Yallah b7sn al 5atema..

As much as I love Ramadan.. I've noticed that all it seems to do nowadays is bring out the worst possible side in people.. the number of pre-f6oor psycho-esque incidents I've witnessed seriously can be made into a book.. but of course once that tamra is downed by the ice cold glass of liban its all good again..so they think.. 

I've been in so many road rage incidents with people I used to consider "3ain il3agil " that I've sworn never to get in a car with them behind the wheel again.. vocally.. to them! 

I've heard so many heated phone conversations about the stupidest things.. I've heard various swear words being thrown around.. and even more gossipy gossipy tales told.. and then I watched them wrap themselves in their simply embellished "shailat 9alah's" and open their Quran's at the page they last stopped at.. and act as if they didn't just screw their 9yam moments ago..

I've heard doors being slammed.. phones being shut in rage.. remotes being thrown.. maids being yelled at.. and yet still manage to say I love this month.. but yes I have had quite enough.. oh did I forget to mention how they scurry off to Qiyam prayers after spending hours chitchatting about the goings on of other peoples private lives.. ahh..lets just stop there and get to the positive part of this post..

I've decided that my dissy is going absolutely no where as long as I'm back home (being Qatar in this case).. therefore with no further adieu I have decided that as soon as we're done with the meaningless hustle and bustle of 3eed, I am going home (in this context though home is London) and I'm staying put till its time to submit my dissy..which gives me 2 months or so..

I miss the walks in the park.. I miss meaningless wandering around exploring never been to streets and teeny weeny boutiques.. I miss the excitement me and my friends share at the prospect of finding the new "it" cafe or dessert place.. I miss the starbucks barista who thought he was funny and asked me every morning if I found a suitable parking spot for my rolls royce and laughed when I would EVERY MORNING show him my oyster card with a smile.. I miss grocery shopping with no obnoxious "obo 3yal" following you around the grocery store.. I miss just leaving the house in whatever I was wearing inshallah pj pants and a hoodie to go to my friends flat across the street.. I miss sitting in my balcony listening to 3abdel7aleem and drinking my latest hot drink obsession.. I miss my cousin coming over and switching the soundtrack to dagny instead and dancing for the entertainment pleasure of my surprised neighbors.. I miss my uni's oh so un-user-friendly library and the rude assistants.. I miss the revolving door hitting me on the ass every morning because atani7 while looking for my student card in my humungous bag..I miss getting frustrated after lectures and hopping on the first bus I see just to see where I'll end up (not always wise).. ahhh I even miss the stereotypical Harrods outings just to see who's going to be there while we very well know whooo and when they are going to be there.. I miss getting all glammed up for an outing with the girls then throwing a pair of flats in my bag juuust in case before rushing out the door.. I MISS MY LIFE..! 

God I hope this post doesn't jinx my plans.. mashallah mashallah tabarak Allah la ilaha ila Allah.. for good measure..

And as you can see I've been channeling my energy into baking.. and I quote "this is orgassssmic" :D yay my double layer walnut brownie cake with cream cheese frosting is successful (quite the understatement) :D .. and attempting to work on my dissy both by day and night.. equally useless might I add..

oh .. and please don't think I live in a lunatic asylum regarding the descriptions of slight signs of crazy mentioned above.. my family is quite sane.. most of the time ;)

Rama'6an gaaanaaa

I think I've taken to disappearing for unknown amounts of time without prior notice .. I like to keep you on your toes ;) But I'm back.. don't know how regularly I'll be posting because I'm attempting to finish my never-ending dissertation (from now on will be referred to as my "dissy" or the curse of the devil).. which is as I mentioned.. never-ending.. just like youm iljm3a.. ironically enough ilyoum is iljm3a.. jm3a mbarkah.. wait didn't they say you can't say that anymore.. well if you can then there it is, and if you can't, well sorry I guess you can ignore it..

I'm tres excited about Ramadan, and was sooo disappointed yesterday when they said it would start on sat instead of today! Anyways, alls good.. closet's been stocked with adorably cute and comfy jalabiya's.. new fnayeel and dlal have been bought (was my job this year I got sooo excited in the shop my friend kep

t calling me um s3eed :P ).. fattening and shabe3-ing so7oor goodies have been stocked up on.. every last can of cherry coke (only get this craving fe irm'6an) has been bought and are chilling nicely in the fridge.. ok that's about it lol

I also have a bi%#$ of a backache! madre mn wsho it's not like thab7a 3mre bl work outs or anything.. thought it could be the endless hours (or hour) I spend each day mjabla il laptop and the million page articles I'm supposed to be practically memorizing for my dissy.. I think it's that.. lets just blame everything on the good for nothing dissy.. have I mentioned how much I'm hating the dissy process.. even if I haven't , I think it's been implied.. ok thats enough for now.. 

Mbark 3alekm ilshahrrrr Allah y3oodha 3alikm w 3alina b5air w 9e7a w salama inshallah :* 

I'll leave you with a preview of my jalabiya fetish.. and my two loves who got over excited at the prospect of another month off pre-school *hearts*

shaab galby wl 3mr tawh shabaab..

And another year rolls around.. jooj is now all of 23 years old.. I feel very blah.. I fein sleep as I don't feel like picking up all the birthday calls.. and I attempt to sound (type?) enthusiastic replies to the many sms's and bbm's.. but I just don't care.. I appreciate that my friends and family remember my birthday and call me at 12am sharp and I love them all to death for it, but really..

I realize how cynical and pessimistic this sounds but really.. does a birth DAY really mark anything.. if anything should mark your life or the number of years you've graced humanity with your presence its your accomplishments and al thkr il6ayyb that you leave behind.. and not a date on a calendar.. aarghhh.. madre shfeni I hate that I feel this way on my birthday .. but all the pretty boxes and ribbons and bows just seem kind of shallow right now.. 

People keep asking me what I want for my birthday and get frustrated when I answer "mafy shay fe 5a6re, al7amdla".. where as I really want to say "I want to be left alone" .. 

aah this is such a depressing post.. hopefully I'll be feeling more celebratory in the morning..

here's to life 

x

Random BiKshars

After a "hectic" exam session we decide to dali3 ourselves even more if possible and indulge our inner fashionistas and go have Pret-a-Portea at the Berkley... note the Paul "Frank" cutlery as um 9waile7 referred to it hahaha ;)

Hathiii 3ad bnt il kalb qhratni ib jesm-ha chan akl ras-ha.. please excuse the chipped goth-like purple polish :P

And of course we cant post pics without including my lovely Hummingbird cuppie-cakes.. red velvet and black bottom of course .. *drool*

These sweets were from an old school candy store in Kent.. che 9j mal awal w theres a letter at the entrance from Willy Wonka himself giving the store permission to sell his sweets in those big ass jars etc mafe shay wrapped ywanissss.. not so hygienic but cute all the same! note the bai'6 3yoon 7alawa!!

The mug pretty much states my mantra "a balanced diet is a piece of cake in each hand" I should've bought the entire stock and handed them out to anorexic looking stick people :P

And as we strutted our stuffed selfs down the streets of Sloane.. after having just indulged in our favorite sugar-rush (ok second favorite), crack-brownies (a.k.a hazelnut brownies) from Ottolenghi on Motcomb st, we happened to come across two of my favorite things, after cupcakes of course, but put together, TOGETHER, ice cream & Hermes! It was the cutest thing ever, and tres yummy too! Kudos to City Girl for spotting them!

So my friend fatoosh a.k.a um 9waile7 drew us on a plate when we went to visit her in Kent.. it was soo much fun I absolutely LOVED Kentttt it was sooo cute and SOOO fatooosh, esp. the tree climbing episodes... wish I could post a vid of that hahaha

Soooo that's pretty much it, the rest have been censored so I don't divulge my identity (5efy 3alina inte wl identity malich, ur nick name pretty much states ur name skte bas skte jooj) .. ok that's not true I'm just too lazy to upload the rest :P 

ta ta for now lovlies :* hope you enjoyed

 

Back?

I'm such a bad mama :( I forgot my baby blog's first birthday .. (which was June 10th :x )

FORGIVE MEEEEEEEEEEE.... lat7rmeeeni mn cupcakes w chay PLEASEEEEEEE  <- ya belfait apology mtjeh lel blog.. 

Well I'm sure I didn't intentionally forget it, but I kind of disconnected myself from the blogsphere for the past few months because I had finals.. and had to.. wait .. I can't bring myself to say it.. *deep breath* .. pack up.. my..flat.. and.. ... la ma a3lant eflasy.. I just had finished exams etc and the parentals decided that it was high time their dear "ambitious" daughter..leaves.. her beloved London :(

But do not fret oh streets of Sloane, Walton and Bond, my loyal acquaintances at Aubaine, Joe's, and many more cafe's I will not disclose for fear of Arab infestation.. I shall return.. :D and sooner rather than later..  but sadly as an obnoxious visitor and not a education seeking spoiled student.. aaah.. all good things come to an end..

I don't think it's hit me that I'm back here for good.. the last time I came back home after studying abroad.. I had SEVERE depression for no less than 3 months of constant tears and sleep.. so far I've been so busy I don't think it's hit me that THIS IS IT.. I have no more excuses.. I can't make up another degree.. well there's a PhD but I recall discussing that with dad a few months back and he basically or quite bluntly said "wain nlgalech rayl 3nda masters 3ashan nlgalch wa7d 3nda Phd?!?!" .. so I'm guessing the PhD is out of the question until further notice.. baini w bainkm I don't even wanna do a PhD, malaait mn il derasa.. I just want another excuse to leave hahaha.. don't get me wrong I love do7a and I love my family to death.. but I kinda love my independence a bit more :x

ok well kind of long for a "I'm Back" post.. but I'll try to post more frequently .. though I don't know what would keep from FROM posting seeing as I have nothing to do at the time being.. besides obvious family obligations etc...

you have been missed my lovlies x

The intellectual across the aisle..

So after an impromptu visit back home to Q town, aka Qatar for a few days, i was interrogated on the 7 am plane ride back to London by an intellectual american across the aisle from me. 

He was amazed at the fact that underneath the "sophisticated and elegant" embroidered veil (a.k.a 3abaya :P ) i was dressed like his teenage daughters.. i think he may have expected me to be in a jalabeyya or maybe a princess jasmine esque ensemble complete with the bare midriff hahaha.. wallah i wouldnt mind travelling in a jalabeyya lo la il 5oof ina wana nayma seegani te6la3 :P 

He thought it was amazing that under that untouchable exterior and the air of indifference to anything and everything as he put it with the huge designer shades and crystalized flats and extra large intimidating embossed hand bag (this dude knew his fashion terminology) was a teenage girl in a tracksuit and a pony tail who fell asleep promptly after take off.. i failed to inform him that i was not a teen and was in fact in my 20's..:P 

He told me this as he sipped on his double espresso and admired my macbook air as i typed away my international branding strategy final report, very (almost too) interested in what i was typing and at my perfect english.. he said that he'd been all over the gulf and found that qatari women were the least open and friendly towards foreigners and that even in saudi arabia he managed to strike up conversations with random strangers in hotels etc asking about their views and culture, but in qatar he found all the females standoffish and very unreachable even if one was sitting across from him in a cafe or next in line at a shop counter.. he looked familiar for some reason (then again everyone looks familiar to me) fa i thought weeh laykoon hes a reporter or something and hes going to like quote me or something in a controversy striking article about qatar! b3dain glt kaifa may3rf ismi (as if he was actually a reporter) :P

He kept saying that females like myself were a pride to the region and should keep up our good work (ay work allah wkeelk masawait shay mofeed fe 7yaty klha :P ) i thanked him and went back to my paper.. only to be interrupted again asking if the reason I had waited for some time to take off my 3abaya was significant, i said no and that i was sleepy and took it off so i could sleep more comfortably.. he said "ohh I thought you may have been waiting till after we cross over the saudi border" .. shraykm into bas :P k2na il hay2a by6l3lonli fe GMC jawwy w bts7bni mn sh3ry le agrab markaz lel da3wa wl irshad because oh lord almighty,i had removed my trusty 3aba.. 

Mskeen.. i swear mskeen.. he was soo interested and he felt that he hadnt gotten enough out of his short visit to qatar because he wasnt able to interact with half of the population, the women. why is it so difficult to do so, why must there be a million barriers between women and men.. it will only add to more "issues" and taboos emerging from the depths of our complicated culture.. ahh how i love our 3oqad.. *please note the sarcasm*  .. ana magool ina it should be completely normal for any male forgien or otherwise to walk up to a female in public be it a mall , the street, a cafe, a hotel whatever, but forgieners shouldnt feel intimidated or unable to interact with the local population, however small it is.. what kind of image does that give off about the country? he said that he enjoyed every bit of his visit nonetheless but only wished to have some insight from the locals about the rapid developments and projects that are popping up like crazy.. what they thought about it all, and if they resented the vast foriegn population for taking over their country.. 

I told him that in my opinion for now qatar needs this vast foreign population mainly because the local population are not nearly enough to manage and be employed in all the new industries, and secondly because the locals will not do laborious tasks.. eventually they will have to, but now thanks to the government and the high GDP and GNP (al7amdillah 3al ni3ma), a very large percentage, if not the majority of the qatari population  are quite well off and do not need to resort to such "menial"  jobs.. i'm not saying this is a good thing, i think that the country should be built by its countrymen, not a bunch of nepalese construction workers who dont give two shi$ts if the building they're working on collapses on the heads of the hundereds of people who will be employed in them within a year of its completion.. aah alas 3oqdat modeer il3am wl maktab w hat chay w 9b ghwa w hat il jireeda have taken over the minds of the new generation of employees.. i read an article the other day that about 80% of the work in government institutions in qatar is done by female employees because the men are too busy reading the sports page.. ila al amam ya banat :)

Inspector Cluso/ Sherlock Holmes and breakfast :P

Here I am.. back in Heidelberg for an unknown amount of time... till I absolutely haaave to back in London for uni I guess.. which is in another two weeks.. lovely..hmph

Various instants around here have made me laugh so much I started to cry.. not because they were actually that funny.. but because so5reyat al qadar has put me in such a situation that there's nothing left to do but laugh.. y3ne the stupidest of things have left me in peals of laughter, the kinds that result in stomach and backaches!

At the hotel we stay in here in Heidelzeft oops I mean Heidelberg- there was another guest (I say another because the occupancy was like 10 people.. and 5 of them belonged to my family) so basically the staff are on first name basis.. well last name basis .. with our last name which they've raped quite nicely.. with us all ma3ndhm '3airna w ma3ndna '3airhm :P anyways back to the guy.. klyoum netlaga 3al breakfast (yes jooj sha6oora w etgoom tetrayyag m3 omha hnee at the crack of dawn.. aka 9 am..almost reminds me of my morning runs to starbucks on the way to uni only to get yelled at by my friend who INSISTS on waiting outside starbucks because apparently MY and only MY morning chai latte will provide israeli's with yet another bomb..bas mb maw'6o3na) anyways this guy "Herr Holmes" as they called him would always sit on the table nearest to ours.. order an omlette.. and when it arrived he would literally cut it to pieces and start saying to himself in a kind of eerie whisper that got louder gradually "no meat! no meat! NO MEAT!" as he went through the tiny pieces.. well duh no meat yalthoor 6alib omlette wsho tabi telga steak m5shoosh fel ne9?.. w kelyoum 3ala hal 7ala

This of course going on in front of our very eyes at 9 effing am would have me and mommy dearest in fits of laughter unable to hold our cups of tea properly.. and thus everytime we see anything that looks remotely like an egg mama looks at me and asks "no meat?" .. this happens quite alot though due to Easter hahaha fa fe eggs hanging on every lamp post and ywaz3oon hathaila il colored Easter eggs 3ala ilnas w madre wsho.. which mama politely declines every time she's offered one.. by saying none other than "no meat" apologetically with a smile and walking away.. :P

May I add that mom calls him inspector cluso.. which I didnt understand for the longest amount of time till I realized that inspector cluso was the detective fe pink panther, and holmes being the name of sherlock holmes was also a detective.. lol yes mamas sense of humor is old school , but hilarious none the less.. but hey she deserves credit for remembering the name of the dude from pink panther sneen wana a'39bha tshofa m3ay fdait-ha w hy thkrt wana nsait :P

Right now asma3 bells w mn msa3 m39ba afaker ya allah wsho hatha mn il9b7 madre mn msha'3l music .. yes whilst sitting near the balcony.. mama 5awenat w traygt mn wagt so I was left no choice but to order in the room rather than be left alone in a room with mr no meat :P chan astw3b that todays sunday.. and none other than easter sunday.. so inevitably mama btef'6a7na ilyoum declining numerous amounts of easter eggs :P 

ta ta for now lovelies.. xx