I think Rami’s Post said it all… couldn’t have said it any better…

DFM TEAM… I LOVE YOU GUYS :’)

LTR: Samir abu Ghosh; Samer Meqdad, Rami Arafat; and moi

Experiment Three: The Stapler
Date: December 26, 2006
Place: esense/ Orange Area
Players: Rami (Staplee), Marwan (Stapler) and Moi (conspiring & filming)
Result: A bruised Rami, and a Happy Rawan
Side Effects: None so far

Gloomy weather, promising dark clouds, hot air blowing from the AC above my head, comfy shoes, tons of work, Blues in my headset and a warm heart …

All I’m missing in this very moment is my blanket and YOU by my side…

“Once upon a time, there was a prostitute called Maria. Wait a minute, ‘Once upon a time’ is how all the best children stories begin and ‘prostitute’ is a word for adults. How can I start a book with this apparent contradiction? But since at every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss, let’s keep that beginning.”

This is how the book starts. Eleven minutes by Paulo Coeilho about, well, Maria’s journey from self-destruction through self discovery.

Quite an interesting read I may add, very, ummm… educational!

Anyways… this is a snippet of the book I particularly liked

“…I would quote from Plato. According to him, at the beginning of creation, men and women were not as they are now; there was just one being, who was rather short, with a body and a neck, but his head had two faces, looking in different directions. It was as if two creatures had been glued back to back, with two sets of sex organs, four legs and four arms.
The Greek gods, however, were jealous, because this creature with four arms could work harder, with its two faces, it was always vigilant and could not be taken by surprise, and its four legs meant that it could stand or walk for long periods at a time without tiring. Even more dangerous was the fact that the creature had two sets of organs and so needed no one else in order to continue producing.

‘Zeus, the supreme lord of Olympus, said:” I have a plan to make these mortals lose some of their strength.”
‘And he cut the creature in two with a lightning bolt, thus creating man and woman. This greatly increased the population of the world and at the same time, disoriented and weakened its inhabitants, because now they had to search for their lost half and embrace it and, in that embrace regain their former strength and their ability to avoid betrayal and the stamina to walk for long periods of time and to withstand hard work. That embrace in which two bodies re-fuse to become one again is what we call sex.’ “

As you may have or may have not noticed I’m back -back to writing that is- bina2an 3ala 6alab el jamaheer. Hweh sa7ee7 ma 7ad jab seereh wala sa2al wala nayyal, but I know deep down you all miss your portion of my Fatafeet. OK! Maybe deep deep deep down where your consciousness does not reach and thus you do not feel the urge for it.

Alright… bottom line is, inspired by my recent realization on what a wonderful year 2006 was –and the fact that I never get tagged, EVER *puppy face*- I’m starting my own tag, subject is: Things you did for the first time in 2006

My list goes as follows:

1. Dyed my hair Blonde (Baaaad Idea)
2. Got my Masters Degree
3. My first visit to Europe (Rome, Vatican & Paris)
4. 3 trips to Egypt (Taba twice, Cairo and Alexandria)
5. Met the man of my dream (who remains nameless)
6. Went on my first peaceful protest
7. Stayed in a two-star Hotel (Paris)
8. Fed birds off my hand
9. Tried escargots
10. Inhaled Helium
11. Danced Salsa in public
12. Started my Blog
13. Touched a Dolphin

All in all…It has been an amazing year indeed…

Now; since this is my first Tag, I’m just gonna go ahead and tag every blogger that comes to mind;

My friends: Noor, Rami, Sanad, Tamim, Samer, Marwan, Fu2ad, Tash, Amjad

And blogs I frequently check: Moey, Sary, Roba, Jan, Mala2e6, Lubna, Ghaith, Jad, Bakkouz

Now, i leave you with mukta6afat min 2006

This story does not start 2 years ago; it started around 8 months before that, on one of those loooong frustrating days of working on my graduation project; started with a strange number blinking on my mobile screen, and a stranger on the other side asking when I would be available to arrange an interview at some software company called esense.

Ruba –as I learned later was the secretary’s name that called me- couldn’t have picked a worst timing for this phone call… things were going bananas with our project, I had just hit a new record of sleepless, stressful nights, and then more than ever was sure that I HATED programming.

At that moment, it took me 3 seconds to decide it is too early for me to even think about work, I explained that I’m done with school yet and I will be contacting them again when I do.

Two days later, I turned down an internship opportunity with Microsoft (shu ya3ni MS a7san min esense, biddesh)

Oh well, passed my project, got my bachelor’s degree, graduation, prom, after parties followed by 6 months of doing nothing but having fun! Till, one day I took a break and stopped to think of the FUTURE, a word I hate now as much as I hated back then… oh dear, time to look for a JOB :s

Chatting with Dalia- a friend from uni, she told me she worked at an amazing company (yes, esense again) and they’re hiring, and thought I should apply… and so I did, lost as ever, still filled with revulsion feeling towards the software business, but in need to feel some self worthiness, I applied, passed their exams, got an interview appointment and well… didn’t show up!

Around a month later, rather desperate to find a job, I called Dalia again, asked her to arrange for another interview…

She did, and I showed up this time, met with the GM for an hour and a half, left his office bewildered by his brilliance, and believing I will not see that place again. A week later, I had another interview, and another one after that, and then it came *Kabamaro face on*… the job offer.

December 15, 2004, exactly 2 years ago, I started my career with esense, a small company, with around 15 employee, and 4 running projects… Today, esense is one of leading software companies in the region, with over 75 innovative and diverse IT professionals.

I love the place; I love the people behind it and in it… Thank you for an amazing 2-year journey… and many to go.

Finally, I will leave you with a motto inspired by Amal on esense:

“We may not be the world’s number one astonishing breath-taking, excellent service provider, but we are definitely one astonishing, breath-taking, excellent service provider, and we continue to be…”