Friday, November 21, 2008

I am NOT Moroccan

I chose to not be Moroccan nowadays, and I am enjoying. The fact that I encounter a handful group of Moroccans and Arabs every now and then, makes me swallow my Darija, making sure my accent doesn't show that way I don't have to speak Moroccan to anyone and I don't have to deal with anybody. Unsure of what made me change though but I think I have started opening my eyes big and widely to what's happening in the country among our community, which made me rethink my thoughts about holding tight on my community and whether I should take any active role in it or not. As for now I choose to be an observer, at least until I fulfill my personal goals.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Black President, So What??!!

I am sick and tired of the media reports about the election of the first African American president in the U.S, portraying it as a historical event, and improvement for the rights of Blacks in this country. Don't get me wrong, I am all for Obama, and was praying hard he wins. What annoys me though is how a lot of African Americans started reviving the black history and slavery of African Americans, making Obama's win in elections sound as a victory for all African American citizens and their ancestors who suffered during slavery era in this country. Come on y'all, Obama's ancestors were never slaves!!!! He is the son of an African Immigrant who was born & burried in Kenya.

Obama won because of his promises to the citizens of this country and not because of his skin color. Obama won because he is the hope to better the cursed economy of US and save the American dream of people.

I'm not really sure, why some people insist on bringing up the skin color & SLAVERY every time they make a comment about the presidential elections. I even started believing that some people can't look beyond their skin color!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Une Kheddama in The US





I am not talking about maids...in fact, I am talking about lkhedama-type we see in Morocco. Yeah, I am talking about the same concept of having Kheddama doing chores around the house a la marocaine. Seeing one in the heart of US, makes my skin shiver.
Not long time ago, I was attending Eid prayers in Turkey Park in Orlando, Florida, and my eyes almost popped out upon seeing a real kheddama bossed around by a Moroccan-born lady. The young Khedamma, who probably has not reached 20 years old, was wearing a scarf like the rest of traditional kheddamat in Morocco. She had on multiple colorful thin layers of shirts and was wearing pants and a skirt on top of it. The young kheddama was carrying her lady's bag and was following her wherever she goes.

Just couple days ago, once again, I see another Moroccan Kheddama, in a different state. Kheddama swept the floor, wiped off dust from tiny home decorations, helped preparing couscous, served the table, cleared it out when everybody was done and of course washed dishes.

Not that I'm against the idea of having a kheddama to help with the chores around the house but I am totally against the concept of treating kheddama like a kheddama, as an object I mean. Like another Kheddama, I saw serving another Moroccan family. As soon as she finished serving dinner, she isolated herself in the corner of the kitchen watching us eating chhiwate she made. It ticked me off depriving her from having dinner witn us. She was just a Kheddama, and of course in big families, kheddamate don't get mixed with guests period.


No Residency For You Because Your Son Has Down Syndrome

Australian Department of Immigration rejected Dr Moeller's application for residency because his son Lukas, who has down syndrome, does not meet "the health requirement" and is "likely to result in a significant and ongoing cost to the Australian community" according to their statement.

What's funny though, is that the Australian government recruited Dr Moeller, internal medicine specialist, from Germany to fill up the shortage of physicians in rural areas. So it is okay to use his experience and benefit the Autralian Community from it, and it is definitely NOT OKAY to grant him a residency just because his sick son might cause a financial burden on taxpayers for his special education and health care services.

It's very sad how a lot of countries take advantage of immigrants, without giving anything back. I guess slavery never reached an end; it's just taking different forms and shapes in different centuries.

Read more about this outlandish story.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Giving Hopes & Saving Lives






While browsing CNN online news, I decided to check CNN heroes section to find out more about it. Upon reading the section, I found my tears brushing my cheeks non-stop. Goodness, inspirational and uplifting stories of couple nominees moved every fiber of my heart.

Simply awesome job done by a group of people for the sake of humanity. How nice to see people cultivating the sense of community in their hearts and going beyond their preceived limits to make a HUGE difference in people's lives. They educated kids, fed the hungry, sheltered the homeless, and gave them a chance to have a future when they stopped hoping and dreaming about one. They brought hope to their lives and gave them a strong sense of living.
It was very challenging for me to pick one nominee to vote for because they all deserved to be encouraged and voted for. With that said, I finally settled with one story I found very close to my heart. I voted for Maria De Silva for her inspirational story Giving Hope to Orphans of AIDS because my heart bled and still bleeds for kids with AIDS in Africa. In fact, I volunteered for One Life Revolution, a non-profit organization that helps and supports kids with HIV in Zambia. So I can, somehow, relate to Maria De Silva because I fought for the same cause and I know exactly how it feels to bring life to an HIV orphan.
Kudos to those who put their hearts and souls into community service and helped drawing smiles on a lot of sad faces for the sake of love and humanity ONLY.

Friday, October 24, 2008

University Professor Killed By A Student In Algeria

That's right!


Ben Chehida, the chair of the Computer Science department at the university, was stabbed more than 20 times on October 18th by a disgruntled student apparently unsatisfied with his grades. The 58-year-old professor was pronounced dead the day after being taken to hospital.

Read more

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Back soon

I have been disconnected from the outside world for five months only and it feels like ages. Getting married, meeting new people, and spending more time with family, focusing on my career are taking top priority in my life.

Back soon.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Lost In The Traffic Of My Thoughts

Literally lost! I have been musing in my thoughts a lot lately (which is not something new) but hardly got the time to write anything down about my the changes I adopted in my life. I am not sure what it has become so hard for me to write or just read though I have so much to write about....anyhow, I will make some efforts and inshallah I will bring life to this unforgotten blog.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

My Head Hurts

It wasn't until lately that I started feeling a bit confused by the mystery of life and its non stop surprises. It wasn't until lately that I started getting angered by my Moroccan culture and its traditions that are annoying me to the point of sickness sometimes... It wasn't until lately that I started feeling that indeed I'm different from a lot of people... my own people so to speak...

Ah, endless thoughts jailed in my head... but they will soon be released.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

I have so much to get done, yet I turn a blind eye at everything.

In moments like these, I wish I could close my eyes and find myself in some island far away from the world... just imagine with me, the calmness and serenity of the mind.....ohhhhh