Isn’t it great to be an Arab now? Raise your hand if you agree!

I dunno people. This surge of pride just hit me. I used to be so devoted into the I am Palestinian who speaks Arabic mentality, but now, being of Arab decent, no matter how small percentage that is, is quite magnificent.

It’s like my dream, what I preached for on my blog for years; Arabs need to come together. I never knew that will ever happen in my life time. A lot of people are skeptical about Egypt, but the events that happened in Tunisia, the scared Jordanian mentality, the upcoming anger of the Syrians, the Yemenis being unstable, and soon that must leave Libyan president, oh my God people. This is history. This is a beautiful time for our culture.

How unstable it will get afterward is something to fear, but always at the end of the dark tunnel is a light of hope.

I just can’t believe that Arabs are uniting, and how? Because of the most important and life changing tool in the world, the internet. Mere communication and sharing thoughts and ideas. Ideas influence change. It’s not wars. It’s not violence. It’s not dehumanizing others. No, but simple words to get the points across.

See what us nerds developed? See why they say, “nerds rule the world?” So simple, so effective, so ingenious!

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

Well, this is not a dear Mona moment, but more of you know this is really your heritage type of email.

It’s quite interesting to read.

The email sender wrote to me,

Hi Mona,

I just stumbled across your site and found it interesting. My grandparents are from Palestine also, from a Christian village. We had DNA testing done on them and a lot of research into the land and people. You might be surprised that your heritage is more “Arabized” and less actual Arab. The people of Palestine are a very, very mixed group with a high percentage of European ancestry, Jewish, and other indigenous (non-Arab) people groups from the area. It was not until the 7th century that the Arabs from the south invaded the northern Levant. They spread their language and culture, but there was less mixing than you might have thought. From our research, we found about 25-35% European blood for my grandparents, and also ancient Hebrew, Canaanite, Roman/Greek, and Arab mixture. So, depending on how you use the word, you may be a lot less “Arab” than you thought! Not sure if that is of any interest to you or not, and of course, it does not take away from the culture, but I thought I’d share.

Well dear reader. You pretty much said things in this email that have been said several million times actually. I am Arabized. We all know that. Palestinians are NOT originally from the Arab peninsula or even mixed with them that much. That’s why many Arab countries don’t like Palestinian much and keep saying that we are Arabized. They all know the history. My people are so mixed because of invasions or different ethnicity rule, that we are everyone in one.

Isn’t that funny? All in one! Kind of funny coming from a person that is “Palestinian” and have roots from the HOLY land where the entire world kind of really came from. No real facts that I can base this on, but I am sure everyone in the past or throughout the decades has had relatives that have passed by that area and called it home.

No wonder Palestinians all look different. There are the olive skinned, the blonds, the red heads, the white skinned, the dark skinned, the blacks, the blue eyed, brown eyed, very short, very tall, and everything in between! These are my people! We are like the new world now. This new world, or across the seas western world is quickly becoming that!

I am not sure exactly if being an Arab means that you have Arab roots, but all I know that I speak Arabic. I have lived my entire life in an Arab culture and followed Arab traditions, and really, what does DNA stand for other than Deoxyribonucleic acid which a bunch of genetic code? Do these genetic codes when I was born automatically determined the language that I speak, the culture that I will follow and live by, and the people around me that will influence my future choices? No. DNA is just a Damn Neurotic Annotation.

Blah Blah, They said what?, Whatever!

I got an email saying the following, and the person that sent it seems to love my blog enough that not writing on here and being such an awful blogger is killing him!

He said,

You okay? You haven’t posted on your blog for a few days, and the last post was about suicide, albeit of the vegetable kind.

I didn’t even think of it that way. I just thought is was a hilarious clip! I am easily amused.

Anyways, why the lack of updates?

You see, I don’t know if I am lazy, or busy. I think since I am so busy, I turn to a sloth by dinner time and I don’t have anything to say. Plus, I don’t really converse much with people, so my stories are pretty limited. Believe me, less headache the past year because I don’t have to deal with people’s stories and them abusing my friendship.

Anyways, I discovered lately why I am a bad student or even was in University. I like to learn, don’t get me wrong. I am a procrastinator, obviously. But my problem is that I have zero attention span. Even if I start any school work early, I cannot get my self to complete it. I don’t feel any pressure then. I only work with pressure hovering over my head. That’s when I know I have to do it, NOW!

Haha.. yah! One more year and I will get certified! So awesome!

It is funny that when I started to take continuing education, and you guys know my mom, a typical Arab lady who brags, that the other Arab moms are replying back, “oh, well my daughter does it too! Oh no no, they are doing their masters!” Hmm, did I miss something? Sure, but I have some people or find people on Facebook and you know Facebook, brag town, and they are doing shit. But you know me guys, believing some people is like believing in green aliens!

But I do believe in red aliens!

Blah Blah, Funny, Random Thoughts, They said what?, Whatever!

If you have been living in a bubble, then you don’t know what’s going on in the middle east. One lady yesterday asked me while I was waiting to get my car serviced this, “Where is Tunisia?”

I know that the middle east seems oh so small and only constitutes countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt, but seriously, if you are 25 years old or above, start a learning mission in your life! Learn about countries in the world. Learn about different cultures. Learn about general historic movements in the world. And finally, learn about dictatorship and the true meaning that us Arabs are tired of being quiet!

The world is a small bubble now because of the instant media and people driven social networking. I don’t even know if I watch or hear the news anymore using the traditional methods. The internet. The internet has killed them all!

Let me tell you about Tunisia. I know you are wondering why a Palestinian girl is going to talk about Tunisia. Well, in 1990, I visited the country. I was 9 years old and I spent summer vacation there for about 2 months. It is the most gorgeous Arab country I ever visited. The locals are amazing friendly people, and it is a very touristic country. Everywhere you go there are tourists from Europe and the rest of the world.

It is funny that I am 30 years old, and the majority of Arab presidents rulers are still the same ones!

Ahh, I am waiting for a few more presidents to be kicked out too. They are long over due.

So, please take this poll and predict which Arab country will loose its ruler next!

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I know many of the Arab countries I didn’t mention are monarchies or still have newer presidents, but it is hard for a monarchy to end quickly. But anything is possible and unexpected! 2011 has witnessed 16 days of craziness so far!

Yikes!

Angry, Blah Blah, Confused, Thank you, They said what?, Whatever!

Last night, an Arab female emailed me regarding some problems and issues with a guy. Sometimes following the rules and being who you are is not always the best solution. But then again, who is right?

Dear Mona,

I’m an arab girl,, I got into a relationship when i was 18 with a guy who was 5 years older and after 2 and a half years he broke up. Long story short is he cheated on me and I never really got him to admit it but it’s pretty clear and so I guess he got bored or he thought we weren’t very serious or maybe I became extra ‘baggage’ for him because he dumped me in May 2010 before my exams and AFTER i got hit by a car. Now, I am writing to you, to ask, what do I do to get over him…Why do i miss someone who played mind games and basically thought so low of me….How can I move forward…He has another a girlfriend, maybe a different one than the girl he cheated on me for…It was my first love…He promised me a lot, to be together forever, marriage, he said he loved me and appreciated me and I don’t understand why men do that…

ANyways you seem like the best person to help me understand my problem in hopes of moving forward….

I never contacted him since he broke up with me thought he tried for 6 months after…never saying he missed me or wanted to pick things back up again…just that he was sorry and wanted to know how I was..

but knowing xxx…it was probably to make me believe he’s a good person and didnt really , couldnt possibly, have cheated.

My Response

Dear confused Arab girl. Don’t worry, some of us have suffered worse. Try being with a guy for a number of years and then out of anger you leave each other. Then without you knowing it, he got married to a girl from some other country that knows shit about him? I don’t know why guys do that, but then again, girls do that as well. Mostly in our culture. I find Arab girls and guys to be very weak when it comes to commitments and getting to know each other first and love one another before marriage. I never understood why it is hard, but being an Arab girl my self, I think the mentality that love is wrong before marriage is still widely taken into consideration.

At least you only managed an innocent relationship with a guy who said he will “change” for 6 months. Try years! Try wasting years of your life and where does it end up? Yep, you guessed it, not together!

I am sorry to hear that you were in an accident and you were thought of as extra headache cause of it. It was not your fault you were hit by a car. What if you were married and were hit by a car? Too much for him to handle that he will ask for divorce?

Anyways, how to forget? That is a really good question, and I do have an answer. You see, when life keeps going and many things over time occupy your thoughts and days, then forgetting someone you loved or thought you loved is easy. It just takes time, and this time needs to be filled with your own life, not his. He doesn’t care, but why should you? So think about your self, think about your life and thank God you don’t have to deal with him anymore.

You may end up being a bitter old lady like me whose mother is desperate to marry off, or you may end up more mature and make a better choice for the next guy since now you know what you want. You will also notice the right or wrong about the guy right away without thinking too much.

So relax, stop worrying about it, and think about your future, because he didn’t.

Got questions?

If you have any questions or a story to share and want me to comment on or the visitors to comment on, then don’t hesitate to contact me.

Confused, Culture, They said what?, Whatever!