The Nomad Mum's Diary

By lindo - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Family & Parenting

Monday, May 28, 2007

Killing a country

Yesterday gunmen pulled out Khalil Al Zahawi out of his car and shot him dead right outside his house in New Baghdad. The victim was “The Sheikh of Iraqi calligraphers”, he was 65 years old. This is not the first incident where Iraqi artists and intellectuals were the target of assassinations, but I had always assumed that these attacks were motivated by one of two factors: They were either carried out by Taliban-minded groups who aimed to stamp out all forms of “non-Islamic” arts such as... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Juha's dilemma

There is an Arab folktale about Juha ( a fictional character who was often the protagonist in these tales) and how he wanted to sell his donkey. He took his son along, and the three made their way to the market. A man sees them and wonders:” You have a donkey and yet neither of you is riding it. How stupid!” So Juha put his son on the donkey’s back and they walked on. Another man sees them and exclaims “ What a heartless son you have, he lets you, an old man, walk while he rides the donkey. How... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, May 25, 2007

My worst nightmare

Sorry guys, I won’t be able to write or comment for a couple of days. Adam had a freak accident at the playground of a restaurant, he was standing in the path of a swing and it rammed him in the face point blank. We were in the mountains 40 Km away from Latakia, we did not have much faith in the rural public clinic so we rushed Adam to a private hospital in town, the mad dash took 10 minutes at breakneck speed. Our guests who were with us at the time of the accident ( Matoug from “the Matoug... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Sleepless in Latakia

Latakia has gone berserk! On every parking lot, vacant plot, park or even a wide expanse of pavement marquees have sprouted, draped in blinding lights, with huge loudspeakers operating at deafening levels. Men, women and children gather in and around to watch as girls and guys join hands in the traditional Dabkeh. The drummer is at the center of the circle of dancers, the action often taking place right in the middle of the road, the music is the traditional folk music with its energetic rhythms... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Zamaan Al Wasl

I was 12 when my mother took us on a tour of Andalusia, I could not understand much of what the guide told us about the architectural significance of those gorgeous buildings. I do remember that I had a sense of peace that I did not get anywhere else,with the exception perhaps being the time when I was on top of a dune in the desert watching the sun sink into the Great Sea of Sand in the Libya. Andalucia still haunts me. The painting below was inspired by the first line from a famous poem... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Being a Muslim: a curse or blessing

I have always steered away from discussing politics and religion; I was planning to write on a completely different subject today but something came up and I felt that it was better addressed in a post rather than in a comment or an email reply. My story begins with my visit to “Naut’s View”. It was the first time I had read this blog, the word Islamist popped up several times so I read the posts, then I checked the comments. There were many who believed that Islam was the ultimate evil, the few... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

The Matoug Mystery

During my 7-year stay in Libya I met many interesting people and I made many good friends. One of them sent me an email yesterday; an artist doing postgraduate studies in Granada, Spain who is in Damascus to participate in a painting workshop at the historic Khan Asaad Basha. Matoug has a very special place in my heart. He was already a teaching assistant when I started studying at the College of Arts and Information. His major was painting, mine was printmaking, but he came to our workshop... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, May 18, 2007

The strangest dream

I had this dream three days ago, I was sick yet still had to nurse an ill husband and son. You can tell from the long winding events that it was fever-induced, but it disturbed me none-the-less, and the first thing that came to my mind when I woke up was: Blogit. I had to tell it to my fellow Blogiteers or I would go mad trying to read into it. So here it is: I saw myself in the quaint mountain town of Safita, famous for its magnificent tower that dates back to the days of the crusaders. I was... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Home sweet home???

Hello everyone, I am back on Syrian soil, I have mixed feeling about the whole thing. The journey home was rough, Max was very sick and yet he managed to navigate the notorious Aleppo-Latakia road back and forth in 8 hours. He literally collapsed the minute he got out of our car and my 70-year-old father-in-law was the one who helped with the heavy luggage. Adam is sick too, so I really did not have time to unwind. It was raining cats and dogs when we arrived and there was a thick coat of dust... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Final thoughts

This is my last post from Libya, but you can be assured that there will be plenty of reminiscing in the days (maybe weeks) to come. Blogging has made me love for this country a public affair and I have no intention of ending this affair or hiding it. I had grand plans for this break, it was meant as an opportunity to turn my life around. I may not have achieved all my objectives, but your response to my Libyan diaries has been a source of great joy for me, if I had not been successful on any... Sign in to see full entry.

About this Blog

“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other, wings.” Most parents find that giving their children wings is the more difficult thing, but for me,a cultural nomad, my biggest concern is how to give my 2-year old son roots.

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