I'm back in Benghazi and I just had a round of exams. I got my IGCSE's alongside my AS Level exams done and it was kind of hectic. I had a total of 11 exams, 3 AS Levels, and 8 IGs. If it were up to me, I think I did pretty well, but we'll see what the examiner thinks.

I think my most difficult exam was Math. I hate Math, and I didn't exactly study well for it, but ehh, what's done is done now. My results come out in March, and then I have another round of exams in  May which include 3 AS Levels, and 2 IGs and those results come out in August.

I'm currently waiting to hear from the university I applied to. Their deadline for applying was on the 15th of this month and I know it's going to take a while for them to reply, but I just can't wait anymore. I hope to be hearing from them soon and I sure hope it's good news.

I go back to school tomorrow, I'm kind of excited, I miss going to school and all and as part of Student Council I'm going to try to manage to organize more events/activities for school this term.

Last term we weren't very 'fruitful' on organizing events or activities. We just set up 4 girl volley ball teams and had a volley ball tournament. We were pretty lucky on having enough girls sign up for the tournament; actually we had to beg for some girls to sign up as girls here aren't very active or sporty. It's kind of annoying sometimes. Some of the girls just decided to bail out and it was just bad. But however, we got through it. The boys organized a soccer tournament and that went pretty well.

Also, we had to work on the 2010/2011 school yearbook, which I thought was completely unnecessary. I suggested we should just make like a 2010/2011/2012 yearbook because when the uprising started school shut down, so basically we missed half the year. So, when we came back in September, I was rushed into getting the yearbook done and I hate rushed work. I was told I had to give it in before Eid break, but that was physically impossible because it wasn't together yet. I was kind of working on the whole thing on my own and obviously I needed help. I got help from 2 guys from the 11th grade. They were sort of confusing at first, but we worked a few things out and then something happened, apparently I was kicked off the yearbook team by our principle and then I thought that was crazy because I was in charge of the whole thing, but then the 2 guys, didn't want me to get upset about it, so they tried to make me stay, but I refused, so I handed in all the yearbook data, and just let them work on it.

Excuse me, but honestly their outcome was pure and utter shit. I'm not even going to buy a copy of it, cause it's THAT bad. It was just SO badly done. 

However, we're hoping that this year, we won't have any interruptions or another revolution, so that we can have a pretty neat school yearbook.

Well, this feels almost pointless, but what the hey.

2 meter Kebap!

We went out to dinner with the family in Kadikoy(Anatolia-Asian side) It took us a wee while to get there. 
First we had to take the subway from Levent, to Taksim, from Taksim to Kabatas, and from Kabatas we took a Ferry to Kadikoy, then Kadikoy to Kartal. I even managed to take a nap on the way, and when I woke up I said ''Good Lord, I traveled all around Istanbul, just to eat a damn Kebap, it better be worth it!''
I forgot the name of the restaurant, however, this place is famous for it's extremely large Kebaps.  The size depends on how many people your table has. Our Kebap was about 2meters long. We were 10 people, so each person got about 20cm of Kebap!

It was SO delish! SO DAMN WORTH IT!

:)

Happy Belated New Year!

Okay, I know I'm five days too late, but I've been a little bit busy, studying and shopping, you know trying to make the most out of my last days in Istanbul.

For NYE, my sister, our friends and I planned to go to a street party. We were told to avoid Taksim Square because i'ts like douche-bag-central on NYE. So we crossed that off our list. Then there were a bunch of other places like Nistantasi or some club, but then we forgot all about those places as my aunt invited us to dinner, and we thought it would be rude if we didn't go.
We had this delicious dinner! Turkish food obviously, and we had some really good roasted turkey! Gosh, my mouth is watering as I write this.
  

Turkey Time!

My cousin, Gurcan and I :)

We had Pumpkin cake for dessert, YUM!

After this delicious meal, we all slipped into a food coma. The house went quiet for a bit, then we all gained conscientiousness again, and it was time for the countdown, and that's of course, the power went out in the last 5 seconds of 2011, it wasn't too long before they were back on.

I certainly made no resolutions this year, I make some every year, but never end up doing them, so I think I'm just going to stick to my old ones, and try to accomplish those, before making new ones.

Well guys, have a happy New Year, let's hope 2012 is better than 2011 :)

  

BEN-IST

OK, so I know it's been a while since I last posted, it's because my life is SO uneventful... and it's not like anyone views my blog but anyway, I arrived in Istanbul, Turkey yesterday afternoon. The weather is lovely, I was hoping it would have snowed, but actually the skies are bluer than ever, the grass is still green the tree's are naked and it's not that cold really, but I really hope it's going to snow. This is my first time in a long time in Istanbul in winter, I think last time I was here I was like 7 or 8 I'm not sure, I was really young. I usually come here in the summer, but we're here now cause my dad hasn't seen his family in 2 years and I think we needed a break from what's going on in Libya.

I'm so excited I'm here, but I have a lot of studying to do as my exams are in January, ahhh! so close. I have all my books and stuff with me, and I don't really have friends here, so there won't be a problem with studying.

I was so surprised to see that the temperature outside was -62 Celsius!
Lol, then my dad explained why it was really cold out.
I think I need to study... I'm lacking a bit of knowledge :/

I got a wing seat, I hate window seats.. You can hardly see
beneath you. Anyway, this was when the plane was circling the air
in Turkey.

The traffic here is SO bad! I would have taken pictures but I fell asleep on my way home from the airport. I'm so glad we don't own a car here so we have to walk everywhere, which is good, cause you get to dodge the traffic and you get to shed a few pounds :D haha! We're spending Christmas and New Years here, yay!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Eid :) - Meat Mubarak!

Eid is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims around the world.
I think because our Prophet Abraham/Ibrahim dreamed that God was telling him to Sacrifice
his own son, to test his loyalty but then God provided him with a sheep to sacrifice instead.

It is celebrated 70 days (2months and 10days) after Ramadan, all the Muslims slaughter sheep, skin it, gut it, clean it, cook it and eat it, and
of course you can give away all the meat to the poor, or give away the money you were going to spend on the sheep to poor families.

I think this might be my last Eid with my family here in Libya, cause  hopefully, i'll be away in Uni. next year!

before it was slaughtered.

I couldn't watch this year for some reason. I usually watch the slaughtering.

I just turned around, shut my eyes, and put my hands over my ears, cause 

I didn't want to hear anything either, and then I cried a little. Idk why.

OK when I was a kid, my dad used to stain our foreheads with some blood,
I guess we just do it every year, ever since.

I helped out A LITTLE and look how bloody my hands got. ew.

I love this one!

this is Glaya, a mixture of meat, heart, liver, kidneys and of course fat! 

dad BBQing

the aftermath.

This years Eid was great! And of course, we're not like the typical Libyan families, who have large family gatherings on every occasion. It was just Dad, Mom, my sister and I this year. Last eid, my Aunt, Grams and Uncle came over, and that was basically it.

We slaughter 2 sheep maximum, ours and my Grams sheep, however this year, my Grams didn't want to get sheep, she gave her money to the needy.

Happy Eid to everyone! Kurban Bayraminiz Kutlu Olsun! :)

Remembrance Day - A visit to the War Cemetery.

Remembrance Day is a memorial day to remember the members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty since World War I.
This day is observed on 11 November to recall the official end of World War I on that date in 1918; hostilities are said to have ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

This year it was Mr.Keith, Hamida, me, Wareda, Mr.Bolam and Yasmina
(who had to sit down cause she felt a little dizzy)

I read the poem  MCMXIV (1914) by Philip Larkin

Those long uneven lines,

standing as patiently as if

they were stretched outside

the Oval or Villa Park.

the crowns of hats, the sun

on mustached archaic faces,

grinning as if were all 

an August Bank Holiday Lark.

And the shut shops, the bleached

established names on the sunblinds.

The farthings and sovereigns,

and the dark clothes children at play

called after kings and queens.

the tin advertisements for cocoa and twist;

and the pubs wide open all day.

And the country side not caring,

the place names all hazed over

with flowering grasses, and fields

shadowing doomsday lines

under wheat's restless silence.

The differently dressed servants,

with small rooms in huge houses;

the dust behind limousines.

Never such innocence.

Never before or since,

as changed itself to past 

without a word, the men

leaving the gardens tidy.

The thousands of marriages 

lasting a little while longer;

never such innocence again.

Wareda read the poem Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep by Mary E. Frye.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight. 
I am the soft stars that shine at night. 
Do not stand at my grave and cry, 
I am not there; I did not die.

Hamida and Yasmina laid the Poppy wreath

The weather was real warm, and wearing black didn't help at all!

Berenice Post

 After the 19th of March 'invasion', I was absolutely sick and tired of just being home all day and doing nothing basically. So, I volunteered to work at Berenice Post.

Berenice Post is an independent weekly journal printed in both Arabic and English. Berenice is an ancient Greek name that means 'bearer of victory'.

I worked there for about 3-4 months. I proof-read the English pages, made sure there weren't any errors, I interviewed people and wrote articles.

my very first article.

second article.

article about Matthew Vandyke, he was missing up till about  the liberation of Tripoli.

my article about the dictators.

my last article :'(
---------------------------------------

That was all of us when we first started out. (some people are missing)
Back row: Mohammed Omami, Lou, Atem Shembesh, Rachel, Me, Sarah Gtat
Front row: Sameeh Lahiwel, Mohmmed Bin Omran, Farrah Gtat and Hamid Buzghaziba.

                                     

Rachel videoing Atem.

Atem, Me and the boss, Monssif.

reading our second issue, Walid making fun of me cause i'm annoyed
with all the errors that have been printed.

That was are office, when we first started out.
I know it's nothing, but we had to start from scratch,

I know this looks a bit odd, but our old office was in a spacious art gallery, that basically was never useful to anyone. Today it is Libya Al-Hurra's Studio.

That's Betsy Hiel, interveiwing us for Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/photo_188924.html?TB_iframe=true&height=460&width=720

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/middleeastreports/s_734841.html - read down to ''not different from you''

us girls recording part of a song for Music Masters.

That's everyone with Mohammed Shaibani, he's been out of the
country for over 30 years because of the former government.

That's us, again with the French Ambassador.

Checking over the English articles.

the ladies at work!

packaging the fliers in the news paper.

preparing for one of the seminars we oraganized.

lunch.

our second edition.

my parents in the crowd!

Mustafa Duffani interviewing Mohammed Shaibani.

me and the fellas!

saying good-bye to Berenice.

I had to leave Berenice Post cause I had to go back to school! - I miss working there a lot, it was a great time and awesome experience.