Robert San Martin: El embrujo de los ojos verdes y del aire en el acento

I think I said all what I wanna say in the title hehehehe ,,, Robert San Martin: The Charm of the green eyes and the air in the accent.

Robert San Martin is a Cuban actor who takes parts in Spanish series , but he speaks with his original accent ... The accent of southern Americans in Spanish is so passionate , so attractive and full of love.

I love the air , the aspiration and the latino spirit of life.

Notice the difference between a Spanish speaker (Irene) and a Cuban speaker (Ubldo)

The word: Hogar

The word Hogar means home ...

It has been so long since I last "felt'' that.

Despierta :))))

I just love this ad ,,, Its an ad of an insurance company that says ''Wake Up'' ... it really gives me energy , and gets me moving ,,, Despiertaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

As Liberal as it gets

Today in class we were talking about direct objects and indirect objects in Spanish. So we had to connect slogans with products and then analyze the objects used in them.

There was a slogan that said -translated to English- : ''Wear it, Make him wear it''. We had to guess what type of production with that slogan go with and inside my head I was like: ''Would it be a condom?''!!! ... and so it was , my classmates (Italian guy, Chinese guy, German,Italian, Polish and French girls) started to laugh ,,, It was uncomfortable for a moment, but then it did not make sense, why are they laughing? are not they European and they are supposed to be way over those things?!

Anyway , our teacher said that this was a very well known slogan to an awareness campaign that was launched in the year 1990 to promote the use of condoms , to avoid unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

He also said that the campaign was so to controversy , people were mad , parents considered it insulting and provoking etc etc. and he said: I am gonna show you the ad -my mind froze for a moment ... a condom ad in class , and on a data show screen that covers the entire wall!!- but it was symbolic -Alhamdullilah- with nothing that would baldly hurt my feelings:

The conversation goes like this:

Teacher: we found this , and I wanna know who does it belong to

Boys and girls start standing up and saying: Its mine , Its mine.

I am not sure what exactly I wanna comment on this experience. But I was trying to imagine how did Spanish conservative families receive this. I even try to imagine , what if -in a far hypothetical context- a similar campaign is launched in Jordan!

You know what does it mean promoting the use of condoms? It means that sexual encounters are a given fact and the thing is we dont want you to get sick or get stuck with children. How would a society , any society , take that?

I know I sound so "conservative" and "so 1954" but how would a society be eased into the idea that marriage is no longer holy, and that a sacred thing as sex would be available for everybody anytime and for any possible reason they can come up with , even if it for the sake of it!!

Sometimes I try to convey this simple thought to my Spanish friends , but they end up laughing at me , that I am 21 and still virgin , and they get me thinking: When everybody does what is wrong , what is ''Right'' becomes weird.

(The definition of right and wrong is not fixed ,,, Oh Yeah Ok)

Taking the Road not Taken with the friend I won back

I have been running to a tiny town on the borders of Granada every know and then , to sit , read , and chill out. To get there I take a 30 minutes bus ride , and I have always noticed an unpaved path of sand that traverses the valley. So today I was just saying to Sadoof while we were in the bus that I would like to go on foot some day taking that path , so she said:Why some day? why not now? so we pressed the bus stop button and we got down.... we walked by the river side and kept climbing to where it starts ... the sand path ended after 4 kilometers , but afterwards there was a path formed by foot steps on the grass the plants ,,, we followed it for another 4 kilometers and there we found Cenes ....

It felt like we invented it!! Not that we only found it taking a different path! ...

It was a great feeling ,,, you know , being the lazy creature that I am ''walking to places'' is just a miracle for me ,,, when did I ever walk 8 kilometers for the sake of it? It was good to be there with Sadoof ,,, Again we are good friends and Alhamdullilah that black cloud has passed.

Those are some pictures I took on our way:

Taking this path reminded me of this amazing poem: The road not taken Enjoy :) Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

1. The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5 Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, 10 And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. 15 I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. 20

Semana Santa ,, a life time experience

I love this song .... Diana Navarro has the most angelic voice I have ever heard and she sings this hymn with soooo much faith that it touches me ...

The thing is Easter - which is Semana santa in Spanish - is one of the biggest holidays in the world , the best in Spain and above all: the best in Andalucia.

I have heard from many people that semana santa in Granada , Sevilla and Malaga are the bestttttttttttt ,,, they take out the statues of Virgins and Jesus and they walk in the streets with music , prayers and a huge huge audience.

I am toooooooooo excited and eager for it to start, I want to see everything in Granada and spend a day Malaga because I heard my friends talking about a ''procesion'' done by military members in which they hold the statue with their arms totally streched above their heads during 4 or 5 hours!!! ,,,,

Whats happening in Jordan?

I dont want to paste anyhting , nor do I want to put videos or make assumptions ... I dont want to take sides not being there , but I have two feelings:

1- I am happy and proud that my people are finally standing up for what they want and what they believe.

2- If its true that the police hit the protesters then its the biggest shame in the history of the kingdom.

I am still waiting to see what the king and the government are going to comment about the situation ...

May God protect Jordan ,,, Ya Rab

A great evening riding bikes

I have had my bike for how long now? Since October!!! But today I felt like I have just got it ,,,, Sadoof , Hadeel , Malak and I took it to the park in Joaquin Eguarras Street and we played.

I spent almost two to three hours teaching Sadoof how to cycle , then Hadeel tried and fell on her knee but manged to cycle a couple of meters and then there was the surprise of Malak , she just got on the bike and so naturally cycled till the end of the park... I was so happy to see her float in the open air ,, she has a feminine style , that I felt so proud to look at her: a muslim modest young woman cycling so neatly and happily in a park in Spain , where the only muslim women seen are the bored housewives who have the same look of boredom on their faces.

I felt that I have justgot the bike ,,, I crossed a line today , I have always worried about falling , about people looking , about looking stupid and about cars crushing me ,,, but today -specially after Malak fixed something in the gears - I had wings all over my soul ...

I am happy happy happy ,, soaked in sweat , dust and grease but the sacred moments on my bike are some eternal moments that will always enrich the person who I am.

An Email About Racism

Three or two weeks ago I started my classes in Modern Languages Center of Universidad de Granada. It has a long name , but dont get fooled , its just an institute where people learn languages , mainly Spanish to foreigners , and some languages for Spanish natives.

Last year I wanted to enroll in the center but I could not because I got a high level in the level exam and therefor my scholarship did not accept paying for my course. This year I just paid it myself and there I am in one of the places that I mostly hate in this world.

Why?

Because when I first arrived in Spain, I was still a simple unexperienced country girl infront of a whole different world ,,,, But most of all I was ''realizing'' the fact that I am an Arab and a Muslim girl , I have not had realized that by then , I thought that people are beyond those stupid ideas , but being in Modern Languages Center for the first time I realized that everybody (well almost everybody) was staring at me and my other friend who wears Hijab. You know that type of staring without blinking and without worrying that I would notice them?!! I cant describe how impolite and hurtful that was , and ever since I entered the center I felt like entering the concentration site of racism.

Later on , with my experiences and the experiences of my other friends I took racism as a fact and I just deal with it , but today my two friends received this email from there teacher and I was o happy to read those amazing lines. When a person understands that you are just ''different'' and does not demand you to be just like him to be ''ok'' .

I am so thankful to Isabel for her explanation , her open mind and I hope that someday this planet would be spacious enough so everybody would easily fit.

Hola chicas, aprovecho que tengo vuestra dirección electrónica para escribiros (¡ojalá no os moleste! Ya sé que me disteis para ver si podía buscaros un intercambio). Me gustaría también escribir a Siham y a Zaid, pero no tengo sus direcciones. Quizá vosotras podáis transmitirles este mensaje.

Es por la clase de ayer, con tantos errores sobre la cultura árabe. Como dije en clase, la información procede de la página de internet referenciada, y yo, en mi ignorancia, la di por buena. Es una bendición tener en clase nativos de esta cultura para deshacer los errores que circulan por internet y que damos por válidos.

Quería daros las gracias, y comunicaros que ya he corregido esos errores para futuras clases.

Quería también deciros que me gustaría, en la clase del próximo martes, que hicierais aportaciones interesantes sobre rasgos culturales jordanos, sirios, marroquíes, que sin duda serán interesantes para todos. Yo, personalmente, tengo mucho interés en descubrir y aprender.

Muchas gracias,

Isabel

Tenemos mucha suerte de que en el grupo haga gente tan diversa. Me fascina, por ejemplo, la presencia de una islandesa o de un brasileño... Me gusta ver vuestro pañuelo, junto a las rastas de Jules, etc. En un mundo tan globalizado, la diversidad es casi un milagro.

When men cry

Seeing this just breaks my heart , why does this keep happening in my country? why do people still breath in relief as a day of the month passes and they think they might possibly get to the next salary without having to ask for money , without having to yell at their children when they ask for something ,,, without feeling the continuous insult of being poor?

There is a jordanian proverb that says:

الفقر في الوطن غربة

Why do my people have to accept living this way and not get a minute of the time of our parliament ? What do they do with their time if not listen to us , work for us and give us a better life?

Why does this happen in our beautiful Jordan? ? ?

Jood

Jood has died and there is not much to say about it.

A silly absurd person , celebrating a silly absurd thing as a silly and absurd as himself decided that the life of others is not his problem and he took away the life of this angle ,,,, May God Help her family , her mother and all the people who knew her during the one year she lived among us.

I know that life is not fair , but Enshalla this disgusting creature would pay too hard for his crime .. Enshalla.

La 7awala wala kowata ela bellah
http://aklaam.net/forum/showthread.php?p=307520

Date a girl who reads: Story of ly life.

Today I came across this amazing article: ''Date a Girl Who Reads'' by Rosmarie Urquico.

I would love to share it here:

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

Reading this article gave me a sense of relief for two reasons:

1- Because there are still creative people in the world who see things from a different angle and therefor they write such smart pieces that attract the reader until the last line.

2- Because sometimes -and call me arrogant- I feel like I deserve more , I feel that I can appreciate more , I can see the tiny details in people and realize the things that make them special ... I treat people as if they were protagonist in a novel that I am reading and writing , and so I feel like I need more from them ... I dont ask for much , but I just ask for appreciation , I am not the greatest , but am not simple either so why - just why- I always find the jerks , the superficials and the plain people?

Date a girl who reads ,, because you deserve it.

David Villa in a detergent ad , why?

Here is a detergent ad that's constantly repeated on Spanish Tv channels. David Villa is the ads star!!!

Usually detergent ads are boring , there is not a way in which they can change , look more appealing or have a different discourse ,,,, sometimes they make car ads or deodorant ads that make you think or smile , but with detergents its the same : A piece of cloth gets a spot of grease or dirt , somebody complains about it , then comes the super detergent that solves all problems.

So why David Villa? Really why? he is such a delight , such a magical face , that works for a shaving blade , a sexy deodorant , Addidas shoes or his own perfume line ...

Why why why

one of the many whys that Spanish Tvs plant in my head

My ''Trip Morning Syndrome"

I think I have suffered from this syndrome all my life but never came to realize it until recently.

I am an adventurous person , I love travelling, seeing new places and absorb all the possible experiences. But -there is always a but- each time I am about to start a trip I get an impulsive need to lay down and simply ''not go''!!

It has happened when I was about to come to Spain the first time , the second time , to Madrid , to Barcelona and all the other tiny trips.

I now know that its a very temporary feeling , as soon as I am dressed and I have my backpack ready and am off to the street.

But today I woke up to go to Seville with the girls ,and the feeling was so clear , "I dont want to go". The girls tried to convince me but they could not, they went and I stayed awake , reading a little bit , writing and blogging most of the time.

Later in the evening I wondered: Why -really- did I feel like staying? -Besides being lazy of course- and It was clear inside my head, it is: The Pain of Al-andalus.

I might never ever be able to put this feeling in good words , but I know it in my heart ,,, Al-andalus is taking a good part of my inner peace , the simple idea that I am here -after all those years of longing- but now I feel like I see the things but I cant feel them ,,, Maybe its because Al-andalus is a thing made so we can miss , so we can cry over it in Nostalgy ,, but being there -actually being there- is just weird.

Looking up the mountain and seeing Alhambra every day , walking in the tiny streets of the old muslim neighborhood ,,, being in such a daily contact with those architectural miracles and those old old precious amazing breathtaking days ... all of that is just so exhausting.

One more important point: I cant treat Al-andalus as a field trip, with a bunch of women where we go to laugh , eat , take pictures and go home. They are important rituals for this great legacy and this is why I love the picture above: Its me , alone with the legacy of my ancestors , Alone with the culture , the immense beauty and my very personal and individual Andalusi experience.

Please words : help me take that out to the world to see

A total freak out for one long hour

When I first came to this apartment I thought: Oh my God!! This is just perfect , we cant possibly fight over anything , the girls are very good friends and they are so nice! But then there came the dog!!!! Where the hell would I come up with such a possibility?!!

So today I was checking my facebook from my refugee house - the house of my jordanian friends- and Alicia wrote: Blade -the dogs name- you will always be with me ... and I freaaaaaaked out , that I started looking at ads of empty rooms , then I sent her a message , I asked if blade is really coming to live with us ... I was sad , miserable during an hour or something , because I loved the house and the girls and I felt bad for losing for a dog ,,

Then her answer came : Its just an expression Takwaaaaaaa ,,,,

Yohoooooooooooooooooooooooo

I love my Piso ,,, Alhamdulillah I dont have to go :))))))))))))))))

My Muslim sisters all over the world

Today was a special Friday , like most Fridays ever since I form a part of a religious minority.

A few weeks ago a Christian Jordanian friend told me that its too hard to be a part of minority , but I think that the contrary is right.

In Jordan I belong with everybody , because we are all jordanians , we have a civil bond, and I dont really think about the Islamic bond between me and my Muslim brothers and sisters.

So this Friday I saw a big group of Asian Muslim girls in the mosque , so I went to them and said hello , we started talking and then I asked them if they would like to join the rest of us on our weekly traditional tea shop trip , and they came.

On our way to the tea shop Wafa gave us an explanation about Albayzin neighbourhood , and then we had the cutest three hours of tea , Moroccan sweets and great great stories of 9 amazing Muslim young women who study in a prestigious university in Japan and speak fluent Japanese ,, young women who came in a trip to Granada only to see Alhambra and pray in the new mosque ,,, they are proud of their Islam and they apply it with all its details.

Seeing them pray , read Quran and pronounce Arabic gave me the greatest feeling : I dont form a Minority , I am an international Muslim citizen ,,, Alhamdulillah :)

In my house: There is a DOG!!

Wow!!

Just one Big WOW .... You know when something happens around you and you cant just believe that you are in the middle of it?

Did I ever mention the ''Dog's Culture'' in Spain? Dogs are sacred, their owners love them and the entire world is there bathroom. They pee and shit everywhere , some people are nice enough to collect their dogs' shit afterwards and most people just leave the ''prize'' on the ground , and walking on the streets here makes you look down all the time to avoid an unpleasant incident.

Dogs are numerous, old people always walk with dogs , Hippis walk with 2, 3 , 4 dogs and they walk around WITHOUT a LEASH .. ALL OF THEM .... its horrific , but I just let it go , but today it was the biggest surprise of all : There is a dog in MY OWN house.

Its a long story that goes back in history . Alicia -my favourite flat mate- had a fiancé with whom she raised a 5 hours old puppy until he turned 4 years old , then she broke up with the fiancé and he got to keep the dog ,today the fiance was moving

houses and he needed somebody to take care of the dog for two days so he brought him to our house.

I tried to look but I was beyond disgusted ... seeing his saliva dripping on the floor and on the furniture was too much and when he tried to smell me I freaked out.

I always thought that maybe Islam was too hard on dogs, but with time , and with seeing dogs paws on the ground where I walk barefooted I got to imagine the quantity of dirt , shit , urine , germs and insects they can bring home.

I liked the dog , he is nice and everything but OUTSIDEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Japan: Oh God Oh God Oh God

When I first heard about the erathquake in Japan I thought its one of the usual earthquakes that happen in Japan all the time and nobody really talks about. But when I started seeing the pictures coming from the coast of Japan it just hit me: It happened!!

I cant really express myself ... I have never been to Japan , but the 2 years I spent studying the language and participating in the japanese activities made me feel so in touch with the culture the people , and even the soil that I have never visited. Now what? Japan is brought down ,,, Its Gods well and nothing comes before his well , but it hurts to see the country we always admired in ruins ,,,,

Just the mere Idea that the axis of the entire planet moved 10 cm as a result of the earthquake is horrifying ,,,, it JAPAN ,, our JAPAN ,,, the one we loved while listening to Kiroro songs , watching ''Fireflies cemetery" and "5 cm per second" and as I read Memoirs of a Geisha and The Confessions of a Mask ,,,,

Remember when I used to post ''Daydreaming of Nipon" posts to release my stress? It was the happy place I would go to when I wanna comfort myself ,,, Now , its a lost paradise ,,, I dont know how hard it is , but I know that a third of my beloved Japan is not the same , and that the people we mostly admire are now laying under tons of debris waiting for their bodies to be discovered ,,,

I cant say more now ,,, but I feel terribley sad , not because I am sympathizing with the Japanese people , its because I feel my true part in this true big pain ,, after all we are a little bit Nihon-jin even if we are not THAT fluent.

God Bless you ...
God bless you
God Bless Japan

Emptiness

It has been happening for the last few days ,,, I stopped feeling this way many years ago , it was a moment when I said: Thats is , this is a losers feeling and am not gonna allow it.

I am 21 , its tooooo early for me to be feeling this type of emptiness , I cant have things figured out now!! I just cant!! And when I look around I realize how hard is it for me to fill this void ... its too complicated but yet at the end of the day it bugs me!!!

Mmmm ,,, I dont know exactly what to say but lately I went back to having those ''moments'' , you know , when I am in the bus with a hundred other people but I feel like I am the only one who hears the song thats being played in the radio ... I am the only one who sees the funny people crossing the streets ,, and as I walk I think about a jovial idea and I laugh so I cover my mouth with my hand ,,,, I dont know , what is that?

I dont know If I had ever posted the picture above , but anyway It has an eternal charm , about two lovers who pass by each other and when they look back they have had already disappeared ...

This is the eternal picture of love in my mind ,,,, too sad?

Anyways , I think that this is a natural symptom that happens every year around the time Kazem Esaher releases his new album ,,,, I just listen to him and I get lost in the swirls of a world far far away from this one..

Did I ever talk about Kathem Esaher? He IS the one ,,, he is the one who formed the concept of love , manhood and ''deseo'' for me...

I can never talk enough about him ,,,, I just remember many many days of my childhood with the bends of his voice ,,, I remember myself a vicious impolite barefooted young girl sitting under a tree watching ants and animals ,,, the only thing that would stuff some feeling inside me was his voice,,,, when I was that little girl I used to cry for a vague reason when I listened to him ,,,

What would that thing be? What would make a 8 or 9 years old girl cry for undefined motives?

what is it with Kathem Esaher?

The biggest love of my entire life,,,,,

The song that I liked in my first look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHHDZGVR5OQ

I am sleeping :))))))

After all that time in which I suffered for a good night sleep I am finally sleeping ,,,

I know I have been away from the blog the last couple of weeks , but thats because I am no longer reading and writing in bed ,, I go to bed like everyone else to SLEEP .... I forget about everything in the world and I dose off ,,, ALhamdullilah , recently things have been grat , enshalla I will talk about this in coming posts :)

A thing about Guardiola

This man has a very special charm,,,, even when he is blowing air through his cheeks he is still so handsome and heart touching ,, Goddddddd Its magical how he can be elegant , starting from his perfect suits and ending up with his short , strong and balanced answers in press conferences...

Gran Herman: Some Nationally accepted CRAP!!

Ok ,,,,

So I sat with my flatmates to watch el Gran Hermano , a very popular Spanish Real TV show and this girl won the 12th season.

Look at the picture ,,, just look at the face of the faking bitch she is ,, look at the pouring feelings that fell the screen and make people WATCH EMOTIONALLY!!!!

I have never watched a reality Tv Show in my life but my flat mates told me that this is very popular in Spain , that everybody watches it and that everybody wanna know who is gonna win at the end .

And thats her !! the big foolish bitch who cries on screens , bigs people for compassion and votes , fornicates on a live camera and discards the opinion of her fiance who loved her for 6 years and bought the house for their matrimony and does not care about her disgraced father ,,, this is the type of person who leads the emotions of an entire nation ,,,, this is why this world is going to hell ,,,, yes , because the most stupid and the less given are leading ALL the others!!

This is how she looked when she won , when she jumped like a 5 year old girl and shouted non stop in the cheapest and least elegant way ,,,, What the hell is wrong with the world really!!!

The Pleasure of being a Barcelonista

Tonight my throat hurt for all the shouting I had to shout while watching Barcelonas game with Arsenal.

It was a strong game , with a lot of art and pressure , I was finally watching a game and feeling that overwhelmed about the final score.

Winning is not the issue , but its about the art ,,, all that art with which Messi scored his first goal and Xavi scored the second goal ,,, those are some glorious moments in which I thank God for giving me the chance , the lovely fortunate chance to be a Barcelonista and feel this amazing feeling once a week ,,,

I love you Barcelona ,,, I love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu