Prayer is All You Can Give Them. (And Ofcourse, There's Always Sorcery...)

I don't think I've ever been more selfish than I have these last two months. I have not been aware of anything that has gone on outside of my own head.
As a result, I have neglected everything from my school work to this blog, and I apologize.

I want the world to work. I really, really do. And, to a certain extent, I still do not understand why it doesn't. I might be young and naive, I might still have that wide-eyed, childlike view of the world, but for the life of me I don't get why we can't all just get along. I don't understand how casual violence and murder has become. And to be completely honest, I hope I never do.

And so, I reluctantly watched the news for the first time in two months, and it made me cry. Again.
Because people are dying, and in my country I am not allowed to stand in the street and hold up a sign. I am not given the right of silent, peaceful protest.

Please give blood to the injured in Gaza. There are blood drives in most hospitals in Riyadh, KFH among them.

May God be with them. May God give them strength. And may God forgive us all.


ubergirl

لا تنسى أخاك ترعاه يداك لا تنسى أخاااااك لو سرقت منا الأيام قلبا معطاء بسام لن نستسلم للآلام لن نستلم لللآلام

I am feeling festive this Ramadhan!!!!

Ramadhan kareem!! Have an exceptional month, everybody!

(And you all have my permission to turn the comments section into a Bab AlHara discussion board)

Love and peace!

ubergirl

PS. Mona got a bit carried away with the title. (I let her pick)

Poor Richard Quest

I feel really bad for people who lose their careers over some messed up shit that no-one should have found out about.

I know this happened ages ago, but I can't stop thinking about him. And pitying him.
Does anyone think we'll ever see him on TV again? Maybe on Larry King? A tell-all book, perhaps?

Anything?

ubergirl

Random Picture Post

Just because I don't have anything to blog about.

I pass by this building almost everyday on my way back from college. Any guesses as to what that scribble on the wall means? (Taqwa I expect you to get this right, ya ba66a.) (Taken on 4/11/2007)

Random picture I took at the book fair. It is not a coincidence that the people who happened to be there when I took the shot are all men. There were about 20 women, tops the day I went. The man in the picture overhead is a writer, Hamad Al-Jasser. They named all the aisles after famous Saudi writers. Isn't that cute? (6/3/2008)

This was taken at one of my favorite places in the world. Literally where I spent most of my childhood. (16/11/2007)

I took this while I was walking into our house. I happened to look up, and the clouds made a beautiful pattern. It's sad to think of all the other patterns I missed because I rarely take the time to go outside and look at nature and shit. (23/11/2007)

Doodles on a desk at college. I told you this was gonna be random. (28/10/2007)

Take a close look at this one...

It's a chick! I was at a traffic light when I noticed these kids playing with a baby chick. So sweet. And incredibly random. (28/11/2007)

I was looking at this police car and it didn't make me feel any safer. In fact, it made me feel uneasy. The police force in Riyadh (and the fire department) are barely trained and ill equipped to handle anything. (28/3/2007)

I took these this afternoon. I just thought they make Riyadh look pretty. (29/3/2008)

ubergirl

Let's Try and Put Things Into Perspective...

I was listening to some people complain about how we Saudis are mistreated in airports all over the world. Going through extra security and having to take off our shoes and answer to rude Europeans about why we're in their country when all we're doing is throwing our money at them and they should be happy about us and anyway, isn't this racist?

I understand why most (probably all) of Saudi Arabia is offended by this treatment.
Don't worry, I am not going to argue that we deserve it because of our evil ways.
(You know, how we enjoy blowing things up.)

I actually think we deserve it for another reason: Karma.

I'll get straight to the point: How horribly do we treat our foreign help?
I'm talking about drivers, maids, Indian construction workers...
And not only are they treated appallingly at airports, but everywhere else.

What we Saudis put them through is torture. I am shocked at how this goes... Not unnoticed; I think people certainly notice it, but what is shocking is how this is acceptable.
We have these people working outside in the July sun for hours on end, when it is illegal to have anyone working in that kind of heat.
And what they are payed is shocking. I heard that on average these people make four hundred riyals a month, that's roughly one hundred and six dollars.
And that is not all. That's probably not even the worst of it!

We have treated them this way for decades.
And we see nothing wrong with this.
And then we wonder why we are treated like the scum of the earth all over the world.

I just wonder why it took so damn long for it all to catch up to us.
I mean, we have missed a huge chance to make up for the mistreatment of our foreign help! HUGE!

I am deeply, deeply ashamed of this.
I think these workers are incredible.
Think of all the hardship they have had to endure in their lives. Compare it to being searched a bunch of times at an airport, what we are complaining of.
Now think of how many of them there are. You probably see dozens of them everyday. You pass them without so much as a smile or a nod, to show your gratitude.
And then we have gone on to play the victim, not even acknowledging what we have done to deserve mistreatment.
Shame on us.

What happened to having perspective?
Where are all the smart people?
Why aren't they on TV telling everyone that they are idiots if all they care about is how rude the customs people are at Heathrow?

After spending twenty years on this earth, I am still confused.
Why don't we all just be nice to everyone? Having empathy is really not that difficult.


ubergirl

Benazir Bhutto

I don't understand how people commit murder.
All our lives are sacred.
How can anyone plan someone else's murder?
Does life mean nothing to them?
It is sacred!

It's bad enough that we have incurable fatal diseases... But to purposely kill people on top of that?

I cannot come to grips with the thought that people can benefit from others' deaths.

Human beings are so crude.



I don't get it. She was a good person.
She wasn't done living.


ubergirl

<3

Spread the love!


ubergirl

Ramadan Kareem!

I really wanted this to be a happy Ramadan post.
I really did.

But somehow, my fellow Muslims have found a way to make me angry. Again.

First of all I need to announce to the world (and not for the first time,) that I love the Shea.
I am outraged at how some Sunnis treat them.

There are rumours that the Shea think they can get to heaven by killing a Sunni, and that they only befriend Sunnis to "convert" them..
These rumours are false.
I know a few Shiite girls, and they are quite pleasant at worst.
In fact, when we are assigned group work in class, I try very hard to make sure I work with only Shiite girls.
They are incredibly dedicated, they take their work seriously, they work hard and they are always on time. In addition to them being polite, and an absolute joy to be around.
Many of the Sunni girls I have worked with turned out to be the exact opposite.
What is strange is that the Sunni girls feel superior to the Shea.
Baffling.

And now, I think, here comes Ramadan. A month when all of the Muslims in the world forget about their petty differences and focus on how the hungry and the poor suffer.
We will all unite, be respectful of each other, and for this one holy month, try to pretend to be nice.

But who needs nice?
Being rude and disrespectful is much more bad ass.

Apparently there is a Kuwaiti show that will air in Ramadan, the month of peace, that criticizes the Shea.

I start to type something to follow the previous sentence, but I keep erasing it.
I am so livid, I cannot put it into words.


I love the Shea. I love all Muslims.
In fact, I love all human beings.
No one is superior to anyone else.
I just wish we could all compromise and stop killing each other.
You think I am being naive.
Fine, I'll give you that.

But just for this month, people, be nice. To everyone!:
The annoying neighbors whose guests double park in front of your car.
The cleaning lady at school (a smile and a thank you would suffice, you have no idea how rarely these people get them.)
Your family.
Your pets.
And last but not least, let us not forget the people whom Ramadan was meant to remind us of: The needy.

Try being nice, just for Ramadan. See how it changes you, and when it does, maybe then we can call a truce with our Shea brothers and sisters.

And it will be totally sexy.

ubergirl

P.S. If you write anything hateful about the Shea in the comments section, I will delete it.
I will not tolerate hatefulness in Ramadan.

A Perfect Chance to Clear Something Up..

There was a terrible accident where a girl died on a Jet-ski in the middle of the sea with her (supposed) boyfriend in Jeddah. Can anyone living there confirm this?

Anyway, this tragedy was the subject of a very emotional discussion over dinner on Wednesday.
The attitude of most of the girls at the table was:
"My God. What a horrible death. In a bathing suit. With her lover. Her poor father! They say he thought she was at school the whole time! Had no idea about her relatioship with this boy..."

Understandable, expected reactions.

And then I said:


What if she never missed a prayer?

What if they were in love, and planning to marry? What if they never slept together?

What if she were the kindest human being that ever lived?
And wouldn't the pain of her injuries have given her ajr and erased her 'sin'?


In real life, I am known to be overly sentimental. Yeah.

Everyone then realized, we know nothing about this girl.


And even if wedid know everything, can we fairly judge her? Are we capable of figuring out who goes to heaven and who goes to hell? (I'm talking to my fellow judgemental Saudis and Muslims.)
Can we honestly say what is a good way to die, and what isn't?

This is my point.
Here is when we shouldn't question or think about anything. Not with ahkam that don't sound right. Not with fatawa! Those we have a right to question.
This is where we shut the fuck up.

Speculation about people's lives and outcome is unproductive and damaging to your faith.

It's in Allah's hands.


ubergirl

"And Yet, Wheels Are Still Turning.."

I had been avoiding watching the news for a very long time. Until yesterday. It's just too depressing.
What is being done to stop Iraqi women being raped? Why isn't anyone being more clear about it? Their damned government is doing nothing but trying to cover things up for 'political reasons', and the Americans are not telling us where the woman is, or what 'treatment' she is undergoing.
Hasbuna Allah.
Yesterday I thought about Ali. Remember him? He lost his house, his entire family, and his arms at the beginning of the war. Whatever happened to him, I wonder.
I remember seeing a news bit about how he was doing physical therapy a little while after I heard about his story, and then about a year later I saw a book about him and his new family or something.
It didn't make me feel any better. I don't know why. It felt like.. A ruse.

Then I thought, 'how could people still think this war was about terrorism or freeing the Iraqi people?'
And then it came to me. People know it's only about oil. They just don't care about the Iraqis. They don't give a shit about others' suffering, as long as it makes them stronger and richer.

When did everyone turn into monsters?

ubergirl

Toot Means Berries In Arabic, Kay

You know how you've always said exactly what's on your mind at exactly the right moment?
And there's this one person who scares the living shit out of you, and you never say the right thing and you always end up looking like a complete fool infront of them?
And ten seconds after they're gone everything you should have said basically floods your brain?

That person is my mother. She thinks I am a moron. And rightfully so.
Why is it that I never seem to do anything she'd ever be proud of infront of her? I know there must be some things I've done that she'd like...

Alright three things. Which isn't too bad, actually.
You don't know who I live with.

My wallet was stolen yesterday. I got reeaalllyy upset the first five minutes, and then I decided I wasn't going to let that be the cherry on top of an ubelievabley horrid day.
There are starving children in India who would give their right arms to have a stolen wallet be the biggest of their problems.

I hate when I start ending all my sentences with: "Oh who cares. We're all gonne die in the end anyway. We might as well be.... Civil."

Although it is kinda true...

ubergirl

PS. I'm fine, Kay :-) Thanks for asking.

The Media Just HAS To Ruin The Image Of Everything, Doesn't It?

There is this commercial where some girl falls asleep on a white couch and then wakes up worried she... Ahem... Made a mess.
Then she remembers she wearing X brand of feminine towel.

There is another magazine add where a tampon or towel is compared to a baby's diaper.



Who else thinks men came up with these ad campaigns?

Who else thinks they're beastly?

Alright now, show of hands, who here thinks the guys who came up with these add campaigns are somehow related to the cretins who design bras?
(Although, they're not entirely at fault. What simpleton hires a man to design women's underwear? Honestly.)
Anyway, back to toiletries.

What happened to the nicer ads?



Wait a minute, there's no such thing as the nicer ads.

They're all crap.

There's the diaper ones, the "brand X is more absorbant than brand Y... We even poured blue slime over them to prove it!", the "cotton-y feel" bull crap, the one where she's not comfortable bending over in yoga, and-
Who the hell cares.

I'll tell you what these companies should do, and I'm quoting a good friend:
"Absolutely nothing. We know to buy tampons and towels without hearing it on the damn TV. Like with comdoms and tissue-paper."

It's not that I think anyone should be ashamed of their period.
Periods are (hypothetically) beautiful.
I just think the way they're portrayed on TV is disgusting:

Woman: "Go away, perverted co-worker."
Perverted co-worker: "Fuck you, you bitch! What are you, PMSing?"

Someone shoot him.
Comedy my ass.


"نزول الدوره شيء جميل..رائع"

-أبله كوثر


ubergirl

Why Isn't The World Saying Anything?

One thing I wil never ever ever understand is why the whole world stands by and lets things like the war in Lebanon happen.
I can't believe no one's forcing Israel into a cease fire.
They are pulling children out of the rubble.
Children.

The whole concept of war is something I will never understand, either.
Growing up, they teach you that conflict is solved the "adult way" by talking things over.
And yet here we are, in the 21st century bombing the hell out of everything. (We, as in humans.)
Why are weapons even made?
Guns, bombs, the whole deal.
Why?
There is absolutely no need for any of it.

And if we're going to accuse Iran of supplying weapons to Hizbullah, we should also look into America supplying Israel with weapons. It is also supplying African countries (including Sierra Lione) with weapons, fueling the civil war.*
Or is that "different"?
I'll bet it is.

I know nothing about war, politics, or casualties, but I find it strange that over 700 people (30-40% of them children) have been killed in almost 4 weeks. I find it stranger that Israel is doing all of this because of two hostages, who are soldiers.
What I find even stranger still, is that Hizbullah are the only people who have pointed out that Israel has thousands of civillian hostages. No one seems to be paying much attention to that little fun fact.

No matter how I look at this, Hizbollah are in the right. Whether I watch Al-Jazeera or CNN, I come to the same conclusion.
I know in matters like this there is no "wrong" and "right", but in this particular case it is glaringly obvious.
I wish no harm upon the Israelis, Americans, or anyone else, but I'd like to state clearly that Hizbullah are in the right.
Again: I am completely opposed to war, and the killing of innocent people.
I'm just stating what I have concluded.

War is a fucker.
Let's all play nice.

ubergirl

*No offence to the Americans, but your government does do that stuff. It doesn't make you bad people, it just means I personally am not too fond of your government.
I'm not too fond of mine, either, but that's a whooole 'nother post.

Kulluna Lilwa6an

Najdi Love!

Last night I read something quite... Disturbing.

I realize the rest of Saudi Arabia thinks we Najdis are barbarians, but please hear me out:
I am Najdi, and I never would have done that.
Never.
I am sorry you had to experience that, Mr.Yawmiyat. Really I am.

I have a story of my own.
My father was born in Najd, but grew up in Al-Shargiyah.
He was teased at school, they used to call him "Al-Najsi."
Not "Al-Najdi." Najsi.

My father tells us that story not with contempt or disfavor, he does not hold any grudges.
I wish I could say that was the end of this story.

When he was in second grade, he had a teacher that beat him every day.
He would walk into class and say, "Wain ilNajdi!?" (Where's the Najdi?)
The beatings got so bad that my father's older brother went to talk with the headmaster about it.

Second grade, can you imagine?

"What an assho- Err... What a jerk. Don't you hate him, Baba?" is what I said after hearing this story.
My dad just smiled and said: "No. He was ignorant. I pity him, but I do not hate nor resent him."
To this day my father refers to Ahl Al-Sharigiyah as the nicest people you will ever meet.

We could all learn something from this story.
I know that throughout history we Najdis have been absolutely horrid to the rest of you guys, I have heard all about the judges who always ruled in favour of the Najdi, the Quatif "quarantine", the butchering of innocent people in Hijaaz.
I've heard about it all, and it pains me. I hate to see anyone in the world suffering, let alone my own people (no not just the Najdis.)
We all have painful pasts. My (Najdi) grandfather watched the body of his aunt (that had been raped and murdered) being burried at the age of 11. He knew she was murdered and he had every reason to expect his mother, or even he, would be next.

My point is, and you knew this was coming, I am another "a7ma8" that is going to warn against generalization.
I of all people know it's hard not to generalize.
I know sometimes it even seems right, like when saying Najdis are idiots/jerks/jackasses/all of the above.
But let's be honest: it never is right.
If 99.9% of the population of Najd are idiots/jerks/jackasses/all of the above, it still wouldn't be fair to say they all are.

Thank you very much for not shoving a pen up that guy's ass, for not being violent or even rude. You really showed you are the bigger person.
And again, I'm sorry you have to go through that.

I look forward to the day we all become one big happy family!
My friend is telling me it'll never happen, let's prove her wrong.

ubergirl

PS. Wallah I love all of you guys! The Sunna, the Shee3a, il7jaaz, Najd, Shargiyah. You're all awesome! I feel all warm and fuzzy! Yay! Cupcakes for everyone!
Okay I'm going overboard. Sorry.

ubergirl

Jammaz Ya Jammaz

Doesn't Jammaz AlS7aimy (I hope I got his name right) look like a nice guy?
I feel so bad for him! He has to go through all kinds of shit.
People are hiring hit-men, for God's sake.
He was just in the wrong position at the wrong time.
Miskeen.
He's awesome!
I'm kinda a fan of his in the same way that I'm a fan of William Hung.
You know, pity fandom.
I hope people start liking him soon.
It's bad enough people are saying mean things about him, they should leave his family out of it. I'm not linking to anything because I don't approve of any of it.

ubergirl