My friend Lisa and I were having a discussion about blogs today, and she asked me about some blogs. I said, “she stopped writing. She got married. Which is stupid! Both parts!”

Then Lisa argued with me and thought blogs are a personal space for single people. I said no way! She then told me that when Arab girls marry, that’s it. They throw everything away and become closed in to this new life. Then Lisa said that I will end up the same. I told her NO WAY! If I ever get married, which is slim to none chance now, if the guy does not like this crazy blog of mine, then screw him. That’s rule number one. I don’t want an extravagant house. I want internet connection and my laptop!

Lisa told me that I am just kidden my self for now. I told her no no. I think she is talking about people who only do this for fun. I do this professionally. Blogging is no longer a hobby of mine. It is a place to discuss with other people my life, my points of views, and my bewilderment with the staggering number of stupid people in this world. I think people need to realize that there is a difference between bloggers who just write for fun, and those who are unemployed bums who need money and write passionately about many issues that need to be discussed in this world. So, I need money, and for the past 4 months, this blog has been sustaining me. I got bills to pay people! I am not kidden. I love my blog. I think I passionately write and seriously treat it as a job.

Writing blog posts every day, creating templates, upgrading, enhancing, etc, all take time and effort. I am putting more work into this than I am getting back financially. It’s ok. I enjoy it more than anything in this world. My blog is my baby! If I die, I will pass it to my children! Yah man! I am serious. Have you serious bloggers ever thought about who will inherit your blog? You put so much time and effort into it, who will take it over after you?

Advice, Blah Blah, Random Thoughts, They said what?

Hello, my name is Mona. I was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Since I was born in an Arab nation, it does not mean I hold the citizenship of that country. Since my parents are Palestenian, I am Palestenian too. My parents were not born in Palestine. They were born after 1948 in Lebanon. My parents are the first generation born refugees. They were born in Lebanon, but they are not Lebanese. They were born in an Arab nation, but cannot hold the citizenship of that country.

I was born in 1980. When I was around the age of 4 or 5, my parents would tell me that I am not Saudi, and I never will be. I am Palestenian. I asked them, “why don’t we live in our home land then? My parents answer, “because someone else took it and told us to leave.”

23 years later, people ask me, “why do you have so much hate towards Israelis and Jews?” I answer them simply, “I do not hate Jews. Why would I hate a religion? I do not like politics that speak in the name of religion and make it bad for everyone else. However, why would I like a group of people that made my people leave our land?”

In 1948, over 700,000 Palestinians were forced out of their lands. Now, around 8 million, even more, Palestinians live all over this earth. A small group that live in a city named Gaza, 1.5 million people are blockaded with no food and no medication to enter anymore, and fighting street wars. Why? Neither party gave a reason why they are doing this, and what is the result of it. Neither side is negotiating. They think violence will solve the problems. We Palestinians never surrender, our motto is, “It is either me or my enemy.” However, is that going to solve this problem in the long run? I do not think so. I quit watching the news, and just praying to God that both sides come to their senses and realize that nothing can be resolved with violence.

I pray for the children and women that died unjustly in this pathetic war a place in heaven. Amen.

Advice, Palestine, Random Thoughts

This is a subject that has been bothering me a lot lately. Well, not really bothering me, but annoying me. I just feel people who are not Arabs, and not Muslims have a really different perspective on life. Which is normal, and we open minded Arabs have learned to cope with your life style, why can’t you do the same for us? Once people hear ours, they are completely surprised and sometimes appalled by our actions. It is ok. It is really hard to understand totally different people’s way of life, and only think to your self, “Why are these people backwards or still live in the 19th century?”

I will explain a few things for people who are friends with Arabs or Muslims, and are having a hard time “understanding” them.

Food

A lot of Arabs don’t eat out, or refuse to eat meat from restaurants that are not run by Muslims. That’s their choice; however, they do have a reason.

1. They don’t know if the meat is halal.
2. Halal does not mean it was only handled by a Muslim. On the contrary, Halal means the animal was killed by a Christian, Jew or Muslim. The followers of the holy books.
3. They don’t know what else can be put in the food. A lot of new technologies and preserved food items have some type of pork in it.
4. A lot of meals have some sort of wine in it, and Muslims are not allowed to drink any form of alcohol. Do you hear me you Arabs that drink and go clubbing? If you think pork is Haram, then why the hell do you drink? Isn’t that Haram too?
5. Arabs love their food, and they want to eat it without having to feel guilty or unsure of what they ate.

I always have arguments with non-Muslims about the whole pork thing. I just say, “well, Jews don’t eat it too. Does that mean anything to you? Don’t you think it is weird that 2 out of the 3 main religions in the world don’t eat it?” You know what they reply back saying? They tell me, “well, Jews and Muslims all decedents of the prophet Abraham and lived near each other. That’s why.” Is that really a justification of why? Where the heck did the prophet Jesus came from? The moon?

Marriage

Obviously, in the rapidly evolving and crazy social lifestyle we live in, people will never understand why we are still this way. Maybe our culture and religion is a bit hmm, what’s that word, what’s that crazy word, ahh, conservative! Why are we still conservative in such an era? Dude, people, give me a break. People who follow the religion properly are conservative. Any religion for that matter.

So what’s the difference?

1. We Arabs/Muslims don’t live with someone if we are not married to them.
2. We don’t do anything that is considered sinful before marriage.
3. Most Arabs/Muslims don’t even kiss if they are not married.
4. Some Arabs/Muslims get married spontaneously without having a million relationships before, and think we have to work out things and make sure they are the one before hand. Screw that. How many people who had long term relationships actually ended up married? There is no such thing as love. Look at me for example. I am a living example.
5. Not all Arabs/Muslims have arranged marriages. Some meet, get to know each other for a bit, and decide they are suitable. All this takes place within weeks, sometimes a couple of months, and that’s it.
6. Because you know an Arab/Muslim who’s life is the same life as yours, doesn’t mean he/she represent the rest of us. So don’t be surprised.

Religion

1. We believe in yours! We believe in the prophet Jesus and prophet Moses! Why do you go in shock when we tell you that we consider them prophets too?
2. We believe in the same God! We just call him Allah. Same thing. We just speak another language. That’s all.
3. A true Muslim must believe in Christianity and Judaism. You would be surprised how much of those two religions are mentioned in our holy book, the Quran. Hmm, I think almost all of it!

My Questions to you (Non-Arabs or non-Muslims)

1. If you no longer call your self a Christian or go to Church, or believe in it at all, why do you celebrate Christmas? Just for the presents and a tree?
2. Aren’t Christians supposed to fast before Easter? I think Catholics do.
3. Why do you think Muslims are extremist and dress oddly with huge long beards? Some religious Jews have long beards too. Yah.. go check.
4. Have you seen what the Pope and other religious leaders wear? Robes? Big huge hats? Carry a scepter or it is a long cane? I could never tell. What do you make of that?

Advice, Culture, Religion, They said what?

I am not sure why in the world people think you hate them because you disagree with them. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing. There is nothing wrong with giving your point of view instead, but in a constructive and non-insulting manner. It doesn’t make you stubborn, but open to new ideas and different thoughts.

I have no reason to agree with you all the time. Really, I don’t have to. Most of the time I probably won’t. Why? Because I am a different person. I have different thoughts and perceive life in a different way. Since I don’t agree with you, does not mean I will not listen to you, but I have every reason to reply back. I have every right to say what I feel should be said to correct you, or to tell my side of the story.

That’s why we are individual people. Can you imagine if we all agreed on the same things all the time? My God! The Utopian life! Too bad, reality is not like that, so learn to accept my point of view, and LISTEN!

Advice, Blah Blah, They said what?, Whatever!

This is not a depressing post… Oh yeah it is. It is about my life. Obviously depressing.

Only 7 days till I turn 28. Yes. A nice even number. Not like 27 and its oddity. Like it makes a difference anyways. Just numbers, and also a waste of life. I can officially say that I am at the edge of my 20′s. I feel like I wasted what supposedly is the best years of my life. However, nothing turns out the way those story books portray life to be. Who cares about my age really. I think I bypassed that point when I turned 25, and suffered from a quarter life crisis. Oh it was not pretty. Can you imagine Mona being 50? Not a pretty sight.

Now, I guess because I am free, and I have too much time on my hand, I keep thinking, how does it feel to like someone again? I mean it. How does it feel to be in love again. Yes. Look at me. I am using that awful word again. Love. Till now I don’t believe in it like I used to, because I think it is like a whirlpool. It keeps spinning and spinning and carrying everything on its edges. And when the whirlpool stops, Bam! Everything falls.

It’s nice to see other people in love. It really is. It means there is hope that life is not so bad, and good things do come out of it. However, do you know what is worse? Seeing other people have depressing stories and asking for guidance. Or they think that I have “experience.” Whatever the hell that means. Many people ask me why it ended. And I repeatedly say, read the friggen blog. Read Year 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and don’t skip a month! It means read the whole thing, and then ask me. I am like this really bad person when it comes to answering questions, because I feel that I cannot elaborate again what I already said. So if I have not replied to your email the past week, don’t take it personally, because I used to suffer from depression.

A few days ago, I got people asking me why I hate guys. When did I ever say that? I make fun of everyone. Especially guys, and for a flavor, girls. I guess I covered both genders. There are equal opportunities to make fun of both all the time.

However, I don’t know how to love anymore. You know, love someone else, and go through all the steps. I think it is childish, or just not something I want to go through all over again. It’s like writing a huge ass thesis, and you accidentally delete it, and don’t know where to start now. Should you start all over or bang your head and hoping the agony is not as bad as what the upcoming inevitable consequences are?

Maybe I am just lonely, and it finally got to me. I am just realizing it now that I am, and I don’t know what I can do to stop this feeling. I think right now I am suffering from a bit of depression. But don’t worry. It is not so bad. I am fine. I have not gone to any shrink. I have not taken any drugs. I have not suffered from insomnia (thank God!). I am just suffering from this thing, and I cannot add any sarcastic comment to relieve this feeling.

Advice, Depressed