The Endless Road Towards Freedom

 When depicting a prodigious debate like the one at hand we must first define the key words in this reflexion. On one side, we have the constitution which is a collection of a set of rules ,law, and principals that must be obeyed and followed firmly, in reverence to their restrictions and guidelines ,by the Egyptian people and which upon any breach of conduct puts an individual in a position of censure or condemnation. The purpose of this  concept is to create harmony, equality , justice and order in the community. On the other hand, we have the President, a political figure who assembles the leadership and governance of a certain country or region.


Evidentially, the first constitution recorded in history was elaborated by Wethersfiled,Windsor ,and Hartford , all located in Connecticut. This phenomena was created in 1638 and entitled 'Fundamental Orders'.

In Egypt, in the fall 2011, an unforgettable event that shall remain forever engraved in the mind of each Egyptian citizen was withheld. An uprising, that has come to be known as the 25of January revolution, which was a surrealist illustration of the people’s rage against diverse forms of oppression and repression they have been enduring for far too long. In consequence, the former President Mubarak was driven out of power and Egypt found itself without a ruler.Currently, we are on the verge of a clean beginning as we approach the constitution rectifications and the first proper president election in 30 years. Nevertheless, an important question was transfigured to the surface, who should come first, establishment of the constitution or election of the president?

Frankly, it is a matter of perspective which many people might have come to differ upon. Should we rapidly choose a leader to slavish the country from this obscure path or should we learn from our mistakes and inaugurate a strict set of laws to delimit the authority of the President?

Personally, I think Presidential designation should be the priority at hand. To elaborate, I would like to underline the substantial fact that up till now , Egypt is undergoing a transgression period , which has so been progressively worsening   ; chaos, absence of police, riots, murders, thefts , car abduction , kidnaps and many other phenomena’s   have infiltrated and propagated in our society over the past few month. However, the law currently exists as it always has; the only variance is that it needs a strict hand to apply it! That is my I presume that electing a President should be our first step towards liberation and democracy. In fact, do you truly believe  that the new leader will be injudicious and unwise to the extent of committing the imprudent mistake of disobeying or deceiving a country that has been through a striving war this past year?  

On the contrary, rationally, he shall benignly assure that the Egyptian people are pleased with him at first, consequently a few months later the constitution will be re-established and the president will have to act in deference to the verdicts and restrictions of the law.

In conclusion, by selecting an appropriate and trustworthy candidate we shall ensure the application of the law that shall be renovated once the elections are over. 

‘’It’s a new day, it’s a new dawn and I’m feeling good.’’ YES! It’s that time of year again, the verge of a new chapter in the book of life.  It is New Year’s Eve, the wildest night of the year, massive parties, joyful cheers, nightlife at its finest, celebrations and ragging events, and  that sensational special moment while you’re counting down to midnight with your loved ones beside you then burst into shrieks of joy as the clock strikes 12 and announces the beginning of a new year. In contrast, New Year’s is not only about the adrenaline of a substantial alteration in your life, it’s also an opportunity innumerable people grasp to reflect upon this previous year and hence forth elaborate something known as ‘New Year’s Resolutions list’ which consists of writing down a variety of things such as; new adventures you would like to explore, qualities you would like to evoke, mistakes you wish to avoid etc.. In brief, it simply is an inadequate excuse people like to allow themselves in order to persuade their own selves that change is inevitable but they were merely waiting for the perfect moment. But do these people even realize the true value of time and change? Just Allow me to underline an aspect of its prodigious expedience; ‘’to improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.’’

Frankly, I myself used to participate in lettering ambitious and beneficial Resolutions thinking that I was embarking on the first steps of a protracted journey toward the renovation of a better me. However, a few days later this prosaic piece of paper would mysteriously disappear and the promises once made would gradually dissolve from my mind. I did not discontinue the elaboration of these ‘self-made promises’ because I lost the papers, but more likely because my mind was enlightened with the reality of life, ‘’it’s now or never, I aint gonna live forever’, no date, time nor place can define the adequate timing to amend one’s life, I do not know if there is a tomorrow I can barely guaranty today. Thus, I did not bother making resolutions, its either I seize the day and divert the course of my life, or I could watch time fly away like water from an open drain.

   Nevertheless, I’m not going to waste my day on this controversy, there is a beautiful world full of chances and opportunity proffering me to come and see what it offers. This zeal is not disengaged by the fact that it’s New Year’s Eve, but because I’m still alive, breathing and healthy, every second you have is a gift, use it wisely. A quick word for 2012 , even though your course and your impact on my life is still ambiguous, i will be sure to make the best out of you throw at me ,no more wasting time, no more laying around ,it's time to focus on what truly maters in my   life , because what I take a for granted today I will see as a blessing later on, lastly, I hope you do not like to imitate American movies.

‘’It’s a new day, it’s a new dawn and I’m feeling good.’’- 

Michael Buble - Feeling Good

‘’it’s now or never, I aint gonna live forever’

-Bon Jovi & Jon Bon Jovi - It's My Life

‘’to improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.’’-http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/change.html

 

Globalization is the unity of political, economic and cultural values on a global level. However, this concept is a double edged sword, seeing as countries domination and influence on globalization varies in deference to their wealth. Thus, this phenomenon might abdicate or silences the existence of less powerful countries that are considered to still be in development.

In fact, globalization from my understanding does not exert much advantages .Nevertheless, it does allow the mixture and exposition of different cultures and the inter-breeding of various cultures, and it also allows economic prosperity throughout international commerce and trade. Furthermore, as of February 2011, it is argued that threw the application of globalization economic growth has touched countries located in Asia and Africa which will result in an improvement to health standards and an incline of political incidents.

On the other hand, this theory engenders a series of consequences such as, the risk of the dissolution of cultural individualism seeing as the more dominant countries will enforce their cultures upon more vulnerable ones. Also, Multinational Corporations are currently developing strategy in which they create extensions and offices in developing countries in consequence to the flexibility of their labour laws and environmental restrictions, hence forth these corporations exploit workers to the maximum, disposal of dangerous waste illegally , destruction of natural resources, and snatching away the opportunity of smaller business to be able to prosper and develop.

Frankly, I do believe that globalization will obstruct the progress of developing countries, if political and economic power of the world is withheld generally by the wealthiest of countries this will surely give less space for more feeble countries to be able to evolve at their own pace and mature solely, each country should have the right to build its own economy and possess their own set of values, believes and culture, because what humans can’t understand is that you cannot enforce a uniform ‘’way of life’’ or ‘’way of thinking’’, humans were not endowed with the bliss of ‘the mind’ for it to copy paste information but to allow each individual to grow in his own unique way.

  I stand neutral to this perception. My understanding and comprehension of the subject is only limited to one article, thus I cannot base an expedient or even reliable opinion or point of view regarding this theory. However, I do believe that globalization can be an ameliorative element if we apply it correctly if each country is not blinded by its own greed and personal benefits and aims only to the elevation of global standards instead.

Format of Book Report

I.                  Introduction

During the winter vacation I read a truly marking novel entitled ‘’The Yacoubian Building’’ written by the renowned Egyptian author Alaa el Aswany. The novel exposes several aspects of our current Egyptian society, the writer introduces five different stories, linking them by a commune object, a historical building named ‘’Yacoubian Building’’ each apartment shows different characters with independent stories. We can note that the characters social status deeply affects the course of the story.  We determine that the novel disserts crucial social dilemmas in Egyptian societies.

II.               Body

The events of the story take place in the era after the 1970’s; generally the story occurs in the outmoded downtown Cairo, the luxurious Yacoubian Building and in various areas of Cairo. The novel envelopes a variety of characters such as: Zaki Bey an aged man endowed with French thought etiquette and the fancy of wine, women and sexual pleasures. Secondly, Hatim Rashid a wealthy homosexual newspaper editor, who maintains the image of a respectable man ,yet he reserves his questionable pleasures for the darkness of the night. He stops at nothing to maintain his forbidden relationship with a married young man named Abduh who losses his son and sees it as a reprimand for his sins thus seeking to escape this relationship. On the other hand, we find el Hag Muhammed Azzam, a hard working self-made millionaire with an ambiguous past who seeks by all means to acquire a seat in the people’s assembly seeing it as an opportunity    to enlarge his fortune, not realizing that by relying on the people who helped him obtain this position he was signing a deal with the devil and is now at their mercy. On the roof, the guile shirtmaker Malak who is premeditating a dirty scheme to took over an apartment downstairs in collaboration with his brother Abaskharon the devoted servant of the owner of that estate. Taha, a bright young man, that solemnly aspired to become a police officer and serve his country but was rejected in deference to his low roots later on becoming a martyr in Jihad do to the manipulation and brainwash of islamists.  Finally, we find Boussayna the mesmeric sweetheart of young Taha whom gradually both drift apart. In deference to her family’s circumstances she applies to numerous jobs in which she is repeatedly fired due to her refusal of the harassment of her employers that were bewitched by her beauty. Nevertheless, she gives in and lets the shopkeeper Talal play around with her body in exchange for extra money.

The Yacoubian Building was described as being one of the most prestigious and deluxe apartment blacks in downtown Cairo, it was  by an Armenian businessman in 1934 and exclusively reserved to the elite of the society such as foreigners ,ministers and wealthy businessmen. After the 1952 coup d’état, most of the residents fled the country, the military then took over the building and empty apartments where given away to officers and their families who were often considered to be low class. On the other hand, the roof of the building was filled with little tin rooms no more than 2 meters in 2 that were later on in the 1970’s invaded by servants and rural residents that transformed it into some sort of rural society isolated from the rest of the building.

 

The book disserts a variety of themes including:

The main idea of the novel is to portray the epic change that has overcome Egypt, the once glorious and prestigious country that was known across the world for its beauty and its kind people has become a rotten tomato in which its people suffer daily from segregation, abuse, poverty, pollution and the list goes on and on...

  Terrorism and its association to poverty and humility which is evident threw the character of Taha who was firstly  humiliated in his own country due to his father’s low class job then tortured for being merely affiliated with islasmits thus rebelling against the government and joining Islamic brotherhood to take vengeance. The endless war for political power and the foul play who Hag Azzam portrays excellently as he relies on a political big shot to help him bribe his way into the people’s assembly, sexual abuse that was symbolized by Boussayna who sells her body to the touch of her employers to sustain her job and obtain extra money. The effect of poverty on an individual, such as Abduh. A man who needed cash in order to provide for his family, hence forth becoming a boy-toy, for the wealthy Hatim Rashid.

III. Conclusion

Personally, I profoundly enjoyed reading the book, it was truly worth reading. Each story is unique and captivating in its own way and the way the author divided the chapters makes sure that the reader does not get bored at any point on the contrary I simply wanted to devour the book. To evade, fiction the author presents very coherent and realistic names and locations in Cairo. Although the book is quite lengthy, every character and event is very significant to the course of the story. Moreover, each protagonist is symbolic of an aspect the author is trying to depict thus each character is peculiar and stimulating in his own way. Also, the novel exposes different aspects and dilemmas of today’s society which makes the reader able to relate to the book and reflect on the content. In addition, the novel gives a very vivid image of each social strata of the community and various social classes which is very

To be frank, I would only recommend this novel for serious readers who are in touch with their society. The novel is no fantasy story, it does not present happy endings and unrealistic events, it’s were sincere and harsh in its presentation of crucial social problems and thorough description and imagery of tragic, sensual and dramatic events. Hence forth, I only advise it for people who are mentally mature enough to comprehend certain things in addition to some ‘’inappropriate’ ’content thus I shall only recommend it  for children over 14 years old.

Christmas Vacation

During this previous vacation, I had the opportunity to go to the famous Egyptian touristic city Hurghada located in the Red Sea. There, life is quite abstract from the one in Cairo; the fresh salty ocean smell, the clear blue sky and clean sidewalks you can actually walk on for a change. 

In fact, I was residing in the famous hotel known across the world as the ‘’Marriot Hotel’’. To be frank, it was indeed a very ostentatious resort; luscious gourmet dinners, mind southing scenery and luxurious designs. In consequence, I deeply enjoyed spending the mornings by the tranquilizing ocean that shone to the reflection of the sun, the sizzling yellow sand beneath me and the cool salty ocean breeze hitting my face. In addition, beautiful flowers and greenery filled the hotel area which even made it more pleasant to be around, as if it were a tropical island. When night fell, that did not indicate the end of the day. On the contrary Hurghada also offered an extravagant nightlife, places such as; the Mamsha a long wide road extended on a territory no less than 5 kilometers, filled with restaurants and cafes .On the hand, there was the Marina a yacht dock surrounded by pubs and nightclubs. In contrast, I did not really do something peculiar that is worth mentioning but I did ride a memorable glass boat on which I saw a breathtaking rainbow of fish of every shape and size you could imagine, it was truly wondrous.

 Unfortunately, I had to wake up from this extravagant dream sooner or later, after spending four amazing days it was time to go back to the city of Cairo. Once at home, I was welcomed by a pile of books and assignments I was supposed to complete. Nevertheless, I decided to organize my time equitably in order to finish my work on time and to enjoy the remainder of the vacation as much as possible. Thus, I created a chart on which I divided a quantity of work to be done each day. I would wake up in the early morning to study till the afternoon then go out at night. Moreover, we entered a new year during this vacation, it’s a fresh new start, like everyone else I sincerely hope that it be a pleasant year.