Aug 23, 2008

Honoring my father III - هوامش

هوامش
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جلسا على الشرفة في السادسة صباحاً، النسيم البارد وانعكاس اشتعال الشمس على البناية المقابلة أخذهما الى صباحات الوطن، العصافير لا تغرد بهذا الشكل هناك! لكن أحدهما لم يكسر سكون اللحظة بهذا التعليق. فضّلا التحديق في محيطهما واسترجاع ما أمكن استرجاعه من طعم لون الصباح هناك ورائحة صوت غليان القهوه، التي باتت جاهزة للتقديم.

سكب فنجان والده أولاً، ما زال متمسكاً بتلك التفاصيل الصغيرة التي تمنح الهوية الحقيقيه، تلك التي تمنحنا خصوصية ما نحن، شعب نشرب القهوة في الصباح ولا نكترث إن كانت مضرة بالصحة. وضع الفنجان برفق على حافة الشرفه الضيقة، نظر في عينَيّ والده بفرح، هذا أول لقاء لهما كراشِدَين! اليوم يشربان القهوه ويدخنان معاً! اليوم تتحقق الأمنيه، رجُلان! لا أبٌ وطفل.

فكّر... سأخبره أولاً عن من تبقّى من أصدقاءه في الوطن، وكيف يستحضرون وجوده من خلال طباعي وتصرفاتي، لكن بعد أن يرشف قليلا من القهوة أولاً، تلك الفترة بين التحديق في الفنجان والرشفة الأولى لا يجب أن تقاطع لأي سبب كان. ثم سأخبره عن أصدقائي أنا! لا لا ! سأخبره عن أخي الصغير أولاً! يجب أن أريه أنني واع وأستطيع التعامل مع المواقف الصعبه والمهمه بقدر من النضوج. أخي الصغير سيكون مثالاً جيداً.

سكب فنجاناً لنفسه وجلس بجانبه. حدقا في الأفق، صوت فنجان القهوة في رحلة الصعود الى الفم وعودته الى صحنه تماشت مع المحيط بسلاسه، لم يكن صوتاً فظاً على الإطلاق.

وجد لصوته فسحة وانطلق: أتعلم؟ لقد التقيت بصديقك الكاتب في عمّان قبل فترة وجيزة في مقهى عمون، لم يعرفني للوهلة الأولى، أنا ما زلت أذكره مذ كنت صغيراً، كأن ملامحه لم تتغير أبداً! الرجال بعد سن معينة يتوقفون عن النمو، أما النساء يكبرن، ينضجن! وكان معي ديوان شعر! آه نسيت أن أخبرك، لقد حضرت حفل توقيع كتاب محمود درويش! أخيراً التقيته، في المرة القادمة سأطلب نسخة موقعة لك أيضاً... ندمت وأنا قادم في الطائرة لأنني لم أطلب نسخة موقعة باسمك، ندمت على أشياء كثيرة أجّلتها مراراً، رحلة الثمان ساعات كانت كافية لمراجعة أحداث أربع سنوات.

لم ينتظر رداً، فهويعرف والده جيداً، هو لا يجيد فن تبادل الكلام لمجرد الحديث فقط! كان يعرف أنه يجب أن يستفزه، أو أن يثير إعجابه بشئ ما، تابع حديثه بشيء من الفخر: بالمناسبة، صديقك كان سعيداً بصحبتي! تحدثنا في مواضيع سياسية! نعم! آه نسيت أن أخبرك أيضاً، أنا الآن ناضج سياسياً، مارست الكثير من النشاطات في الجامعة، تعرّفت على صديق جديد بطريقة عجيبة بعد سفرك مباشرة ،اسمه مثل اسمي، ووالده وأنت رفاق منذ زمن بعيد، نضجنا معاً كما نضجتما معاً! أتذكر حين كنتُ في الثامنة من العمر وأردتُ الذهاب معك وأمي الى "مظاهرة جبل الحسين"؟ حينها أخبرتني أنه يمكنني فعل ذلك في الجامعة.. أتذكر؟ على أية حال سأعترف لك بأمر؛ في تلك المرة وددت الذهاب لأرى كيف ترش الشرطة المتظاهرين بالماء! أردت رؤية سيارة الإطفاء عن قرب لا أكثر.

مد له سيجارة بعد هذه المقدمة، شعر أنه بدأ يحتل مكانته كرجل واع لا يخجل من الاعتراف بحقيقة نواياه، ابتسم له ووضعها بجانب فنجان قهوته الذي ما زال ينتظر إقلاع رحلة الرشفة الأولى.

تساءل لماذا لم يأخذ أي رشفة للآن! ألا يحبها مرّة؟ أنا لا أحبها مرة أيضاً! اعتقدت أنها ستترك انطباعاً جيداً! أنا لا أشرب القهوة أساساً! ربما لا يحب سجائري الخفيفة هذه! يجب أن أستبدلها بنوع آخر لونه أحمر! أم أنني تحدثت كثيراً؟ ربما يجب أن أتروّى في طريقة كلامي، أنا لست شاباً طائشاً مندفعاً، تمتم لنفسه.

سنأكل اليوم سمكاً مشوياً! أتذكر عندما وعدتك بعشاء سمك مشوي في مكالمتنا الأخيرة؟ لا أدري لماذا كانت مكالمة طويلة جداً! فأنا لم أخطط لأن أفاجئك بزيارتي هذه بهذا الشكل في حينها!

لم يرد عليه أيضاً! لكنه تفحص وجه ابنه جيداً! تغيّر كثيراً مذ فارقه قبل أربع سنوات ونصف. لكن شعر وجهه المتفرّق ما زال مبعثراً ومضحكاً كما كان في بداية نموه... أصبح الآن جزءه المفضل من وجهه. حرّك فنجانه لليسار قليلاً، ترقّب أن يبادله والده كلمة واحدة! لكنه لم يفعل! بل اتكأ على الكرسي براحة أكبر، عقد يديه خلف رأسه وأخذ يحدق في شعر وجهه بتمعن أكبر.

 ربما هومضطرب للقائي المفاجئ هذا؟! كان يجب أن أخبره بقدومي! أم أنه لا يريد أن أراه في هذا الظرف! غرفته الصغيرة هذه لا تدل على وضع مادي مريح! أيعقل أنه ما زال يبحث عن نجاح أخر ولا يريد أن يراني قبل أن يحققه؟ ألهذا لم يأخذ إجازة واحدة للزيارة طوال هذا الوقت؟ أليست هذه طباع المحاربين على أيّة حال؟ سأحمله على الحديث بأي شكل كان، قرّر.

تصنّع العفوية وقال: أوه لوتعلم، لدي صديقات كثر! محبوب أنا بين أصدقائي خاصة الفتيات منهم! ابتسم بخجل وأحس بالغباء لوهلة! ليس هكذا يحمله على الكلام! تدارك الموقف بسرعة وسأله: أخبرني كيف كانت النساء في شبابك؟ كيف التقيت بأمي؟ كيف قلت لها أحبك؟ أين كنتما تخرجان؟ أمي قالت لي أنكما اعتدتما الذهاب لمطعم القدس في وسط البلد! وسط البلد؟ تأخذ أمي لوسط البلد يا رجل؟! هل كان قدومي للدنيا مخططاً له أم أنني كنت نتاج صدفة وحادث عرضي؟ لقد أجريت حساباتي بدقة، وتبعاً لتاريخ ولادتي وفترة حمل أمي بي، لا بد أنني بدأت التكوّن في رحمها ليلة رأس السنة! أوليلة الميلاد المجيد! أنا متأكد! ليست صدفة أن اليومان في ذالك العام كانا يومي خميس ها!؟ تزوجتما يافعَين، لماذا؟ هل كان قراراً طائشاً؟ هل كنتَ شاباً طائشاً؟ ربما فكرتما أنكما ستريان أحفادكما وأنتما لا تزالان بصحة جيدة؟ هل توقعت أن يكون لك أحفاد في سنك هذه؟ عليك الانتظار بضعة أعوام، لا تبدأ أرجوك، دع عنك حديث الزواج، أرجوك! ماذا عن باقي إخوتي؟ أخبرني كل شئ كل شئ، نحن الآن مثل الأصدقاء.

أمطره بهذه الأسئلة واحداً تلو الآخر دون توقف، تماماً كما كان يلقيها على نفسه أمام المرآة يوماً بعد يوم مذ سافر والده حتى تلك اللحظة المنشودة، لم يحرك والده ساكناً، ما زال يتفحص وجهه ويراقب لغة جسده ويداه اللائي يأبين السكون عندما يتحدث.

أخذ نفساً عميقاً وبدا مضطرباً، حاول أن يراجع ما قاله علّه يفهم سبب صمت والده، اعتقد أنه لربما تجاوز خطاً أحمراً! ربما أغضبه! كل هذه الأفكار دارت في خلده! أحس بالغضب.. ليس هكذا تخيل هذه اللحظه في تأملاته الليلية، تخيلها مليئة بالحياه، بالضحك، بالسمك المشوي، بالسجائر، وحتى الكحول! كانت مشاركته والده كأس كحول على رأس قائمة أولوياته، لم يأبه لملاحظات صديقه المتكررة حول هذه النقطة بالذات، فهو يعتقد أنه ثائر بطبيعته، ثائر على أي شئ وكل شئ، وشرب الكحول مع والده ليس إلاّ شيء يفعله صديقان ويضرب بعرض الحائط كل المحاذير التي يعتبرها "متخلّفة". لا يدري لماذا يجد في نفسه حاجة ملحّة لأن يثبت لوالده أنه الآن ند له بأي طريقة كانت.

بردت القهوة في مكانها ولم يشرب منهما شيئاً. الشمس ارتفعت والحرارة أصبحت مزعجة، دعاه للجلوس في الداخل، فتح له باب الشرفه الزجاجي ودعاه للدخول قبله.. وقفا للحظة صامتين، كل منهما ينتظر الآخر ليقول شيئاً، بادر كالعادة وقفز وفتح حقيبة سفره، نثر الكتب التي أحضرها معه على الأرض، تنقّل بينها بسرعة ملخصاً محتوى كل منها مبدياً ملاحظاته، أخبره كيف أنه قرأ أحد كتبه من مكتبته القديمة التي انتهت محتوياتها في العلية الرطبة، وكيف ضحك كثيراً عند قراءته للملاحظات التي تركها على الهوامش، ملاحظات عمرها عشرون عاماً أوأكثر، وكيف كان يرد بدوره على ملاحظاته على الهامش الاخر للصفحة. ملاحظات تحولت إلى رسائل، رسائل تحولت كتباً في كتاب. فتح إحدى تلك الكتب وقام يريه أين انتهى نقاش الهوامش هذا في أحد كتب الدكتورة نوال السعداوي، كان نقاشاً هامشياً ثلاثي المحاور هذه المرة، أمّه أيضاً كان لها تعليقاتها الأكثر إضحاكاً على ذلك الكتاب بالتحديد: "ملخص: كل الرجال كلاب؟". لكن جرس الباب قاطع حديثه بفظاظة! نظر لساعته، إنها السابعة، لا بد أنه صديق والده المقرب في الغربة، كعادته دقيق في مواعيده! فتح له الباب وعيناه ملأى بقطرات تنتظر إذن الخروج. دخل الرجل الغرفة، نظر للكتب المتناثرة على الأرض، رأى الفنجانَين والسيجارة، استرق نظرة على الكتاب الذي كان بيده، قرأ بعضاً من الهوامش. مسح دمعته التي انسلّت على وجنته أخيراً، احتضنه بقوّة ...
 اليوم نزور قبره، لا تحزن.
http://naserz.blogspot.com

Honoring my father II

following Tawjeehi ,my dad as many Palestinian youngsters involved into resistance movements , long story short, he flee for dear life to Jordan ,and was not allowed to ever go back ,with a literary Tawjihi certificate and 5 JD he started his life in Jordan,he worked in The Intercontinental hotel dry clean service at 1st ,when they interviewed him,he made up all stories about his experience in hotels ! he eventually got the job ,phase I : survive ,accomplished . he was not 18 years at the time . then he saw an vacancy ad in the newspaper for a teller position in Cairo Amman Bank ! - can you imagine :d bank jobs where in the newspapers back then - ,they interviewed him,gave him a math exam ,and of course,he got the job ,he was hell of a speaker ,interviews were never hard for him. and so he worked in the bank,listed himself in the the General Union of the employees in Banks,Insurance & Auditing in Jordan ,and of course the communist party ! until this day,he is the youngest to be registered in the union at age 18 .he believed in the role of labor and community institutions as a key player in developing out country .
The man ranked higher in his work ,the bank,the union,and the party,he also served as a volunteer in the Jordanian civil guard as an ambulance driver ! he just loved helping out whatever way possible .i remember going with him once to the civil station ,and i asked him on the way back home,i was 5 or 6, i asked him,"so why are you in the army of Jordan not the Palestinian one" he said : "son,Jordan is our country as much as Palestine is,if you love Palestine you must love Jordan,don't you love Hallool -thats my sister- ?" i said yes i do !he said ,Jordan and Palestine are like you an Hallool . thats the kind of man he was !! I'm really really appreciative of being his son .
he eventually ended up the manager of one of the banks branches for 5 years,and the chairman of the union for two years ,before he quit to start a small free business here in Thailand "for us" ! I know that its normal for a son to be impressed with his father,but thinking about it,coming from no where,to be a bank manager,the head of a labors union ! I only wish to leave such legacy that makes my beloved ones proud of me as he did !
He taught me to be brave,respect people,especially my mom and sister,women in general ,people of other religions and ethnics !he never tried to push us to believe in what he believed ,on the contrary ,in Ramadan ,he would wake up at 3 am to make us S7oor ! there was a phase in my life when i was about 12 years old,where i committed to praying the 5 prayers at the mosque,all 5 of them, you'd think an atheist communist father would forbid such thing !? he used to drop me off at Fajer prayer,wait for me outside,and bring me back home ! when i used to memorize Quraan for school contests,he would set there and make sure that I'm well prepared ,of course i never thought about these things while i was young,because it was taken for granted,but when you grow up and see what kind of close minded oppressing world we live in,you start to appreciate such acts ! thats my father !
I didn't see him for the past 5 years ! unfortunately ,he didn't see me growing up to be a man,but,thx to the internet and phone calls !he got it,and if there is something thats giving me strength when thinking of his tragic departure,alone and far away,is his words,that he is proud of me ,and that I'm the man he always wanted me to be,independent, smart,and respectful ! I'm lucky people !if your parents still alive ,go talk to them,tell them that you love them ! thank them for a lot of things !i did !and his words are engraved in my head forever !no one or anything can change them now! trust me,once they're gone ,you're gonna remember every big and small conversation ,and you're going to regret much of what you never told them.
I have wrote a short story a while ago,I'll post it as the final segment of this series of posts.

DAD,i know you're there somewhere looking at me,probably smiling and your eyes are watering ,i know you;re happy for me ,I'm happy yea :) you're great !!i love you!!!!thank you.

Honoring my father

Ok i got an idea to make me feel better passing this AWESOME day . I'll remind myself what made my father so special ,this would definitely sound cleche but for the ones who know me,they know that people always tell me that I'm unique and one of a kind - you have to know me to verify :d - and since i was a kid whenever someone praised me I'd tell them من شابه أباه فما ظلم ! so here it goes, if you're in mood for some personal one of a kind stories stick here .because he was indeed interesting !

I'd say that my favorite thing about my dad was his open mindedness yet sticking to his origins and never compromise on his beliefs .he was a Marxist communist who respected everyone and always knew what he wanted ,since he was young in Palestine - Al Samou3 (some pics ,video of grandma baking traditional bread) he was rebellious and independent ,one "funny" story i was told about him when i visited Palestine - and later asked him about it :D- is that in the village ,like in any village ,stories about ghost and Genes is every where ,and my dad never believed those stories, and he got himself in an infamous argument with the Imam of the village's mosque ,and of course,all the elder men sided with the Imam and my dad ended up being the bad teen ager who needs to be disciplined etc... . so what did he do later that evening ? he calls a friend and persuade him to help him get even with the elder people !he thought,okay,you insist there is a gene in the village,I'm gonna give you a gene ! so later at night,they head to the cemetery with big plastic pipes ,and they started blowing air in them ,and you know the voice that'd come out, they stayed until mid night and head back home,the next day,few people started talking about the gene in the cometary !bingo !they kept on doing that for about a week !and of course people were afraid to even look out the window to check it out,until the elder men decided to group all together and go check it out, the unlucky young man didn't know about the plan, and he head to the cometary with his friend, they loved the controversy they made !!! and there they were, some 15 men with sticks !!!! - off topic,what were they thinking bringing sticks to a gene fight lol- ,and they were caught red handed ! the sticks of course came in handy ,and they both had hell of a beat ,but as he told me when i asked him about it " yea they beat the hell out of us,turned out a pregnant woman almost lost her baby because of us! it was immature to do so, but i made my point " . i love that story ! :)
he graduated from high school,like 99% of people in that era,studying on the light of a candle ,etc ,we know all those stories nothing special :p but in addition my dad was a shepherd ! that i like about him i don't know why !and he planted three trees that are big and tall now where he used to take the sheep ! i love those trees !thinking about it,everyone should plant a tree ,good idea,next time I'm in Palestine I'm gonna plant a tree.

How to deal with death ?

I was a bit in  shock when i realized that today (Aug 23rd) marks one year since my father's departure ! I was shocked and still am because I thought that after a year people kind of "move on", if not "forget"!! or at least they become familiar with the idea, accept it, or embrace it! which didn't happen, yet...!
It's as if for the past year, I chose to run away from confronting the fact in my head every time it came nagging! I tried grasping it, get done with it, more than once, and the result wasn't pretty! wtf ! I find myself weak against this, which doesn't happen often, and i never admit that I'm weak regarding almost anything ! I'd just tell myself that I'm not and I always beat things in my head.. but this one is just too fucking different !
I still have all his stuff ,didn't "Get rid" of anything ! clothes, shoes, ashtrays ,lighters, pens, books, socks, cups, medicine, wallet, razors ,shampoo, cell phone, broken charger, glasses... I even kept the food that could be preserved, the spices, Nescafe jar, beans, wutever i could keep as it is !
I don't get it! when do people over come this? how do you accept the idea ? how long should it take? It seems like i will never! frankly, I don't want to either! I still speak of him in the present tense, I refuse to refer to him as "the deceased" or "El mar7oom", call me wutever you wish I don't care, and don't give me "ma betjooz 3al mayyet '3air el ra7meh" lecture, you do that.
Its frustrating .
But there is a "good?" side of it I guess, whenever I'm out of answers or feeling down, this what I do, I just visualize and Imagine that he is here, and we'd talk, of course when I visit his grave its more intimate, and I don't know how but it works, I feel good afterwards.. eh... but the idea is bugging me !what do i do with all the stuff ?what is supposed to happen to them ? how do people move on ? do they ever move on ? geez this sucks.

Aug 19, 2008

shout out to Jordan's underground music bands : Oriental and Brutal Death Metal!

Talent in our Arab world is generally wasted,unless you're really lucky ,because in order to nurture a talent you have to find 1st,and that usually is the parents part if its going to happen at an early age,but when more than half of the Arab world is under the poverty lines, the parents aren't really focused on your talent,and that worry about making it to the end of the month shifts to the children some way or another and so the children themselvs don't pay attention to their talents.which is really sad.there are other reasons for why talent is wasted in our Arab world,but i believe the previous is the most important one.

However,some catches the train sooner or later, and they work on their talent and emerge,in Jordan,I've witnessed more than one example of such talents becoming professional or semi/professional ,This is a shout out to 3 of them ,two oriental ,1 Brutal Death Metal .

1) Sho Hal Eyam شو هالإيام
I'm not sure of the line up,so i won't mention them one by name,and I'm not sure if they're still playing or what ! I've watched them once in the Royal Cultural Center in Amman and they're awesome, if you know Ziad Rahbani's "sho hal eyyam" song then you might have guessed what kind of music/songs do they play, Shiekh Emam,Moh'd Moneer,Ziad Rahbani,Marcel,etc... . and they added a twist of rock to it,which i liked very much .i found this article in Al Ghad news paper about'em , and i have couple of tracks by them n i have no idea where i got them from too! here they are :


2) Sharq, شرق

need i to say this is the second oriental band ? :d
I love this band,they're amazing,they plays some covers and they have few original songs/music pieces so far,this is their facebook page,and here is some of their tracks from a live concert


you be the judge .

3) TYRANT THRONE - Brutal Death Metal Band

yes i also do like this kind of music,not my favorite though ! i never get the lyrics, i enjoy the music itself,caution : could be described by some as "noisy" .so think twice before listening to them ,but being in Jordan and keep trying and eventually come up with a demo CD and some covers with such musical taste isn't easy,so they deserve appreciation at least .
this is their facebook page ,and this is the official website http://www.tyrantthrone.com/,they have an upcoming event check it out.

whether you like'em or not,i think a bit of appreciation at least won't harm,after all,we all know how hard it is to do such thing in Jordan,these people gave and still giving this much of their time,and if we - the young people - didn't support each other then who will !?

if you know about another band please tell us about it .and i hope you like the ones i posted .

Aug 11, 2008

سجل! أنا جاهل

إهداء : الى كل الذين سممو هذا الصباح بتعليقاتهم
الى كل الذين لا يرون في درويش إلا أنه "كافر"
الى كل الذين لا يرون أبعد من أنوفهم..سجل


سجل! أنا جاهل
ورقم بطاقتي مليون
و أطفالي مثلي جاهلون
لا أرى من الدفتر إلا سطرا واحدا
و أطفالي مثلي لا يرون
فهل نغضب ؟

سجل ! أنا جاهل
أنا فم مردد
أنا أذن لا تسمع
أنا عقل معطل
فهل نغضب ؟

سجل !
أنا جاهل
أنا أعمى
أنا أحمق
فهل نغضب ؟

سجل
أنا لا أشرب القهوه
و لا أعرف الحصان
أنا أكره اللوز
سجل. أنا لست أحمد

مع خالص كرهي
ناصر


Aug 9, 2008

Farwell Darweesh..البقاء للوطن


رحيل الشاعر الفلسطيني محمود درويش إثر عملية جراحية بأميركا


نفدت الكلمات مني يا درويش...نفدت الكلمات


هزمتكَ يا موتُ الفنونُ جميعها هزمتك يا موت الأغاني في بلاد الرافدين. مسلّة المصريّ، مقبرة الفراعنة، النقوش على حجارة معبد. هزمتك وانتصرتْ، وأفلتَ من كمائنك الخلودُ...
فاصنعْ بنا، واصنعْ بنفسك ما تريدُ
محمود درويش




Aug 1, 2008

Amman Underground Jabal Amman - Balad Tour

myAmman downtown Jabal Amman Balad theater Jafra map

my favorite places in old Amman .
this started as me trying to give direction to a friend to Jafra cafe' down town ,i found myself adding most of my favorite places in Jabal Amman and some from Down Town ,i wish i could add to it Lwaibdeh area but this one took long time so :/) so here is a map ,and read this for explanations I'll explain all the letter n stuff :

you could reach down town from many places,i chose 1st and 3rd circle.i think everyone knows how ot reach there,if you don't just ask anyone in the street they'd tell you its easy :

start from the top of the map (right to left) :
1st circle, go straight you'll be in "Rainbow Street" i tried drawing Rainbow colors on the street but i have no clue wut are rainbow colors!!anyway,so there u'll find "the British council" right after it "Abo EL Dahab Center" there you can play bowling ,billiard ,it has a nice view up there,if you're in you're 20s then your parents probably had took you there long ago to something were called "عالم التسليه" with a big Panda hung on the building. opposite to Abo El Dahab there is a small Falafel place "Al Quds" one of the oldest in Amman,its very famous for it's delicious sandwiches,if you haven't been there once and had your sandwich on the deck next to it on the side walk then you missed on a lot ,you should try it.

if you're following on the map,there is a left turn (its gonna be a downhill way) ,but before we go on to the left,lets keep straight,you'll pass Rainbow street (they made some construction there the street is no more asphalt neither its comfortable to be on either in a car or walking,they ruined it :/) anyway keep straight and the road will start to go downhill ,to the right,find "R n B" for a good snack ,marked (1) on the map .

keep going down don't worry you're not lost,spot (Batata) to the right with its big orange sign,its the best fried batata in Amman TRY IT with different dips,they offer some 10 different dips i think ,and please try having it either in the cozy place there or on the side walk ,side walk is a must in Jabal Amman experience.

before u reach Batata ,to the left there will be a narrow street (marked 3) thats where Jara Market is held every Friday in summer time,click here for more on Jara market.

now keep straight (main road downhill )and take the 1st right,keept stright there will be an uphill narrow streets,thats where the RCC (Royal Film Commission) is (market 5 on the map) .

if u didn't go uphill and kept straight,couple of meters and you'll be at Books@cafe (marked 4),one of my fav in Amman it has a library down stairs,interent connection,and a cafe upstairs, if you don't like to go places where alcohol is served and might be couple of gays around then don't go there,otherwise you're gonna love the view .

notice at the end in gray (on the map) -DARAJ TWEEL- ,that stairs takes u down to wasat el balad, I've came up and down that stairs many times when i wanted to meet friends there and were broke :DDD so if u r tafran enjoy the walk :D.

lets go back now to Falafel Al Quds , as explained on the map, take the 1st left downhill, if you went to the left form the intersection you'll find "Wild Jordan" it has an amazing view,smoking is prohibited (or was at least when they 1st opened it),menu is all healthy and herbal stuff,the view is really amazing from there,down town Amman and Lwaibdeh opposite to u.

back to the map : if u took the right turn then the 1st left turn ,you'll find Al Balad Theater ,a lot of events are held there,concerts,poetry, book signing,...if you're into art,poetry ,etc, its good to know where it is, next to it there are "stairs سلالم" - lol @ salalem - those are long narrow stairs would take you down town,park somewhere close to masra7 el balad and take it down,Jafra cafe will be to your left hand side,look up for its wooden balcony you won't miss it .

OR lets assume you don't wanna take the 1st cirlce tour (lol),lets go from 3rd circle to down town directly ,

as u can see on the map,coming from 2nd circle or where ever go from 3rd circle downhill alllll the way till you reach that traffic light,keep straight and it won't take you long to be at Jafra ,opposite to you is Ittesalat ,post office and Arab Kuwaity bank,park there if you can and look up for Jafra's balcony ,you'll see the stairs too,Jafra's entrance should look like a big garage ,take up the stairs (once u entered Jafra) and enjoy the wooden furniture ,nice music,art pieces for display,antiques for sale,a nice library where you can read there ( or give books you wanna donate to the library) ,traditional delicious fresh food ,argeeleh etc,the place is really nice people who go there are generally young university students ,guys n girls,families (don't expect children tho),its different i recommend it to everyone.

back to the map,go straight on (walking now leave the car where it is ) at the corner i marked (DVD) you'll notice lots of DVD places,go to the one right on the corner (Hammoudeh) thats my fav DVD place :D 99% of the movies they had worked fine with subs n stuff,and they're really cheap,and even if you're a girl don't be afraid no one bites there,actually lots of girls go DVD shopping there ,mrattab el eshe don't worry.

back to the map,keep straight on the same side walk and look for a narrow alley with tables and ppl having Hommos and Falfel,thaaaats the famous Hashim Restaurant ,you must have heard of it ! (side note : look up Elias Farkouh's complete work,look for a story called “Avo” ,its about an Armenian man called Avo who used to work at Hashim back in the days,I love that story) .

keep going straight after Hashim and cross the traffic light intersection (stay on the same side walk when u cross) and you'll notice a police hut next to it is a biggg old building with a big golden doors,thats the Arab Bank,(marked A on the map,now we're on that area i enlarged in the corner on the map) right next to Arab Bank there is Abo Ali Book Hut ,Kushk Abo 3ali (marked B),the famous book "store" ,its on TV all the time,if you talk about Amman's cultural life you must come across it somewhere in the discussion, the man is as nice as he appears on TV,get urself a book from there some years later you'd brag about it :D.

next to it is a small alley ,you'd probably notice people standing there eating something,ITS KNAFEH (wa3 beddy) ,its an old Habeebah place there,really small,the tradition is you get some and eat it outside ,again if you're talking with someone about their Amman memories they'd probably mention this Habeebah place. while u r having your knafeh outside,look up,you'll notice a balcony ,yes I'm taking you ther just finish you're knafeh, TYT.

finished yet? (after 5 mins I'm entertaining myself sho a3mal zhe2et w ana baktob w bardom :D) aywa, next to the hut and the alley is a small building that has two balconies,you've seen one of'em above the alley,the other one on the main street side,there should be a small wooden door (last i remember it was green) ,go up the stairs if it was opened,thats Diwan El Duke (ديوان الدوق) it is one of the oldest buildings in Amman,it was the location of the ministry of health back in the 1920's if I'm not mistaken,its owner Mr Bsharat is keeping it the way it was,its opened for all visitors for free,there is usually some kind of art gallery there,paintings,photography ,or if there was not,the place is worth looking at for the heck of it,once you go in they would usually greet you with some lemonade,if you're lucky and the owner was there while visiting,he'd happily explain to you about old Amman,traditions,and architecture of the buildings ,even if he wasn't ,ppl there are really nice,there are information leaflets in many languages,one time i was there and they ordered knafeh for us from Habeebah with this tool they used to use long ago,from the balcony :D they'd drop a rope thats attached to a tray and the Habeebah place would put the knafeh in there and you pull it up its really nice.

across Diwan El DUKE on the other side walk you'll notice a balcony with some plants on it and lots and lots of flags drawn on the walls,thats Balat El Rasheed Cafe',its the oldest cafe in Amman,a lot of people call it as "قهوة الأعلام" its nice but something happened to it ,there isn't much tourists visiting it and you'd notice lots of Egyptian workers there nowadays (nothing against them) but being there with family or big bunch of friends isn't as comfortable as in Jafra ,but no one will bite u there too be sure about that :D.

and thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaats a wrap.

i hope some of you would go there and enjoy it ,don't miss these places they're really nice ,inspiring and different,despite the traffic and the noise and the people filling the streets like ants ,you should try it and be willing to like it to love it.iiiiii love it and miss it much.I'd have posted some pics i took myself but they're all in Amman i don't have any here.
cheers.#

Jul 27, 2008

High Voltage : My left foot and "EL Lemby"

High voltage is what I'd categorize the movie "My Left Foot" starring the genius Daniel Day-Lewis under ,I don't know how i haven't heard about this movie before,I owe Hareega big time for this :D! Every line of the script was outstanding on it's own ! The story itself is inspiring and intense, the amount of emotions DD Lewis sent out through his body moving and shaking was tremendous ,to be a crippled i believe is the hardest kind of acting,and I've done some,embracing the state of mind of a physically or mentally challenged isn't the easiest thing to do ,simulating the feeling one would feel to not be able to express his feelings in words or even free body movement is unimaginable i think!i applaud HUGH O'Conor who played young Christy Brown as well.
I can go for pages talking about DD Lewis genuisity and originallity ,this movie must be seen if you're interested in fine art !on a personal level the movie dug up old memories of mine ,also retriggered the constant feelings unstability towards my mom n dad ,it was so great that I'm writing about it right now at almost 4 am.some of what i want to say i'll write down in my journal not here,somethings feel right on paper for some reason,more intimate i guess,my journal's papers are yellow-ish ,maybe thats it.
anyway,what brought Mohammad Sa'ad (El Lembi) to my mind as i watched the movie,and this might sound crazy or add to some,that I've noticed that a lot of the key charastaristics of Sa'ad's characters are some how copied or lets say was inspired by other performances by other actors, Arabs and non Arabs,last of which is the way he speak! i couldn't help but to notice the big resemblance of the famous way Sa'ad speaks with in his movies to DD Lewis's as Christy Brown in "My Left Foot" ,i now believe that a lot of what made El Lembi unique is just a mosaic of little bits from here and there,he gets credit for that anyway,plus he is so talented and original in his own way,even when he do something in his movies that was inspired by someone else he adds to it,and he has his own stuff too,so far.so make no mistake i like him too,but what fascinates me in general is the originality ,coming up with something no one did or thought about before! Saun Penn in "I'm Sam",a dance coreographer ! ,Michelangelo's Sculpture of David etc ..., creating something out of nothing without having a look on how it was done before,because it wasn't,is fascinating ,its high voltage!

Jul 25, 2008

Never Ending Rush Hour

I was reading Rawia's blog,and i found my self telling her "some day soon,you'll look at this time you were feeling this way as a shadow of another girl's dreams of trust me . "

I think that is how i felt after i accomplished a little of what i wanted,and it feels great,its just like when you wait long for a taxi cab in a hot summer day at rush hour,you wait and wait and you feel dizzy,you wait longer and start thinking should i walk a little bit further straight ahead i might catch a cab there,or should i move a bit backwards,and then you start feeling your feet hurt,you suddenly become aware of all your body parts,because they're sore and hurt now ,and then your forehead starts to sweat, you lean a little bit on your left leg and then you switch to the other leg and now whatever that you're holding in your hands starts to feel much heavier and you keep looking at your watch and minutes feel like hours and then you start noticing more things you didn't notice before,you start to think of how -unawarely- lucky these people in their cars with the windows rolled up and the AC playing with their hair,you then realize that while you were in a car you never gave a thought about those waiting on the side walk,now you might be a bit angry after an hour waiting and the side walk is now filled with many people lining up to catch a cab just like you, and then you think "how on Earth am I gonna catch one with all those people here!" and you're now more angry and more tired and you start to rant and your eyebrows crossed and you're nervous and comes someone ask you "what time is it" and you don't know why you feel like punching him in the face !!
Suddenly,a cab drops off someone right in front of you and you jump into the cab,once you're there,couple of meters away,ALL those feelings of tiredness,anger,envy,and feeling sorry for yourself and the other 50 people waiting for a cab goes away !your eyebrows are back to their normal shape and you enjoy the ride,by the time you get to your destination ,you totally forgot about the agony of how you got there,couple of days later,and this whole experience would seem to be so old and you won't relate to it as if it was shadows of another man's dream !
that's how life goes i believe,I now -happily- have a lot of shadows of another man's dreams in my head,they're almost gone with their problems and shitty situations .and it feels great.
so keep doing what you're doing until you reach there and feel good about it.its awesome.

Jul 20, 2008

Look Closer !

I'm a big believer of knowing WHAT do you want to achieve shouldn't necessarily be paired with knowing exactly HOW to do it .That surely doesn't mean throwing out all kind of dreams with no plan or no sense of how to achieve it what so ever,its just the little details that would take you there that you shouldn't care much about ,they'll come to you ,once you've done your part and home work they should come,and thats how you become a super man ,when you say i want to do something and do it, others will be surprised of HOW you did,and so you'll be yourself ! Many might argue that this is nonsense ,and how come it doesn't work for all ,well for a starter ,those who didn't make it probably didn't believe they're capable of making it in the 1st place ,those still have to work on their self esteem and confidence to conquer what seems "impossible" or "too much" or "too good to happen" ,and others who might have that faith in themselves might just miss the opportunity once it comes knocking their doors . how do you miss an opportunity? one might say ! well we miss a lot of opportunities everyday ,all kind of opportunities ,opportunities to see something beautiful and feel good about it .. when was the last time you carefully watched a bird flying , eating or drinking ?when was the last time you noticed a butterfly around ?
opportunities to make us feel loved and accepted the way we are and make us feel good about it .. when was the last time you told your mother that you love her ? straight forward for no reason ,"i love you mom" or to your dad or siblings ,when was the last time you told a friend how much you appreciate him/her ?
opportunities that make us grateful to whatever that is we have ,and make us feel good about it ..when was the last time you gave a good thought about orphans ,the poor ,the handicapped ,the children in war zones,the abused women ?
if we miss all those "little" stuff,are you still wondering how do we miss long-anticipated opportunities ?

just look closer at everything ,sometimes opportunities comes knocking at your door steps,literally ,and you turn away from them.
If you didn't give up and were consistent about WHAT do you want,it might come back to you ,and then you'll feel good about it.no regrets.
today one came back to me ! I'm so grateful .
I wish you a good "luck",if there is any "luck" in that game.

* Photograph by Abed Dodokh (Royal)

Jul 10, 2008

The Hooker From Kazakhstan

My friend came visiting recently ,i took him pretty much everywhere, one night we went to this nightclub with friends, the thing about Bangkok's nightclubs and bars that they close pretty early ,just like any place in Bangkok,except for couple of "underground" ones that stays open all night,i don't know why are they still referred to as "under ground" since everyone knows about them ! anyway, the other distinguished thing about nightclubs in BKK that no matter how classy the place is ,there will be free lancer hookers waiting to fish some drunken horny foreigner , couple of visits and you'll be able to spot them right on by the way they dress,dance,and act ,they're often dancing on the polls up high to show the goods and tease to please, i often find time to set back and watch,just watch, the people, the locals,the foreigners,both males and females,how the foreign girl look up (down) at the hookers,how the hookers try to fish with their eyes,i sometimes draw an imaginary line from their eyes where they initiate contact with (you),and how they pull (you) closely,nice and smoothly with the biggest smile on their faces, sometimes the thread is real shaky and vibrate,in that case it doesn't come out from the eyes,depending on your soberness and the music,the fishing thread would come out from different places ,and its really amazing,the fishing process i mean,its exactly like fishing, 1st the bate,now you're hooked,whether by eyes or other round body parts,and then the pulling begins ,(you) find yourself magically moving slowly to the poll,or wherever she is dancing at the floor,but (you)'re not often the only prey ,turned out ,the fisher throws a whole net all over,covering 360 degrees from where she is !now that you're there,and pulling is successfully completed :
  • " take me out from the water" ,you say ,"I'm here already" .
and so she hears the unspoken words, gives you a hand,a hip,a back,a hug,a kiss,a lap dance, whatever you want ,she'll try them all at 1st,see what gets you to hang on to her waste tighter,once she knew what is it you like the most,she'll focus on that,once she makes sure that you're a good fish,and you're not trying to escape to another fisher ,she'll release the other still-on-the-way fishes, and the conversation starts :
  • where you from ?
  • bla bla
  • whats your name ?
  • bla bla
and the dancing continues. 15 minutes later, they'll be dancing like two people joint at birth, no separation what so ever, making out is constant ,touching and laughing as well, another 15 minutes,and they're either out of there heading to where they'll be spending the night ,or she is up there trying with another one ,the guy was apparently just a tease !it was a waste of time !

For me hookers where exciting one time only,the 1st time,i was a tease fish,i really can't get involved with one,or pay for sex, the more i watch them,the more i get mixed feelings about them ! some times they disgust me ! and sometimes i feel pity for them ! Prostitution is wrong and it demeans women,i even feel its demeaning when pretty girls show up in sexy dresses in the auto mobile exhibitions or so,the idea of me looking at something because there is a pretty woman next to it,or even looking at the woman displaying herself is repulsive to me .it feels uncomfortable and wrong.

Whenever i get out i like to get to know new people,foreigners or Thai ,but not the Thai hookers,the rest of the nice and neat Thai people,so that night,there was this non Thai woman,dressed nicely ,blond,a bit taller than average Thai gurls,wide eyes,you could easily tell she wasn't a Thai, but she was by herself,and foreigners usually go out in groups,you'd rarely find one girl by herself clubbing after 2 am !and she wasn't dancing or anything either !she was just setting there !in the middle of the club,she looked like she had lost someone in the crowd and trying to locate him or something, after a while she was gone ,and so did my friend !i lost him !so i waited by our table ,and then decided its time to have a look around ,i looked everywhere and couldn't find him so i got out looking for him near the entrance,i didn't find him there either,on the way back in,i saw the blond lady setting by herself near the entrance,so i approached her :
  • Hey, have you seen a guy a bit taller than me with tied curly hair?
  • No, your friend in white shirt no ?
  • Yes!
  • No i haven't seen him
  • are you looking for someone as well ? I saw you setting there looking around
  • No i didn't lose anyone ,i came by my self
  • oh okay, how long have you been in Thailand?
  • 6 months
  • oh really!what do you do here?
  • I work
  • What do you do exactly ? I work here too
  • "you know" she said,and gave me this smile and a wink !
  • I was surprised! i haven't seen non-Thai hookers around before! and i laughed
  • "entertainer ha? "
  • yea
  • so why aren't you dancing ?
  • i danced a lot in the night club i was at before this one
  • ahaaa, and where are you from ?
she said something like Kazakhstan or something,i couldn't really understand the word with the loud music, "and what about you ?" she added .
  • "Jordan" i said ,do you know where Jordan is ?
  • yea yea i know,I'm not stupid,Israel Dubai Bahrain !
i said smiling/laughing,and how are you gonna work if you're too tired to dance even?
she burst into laughing : No no,just show me money,when i see money,i get energized no problem.
  • And what if i have money but I'm really ugly ?
  • "If you have money I will fuck you even if you look like *********"
(she said the name of one of the Arab presidents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) i couldn't help but laugh my lungs out !! how the hell does she know his name,and how da hell does she know he is ugly !it only shows the strong bond between her and a certain group of Arabs who apparently have something for blonds ! and then there was those 30 seconds where i really felt bad for her,30 seconds of silence,looking at me,kind of waiting for me to say whether I have money and want her or not !it was humiliating! i felt it was humiliating i don't know about her !so i said "good luck then" she said "good luck to you too finding your friend,if i see him i will tell him" .
and she went back to set where she was setting before this conversation started,i headed back to our table n found my friend waiting with the rest of our friends ,couple of hours later when we went back home nearly at 5 or 6 am, she was still there where i left her,with a Arab guy hanging to her nick ,i waved her good bye laughing , she winked at me with the biggest smile !

It was one of those times where i really didn't know how or what to feel !