Touring Libyan Blogs: Bloggers meet, traffic chaos, activism, corporal punishment at schools and more · Global Voices
Fozia Mohamed

In the last few weeks it looks like more bloggers met. This is developping into a real phenomenon. I think that Libyan bloggers are thirsty for like-minded individuals and Libyans especially and many are not camera shy any more and have posted their photos.
So this time it was the turn for Mani, AngloLibyan and A_Akak  to meet and they had a jolly grand time. You can read about it on their respective blogs.
“Well today i was fortunate enough to meet another fellow blogger, A person i respect and regard very highly as his posts are usually close to his heart and the person behind the persona of Anglo is as good and pure as his blog [sic] ” [more]
” have found both Ahmed & mani very friendly and very down to earth very well educated young men, it was my pleasure to meet them both, I really enjoyed the 3 hours I spent with them and we talked about all sort of interesting things,[sic] ” [more]
Driving in Libya and getting home safe is the stuff of legends not because people can't drive but because people are careless and irresponsible . Aladdin's latest rant is about a guy who hit his car but ran away instead of facing his responsibility.
” Driving in Libya is a cemetery, or it's a war ALNASR AW ELSHAHADA (Victory or Martyrdom)!!! …[sic]”
No comment !
AngloLibyan, ever the leader in such topics is launching a campaign against the shameful public services provided in Libya.
“Tourists paying money to come and enjoy our country should at least expect a clean toilet, clean streets and clean beaches, these so far have proved to be very difficult to find in Libya. I am not sure what to do to raise the authorities and Libyan awareness regarding these problems but there is a policy of Name & Shame here in Britain which sometimes works so perhaps some of my fellow Libyans in Libya should take pictures and videos of the offenders and publish them in popular websites” .
Mani is doing just that ‘naming and shaming’, another sector, a private tourism company and what he calls the ‘hit and run’ mentality of making business.
“THIS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. IT WILL BE EXPOSED AND THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE PENALISED.
we cannot have these amateurs thinking that the new progress our country and it's young people are making is a short lived opportunity, with no holds barred.. take-before-you break.. “
Beggars around the world or hustlers as I would rather call some of them seem to have given themselves the word to unite on one single idea: asking money to continue a travel journey. I've seen that recently in Libya. A woman/man would approach me and ask for a few dinars to take the bus of car back home, even to buy fuel for their vehicle. Usually I give them, but now reading Braveheart's experience in the UK I'm going to use his trick for weeding out the sincere from the liars.
“he: well i want to go Manchester and i have £11 and i need another£5 to buy the ticket.
now i knew what he want and i must take a decision, but the problem for me i feel this guy is liar, because in libya there are many people do the same in stations and they told you the same story.if i decide to give the £5 i might be stupid and he will take my money and tell himself how he is clever and how me is stupid, and if i dont give the money it might be he is true and he is in need for this money to go to his city and if i dont give him money i'll lose a chance to help one guy in problem, all this i thought about it in seconds and i must take decision.i decide to take the money which he has and buy the ticket by myself to him,if he is lair he will refuse and if he tell the truth he will agree […] i told him give me ur£11 to buy the ticket, which he start loooking right and left and told me my money with my friend i'll go to bring it to you, and went and never come back. “
We all remember our school days with fondness, but Libyan kids have additional memories, that of the ‘Falga’ it is a typical  corporal punishment usually effected by hitting with a stick on the palms of soles of the feet. Although hitting is prohibited by law it is still done. Honestly with the state of students here I would probably wish to tear gas them as some are so naughty, still this hitting is just too much. Libyano cannot forgive his teachers who gave him  a falga and he has posted a photo of a poor kid getting one at a high school. Ouch that looks painful !
” I was only was 9 years when I had my first Falga , if you don't know what Falga is then I have a clip for you that explains it more than words do , why I had these Falgas ? , two Falgas because I was late , one because I hit another guy and the fourth was all the class Falga , it's the worst because we all laugh at each other and the teacher gets more excited to use his full energy , but yet I think Falga is much better than being hit on the hands because you get numb from the first hit on your feet and wont feel a thing after that .”
Libyan blogs have a rich harvest of posts and it would take too much space to highlight them all here, but if you want to read more I would recommend going to this website  which has collected a large number of blogs. Happy reading!