The Girl with the Blue eyes!

  When someone’s life falls apart and he's lost his way in the darkness he needs help, a guide, a person to take his hand and show him the way. I was that person, I lost my way and my purpose and here is what happened to me.    

  I left Iraq about 19 months ago running away from the killing that could reach me anytime, I traveled to USA along with my lovely wife and step daughter, we were a small family, but I was surprised that she started to fight with me the first moment we arrived to USA.

  My lovely wife was leaving me; our relationship was tattered and torn. She was arguing all the time and I felt tired of fighting and fixing the dying marriage, our marriage became filled with holes, and at the end I ran out of patches. It was obvious that she used me to travel to USA.

  I was a man with a family suddenly I became alone and lonely in a strange country; from a journalist or a man running my own business into a housekeeper in a four diamond hotel. This is not my dream of my future that was not what I struggled for.

  To heal myself was not easy; actually there was no healing. I was stumbling, trying to mingle with people and faking a smile. I was just spending time trying to find myself.

  One of the activities I tried was to attend West Palm Beach (WPB) public library, which organized meetings and lectures even Yoga every month. I tried some of them until I got bored even to attend the interesting tarot lecture on the 1st of November 2011.

  I usually work from 3pm until 11:30 pm and to attend the lecture I have to request the day off. It was easy but I didn’t do it because I lost my interest in everything. The schedule has been already set and I got Wednesday and Thursday instead of Tuesday which was the first of November. I looked to the schedule. I felt little bit sorry then I told myself, whatever!

One hour before I finished my work, the schedule had been changed for some reason, I got Tuesday and Wednesday. I was glad to get the day off because I remembered that the tarot lecture included free tarot reading.

  The lecture should be at 6pm On Tuesday, I arrived five minutes early before 6pm, and Miss Christina was the lecturer. She was nice lady in her 40's, full with energy and smiling all the time, her smile relaxed me. Five minutes later, more people started to attend the event. I was looking at the people coming in, and suddenly a very beautiful girl entered the room, she was holding some papers, she made her way between the chairs and sat behind me.

  I looked at her; I felt that I know the girl! I felt there is something special about her. She was filled with pride. Her blue eyes were magically glowing, and hiding secrets like the deep ocean. She didn’t notice me. All her attention was on Miss Christina; she participated in the lecture and got her free tarot reading.

  I had fun and enjoyed my free tarot reading. Miss Christina told me that I would meet my soul mate in three years, OK that’s sound good!?

  All my thinking was on the girl, and how can I approach her. I came up with a plan, it was simple I just have to be me and try to talk to her about the lecture. When the lecture finished, I waited outside. My heart was beating hard. The door of the room opened and the girl came out, I stopped her politely and I introduced myself. 

  Simple like that! I asked her name after I introduced myself as Sam. Her name was Maria, what a beautiful name! I expressed my interest to talk to her and share some information with her. She was not reluctant to give her name, facebook, email, and phone number, I was blessed when I looked to her writing down all these information.

  "Nice to meet you, I hope we will be in contact", that’s how I concluded the short conversation. I kept her contact information in my wallet, in the safest place. I took the bus coming back home. We become friends on facebook but we didn’t chat or talk on the phone. Three days later at 4 am I found that she was online. I was awake watching "Postmen", I started to chat with her, she replayed.

  We talked about simple things first; she fixed my profile on facebook, she told me that she was trying to find a roommate. She had to leave early at 6am to take care of some stuff, actually she was trying to find a place to live, and that’s what I knew later. We agreed to meet at the library and talks little bit and maybe have breakfast.

  I finished the workout at the Gym, it was close to 10am. I was sitting in the library and waiting when she text me that she was on her way. Few minutes passed like long hours she came in, I left my place and welcomed her, we shook hands and she sat. I was looking to her eyes and listening to her. I asked her "are you looking for a roommate because I’m trying to find someone" and I had an ad on Craigslist.

 She said, ” I will think about it”. Her thinking didn’t take long; she agreed to move in the same day. I was very happy to have someone with me in the apartment. She was coming in a few hours, and she had to bring some of her stuff which gave me time to clean and prepare the place for a real lady.
 
 There was nothing in the bedroom just some old stuff; I couldn’t use the bedroom since my wife left me on December 2010. The place was filled with memories and I was glad to give the bedroom to her. It took me hours to clean up everything. I smiled because I imagined that the birds and all the creatures were helping to clean up the place, like Walt Disney movies. I was happy, for the first time I started to enjoy the breeze of Florida!

 The place was dull but on the day Maria moved in to the apartment the light started to know its way inside the house and my life, everything was shining, she was a gift from God to make the life of everyone around her happy, she likes to joke and laugh, she was polite, smart, and high educated. She started to change my life, and I give her the credit for starting this blog, this is part of her big dreams and plans for me.

My live started to change the first day she moved in to live with me, she didn’t just let  me watch her doing the right things she was guiding me, moreover I was surprised that she knew about my country.

Maria in the kitchen

I enjoy cooking, so I started to make the Middle Eastern food for her, and I was lucky because she liked the spicy food. She liked my Humus, and the hamburger. The next day she cooked, I would say she cooked like a chef; she made the Enchilada. I enjoyed eating in a five star restaurant inside my house; I was blessed to have her staying with me. I watched her cooking the food, she was taking care of what she was cooking, and I quote her saying,” the food should be cooked with love”. That was her secret.

From a messy house to well organized apartment

   She took care of the whole apartment, she showed me the way how things should be organized, that took her huge efforts because women in our culture is the one responsible for the house, and the man duty is to work and make money. Maria changed 38 years old of traditions and culture, but I was ready and happy with this change.

  She was simple, money was a minor thing to her, the principles and values were more important. The day she left was the day the light left the whole house. What was the painful part for me that I helped her to carry her bags, but this time she was leaving, we hugged each other, and I hold the tears in my eyes, and didn't want to increase her pain; she didn't wanted to leave, but she has to.

Is it meant to meet each other again the same way we met at the Library, or is it the end and the farewell goodbye, to come back in my life again is "Against All Odds".

   

How Much Expensive Falafel can be?

   Cooking was the most relaxing thing for me, chopping the meat, cutting the tomato, onion which is the most teary part, etc., then adding some spices that gave the food special flavor. I’m good in cooking despite I didn’t attend any culinary school. My only teacher was my curiosity to know the ingredient of every delicious dish.

   I used to watch the Latime Baghdad chef bureau Amar when he was cooking. He was a young man in the 30's, he had a light black beard, and his hands were moving fast while he was chopping and cutting. Back in the old days when I was working as a reporter for the newspaper in Iraq, he was very good. When he finished I sat with him and poured him with questions. The chat concluded with a paper filled with way of how he made the dishes and ingredients.

  The food I make is very good which makes my next door neighbors Melissa and Michelle come to my door when they hear the sound of the blender buzzing at 2 am. I used to make Humus and Tabula, and I’m the best, in addition to many Middle Eastern appetizers. After I finished, I share it with them and the rest ended up in the refrigerator.

  Generally, the Iraqis like to eat with the family, also Iraqis have their beautiful nature; they like to share food, it’s one of the most beautiful things they have, generosity; we enjoy inviting other people to eat, or to send some food to the neighbors especially if they were in need.

  So let me tell you the big secret why my food is so good and has different flavors because I cook it with love, and like to watch people enjoy my food, but the only person I was eating with was just me. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the companionship. I lived alone in the apartment.

  One of the cheapest dishes in Iraq is the falafel-- Middle Eastern dish made from small fried balls of ground chickpeas and seasonings- the most expensive one with the appetizers in Iraq is $1.50, the size of the Sandwich is tremendous. A sandwich full with balls of falafel, salad, humus, tabula, and pickles not to mention the hot sauce in plates and Amba, spices mixed with vinegar and water.

  I was surprised by the price when I ordered a dish of Falafel in a Middle Eastern restaurant in West Palm Beach (WPB), the only reason why I ordered it because I was missing the test not because I was hungry. I was shocked when the dish came with 5 pieces of Falafel and two small pieces of bread. I had to order the Salad of course. The meal cost me $22.

 I made up my mind to make my Falafel. I have everything, the chickpeas, the spices, celery, and garlic, the only thing missing was the grinder to grind everything together. That was simple! Good Will! I bought my grinder. Everything was ready to make the dish. I started to make it. It took me 15 minutes to prepare everything.

  The mixture was enough to make 30 pieces. All the ingredients with the bread cost me 3 dollars! I make the small balls and I fried them in oil, it was amazing watching them changing into golden color and then they started to get brown. I took them out of the fryer. I waited until the oil came out from them and I ate them. OMG!! The test was amazing!! They were crispy and tender, melting in mouth, YamYam.

My neighbors Michelle and Melissa came over again when they heard the buzzing of the grinder. They were surprised when they found the falafel instead of the humus. They were surprised by the test; they told me to work in a restaurant or make my dishes at home and sell them.

HOOKAH HOUSE

Facing the white silent walls in my apartment and the faint painting of the fire place, the place was full with beautiful memories. I couldn’t stand staying inside and force myself to sleep again. I was sick, but I got somehow better. To fill my lungs with fresh air was a good idea, but the weather and the breeze reminded me of my old days when I was living in Iraq with my friends and family.

Catalina dancing with Miss Tarifa Salem one of the belly dancers

    

   I was lucky because it was Friday; it’s the day of belly dancing at the Hookah House, downtown Lake Worth. I always get invited by the owner to visit the place on Friday and watch the show.  It sounded like a good idea to visit a place I considered part of my culture, where I can listen to the Arabic music and enjoy, and maybe smoking Hookah with some refreshing flavors, or drink some Turkish coffee and ask for Psychic reading. That would be fun!

 I rode my bike slowly because I was still sick. I reached the place. It was half full and two tables were reserved. The time was 9 pm. The owner came to me and with a smile he welcomed me. I ordered a green tea with mint because it was good for my headache, and to smoke hookah was out of the question.

Most of the customers at the Hookah House were American or Spanish. They were fan of the Arabic culture especially the Hookah. They were enjoying themselves breathing out the smoke from their noses.
 The place was amazing with it's Egyptian tables, furniture and lights but it gave the sense that the one is in Morocco or Algeria. The music was American at that time. Truly, it was a nice mixture of cultures and civilisations

 I started to drink the tea. I was enjoying myself, or trying to because of my headache. I was waiting for the belly dancers; there should be two. That’s what I read in the schedule. About 10 pm they showed up. Two beautiful ladies that had changed their clothes to wear the belly dancing custom.

 Before they started two girls in the 20's walk in and sit next to me at the reserved table. I thought they were Arab girls because of the color of the complexion and the way they were dressed, but I was wrong. They were Hispanic but not from Cuba because they had a different dialect. I started to make guesses.

The belly dancers showed up. They stood and started to make Zaghareed or trill. That’s how they started the show. Then the girl next to me followed her with another trill. The music was Arabic this time, they were shimmying, bending, and using the cane. They were really good! The show would continue until 11:30 pm, then they took a break to start solo dance later.

I used the break time to start talking to the girls next to me. I commented on their dialect. They were from Colombia, and they got surprised when they knew that I was from Iraq. We had many things to share. Catalina with black eyes and black long hair was sitting and turning her face to me, holding the hookah pipe, she was listening of how I was missing home by just breathing the nice breeze of Florida, and she had the same feeling. She was touched because she was missing her home too. For a moment I thought she was about to cry because her eyes turn red. 

Ten minutes later the belly dancers started their solo dance one after the other. I was not sure how long each solo took but I enjoyed it. Catalina was a belly dancer for ten years, but she doesn’t do shows. Many American ladies participated in the show. They started to shimmy, Catalina left her place and joined the dance.She was very good to the point that she got a job offer from the belly dancer, but she refused it.

 

        

        

Woman beaten to death in San Diego to be buried in Iraq

An Iraqi immigrant whose beaten body was in her San Diego home with a note saying “go back to your country” will be flown to Iraq for her burial.
The Iraqi government will pay to return the body of 32-year-old Shaima Alawadi, a Muslim leader told the Detroit Free Press.
“Everybody is outraged,” said Imam Husham Al-Husainy of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center in Dearborn, Mich., where Alawadi lived after she and her family left Iraq in 1993.
“This is too evil, too criminal.”
Her father, Sayed Nabeel Alawadi, is a Shite cleric in Iraq, Husham said.
Alawadi was found unconscious on the floor of the dining room of her San Diego home last Wednesday. Alawadi was taken off life support and died on Saturday. She had been in hospital since her 17-year-old daughter found her.
“A hate crime is one of the possibilities, and we will be looking at that,” said Lieut. Mark Coit. “We don't want to focus on only one issue and miss something else.”
The daughter, Fatima Al Himidi, told KUSI-TV her mother had been beaten on the head repeatedly with a tire iron, and that the note said “Go back to your country, you terrorist.”
Addressing the camera, the tearful daughter asked: “You took my mother away from me. You took my best friend away from me. Why? Why did you do it?”
Police said the family had found a similar note earlier this month, but did not report it to authorities.
Facebook and Twitter have taken up the cause of Alawadi in the days since the death of the mother of five and intertwined it with the shooting death of black American teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida.
“Is wearing a hijab as dangerous as a hoodie?” National Public Radio’s Andy Carvin demanded of Geraldo Rivera in a tweet. Fox broadcasting commentator Rivera on Friday said Martin’s hoodie made him a target of George Zimmerman.
A Facebook site, “One Million Hijabs for Shaima Alawadi,” had 3,250 followers by Monday morning.
Among the most reposted Twitter comments: “Welcome to America, where you get killed for being suspicious for wearing a hoodie & a Hijab,” from a young Yemeni-American woman.
Also circulating widely was a commentary by Hafiz Moledina, a fellow with the UN Alliance of Civilizations, called “It’s More than Just about Hijabs and Hoodies.”
Hanif Mohebi, the director of the San Diego chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has met with the Alawadi family.
“The family is in shock at the moment. They're still trying to deal with what happened,” said Mohebi.
Communities east of San Diego are home to the second-largest settlement of immigrants from Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries, after metropolitan Detroit.
Alawadi and her husband, Kassim Alhimidi, moved to El Cajon outside San Diego from metropolitan Detroit and have two sons and three daughters, ranging in age from 7 to 18, Mohebi said.
“The family, and the community, is concerned that there is a possibility that this is a hate crime,” Mohebi said. “We've had some stuff in the past — insults mostly — but nothing physical. This is shocking to the community, the state and even the country.”


The story is from thestar.com, I just put the story here waiting comments on this incident, hopefully, and not new phenomena.

Compass Community Centered

Compass Community Centered
Lake Worth and Palm Beaches at lake ave.

So Many Reasons for Oil Price Increase

   Driving along the Dixie high way in Palm Beach, Fl, checking the prices of the gasoline, trying to find cheap gestation,and we find it, it was 10 cent cheaper than everyone around. The prices of the gasoline is about to reach $4 per gallon for the regular, we filled the tank with $10, just enough to keep the engine running for the next day.

Crude oil prices rose to near $107 a barrel Wednesday after a report showed U.S. crude supplies fell unexpectedly, a sign demand maybe improving in the world's largest economy.
There is another reason for such increase which is the fear of coming war against Iran for attempting to have nuclear weapons.
Christine Lagarde the executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday that a sudden cut in oil supplies from Iran may cause a huge surge in the price of crude oil.
  
  After September 11 attacks there were amajor change in the America policy or that what’s looked like? The change was to stabilize the Middle East region by getting rid of the ruthless regimes, and of course Saddam was the worse, and there was somehow a legal cover to topple him.

To topple one will be followed by the others like what happened when the president of Tunis was toppled in an uprising, he was followed by Mr. Mubarak the Egyptian former president, then Yemen, Syria,Bahrain, unrest in Saudi Arabia; the whole chairs of the dictators started to shake, people were thirsty for freedom.

The dictator regimes in the region were scared of the new born democracy in Iraq, so Iraq become a battlefield for fighting the American, to foil their plan.
The Middle East is the nerve of the world because it contains the largest crude oil reserves in the world; with the presence of crazy dictators, the region will be unstable especially if they are the enemy of the west.
If Iran is seeking to get nuclear weapon the whole region will boil. It’s not healthy to have the war condition in such sensitive region.

Misunderstandings, The Truth:Laws of Women in Iraq

   When I arrived to the USA leaving my home in Iraq, I expected to be asked about the atrocities in my country, how I survived, and what I had witnessed during my career as a journalist in a country turning the way of killing into some kind of sick art.

   I was surprised that I was asked by the American girls how many wives I have when they knew that I’m from Iraq. Then it is followed by another question with a tone made it looked like an accusation more than a question of why the women cover themselves in my country. Things became clear. There is a loop of misunderstanding about my country.  They think Iraq and Saudi Arabia are the same. They are both in the Middle East but they are completely different countries.

  Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, etc., and Saudi Arabia are different countries. Each country has its own traditions and law. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), women have to cover themselves from the head to toe, they are not allowed to drive a car, and use the internet, in some cities can’t mix with men in a supermarket by all means. They are smothering the women. Why?  According to them, the woman’s body arouses the sexual desire in men when they see a woman. Ok? Is it the woman’s fault if she is beautiful? Let them make a law to force the man not to look.

  Let’s talk about Iraq. I will not deny that some men have more than one wife, they do that in secret most of the time and when the first wife knew "oops" the man's in trouble! According to Islam, the man has the right to marry four women but he has to be just in spending the money on them, and showing love and affection to all of them which is impossible, so God’s law put restrictions but men are abusing it. Iraqi family law stipulates that the first wife has to attend the court and tell the judge that she agrees to the marriage, it happens in some cases, but the general situation is a big "NO".

  Women are women! If she is European, Iraqi, or American there is no difference, the jealousy will be inflamed inside woman and she will fight for her husband, fiancé or boyfriend against the invader.

 But how about covering women? Yes, that is true! Muslim woman have to cover their hair and body, and not to wear pants because it shows the curves of the lower body which means, of course, the strange man will be sexually attracted to the woman, and that is a sin for both of them.

  But in many areas in Baghdad, women are free to wear the pants, show their legs and hair and enjoy their lives but of course, not like USA or European countries. The North of Iraq is different; women are somehow free to wear anything they like within the restriction of traditions and culture.

The holy cities in the south, women are not allowed to show their bodies. They’re always covered but not the face, just some of them.

 In Iraq, women can drive, visit the internet coffee shop, enjoy shopping and talk to the vendors. Men are waiting here and there or are following the girl to pass her the phone number if she shows some attraction with the eye language. Men and women are dating in the gardens away from the eyes of people, or restaurants.

 We have businesswomen in Iraq, also women can work in the companies and for the government but what I’m really proud of in my country is that we have a law that gives the woman one year leave after she gives birth to her baby, one year with a salary to nurture her baby. In USA, I watch the working women struggling to take care of her baby and work, things should change regarding this issue.