u there?!

Örebro....

Visiting this city for a period between the Christmas and the New year to stay in a friends place. i have been before in Örebro, but just for one day or less, this time its for six days in a row, allowing me to see the other side of the city with i never thought i cant do....

Traditions from the Egyptian oldies... (1)

When i was a kid, my mum used to take me and my brother to my grand ma... and like any grand ma, mine hold the responsibility of telling us stories about how Egypt was in her days.. 

My grand ma was so cool when she tells this story, she sits and tell us with her smooth voice all of this amazing memories that she lived, and all of this stories that happened whether in our families or others, tells us about the neighborhood and how it was back in the days when Egypt was still a charming queen.. when all the families weren't just families living in closed apartments, but more of one big family gathered by one village... 

One of the stories was about one family that was resident next to my family, the daughter of this family was getting married... and as if every single mother felt it's her own daughter, they all started to prepare... 

U will ask me what exactly??

EVERYTHING... starting from the food that will be put on the tables, to the pride herself: the hair, the dress and every single detail that the pride needs or the family this day and the other families can help out with...

It would be an amazing night, all the families gathered in the streets, tables furnished, colorful lights stretching from one building to the other along the streets.. the pride and the groom would be sitting in their chairs looking around being blessed with this big family... 

My grand ma used to tell me that this nights would be the best night ever across the village, where u can feel the bonds and the harmony between all the families just by looking at their faces and hear their laughs.. 

Great nights, ever lasting memories... 

Villages now are not the same... the laughs withered and this amazing gatherings r nothing but memories that is told by a grand ma to her grandsons and daughters.. 

Last time i went there and visited the village, i felt as if it was a haunted one, not like the old days... the streets r broken, the buildings r silently standing, and the only action in the street when the small kids play football.. and that's it... 

the spirit simply is gone...

Even in Alexandria, although it's a city, but u find ppl no longer interested to know each other, in their own neighborhoods, they r exhausted in work, and family affairs... they no longer reach for each other... no longer wanna bond like how they family did in their days.. 

I kinda feel that perhaps one day when the whole country is back to it's golden ages and even exceed it, we would all have this lovely spirit again... but till then... i'll keep on writing about all this amazing traditions that we lack this days... documenting what once existed ...


follow more cultural posts and dialogue as well on: Ambassadorlaila.blogspot.com

Culture is the KEY

Last week, I attend a lecture by an american professor talking about the american laws and as well talking aboutterminology and how can a teacher and a student understand it.


When she was talking about her book, she mentioned something pretty interesting, to me at least, she was talking about culture and how it might affect the work of the firm u r working at... I asked her to explain to me further this point, and so she did..


She explained stating that although all cultures r unique, yet they r different when it comes to dealing with them...


there is a high context culture and a low context culture... a high context culture like Japan for example, everyone shares the same history, the same values and the same traditions... while USA on the other hand, it is a low context country, where there r thousands of different backgrounds as well as values and traditions..


so when dealing with a Japanese country for instance, they r not just signing a contract and that's it, they look more to build communications with that person, going out on dinners and drink Saki and discuss intellectual issues..


while in USA for example, they tend to be more straight to the point, they don't need to bond with the person in front... for them time is money... they just sign the contract and need no further communication with that person...


those small points might affect everything.... a marketing manager who was working with ford, went to Abu Dahbi in the 90's... he was so enthusiastic to start new company campaign... that he started calling different potential clients from 9 am.... this might seem ok for any normal day, but, one thing he didn't notice, he was right in the middle of Ramdan, which is a holy month for Muslims where they fast all day from dawn till sunset, where the companies opens late through this month... so u can imagine how the campaign failed...


Not only in business stuff like this happens, but in many other fields, simply coz we don't know the others and understand their traditions..


For Muslims, it's not such a good idea to go and visit someoneand as a gift u r carrying a bottle of wine.. which is something prohibited by religion...


In religion feasts (Eid el Adha for Muslims), the first day the whole family gather in one big house, so if someone is planning to visit this family, u probably won't find them...


So as u can see, Culture is a key point to everything around us... and by understanding it, a lot of misunderstanding might be eliminated.. just by talking and discussing and reading more about it..

BP Spills Coffee

Christmas in the Holy Land - 2009

When celebrating Christmas, it would be a good idea to think about the birthplace of Jesus. What is like in the Holy Land under occupation, injustice and racism? How does Christmas feel when the Holy Land is under siege?

Mosquito Tactics - the movie

Mosquito tactics - the movie from Mosquito Tactics on Vimeo.

What is peace? Is there such a thing? And if there isn't – how can we create it together?

copied from: http://mosquitotactics.blogspot.com/2009/12/introducing-mosquito-tactics-movie.html