Sign me up!!

Marry me!!
Originally uploaded by suzannemo.

Here is a great picture of prospective grooms at the Imilchil Wedding Festival in Morocco (see my posting on NOMADLIFE for all the details about this interesting festival which started today.) Just pick a nice groom from the thousands there and in less than 24 hours you can be married..hmm...why does this seem way too easy :)

Why Can't Life Always Be This Simple?

I saw a guy walking down broadway today wearing a shirt that said in big, bold letters:

"I lie to girls"

I wish it was always this simple to pick out the dishonest people in the world.

Ana parle too many langues!!

My head has been spinning this week...I am reading a book in French and trying to speak French as much as possible because I may need to write a research proposal in French very soon. I spent 3 hours today in my Arabic (MSA/fus-ha) class. Friday I was hanging out with my Moroccan friends and trying to learn Moroccan Darija (another form of Arabic). Add that to my normal "ENGLISH" and you have one very confused head. It is funny how language can alter your entire thought process. Even as I am writing this I am thinking in multiple languages...c'est presque impossible d'ecrire sans changer la langue. Learning and speaking multiple languages is a great thing..but all at the same time....difficult..i mean difficile...i mean sa3b..i mean s'eib.

Paradise

Paradise
Originally uploaded by suzannemo.

I was looking through my Egypt Pics today and thought this one of Roudy, Jen, and I was the perfect example of the relaxing time we had in Sharm El Sheikh. Bars in pools..now who thought of that? A very very smart person.

All of my Egypt pics can be seen by clicking HERE

Mabrouk Mouna and Najib!!

Mouna's Wedding
Originally uploaded by suzannemo.

Here is a picture of Mouna and Najib, my brother and I, and some of our crazy Moroccan friends. The photo was taken on the night of "Il kitab il kitaab" which is the night when Najib and Mouna were "officially" married!!

I put all of my pics of Mouna's wedding and my time in Morocco online and you can see them by clicking HERE.

Egypt pics coming soon.....

Le Vent Nous Portera

Back in NYC...strange sense of re-entry into the place I call home (at least for this chapter in my life).

Life is good..no, its more than good, it is PERFECTLY WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE. The last few weeks have been a chain of strange coincedences, random encounters, and signs all pointing towards the next big steps I must take. You know those times when you know you are on the verge of something really big because all the signs are FINALLY pointing in a coherent direction???

Sat with Youssef in 3 cafes for 7 hours last night and remembered 1) how many times Youssef and I have done this same thing 2) how amazing it is to have a friendship like ours which crosses 6 years and over 10 countries and 3) how great it feels to have a shared moment of creative genius, to come up with the next big "save the world" plan and to have someone else who is crazy enough to go after it with you.

Randomly ran into Trent and Omar in an Egyptian Sheesha bar in Queens...what are the chances of that?? Proof of just how small the world is. Can't think of two people in the world I would rather run into it. What other random encounter would lead to such amazing discussions reflecting on life in Egypt, recounting crazy stories of Canadian border-crossings, and debating middle-east politics?

Thought to myself as I fell asleep last night (in French, since I am trying to practice French and do so by thinking to myself in the language before I sleep so that I dream in French): "Dans une facon, je suis l'auteur de ma vie, mais je ne suis pas tout seule en ecrivant cette histoire. La vie est trop complique pour moi de comprendre, en plus ecrire. Evidemment, il y a une main plus grande que la mienne qui est la vrai auteur de cette histoire. "

Rough translation for non-french speakers "In one way, I am the author of my life, but I am not all alone in writing this story. Life is too complicated for me to understand, more the less write. Obviously, there is a hand bigger than mine who is the true author of this story."