don't you just love palm trees?

i adore them, they are soooo beautiful, i can sit and watch them all day and sit under a palm tree and read a good book (of course with a tirmis of shahee (tea).

there something about palm trees that makes them so magnificent, i gotta say they are the kings of tree it even has a crown, the trunk ends in a crown of long, graceful, shining, pinnate leaves.

these pictures i have up loaded are of palm trees pictures i took from Libya, Egypt, and morocco, i can go through a whole memory card worth of pictures of palm trees.

i tried climbing one, to be honest i thought it would be easy, instead i ended up getting a massive scratch all the way up my arm as well as palm tree burn on my leg due to rubbing against it when i fell, but did i stop there? noooooooo

i always saw people on tv using some sort of belt tied around them and around the palm tree and that's how the climb the tree to get to the 7atab (dates) so i thought i would be clever and tie a scarf around me as well as the palm tree and copy them, the only difference is they have many years of experience and i have zero experience, so after many a try i decided to give up but only after getting hot and bothered and angry with trying, the least i can say is that white african at least tried.

i did contemplate picking up one of the kids playing near me and throwing him at the dates especially because they where standing watching me and laughing.

don't even bother trying to shake a palm tree, its not even worth the try, those things are powerful and rigid and if you feel that you are able to shake even 1 date off it, no way, those trees don't give up their babies easily. i threw a rock at one thinking maybe i can dislodge a pile of dates, instead the rock dislodged a pile of brain cells as it landed ontop of me, story of my life people :0)

could you imagine Britain with palm trees? walking the streets of Manchester with palm trees on both sides of the road lol.

i remember the first time i went to Libya i was entranced by soooo many things but one image that is stuck in my head is the palm tree at sunset wow, subhannallah, i was awe struck, for some one like me who was used to blossom trees and weeping willows, seeing a palm tree was a cool experience.

and dont you just love those dates, as a kid i hated dates, i didnt understand the fascination that people had when it came to dates, to me it looked like some sort of worm or an insect with no legs, and what used to put me off even more was the fact that when you opened the dates your left with teh surprise of finding nasty little bugs inside, my dad would always eat the date whole and i would always scream 'baaaaaaaaaabaaaa there could be insects inside'

he would always say' ma3lesh protien'

i love dates now but i carry a magnifying glass with me to check out if any little bugs are waiting for me when i open a date.

the reason why i blogged about palm trees is becaus ei recently saw a picture of one and it triggered memories for me.

but i have to say this is tacky, i prefer the real stuff, over stuffed fake Palm trees is not my cup of coffee.

would you have this in your homes?

The iPod has taken over our lives and now the sanctuary of the bathroom is no longer safe. The iCarta iPOD Toilet Paper Holder is a moisture resistant iPod dock, charger, and player that transforms into a toilet tissue dispenser. For $69.95, you can rock out (or sit) to your latest MP3s

it's not a joke it's real, you can listen to all the classic's on the comfort of your own toilet dearest bloggers.

my god (smacks head) walahi just when you think that they cant possibly come up with anything else they surprise us with something else.

could you imagine having this in your own home looooooooool, I'm imagining too many scenarios.

Man pulls passenger jet with ears


A Leicester man is hoping to walk into the record books after pulling a passenger jet with his ears

Manjit Singh, 57, pulled the aircraft 12ft along the apron at East Midlands Airport, at Castle Donington in Leicestershire, reports the BBC.

He will now send off video footage of the record attempt to be verified by officials at the Guinness World Book of Records.

The Jetstream passenger plane weighed approximately 7.4 tonnes.

Manjit already holds 30 world records, which include pulling a double decker bus with his hair and lifting 85 kg with his ears.
Speaking after the record attempt, he said: "I don't feel too bad, I have a little bit of pain around the ears but I'm ok.
"I feel really, really pleased that I've managed to achieve this and am very grateful to the people who made it possible."
The attempt raised money for his charity Manjit Fitness, which aims to get children living in his native Mahilpur, India involved in sport.

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? what is the point? i don't understand what would make a person do this.

his next achievement is pulling a hotel using his front teeth only.

you know for some one who has been straining his ears, he doesn't actually have floppy ears, where as our Libyan grandmothers have been wearing a bit of gold in their ears and you can easily swing from their ears that's how floppy they become.

i mean what is this guy expecting, peace prize??????????

i feel the need to do a similar thing, with my hijab i will attempt to carry 10 million people and hold them for a period of 10 minutes, now that's a sight to behold looooooool

i feel the need to celebrate, to shout with joy..

to climb the highest building in Manchester and shout at the top of my voice:

'people of Manchester, i have slept for more that 5 hours last night'

yep that's the cause of my celebration, the crazy dude living opposite us has not made an appearance all last night, for the past 5 days people i would fall asleep after 1am and i would be woken up at around 4:30 and walahi i wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, that is until last night where i slept at 11 and i woke up at 5 for fajer and then i went back to sleep and woke up at 9, i feel the need to buy 10 camels in celebration.

i need to say mashallah because i may just give myself the evil eye

you know 2 days ago the crazy dude made me laugh so hard, basically i didn't realise he noticed me looking at him from the back garden, so 2 nights ago, he was making a huge commotion, shouting as usual and so as usual i stepped into the back garden and looked across at him and the sight i saw was seriously funny loooool.

basically he was wearing a hijab, wallahi no lie, he was looking straight at me and he had a t-shirt wrapped in the style of hijab around him head and he kept fixing it and smiling at me, looooooool.

the nigh before at 4.30 he woke me up to the sound of the radio, and he was singing along in a really high pitched noise, it was one of the most worst noises i have heard in my life, i didn't get up i was just fuming with anger in my bed, and then suddenly i heard 2 bang noises and i thought 'my god, one of the neighbours has shot him' so ran to the window and instead of him lying in a pool of blood he was banging his door repeatedly over and over again, see the craziness has progressed..

yesterday i did not see him or hear him, do you think he's ok? I'm going to find out whats happened.

this is a picture of my eye with 5 days lack of sleep.

not a very nice sight, 5 days of sleepless nights people, I'm surprised my eye is still functioning.

at one point i was contemplating going over to his garden and joining him in the shouting, maybe having a competition to see who could get the loudest pitch and shouting nonsense, like 2 days ago he was roaring:

'THE LION IS HUNGRY, HUNGRYYYYYYYYYYYYY'

my mum had to stop me from throwing la7am (meat) at him..

you know we can easily become immune to certain things because it's constantly in our face and we no longer question it or even ponder over it, we become so used to it that it no longer affects us the way it may have done in the past, that is until a certain event or certain words trigger the memory of how you used to react and you compare it to how you react now.

confusing, i don't blame you :)

the other day an elderly gentleman came into my work place to order his medication, he was finding extreme difficulty in knowing exactly what he wanted and how many of the tablets he takes on a day to day basis.

he's around 80 or so years of age, and always looks like he could do with a good hearty meal as well as a trim of his beard and stitching of his clothes.

now i see this man regularly and although my heart goes out to him i don't really give him a second thought, i try to do as much as i possibly could for him whilst he is around me other than that i don't ponder over his situation.

when he came in the other day he looked so sad, and there was something about him that wasn't quite right, he came to order his medication which was a usual occurrence but this time he let out one big sigh and said ' you know sawsan (for some reason he calls me sawsan) i have 5 children, and they have all deserted me, not one of them is interested in my affairs, all i have in my life is god and you'

how sad is that? my heart went out to him, and he stirred in me emotions of anger towards his children, now you could argue that maybe he was a terrible father, but regardless he is a parent and he has rights over his children, and to dump him with out a care in the world is really sad.

all his children live in Europe, he is alone here in Britain, he is Arab, can hardly put 2 English words together, and really does not know a single person other than myself, the pharmacist and maybe the grocery shop owner.

he turned around and walked out of the surgery and my eyes wouldn't stop following his every step, i felt helpless like i bore a responsibility towards him, what if i am asked on the day of judgment about my treatment of him, he has been in my thoughts ever since, and because of him i keep looking at any older person and pondering about their situation and if there children have cut contacts off with them.

in a perfect world there would be no elderly folks home, my eyes have opened up once again and i feel more compassion towards the older generation. there was a time when i would get so upset seeing the elderly alone, knowing that they have no one.

you know so many will spend all day at shopping centres because its cheaper for them to sit in the warmth of the shopping centre rather than at home where the heating bills are to much for them.

i think this aya from the quran sums it all: "Your Lord has commanded that you worship none but Him, and be kind to parents. If either or both of them reach old age with you, do not say "fie’ to them or chide them, but speak to them in terms of honour and kindness. Treat them with humility, and say ‘My Lord! Have mercy on them, for they did care for me when I was little’ (17:23-4).

may Allah save us from committing atrocities towards our own parents.

updated - 23.04.07 - scroll down

it's official, i have one hell of a crazy neighbour...

he's driving me mad, he needs to be sectioned under the mental health act, the dude will stand outside his house (opposite our back garden) shouting nonsense, 90% of the time i don't even know what he's talking about, it's complete and utter nonsense.

i awoke just before fajer to the noise of some dude shouting, he's been doing this for the past 4 days and if your wondering it's the same guy that had his house broken into by 4 people looking for their dog that Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, now i don't blame those people, the guy probably barbecued the poor dog and ate it and uses its bones to brush his teeth with.

i swear, i hear him shouting at all times in the night, 2 am, 4 am, 9 am, it's getting ridiculous, and he stands out in just a towel wrapped around him!!!! today wa blue towel day, yesterday he had a white towel on, i'm thinking red tomorrow?

i took this picture of him around 2pm just after duhur prayers.

he can stand their for hours on end, i haven't seen any other family members, and no one has the guts to say anything to him, every one is just minding their own business, except me that is, I'm going to do something cause he could bring harm to himself or others, he at least needs assessment.

I've already mentioned before that i live near a mosque, so obviously you get allot of Muslims walking through the alley way or driving through it, he stands at the entrance to his back garden lecturing the Muslims, shouting and what not, like i said he has a really strong accent so i don't even know what he says most of the time but i do hear the occasional word like 'blah blah blah Jesus Christ, blah blah blah, suicide bombers, blah blah blah mecca, blah blah blah masjed, terrorist, blah blah swear word etc.'

and if its not the Muslims then its any living creature that happens to walk past, i swear i have lived here for over 9 years and never once has anything of this sort happened, I'm guessing he moved into the area recently.

if I'm woken up in the middle of the night one more time then i will take a bazeen stick and bash it across his forehead, enough of the shouting dude, some people like to sleep!!!!!!!!

last night around 10pm the guy came out and had a shouting fit like no other, really acting crazy and shouting until his voice became high pitched and then he burst into tears and then cackled in laughter ???

so i contacted the police for our area and told them about this guy, they noted it down and said they would look into it.

this morning at 8:00 am they called me asking for more information, they told me that there have been some complaints in the past including one form the ambulance!! so i gave them a detailed report, i was on the phone for like 15 minutes, the police officer said that unfortunately it's not illegal to shout in your own back yard but he said they will make a visit and speak to him and assess his surroundings as well as himself.

it may be that he may need to be sectioned but that usually takes a family members judgement and not the police, the other option was that they speak to housing association and they could assess him to see if he needs to be sectioned.

that's all well and good but maybe another option is to put a cork in his mouth to stop him making so much noise.

there are certain things in life which we love, certain sounds, certain images, and certain smells.

i love the smell of bukhoor and washag (incense) or as my Somali friends call it 'onsi', i love coming into my house and being hit by the smell of bukhoor. it makes it so homely and gives it such a clean feel.

its always the last thing we do after cleaning the house, and the first thing we do just before guests come.

being brought up with this ritual has made me in touch with my roots back home as well as my Arab roots full stop.

my mum taught me the importance of having a nice smelling house and i will pass this knowledge on to my kids inshallah, and they will pass it on to theirs and so on and so forth...

washag is Libyan, we always get a little bag of this magic from Libya, and its place is in the kitchen, because right after washing the dishes and cleaning the cooker, out comes the washag.

as you can see in this picture, each Libyan household has a little metal thing ontop of the cooker to put the washag in, our handle is broken but still comes in very handy, my mum would be very embarrassed if she new i had put a picture up of her broken washag thing but i think it's unique and has become a fond member of our family, where would we be with out youuuuuuuuuuuuu.

Bukhoor is the name of the fragrance smoke created by the burning chips of Agarwood or pieces of mix fragrance ingredients bind by sugar-syrup, when burnt slowly, produces a more concentrated smell. These chips are burnt in Bukhur burners to perfume the surrounding and clothing specifically on occasions in all seasons

i remember when the only bukhoor we had was the stick incense and 9 out of 10 times they stank or had such a powerful odour, and they came in different colours bu the main colour was the dark red, as a child i used lightening them up and pretending to smoke them, pathetic i know... now they come in different smells and sizes, you can even get fruit smells liek coconut!!!

Bukhur alters the moods to bring peaceful, tranquil, refreshing, uplifting & inspiring feelings apparently, and that's why you always hear Libyan old woman saying its good for the soul and will always say 'bakhreeeeeeeeeee'.

my mother collects bukhoor, she has a treasure chest of the stuff as you can see from this picture, if you want to make her happy you give her bukhoor as a gift.

the thing the chest is resting on is a bikhoor stand and so is the red and gold item, she has them plastered around the house.

i just love the smell and its such a relaxing meditating ritual, the whole burning of the coal, then placing the coal into the mabkharah (holder) and then putting bukhoor on top and blowing onto it and watching the perfumed smoke spread and walking from room to room with the mabkharah and then eventually placing it somewhere as it dies down.

the amount of times i have burnt my fingers as well as clothes messing about with the coal is countless, i still do burn my fingers, you would think i would Be immune by now to any burning.

my parents come back today so i obviously had to the round of cleaning and what not, so out came the bukhoor, I'm at work at the moment and i swear typing this up i can smell bukhoor, we humans are so funny you can say a certain word and your mind will make you believe you can smell it lol.

in some cultures, when guests come over, one way of telling them its time to go is to bring out the bukhoor, its a nice way of saying 'home time'.

i dedicate this blog entry to my youngest brother.

i have to say that he has behaved immaculately well over the last 10 days, my parents have been away and are due to come back inshallah on Friday from Umrah (i ask that Allah brings them back safely).

its not the first time that they have left me with the responsibility of looking after my brothers, and it is stressful even though they are old enough and are clearly not babies, but still having that responsibility is not an easy thing.

my youngest brother has listened to me through out mashallah, and lets me know exactly where he will be which i cant say the same for his older brothers tut tut. i think with my teenager brother its an independent thing, the whole 'I'm old enough to look after myself' i guess he doesn't like the idea of being 'looked after' or 'baby sat' by his older sister, so questioning his where abouts is like confirming that he is still a 'child'.

i always say i wish i could be a child again but one thing i never would like is to go back to being a teenager, i shudder at the thought...

my youngest brother is set to be 13 in may, i hope he doesn't become a typical moody teenager, so far hes been a cool kid, maybe when they hit 13 they automatically switch, i know my 17 year old brother has teenager issues, i swear i wish they would skip those years between 12 and 21.

i swear i come back from work and i find that the youngest left me little messages like ' i have gone to my friends house, if you need me, then you can contact me on etc number' or he will leave me messages to remind me that he has after school club, or youth club, how cute is that?.

the other day he bought me a coffee mug, the kid knows me well and knows my addiction to coffee, his mug that he presented to me is the white huge one, i swear its a really big mug that a person can drown there mouth, nose and eyes in lol.

anyway that's my sentimental blog entry of the year, but i gotta say its not going to stop me from playing tricks on him, come on people its toooooo much fun although he isn't gullible so its harder playing jokes on him but occasionally i do get the upper hand hee hee hee.

i ask Allah to protect him, guide him and forever keep him happy.

even though i have lived in Britain nearly all my life so far, i was never deprived of the wonders of Libyan cuisine.

my parents, especially my mother made sure that we new our cultural food, anyone who came from Libya to visit would bring back a bag full of spices, food, even sweets and chocolate manufactured and produced by Libya, i would get my never ending supply of henna with the lasga (sticky stencil) as a child i loved henna, i still do i just don't have the time to apply it any more. i remember my grandmother when she came over would mix the henna into a paste for me and she would add cool things like shahee 7amar (red tea) and lemons and all sorts, and then after applying it on my hand, she would get cloth and rap it around to preserve it, then put my hand in plastic bags and i would sleep like that, kinda like a boxer sleeping with his gloves, then i would wake up so early to unravel the cloth and peel the henna off and it would be sheer magic to see the patterns and colour on my hand, ooooooooh child hood memories :)

my brother would run a mile because he hated the smell, my favourite past time would be to corner him and then stuff my hand in his face, ha ha ha, he didnt find it funny.

when i went to Libya for the first time, i went to visit my dads aunts and uncles in Misrata (city not far from Triploi)i wanted Henna on my hands and and feet and when i asked for it there was shock through out the room and my aunt informed me that non married girls never put henna on their feet!!!!!!!

i didn't understand, and i was so disappointed but at least i got my hands done :)

so we grew up eating the likes of zameeta (a mix of whole grain barley, sweet cumin, sugar, olive oil) which me and my brothers loved, my mum will still do zameeta for us, she makes it healthy now by not putting any sugar in and instead putting dates which is interesting (my father is a diabetic so the house is sugar free as much as possible), my youngest brother had some sort of phobia of zameeta when he was a baby really was funny to watch and we would continuously scare him loool.

it was always amazing to open these bags that came from Libya, i always loved the smell, i came to associate it with Libya, and when my grand mother would come to visit she would smell like Libya :)

coffman i began this blog entry because of your question concerning cinnamon or girfa which is my favourite spice, so niceeeeeeee, and my intention was to blog about my favourite hot drink sa7lab or sahlab or sehlap as the Turks would spell it.

we would always have a supply of spices as well as sahlab which is a fine powder mix from wheat or something, if any ones please let me know exactly what its from because our sahlab is different to the sahlab from the other Arab countries, theres is made from the dried root of orchis mascula, and it tastes different.

with Libyans we either cook it with water or milk, but it tastes a thousand time better with milk, and then you top it off with ground nuts and cinnamon, wow its a taste out of this world, coffman i invite you to taste it :)it is a winter drink and for ages i used to always annoy my mum to make it for me until i learnt how to do it myself.

when i went to Turkey, the weather was still cold so sehlab was on the menu ever where, my non Arab friends with me where adamant that it was hot drinkable custard, which i have to admit Turkish sahlab does taste like custard.

any way that was my dedication of a blog about the wonders of sahlab and henna :@)

i think summer is here

i don't like summer, i love winter..

but saying that the other day i had to walk through 2 parks, i needed to drop of a cheque somewhere and to get there meant walking through trees, people walking dogs, kids playing football and every one generally enjoying the sun.

why do i feel that this is an occasion to write about, well because i haven't actually been to a park in a very long time, shock shock i know.

when i say long time, I'm talking about years.

so walking through 2 parks reminded me of when i used to visit parks all the time and you know what dearest bloggers its actually nice....

i felt inspired and took some pictures, and i made a vow that this summer i will visit my local park as often as i can with a good book, a tirmis full of shahee, my sun glasses, and just enjoy global warming.

the older generation would smile and say things like 'ooooh isn't it lovely today?' and one lady went so far as to say 'don't you just love life'.

i think the suicide rate in summer decreases....

ok you know how i said that this week is turning out to be a horror week, i didn't realise that it would involve a proposal from a 45 year old man.

i swear people, i do not make these things up, for some reason life likes to laugh at me, and most of the time i can find things funny, yesterday was one of those days where i would have opted for a time out.

I'm walking home from work, i swear to Allah minding my own business, keeping my head down and thinking of what to cook, I'm about 5 minutes walk away from my doorstep and i can see some one approaching on a bike but i didn't give them another thought until that is the rider got right next to me and said 'hello' with a big grin on his face.

to which i replied hello and carried on walking, but he was adamant to speak to me and he caught my attention by saying' oh my god i remember you from 2 years ago'

???????????

me: sorry? (i didnt remember this man at all, hes bald apart from a few strands of hair, a charley chaplin moustache and thick eye glasses)

man: yes, don't you remember, i saw you at a bus stop and i was lost and i asked you for directions and you helped me out, remember?

me: sorry??? (i had a face that was really expressive, because he realised that i didn't remember at all)

man: you must remember, i told you i was from darna (a city in Libya), i didn't realise you where Libyan until i asked you where you where from?

when he said he was from darna, i instantly remembered, and it all came back to me in a flash, 2 years ago this guy was lost and i gave him directions, he then told me that he was fresh from Libya and didn't know his way about, he then asked me when i had converted to Islam, and i told him that i was born a Muslim to which he asked where i was from, so i hesitantly told him Libya, to which he acted shocked but said he was happy to see practising Libyan girls in Britain, and he acted like a nice 3amoo (uncle) and thats how i treated him like a 3amoo.

i even went home and told my dad how i had helped out a really nice Libyan man who was lost, end of story or so i thought.

2 years later the same guy is on a bike talking to me, so he was asking what i was doing with my life and if i was still Libyan???????? what kind of question is that, its like asking do you still have a heart that beats?

so i was politely answering his questions, he then asked me how old i was, so i told him, and then he comes out with the 'what would you say if i asked you to marry me?'

?????????????????????

at this point i felt like i had been slapped across the face, i just looked at him like he was out of his mind,

he noticed and said 'ok, how about i send people to your house to speak to your dad?'

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeeeeeeee

i started to walk away...

he followed me on his bike.

i continued to walk away, he said ' please tell me what you think?'

i stopped and asked him how old he was, not because i was interested but because i was trying to remind him of his place, he answered 45, i swear he knocked of a couple of years because he so looked allot older.

i walked away, he shrugged and said ' a person can try cant they?'

when i reached my door step, he cycled past me with a toothless grin.

maybe i am a 3ajooza lol

sometimes i feel like i carry an invisible sign over my head that says freaks and weirdos come speak to me.

being bi-lingual does not necessarily mean that a person can have a good grasp of all languages, because in my case, even though i speak English and Arabic, i don't actually have any other language skills, i'm thinking of learning either Turkish or Chinese but i haven't decided yet.

the reason i have brought up this topic is because i found myself in stupid predicament at my local Asda.

my parents are performing urmah at this moment in time, my mother is a teacher in an Islamic school, and each year she is in charge of taking a group of girls on urmah in the Easter break, that means that i am looking after my brothers, every body say hooooray.

so on Tuesday i decided to cook spaghetti, i had finished work at 6, so i needed a fairly fast way of cooking spaghetti, i could have done makaroonah imbakbeekah, but i needed an even faster dish, so a bunch of spaghetti in a pan of boiling water with sauce on top, maximum 20 minutes cooking, that's the plan in my head.

the sauce obviously had to be pre-made so i made my way over to the sauce counter, there was a big selection, i was looking for the vegetarian option obviously, something with vegetables preferably.

each sauce i would pick up i would look at the ingredients in the back, and each time a certain word kept popping up, the word was Champignons, i recognised it as being a french word but i instantly thought it was alcohol so i kept putting them back, i then walked away in frustration, and whilst walking throughout the different aisles it occurred to me that it might not actually be champagne maybe it was french word for something else?

so i went back to the sauce counter, i took all the sauces i was looking at, sat on the floor and studied them (people where looking at me, but i was on a mission).

my research found that in the ingredients, next to the word mushroom in brackets was the word Champignons, ok that wasn't enough for me, it could have been alcoholic mushrooms for all i know, well it could have been!!

so i took out my mobile and looked at all my friends names who possible new some french, i found my friends younger sisters number who is studying french gcse, i rang her and asked her what the french word for mushroom was? she didn't know, so i told her that i would be having serious words with her french teacher who clearly does not know how to teach simple words like mushroom.

i then remembered my friend who speaks fluent french, i called her and she answered, i asked her what mushroom is in french and she said Champignons, and i laughed and explained to her why i had rang her, to which she called me an idiot!! in a jokey manner of course.

the funny thing was i didn't realise i had an audience looking and listening to my conversation, so by the time i got of the phone, one guy was cracking up with laughter beside me, shaking his head and generally making me feel like a fool.

so people champignons is not a drunk alcoholic mushroom, it is a mushroom...

i have a feeling that this week is going to be horror week, every thing is acting creepy including children.

yesterday i felt like i had walked into a filming of a new horror film being filmed at my work place.

the day started normal enough, normal for me that is. by mid afternoon a family walked into the reception, it was a Saudi family, the father announced that his wife had an appointment and then sat down with his 5 children mashallah.

nothing out of the ordinary there.

the weirdness and abnormality began when all 5 children (the oldest being 6, the youngest 3 they where two sets of twins) stood up and walked towards the reception window, 2 boy twins stood at the reception window,

one child went to a side window that's mostly covered by a calender with only a little section of window showing into the reception.

the two at the desk just stood staring at me, not blinking, here is an idea of what it must have looked like for me.

the kid on the side window was staring at me, he was freaky cause i could only see his eyes nothing else, i thought i could out stare him, but he never blinked, here is a picture of the desk i was sat on just to give you an idea as to exactly where the kid was watching me from
now isn't that freaky?

i was laughing at first but when they didn't move i began to laugh hesitantly and walahi i didn't know where to look so i thought i would turn around and give them all my back.

so i turn and i find the other set of twins standing in my office directly behind me, i swear i nearly dropped my cup of coffee, the freaks scared the living day lights out of me, then one of the girls raises her hand and points at me whilst staring????????

she continues to point at me through out, i give her my back and her siblings are still stood frozen at the spot staring at me,

i couldn't take it anymore so i ran to the office and closed the door, my colleague was like whats up with you?' so i told her and she laughed.

laughed?? i had 5 zombies at the reception and all she could do was laugh.

i swear those kids where not real, they where things dressed up as kids.

any one watched children of the corn? its a horror film and I'm sure these kids had walked right out of that film.

maybe some one was playing some sort of practical joke?

when it was time for them to go, the Father had to literally pull the pointing girl away and even whilst being dragged, she was still pointing at me, whyyyyyyy????

why was she pointing?

i swear i honestly thought that yesterday was going to be a fairly normal day, nobody expects to be pointed at by kid who really was an alien dressed up as a kid, I'm convinced, no other explanation...

I'm sure when i looked out the window there was a flying saucer leaving the skies of Manchester, or it could have been the window in desperate need of washing.

those pictures where like some sort of crime scene looooooool, hey maybe i can work for CSI, i can be the photo lady thing...

pigeons...

i don't like them, the ones in Britain that is..

theres something eerie about them, I'm not afraid of them i just don't like them.

don't get me wrong i wont attack them or anything, maybe just run into a crowd of them and scare them but that's as far as i will go.

they look so dirty and infested with some soret of pigeon flea.

and why do they leave there mark every where, is it some sort of territory thing, 'i will plop my business to mark my territory? on window perch's, statues, car windows (don't you just hate that?), lamp posts and people'

and they have this walk like they own the world, cocky that's what they are, the whole 'hey hey look at me while i coo and peck at invisible things on the floor, coo coo coo'

coo? what sort of sound is that?

dumb birds, and they always manage to get themselves killed by cats, cars, buildings which they don't see duh! and the occasional window which they fly into loooooool.

they leave behind such a mess of gore and feathers especially the ones that get run over.

and can the sweet Asian old ladies please stop throwing there unwanted chapatis, bread, rice and anything else that you feel to guilty to throw in the bin because of all the starving children in Africa, at the corner of every park, alleyway, car park etc.. it doesn't look nice and it makes the pigeons pooh everywhere.

and as i have to walk every where i would rather not walk through a pile of wasted food that the pigeons play with instead of eat.

i took this picture of chapatis thrown all over this poor tree surrounded by pigeons, and just a few steps away more pigeons who where standing waiting for their turn, they where not moving and they where creepy.



when i was living in Scotland, our neighbour was this old Scottish lady who was obsessed with pigeons, we called her the '7amamah lady - pigeon lady', when her husband died she didnt shed a tear, when a pigeon died she cried rivers, and those pigeons where never grateful, we also had this annoying neighbour who was a couple of years older than me and as a kid he tried to convince me that ice cream was made from pigeon pooh, that ice cream makers would come out after midnight and scoop up all the pigeon pooh that they could find and take it to the ice cream factory.

i have to say for a couple of days i was convinced, i even tried staying up after midnight to spy on the pigeon pooh collectors but never really saw any one apart from old drunken Scottish men roaming the streets.

if i ever meet that kid (who is now a man) i will buy him an ice cream but not the sort that he expects ha ha ha.

next time you see a pigeon stare it in the eye and it will out stare you, there not as thick as they make themselves out to be, be careful..

and some of them have red eyes, anything with red eyes is not a good sign unless you have an eye infection then its not your fault you just need eye drops.

ok that's my rant on pigeons.

i was disturbed from my lovely Saturday sleep in, i don't always get to sleep in, rarely do i have that luxury so you can imagine how peeved off i was to be woken up this morning to the sounds of screaming.

usually the early morning sounds are birds, the odd dog barking, every Wednesday the bin men make an appearance with their loud trucks, and at fajer the Libyan men always linger around to talk really loudly 'bahee bahee, khalas tawa inshufuk ba3dayn' (directly behind my house is a mosque, my bedroom window faces the mosque)

usually my window is shut and when it is then no sound pollution enters but because of the change in weather i have had to open it slightly.

other than these noises, the area is usually quite, screaming is not a natural phenomena.

at first when i heard the screaming i ignored it but the screaming pitch kept getting higher and I'm sure that the bird that perches on the tree outside my window fell from the sheer blast of the scream.

so i woke up to investigate, opened the curtain to find 3 ladies and 1 man standing outside the back window of the house opposite mine, one of the ladies was screaming 'wheres my dog, what have you done with my dog?'

another lady was banging on the back door and i really thought it was going to break under all that pressure, i swear sometimes i wish i was objects but at that particular moment i would never trade places with that poor door.

i could faintly hear a man shouting from inside but the words where not clear.

the lady continued to scream 'what have you done with my dooooooooooooooooog?' i swear her screaming was painful to the ears, no wonder she couldn't find her dog.

she then rummages around her bag, takes out her mobile and says 'I'm calling the police, the police, alright?' and then appears to dial and then still in the screaming voice says to the operator 'POLICE PLEASE', I'm sure the nearest police station would have heard her.

whilst this was happening, her 3 friends where lingering around in the mans back garden looking for something, the dog maybe???

what they came up with instead was a pile of bricks, the lady who thumping at the door decides to take a brick and throw it at the back window!!!!

it bounced of, she then gets closer, picks up the brick and throws it even harder, and the window breaks, the sound of glass shattering echoed all over the area, that's when shouting from inside the house began, all 4 people began to break the rest of the window whilst screaming at the man inside, the screaming lady shouting 'wheres my dog? i want my dog? what have you done with my dog?' the man is shouting 'what you talking bout? i ain't touche your dog?

then 2 of them decide to climb into the house through the broken window now i don't know what was going through their heads but that destruction of some one else property as well as trespassing!!!!

more shouting and screaming, noises of things falling down inside the house, the occasional swear word, then the two trespassers jump out the window, said something to the screaming lady, the lady then shouts 'what has my dog every done to you?, why did you say you where going to kill my dog?' then it occurs to her that she had called the police so she starts walking away saying 'well I've called the police so they will sort you out' and then walks away.

the door thumping lady then picks up a couple of bricks and thows them into the broken window with all her might!!!! crazy...

i didnt go back to sleep, i was fully awake and i had a good mind to wear my slippers, walk up to them with a frying pan in my hand and say 'do you mind? you have neighbours who are trying to sleep' i then decided to make a cup of the good old coffee and read teh newspaper.

so yeh that was an interesting episode of my life to wake up to....

when i was at university i was studying social studies, now there where obviously many modules, some where compulsory and others where optional, the 2 optional ones where media and the other was management in health.

i purposely refused to even acknowledge management, i white african can honestly say that management is not my cup of sa7lab.

i am not suited for such work, some people can manage others cant i am amongst the latter.

now my manager at work has gone for 4 weeks holiday and i am expected to take his role to a certain extent.

some one shoot me...

today was the first day and life is seriously funny it has its own sense of humour why may you ask because the computers would not work.

ha ha ha ha very funny, extremely amusing.

at first it was just the one computer which i could deal with but it was still an issue because it was connected to the scanner so documents needed to be scanned asap.

so my stress levels where within normal.

then the other computer went mental on me, the main screen just switched it self of, how, i don't know, i frantically tried to fix it but it had issues, even computers have issues, i swear we are living in times when even the electrical equipment have attitudes, now that's saying something.

my stress levels where bordering on abnormal.

the photocopiers then decided to commit suicide, it just would not photocopy, it would vomit out plain blank white pieces of paper with a single mark, we had put in new ink but still it had given up on life and for like an hour i was giving it the kiss of life and eventually after pulling my hijab in frustration it worked but only barley. (its a new machine)

my stress levels had become unbearable, you know in cartoons when then show thermometers exploding and all the dye squirting out because of the pressure, i swear my head felt like that, at one point i held onto it in case it did explode, and even then i would probably have to clean up the mess.

so yeh today was fantastic, and when all this was happening we had other stuff to do and the doctors don't understand the concept of waiting, i had to email the diabetes people concerning something, which i did straight away, literally 2 minutes later the doctor walks into the office and says 'have you emailed them?' to which i reply with a confident 'yes' to which he says 'have they replied?' to which i replied 'no, lol give them a chance' to which he says 'ridiculous' looooooool see what i mean.

the next 4 weeks are going to go at a snail pace i just know it....

yesterday was the first anniversary of my first ever entry into the blog world.

a whole year has gone past people wow.

a whole year!!! how fast can a year go by, it feels like it was only yesterday.

to be honest I'm impressed that i managed to keep it up for this long.

one of the best things about blog is meeting all you bloggers, and being part of the 'blogging community or family', pretty cool stuff.

meeting like minded Libyans is definitely a thumbs up for blogging as well and i am proud to be a member of the this amazing growing community.

i got into blogging through a good friend of mine nm, and since then I've been hooked, so nm thanks sis and hope your having a blast in Egypt.

you know another aspect to blogging is that it has improved my writing skills as well as my spelling which is still atrocious but i have improved so that's something at least.

i wonder if i will continue for another year hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

just over a year ago, a man used to come to my work place, he was a patient and he would always find something wrong with him to see the doctor about.

whilst sat at the reception he would find excuses to talk to me, a couple of times he would request my mobile number, i did offer him my fathers number but for some reason he wasn't interested in talking to my dad.

just as i would think that he got the picture, that it had sunk in that i wasn't interested, he would do the abominable and call my work place 5-10 minutes after just leaving and say things like:

'asam3ee, ilkilam illee gilta, yarayt matradidish lee buk' - listen, what i have just spoken to you about, please do not repeat to your dad.

cheek!!!!!!

well obviously dearest bloggers, when i went home i told my dad lol.

to be honest at first it was funny, and i did feel sorry for the dude but then it was bordering scariness cause i would see him every where, on my street on my way home, on the bus i take, in town sometimes, it felt like either he was every where or he had 50 look alikes spread out all over Manchester.

it wasn't like i was encouraging him because i wasn't, if anything most times i was down right rude only so that he would get the message and i didn't want to seem like i was leading him in any way, but the guy was just not right, one time he asked for private work to be done for him by the doctor and private work usually means a charge, but the doctor refused to take any money of him, the whole Libyan connection thing that i have mentioned in previous posts.

i had to pass the message on which i didn't want to but oh well, so i approached this man and i told him in a very matter of fact manner ' galak il doctor ina 3adatan mafrud tadfa3 25 jneh, lakin leeanah fee ma3ruf beenkum, karar il doctor inak matdfa3sh wala min leem' - the doctor said that usually there is a charge of 25 pounds but due to the connection you have with the doctor, he has decided you needn't pay a single penny.

to which he replies: 'akida intee athartee fil ijabah' - i bet you had a hand in this.

now did any of you think that from what i told him what the doctor asked me to say?

anyway, he eventually decided to get someone else involved and this someone else approached my dad with the request of my hand in marriage, obviously my father new everything already because of what i had told him so my father said there was no naseeb.

next day the guy comes to work looking for me, corners me and shouts 'why did you lead me on, why did you make me look like a fool, you wanted me to go to your dad and when i did you refuse me'

he said alot more stuff but to be honest i was dumbstruck and the only thing i was able to say is if you have anything to say, please say it to my father and not me, i was basically sick and tired of this dude and his antics.

what he understood from this was 'oh i see, it's all clear now in my head, you want me, you want me to be your husband but your father is preventing us from being together' and with that walks away.

?????

couple of weeks later he calls to speak to me saying that he will be getting married soon to some one else but i was still in with a chance and i just had to say, i put the phone down on him.

i later learnt that he got married and moved out of Manchester and i thought that was the last of him, a couple of days ago, he walks into the surgery and requests to speak to me, saying that the doctor has asked him to speak to me.

my colleague walks into my office saying 'theres a man by the name of blah blah who wants to speak to you,

to be honest i didn't even realise it was him.

my manager said that he would deal with it and i was to continue with the mountain of paper work.

a couple of minutes later my manager walks into the room and says 'white african come with me to the doctors room'

ooooops whats happened was my initial thought.

i walk into the doctors room and the manager turns around to the doctor and says,'in future i would appreciate it if you don't tell patients to speak to white african concerning paper work, you speak to her yourself instead'

I'm standing in the back ground saying : 'why?'

to which he replies: well, i go up to this man and he tells me that the doctor has asked the he speak to you concerning some paper work, so when i asked him exactly what type of paper work, it turns out that you wont be able to help him, so i told him that, so i offered to go to the doctor myself and sort it out for him, which i did, i gave him the necessary papers and he thanked me and walked away'.

me: 'ok (i still wasn't sure which man he was talking about) so whats the problem?'

manager: 'the problem is that 2 minutes later he comes back demanding to speak to me, and when i approached him he came out with 'just to let you know that there is nothing between me and white african, nothing what so ever, i have forgotten about her, i found a girl a hundred times better than her and 8 years younger than her, il 3ajooza white african, 3ajooza, 3ajooza'.

if your wondering 3ajooza means old woman.

apparently he ended it by shouting '3AJOOZA, 3AJOOZA, 3AJOOZA'

my manager had to escort him off the premises.

hmmmmm when my manager told me this it instantly clicked who the guy was and to be honest my first initial reaction was to laugh, the doctor bless him was in complete and utter shock and when i explained the history to him he was in even more shock, he kept saying 'lakin il rajal hafid, hafid, wee salaee fil masjid' - but the man has memorised the quran and he prays in the mosque.

yeh like that makes a person completely pure and sin free!

after my laughing fit i did get peeved off to be honest, 3ajooza!! whatever, rolls eyes....

some guy came into work and asked at the reception to speak to me, so my colleague came to me passing on the message. i walked towards the reception and there was this man standing there shuffling on his feet and fidgeting around with his fingers.

she pointed him out to me and i approached him.

me: 'yes sir how can i help?

man: 'intee white african?' - are you white african?

me: 'yes'

man: 'yes consultant so and so from blah blah hospital told me about you, he said you would be able to help me out'

me: 'Dr so and so said that?, ok lets see what you need'

man: 'well i just need you to write up these dates for me to say that my daughter was seen at this surgery'.

me: 'ummm ok, give me your daughters date of birth'

man: 'its _ _ _ _ _

so i approached the computer, typed in the date of birth and a name came up, so i got the man to confirm the name which he did, simply enough right? wrong, nothing that we Libyans do can be simple enough.

me: 'ok can i have those dates you requested please'.

so he hands me the piece of paper with the dates.

i made a quick check to see when she actually registered with us, low and behold she registered in late February of this year, she was seen for the first time by the doctor in the middle of March of this year, the dates that this gentleman wanted me to write up for him where all in the first week of February before she even registered with us???????

he basically wanted me to lie and say that she was seen by the Doctor.

when i realised this i told him i couldn't do that, to which he replied:

man: 'but white african your Libyan'

and let the celebrations begin.....

me: 'I'm sorry.

man: 'mish intee leebeeyah? galoolee inik leebeeyah' - aren't you Libyan? they told me your Libyan.

they??? who in the world is they?

me: 'yes i am indeed Libyan, but that will not give me the ticket to do something illegal'

man: 'but i need your help, come on you must'

me: 'walahi i cant, the computer does not lie and the dates on the computer are not the same as those you want me to write up'.

man: (starting to raise his voice) white african no one is going to check the computer, I'm asking for a simple matter that's all'

me: (getting slightly annoyed) 'no i am not willing to do something that will get me into trouble'

man: 'if it helps this letter is being sent to Libya'

oh yeh that changes every thing then....

me: 'sorry, i really need to get back to work, i wont be able to help you I'm afraid'

man: 'some Libyan you turned out to be'

and walked away looking really sad.

i felt guilty for like a second but then i got angry because i was put in that position when i shouldn't have been, why do people do that? do they really think that a person will risk everything for something trivial like dates???

what if it was some sort of alibi that he wanted, or something similar and then i get questioned about it and the surgery gets taken to court, i know that sound ridiculous but such things could happen over something like forging dates.

please tell me i did good in sticking to the right principles and telling him no.