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The most infuriating phrases in the Arabic language have to be “Ana bint nas” (Translated as “I’m a daughter to respectable parents”) alongside its synonym “Ana bind 3aleh” (Translated as ...
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It is interesting how social norms change according to the season. We find our behavior tied to the certain religious and social occasions we observe every year? For example, any ...
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For those of you who don’t know me, I have been dieting from the very first day of my life. Now, and after much effort I am only 7kg over ...
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Over the years, I have come to believe that people get a secret rush from simply complaining. I am sure we have all been to that wedding where the food ...
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It seems that people in this society are more obsessed with one’s attitudes than one’s actions. This realization came to me following a comment I got from the president of ...
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How open minded are we as people? This is a question that I had been asking myself for some time. You see, I always thought of myself as an accepting ...
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“It’s Not About the Money” is a phrase people across our lovely Ammni society repeat on every occasion. We lend people money and if they don’t give it back we ...
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Last Tuesday, I met with a young artist to discuss ways in which we can integrate art in our Gaza Camp English teaching project. The 18 year-old had contacted me ...
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The other day, while I was sitting in a Toastmasters meeting a speaker was talking about good corporate practices. Within his speech he stated that CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is ...
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Last week a few friends from Toastmasters and I organized two very successful orphan iftars. The events were in fact more effective than we could have ever hoped for them ...
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The awaited Saturday finally arrived, finding Amal was lost in her thoughts, on the one hand she wanted to meet Munthir for coffee as she wanted to get the affair ...
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This morning, while I was on my way to work, I was listening to one of those new privately owned Jordanian radio stations. The program being aired at the time ...
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For the next few days. Amal was spending a lot of her time at work. She was putting in 13 to 14 hour work days, determined to make the cut ...
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Cab Drivers with Character http://hathrabehlounge.weebly.com/hathrabeh-cafe.html The Flea Market Has Flown http://hathrabehlounge.weebly.com/shu-sayer-bi-amman.html Meet Mr. Sheikh on Demand http://hathrabehlounge.weebly.com/sheikh-on-demand.html And <More...
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It was a warm summer night in July, where the trees swayed slightly in the light to non-existent breeze, and the sky had just turned a quaint shade of dark ...
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Posted: July 8th, 2013, 12:59pm UTC by dshalabi
In a cosmopolitan city like Amman, the possibilities for good clean fun are infinite. The opportunities to form new life perspectives lurk anywhere you look, and entertainment is in abundance. ...
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Posted: July 4th, 2013, 4:28am UTC by dshalabi
In modern–day city life, most of us tend to look for the most convenient solutions to our daily affairs. We can even say that it is normal for us these ...
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Following the recent victory of Arab Idol Mohammad Assaf, we learned how a talent show can present with it an opportunity for us to get too emotional. Sure everyone of ...
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A while ago, I lost a friendship that was valuable to me. The person, whom I thought was one of my good friends, simply woke up one day rejecting everything ...
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In our society, it is often easy to find women who have demised and even demeaned the true meaning of being feminine. They tend to believe that being of the ...
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Posted: May 20th, 2013, 6:25am UTC by dshalabi
Traveling for me is like going on a blind date, since you only know a few facts about the country you are going to, just like you know a few ...
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Posted: May 5th, 2013, 1:40pm UTC by dshalabi
“I really get along with Cynical people, like you” my friend told me the other day, and I replied “Thanks…… I think?”. On the one hand, I was glad that ...
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I asked for a day off from work yesterday in order to arrange and be part of Junior Chamber International President’s visit to Jerash Gaza Camp. I was requested to ...
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Today at Gaza Camp, I got a shot to my hopes when a student of mine asked me “Miss ,do we write people with the “p” letter that has the ...
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Before you continue reading , I must warn you that if you are traditional in thought, conservative, or overtly religious, you may not like what you may read in the ...
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The other day, while I was at the supermarket buying a bunch of tasteless food items for a self imposed 100-day dieting initiative, I bumped into a girl I haven’t ...
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In our fast paced world of digital technology and social media, the online world has become a place in which we market who we are. For example, I love to ...
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The other day, a friend and I went to City Mall’s food court for a quick bite and it was there that I noticed that we in this society have ...
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The other day, while I was trying to get some much overdue work finished my phone rang. I looked at the screen and the minute I saw the name flashing ...
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I was out of inspiration to write for some time now, and that was only due to; work stress, personal life stress, and other commitments. Thankfully this state didn’t last ...
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To me, valentine’s day is just an evil holiday. It simply makes single people judge themselves too harshly while couples spend unwisely. If you are a single person nodding your ...
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Romeo of the 21st century is a bit more refined when compared to Shakespeare’s Romeo. After all, Shakespeare’s Romeo had a big heart, but his big heart was filled with ...
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I have always enjoyed going to the movies alone, and I don’t feel sorry for myself doing so. Sure, I would much prefer to go with a friend or any ...
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I often see young mothers sitting with their friends and having coffee at any one of the many malls of Western Amman. They would almost always be wearing designer labels ...
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About a month ago, I was spending my evening in a cafe listening to an acquaintance, talk about her issues at work. The girl was not a friend, a relative, ...
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Dear Reader, If you are conservative, traditional, conventional, or too religious, you will not like my blog post. Before moving any further, I even advise you not to read on ...
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http://thebigolive.tumblr.com/post/39298780731/metamorphosis-ii-dear-motherhood Read this post by guest writer...
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As we live through the first days of 2013, it is not uncommon for us to pause and think about what we did, what we didn’t do, and what we ...
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Dear reader, don’t get the wrong idea from the title you just read on the top of the page! This post is not about my engagement party, my fiancé, nor ...
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In our people centered Ammanite society, where we place a high premium on personal relationships, we tend to do everything in our power to ignore the bad and highlight the ...
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I was thrilled in the morning, when I saw that the sun was up. To me, that just meant that I won’t be soaked while waiting for a cab and ...
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When I met Um Ahmad for the first time, I really didn’t know that I was about to be sent on a journey of self discovery for myself, my temper, ...
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About a month ago I gave a friend of mine a simple piece of advice. You see, at the time, that person was significantly upset about the lack of consideration ...
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Surely enough, Maha made it easy for Hatem to fight with her.She was a bit of a nag sometimes , especially when she wanted things done. So, a few days ...
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People often have mood swings, and I like most people have mine. Last Wednesday for example, I was showing off the worst version of myself, I had the worst mood. ...
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The other day in a Toasmasters meeting one of the speakers asked the audience “Do you prefer to be exceptionally smart or exceptionally good looking?” specifying that they had to ...
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The other day, me and a friend of mine went for a quick bite during our lunch break. The aim was really to go somewhere close to our places of ...
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If we just listen to the phrases that are so wide spread in our society, we would realize that a lot of them are fake insinuations where the speaker means ...
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Between Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, I hit every shade of negativity any sane person can experience in the stretch of 12 hours. I went from doubtful, to skeptical, to ...
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It was on the evening of Saturday January 2nd 2006 at exactly 5:00 pm that I last felt good about the words “Time is up”. Back then, I was sitting ...
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After a long day of work, a day in which I virtually had no time to eat, I and a friend of mine decided to stop by a place in ...
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Yesterday, and after two days of Eid filled family obligations, me and three of my good female friends met for kunafa. We went to the new complex of Habiba, one ...
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It is always great to do voluntary work, as it is only through volunteering that you can pour your energies into a cause at your own free will. After all, ...
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Dear reader, I know that you probably read the title of this post and you instantly thought that I was going to tell you a romantic story about a guy ...
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When we were growing up, people often told us that “Talk is cheap” and “Actions speak louder than words”. So, it is not uncommon for us to grow up believing ...
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In my modest experience in planning events of all types, from simple birthday parties for friends, to an iftar for orphans, to a booth in JARA, to the weekly trip ...
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How many times did you go to a gathering, only to find that a friend of yours is acting strangely towards you. You would ask “Hey, how are you” and ...
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For the last few weeks a new driver has been taking me and a group of volunteers to Jerash for our weekly volunteering teaching activity at Gaza Camp. In our ...
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After much will power, I finally finished reading Nessyane.com – “The Art of Forgetting” by Ahlam Mastaghani and unlike most women I know, I have to say I didn’t really ...
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Yesterday evening while sitting in a Café in Western Amman, waiting for a friend of mine I was meeting for coffee, I couldn’t help but over hear two girls complaining ...
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I am at this frightening stage in my life where the question”Why should I care” is popping in my head way too often. I ask this cosmic question whenever I ...
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The word “Whatever” said with an attitude can often be seen as a defense mechanism used by men or women to hide a true emotion. Let us all admit it! ...
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In our society, where most schools are not co-ed, a good percentage of young adults experience their first real interaction with the opposite sex after the age of 18. It ...
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Just when I begin to feel that the gap between genders and their right to education is fading someone has to prove me wrong. Just the other day, the driver ...
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Just now I finished watching Eat Pray Love for the fifth time. I watched it out boredom and it was the only ok thing on TV. I know the movie ...
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As the months went by she continued to plot and plan what she would say to him, him being that slick sly handsome man who had hurt her so deeply. ...
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With the social media revolution inviting us to freely express our opinions, social change is bound to happen. And, as we digitally highlight the moments that define our lives, anecdotes ...
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Before going to work this morning, I passed by the bank to finish some long overdue paper work. Being the exemplary citizen I am, I grabbed a number from the ...
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When you are above the age of 30 ,in a society like ours where it is all about the numbers, the plan, and what you should or shouldn’t be doing, ...
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Sorry readers here is another very opinionated piece not all of you are going to like. Yesterday, at a Toastmaster meeting, we were asked if we believe in Gender equality. ...
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Before you continue reading, I have to warn you that this is a very opinionated piece. Many readers will not like what I have to say but my case of ...
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Posted: July 9th, 2012, 5:31am UTC by dshalabi
When we consider the words for free, and when we see them attached to any product or service, linguistically we are to believe that this product or service is offered ...
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Posted: May 13th, 2012, 4:49am UTC by dshalabi
A few years ago, I aspired to be a motivational speaker. I wanted to be one of those people who could silence a crowd with words. I wanted to speak ...
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Posted: May 8th, 2012, 12:06pm UTC by dshalabi
The days that followed, were filled with gossip and intrigue. The girls, excluding Mais, made it their mission to interpret every single detail pertaining to Suha’s actions. Their aim was ...
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Posted: May 4th, 2012, 8:03pm UTC by dshalabi
Some phrases come with a very definitive message, or an immediate call to action. One such example is the phrase “you should”. Once we hear the words “you should” placed ...
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Some Jordanian girls have the impeccable ability to switch their accents from Jordanian to Lebanese quite quickly. they display this talent especially when they are in the presence of a ...
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I arrived home yesterday, only to find that our living room was full of men. These men were all watching TV with full concentration. I said hello, and yet none ...
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The minute she got home, Mais called Muneer and told him how worried she was about the whole situation that took place in Dina’s garden. “I think Maha heard me, ...
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Over a year ago a person whom I thought was a really good friend of mine decided to stop talking to me over a Facebook status. I am really not ...
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Over a year ago a person whom I thought was a really good friend of mine decided to stop talking to me over a Facebook status. I am really not ...
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Dala3 is a purely Arabic term that refers to the extreme felinity of a woman. It is basically a term that refers to women being weak, soft spoken, dependent, and ...
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“What’s wrong?” Mais innocently asked. “He left me , Muneer left me” cried Dina. “No explanations, no nothing, he just said that we want different things”. “Have you two been ...
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“What’s wrong?” Mais innocently asked. “He left me , Muneer left me” cried Dina. “No explanations, no nothing, he just said that we want different things”. “Have you two been ...
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Shocked by the news, Maha called Mais the next day. The minute Mais answered the phone she shouted, “Hatem told me that Muneer told him that he wants to end ...
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The next day, Hatem picked Maha up after work. As she was putting on her coat, a colleague asked her“Going out?”. Maha replied “Yes, helping a” and she paused before ...
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We had an interesting talk with a journalist ,last night, during which she asked us “Why we are so interested in our little educational project in Gaza Camp”. She asked ...
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Mais walked into the café where she was meeting three of her girlfriends. She smiled at the waiter as she scanned the room with her eyes to find her friends’ ...
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Last week one of my students at Gaza Camp told me about his tragic love story, a story similar to that lived by anyone his age “16” . It was ...
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I have been living through this repeated incident where strangers just assume I am married and they call me “Madam”. In cafes across the city, I have gotten accustomed to ...
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Some people are more entertaining than TV itself. They are more active than mercury. They are louder than a horn, and their presence is brighter than the sun. They are ...
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Yesterday, during a birthday gathering I was invited to, one of the girls sitting at our table announced to a guy that she writes. He asked her where she published ...
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Karma woke up on a particular morning that was just like every other morning of the week. But on this particular cold morning, she woke up only after setting the ...
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Yesterday evening while I was having dinner with friends, we came to discussing my all time favorite topic “People and their behavior”. Within this conversation, one of my friends asked ...
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Well it is that blessed day of the year again where the single feel more single than ever before and the couples feel obliged to overspend and over indulge. Whether ...
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The last four weeks have been filled with events at the Jerash Gaza Camp, starting with fund-raising events and ending with new classes. You see, on January 28th, and after ...
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We all want to look “Naturally Beautiful”. So, in our quest for flawless looks we buy shampoos with labels that read “Natural glow”, as if the natural shine in our ...
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Despite their disagreement regarding Haya , Amal and Ashraf were able to maintain their friendship. In fact, they both politely avoided any discussion related to her. Amal figured that Haya ...
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Amal sat in one of the more noisy cafés of Western Amman as she waited for Ashraf and Haya to meet her. Ashraf had arranged for the three of them ...
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Arab moms are the best; they think their sons and daughters are kids no matter how old they are. They feel the need to monitor their actions and yet they ...
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On the morning of the Marathon Amal got ready as fast as she could. She was expecting Ashraf to pick her up. And, in the speed of the action she ...
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