Year: 2007

Back In Tunis

Home Sweet Home…

I got back Sunday evening; my plane landed at 9PM but I only got out of the airport slightly before 11PM, that’s because the lazy guys at the airport chose to put the luggage from 3 planes onto one conveyor belt, even though all the rest of the belts were empty.

My flight back was on Tunisair too, and it was quite a pleasant one, the leg space was pretty comfortable, the food was quite good, the service was ok (they should learn to smile more); anyway, in the end, Tunisair beats Air France hands down on this route. I’ll be doing my best to only travel on Tunisair whenever I have to go to France.

I’m back with my dear wife and son, whom I missed so much. Adam’s doing better, he’s coughing less now; It’s amazing how much I feel he grew up after just one week away from him, and it sucks that I wasn’t there to see it happen.

I didn’t get to do much in Paris this time around, I had a lot of work to do, and in the evenings I was mostly too tired to really do much but take a few walks, eat and maybe catch a movie.
I did get to meet Mochekes who works in Paris now, and we had a nice dinner at Pizza Pino on the Champs

Apocalypto

On monday night, a friend of mine and I went to see Mel Gibson’s latest movie, as a director/producer, Apocalypto.

The story is set in the Mayan era; A small village in the jungle is attacked and brutally overrun, its residents slaughtered and abducted by a ruling tribe that needs a bunch of slaves and human sacrifices. We follow the steps of the warrior Jaguar Paw as he tries to get away to go back and save his pregnant wife and son.

Most of the film is set in the dense jungle, with the middle of the movie being in a grand Mayan city. The dialogue is in a Mayan dialect, with subtitles of course.

The movie is very well made and feels like it captured the era it’s set in perfectly; the design of the sets and costumes is dazzling, the acting is great, the character development very successful, the action really good; in short, this is one great movie overall.

Still this movie might not be for the faint of heart, it’s quite violent, there’s a lot of blood involved, a lot of dead bodies lying around, along with decapitation, impalement, disembowelment, snakebite, and what not. Personally, I thought it all played well into the story, and didn’t find anything to be just violence for the sake of violence.

Anyway, I truly recommend seeing this movie to everyone, even the faint of heart (just take a barf bag with you), it’s really worth every second of the 139 minutes. I applaud Mel Gibson for what is one of the best movies of the year.

ReBonjour Paris

As the title of this entry suggests, I’m back in Paris again. Just like last year, I’m here for work, so most of my time will be at the office or in meetings with clients.

I got here yesterday evening at the Orly airport; Orly not Charles de Gaulle because this time I chose to fly Tunisair instead of Air France, and I thank God that I did, the seating was a bit more comfortable, the food was so much better, I got here on time and I didn’t have that back-ache I always get when flying Air France.

I’ll be here for only one week this time, and even that feels like a really really long time for me be away from my wife and son, especially that Adam is sick, plus I just got back from my trip to Manchester a few days ago.
I can’t wait to get home again.

I’ll be trying to meet up with a number of friends who live and work here now; I’m quite sure I’ll end up going to a movie or two in the evenings; I don’t think I’ll have much time for shopping, just something quick maybe to pick up some gifts or souvenirs.

I’ll be taking it easy with the fast food this time around as I’m trying to eat healthier; last night’s dinner at McDonald’s should be enough unhealthiness for this trip.

I might be looking for a good and affordable DSLR camera, like a Nikon d50 or d70, so if anyone knows where I can look in Paris to find a good deal, please do let me know.

And finally, as usual, I’ll be taking some photos of Paris here and there to share later.

Stay tuned for more from the city of lights, where almost everything shuts down at 8pm. Still the lights stay on.

Al Gore Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Former US Vice President Al Gore, who should have become President in 2000 instead of the miserable failure that is Bush, was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world’s attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker announced yesterday.

During his eight years as Bill Clinton’s vice president, Al Gore pushed for climate measures, including for the Kyoto Treaty, that Bush flushed down the drain. Since leaving office in 2001 has campaigned worldwide on climate issues, including with his documentary on climate change called “An Inconvenient Truth,” which is nominated for an Oscar this year.

We’ll know if he wins the Nobel Peace Prize in mid-October, when the results are traditionally announced. The prize is then presented on December 10th.

Personally, I wanted Al Gore to win the US presidency back in 2000, wished he would’ve run again and won it in 2004, and would’ve hoped for him to consider running in 2008, but everything points towards the fact that he won’t.
I honestly think the world would be a slightly better and safer place if he was president of the US.

The Lord Of The Rings Online – Shadows Of Angmar

The Lord Of The Rings Online - Shadows Of AngmarA new interesting game is out, aiming to eat away at World of Warcraft’s domination of the MMORPG market, and it goes by the name: The Lord Of The Rings Online – Shadows Of Angmar.
I guess the name says it all; it’s simply a multi-player game, read online middle-earth, based on the amazing trilogy of J.R.R. Tolkien.

You get to create a unique character that can be either a Man, Elf, Dwarf or Hobbit; you choose what class you want it to be from (Champion, Guardian, Burglar, Captain, Hunter, Minstrel, or Lore-master), and where it hails from, his/her skin, hair, eye color, and more; and you equip yourself with all the items you need like sturdy Dwarven armor, intricate Elven mail, or weapons created with the knowledge of past Ages.

Then you can join with the Fellowship to fight against the forces of Sauron, confront the forces of the Nazg

Numbers On Tunisian Youth

For about three years, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been conducting a survey of around 10,000 young people ranging in age from 15 to 25. The survey encompasses five areas of focus: youth and participation; youth, identity and the values scale; youth and development; youth and the information society; and youth and the Tunisia of tomorrow.

Some of the numbers that came out of this study are very interesting:

– More than 72% of respondents said they refuse to engage in politics or join political and social parties.

– Only 16% said they belong to NGOs.

– Only 9% follow domestic media regularly, while 22% do not follow it at all.

– 92% of Tunisian young people reject religious extremism, and they regard the religion they identify with to be “the Islam of moderation and the middle way”.

– 59% were optimistic about the future.

– 69% refuse to work within the short-term contract system.

– More than 71% of respondents view their physical health as good, but 81% say they find it hard to practice sports due to limited time and insufficient areas designated for sports.

– Only 13.7% said they have good knowledge of the Internet.

Another study, the results of which were published by the National Office for the Family and Population, produced some equally interesting numbers:

– Aversion to marriage has risen to 65% in 2006, as compared to 35.9% in 2001.

– The percentage of single women rose from 80% in 2001 to 85% in 2006 within the 15 to 29-year-old age group, and from 16% to 20% during the same period within the 30 to 49-year-old age group.

[Source: Magharebia]
[Via: HouBlog]

First Arab Nominated for Holocaust Honor

Tunisian man is first Arab to be nominated for holocaust honor for risking his life to save Tunisian Jews from Nazi persecution.

At the height of World War II, Khaled Abdelwahhab hid a group of Jews on his farm in a small Tunisian town, saving them from the Nazi troops occupying the North African nation.

Now, Abdelwahhab has become the first Arab nominated for recognition as ”Righteous Among the Nations,” an honor bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from Nazi persecution.

[…]

… Abdelwahhab, the son of an aristocratic family was 32 when German troops arrived in Tunisia in November 1942.

[…]

Abdelwahhab served as an interlocutor between the population of the coastal town of Mahdia and German forces…

When he heard that German officers were planning to rape Odette Boukris, a local Jewish woman, he gathered her family and several other Jewish families in Mahdia — around two dozen people — and took them to his farm outside town. He hid them for four months, until the occupation ended.

[…]

Abdelwahhab still has to be approved by the Yad Vashem commission that grants the honor. Since the war, Yad Vashem has conferred the status on 21,700 people, including some 60 Muslims from the Balkans. But no Arab had ever been nominated.

[Source: NY Times]

[Thanks to Jimbo for the link]

You 2.0: How To Become A Self-Starter

An interesting and motivating article on Psychology Today, under the name “You 2.0” shares tips on how to become a self-starter and radically improve your life.

The article kicks off with this:

You may feel bound to your timid demeanor, your stifling job, or your rancorous relationship, but there is one realm over which you unquestionably have control: your own head.

I totally agree with that, and I think that any change, no matter how big or small it is, starts from within your own head, from how you think of things and how you perceive them.

The whole article is really worth reading, but to sum it up, the main points to change and improve your life are as follows:

– Ask yourself: Is the problem in you or your world?
– Overcome your fear of failure
– Embrace risk and novelty
– Create a new internal vision of yourself
– Expect and try to even enjoy discomfort to reach your goals

For the full article and more details, read: You 2.0 – (Psychology Today)

[Via: LifeHack]

Globalization vs. Culture: The Loss Of Identity

A good friend of mine and I were chatting earlier today when the subject turned to how so many countries and people are losing their identity.

This is a true problem that I’ve been seeing all over the world, and the main reason behind it is unfortunately Globalization. I’m no anti-globalization activist or anything, in fact, I’m totally for globalization, economically and industrially speaking, but we can’t neglect the negative effects it has on culture and society.

In this globalized world, cities are becoming clones of each other, and people are converging into fake stereotypes; gone are the unique cities that carry so much history and culture in every corner, lost are the enriching cultural differences and specificities that make a society uniquely what it is; London looks like Paris which looks like Madrid; Restaurants serving this or that country’s traditional food are drowned out by the huge fast food chains, beautiful traditional clothing is lost between the new bulk-made looks created by the big brands, people look alike, eat alike and dress alike whether they’re in New York, New Delhi or Cairo.

We’re losing one of the things that count the most: our identity, the uniqueness in us, that which makes us special and allows us to stand out from the crowd.

Again, I’m all for cultural exchange and value it dearly, and I, more than anyone else, treasure the notion of a global citizen, but still that doesn’t mean letting go of our unique cultures to adopt a unified fake money-driven one.