of the people think that there is only one kind of love, the love that comes after time, after knowing a person and getting sure that he is the one but there are hundreds, thousands of different kinds of love, you do not have to pass through them to know that they exist, but they do exist, love just happens in a year, in a month, in a day or even in minutes, still it is love, a love that has nothing to do with time. You think that you do not know the person but you have already known parts of him and that was enough to make you feel love...”

The Syrian Experience

I'm writing from Damascus, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. I'm here only for two days which have already ended but I managed to steal some time and look around. As soon as I got out of the airport, accompanied by a very friendly officer who loved me instantly just knowing I'm Egyptian and insisted on taking me to the car, I noticed how I did not feel away from Egypt. For all the next days I really felt at home, the buildings, the streets and the shops all exactly like Egypt. No wonder why Syria and Egypt had that famous union in the fifties. As usual I headed straight to the old areas, Al Sham city as the Syrians call Damascus, has an ancient wall with several doors one of them is Bab Touma (St. Thomas door) which is really attributed to st. Thomas who spreaded Christianity in this area. The whole area is christian with ancient churches and monasteries. The narrow streets are amazing and the architecture of the houses....My God. I visited the Omayyad mosque (Al Masjed Al Amawy) that was established 706 AD When Damascus was the heart of the Islamic world at that time under the rule of the Omayyad empire. It is believed to be a pagan temple and this is clear from the roman pillars all around the place then it became a jewish synagogue, a church and finally a mosque. One of the huge rocks building the outer walls really has the carving of Jesus!! Inside there's the tomb of Prophet Yahia (John the baptist/Yo7anna al ma3madan) and the beautiful Islamic architecture prevails. My Christian Syrian friend Kareem took me in a tour INSIDE the mosque (Moslems and Christians live in a beautiful harmony and amazing acceptance for each other) We went to the very famous Hamidiyah market where you can find thousands of small shops selling beautiful hand made ladies' gouns, table cloth, fabrics and cushions. I went to the herbal store of course and made some shopping, the city is really cheap. We had booza, delicious creamy rich ice-cream covered with about quarter of a kilo of pistachew, we had fresh blackberry juice prepared just by soaking blackberry in sugar and drinking the syrup!! Dinner and lunch are more than I can explain, with all the famous dishes that we hear about in Egypt as Shamy food, Oh just go there and taste the real shamy food. Forget what you have in Egypt... Kebab 7alaby, kebba, Fatta, Farrouj with lemon, kefta, lamb meat are just amazing. Kebba naya (a paste of raw meat with herbs and spices) and sawda (raw liver with spices), fattoosh and tabbooleh are the most famous and delicious appetizers. A very famous restaurant is kasr Al Narjis (Narciss palace) a very old Syrian house that is now a restaurant with oriental music and beautiful atmosphere, I didn't want to go to my dull modern hotel toom. The Syrians are very friendly, you make friends just walking in the street, they love egypt and the Egyptians so much with abnormal passion for Um Kalthoum and Abdel haleem songs. One of the waiters asked me to send his regards and kisses to Adel Emam, can anyone help me having this message delivered???

The Persian Experience/Beauty in the Laboratory

Salom, Sobbekheir, Haalet chetooreh... Greeting words in Farsi that you start Your day with in Iran. It's my first time to travel outside Egypt and I think I'm very lucky that it's to Iran. Although I was stopped in Cairo airport and was questioned several times by the police and the head of the security police himself who was relieved with my casual clothes (bright orange shirt, tight low waist Jeans, small waist bag) I found an extremely welcoming attitude in the Imam Khumeiny Airport near Tehran . Now I'm writing to you from Tehran , the capital of Iran, situated in the north. I'm on a work trip visiting Behshahr Industrial company in Tehran and I'm amzed with everything; cleanliness, organization, hardworking men and women, advanced R&D and above all beauty, beauty in the laboratory and I'm not sure about the source of beauty, is it the view from the window that shows a vast green area full of tall pine and berry trees, bright colored flowers and green ground ivy spreading all over the place and also the great snow-covered Tochal Mountain, is it the ornamental plants carefuly placed all around the lab, Is it the beauty of the people here that reflects to the environment, I really don't know... Beautiful women and men (I think Iran should be the source of Models for all the world) with wonderful hair and over friendly attitude, snow covered mountains, huge trees, wide gardens and very clean streets are everywhere. Iranian kabab, Iranian rice, Saffron, Zeresht and other wonderful things whose tatse cannot be forgotten are the main components of Iranian food. This is just the introduction and I will be posting more about Iran and about my Persian experience... Please tell me about anything you want to know and I will be glad to give you all the information from my Iranian friends here (I already made a lot) and I can't tell you how much they love and are fascinated by Egypt as much as I'm fascinated by their wonderful country and their warm overwhelming attitude. I'm having a wonderful time...

The Persian experience/Ordibehesht.

Tehran, Chaharshanbeh 20 Ordibehesht, 1385. According to the Iranian calendar (Hijri shamsy) we are in the twentieth day of the second month Ordibehesht. In the Iranian calendar the new year starts in spring, which -in my point of view- is very logic. The new year is celebrated in 3 or 4 days and this is called Norooz they prepare a tray with seven foods that start with (Seen) like Seeb (apple), Seer (Garlic), Samoneh (a kind of sweet bakery). The months of the year are Farvardeen, Ordibehesht, Khordad, Teer, Mordad, Shahrivar, Mehr, Aban, Azar, Dey, Bahman and Essfand. The days of the week are Shanbeh, Yekshanbeh, Doshanbeh, Sehshanbeh, Chaharshanbeh, Panjshanbeh and Jomeh. The farsi language is written in Arabic letters but some of them are pronounced in a diffrent way and it also contains other letters that do not exist in the Arabic language like P, J, Ch. .... Yesterday I experienced the worst thing in Tehran , traffic, I spent 4 hours stuck in Tehran streets which was mainly due to the International Bookfair. Still I was enjoying the beauty all around in the streets and in the faces. Uptill now I haven't seen a single face that is not beautiful. In the Islamic Republic of Iran and according to the Law, the women have to wear scarfs and I assure you that these scarfs add to their beauty and attraction from which they already have plenty. I went to Valiassr street , the most important and main street in Tehran . On the sides of the street there are canals that allow the water from the mountains to run freely and plant the enormous pine and berry trees. I had a wonderful time in Mellat Park (national park, free!!) and I was amazed with the open green landscape. I'm having a lifetime experience

The Persian Experience/I'm a millionaire!!!

Being a shopping maniac, I couldn't miss the chance of doing a lot of shopping here in Tehran. With just 200 dollars exchanged in Iranian Riyal, I'm a Millionair!! The curency of Iran is the Riyal and also the Toman (10 Riyals) 1 US Dollars is equivalent to 900 Riyals, but still the city here is very expensive. I went to Tajreesh square and had a walk in the old Bazar, I went straight to the herbal stores and I spent like 500 US Dollars buying Iranian rice which is like Basmati rice but bigger and has a strong characteristic smoky flavor, I bought REAL IRANIAN SAFFRON* which is very expensive (about 25 dollars for 2 grams) I bought Zereshk( kind of red sour raisin that is cooked with rice), Sliced bitter almonds, Iranian raisins (Greenish, very sweet and longer than ours), sliced sweet orange peel, dried garlic slices, and a mixture of nuts with dried berries. I tried to buy Iranian carpet but that was extremely expensive, a small carpet just the size of an A4 paper is for 100 US Dollars!! I bought some hand made boxes with wonderful minute decorations, handmade silk scarfs, handmade cushions with golden decorations and other handmade extremely small items. The people are extremely friendly and I was given enormous discounts, thanks to my Iranian friends and being Egyptian, something they highly appreciate here. Today I will go to the mountain that overlooks Tehran and will keep you updated. I miss u all but......I don't want to leave all this beauty I'm having a lifetime experience *Saffron is the dried stigma and top of style (Very small threads that are found inside the flower and are parts of the female reproductive organs in flowering plants whose job is the reception of pollen grains) of the crocus flower ( A type of Sawssan) the flower itself is purple to mauve in colour and saffron is dark red threads that give yellow colour and strong taste in water. It is used for cooking. Rice with saffron is very common in Iran. It is extremely expensive as thousands of flowers are need to produce few grams of Saffron.

The Persian Experience/On the roof of Tehran

I'm just back from a wonderful day in the mountain of Tochal, a huge green-covered, snow-topped mountain that embraces Tehran. They call this place the roof of Tehran and from this place you can really see all Tehran below you, a wonderful view with the huge white beautiful buildings, glowing golden domes of the mosques and of course the vast green landscape of the city. I passed by a small waterfall and I was about to take off my clothes and take a shower in the pure water that is coming from the snow that is melting in this time of the year. I preferred to keep my clothes on and take some photos and drink some of this pure fresh water. Up on the mountain I took the Tele-Cabin and for the first time in my life I SAW SNOW, a wish that came true. Tehran is a city of outstanding beauty, just driving in the streets is pleasure as you can only see on both sides beautiful gardens and beautiful buildings. The Iranians are wonderful, apart from their outer beauty they are very welcoming and warm I just want to hug them all and hug Tehran. I'm going now to a shop that is very famous here in Iran for buying nuts and I'm sure I will spend some Millions of Riyals again. I'm having a lifetime experience

The Persian Experience/Going Nuts!!!

My last day in Tehran ended with a wonderful visit to Tawado3 Shop (They pronounce it Tavazo) which is a very big chain in Iran famous for selling NUTS! I found there things that I have never seen in my life, in addition to the very famous Iranian Pistachio (They call it Pesteh) and Cashew (They call it Badoom Hindi) you can also find several types of Hazelnut and Almonds. Uptill now everything is ok, till you go to the partition for Raisins (They call it Keshmesh) and you find tens of different kinds with various shapes, colours, sizes and tastes. Another partition for dried fruits (Pine apple, Apple, Strawberry, Kiwi, Melon, Watermelon, Oranges, Apricot, Plum, Dates, Cherry) and vegetables (Tomato, Egg plant, pepper). The shop also sells different kinds of flavored and unflavored Iranian tea, which is very unique, something between black and green tea and they don't add sugar to it but prefer to eat sugar cubes while drinking. Another partition displayed hundreds of mixtured of nuts with sweet and colored candy and chocolate. I was amazed with all these products in addition to the Iranian traditional sweets and beautifuly decorated desserts. Another thing that I found in this shop was Iranian Caviar, which is considered the best in the world and of course very expensive (50 g cost 238 US Dollars from the best type and another type cost 126 US Dollars) That was my last day in Tehran and I ended it with more shopping and more love to this city and its people. On my way to the hotel, I had to but another suitcase to take all these things with me. My Trip to Iran was something that i will never forget and I hope I succeeded in giving you just a glimpse of how great Tehran is and how wonderful the Iranian people are.