First Teaching Experience

Day 1
May, 30th.

One of my many summer plans is teaching English for the first time at a summer school. I was originally assigned to teach an older age group (from 12-16) but yesterday's class changed my agenda.

Ahmed: Will we have English tomorrow as well?
Me: No, it's just for today.
Ahmed: Why, did we annoy you Ms..?

How could I have said no to that? I agreed and so I'd be working twice a day, morning and noon. Turned out, I have more than 0.00% patience... I've always said that teaching kids is a sacrifice, one that I choose to take this time. At the beginning, I was afraid of losing it, especially if we're talking about 4-6 years old kids..but things are going pretty smoothly.

Kids, at this stage, are so smart and attentive and molding their skills from now on is a huge responsibility. I never imagined that teaching can be so hard but as long as you're having fun and the kids are too then that's what really matters.

As for tomorrow, I'd be meeting the older students and might start out with a small language level test. Stay tuned for later updates!

Note: This series of posts are dedicated to @toxic_honey and @developar

[Movie] Shrek Forever After (2010)

This being my first experience in watching films in 3D, I was pretty impressed. I've loved the ugly green ogre's story and have watched the 3 previous parts and it saddens me that the tale came to an end with Shrek Forever After. I can't deny that I had great expectations for this one as it's the ending chapter.

It was, one way or the other, a fantastic journey where Shrek realizes the value of Fiona and his new life after rescuing her from the tower in the first movie. At the beginning of the movie, he did not like how predictable his life became and the fact that no one fears him anymore.


Rumpelstiltskin, on the other hand, fantasizes the non-existence of Shrek and getting the keys to Far Far Away kingdom that he gets the right chance to wow Shrek into signing a life-changing deal….

After this, things go back to how it would be like if he didn’t save Fiona and when people are afraid of him…but that joy stops to an end when he couldn’t have Fiona’s love or his children and friends.

He then sets off to help Fiona, the leader of a group of ogres, and wins her heart back.

The movie’s animation was pretty awesome but had a somewhat weak storyline. It gets a 7/10 from me. You can catch it at Cinema AlShatti or book your tickets online from here.

Also, on one of the scences, a character (Donkey or Puss, I can't exactly remember) sang One Love by Jason Mraz (originally by Bob Marley). I absolutely adore this song so I'll leave you with it..

American Idol Results Are In

I've been rooting for Lee DeWyze ever since the auditions. And just last night, he was crowned as America's Idol by getting more votes than Crystal Bowersox. Besides, Lee's deep voice reminds me of Chad Kroeger's and I'm a huge fan of both of them now.

I've never watched this show before...but I was hooked on it since the beginning of this season for two reasons; Simon's attitude and Lee DeWyze.

Waiting for his own upcoming albums and songs!

The finale's results;

Lee singing Hallelujah;

This years best performances were,

Katie Stevens singing Let It Be by the Beatles;


Didi Benami singing Playing With Fire by Rolling Stones;

New Hope For Tourette Syndrome Patients

The Doctors episode on Life-Changing Procedures featured Tyler Boshae with Tourette's Syndrome. Read more about him here.

This video contains some disturbing footage of Tyler suffering from his uncontrollable tics..

After the Deep Brain Stimulation surgery, he now has a better quality of life and as he put it, "I want to emphasize that this procedure, it's groundbreaking, it's life-changing, but it's not a cure. It didn't take my condition away completely. It gave me a much higher quality of life, almost a complete flip, but I still have bad days, I still have hard times. My tics still kick up a lot, but this procedure has made it so much more manageable, enjoyable, and I'm able to enjoy being with my family now, and can be with my friends and do activities. It's great."

Watch this video to know how life-changing this was for him.

During the procedure, an electrode was implanted in the thalamus part of the brain (where the electrical impulses and sensory information are interpreted). After surgery, electricity was used to stimulate certain parts of the thalamus and control the cells that cause these painful and unmanageable tics.

If you want to help the foundation Tyler created, click here.

This story reminded me of a non-fiction I read (Torn Apart by James Patterson and Hal Friedman) based on Corey's rough childhood. When reading it, I couldn't imagine how hard this must be. But pictures speak a thousand words..

Allah gave us many gifts and the most important of all is health. We complain a lot but our sadness doesn't stand a chance near the miseries other disabled people suffer from.

The least we can do is thank God for what he's given us...and see the large picture..

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قال تعالى :
"لَئن شكَرتم لأزِيدنكم"
- سورة إبراهيم، اية رقم: 7


"And remember! your Lord caused to be declared (publicly): "If ye are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you; But if ye show ingratitude, truly My punishment is terrible indeed."
- Surat Ibrahim, verse no. 7

Too Honest

‘Keep things to yourself. If you don’t like something then don’t say it’.

Yesterday’s drama with my friends struck me like a lightening. They all ganged up on me about how straight-forward I am. Why? When did honesty became a crime? Am I not supposed to speak up my mind? Should I hold it in? Do you want me to talk behind your back as it easier for you?

Well, no. I say what I think of you in front of your face. I do not care if you think I am a cold-hearted girl if I did so.

The whole fiasco was about online love. I simply stated the obvious, or rather my thought about the matter. You can’t call a relation with a total stranger ‘love’. What’s up with that? They accused me of generalizing. Excuse me if that’s the truth. Why, is it so hard to accept the fact that this is just a teenage crush…that most of us, teenagers, went through someday?

Again, they also said that just because I haven’t been in love doesn’t mean hers isn’t real. Being in love or not, it’s a no brainer that this doesn’t work in the real world. Especially if he’s a Japanese dude whom you’re planning to marry.

Then, the table turned on my persona and how I use ‘difficult’ English to communicate with them, thinking that they’re all as nerdy as I am. When in fact, there’s no simpler English than mine.

That out my mind, I am counting the days till summer …

Note: Blogging is a good venting machine.

Complex Creatures

Humans are complex creatures; the most curious of all. We have different reactions and thoughts. Various shapes, sizes, heights and body and we are not the same on the inside.

(1) What if our thoughts could be heard by everyone? Would it be easier to get around or?

(2) ‘Knowledge will get you everywhere’ they keep saying. What if, from your personal experience, it doesn’t? What if you had no money? Will you be able to live happily ever after? Of course not. Both of them balance each other.

(3) We wish to own all the money in the world to do this or that…you name it. But will we be able to do all of that if the power took us down?

(4) They say ‘work hard to reach your goals’. What if you didn’t? What do you do then? Work less and expect more? We don’t know… unless we try.

(5) ‘Learn from others’ mistakes’ they also say. And there’s a contradicting saying as well ‘failure is the key to success’…What’s that all about? Which is the perfect way of learning?

(6) When we were brought into this world, we came out crying. As babies, we already knew life will be difficult. Whenever we wanted to get attention for food or something else we would cry. Ever wondered why we cry too when we are beaten up? It’s the pain. And when we didn’t even make sense of things back then, we were in pain. It’s all the same, at the end of the day.

When you grow old, you realize this pain. But as kids, we couldn’t spell the word pain, let alone understand what it stands for.

Realization of the pain increases it. This is why our mothers pierce our ears straight from the first few months it self. We do not know that it causes pain; we only know when it does.

Once you are all grown up, you become a different person. And when you look back to your family’s pictures albums you realize that the baby with an adorable smile full of innocence was you though aren’t anymore.

(7) We make promises then break them. Make more promises and break some more. When will we ever stick to our word? We expect others to, don’t we? Why don’t we apply it to ourselves first? Is it too much to ask?

(8) Humans think about their own self. We’re selfish creatures that put our business as a priority and no one should deny that. We deny other lots of things, like the fact that we cannot control our thoughts. We say ‘this thing won’t come out of my mind’. You don’t want it to. It all comes, one way or the other, to you.

(9) ‘I’ve been in this situation before’, we often say to ease other individuals sadness. We do it to help them, or do we, really? No. You haven’t been in the situation. Why? You haven’t exactly been in this particular one, have you now? No and never will. Each one of us goes through different stages, phases or whatever you want to call it, and even if they look and sound similar, they are actually not.

(10) The phrase ‘I’d die for you’ is an exaggeration, a lie. You can’t die for someone. No one can. You only die when you…actually die.

Written by me; a complex creature.

My [Birth]day

Some years back, on this particular day, I was born.

Back when things were all HUGE, I used to think very little of things and had shallow, stupid observations.

(1) I'd turn off the TV if I had to go outside, thinking that when I return, I'd continue watching my cartoon from where I paused it. Switching off the TV meant pausing the movie to me.

(2) Remote controls were fascinating devices to me. I had the idea of the presence of an invisible wire, linking the remote control to the TV or whatever.

(3) I thought I only grew older at my birthdays. When in fact, I grow older by the passage of a second.

(4) Grown-ups using calculators in a Math exam meant cheating. What's the purpose of a maths exam if you have all the answers? At the time, I didn't (and still haven't) learned the multiplication table. Sue me.

To stop your curiousity or spare you from asking me to enjoy my BIG day, this is how I usually spend my birthday:

• Getting all anxious on April.
• Not quiet getting that it's actually May.
• Waiting till the clock strike 12:01 PM.
• Hugging my sister.
• Start noting down what changed in the course of the previous 16th of May.
• I'd fret over the fact that it IS my birthday today and expect others to be as pimped up as I am.
• Sleep it off.
• Dream of performing the same rituals at the up-coming 16th of May.

Fun, isn't it?

On a serious note, I consider my birthday as the new year. It's where you get older by a year and where you know that on this same day you were born, except, you're not the same anymore. You're the same child that was brought into this world crying. No. You're a completely different person than who you were and you will always be one.

Disclaimer: Nope, I did not actually stay up to 12 PM to post this. This was one of those 'scheduled' posts that I love typing before.

[Movie] Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

(Yep, those are meatballs falling right from the sky!)

The movie starts out nicely, very typically, I should say: Flint, a geek guy wants to become a famous inventor. He dreams of wearing his white coat right from first grade. Over the years, his inventions failed over and over again, but he kept going.

His mother was the only one who believed him, besides his own self.

His father, on the other hand, wanted Flint to work with him, in running the sardines shop they owned. The town, in the movie, relied on sardines as a food resource alone. Funny glimpses of salmon usage were portrayed at the beginning that even babies were fed on it.

On a public event of opening Baby Brent’s little area, Flint decides to use the town’s power supply. And that’s when it all starts….Suddenly, the machine Flint invented (somehow) sticks somewhere over the clouds and start releasing large amounts of Burgers. (Literally!)

People went crazy and Flint was then engrossed with the media’s attention as this was what he always dreamed of. He then gets requests to deliver this or that type of food three times a day and it was like heaven for the kiddos. (Doughnuts and ice creams! Yummy!)


But then things take a new course when the demand rises, causing the machine to release an even bigger amount of food that corrupted the little town.

Flint, his friend Sam and Brent set together with the aim of removing off the machine once and for all...they set out high and flew over to the machine that was covered with a thick layer of large food.


The movie, which I had fun watching with my friends at class was ridiculously cute and hilarious. Hence the amount of photos I used on this post. I'd give it a 9/10.

Before sitting for this movie, help yourself with pasta or something seriously edible and delicious so that you won't get all sorts of cravings like I did (And in my case, I had to go and search for Dunkin Donuts in 3 different Selects after watching the movie, but I couldn't find any)

Speaking of cravings, I've been craving Canada Dry which used to be and still is my favourite drink but since Babu ran out of it, I am now addicted to 7 Up (Sugar Free)...What's your favourite summer drink?

I Got Married In...

...my dream.

According to my latest dream, I am married to a nice guy whom I’ve never met before. As opposed to me, he was aware of us getting married and I even doubt that he’d proposed to my Dad without my knowing.

I walked through the aisle, passing by the guests – a few number of family members – and climbed the stairs leading to the stage. I stood there, dumbstruck. Before all of this, I took a good look at what I was wearing: the most gorgeous wedding gown that fitted me perfectly well but also, I hated it because of the many laces dangling from its every side (Laces are not my thing!)

Something like this with laces all over

I wasn’t exactly sure of my to-be husband’s identity and when he came, he too, wore hideous clothes that weren’t wedding material at all: a purple jersey, jeans and to make it all the more worse, he had the guts to pull it off with a cap.

I couldn’t hide my astonishment, and so, couldn’t hear what my parents were talking about. My Dad then gave us the permission to head to our home. The most amazing and strangest thing happened then: While I was trying to remember if I ever met this guy before…he locked my hands in his, and when I felt the chemistry, I stared blankly at him but he gave me the coolest and loveliest smile (a grin, somewhat) ever.

There were some missing parts in the whole drama, though.
1) I did not have any clue about my own marriage.
2) My sister wasn’t there.
3) There weren’t any music on.
4) The guy knew me while I did not.
5) How come my parents never took my opinion in this?

And another endless list, but the fact that I dreamed of a wedding (my wedding, to be exact) tops them all.

Note: Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't thinking of getting married during the day.

Let Us Talk This Over

When a certain person comes over and claims that you have done this or that, you would either start to fight back or keep quiet and take full responsibility for something that you have never done or simply say sorry to cool the person's nerves. After all, you get to pick which attitude to take, although, you can't exactly handle the rage building up in the mad person yelling for no reason.

I was extremely shocked of a teacher, shouting at the top of her lungs on a student for a silly reason that she, alone, wasn't so sure of yet. After shutting the door behind her, the teacher stormed off, leaving a useless threat on the clueless student who had just

The student, who is a classmate of mine, was bewildered. The other teacher who was present at the time at class looked rather speechless and astonished. I couldn't help but wonder about his thoughts, if this is enough for him to assume that all Arabs are lacking the element of understanding and talking things out and perhaps my assumption was actually right.

I've noticed from my personal experience, how ignorant some of us can be when being in such situations. We sometimes talk nonsense when we are supposed to be listening to others point of view, in the first place.

Islam taught us to treat others the way we like to be treated or even better. So, an understanding should have been there between the two parties.

Listen to the other story then tell your own if we are all willing to grow in an educated society, and not to forget, to set a good example for the next generation based on good communication between one another.

May's Around The Corner

You know how every time you log on Blogger to find out who blogged and who didn’t? And on every noon, you find a new post by kitten? You wonder how bored this girl is to post regularly yet here she is to tell you the truth.

I’ve missed blogging, and on weekends, I steal few minutes that can reach up to hours in order to write up my thoughts and schedule their appearance on this particular blog. What’s a better idea to revive your blog than this one?

Anyways, tomorrow’s post might be the last one as these final days of April are all about getting ready for IGCSE exams which start on May 11th.

For now, listen to this heartbreaking song that was featured in My Sister’s Keeper (You can watch it on OSN Cinema 2 throughout this week).

♫ Something in your eyes, makes me wanna lose myself ♫

[Book Review] حسن والمانجو

A short story I have recently read called 'Hassan and Mango' in Arabic that was distributed by the Rikaz campaign (and written by Abdulkareem Alshatti). At first, the title sounded silly and uninteresting at all, but why not? Is the question we should ask ourselves before judging the book by its cover.

There was a young man who loved visiting his rich friend, Hassan both for his friendship and the delicious mango Hassan's Dad brought from all around the world.

The writer wrote various sayings (or rather conclusions), explaining his thoughts;

(1) If your father was working late at work then know that he's earning extra cash to assist your family.
(2) Wealth doesn't necessarily buy you Mangos but it gifts it to you.
(3) When you're rich, you become useless.
(4) You have to be smart to become rich with lots of properties and this needs serious work with a respective certificate.

His role model was Hassan's Dad, who enjoyed spending his day at work, discussing topics that weren't of the writer's interest and reading intriguing books with deep meanings. Hassan's Dad behaviour was curious as the writer never understood why a rich person would benefit from socializing with people when he already has the money he needs.

Both friends entered college, and still the dream of becoming rich someday, haunted the writer so he decided to work at a restaurant as a waitress. The other day, he was surprised that Hassan did the exact same thing. The writer earned for tips, but Hassan wasted his time in helping old people, talking with this or that without getting paid. This sounded ridiculous to the writer. Why would you take an extra-time at work for nothing?

When Hassan was asked the same thing, his reply was this: This is the joy in life, it's of being responsible of anything, no matter how small or big it is…to feel the starvation of poor people or injustice that others are suffering from. If you chose to live for yourself, then selfishness would surely kill you.

The two grew old, got married and had kids. The writer was still engrossed in ways of becoming richer by the day while Hassan majored in weird, useless things (according to the writer) such as volunteer work, lectures world wide about safety, etc.

Even though, the writer felt proud of his achievements and reminded himself of how far he got to and that there is absolutely no reason to feel jealous of Hassan anymore but…

One day, the writer visited Hassan and rare types of mangos were presented. The writer could not get it. How come no one sends HIM these types of mangos from all around the world? But that's where he found his answers…

Hassan is now an educated man, who gets called to present lectures world wide…
Hassan now has lots of charity institutes that add up in his good deeds…
Hassan now is surrounded with a great deal of people that loves him…
Hassan now gains a good number of money thanks to the charity events he hosted…

'Hassan is a human being while I am just a rich man with nothing to add up on this world. I am just a consumer on this earth'.

Finally, he noted down the last and most important conclusion;

(5) To be happy, being rich isn't enough, but you have to be part of the society.

Throughout the book, the writer kept describing his special cravings to delicious types of mangos and I found it silly. I didn't like the title of the book as it doesn't give it much, but then realized that this whole thing started with mangos. If the writer wasn't so interested in tasting Mango, he wouldn't be able to connect with his situation and appreciate what he has.

You realize through Hassan's behaviour that being rich isn't everything. In order to get everything else, you have to be a human first, by acting like it.

Rating: 6/10, considering how short it was.

Child Neglect

A recent TV show had a very interesting topic about Child Neglect. It was about a story of a neglected 4 years old girl who was found living in a dirty house full of mosquitoes, cockroaches and was not wearing anything but old diapers. Child service agency in America took a stand and sued the mother who denied the charges and said she only did what she could.

The girl was then adopted by two loving parents that worked hard to provide the healthy environment any child needs. Although, the young girl cannot talk, or comprehend things like a normal 9 years old. She acts as a 2 years old child due to the neglect she received through her rough childhood.

Medical studies show that a neglected child's brain is not as big as a normal one. The brain's size doesn’t shrink; it only stays put and cannot develop any further.

Abandoning a child will stop the process of development both physically and mentally. A physical connection should be there to the children at the early ages so that he could grow healthier. These means of communication includes hugging, eye contact, and simply talking.

A living proof of the girl we talked about earlier; Daniel who could not speak any words at all. But if she did, that would be her last time repeating it. 'It's like she can't reach the place where these words are stored in her brain' says her foster parents.

Also, Daniel had weird tics at first, like rocking herself, throwing fits 8 times a day and crying. Besides, once taken out of her old home, she had constant nightmares of her old house where she suddenly felt terrified of everything.

This is yet another true story of real life issues that the world suffers from. Education is the key role in solving all of this, I believe, and a keen understanding of parenting responsibilities as well.

When You Hit The Turning Point

August 09 was the turning point for me. It is when my ex-housemaid got caught sneaking the things she stole from our house and ended up in jail.

I was awaken up by the sudden tension burning in the house, but little did I know that this is where years of relaxation and being served ended and the path of troubles and chores began. My siblings and I used to count on our housemaid to do this or that for us. If there was something missing, the maid will surely know where it is or how to find it… Something goes wrong at home, and she'll fix it. That's how dependent we were on her.

After this dramatic act, my parents wholly agreed on not letting any maid set foot in the house because of what happened earlier, and to that, my siblings and I objected strongly. How the hell were we going to live? Did they want us to die out of starvation?
Though the answer was crystal clear and we were blindfolded on the mere fact of accepting it: We are going to relay on ourselves from now on.

Days of complaints began…I would do the work I was assigned to do with such disgust and tiredness. I even faked sickness all the time to avoid any chores that would ruin my day's agenda and make me ache all night.

My mother accepted this with a warm and patient heart, filled with regret for somewhat spoiling us for the past years. We were not trained to cook, wash the dishes, clean the house, do the laundry, etc… We were trained to simply wait for all of these to be set for us. I thought of this as a punishment at first…and was furious on the fact that my mom was putting the blame on us. It did not seem reasonable to me; why would she do such thing when we are her little dearest? WHY?

We worked full-time around the house, cleaning or washing, it did not matter as long as the house shined with perfection. While working, we complained, complained and complained endlessly till reality hit us: It is going to be like this for as long as we live. So we can run away this time but we cannot hide forever.

Soon (though I could not imagine we would) we adapted to the current situation. We agreed to work without being told to. To help with others' assignment as it means the same thing at the end; get the job done and that's that.

In these past eight months we learned the importance of responsibility, self-respect, co-operation and most importantly, self-discipline.

Note: If you are wondering if my ex-maid is still in jail, then yes, she still is in for a year and a half.