ecoutezmonhistoire's Xanga

Headlining Events of 2009, By Month

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:54:40 GMT

As it is New Year's Eve, I suppose I should post something more or less interesting...

What memorable headlines have hit the news in the year 2009?

Well, January was started with the second week of the Gaza War. Russia decided to stop supplying Europe with gas (through Ukraine) to support green energy. After a UN peace deal, Ethiopian military pulled out of Somalia. Obama was elected as the first black president of America. Iceland's government and banks collapsed.

February was the month when the first publicly open lesbian head of government was elected as Iceland's prime minister. Many were killed and left homeless due to the deadliest bush fires in Australia. The Taliban released another murder video. A Russian and an American satellite collided over Siberia, which I find quite ironic. A new prime minister was elected for Zimbabwe. A rebel group in Darfur signed a peace contract to cease fire.

March started with the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan for crimes against humanity in Darfur. NASA began the Kepler Mission to search for extrasolar planets in the Milky Way. The president of Madagascar was overthrown after a whole month of rallies.

In April, Albania and Croatia joined NATO. G-20 summit met in London with state leaders to discuss the global financial crisis. North Korea launched a rocket, which made the UN Security discuss action without actually acting. A big earthquake nearly killed over a thousand people in Italy. The President of Fiji suspended Fiji's Constitution. Thirty-four heads of state met for the fifth Summit of the Americas. An Iranian-American journalist was sentenced to eight years in jail by Iran, but was released a month later. UNESCO launched the World Digital Library to encourage intercultural understanding. The World Health Organization added the spread of influenza from Mexico to their To Worry About list.

Halfway through May, the C40 group met to discuss ways to reduce reduce urban carbon emissions and adapt to climate change. The Sri Lankan Civil War finally ended after over twenty-five years of fighting. North Korea tested out another rocket, and the UN again discussed action without acting.

June's first day involved an Air France plane crashing into the Atlantic Ocean. The H1N1 influenza outbreak was called a global pandemic. Ahmadinejad was reelected as president of Iran, which resulted in violent protests from his opponent's supporters. NASA launched probes to the Moon. Greenland worked toward total independence from Denmark, and titled Greenlandic their official language. Michael Jackson died, which resulted in the internet traffic reaching historic levels.

In July, Sweden assumed presidency of the European Union. The Organization of American States suspended Honduras after their refusal to reinstate a president. Many were killed in riots between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. Iceland voted to keep trying to join the European Union. The longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century occurred over Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

August started with Bolvia declaring the right of indigenous (native) people to govern themselves, being the first South American country to do so. The North Korean leader released two American journalists from jail after a talk with Bill Clinton. A typhoon hit Taiwan. The guy who bombed Pan Am Flight 103 was released on "compassionate grounds" because he has prostate cancer.

In September, G-8 was renamed to G-20, and they said they would take better care not to have another global financial crisis the following year. A typhoon caused a “state of calamity” in Manila, Philippines. Protesters were killed in a clash with the Guinean military. A tsunami hit the Samoan Islands, killing many. An earthquake killed around a thousand in Indonesia.

In October, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio de Janeiro. Ireland held a second referendum on the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, which was approved by the Irish electorate. European astronomers discovered thirty-two exoplanets.

November started with the Czech Republic signing the Treaty of Lisbon, being the final member-state of the EU to do so, which put it into European law. The Prime Minister of Belgium was titled the first permanent President of the European Council. NASA announced their finding of a significant amount of water on the Moon’s Cabeus crater. In the Philippines, many were killed in an election-related massacre in the province of Maguindanao, which hit records as the deadliest attack on journalists in history. Dubai requested debt deferment, which made global stock markets drop.

In December, the Treaty of Lisbon came into force. Astronomers discovered GJ1214b, the first-known exoplanet on which water could exist.

Out of all this, how much of it did you know about?
Also, it's sort of funny how everyone always imagined flying cars and world peace in 2010... but no.

Travelling: Istanbul and Beirut

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:16:28 GMT

Sorry I haven't updated in quite awhile. I just got through with Istanbul, Turkey. Today I landed in Beirut, Lebanon. I won't get back until January 7th.
I will update with lots of wonderful pictures when I get back to my prison (Texas).
Until then, I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

Getting Healthy

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:20:14 GMT

My whole life, I've had problems with food. It started out when I was five years old, at the time of my parents' separation, when I thought I was fat. I was actually a skinny toddler. From there, it transformed into overeating disorder, as I found comfort in food when I couldn't find it from my "happy family", to anorexia, to simple bingeing, to anorexia again, and then most recently to bulimia. I've started getting therapy, so I am no longer bulimic, but I would also hurt myself in other ways, like cutting and smoking. Ever since my bad trip, I've realized just now important my life really is. In one instant, it made me decide to quit smoking, to quit hurting myself, to quit being unhealthy... Just the next day, my mother had a talk with me about how she really wants me to no longer have weight problems, and how she wants to support me to really get rid of the weight. We decided that I would run on the tredmill everyday, no exceptions, and I'd only eat proteins and veggies, so I could get down to 135lbs by summertime. When I started out on the 23rd, I weighed 171lbs (with a BMI of 28). Now, the 26th, I weigh 166lbs. I've been running thirty minutes a day, making each day a new speed a bit more challenging. I know I'm just at the beginning of this journey, but I just want to let you know that it really is possible to get healthy. Even if you're 200lbs or 300lbs, it's not impossible for you. It may be hard to take that first step, but once you do, it only gets easier. You'll notice you start to look forward to exercise, because you know you're doing it to improve yourself and your health. You'll notice you start to really feel good after a good work out, and you'll realize the more sweat, the better. You'll notice you start to really change form, and your fat seems to just melt away.
I hope you'll join me in my journey. It's time we really started helping ourselves.

--This post was featured on health kicker!
Health kicker

Tripped Balls. [updated]

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:05:59 GMT

Last night was the worst night of my entire life.
First, I started on my new anti-depressant pill that my doctor prescribed to me. This didn't affect me yet... but I think it may have done something about the next part:
My best friend and I wanted to try this new legal synthetic marijuana (p.e.p pourri/spice/k2). It's supposed to have the same effects as Mary Jane would, nothing more. The worst we saw in our research was that someone tripped for ten minutes, but only ten minutes.
I ended up tripping for seven HOURS. My best friend didn't even get high.
My trip was the most awful thing I had ever endured... I felt physical pain with every sound and movement. Every physical emotion was intensified by a hundred times. Everything I saw kept becoming unreal. Then the visions would start when I closed my eyes. I mostly saw my dad. I cried and cried... I just couldn't stop. And it hurt. The pain was unbelievable. At one point, my heart rate sped up so much that if it hadn't calmed down, I would have gone to the hospital. When my heart was in that condition, I felt like all of my insides were squeezing in on each other, and I was choking. It was the worst pain... That's all I really remember, though. My best friend stood by me the whole time, though. Telling me things to calm me, holding me, making sure I was okay. If she wasn't there, I wouldn't of made it. I probably would have gone into psychosis.
It started at 10pm and ended at around 4am (or at least, that's when I lost everything and blacked out). Right now, I'm really shaky and sore, but I will be fine.
After this experience, I don't think I ever want to do any sort of drugs again.. drinking, cigarettes, weed, nothing.
There was one point in my trip when I felt like my soul was leaving my body, and I was the fan above me, I was the walls surrounding me, I was the air I was trying so hard to breathe... I was everything. Being everything wasn't pleasant, though. I felt the pain of everything. The pain of being. Now I'm not so sure if I even want to live... or if living is the only way to avoid that pain.

---
Update at 11pm.
I went to sleep at 6pm, and I woke up at 10:30pm. Except when I woke up, my vision was not the same as it was when I went to sleep. It was as if I was walking through a movie set to slow-motion, literally. After maybe ten minutes, it went away. But damn, it did scare me to see that my brain is not completely done fucking around yet... I wonder if I'll be this way forever. The thought scares the shit out of me.

The Mini Handbook: Lebanon

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:35:34 GMT

This post was inspired by OhItWontBeForever's older post about her trip to Iraq.

As most of you know, I am Lebanese. I go to Lebanon at least once a year for a minimum of a month. I've been spending time there ever since I was a baby, and I don't ever plan on stopping.
There are a lot of misunderstandings about the Middle East... to be honest, people are just ignorant about everything that has to do with that region of the world. The purpose of this post is to hopefully help those people understand that the Middle East isn't just sand, it isn't just a home for "terrorists", and the people in these countries aren't "veiled drones" (as I've heard someone so disrespectfully say).

Note: Although I've travelled throughout the whole country, I mostly stay in Beirut and a mountain village called Deir el Kamar, so this is mostly based on those areas.

LEBANON

The Weather and Geography

At higher altitudes, like in the mountains, it stays cooler than in the cities, and it will have snow in the winter. In the city, it's generally warm but with a breeze. The worst month of the year is July because Lebanon is at its hottest and there is no breeze (the Lebanese usually stay in their mountain homes at this time).

The geography of Lebanon is spectacular. There are beautiful mountains throughout the whole country. Contrary to popular belief that all of the Middle East is desert, most of these mountains are actually green. (Hint: That's why it was known as the Fertile Crescent). Lebanon is lined by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, which stays pretty warm and is absolutely gorgeous. If you are somewhere like downtown Beirut, the sea is always within walking distance. Its dark blue-green waves are lined by fisherman, as it is abundant in fish. It also has a rocky coast as well as a sandy beach, depending on the location. A well-known stand-alone rock is La Grotte Pigeon.

Life in the City

Let me be more specific-- Life in a city called Beirut, the most beautiful city in the world (ok, that was a little bias, I'll admit). We'll do this chronologically.

5AM: No one is even awake at this point, but the air is still crisp, and the sky is light. All you hear is your own heart beat.

7AM-10AM: A small crowd mills around while the stray cats dance around legs for food. The construction workers may start working, depending on how they feel that day. The poor fisherman may be getting an early start by the ocean. Most people, though, are drinking a nice cup of coffee on their balcony, watching the passersby and eating pita bread with laban (yogurt), cucumbers, tomato, za'atar, and olives.

12 NOON: By now, the streets are busy, the cars are honking, and the smell of pollution fills your nostrils. You hear people yell "Serrrrvice!" (they roll their R's), calling for an available taxi. Let me explain: In the city, there are a bunch of taxi cars. The cars in the best condition are usually taxis, which only allow one group in the car for a set, solid price based on distance (they usually charge 10,000LL to 15,000LL, depending on how stuck up the driver is). The cars that are pretty much falling apart are usually called “Service”, and they stop at many different stops, picking up many different people and somehow fitting them all in their four seat cars, and everyone only pays 2,000LL which is equal to around a dollar. Sort of like a bus.
2PM-4PM: At this time, the shopping malls (like l’ABC in Beirut) are brimming with people. This is a great time for people watching. However, in the mountains, this is the nap and tea time. The country people own little stores that are literally like garages, all lined up beside each other. They lock down their fruit stands and put away their meats to go back home and enjoy their lunch. Many people will eat a shawarma (it’s like a sandwich except it’s rolled in pita bread), then they will take a nap.

5PM-8PM: The country people return to work at this time. At some point here, they go back home and eat their dinners. But they usually go back to work, depending on what kind of store they own. In Beirut, the stores are pretty much always open. This is the perfect time to walk down to the coast, buy some corn from a street vender, and watch the sun set behind the sea.

10PM-2AM: This is party time! Beirut is known as the party town of the Middle East, filled with the best clubs and the most beautiful people to attend them! The best clubs, in my opinion, are the ones located on rooftops. You can party in the night sky while looking down on the ocean, the mountains, and the beautiful ancient buildings.

3AM-4AM: Sleep time! It’s pretty quiet around this time. Then you’re back to the beginning of the next day. J

The People

Just like in the United States or the UK, or anywhere really, there is a huge array of people. The women can either be hard-working or they can be the partying type that focuses on beauty. The men can either be really gentle or abusive husbands. It’s not different from anywhere else in the world. However, one thing that is the same amongst everyone is their kindness to others. Each person is always willing to help a stranger. In fact—no one is a stranger! You walk in the streets, and people will stare at you in the eyes as you walk by. It’s not like America where everyone keeps their eyes on their path, where it’s rare that neighbors talk, where you don’t start conversation with the person next to you. If you move to Lebanon, it will only take a week until the whole country knows who you are! The feeling of being lonely doesn’t exist, and that’s the Lebanese way.

Another thing that Americans may find unusual is that pretty much everyone has the same heritage. You don’t see very many blacks or Asians (if you do see them, they are usually carrying a camera and wearing fanny packs) like you do in the States. Almost every citizen has Lebanese features: dark brown hair, olive skin, brown eyes. However, many homes have maids. The maids usually aren’t very well-paid, and they are usually Filipino or from Sri Lanka. These are the only foreigners that stick around.

Another common sighting is the army. They’re everywhere. On every major street corner, there is a tank, keeping watch. On every sidewalk, there are soldiers, keeping watch. Sometimes this is a daunting image, but they are there to keep us safe (or at least, I like to think that. They used to be Syrian soldiers, only there to terrorize us, but now they are mostly gone).

That pretty much puts Lebanon in a nut-shell. I didn't want to go into the politics because there is so much controversy about it. That will be saved for a future post.

Lastly-- if you're interested in traditional Lebanese cooking, check out this food blog: www.TasteofBeirut.com
It's actually made by my mother. She cooks the food, writes the recipes, everything! She works really hard on it, too, and the work pays off (because I get to eat the deliciousness! hehe). She updates it almost every day, too, so there's always something new to look at. Support her! :]

Please rec this post and spread the word! :]

Coffee and cigarettes

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:53:12 GMT

I haven't updated in quite awhile, so here we go:

Remember the post about how I wasn't going to get therapy because I needed to learn Arabic? I told one of my best friends, Maryama, about it, and she generously offered to ask her mother to teach me Arabic. This way, I would learn Arabic for a better price than if I had hired a tutor from a school, which gave me a bit of leftover money to spend on therapy. Mom made an appointment for me with a therapist. The day before the appointment, Mom asks if I was happy about seeing the "nutritionist." I was like, que? Apparently, my mother can't tell the difference between therapy for getting over eating disorders/bipolar disorder and nutritionist advice for how I should be eating if I didn't have problems. -_- After she realized the mistake, she asked, "Well do you think that if you understood how to eat, you'd get over all of your other problems?" No, mother. No. So we finally managed to get a therapist from the Catholic Church for a price that we could afford. Her name is Betty. She's a conservative, Catholic, Republican grandmother... but I like her anyway. It's better than nothing, that's for sure. She's been helping me dig deeper into the origins of all of it, and she's also helped me gain perspective on things (like why my mother is the way she is, which helps me deal with her). The only problem is that I sort of twisted the truth and told her that I was still on a "spiritual journey" and trying to discover which religion I fit into the most... and I'm actually an Atheist. So she'll sometimes say, "Well the best help for that is faith in God." -_- My best friend told me that I should be straight up and tell her I'm an atheist. What do you think?

Autre que ca, I'm crazy about Golden Bays now, but I enjoy the American Spirit every once in awhile. I keep Febreeze in my car.
I want to go back to San Francisco.

I've decided what I'll study at the American University of Beirut.
MAJOR:
Architecture
http://webfea.fea.aub.edu.lb/fea/ard/academics/archprogram.aspx
MINOR:
Religious Philosophy OR Political Science
PHIL 224 Philosophy of Religion 3.00
3.0; 3 cr. Alternate years. An in-depth survey of the main philosophical questions connected to religion, including questions about religion as a feature of human experience, as well as questions connected to the nature of God, evil, free will, and so on.
PSPA 101 Issues in Contemporary Politics 3.0; 3 cr.
A course that examines the global context of politics, focusing on the changing world order in the twentieth century. Special attention will be given to themes like democratization, civil society, ethnic conflict, human rights, and globalization. Annually
PSPA 236 The Origins and Evolution of the Arab-Israeli Conflict 3.0; 3 cr.
A survey of the development of Arab-Western relations since the First World War. This course focuses on the origins and evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict both in its regional and international dimensions. Annually.

Sounds interesting enough! :)
Well that's all for now.

Offended By Evolution?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:09:29 GMT

"If any of you are offended by my belief in evolution, then please know, that down the hall there is a geology class where they learn about things from millions of years ago that led to our discovery of fossil fuel. So, the next time you get in your car to drive to your church, know that you are using something that was discovered because of our belief in evolution, while you go to that place where they teach you not to believe in it." -Dr. Paddock
I LOVE MY PHYSICS TEACHER.

Friend's Lock + Halloween

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:26:12 GMT

So my brother is about to get searched by the FBI to get this really good job or something, so my mother decided to google him and check out things like that, and everything was fine until she came across my xanga page. Even though I never put my brother's full name on here, it still managed to pop up, so she read pretty much everything I wrote here, and now she asked me to put it on private.
So now it's on friend's lock, end of story.

---

Friday, after school, my friends and I met up at the Olive Garden to have dinner together. It was lots of fun, of course, but nothing really momentous happened, though... so I'll leave it at that.
On the drive back home, it was six, and I got stuck in terrible traffic on 75 which made me miss an exit and have to do a U-turn and go through it all over again, ugh. When I finally got home, I rushed to put on my make up (which I made to look like a little puppet doll) and little flowery dress. I met up with two of my friends, Ellen and Melisa, at the college afterwards so we could all drive together. They, of course, weren't dressed up. That's okay though. We eventually got to the haunted houses at maybe seven thirty. (Let me just mention that seven thirty at this time of year means pitch black outside). We had to wait around for awhile for our group to get into the haunted houses, so we stood around while the monsters (actors) milled around us, scaring the others. Finally, one of them came to us, and he was dressed as the striped guy from Beetlejuice. He scared the shit out of me and I screamed. Melisa immediately said, "Do you like her boobies?" (her = me). He then kept looking me up and down and I'd hide behind Ellen and he kept saying "Come here, kitty kitty... mmm" and creepy pervy shit like that. Oh god, Melisa is so terrible to me! We finally got rid of him. Then another came, and another, and they all kept coming to me because they all succeeded at making me scream. They literally scare the shit out of me when I turn around and see a fucking creepy-faced clown or some scary shit like that! They all started teaming up on me, too, like all coming at the same time from different angles, then laughing and walking away. Terrible! but funny, I guess. At one point, I literally jumped two feet into Ellen's arms while screaming my head off. Then, another monster came and he was really tall because he was standing on stilts, and you could only see the bottom half of his face... he had a very attractive bottom half of his face by the way... but he scared me at first but then he kept coming back to me, and eventually he tried to show me that he was a nice monster by doing the peace sign, and then he pointed at the Moon and then pointed at me, and my friends translated it as he wanted to give me to moon, and he'd smile and then do a heart with his hands, and then I did a heart with my hands. Awwww, I fell in love with a monster! >< And when I was waiting in line to go in, he peeked his head over the wall and waved to me. haha, what a cute monster. And I watched him, too! He didn't do that to any one else! SO BAM. Yeah, then we went into the three haunted houses. I was glued to Melisa's back the whole time. I screamed at everything and kept saying "Fuck FUCK FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!" and at one point, I jumped so much that I made Melisa fall, which made Ellen fall, and that made me scream more because the monsters could eat me when I was on the floor >_> But yeah, then when it was over, I literally ran out of there, and Ellen was laughing at me. Then we went to the stage and listened to the metal concert that was up, and Melisa and I rocked out while Ellen covered her ears. Then at around ten, we left, and I said bye to the cute monster and he gave me a heart again and showed a sad face that I was leaving. Bahha, I want his number! :P just kidding. Sort of.
Then they dropped me off at my house, and Melisa chilled with me for a bit and we had a little jam session. She'd play my acoustic, and I'd play my uke, and we'd combineizzle them.
So that was my night last night.
Now I will spend the rest of Halloween inside, cleaning my room, and watching movies.
--
I actually spent it with Andrea.
but here is a picture of the weekend:

"Cancer" -MCR, my ukulele cover

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:53:33 GMT

I have nothing to say (because I've been so busy with school as well as my personal life stuff), so instead I'll post my most recent musical video. I hope you like it, and I hope you don't hate me for ruining a beautiful song.
Cancer cover by My Chemical Romance, ukulele cover.

A quick rant

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:28:26 GMT

My picture of the day:

It's windy in Dallas.

I've been having a terrible time, so that's why I haven't posted my promised blog about Lebanon.
I just talked to my mom, and she was like "Alice, you have to choose between therapy and Arabic tutoring... and let me just mention, the therapy is going to cost $200, and the tutor will only cost $20."
I had to choose between my health and my future, pretty much... so I chose Arabic tutoring, because I need to know the language inside and out by 2011. I guess I'll just have to hope I don't kill myself before then.
It just pisses me off that I have to make these decisions. I know, people are probably saying, "Well you're lucky to even get one! Some people can't afford any of it!" Well, that sucks for them, but my grandfather is a fucking millionaire, and he gives us money to live... My mother spends hundreds on massages every month. Does she really need those massages? No, of course not. She could spend that money on my fucking mental health. Plus she gets child support every now and then, and of course, she spends that money on herself. Why the fuck don't I get the help I need when we obviously have the funds? Oh, right, she's too busy spending it on herself.
I feel like no one cares about how I turn out... and I know that's not true, but I can't help the way I feel right now.

Ugh. Is it stupid to be crying about this?

--
I like how it burns my throat and warms my ears, and somehow everything seems to fade away...

--edit
To top it all off, Tracy died today (from heart problems).