Another PiZZa with SaLaamers this time..

Since the Pizza with A.O. Smith wz Soo tasty...and sinCe ALia and NaJat, the SaLaamers, reaLLy wanted to visit me to see my apartment, my neighBorhood..so i invited them as weLL the next day to pizza ....
The funny thinG is that i told them i'm gonna "Make" pizza ..but they KNEW that i "bouGht" it, so i didn't need to expLain to them liKe i did the day beFore to A.O..cos they KNOW Arab guys can't "MaKe" food!!

I had a good time taLkinG to them bout sooo many thinGs, they're cute and frendLy, too bad aLia is leaving in a few weeKs..

PiZZa time with A.O.

Yesterday, i got an email from A.O. Smith, the president of AIESEC Northwestern in ChicaGo...teLLinG me that he saw me in the elevator at SSC, but didn't get a chance to taLK to me..and we both live in ChicaGo!!
He was leaving ChicaGo after 2 days, and reaLLy wanted to see me...
So i invited him over to piZZa and we spend liKe 6 HOURS just talKinG and taLking and stiLL, there was more to say...my throat actuaLLy started to hurt me at the end..hehe
I would teLL him sumthing bout Arab cuLture..and he would look up the ceiLinG, and try to relate it bacK to American cuLture in a way....sometimes it worKs ..sometimes it doesnt..But there were many similarites between my parents and his parents..which was very interesting.
The funny thinG is that when i invited him, i told him that i wiLL "make" pizza..
So when he came, ofcourse, beinG an Arab guy, i simpLy "bouGht" the pizza and just warmed it in my oven ...hehe
When he saw the pizza, which looKed soo Good, i could see words in his mouth either saying: "You're an ExceLLent CooK!!" or "Who did that for you??"..
So i though i'd better teLL him the truth ..that i bouGht it ..cos i dunno how to "maKe" it..
I told him most Arab guys live in a famiLy where the dad goes to work to earn money and the mom taKes care of the house, the food ..etc. So there is no point in time where the guy actuaLLy LearNs to "Make" food....i mean..i can "make" eggs, popcorn and after burning the pan twice, now i can "maKe" rice ..hehe..
But i can never "make" any of the Arabic food that my mom used to do for me bacK in Dubai..
So when an Arab guy invites you over and says he wiLL "maKe" food, he most probabLy is gonna "buy" it...trust me!

At the LakeHouse

I meet niCe peopLe EveryWhere in this country!

There's a gurL i know at work who has a house on the LaKe in Wisconsin. She invited me over to spend the day at her pLace. She invited other frends from work as weLL. I spent SUCH a FuN tiMe that day!

She took us on a ride in her BiG Boat, we had drinKs and just watched the BeautiFuL nature of AmeriCa! And then she let me drive the BoaT even though i had no license..eheh..Then she let us ride her JetSki for liKe 3 hours ...that was liKe the CoooooLesT thinG eVeR!!!

I never rode a JetSki before..so it wz HiLariouS to me..speciaLLy when we were 3 on the JetSki, and i'm drivinG reaLLy reaLLy faSt ..and its my FirsT time! eheh..the 2 behind me where praying to reaCh saFeLy!! Ofcourse we tipped over a couPLe of times.....but its a LaKe..there were No SharKs ......ActuaLLy, if there were, you wouLdn't be reading this i guess ..hehe..
We then pLayed batminton, pooL, had dinner and my frend drove me baCK to Chicago, yes, i sLept in the car :)

American Red Cross VoLunteer

The ARC was organizing a BiG Event in downtown Chicago as part of the government sponsered Emergency preparedness program in case of a Bio-Terrorist Attack.

So i took a day off and went to VoLunteer there ..
There were about 2,000 peopLe who were labeled as victims who got exposed to harmful bacteriaL attack (Anthrax).

So it was like a play where they act sick and need medication. It was all a play, everyone was a role player of either the doctor, or the vitim or the coordinator...or whoever would be in the real life scenario.


Me and my team were located at the reLieF center, we organize them into different categories (adult/kid/emergency case/can wait...etc.), then send them to the appropriate medication dispensing center to recieve their antibiotics. It was funny when some of them were acting like they were panicing and i was trying to ask them not to panic, to caLm down..hehe..i act weLLL...it wz fuN !

Best WeeKend I had In AmeriCa (so far)

The past 3 days are counted as one of the BeST if not the BeST days i've spend since the day i stepped my foot in AmeriCa! It wz SuCh a BLasT! I didn't imaJine it was actuaLLy possibLe to get to meet uP with aLL these AIESECers in ONE spot! I mean..when you organize a day out with a couPLe of schooL frends to go have dinner then watch a movie..it taKes lots of pLanning..and in the end, 1 or 2 peopLe out of the 6 pLanning to meet, would drop out or come really late....So its just GreaT aLL the EFFort that has been put into OrganizinG this event and maKinG it an aBsoLute SucceSS from Start to end:) BiG WarM THnx to Jen, Lyna and aLL the other AIESEC leaders for the sLeepLess nights they spent to maKe us, happy!



I thinK i met about 200 new peopLe in those 3 days, each of which has a unique and interesting personality, each comes from a diFFerent part of this worLd and each is worth and weLL worth beinG a frend of mine. My networK of frends has not onLy QuadrupLed last weeekend, but aLso has beCome more DIVERSE than any of my other frends in Dubai. I NEVER had a Japanese frend! Nor a Morroccan! Nor a Tunisian! Now, the sum of aLL the previous three, combined, is almost as many frends i have in Dubai!



I wish, just wish i was abLe to stay tiLL the end of the conFerenCe..cos i made some cLose frends in those 3 days, which i hoPed to spend some more time with..The OnLy thinG i haTed about this conFerence.................
is the Fact that you get to meet uP with GreaT peopLe ..spend a GreaT time, for a short time, then have to LEAVE back to where you came from..
If i stay untiL the end of this year....i don't care how FreeZinG its gonna be, i don't care how muCh it wouLd cost me...but i'm SO NOT gonna miss the opportunity to attend WSC and meet up with you GaLs for one more time!!!!!

need to Get Rid of youR Phone pLan ???

i was just about to get a mobiLe phone for myseLf ..
untiLL i discovered that it isn't as easY as i thouGht it would be ..
Back in Dubai ..you go to a phone shop, you have a HUGE VARIETY of
phones to pick from ..
then you go to the one and OnLy Service provider, and get urself a sim card..
which has a fLat rate per minute..
and you pay for the amount that you speak ..full stoP !!

Here...there's like 50 million pLans to choose from, each has a trick in it ..
and less than a dozen phones to choose from !!!!!
T-mobiLe has 2 different Nokia's ONLY !!!!!
Back in dubai ...we have like 2fuckin hundred !!!!!!!!

Anyway ..
im going to buy one 2moro ...with prepaid card ..
cos im staying for 6 months onLy ...and its pointLess buying a 1 year pLan ..


I was just wondering if anybody doesn't want their pLan anymore ..
perhaps i could take over the rest of the year (6months) and the phone too ..
We could transfer the account to my name after you pay your due biLLs
..then you would be free ...and i would have a phone !

just a suGGestion...........

renting an aPartment in ChicaGo city...

okay you guyzzz ....
away from stupid Turkish Airlines and the shit they put me thru ..
Now that im in ChicaGo, finaLLy ..im lookin for a pLace to stay ..
there are severaL probLems that im facinG ..

See ..my contract with the World Trade Center people is for 3 months onLy ..
it ends on Oct 25 ....
BUT ..there is a possibility they may extend another 3 months for me ..
which makes my stay a possible 6 months duration..
Another problem is that our budget for the apartment is $500..but i can HARDLY find anything for $700 ...


However ..when im going out looking for an apartment ..all i find is 1 year leases !!!
there are HARDLY any apartments for short term least ( 3 or 6 months )
and im afraid to get into a contract of 1 year lease..and then find nobody i can subleast it to after im done...

I thought of sharing an apartment with sumone who has a 2 bedroom and is leasing 1 ..But i do NOT wanna end up with a roommate whom i dunt know ..who might turn out to be super gay, a druG-alcohol-sex-TV-Cigarette addict or a psychic weirdo !!!

So anybody has any suggestions or where i can get a short-term lease, in a good quality apartment??

heLp wud be hiGhLy appreciated ....

this pLace is aWesoMe !!

hiiiiiiieeeee !!!!!!!
even though i had a shitty fliGht experience..but ChicaGo city made it up for me ..
im quite haPPy i finaLLy got heRe and bout to beGin my adventure !!!
Edwin tooK me with his car on a touR in Evanston, the area he stays in and everyThinG here LooKs soo simPLe and NiCe !!
Then we went to search for an appartment in ChiCaGO ..we went from North all the way to downtown ...it was GreaT just to LooK around and see how the houSes aLL look very diFFerent from those baCk home..back in Dubai, we have big plain buildings all over Dubai, but here, houses look soo cute and more alive ..
there at tons of trees everywhere ..unlike Dubai which you can barely find any greenery ..
peoPLe are veRy friendLy ..and heLpfuL
and they drive WAY more CareFuLLy ..even why you give a signal to change lanes..they let you pass ..not like in Dubai..where people speed up when they see sumone trying to move to their lane ...heeheh
and aLso its SOOO DIVERSE !!
i think i've seen peopLe from liKe 20 different nationalities since
the moment i steped my foot in AmeriCa !!
Edwin dropped me at my cousin's house ..who then took me to dinner and then another triP around the city ......i liKe chicaGo a lot ...i wana stay here as LonG as possibLe ..
Edwin's asking me on average ..without using a caLcuLatoR...about 3
questions per minute about Arabs, the Arabic World, Muslims,
Differences and Similarities between each of the Arab
countries...etc..
we've talked about SOOO maNy different topics since the day i came here !

its AMAZING to get to see thinGs that are NOT what you are Used to
seeing back home.......and there are MaNy of them which makes it even
moRe interestinG!!
and after expLaininG sum stuFF bout Arabs in GeneraL to Edwin and his
friends (he took me to pLay soccer with his friends)..i noticed that
peopLe here have BARELY ANY IDEA bout UAE or even just AraBs ..! i wz
shocked !! Sum just Heard of Dubai....but dunt know where it is ..
others have very littLe knowLedGe bout the middle east and AraBs in GeneraL ..

So there's a LoT of LecturinG that i have to do during my stay !!
but i love this pLaCe !!! Its aWeSoMe !!!