They always said, never open Pandora's box

I am one those, yes, one of those, those people who try to turn a blind eye to the news toll concerning the deaths that surround us in the middle eastern region. It has become part of the norm, death that is, if you live in the Middle East. Everything Islamic has somehow been connected to fundamentalism and I remember vividly how my life was consumed with the news but when I began to reach a point that I was truly depressed I just decided it was time to suppress all this and leave the news be.

Today watching the whole flotilla aid situation and seeing it all unravel in front of me, I could not have imagined how low Israel has reached! the fact that their reply to killing innocent lives is by saying they are “sorry” for the losses of unarmed civilians and they weren’t “sure” who told them they can shoot just not justify anything at all. There comes the other voice in me that notifies me that with politics nothing is in our hand!

I keep coverage of the news back home and read about how one of Gulf news journalist Abbas Al Lawati was on one of the boats. Despite the fact that this type of mission always carries a certain risk it just was something you do not expect from a ship carrying aid! On another note I really am happy that there are journalists in Dubai with such a passion for bringing in more coverage to our part of the region. As an avid photography journalist I just wish I had the guts to go to Palestine.

What’s interesting in this whole situation is I believe Israel has perhaps landed in Pandora’s box this time. Despite the media conglomerates dictate our opinion, today’s economy will manage to access the truth much faster with no helps from the conglomerates. The Internet has opened up blogs, twitter, youtube and much more outlets that people will use to present the actual facts without the help of the likes of CNN

This news alone comforts me, hopefully now people will understand that perhaps all this anxiety and hatred Arabs feel towards the Israel army and government is for a good and valid reason.

Photos: amore questo e Verona

I Had the great opportunity this past March to travel to Italy with my mother who was on business, We visited the little town of Verona, home to Romeo and Juliet! I usually upload more photos but decided to stick with my favorite 6 this time.

Contemplating PHD

My mind is set on my dissertation, with my relief that I have chosen a topic ambiguous yet confident enough that I can tackle the question of weather I have a future in pursuing a PHD still lingers, the idea of staying longer in the UK is quite tempting yet if the prospects of establishing my career route is open then I say why not go work!

I am not quite sure how easily will it be for me to find a job within the book publishing industry in the UAE, despite its promising future I believe a little empirical knowledge and not just my academic background would help make me a more confident employee.

Yet I am quite excited about my dissertation topic! My topic looks into the prospect of adopting digital publishing in the Middle east as a norm for publishing as oppose to the basic brick and mortar stores. I believe the lack of distribution system should be used to our advantage in digital publishing and promote it as a norm within the middle eastern region, this way not only will authors in the middle east be popular in the middle east but have the ability to gain global recognition!

Now the challenge is how I will manage to increase all this into 15,000 words, yep and the thought that a PHD will be 80,000 words makes me want to choke (although I have three years to write it ! as oppose to 3 months not to mention summer months!!)

Well if I am serious about writing a PHD then I must start working on my proposals before I begin the actual construction of my Dissertation!

The Other side of Thailand

Listening to the strong winds as it passes its way from my room whilst the rain is constantly knocking my windows, what a crazy weather here at St. Andrews.

I try and mute the sound with my latest ministry of sound album while working on my epic journey to Thailand that had to be put on hold because of my crazy hours of studying.

Enjoy, the other side of Thailand

Denial

2:18 Am, Its about time that I shut those lights and go to bed, but it is not always easy.

I Feel the stress and pressure from this essay that I have to submit and all I want is for it to just finish and go away!

I have decided that despite the hard effort and work that I put in the last two weeks building

our business plan was not enough, rather, I am keen on finishing working on a reflective paper

that is due in two weeks time because i will be leaving next week and I have no intention of carrying this with me to London when I will meet my dad!

After hours of trying to read as much academic journals as i can my classmates and I were chilling on a Saturday night when one of my friends brought to our attention that t the lives we are living in St. Andrews is soon coming to its epic end!

With only one more module left almost everyone will be leaving St. Andrews and living in London or Edinburgh to work at summer placements and very few of us are perhaps staying in St. Andrews.

At that very moment I was in denial of that very fact, I did not want to circum to the idea that this dream I had since 8th grade to live abroad is coming to an end! more importantly I did not want to see all the friendships I made this year become part of my past.

I cannot imagine not waking up one day from this questionable bed I have in my dorm room, not knock on my Flat mate door to hang out in town and even take my stroll down our infamous "green mile" to get to our beloved Gateway building.

What makes life here in St. Andrews so special is that its simple, very simple and that is despite the stress that I currently am in. As much as I love Dubai and have come to forgive its flaws, I find life there very complicated in so many different aspects that would need a blog on its own!

another part of my denial is the fact that I hate saying goodbye! I have made many great friends in St. Andrews who had such a great impact in my life and made this experience here better than I could have imagined. how could I tell these people have a great life and perhaps only see them once in every two/three years after spending almost every day of my life in St. Andrews with them?

I have never regretted my decision of coming to the small quirky town of St Andrews, I have learnt to love it everyday and will make sure to savor every moment I am here.

2:45 Am now i seriously have to get to bed!

Thailand: It's Different

Thailand was a new experience for me from the different landscapes of scotland and Dubai and here I present you with Thailand part one, more pictures to come :) and I hope you enjoy my photojournalistic amateur skills

Reflection: gut feelings

Being Back to my routine life in St Andrews is quite surreal, with the first week over I wasn't sure how to make of it. I find myself back to the basics with my lack of enthusiasm to do work with such short days and laziness is always a great prospect!

yet i had a great deal of time of thinking to do, and the prospects of pursuing Photography is becoming much more stronger in my mind, I find that there is a drive in me that knows that perhaps my chance is here and right now and I must take a hold of it.

It may be the laziness and my creative imagination talking but have you ever had such a strong gut feeling about something? They speak of it fondly in various media outlets, it must not be part of someone's figment of imagination. I just know it is the right track for me!

call me crazy, call my whatever you like but I think theres something about this spontaneous feeling that I have a future in this crazy world of photography!