living off the grid

My first Polish Love

2007-02-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

She's mostly normal

She can be hot

Super Hot Sometimes

A Fighter when needed

Multifunctional and Flexible ;) at times

but she can also be weak and sensitive

very lonely, going Unnoticed

Burnt out when lacking attention

Overused

and sometimes Abused

my first Polish love... The Maluch :)

Off The Record

2007-02-02T14:35:00.001-08:00

After reflection, i decided to repost something i published a couple of months ago while in Poland but which i selfcensored due to the misunderstanding it could have generated. It was about the unintentional social pressure that i was feeling at that time resulting from people's expressed curiosity when seeing the peculiar creature that i am :). But now i would trade anything for a week in Fordon... :)

Here's the text:

Bydgoszcz, November 14

Yes, i have the blues... not because of the depressing cold weather, nor the fact that daytime here is a rumor (dark at 7 am and darker at 4.30 pm), not because i'm tired of my white 4m2 room's walls that remind me of the days -and God knows how many- spent in hospitals in Morocco, not even because of the fact that i'm left with less than 100 PLN Zloty (equivalent to $30) to survive for the next 2 weeks. I have the blues because i'm reminded everyday that i'm different... yeah we're all different, but here i feel (or "they" make me feel) more different than others,to the point that i get stressed everytime i'm thinking of doing what "normal" people do ; it strats at the airport and goes on when buying bus tickets or a finding a seat on the bus, asking for directions, time, or phone numbers:),answering the phone, opening the door to some random guy, let alone laughing, or even yawning!!! my heart starts to beat fast, i lose my words my good manners and sometimes my temper... i just feel like a red fish in a fish bawl; everyone sees it, trapped in some transparent bawl that it thinks unexistent, everyone is bigger, and more powerful... it's some kind of an Orwellian experience in post 9/11 Alabama... if you see what i mean...

Tribute to my Polish family

2007-01-30T12:36:00.000-08:00

This is for my 500 & some students i had in Bydgoszcz. I'd like you to know that you're more than numbers and statistics to me, you were certainly too many, but i just couldn't have enough of your overwhelming love and respect and i wish i could spend more time close to you, to learn from you, to learn about you...

what more can i say? the beautiful things written in your comments and emails can only come from beautiful souls. you are these beautiful souls and i do feel grateful and blessed for having the priviledge to be that close to most of you, to share laughs, ideas, and hopefully a brighter vision of a common future. thank you for the morning smiles, for the stimulating debates, for the gifts, the positivity, and flexibility you've demonstrated throughout my stay.

I love you and miss you all.

2006-12-04T03:29:00.000-08:00

Da Vinci is 50% Arab, new research claims!!!!!

Saturday December 2, 2006

The Guardian

Anthropologists say they have pieced together Leonardo da Vinci's left index finger print, and it could shed more light on the artist and his mother's supposed Arabic origins, and even help attribute disputed paintings or manuscripts. The reconstruction took three years.

"We knew how Leonardo saw the world and the future ... but who was he?" Luigi Capasso, Anthropology Research Institute director at Chieti University, central Italy, said. "This biological information is about his being human, not being a genius."

The research was based on a first core of photographs of about 200 fingerprints - most of them partial - taken from about 52 papers handled by Da Vinci. The artist often ate while working, and Mr Capasso and other experts said his prints could include traces of saliva, blood or the food he ate the night before, data that could help clear up questions about his origins. Experts said that the fingerprint suggests Da Vinci's mother was of "oriental origin".

"It's not like every population has typical fingerprints, but they do have specific proportions among their signs. The one we found in this fingertip applies to 60% of the Arabic population, which suggests the possibility that his mother was of Middle-Eastern origin," Mr Capasso said.

The idea that Da Vinci's mother could have been a slave who went to Tuscany from Turkey is not new and has been the object of other research.

Carlo Vecce, a professor of Italian literature at Naples' University and a leading expert, said the study appears "founded".

"The fingerprints can tell us if Leonardo was there or if he intervened [on a painting], it's a hint," Mr Vecce said, noting that a fingerprint is not enough proof to attribute a work with certainty.

But he said that such a find doesn't necessarily add much to what is known about Da Vinci.

Associated Press

A simple thought

2006-11-14T03:30:00.001-08:00

How different is too different?

Moroccan Female Journalists doing beautiful things

2006-11-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

This post is a tribute to 2 of my friends to whom i have a tremendous amount of respect and unconditional love. They're both journalists, and they're both doing beautiful things. The Moroccan Media scene might seem crappy and amateur but my folks out here are fighting to get the best out of it, to make the best of it. I'm proud of both of you, and i'm wishing you the successful career you've always dreamed of.

Najlae Benmbarek;

a smart quick-witted young lady with a lot of wisdom and an unshakable value system. Taught me a lot, but mostly to respect her. Najlae has just graduated from the Journalism Graduate school at UC Berkeley in California. She also "co-made" a film about the US soldiers stationed in Subsaharian Africa which was lately braodcasted on CNN's primetime program of Anderson Coopers.

The video can be watched by clicking on the following link : http://noflyingmonkeys.com/video/Anderson_Cooper_360.avi

Najlae has a must-visit blog : www.najlae.info

Hasna Boufkiri;

a 21 year old hardworking sharp lady, with an exceptional sense of humour and a stricking simplicity. She's a graduate of the Journalism school of Rabat (ISIC) and is now holding the positiong of Assistant Managing Editor at the "RTM", one of the 2 Moroccan TV channels. Hasna was lately nominated among the 50 future Moroccan leaders by the controversial and bestselling Moroccan magazine "Telquel". ( http://www.telquel-online.com/246/couverture_246_1.shtml )

Hasna also has a blog: http://www.blog.ma/hasnaboufkiri/

Keep the good spirit:)

I eat thus i exist

2006-11-12T05:53:00.001-08:00

Eating schedule

Monday:
Breakfast> Lipton
Lunch>Chips and Omelette
Dinner>Litpton, bread and butter

Tuesday:
Breakfast> Lipton/Coffee
Lunch> Chips and Eggs
Dinner>Lipton and some kind of sweets

Wednesday:
Breakfast> Lipton/Coffee
Lunch>Chips and Omelette
Dinner>Litpton, bread and butter

Thursday:
Breakfast> English Tea
Lunch> Chips and Eggs, and Orange Juice
Dinner>Lipton/Yogurt

Friday:
Breakfast>Coffee with cream
Lunch>can't remember
Dinner> some juice and Yogurt

Saturday:
Breakfast> Fresh bread, cheese, potatoes, some chiken, Yogurt, and flavored Tea
Lunch> Kebab at Baalbek ( a Chawarma restaurant)
Dinner> Vegetarian Pancakes at Manekin (a cute artistic Restaurant)
Bonus***: a smile

Sunday:

Breakfast> Fresh bread, cheese, potatoes, Yogurt, some coffee

Lunch> Vegetarian Pancakes at Manekin
Dinner> Yogurt, Bread and Cheese, and a warm Tea
Bonus***: another smile

Prayer of the day:

"May all of your days be weekends" :)))

Back to school!!

2006-11-06T07:48:00.000-08:00

Bydgoszcz 07 2006

My normal working day starts at 8.00 am. Students normal day starts at 7.45 with a 15 minute group prayer. The prayers are lead by a professor of theology who happens to be a priest, assisted by 2 new students everyday (democracy at work:)). yeah, it's a catholic school, a very respected one in the city, and a very respectFUL one.

All teachers are kind and helpful. Magda (my favourite) is just amazing, providing all kind of support, logistical and psychological. Most students are well behaved, and all are excited to see someone with a darker complection than theirs:). i think i've become their new attraction, everyone saying "good morning" in english, lots teaching me some polish word, and some inviting me to play football with them (not very useful with my 5 Kg Boot bought from Souk Leghzel:)). In 2 days i had to answer more questions than i've done in my lifetime exams. I even answered more questions than in JFK's US customs where i was "interviewed" for 4 hours:))... but unlike JFK's all questions were pleasant to hear and pleasant to answer... ranging from the name of my pet to the size of my shoes :)))... ( i refused to answer the latter because size is always an embarassing issue for me :))))...

0=ZEEEEROOOO

2006-09-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Torun, November 4 2006

By "0" i'm not refering to what is believed to be Arabs' most "prominent" invention, i'm rather talking about temperature... yes i've finally experienced a 0 degree! not the Moroccan type 0 degree... this is a real ZEEEEROOOO!! the kind of zero that gets under your made in China winter jacket to your skin and bones... you don't feel your face anymore, your nose is red, your nose "production" ;) is there to stay, the air you breath is as sharp as razors, the words you talk vapor in front of your face while you're watching them fading away ( after all one never says something interesting) , your fingers don't respond anymore, while an existential question keeps looping in your chivering brain: what the hell am I doing in this country??!!:) but i really do like Poland.

The trip was peculiar. My flight to Milan was cancelled. reason? i dont know. actually nobody does. Morocco is the country where one never asks Why, you just take it in your face when you least expect it. So they sent me/us to the so called Terminal 3! yes dude, there supposed to be 3 terminals in Casablanca. Vision 2010 oblige :p. we headed to Terminal 3 expecting some super high tech building with some super hot receptionists:). again, i forgot that expecting too much was considered to be a " cardinal sin" in Morocco... The Terminal rather looked like a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, and made the travellers look like shipments going in and out... I finally registered, but ignoring the destination. it could be Milan, Rome or even Florence. I had to wait, a Moroccan type of waiting, and again you can't complain or ask why because you might be barred from the random waiting list to the unknow destination. after 2 hours came the verdict. I'm embarquing, miraclously to Milan, and if everthing goes fine i will not miss the connection to Warsaw. It's only after i got on the plane that i realized i had no luggage sticker on my passport. i was hoping that i will not lose my luggage. after all, this kind of bullshit doesn't happen 3 times to the same person for the same destination. again, i was wrong. it wasn't my day of luck. my friend always says i'm too lucky. He was wrong on that one too. I lost my luggage. a 22 kilos bag with my new suite, my brand new shoes, and what were supposed to be my winter clothes. But the positive side is that i could finally complain and ask why! which i did... on paper :) ... better than nothing...

Ania was waiting for me. she came all along from Torun to Warsaw, a 5 hour long trip. She waited for 4 hours, and we spent 8 hours in the AIrport waiting for the first connection to Torun ... the way back was white, kind of contrasting the images of Morocco stuck in my mind, but it got warmer once into the bus. after 5 hours we arrived to Torun, a cute small student town. i was hosted by the Florex ;) whose kindness and bravery exceeds anything i've ever seen... i'll never be thankful enough Ania...