Go Qatar....

Not as many of you may have thought, this post is not cheering Qatar because of their recent mediation to end the Lebanese-Lebanese slaughtering simply because I have stopped caring about that `fucked-up` country after I watched this gory footage of Lebanese killing Lebanese, again, based on their affiliations. So my dear Lebanese population....Go to hell!
Or in Arabic "تنباعو بالعزا...سواءا كنتو سنة..شيعة..مسيحية...دروز...او حتى بشر"

I`ve been meaning to post about Qatar for some time but never really got the chance, so I decided to spend my break doing so.

Despite my irrational racism against people of the Gulf region, I cannot help it not to admire, support and applaud the tremendous effort some of them are spending on a global marketing campaign to promote and sell `Arabs` in a better and polished way.

UAE and Qatar in specific have chosen a different path, a very smart one I have to admit, sports. Their campaigns have been basically attracting word-class sports activities so their names as Arabs in general and people of the Gulf in specific will be associated in the mind of the public to things other than camels and bare-footed ugly looking people. Golf, Tennis, horse racing and formula 1 are sports perceived as being on a higher class than say, soccer or basketball. They are more associated with wealth and prestige.

I read in a Canadian Business magazine few weeks ago an article about this issue and they spoke to some Qatari marketing manager who was leading the campaign. He said, when asked if those events are paying off, revenue wise, that their spending exceeds their revenues but that`s not what they are after. People around the world will hear about the Gulf States in a positive context about a topic they love, sports.

Qatar has decided to go further and has bid on hosting one of the world`s most important sport`s event, the Olympic games for the year 2016. They are competing with countries like the USA and Japan to name a few.

I do hope they win and host the Olympic Games. It would be the first Arab state to do so, probably the last during my life time.

Good luck Qatar and from the bottom of my heart....GO DOHA!

My Diary in the West

My friends and family keep asking me everytime we speak about how I live in the West. What sort of life I have and what I do in it.

To save myself from repeating the same story I've decided to post a detailed schedule of my day to day life on my blog:


Weekdays:

7:30 AM : Wake up, shower and coffee
8:30 AM : I go to work
10:30 PM : I get back from work
10:40 PM : I eat
12:00 AM : I go to bed

Weekends:

Saturdays: I sleep all day
Sundays : I clean the apartment, do the dishes and the laundry, buy groceries....and go to the movies!


Fun....eh?

Last cried...

When was the last time I had tears in my eyes?

Just few minutes ago

Lebanese Urban Legand: Make Tea...not War!

Just when I was about to get to bed and doing my bedtime news round I came across the funniest political statement of the year so far. If it is that funny, then as you may have figured out, it has to do with Arabs politicians. This time is from Lebanon. The Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora has stated: “Hezbollah did to Beirut what Israel didn't dare”. Of course if you haven’t got the joke in the statement, then it’s either you don’t have a sense of humor and may god be with your spouse during your dull time together, or you don’t follow the recent history of Lebanon. Basically, if he hadn’t mentioned the word “dare”, it would be a somewhat valid statement, debatable but definitely not funny.

Now let me straight things out to Mr. Saniora and those of the like. Despite the bloody nature of the Israelis and their history of murder but to tell the truth, they have never been known to bite the hand that serves them tea in a time of crisis.

Perhaps, the Lebanese government should try to serve Hezbollah some tea and who knows, Hezbollah may stop “daring” to do what he did to Beirut.

Fitna...indeed

I have to admit I was disappointed when I watched this clip called Fitna. I had heard so much about the so long awaited film from that Dutch politician Geert Wilders, or better described as “freedon of speech” fighter. I’d heard so much about how that “fighter” was finaly about to expose the terror in the Quran. The film did not live to reach my expectation. Lame is the least to be described as.

Having said that and after reading lots of comments and discussions about the “extremely informative" film, as described by so many people on the internet who praised the freedom of speech, I decided, that I, too, wanna embrace the “freedom of speech” dogma and declare myself a devout fighter under its holy name.

My first mission is to “expose” all texts that call for death upon others. The first “verses” I got my hands on were from the US constitution that clearly indicates under chapter 18:

“….(b) A person who conspires to commit an offense, ….. shall be punished by death…”

And it gets better here:

“(d)…. If two or more persons conspire kidnap a Member of Congress or a
Member-of-Congress-elect ...shall be punished by death….”

So I here call for the ban of the US constitution and ask the "civilized" American to liberate themselves from this “hatred and uncivilized” rules to which they are bound to obey.

Alright, enough what this crap already! People who “oppose” the US, will cheer for the above excerpts and may even praise me for this discovery….just like my fellow “freedom of speech” fighters did to Mr. Wilders. Other people however, who were not blessed with ignorance, will dig further and find out that I simply cut and pasted “specific” parts of the US constitution that serve my goal, in this case, spreading hatred against Americans. To those, I salute you.

Believe it or not, so many people who have watched the film “Fitna” and applauded and cheered to the guy behind it, know nothing about the freedom of speech, even more, they are as far as anybody can be from being civilized.

I’m going to list the Quranic verses that Mr. Wilders used to demonstrate that Quran calls for terrorism.
Before I start, I need to mention that the translation he used is not accurate and somehow modified to fit his purpose", but that is the least he did.

He started with Surah 8, Verse 60 that reads:

“Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered,
that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others beside
them whom ye know not. Allah knoweth them. Whatsoever ye spend in the way of
Allah it will be repaid to you in full, and ye will not be wronged. (60) “

Then he goes on showing photos of September 11th crime. Well, many “civilized” people don’t know that the continuation of that verse reads:

“And if they incline to peace, incline thou also to it, and trust in
Allah....(61)
For those interested in knowing, the part of the Quranic verse
is teaching about “Rules of Engagements” in the times of war.

The second verse he used, Surah 4, verse 56, reads:

“ Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As
often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that
they may taste the torment. Lo! Allah is ever Mighty, Wise. “

Although the verse is clear and self-explanatory as it describes the punishment that GOD will bring upon those who disbelieve in him. It has in no why any teaching or instruction to the followers. Just plain narrative of what is going to happen in the Judgment Day. I doubt that the “God” of the Old Testament hasn’t touched on the subject…many times.

The third verse is the most interesting one, as he omitted words that don’t serve his aim from the same verse. This verse is Surah 47, verse 4 and in the film it reads:

“Therefore, when ye meet the unbelievers, smite at their necks and when ye have
caused a bloodbath among them....bind a bond firmly on them....”

Whereas the verse actually reads:

“Now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the
necks until, when ye have routed them, then making fast of bonds; and afterward
either grace or ransom till the war lay down its burdens. ”

Like if he is ever confronted with this, I believe his response will be as deep as: “Ooopsi”.

Moving on to his next verse, Surah 8, verse 39, which reads:

“They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be
upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake
their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them
and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor hper from among
them, (89)”

I guess he got a phone call while working on this epic film so he totally forgot to put the continuation of that verse, Surah 4, verse 90, which reads:

“Except those who seek refuge with a people between whom and you there is a
covenant, or (those who) come unto you because their hearts forbid them to make
war on you or make war on their own folk. Had Allah willed He could have given
them power over you so that assuredly they would have fought you. So, if they
hold aloof from you and wage not war against you and offer you peace, Allah
alloweth you no way against them. (90)

Simply put, if they fight you, fight them back, if they declare war against you, do the same. If they offer peace, reciprocate! What’s so hard to understand about this?

The last verse he used, Surah 8 Verse 39, reads according to him:

“Fight them until there is no dissension and the religion is entirely Allah's"

While the verse actually reads:

“And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But
if they cease, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do.”

Clear I guess, reciprocate when you are under persecution until they stop persecuting you!

Of course, he quoted many “radicals” Muslims throughout the film to support his falsification of the Quran. I’m pretty much sure that if one’s needs to get radical and racist remarks, probably with the exception of the Citizen of Utopia, a handful of them can be spotted within each and every society.

Last word:
I believe that faith does not need to be defended. The aim of my post is not to defend, but rather to clarify.

By the way, for those who don’t know Arabic, Fitna in an Arabic word that means “Creating division and hatred leading to commotion”. I had to admit that no other title could do a better job describing the content of this film.

Story of a lady…

Before I start, I want to say to that passing princess…thank you.


For the last two years, a lot of question marks have been floating over my head. I’d started to believe that I lost any sense of intimacy with the women. For two years, in all my so-called relationships here in Canada or better described as one night-stand, two nights, or even weeks-stand relations , I always ended up taking a cold bath cursing what I had just done. I always blamed myself for being no more than a person who seemed to only be able to have meaningless encounters with women. I had always justified it and convinced myself that what I do is simply a result of me growing mature and being the wise-ass who knows what relationships are about and that I don’t need anything more than just a little action.

I was wrong……

Few days before I left home and came back to Canada…..we met..it was a dinner among friends…I knew about her, knew of her but didn’t know her. Before that night, she was just a girl that I met through friends. That dinner was the spark that made me realize that I’m still all about connecting to someone, relating to and more….being crazy about. The dinner was over, we waved goodbye and then I saw a spark in her eyes…reflecting the spark in my eyes. We texted each other few minutes after….spend the night together, on the phone, we went to sleep when the first morning rays where lighting Damascus. We met 4 hours after, it was our first official date. It was the longest and most fulfilling date I have had in years. Those hours moved us ahead in a super fast relationship that would usually take months to get this far.

She made me feel that it’s all about intimacy and everything else came after. We connected, we danced, we hugged, we kissed, we made sweet love. She made me feel like a man who has more feelings than desires. She introduced me back to the old “me” that I had thought I’d lost.
She introduced me to Ihsan, the man who can actually fall for someone once again, if distances, oceans and lands did not separate between Canada and Syria.

This short relationship was an eye opener for me. It came as a reminder that I’m missing so much. It’s not about the physical aspect. But more about what leads to it and what results from it. It’s about wanting to stay so close to someone that skins would merge together.
I do miss all that, I do miss her, her voice, her annoying never ending arguments, her touch, her skin. Her image when the lights were so dim has been imprinted on the twists of my brain cells that will takes a surgery to remove.

Thanks a thousand times. I wish we lived in the same country. I wish if we didn’t believe that online relationship is not the thing that we both want for now.




My 2008 resolution is no more physical encounters without intimacy, if I’m not gonna have what I had, I don’t need it.

Guy's Magnate!

I just got the new Azzaro fragrance for men, “Azzaro Now” which was remarkably cheap for a new cologne under such a name. I’ve worn it a couple of time already and just realized that whenever I smell it, I get sexually aroused. Ok, now correct me if I’m wrong, shouldn’t men’s cologne cause such an arousal at women rather than men? Then what the heck? I wonder what will happen if I wear it and go to a club or something….oh boy I’m gonna make a huge wave among all the guys there!

The moral of the story: If you ever buy something expensive for a cheap price…then you’d better watch your ass!

First......

Nothing is more precious than the "first" of everything.... First love, first kiss, first relationship with a soulmate, a best friend or a work place, first salary, first personal gift we get or we give. Those firsts have a magical substance that gets deep inside us and never leave.... First time to snow is one of my favorites, maybe because it happens every year and yet it feels as new every time. No it's not snowing outside, it will soon, but I just felt the urge of it. In the absence of any new "firsts" for the last few years, the "first" snow is all what I have.


As cold as it may be, snow fills my heart with warmth. When the flakes dance on their way to touch the ground, they tell a story, they sing it. If we listen closely, we can hear it. A song about a new day, a new time, a new life. Those flakes descend from heaven every year but they always start the season with that happy song of hope. That song is what I have had. If I could only be a flake of snow or act like one, excited to arrive to my destination, knowing what my destination is, and dance my way there, I would have become a better me. A me that still believes in something, still believes in many things that I have lost my faith in; starting with me.

I love the first snow....I will hold on to loving it until I find my new "first"...or at least start believing that I will ever have a new "first".....

1+1= a nuclear bomb!

With all the news about the alleged Nuclear facility in Syria, one, customs agent specially, needs to be extra careful not to let any "related" materials slip into Syria. That would most likely be the way many Americans think, and few, act based on.

My younger brother has just become a CMA and started his path towards becoming a CFA. In order to make his life easier, he needed a specific financial calculator that he couldn't find anywhere in Damascus. He called and asked for my help. Five minutes later I was checking amazon.com and 4 days later the FedEx guy knocked on my door and handed it to me. It looks very primitive, probably like the calculators that were used to do the calculations needed to build the pyramids few billions of years ago! Anyway, I contacted DHL and their guy come and picked it up after I filled the form with my family's home address in Damascus. "To this destination, it'll takes five business days" he said.

Five days passed and nothing happened. I didn't bother to track it online...I was just expecting a call from my brother to thank me. 8 days
and that ungrateful nerd hasn't called yet! I decided to see the DHL tracker before I call and teach him some manners, of which he has much more than I do in fact. Apparently, the calculator never left the USA! I was told that it was deemed as an unacceptable commodity to be sent to Syria by the US customs!


I'm not an expert in making nuclear bombs but my common sense tells me that this type of calculators, or any other type for that matter, is not essential to the process! Unless it's needed to calculate the depletion rate of the uranium or maybe the amortization expenses of the trucks that will be used to carry the bomb! This was the most ridiculous thing I have heard since an American border control officer in JFK airport in New York asked me upon my arrival from Damascus, after looking at my SYRIAN passport, why I had been to Syria!

Probably that customs officer who made the decision of holding that "unacceptable commodity" is the blood brother of the border
control officer, I wouldn't be surprised! At the end of a long business day at the US customs, he goes home to his wife and kids
and tells them how he has prevented the bad people from acquiring "tools" that would have been used in evil matters! He will be
a hero....but no one will stop for a second and think...ummm...a calculator!

Come on Americans! Think before you say things of act on things!


On a different perspective.... Why did we have to go through the US customs in the first place? Oh yeah, because we couldn't get that stupid calculator in Syria!


Here is the "unacceptable commodity"

Sad day

I woke up to read the devastating news of the death of Yazan's parents in a car accident.

It took me a bit to absorb it and realize it...... before it hit me. I was speechless.

He went back home to see his parents, they were driving back from Saudi Arabia to see him, but the meeting never took place, the destiny played its death card.


May they rest in peace and Allah yerhamhon. We are all here for you Yazan.

How to locate Hummus in Canada!

If it happens that you visit Canada and happens that you don't read English or French and it's Ramadan and you feel like eating some Hummus (msabaha)...what can you do?

Simply, go to any supermarket...look for anything that has a photo of a camel and/or a bedouin in the desert....and you just found your meal!

P.S.: Hummus is NOT even a part of the Arabian cuisin! It's a Syrian/Lebanese food and those two countries are not identified by such tradmarkes!!

A special day

20 days felt like 2 days, tons of outings and visits felt like one short dinner out….This is what best describes my short, surprising visit to Damascus. At 9 AM, 3 weeks ago, I was standing at my family's door knocking, they were having their morning coffee…my mom opened the door, her eyes widened, it took her a full minute to register what she saw... and then burst in tear while hugging me….My sister and older brother rushed to see what was happening, they were startled and froze for a couple of minutes as well. My younger brother then came rubbing his eyes to wake himself up as he didn't believe he was up….ten minutes later, all were silent, I started to get confused not knowing what to say….I wish I had a video cam with me to tape those minutes. My family was expecting my visit; however, I arrived few months earlier!

I had always wanted to do so….. to be far away…and then come unannounced and surprise everybody….nobody back home knew about my visit!

Then the word spread and I got swamped with friends and family members…members that I don't even remember knowing before…but after all this is part of the social life in Syria…. It comes in one package….no picking or choosing of what we want in that package.

During my short stay…..I celebrated my 30th birthday…. I'm not happy with how old I have grown to be…. knowing that I still have lots of checkboxes yet to fill…. A new era has begun in my life. The 30s are usually the mental scapegoat for the 20s…whatever we fail to achieve in our 20s…we convince ourselves that we still have the 30s to make everything come true…. I no longer have that luxury, alas!

So here is a brief summary of my empty life checkboxes:


Education: I still need 8 months to obtain my first Canadian Business degree. Add two years to that to finish my studies as a whole!

Family: I live alone… I have no special one and the environment that I live in doesn't help at all…. Short visits back home aren't enough to meet that one…. I'm tired with dating in here as well….for one I know that nothing serious would come out of dating a local girl or a peer international student in here. I know for a fact that I want my life partner to be Syrian and being aware of how old I'm…I just don't enjoy relationships that are doomed the moments they start!

Work: I have a job…but yet to start a career as without a Canadian degree there is nothing to be done in here!

Social life: It sucks big time…. I'm too old to go out partying….and partying is all what there is in here!

Friends: All are either back home or scattered around the globe….as for her…I do have many friends…or better say acquaintances but not enough cultural bases to start up something that would last….just things that fulfill the little of social needs that I have.

Health: Nothing has changed hamdillah….but I'm smoking more cigars these days. Cigars and Argileh are two bad habits that I have picked up here in Canada…

Despite all this....my 30th birthday remained a special day as I got to spend it with family and friends...not alone in Canada!

I'm going to post about Syria, they way I saw it during my visit, but I will do that soon on my Bits & Bites blog!

a bit of my quality time..alone

I shot this a couple of weeks ago.....

Living alone is not that bad after all....I wonder why I keep complaining!!

:\

1000 reasons why I suck!

Here it goes, summer has softly hit the island. Beautiful scenery and great weather, well most of the time, fresh and clean air fills the lungs a lot of beaches on the Atlantic ocean.....yet, here I'm....spending my time in my cubical for 9 hours per day and the rest of the day on my chaise-longe, watching tv, smoking a cigar/argileh or just....thinking...

I have been wanting to blog for some time, but I'm just blocked from everything! I don't feel like doing a thing, weird, eh? I have abandoned my camera, the close friend that I have had ever since I left home, it's setting there in my room, dusty and neglected.

This day last summer, I was in New York, and was getting ready to fly to Dubai and home, eventually. My summer was full of energy that I got from the positive thoughts of going home and spending 2 months among my beloved ones.

I was going over my previous posts, gosh what a whining pathetic loser I have been for the last....well..few years...gosh, what has gotten into me?!

I haven't been able to establish a decent relationship in here, at all levels. When I gather my strength and energy and go on a date, I turn into Chandler of "Friends", so shallowly picky. If I get into a physical encounter, I just miss the hugs and the kisses and the heat of being with someone I love....If I go out with a group of people, I don't try to mingle, I just don't find any interest in making any effort. They talk about hockey, beer, video games and a great party they had in Halifax....I'm just not there, so distant and not interested in being a part of the conversation, mainly because I'm not into that. Someone speaks about politics....I start judging how ignorant they are in what they are talking about. How unbearable I am!

I do go to the movies a lot though, but end up going alone most of the time because most of the people I know cannot afford watching all those movies in theatre, yet, they spend 3 times in a night out in a bar...getting wasted!

I used to bike a lot a while ago, I used to bike downtown to a park on the water front "Victoria"....sit there on the rocks, stare at the calm ocean and puff smokes into the air. I haven't done that in a while now.

My brother finally got engaged.....it's good news, I guess, but I'm not feeling great about this. I donno why, it's just a feeling. I spoke to his fiance, I didn't like her voice on the phone. I have nothing against her, I just feel this way. And yeah, now one more gift to buy whenever I'm going home....

I'm going camping next weekend, flying to Toronto for 4 days, meeting with 3 other Syrian guys, Omar of Earth to Omar, Ghassan of Homs/Ottawa, and Bassel of Lattakia/Toronto. They are good guys, fun to be with. I can relate to them and there are actually things that we can talk about. It should be fun.

I'm so much in need to be in a relationship, emotional, loving, intellectually stimulating one. There is no chance on planet earth that I can find someone here who can give me that.....I live on an island with a bridge for god sake! I have to meet a Syrian girl, Syrian girls rock! well, some of them at least.....but they are scarcity in here, actually the only one that I met here is pretty much the worst girl I have seen in my whole life at all levels! so I'm stuck.....

That was a lot of blabbing....oh, my bad!

May & June in few words...

Amid all the good things, one thing should be bad and ruins all. Amid all the good thoughts, one thought should be bad and keeps us alert. Amid all the good people, one has to be bad and happens to be the one we know. Amid all the good plans, one has to be bad and screw up EVERYTHING!

This has been my summery for May and June…so far…..

Impulsive....

An hour ago…… I had nothing in mind…and no plans….

A half an hour ago….. I was extremely bored…but still no plans…

Ten minutes ago… I decided that I should have a plan to kill my boredom…

Two minutes ago….I bought my plane ticket to Ottawa….

Now…I have a plan….

One hour later....I will be packing my handbag….

Two hours later..... I have to be at the airport…..

Three hours later...... I will be connecting flights in Trudeau Airport, Montreal.

Four hours later…I will be in Ottawa….and that would be the end of my current plan….


Then what? Just me in a new city with no plan beyond arrival to that city…

It's crazy….but should be fun….

My Feedback on a party

A gathering of four people, beers, wine, pot and tabacco is all what it takes to join the North American socio-culture.

On the left window, you can see the accumulating snow during 20 CM snowstorm that was hitting Charlottetown that night, two days ago!

The argileh is, of course, my hamble contribution to this culture....

Still, when you do these "pre-party" rituals with mature people is so different than when with university kids.


Fun? I don't remember!
Met new people? I don't remember!
Danced? I don't remember!
Paid any money? I don't remember!

All what I really remember was a huge tattoo on somebody's back....and hearing Michael Jackson singing in Arabic and my head getting heavy that I had to hold it with my hands!





Miss home even more..... :(

Serendipity

It starts with a fortunate accident, destiny leads the way, signals and clues spice it up and they all make my all time favorite romance movie, Serendipity.

I first watched it 4 years ago. I was going through some "rough" time with the lady at that time and the movie was all what a person in my shoes would need. It has, ever since, become my life-is-a-good-place movie. It's so full of hope that charges me with it whenever my reservoir of hope runs out... and oh boy doesn't it run out so quickly and often these days?

That movie, was the main reason for my first visit to New York city, where the "serendipitous" events take place. When I was at the American embassy in Damascus applying for a visa, the counsellor lady asked me why I wanted to go to New York, my answer was: "Have you seen a movie called Serendipity?" She was like "huh?"...nevermind, I replied.

I always feel happy and sad at the same time after watching it. I feel happy for the Jonathan (John Cusack) and feel sad for myself. He is, at the beginning, far from being a"hopeless romantic" type of guy...yet...as the movie progresses, he is so into that type. I, myself, don't admit being like that...but deep inside, I'm so fucked up like that. As I grow older, I get more rigid from the outside and softener from the inside with my head controlling what I say/see/or convince myself or others with. It's crap, I know it somewhere deep inside me. I tend to appear like that fucking careless emotionless guy just to protect myself. I have no idea what I'm protecting myself from though! Maybe the loneliness I have been in for the last few years, the emotional vacuum I have had inside me for all those years.

I just watched it one more time, I still felt the same, but this time I felt so distant from any emotional encounter I have even had. I felt alienated from any feeling. I'm forgetting how it really feels. My last closeness with the counterparts from the other sex has been, and for the last 2 years, merely physical and emotionless. I do know that I miss it and I certainly need it so much now more than ever, but I don't see myself being there again. Although I'd die for it, but it's becoming a part of a movie, something that I watch on tv and I know that it ends with the movie or tv show and everybody goes back home and none of that really exists anymore, to me at least.

It's pretty serious feeling that I hate to have, but I do...there is nothing that I can do about it...so until someone swips off my feet and takes my breath away, if ever...Serendipity will be my only dose of emotion or my emotional stimulation that I have to live through every once in a while.....

The making of "The King"

One of my all time favorites, I can eat it like there is no tomorrow, Yallangi, is the king of my hors d'œuvre.
I haven't been getting a lot of good news recently; finding a grocery shop that sells grape leaves was one of the very few exceptions.
Called my mom, she e-mailed me the "how" to make, checked Abu-Fare's blog for "how to wrap" and I was ready to rock "n" roll...



What looked like this:

Merged later forming the "king"....


The wrapping was not an easy task, it took me forever. My back was in pain by the end of the operation. I had no other choice but to carry on… the temptations were strong…the image of me nibbling the Yalangi was all over my head. It had haunted me for few months now…

Of course, just like most of my "firsts" I had to video-tape it. I think I had many flows in wrapping the leaves, so if you are a person that can spot my mistakes, please highlight them for me!

Hours later on that day, the table was ready and I was about to start my lustful journey in eating my "treats".

Yallangi, although known to be a local appetizer in Syria and Lebanon, it's considered of Turkish origins. However, my theory says Yallangi is too good to be Turkish, therefore, the recipe was stolen among many other things from Syria during the Ottoman occupation, renamed and re-introduced as a part of the Turkish cuisine. This theory remains un-refutable and un-testable, however it will always be true to me. Ameen!

My enemy has my money!

I started smoking arigleh not long time ago, occasionally however. But since I've come to Canada and brought an argileh and loads of tobacco, things have been different. It's no longer about smoking, but about doing something that puts me back home. When I inhale or smell it, I'm all of a sudden sitting in Haretna restaurant in Damasucus surrounded by my friends. Another inhale and I'm on the terrace at my best friend's Hekmat's playing backgammon. This is why I smoke argileh so often here in PE-fucking-I.

Anyway, this is not what I want to talk about. A while ago, I was close to run out of tobacco, and being on this shit hole called PEI, there is no chance to find any, although it's easily available in the rest of Canada. I had to look for online stores and I did. I found this site smooking-hookah. Very decent prices and they have almost everything I would need. I checked the company's whereabouts and found out it was based in New Jersey. I placed an order and waited to get my new stack of tobacco that will help me burn my lungs even more.

Yesterday, I got the postman knocking on my door. He handed me a box which I instantly knew had the "stuff".

I was looking at the box, on one side was written that it was sent to me….but on the other side, the sender's address was a big surprise for me…a fucking big surprise….it was sent to me from Herzelia, Israel!

I was not keen on the campaigns some people do against some American companies claiming that when you buy a can of Pepsi for instance, 10% will go to support Israel. Up till this moment, I don't but these stories. But this is different; this time my money went to Israel straight forward, with not even a mediator! I feel bad.

I guess next time someone wants to buy "oriental" things off the internet, we should contact the company and ask where they ship their merchandise from.

A friend of mine told me to through them away, well that's bullshit, they already got my money and now I should just be throwing my stuff!!! Not so clever I'd day! Another friend told me that since I paid and there is no return policy, I should smoke my ass off to the fullest since what's done is done.

The point from this post is to be careful to whom you are paying your money to online!