The following interesting guest post was written by Mouad alias Emomo.

Finally Mouad!! Something in English since your blog is French. The rest of us can understand because some of us (me) only know bonjour, madam and croissant!

He wrote:

“I am strange one…in their standard!

I wish to thank my host Mona to give me a tribune to speak. So, my first (& I hope not the last) contribution is something personal about me (Such kind of egoism )

Question: what’s the fact that someone is considered as strange? Maybe he’s very brilliant for his ideas or a nutty guy. It depends on space & time and there’re a lot of people who were considered as crazy or avant-garde for their conterperaries & others whose madness made such a kind of mess. So, what’s my place in this topic?

Since my childhood, I had to face comments from people inside or outside family because of opinions, behavours or way of thinking. Positive opinions? I’m very smart, intelligent & naive. Negative ones? Crazy & too much cherished. Let’s be frank: I am the elder of my 2 brothers & my sister. So, in positive or negative, I’m the scout or laboratory white mouse, at least what I think.

While neighours’ kids were playing football or fireworks, I hardly went outside alone. My family thought it was a good method as it won’t influence badly on my behavour and my education. Result: even though I was good in scolarity, my social smartness wasn’t enough developed. Result: After passing from elementary studies in a private school to a public junior high school known in French “Collège” (Moroccan educational system is copied from French one), I had a real cultural shock with brutal students & slang, especially related to sex. So, during junior high school & later in high school where our class was boys only, I had to resist to moral & physical bullying while managing in my studies. Since then, I discovered that I’m living in such a dangerous social jungle :s Even now, my brothers & my sister are mocking of me due to my social lacking. Maybe that explain why I have no fiancée yet while colleagues of my business school or others already became parents.

Ok, I bet you’re saying:”So, what are things which make you different in a way you look like an alien from Europe or planet Krypton?” Well, here are some examples:

* Since I live alone in Agadir, I decided to begin a primary separation of garbage. It’s not easy especially with printer cartridges which many people throw it with domestic garbage or outside. Few people encouraged me in this initiative. “Hey, you’re in Morocco, not in Sweden!”.

* Many people think that money resolve anything, especially bribing. I remember one day I disliked the way a member of my family had done with a nurse to take care of my lost granmother when she was in a clinic & gave him some money as a way to take care of her. A young boy from maternal branch told me: “This is how people deal”. So you can say to hell transparency & civism.

* About religion: People, by the power satellite dishes & Internet, became experts of Islam. Practicing religion or not is a personal matter from my opinion. But sometimes some of them are exaggerating in some aspects: putting religious stickers in their car’s back glasses or switching to putting on channels broadcasting only koran (Now most TV stations became TV servers as we see just non-live programs!) or even wearing the…I won’t say Islamic wear!…It’s a mixture of Afghan wear with sneakers & long socks (!) I won’t say about some women wearing niqab hiding their face or not (Moroccans call them “Ninja” & me “Belphegor”). The funniest thing is that you can see a young couple walking together with these stuffs. Sometimes I ask myself whther they use it as disguise or really married. Although people show themselves religious, but some of them don’t some ethical aspects related to Islam as saying truth or avoiding gossips & hypocrisy. Not surprised if the problem is not religion but people. Thank you wahabbism & petrodollars!

And there many, many, many stuffs that make me very angry to despair!! Waiting for the day people will revise themselves & stop making silliness. Maybe they’ll do it one day: tomorrow or in 200 years”

Mona’s commentary to Mouad’s post:

1. I learned about sex in science class in middle school.
2. I lived a sheltered life as well, but I broke out of it when I realized that I am stubborn as a goat and not normal.
3. I don’t watch TV much. It’s all a bunch of crap censored or extremely exaggerated by the station’s owner.
4. I still watch cartoons because adults suck!

Guest Post, They said what?, Visitor Taking Over, Whatever!

This is part three of the year end manifestation of the life of my blog.

My blog this year won so many awards, that I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count them! NOT!! (Didn’t I sound cheesy and dorky like the rest of the bloggers out there?) But yes, my blog won a lot of invisible mind boggling awards. I won people’s readerships. That’s the biggest award I can get as a blogger. I don’t care about best blog, or best writer, or best anything. Who cares? It’s like winning a virtual banner to advertise someone else’s bright idea that started the campaign.

Really, if the prize was money based, then people will be all over it! I would be so all over it!

So, I am gonna list the top blog posts this year by comments, my favorites, and ones that I should have never published, but found their way online cause of my insomnia or excessive amounts of coffee!

Top Blog Posts 2009 | Comments & Reactions

1. April 28, 2009 | It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a conspiracy theory!
2. June 7, 2009 | The Arab Blogorette
3. June 16, 2009 | I think it is time for change!
4. August 25, 2009 | Why are Muslims turning Atheists?
5. August 30, 2009 | Analysis: It is much harder to get rid of her
6. September 7, 2009 | Arabs marrying non-Arabs
7. September 18, 2009 | Window shopping for a bride
8. October 27, 2009 | Symbols of being different

Top Blog Posts 2009 | Monaism & Love

1. January 15, 2009 | Are good people always the victims of life?
2. March 31, 2009 | How accurate is this?
3. April 20, 2009 | Airports think I am a perv!
4. May 21, 2009 | A way to relieve stress
5. July 15, 2009 | Teaching a child the basics of the internet world
6. September 6, 2009 | No Comment
7. September 24, 2009 | I am sick and tired of looking for work!!! NO MORE!
8. December 4, 2009 | The typicals
9. December 26, 2009 | I am the master of my choices

Top Blog Pots 2009 | Those That Should Have Never Been

1. January 28, 2009 | The blogging world is run by monkeys
2. May 4, 2009 | I thought I held the title of taking things too seriously
3. June 20, 2009 | The media has been following me for over two decades
4. September 26, 2009 | I don’t like talking about sex in public

Advertising, Advice, Angry, Blah Blah, Blog Review, Categorize this!, Confused, Contest, Culture, Depressed, Facebook, Funny, Geeky, Guest Post, Happy, Idiots, Interview, My taste of Music, Palestine, Programming, Random Thoughts, Ranting as usual!, Recipes/Food, Religion, Sleepy Post, Squibby, Tagged, Thank you, They said what?, Travel, Tweets, Video, Videocast, Visitor Taking Over, Whatever!

One of the joys of being a blogger is people’s perception of who I am through the words that I write. I love it when people email me saying, “Hey Mona! I know how you feel.” Or “Hey Mona, I am going through the same problems, but I never thought someone else would discuss them or understand them.”

Side Thought

This morning, a guy emailed me asking if my real name is Mona, and I will say this for the last time, “Yes, my real name is Mona! MONA! MONA!” I am not hiding who I am! In Arabic my name means: A wish or desire. In Italian it means: Lady. Hence, Lady Lisa or Mona Lisa. In Irish or Gaelic it means: A Nobel One. So no, it is not a blog name. It is my name, and I appreciate that my mother named me Mona. (She would be happy that I appreciate anything!)

Down Memory Lane

One time, an Iraqi girl that I knew at University asked me this silly question, “Why are your eyes like this? You look like a REAL Arab!” You should have seen my face after she said that. Because I was in shock, I couldn’t reply to her silly and obvious question. I am an Arab. I look like a real Arab. I have olive dark skin, dark brown hair, and brown big almond shaped eyes. I look like my ancestors and the people that came from the middle east. I am an Arab. Even if I try to hide it, to never speak Arabic again, and to change my first and last name, I will always carry not only the outer look, but the blood of an Arab.

I am an Arab. Dammit people! Say it you Arabs out there reading this now: I AM AN ARAB!

Ambassador to Them!

This evening, I got a cute email from one of my favorite Blog Watchers named Incandescent Chimera (Sarah) saying this about me on her blog,

Rebellious Arab Girl is a unique blogger named Mona, who resides in Canada. She is outspoken, self-expressive, deep, honest and digs right to the core of issues surrounding Arabs and her environment. Not only is she a spokesperson and an ambassador to us as Arab youth but as a character who stands out in your typical Arab community. She is down-to-earth and represents a mirror of hope for Arabs who are constantly bombarded with many issues in the environment such as marriage, ethnicity and religious identity. She is a strong character and her blog’s outspokenness which some conservatives may find controversial is a mirror of harsh reality and truthfulness about the pressures we endure in our society. Her blog has made a marvelous unique stance against many social norms and stereotypes we are constantly labelled with frequently. Moreover, it paints a picture about Arab survival and coping mechanisms in the western world. She is indeed an inspiration to all Arab youth and her views lack controversy and contradictions unlike many of us who are constantly faced with social dilemmas we fail to represent or combat appropriately. I strongly urge anyone who is failing to understand Arabs to look at her as an ambassador for all of us. Her topics range from typical daily rants, observations and a straightforward analysis of the truth in simple words. Her writing and composition is indeed beautiful, simple, meaningful and greatly triumphs you into the 21st century life of a typical western Arab who never compromises her values or her identity from back home.

I wrote this because her birthday is coming up and she needs to recognise and be well aware of her achievements and deep influence on the younger generation of Arabs particularly those living in the West. Happy Birthday, Mona! We love you! Keep writing and keep inspiring us to move forward~ Love you always. -Sarah

Sarah lives in the other side of the world. I never met her. I don’t know how she sounds like in real life. I don’t know her habits and the way she acts, but somehow, she figured me out. I think I need to spend more time reading other blogs and understand people too. That’s my other problem as a blogger, no time to talk to other bloggers, but they know everything about me and want to know me more. Sarah and the rest, my new year’s resolution for 2010 is to be a better social networker. I don’t promise I will improve quickly, but I promise I will try to get to know other people that actually like me for who I am.

Internet, what a beautiful invention.

Blah Blah, Thank you, They said what?, Visitor Taking Over

I have been receiving such abrasive emails and comments lately. However, I was not sure what I can categorize them as. I don’t even want to reply to any because I feel they are a waste of human time to even bother with.

So, if I didn’t reply to your emails, I either skimmed through them and I forgot, or didn’t want to bother continuing an argument with someone I will 100% never talk to or see in my life.

I keep wondering why people think the way they think. Is it a cultural thing, or a religious thing? Both are confusing me, because I am not sure why people cannot make up their minds in trying to justify a point by choosing one or the other. Most of them resort to an answer that satisfies themselves anyways. So, why can’t they stop trying to justify things based on culture or religion, if they are really only satisfying their own beliefs?

The Never Ending Melodramatic Tunes

People ask me the same things over and over:

• Why do I say the things I say, am I Muslim? Muslims don’t say such things.
• Why do I have such conservative Islamic thoughts if I don’t wear the head veil? You are only Muslim and have such thoughts if you wear one.
• Why do I attack culture and I should be proud of it instead? You can only be Arab and use that name if you are proud of it.
• If I am Palestinian, then why don’t I dedicate my blog to talking about Palestine and the genocides instead of about me? This site is too popular and always first on Google and have to be dedicated to Palestine, and not me.
• Why do I have non-Arabs commenting on my site and me siding with them? Arabs only talk, listen, and agree to other Arab’s thoughts.
• People blame me for hate towards something that I don’t hate at all, and start mocking me physically, mentally, my entire family, and think they know me more than I know my self. Too much time on their hands, and they do it because they cannot stand people doing it to them. So they take the first approach at it, and find it amusing and fun. I wonder what will happen if they realize that I am evil with words and I have no mercy towards stupidity?

Moreover, due to my utter confusion with such mentality, and my automated alerts when I get new emails from this site to my phone, I end up asking people on mobile Twitter instead. I cannot or even have time to go on my blog or do anything during work hours.

This is what I asked today on Twitter:

I got people replying to me with various view points. Some said that it is worse to be a religious fanatic, and others said that both types of ideologies are the same. Anyways, it ended up being more of a rhetorical question than a pure questionable thought that is necessary for every day survival.

Mystical Thoughts

I will tell you the awful truth though that I have been hiding with secret words on my site, and just clarify some misconceptions to those pea-brained idiots with serious language and mental disorders. So, if you are confused or have too much free time on your hand to argue with me, then I got some answers alright! I have been actually hiding them in each blog post for almost the past four years.

Here goes nothing.

I say the things I say because I don’t give two shits. I am me. You are you. Get over it! If we were all meant to think the same way and have the same beliefs, then we would still be living in caves wondering who will go hunt our winter supply of food this year before we hibernate for over three months!

Oh, you see, people like me are the ones that go beyond what is written, beyond what is known by others, and use that brain that God gave us. For those that believe in God, or only some higher being that cannot be explained, or nothing at all, I DON’T CARE! That’s your problem, NOT MINE! Don’t force an idea on me! I can chose for my self! Do I force anything on you? Would you like me to? I can be very convincing you know, and I would probably be sought after by the Pope, some Imam, or some Rabbi, and questioned for knowing the hidden secrets of this life!

You see, human intelligence was given to us for a reason. If accepting things the way they are satisfies you, then so be it. It does NOT satisfy me at all. I like to think. I like to question things. I know my limits and when not to cross the red line. I say what I have to say because I know someone else is asking it, and they don’t have to feel secluded in their own thoughts anymore. They search Google or Bing or whatever, and come to my blog and feel a little itsy bitsy feeling of comfort. It’s funny when you meet others that share the same view point as you. You feel a little bit of hope and satisfaction. Right?

So, I question things because I can! Can you? Do you dare?

Anyways, to each his own!

Angry, Blah Blah, Culture, Random Thoughts, Ranting as usual!, Religion, They said what?, Visitor Taking Over, Whatever!

What fascinates me about the internet world is the open community that is inevitably born. We don’t know as bloggers who we will communicate with, who’s hearts we will touch, or why people say the things they say about us.

Right now, I found this cute article written about me on a blog called Mac’s Word. I don’ t know who this person is. I have no communication with this person. Yet, the words that were written were beyond personal. It’s like people read and keep on reading blog post after post, they try to understand, and they know me. You know me. Everyone knows me and tries to understand. Fortunately, some understand me very well to the point that I wonder, why can’t I meet those people in real life? I would have an interesting conversation with them all the time, because they are willing to go beyond that barrier that we always wrap around our selves.

They want to understand, and they do.

This is the beauty of personal blogging. The primary problem that we all have as personal bloggers is getting others to understand why we think the way we do.

Here is what Mac written, [article link]

The “Rebellious Arab Girl”

Hello dear readers, all two or three of you who actually take the time to read the meandering, confusing thoughts of a person, that would be me, with far too much time to think. Today, I would like to introduce you to “Rebellious Arab Girl”, more better known to her fans and readers as Mona. Rebellious Arab Girl is the name of Mona’s blog and what an interesting blog it is. I found her blog listed in the blog roll of another site and clicked on it out of curiosity. Oh the magic of networking. Anyway, after that first day of reading her posts and the comments from her readers, I have become hooked. Those of you who really know me are probably thinking it must be a blog filled with elaborate essays on feminist issues in the Arab world. Not quite, which is why I’ve linked to Mona’s blog above. Check it out to understand what my interest is about.

OK, perhaps I will still have to explain my interest in the blog. First off, check out the banner to the site. Underneath the title it says “Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values”. Wise words to live by. Far too often, we associate change with tearing down what exists and starting all over; Out with the old, in with the new. Doing so doesn’t necessarily bring about change for the better. The funny thing about the name of her blog is how many people don’t understand the context she uses the word rebellious. She is rebellious in the sense of not conforming to cultural norms because somebody told her to conform. Explain to Mona why she should act a certain way and, if it makes sense to her, she probably will act that way. Although, from what I’ve picked up on reading her posts, it will still be on Mona’s terms. Mona is a 28 year old, Arab woman living in the West. She is educated, talented, opinionated and young. Her blog is much more like a diary, simply putting out to the world her day to day thoughts on her life and life in general. However, there is an underlying theme to the blog taken as a whole. That theme is the question “why”? Why do certain things happen? Why do people act the way they do? Why, why why?

I am 12 years Mona’s senior, non-Arab and male. My life is and has been nothing like hers in so many ways. And yet I find her blog interesting. Since I found Mona’s blog, I’ve been reading past posts going back to 2005 when she first started. Sometimes I disagree, sometimes I agree, sometimes I chuckle, especially when she relates an argument or discussion with her mother. I think no matter what gender we are or culture we come from, we all can relate to dealing with mom. That’s the magic of her blog. If, like peeling back the layers of an onion, you strip away the culture, strip away her education, her occupation, even disregard her gender, you are left with a basic human being. That’s where the commonality begins between Mona and me. That is why the blog is interesting to me. Because I can start to relate as a fellow human being which means that even when I may disagree with something she may write, I will at least think about it and consider her point of view.

On a wider level, my interest in Rebellious Arab Girl the blog is because between Mona’s posts and the comments from her readers I see something bigger; The future. Mona and all those like her, whether they realize it or not, are the future. As an Arab woman asking the question why, she is the future of the Arab world. As simply a young woman asking the question why, she, and all those like her, are the future of all of us.

Blah Blah, Random Thoughts, They said what?, Visitor Taking Over, Whatever!