Really. They do. Even pictures of rainbows.

I would KILL to have this hair cut:

Alas, I don’t have the balls.

And so I’ll leave you with some pretty typography.

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, Jabal Amman is over. Finito. Terminée. Khalas.

The glaringly horrifying Rotana screen of hell has sealed the area’s fate.

You can’t walk, you can’t drive, you can’t breathe. Most of the new places are cliche, devoid of soul, and exceptionally touristic. The original hippies that resurrected the area in 2001-2002 have long abandoned their posts for more interesting pastures.

Weibdeh, here they come.

Weibdeh today is the Jabal Amman of ’99. Many of the old apartments around Sharia Street are rented out by expats, local hippies, or families who have been living there for decades. You take a stroll down the pavement and you can’t help but notice all the new little shops and cafes that have been opening left and right. The art galleries and institutions seem to be on the increase.

What Weibdeh needs now is a couple more cafes, a pub or two, and a nice place to eat. Then it’s all set.

Okay. Not really. Fake fruits and candy taste better anyway. But AndFarAway has gone through a series of improvements, and I have Mohammed Al-Shara to thank for that.

The improvements include:

1. We moved AndFarAway’s database from Yahoo’s disastrous hosting to Mohammed’s own. This will improve sooo many things, including better social integration (eventually, hi Isam), speed, and reliability

2. The WordPress version has been upgraded to the latest version (now I have to upgrade my Mac to Lion so that I’m all 201l)

3. Mohammed also cleaned up some of the database, which is really old and really large.

Thank you Mohammed, you rock! :)

I’d also like to thank a bunch of amazing people who have helped me out over the past six years by attempting to fix issues related to Yahoo’s disastrous hosting, namely: Ibrahim, Rani, Razan, Emad, and Amer.

No more Yahoo. Yahoo!

Unlike the Egyptian movies, the Hollywood flicks, and the Omar Abdallat’s of the world, there’s something about Mashrou Leila that manages to supersede place and time. It’s in the realness of their lyrics. The lack of cliches. The pain, a perfect reflection of our own.

In Mashrou Leila lies randomness. A deep connection with a culture that has been “embarrassing” for decades. A love for rejects, rebels, and eccentrics. An embracing of a marginal society that lies on the parameters of our existence as Levantines, as Arabs, as humans. The life of lost kids, we who care not for the restricting realities of the traditional ideologies attempting to overtake us. Suffocated, restricted, enraged.

Surrealistic.

“El Hal Romancy” is their latest song. I can’t stop listening to it. It is so good I want to burst into tears from emotion.

“Tzawajni o eqra2 Engles fi sareeri”? Engles? Who mentions philosophers in lyrics? I am blown away.

Here are the lyrics:

الحال رومانسي

ﻣﺶ ﻋﺎﺭﻑ ﺇﻥ ﻛﻨﺖ ﺭﺟﻞ ﺃﻡ ﻣﺼﺮﻑ ﺁﻟﻲ

ﺑﺲ ﺍﻷﺟﺎﺭ ﻳﺎ ﺧﻴﻲ ﺻﺎﻳﺮ ﺳﻮﺑﺮ ﻏﺎﻟﻲ

ﺗﺰﻭﺟﻨﻲ ﻭﺁﻗﺮﺃ ﺃﻧﺠﻠﺰ في ﺳﺮﻳﺮﻱ

ﺇﺫﺑﺢ الخروف ﻗﺴﻢ ﻭﺯﻉ عالجيري

الحل ﺭﻭﻣﺎﻧﺴﻲ ﺑﺲ ﻣﺶ ﻏﻠﻂ

ﺣﺒﻚ ﻛﺴﺮﺓ ﺍﻟﻘﻄﺎﻉ الخاص ﺑﺲ ﻣﺶ ﻏﻠﻂ

ﺯﻓﻮﺍ ﺍﻟﻌﺮﻭﺱ ﺯﻓﻮﻫﺎ

As I was looking at this week’s installment of The Atlantic’s “World War II” special, I found myself automatically stopping by this image, due to the interesting nature of the outfits.

Then I discovered that this photograph was shot in Palestine in 1940. The caption reads: “Arab recruits line up in a barracks square in the
British Mandate of Palestine, on December 28, 1940, for their first drill under a British solider.”

Notice a few interesting things about the clothing in this photograph:

- All of these men are wearing espadrilles, which I find exceedingly fascinating. From Wikipedia: “The term espadrille is French and derives from the Catalan name for the shoes which derives from esparto, a tough, wiry Mediterranean grass used in making rope.” No slippers, no boots, no sandals.

- The diversity in outfits is fascinating. Some men are wearing the umbaz, some are wearing suits, others are wearing pants and t’s, and a few are wearing the sherwal. Unfortunately, I am not aware of the social implications of different outfits in the Palestine of old.

- The 7ettas (headwear) are interesting. The second guy on the left is wearing it like a sailor, I suppose. Or maybe not. I was surprised to see Petra natives wearing the 7etta tied that way too in these photographs by Amer Sweidan. So I guess not sailors. Desert dwellers? Cool people? Who knows? The other three next to him are wearing it in the more traditional way. They’re wearing very diverse outfits with the 7etta.