Arabisc: Secret Meetings and Eid Greetings

It's Eid in the Arab world and Arab bloggers are celebrating the end of the Holy Month of Ramadhan with a riot of activity on their blogs.

From Libya, Lona and A.Adam, writing in Flying Birds, wish us all a Happy Eid by posting a picture.

The same sentiments are shared by Te3meh from Egypt, who also posts a graphic design.

Omani blogger Zaid Al Saidi has a few questions about Eid.

دائما و في كل عيد أسأل نفسي لماذا يفرح الناس أو يتظاهرون بالفرح يوم العيد ، ماذا يميز العيد ؟ و لماذا لا نفرح بطول أيام السنة ؟
Every Eid I ask myself why do people celebrate Eid and why are they happy with the occasion. What distinguishes Eid? Why can't we be happy every day of the year?

Osama, from the UAE, too is celebrating Eid, which has opened his eyes to a new practise.

الكل يريد أن ينال نصيبه من كعكعة العيد….
محلات الخياطة….
محال بيع الخضار والفاكهة….
معارض الشكولاتة و الحلويات…
حتى الحلاق..قرر أن يضاعف أجره بدون إنذار…و فوق كل ذلك طلب بخشيشا!!
Everyone wants his share from the Eid cake…the tailor..the grocer..the chocolate and candy stores..even the barber. He has increased his fees without prior warning. Add to this, he also asks for his tip!!

Writing from Bahrain, Saudi bloggerSara talks of her experiences in the island kingdom near home, where she goes to school. Although Bahrain is separated from Saudi by a 25km causeway, the two countries are in more than one way worlds apart.

This week she tells us about a ride she took with her cousin Zain, who has just got her driving license.

ألم أخبرك أنني قبل يومين كنت بصحبة زين التي حصلت على رخصة السياقة مؤخراً، واحتفلت بالحدث لوحدها، لم نكن نريد لها أن تهتم بمثل هذه المسائل، وتترك دراستها على جنب. ربطتُ حزام الأمان ما أن ركبت سيارتها البورش الحمراء، حتى نذهب إلى المطار لاستقبال الصحفي الشهير القادم من لندن، لأجراء بعض الأعمال الشخصية في البحرين، في الطريق أشتعل صوت أليسا في السيارة، زين مجنونة لا أعرف مالذي ستفعله برخصة السياقة، إذا كنا اصلاً لا نقود السيارة في السعودية، ونأتي إلى الجامعة في البحرين عن طريق سائقينا الخاصين بنا
Haven't I told you that I was in the company of my cousin Zain who just got her driving license and celebrated the occasion on her own? We didn't want her to get preoccupied with such trivial issues and leave her studies aside. I wore my seat belt as I got into her red Porsche. We were on our way to the airport to recieve a well known journalist arriving from London for some personal business in Bahrain. On the way she turned on the stereo. Zain is crazy and I don't know what she will do with her driving license since she cannot drive in Saudi Arabia and we both come to university in Bahrain with our personal drivers.

The ride takes Sara back to a road accident she had when she was on holiday in Monte Carlo and how it shook her father and all those around her after Zain pops a question about whether she feared her father.

حدثتني متوترة عن رغبتها في الخروج من ديكتاتورية والدها، تنظر إلي وهي تقود سيارتها ببطء حتى لا أصرخ وأربكها!! تسألني هل تخشين والدك
She told me nervously how she wanted to get away from her father's dictatorship, eyeing me as she drove slowly so that I don't shout at her and make her lose her concentration (on the road). She asks me: Do you fear your father?

Back on the road, Sara relates a story only too familiar for girls in Bahrain.

تقود زين سيارتها الحمراء، ويلاحقنا الشباب طيلة الوقت، يجدون الوضع يثير العجب والفضول، تتم مطاراداتنا حتى نهاية الشارع المؤدي إلى المطار، الأمر يبدو مثيراً لسعودية تقود سيارتها الفارهة في شوارع المنامة، تحكي لي زين عن قصصها الغرامية الكثيرة، ولقاءاتها المجنونة الصاخبة، بكثير من الشبان الذين تتعرف عليهم من خلال النت، وكثيراً ماتصدم بملامحهم، وهيئتهم التي لا يمكنها أن تتصوره
While Zain was driving her red car, a young man was following us in his car the whole way. They find the situation amusing and follow us all the way to the airport. They find it amazing to see a Saudi girl driving a fancy car on the streets of Manama. Zain then told me stories abour her romantic adventures and her crazy rendezvous with men she meets online. Many atimes, she is shocked with their looks as they come in shapes very difficult for her to have imagined.

Intrigued? Head to her blog and read more about her secret meetings and adventures.

1 comment

  • جوجو

    جميع الناس العرب والمسلمين يحتفلون بالعيد لانها مناسبه مهمه لهم اذهب انا وعائلتي الي التسوق لشراء بعض الاغراض الجديده ولا ننسي شراء الشوكلاته وبعد ذلك كل العائله يجتمعون عند بيت جدي ونتاول الغاء هناك

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