Blogging Ramadan

To read people's thoughts and experiences Ramadan from all around the world, check:

www.ramdan.nomadlife.org

First Day of Ramadan in Amman

My first day of Ramadan in Amman was definitely different than those first days I used to have in Cairo and Kuwait. However, in this case different was definitely good…

I started the day off by going to the campus of Jordan University with Monika and Annika…That did not make the fasting any easier, since for the bigger part of the morning and early afternoon I was standing at the AIESEC stand, in the sun for the part of the time, doing a lot of talking to students about AIESEC…Water was all I was thinking about…

During my time at Jordan University I noticed a difference between Ramadan in Cairo and this is Amman and it is how Christians deal with Ramadan…in Cairo, Christians refrain from eating and drinking around their fasting friends or they would ask whether their eating or drinking would be too tempting for the fasting individuals…It was an expectation usually but never a must, or so I believe at least…At Jordan university, the Christians were smoking, drinking water and chewing gum…

One of the guys I met at the King Abdullah Fund office is usually a heavy smoker and it was good for me (obviously not for him) to see him suffer because he was in dire need of nicotine, he was telling me how everyone looked to him like a walking cigarette; how we walked into the bathroom and there were loads (of publicly fasting) guys smoking and could not bear to stay because of the temptation and how this is the first time in 3 years that he fasts since he usually could not live without his nicotine…How is this good for me? It proved a point and it is that I am still not hooked up enough on nicotine and I can still think of myself as a casual social smoker…

For iftar, I did something that many Egyptians would look down upon…I had Foul (Fava beans) and Humus (chickpeas)…No pigeons, no turkey, no rice with nuts and liver, no stuffed vine leaves…none of that…and it was definitely my first…
A definite recommendation for anyone in Amman is Hashem Restaurant in Downtown, any cab driver would know it. It has the best Humus I have ever had and close to the best Foul (Egypt still masters the Foul area)…

Hashem was followed by going with girls to Jabri, have a 250g piece of Kinafeh with cheese, the best dessert ever created…That was followed by a shisha and an icy-cold Egyptian Karkade with Monika at the place that goes by the name of Al-Rashid Ecotourism café…Don’t ask why its called that since everyone in Amman who is interested has been trying to work this out but no avail…

Amman is definitely a beautiful city of hills and a strong Levantine touch but again when it comes to Ramadan, Cairo is the place to be…If not for Monika, Annika and Oksana, I would have not felt a Ramadan at all…

Definitions of Old...

The last day before Ramadan (the 1st day of Ramadan for my parents in Kuwait and other people in the Saudi driven part of the Islamic world) I had some quality time with Annika who is responsible for external relations for the AIESEC Initiative to Jordan…

The highlights of the night were having my first Kinafeh with cheese in 2 or 3 years, Chinese food in Amman, checking out the Al-Hussein mosque (which is nowhere as old as the Hussein mosque in Cairo – again different Husseins were in mind when they were built), Annika’s stories of her experiences in Ghana and Cameroon (which she definitely needs to share on her blog or somewhere and then finally a shisha at a café that had so much of an Egyptian feel to it…

One clear difference between the Ammani girls and me: the definition of old; for Amman what is an old mosque is a slightly pre-modern mosque in Cairo…I am challenging my worldview...

...MC 05-06...

MC Team 05-06 at the Official Dinner of IC in India

MC Team 05-06 after our last MC Meeting, we made it fun and went to TGI Firday's Maadi

MC Team 05-06 before watching one of Egypt's matches in the African Cup being held in Cairo...It was my first experience to watch an Egypt match in a cafe in Cairo and it was awesome...

For people who might wonder where my team mates are up to now:


Tarek is doing his final construction engineering year at AAST Cairo and looking at helping AIESEC Egypt set up an LC in Port Said

Maggie is currently the CCP of IPM 2007

Martha is a research executive at AC Nielson here in Cairo

Nisrin is still working on seeing that the expansion to Lebanon happens although it was put on hold due to the events of the summer

Amr works for HR at Ericsson Egypt

Luly works for Organisational Management at Ericsson Egypt


Looking at other team combinations and other teams...I can definietely see that there would have not been a potentially better team than the one I had for 13 months...

 

AIESEC Bahrain...Strengthening Presence

Alaa and Aisha, I have had the privelege to meet them at IC, definitely some of the smartest individuals I have ever met...The two of them and Sahar (another Bahraini delegate at IC) were an inspiration to me throughout my IC 06 Experience



Sahar and Sara (You Can Delegate) sitting on the extreme right...This is a pic taken in Bahrain with all the members of AIESEC Bahrain


More pics from AIESEC Bahrain...

 

Kristina and Claude

Kristina and Claude the leaders of the newest official expansion initiatives in MENA...
Bahrain and Qatar!!!

 

 

A Dream Becomes A Reality...

Less than 2 days ago...the global plenary of AIESEC has made the decision to support its development in the Middle East and North Africa...

We have had our MENA pre-meeting, finalised our plan for the year and defined what we believe is the unique role that AIESEC can play in the MENA region...

So now MENA is not an initiative anymore but actually a reality...The Middle East and North Africa Growth Network!!!

MENA has made this IC hectic for me...but it was worth every ounce of effort I put in...All I can say is that I am happy that at last the MENA voice will be present in the global network and that AIESEC is taking the right steps towards bringing real impact to this part of the world...

People who I would like to congratulate and who had this as their dream but then were not lucky enough (like I think I am) to be here to witness this...Reda Maaroufi, Nadine Wiegert, Haykel Beji,Tom Gara, Deepak Nair, Belhassen Guettat...

Thanks to the AIESECers of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia and the UAE...Thanks to Basma, Naoufel, Ahmed, Kristina, Claude, Monika and Samy...U guys will rock and therefore will get MENA to rock...

IC nearly over...Tamer is happy :) :) :)

A Great Mind Departs...

Not just a great mind has departed but also a great symbol of tolerance, Egyptian identity, pride and hope has departed...

Naguib Mahfouz has left our world...

He wrote the Cairo Trilogy, Children of the Alley (that got him nearly killed in the 90s, since it has been considered blasphemous by the more fundamentalist Muslims), Chatter over the Nile, The Thief and the Dogs, The Quail and the Autumn, Miramar and much more...

Being at IC in Poland and being disconnected from the World...I found out through a friend's msn's screen name...Unexpectedly I shed a tear...Naguib Mahfouz and his work symbolize an Egypt that loves, an Egypt that co-exists, an Egypt that tolerates, an Egypt with hope...

I hope that Egypt had more Naguibs...

Another Egyptian Train Disaster!!

The latest Egyptian Train Accident:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/21/egypt.traincrash/index.html

This has been happening too many times...when is something going to be done about it...The worst incident ever was the one that happened when more than 300 people were burnt alive in the train heading south for the Eid holidays...

Landing and Applause!

Flying on Czech airlines a few times, once on Malev, and now the first time on both Austrian airlines and the Polish LOT airlines...I have come to see that central and Eastern Europeans like to applaud the pilot for landing the plane...in some cases the landing was not worth applauding...But then the drunken British passengers (who were enjoying a porn magazine while sharing their comments with everyone within hearing range throughout the 55 minute flight from Vienna to Warsaw) might have contributed to that...

The Warsaw Curse...

The second time I arrive at Warsaw's Chopin's International Airport and its also the second time I arrive somewhere without my luggage arriving...

First time, my luggage decided to stay a few more hours in Prague but this time my luggage seemed like it liked to get to spend more time in Vienna...

Should be arriving today...Thanks to the Star Alliance Toilet Kit...everyting is under control...

ONLY a start...

The text of a UN Security Council draft resolution aimed at ending the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5249488.stm