I discovered cooking!

New restaurants, new foods, new flavors, and presentation appeal to me. I enjoy going to restaurants, surveying the details in décor, trying new dishes from different parts of the world and how they r served. In Lebanon of course!

In Lebanon, dishes are cooked with a twist…a Lebanese twist that appeals to the Lebanese’s tastes. Chinese food doesn’t include bugs, Indian food isn’t too spicy, and American food isn’t too fatty; it captures the tastes, minus the cons.

Recently, I have taken all my restaurant experiences (including my mom’s extra delicious cooking methods) and put them to the test in my own kitchen.

And I love it!

Lasagna, Chicken Tortellini, Romano Bread, Fajitas, Chicken rice and yogurt… are some of the foods I have mastered. (Grin)

Cooking is creating… creating with delicious art. Colored peppers just shine, and the texture of an avocado is so soft and squishy, and the small of butter at it melts in the pot raises guilt feelings in a way nothing can.

I can’t wait to create more, something new and yummy!

Things that no one tells you about the first month of marriage!

(I’m enjoying the “things that no one tells you” blogs; they are my new window to sarcasm)

Marriage… the mark of a new life, a new house, and newly found independence with “the one”! Some of it truly is a fairytale, and the other part is so reality that you can feel it in your aching muscles and cracked nails.

Being used to everything being done for me by my spoiling/ protective parents, loving brothers, and enduring maid, the experience of having my own house was bitter-sweet.  I was used to having my meals hot, my clothes ironed, and my room clean and tidy and all I had to do was give the order.

Things change…

Doing the dishes is new age torture. It combines chemicals, glass and metal utensils, water, and yucky. It gives you back pain, shoulder pain, cracked nails, an itchy nose, and stinky hands.

You turn up on every plant’s wanted list because you become the dictator that deprives them from water and sun.

You do the laundry twice, not because you’re super clean, it’s because you forgot to put detergent the first time.

You leave the house, only to return one minute later because you forgot a sock in your hand.

Dust becomes the neighbor that never leaves, because no matter how many times you dust that TV unit a day, dust needs to watch its programs.

On the other hand,

There is nothing like watching a DVD while curled up on you cozy couch with your hubby, getting kudos on the delicious dinner you just cooked, and “I’m the happiest man on earth” you get at the end of the day.

Mixing Marriage with Friendship

Many of you have definitely heard something along the lines of “When you’re married, you will have less time for friends”, or “When you’re married, your priorities will change”, or “Marriage is your social death sentence in disguise”…

Being married for only 26 days so far, I can’t completely disagree with that; or completely agree for that matter.  It’s never too soon to realize that your BBMs have reduced, you no longer understand the jokes, you get back in half through the conversation, and there are a bunch of pictures on facebook you know nothing about. You start to feel left out.

Then come the excuses.

“Ahh, I’m sorry, I can’t make it today because I have visitors coming over”, or “Are we going to be late? Because I have to be home early”, or “I’ll try to make it if I have time” (and you know you won’t have time).

Then come the mixed feelings.

“I miss my girls” but “I haven’t seen my husband all day”, or “I really want to go shopping with the girls”, but “I haven’t seen my mom in a week”, or “I need to call my best friend”, but “I need both hands to do the dishes”, or “I wish I could go for lunch with my colleagues”, but “I need the lunch break for a bit of grocery shopping”. And the list continues.

Regardless of all that, at the end of the day you know that real friends will always understand, keep you updated even if they have to wait for hours for you to read the BBMs, try to bend their schedules for you because they want to count you in no matter what, and that your ultimate/ eternal best friend is in the next room.

Thank you for the support Joe, Love you!

Things that no one tells you about travelling to Europe!

Our honeymoon in Spain marked our first landing on European soil. I had already been to London, but the British Island is a whole different thing to me.  I knew that Spain would be the optimal trip, but words are nothing close to being there and experiencing it first hand. 

Our tour took us from Madrid to Cordoba, then to Sevilla, then to Granada, then to Valencia, then to Barcelona, then we passed in Zaragoza, then finally back to Madrid; a hectic 10 days, but worth every minute.

However, there are a few heads up worth mentioning.

Never, and a mean never travel to Europe with a 500 Euro bill because no one will give you change for it; not even shops, Western Union, Restaurants, or even the Hotel. And good luck trying to get a bank to give you change. Let’s face it; no one walks around with about US$ 700 in their pocket, it’s a lot of money. Locals call the 500 Euro “the Binladen Bill”, because no one sees it. Haha, Classic.

Public bathrooms are every girl’s nightmare! Toilet seat covers and sanitizer sprays become an invention worth a Gairdner Foundation International Award or a Nobel Prize. They are an absolute must… I can’t stress their importance enough!

Beer and Pork…Blekh!  Yes, beer is cheaper than water (a 0.5 L water bottle costs around 2.50 Euros), and pork is the favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner… and snack and desert. I wonder why Europeans haven’t started oinking* yet.

No price is unified.  You can pay 1.60 Euros for a Sneakers bar in one convenient store, and then pay 1.20 Euros for the same bar in another.

You have to double what ever budget you set for the trip, because you just can’t practice any control when it comes to shopping, restaurants, and souvenirs.

In Canada, there are night shelters that offer soup and a bed for Homeless people… I don’t think they have that in Europe (or maybe not in Madrid).

On the other hand…

The history, the culture, the monuments, the nature, the weather, the greatness, the clean streets, the organization, the shopping, the lifestyle, and the beautiful people make you wish to turn your visit into residency.

*Oinking: From the word “Oink”, is the sound a pig makes – according to nursery rhymes.

Things that no one tells you about your wedding day!

My wedding was on Saturday September 10, 2011.  Preparations go on for months on end; meetings with vendors, flower selections, food tasting, and selecting the music take so much time, effort, and money that you reach the evening before the wedding excited that you’re finally done with all the running around.

Then comes wedding day!

No matter how early you decide to sleep, you can’t help but lie awake just recapping everything, trying to remember if you forgot something or making a list of things that you must make sure go absolutely well on the day.

Hair and make-up usually go according to schedule and plan, but no matter how comfortable you hair do is by the end of the night, you will feel like you have been carrying a 7 pound baby on your head, neck, and shoulders all day.  No matter how soft or natural your make up is, by the end of the night you would need an extra garbage been to dispose of all the make-up remover wipes.

No matter how many phone calls you make to the vendors, the photographer will manage to be a little late, and the zaffe party will manage to be a little early to arrive to your house.

No matter how much your groom loves you, and how much he was looking forward for that day you finally become his, he will manage to be a little late…because of TRAFFIC!

No matter how many times you check the weather forecast and it says clear and sunny skies, that odd cloud will come out and give you a little suspense and keep you on your toes.

Even if you mention on the invitation card that guests are required to arrive at 8 p.m. and you confirm that timing when you call to confirm attendance, still guests will still manage to arrive just 2 minutes before the bride and groom make their entrance.

It is of extreme importance to keep an emergency pack of everything with you (your mother of brides maid) that has some flats, safety pins, a needle and thread, wet wipes, deodorant and lip gloss.

Regardless of your efforts, people will still complain, even the closest to you, some people will still get things wrong, and some people will still eat and run… but no matter what, you will enjoy it, remember every second even if it all felt like a second.

Wake up UN

“The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.

Due to its unique international character, and the powers vested in its founding Charter, the Organization can take action on a wide range of issues, and provide a forum for its 193 Member States to express their views, through the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies and committees.

The work of the United Nations reaches every corner of the globe. Although best known for peacekeeping, peace-building, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, there are many other ways the United Nations and its System (specialized agencies, funds and programmes) affect our lives and make the world a better place. The Organization works on a broad range of fundamental issues, from sustainable development, environment and refugees protection, disaster relief, counter terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation, to promoting democracy, human rights, gender equality and the advancement of women, governance, economic and social development and international health, clearing landmines, expanding food production, and more, in order to achieve its goals and coordinate efforts for a safer world for this and future generations.

The UN has 4 main purposes

·         To keep peace throughout the world;

·         To develop friendly relations among nations;

·         To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms;

·         To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals.”

- UN website

Every morning, on my way to work, I pass by the UN headquarters in Central Beirut.  Traffic is always jammed on its street because most of the street is blocked by a cement wall leaving a two lane passage way, were one converts to a queue of UN employees’ cars all looking to park inside the premises, and another lane which remains open for the rest of the commuters on that street.  Hell.

Today the jam was especially depressing, and got me thinking about the UN; Its purpose, its members, its sub-organizations, its efforts, and its achievements.

I checked their website, and I couldn’t help but critique every single statement they made about themselves.   

*51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security… How on earth could they still write that when two of their key members have been busy waging wars for the past 10 years?

*developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress… The joke in this phrase is "friendly relations"! Iran, Syria, North Korea, China… are their best friends.

*better living standards and human rights…The use of internationally banned weapons in the Israeli war on Lebanon, the war on Iraq, in Syria and Lybia with the protestors, the starvation in Somalia, conflicts in other parts of Africa, increased global warming and higher levels of pollution… are all ways to ensure that the human race enjoys better living standards and their human rights.

*Due to its unique international character, and the powers vested in its founding Charter, the Organization can take action on a wide range of issues… issues like preventing wars, abolishing illiteracy and abuse, extracting dictatorships… I still don’t understand what actions they are taking exactly!

 *Although best known for peacekeeping, peace-building, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance… I already addressed this so let’s cut the crap.

I don’t want to sound like I hate the UN, although I already did, but what bothers me is that the world is in dire need of such an organization, but one with a more active role, more defining decisions, and more authority.  The UN’s role will remain passive if its power continues to reside with a hand full of nations that already command the world’s economy, wealth, military power, primary resources and technological developments.

Dry August

August was by far my driest month in terms of blogging, but the most active month in terms of finalizing the apartment, the wedding, and the honeymoon.

I really could have written a lot; like details regarding wedding preparations, honeymoon destination planning and visa drama, and the most famous apartment renovation issues; however I felt things are better left to be said with pictures, facts, and real time events.

This is just a mild introduction for the blogs yet to come, and a friendly reminded that I’m still here, very much alive and kicking!

:D