Ahmet has finally created his blog...

Being the techie he is, it was highly abnormal that Ahmet had no facebook account nor a blog...

Well, things have changed, unfortunately not in terms of facebook, he is still very much against it, but now he is blogging!

Visit Ahmet Necmittin Giray's blog

Ahmet, welcome on board!

Only in the Gulf

UAE blocks low-paid workers from driving

- www.arabian business.com

To many, this might sound shocking but then I believe that Kuwait had a similar law when I was younger...many things being based on how much you earned...a big one is whether you can sponsor a visit visa...so if you earn less than a certain amount, you can't invite a family member to come and visit you...I know that some had to resort to others so they can bring their loved ones for 2 or 3 weeks...quite degrading...

A 2nd AIESEC Gulf Conference for an Emerging MENA

I was very happy to receive this from Annika, my friend and my successor on leading the MENA GN:

"Today was an incredible day here in Qatar.

As I sat in the closing plenary of the 2nd ever Gulf Conference, I looked around me and saw 75 AIESEC members from Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, the UAE, and Iran. Within the membership of these countries, about 20 countries of origin were represented -- from Somali and Sudan, to Iraq and Syria, from India and Bangladesh, to Saudi and Jordan.

A little less than a year ago the Gulf Conference was born, by two visionary MCPs in the Bahrain and Qatar who wanted to have a conference in Qatar but couldn't because of cultural and legal restrictions. Thus the first Gulf conference was held in Bahrain in February, with representatives of Bahrain, Qatar and Oman and members had the chance to discuss what kind of AIESEC they would like to see in the Gulf.

Here in the Gulf, student run organizations are completely unheard of here as young people are not expected to be able to take care of themselves and are given no real responsibility. It is unusual that nationals and expatriate people are working together on the same level, discussing the future of a region that impacts both of their futures.

Everyday, LCs face challenging ethical questions: will we be able to attract companies or other Gulf nationals if part of the leadership is Indian, or Sri Lankan? Will everyone feel comfortable being part of a training where both males and females are present? How will a shy new female member work in a team with males as she has never spoken to a male in her life expect her father and her brothers?

This is special conference. There are no AIESEC dances at this conference, definitely no alcohol, there aren't many guys and girls hugging but there is a spirit and desire for development and change that is incredible. You can hear loud and clear the voices of young people who want to develop, to contribute to a sustainable future of AIESEC in the Gulf.

Not only did these members stand up saying they believe in AIESEC, companies, organizations finally stepped forward to say Yes we support AIESEC. Companies like Qatar Petroleum, the Qatar Businessman's Association, Unilever, PwC, Salam International, BNP Paribas participated and talked about how amazed they were by the scale of the conference and the professionalism. Sheikh Faisal, the second most important man in the country of Qatar gave the opening speech talking about the importance of youth and his support for AIESEC, afterwards inviting all the AIESEC members to his musuem, where we spent a wonderful evening seeing ancient pieces of art, fossils, clothing, cars, carpets and much more before being invited to a wonderful dinner. At the end of the night the Sheikh stood up and addressed the students, talking about his experience growing up and how he had to try and fail many times before getting it right. I wish you could all be there to see the looks on the members faces as he talked about what an important experience AIESEC would provide them.

and that's not to mention the media who will help spread the amazing work of AIESEC here.

Now it's time to run with the momentum created by the event to really bring to life Qatar and the rest of the Gulf countries.

A huge huge recognition goes out to Petra Chovancova, the MCP of Qatar who has pushed hard to make this conference happen and not to accept the belief that it's just not possible in Qatar. Also to Monaem, the MENA ER manager who worked intensively with the OC and the VP ERs in the Gulf to raise partners for the event, and Driss who has been working on bringing back members to AIESEC here and training them to understand and love exchange. Also congratulate David from Oman for doing a great job managing the agenda.

From a happy MENA Director"
--
Annika Rudback
Director of the Middle East & North Africa
AIESEC International


Being here in Madrid not doing much more than studying, it does help to see that one was part of creating such a good thing in the two last years. Thanks Annika for always being a constant reminder of that :)

29th of November: Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Soy Refugiado de Palestina
Mi derecho: el retorno
Mi deseo: un futuro
Mi patria esta solo en la memoria

I am a Palestinian Refugee
My right: The Return
My hope: a future
My homeland is only in memory

- Raquel Martí Lezana
Executive Director of the UNRWA in Spain

AIESECers at IE

There are a few AIESEC alumni at Instituto de Empresa, where I am currently studying towards getting my Masters of the Management of Telecom and Digital Business.

Some of the alumni came here through the IE-AIESEC scholarship program.

The AIESEC alumni just started their blog, on which they will be sharing their IE experience with the AIESEC community at large.

To read more about AIESECers at IE, click here

Egyptian Wildlife - Fauna

This is a brief but also very disturbing snapshot of the state of Egyptian wildlife. I am not going to even wonder what the government is doing about it, I believe my guess is probably as correct as guesses can get to be....

For Mohamed El-Hebeishy's Snapshot, click here

The Bedouins of Sinai - The Start of a Rebellion?

The media today disseminated news about a group of Bedouins kidnapping 25 policemen. It happened after the policemen had shot one of the members of the Bedoiun group.

The issue of the Bedouins of Sinai has come a lot more frequently in the recent years. Bradley, in his controversial book "Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharohs on the Brink of Revolution" dedicates one of its chapters to covering the issue of the Bedouins of Sinai. They have been recently linked to the terrorist attacks in Taba, Sharm El Sheikh and Dahab. There has also been news about a brawl and gun shooting over whether Mubarak's photo should be hung at the venue of a meeting bringing together all the Bedouin tribes' representatives.

Obviously, things are heating up in the deeper Sinai, the Sinai that exists beyond the beach resorts and the night clubs along the coast line.

Is Bradley right about the Bedouins playing a part in the bigger 1952-like revolution that would hit Egypt in the years to come? Will there be a revolution at all on the Egyptian mainland, or have thee Egyptians been rid of their spirit of fighting for what is theirs, for what is right?

2 Surprises on a Saturday Afternoon

I woke up today and decided that I should do some grocery shopping, aiming at covering most of my needs for the next month so I would have to only buy a few things during the month. What I did not remember that today is all Saints' Day in Spain and that most places are closed since people usually go and visit their dead on this specific day of the year. After realizing that, I decided to take the metro and go to the El Corte Ingles (department store with everything you can imagine being sold there).

1st Surprise:

While waiting 5 or 6 minutes for the metro to arrive, I did notice two men, one with a rather small build and complexion of a Latin American. The other one was of a big build and looked Eastern European. They were obviously of the working class. I took note of them due to the apparant build and racial differences.

Once the train arrived, I got on and so did they but from a different door. They walked over to be right next me, the smaller guy looked at me and kind of whispered something in Spanish to me. I did not understand a word of what he said so I just decided to act as if I was not listening to him.

Moments later, he was moving up next to a man and from under a jacket he was holding I could guess he was stealing the other man's wallet. The pick pocket's friend with a big build moved in so as to stop me from seeing what was happening as well as disorient the victim just a bit. At the moment, I was sure of what was happening. I did not know what to do. I thought of telling the victim in English of what was happening but I did not. It took me too long to think what is it that I should do. I feared retaliation from the man with the bigger build. All of this was happening between where I got and where I was supposed to get off, which was only one station away.

The metro arrived in the station, the pick pocket moved quickly to be as far away as possible from the victim. The victim realized that his wallet was missing, he started looking around but then the pick pocket was somewhere behind me where I could not see him anymore but the man with the bigger build stayed. I thought of saying something then but I realized it was too late, the bigger man did not have the wallet on him and the main pick pocket was probably about to get off the metro from another door that was further down. I just walked away...

I still wonder what is it that the pick pocket told me in Spanish before he went ahead with what he was doing. I wonder whether I was just made an accomplice then. I wonder whether I should have spoken up and that the bigger guy would have not hurt me. I wonder whether I should have still told the victim of what I saw before getting off the train.

I felt weak. I felt helpless. I felt bad.

I called my mother a minute later and she told me I had done the right thing since they might have retaliated. I still feel I could have done more about it. I am not sure how though...I feel I need to have a plan of what to do if this is something I get to witness again especially since Madrid is notorious for its pick pockets.

All I am sure about is that I will continue to keep my wallet in my front pocket as long as I am still in Madrid and I hope I can get to develop the guts of my friend Emanuel whom I was with when he pushed a female pick pocket away from him on a metro in Milan.

Surprise 2:


It was my second time in El Corte Ingles and I had noticed before that there was a part where some of the products had Hebew writings on them. I just assumed they were from Israel and walked off. This time I decided to check what the products were and it turns out there is a whole section for Kosher food.

Why was that a surprise for a moment at least?

The store had no Halal foods section but had a Kosher one when there is a million Muslims in Spain but only 50,000 Jews (split between Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga).

Later on, I could rationalize it since El Corte Ingles was more of a high end place and that most of the Muslims who were mainly Moroccan immigrants would not have the financial affluence to afford to be there, in addition to that the area of town was pretty far from where most the Muslims lived, in Lavapies.

Kosher

I walked out with at least two products from the Kosher part of the store. It was the first time I picked something off the shelf without reading through the ingredients to check that no pork products have made the way into it. It was a new feeling. It was new to me to have more trust in an Israeli product than a product from any other country in the world. It is amazing to see how the smaller most trivial things can bring us so close.

I think it is the first time that I contribute my money directly towards the Israeli economy (through buying of Israeli products) and it felt normal. I do not think my father will agree especially that it is his money that I am spending here in Madrid. Fortunately, he does not read this blog and will only get to find out when I get to tell him about this in person.

It has been a thought provoking day for me. Now, I need to go back to proofreading my not as thought provoking marketing casre report.

Madrid is not Tenerife

Although it has been a great improvement over Rotterdam in terms of weather, Madrid is still far away from what it is thought to be. Many sunny days but then when it gets cold, it does get cold. Still in October and it is currently at this moment, 5 degress celsius outside. It has also been raining quite a bit throughout the day and we are expecting more of that over the week...

So yes, Madrid and Tenerife are both considered Spanish soil but when it comes to the weather they are leagues apart.

First real meal...ever!

Today, I felt like I should put some time into making myself feel better, so I thought of making my very own first ever home cooked meal, made totally from scratch...so no microwaving was involved, not running down to a friend's place (usually Anisha) and helping her out in cooking me a real homemade meal...

I made fusilli pasta with a bit of an innovative (at least in my case) sauce to go with it and some salad (didn’t have most thing you need to put into a salad so it was based on only lettuce and onions and a pre-made salad dressing) and I did close it off with tiramisu I bought from the supermarket...

Well, not totally home-cooked but great progress...have some of it still and will probably be tomorrow's meal too

I am proud of myself...to some it might seem weird that I have not proper cooking yet being 24 but then you probably do not know enough about Egyptian culture when it comes to male family members and their not so many opportunities to hone their cooking skills...

«مصر ليست وطنًا نعيش فيه ولكن وطن يعيش فينا»

«مصر ليست وطنًا نعيش فيه ولكن وطن يعيش فينا»

"Egypt is not a homeland that we live in but a homeland that lives inside of us"

- Pope Shenouda III the Pope of Alexandria and the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark - Al Masry Al Youm

Things I Like About Spain: Pharmacies

I have been feeling sick for the last few days and I was in a great deal of pain. In the beginning I was avoiding going to the pharmacies thinking that they would not be able to help me out unless I had a perscription...but then a few days later I went and I asked for a simple anti-acid and they gave it to me...the day after that I asked for a laxative and they gave it to me...and then the day after that I went and asked for a more advanced gastric drug and they gave it to me...

I just got to realize that Spain in nothing like the Netherlands when it comes to pharmacies...In the Netherlands, you probably cant get anything other than IBU Profen from a pharamcy without a perscription. This is why I had earlier on made an assumption that all EU countries would be similar and therefore came to Spain with probably 3 kilos of drugs for all kinds of things.

Now, I know that if I am in pain I should just walk down to the pharmacy and deal with it...no more of my Rotterdam days of staying sick at home and hoping that rest and good nutrition will help...

Spanish pharmacies...just one other piece of a jigsaw of why Madrid is a good EU city to live in...it is part of the EU, true, but then still very Mediterranean.

Kissing Strangers...

I think that probably the second most stressful thing I had to or have to go through here in Spain is the culture of kissing strangers...you meet a group of people, you just shake hands with the guys (thankfully or would have been beyond my human capacity to bear so much kissing of strangers) and then the girls just go on cheek-kissing you, every one of them...this was specifically stressful last night when I met with a group of 15 people or so...

I used to kiss total strangers in AIESEC but then they were not total strangers, they were AIESECers...I guess that was the excuse I gave myself for not feeling uncomfortable when the odd Latina would just kiss me without even knowing my name or where I was from...

In Egypt, I cheek-kiss males and females I know and have not seen in sometime (and who do not mind kissing non-related males - in the case of the females) but then I cheek-kiss my relatives every time I see them...kissing total strangers is just unheard of...

Ahh...more total strangers kissing today...grrr...

On This Day...

On this day, two big events in Egyptian and Middle Eastern modern history took place...


1. The 6th of October/10th of Ramadan War or also known as the Yom Kippur War: It is the start of the war that is still highly celebrated in Egypt as a military victory when in reality it wasn't but then has definitely lead to what can be called a political victory that in turn lead to the return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.



2. The assassination of Anwar Sadat, the President who lead Egypt's times of war and peace with Israel: The reactions to his assassination varied strongly, most Egyptians and non-Arab nations of the world condemned the assassination while most Arab-nations did the total opposite, due to them seeing Sadat as a traitor for signing the Camp David peace treaty in 1979 and for visiting Israel in 1977.

Upon his assassination, US President Ronald Reagan said: "America has lost a great friend, the world has lost a great statesman, and mankind has lost a champion of peace." - bbc.com

While in Libya, they said that every tyrant has an end and the Palestinian Liberation Organization official, Nabil Ramlawi said: "We were expecting this end of President Sadat because we are sure he was against the interests of his people, the Arab nations and the Palestinian people." - bbc.com
In Kuwait, an Indian family friend who worked in the same firm as my Dad had told me that he was at the firm's owner's house when Sadat was assassinated and that his death was celebrated with jubilation and ululations.



35 years after the 6th of October War and 27 years after Sadat was assassinated, Egypt and the whole of the Middle East has come a long way...definitely much different to what it would have been if not for the October War lead by Sadat and what it would have been if Sadat had lived longer and maintained his strong alliances with the West and strong adversities with the Arab World.