This is Actually Happening

So the good people in Qatar want a meeting of Arab and Muslim nations to talk about what's going on in Gaza.
And a few days before that's set to happen, Saudi Arabia holds a meeting of its own, basically urging Arab and Muslim countries not to go to the summit in Qatar.

Meow!


I am getting total dejavu. This has happened before, I'm sure of it...
When, though?


Oh, right.
HIGH SCHOOL.

What the fuck?
Can't we, for once, shut the fuck up, and not embarrass me?

God damn it, only today 65 people died. And this is what we're doing.
Great job, governments of the world. Really.



ubergirl

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

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

Free Fouad!

I have recently learned that a Saudi blogger, Fouad AlFarhan, has spent almost a month in jail.

Get him back to his kids, for God's sake.

Freedom of speech sounds pretty darn good right about now.


ubergirl

Fatat AlQatif

I cannot say how much I want to give this girl a hug and tell her how brave she is. I have avoided reading about this and even talking about it for the longest time, because (and I am being completely selfish here, I know) it will tear me up inside.
I don't know if I can take any more of this.
My God, I can't imagine what she is feeling.

May God bless her lawyer and her husband. What wonderful men.


Now I want to move on to the crazy people who are running the courts and, for that matter, the entire fucking country.
How great is it that we have the Moral Police making these serious judgments and slandering innocent women?
I would just like to point out to people who think hers was a fair ruling according to Islam, that there is no such thing as 100 lashings in Islamic law. It's either 80 lashings for an unmarried adulterer, or stoning for a married one.
In both cases the person must admit to adultery and there must be 4 witnesses to the act itself.
That, in a nutshell, is what Islam has to say about adultery, which Fatat AlQuatif did not, by the way, commit.
Here is what I make of the whole situation: The Moral Police (about 70% of the population who either basically think they are morally superior to every one, or think their Sheik of choice is) who convicted this woman are only doing this because she is a shiite.

That is all I have to say.

ubergirl

Dumbledore Likes The Boys

Some girls at school make the weirdest excuses. And the teachers let this slide.

"I'm sorry, Doctor, if you keep us late to try and help us get what we're here for in the first place - you know, a piece of paper that says I'm qualified to have a career but means absolutely nothing else - my husbaaaaaaaaaaand won't like it. He wants me home by 12."

Sometimes, just the word "zoojiii" (my husbaaaaand) will do the trick.

?

I really don't understand how this is an excuse. It is a random fact. Like how I like the color yellow. I might as well use that as an excuse next time.

"I'm sorry I'm twenty minutes late for class, professor. It's just that my love for the color yellow distracts me sometimes and I lose track of time."
And she will have this coy smile on her face as she nods, welcoming me into class. You know, like she does with the married hos.
Yes, I said hos.
I am angry at them hos. Grrr.

There are many reasons why "I'm married" is not an excuse (apart from the obvious) infact, it actually helps to be married and in school:

1) If you are married and still in school, this would mean you probably do not have kids (or atleast kids that need a driver to take them to school), and might have your own driver and car to pick you up late in the afternoon, whereas I, who am lucky enough to have a driver, have to litterally perform a miracle every morning (and sometimes every afternoon) to get to school on time. There are four other people who need the driver, and three destinations in all. Every morning.

2) For people who do not have drivers, they have to rely on their brothers (who are probably rarely cooperative) to take them to and from school. Or, their fathers can take them. Now, at the age of 20, our fathers are not as young as my classmate's husbands probably are. It is hard for my father to drive me to or from school in this heat, on those reods, and in that traffic! Whereas these girl's husbands are probably much younger and can handle that torture.

3) If your husband does not respect your need to get an education, you should stay at home. I am now beyond saying I think men should respect their wives' need to be educated and bla bla... because quite frankly I have lost almost all hope in our men ever waking up from their deluded state of sexism superiority complexes. At this point I'm just waiting for this generation to die out and hoping the next one is any better. If you want equality in your household be fucking smart and do not marry a sexist. It is that simple. If you do not listen to me, and you go ahead and marry the bastard, you are an idiot that does not deserve an education. So stay at home and make the man some damn kabsa.

4) In my honest opinion, if you are married at the age of 18 or 19, and have a child that you need to get home to or whatever, that is your problem. I do not mean to be cruel, but having a child while you are still at school is irresponsible, and it is these girls' own burden to bear. I shouldn't have to be forced to spend seven hours at school and take a 3PM class because the (dellusional) faculty feel obligated to put all the married girls in earlier class so that they can get back to their husbands and kids earlier. I'm not saying put them in the later classes, I'm saying do not make their convenience the number one priority.

5) What on earth does your husband want with you at 12 in the afternoon? Now, this is not an actual point, but I am genuinely curious to see what answers these people can come up with.


More on this later.
ubergirl

We Don't Have Gay People in Saudi Arabia Either, By The Way...

Things that annoy me:

1. People who stand around and hold long conversations in cramped hallways and doorways.
SHUT. THE HELL. UP. AND MOVE!
Or one day, I will poke you in the eye.

2. Nimr Bin 3Adwan. Did he, or did he not, shoot his wife? Make up your damn minds, historians.

3. Khalid Hossieni. What a cheese ball.
The Kite Runner is mediocre at best. All this guy does is give you a character that is all-good, and then suddenly he has him murdered, and there you are, crying, thinking you're reading a 'touching' story, when really he is only toying with your emotions and making you cry to fool you into thinking his book is good.
I don't understand what the deal is with this overrated crap people call literature.
I am completely against literary snobbery, and I literally will read anything, but if you're gonna over-hype something, atleast make it good.

4. People (*cough*al3awa6'i*cough*) who have a whole hour of television air-time, and instead of directing fellow Muslims' gazes towards the less fortunate, (which is, you know, the whole point of fasting..) they spend their hour whining about homosexuality.
There have always been, and there will always be homosexuals on this earth. Get over it.
I don't understand how these people can bear to live with themselves.
You have an hour on television where you can talk to people about whatever you want, and you get people who will trust, and even blindly follow, your advice. Can you imagine having that sort of power?
I mean, this is a huge responsibility. And apparently these people have no sense of its gravity.

Contrary to popular belief, I don't think Allah will punish us for not exterminating the faggotry. I think God will punish the people who get an hour of television to address the richest Muslims in the world and waste it on hating the gays, when there are people in Somalia who have nothing to break their fast.
There are people in Saudi Arabia who have nothing to break their fast! And instead of helping them, we waste our money on shopping for green articles of clothing to wear on the national day.
You know, to celebrate our love for our country.
Love for our country my a**. (It's Ramadan and I will not swear <3.)


Give to the poor. They're f***ing starving.

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.

An Open Letter To The Fanatics

Fellow Muslims,

Leave. Salman. Rushdie. Alone.

Why do you people care that his book is blasphemous?
He doesn't like AlRasool.
..So?
He is entitled to his own opinion!

What really bothers me, is those of you who are annoyed with how Arabs and Muslims are always the bad guys in movies, but support those who want Salman Rushdi executed!

Why?

May I remind everyone, (or inform them), that according to Islam, if you are born Muslim, and decide to, well, not be a Muslim anymore, you should not be executed. Only if you are Muslim by choice, can you be punished for changing your religion.
So calling for his execution is sheer fanaticism and blind rage.

May I also remind those who still think it is right for Muslims to be marching for his death and issuing fatwas demanding it, that Somalia is still the most poverty-stricken country in the world.

Instead of us pulling together to stop our Somali brothers and sisters from dying of hunger, we all choose to focus on a man whom we wish to murder, therfore shifting more people's attention to him and helping him sell more and more books.

What, do you people like death in general?

All this really does show your devotion to AlRasool and his people. Shouting in the streets and declaring your hatred for Salman Rushdie at the dinner table.
Really.

You disgust me.

ubergirl


By the way, meet seven year old Mohamed:



He lives in Somalia.
In 2006, he spent two months at a clinic run by the French relief agency Doctors Without Borders. He was treated by a British doctor.
It's good that the French have time to waste on the poor, seeing as we have more important matters to deal with like hiring hitmen for Salman Rushdie and others who we believe are hell-bound.

World, I Am Not a House Plant

Today my friend told me an incredible story.

At a security check-point in the Diplomatic Quarter a man and his wife were stopped. The officer asked the usual questions, what are you here for?.. ect. Nothing out of the ordinary.

And then, he asked: "Does this belong to you?" ("hatha taba3ak?", to be more precise) indicating the man's wife.
Like she were a house plant or a sock. Or a toilet seat. Or a dirty magazine. Or a box of rice-crispies. Or a pickle jar... Hey.. Thinking up random objects is fun!

Anyway.
I'm sending this message out into the world: I refuse to be a houseplant, and by gum if I am ever treated like one there will be hell to pay.

"Hell" being a hell of a lot of screaming from my end, ofcourse.

However, if I ran the world that culprit would be arrested and forced to eat fried mud for sixty-three days.
That'd teach him.

ubergirl

PS. Thinking up random punishments is also fun, by the way.

I'm No Genius, But Something Smells Fishy...

There was an article in the paper about a man who was found decapitated in his farm in Al-Quassim. There were signs that he had been tortured. The officer who was assigned to this case was murdered the next day.
According to the article, the fact that the first dead man worked for the secret services (or whatever they call themselves) had nothing to do with his gruesome death. And according to them the second death has nothing to do with the first, and neither of the crimes have anything do to with politics.

I have one question.

How stupid does the media think we are?
I have known they take us commoners for fools forever, but this is ridiculous.
Incredibly comical in my opinion, but nevertheless frustratingly ridiculous.


ubergirl

Bang Bang

In my dreams, I kill people.
Mostly accidentally, but I don't ever feel remorse. I just think: "Oh, well..." And go on with my dream.
Sometimes I just look down and I see a gun in my hand and I fire it at whoever's infront of me. It's never anyone I know, though. Just random faceless dream people.
Also, a few weeks ago on Oprah, she was interviewing a man who (in a state of severe depression) murdered his little girls.
I sort of... Understood.
I relate to that sort of... Dream-like state. Where your reasoning is non-existant and you do things because...

Just because.


I've never done anything violent in my entire life, and I don't plan to. I think violence is vile and I'm completely against the killing of anyone, but I still sort of... Knew how it happened.

Am I making sense?

Yeah. I didn't think so.

Okay.

Listen to this.
I have been singing this song non-stop for almost three days now. It's so good! Why isn't this guy famous yet?
I heart Josh Verdes.

ubergirl

Someone In Here Smells Nice.

Has anyone ever noticed that we don't have handicapped/disabled parking spaces here in Riyadh?
I only noticed recently because of my current temporary disability. Shut up. It hurts.
How do people with physical disabilities manage without the convenience of their parking spaces?
It just isn't right.
Isn't anyone campaigning or anything?


ubergirl

Sexual Harassment Part... Oh Screw It. I Lost Count.

This made me so upset.
You cannot imagine.

Firstly, I'd like to point out what it proves:
1. An Abaya and or veil will not protect you from harassment.
2. Our (yes, our. Women in many Arab countries have had similar experiences) youth is sexually frustrated to the point of insanity.
While reading I imagined a stampede of sex-crazed rabid dogs. It's like they're not even human anymore.
What does that to a person?

Go on.
Tell me the ladies were asking for their shirts to be ripped off. Tell me they probably liked it.
You know I love hearing it.


I feel as though I will never see an improvement in our society in my lifetime.
Hopelessness is not a pretty feeling.

"...If it was the action of one I would still be pretty outraged. Girls should fucking panic. Or shall we tell them oh it’s only a few guys who would possibly rip off your clothes in broad daylight, you know, it’s downtown Cairo, chill out and have a sheesha. It is this lack of outrage and a blasé normalisation of the sickness that has helped it progress unchallenged or treated for so long. "

I couldn't have said any of that better myself.

Sexual Education is the key. So are many many other things, but I'd so love it if we started with that.

There are stories of girls attacking other girls at schools and college, so it's not just a problem with boys.

I cannot imagine what the girls who were there are going through.

Allah y3awi6'hom bildunya wila5rah.

The Muhamadiyah Attack

Things that frustrate me have been popping up out of no where this past week.
Take, for instance, this.
Why is that story still in the news?
It happened 10 years ago.
Not to mention it is her parent's fault.

Whereas, this is rarely mentioned in the news.

You know, the story of how four of the soldiers who are fighting for the freedom of Iraq raped a 14 year old girl and then murdered her along with the rest of her family.*
This is apparently one of many cases we haven't heard the details of.
I'm sure it's all to do with stopping the terrrissts from acquiring new-key-ler weapons.
Seriously, why is that not in the news all the time?
It sure as hell deserves to be!
I would very much like to see those soldiers trialed and senteced in Iraqi courts.

What is wrong with everyone!?
Why isn't anyone outraged? Why are American soldiers still in Iraq? They aren't happy there, and niether are the Iraqis! Get them back to their homes!
If I were American I'd demand that American soldiers be brought back home.
Honestly, let the Arabs sort out their own mess. No one asked America to police the world!

But I'm not American, I'm Arabic.
And I hate what's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan and Palestine.
And there's absolutely nothing I can do.
I hate not being able to fix things.
It's so frustrating!

And so the never-ending circle of frustration continues.

ubergirl


*Again: No offence to the Americans. I just don't like your government very much.

Down In The Streets

Last night I went out for dinner.
As I was leaving the restaurant, I noticed there was a secutiry guard positioned right outside.
I thought that was nice, they're finally taking secutrity issues seriously.

When I got in the car, a little girl ran after me and tapped on my window.

I hate that. Parents making their children beg on the streets.
Even if (for whatever reason) they're not getting donations from an official orgaization, there are many Masjids all over the city that will offer shelter and food for the needy.

It is disgusting. If you're gonna beg do it yourself, don't send your kid out to do it for you, for fuck's sake.

It was particularly saddening because I can't remember the last time I saw a child begging in the streets of Riyadh.
And I know it' not his job, but the security guard should have called the police.

Children need stability. They need responsible adults to look after them.
No matter how much that girl's parents might say they love her, I will never believe them.
How can they possibly make their little girl run around barefoot in dark alleys asking strangers for money.
She was so small, and it was so dark, that the driver almost drove away. We didn't notice her at first, and we're probably not the only ones. We could have easily ran over her.
God.

Farm animals care more about their young than these people.
It should be illegal for irresponsible individuals to have children.

ubergirl

Let's Just Change The Name To Sexist Arabia.

I remember back in highschool we were in Biology class, and a girl asked who's "fault" it was when a woman gives birth to a girl.
I turned to her and said "Honey, you might have been a "fault", but I am definitely not."

A few years before that I was at a dinner party and one woman was pregnant. Another woman asked whether it was a boy or a girl, and the mother-to-be said it was a girl.
The woman started consoling her. "Don't worry!", she said, "You'll get a boy next time!"

These people infuriate me! And there are millions of them! Millions!

So what do we do? I am tired of arguing.

ubergirl