المكان الأمن

المكان الأمن

This post is written by my sweet friend Marwa ElGemizy.    Marwa is a graduate of the faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University.  Since 2004, she has tried her hand successfully at different positions as a Vodafone Customer Service agent, cultural specialist, ending as a project manager in the strategy team. She then worked as a Human Resources Manager in an economic magazine and currently, she is a projects Manager at Dawar. 

فى احد تدريبات ورشة السايكودراما بقفل عينيا على صوت سحر و هي بتشرحلنا ازاي بنشوف المكان الامن , ازاي بنفتش عليه جوانا علشان يطلع للنور و ازاى نتخيله لو مش موجود فى حياتنا و لو موجود ازاي يظهر بتفاصيل اكثر وضوح بتفاصيل محببة يمكن فى الواقع مش بناخد بالنا منها , بنقفل عيونا و صوتها الهادي اللي بيوصلنا بسلام للنقطة اللي بنحس بيها بالامان و نختار الارض اللي هنقعد و نرتاح فيها شوية بعد رحلة من التدريبات.... بنوصل المكان الامن و بتسيبنا بهدوء و امان ل رحلة الاكتشاف الجديدة للمكان الامن .

اللحظة اللي قفلت فيها عيني و استمعت بعناية و دقة للارشادات التعريفية عن ايه المكان الامن زي ركاب الطيارة اللي بيسمعوا ارشادات السلامة و الامان للسفر بخطوط طيران خمس نجوم , بيكتشفوا فجاة و هما على باب الطيارة ان عندهم رهاب من الطيران و المرتفعات و مفيش مجال للرجعة ... بيسافروا لاول مرة طيران لاء و مش كده و بس مسافرة لوحدي مسافرة لمكان معرفوش و اللي مكنتش اعرف انه جوايا و ان ليه وجود اصلا ( مصطلح مكان امن فى حد ذاته شيء غريب جدا بالنسبالي هل فعلا فى مكان ممكن يكون امن؟ هل اقدر اكون فيه على طبيعتي؟ لوحدى؟ طب اقدر اعزم حد؟ طب اقدرمنه اطرد حد؟ ) اللحظة دي انفصلت تماما عن زمايلي و عن القاعة و نفسي و عن كل الافكار اللي كانت فى دماغي من اول اليوم الاسئلة اللى كانت بتدور جوايا عن الورشة و النشاطات اللي فيها هل هقدر افهم؟ هل هعرف افصل بين شغلي و بين مشاركتي فيها؟ هل انا كفء ليها من الاصل؟ ايه اللي هتعلمه و الناس دي بتقول ايه اصلا؟ هل هيتقبلوني؟ اسئلة كتيرة و سخيفة و عرفت بعدين ان ملهاش اى معنى غير انها توترني و تشتت تفكيري عن الهدف اللاساسي اللي انا جاية هنا مخصوص علشانه و اللي لو كان ده مش قدرى مكنتش هوصل ليه من الاساس ...

 قفلت عيني و فصلت نفسي و ركزت اقصد وصلت...

عينيا بتشوف بهدوء شديد ضوء شمسي خافت فى السما بيغطيه اغصان شجر كتير و كثيف جدا بتحجب اشعة الشمس بلطف من انها تزعج عيني, من مكاني ده اقدر اقول انى مستلقية على ضهرى على الارض و مرتاحة, بفتح عيوني بشويش زي الطفلة اللى عندها فضول تشوف الدنيا بعد نوم و ثبات طويل و لكن بحذر و حرص و جايز شوية خوف. اغصان الشجر بتتحرك اكتر و اسرع و ضوء الشمس بشوفه بوضوح اكتر يمكن السبب نسمة الهوا اللى عدت؟ ايوا انا حسيت بيها نسمة هوا ساقعة لطيفة قشعرت جسمي بلطف عدت عليا بهوا منعش خلاني افوق و انتعش شوية نسمة هوا شايلة روايح من الجنة خليط من المانجو و الليمون و البرتقال و هى معدية قطفت روايح الورد و العشب الاخضر و الندى اخدت نفس عميق و استمعت بكل الروايح دي و السمفونية الهادية اللي عزفتها جوه صدرى كان كل عطر و كل ريحة منهم الة موسيقية بتعزف مرة منفردة و مرة فى مجموعات منسجمين متدربين من غير نشاز

السيمفونية دى كملت بصوت الشجر و هو بيوشوش بعضه بيحكوا عن اللي حصل دلوقتي بيرحب بوجودى فى المكان الامن بيحكيلي عنهم و انهم كانوا مستنيني من زمان و ان المكان بيجهز كل يوم علشان اجى اهرب فيه شوية و يتونس بيا و اتونس بيهم علشان اغسل فيه كل حاجة واجعاني و الماني علشان اغير فيه توب القلق و التوتر و الحزن و الاجهاد و البس توب جديد ابيض واسع ناعم طويل اوى توب حر.

سمعت من بعيد اصوات مكنتش عارفة اميزها فى الاول ... ابتديت اقوم براحة الف فى المكان و اكتشفه

سمعت اصوات حيوانات بتغني و بتتكلم و بتنادي علي بعضها صوت عصافير فى الاول بيعلي مع كل هزة ريح للشجر صوتها بيحاول يغطي علي وشوشة الشجر لبعضه صوت قرود بتضحك بصوت عالي محبب جدا صوت افيال بتطلق نفير يمكن احتفالا بوجودى , بلف لفة صغيرة حوالين نفسي و بضحك

لما دخلت شوية جوه المكان اكتشفت انه غابة ... غابة استوائية كبيرة او يمكن غابة فى جزيرة؟ مش عارفة

تعمقت اكتر و استبينت ملامح المكان اكتر و اكتر شفت كل الالوان اللى ممكن تخطر عل بال شفت درجات الاخضر من الداكن اوى للفاتح جدا للمائل للاصفر شفت الاصفر و البرتقالي شفته فى الورد و الفاكهه و الطيور شفت البني و الرمادي فى جذوع الشجر الضخم العالي شجر قديم عتيق جذوعه متينة و جذوره فى الارض على مرمى الشوف شجر قوي شامخ حنون بيضلل على كل اللي فى المكان.

بكمل مشي بسمع اصوات تانية مختلفة صوت ضحكات صغيرة متقطعة سريعة زي ما تكون بتجري بتنهج بجرى بسرعة علشان اشوفها بيطلعلي اطفال صغيرة فى منتهي البراءة و الجمال اطفال شديدة الحسن . بيجروا عليا و يحضنوني حضن دافي طويل بيشدوني العب معاهم بجرى و العب و اتنطط و صوت ضحكنا بيعلى و بيعلى بيحاول يغطي علي صوت الشجر و هو بيتوشوش و بيحكي لبعضه عن المشهد , صوت مياه بتجرى من بعيد بمشي وراه علشان اشرب ... عطشانة

بس قبل ما امشي بوست الاطفال اودعهم وداع ناعم ممتزج بحزن و تقل خايفة من الفراق يا ترى هشوفهم تاني؟ يا ترى حبوني زي ما حبيتهم؟ ضربات قلبي بتزيد و صوت دقاتها بيعلى و بينضم للسيمفونية اللي موقفتش و لا للحظة فى الخلفية. ببوس الاطفال و بوعدهم انى راجعالهم تاني قريب.

جدول مياه شفافة نازل من فوق بدوقها مياه عذبة جدا و حلوة جدا جدا بشرب منها لحد ما ارتويت و اغتسلت بيها و كانى بغسل بيها كل تقل كان على دماغي و اكتافي و كان المياه بتحررنى من قيود و حبال كنت رابطة نفسي بيها حبال وهمية ملهاش وجود ...

من بعيد فى كوخ هناك فوق هناك فوق شجرة ضخمة جدا حواليها باقي الاشجار و النخل اصغر بكتير بمشي بهدوء لهناك ده بيتي؟ كوخ حيطانه من جذوع الشجر و سقفه من سعف النخل و ارضيته بلاط موزايك لونه ازرق فاقع لون عمق البحر متعلق على الحيطان براويز خشب مدهونة ابيض بس البراويز فاضية !!

الكوخ بتاعي عالي اوى و واسع و كبير ليه تراس بدرابزين خشب معوج بيطل عل محيط صوت الامواج بتضرب الرمل على الشط ... لا مش بتضرب ... بتداعب بتزغزغ بتلاغيها علشان تضحك . يضحك الرمل و تضحك الموج و ابتسم انا.

واقفة فوق فى التراس فى الكوخ بتاعي بتفرج ... الهوا لطيف ريحته يود و عشب و فاكهة اغلبها من الموالح نخل طويل عالي عل شط بالوانه الاخضر و البني و حبات ال coconut  ... واللي من ريحتها و شكلها اقدر اقول ان طعمها حلو جدا, واقفة بتابع المحيط و هو بيكر و يفر من الرمل الاغصان و هى بتتوشوش ريحة المحيط و الفواكهة      والاهم واقفة لوحدي...

مفيش اطفال بتجرى و بتلعب , وحشوني جدا و عاوزة ارجعلهم , بس الاطفال فى اللحظة دي مش هنا انا بس اللي موجودة لوحدي المكان ده بتاعي انا و بس مش هاخد بالي من حد غير نفسي هستمتع بيه ليا انا الاصوات دي علشاني انا و بس المحيط بيبتسملي لوحدي وانا بردله الابتسامة .

برسم ابتسامة راحة على وشي

برسم ملامح رضا على وشي

بتنفس نفس واعى فى صدرى و بيملا كرشي.

بخرج من جوه جسمى بهدوء و كانى طيف طاير بيتفرج عليا من بره طيف بيراقبني و انا براقب المشهد بتفرج علي نفسي من فوق بشوفني ساكنة هادية مرتاحة , بحس بجسمي بيكلمنى بيقولي برافوعليكي يا مروى الله ينور... بحس بعقلي مرتاح و بيتنفس لاول مرة , بقفل عيني شوية علشان احفظ الصورة دي جوايا و متضيعش مني تاني.

صورة حلوة اوى ... صورة مريحة اوى

بفتح عيني من تاني على شكل جسمى و هو واقف فى التراس ( تراس الكوخ بتاعي فى المكان الامن ) بتفرج علي شكلي و انا هادية و مرتاحة بشوف ابتسامتي بقع فى حبها ... الله !! دي حلوة اوى

شعري بيطير... بني كستنائي مموج فيه خصلات صفرا فاتحة اشعث ثائر مش مترتب بيهرب من مكانه و بيغيره مع كل نسمة هوا بتعدي حواليه حتى جسمي حاسة انى بشوفه لاول مرة شايفاه ممشوق مرتاح متناسق شكله عاجبني اوى مش بكرهه زى الاول بالعكس, جسم انثي جميلة جسم كامل الانوثة متناسق مليان اثارة فى كل ثنية من ثنياتة و منحنياته عليه فستاني الابيض الخفيف الحر فستان يشبه فساتين الملكات فى اساطير الاغريق عليه اكسسوارات من الدهب و تاج على شكل ورق الشجر من الدهب و الفيروز

بطير حوالين جسمي مرتين علشان احفظه احبه اكتر اتواصل معاه اهنيه على جماله و قوته

صوت سحر من بعيد بينادي بيهيئنا للرجوع...

بدخل جوه جسمي من تاني و باخد نفس واعي ترحيبا لرجوعي جواه و احتفاءا لكل لحظه حلوة شفتها و حسيتها و شميت ريحتها بلف بنظرى فى المكان بنظرة امتنان لاستضافته الكريمة ليا و بودعه على ان يكون لنا عدة لقاءات ابدية بلا حدود...

برجع تاني للواقع علي صوت ارشادات الامان و السلامة و لكن المرة دي تختلف.

نرجع بوعينا بهدوء للمكان و نحس بجسمنا نفتح عينيا براحة و اللي وشه فى الضوء يغطي عينيه اللي نايم يقوم لما يحس انه مستعد ابتدى اقوم بهدوء على جنبي و اخر حاجة ارفعها هى راسي و ...

ناخد نفس و نرجع لدايرتنا من تاني.

مروى الجميزي

Toni Morrison, a life well- lived

This article was published in The Egyptian Gazette on August 22nd, 2019

          Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison died Monday fifth of August in New York. The literary titan, who became the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, was 88.

The Morrison family released a statement through Morrison’s publisher, Knoph and Random House: “It is with profound sadness we share that, following a short illness, our adored mother and grandmother, Toni Morrison, passed away peacefully last night surrounded by family and friends.  She was an extremely devoted mother, grandmother, and aunt who reveled in being with her family and friends. The consummate writer who treasured the written word, whether her own, her students or others, she read voraciously and was most at home when writing.  Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well-lived life.”

Robert Gottlieb, her longtime editor at Knopf, added: “She was a great woman and a great writer, and I don’t know which I will miss more.”

When she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, it was because she “in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.” Every one of her works revels in blackness in a different way as it exists in the American society in the past and the present.

Celebrated and embraced by countless people all over the world, Morrison’s works tackled the hidden details about life for African Americans. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970 and kick started her career of masterpieces, which spanned over four decades, including titles like Beloved, Song of Solomon, and Sula. She was also ahead of her time in figuring out how to maintain a work-life balance.  My personal all time Morrison favorite is her Paradise in which she introduces feverish attempts by her black females to start an earthly paradise. She draws extensively on magic realism to explore the possibility of such a paradise on earth.

Morrison was the first female African-American editor at Random House. She held teaching positions at Howard University, Yale University, Bard College, Rutgers University, SUNY Albany, and Princeton University. Morrison published 11 works of fiction in her career, most recently “God Help the Child” in 2015, and was admired by many including celebrities like Marlon Brando and Oprah Winfrey.

In 2012, President Barack Obama presented Morrison with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.

In her Nobel Prize-winning speech in 1993, Morrison foreshadowed how we remember her today: “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”

Memorable – and powerful – quotes from Morrison’s works and interviews.

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the sh-t that weighs you down.”

– Song of Solomon, 1977

“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”

– Beloved, 1977

“Love is or it ain’t. Thin love ain’t love at all.”

– Beloved, 1977

”At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough. No record of it needs to be kept and you don’t need someone to share it with or tell it to. When that happens -that letting go – you let go because you can.”

– Tar Baby, 1981

“I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.'”

– From the November 2003 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

“You can’t own a human being. You can’t lose what you don’t own. Suppose you did own him. Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? You really want somebody like that? Somebody who falls apart when you walk out the door? You don’t, do you? And neither does he. You’re turning over your whole life to him. Your whole life, girl. And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it to him, then why should it mean any more to him? He can’t value you more than you value yourself.”

– Songs of Solomon, 1977

“Anger … it’s a paralyzing emotion … you can’t get anything done. People sort of think it’s an interesting, passionate, and igniting feeling — I don’t think it’s any of that — it’s helpless … it’s absence of control — and I need all of my skills, all of the control, all of my powers … and anger doesn’t provide any of that — I have no use for it whatsoever.”

– From an interview with CBS in 1987

“Love is never any better than the lover.”

– The Bluest Eye, 1970

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”

– From Morrison’s Nobel lecture, 1993

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it”

– From her Ohio Arts Council Speech, 1981

- “I've traveled. All over. I've never seen anything like you. How could anything be put together like you? Do you know how beautiful you are? Have you looked at yourself?'

'I'm looking now.”  ― Toni Morrison, Paradise
― Toni Morrison, Paradise

“There is honey in this land sweeter than any I know of, and I have cut cane in places where the dirt itself tasted like sugar, so that's saying a heap.” 

To me, Morrison did not die; she just made the shift, the move from an earthly paradise she had attempted to a heavenly one that is sure to include her. 

Self-eating is good for you

This article was published by The Egyptian Gazette on August 1st, 2019

How often do you take out the garbage from your house?  Do you do it yourself or ask someone to do it for you?  How would you feel if it is never taken out?

Sounds gross? Right?

Would you live in a house in which garbage has accumulated for years? Of course you won't;  you won’t even take the garbage out and leave it by your door step; it has to go for good… maybe recycling it is the best option.

Well, the analogy I am about to draw may be a bit disgusting but it is totally true.  Imagine your body to be the house in which you live.  After all, you are a spiritual being housed into the material body you live in.  Your body is the home of your magnificent soul and you have to keep it clean inside and out; it is the least you can do to take care of it.

You probably know that most tissues in your body replace their cells with new ones on a regular basis. Depending on their nature and composition, different organs need their own time to renew completely. There are some tissues that do not replace their cells at all.  But have you ever wondered where the dead cells of your body end up?  where does body garbage go?  Is it flushed out somehow? or recycled?

Where does the internal garbage go?

The cells of your body constantly break down and then recycle their own parts.  Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi, a Japanese cell biologist, spent years studying how human cells get rid of their waste. In 2016, he  got the Nobel prize in physiology and medicine  for figuring out this process which is called AUTOPHAGY.

 If this process in the body doesn't work correctly, a person can develop type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, some age-related diseases, and even cancer. And it turned out that when you fast, your cells live longer and produce more energy!

What is autophagy ?

The scientific term “Autophagy”  comes  from  two Greek words :   “auto” meaning self and “phagein” which translates to “eat”.  Combined together, the words make the term Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi used to describe the process of  recycling cell waste which literally means “self-eating”.  Sounds a bit scary and uncivil … but it is a vital process for the health and wellbeing of your body.

  

The first person who discovered autophagy was Belgian biochemist Dr. Christian de Duve.  For this discovery, he got the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974.

His work dates back to the 1960’s when he started to examine some liver cells and noticed that they have some special storing and recycling compartments which were later called “lysosomes”.  These compartments resemble the cells of the stomach in that they contain special digestive enzymes.  With the help of the enzymes in them, lysosomes consume worn out or damaged tissues, food particles, bacteria, versus and other junk which accumulates in the cells. All this garbage is recycled into new cells and energy and that is simply the process of autophagy without which you would not survive.

In short,  lysosomes enable your body to decompose different protein structures into amino acids and use it later as the building material to create new cells.  In this case, a logical question pops up:

 Do you need to eat animal protein to build new cells?

Surprisingly, studies show that people who do not consume animal protein still have approximately the same amount of protein and carbohydrates in their digestive system as those who ate protein.

What a mystery!  Where did the protein come from?

This mystery has a simple explanation: the body can have its own protein in the form of dead and damaged cells and bacteria which have been stored away and it can use them to produce new cells.

If your natural recycling mechanism doesn't work, damaged cells and their parts start to accumulate in the body. And it ends up unable to neutralize cancer cells and cells infected by dangerous viruses and bacteria. As a result, this can lead to various serious illnesses.

Fasting helps your autophagy

Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi found out that autophagy gets more intensive when the body is undergoing some stress. Such stress can be fasting, calorie restriction, or even starvation. In all his studies, Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi used starvation and fasting to encourage the body to break down toxic cells and get rid of all the garbage. If you are a Muslim, you will not need to read the rest of the article since you already know that the month of Ramadan is a body and mind cleansing occasion your body celebrates every year.

However, there are some other kinds of fasting that you can try as well. Intermittent fasting, which is alternating the periods of eating and fasting, can help your body to clean itself. Besides, it can help you to lose weight and speed up your metabolism.  If you are a newbie in the world of fasting and the practice looks a bit intimidating, start with skipping your meals. In general, it is enough to skip one meal a day to boost your metabolism and trigger cleansing processes in your body. Just remember that if you've skipped a meal, you shouldn't overeat at the next one.

One more interesting conclusion you can draw from this research is that, despite what some people think, vegetarians do not suffer from a lack of animal protein. They just get it in a different way through "self-eating".   Enjoy your very own protein…

Taking the world by storm

Taking the world by storm

By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban

Professor of linguistics & Chairperson of the Department of English

Faculty of Arts

Kafrelsheikh University

Do you still remember the nursery rhymes or children's songs you used to sing with peers when you were a kid?  Do you still remember the songs or rhymes your parents and grandparents used to sing to you? The answer is definitely 'Yes'. You may ask: "Why?".  The answer proposed by many studies on memory and language learning is that our brains process rhymed input more deeply and more easily than unrhymed input.  When music, repetition and storytelling are combined, this helps memorization and the acquisition of new vocabulary. It makes us joyfully relate to peers, family and teachers.

Music, the body and language learning

How music affects the body is a very interesting and yet not fully-discovered issue. By its very definition, music has to do with sounds which are harmoniously combined to change the chemical interactions in our bodies and evoke emotions in us. Music is also part of our body.  Think about your voice, that miraculous musical instrument that plays, through speaking and singing, varied tunes that stir up emotions beyond comprehension. Think about  how your body organs work rhythmically: your heart, feet, hands, respiratory system, etc. Music is inside us and it is part of who we are. Language also has music, and when language and music get together, they rock us massively. Think about the emotions you experience when language and music are combined in movies, songs, opera, theatre, etc. In other words, language, music and culture are inseparable. There have been incredible examples of the role music plays in saving endangered languages. A case in point is the Welsh-speaking part of Argentina, Patagonian. Music at schools keeps the language alive there. The Angolan language Kimbundu is another example. Rappers are racing to revive it. Thanks to technology and social media, the masses speaking such endangered language take the lead.  

Without official or academic ado

 Pop culture and music have incredibly impacted languages at all levels: vocabulary, grammar, meaning and pronunciation.  More importantly, they help disseminate languages, dialects and accents outside their native territories without official or academic ado. Let us have a look at the most three successful stories. What are they? And in what way can they inspire others?

A tale of three 'softquakes'

" Imagine a world without The Beetles; how would it look like?" Would the pop storm that hits music and world entertainment industry be there? Would the hits "Get Back", "She Loves You", "I Feel Fine", among others exist and have such a huge impact on  the global fans? Would the world fashion industry be defined the way it was by the Beetles?  Would  the mop-top hair cut, casual wear, Chelsea boots  appear and males all over the world copy them blindly? More importantly, would the world know about Liverpool or 'Scouse' accent and love it that much? Definitely, the world would have missed the stunning artistic, cultural, and linguistic impact of the Beetles.

Latin music

 The huge popularity in Latin music in the US and the world has also contributed to the promotion of the Spanish language, which currently has an increasing share of the global population learning a foreign language. Spanish is also the second language in the US and spoken in 44 countries. It is no wonder then to find Spanish hits frequently sweeping the world. "Dispacito" is a tale to remember. Shortly after, Little Mix, Cardi B and DJ Snake find their way to top spots on the US Billboard chart in Spanish. Thus, the impact of Latin music is understandable given the large Latin-speaking diaspora around the world.

The Korean softquake

Another softquake that is currently hitting the world hard is the Korean pop industry or K-pop, South Korean super groups and bands such as  Blackpink, the Black Eyed Peas and BTS have broken the boundaries and become famous worldwide. The boy band BTS, in particular, is taking the world by storm. Its members manage to have the most impact on spreading the Korean language and culture around the world. With a popularity compared to the Beatles in their prime, they performed on the most respected and famous stages like the billboard and American Music Awards (AMA), and won high profile awards that seemed to be restricted to American pop singers. The Korean stars have also the most interactive fan base, which is called "army". According to Twitter, they have been a social media sensation in the last few years. 

Just the vibe

BTS has been a living proof that music and art in general is an undeniable power in spreading a culture and a language. With millions of loyal fans aspiring to learn the language of their beloved idols, Korean language has flourished like never before. BTS artists are stuck to their language although they insert some English in the lyrics, their songs and interactions remain in Korean. Their YouTube channel posts videos about their life and really shows who they are without all the buzz of celebrity life. It shows them in all their moods.  That makes the fans connect with them on a deeper and  more profound level and that may be the main reason why Korean language is spreading like never before. Fans are aspiring to connect to their idols despite the level of difficulty of the language. They want to understand their beloved artists without subtitles and connect with them without language boundaries. Fans talk about how regularly listening to BTS  makes them unconsciously learn Korean. Moreover, there are fan sites, spaces for translations which render BTS hits into other languages around the world.

People, worldwide, have become more open to music in languages other than their own. The British are the last people to embrace music in foreign languages without compromises. Thanks to technology and migration, music industry is no longer controlled by a punch of Anglo-centric gatekeepers. Spotify and YouTube  are now leading the way making  it easy to stream songs . Finally, let us hope that these successful stories of how culture and music help disseminate languages and dialects inspire the Arab cultural and entertainment industry and teach lessons in spreading  the Arabic language all over the world.

  

Beyond Paradise, Beyond the Surface

This post was published in The Egyptian Gazette 11th of July, 2019

You open your eyes yawning and the first thing you do is reach out for your cellphone on the bedside table.  You surf social media to see what is going on in the world you are about to face in a few moments.  You start with Facebook, or maybe you prefer Instgram and you scroll. What a lovely world!    

First post:

You see your favorite actress playing yoga in an enchantingly garden,   her body lean and ideal in a brand outfit that costs a fortune, her hair tied in a long lease ponytail the color of chocolate, smiling to show off her Hollywood teeth.  Unconsciously, you start to pity yourself:   you are still in your bed, tired as hell; the headache you slept with is still persistent; your disheveled hair sticks to your face and the back of your neck due to sweat, worrying about the hundred things you have to do today.

 Second post:

Your friend from high who migrated twenty years is on her vacation in the Caribbean. She is in a sheer vibrantly colored dress and the latest brand sunglasses and shiny lip color, soaking her bare feet in the water while her hair flies away in the air, surrounded by lovely children building huge castles in the sand. Your feeling of lack intensifies.

Third post:

You scroll down and a few posts later, you see your neighbor showing off a wonderful cake she has just baked and commenting “ Made with Love” and you wonder why you cannot bake anything without burning it!  The cake lady has a hundred likes and tens of “wows” and comments begging her to write the recipe.  The disappointment and indignation that started two posts above build up and you wonder, self- disapprovingly why cannot you cook meals that amaze others and make you proud on social media.

Fourth post:

An old colleague looks surprised:  the manager of the company she works for has left a bouquet of daisies and a chocolate box on her desk to thank her for her efforts.  “That’s it!”  You cannot take any more of Facebook and you jump out of bed.   The famous comment of comedian Hala Sidky in one of her movies rings in your ears:   What about the gangs of good for nothing people I work with? Why cannot anyone appreciate my hard work?!   You feel depressed and underappreciated in work.

You decide to switch to Instagram for a quick view only to find your cousin in Canada in a classy restaurant  with a group of good-looking friends savoring a dish of lasagna; she looks thin and the mounts of cheeses that ooze out of the dish seem not to bother her in the least.  You feel an urge to go devour all the cheeses you can get hold of and wish you can have such gorgeous friends to take you out to fancy restaurants in foreign lands.

The “fake” paradise you see on social media makes you feel miserable; the message your subconscious gets out of all the above posts is a message of lack:   in order for you to be happy, you must have all that this actress has:  a large house with a garden, a great body, expensive brand clothes, a private trainer, a daily hairdo and new teeth!  You also need to travel abroad for your next vacation and get overpriced sunglasses; you must find new outgoing friends to take you places and treat you like a queen. You must find another job where are given more credit for your work.  You might also want to change your children and get new ones who look as good as the ones surrounding your friend on the beach.  You lack all these things! In other words, you need to be someone other than yourself to be happy.

Under the colorful surface

What if you look beyond this blissful paradise on social media before you allow your mind to drift away to compare your real life with that of others? Before you are carried away  in a cycle of never ending dissatisfaction and disappointment about your own circumstances try doing this one thing:  imagine the back stage.  I have tried it and it shifted my thinking one hundred eighty degrees and I strongly recommend it to family and friends all the time.  

Backstage peek

In all the sights of happy and joyful people in the above posts, you see only the end result; you do not see the moments of pain and hard work that preceded the final look presented on social media.  Your favorite actress surely did not become in great shape in her seventies without having to sweat for hours every day in the gym her whole life; she did not have photos showing her body under the knife of a surgeon or at least having Botox and filler shots all over her face and neck to maintain her younger looks. Nor did she photograph herself while the dentist worked his puzzling painful tools in her mouth.  After all, you should be grateful you are not like her; you are not to be judged by millions only by your looks.

You did not see the backbreaking work that your old colleague did before getting the flowers and chocolate. Maybe she had been working for months, sleep- deprived, drinking tons of coffee to meet deadlines that other colleagues failed to do.   You did not see the backstage of all the stories and you cannot compare yourself to them unless you do. Are you willing to go through hell for a few moments of eye-catching bless on social media?  Are you ready to pay the price of a post that gets likes and wows? 

Let’s not be deceived by social media which presents only a segment of a story; let’s see the whole story.  Let’s look beyond Paradise and be thankful and grateful for what we have.

Inscription bid of the Nile on UNESCO's World Heritage

Inscription bid of  the Nile on UNESCO's World Heritage

By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban

Professor of linguistics & Chairperson of the Department of English

Faculty of Arts

Kafrelsheikh University

Inscription season

Being a huge fan of human heritage conservation, this week has been exceptional. I have been busy meticulously and enthusiastically following the 43rd session of the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, underway at Baku (Azerbaijan) from June 30 to July 10, and chasing the news of sites inscribed on the UNESCO's World Heritage list. The lucky sites are granted world fame and protection against ongoing and likely dangers. What is special about the ongoing  session is the abundance of the natural sites listed in comparison to the cultural and mixed ones: Iceland's volcanic Vatnajokull national park,  the French Austral lands and seas, a house for different species of birds and marine life, the mountainous landscape of the Erzgebrige region shared by Germany and the Czech Republic, China's archaeological site Liangzhu, Iranian Hyrcanian forests, and the list is likely to go on and on.

Meanwhile, other cultural and mixed nominations have also been added to the internationally-esteemed list: the German city of Augsburg for its over 800-year-old water management system,  Alberta’s Writing-on-Stone monument in Canada, the Indian Walled City of Jaipur, known for its iconic architectural legacy, Myanmar’s ancient capital of Bagan, a hotspot of Buddhist temples, Iraq's ancient city of Babylon, Paraty and Ilha Grande in Brazil, among others. The landmarks added to the UNESCO's World Heritage list are considered to have exceptional significance to humanity.

Why not?

 Many natural sites all over the world such as lakes, mountain ranges, hills, forests, islands, oases, bird nesting and watching sites, coral springs and reefs have found their way to the World Heritage list for their value to humanity every year.  "It is great that these natural landmarks are given due recognition, respect and protection against the unprecedented threats posed by over- urbanization and climate change," I thought to myself every time I get updates on the meeting." But what about the iconic rivers that sustain communities and feed all their cultural and natural heritage? Aren't they worthy of being regarded as world heritage sites?"  I wondered.

The nation with the richest history

Since the dawn of time, the River Nile has been deeply seated in hearts, history, myths, tales and legends. The eternal river, which originates in the heart of Africa and Ethiopia, and flows northward  through Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt, carves its way into the desert and brings life to one of the driest areas on the planet.  Being an Egyptian, I will write about what it means to be an Egyptian and how that is defined by the Nile. In a survey on the country with the richest history, the 21 000  participants selected from around the globe have picked Egypt. This means that the world cannot imagine Egypt without the Nile, and that the Egyptian civilization could have never survived  nor thrived without it. However, the Egyptians must be proud of themselves as the Nile runs through other places without inspiring their peoples that deep.  

The gift of the Nile

" l didn't pollute the waters of the Nile," was one of the things a deceased person would say before gods. Ancient Egyptians went to great lengths to respect and even worship the Nile. An ancient legend says that a beautiful girl called "the bride of the Nile" was thrown every year in the sacred Nile as a sacrifice.

Cruising through the River Nile is absolutely one of the most memorable and romantic experiences one can ever have. It is time travel. The quiet, deep and rich waters that have long blended with the alluring stories, secrets and wisdom of the past are matchless. You pass by an endless stream of communities. Like its waters, people are flowing through the valley and Delta. It is a lifeline thrown into the dead land, pouring food, peace and creativity, and turning it into a cultural hotspot and the cradle of the most vibrant and inspirational civilization ever.

Blowing the sirens

Due to the unscrupulous urbanization, inefficient drainage systems and dam-construction mania, the imminent threats to the Nile and other rivers worldwide  sometimes have irreversible  impacts. Every time I travel across the Nile Delta and  watch the predatory urban sprawl provocatively and viciously killing the most fertile land in the world, turning it into ugly and suffocating blocs of concrete, my head spins and my soul goes down. " How could we foolishly and aggressively be that sinful to our only means of survival?" I used to ask myself.  And when you head northward, to the lakes overlooking the Mediterranean Sea ( Burullus, Manzala, Maryut, Idko, etc.), you find another treasure urgently in need of protection. The lakes, wetlands, are homes of many plant, animal and bird species.

A very modest share

The number of treasures on the World Heritage list across Egypt now is just seven, a very modest share of a nation with the richest history and culture. Six of them are cultural (e.g. Historic Cairo, the Pyramid fields from Giza to Dahshur,  Ancient Thebes and St. Catherine)  and only one natural ( Wadi Al Hitan or the Valley of Whales in Fayoum).

Take care of the Nile and everything will take care of itself

To me when a temple, a city, a lake,  a valley,  plains or delta gets world protection, this would be a bit patchy. Safeguarding rivers against the negative effects of land use changes, dam construction and other human activities should come first. Our most cherished Nile, if considered for nomination and inscription would be the first river to get such a fully-deserved  spot on World Heritage list. So let us go the extra mile to start nomination procedures. The River Nile has a special reverence in the hearts of Egypt's lovers everywhere. The first step is to take serious policies and  measures  to safeguard it and launch a successful PR campaign prior and during  the nomination bid. Dams definitely affect locals' lives and in many parts of the world, giant dam construction companies were forced to halt construction work due to the mounting ecological awareness of the local communities and universal pressures. 

Finally, the inscription on World Heritage list sometimes comes after decades of advocacy by locals, civil societies and governments. Let us summon our  utmost efforts on conservation, environmental education and management of the River Nile so that this treasured heritage remains forever.

 

Living in a too smart world

Living in a too smart world

By Dr Laila Abdel Aal Alghalban

Professor of linguistics & Chairperson of the Department of English

Faculty of Arts

Kafrelsheikh University

A traumatizing experience

It was about fifteen years ago when I watched Steven Spielberg's masterpiece Artificial Intelligence (AI). It was a traumatizing experience. The humanoid robot boy who was manufactured to be the adopted son of a couple whose real son was in cryo-statsis is no longer welcome in the family after the recovery of their human son.  I cannot forget the scene when the boy was abandoned by "his mom" in the forest.  I cannot forget his bitter tears and heartbreaking begging not to leave him there. The dividing lines between real humans and realistic robots are sometimes blurred. I remember the tense, bewildering feelings and thoughts the movie sparked in me about our future and the terrifying storm of questions that has hit me ever since. "Could we really develop machines that can feel, think, do incredible tasks and even kill us?" I thought. "What is left for humanity? And is it any more acceptable for humans to be replaced by machines at this alarming rate ?"

Freaky headlines

The iconic  movie and the questions it triggers pop in my mind every time I come across a news story on AI: "The world's first robot designed to carry out unbiased job interviews",  " Robot news presenter causes a stir on  Russian TV", "Meet Ai-Da, the world’s first robot artist to stage an exhibition", " A never-ending stream of AI art goes up for auction",  " Is artificial intelligence set to become art's next medium?" , "World's first robot artist can sketch people from sight."These have been a sample of the freakiest  headlines I spotted in the last few months.

A few questions

In citing the above headlines, I would like to ask you a few questions. How would  you feel if you were interviewed by a robot or saw a self-driving car passing next to you? Would you become relaxed? How would you feel if you were a climber or a hiker and you lost connection to the world because of an avalanche or wild fire, then you started losing hope, yet all of a sudden, a drone spotted you and luckily  you were rescued?  Do you know that a sketch painted by an AI humanoid robot artist is auctioned in the famous and prestigious  Christi Hall in London and sold at an incredible price, close to the price of a masterpiece by Van Gogh or Goya? And do you know that AI-based policing work is increasingly involved in prosecution, sentencing and upgrading legal system procedures and services?

 Artificial Intelligence is almost in everything around us. What does AI mean, then? It simply means developing machines or computer programmes  that are capable of doing tasks requiring intelligence, through simulating human cognitive abilities . Your smart phone  is the handiest example: the phone camera, processors, security code,  facial and voice recognition,  social media apps, navigation, etc.  Self-driving cars, delivery robots, medical robots, surveillance and monitoring,  smart factories, smart universities, smart home devices such as robots tidying up rooms, etc. are currently gathering mounting momentum. Algorithms -computer mathematical formulae - are increasingly used to make everyday decisions about our lives. Robots do repetitive tasks so efficiently. But are they equally good at sophisticated and more creative ones?

Hyper-creative tasks

Ai-Da is the world’s first robot artist to stage an exhibition. The mind blowing (AI) machine can sketch a portrait by sight, walk, talk, self-learn and hold a pencil or brush.  Her sophisticated, highly abstract creativity is not predictable and is instituting a new genre of shattered light abstraction art. Automated copywriting programmes are also now writing cheap, inventive adverts  as well as basic news reports. Programmers feed the algorithms with a plenty of adverts to come up with creative, human-like copies. AI is also used to analyze customer service and customer satisfaction survey results.  Surprisingly, Russian state news channel Rossiya 24 has introduced Alex, the robot presenter for some of its bulletins. Alex has humanoid facial expressions and neck movements, and has generated conflicting reactions from the audience. 

Humans and technology

In their quest to control the world , maximize the use of resources, fight the surrounding dangers, humans have uniquely made use of tools. The industrial revolution enhanced our limited capabilities beyond comprehension at the time. However, it is the digital revolution that has and would continue to have the paramount, unprecedented impact on humanity.  The gap between virtual and real realities is getting narrower than ever. Virtual reality is used in learning, visiting museums, camping and touring the human body organs. Augmented reality technology allows us to see real reality more clearly and comprehensively in 3D views through apps and tools like glasses. They work magnificently  in many industries , professions, games, shopping, GPS and other human activities. More interestingly, AI devices are gingerly being implanted into the human body or on the skin, using simple, DIY "surgeries" or techniques to help open doors without the need to carry keys, go shopping without money or credit cards, show identity without the need for passports, store personal medical information,  and help people with disabilities to walk, hear, see and touch.  Digital technology grant humans unparalleled powers  and redesign human bodies to adept to the post human or transhuman age, where humans and technology intertwined. This brings in serious bioethical considerations societies must address to stop humanity  from heading to the point of no return.   

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Legitimate fears

The latest AI machines do self-learning and self-training. Sometimes they outperform programmers. This is called  Machine learning. The excessive reliance on AI algorithms can lead to fatal risk of bias and error. We would turn into slaves to the machines, letting them to decide almost everything for us. In the criminal system and policing work, for instance, especially in interrogation techniques, prosecutions and sentencing  might come up with some legitimate fears that the data used to feed algorithms might be biased towards or against some people. Loss of jobs is a nightmare to so many people in the future. However,  AI is a tool and in order to aspire for a more humane future, humans should come first: empowering vulnerable groups and individuals,  respecting human heritage and addressing ethical concerns. Finally, let us trust our innate instinct for survival in combating future threats.