Life In A Day

Its amazing how one thing leads to another, how everything’s connected. I was just reading Sietske’s inspired post “Blogging” and I was about to write her a comment when I noticed another blogger, Nicolien had left her a comment with a link. I clicked on it and it led me to the trailer of “Life In A Day”:

I too sometimes wonder how at this moment, at this very moment, how many people are doing the same thing we are? How many are going to bed right now? How many are waking up right now? How many are going to work, working, taking time off, or travelling? At this exact moment, how many people are arguing? Fighting? Sharing or spreading happiness? Having dreams come true? How many are preparing food? Eating? Talking on the phone? How many are holding hands? Proposing? Getting married? Having children?

Every day, every single day, all that, and more, happens! All the actions of the world, all the people living in different houses, in different areas in different parts of the world…. over 6 billion souls, and somehow, we’re all connected… (click here to watch the full 1 hour version:-)

My Magnetic Collection!

It was Nadine who gave me the idea, a couple of years ago, to start this collection:

“Woah,” I remember saying when I looked at hers, “you’ve got a lot of magnets on your fridge!” “I know,” she proudly smiled, “I collect them, from every city in the world that I've been”. And ever since, I've thought the idea was inspired!

I've travelled a lot, but I never thought of getting myself magnets as souvenirs. I’d usually pick a desk memento or so, but ever since she told me the magnet story, I've started collecting them as well. What’s more, every time a family member or friend travels and asks me if I’d like something, I’d say yes, a magnet from the country or city!

And so, my collection began to grow… what I especially like about the collection on my fridge is the sense of happiness I get from looking at it, as each magnet reminds me of the country or city I've been to, and all the good memories I've had there. And if I haven’t been there, the magnet would remind me of the person. And so, having a combination of all these magnets is like having a combination of all these memories in one place, that remind me on a daily basis, of all the good places and people I've been blessed to go to and meet in life. And I can only hope that they all keep growing… :-)

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"You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you..."

The Kindness of Strangers

I’m free! Well, almost. I finally finished the seminar in Beirut that I had registered for two and half months ago, all that’s left is the exam on the 15th. But what I’m celebrating about today is NO MORE DIS-CONNEX-ION BUS!!!:-)

I've had a bunch of adventures on the bus over the past few months, I could almost write a book about my mishaps: like a moving truck screeching the side of the bus, bus door accidently opening into a street pole, breaking the glass and yanking the door off (both events of which happened on the same day!), arguing with one of the drivers who used to insist on taking us to Barbeer before Charles Helou, the weirdo passengers on the bus who tried to Bluetooth me, one man chocked on his cough and almost puked in my lap, the chatterboxes, the Connex-ion love, and of course the ultimate killer: arriving to the station just as the bus is driving away, forcing us to wait for the next bus for another half hour…

But today, as I was walking in to the station, I found a girl about my age crying hysterically on the phone. Our eyes met, and she just made my heart tinge with sadness. What could be so wrong that had her crying her eyes out? I wanted to go up to her and tell her that it was all going to be alright, but I couldn't. For some reason, the situation reminded me of a book I once heard about called “The Kindness of Strangers” it got me thinking about how people sometimes really do care, but just don’t do anything... it's an interesting topic, but one that I'll leave for another post...

Till then, ciao Connex-ion! Even though I hate you, I can't help but love you too :-)

P.S. I won't be checking in to Connex-ion on Foursquare for quite a while, so my Mayorship is up for grabs to whoever would like to accept it! :-P

Today, I Don’t Feel Like Doing Anything...

As Bruno Mars sings in The Lazy Song, “Today I don’t feel like doing anything, I just wanna lay in my bed. Don’t feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone, cause today I swear I’m not doing anything…” it’s been a lazy Sunday indeed, but a much needed lazy Sunday. And I’m sorry for not having kept this blog updated for the past couple of weeks but I've been exhausted…

See (two months ago) at work, I voluntarily signed up for a two and a half month seminar at the Head Office in Beirut, which has been brilliant so far. But, because it’s in the Capital and I’m in Tripoli, the transit time is against me, and its wearing me out. It’s been since April in which the routine of my life has been going like this:

07:00AM – 07:45AM: wake up, quick breakfast, get dressed, off to work

08:00AM – 11:30AM: work, work, work

11:30AM – 01:30PM: dis-Connex-ion bus (this is the biggest @$$ pain!)

01:30PM – 02:00PM: cab to HO + quick lunch

02:00PM – 04:45PM: seminar

04:45PM – 05:00PM: back to dis-Connex-ion station (rush hour!)

05:00PM – 07:00PM: dis-Connex-ion bus, home.

I’m frustrated! I’m not complaining about any of it except the four hours of dead time in the dis-Connex-ion bus! I’ve done everything to keep myself entertained; I’ve listened to the radio and memorized all the songs Mix FM, NRJ, and Radio One play, I’ve listened to all 827 tracks on my iPod at least a dozen times, I've memorized all the outdoor advertising billboards on the road from Tripoli to Beirut and back, I've read magazines, I’ve read Paulo Coelho’s latest book “The Winner Stands Alone” (great read!), and I've even caught up on my sleep… but come on, four spare hours a day is just too long a time to kill! (Yes, that was all a vent ;-)

So, “today I swear I’m not doing anything… no, I ain't gonna comb my hair, cause I ain’t going anywhere… no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Really, it’s lazy Sundays like these that give me the recharge I need to restart the work week again on Mondays. So to all my friends and distant family members whom I've shamefully been out of touch with, apologies…

On the bright side, it’s almost over. I still have three more days next week, five more days the week after that, and then the big exam on the 15th of June (which I’d better do well in!). Thankfully, the biggest motivation that’s keeping me pumped during all this is the two week vacation in Canada that I’m going to be taking at the end of June! I’ll be back in the blogging scene again soon, so stay tuned! ;-)

Moving On...

Sometimes, I still feel like we’re back in April, looking forward to the summer of 2010. I was so excited last April, thinking this is going to be a great summer! My brother’s coming home, as are my auntie and cousins from Egypt, I’m getting my first paid vacation which I’d been looking forward to since last year, I had a lot of plans with my family, and my friends, and I couldn’t wait…

Then all of a sudden, I find myself five months later in September. My brother came home and left last night, my auntie and cousins from Egypt came home and left last month, I took my first paid summer vacation and then I went back to work, Ramadan came and is leaving in a couple of days, it all just went by so fast!

But it was good. And it was real. How do I know that it was real? It’s all because of the beautiful pictures that I took, to remind me of the beautiful moments I spent with the people I love…

I watched a bunch of great movies at the theater this summer, with my top 3 being “Toy Story 3”, “Salt”, and “Inception” (in descending order). And of course I watched a bunch of bootleg DVDs and Television Series… I went to Jbeil three times, once with family and twice with friends. It was the first time I visit the city of Jbeil ever, and I instantly fell in love with it. In Jbeil, I also got to see “Mashrou3 Leila” Live in concert at the Byblos Festival… There was the “Fifa World Cup” this summer, and once again, Germany disappointed, hehe… We went to Ehden, and we went on a weekend trip to Zahle & Chouf, which was one of the best family times I spent together with my mum, brother, aunts, and cousins… My friends from abroad, Zak, Rawaa, Danny, and Carla all came to Lebanon (from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar respectively) and it was great meeting up… I finally spent some quality time at the beach this summer, and got a nice tan too… All The “Shoot As You Walk” Events have been brilliant opportunities for me to test out my new “advanced” digital photography skills… And of course there were all the countless cafes we sat at…

L7amdillah. The weather's getting cooler and I’m ready for the fall… :-)

Airport Love

Yesterday, we went to pick my brother up from the airport. We haven’t seen him since early January but for some reason, it felt much longer than that to me. I remember when we picked him up last year; it was exactly on Christmas Day. And when he arrived, I remember the airport was quiet as most of those coming home for the holidays had already arrived. But yesterday, it was bustling with people…

My brother’s flight was supposed to arrive at 2:00PM and so we were there right on time. But as I just mentioned, the airport (at least the arrivals section) was packed! All kinds of people of all ages were there, some holding flowers and some holding balloons in their hands. And as I stood there in the middle of them all, I couldn’t help but feel the love…

A handsome man in his twenties had just arrived, and seconds later, a beautiful woman, also in her late twenties, ran to him with open arms. They embraced each other there for a long five minutes and he kept kissing her, and her him, and whispered words of love brought them closer… Minutes later, a young father arrived, and as soon as he caught sight of his family, he crouched down to the floor and opened his hands as his two young children ran to hug him. The children, not more that six years old, had the biggest smiles on their faces as they were united with their father who they apparently hadn’t seen in a long time… Then I turned around to see a woman with her baby girl just arriving. At first I thought she was looking in my direction but then I looked over my shoulder to see an elderly woman, her mother, coming up to her as tears welled in her eyes. She grabbed her and they hugged, tears rolling down both mother and daughter’s cheeks. Behind her stood her sister, who also began tearing at the sight of their reunion…

You know the airport love I’m most used to is the one in which people say goodbye, the departure (heart-breaking) love. But just as beautiful is the one in which people say hello, the arrival (heart-opening) love…

And as I stood there taking all this love in, my father nudged me, pointing at a boy in a blue shirt arriving. It was my brother, and we all went up to him to welcome him home, adding to the airport love… :-)

The Bare Necessities of Life

These people are still in my head, the poor old men and women of Tripoli. Before I went to bed last night, and the night before, I was imagining them going to bed at the same time I was, in their crumbling little rooms. And when I got up this morning, I imagined them too, getting up at the same time I was (or a little/lot earlier)…

I went to work. That’s where I spend the majority of my time. But what did they do all day? How did they spend their time?

I could imagine them going out for strolls in the souks, kids playing in the courtyard, the supposed prostitute limping around, mothers cooking, washing laundry with cheap soap in buckets full of murky water. I don’t know what else to think… other than the fact that I’ve been overly thankful these past two days, thankful for the most basic things in life, things that most people take for granted: a roof over my head, a good house, a warm bed, food and water, nice clothes…

But somewhere underneath all the dust and dirt, I think I’m beginning understand what keeps their heads held up. It’s something that everyone in this world should have (because it doesn’t cost money). And it’s called: the ties that bind…

Their mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, neighbors, friends, or lovers… there’s got to be at least one person in this world that you turn to. They had a tight grip on each other. And maybe that kind of love really is all you need…