علا عليوات's Blog, page 10
April 3, 2015
The Lives of Others
Let me begin with a certified clich: It’s not very easy to be a single woman in an Oriental society. Well, actually I tend to believe this is the case in any society, for different reasons. It’s not only about people’s expectations of you, sometimes it’s because they don’t expect that much.
Let me clear up any possible confusion by this little example: My cousin used to freelance for this company through this man. One day he called her to ask if she could take a new assignment, but she said s...
March 24, 2015
Theeb: A Review
So finally today I got to see Theeb, the Jordanian movie I’ve been waiting to see for so long. Perhaps a little longer than most people as I had the pleasure of working on it (well, not exactly on it, more like on the script for translation purposes, but I like to think I had something to do with it anyway). Of course that was almost 3 years ago, which goes to say how much work has been put into this movie, and to my delight I can safely say now after watching it that it certainly paid off...
March 5, 2015
A Conversation with Tubby – 12
I was sitting alone at the farthest corner inside the caf��, sipping peacefully on my tea when he helped himself to the chair across from me.
Me: What do you want?
Tubby: Now, now! Is that anyway to greet an old friend?
Me: What’s with the pretentious language! Who do you think you are, freaking Mr. Darcy?
Tubby: Ah, classical literature references, now who’s being pretentious?
Me: What do you want? Can’t you see I’m enjoying the silence?
Tubby: Hardly so. You’ve been trying to find one good though...
February 28, 2015
A moment to Reflect
Allow me to take a leave of my senses for a brief moment to contemplate the fact that at this very moment, while we’re busy making calculations, laying out plans, booking flights and worrying about this and that, this little fellow called Francois Langur is jumping freely between limestone caves somewhere in South-West China. He doesn’t have a wireless connection, he doesn’t know if the dress is white or blue, he couldn’t care less about exchange rates and he certainly doesn’t care what day o...
February 20, 2015
روتين صباحي
من أهم أسباب شقاء الإنسان محاولاته العبثية لتحدي المنطق. لو كانت حياتنا منطقية لما اضطر أحد إلى الاستيقاظ في السادسة صباحاً تاركاً دفء سريره إلى برد العالم الخارجي من أجل وظيفة بالكاد يكفيه راتبها حتى نهاية الشهر. تلك هي الفكرة التي تتحايل عليّ كل صباح لأبقى هامدة تحت ركام البطانية. لا تتهوري، أي حركة تعني تياراً من الهواء البارد بذلت جهدك لسد كل المنافذ في وجهه، أي حركة تعني انهيار الحصن. خمس دقائق أخرى، ثلاث دقائق. سأتأخر. أفتح عينّي أولاً فتنغلقان تلقائياً كستائر من حديد. أحاول مجدداً، أس...
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February 18, 2015
مشاهد
الله يكفينا شر هالضحك
احنا شعب بيستكتر عحاله الفرح. سيك من المثل الشعبي الشهير أعلاه، ولو إنه الواحد بتساءل ليش ما إجا في بال اللي اخترع المثل يقول مثلاً: الله يعطينا خير هالضحك، بدل السلبية اللي هو فيها… بس برضه سيبك من الأمثال، إنت ما بيجيك هاد الشعور مرات؟
أي شعور… الشعور لما تكون مبسوط كتير ومن كتر البسط تحس في إشي غري وتحس إنه في مصيبة جاي، لأنه لسبب ما في وجداننا الداخلي الفرح مرتبط بالمصائب، بأي معادلة ملتوية ما بعرف، بس هاد شعور موجود، يمكن عشان الواحد لما يكون فرحان شغلة بخاف عليها،...
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February 2, 2015
The Metamorphosis: The Culture of Dehumanization
Apparently, when it comes to reading, for me this is the year of “catching up”; I’m reading books I should have read years ago under the mantra better late than never. It has an upside, you know, as when you discover Agatha Christie at 30 – Yes, I haven’t read her books as a teenager-�� you feel thankful you hadn’t read them and that she wrote so many books that now you’re spoiled for choice.
It was in the same fashion that I picked up The Metamorphosis by Kafka, not only because it’s preposte...
January 11, 2015
On the Charlie Hebdo Shootings
I guess by now everyone has heard of the Charlie Hebdo shootings that took place in Paris last week. To avoid any confusion let me start by making a clear point: I do not condone the attack in anyway and there is no reason in my mind to justify it. It was an act of terrorism, and a stupid one for that matter.
Having established that let me move on to what I found mind boggling about this whole thing. People have been dealing with the issue as a matter of terrorism against freedom of speech, bu...