Cars cars cars.......

Working in one of the best car manufacturing companies it’s only normal to see beautiful cars but to see approximately 300 top of the line classy exclusive cars now that’s amazing! Daimler Chrysler also has Jeep, Maybach & Dodge in addition to its Mercedes & Chrysler.

The motor show took place in an exhibition hall right behind our apartment for a whole week. It costs too much to have these shows (yes even for Daimler Chrysler) that it only takes place every 2 years so the preparations were worth it. To spice up the show each company has it’s own attraction of Turkish dancers (us), magicians, live band, & of course (halla2 3omar bikayyef) models……. labseen min ghair hudoom! Everybody was taking pictures of them & sometimes the cars!

The cars are beyond description, that’s why I’ll just show you the photos.

The highlight of the show was the Honda ASIMO robot! Yes guys it’s a robot that can wave, walk, go up & down the stairs, clap, cry & other gestures! It was fantastic I got it on video, it’s a craze in the world of electronics & mechanics. They spent almost 10 years developing it. Research it, it’s a breakthrough in science.

A nice part of the evening was that Ragheb 3alameh was there, yeah guys I know you don’t like him but being myself I had to take a picture & talk to him, IT’S RAGHEB 3ALAMEH! They were filming a show with him about cars so I think I was on that show too, or at least my hands! They filmed me taking him a picture :)

Me, Ragheb 3alameh & Muhannad, another German trainee that’s originally from Tunis (find out what they call a wedding in Tunisian!)

Il muhiz it was a nice eventful evening afterwhich we went to the Christmas party that was held for all the residents of our apartment. Pictures don’t show clearly but there was a dance floor, food & drinks for free. Tab3an ma 7addish kazzab khabar o shirbu. Weird life they’re living :S

Ya mista3jil wa22if ta2ollak!

I mentioned that traffic is horrible here right? Well they say illi bikhaf min il bo3bo3 bitla3lo o ana batsarsa3 min il sur3a as you all know- 7ussam I’m sure you can relate & know exactly what I mean.

Last Sunday Yumna, Karazeh & I were driving back home from work on Emirates road when we stopped behind a bus waiting stuck in traffic when all of a sudden Karazeh who was driving looked in the back view mirror & said : “What the **** is going on?” Tab3an before any of us knew what she meant we were hit from behind by a truck & thus squashing us -the teeny tiny Renault Clio- between the bus & the truck. La2 o al ana aish ba7ibbish atla3 ma3 il trainees il shabab coz they drive crazy!!! Naseeb!

To make a looooooong story short we called our fellow “crazy driving guys” & they came to help us with our wrecked rented car. Being an Arab I was the mediator between us, the police & the ambulance. Yumna’s back was aching & Karazeh’s neck was normal so we asked for the wee wee to take us to the hospital. I didn’t know that I was in pain because I was busy taking care of everybody else but I’m fine now although we all still have bruises.

Ana olt ya salam min awwal osboo3 3milt 7adis o dakhalt mustashfa o makhfar
shurta, la inshalla by the end of my internship bakoon bil isla7iyyeh!

Anyway olt yalla fursa nshoof il mustashfayat illi hone since this is a fairy-tale city -3ala olet Serina- yimkin the doctors bikoonu labseen lapcoats made of gold, il history bikoon electronic, wil kul mabsoot.

Well it seems the fairy tale city ended abil il mustashfa b share3 coz it was horrible! Il doctor kan sudani :D sikabob ya3ni. Bas of course when I saw the waiting room I had to take a picture of the sign coz it was hilarious. I never expected to see it in Dubai.

Guys don’t worry this was not the cool hospital bas it was specialized with bone x rays but what I was impressed with is that we didn’t have to pay anything !

Mish battaleh hal plastic city.

The X Games

The nice thing about being in Dubai is that there's something to do every single day. Of course this will be the case in a city of wealth & entertainment where people just want, and most importantly, can have a good time.

I don't know if you sport lovers heard of this but Dubai for the first time held the ESPN X Games. These are shows of athletes on motorcycles, bicycles, skateboards & roller blades.
The event took place in Creek Park which is a very big & beautiful park where you can walk for hours without getting bored & what's even more appealing is that this park has so many trees, grass areas & sand areas on the shore of Dubai creek for sailing, tanning or just relaxing. The view is beyond description.

The show started with stunts made by skateboarders that jump along the U-shaped runway amazingly showing us the coolest moves in the air. During breaks some dancers performed on the runway on the loud hip-hop R&B music.

What could be more amusing for me? Food!

Working for a cool company like Daimler-Chrysler we got VIP entrances to the whole show so we didn't have to wait in line to enter the park, pay a for a ticket or sit with the common crowd :p We had the seats under the shade with an open buffet to just enjoy the show! You know where Graph used to sit and watch Agasi during his games? we had the same importance & location :) Ya 3ammi ana muhimmeh ! ;)




After that we moved to another area very close to the runway of the motocyclers (because we are VIPs in case you forgot). Tab3an ana sakhanit! Any wrong move from the athletes & we'd be run over! Fortunately all went well & show was as amazing.
Athletes participating came from all over the world which was interesting as they performed joint stunts.










Halla2 shayfeen kul hal 3aj2a? Akhoona billah 3am bikra2! 3alam akhar hal makhloo2, the music wil jumps wil dinia o al 3am bikra2! When I saw him I couldn’t help it but zoom & take a picture, I figured if he doesn’t notice the fun outside his bubble he’s not going to mind me taking a picture!!





The evening ended with great fireworks (better than the ones I've seen in USA on Independence day) & a musical concert with a live local band.

What a great way to spend a Friday :) What's nice over there is that everybody is there to have fun, no 7afartal, everybody gets free snaks & kulshi ma7soob 7sabo like toilets & security & paramedics (which came useful as one of the skateboarders fell on his head). Simply everybody wants to have a good time & it's so easy in this city.
On that day (including a lot more days) I wish that you guys
were there. We would’ve had so much fun.

I'll leave you with 2 more nice pics : ya3ni sha3ro akhdar min kul 3a2lo! ? _______________________________


Dodge is also in one of our brands so there was a raffle to win this beauty!

(check out the background)




- A few days back we had a Christmas party at the company, I won't bore you with details but I'll say that I got the 2nd biggest prize which is a lot of Mercedes branded things :)

Sharjah

Internal tourism is good! It's just like going to Madaba (Lina) or Fheis (Omar & Marian) or Ajloun (Maha) or Jabal Amman (Dareen!) although her very frequent shat7at are to Sharm El Sheikh!

I wrote a lot fa I'll just leave you with facts & figures of Sharqa city. It's half an hour away by car, I went with Firyal, the gorgeous Sabrine, the sweet & attractive Yumna & the Turkish-German-girlfriend-of-one-of-the trainees-who's-always-around Nadia.
The place is very similar to downtown but in a beautiful architectural holding called Blue Souk! Yeah I know, it's either Blue market or soug il zarga bas aish asawwi haik ismo!

Sharja is like Jebal il Hussain! If you stand at a certain place looking at those hideous outfit stores u'd swear it was that street in Amman. 7atta nafs no3 il horrible shop names: "Dashadeesh Omran" , "7alawiyyat il batal", "Abu 3azzam lil aqmisha" ! lol

We had fun, it was nice to be ogled at again ;)
Enjoy the pictures
(they remind me of il balad)

Clubbing in Dubai

Dubai, being a metropolitan city, is a reflection of the luxurious & wealthy lifestyle of all its citizens. This city is filled with all nationalities, some more dominant than others. Driving around you can easily notice the diversity of people, Indians with their scarves around their heads (sikh), Asians mostly Philippinos, Europeans mostly Germans & Brits & of course Arabs who are easily spotted from their stares & beards!

Being an Arab here, I feel like I'm the foreigner!

In the company where I work, I'm the only Arab in my department. In the company as a whole there are 4 more Jordanians(1 of whom will play a major role in the coming paragraphs ;)), some Egyptians & Lebanese. I thought this would be the case since it's a German company but no, everywhere I go, I rarely find Arabs especially the locals. There are no Emiratis working anywhere! The foreigners get higher salaries than the locals which is kind of sad. Supermarkets are taken over by Indians - who by the way speak English with each other since they have 60 Hindu languages so they also don't communicate with their mother tongue language-Brits & Germans work everywhere but Americans seem to be on low profile, Arabs just seems to.... hmmmm..... hang out!

Coming to the title topic of today's blog:

A few days ago was Dec. 6th, according to Germany it's Saint Nicolaus!!! So in the morning "Santa" had placed chocolates in my shoes :) At night there was a Christmas gathering at one of the trainee's apartment above mine for celebrating St. N. with fruits to dip in hot melted chocolate :) It tasted great of course. All the trainees & employees of the company were there including our beloved Jordanian friends just hanging out & chilling to the new Christina Aguilera Christmas Album - no comment on Christina & her version of Christmas! All was well ba3dain qarraru il shabab il taybeh to go clubbing!

Tayyeb, olt balash akoon pooper especially after staring into space having my thought bubbles imagining Hussam saying "ya alla shu innek pooper"! In a 2 seats BMW we headed towards one of the sky scrapers in the nearby area to the very famous SCARLETTES bar which is at the World Trade Center (but I remember when we left it said Al Jumairah Hotel :S) no guys I wasn't drunk, I'm sure I'm still jet lagged or something. I'm sure Husam has been there, sa7 abu lsan?

Anyway going into that bar it was full, they didn't quite believe that I was above 21 but eventually we went in especially since it's ladies' night where the ladies get 2 free drink & the guys have to pay! Pure attraction for il sukor wil 3arbade. Mish maodoo3na. Il muhizz I got a coke & donated my other drink to one of the trainees, 7aram khtay, 2 drinks is too little! Then we started dancing, the dj was great btw, & *Maher who's a Jordanian employee who's been living in Dubai for about 3 years, he loves it here & never thinks of going back.I put my jacket on a nearby table, Maher said: "Hone mish zay 3amman ma 7ada byakhod ishi, don't worry". It's true, I sensed the safety when I first arrived in Dubai, no one seems to be worried about personal safety or their belongings, which is a nice feeling I must say.

While dancing he was chatting with me saying: "Lara hone mish zay 3amman, bti2dari ti3mili illi biddek iyyah o ma 7ada bi7ki 3alaiki"! I thought to my self: "ya salam! yis3id alla, I'm so thankful I'm here!!!!" Was that the reason he & his sister *Hana were here? Well I know this is not the way he meant it but it's so typical Arab- 'Freedom Seekers' as Omar likes to put it ;) So I just murmured while shaking my boodie to pump it up : "yeah I know". *The names have been changed mish 3ashanni bakhaf la2 wala shwai He asked me about myself & was shocked that I don't drink or smoke and said: " you'll change after these 6 months".

Guys you know my opinion about everything, I'm not going to say he's an idiot ( although he is), I'm not going to argue about what's right or wrong, what should & should not be, how shocked I am of how a person could deny what's good in his hometown the minute he leaves to another country but what I would say is that yimkin hone mish zay 3amman but males still ogle (bi basbisu for those who don't know the word ;)), traffic is horrible &........ I left the club without my jacket!

I still find Maher a funny guy, don't worry I didn't shoot him, but as I always like to put it when I don't approve of someone:
-albo tayyeb bas ada2o sayyi2- ;)

Dubai Newspaper

There are various newspapers every morning in our reception area. Since the ride to the company takes about half an hour I decided to check one of them out today. It helps to read something especially after 3 days of listening to German conversations it still sounds like 'vinshinghinsin'. The newspaper is called 7days.
Read the following articles, they're very weird & interesting.

‘Look into my eyes’

Wednesday, 07 December 2005

Two men are claiming they were hypnotised by a man who forced them to hand over their valuables. Khader Yousuf said he was about to leave his office when an elderly man walked in.
“Just when we were about to close for the weekend, he walked into the office and sat on the chair placed near the entrance. The very first thing I noticed was that his bearded face had a sort of radiance,” said Yousef.
“He started telling me about my wife and that I would soon be a dad. He also said the baby would be a boy,” said Yousuf, whose pregnant wife had just left for her hometown in India.
The man then asked Yousuf to pick up a stone from outside. “Since I had taken a big stone, he asked me to get a smaller one. Placing it just below the fingers, he asked me to close my palm,” said Yousuf.
When Yousef opened his hand he said he was stunned to see the stone had turned into a red gem. “For sometime I could not speak to him. I just listened. That was when he asked me for some money.

I opened my wallet and found a dhs100 note. He took the money from my wallet, turned it around his face and blew into the note,” said Yousuf. He claimed the man then asked to borrow his mobile phone.
“I gave him the phone and was looking through some papers. When I looked up after two minutes, the man had disappeared,” he said. Another man, Santosh, said he was approached in the same way.
He was asked to roll up a small piece of paper and hold it near his chest. “After two minutes, when I opened my hand the paper had transformed into a small gem stone. I was stunned when I saw it,” said Santosh, who, like Yousuf, says he was asked to make a cup of tea for the conman.

“I had almost entered into a state of trance. My surroundings had disappeared. I was ready to do anything he wanted me to,” said Santosh who gave away his wallet, gold bracelet and the mobile phone.
“I was not aware of what was happening around me for over ten minutes after he had left. When I came back to my senses, I realised that he had managed to remove my sim card and hand it back to me. I even gave him my wallet.”

An Eye For An Eye

Wednesday, 07 December 2005

A criminal who blinded a young Saudi national in a fight faces
having his own eye surgically removed as a punishment. Naushad, 34, who
went to work in Saudi
Arabia eight years ago is currently in prison
awaiting the outcome of an appeal against the rare procedure.Under the
traditional Hamurabi code, a crime victim can either forgive the criminal for
the act, or demand retribution – in this case the removal of the offender’s eye,
which a lower court has already decreed.The victim’s family has refused to back
down
or accept money and has asked, as is their right, for the operation to
go ahead. If the eye-plucking goes ahead, it will be only the second
time the punishment has been used in Saudi Arabia in almost 40 years.

Three years ago Naushad sold a battery charger worth dhs20 to a young
Saudi man in a petrol
station near Dammam. The man returned a few hours
later and demanded a refund. When Naushad refused, a fight broke out.The Saudi
man was hit in the head with the charger, blinding him in his left eye. A
superior court in Riyadh has already asked the lower court in Damman to
re-investigate because of the unusual nature of the punishment.Naushad’s family
have already petitioned Kerala’s Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. The
family also plan to appeal directly to Saudi’s King Abdullah for
mercy."The punishment will be implemented by doctors of a government
hospital in Dammam," a friend of the convicted man told 7DAYS from Saudi Arabia.

In August 2000, the daily Okaz
reported that a Saudi court had ordered the surgical removal of the left eye of
Abd al-Muti Abdel Rahman Muhamed, an Egyptian, after he was convicted of
throwing acid in the face of another Egyptian, injuring and disfiguring his left eye.

Why is it that everytime I'm out of town my film shows?!!

http://www.alghad.jo/?news=60847

الهيئة الملكية الأردنية للأفلام تنظم عروضا لأفلام أردنية قصيرة في الطفيلة ومعان
7/12/2005
وفيلم "مفترق طرق"، وهو فيلم درامي قصير من إخراج أمين مطالقة، يروي قصة فتاة جامعية تحاول أن تغير حياة طفل فقير يبيع العلكة والمحارم الورقية في الشارع. وقد كتبت النص لينا عجيلات طالبة في الجامعة الأردني.

Tab3an mahu ana bint il ghassaleh! Well at least this time they had my picture! ;) Willa la2 Lina!!

A proof

Serina insisted that we take a picture under the YAL, al 3ashan nbayyen muhimmeen. Shu ba2dar a2ool, pooooooooper!

Some people never change..... like Serina!

Waking up early yesterday morning to go to work was awful :S Having a 2 hour time difference that meant I'm waking up at 5.30 am! For those who know me well know that I never ever wake up that early even if I didn't finish studying for a final exam. I'm sure Lina can't relate to this at all :)
Il muhizz I was excited for my first day at thee Daimler-Chrysler Middle East company( illi shwai fishink.........u can't imagine keef il trash bins 3indhom. It's a black thing with a trash bag wrapped from the sides with a kushsheh! You'll see pics don't worry)Maybe I'm at the wrong company or something, the cars are nice but what's with the trash?:S
The warehouse is very nice, I must say. I was impressed.

To my fortune, yesterday was the last day to catch the 'Young Arab Leaders' conference & thus Serina illa3eena would be there & I'd surprise her:) Tab3an upon confrontation she had a shock on her face to see me o nattat zay il habla 3alai o drama o ta3beet o bose t2ool sarilna 10 sneen mish shayfeen ba3ad. "Like oh ma god! I can't believe you're here, like seriousely" Lola il 3aib willa kan bkeena.

Bala toolit seereh we decided (ma i7na osood fish warana 7ada) to have lunch together at the Jumaira Hotel where the conference were held. It was great to see her & exchange impressions about the city, she, of course was amazed by the beauty of the plastic city & I was, u know,being myself! Bas don't worry before she left I made sure she saw all the imperfections in the Perfect Fairy Tale City- as she likes to call it :p

We were so 'Japanese' (taking a lot of pictures) & had dessert & all was well when suddenly she said: "Lara, I'm going to the mall" ! How could she leave me there? I'm LaRRoura!
The plan was I'd call her (which is a hassle by the way since the telecommunications industry here is awful- another post) & meet her at the mall later after my work.
I didn't manage to see Queen Rania or Princess Haya but yalla I saw Serina!
I did see Prince Mohammad Bin Rashed Al Nahyan, in fact I walked right through a table meeting at the terrace with my "lalla la la la" attitude" not noticing the importance bas 3adi wala ka2inno sar ishi I kept on walking!!

MAHU GUYS LETS FACE IT, THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME WITH THEIR SMAKH IL
MARASEEM & EXTRA WHITE PERSIL DRESSES!

Of course Serina being part of the poopery gang (is she in 7ussam?) she told me not to go to the mall but that she'd pass by & pick me up to go out. I don't want to mention the times but Serina,AS USUAL, O I7NA MITGHARBEEN IN DUBAI, was late in picking me up for about 3.5 hours!!!!! It was a battle to stay awake & wait for her, not to mention that the plans have changed for 5 thousand times before we actually went out! Guys u see, people don't change when they change their environment, they stay poopers no matter where they are!!!! :)

To make a long story short (and suspicious) Serina & I went out in a 2005 Chevrolet for a 2 hour drive through Dubai to all the attraction spots there are to see. What a wild night it was! I can't mention details about the times but let's just say that my roommates think I am a party animal.....oh boy how shocked they will be!
Don't worry Serina what happenend in Dubai will stay in Dubai ;)

But to understand to which extent Serina went crazy please ask her about the pictures she took of the Grand Hyatt bathroom! I must admit it's beautiful :'( it's more beautiful than my whole apartment! But then again I don't pay $400 a night ;)

Dubai (India)

Coming to Dubai was everybody's dream but mine! It's not that I'm too snobbish to like this city but I believe that kulshi b wa2to 7ilu, this is just not the time for me. Starting from Amman airport I start my six month journey for my internship.

For all those of you who know me, I hate dabshat especially those from males! The man at the airport, while looking at me in that so typical bee-majal-la-3olaga smile said: " ray7a 3al emarat willa dubai?" Bearing in mind the story of 1 day earlier I went to Centro with my work colleagues for a farewell brunch where the not-so-charming waiter said (when I asked him about what they had of juices) :" fee orAnge, fee abble fee ba3id" I usually just answer a shrugged answer showing them that they're not so funny, but this time I just let it go and answered what every male would want a girl to answer:" he hi2, 3al tnain!:)"

I'm still new to this blogging thing so I'll just assume that it's fine to mention brand names. Going to thee Emirates Airlines after hearing so much about it that it's thee ultimate airline to travel with having your own OH MY GOD 50 CHANNELS OF MUSIC, MOVIES & GAMES.... was not so impressive. Let's start with the earphones, were not clear at all if available aslan, so I only heard half of Joey's show & yes played hang man for 1 hour! I must say it gets very difficult when you have only one vowel in a 3 letter word ;) When I asked the stewardess (who has the worst job on earth I believe) for help 3 times, nobody ever came to help although my cabin light was on.... the whole time of the trip! + their uniforms are horrible! :S The food was not so good & can we please discuss the fabric of the seats. WHAT KIND OF A PERSON WOULD CHOOSE THIS DESIGN :S eww!
When the captain was speaking on the speakers he was so relaxed, high I believe, as if he's talking on the phone with his friends "hello!(high pitched) ladies & gentlemen, this journey is taking you to DU_BAI!Amaaaaaaazing weather we're having....... Mkayyeeeeeeeeef ma3 inno he was 15 min. late!I think he'd make a great dj I think! Oh well, I like RJ :D

Tayyeb wsilna o olna ya hadi, the airport is nice & huge, just like Europe bas of course I wanted to arrive asap 3ashan ma n2akhkher il jama3a illi bistannuni mish aktar willa omam rabna in the line! But of course the majority are Indians, ya3ni taraku India o kul blad il 3alam o aju 3a Dubai. O hakatha onwards you spot them everywhere in Dubai. It was nice seeing all those people from all around the world at the airport, all speaking a different language & different accents. Diversity is good.

Arriving at the 7th floor apartment where I'm staying it was nice & quiet, livable. The apartment is nothing fancy but I hope I can post pictures of funny things there. Masalan my bathroom mafi switch for the light, fee a string that you pull, yes like in the movies where the victim goes to the basement to look for the poor dog & pulls the light switching on the bulb. The kitchen is okay, I have some space for my things, there's a living room with TV & a dining room, a balcony that over looks an exhibition, on the right are the emirates towers, on the left is the World Trade Center. Not bad.
My roommates :) They're nice bas a7la ishi feehom inhom smoke free :) Not boyfriend, free but smoke free, that's even better. One of them is Iranian (Mishmisheh), she looks so much like Arabs. The other is German(Firyal)...... & looks like Germans.

* The names have been changed tab3an, mish 3ashanni bakhaf la2 bas 3ashan 3aib ya3ni ;)

Mishmisheh mnee7a bas awiyyeh mbayneh, Firyal lazeezeh o normal. Till now I didn't spot any suspicious movements or habits bas tab3an being me there's always something fishy (dareen ;))
Currently I'm at the office, nice place bas mish a7la min FASTLINK. Nothing is apparent till now but they seem like nice people. Kulhom min hadeek il jinsiyyeh bardo bas there's a guy from Agentina :) I can practice my Spanish ! 7aram ra7 yigizz! Hola mi amigo!

I hope I can post pictures often coz there are a lot of weird things here in the plastic city where everything is perfect. I'll go sightseeing soon, I want to explore things since jay o jay ya3ni.

Oh & yes I have seen garbage in the streets!

Regards to all