Cheating my way out :p

Right so my exams start tomorrow and I have been accordingly preparing for them. However, I have noticed that I have been cheating my way out of spending as much time for economics by “studying/reading” other subjects…mainly history and global political economy…and so I don’t feel so bad :D I am still studying right!! :p ahh well the problem with economics is that the chapters are SO long and just as I am half way I lose interest…it is just gone, everything I read goes way over my head. I used to solve this problem by dividing the chapter into little sections for an everyday dosage, but with the limited time I have, that isn’t going to work!!! I think it is just this economics course, plus Ottoman history and global political economy are WAY more interesting to study….don’t you agree?!! and I can spend hours on them.

Uggh both ways…I will be doing my history exam first thing tomorrow morning and there will be little leeway for me to cheat my way out of economics, and I certainly do not want to flunk it out!!

Looking Back

So I was browsing through my mum's laptop last night and came across those many pictures of Bibo...I almost forgot how fast he's all grown up now!!

So I stole some of these pictures :p...for those of you who don't know Bibo but have heard me rattle on about him...well there he is....Bibo turned 9 this July...it has a been a long ways since! I love him so much! :)

Here is the link for the album: http://picasaweb.google.com/rama.isaac/LookingBack#

Dear FutureMe :)

So Maha shared this link http://www.futureme.org/index.php …and it is indeed a great one…I really like the idea…thanks babez x

Basically you write to your future self about what is currently happening with you or what you would like to see happen in the future and then you decide on when to receive this email back in the future. It could be within months, a year or 2. Maha said she did it 3 years ago and got the email. I made mine in a year.

It really helps putting everything down...it helps asserts to one what is currently important. I think it is important from a future perspective as well, knowing what was and is still considered important and how we handled such things and how they've progressed.

The Weather and I :)

Anyone who knows me, would know how much of a weather person I am :p…by that I mean that the weather often plays a role in how I am feeling :) and thankfully I’ve learnt to only let it have a positive impact on me.

I like doing things in honor of the weather, such as listening to a song, doing an activity, having a cup of coffee or simply just taking the time out to sit and watch it. Whatever it may be, I work around it :) It simply is my muse time!

However, I never considered how lucky and how good the weather has been to me. It is easy for me to often forget how the weather has drastically affected millions of people negatively. Whether in the form of hurricanes, floods, snow or heat, the weather, in many instances, has left people without homes, workplaces, schools and hospitals. Today, the human mind has found and invented many means that allow a sustainable life regardless of the weather. Yet it maintains and always will be beyond our control. Even with those most fortunate of us, with a good enough shelter, the weather can turn to a monstrous uncontrollable above superpower leaving us practically helpless to it. It makes a lot of sense that the civilizations before the Abrahamic religions came out, regarded forces of nature such as the sun, sky, rain, etc .as their gods. For at that time their survival depended a great deal on the weather and how much they could work around it.

So since it is very important to me, I just wanted to make sure that I am truly thankful for the weather that I’ve had and am experiencing. and hopefully will continue to be!

Info of the Day

There are two types of Jews: Sephardic and Ashkenazi

Sephardic Jews are non European Jews, mainly from Spain, where the origin of the word is coming from, and the Middle East, at least their historical origin, they are the Hebrew Jews.

Ashkenazi Jews are European Jews, largely from Eastern Europe; they are the Jews that have mainly migrated to the U.S. and Western Europe, 1880-1900’s, after facing much discrimination in East Europe.

Loving it short again!! :D

Haa!! I finally got my haircut last weekend!! I’m loving it…I’ve never been one for long hair….this is much easier, comfier and feels lighter :D

Info of the Day

So today I learnt about “Jonestown” something I never heard of before. Not that it is extremely important to know..but I thought it interesting. Well Jonestown is in Guyana which is one of the nation states in South America. Well this name “Jonestown” was given for the “Peoples Temple of Agricultural Project” which is an intentionally formed community. Which is basically a community formed with some political, social or spiritual idea. Anyways so this community is formed by a “Peoples Temple” led by a person called Jim Jones, which is where the name is derived from. He comes from California. So why is this community important…well on November 18, 1978, around 900 of them died in a “revolutionary suicide” which was led by Jim Jones, what makes this notorious, is that it looked like a massacre but rather was willful suicide. I hope I explained it well, I’m not sure I get quite well myself; I’m still looking into it. :p

Someone calling for "identity" :p

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/world/middleeast/12dubai.html?r=1&scp=1&sq=Emirates&st=cse&oref=slogin


This article is indeed very interesting, yet provocative. It adds to some of the points made in the post before this one regarding the economy.

What really pulls the nerve out of me is how one the persons quoted says he is worried about the future of the country and it also says how they like the wealth and fancy cars but not the social change….!! Well excuse me…but if it wasn’t for this massive inflow of expatriate workforce in the country, working day and night…this country would not even have a future…and the statistics presented regarding how little Emiratis work and just “own” is very indicative of this. In addition, they make it sound like they are victims in this whole game…it is by their consent that the economy is operating the way it is, they never cared, they are the king of the castles, however, now that things are getting tough and this castle is on brink, they are complaining about “social change” instead of looking inward and improving themselves. This btw sheds strong light on the article “cursed by oil” even though Friedman puts Dubai as an exception to his theory, I am sure he is not aware that the actual people of the country are indeed cursed and just residing on oil.

And then again we hear “tax free income” yes it is, for the Emiratis it is, not expatriates, for the government does a good job in getting that tax elsewhere, through toll roads, rent, fees etc. so stop displaying this “tax free” as a good characteristic of the country, I can count many other brilliant things this country does indeed have other than that.

Regarding the working hours, I was tempted to post the link for this article which I read last month, http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/10/05/10249843.html it makes me laugh that they have the audacity to even say anything.

However, the first article could have been written in a better way and from a different perspective. Yes it is only natural and true that social change does happen with this great influx of people in the country, and this is not a problem only the Emiratis are facing, but rather everyone here that comes from elsewhere. For this diversity to sustain and benefit, a melting pot is bound to happen, and it is this tolerance and diversity that I admire about U.A.E. It is also important to remember that this identity problem is not only happening in the U.A.E. but rather in many countries, even with majority of the population as nationals, and this is due to globalization. So this calls for finding measures to preserve and flourish one’s culture and identity instead of approaching it with an attack on expatriates, blaming them for this “social change” and finding measures to get rid of them.

Bursting the Bubble

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/11/12/10258962.html

So after reading this article, I remembered a conversation my dad and I were having on our way to Abu Dhabi, it was just weeks since the U.S. market collapsed and I was speculating that there definitely will be an effect on the U.A.E. economy, yet many seemed to be skeptical, living in the “Dubai Bubble” as I would like to call it.

It is important to note that one of the reasons that this can be dangerous for U.A.E. in the long run is that it is a small country, dependant much on the global market. As you can tell from the article, real estate projects and construction (which is unbelievingly outrageously growing like termites) is going down amongst other sectors, this is a problem as the U.A.E. has no domestic economy to rely on, in contrast to let’s say Saudi, making it volatile to global conditions.

This will have a great impact on expatriates (us) with layoffs; people with no jobs will not be able to get loans hence, unable to pay for rent. The problem is that people are not really aware of these things until they hit and directly affect them, in my opinion, many people will start rethinking staying in the country, especially if the drawbacks outweigh the benefits of staying.

We definitely know that when layoff starts, it will be with the expatriates first of course the high quality work force on the top, that the economy is relying on, such as consultants etc, will probably be kept. In regard to nationals as from what I know and heard, a lot of them own stocks, which don’t look too bright either.

Info of the day

I decided to share any new info that I learn and find particularly interesting :)

I found out that “Yugoslavia” literally translates into English as “Southern Slavic countries ” or the “Lands of the South Slavs” basically the countries that were under the former Yugoslavia; Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I don’t know if many of you actually knew this…I didn’t! :p

U.S. Presidential Candidates 2008 on the Middle East + I learnt a new skill :p

Part of Global Political Economy class requires us to join a programme called Soliya where students from different universities around the world engage with one another through video conferencing once a week for two hours. This programme’s main objective is to draw people from the West and the East helping them to learn more about each other’s cultures, perspectives, identities etc. usually we would have readings for the week we’re meeting that would help us get background and current information on the topics we are covering.

So :) part of this course is a video editing assignment!!

This year’s topic is the U.S. presidential candidates and their stance on the Middle East!! We got provided with lots of background information about the elections plus media clips provided by AP and Al Jazeera, mainly footage on the elections!!

I had put this together :p…wasn’t very easy...there were 97 media clips to look through!! However in this one I have split these clips to the bits I want and trimmed them together.
This is a like a rough draft of what I think I want to include, plus trying out the extra features that are available, so far I’ve only added titles!

Thought of sharing it :)…

It is interesting how the Israelis, both figures within the government, refer to U.S.’s engagement and support to Israel as an “obligation”.

A good insight!!

I thought of posting the links to these articles as I found them of interest and great to share. They contain very valuable yet controversial points regarding the West and the Middle East, and there is a lot of links between them.

“It’s the Policy, Stupid: Political Islam and U.S. Foreign Policy” by John L. Espositohttp://hir.harvard.edu/articles/print.php?article=1453

This first one is my favorite; Esposito is a very renowned writer and addresses very important issues in this article regarding the foreign policies implemented in the US and their adverse affect.

The distinction he makes between moderate and extremist in Islam is a crucial point!! Many people in the US and the Western world in general, have this misconception that all Muslims are terrorists and conservatives and this is something I have witnessed myself. I party do not blame them, this is what is shown in the media, backed by the Bush administration, yet I think it is an individual’s responsibility to question what is shown and verify it. Islam is just like any other religion; you have your religious, fundamentalists, moderates and non believers. The fact that it is a religion practiced by a vast population of different nationalities and cultures by itself mirrors on that. Therefore, Esposito addresses this issue in a very concise and accurate manner. He also addresses many other problems rooted in the conflict between the two regions, explaining the reason for terrorist attacks, which are not always conducted with Islam in mind, which rather used to justify their actions.

Another highly shamed upon misconception I personally came across is the one presumption that all Arabs are Muslims. For this is not only wrong but highly ignorant, the Middle East is a region of great diversity, not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are Arabs, the countries in the Middle East are of diverse cultures, religions and ethnicities.

“Cursed by Oil” by Thomas Friedman http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/09/opinion/09FRIE.html?ex=1399435200&en=7220aba5860460cb&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND

This article is a WAKE UP CALL!!! Friedman here mainly attributes the lack of development in the Middle East to the presence of oil. A point that is somewhat valid I must say. It is interesting to see how he places “Dubai” within the list of countries with exception to this theory.

Friedman does go too harsh with his attitude and even though trying to be objective, does come out very biased. I have looked him up, he is a columnist in the NY times and has worked in the ME for quite long, yet many other scholars have also criticized him for his demeaning tone when talking about the Middle East. I found the two pictures below…very ironic I must say when put together :P

“Understanding the Roots of Muslim Rage” by Muqtedar Khan http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0110/S00044.htm

I couldn’t resist…I had to put this picture up!!! Completely coincides with the article :D

I would say this article adds to the points made by Esposito. In my opinion Khan’s argument of systematic repression is strongly linked to Esposito Democratic exceptionalism and the emphasis on the anger by Muslims being driven not from Islam, but rather from their lands being occupied.

Brian this reminded me of the article about US supplying weapons to the Lebanese forces, this is exactly what democratic exceptionalism is…they make sure that the party with their interests in mind is strong enough to fight the opposing parties, particularly Hizbollah,(not that I’m with them taking power), and Iran, so they won’t be a threat to Israel. This is similar to what Esposito says about the US democratic doctrine being undermined in the examples he gives of Algeria, Turkey etc. this only causes more tension between the parties in Lebanon and provokes the opposite one to carry out attacks on the US!

However, Khan’s does a mistake by saying that “Islamic activists try to rebuild civilizations” I’m sorry but the majority of the population in those Arab countries do not want to be held to a government with such regime or be ruled by one, which is exactly why these groups are repressed, and it is not like this group of people wants to get politically involved to advance and develop society, rather to make it an Islamic one.

The second point he says is that “Islam is what people make of it” which is actually the root of all the suicide attacks, only recently a wave of revival has been coming that is aware of the mistakes these clerics are doing. The problem lies in that these Islamic sheiks are with no education, yet educating the younger generation notions of Islam which are completely wrong and within their own interpretations. Today this problem has been addressed by many scholars and policy makers that are urging for an initiative to be taken to change this reoccurring cycle of generations.

I hope you find them as interesting..:p

God bless the beach and the sun!

After a long, busy week I decided that it was about time that I spared a weekend for the beach, and so Saturday it was! :)

Laying on the sand, with the view of the blue sparking beach, sound of the waves hitting the shore, the bright sun against my skin and a soft breeze, the world and I were one. The content and peace of mind I felt for the 6 hours I spent there were so overwhelmingly satisfying that I couldn't have asked for more. This made me think of the pleasure I reside on, enabling me to experience such God given gifts and with much pleasure, that I decided to make the following prayer, a prayer so often forgotten:

God Bless:

- The beach and the sun:)

- the human mind,(which invented the car that got me there, the mp3 player :) allowing my music to accompany me and the service sector (the hotel) “driven by capitalism” for giving me value for my money.

- and, God Bless the fact that I was born healthy and complete.

Desperately Crying

This morning I felt resentment, disgust and nuisance towards this country and its people like never before... I just exploded. When I live 15 minutes away from university, yet leave an hour before class just to make it there in an hour and a half, then this is NOT NORMAL!!

At the traffic light, in a two lane road, my car third in row. I’m surrounded in the middle, with two cars trying to either get into my lane or through my lane to the road next to me, I see the light turn green 3 times with the whole row in front of me still, not able to cross the light as the cars from the corresponding light at the left are blocking the way and finally "serve the people" police show up 45 minutes later; relaxed, taking their time, chit chatting, having finally decided that it was about time that they started their duty.

With my car still for 20 minutes, I sat there in the driver's seat, placed the gear on P and tears started swarming down my face...I was mad, frustrated, desperate, resentful, and felt held captive, I was utterly disgusted by the scene of the police and their unwilling efforts in directing the traffic. The carelessness and apathy of this country and its people regarding the infrastructure and traffic problems has reached its heights and they do not seem to care. Why should they… The private sector is run by an influx of expatriates and we are the ones having to deal with getting late to work and school.

I was going to miss my class for the third time now, and a quiz, because of this traffic..this is not deemed normal..how early am I supposed to get up, let alone be in university for a 9 o'clock class!! I hardly get sleep as it is, I cannot leave any earlier, for its only logical in this case that I just don't sleep!!

Having reached the class 40 minutes late, I find the class done with the quiz and the professor lecturing on the new material…I was infuriated…I asked the professor if I could have my quiz quietly at the back during his next class, which is in the same classroom, luckily and thankfully he agreed. I thanked him dearly and had a good quiz. If it wasn't for that I would have been on edge now!!

This daily traffic is definitely not deemed normal..and me sitting in the car crying desperately amid the traffic is not normal either!

It's all about the small gestures!!

Monday morning-translation class

Before taking attendance the Professor says" Rama..is she here?? Which caught me off guard as I thought I might’ve done something wrong!!? but it happened to be that he had a packet for me from one of his graduate students, Noura!!!


For a moment I could not recall who that was, but then remembered… ahh..Noura!!! :) How thoughtful…what could it be..I was anxious to see but thought it better to wait!

Noura is a very bright and kind girl I got to know last semester in my previous translation class. She is a graduate student and has offered at that time to give our class a lecture on “Translation in Media”, which is the course’s title. She did a good job!

Coincidentally, at that time, I was taking a mass communication course and my research paper was involving translation in media, specifically advertisements and movies. Hence, her presentation had rather valuable information and sources that I thought beneficial for my research paper. Having spoken to my professor I got in touch with her and she was very helpful indeed! I saw her around a couple of times before we left for summer.

Two weeks ago I happened to bump into her at my professor’s office with whom we both are again taking a course with!

And so it happens she had material on translation and interpreting amongst her notes that she remembered me with. Knowing that they would be of interest she has piled them together with a little gift and a note asking the professor to give to me in class :)


At that moment I thought at how rare yet nice it is when someone remembers you with something, that even though is small, comes out truly genuine. It was very thoughtful and kind of her to do what she did! And a much unexpected thing to receive early morning!


I think, at often times we tend to forget how meaningful and powerful small nice genuine gestures can make a big difference! It puts me at rest knowing that people like her still exist in this chaotic individualistic society we are living in! :)

Our Birdy for the dayl!! :)

So, I woke up Thursday morning to the least expected thing. My dad notices me upstairs and tells me to check out what is by the easel…I bend as much as I can to get an angle from where I’m standing…. to find a parrot!!! My dad said that the window was open and the parrot made its way through.

So I run downstairs to find an actual Grey parrot with a red tail standing there with eyes wide open. It was the most adorable thing!! And so quiet…I love animals and having them in the house. I started talking to it as I normally do, which reminded me of our doggie “ Scooby”! Although, as I was talking to it I got closer and almost jumped as it gave a sound! ;p

Everyone in the house got excited about the parrot, that I think we almost scared it :)unfortunately; we couldn’t keep it since it wasn’t ours. We asked the janitor if he knew who it belonged to, and sure thing it did belong to one of the neighbors.
So there you go… our parrot for the day!

Drumming with Dubai Drums!

So last month, the cultural events committee at university got the “Dubai Drums”, which consists of a team of drummers from all around the world drumming together on rhythm, each with their own traditional drum. What is amazing about this group is that they improvise on stage along with a conductor. The group also had two guitarists for the show :)

So I went with a bunch of friends, Razan and Bibo , as you can see from the picture the band was nice enough to get with them 101 drums for the audience!!! Excitement!! :D so during intermission Razan and I ran and grabbed ones!! It was amazing how they worked the whole crowd into the drumming…later on they told some people to come on stage and I was the first one up!!! It really is an amazing feeling when you play in an ensemble, it’s great music or rhythm through combined effort, and is always great fun. It is in these moments that music works its wonders by being a universal language. In that hall and on that stage, there were people from everywhere, yet that didn’t matter, the rhythm and beats of the drums stimulated a common enthusiasm.

Next, they had the kids come on stage with smaller percussion instruments, and there you had Razan and I urging Bibo to go on stage, until he finally did. That incident reminded me of my mother, often times she would push us to do what we enjoyed to overcome our shyness, and I’m grateful to her for that. It is these moments in life that you start noticing small things in yourself that contribute in many aspects to whom you are today, and thus makes you appreciate your parents! :)