Firsts

More than two weeks passed after I decided to be a-more-active-blogger. What an irony! Many things happened and many horrible headlines in the news about Iraq and many things are there to be discussed. What to talk about and where to start from? Luckily, I don't talk politics so that crosses many topics from the list. Hence this post will be only about me.

The biggest thing happened is that my mother's residency papers is being processed well at last and all the papers are alright after submitting it many times and being rejected for certain missing stamps or attached papers. Hopefully this week it would all end so at least we can have an official residency instead of leaving UAE every now and then.


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While I was having my terminal exams I received a phone call about an exhibition and that I need to submit my work a week earlier. Only one week left and I have three exams at the same time, therefore, I didn't prepare anything and just forgot about it. Three days before the exhibition The Institute of Art called my, while I was brushing my teeth so I asked my mother to take the call. It appeared that there was no exhibition. It was much bigger. It was a graduation exhibition where all the work of those graduate must be exhibited. And guess what, it was my graduation.

I immediately called one of my teachers and told him that I received the phone call just now and I didn't know submitting the work is a must. He said that there was no problem. My ceramic and sculptures are already there in the showroom and that I only need to take my paintings as soon as possible. There was only two days left. The two days I spend it the institute. Most of the job is done. There was a less-than-a-meter-width column left for me and two of my works are too big for that. I also had an unfinished work; therefore only two of my paintings will be displayed.

On the exhibition day I went in the morning and luckily for some reason or another, an entire board was emptied and ready for my sketches.

The other dilemma for me was how to manage to receive the Completion Certificate around 7 pm when my MBA lecture starts at 7:30 pm? The exhibition started 6:30 this was just as planned. It wasn't till 7:30 when my name was called and I received the certificate. I left my parents and friends there and had to run to find a taxi. Thanks to God it took me only five minutes to walk to the main street and find a taxi. The taxi was the slowest taxi I've ever took.

I called one of my colleagues and asked in which classroom we were taking the lecture for it was the first in the semester and we know that the room in the schedule is being painted. Unfortunately they did not change the classroom. But it was good for me because the lecture started 7:50. The smell was horrible and it was the first time for me not to sit in the front row. Being late gave me the chance to sit on the first desk next to the door. And we left the door open. The smell did not bother me much.

On my way home, after I took a taxi, a rented car from another emirate followed me. For two traffic lights they were next to the taxi. The driver was moving the window pane up and down and looking at me. I took my cell phone out and pretended I was calling and turned to the other direction (they say if you feel danger in UAE just show that you have a mobile). On the second traffic light I noticed Y (one of my colleagues) was near. I knew his home was close to our area thus I told him about the other car and that the taxi will drive behind him. He offered to drive me home but I said it was ok. Then he noticed the car was still following us so he stopped the taxi and told me he must drive me home. The poor taxi driver thought there was something wrong with his driving. I got home and told my mother all about it and these days one of my colleagues (A) is driving me back home.
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I can't believe it yet! I'm studying HR & Research Methods for Business. What astonishes me most is I'm taking Financial Accounting. I know I've studied chemistry, physics and Bio in high school, and I got high marks that everyone thought I would be a doctor. I know I'm one of those people who enjoy solving mathematical problems in the newspapers and magazines. When I changed my high school the Math teacher told my sister's class that they lost the best Math student in the entire school. However, Financial Accounting seems scary.

Oh, and we went for a picnic on Friday with other 4 Iraqi families. Some are friends, others are relatives.

I mentioned in a previous post that my mother's cousins escaped from Baghdad and one of them had the chance to bring his family too. He went to Qasham to change visa and he is stuck there. I'll post about it soon.

I know I said 2007 will be the year for acheivement and firsts but never saw a car chaising me.
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I'll post more photos soon

Post-Valentine Post

The week was hectic. Classes to finish the syllabus, followed by terminal exams, deadlines for presentations and submitting papers but still Valentine was the main topic of the week. Lecturers included it as an example almost in each class. Seasonal and events promotion for marketing was the best example. Students bragged about their plans and surprises and preparations. They were asking each others about that and even the receptionist asked me about My plans!


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No plans, no surprises, nothing at all. Not just Attawie doesn’t have a valentine date but she doesn't even believe in it.
I know people take the chance to express their love. And I'm not anti-valentine but it's a day for Christians and most probably lovers.

So, back to what happened on Valentine's Day.
Fist thing was to wash the dishes and vacuum. Then washing the linens (though the washing machine did pretty job about that). Clean the room which was really messy (I know. give me a break. I had exams). Receiving several phone calls, including one from Baghdad. Then got online chatted with 2 of my best friends (one in Baghdad and the other in Kuwait)
During the day I had the radio on hoping to listen to something good after being addicted to 3 Doors Down. (Only Illegal by Shakira and Santana, 3 Doors Down latest single, wow I know I'm lucky. and Hinder's Lips of an Angle). I heard the news about Muqtada being in Iran for almost two weeks without announcing it earlier. *something's fishy out there*

Watched Much Music for a while and saw Bryan Adams have you ever really loved a women for the first time. I know that sounds weird. I might be the biggest fan of Bryan but never really bothered to watch videos. I guess it's a good opportunity to brag about me attending one of his concerts. He was few meters away from me as if he was singing only for me. I screamed that day that my voice disappeared for several days.
Then I watched friends. The episodes when Ross knows Rachel still have feelings for him while he wants is have a cat with Jolly. Hilarious.

My parents got home, decided to go to Ikea. We're considering redecorating our home. It took us an hour to get there. The radio played a good part during that period; thanks to total request line.

There were many guys and girls distributing red roses in the mall but no one bumped into us. We spent about two hours in Ikea. I bought a ram (a stand for painting). We lost our way to our car then one of the roses guys bumped into us. Now I have two read roses. Then we lost our way trying to go home. Then we went to Spinney's for some shopping.

Then we got home (how many "Then"s did I use?). My parents went to bed and I spent the night watching part of One Fine Day ( love this movie). Then switched to So You Think You Can Dance (Couldn't catch the whole show but the good news Dimetry and James are safe for this week). Then watched the BAFTA, followed by Scrubs. I wanted to put the ram together but it needed some hammer work so I decided to leave it for the morning. It was around 2:30 AM after all (I know it's too late but I think lately I've been rather a night-person). So I listened to 3 Doors Down AGAIN. And then off to bed.

Today I washed the dishes and put together the ram with a bit help from my dad. Without him I might be hammering till the next Valentine's Day. I did most of the job except for the hammering thing which I tried first but didn't work out. I discovered I'm a dexterous girl. That reminds me of the word Dixie. I thought it was driven from the word "dexterity". I thought this makes me the next Dixie Chic (BTW Dixie Chicks got many Grammies wow). Yeah I can see myself taking a Grammy for the same song that I would be nominated for an Oscar for the best soundtrack song. Oh and you might be wondering in which movie. It's a new one and I'm starring in it and nominated for the best lead actress too. *wake ups and yawns* I know what you're thinking about but Hello can't a girl dream??? I remembered the whole blab about dreaming and setting not too high expectations nor too low.
That's all for now
Je'taim anchor
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I just like this song

Two Birthdays in a Row

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. We went out with friends, a young Iraqi couple, for dinner. It was an Indian restaurant. I'm not a fan of that cosine but I had no choice. As my mother, D, and I sat to order our meals, dad and M went to the buffet. The restaurant had this new policy for their buffet "Freedom to pay".

It was funny. We've never heard of that before. The other day I saw a fruit market with a big sign "Taste and Shop". Those people are going so far in the name of marketing. It's not bad as long as the consumer is getting benefits. But as an MBA student, now I know free gifts and discounts are already pre-decided when they price the goods or services.

Back to the subject. M said, a chubby guy: "Today Freedom to death". His wife said with a laugh "he always loses control when there is a buffet".
I had Murga! Yeah it sounds weird but in Arabic it means stew. Wait wait, this is not an Arabic restaurant. It's Indian. Obviously in Hindi it meant simply chicken. The chicken was well done. It melts in the mouth; neither spicy nor hot. Simply yummy.

You must be wondering about the other birthday. Today is my sister's birthday. She used to brag that all the Iraqis celebrate her birthday. February 8th was a national holiday in Iraq. It's the anniversary of the revolution. The day was called "Aroos al thawrat" (the bride of revolutions).
Since the war, only our family celebrated this day. Even though part of the family is in Jordan and the other part is in UAE.
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*I'm studying for my terminal exams which is starting next week.
**I just wrote this post, haven't edit a thing so disregard any mistake if there was any
*** I'm enjoying 3DoorsDown... they are wow.