She was circumcised...twice!

We were busy talking about "women things" when I suddenly felt that something "weird" was said by my 36 years old bright, beautiful and skillful "PhD holder" friend.

Allooo...,I said, are u OK? we're talking about you here, a W.O.M.A.N...

well, yes I have been circumcised twice.

What?I mean...what?are you kidding?

"no, and don't make it harder please...it's common in Egypt.Or at least it was common 'till the late seventies.

The problem is that they do it in a non medical way , and the "thing" gets damaged. And basically, every young Egyptian circumcised young girl has to undergo a second circumcision to fix "it".I mean to make "it" look like "normal"."

I'm still under the shock.I knew it existed in Egypt, but I thought only very poor illiterate neighborhoods still "do" it, not "intellectual" families for whom high education for girls is a "must" .

"If only it was done the way they do it for boys...I mean celebrations, joy,...It's done by "sad" women ..not a smile,not a word..a knife and a sense of shame for being a girl!"my friend says.

once married, the circumcised girl finds it hard to enjoy intimacy with her husband...she usually just ...fakes it!

Who said marriage was easy?

Sometimes, life gets the upper hand and drives your days into ...routinious, monotonuous...ous!
I know I’m going through this when the simple act of changing a poopoo diaper becomes too tiring, or when fighting with two precious to close the bathroom door and try to have some privacy becomes disappointing, or when getting an absent smile as a greeting from my hubby after a long hectic day becomes depressing...
I feel I’m going through it when I start wondering when is it going to be “a little bit” about me, or when the simple thought of going out for a walk looks like a miracle, or when Whinnie the pooh, Elmo, Totorro... start looking so boring, miserable and gloomy..
So I scream”BARAKA: enough in Moroccan”, I cry, I protest and eventually go for a walk!
Then I come back, listen to Marcel Khalifeh or Lhasa del Sala and read one of my favorite stories. Let me “read” you an excerpt:

“She: well he’s not exactly my age...
Her Mom: older..hmm.
She:.. and I’m going to marry him...
Her Mom: why? Is he very very very rich? Very very very handsome?
Me:Not really,and he looks normal...I mean, he looks Moroccan even though he’s not...
Her Mom: ooooh! So he’s not Moroccan...what else?
She: He’s the one for me...and I’m going to join him..he does not live in Morocco, You know...
Her Mom: You mean you're going to leave your Family, your country, your friends and your job for him?
She: I'm doing it for Me...We both love Garcia Marquez, and we both have a “weird” sens of humor...we both play tennis and we both don’t really take ourselves “too” seriousely...
Her Mom: No marriage...No way!
She: I love him...I feel secure with him...he’s the one for me...I just know it.
.......
He: I’m going to marry her.
His friends: What, u must be kidding? She’s so not ure kind, not even a stunning beauty.
He: I love her
His friends: When, u only met three times, for God sake...She’s so boring, U’re so party guy...
He: I love her...I feel secure with her...She’s the one for me...I just know it.”

I read the story and I feel better.For it’s about me, and the She is actually me...He; being my husband ;)
I remember what we went through to be together and realize that I always end up saying that if it was to be redone, I’ll do it again, exactly the same way.
Sure, it gets hard; sometimes; but the base is there...Love, compassion, emotional security and two precious...
So I go back to that smelly diaper, and try to create diversion so my two precious let me use the bathroom, and smile back to my husband and tell him: tomorrow is another day, relax I’ll go make your jasmin tea.
It will be eventually about me, sometimes later...for now, I’m enjoying being needed, inconditionaly loved, and forgiven despite my dramatic protests!
Why am I telling you all this? Well, I want my friend (Soussou) to read it and understand that the marriage life is not always easy, but one needs to always remmember the things that made him/her love and not focuse on the other things that may make him/her hate...
It’s also for my "curious" e-friend who'll recognize himself when I’ll call him the “spelling” monster ;)

5 things u do not know about Moi;)

Loula is synonym of freedom, I feel very "relieved" in her space. I love her musical box (Labelash's one too), I love the way she writes..She always reminds me of a poem by the great Khalil Jibran..anyways, Loula tagged me and here I am ,trying to reveal some secret sides of my Mysterious Me;))

*I' m addicted to ..chocolate, and I drink cofee like we drink water...all the day.

*My husband and I decided to get married...three days after we met...Almost everybody I know in Morocco was against what they considered to be a crazy decision (to leave the family, my well paid job and follow my hubby to the states) , but years and two kids later, they admited I was right to follow the "call of my heart"...

*I'm not fond of generalization and categorization and It's not always easy to be my friend since you'll have to cope with my other so different friends: Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindous, boudhidts, baha'is, Zartoushtists, Religious, Seculars ...They however all have a big heart , big enough to accept the difference and to POSITIVELY deal with it..

*I believe Islam is strong enough for me not to feel offended anytime a "whoever" gives his two cents (usually negative) about it..

*I love spending time at home and I listen to all kind of music ..well, maybe not all;)

Well, I hope I wasn't too frank..By the way frankness is one of my defaultS...which leds us to the sixth confession..

Ioua lalla Loula,Happy now;))

The tagged ones are: Soumia; Dr O2;Em; Summer; Bijan and Bill..

Condemned for... "writing about jokes"!

You may not agree with the approach The Magazine Nichane choose to cover the subject, but I'm sure you do believe censorship is not the solution . Nor is throwing a bold and talented writer to jail !

So please, sign the petition and show your support.

Keith Ellison First Muslim Elected to Congress

Voters today elected a black Democrat as the first Muslim in Congress after a race in which he advocated quick US withdrawal from Iraq and made little mention of his faith.
Keith Ellison, a 43-year-old lawyer and state representative, defeated two rivals, television networks said, to succeed retiring Democrat Martin Sabo in a seat that has been held by Democrats since 1963.
Ellison, who converted to Islam as a 19-year-old college student in his native Detroit, won with the help of Muslims among a coalition of liberal, anti-war voters.

21 years ago but...Thou shall not forget!

Picture of Amine with Ayman, his son.

It was during the night of 5-6 November 1985 when Tahani Amine died as a result of torture by police officers. He was a young, brilliant and so kind engineer in an oil refinery. He knew also how to play with kids. I was 13 years old when I last saw him. We were in an attraction park called Sindbad in Casablanca, and he insisted in joining me in my roller coaster ride. We had a good laugh especially that he became pale and was almost strangling me while screaming

Don't be scared, I'm here..

I wanted to say "you're the one who's scared to death...I'm so used to that my dear AmineI"...But i couldn't say a word, especially that his friends were laughing like crazy . My sister and her husband were among his closests friends, well they were also his comrads since most of the persons i used to spent my childhood vacations with, were members of the Marxist group ILA L'amam .
Amine was kidnapped . .
His torturers kept beating him despite his health problems...
He couldn't stand such unhuman torture, however he never betrayed his comrads.
And the torture never stopped..
Amine went on coma...
Amine died...His family learned about his death one long week after!

He was in his late twenties.

The Moroccan authorities made amends for human rights violations which have occurred in the past.

But Amine was already dead, killed,21 years ago!

Julia Boutros ...My love ones

Ahibba'y