The Other Side of Me

The sun is right in the middle of the sky. Its rays spreading everywhere on the green fields giving them a glittering green color as the the soft breeze makes them dance. The sound of the streaming water is like an endless symphony. Little birds flying close to the ground singing their timeless medley. Brown park benches, with squirrels jumping around looking for someone's lunch to steel.  A pregnant woman lies on one, with a book about motherhood between her hands. She seems to be in another world, with her newborn. On the bench next to her, sits a grandmother watching her young grandchild chase a butterfly. On the other side, sits a man holding a photograph, red-faced, heart beating so loud, breathing slowly, yet so deeply. A tear falls from his right eye, to his cheek, to his chin, then to the photograph, to her face. Next to him sits a tree, an old tree, a large tree with a large shade. Below they sit; a couple. They wear brown pants and white shirts, both of them. His han...

"Two bodies and one soul" -Aristotle Love is not only that feeling you'd get when you finally find your other half. Love is a feeling that you were born with, and as you grow up it grows with you. You are born to love your family, then you grow up a little and you love a toy or a game. Then you grow a bit more and you love a friend. Then a book, a home, a piece of music, a country, a drink or a meal, and definitely a god. Then you might find your other half and you experience love in the greatest of its meanings. But what is that common feeling between loving a family member, a home, a friend, a country and a partner?  It might be the feeling of belonging, the need to be close to that person/thing. The feeling increases depending on what it is you love. If it's a book, then you'd love to have it to read from everyone now and then. If it's a friend, then you might love talking to everyday. If it's a family member, a best friend, a country, or a par...

Early morning, she takes her bike and starts on her daily cycle. At the fountain, birds are everywhere. One of them flies so high, she stops and watches it, wishing she could fly away with it and leave this material world. It reminds her of that conversation so many years before, on the other side of the world, back home. The night was still young, so they were. It was early summer, back when she has just finished high school. She walks with him, she can never imagine her life without him, neither can he without her. A new milestone on its way, a time to decide on the future, a time to plan their lives, the unknown. They know only one thing, that they'll always be together. She looks up to the sky, spreads her arms and takes a deep breath. "I want to spread my wings and fly, I want to forever fly with you, with the sound of my symphony for you always playing", she says. "I want to own the whole world, and put it at your feet", he says. They walk together, d...

Friday, January 28, 2011 After two days of rage in Suez, after people in Cairo and Alexandria proved that they're not giving up. After the police became more and more stupid. Rage has increased inside every person, not just those in the streets. The day started at 12:00 am with my internet connection cutting off. Although the rumors of the internet and SMS services stopping were there all night, I still couldn't believe my eyes. I tried my neighbors open Wi-Fi and it worked for a few minutes, enough to write my last Facebook post for the next five days, "The internet is cut off!" I tried my Vodafone USB modem, my Mobinil mobile internet, a dial up connection, all dead. Although I knew that this was it, I couldn't believe that stupidity would reach this limit and I kept trying. I wake up early next morning to find that, of course, the internet is still off, so is the SMS service. Al Jazeera shows the streets filled with CSF trucks, empty of people. The Cai...

January 25, 2011 I wake up early, wondering and hoping, after a night of wishing and dreaming. I know I will be at home today, not because I want to, but because I'm too scared to join a protest. I turn on the TV, and there's nothing about Egypt, only protests in Lebanon. I turn my laptop on, too many pages to follow, too many tweets to read. Kollena Khaled Saeed posts this song. Even though it is very depressing, but it meant so much. Nobody is happy, everyone wants a revolution, but how many are courageous enough to revolt? How many of us are ready to die? I am not, I'm scared. Rassd starts uploading pictures of protests, big ones, then some of them turn out to be old. How can anyone believe anything unless they see with their own eyes? How I wish I could be there. Pictures flood Twitter and Facebook, from many people, trusted people. Then The Al Jazeera starts airing the protests. We're stuck in front of TV, me and my parents, we have a broken refrig...

I've been planning to write this post for so long, but every time I had tried to start my mind would go blank. It doesn't go blank because nothing has happened in the past year, no, NO, so much has happened, enough to fill hundreds of papers. My mind goes blank because I remember so much, so much that my mind can do nothing, think of nothing, but those wonderful memories that define who I am right now, who we are. Memories that define a revolution, that define Egypt, the new Egypt, the free Egypt. Yes, we're on the route to freedom. If you think nothing has happened in the past year, I can assure you, you're wrong. If nothing had happened, I'd probably not be writing this right now, you'd probably not be reading it later, but this isn't about you and me.... Or maybe it is. If overthrowing a regime head is not enough for you, you're a positive person. If overthrowing a regime head is nothing to you, not a step, then you're too negative. But this isn...

Friday, December 2nd, 2011 Same steps walked ten months ago, same streets, this is where I lost all my fears. This very building was on fire that day. This is where I stood waiting for our fighters to open the way. This is the fence that people climbed to see what's happening on the war-front. This is the place where I stood wishing I didn't listen to my parents and brought my teargas mask. This is where I stood feeling that this could be it. This is where many people, including some who look like they barely have enough money to buy them food to keep them alive. This is where they gave people Pepsi, vinegar, and tissue paper for free. This very same bridge is where I couldn't take the teargas anymore and had to leave. But today I'm walking on continuing the way, and I know my way, and this, just this in itself, is a victory.... Ten months.... And our brothers are sisters are still dying. We're here today to mourn their deaths. They died to buy us freedom, ...