Whats wrong with me :s jokes are popping up in my mind ever since i heard that Michael Jackson died !!! why am i allowing myself to make light of death ,especially that i have some serious issues with "death" ,its probably the most thing i so fiercely hate in this life ! weird ! I want to go on but I'm having mean thoughts thats supposedly funny ! :s i better go blow off this energy doing thriller routine ! see !!!!??

Today i attended the screening of this movie إبتسم أنت في جنوب لبنان by the very talented Dalia Al Kury (also director of إحذر أمامك تعليق and عربيزي) at Daret Al Fonoun - Lwaibddeh (Amman).

The documentary was filmed in south Lebanon a year after the 2006 war when Dalia went to check on her relatives ! through it,you do realize how these people survive a war after a war and from where they get their strength ,so many black comedy situations (real situations) !like the toddler saying "2at3aaaat" when the electricity cut off...like making use of the TNT powder from the exploded bombs.... we also get to notice the very unique fabric of the Lebanese society even within one (extended) family ,who all live in south Lebanon,who are all of Palestinian origins like when two siblings asked if they have Hassan Nasrullah's picture in their houses and the two very different answers and justifications !

there is a lot of joy in the documentary ,so many laughs ! its just...u gotta watch it ! I'm not sure when is there another screening ,i'll make sure i'll post , but anyway you can get the original DVD from Dalia for 5 JD only .

I will tell you why , let me tell you how i came to figure out 1st , I've been noticing a gradual change in my mood and temper since i got here,around two weeks period now ,the coolness and relaxation in public places i came to enjoy in Thailand is gradually fading ,and I've been thinking about it ,and been noticing stuff :

1st thing ; we don't say thank you enough :
In Thailand ,when you get into any kind of shop ,or even stop at a street food cart you're greeted "welcome" ,and after you ordered and paid the seller they'd say "Thank you" when they take the money from you, and then when they return the cash or hand you your bags ! however big or small the shop is ,everyone would do the same .with time -believe it or not- ,coming into a shop becomes a relaxing thing . WHERE IN JORDAN : you get into the shop,no one gives a damn ,you say "Marhaba" or "Salamo alaykom" and I'd say you have 4:1 chance of being ignored too.you order your stuff (or get them yourself) and go to the cashier , there is a big chance he'll be sacking it up and calculating while he is not even looking at you,talking to some other guy or on the phone,or even worse sitting on his chair laying back at the wall reaching his arms full length to do everything without moving an inch ,you hand him the bloody money ,he gives you the bloody change;still not looking at your graceful face ,YOU say "Thank you" or Shukran,and this one has a 6:1 chance of being ignored . believe it or not ,its starting to make me hostile towards all sellers ,its just not a nice feeling ! .

2nd thing ; Taxi drivers are self-proclaimed Gods .
I don't drive and i don't own a car ,i take taxis ! when you wave to one of them ,they slow down,ask you through the window (while still moving) "WHERE TO?" you tell him "somewhere" and he hits the gas and keep going .just like that.best case scenario he'd tell you -cuz he is a self-proclaimed God- "no no,not going there" and then hits the gas pedal .
Assuming he wants to take you where you want to go,you have to go with the way he wants to go,cuz he knows better,remember,he is God he knows better .hell,one of them insisted i unbuckle my seat belt cuz he thought i was picking on him and/or making fun of him !! what are these people !!! okay 90% of them,i admit I've been in couple of cabs with real nice clean buckled up drivers with clean nice cars who made me feel like human again . you have to encounter one of the prior kind of drivers and trust me your mood is fucked up for the rest of the day . did i mention they never have change ?or somehow its always 5 piasters short ! W.T.F.

3rd thing ; No where is clean,and everyone smokes everywhere .
now you may wonder (if you haven't lived in a city where everywhere is clean and people don't smoke everywhere) you may wonder how does that effect ones mood ,IT DOES . when the streets are clean,when the parks are clean,when people don't smoke indoors ,or in cars ,you feel good about your community and therefore yourself ,when the whole nation act like that IT DOES make a difference, yes i wasn't really happy with Thai's very strict self commitment to following rules in general,especially when it came to smoking ,but later when i got used to it ,geeeez does that make you feel like a civilized person living in a civilized place !

4th thing ; we don't line up .
Whenever you're anywhere where there is anything that requires people to line up..guess what...you never see the magical line happening ,you see half circles of people over each other's asses and backs each trying to reach their arms as far as they go to get done 1st ...whether its a concert's ticket at Jara Market or the close by bakery ,its always the same scene ,a scene that flashes images of movies such as The Gladiator in your mind walking toward it for some reason .

the list goes on and on .its fucking annoying and depressing ,its sad and fucked up ,we are fucked up,thats why we are angry people ,because we don't know better,and we don't know anything else .