Rapping it up

I am sorry for discontinuing like that... I got caught up with Family and Traveling. Since My last post I have been in Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Syria, and Back in Jordan.

I will not try to catch up for lost time with my blog.  I just want to thank all my readers, supporters, and friends.  It was nothing short of an amazing, eye-opening, and educational experience. 

I'm thankful to be living still and hope I make it back safely to see the sunshine in CA again. I should be back within the week. 

Hope all is well at your ends and when you see me around, holler at me!!

Much Love, 

Dannesh

going again

Yo, I dont feel Like bragging about my next adventure too much with all the Sadness Amongst Us.  Gaza is on my Mind.  Its the month of Muharram.  

However just to keep up with the updates, I am off to Egypt 1st thing in the morning. Then Morocco, the a lil bit of Europe, N of the Med. Sea.  

My father was here for a few days and we had a nice time together. He saw how I live and I was the guide to him for the 1st time ever.  I showed him how to survive and get by in this neck of the woods, so it was interesting.  

That's all for now.......I'll holla at you from the road!

D

Protests at my Uni for Gaza:

Playing ball at the Uni,  My Number one Getaway!

Give me the bucket and another....

PEACE!

greatness

They Say: "Behind every Great man is a great Woman"

The also say: "Many of great men son, Their Downfall came because of a Woman"

We all want to achieve the first.... But blinded by emotions it is not hard to fall into the path of the 2nd. The one thing that can throw almost any man off his path is a woman that he loves, that wants to control him Or makes him dependent on her love. Once he becomes dependent on her love, then she can control his emotions by the way she treats him.... But if that woman is a great woman, then the man has lil to worry bout, right?

What is this word "Great"? How does a man become great?

Is it a Mansion, a Benz, and A Bank Account that's Stunning with Big Numbers?

Is it living close to your family and being there for them and loving them?

Is it traveling the world and learning languages and cultures firsthand?

To me Greatness is a combination of the 3 former lines. I must achieve all 3 before I'm dead and gone. The Mansion and Benz to me means just working hard and making money. Some might disagree with me, say money is not important, but Money makes the world go round. Money is power and a Man has got to achieve more than just love, family, and travel. He has got to get down and dirty, join the competition and get a piece of the pie. Even when the pie shrinks because of the economic woes.

SCARFACE the movie taught us that "In this country first you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the girl"

Islamic teachings tell us to get married quick and young, then worry bout money later.

Pakistani culture follows Scarface's Lesson!! haha

But this is life, and these are the little challenges and questions that face a young man....

All i know is that I'm a young hustler.... I am never gonna stop hustling and trying to achieve my mini formula of Greatness. And When you see me around, if you got a word or two for me about greatness to you, please fill me in. A great man always keeps his ears and eyes open to seek more knowledge and experience.

Pics from My last Getaway: 10 days (5 in Syria and 5 in Lebanon). With 4 Amigos from Spain and myself. We rented a car and saw almost all of Lebanon in those 5 days. We spent 2 nights camping on the Beach of Beirut, making fires through the night, smoking argeela on the Beach and watching the stars from the Mediterranean coast.


I even took my Non-Muslim Spanish Amigos to the Shrines of Bibi Zainub and Sakina in Damascus. I sat with them there and told them who Zainub and Sakina were and the tale of Karbala and Imam Hussain. These amigos are some deep, open-minded and caring young brothers. They appreciated the visit to the shrines, and I appreciated traveling with them.

This is in the South of Lebanon, a few people we met in the Saida showing love for us foreigners. That's all for now, Hope I got more for you soon.

Dannesh

whhooo maaan

You know, its been bout 3 months I've been on the fly. Its amazing how much I've learned, been through, and seen. I've also made some beautiful new friendships with people from all over the world.

But Life still remains to be a roller coaster. From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows at times. From shear excitement to struggle within yourself to make it without the luxuries, family, support both morally and physically. But I think it only makes me stronger. Thanksgiving is coming up.... I know many don't like the history and roots behind this holiday, but all in all the message is Love, Family, Food and most of all being thankful for all of that! Don't know what I will be doing for Thanksgiving, hope you all have a pleasant one.

I'll be counting my blessing though. Next week I am heading out of town-- Syria and Lebanon for 10 days total. I will be with a group of Spanish youngsters, we will have some tents with us and after 2-3 days in Damascus we will rent a Van in Lebanon and cruise round the country for about a week in our van and tents! haha... what a life huh??

I'm excited, also a lil nervous at the same time, but I'll be cool. This video below is from my last lil venture out of Jordan into Egypt. Shows some Sufi Dances, the Nile River, and Some Cairo College student and their opinions in Arabic. The first question I asked was their goal in Life, one said to "Kill all of America" (yikes! It is what it is though, I told them I was Paki, not American) then I asked them about Imam Hussain (grandson of the Holy Prophet (pbuh)) as we were sitting in front of the Masjid that Egyptians claim the Head of Imam Hussain is buried. They both showed love for Imam Hussain!

Alright then, tomorrow is another fine day, class in the morning then Working at the Head office of the Micro finance Institution of Jordan Ahli Bank, in Downtown Amman. A seasonal internship, Its mad fun and I am meeting some cool individuals and learning their entire operations. It ain't NYC, It ain't Wallsteet, but it feels nice heading to Dtown and putting in Work!

No matter where I am, who I'm with and what time it is, I'm always putting in WORK! Work to better myself. Peace Mom, I know ur reading this :)

Palestine vs. America, Palestine woulda Killed him!!

So here I am caught between a situation.

We have my friend: Palestinian American
His Roommates: 2 Palestinians Straight from the Streets Of Tayiba, Palestine out here in Jordan Studying
An Acquaintance: A White-American who wears his USA belt a little too tight, squeezing circulation from his guts to his brain.

So my friend was having some beef, not getting along with his roommates. He told us about it and that he was frustrated and scared of them at times because they gang up on him with their friends and all when they are a little tipsy, making fun of the "American". I didn't think much of it, but the White American man, lets call him "Nate".... was like "Lets go take care of these bullies" and "defend america!"

So I tagged along with no intention to fight, but just to roll with my boy. I was thinking "why would u fight ur roommates anyway, u gotta see them the next day and the next day" Mr. Nate had other intentions...

We walk in there, and Nate gets in the guys face with his broken, Idaho-Arabic accent tells the first one that if you got a problem with an American u got a problem with me!

Then the other Palestinian walks in the living room, tells Nate to sit down. Nate pushes him!!

The Palestinian goes into the kitchen, grabs a knife and charges Mr. Nate! this is where we all had to step in and stop the bull rush! we had to stop the angry Palestinian who just got disrespected and shoved in his own home by a random American that he's never seen before for petty roommate drama.

So then we got between em and all sat down peacefully and talked it through. The Palestinian so calmly explained to Nate that when someone comes at him in this manner, he kills him! Doesn't matter if he's Arab, Israeli, Or American, he just kills him. But now that he is a guest in his home he will respect him. Nate apologized. We got my friend and his roommates to talk out their difficulties. I gave my friend my honest opinion, telling him that you will have roommate drama as a bachelor in any country, with any types of people. The main problem between these guys was the difference in culture/habits between Arabs and Americans. I told my friend to do his best, to live it out and learn from it!

Other that that things are swell! Exams, small Trips within Jordan, Planning Bigger ones for my vacation times. Lebanon next month inshallah with a group of Spanish and Italian friends from my Classes. Getting used to a life without all the luxuries... Some pics: Enjoy, God Bless

The Desert of Wadi Rum with My Pakistani friend and the Bedouin who hosted us




On a school trip to N Jordan with some of the Arabic Language Center Amigos. Umm Qais: They say Jesus spent a night here as he was passing through on one of his travels.
The Dead sea...





This is the Mud od the Dead Sea. Good for the Skin :) Peace Yall

Cairo And Back

Yooo, I am beat... no joke! :)

I went to Cairo on a rugged, 1.5 day journey (including a ship ride through the Red Sea and a Bus across the Sinai Desert) and arrived to a city that was twice as crazy in Traffic as New York City, With 4 times the amount of Hustlers trying to loot you, and at least 100 times the amount of Pollution in the Air. But I made it there, not only saw the city, but achieved the know-how of Cairo by learning the Map, the transport, parts of the dialect and the culture.

But yo I am definitely beat up; While there I would leave home at 8 AM, come back in at 12 AM after seeing and doing as much as I could in one day. I had to endure cold showers in the impoverished home of the friend that I stayed with. But I made it back to Amman; clean and comfy Amman! A few bumps from falling off a horse on the Pyramids! and a few challenges to my Immune system from the Air, But I made it.

Cairo is off the hook, a great city for vacation and tourism; The Pyramids are Amazing and the feeling of riding a horse in the Great Desert around the Pyramids is Second to None....but to Live and go to School, I'm glad to be back in Amman, Jordan.

For those curious on how school is going.... Its going cool! I go to class, I keep up with whats what. I made a lotta cool friends from Turkey, Pakistan, Italy, Korea, and more. I missed a couple days for this trip, but the teachers are laid back. We don't even have any exams until the Final, at least that's what I think. They don't talk about tests. They just get up there and start dropping lines in Arabic and we gotta stay up and stay on it. Its fun tho! Fluency is no easy Task, I am definitely not fluent yet.

I have a meeting this week with the Manager at Jordan Ahli Bank, an International Bank here in Amman. I'm aiming to land a training or internship position for the next three months. The Manager was being real cool and welcoming, we'll see how it goes....

Some Pics of Cairo:

Pride for Pakistan, and visit to Palestine

Man, I just swallowed my pride big time!! More than I ever have before. I just got cursed to the face, again and again, for almost a whole minute right in front of my building by an envious Jordanian kid. I didnt lift a finger, I didnt walk away, I stood there letting him curse. He said, "You're not American. Americans aren't like you. You are a Pakistani, and All Pakistani are Shi* and F***** " etc etc. I don't hang out with any of these bums, but he is one of the kids from around the ways that I used to chill with and I hadn't seen him for weeks until this. I was calm, and I know I got nothing to gain and all to lose by fighting some bum Jordanian kid, but at the same time when I think about it too much I get really heated......Cuz that guy deserved to get his tail whipped. and his name is Sadaam! go figure....

Anyway, I went to Palestine! haha. For Eid for about 5 days. I stayed in a town called Tayiba. Tayiba is the sickest village ever...... It's in modern day Israel, but it is 100% Arab-Muslim. Tayiba is a town, full of Arab Love for one another, but also full of stregth. I heard that in 2006, 23% of all guns in Israel were in Tayiba, held by the Arabs for their own protection. In 1948 the never managed to capture the town itself, and allowed all the Tayiban citizens to stay there at their homes. In the Napolean Era of France, around 1800, when he conquered the area of Palestine, they say that he could not mess with the town of Tayiba! He seized to conquer Tayiba because of the strength of the people within the village.

But I was not in any danger... According to my friend Arabs dont kill other Arabs, haha, except the drug dealers. I felt in great hands. I was with my friend's family. He has about 7 uncles that all live in Tayiba. Their roots are from that village, and they are very proud of it. I prayed eid prayer there, on a soccer field, I visited Jerusalem, including Masjid al Aqsa and Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah (the dome of the Rock). I also swam in the Dead sea from the West Bank in Palestine.

All the Police force, checkpoints, and authority is Israeli. I had some trouble and frustrations (4 hours at the border, then stopped at a checkpoint for an hour and turned back to go an alternate route), and I had iftar on the last night of Ramadan about 2 hours late as a result. But you know what, It felt great to go there! and the Israeli's want to give me a tough time as a tourist, because they don't want me to come again, but hey, I'll go through the BS to get to be with my Fellow Muslims in Palestine.

I am invited to a Wedding there in two weeks! I might go back already, haha, i feel part of the family.... I really wanna make it and see them all again, but we'll see. Here's some pics of it all:

Eid Prayer led by a Sheikh Muawiya! Go figure.



The Old city they call it. Everyone is allowed in the market parts, but to get to the Mosque, only Muslims were allowed in. I had to recite Sura Fatiha to one of the guards to prove I was Muslim! Just a nice neighborhood mosque with the boys. It has a tree growing from within it. This mosque dates back to the days of Salahadin.



Inside the Dome of the Rock, and the Rock itself...Chillen with my man Magd.


The Dead Sea... Until next time... thanks for checking in, holla at me with your thoughts!1