1. I think I must think twice before writing this post. My fingers twitch, my mind is trying to find a place to
hide in, and at the same time, all the conversations that are taking place cannot stop my mind from
wondering, come on, let me have my quite moment to follow my addiction; no it is not drugs, it is
worse than that, it is blogging and tweeting
Yes, for two days I was traveling, and wondering between airports, waiting for my luggage to arrive was
a killer, they never did, and till today I am washing the same stuff I travelled in, and wearing them again.
For this reason I didn’t write anything. Of course my BB was not working as well as it should, so couldn’t
send any tweet either. Sorry guys, I know that there are millions of tweets being sent over the web, and
maybe none of you were waiting to see what I am going to say or what I have been doing, still I feel that
I am responsible and have to tell you something. Blogging and tweeting had become a necessity in my
life, even though it is worst that drugs, but it does give one a sort of nostalgic feeling that someone
somewhere will be happy if we injected in his/her brain those blogs and tweets . This is my medicine to
those who are deprived from the jewels of this century, we do not need doctors, we need those 140
characters, or that shortened link bit.ly to let us know that someone is alive and kicking. So here it goes
#Portugal is so nice, people are so friendly, and Vasco De Gama is alive and kicking. Tweet.
Few days ago I decided to go on a trip to Portugal, as you may know, my friend’s daughter is doing her
internship here, so my curiosity pushed me so hard, I had to come to see what she is up to. Work is
taken care of, my kids, husband and the rest of the team are doing their perfect job to keep the students
happy (hopefully) and I don’t think that I am needed there to oversee things. Maybe I should be
travelling all the time just to explore the various possibilities for my students. This brings me perfectly to
the subject of this post.
Why do the Arabs (or the rich Arabs) only travel to well known places? Walk in the streets of London,
and you will find thousands of Arabic tweeting, oops speaking people, you walk in Paris and you will see
the same. I walked for 9 hours today in Lisbon, and saw only one or two Arabs, one from Morocco, and
another from Egypt, the Moroccan is here to attend an environmental conference, she took my photo
with the Globe in Columbus mall, and the other guy was selling tour tickets with Greyline, as my friend
and I decided to see Lisbon by bus first. I must say, that I was amazed; this is the country that had
invaded (or discovered as they claim) most of the world, even Bahrain has its effect till now, we have a
castle called the Portugal castle, and many ruins and graveyards too. I think the Portuguese thought
that if they bury their dead in Bahrain the dead will rise from their graveyard and continue living. Well,
not sure if this is the right theory, but how can I bring Vasco Di Gama back to life to ask him. As I said,
no Arab tourists were to be seen in the streets of Lisbon.
The flats are so nice, the roads are so clean, even cigarette stubs are placed in large ashtrays that are
hung on every lamp post, and the people are so friendly to the extent that I thought they were all
Arabs? Sorry I didn’t mean to say that we are the only friendly people on this planet, what I meant is

2. that the friendliness of the Portuguese was very noticeable, the smile doesn’t leave their faces, and I
think they are happy people in general. I tell you guys, the flat my friend and her daughter are staying in
is so lovely, the owner had furnished it in a way that shows she cares about the tenants; it even has art,
carpets, scented jars, candles, and many nice paintings. She was not worried about the tenants breaking
her things; to her the tenants have to feel comfortable. If you try to even find half the size of this flat in
London you will be lucky to see a decent bed for three times the price. So what makes the Arabs travel
to London every summer?
I have a theory; you can correct me if I am wrong. I think the Arabs only jump in tested waters, they do
not like to research or experiment, they prefer to follow word of mouth, and to see other Arabs. They
do not believe that they have to be the first in going somewhere or doing something, the Arabs are
followers rather than leaders.
Enough said; I am not going to argue, the Arabs are losers, it is a done deal. We are losers. Just tell me
how many things did we discover? How many inventions (recent ones, not the ones Ibn Sina or Jaber ibn
Hayyan had done two thousand years ago) tell me how much money is spent on research? Tell me how
much money do we spend on real universities that have individuals that love to study, learn and
educate? Tell me if you think that I have to go to sleep as it is 6:15 Dubai time and I am still awake.
Guys, I am so upset about us and where we reached, I am truly ashamed of being an Arab. I am going to
change my nationality. I don’t even want to be Middle Eastern, look at the corruption report from
Transparency International and you will know why I am saying this.
Good night or good morning.