Month: September 2004

Trip to Syria

So, where have I been these past days?
I haven’t blogged for 4 days. That surely doesn’t seem like me, does it now?
Well, no worries, I’m still alive.

September 10th, We woke up really early and headed to Syria. My wife, her parents and myself.
We decided we didn’t have enough time to go to both Syria and Lebanon as we wished to, so we thought, this year Syria, and next time Lebanon.

Damascus, the capital of Syria, is actually closer to Amman than Aqaba (A Jordanian city) is, it’s basically a 2-3 hour drive.

I visited Damascus only once before when I studied here in Jordan, and it was for one day only. And no it wasn’t for what some of you dirty minded guys are thinking 😛 Just simple and quick micro-tourism 😉

Downtown Damascus is very old, it looks like it got stuck in the last century, but as you go further away from downtown it gets more modern.
But one thing you’ll surely find wherever you go in Syria are pictures, statues and more of the current president, his deceased father the ex-president, and his deceased brother (the would-have-become president).

Anyway, we didn’t really travel much and spent most of our time in Damascus, but we got to go to places like Qasyoon Mountain, Bloudan, Bouqein, Seidnaya, Maaloula and other not so far away places.

I took a bunch of nice pics, and will be posting some in a photolog.

It was a pretty good visit and we had a very nice time.
It was great to be back in Jordan though once we got back here.

Life of Pi

Last Night, or to be more precise, early this morning, I finished reading “Life of Pi”, a great novel by Yann Martel.

I heard a lot about this book and read a number of reviews about it, so when I found it in Prime Megastore, I bought it right away and jumped into it immediately.

I was sucked into the story, and I loved the way it was flowing and how the writer was telling it.

It’s an amazing story, beautiful and amusing too.
It’s about a teenage Indian boy called Pi Patel and his journey with religion, his life in India in his father’s zoo and his survival after a ship wreck.

It’s a truly magical story that is very well painted for imaginations to build and live in.

If you’re a book lover and need a nice good book to enjoy, I suggest “Life of Pi”. I really enjoyed it.

How to tell if you are adopted

Another funny forward from my old inbox, lol.

Hey, Kids!
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out whether “Mom” and “Dad” are your actual parents. Here are some things to look out for that mean you were adopted:

– You’re not allowed to get a trampoline.
– Other family members enjoy foods that taste “yucky” to you.
– You’re made to sleep in your own private room, sequestered from the rest of the family.
– Mom and Dad find occasions once or twice a year to shower you with gifts, so you won’t feel so bad about being abandoned by your real parents.
– You don’t remember your parents bringing you home from the hospital when you were born.
– Your parents call each other by names other than “Mommy” and “Daddy” to conceal their true identity.
– Your parents don’t let you go out at night, when your real parents might try to steal you back.
– Only adopted, or “rejected,” children have to brush their teeth.
– You don’t have the same eye and hair color as your parents, and you’re not the same height.
– Your parents sometimes go into their room and shut the door

My First True Vacation

I was just thinking the other day, and this is actually my first true vacation ever.

It’s the first time I get to get away from my everyday life, forget about almost everything and not even think about work for a fraction of a second.

Some people could argue that I took time off from work before, but well never without something else to do instead, I’d always have other things waiting for me to do in my vacation and it’d end up not feeling like one. In fact, I’d get so bored or tired I’d want to get back to work, lol.

This time, it’s totally different.
I have absolutely nothing to do.
The only thing I have to do is kill time.
And that feels great, lol.

I wish this could go on forever, lol.

Fahrenheit 9/11

Last night, I finally got around to watching Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore.

I think Moore did a good job with this documentary. He shed some light on a side of the events that all Americans should see.
I also liked the humour in it. Some parts were very funny.

Some people think it’s pretty one sided and that Moore goes a bit too far at times, but well, that’s his opinion and the way he sees things. There is no such thing as too much or too far for the human brain.

There are things I agree with him on and things that I might not. But it’s great to see his side of things anyway.

He truly makes some very important points.

The Gas Pickup Song

Some years ago, the people who sell gas bottles in pickup trucks in Jordan were told to stop making this annoying clanking noise by hitting the gas bottles to announce they were near, and instead just play this same brain-melting tune that I honestly think is even more annoying.

Anyway, when that started, I thought someone should take a sample of that tune and make a full club mix out of it.
I truly think it could work out and if released as a single become one of the biggest hits ever in Jordan, lol.

Now that I’m back here and am waking up to that tune every morning and hearing it a number of times throughout my day, I couldn’t agree more.

It’s a tune that has been engraved into our brains and I don’t think anyone in Jordan couldn’t hum the whole tune from beginning to end.

It’s got all the makings of a huge hit. So really someone should try this out, and for coming up with the idea, I only want 50% of the revenue 😉

Re-living Jordan

So, these past 2 days and other than spending time with the family, we’ve also been trying to go around Amman as much as possible and see all the places we used to exist in.

It’s been really great seeing the places that have changed and the places that haven’t, watching the people, listening to the accent, living Jordan again.

It’s kind of a bit weird too. I feel as if I’m somehow living my present in the past or something like that.
It’s like when you’re playing a video game and you’ve passed a level, but then revisit it for a while for a certain reason and then go back to the level you’re in.

I haven’t seen anyone I know yet, but I sure am planning to see everyone I can and have contacts for.

Another thing is that I’ll truly have to go on a strict diet once I’m back to Tunisia to lose the weight I’ll be gaining here.
My mother-in-law cooks great Middle Eastern food, which I can’t miss, and on top of that I’m planning to eat at every restaurant I ever went to here. That’s a recipe for a lot of FAT, lol.

Thanks to the guys who recommended places for me to check out, they’re noted and hopefully I’ll be visiting them all 🙂

Will keep you updated…

I, Robot

Just came back from the cinema.
As I’m such a movie freak, I talked my wife and her brother and sister into catching a movie somewhere. After reviewing all the options, I pushed for us to go see “I, Robot” at Century Cinema even though none of them felt like it.
But well, I got them there 😛

And well, what can I say. I loved the movie. I truly enjoyed everything about it, from the action to the science fiction to the humour to everything.
This is absolutely Will Smith’s best movie yet.

The others liked it a lot too. So that was cool.
I got to boast that I was the movie God again 😛

Anyway, if you’re in Amman and you’d like to catch a cool movie, I truly recommend this one. If you do and you don’t like it, well bite me 😛