Sunday, April 20, 2008

Memorabilia #4

abdullah stasera va a dubai con il suo nuovo coinquilino maniaco sessuale riccardo.
mmmh, mi sa che mi sono messa con l'ennesimo figlio di puttana...


April 5, 2008



mai previsione fu piu' azzeccata...


April 20, 2008

Memorabilia #3

appena ho conosciuto abdullah, il mio attuale "ragazzo", ne parlavo con la mia amica flavia ed abbiamo riso parecchio della sua serieta' nel propormi il matrimonio e del momento (teorico) in cui lo avrei presentato alla mia famigghia:
"mamma, papa', questo e' abdullah, il mio fidanzato e l'uomo che voglio sposare..."
"e' afghano" ---> infarto n.1: fa fuori mio padre
"ha 36 anni" ---> infarto n.2: fa fuori mia madre
"e' divorziato" ---> infarto n.3: fa fuori mia nonna
"ha 2 figli" ---> infarto n.4: mia sorella sopravvive (e' ancora giovane e forte), ma paralizzata
"ha avuto in passato problemi di alcoolismo e depressione ed ha tentato il suicidio" ---> mio fratello scoppia a ridere e dice che solo un pazzo mi si poteva incollare.

lo so che non e' bello ridere delle disgrazie della gente, ma la cosa divertente e' che ora che mia madre verra' ad abu dhabi a trovarmi, ABDULLAH LA VUOLE CONOSCERE!!!

che fare?


April 5, 2008

Memorabilia #2

farouq. farouq is a good guy. i feel it...
but maybe the stupid test i've taken on facebook was right and i'll always fall for bad guys only.
but why? why human nature is so mocking? why we usually love people who make us bad and suffer and we do not consider good people suitable for ourselves?
love is a wild animal. it's like a lion you cannot tame, a bull on San Firmin's parade. out of any control. you can try to anticipate its moves, you can try to entrap it, you can try to escape from it, but you'll always fail. power is not in your hands. power is in its hands. and you cannot fight that power. love is a monster.
my colleague reema once told me that one of her friends married a man that she didn't like, but this man loved her to death and was willing to do everything just to make her happy and after getting married to him, her friend was so happy that she started to love him. so, reema's moral was: if you feel that someone loves you so much, marry him, even if you don't like him, and he will make you happy in any way.
is this the right answer? i am not sure.


April 2, 2008

Memorabilia

mum... am i doing the same like you when you kept saying grandma about my dad "he is a good man, clever, cultivated, he is not like all the other motherfuckers out there..."?
(ok, maybe you never said motherfuckers!)


April 1, 2008

Priceless Antiques... (now that it's over!)

abdullah...
messing my life even more. why do i give chances to people to hurt me? why can't i just stand apart and look at this circus instead of being one of the fools on the panoramic wheel bringing you to the top and then down and down and down again till someone comes to you and tells you that the ride you paid for is finished?
it would be much easier remaining aside and don't try to be a main carachter... but, do i really want to be a main character? do i think i'm better than others?
or maybe i'm the one who messes others' lives... like it happened with G. and N. ... like it happened (i discovered lately) with F. and C. ... like probably will happen with abdullah too... i donno... perhaps he really loves me. perhaps he really can't live without me... perhaps. then why i'm not in love with him? why not always at least? sometimes i love him. and sometimes i don't. i think i love him when i realize that i want a family and that he really would be a perfect father for my children.
but most of the time i don't love him.
and... human beings are selfish... and i'm a selfish human being... so i want someone perfect for me... i rather want a perfect husband than a perfect father... sorry for being honest!
or maybe i also want (well, need) a perfect father, but for me not for my children.
dad called me a couple of days ago. strangely, because it was only 2 weeks that i didn't talk to him... but manu told me that he saw on the PC recent pics of me with the new haircut and that he was almost crying in front of the screen.
no matter what, la famigghia e' la famigghia and i miss all of them.
actually i miss their support... i miss fighting with my mom and then crying and asking her pardon while she cuddles me and explaining her why i was upset... i miss her hands on my shoulders and my cheeks and my head... i miss when my nose becomes a big red potato and starts dripping while i cry... and i miss her blowing my nose in those moments... i donno from where she always finds a handkerchief to blow my nose... here i only cry when i'm with abdullah... he's a kind of my family right here right now...
but it's not enough.
after what happened last year i cannot trust anyone... not him. and not K. ...
Mohamed was a room in my home, a ventricle in my heart, a synapsis in my brain... wherever i go and whatever i do he'll be with me always... like a tattoo inside my DNA... even with laser i can't remove him... i got an e-mail from him last week... saying "tu me mankesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss"... he will never change. and i do hope he won't... his charme is in his carefree approach to life and responsibilities, in being a child even if now he is a father...
he is with me when i go home in italy: he is with me in my own home. my whole home is still full of him. i open my wardrobe and i find the coat and t-shirt i wore the first time we went out together. i look for a pair of earrings and i find the jewel he brought me after his first trip to alexandria. i choose which book i wanna read and i eye the Gamal Al-Ghitani's novel we broke our heads on that night in barbara's home. i open the cupboard to pick a clean glass and i see the tea and sweets he brought for my family from paris.
so i go out. and i pass by the hotel where we spent four wonderful days, the bar where we drunk cappuccino and ate cornetto, the corniche where we used to walk and that reminded him of some places near alexandria, the beach we went at 6.00 AM just cause he wanted to see the sunrise, the bus stop from where he left to rome and i fought with the bus driver.
then i take a bus, probably the same where we sat and i took pictures of him. and i take the plane, reminding me of all the planes i took to reach him. venice. paris. cairo. alexandria. finally i arrive to abu dhabi, the only place in the world where i don't think about him. even if i still get his picture and his first phone number written on a small piece of paper in my wallet here. but i try not to open it. and not to think about it.
maybe i should answer. "tu me manques aussi". the truth.
i want to be the same that he's to me to someone. i want to be important for someone. i want to be a room in someone's home. i wanna be a room in K.'s home.
March 31, 2008

Love matters

and also this one is over...
i was waiting for this moment, really!
i knew it was about to come. but i'd never thought it would come like this. like a fist straight in your face. like a TGV in the middle of the french countryside. like a Hummer which doesn't stop at a red signal.
like this. without any guard on. without the possibility to make any move. without any warning bell and with no time to pull the security handle.
no security exits allowed.
actually no kindness allowed.
no reasons and explainations and/or excuses.

strange...
last week i said on the phone: "i don't give a fuck about love. love is nothing. love is shit. i don't want love, i want respect. love doesn't matter without respect."

now i'm thinking that probably love matters, no matter what.

and also i'm thinking: does Dr. Marini carry bad luck?

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Il Nuovo che avanza

l'altra sera al Carrefour stavo leggiucchiando il Courrier International quando sono incappata in un (abbastanza ovvio) speciale sulle elezioni italiane in cui si mettevano a confronto le strategie comunicative di veltroni e berlusconi.
il succo piu' o meno era che veltroni ha basato la sua campagna su un copy&paste della campagna di barak obama per le presidenziali americane, letteralmente traducendo il suo slogan "yes, we can", girando l'italia su un bus e appellandosi (quelle naïveté!) ad un cambiamento radicale per l'italia: non solo un cambiamento di governo, ma un cambiamento di mentalita' e procedure democratiche (si parlava addirittura di ridurre i privilegi dei parlamentari mon dieu!!!).
berlusconi d'altra parte ha utilizzato slogan vecchi ed idee trite e ritrite, suoi cavalli di battaglia anche nelle precedenti elezioni.

ed ha vinto.

questo avviene secondo il settimanale francese perche' l'italia e' un paese vecchio popolato di vecchi, tanto e' vero che un articolo (premonitore!) facente parte dello "speciale" e' intitolato Pas de renouveau au pays des vieux: Société, économie, politique : les jeunes ont du mal à trouver une place dans un système régi par des seniors de plus en plus nombreux ("Niente rinnovamento nel paese dei vecchi. Societa', economia, politica: i giovani fanno fatica a trovare posto in un sistema retto da seniors sempre piu' numerosi").

nell'articolo, il Prof. Alessandro Rosina, 39 anni, professore Associato di Demografia all'Universita' Cattolica di Milano (uno dei rari professori universitari di meno di 40 anni, che in italia sono pari solo al 17% del totale), parla del destino dell'italia e delle nuove generazioni di italiani.


Traduco (malamente):


"L'Italia e' il Paese d'Europa dove i giovani sono meno ben messi, che si parli dal punto di vista sociale, economico, demografico o politico." Una sorta di sindrome di Dorian Gray si e' impadronita del nostro Paese. Tutto il mondo si sforza di sembrare giovane, anche i vecchi. E tanto peggio per chi e' realmente giovane e che e' sistematicamente tenuto al di fuori dei processi decisionali. Il simbolo di quest'Italia e', una volta in piu', Silvio Berlusconi: lifting, trapianti capillari, fanfaronate quanto ai suoi successi con le donne. Un falso giovane di 71 anni. Ed i discendenti del 1968? "Quelli, sono i peggiori, dice il professor Rosina. Sono convinti di rappresentare l'eterna giovinezza. Nessuno riesce a sbarazzarsene." Non esiste un termine per definire con esattezza una realta' che in Italia ha raggiunto livelli senza paragone in Occidente: solo un cittadino su quattro ha meno di 25 anni, una proporzione uguale a quella degli ultra 65enni e che potrebbe ancora abbassarsi nei prossimi trent'anni. "Quando parliamo di invecchiamento della popolazione, si pone l'accento sull'aumento del numero delle persone anziane e non sulla diminuzione di quello dei giovani", spiega il ricercatore, che ha coniato il termine "déjeunisation" ("degiovanimento" se mi passate la traduzione, ndt). "E' un fenomeno nuovo, inedito nella storia dell'umanita'." In teoria, quando un bene diventa piu' raro, il suo valore aumenta. I giovani dovrebbero dunque essere particolarmente ricercati nelle imprese, che dovrebbero offrire loro buoni salari. Ora, quello che succede e' tutto il contrario. Antonio Incorvaia ha scritto Generazione Mille Euro (ed. Rizzoli) dopo aver creato tre anni fa un sito Internet dove i giovani precari potevano far conoscere le loro esperienze. "Dire che sono riuscito a sfondare? Sicuramente no! A 33 anni vivo ancora da mio padre, racconta. certo, ho ricevuto diverse proposte, ma nessuna che dia un senso al mio cursus universitario. Voglio ancora credere alla meritocrazia, ma, dopo aver spedito un centinaio di CV rimasti senza risposta, comincio a mollare. Il rischio e' di diventare cinico ed avido. E' piu' facile cercare di conoscere persone che conoscono altre persone, fino al momento in cui se ne incontrera' una con un braccio lungo e da cui si otterra' una raccomandazione, piuttosto che cercare di uscirne contando unicamente sui propri mezzi." Il nostro sistema di sicurezza sociale protegge le persone che hanno un lavoro fisso o che sono in pensione. Pensioni a parte, lo Stato non riserva al sociale che il 10% PIL, record negativo in Europa (in Svezia le spese per il sociale salgono a piu' del 20%, un po' meno in Francia e Germania). Un debito pubblico da record, accumulato dalla generazione precedente, pesa sulla giovane generazione ed ipoteca pesantemente il suo presente ed il suo futuro. "L'Italia si morde la coda. Si fanno meno figli, ci sono sempre meno persone in eta' lavorativa, la crescita economica ristagna, spiega Alessandro Rosina. Non abbiamo ne' il dinamismo del mercato del lavoro americano, ne' la protezione sociale dei Paesi scandinavi. In Italia, la flessibilita' e' diventata sinonimo di precarieta'." "Gli anziani reggono tutto, in tutti i campi, e non danno molto in cambio, prosegue il ricercatore. Il voto dei giovani pesa sempre di meno, quindi i partiti non si occupano molto di loro. Si tengono alle belle parole." D'altra parte, il sistema elettorale e' anch'esso squilibrato, poiche' bisogna avere almeno 40 anni per poter essere eletti al Senato - organo essenziale per l'adozione delle leggi. Il problema, aggiunge Rosina, e' che e' tutto bloccato. Cosi', i giovani italiani si rassegnano. Sono meno dinamici dei Francesi, il cui Paese somiglia molto al nostro, ma va nettamente meglio. Certo, e' dura. Sfortunatamente, l'idea di merito, la sola che permette un'accelerazione nella buona direzione, si e' praticamente perduta." Piu' si e' giovani, meno possibilita' si hanno di essere eletti "Non vedo perche' disapprovare quelli che vanno all'estero, dichiara Antonio Incorvaia. E' una scelta leggittima. Anch'io c'ho pensato, ma in Italia i problemi rimangono interi. I giovani sono pieni di collera. Ma, dato che non viene canalizzata, alla fine e' lo sbrogliarsi individualmente che prevale." Rosina: "E perche' prendere dei rischi, se si e' praticamente sicuri che il lavoro sara' precario o che si restera' in mezzo alla strada? Allora si rimane dai genitori. Ed anche loro ne pagano le conseguenze. Mantengono i loro figli fino a 30 anni ed oltre. ma e' un sistema ingiust, che privilegia coloro che hanno delle famiglie agiate e impedisce agli altri di restare in corsa." Si aspetta per metter su famiglia, si rinvia a piu' in la' il momento di fare figli. Un circolo vizioso. Le donne ne escono meglio. Puo' sorprendere, ma e' cosi'. Si parla di "quote rosa", i partiti si sono smossi ed hanno proposto delle candidate, la proporzione di donne in posti di responsabilita' e' in aumento. E i giovani? Lo studio di Rosina sulle probabilita' di essere eletto in funzione del rango dei candidati sulle liste dei due principali partiti indica che l'eta' media dei candidati certi di essere eletti e' di 53 anni, quella degli esclusi di 42 anni. Piu' si e' giovani, meno chance si hanno di essere eletti. D'altronde, l' 88% della classe politica attuale ha molti piu' anni dietro che davanti a se', seconda la media della speranza di vita. L'afflusso massiccio di giovani immigrati cambiera' la situazione? "Gli immigrati di seconda generazione si trovano in situazioni ancora piu' disagiate e marginali, spiega il ricercatore. O, se si integrano, faranno come gli Italiani: pochi figli, ecc." Non se ne esce."


Ok, quindi un bell'esempio di quello che dice Rosina nell'articolo e' uno degli eletti al Senato nel mio caro VECCHIO Abruzzo: Franco Marini (classe 1933 = 75 anni suonati!), il "nuovo" che avanza!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Congratulazioni! E' un bel maschietto!

che bello eh!?
finalmente questo e' quello che hanno partorito gli italiani alle elezioni, dopo un travaglio lungo, sofferto, faticoso e difficile...
un bel maschietto! ma, ma... orrore! il feto e' nato morto!


Risultati Camera

Risultati Senato

Il Nuovo Millennio Avanza


il deluso dalla politica dice: rossi e neri tutti uguali, rossi e neri tutti uguali...
ce lo meritiamo proprio alberto sordi! ops berlusconi!
adesso mi aspetto solo di veder la mia bella pescara adorna di bandiere nere e azzurre (non quelle dell'inter sia chiaro...) e magari la rinomineranno pure "pesconia" o "d'annunziaria", chesso'?
in questo giorno di profonda costernazione per la nascita di un bambino morto (chissa' cosa dira' ratzinger Z... aspettiamo solo una sua peerla)
Vi invio i miei piu' rispettosi riguardi

cla

Italian Elections

what? what makes me so angry? whaaat? click Here and Here

Errare e' umano, ma perseverare e' diabolico...

23.29
i have just received an sms. i was trying to set up a Wireless Internet connection, so i didn't pay attention to that, promising to myself that i would read it when i would finish or just before going to sleep. anyway, what could be of so important? most of the messages i receive are stupid jokes or reminders from Etisalat…
then i've checked my phone just because i received another sms right after. the first one was from Mr. K., saying:
برلسكوني يقترب من الفوز بالانتخبات الإيطالية و اليسار يقر بالهزيمة
in other words: Berlusconi is about to win the Italian elections and the Left recognize the defeat.
so, here it is: Italians never learn… this people should be beaten to death with a spiky chain, then their corpses should be seized in small pieces and set on fire and the ashes spread on a desert island so that they cannot contaminate normal human beings. this is what my mercy decreed for them. Amen.

At least...

23.22

it's 23.22 and i've just finished reading Girls of Riyadh and i'm happy with it. i swear in these 2 days i couldn't stop from reading it and having contrasting feelings about it.
i advice reading it to all girls thinking that they are the ones who have been hurt… at least we have a word to say about our future husbands. at least we can choose and marry someone that we love. at least we have the right to make mistakes and be hurt on our own behalf.
i have been Gamrah, who loves someone who's cheating on her while being married to her and has no guts to tell her. i have been Michelle, refused by the family of her beloved because she's not a real Saudi, because her mom is American, because she doesn't come from a famous tribe, basically because she's strong, independent and unconventional. i have been (and probably still being) Sadeem, waiting ages for a man who at the end drop her not to break the conventions of society and not to ruin his political career. but i'm still dreaming that this man will rise once and would tell me that he loves me… Insha'llah.
i hope i will be Lamees, who finds and marries her real love and is perfectly satisfied from her life with him. Period.
Nothing else matters.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Ogni vita vale la pena di essere vissuta!

quelle in lilla sono le cose fatte, quelle in celeste piu’ o meno fatte
(grazie sore: ho preso la lista dal tuo blog ;-P…)

ho offerto da bere a tutti in un bar

ho nuotato insieme ai delfini

ho scalato una montagna

ho guidato una Ferrari

sono stato all’interno della Grande Piramide

ho tenuto in mano una tarantola

ho fatto il bagno nuda al mare

ho detto ti amo credendoci

ho abbracciato un albero

ho fatto uno striptease

ho fatto bungee jumping

sono stata a Parigi

ho visto una tempesta marina

ho passato la notte sveglia fino a vedere l’alba

ho visto l’aurora boreale

ho cambiato pannolini a un bambino

sono salita a piedi in cima alla Torre di Pisa

ho coltivato e mangiato verdure del mio orto

ho toccato un iceberg

ho dormito sotto le stelle

sono stata su una mongolfiera

ho visto una pioggia di meteoriti

mi sono ubriacata

ho fumato erba

ho guardato le stelle con un telescopio
mi e’ venuta la ridarella in un momento inopportuno

ho scommesso e vinto ai cavalli

mi sono finta malata pur non essendolo

ho invitato uno sconosciuto a casa mia

ho fatto la battaglia a palle di neve

ho gridato con tutta la mia forza

ho tenuto in braccio un agnellino

avrei voluto fermare il tempo

ho fatto una doccia con acqua gelata

mi sono messo a parlare con uno sconosciuto

ho visto un’eclissi totale

ho preso il sole in topless

ho ballato come una matta fregandomene degli altri

ho parlato in una lingua straniera per un giorno intero

ho visitato il luogo d’origine dei miei antenati

almeno una volta nella vita mi sono sentita davvero felice

ho visitato gli USA

amo il mio lavoro in ogni suo aspetto

ho confortato un’amica/o che aveva bisogno

ho vinto a qualche lotteria

ho ballato con estranei in un paese straniero

ho visto le balene

ho rubato cartelli stradali

ho fatto un viaggio on the road

mi hanno dato un abbraccio che avrei voluto non finisse mai

ho mentito alla dogana

ho fatto una passeggiata notturna sulla spiaggia

ho fatto parapendio

sono stata in Irlanda

ho avuto il cuore spezzato per un ragazzo

ho preso una decisione sbagliata

ho munto una mucca

ho sistemato i cd in ordine alfabetico

ho cantato in un karaoke bar

sono stata a letto per un giorno intero

ho fatto immersioni subacquee

ho sognato di essere invisibile

ho fatto l’amore con qualcuno senza desiderarlo

ho baciato sotto la neve

ho fatto qualcosa di cui pentirmi senza pero’ pentirmi d’averlo fatto

ho visto la Muraglia Cinese

ho rotto una finestra con un sasso

ho iniziato un business

ho promesso a qualcuno di sposarlo

sono stata sposata

sono stata in un film

ho rovinato una festa

ho pianto vedendo un film

ho amato qualcuno che non lo meritava

sono stata baciata tanto appassionatamente da avere giramenti di testa

ho divorziato

ho fatto sesso in ascensore

ho cucinato

sono stata in gondola a Venezia

ho almeno un tatuaggio

ho almeno un piercing

ho ricevuto fiori

mi sono ubriacata senza poi ricordare piu’ nulla

ho avuto dipendenze da droghe

ho inciso musica

ho comprato casa

sono stata in crociera

mi sono depilata

conosco piu’ di una lingua

ho traslocato e iniziato vita in un’altra citta’ (piu’ o meno)

ho cantata in macchina senza fermarmi per tutto il viaggio

ho abortito

sono sopravvissuta ad un incidente stradale

ho scritto articoli per giornali

ho fatto diete

ho accarezzato animali di cui ho paura

ho fatto innamorare senza poter ricambiare

ho fatto nascere un animale

mi sono rotta qualche osso

ho guidato una moto

sono stata male per qualcuno

ho fatto sesso sul treno

ho fatto l’autostop

ho avuto relazioni della durata di oltre un anno

ho fatto cambiare idea su qualcosa a qualcuno

sono stata eletta capoclasse

ho rubato le saponette nell’hotel

ho copiato un compito in classe

ho detto una bugia per non far soffrire

sono sicura di avere amici veri accanto

ho difeso qualcuno

sono finita all’ospedale

ho guidato una macchina

ho portato un bimbo a fare un giro

ho ascoltato musica per dimenticare (facendomi sempre piu’ male)


queste sono cose che forse non sapevate di me... ora ditemi voi quello che avete fatto e quello che siete andati vicino a fare...

Animali Notturni & Co.

anche stasera ho continuato nelle mie passeggiate notturne alla ri-scoperta del circondario. non so perche', ma mi rilassa...
oggi non c'erano odori a farmi compagnia (a parte qualche cara vecchia zaffata di fritto...), ma in compenso c'erano il bzzzbzzzbzzz dell'insegna luminosa intermittente, il kneekkneekkneek della bicicletta scassata di un mio vicino pakistano con la jellabah (dev'essere abbastanza scomodo andare in bici con la tunica da antico romano... e che buffo con quelle cavigliette sottili sottili...) ed il voumvoumvoooouuuum delle macchine che vanno e vengono costantemente.
spese del giorno: Girls of Riyadh (AED 89), White Teeth (AED 45: non e' uno sbiancante per denti, ma un libro di Zadie Smith...) e Muslim Girl Magazine (AED 32, grandissima la sezione sulla "moda modesta"!!!).
ah, e per cedere alle mie voglie (non sono incinta, tranquilli!) ho mangiato sushi ad Abu Dhabi Mall (AED 27, ouch!)

April 12, 2008

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Comparisons

why do i keep writing on/being so interested in egyptian strikes?
i donno, but if i think about it, i can find a few reasons... for exemple:
1. emotional reasons:
  • i love this country, its people and its culture;
  • i know cairo better than rome;
  • i've had a great time every time i went there;
  • the two most important guys of my life (till now) were egyptians.
2. sociological/historical reasons:
  • egypt is the archetype of arab world: a big countrywith a long history to be proud of, but an uncertain future. then, if a pacific revolution will be possible in egypt, it means that all the arab people can stand up against their government and fight for their rights;
  • egypt is a country where, in the past few years, a great civil society movement has developed: human rights activists, bloggers, talented youth are all creating and developing projects to rise political awareness among the new generation, so i want to learn something from their experience.
3. comparative reasons:
i find a big amount of similarities between egypt and italy (that's why i also feel half egyptian ;-P). for instance:
  • we both have a proud long history of domination over the mediterranean area that make us wonder on the low standars of living we reached in the present days: we are threatened between being the past pharaons and emperors before and our present situation of instability, deprivation and decay;
  • we have common ancestors, so we are almost the same family on two different shores of a lake: cleopatra & marco antonio. or (as my friend mashraheya's dad told me once) sophia loren & omar sharif ;-)
  • we both have corrupted governments which are just looking for international recognition as democracies, but do not hesitate to menace, arrest and shoot their own citizens (for the italian chapter, see G8 Genova 2001 - i was there);
  • there is nothing interesting going on in italy in this moment.

oh, yes, i remeber! there are presidential elections tomorrow...

same shit as usual, then!

Pyjamahedeen

ok, if you have never heard of this word and you don't know the meaning, just check Here

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

nupe, it will not be Nancy Ajram (as a kind of Arab Marilyn Monroe, if you let my comparison pass...) to sing with her persuasive voice "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak on his 80th birthday on May 4, 2008.

the most unusual (yet not unexpected after 25 years of despotic regime) gift for the Egyptian Sphinx comes from Egyptian web activists, who have launched new mass street protests on the same day to commemorate his birthday.

opposition to President Mubarak has been growing lately with rising prices and stagnating wages adding to public discontent.
"The credibility, legitimacy and the grip of the regime are eroding" said Ibrahim Issa, editor of the independent daily newspaper Al-Dostur, to Reuter.
actually my favourite quote is one from Abdel Wahab el-Messery, an organizer of kefaya movement, who told The New York Times: "The element of fear is there. The people are afraid of the government, but the government is as afraid of the people." (damn if it's true!)

What Goes Around Comes Around

the wheel turns. the wheel of fortune. what goes around comes around. this is what they use to say. then i'm thinking about what i've done to upset the god of karma. i look at myself as an honest, fair, hard-worker girl. i've made a couple of big mistakes and bad actions in my life, but i have the impression i can count them on the fingers of a hand: i was unfaithful to my former boyfriend and i've slept with my friend's boyfriend once. oh, and i've stolen something in a flea market when i was 14.
i don't know if it has to do with the small things of our daily life: i have not left the tips to the waiter at the fast-food, i've stolen a taxi to some pilipinos waiting since longer, i'm rude on the phone when people don't understand what i say.
but i think that all those things are related to the situation i'm in. yesterday (thursday) i've met F. in Marina Mall and she told me that i'm stressed and i really need to relax. of course i'm stressed!
and all those talks about buying designer shoes in an outlet for 500 AED or going to dance in dubai or waterskiing or going to the spa was got on my nerves even more. it's easy being relaxed while earning 6,000 AED without having to think about your rent or your transportation.
for me it's a bit different, let's say is a kind of that old punk slogan. Produce. Consume. Die. and have no time for pleasures.
i don't think i need advices from someone to whom i've taught what living here meant. i still remeber when, after 7 months that i was here alone without seeing my family not even in picture, i "confessed" that i missed my family and that this kind of life was hard and she told me that this means being adults and that i cannot always lean on my family whenever i feel like doing it because it's not mature. and then, after 3 weeks that she came back from italy, she told me: "oh, y' know my parents are coming for easter. i miss my family so much. it's hard working here alone and being so far from your parents…" oh, no, i don't know what you are talking about: i have no feelings.


i feel pity for myself. i mean: i was so lucky that i had all the blessings one could have (and i thank god or his deputy CEO for this). i was born healthy. i was born in a free, rich, democratic western european country. i never had to face poverty, hunger, war, diseases in my life. not directly, i mean. i was born in a middle class family with enough money to provide me with a good education and a more than decent standard of living. i have always had all the moral support of my parents for everything i've done. almost all the people that i've known in 25 years of useless life (especially people older than me) think that i'm very smart and talented.
so now i feel that i'm throwing away all these blessings.
for what? nothing. at least, nothing that worths it.

independence maybe. but independence from what, if my happiness still depends on my family's recognition of my efforts?


Karma, please, give me an answer. What did I do wrong to you?
Looking forward to your kind reply,
Best Regards

Claudia Ciprietti
Life Disappointed

Smell Like Teen Spirit

it's 00.39 and i just came home.
actually not… that's only partially true since i've spent the all day at home hand-washing about 10 kilos of clothes and i went out only at 11.33, after my mum called me. i ate and then i just had a tour to discover the smells of my old days in Abu Dhabi (a kind of life i'm not in anymore).
i'm always amazed at how human mind works: for example, for me smells are as much evocative as sounds and sights (and sometimes even more…). and i don't know if it is related to some kind of childhood experiences or maybe prenatal or maybe even "past lives" we lived and we are not aware of. lately, every time that i go for the italian lesson and i pass by laura's home, where i used to live in my first three months in the emirates, the smell of freshly brewed coffee remind me of those days (even if little changes have undergone in the area, i associate that period to the smell of that coffee).
this evening, i wanted to check if the same would happen for other places. so i walked off to Al Salama Hospital's signal, i turned left on Al Ferdous Street and started to smell the air. nothing. i reached the end of the street and, at Capitol Hotel, i turned left again on Mina Road. still nothing. only the smell of the sea, so similar to the smell of the Adriatic Sea and so different at the same time. the smell of the sea here is somehow less marine than in my place: probably it has to do with the massive urban development the city is facing. skyscrapers. fake islands. harbours. Corniche reshaping. walking with my nose in the air i arrived to the building where my friend jonas used to live… so i turned back not to start being romantic and missing those nice moments i had with him and barbarella. probably the best friends i have had in this place (together with alessia). for sure the healthiest.

i don't know. i don't feel well. i'm tired and fed up.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

6 April 2008

some 100 people have been arrested during the clashes risen on April 6, day of the Egyptian general strike.

actually 23 people (2 women and 21 men) were arrested even before taking any action in the strike as a preventive measure. they are currently placed in provisional detention for 15 days under investigation for provoking public unrest and calling for a strike which is against an emergency law that has been implemented in Egypt now for more than 25 years (the same law according to whom more than 50 homosexuals have been processed in the 2001 "Queen Boat Trial"). there is a big possibility those young Egyptians will be sentenced for imprisonment.

today, April 10, journalist Amina Abd El Rahman, has been arrested and detained in a police station in the town of Mahalla al-Kubra. she has been questioned in the absence of a lawyer and has been accused of working as a reporter without permission, according to the story of her husband Hamada ElKashef, reporter in El Badeel journal and who is on his own now in Mahalla.

yesterday, April 9, George Ishaak, one of the leaders of the opposition movement Kefaya, has been arrested. he has been accused of provoking unrest and calling for strikes. El Marg Prison administration has been preventing the admission of medications, food, clothes and blankets to the detainees since the morning. Hossam Shahata, the person in charge of delivering them started a hunger strike inside the prison. finally the authorities yielded to the pressure and allowed everything to be delivered to the detainees.

then my question is: is Egypt a democratic Country? answer: NO.
question #2: are these actions violations of human rights? answer: YES.
Egypt is a strategic partner for America in the process of "pacification" currently ongoing in the Middle East and its soldiers have been sent to kill their Arab brothers in Iraq just not to break the close ties the Country has had with the USA since the Sadat Era in the 70s and (of course) not to lose the HUGE aids its government is receiving from President Bush (Egypt is the second Country after Israel per weapons received). BUT, isn't President Hosny Mubarak aware that, in the past, Saddam Hussein has been a close friend of US too and Osama bin Laden was actually a business partner of Bush sr. and jr. himself? there could be a possibility than, in an attempt to "export democracy" in the Middle East, US troops up river Nile to "protect the disrespected rights of Egyptians"... i hope i'm just too fond of conspiracy theories...

by the way the strike was a kind of success: according to local sources, Cairo streets were empty and many people stayed at home from work, while many parents didn't send their children to school. students at Cairo and Helwan universities held demonstrations, while the Nasserite Students of Assiut university held a vigil on campus.
the Muslim Brothers, instead, did not take part in the strike (unless in the past days it seamed they would do it).
streets of Mahalla al-Kubra (where 27,000 textile workers on strike were expected to be the centre point of the nationwide demonstrations) were empty and schools were closed. The Misr Helwan Spinning & Weaving Company workers said security forces prevented them from demonstrating, arriving in the factory during the night and arresting 150 workers.

now, a new action has been planned for May 4, 2008...

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

La vita e' un sogno o i sogni aiutano a vivere?

OMG, i think i'm starting to get crazy over this guy... last night i've dreamt of K.
(don't indulge in XXX thoughts: no kisses and no sex were involved...)