Reflections of A Princess

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Arabs And The Vicious Circle...

3:00 - Khaled Bin Waleed...I watched Hind eating Hamza's Kabd today...not a pleasant experience...especially if your fasting..Gross...

4:00 - Al-Embara9oora (MBC)...the botox in those ladies lips is horrendous...and so far..Fajer El Sa3eed hasn't impressed me yet...

5:00 - Cinderella (LBC)...true life story of Su3ad Hosni...very interesting...she falls off the stairs when she's a kid as she's trying to run to the malja' because of the war at the time...

10:00 - Al-3andaleeb (MBC)...true life story of Abdulhaleem Hafez...his brother goes to fight the war against el engleez we el yahood...and how there's a Moslem Brotherhood forming for Jeehad..

12:00 - Wa Yaktiloona Yasmeen..(LBC)..story about a Syrian family that lives in London when the terrorist attack of July 7th happens...the brother becomes a suspect and they take the sister Yasmeen for interrogation..the entire family suffers as the neighborhood declares war against them...and how the entire Moslem community in London is also affected...

Yes, I always say every Ramadan that I won't watch anything depressing but I do anyway! I actually tried to stay away from the Su3ad Abdulla, Hayat El Fahad and all the others Kuwaiti episodes for that reason...besides...there were just way too many out there this year..but then I ended up watching episodes with bigger issues!

What upsets me the most is the vicious circle of life...is it life or is it being an Arab or being a Moslem that war follows us around!

It's so confusing that one doesn't even know who to blame...7asbee ya Allah mink ya Osama bin Laden....7asbiya Allah minkom ya el engeleez ...o hasbee Alla 3alaikum ya yahood...o hasbi ya Allah min kol thalem fee ha dinya...

Oh...I forgot to mention the commercials...the ones about Cancer on Kuwait TV (I have to cry everytime I see it)..then there's the ones about El erhab on MBC (the kid's tennis shoes on the ground after a guy bombs the place)...or the one on LBC about the Lebanese kids that have lost their families during the war...

I know such things in life exist and we have to be aware of it all but when you know some issues are completely out of your hands...it sure leaves a person very angry and depressed!

This was my experience for the first week of Ramadan, how was yours?

Friday, September 22, 2006

HAPPY RAMADANING!!


Embarak 3alikum el shahar!

I don't know about you but flipping through the TV channels and watching the advertisements for the Ramadan mosalsalat has already got me overwhelmed...All those women with their problems...UGH! Not only do I have to have the willpower to stop smoking this month...now I have to avoid the TV all together!

I bought the nicotine gums and tried them...they suck..I felt nauseated and it got me all dizzy...guess that's the end of that solution...Now I just have to have the guts to place the patch on my arm and hope for the best...

Just think...in 30 days Ramadan will be over and we would be at the end of October...looks like this year is nearly over...if I manage to quit smoking..now that would be the greatest accomplish ever...but can I really do it? God knows!

If I could just get my hands on the assholes that invented the damn thing..I'd be much happier!

Trivial Facts:
A study conducted by UCLA's Department of Psychiatry has revealed that the kind of face a woman finds attractive on a man can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle.

For example: If she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features.

However, if she is menstruating, or menopausal, she tends to be more attracted to a man with a spear lodged in his chest and tape over his mouth while he is on fire.

No further studies are expected.

Here's wishing you all a peaceful Ramadan and kabbal Allah 6a3atkum...:)

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Organized Chaos...Need Help!

I'm now entering a time in my life that I'd like to call "Organized Chaos"...it's when you suddenly have been doing something for a few years and decide it's time to QUIT...yes...I have one more week left at my job and then I'm heading to a whole new world....My mobile number will change 'coz I gotta give it back and go back to my original mobile number..(for my blogger friends I'll be forwarding you a message with the new one soon in case you have the old number)....actually it's a good time to go through all the numbers and delete the names that you have no idea who the hell they are! Funny how one gets so into his/her job that your entire identity gets shaken up and you wonder who you are....which in reality is a good thing because we are not our jobs...we actually are our own identity and the job should be just an additional part of our life...NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND...at least that's what I think!

I'm also trying to face my demons by contemplating quitting smoking! Anybody who's anybody that knows me...knows bloody well..that's big of me to mention...but I really do...I can't do it cold Turkey...so if you've used patches, gums or hypnosis or any other amazing cure to get rid of this habit...please do fill me in...the internet has got a million and one way to cure it...and the whole thing got me so overwhelmed that I haven't ordered jack shit for it!

As for my personal life...well...it's a crossroad too....sometimes we single people may bitch and wine about our lives...about how lonely we are...or about wanting to find love and romance...but we hardly ever really look at the real picture of romance...Have you ever seen your parents fight? It aint pretty...Naturally...all couples fight...and the making up is sometimes worth it...but the amount of energy that goes into creating the perfect relationship can be exhausting...we women tend to spend hours analyzing every man's move...to the point we become obsessed...we are at fault..and it's not the man's fault...but the problem is...we can't help it...it sucks...Men want us like them and we want them like us...we both want the other to be perfect! As women it means never discussing the relationship and how it's going...never showing any reluctancy or insecurity...never look slightly worried if the thought "does he still feel the same way about me" ever comes up...and any other form of emotional feelings that makes us woman who we are.....HOW IN HEAVEN'S NAME is that possible??? So yes...we single women might complain...but sometimes the peace and serenity that our brains have when we are single and alone might not be so bad compared to the hell that attached women go through as they go on a journey of two personalities clashing until one day (if ever) they become one! Bottom line...they want us to be practical and we want them to be emotional..and it's in our both genes not to ever happen...UNLESS the man is metrosexual...which sometimes gets us all worried if he's gay...and in the women's case if she's not emotional...she's an Overconfident, feelingless bitch who's so conceited and can't see past her nose that her practicality just means that men who fall for her are into being stepped on...he's into S&M's or something...or let's just say makes him a wimp and who wants a wimp anyway!

So back to Organized Chaos....yes...this is where I stand...full of fear of the future...Hoping for peace and serenity and wondering how older people do it day in and day out...and if you're wondering what IT is...I mean growing up...it just doesn't get any easier...your worries increase...your fears of the future haunt you and you wish you could go back in time when you're just a kid and your parents did all the worrying...meanwhile you're sucking on the Red Loolee ice cream waiting for cartoons to start already!

Friday, September 08, 2006

Journal of A Single Gal in Q8 - Episode 20

From last episode...

"Mabrook habeebti! Allah yetamim 3ala 7'air! Did you ask your parents?" she asked worriedly.

She closed her eyes. She knew she was going to have to soon enough.

"Hala, I want to..but I'm too scared."

Why couldn't she have married someone that she knew her parents would be ecstatic about? Why did she have to fall in love with someone that wasn't perfect? Because, she thought to herself, life was never perfect! Maybe she should've married Tarek and be done with it but she cringed at the thought. It was just too much to ask of her to marry Tarek.

She remembered how her Mother had tried convincing her. Her Mom had no idea what kind of a person Tarek was. Just because he was from the in-laws, didn't mean that he was perfect. It was hard to explain to her mother. She just didn't have the heart to tell her that Tarek was a very bad boy. The kind that good girls should stay away from.

She'd first met Tarek years ago when her cousin had gotten engaged. As in customs, this was not a marriage of just two people, it was a marriage of two families. Never an easy situation. It was a hard time for her cousin. Her fiance's mother was an old fashioned woman and she considered her eldest son to be God's gift to this earth.

Although in some way, she was a very kind woman and fun too. Something about her always made her smile. She reminded her of a character from an old Kuwaiti episode, 7ababa where young girls would sit on the floor and listen to her stories all night.

Then again, this was different. No one was going to be good enough for her son. Other relatives from his side of the family especially the single female ones (who had hoped that they would've landed him) had eyed her cousin up and down with vicious stares looking very unimpressed even though her cousin was beautiful.

Her cousin had transformed before her very eyes from the independent, strong willed woman to a "Khaltee, ayiblich shay?" one. It was a transformation that sometimes drove her crazy. His mother, no doubt, rubbed it in. He was her eldest son and the apple of her eye and his new wife was taking her favorite son away from her! "ee, yibeelee chaay!" she would say. Her cousin would get up and get it and her husband would gloat with happiness that his wife was taking care of his mother. True, tradition asked it to be that way but it never went down well with her when it was obvious that the mother-in-law took full advantage of that.

"Wow, nice bag!" she told her cousin one day as she starred at the fancy bulberry bag.

"Yes," she replied with an embarrassed look on her face, "You know I don't normally care for brands but Ghada (her new sister-in-law) said that I should buy it."

"Oh..?" she replied as she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't have a habit of changing my bags daily but Ghada thought it was such a terrible thing that I wanted her off my back so now I'm starting to do just that!" she answered. This was not the cousin that she knew. She was a very modest girl and although dressed beautifully normally, she was not one that ever cared for brand names. To her cousin, she was blending into the middle class society that paid more money for brand names than royalty. In fact, sometimes paying more than they could afford to the point of debt. It was obvious though that her cousin cared about his family's opinion and she figured as the saying goes "if you can't beat them, join them" even though she wasn't sure she liked the fact that her cousin had changed in that way but as long as it didn't hurt her cousin changing herself, she thought, then no harm done.

During the preparations of the wedding, both families had to meet on a regular basis and check back on their assignments. The men in the family took care of arranging for the men's wedding that included reserving the hall, delivering invitations and making sure that the best bu7'oor (incense) was ordered. While the women took care of the woman's wedding which was an endless list of a million and one tasks!

It was then that Tarek would go out of his way to give her a look of admiration. She had to admit, he had a good sense of humor. He would crack jokes and make the little girls of the family giggle and the older woman laugh, especially her mother. He was that type. He knew how to make the older generation happy by either teasing them of their beauty or kissing their foreheads as a form of respect. In other words, he was good at making the important people like him; A kalakjee.

At first she had been scared of him even though he was quite good looking. His soft black hair was swept to the side, his features were distinguished and there was something charming about him. When she'd first met him the day both families had first gotten together, he had been wearing his military uniform and that's was had scared her. She had heard enough stories about Kuwaiti men in uniform whether it was military, police or even the CID. In her opinion, they'd seen too much in their lives not to mention that their background was completely alien to her. It wasn't that she had anything against them but they just weren't her type!

She'd heard rumors about how they went about raiding houses of possible prostitution. She imagined that no doubt such men would have close contact with the women they'd arrest. She even heard that these women were sometimes recruited for future use for whatever mission they would be useful for. It was an ugly world that was far from her environment.

By the time her cousin's wedding was going to take place, Tarek had utilized all his charms and she'd begun to wonder if she had judged him harshly. She began to enjoy his company more and more and they would spend hours on the phone. He was a good talker and he made her laugh and in the end she began to fall in love.

When he began speaking of marriage, she played with the idea in her head. Something about their relationship just didn't seem right. Sometimes he wouldn't answer her calls and would say that he was working. His continuous admiration to every female that walked by was unnerving but still she would give him the benefit of the doubt. Until things moved even more serious and she decided it was time to put her suspicions to rest.

She decided to play Tarek at his own game and be her own CID. She was going to do the unthinkable and spy on him. She knew that he made disappearing acts and she wanted to know where it is that he would disappear to.

On a quite night, driving down the fourth ring road heading to Salmiya, she had spotted him turning into some spooky building. He'd told her that he wasn't feeling well and that he was going to visit the hospital. She'd waited outside his home and then followed him from a distance.

The darkness of the neighborhood made it easy for her to park from a distance. She watched as he parked his big Mercedes in the open parking lot of the building. She also watched another car park at the same time in which came out a woman with very long black hair. She squeezed her eyes harder to try to see more of her but all she could see was her long black hair.

They both entered the building and her heart began to race.

"She could be going anywhere," she thought to herself but she knew it was now or never. She drove closer to the building and ran towards the elevator to see what floor they'd stopped on. It was the second floor, she decided to race up the stairs to get a chance to hear them as they stepped out of the elevator. Her legs were weak but she continued to race up the stairs and came to a sudden halt as she heard voices.

It was sickening to hear. The same crap of charm was being used on this woman. She decided then and there to confront him.

She had no idea what she was going to say but suddenly found herself barging into the hall and saying "hello" sarcastically.

It took him a while to absorb what was happening as he pushed the other girl into the apartment and closed the door.

It was then she decided that there wasn't much to say so she turned around and headed back down the stairs as he came running after her.

"Where are you going? Wait" he yelled as she continued to ignore him and rush down the stairs.

"Listen to me, I told you that I want to marry you," he shouted.

Suddenly she stopped and turned to look at him. "So that makes it ok then? The fact that you want to marry me means that I forgive you for this!? Am I supposed to be happy?"

"These girls don't mean anything to me. You are different, you are going to be my wife," he said defiantly.

With that, she laughed and replied calmly but sternly "How typical of a mentality that I could never live with! You make me sick so don't come near me again!"

She'd finally reached the ground floor and as she walked back to her car, she realized that he hadn't followed her and she was glad of that.

She knew then and there that it was her fault that she hadn't listened to her first instinct but years later she now knows that she was glad it had happened that way. She smiled as she remembered dropping exactly two tears after having gone through that whole ordeal. It was then she realized that she hadn't even really been in love with him or else she would've cried a river! The two tears were simply her disappointment of yet another experience that she was supposed to learn from and grow as all the books would say!

Still, she was happy for the experience, after all, she could've actually married the jerk and then really been miserable. Yes, small miracles do happen even though she knew that one doesn't necessarily recognize them that way at the time.

She was jolted back to reality when she heard Hala say "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine. Once they see that your happiness is at stake, they'll agree."

"I hope so, Hala. Wish me luck, I think I'll talk to my mother tonight."

To be continued...

Saturday, September 02, 2006

September Eclipse..You have been Warned!

According to all the horoscope predictions, there will be two eclipses this month. The first one, a hard one to handle whether on the world front or in your personal lives. It's predicted to be on September 7th. If you don't know much about eclipses, well, they represent beginnings and endings..and change is a coming my friend, whether you want it or not. I don't know about you but that makes me nervous. Hey but if it's a good change...then bring it on! You think I can strike a deal with the universe?

The second one is a more friendlier one and that falls on September 22nd. I guess you could say that it kinda eases up the shock of the first one for us. Of course, there's nothing one can do to prepare for such times. Maybe hope for the best or better yet take an example from the Dali Lamma who says don't be attached too much to anything that way if you lose it, it's no big deal i.e. learn detachment. Yes, it's definitely easier said than done but what the hell, I might as well apply it to myself, at least for this month. Therefore, I hereby declare myself going numb so if blogosphere suddenly ends, it'll be ok, I've detached myself from loving it and it wouldn't matter....(yeah, right...as if!)

What's a new beginning you'd like to see in your life and what endings would you like to get rid of?