Bremen

Bremen is a nice small  city in the  northwest of germany.  Although it is  small but it has a long history specially in the  last century. 

The  city is calm , and even in the rush hours when everyone is trying to  catch something you  do not feel stressed at all.  People are  very simple , nice and helpful. 

The Town Musicians

 The City is  very green and full of  Gardens, flowers and  rivers. the  best time to visit is probably in summer  time, or spring if you are not allergic :). 

The main place to visit is the old city ( Altstadts) surrounded with the WESER River.  

St Peter's Cathedral (13th century)

 Transportation in Bremen is  very  easy and fast , although if u have a bike the  whole city is well adapted for bikers with special parking areas and bike-lines. However, there is  no public bike rental as the other bigger cities in Germany. If u you are staying for some days you will find shops for  bike rental all arround the city.

Bremen is a Bike friendly city 

 Bremen is  very artistic city, when u visit it , you can understand very well why the four animals wanted to  go there to  perform music ! Street musicians , Human status and lovely sculptures are everywhere around the city.

Human status

Swineherd and pigs sculpture in Bremen

If you  have time it  would eb also interesting to visit the Universum Science Center a science interactive center  with more than 250 Exhibits. 

Finally , you can get to Bremen by train or bus and also by airplane. Bremen airport receives low cost airlines .  so it is not  expensive to see Bremen ! 

fernando pessoa

Fernando pessoa - picture from  : praler.org

أنطونيو فرناندو نوغيرا دي سيابرا بيسوا (13 يونيو 1888–30 نوفمبر 1935) هو شاعر، وكاتب وناقد أدبي، ومترجم وفيلسوف برتغالي، ويوصف بأنه واحد من أهم الشخصيات الأدبية في القرن العشرين، وواحد من أعظم شعراء اللغة البرتغالية، كما أنه كتب وترجم من اللغة الإنجليزية والفرنسية.

 أمضى حياته موظفاً في شركة للشحن البحري في لشبونة اثر طفولة وصباً قضاهما في أفريقيا الجنوبية حيث درس الانكليزية. 

 يعتبر شعره عصياً على التصنيف وإن كان يمت الى السوريالية البدئية بأكثر من صلة، بل تنبع من شخصيته نفسها، هذه الشخصية الغريبة المدهشة التي بدت دائماً وكأنها في حال بحث عن الذات. في حال مطاردة لهوية، حقيقية أو مفترضة... وكأن الشاعر كان لا يتوقف عن التساؤل بينه وبين نفسه، وفي شعره خصوصاً: من أنا؟ من تراني أكون. ولعل من الصعب جداً تصور أن بيسوا عرف كيف يجيب عن هذا السؤال في شعره أو في حياته. 

كتب مؤلفاته بإسمه   بالإضافة الى  العديد  من الأسماء الأخرى  ، كان  يعيش  تحت كل  اسم حالة معينة  يكتب  عنها  و سمى اسمائه  "  heteronames "  حيث كان أولها  في  عمر السادسه  "   فارس  السلام  "  تلاه العديد  من الاسماء  الاخرى التي  و صلت الى 73  اسما .

لم يعد الشاعر البرتغالي فرناندو بيسوا غريباً عن القارئ العربي، إذ عديدة هي الترجمات التي نجدها اليوم، لهذا الشاعر الذي وسم وحده، تاريخ الشعر البرتغالي، في النصف الأول من القرن العشرين، أكان ذلك عبر اسمه الفردي أم عبر أحد أسمائه البديلة. 

أترككم مع بعض  مقتطفات  شعره  : 

I have no ambitions nor desires. To be a poet is not my ambition, It's simply my way of being alone.

Alberto Caeiro, "The Keeper of Herds"

آه! لو يمكنني أن أكونك، وأبقى أنا نفسي! 
لو أملك لا وعيك السعيد 
ووعي ذلك! أيتها الأغنية! 
أيتها الحقول! أيتها السماء! العِلمُ 

I am nothing. I will never be anything. I cannot wish to be anything. Bar that, I have in me all the dreams of the world.

Álvaro de Campos, "The Tobacco Shop"

أحيانا أنا الإله الذي أحمله داخلي 
حينذاك أكون الإله والمؤمن والصلاة 
والصورة العاجية 
حيث ننسى هذا الإله. 

أحيانا لا أزيد أكثر عن ملحد 
بهذا الإله الشخصي الذي أكونه في نشوتي. 
أتأمل في داخلي سماء بأسرها 
وهي ليس سوى سماء عالية وفارغة.

The poet is a faker Who's so good at his act He even fakes the pain Of pain he feels in fact.

Fernando Pessoa-himself, "Autopsychography"

Go away !

Why is't Hard sometime to get rid of someone ?
some people just  stuck  in your life and no matter  what you did  they still there , maybe because  you have a multi-direction network with them!
sometimes  it is  also because a  part of us  want that one to be there , even if the negative in  his  presence is  more  than the  positive he would bring ,  we  just feel we need  them in our life, we can survive without them for sure ,but  we want them to be in , and we want them to be out !
 as  this  man in the picture told me :  just take your photo and Go  away ! 

Sudan : The Standardized Beauty

Image: Duke Media.

As everywhere around the globe these days , there is a standardizing  for beauty , we have an image that everyone wants to look like, and it's the same  in Sudan.

Talking with many females during my stay there and being a  part of a wedding preparation made me understand a little bit about the beauty standards in a city like Khartoum, a  pretty girl is a light skin girl , which means in a city in the middle of the African continent with hot climate  adding to this  of course the African genes that has much melanin in it ,  girls has to do much work to keep their skin light ! so starting by using natural masks , covering the face and the hands , arriving to using chemical products based on cortisone that  has as  secondary effect the "de-pigmentation" which means taking the normal color from the skin !

but it's not just the skin , it  goes to the eyebrows , the hair, the  nails , even the color of the skin on the articulations like knee and elbow which are anatomically speaking  darker in all races !

you walk in the street , you see girls  looks like each other , the identity is gone because we are trying to reach a " perfect"  image made by  society  or media , you open the Sudanese TV, all  female presenters are looking alike , all from the same "type " of beauty !

I see that black skin has a unique charm , makes the eyes more expressive , more pure and more resistant to skin diseases as well !


Dark skin beauty was also  not accepted in several  countries around the world especially in American , in Europe as well and now it's moving to Arabic countries with mixed Arabic African genes  though  we don't have their problems , environment  or  culture !
i recommend watching the  documentary " Dark Girls " : http://officialdarkgirlsmovie.com/

maybe we want to start  fighting this before it gets serious  and be as we were created , different and beautiful !

Sudan & Mango

My  trip to Sudan deserves lots of articles in this  blog , but lets start  by the  thing i miss the most , MANGO !

yesterday  i bought one mango for 2 euro  from  a  fruit market in porto - portugal ,  the smell was very nice , but  once i  opened it :(  , it was nothing like the  mango in sudan ,  well  there is  lots  of  types and shapes and names for mango over there,  57 varieties of mango  in one country , can you believe that !!  Mango is one of the most cherished fruits, not only in flavor and taste, but also for its nutritional value  mango is a good source of vitamin A and C and rich in carbohydrates, minerals potassium, and phosphorus. Mango is mostly consumed as fresh fruit but due to its perishable nature it can not be store for long time . 

when i goggled Mango +  sudan , i found out i'am not the  only one who fell in love with this great creation ! , and i loved  what Marry  the owner  of the blog  ( http://this-is-sudan.blogspot.pt/)  said  about  mango  : ( I'm convinced that it was a mango that Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat in the Garden of Eden) 

it's really that wonderful !

so if  you are passing by sudan , don't forget ,  MANGO  comes first ! it's  one of the most delicious things that you can taste  in your life !

ُEGYPT : pretty girls .. ugly women

The title may be shocking for some of you  . but  this is  what i noticed in  Egypt , i went there for few days in alexendria and cairo , but  as i love to watch peoples' faces  i couldn't help to notice they have really pretty  girls , smiley , full of energy, bright eyes , singing voice , very positive energy ! but  when you look to  elder  women  ( not  so old )   just above 35 ,you look at tired , exhausted eyes  , falling shoulders , fat bodies , busy minds and dark look , the look in their eyes inspires sadness , worry, fear ..  or  a mixture of all of that .. may be  it's the  fear of future , not know  what it holds  for them  .. maybe it is the responsibility and the idea  that when a woman get married  she forget  everything that is related to her self and dreams and ambitions ,and dedicate her self to her  husband and children ..

 i don't know , but it's really sad to see this ! 

Ramdan in marrakech

Tea & Milk always there in Iftar time -  Fatin Nabil Photography

Ramdan is a very special month , it has a spiritual customs ,  family get together , people control their bodies and  souls and tend to do more good things in it !

one of the most important  experiences to  make in ramadan in Marrakesh is to take your Iftar ( breakfast meal ) in Jamaa ALfna square , it's a  very  big square with lots of  long tables for  food , all kind of food , and people  who sell orange juce , sweets , cloths , people who dance with monkeys , snacks , witches , fire players , musicians , dancers , even people who sell teeth !!  yes  human teeth !

anyway the teeth is not our issue now ,  the important thing is to taste the Harira soup ,  it  cost 30 cent and it's the most delicious soup you will ever taste !
then you have to taste the shbakia  which is sweet that is  very  yummy ,  green tea and mesmen which is kind of crepe.  usually  you have to  eat in a  long table with lots of people around you like in a family house  , and when the  time come you hear the call for the prayer coming from all directions , all the voices get mixed together in a wonderful symphony then a non planed moments of  silence come , people starts to  eat and the atmosphere is very calm and positive , then everyone go for the prayer of  almughreb !
i like when everyone go to pray, all go in the same direction to answer the call of God , it's a very wonderful view to see .

Mint Green Tea - you have to mention if u dont want suger

Harira  soup 

Shbakia sweet 

afterword you may go to have a tour in the square that is as all the year long full of  light and handmade products , as well as the traditional market and the music !
Ramdan Iftar in Marrakech is a must to do experience at least once in a lifetime !

light and handmade products