Please WAKE UP!!!

So, everybody now is talking about the protests to be held next week... it is natural that some would agree and some wouldn't for various reasons, starting from the believers who think it is the right of people to express their opinion and demand for their rights till the no opinion people who don't think about anything as it is all just talks in the air..

in the midst of all that, i was surprised to see that the Coptic Orthodox Church is asking their followers to stay at home and pray!!! First what is the authority of religion on their believers, and what is the authority of the country on its people? It is the authority of the people on themselves that really matters. I am not waiting for someone to tell me do this or do that. I respect the law for sure but at the same time, i have my rights to think and do whatever i see suitable for me..

Yesterday i went to the Old churches area with a friend to take photos and i was chocked that we were denied the entrance of the area cos we are Egyptians who are not Journalists and who don't have a permission from the Church to take photos? I still don't believe what i just wrote... Do they really think that this is for the best interest of the country? that this would prevent attacks and accidents? what about we, the common people feeling denied a simple right in our own country? didn't they think of that impact? that facing situations like this would make us consider staying or leaving?

Another incident happened also to a friend yesterday. being trapped at the exit of Port-Said cos everybody on duty was attending the prayer and after finally passing and wanting to make a complaint, the response was even more sarcastic than the situation itself..

I am wondering, what would be next?

PLEASE WAKE UP!!!!

My 2010 at a glance

I'm not the type of person to live in the past but 2010 was for sure one of the best years ever so I decided to take few moments and think of what i really liked the most.. maybe it would give me hope in 2011 which i really need these days.. so let's start

January:
Getting lost in Helwan trying to reach the Japanese garden and using my GPS for the first time.. technology is quite useful, specially in a country where people tend to help you even if they don't really know the answer

February:
My 1st real accident.... on Valentine's day... thank God it ended up something little but the accident itself was kind of scary
My car was flooded, ok i'm exagerating a little... it was raining too much that day and i forgot to close my car window so.. you can imagine how my seat was after few hours :)

March:
First time to experience hiking in the mountains, outdoors camping... it was a great trip, although challenging sometimes and i ended up with great old/new friends


April:
Trying Sandboarding
Spending a little vacation at Sharm El-Sheikh with my friends


May:
Going to Yemen for a short business trip and trying Shisha for the first time!!!


June/July:
Going to Sinai in 3 out of 4 weekends for hiking
Travelling for the first time driving my car (driving 700Km and 12 hours during 2 days!!)
Starting to play squash

August:
Camp formation de T.A... back to the roots.. a changing experience for me and the girls
Having stiches on my head

September:
Chopin @ the Pyramids

Starting the non-stop working mode (till now :( )

October:
Discovering the Catacombes and Kom El Sho2afa at Alexandria
Losing in the competition after 10 months of hard work!!!


November:
Having some great and unexpected news!!!!! Was a great surprise.. still to keep my promise to my friends ;)
Watching 3 movies within the same week (from the European Movie Festival)


December:
Back to "Journee de Nettoyage" after 10 years from being first promotion to start it... cleaning the school from inside and outside.. although it was a challenge this year as there was sandstorms, the girls had high spirits and happy about what they were doing

Personal Tribute to Aida

It is my 5th time to attend Opera Aida yet, it was like seeing it with totally different eyes.

I know already the music, the story.. but yet it still has its own charm.

I remember the first time, some 5 years ago, i was astonished and dazzled with all the music, costumes, lights... and the duration too (first time ever to attend a show in 4 acts!).
I didn't really follow the story at that time, just fascinated with everything on stage and enjoying my friend's presence.

2 years ago, i wrote the following after watching it for the 2nd time.

(http://marianneayad.blogspot.com/2009/01/love-kills-and-ressucites.html)

Watching it again and again, I don't feel or think the same way as once i did but these few words "it's about living the moment" make me reconsider my life during the last couple of years... I don't remember if this was the triggering moment, taking the decision to enjoy my life and really live every moment as it comes.. i might not be successful doing this all the time but looking back i feel that this is what i tried and still try to do. Not to be afraid to try something new cos it is out of the ordinary, not to plan everything in my life as I usually like to do, but to just live the moment as it comes.. ending up doing lot of things in one day which were not totally planned, travel and discover new places with some people i meet for the first time, breaking rules...

last year, went twice for Aida, at the Opera and the Pyramids..

The pyramids experience was different... cos you don't have this sensation of being at the Opera.. some spectators even were ruining this feeling of watching an Opera.. the only thing i enjoyed is that for the first time i'm not distracted to read the translation in arabic, just listening to the music as it is...

and finally, my 2011 Aida.. splendid as ever.. feeling more the power of the actors and their role in the story without focusing on the story itself.. feeling the music telling the story, when there is action, when there is romance, when there is sadness... wondering how composers can translate a story into music, and it is the music that tells the story at the end, even if you don't understand the words.. this is the magic of Aida

I am out of words

I may not be touched as everyone is, i'm not changing my profile picture, i'm not putting some quotes or verses in my status, i'm just keeping quiet... quiet cos when you are already in the middle of something, you can't focus on other's grief.. when you are wondering what tomorrow will bring, bad or good news, you can't just share people's feelings of disbelief, of slogans, of...
it's like i'm in another planet. I am not saying is that i'm not touched cos what happened is touching but at the end what is life when we disrespect the simplest rule of living? what is life when money, religion or whatever else becomes a goal to reach whatever the consequences are?
I can't feel grief cos i'm already grieving inside. I can't feel sympathy to the victims cos i'm a victim myself. A victim of long wars, tearing apart countries, cos of stupid people who care nothing about the consequences of the people living out there. A victim of having a part of my identity stolen cos of decisions changing the course of entire generations... and where does it lead us? presumed freedom? long forgotten justice? I don't think so.
I have mixed feelings i didn't have before, i feel powerless and nothing in my hands. I feel empty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

L'oiseau enfermé

Je me trouve toujours sans mots à dire
Quand je veux exprimer mes sentiments et mes désirs
C’est pour cela que je me mets à écrire
Peut-être je me sentirai plus libre

Le plus je garde tout pour moi
Le plus je veux crier à haute voix
Ça fait du temps que mon cœur bat
A chaque instant qu’on se voit

Moi qui prenais toutes mes gardes
Pour ne pas me laisser prendre par mégarde

Je deviens de plus en plus fragile
Je ne parviens pas à rester tranquille
Je m’enferme dans ma propre île
Et ca devient plus difficile

Difficile parce que je ne veux pas perdre
Tous ces instants qu’on se partage
Et à la fin je ne fais qu’attendre
Derrière les barreaux d’une cage

Comme un oiseau qui rêve de voler
A sa guise dans l’immensité
Mais qui se retient à cause d’une réalité
Qui le force à rester où il est

Il désire tant d’avouer
ses sentiments pour retrouver sa liberté
Même si à la fin il découvre que c’était un mirage
Au moins il serait sorti de cette cage

Mais que pourrait-on lui conseiller
Lui qui tant de fois a essayé
De courir derrière la vérité
Sans parvenir à l’attraper ?

L’oiseau a finalement décidé
De rester dans sa petite cage dorée
Jusqu’au jour où l’on ouvrira
La porte de son cœur qui bat

Le 01/01/2011