Off to Jeddah!

Hello friends,

I am off to Jeddah tofay evening. I am realy excited. Once I get beyond the immigrations and customs, I shall be happy. My sister is already there from the UK for her summer break and I am looking forward to hanging out with her. Some of my friends are there in Jeddah already, so it will be nice to see them. Plus, my home is there, and I cannot wait to go back! I shall continue to blog from Jeddah once I get there. If any of you are in Jeddah within the next three weeks or so, I would love to know. All right, my suitcase is out, and I have to go pack! Gosh, I cannot believe I am going to Jeddah today!

Mansur

Eureka!

(a sudden rush of excitement and euphoria!)

Woo-hoo!!! AWESOME!!! Out of this world!!! OH MY GOOOOD!!!! Crash! Bang! Boom! Yikesssss!!!!! I don't believe this!!!!!

(soon, a relaxation of the over-excited moods)

Hi friends,

I finally managed to get my profile picture up there. UAE blocks all the pictures when Hello/ Picassa is used, for reasons beyond my comprehension. Numerous emails to Etisalat, the sole telecom and internet provider, proved to be fruitless. My friends here in Dubai could not see my pictures, so I decided to try this Flickr thing, and it finally worked!! Which is why you see my over-excited moods up above! I can even see my own profile picture!

So, I have finally done what I had been meaning to do for a while. I was somewhat unsure of putting my picture up. The last thing I want is for the Saudi authorities to come grab me, accuse me of causing unrest in society, have me jailed for no reason and then deportation! Well, I doubt that would happen ever, because I don't go over-board with my posts. So, now you all know my face! Surprise! =)

Gosh, now that I have finally figured out this photo things, I will be soon be posting more pictures up!

Mansur

Saudi in a State of Alert?

Hi friends,

I wonder what would happen in the nation of Saudi Arabia should the King pass away? With the recent scare of the King's health, it led many people scurrying making predictions of future scenarios. Some sources say the nation was in a state of emergency alert, while others say there was none. My parents in Jeddah say there was nothing visible out on the streets. Here is what the situation is like, and I can only guess what can happen as to who would succeed the King and what the 44 sons would do?

> King Fahd is 82, is suffering from pneumonia.

> According to some reports, an "alert had been declared, and ... military leaves had been canceled or at least discouraged. However, this was firmly denied by the Interior Ministry."

> "The Saudi stock market tumbled 5 percent earlier in the week amid reports of Fahd's deteriorating health. His hospitalization Friday helped push crude oil futures to near $52 a barrel ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the United States, the start of the American summer driving season."

>"During his rule, Fahd brought the kingdom closer to the United States. His most significant action was a step that enraged many Islamic extremists — allowing the basing of U.S. troops on Saudi soil after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait."

> "The king tried to balance overtures toward the West with concessions to hard-liners, hoping to boost his Islamic credentials. He had himself named the custodian of Islam's two holiest sites, in the western Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina."

> "Fahd suffered short-term memory loss and an inability to concentrate for long stretches after his stroke in 1995. With the portly, goateed Fahd largely a figurehead since then, it has been Abdullah who has overseen the kingdom's crackdown on militants."

> "Under the kingdom’s constitution, each of the 44 sons of King Abdul Aziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, had a claim to the throne before its passing to the next generation."

> "Diplomats expect the succession to be smooth and easy, provoking no instability. The script calls for Crown Prince Abdullah, the King's half-brother and a cautious reformist, to ascend the throne and for Prince Sultan, now Defence Minister, to become crown prince."

All my sources were taken from Google News, from various online newspapers. I hope and pray too for a better health for the King, and for any unforseen circumstances from occuring.

Mansur

Blog Templates!!

Hey people,

One of the most frustrating thing for me here is to be able to find a decent blog template. The ones that are offered by Blogger.com were cool in the beginning, but none of them is really "me." I have spent countless hours on the net, looking for a decent blog template, and the ones that I did find were cool, had to be paid for! I have a brother working for an internet web-designing company (his company's link is down there on the right side: Connect 2 Web) and I have unashamedly asked for him to help me desidn a blog template for me, but he has been so busy. I guess I have changed my blog template more times than a peacock has feathers! I will continue to do this, till the day I find a blog that I feel represents "me!"

Mansur

Country Music

Hi people,

I have to share with you about this genre of music, of which I had never heard of prior to 1996, called Country Music. I first heard it when I was in Texas back in 1996. It was a genre that I did not know existed beyond the US. Wait, I do remember listening to Kenny Rogers in Saudi. I used to listen to his "You Decorated My Heart" while I would go to school in the mornings.

I picked up quick on listening to the country music. So many names that I had not heard of, which includes Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Shania Twain among others. I did not find it eay to listen to them initially. When I came back to Saudi, and eventually to Dubai, I had forgotten about it. But, every Friday evening, there is a Country Music Countdown on the Dubai radio. My interested resurged. Suddenly, I found myself recording some of the cooler songs from the radio.

It was such a cool thing for me to see Carrie Underwood, the winner of American Idol to be someone who sings country music. Country music has that distinct edge to it, which I would prefer over any of these pop songs I listen to! The lyrics are always clean, and has some sort of message to it. There are no profanity, no glorification of dugs and violence; instead these songs focus on relationships and pains of broken loves, songs of hopes and loves. They are the opposite of what one would hear from rappers and the message the rappers proclaim of hurt, anger, drugs, sex and women. There is also a touch of spirituality in Country music, and so the songs are real and clean in many ways.

Some of my favorites include Shania Twain, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, John Michael Montgomery, Trisha Yearwood, Leann Rimes, Tim McGraw, Mark Chestnutt, The Mavericks and Billy Ray Cyrus (who can forget the awesome: So don't break my heart, my achy breaky heart......) These are people who produce good music, consistently. If I had to choose one favorite country song it would definitely have to be Garth Brooks’ When You Come Back To Me Again , from the album Scarecrows, also used in the movie Frequency! Totally poignant (as in profoundly touching), totally heart-warming, totally uplifting!

Mansur

American Idol:: Finale

Hello,

So American Idol, the finale has finally ended. Having watched this show from the beginning in February this year, it has been one awesome ride. I had heard about this show when it forst started as well as the infamous judge Simon Cowell, who is well known for his honest, truthful remarks which gets him the boos from the audiences. The whole exceitement of seeing people come in for auditions, and the selection of the top 40 and then down to the grop of 12: 6 guys and 6 girls.

Each week, the finalists would sing songs and America would vote. Each week, one of the finalists would be eliminated. It would be a time of tension and at times surprises and shocks. One finalists stayed longer than he needed to. Another got kicked out earlier than expected. However, for me, the three finalists were the three real winners, with Vonzell, Carrie and Bo. Sadly, Vonzell was eliminated and it was down to Carrie and Bo. I saw the final performance yesterday, and each of them had to sing three songs each. Bo did an awesome job on his rendition of Inside Your Heaven, but it was Carrie's Angels Brought Me Here, that took my heart away. Her song was emotionally packed, and I think people made a connection with her immediately. I think that was the turning point for her, because American voted, and today, after the 2 hour finale, she was declared the winner.

She is awarded a record contract, and I look forward to her album being released because I think she is a great singer, plus several of her songs have been a pleasure to listen to. However, it was the song Angels Brought Me Here that captivated my heart.

Thanks to my friend with whom I was in constant touch via sms and messenger about the show. My friend has been an aweome friend in the way she walked with me through our journey of watching American Idol. We shared so much with one another about the show and our opinions and all. I wanted to watch the finale with her to share the excitement and all, but we are not in the same country! So my friend, you know who you are, thanks for your awesome company! I loved every single second of it!

Mansur
www.idolonfox.com

Predestination and Free Will

Hi friends,

I know hundreds of scholars of all kinds, from all schools of philosophy have written much about it. Some argue that there is no Free Will, while others argue that our lives is pretty much pre-determined, leaving no scope for free will. So what’s the basic issue?

The basic issue is that man is stuck in a dilemma. Is his life completely pre-destined by God? Are all his actions here on earth been decided by God? God is all knowing, and he is omnipotent and omniscience. He knows every little thoughts in our hearts and minds. In fact, God knows already what you will say and do tomorrow. God had decided when you would be born and your death is according to his time. We are not to kill ourselves, because that would interfere in God’s design. So, if God knows everything, the choices we make in life and all, are we really possessing this thing called Free Will?

Free will is generally understood as an option given to man to make his own free choices in life. But then again, when man is able to use that freedom to make that choice, God already knows about it.

An example we could look at is Adam himself. He was created by God, as well as his wife Eve. Before he ate the apple from the tree, he was unaware of the idea of good and evil. God had told him to not eat the apple. But Adam made a free choice to eat so. He could have said no. So, in some ways, he made a choice out of his own will. But then, God knew already that Adam would do this. God was not surprised by Adam’s actions.

So, my confusion arises when I wonder if the life I am living is a life where I am making free will choices, or is everything that I do is what God has already decided for me to do? When I sin in some ways, is that my free will choice, or it was already written in my life that I would sin in a certain way. Because if it is the second part, then there is ideally no place for free will. And if God has decided what my life is like, then it would also determine if I am going to Hell or Heaven, right?

I know many of you will ask me to read a certain book, and I can do that, but still there are questions that remain unanswered!

I wonder if any of you could help me out; explain this to me in simpler terms! Thanks!

Mansur

Tolerance?

Hi friends,

We hear time and again that Islam is a religion of tolerance. Are we really 'that' tolerant? Do we display a tolerant attitude when we ban Bibles in the country depsite the fact that the Quran talks about the Bible several time? I will let the Saudi speaker, Mr. al-Ahmed, who is the director of the Saudi Institute in Washington, speak for us all! Check out his article; it's a hard-hitting, truth hurts kind of article.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006712

Mansur

Women Driving in Saudi.....Not!

Hi friends,

Another unending discussion on whether women should be able to drive in the Kingdom or not! I read this piece of article* and was so saddened by it. It seems like a lone fighter, one Dr. Al-Zulfa, is up against the entire Shoura council members. As it is, Al-Zulfa suggested to the members to discuss the issue of allowing women to drive, and prepared 18 reasons that would benefit the Kingdom if the 1 million foreign drivers were sent back home thus allowing for women to drive and relieving the country from spending 12billion riyals on these foreign drivers. The Saudi extremists, started an internet campaign** to discredit Dr. Al-Zulfa and have called for him to leave the Shoura Council. They argue from a religious perspective, while Al-Zulfa says there is nothing in the Quran about women not driving. I wonder what the big deal is if women were allowed to drive? What will happen?

In the words of Dr. Al-Zulfa:

> "I think a lot of people in our society want to find a solution to this problem which is that women are not allowed to drive."
>"There are many problems that come up whenever we want to discuss anything to do with women in our country. We do not even know how to discuss things on their behalf since they are not allowed to express themselves in our society." [This is so true!!!]
> "People should not succumb to extremist thoughts or extreme ideologies of the sort that feeds militant extremism from which this country has already suffered much."

I wonder how you all feel about it? Should women be allowed to drive in Saudi? Or is it better to let women be dependent on foreign drivers? In my mind, I think they should be allowed to drive. I would feel 100% more comfortable seeing my own sister drive, instead of going in taxis or with a driver! The fact that the young men would stare and gawk and harrass and honk at women drivers is a whole other issue which needs to be written about separately! =)

Mansur

* http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=64205&d=23&m=5&y=2005
** http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=64202&d=23&m=5&y=2005

Hypocrisy?

Hello,

This article pertains to the one I wrote before, about prisoners being tortured. However, the writer goes deeper into the issue of torture in this article. The writers asks a great question: why do the Muslim world shouts out in rage and anger, killing one another in grief, when they heard about Newsweek reporting the desecration of a Quran, whereas they do not display the same outrage as Muslims when they see and know about other horrible things happenings, like torture, in their own countries? Is that hypocrisy? Is that two-faced? If not, what is it?

Mansur

Denial of problems

Dear friends,

According to the writer of Arab News*, Saudi Arabia, as well as the US, often deny some of their problems and their failure to deal with them, causes a huge problem later. Although he talks more about political issues, I would like to talk about issues that are more internal.

We all deny when something bad happens. We tend to brush it under the carpet, especially when it is a shameful issue. Maids being abused in Saudi is something that, despite being highlighted in the papers, are never heard of again. There was a recent outrage of a maid who falsely accused her employers of mistreating her. Will we ever get to hear about her case again? It is conveniently forgotten, as it was with the other cases. The only case of domestic abuse that was reported fully was Rani Al Baz’s case, which I think was reported fully because the international media had picked up the issue.

I somehow still don’ understand why this nation will not agree to sit down and discuss ways to solve these issues. Instead, the nation is keener to preserve the image of the country. I remember doing a one-semester project on Amnesty International, and I tried doing it on Saudi Arabia, which has been in the news recently for having poor human rights record. (A.I is an independent, autonomous organization and is not an American or British organization, so one cannot even say: The Americans are always picking on Saudi!) I was shocked to read about the cases of prisoners in Saudi on A.I. sites. I was equally shocked to read about such cases taking place here in Dubai as well. I primarily concentrated on the issues here in Dubai: prisoners being tortured and abused, people being kidnapped by authorities and murdered because they were a threat to the country, other men who were snatched away from their families only to be tortured and so on. I don’t remember reading anywhere in the Quran or the Sharia law that allows for beating, torture and punishments of prisoners. And I will not even get into the techniques they use to torture. (By the way, when I was in Saudi, I could not access A.I’s information on Saudi Arabia!)

I remember when I was in Jeddah last year, there was a small conference (about 20 people) on sexual abuse among small children. There were very few recorded cases, so that proved it difficult to deal with the problem, since most of the kids don’t know they can seek help. The lady doctor suggested of opening up a clinic to help deal with the abused kids, and it was not accepted! She mentioned of how much larger the problem is, much more so than we shall realize! Until we don’t acknowledge a problem, we cannot solve it. There are other cases as well such as domestic violence and rape that needs to be dealt with. We only get to hear about the beheading of drug traffickers and murderers. What about rapists? Sexual offenders? I know in the US they are active in hunting down such kinds of people. What are we doing here? Nothing!

Often times, I hear people here in Dubai and in Saudi talk about the deterioration of western societies: crime, rapes, murders, drugs, violence, sexual abuses and so on, and how the Eastern societies are doing so much better. Sorry to burst your bubble people! I guess these people don’t realize that these issues also exist here, albeit on a much smaller scale, but they do exist! Wouldn’t it be better to stop, look, acknowledge the problem and deal with it, instead of letting it be a full blown problem maybe 5 years down the road!

By denying or ignoring problem will only come back later to haunt you. I think we can all agree with that, be it a small problem or a big one!

Why do we cry foul at others when we have foul events happening in our own backyards?

Mansur
* http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=64147&d=22&m=5&y=2005

Online Gaming Addiction!

Hi friends,

This recent article in Arab News* made me think about how children growing up today are so different from the time I grew up in Jeddah. The writer talks about how children, and college students even, are spending way too much time playing online games, so much so, they skip their classes. I know this a problem here in Dubai as well, as I am sure it is in other parts of the world,

Before I got my Internet connection at home, I was forced to use the Internet at the Internet cafes. In each one of them, save one, it would be filled up with small kids, playing one of these online games. Sure, its exciting and all, but to be on them throughout the day is taking the love of gaming online too far. These are kids who skip classes, stay online for hours on end and in the end damage their health: eyesight can weaken from constant stares at computer screens and body becomes less active leading to obesity, not to mention the violent attitudes they develop over time, which leads these young guys to think violence will solve their problems!

Instead of the blaming the youngsters for their actions, I would ask: where are the parents in all this? Why can’t the parents keep a stricter control on the kids? Demand to know where the kids are spending their pocket money! Demand to know what the kid learned at school today! If the parents keep a tighter control on the kids’ whereabouts, I am sure we would not have to deal with such issues!

Now, see here is where the government should also step in. Had there been other venues for these young guys, we would not have such an addiction to online gaming. Make that football, basketball and volleyball courts! Make those libraries! Make that skating ramp! Make those public parks, where the kids can run about freely! Make social center, where these kids can have a chance to develop their artistic and athletic skills! Make that cinema! But, no, instead, we get malls, malls and more malls—malls where the single male cannot even go!! Kids/ young guys skipping classes to be at the Internet cafe is but a small part of a bigger problem.

Mansur
* http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=64119&d=22&m=5&y=2005

Addiction...!

Hello people,

Confession time: I am addicted to chocolates and chocolate milk. Those who know me personally tease me about it. I wonder why I still drink chocolate milk so religiously. Well, it’s better than Coke, or even alcohol, right? Of course, it’s not better than having fresh juices.

I don’t even remember when I had my first chocolate milk, but I sure do remember growing up drinking it, as well as strawberry and vanilla milk. My brother took after vanilla milk when he was younger, and I took after chocolate milk. Gosh, I remember when I was in Jeddah, Saudia Milk came out with 1/2 liter packets of chocolate milk, and I would have at least two of those each day! My mom would be very frustrated and angry with me, and I would soon have a restriction on the number of chocolate milk I could have each day. I had to go down from 6-8 packets to 1 packet a day! I hardly lasted a week, when I would start to cheat and have more than one packet a day!

Today, chocolate milk is still my number one drink. I have it when I am thirsty. I have it more than I have water each day! Although I am not into drinking it 6 to 8 times a day, I drink about one a day! That’s enough for me now!

My favorite brand is Al-Marai, which comes out from Saudi Arabia! I was so happy when I saw that Al Marai milk also export to Dubai. I also drink their fresh milk as well. Al Marai is the best; it beats Hershey’s, Galaxy, Nesquick and countless others!

Ok, now where is my chocolate milk……?

Mansur

Let's Have Some Fun Now!

Hello friends,

If you notice on the sidebar on the right side of this blog, right at the bottom, I have added some cool things.

First of all, there is an icon of a planet with a line around it. That is something called SiteTracker, which tracks all sorts of details when someone visits my page. It helps me to see how many access my blog, where they are accessing it from and what country. It helps me, because I now know how many people access my site. I always knew there were more people than the comments left! You can click on it as well and see the results as well!

Two, I have added some quizzes for you as well. Just click on any one of them, and you will be directed to a new site. You just click on the answers and soon you get the results. If anything, you can play these games evertime you come to my blog and not see a new article up yet!

Enjoy,

Mansur

Ibn Battuta-- The Mall!

Hello friends,

Ibn Battuta was the famous Muslim explorer in the 14th century.

"Ibn Battuta started on his travels when he was 20 years old in 1325. His main reason to travel was to go on a Hajj, or a Pilgrimage to Mecca, as all good Muslims want to do. But his traveling went on for about 29 years and he covered about 75,000 miles visiting the equivalent of 44 modern countries which were then mostly under the governments of Muslim leaders of the Worldof Islam, or "Dar al-Islam". He met many dangers and had many adventures along the way. He was attacked by bandits, almost drowned in a sinking ship, was almost beheaded by a tyrant ruler, and had a few marriages and lovers and fathered several children on his travels!"*

The countries he went to includ Persia, India, China, Andalusia, Egypt and Tunisia. Why am I talking about Ibn Battuta? It's because one of the latest malls in Dubai is themed after him: Ibn Battuta Mall! The mall is divided up in six parts, and each part is themed after the countires mentioned. China has a shipwrecked 'junk'' (chinese boat), India has a stunning 8 meters high elephant, Persia has an elegant high rise dome, Egypt has these amazing mosaics, Tunisia has this grandiose entrance and Andalusia has the court's lion fountain. It's all very impressive. It's certainly very large.

However, the whole idea behind designing a mall after Ibn Battuta is immediately lost once you step inside it. There is absolutely no information on who Ibn Battuta is. There is historical information on when each of the country was explored, what was discovered and how it was discovered. Instead, we get to see huge shops like Paris Gallery , Debenhams, River Island, Giordano, and all the fast food restaurants in the food court. There is a huge cinemaplex and Dubai's first IMAX theatre. All of the people there, from the local residents, to expatriates, to tourists, from old to young have no idea who Ibn Battuta is. The mall did not bother to mention anywhere why they chose to name the mall after him! It's sad how the makers of this mall decided to cash in on his name. I am sure Ibn Battuta would be turning over in his grave to know that his name is being commercialized.

The only place where one can find out who Ibn Battuta is on the pamphlet of the Mall Guide, and even that, they did not have enough, and not everyone gets a guide anyways. Instead, people were clamoring to get the free car shades, tshirts, stickers with the Ibn Battuta Mall logo on it.

If anything, I saw it as an opportunity lost. Dubai could have very used this mall as an educational medium to the tourists which it expects to be in millions soon, to help them learn more about the Islam and some of the great people, like Ibn Battuta. We don't get that. Instead, we get Dubai which is hell-bent on making more and more money. Dubai is what I would like to call "mini Las Vegas!" What's next? Emperor Salahuddin's Mall? Caliph Abu Baker's 5-star hotel?

Mansur
www.ibnbattutamall.com

Misprounounced Words!

Dear friends,

I recently was at the movie theatres to watch Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith with a friend. Standing in line for refreshments, the family in front of us were taking an unusually long time to get their drinks. I did not mind that, but I did feel a little funny with the way the man was pronouncing some of his words.

“Yes, can I have three ‘cocks’ and one diet ‘cock,” he said ever so naturally.

Huh? What is he asking for? I immediately realized he was referring to ‘coke.’ I was quite embarrassed because my mind went in a certain direction when the word ‘cock’ was mentioned. I can control my thoughts from going too deep towards a certain path, but for this poor Indian man, I was feeling more embarrassed. I wanted to point out to him the correct pronunciation of the word coke, but decided to stay quiet lest I offend him in front of his family.

This incident reminds me of another time in Jeddah at Burger King, when this guy from Bangladesh was there at the counter with his family.

“Yes. We would like two ‘whoo-pers” and one chicken ‘whoo-per.” We all know it is WhoPPers, and not WhOOpers!

I did not know what to make of the situation. Sometimes people can pronounce the word wrongly, and give it a whole new meaning. I have heard so many others, and sometimes I do correct the people if the situation is suitable for me to do so. Sometimes they are innocent mistakes.

Sometimes even I have made the mistakes in the Arabic language. The people here say ‘kee-fak’ as opposed to ‘kayf halik’ in Saudi Arabia. Sometimes the word ‘kee-fak’ is said in such a different tone, accent and manner, that the ‘-fak’ part sounds like a certain profanity word. I don’t say ‘kee-fak’ any longer, since I was not able to say it properly without having to sound like I was swearing at someone!

I wonder if any of you have heard or said any words that gave it a whole new meaning when pronounced wrongly?

Mansur

Spiritual Star Wars!

Hi friends,

"When we ordered the angels: “prostrate before Adam in respect,” they all prostrated except Iblees (Shaitan) who refused in his arrogance and became a disbeliever. To Adam we said: “Dwell with your wife in Paradise and eat anything you want from its bountiful food from wherever you wish, but do not approached this tree, or you shall both become transgressors.”

But Shaitan tempted them with the tree to disobey Allah’s commandment and caused them to slop therefrom (paradise), and get them expelled from where they were. We said: “Get down from here, some of you being enemies to others, and there is for you in the earth an abode and provisions for a specified period.”"

Quran, 2:34-36

Why am I quoting this verse from the Quran? It is because it was the one thing running through my head as I watched Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. The Bible has a similar story as well, of Adam and Eve’s temptation from Satan, which causes their exile from Eden to earth.

In the movie, I am reminded me heavily of Adam in Eden when he is tempted by Satan. Adam, knowing that he is forbidden to eat the apple from the Tree, eats it anyway because he is thinking selfishly. He does not take God’s warning seriously, and so both Adam and Eve are tempted and sin against God. In the same way, Anakin Skywalker (Adam) does not take the warning from his ‘father’ Obi Wan Kenobi (God), and sins by falling into the temptation of the chancellor Palpatine (Satan). The whole set up could not have been more obvious.

Sometimes it makes me wonder if the entire Star Wars series are based on religious themes and scriptures, since it is all about a battle between the ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’, symbolic of God and Satan! I think there is something deeper in this movie, deeper than the special effects and weird alien characters, which draw people to the theatres. There are loads of other movies that could be seen as spiritual even if the filmmakers did not have any intention to do so. Some of these include The Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart, The Sixth Sense, Finding Nemo, The Lord of the Rings and so on. Religious scriptures.

Mansur

Comeback:: Part 2

Dear friends,

If you have not read "Comeback:: Part 1" Please do so before proceeding here. I think if you can spare the time to read this article, you will get to a side of me, which I have not really shared with a lot of people, so you guys are a privileged few! Thanks a million!

I was born deaf, and although it is not 100%, it is still in the higher ranges of 70-80% loss. My left hearing is worse than my right one. Ever since first grade, I have been wearing aids, and at the time, they were the huge ones, which were visibly noticeable. Over the years, I have had about 6-7 different pairs of aids, and the ones I am wearing today are the smallest ones that are available out there.

Being a person who hears hard, I was always the quiet and shy type of person. It was mainly because I was not able to follow conversations in any situation. Sometimes there would be too much noise and I would not pick up the human voice. Sometimes it would not be bright enough for me to lip read. Once I was out of the loop, I could not keep track of what the people are talking about, hence I would stay quiet lest I say something completely off track. Being in school, some of the kids would tease me about my aids and made me feel like an outsider. That’s not to say that I did not have any friends at all; I did have certain. But the ones who would tease me were higher in numbers than the ones who wouldn’t.

My father would give me these small talks on how I should be more assertive and all, and I would think,” its so easy for you to say, but once you are in my shoes, in that classroom, its not so easy to say something and face ridicule from the peers later on.” I have been called names, been made fun of and at times been plainly ignored. I was always the last one picked for a team in my sports lesson. I was always the last one to be picked out for any of the group activity. I don’t blame them thought. They probably would have thought: what’s a deaf guy going to do for us anyways? I have never shared any of this with my parents, because I did not want them to realize that I was going through crap at school.

This kind of attitude from others lasted through high school, all the way through 12th grade. Only five people were cool friends with me, while the others would think of me as weird and outsiders, and I would let their attitude affect me. Maybe I am weird after all! Maybe I do deserve to be a loser! This kind of thinking would destroy me on the inside, but on the outside, I would pretend its not hurting me. I would come home at times and cry my heart out, why do other people think I am weird? I am not weird; I am as normal as the person next to me!

I had always dreamed of getting into a profession where I would not have to be in the public eye, and be in the background. Ironically, I got into architecture, where I AM in the public eye, making presentations to the clients and all. Through my university years, I once again had to go through a time where the professors and other professionals would come in and critique my work in public presentations. Many times, I would let their comments and critiques affect me as well, because my work reflected me, and a comment on my work was a comment on me!

One time I had this professor from Afghanistan, and from day one, he would call me names and use these weird examples to point out to the rest of the class what a “pathetic, unworthy” student I was. The whole semester he put me down in some of the worse ways possible. My complaints to the dean fell on deaf ears so to speak. Other students would ask why this professor was so against me, while he was being chummy with the female students. I was always on time, always gave great presentations, spoke in impeccable English, would sensibly answer the critiques, and always had the requirements on time. Other students loved me, but this professor would hate me. He would try to find the littlest of fault in my work and tear me up about it. I know this is true because I had worked the whole night on designing an auditorium, getting the right alignments of the chairs, stage, lighting equipments and all. I presented my work, and he was disgusted with it. When another person, who had stolen my design for the auditorium, presented the work, the professor was all excited about it. I told my friend why he took my drawing, and he came up with the lame excuse: I did not have time to work on my own thing!

However, the attitude of that professor proved to me that he had something against me as a person! Ironically, the following semester, this same professor called me in to his office, and gave me a big apology for his behavior, and all I could tell him was: “you broke me a like a glass calling me names and all; you have no idea how much you hurt me. But I will forgive you!” I never saw him again, and he was fired at the end of the semester.

I am all up for criticisms and all, since that is part of my job. I have to listen to the clients and understand what their concerns are. But that kind of criticism is different from the one that is targeting at someone personally. Questioning one’s behavior without full knowledge of who they really are is premature and immature. All you people who read this, I never intend to criticize you as a person, because I don’t know you very well. If I comment on anything, it is the ideas, the articles and the subject matter. So when I write about Saudi Arabia for example, I don’t write it with a heart of hatred, I write it out of love. I hate to see the wrong things happening and I get upset when stupid things happen in the country.

Since I am coming back with a refreshed mind, a renewal of mind and thinking, I will continue to blog like the way I do. I will still welcome comments of all kinds, even if they are personal, rude, offensive and mean comments, because that will give me an opportunity to correct and explain myself to them! I will still reply to your comments. I will still visit other blogs and leave comments for you all! Gosh, how could I have ever thought of even leaving this place first?

I ended it on Tuesday and today is Friday. I was dead for three days but now am resurrected! Blogging has become a part of me; its in my bloodline; its, after all, a Life of Mansur!

With love,

Mansur

Comeback:: Part 1

Dear friends,

Well, hello people, I am really glad to be back here. I just could not stay away from not blogging. I had to blog, no matter what. Blogging has now become an integral part of me. Writing for me has always been therapeutic, in other words, when I write, no matter how bad my English may be, I find myself at peace. It’s an outlet for me in my otherwise somewhat silent world. When I write, I feel people listen and understand me.

I am sorry if I upset some of you out there. I should know better by now. When I am sharing my life with the world out there in such a public domain, there are bound to be some people who will comment and criticize me for the way I live my life. You see, I value each and everyone of your comments. I take them personally, and I do that because I value them. They are not just mere comments to me; they are more like a conversation to me, which is why I make every attempt to reply on your comments. So, when I started to receive certain comments that were too personal, too judgmental, I began to question if I went wrong somewhere. I fell into the trap once again thinking people are judging me. I have had that my whole life, and I was not prepared to face the music with these so called anonymous commenters.

I will tell you why I became sad and upset with some of the comments in part 2.

To be continued.....

Mansur

Inaccessible....

Dear Friends,

I was having a hard time thinking about this post. It is after much contemplation and mulling over, that I decided to close down my blog, albeit temporarily.

When I had started this blog, my initial idea was to keep an online journal, whereby my friends and cousins and family could keep track of what's happening in my life. The idea seemed fabulous to me. It allowed me to write everything here, and relax on sending out mass emails to everyone telling them how I am doing. However, only one friend was interested in checking up on my blog.

I still continued to write on it. With time, my intial idea of keeping a blog developed into other things. I started writing about my life in Saudi, since I was working in Jeddah when I started my blog. I searched for other blogs online, and I found two great ones, Saudi Jeans and Jowhara's Chamber. No doubt, my favorite one was my friend's Zeina.

Soon, other people started to come online and leave comments for me here and there. Many did not like what I was writing about, because they felt I was anti-Saudi or something. Funny because whenever I wrote something nice about Saudi, these very people would not even say a simple thank you. I have been forced to write a post specifically about why I write about Saudi and all.

But, of late, all of this has descended into mudslinging and all. I have been attacked by some people who doubt my intentions and character. It's sad because in today's age, there are still some intolerant people who cannot take criticism into their hands. I did not mind people criticising what I wrote about or my ideas, you were more than welcome to do that, but an attack on my character and me as a person is certainly not acceptable, unless I gave you solid reasons to do so! This descended into the worse situation that my friend Zeina felt like she had to close down her blog which she did.

So, in short, I will be away from here. God knows if I will ever come back, or if I will switch over to some other blogging site. Maybe, I might return to the same address, I don't know anything yet. I just to have some time our and re-assess where I went wrong and what I have done to have people write such comments to me personally! I know there are some of you out there who tell me to be strong, to ignore the rude comments, to delete the rude comments and all, but there is only so much I can take in a week.

I offer my apologies to all those people who thought I was rude, mean, offensive to them or their sensibilities. I am sorry if I hurt you in any way whoever you may be. I hope you realize that it was never my intention to hurt or offend anyone in the first place. To all those who have been amazing, I am sorry I am doing this. I so wish I could continue to blog as I do so, but I am not in the mood to tolerate any more nonsense from some of the people out there.

With love,

Mansur

Sami Yusuf Quotes

Dear friends,

Sami Yusuf is having his first concert here in Sharjah on May 18 and 19. I wonder if there will be young females dancing like that women in Haitham Saeed’s videos. He is being hailed as the “modern voice of Islam” in Europe. Yusuf is a British singer with Azeri background. Here are some excerpts from his interview in today’s paper, Khaleej Times.

“I prefer Sharjah or Abu Dhabi. There is too much happening in Dubai. Dubai is like London, only a little bit more conservative.”

“I studied Western Classical music…I studied different modes of Middle Eastern music and also dabbled in Indian music.”

“Music has been deeply rooted in my family, so I took to it naturally.”

“I don’t consider myself as someone singing ‘nasheeds,’ I consider myself an artist.”

“The issue of using less music or more music has been debated by scholars and it’s not a thing of huge fundamental importance.”

“The singing of religious music has revolved around very few instruments but all countries have their own music…with orchestra and music…we have it too, and in my case I consider myself as an artist singing good music.”

When asked why his music became so popular: “I don’t know. [The people] were looking for an opportunity to express their love [for God] and they did it when they heard my songs.”

“What is lacking today are these examples, this lack of examples to follow is making some youngsters disillusioned, making them pessimistic towards life. They don’t want to get a job or work, and they head towards extremism. Islam is not a religion of extremism and my message is balance.”

“Those people who do the damage to this balance have lost their minds, because of what they see…the oppression going on in the world…they have lost their minds, they don’t know what they are doing. All I say is, don’t do it in the name of Islam.”

“My first album was very spiritual…the second one will be less spiritual and more practical.”

Well, since there was a dialogue on several blogs here about the issue of music in Islam, what is better than to hear it from someone like Sami Yusuf, who claims to be a balanced Muslim singing and producing music albums. Having said all this, I am NOT going to the concert, although it is a free one. I have other plans that are keeping me away from this concert!

Mansur

Random Saudi News

Hello there,

Here are some random news coming out from Saudi.

* 20 YEAR OLD SAUDI WOMAN PLANS ON OBTAINING PHD FROM THE UK AFTER GETTING BA AND MBA *
-----> I am excited by this news. She is from Jeddah by the way, so way to go Jeddah!! I am excited because she is a smart, intelligent saudi female who has done her counry proud. She claims she wants to be the "first energy minister" in the Kingdom. I wonder if the authorities will allow her to work.

*WOMEN ARE ALLOWED IN "PUBLIC" LIBRARIES ONCE A WEEK!* (I am going to cry for the women now!)
-----> This is such an eye opener for me. I did not realize that women were not allowed in the libraries once a week! At one place in Jeddah, women are allowed once every two weeks. No wonder you see so many women and young girls at Jarir bookstores. I will let the article speak for itself.

*JEWELRY SHOP OPENS FOR BABIES IN JEDDAH!* (as if we needed that!)
-----> Someone saw that there was a market for baby jewelry. The prices will range from SR200 to SR2000. Baby Fitaihi will open two more branches. I wonder if that money could be spent to fix up some of the roads in the city.

* THANKS FOR A BETTER JEDDAH*
-----> I am actually glad things are being done to improve Jeddah! Well done to all these people who made the effort to do that!

Enjoy,

Mansur

How To Watch Movies....

Dear friends,

I like watching movies, but I don’t like watching movies just for the sake of watching it. I like watching movies, which I feel speak to me. It is very rare for me to go to a movie theatre without reading up on it. I will read the reviews, from as many sources as possible, talk about with those who have seen it, and then make a decision to go see it. Sure, there are some times when I end up watching a movie when the decision is made right there by my friends.

There are certain kinds of movies which I like watching. I prefer movies, which has a touch of realism in it, so that includes most of the independent movies. I also like watching horror/suspense movies, but not the cheap horror ones. I am not a big fan of action movies, like xXx and James Bond, as I get really bored with it with the senseless violence. I can appreciate fantasy movies like The Lord of the Rings. Comedies don’t really cut it with me, since most of them include crass humor like American Pie, Scary Movie and so on. Rom-Coms, or Chick Flicks, are also sometime acceptable for me depending on the subject matter and cast.

I watch a movie with certain things in my mind, which helps me appreciate a movie a lot more than by just watching it casually.

(1) Immersion
a. Whatever movie I am watching, I totally immerse myself into the main character. If it is a movie like The Grudge, I put myself into the character’s position and imagine myself in Japan. In The Sixth Sense, I immerse myself into the character of the little boy. In The Blair Witch Project, I immerse myself into the one of the characters. In a comedy like Meet The Parents, I immerse myself into the Ben Stiller character. What happens then is that I begin to imagine the whole scenario from the character’s point of view. Sometimes I get totally immersed, and that tells me that the movie has done a good job of characterization.

(2) Observation/ Analyzation
a. By immersing myself into the character, I start to observe and analyze the same things that the character goes through. The people I meet, the events that happen to me and other subtle influences on the character. What would I have done? Would I have made a smarter move had I noticed that the side character was cheating on me? Would I have avoided the mess-up if I had not ignored the remark?

(3) Application
a. This is a major thing I do when I am watching a movie. I tell myself: what would I do in such a situation? When in Jeepers Creepers, the guy is going down the pipe of an abandoned church, would I want to do that? In Titanic Jack gives up getting up on a floating device at the end, would I have done that or searched around for another floating device? This is the point where I apply the situation in the movie to real life. I ask: what would I do?

(4) Appreciation
a. My one habit that annoys everyone I know. I usually like to sit through the entire credits of a movie that I enjoyed. My sister hates this habit of mine. So, when in company of others, I try to stay as long as I can, before they start tugging me away. On my own, I will stay right through the end of the credits. Last night, I watched The Fighting Temptations, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I sat there right through the entire end credits. The Lord of the Rings has an exceptionally long end credits; I sat right through the end of it all! That is my way of appreciating those people who put the effort into making the movie. I know they will not know that someone like me here in UAE is sitting all the way through the credits, but it’s just a personal thing for me.

All of these work for in movies that speak to me. Sometimes it is tricky because there is more than one protagonist, and so I have to switch back and forth between the characters. Some of the movies I see, the characterization is so weak, I cannot relate to it. The plot lines, the script and the works just don’t gel in with me. For example, in The Final Destination, we all know these characters are merely there to be killed off. So I cannot relate to them, as it would be pointless. But in a movie like Phenomenon, I can relate to Travolta’s character because I can imagine what he is going through. My favorite movies include The Shawshank Redemption, in which I totally immerse myself in Andy Dufresne’s character as he talks about having hope in a life of imprisonment.

If I had more time on my hands, I would definitely liked to have watched some of the movies that I have missed. I watch movies because they teach me life lessons and at times give me the freedom to escape from the realities of life. Keep in mind, my technique of watching movies may not be appreciated by everyone, and so may not work with everyone, but I guarantee you, if you do try it, you will learn to deeply appreciate a movie a lot more than from just a regular viewing.

Mansur

"When life....."

Hello,

" When life has to put you up with mean and hateful people, just think of them as sandpaper. The may scratch you, rub you the wrong way, but eventually...you end up smooth and polished, and the sandpaper...its just going to be worn out and ugly." Beyonce Knowles, The Fighting Temptations.

Enough said! =) =) =)

Mansur

Life of Mansur...Too Personal?

Hi friends,

I feel forced to write this post.

I did not realize I would be facing some few select people from out there who would choose to target me personally. For someone to make assumptions about me and my personal life without even knowing the full facts is wrong. Just plain wrong. There is a famous saying: Never judge a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes. I wonder, in relation to my previous article, if those people would still call me a "freak of nature" or a "big baby" if they knew the full truth of my situation.

If anything, I think I will have to refrain from sharing my personal thoughts and mind here, which I thought I would be able to do so. I am open to criticisms and all, but for someone to target me personally, as well as my character is just upsetting. Yes, I am being sensitive about it because an attack on my character without full knowledge of who I really am is stupid, insensitive, and just plain mean!

Mansur

Insensitivity and Tactless...

Hey people,

The article that I had posted here was called "sleepless nights..." and some people I guess could not even be sensitive about it. They tell me I have some "serious issues" and I am a "freak of nature." Another called me a "big baby." I wonder how I should accept that. Of course with total rejection because these people don't even know what the hell I have been through when I was younger. Some people can be so tactless and insensitive to other people's needs and concerns. Just because they have not been what I have been through, I guess it would be pointless to share with them. So what if I am 28 and have a problem? Who doesn't? There isn't any age where the problems stop. If there were any outlet for me to solve my problem when I was younger, I would have done so, but Saudi Arabia just didn't deal with such problems back then and even today!

One thing I have realized, I should keep my personal matters to those who can understand me and appreciate my concerns. I am in no mood to tolerate such sarcastic, insensitive and tactless comments from people who obviously have nothing better to do than put me down! If you think I am being harsh, you might want to think how harsh you were to me in the first place! No hard feelings to anyone, but it would not hurt if you were at least sensitive instead of cruel!

Mansur

Birthday Gifts: CDs

Dear friends,

Two of the CDs I received were Josh Groban and The English Patient soundtrack. I just finished listening to Josh Groban’s and it has been an amazing experience. His songs are a mix of jazz, opera and little but of pop thrown in, but it is his voice, which is captivating. The album’s name is self-titled. All the songs are great, and each one is vividly different from one another. However, two songs I liked particularly were Alejate, which has a touch of Spanish music, and the other one is Vincent (starry, starry night), which is totally bewitching!

The other album has been awesome to listen to as well. The music transported me to another era altogether. I have seen the movie (The English Patient), but had forgotten how beautiful the music is. It is essentially a French album and there are lots of jazz, blues, and some lightweight dance music. It is one of the better easy listening music. The kind of music you can listen to when you are stressed out, and then can relax wholly!

Mansur

Friday the 13th...!

Hi friends,

I am sure you all must have realized that today is Friday the 13rth, an unlucky day according to those who believe in this. There have been countless movies made on the premise of Friday the 13th. I for one, certainly don't believe in superstitions. I know there are loads of them out there, like...

* Don't walk under a ladder
* Don't let a black cat cross your path
* If you spill salt, you have got to toss it over your soulder to prevent bad luck
* If you break a mirror, it's seven years of bad luck

...and these are the more common ones. I remember other sily stuff as well. One time on our class outdoor trip, we were spending the night out at the beach. There were a group of girls, who being daring, went into the girls toilet, with torches and all; it was lights out anyways. They were in there, to say the name of Bloody Mary in the mirror. The guys and the other girls were watching from the tents, and suddenly, we hear loud screams, and one of the girls come running out of the bathroom, totally scared! We all knew they did not do anything in there.

There was another craze that went around, based on the movie The CandyMan. It became a trend to say the name, Candyman, in your bathroom mirror 5 times for him to appear. I would only go up to four. There was always this sense of fear, and a sense of 'what if it were really true' I was a kids back then.

However, this idea of supserstition exists heavily, even here in this part of the world. The hotels here, I can tell you, don't include the 13th floor. They go straight from 12 to 14. In Sharjah. Can you believe that? I still have some people tell to not do this or that because it will bring bad luck. The concept of the Evil Eye is extremely strong here. People buy and carry the blue colored 'eye' shaped pendant to ward off the Evil Eye.

However, the history of Friday the 13th dates back to pagan Christianity, and some sources take it even further back to the Norse gods, who named the day Friday after one of their gods. The Norse gods, actually claimed Friday to be their blessed day. Whatever it is, I certinaly don't believe in it because none of the claims are based in fact or proven theory. They are all speculation and traditonal stories.

Having said that, the most depressing time for me in the week is Friday evening, when I know I have to get up early the next day and go to work! The best time for me is Wednesday evening, when I know its weekend time!

Mansur

Prakash: My Watchman

Hey friends,

I made cupcakes last night to share my birthday with my watchman, Prakash. He is from Sri Lanka, and he has been doing an awesome job of cleaning, maintaining and the duty of a security guard of my building. He has a 3-in-1 job. Ever since I have come to this building, he has been very nice to me. It was when my mom left that she told him: take good care of Mansur. From then onwards, Prakash has been asking all the time if things are all right and so on. Today, Prakash is my good friend. I take time out of the day to actually sit down and talk with him. I never let him feel that he is a ‘watchman’ when I talk to him. I have noticed other tenants who throw orders at him: do this or do that! They complain to him and about him.

Prakash almost left his job last week. He mentioned he had not been paid for the last two months, and that he basically living on the few dirhams he had left. All the labor politics her, including unpaid wages, was taking a toll on Prakash. I thought to myself: how unfair the whole system here is. Apparently, there is a huge issue of unpaid workers here in Dubai and Sharjah. Because labor is so cheap, the employers think they can get away with not paying the wages on time.

When I gave Prakash the cupcakes, he asked me how old I had turned, and I said 28. “Oh! That’s only one year difference.” I listened intently. “I am 29, and you are only one year smaller to me.” I could never tell, with the way he is, that he is 29. I always thought of him as 35, 36-ish. I realized it is the hard work, the manual labor and tiresome days for him that makes him look older than he really is.

I have included him in my prayer list which I have for people who I pray for. I know each one of us are here for a ‘test.’ Some people go through hell, and some people have, or what it seems to be like, a hassle-free life. While a sheikh can stay at the 7 star hotel in Dubai, there could be garbage collector who has work despite not getting his wages. There could be all the rich people dancing the night away at the most posh nightclub, and there would be people who are living out there in broken, dilapidated homes. All this in the SAME city of Dubai!

Mansur

Being Proud of Saudi...

Hi friends,

I read the following article on Design Dreams.

I am so proud to see some Saudi who do such a thing. I will let the article speak for itself. It's also a shame that the government would do literally nothing to help these two Saudis preserve the Saudi culture and heritage. If I were a Saudi today, I would be extremely proud to see my Saudi brethren do such a wonderful thing for the country. I am definitely going to go visit this next I am in Saudi!

Mansur

Somberness

Hello people,

Since I was caught up in my birthday hullabuloo, I was away from watching the news. Today I actually sat down the listened to the news on BBC and CNN. I feel so sad now.

I just don't understand of what's happening in Iraq. Why are so many Iraqis dying? It's like almost every day since last week, there has been one car bomb or other going off. Who dies: The Iraqi people! The figures are extremely high.Yesterday, 21 people died. Day before: 61 people died. Why are these being people killed? There are always reasons that the American convoy was targetted and these Iraqi people just happen to be there, who die innocently. Sure, there are a few Americans who are killed, and their deaths are always highlighted in the media. I hate to see that? Does this imply that an Iraqi death is less than that off the Americans? Should the Arab media give as much importance to the American death than that to an Iraqi death?

If I am someone who is unaware of what's happening around here, I would see this scenario as a "Iraqi suicide bomber killing his own people!" I wonder if the Arab world still advocate suicide bombing? I wonder if they are realizing that the creation of powerful impact suicide bombing that had initially started since the intifada, is hurting them in theirown backyard? I wonder if they realize that they have created a situation where the effect is affecting them and not the Americans and the Israelis? I wonder if the bombers who kill such high numbers of his own people would still believe he is a martyr? I wonder if people see this as a "muslim suicide bombing killing Muslims?' (I would certainly not believe in the idea that it is in the intention of the bomber that counts to kill the Americans, and he will still be a martyr because he is doing Jihad, even though higher numbers of Muslims are killed!)

Despite all this, I am sad because I wonder and think about the so many innocent people die just because they happen to be there at the scene of the bombing. These are real people. To many, they may seem like numbers, but to me, each one of them is a person, a man or a woman or a child. A person who has hopes, dreams and desires. A person who would perhaps was living to hopefully have a chance to see peace in their homleand. Think about it: sixty one people die. I cannot let that number be a number to me. Each one of that number 61 makes me sad.

I ask God: why do these people have to die like this? What is the sense in all of this? Why is the situation turning out to be so messed up? I mean, just yesterday, the US assault intensified, so much so, the scenes of impact happen to be close to Syria. Will Syria get involved now? Will the violence spread all over? The suicide bombings are already effective in Palestine, Iraq and Saudi Arabia? We have seen violence in Lebanon. Who is next?

The only comfort I live with in my heart is that God is in control of the world. He is the Creator and the Sustainer of this world and the lives he gave to every one of us. I take comfort in knowing that no matter what, God is the Ruler over this earth, and I believe despite the chaotic situation, He is still in charge of all what's happening. If there is one question I would want to ask God it would be: why did you allow for so many senseless deaths?

With much somberness,

Mansur

Birthday: Bowling and Cooking

Hello friends,

Gosh, what a birthday I had. I spent part of the day in the morning reflecting back on the one year of my life. I had lots of things to be thankful for to God. So morning time was spent in thanksgiving.

My friends showed up at 5pm at my place to pick me up. We went to Radisson SAS hotel, where we played bowling. We were ten in all and 8 people played. BR could not play since he had a bad back, and DA could not play as well since she was like, really embarrassed! We played one game and it took about 1 1/2 hours to finish. It wasn't really about the game, but more about the time we spent together. It was just so funny. ES was one person who literally threw the bowling ball as if he was playing baseball or something. He provided us with enough laughs. It was just an awesome time hanging out together. At the end of it, JH, JE and DD were the top three! I was fourth!

Right after bowling, we all went to Spinneys, the local supermarket. In there, the group of 9 now, split up into three groups, and were running all over getting the stuff they needed to cook dinner. I got the chicken, Italian dressing and mashed potatoes. It was a fun time in there, since we all were running around, double checking with one another as to who got what! "Who got the Soya sauce?" "Where is the tahina?? Where is the borghul?" "Did someone get the drinks?" "Do we take fresh milk or packet? Should it low fat or regular?" "What dip should I get?" "What is tahina, by the way?" We almost ended up spending so much time in there.

As fast as we could, we all came over to my place. I had cleaned it up the night before and it was very clean. It was clean so to give everyone the chance to mess it up. DA, JE and I got into the kitchen. DA started to prepare the Arabic salad, which included fatoush, tabouleh and hummus. She also made the cheesecake! JE started to prepare the green beans casserole. I started to leave out the snacks the drinks. The guys were in the lounge, where they played several hand games and card games. From time to time, we would have people come in and out of the kitchen!

I got the chicken ready, dipped it in Italian dressing, coated it with potatoes flakes and fried them. I also made the mashed potatoes, and JE had the brilliant idea of putting in spring onions and shredded cheese on top it. The salad was ready, Arabic bread ready, beans ready, mashed potatoes ready, and my chickens were the last. Soon, we were all eating the dinner. They enjoyed it a lot. I was a little scared my chicken would be undercooked, but it turned out to be great.

Then the cheesecake was brought out, and DD got out another cake: a chocolate mud cake, which was my surprise birthday cake. I cut the cake, they all sang out loud, and pictures were taken.

All in all, it was a great time for all of us, because we spent time with one another in such an amazing way. I think, for me, my 28th birthday has come to the number one position now. So number two and three are my 15th birthday and 20th birthday!

I am in the process of getting the pictures together. I believe the bowling ones should be hilarious!

Take care you all, and to everyone of you who sms-ed me, emailed me, or left a comment here, thank you for your wishes! I sure wish I could have you join me!

Mansur

Happy Birthday to Me!

Dear friends, readers and loved ones,

Today is my birthday. I turn 24 years old. Did someone faint back there? Kidding, I turn 28 years old, but I feel like a 22 year old right now. I think for me, age right now is just a number. I feel young and vibrant!

So, gosh, 28 years. I have a lot to be thankful for. I always take time out on my birthdays to thank God for all the good things He has done for me. I know when I was younger, I would go all out for celebrating my birthdays with my class friends. But ever since my birthday back in 1996, I have taken a different perspective on birthdays. There are two birthdays among many that stick out to me prominently. One was in 1992, when I had my class over and we all went to the male amusement park (yes, at that time, there was a theme park for men only. No women allowed!) and did all the rides. We all then had dinner at Pizza Hut. It was a time where I got to hang out with my friends. It was all about them and not me. I even remember putting on the invitations cards: no gifts accepted!

The second meaningful birthday for me was when I was in the US back in 1997. I had four different people treat me out to lunch and dinner four different times. One time was a home cooked oriental dinner, second time was a dinner at Arizona Grill, third time was my lunch paid for, and fourth time was a friend treating me to out for dinner and ice cream. Now that I think about it, I remember my circle of friends doing a surprise birthday for me, which was my first.

So, from 1998 onwards, at every birthday I spend a part of my day taking the time out to thank God for all that He has done for me. I take my birthday as an opportunity to thank God for everything He done for me in my life! So for the year I was 27, I thank God for the so many blessings He has given me. I thank Him for the friend he re-connected me with, I thank Him for the job I was, and am in. I thank Him for the providing me with the money I earn. I thank Him for the many friends I made at my work place. I thank Him for continuing to give me a life of good health and free from any sicknesses. I thank Him for giving me big blessing by providing me with a house here. I could go on and on, and so this is what I do on my birthday.

Another thing I am excited for is that since 1997, I have never had a birthday celebration. I had always been on my own. My 27th birthday was with my parents, which I had after such a long time with them. This year, it is special for me. My friends will be coming over, and we will go bowling. Then we will come back to my place, and we will cook home made meals and dessert, play games and chill out. For that, you will have to wait for the next post!

By the way, it's my mom's birthday tomorrow, right a day after I was born!

Mansur

I Have Aids.....No, Seriously!

Hi friends,

I have a confession to make. I have aids. No seriously, I have aids. I wonder if that would change your attitude towards me. I wonder if you would still look at me in the same way you looked at me prior to my confession. I wonder if you think I am some pervert having pre-marital sex whereby I caught aids. I wonder what you are wondering now. I have aids.

A typical conversation with an adult when I reveal I have aids:

Me: Assalam-u-alaikum
Uncle: Walaikum-salaam. Kya haal hai beta?(how are you son?)
Me: I am fine. Aur aap ka kya haal hain? (and how are you?)
Uncle:Al-hamdulillah.

After some usual topics discussed, which includes "what class are you in? (man, i am working now!!), what sports do you play, why aren't you married, what is your height, where are you working, they almost always ask me the one thing:

Uncle: Beta... what is that in your ear?
Me: : Oh, uncle, I have AIDS

Uncle is mortified. He is shocked. He tries to give me a faint smile. Sometimes, uncle take a step backwards. He doesn't know how to react. In his eyes, that have widened, I see he wants to run away from me. How typical of such people.

Uncle: (somewhat shocked) Really?
Yes. I have AIDS

Letting uncle live in shock for a while, I continue...

Me: Uncle, relax. I have hearing aids.

So there you go! I wonder if you still see me with the sames eyes prior to this post.

Mansur

Saving Old Jeddah!

Hi all,

Bravo to the author of this article.

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=63369&d=9&m=5&y=2005&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Local%20Press

I love it that he has written about it. I love the Old Jeddah....its a completely different place from the newer side of the city. Old Jeddah is real, authentic, and a place full of history! After all, Jeddah is the place where history and tradition claims Eve was buried!

Mansur

Metrosexuals?

Hey everyone,

A guy goes into a barber shop. We think he will get a haircut and leave. But wait, thats not all. He is going in for his beauty regime. He will have his haircut, and then havehighlights. Then, he will have his nails cut and manicured. Finally, he will leave the barber shop with light make up on his face to smooth out his skin!

Is this the new guy in Saudi?

Apparently it is, according to the article in Arab News at

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=63422&d=9&m=5&y=2005

(Sorry, I cannot do the hyperlink thing because I am writing on an apple macintosh computer.)

I have seen these young people with different hairstyles and some even with make up on. You can obviously tell they are wearing some kind of foundation and lipstick or lip gloss on. I am sure these young people can rouse the older people's feathers. The more conservative people would obviously not like this: a Saudi man doing make up. Personally speaking, I also don't like men doing make up; make up is women's domain. To understand why these young men are willing to go to such length to do such a thing, there could be so many reasons: low self esteem, rebellion, trying to find their identity or they are simply gays (although not all gays do make-ups!)

We are living in a world where genders and sexual roles are being re-defined. A typical mother is not a typical mother anymore, she is a working mother. A typical dad is not a typical dad, he is a home-dad now. There are now single men who are following suit of beauty regimes that women have been doing for so long. There are now single women who demand equality as that of men. Roles are being re-defined.

This new phenomenon of men doing what the article talks about is something that David Beckham, the British footballer has started. He is generally cited as the world's most famous 'metrosexual' which means that these men are "adopting many of the traits and interests of homosexual men--narcissistic, self-conscious ways, an interest in grooming, fashion, and style--but they are not homosexual." So many young people emulate Beckham, and his sense of fashion and style. I think we all can remember of the time when he wore a sarong, and had his nails polished. He is not a homosexual, but he is adopting the techniques that a typical homosexual would.

If you ask me, I do like a guy who has a sense of style and a sense of self grooming. That can tell a lot about the guy. I get disappointed when I see a guy with dirty, uncut nails, haggard beards, poor hairstyle and bad sense of fashion. These guys could do better for themselves. I am referring to those people who I know can afford to do better. But, I get really turned off when I see guys doing make up, going for regular manicure and pedicure sessions, wearing feminine clothings, putting on lip gloss, carrying a bad with them all the time which includes all the beauty stuff. God has called us to be presentable; He has given the freedom to make ourselves look nice, but that does not mean men should invade the world of make up!

Well, there you go....another trend emerging in the Saudi society. We cannot outlaw it. We need to respect these people and what they do. That is what tolerance and accepting others is all about. What do you think?

Mansur

Why? Why? Why?

Dear friends,

Some people have emailed me with some of the following questions, which are more out of curiosity than anger. I will not answer all of the questions, but categorize them in major groups and explain to you about my recent articles.

Q1: Why do you write about Saudi Arabia?

A1: I write about Saudi Arabia, because that is where I grew up. That is my 2nd homeland, after my birth homeland, which is Pakistan. I grew up in Saudi, did all 11 years of schooling there, and continue to go back to Jeddah on my breaks. I love Jeddah to pieces, and I become sad when I see certain things which I never got to see when I was growing there. Maybe there were still things happenings, I was just not aware about it when I was young. I write about Saudi, with an attitude that of helping, love and care. When you see something that upsets you, you naturally want to deal with the issue. If your child does something bad like getting into drugs, you would naturally talk to him about the problem, the effects of it and provide an alternative or solution. In the same way, I would like to talk about the problem facing the Saudi society, the effects it creates and provide my ideas of how to deal with the problem. I don't write out of hatred, anger (although some issues make me angry when left untreated). There are some people who would argue that there is nothing wrong with Saudi Arabia, which is why when I read articles in the local papers, I see why these people are naive about it.

Q2: Where do you get your ideas from?

A1: I have these things running around in my head, which is why I write them out here. This blog is an outlet for my thoughts. I base my writings upon my own experiences, from Arab News and Saudi Gazette, and from experiences other people have. Now, I have to admit I am not scholar, and a scholar would be able to do a better job than me. However, that doesn't stop me from writing about my thoughts here. I take pride in the fact that I am at least writing about it here, instead of (a) being in denial, or (b) complaining about issues without doing anything about it. My articles are NOT essays which I have written earlier, they are NOT copied from anywhere else, and I don't sit writing about my articles the night before. They usually come right out of head, onto the blogger, right at the spur of the moment.

Q3: Do you hate Saudi Arabia so much that you would write about such things happening in Saudi Arabia?

A3: There is no question of me hating Saudi Arabia. Some of my most wonderful memories are from Saudi. I don't hate the Saudi people as well because I have indeed met some amazing Saudis in my life who have been, well, amazing. I live in a compound of 80 villas of which 78 are Saudi families. So, there is no question of me hating Saudis. As I have explained above, I write my articles here about Saudi out of love, because I care for the country, I want for it to sort itself out. Now, I know I am in no position to make rules and policies, we have the Shoura Council to do that, but when I see widespread issues, I feel something needs to be done. If I were in another country, another city, another continent, I would probably be writing about that other place!

Q4: Why don't you tone down your cotent and keep it safe?

A4: If I did that, then it would be pointless. To deal with a problem, one needs to be brutally honest and open about it. If I start to deny some things here and there, I would be going around in circles. I like to keep it out in the open, and that is the only way we can progress further, instead of being in denial about some of the issues.

Q5: Why don't you write about other countries, like Pakistan, instead of Saudi Arabia only?

A5: Like I said above, I grew up in Saudi, which is why I base my writings on Saudi. I can write about Pakistan, or London as well, but because I am not living in these places now, I cannot write articles with substance. It will be merely an overlook of the issue.

Q6: Why don't you write about the religious topics, or even topics that show the postive sides of Saudi Arabia?

A6: Religion is something that is a very sensitive topic. I know to talk about religion, women and politics (including Israel) are three burning topics that can get someone into a nasty situation. If I start writing about religion, it will be based from the Sunni perspective. A shia might say something else to me, a sufi might say something else, a more liberal minded Muslim would say something, and a more conservative one would say something else. I did write an article on Music and Islam and everyone voiced their opinions, and every claims that they have the right answer. While I appreciated everyone's input, it still creates confusion in some of the readers. I think there are loads of forums out there who deal with religious topics more professionally. So, religion is something I am avoiding. The second part of the question; well, I did write about two recent articles, one about my love for Jeddah and the other one in defense of the teenagers. If I find some positive stuff to talk about I will write about it. Surely you don't want news on my blog, for example, about Saudi Arabia launching six mini satellites.

Guys, I have several other questions as well, which I will not answer here. I hope you can understand where I come from when I write these kind of articles. Freedom of speech is a great thing, and one thing about it is that everyone can voice their opinions, and one needs to respect that. If you say something which I don't agree with, I would repsect your opinions, but then it should also work the other way around. If you all can look at the comment "nzinghia" left for me in my previous article, you can see that he has written it respectfully, even though he disagrees with some of my ideas. I totally appreciate that, because only then can we actually enter into a dialogue and come to a conclusion. As it is, tolerance is something that is slowly developing in this country, and I am glad about that!

Thanks for understanding,

Mansur

Who is to blame? Individual or Society?

Dear friends,

(Disclaimer: Some of my readers maybe upset by this article, and would counter-argue my arguments and might feel differently about it. If you do feel that way, then the situations I am describing here would not apply to you because you would have had a better exposure, education and upbringing.Of course, it may seem like I am stereotyping here, that is not my intention here, and if you feel that way, I am sorry if I offend you in any way.)

A recent comment on my “in defense of Saudi teenagers’ has prompted me to write this new post. It is an attempt to answer the following question, within the context of a Saudi society for the sake of an example: Do the guys here behave a certain way because they choose to, or they behave a certain way because of the way the society evolved? In other words, should the guys take the blame upon themselves for all the wrong things they do, or should the society be blamed for creating the kind of environment in which these guys were brought up?

To those who don’t want to read the whole passage, you can read the summary at the end.

Now, please keep in mind that I use the example of a Saudi society because that is where I grew up. If you could, I think you can substitute the term Saudi for Pakistani, Emirati, Kuwaiti, Jordanian, UK, US, Europe and so on, but then, also keep in mind that the Saudi society is starkly unique and different from the other Gulf countries.

Let’s look at the way the Saudi society is developed. It is almost male-centric, in other words men have more freedom to do what they want: own their own businesses, drive, vote (remember how the male ‘prisoners’ were even allowed to vote while women were barred) among other privileges.

Education:

Schools and universities are segregated. Boys and girls don’t interact with one another. Expatriates can do that, but the local Saudis don’t. We all know they do, because they always can make a way around the rulings! What happens in an all-male or all-female environment is that the boys and the girls get wrong information and skewed ideas about the opposite sex. They think of the opposite gender as if they were objects. They don’t learn to grow to be respectful and kind to them. I can testify to this fact because I myself went to Manarah Jeddah for the first two years, and even at that time, the boys in my class would make fun of girls every time the subject of girls would come up. Sure, you can argue that it is only natural and all boys go through this phase of hating girls, but you see, this segregation carries all the way through 12th grade. Those skewed ideas are stuck in their minds, as it was in some of the Saudis I met at university here in the Emirates. There are those who do go through segregated schools, and come out as successful as those coming out of a mixed gender school, which is why we cannot blame the school segregation entirely.

One can argue that segregation is a good idea, because as we see in the West that boys and girls can get too physically intimate at a very young age, which is no wonder why there is a high number of teenage pregnancies and STDS in unmarried young guys and girls, and date rape is extremely common. However having said that, I am not advocating mixed schools or segregated schools, that is up to each society. However, in a Saudi society, this segregation goes beyond the confines of a school. Single guys also don’t get a chance to interact with females off campus. Which is why you see all these young guys driving up and down, wasting time, seemingly looking desperate to meet with girls. Which is why you see papers thrown all over. I myself have witnessed so many papers being thrown with telephone numbers written on them. You don’t see this happening for example in the UK. As one of the comments said, “guys are not as pervy in the UK as they are in Saudi.” There is a reason for that. The farther apart you keep the guys from the girls, the more desperate they become. If you allow for the natural order of things to take place, we would not have so many desperate teenagers running around throwing pieces of papers to the opposite sex. Of course, one could argue with me that these kind of things happen elsewhere as well. There are people like this all over. That is very true.

Society and Segregation:

In the real world, men and women interact. At the work place, men and women interact, unless you are working in Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan. The religious elements in the society believe that mixing of men and women will lead to temptations and so it is ‘haraam’ (forbidden). This kind of society may have existed 1400 years ago, but I don’t believe it can in 2005, because times change and we need to adapt ourselves in the wake of globalization! I remember when I was doing my internship in Jeddah, my friend from university was also there, but she was a female. She managed to get into the job, because she had an influential father. However, she was asked to stay in her one room, and her boss would visit her there. I would go eat lunch with her, because she started complaining that staying in a boxed up room all day long was driving her nuts. She felt like a prisoner! (She could not seek work as an architect in the country, and did not have experience to open up her own business, so she just married and settled for a housewife!)

So, going beyond the classrooms, guys and girls are still kept apart from one another. So many places are restricted for the single guys. I know one time my father and I went to Chilis on a weekend, and they refused to let us in because it was family night. What restaurant, of an international reputation, would refuse to entertain the single male population on weekends? I would ask the government then: if you want to keep the single men away from all these places, at least give them an alternative! When you create such a situation where you forbid the guys to do anything that you allow for the family to do, give some alternative options. Make movie theatres, make libraries, make world class social centers, make skate-boarding ramps, make basketball and football courts in public places, and I would even say to give the guys their own patch of roads so they test drive their new cars there. None of this is provided for the guys, so they end up driving up and down the roads! I mean, when the Summer Festival takes place in Jeddah each summer, it is almost entirely family-oriented. We are living in the 21st century; having book readings from poets is not my idea of keeping the young men off the dangerous track. I wish at least one of the mall builders would at least take the time out to study the 'real'needs of the city and make something for the single young guys out there.

Of course, with the advent of the Internet and mobile phones, many would argue that these instruments have made it easier for the guys and the girls to connect. Dating is in full bloom, and many guys and girls do get together as friends and enter the family sections in restaurants and malls, and once inside they split up! So, no matter how hard the society tries to keep the men and the women apart from one another, they will be meeting each other. It is only but natural.

Parents:

Another major factor in the way these teenagers are the way they are is the role, or more like the absence, of the parents. We all see the Saudi families having a maid with them. You see the maid taking the roles of the mothers. My mother used to teach at the Arabic school in Jeddah, and she would see these young girls speaking English, with a Filipino accent. These children grow up at homes where the fathers are not around, except in the evening times and where the mother leaves the job of her duties to the maids. These parents are only there to provide money. So, with the absence of parental guidance, the children are left unmonitored, they hang out with bad company and turn out to be the way they are. Parents need to have a stronger influence on their children, monitor what they watch on TV, and see what their friends are like and most importantly to make them realize the value of money. So, parents should also take some of the blame for the way their kids turn out to be.

Summary:

So, in summary, I believe that the reasons why some of the teenagers behave the way they do is because of a combination of three major things: the education system that brings them up in a segregated environment, the society which enforces the segregation even further, and finally the absence of parental guidance. It is very easy to see a singe guy harrassing a woman in a mall, and before we jump into accusing that man of bad morals and bad behavior, maybe we should take the time think, why is he even behaving that way at all?

Having said all that, I am glad to see a change in the dynamics of the Saudi society. People are realizing that a change has to be made. I was so over delighted to see women working at Fitaihi, who were serving even the male customers. I was so happy to see Saudi guys working at the cashiers at Sawary. I get happy in my heart because it is something that makes me proud: to see the Saudis do the jobs that they should have done a long time ago. Saudization is a big deal in the country, and it is going through a very patchy and rocky path.

I believe in my heart that we are all inherently good people, and we are formed and molded by the three things I mentioned above that lead us to become the people we are today, and this development of our character takes place in our growing years. I have indeed written more than I intended, but I hope those who have managed to read through this would learn to appreciate some of the reasons I have presented in seeing that one should not place the blame entirely on the individual, but take into the account the upbringing, the role of the parents, the role of the society and the way they were educated!

Mansur

In Defense of Saudi Teenagers

Hi all,

This post is for the non-Saudis readers, in hope that they can get rid of the stereotypical image they have of who Saudis are.

I know you are already thinking out loud, "in defense of Saudi teenagers? Mansur, you must be out of your mind!" No folks, I am not out of my mind. This is something that I am compelled to write about it. For far too long, I have been thinking negatively about the Saudi youth, but now the tide has to change!

Growing up here in Jeddah, I went to a British school, which did not allow any Saudi students. However, there were students of other Arab nationalities. Most of my friends were from Pakistan, but I had couple of Arab friends as well as one British friend. I never had any Saudi friends though. It was only when I went to the American University in the Emirates did I make Saudi friends.

I think all of us at one time or another made complaints and rude observations about the teenagers in Saudi. I am also guilty of doing this act. See which of the following statements have you thought of or voiced out loud:

“The Saudi guys are so cheap. All they do is drive around checking out girls”
“The Saudi teenagers look so bad when they wear jeans and t-shirts. They have no fashion sense”
”Who are the Saudi guys trying to impress driving their Harley bikes?”
“The Saudi girls know nothing except how to shop and spend money”
“The Saudi guys are so desperate. All they do is throw their telephone numbers written on pieces of paper to girls.”
“The Saudis are so lazy—they don’t know how to work/ study”
“The Saudis are so bad at time-management”
“The Saudis are so backwards”
“The Saudi guys are so desperate that they stare at you”

These are just a few of the statements that I have made in the past. The non-Saudis I grew up would also make the same statements. When I was at university in Sharjah, I went in with stereotyped images of Saudis in my mind. At the end of my university career, I had a completely different picture of the Saudis. By having Saudi friends in my life, I got to know them as real people. I had developed a completely different perspective. The Saudis are just people, just like the Pakistanis are, or any other nationality. Sure, I can hear some of you saying to me, “Mansur, you cannot deny that there are definitely some Saudis out there who are really all that cheap.” Yes, I would agree with you, but aren’t there rotten apples in any society? I mean, I can go to my hometown, or to another city like London, and I can show you rotten apples there as well.

I don’t blame the Saudi youth for the way they are today. Instead I would accuse the society and the religious leaders who make the decisions for the nation.

Education is the biggest problem here. For too long, the authorities were in control of what the students would learn. They would filter out what they would consider obscene images and phrases from textbooks. Israel would be censored everywhere. English would generally not be taught in smaller classes. Girls are not allowed physical education-- only boys are (despite that, obesity is rampant!) It was onlylast year that the authorities have decided to introduce English from grade 6 onwards. A small change, but a change nevertheless!

The society is created in such a way, that the religious leaders sitting on the cabinet, make the decisions which then gets approved/ disapproved by the King. Decisions like banning the satellite TV, banning camera phones, not allowing for cinemas, segregation of sexes in public, not allowing women to work in mixed sex environment and so on. I remember growing up watching only one English channel. TV sitcoms, movies and even cartoons would be censored. Mickey Mouse was not allowed to hold Minnie Mouse’s hands. Miss Piggy was chopped off from the The Muppet Show. Programs like Full House were reduced from its original 22 minutes to a mere 10 minutes show. Indian movies showing hero and heroines embracing would be replaced by shots of flowers embracing one another. Literature was also controlled. Archie comics were banned. Certain novels would not be available. Newspaper would mostly talk about good things in society. Talk about censorship! Dating was not allowed. Music not allowed in restaurants. No libraries or social centers. No outlet for the youth to express their ideas. What were they to do?

It was as if the society thought that if they controlled all these things, the youth would grow up to be decent and law-abiding citizens. Today, it is anything but that! All the restrictions I described above are not there any more. Everything is available. The biggest advancement, even though it was a late advancement, was when the country allowed for the Internet to penetrate the society. For far too long, the authorities have been in control of the way people think, but that is not true anymore. The religious leaders are losing their power and so they do absurd things now, like raiding restaurants to make sure single men are not sitting in family designated areas. How much more can they control? Not for long hopefully!

Young Saudi students returning from abroad bring in fresh and new ideas. They are exposed to the outside world. They know something is not right here. Unfortunately, for those Saudi people who cannot travel abroad, do not have a good idea of what life can be like if such restrictions are not there. Today there are two major categories of people in this nation: the religious ones, who are happy with the environment here, and the rebellious ones, who want reforms.

The next time you feel like making a comment on a Saudi teenager, keep in mind the environment they were brought up in. What if you were in their position? What if someone came to your city and made such kind of comments to your people? Would you feel happy then? I only hope through this article, I can get you to change your perspective on the Saudi people. Many of you may not have Saudi friends, but those who do, I am sure can testify to the fact that the Saudi youngsters are not all that bad!

Ironically, I fell into the trap recently. At the airport, when I went to receive my parents, I noticed how rudely the Saudi athorities were dealing with the newly arrived Hajj passengers: snatching away passports, talking loudly and rudely in Arabic much to the disappointment of the pilgrims, running here and there, no sense of what to do next, chaotic scene...and I was getting so angry at the Saudi man who left the pilgrim standing all alone and confused! Is that how you are supposed to deal with someone who is visiting your country on a pilgrimage? I had to remind myself that these Saudis lacked the proper training and eduational skills! The environment the man was brought up made him the kind of person he is today, which screams out for a radical change in the society here.

Yours,

Mansur

Jeddah: Why I Love It!

Hi friends,

I am so dying to go back to Jeddah. I just am. I am envious of my friends who are in Jeddah now! I love Jeddah because I grew up there. Often times, when I am coming back to Jeddah, I tell people "I am going back home." They think I am either going back to Pakistan or that I am Saudi.

I was three years old probably when I came to Jeddah, and so I have been there since 1980. Counting 2005, thats like 25 years!! Oh my Lord...25 long years. Well, I left Jeddah in 1996 after completing my O'Levels. I wish there were universities there, so I wouldn't have to leave. But, I still kept my iqama (residence permit), and I still have it, which is why I have to return to Jeddah every six months!

A lot of people ask me: isn't Jeddah boring? What do you do there? Don't you get bored? I tell them one thing: No! There are loads of things you can do: lots of good clean fun! You don't need alcohol and nightclubs to have fun. If you want that kind of fun, go to Dubai!

So, what do I do for fun in Jeddah! Here is my fun things to do. There are loads of other things to do, but these are my favorite things!

1. JARIR bookstore:
---This is my favorite bookstore; yes, even more so than Borders, Barnes and Noble, WHSmith. Although Jarir doesn't allow for all kinds of books, I still love it. It has books, magazines, games, computer, stationery stuff....everything! I have to go there anytime I am in Jeddah. Sometimes, my weekend plan is to visit Jarir! My trip to Jeddah is not complete if I don't go to Jarir!

2. RESTAURANTS:
---Chilis, Fuddruckers, Cafe Aroma, Lost City, Paninos, Marhaba, Papa John's Pizza: these places I have to go when I am in Jeddah. These are amazing places to eat; places which even Dubai cannot beat! Sure, Dubai has its own restaurants, but there is something special about these restaurants in Jeddah. There are loads more restaraunts, cafes, coffee shops that are amazing to visit! Don't forget SANDS, probably the best shawerma in town!

3. OBHUR beach:
---You want water sports, go to Obhur. I went there several times, and Jeddah has one of the world's BEST diving areas. It is second to Australia's Great Barrier reef. I loved my snorkelling experience so much. I also did sailing and canoeing as well.

4. MALLS/ SHOPPING:
---You guys have to believe me when I tell you that shopping is so much cheaper in Jeddah than a city like Dubai. I was fooled by the promise of Dubai's discount when I got a phone for 600 Dirhams. I was led to believe that I got a phone for a good price, since it was shopping festival. I come to Jeddah, and I see the same phone, with the same package, for 400Dirhams. I wanted to rip my hair out! Now, I do my shopping from Jeddah!

5. TAHLIYAH street:
--- This road is like the Oxford Street of London. I have to go on it no matter what, especially that new Patchi chocolate shop! Although I go on it on weekdays, since on weekends, the whole of Jeddah is there!

6. CORNICHE:
---Aaaah! What can I say about the corniche! It's amazing. Its a great place to just go sit, and relax. In the winter months, I would go there with my parents, and we would park the car, get out, walk along, witness the water crashing high with the rocks, and experience the splashes of water on us! Plus you can see the world's TALLEST fountain in the world! Oh yes, there is also that amazing Green Island restaurant, where you can get to have a nice posh meal above the waters!

7. HOME:
--- A big reason why I love Jeddah is because of my home. I miss my room there! :) I live in a compound where my family and another family are the only Pakistanis in a Saudi filled compound. There are no other nationalities there. So, because it is fully Saudis, except for us two, there is no security at the gate, which makes it a very easy place to enter! Plus, my compound has Havana cafe, the first cafe which allowed for loud music! Gosh, I miss their lasagna already! *sigh*

8. DRIVING:
--- Despite the traffic being haphazard, driving in Jeddah is so great. The roads are big and well developed (at least in the new city!) unlike Dubai, where it can take you an hour to go from Dubai to Sharjah, sometimes upto three hours, when on a clear road its only 10mins away!

9. BALAD, Downtown:
--- The Real Jeddah: Balad. I remember hating Balad when I was little, but overtime I have come to appreciate the character of this place. The shops, and the streets, and some of the buildings are all old Jeddah. As an architect, it's one of my favorite places to visit. I imagine what life would be like for people living here!

10. JEDDAH as an ARTISTIC CITY:
--- Probably the number one reason why I like Jeddah so much. It is such an artisitic city. Almost every roundabout has some monument, structure or scuplture. Jeddah has the world's largest bicycle and largest geometry set. These peices of art always create some kind of debate amongst the people. They either like it, hate it, are confused by it. The purpose of these art pieces are served when people talk about it. I have yet to come across another city, where there are such kinds of pieces almost all over the city.

I do hope that new visitors, and old dwellers like me, come to appreciate Jeddah for what it is. I know I write a lot of critical stuff about the people and the bad policies there, but that doesn't mean I don't like it. It's unfortunate that expatriates are slowly leaving the country because of Saudization, which means, my dad will have to leave one day as well. I don't know what that day would be like for me. I don't know if I will be able to settle back in Pakistan! It will be that day when I leave Jeddah that I will miss it! Ok, ok, I know some of you out there are asking what is it with me and my love for Jeddah. You only have to live here like I did to appreciate it fully guys!

Mansur