My Mom's PHONE BOOK

I Have always wanted to blog about this, I hope my mom reads it!
My mom has the world most funniest phone book ever, its so hilarious it makes me angry whenever I have to use it, especially when Mom calls when I am at home and asks me for a number...

it might sound like this:

MOM: Hind a3tini raqam il taxi (give me the taxi number)
ME: ok......

so the journey begins:

I look under
T for taxi but NO LUCK
M for muwasalat.... no luck
W for wheels NO LUCK....

SO I GIVE UP!!! I call the directory and text her the number!!!

but never mind this is only one of those Numerous examples! this one cracks me up, I cant stop laughing when ever I think of it.....

Mom: Hind i7ki ma3 JET ou i7jizili bukra 3ala Suurya (please call the JET company and book a ticket to Syria)
ME: wein il raqam ( where is the number)
MOM: bil daftar ya3ni Hind wein biddo ykuun (in the phone book where would it be) then she giggles because I sigh in a weird way which she totally understands.

ME: ok Yamma

FRUSTRATED....

I look under
M for MUWASALAT
J for JET
B for BUS
S for SYRIA or SOMETHING
A for ANYWHERE

And as usual, I call back and kindly say: "I couldn't find it"

ME: mama ma la2eito (I couldn't find it)
MOM: dawri mnee7 (search well)
ME: WEIN BIL ZABT (where exactly) its not under M J B S A
MOM:Yimken lazem tdawri 3ind (93) ( maybe you should look under A)
ME: WHAT THE...... WHY 3 ??
MOM: 3ashano bil 3abdali (its under A because its located in the ABDALI)

I still cant figure out how she does this, because this was only the Jet bus company.... I bet my number would be stored under D because I am her Daughter, while my Fathers number is under O because he's Outta Town!!!

6 Months= Half a year... random thoughts

I never thought about it! but yup... tomorrow February the 16th marks HALF a YEAR for me HIND SABANEKH

Half a year....
-Away from Amman
-Away from my Home, Family, BED!!!
-Away from my friends.....

HALF A YEAR
-In heaven
-heading towards my goals and dreams
.......................................................................................................................
HIGHLIGHT OF FEELINGS

It was only yesterday when I came here... but its not!
I remember August was a dream come true,
I remember in September I couldn't believe I was here
I remember in October My first HOME Solo concert
after that in November I packed my bag to leave
..............I CHANGED MY MIND..................
I remember in December I cried my way to sleep
Then it was the New year......
January marked a glorious beginning
and February is just the same

........................................................................

To Mom,
I miss you so much, I Love you too! stop crying... I'll be back soon... I hope

To Dad,
I can't find the right words to tell you THANKS!! for what??? for letting me do this!

To Wael, Shireen , and Nick My brothers and sister,
I am not crazy, I am not silly... I know what I am doing... thanks for standing beside me! You are all the best

To Hussam MY FAVORITE brother,
I Love you more than words, and I miss you more that anything and anyone!! I miss getting on your nerves, I miss everything about you... even your silly childish pronunciation....
I miss you getting on my nerves... fighting for the car..... or anything else!! I know I have been a pain in the ass, but you'll always be my favorite brother... I love you... you were the only one who never doubted me... you always believed in me! I know you still do!

Dear Friends,
you know who you are, I miss you....
..............................................................................................................

6months= half a year!
thats only the beginning!

Its The little things that count..

I have been away since August 16th, I won't deny that I went through the "homesickness" syndrome for a while in the beginning but I got over it quickly, everybody here was so supportive and friendly..... but what I miss is the little stuff that made my life unique back then in Amman:
1. I miss PLAY and MOOD FM most.
2. I miss my Sameera (my car) and driving in the streets pumpinng the volume up listening either to clasical music or techno.
3. I miss my Garden
4. I miss my students
5. I miss Muna's room
6. I miss driving Hussam my brother crazy and we might end up fighting and hitting each other! :D
7. I miss the way my nephew pronounces my name!
......
its the small things that count in the end....

If You're happy and you know it THINK AGAIN!!!!

I often ask my self this question, AM I HAPPY??? well so what even if I am WHY the hell am I happy, whats there to be happy about!! so here comes the THINK AGAIN part......



I am not pessimistic, on the contrary, people around me often beg me to change my funny, happy personality they say its TOO MUCH, damn it people now there's a level for happiness as well ..... so I usually try to get to the meaning of this H word, and what I came up with is that the secret of happiness is to make others believe they are the cause of it. SO SHOULD I LIE!!! well to be honest no one is the main cause of my Happiness (thats if I had it), but then I rememer Aristotle's famous words: "Happiness depends upon ourselves." thats why I am happy!!! I cause it and I end it and I don't intend to any time soon!

RIP Amer Madi.

Yesterday, January 16th 2009, Jordan has lost an important person, one of the great Jordanian musicians/composers of all times in my opinion at least Mr. Amer Madi, may your soul rest in peace.
It was only yesterday when me and you used to sit down at your home and make fun of everything and talk about anything, I will never forget how you used to ask me about all these difficult rhythms that i must have known, nor will I forget the way you believed in me, you believed in me in a way no one has ever done.
You were more than a musician to me, you were a mentor, a teacher, and a Father.

Oubaida,
your father had a lot of achievements, fortunately you were one of them and by far the best, may God give you and your wonderful mom the strength to continue what he started,
I know what your father meant to you and I am so sorry I can't be in Amman to stand right there beside you.

Funeral Blues, is my current blues scale..... if it had notes it would sound something like this!


Funeral Blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H. Auden

Counting my way to SLEEP!!!!!

Have you ever had to count anything jump over any other thing so you can fall asleep??
I have and I bet you have done this as well, such as how many goats/sheep can jump over the fence? how many cars pass in a certain street?...etc

when ever I think of this sleeping "technique" if I may call it that way, I remember a joke in which a person has not been able to fall asleep for a long time, so he went to doctors, took pills did everything and still it all didn't work until one day one of his friends told him to go and count until one thousand!!! He thought he'll give it a try, and so he did, he put him self in bed started counting and by the time he reached 600 he got extremely sleepy, he got out of bed and washed his face in order to continue!!!

The other night I couldn't sleep, so I decided to count something. I didn't feel like counting, sheep, cars, or numbers.

What I counted was how many Israelis could be kicked higher than the wall and drop dead, and believe me that wasn't a nice thing to count, I didn't fall asleep until I managed to kick almost every single one of them, I was so sleepy I asked for help, I even started kicking them out in twos I also managed to get a couple of my niece's imaginary friends to do so as well....

I wish we can do that one day! Just kick them out before we go to bed, wake up the next morning and it's all good, and all gone!!

قل لي من تصاحب، أقول لك من أنت

فن التلاعب بالكلمات مع شوية زناخة....
الاول للثاني يا مان : قل لي من تصاحب، أقول لك من أنت
الثاني للاول: من تصاحب
الاول: من انت

و شكراً

Its CHRISTMAS

its such a nice season, I enjoy every part of it!
any ways that's not why I'm blogging, basically I hate it when everybody types Merry Xmass...
its wrong, its CHRISTMAS which is CHRIST+MASS
we all know who Jesus Christ is and Mass/Mas/Masse is a church celebration or just a celebration so we are celebrating Christ, by using X instead of Christ you are celebrating X which is not Christ, don't do abbreviations to save time, because by using X you are taking out the main element in Christmas which is the Christ.....

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

If for one moment I start talking about people her and about their qualities you will come and shut me up because I won't shut up, people's kindness, HONESTY, and sweetness here kills......
even when it comes to taxi drivers, they are amazing, a taxi driver drove me 2 times to where I live, the next time he saw me he honked his horn and told me he's going my direction if I wanted a lift.... ain't that sweet!!!
I don't think I can ever leave this place on earth, its almost heaven, it just has extra people that need to be evacuated and it'll be heaven...

من بعض ما أرى وأسمع

عابر سبيل كان، وأصبح صديق عريق ولربما صديق قديم.سجن مرات عدة، وكان ما يلبث أن يفرج عنه إلا وأن يعاود و يعود، أجمل أيام حياته قاضاها في السجن، هذا ما قاله لي، كان يحزن حينما يفرج عنه ويحن للزنزانة، كان يخرج ليطمئن على عائلته، ولكن حبه للزنزانة طغى الى حبه لعائلته، أو بالأحرى حبه لوطنه كان الفاعل في جملة حياته.
ذهبت لأزوره في منزله، ولفتت انتباهي جملةٌ معلقةٌ على حائط غرفة الجلوس، فضولي طلب مني معرفة

قصة هذه الجملة، فقال لي:هذه الجملة رافقتني في كل زنزانة دخلتها، رافقتني، وعزتني، كانت رفيقة دربي

سأصبر حتى يعجز الصبر عن صبري

واصبر حتى يأذن الله في أمري

واصبر حتى يعلم الصبر انني صابر على

شيء أمر من الصبر

I did it.....

3 months a go I applied for a visa to go to Palestine in order to participate in the Palestine Youth Orchestra workshop that was held there, unfortunately the Israeli embassy didn't issue the visa until a month and a half ago and yes I missed the workshop, so I got the visa I graduated from university and I went to Palestine on the 16th of August 2008 thinking I will never get the visa again so why not seize the moment and go visit.... I did it...

My dad almost cried on the phone when i told him I am going to Palestine, his home town to take a trip to visit his childhood, and to see what Palestine is all about, he begged me not to go there but that was when I said my first NO, I fought for what I wanted and yes I did it....
it really hurt me just to know that he remembers where he lived in small little details, he knew the names of the streets the color of the walls, the names of their neighbors, he remembers every single detail and he left it when he was just a kid...

The reality shocked me, I got there still in denial not believing that I am there, I loved it, I can finally say I am from Palestinian origins, I walked down the streets and I met people I know who still cant believe I entered, I pray for every person on the face of earth that one day they get the chance to see its glory, I walked in its streets, inhaled it essence, tasted its flavor... I did it

Its been a month now and I still can't believe that I did it, I saw it all, and I felt it all, the Churches and the Mosques the streets and the walls are live proof of a presence of a greater force, no words I can think of describe my feelings nor what I saw... I saw it all .... I did it

I am still here... I found my Jerusalem... I found my lost city... I found me.... I am not leaving..... I DID IT...

a Question on my mind....

Its such a weird thing when I descover something new in me, I recently found out that I am one of the most random thinking people on the face of earth I ever met..... I was sitting the other day watching a movie I guess untill I found me thinking out loud saying this sentence: "if you found some one working you ask do you need a hand?? why wouldnt you say something to a person walking like would you need a leg??"
.
.
.
.
end of thinking..... beginning of NOTHING..... SILENCE

Oh! Your daughter speaks English?? My niece speaks ARABIC!!!!

My sister was out of town a while ago so I had to baby sit Yasmin a 4 year old and Faris a 2 year old, and as their nice and of course COOL auntie Hindo I had to take them on outings and spend some fun quality time with them!!!!
NEVER MIND........... during that month when my sister was out of town Yasmin had a birthday invitation!!! YAAAAYYYYYYY she was so happy.......
YASMIN: "please Hindo take me I will be very nice I promise ou baw3idek ino ba7ki bil3arabi 3ashan inti you dont understand English for 3 days in a row!!!!"
ME: "ok thats a deal missy ou ana baw3idek ino i'll start learning English..."

I really hate how kids these days tend to speak only in English and a year or so after they end up with a crappy Arabic language command!!!!!

a week after this conversation its the birthdayyy!!! well I we went and of course I have to stay with her, sitting with kids moms (the GOLDEN LADIES a name i gave them) that speak only English, talk about shoes, fashion, etiquette and all this crap that does not interest me even if I was paid to be interested in!!!

ANY WAAYYYYY, one of the girls came to her MOMMY and was like "Mommy, that little boy over there is not sharing the slide with every one, its annoying." the MOMMY said: "even though my daughter is 4 she has perfect English, Arabic si3eb 3aleiha hala2 7aramm..."
I was so pissed but that was all at the same time when Yasmin came in.......drum roll......I was thinking of please ARABIC ARABIC YASMINE I7KI 3ARAAABIII..............."khalto Hindo, fee majal teeeji takhdeeni arooo7 a3mal rasem 3al wijeh ya3ni face painting ou t2ooli lal painter bidi farasheh ya3ni butter fly??" I was like YIS3ED RABBBBEKK, so I turned to the MOMMY and told her: " wow thats so great, same here even though Yasmin is 4 she has perfect Arabic she's not allowed to use English with me because Arabic better, English is too easy for her and thats 7aram."
gosh I wanted to kick that lady so hard, laykoon il wa7ad ili bi7ki 3arabi kundara!!!

Hind Vs. the Golden Ladies- MOMMY
1-0

Weird conversations abroad!!

I was in France recently, had a concert in Bellfort then I extended my trip to visit my uncle (mom's side), anyways, I have discovered he as well have the weird kind of questions such like the ones I have with mom!!
it was around 2 AM when I was sitting with the family watching TV playing cards, chatting, joking...family stuff ....etc so I decided its time to go to sleep, I headed down stairs to my room and I didnt sleep immediately, any ways very long story short, after 30 minutes or so my uncle cals me,
Khalo: HIINDDD
ME: aywaaa (yes)
Khalo: Nimtee??? (did you sleep yet??)
ME: ehhhhh, khaliini ashuuf!! ANDARI?? (eeehhh, let me check, no clue!!!)
Khalo: shlone ma 3am bifham?? (what, i dont understand)
ME: inta shu ra2yak? (what do you think)
*******SILENCE********

I find these conversations very weird, lack of common sense fills the air, but again common sense isnt always common as I may presume!!!

Stopping to Realize what's going on!

I dont concider this a post, its more of a reminder that I have reached this level.... I need an answer from the "idiots" who are doing this, I have written many blogs saying how much I want to LEAVE this place...... well now I have one more reason to add on my list!!! I CANT AFFORD LIVING HERE, damn I CANT AFFORD DYING as well!!!
this is too much for me, more than I can handle, damn it I have to play loads after I die as well....
why is this happening?? when and where is it going to end??
this brings me to my current state of mind.....
I dont believe in political jokes, I have seen so many get elected!

I can't see the END....

I don't think I will be able to stay here, honestly I do not want to sound cocky or arrogant or ANY OTHER THING. I can't take this crap any more, as much as I love Jordan as much as I can't wait to leave, the only thing that has made me survive all this bullshit was going out every once in a while but now I cant deal with just the "every once in a while" part it has to be ONCE AND FOR ALL, I have a concert in France this May, and one in Italy in October, these are acting as my "light in the end of the tunnel" but I know for sure when time comes to reach this light it will only be a train speeding toward me, slap me in the face, ask me to wake up and smell the coffee, I will never leave here, I am stuck in this crap hole forever..... I wonder till when....... I am independent, I have been working for the past 4 years, I will graduate this semester, I travel alone....etc but unfortunately my parents paid for my education (I really wanted to do that but our beloved "system" does not give us the chance to even try) so as my parents say they have total control over me, I am not allowed to leave here and go alone, I was shocked my parents aren't that type at all, they always gave me total freedom to do what ever I want......... I will leave here I promise and hell no I wont be married to do so, but when..... I just cant wait to see the end........

Works of Carlos Latuuf GAZA

Some times word can't express the inexpressible, thats where colors interfere.

Deep Thoughts

Have you ever had weird thoughts run through your head while sitting doing nothing, your brain generates the "automatic thinking switch" on, thoughts and questions come to your head jamming like a jazz band each member dying to play a solo, improvise and want to be heard...... Well lately I started writing these thoughts down, maybe one day they'll lead me to the center of the universe!!!!
I'll share some with you.....

• Why does your nose run, and your feet smell?
• Why do we press harder on remote control buttons when we know the battery is dead?
• If con is the opposite of pro, then is Congress the opposite of progress

some life's observations as well....

• Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
• I don't approve of political jokes. I've seen too many of them get elected.
• I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
• Borrow money from a pessimist - they don't expect it back.

oh well this is whats coming to my mind, you might have heard some of them before maybe not, who knows, we all end up thinking the same some way or another!!!

P.S I intend to live forever - so far so good.

Again weird conversation...

I said I'll add more of me and mom's conversations this happened two days ago.

I was in my room 9 AM mom thought that I left "I guess", heading to the kitchen mom's sees me.....
MOM: lissatek hone???
Me: i7zariiii......
MOM: la2 ya3ni lissa ma ro7tiii???
Me: ahh walaaww ro7t, i3tibrini mish mawjudeh kamli shoghlek wala yhimek!!!
MOM: ma aznakhek!!!
Me: ya3ni hada so2al binsa2alll, ana lazem aroo7 BYE
MOM: Hind, tal3a??
Me: MA TI7KI.... khaaalaaassssss,
Mom: hehe I know how to drive you crazy don't I
Me: Mhhmmm

اعلان من معهد ادوارد سعيد الوطني للموسيقى

English Follows

يعلن معهد ادوارد سعيد الوطني للموسيقى

عن فتح باب تقديم طلبات الالتحاق في

للورشة التدريبية والعروض الموسيقية للعام 2008 الخاصة ب

أوركسترا فلسطين للشباب

بمشاركة أوركسترا ميوزيكوم كوليجيوم من ألمانيا

وبقيادة المايسترو والتر ميك

المخيم الموسيقي من 17 - 26 تموز 2008

يتبعه جولة عروض موسيقية من 27 تموز إلى 3 آب

في مدن: رام الله، القدس، الناصرة/ حيفا، عمان ودمشق

لمزيد من المعلومات الرجاء زيارة الموقع الإلكتروني:

http://ncm.birzeit.edu/pyo/Announcment.pdf

لتقديم الطلبات الرجاء زيارة الموقع الالكتروني: و

http://ncm.birzeit.edu/pyo

The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music

announces

that applications for the

Palestine Youth Orchestra 2008

in cooperation with members of the Collegium Musicale of the University of Bonn

under the leadership of German conductor Walter Mik

are now being accepted. To apply please go to: http://ncm.birzeit.edu/pyo

from 17^th – 26^th July Workshop In Birzeit /Palestine followed by a concert tour from July 27^th until August 3^rd

in cities including Ramallah, Jerusalem, Haifa/Nazareth, Amman and Damascus

for more Information,visit the following link:

http://ncm.birzeit.edu/pyo/Announcment.pdf