There was a time ….

 Egypt is my beloved country that made me the person I am now…I went to English private sister’s school were we attended mass in the school church and had our religion class there. During these long years of school  I don’t recall that even once  we  talked  or mentioned religion with my school mates…We knew only that we all believe in one God and we didn’t worry about more than this fact …My best friends are Muslims we studied together, partied together, went to the beach on weekends ,we had wonderful time engraved in my memory till this very moment and will remain forever .When we finished school and we  went to  different universities  ,we still found the time on week ends to meet in our club and play croquet ,enjoy a bite together  or go to a movie !  ….There was a time when we studied together till dawn when exams approached and when it was late for one of us to drive home we shared the same bed …There was a time when it was safe to walk in the street wearing what we wish and never hear a nasty comment or fear a car bomb! It never even occurred to my mind that one day we will have any fears in our beloved  country! There was a time when their religious celebration was fun and we prepared our weekend’s getaway together. We shared a table to eat together after fasting a whole day …

There was a time when our Christmas was fun too when presents were under the Christmas tree for all our kids …This is how I spent my childhood and I grew up in an outstanding country where we all got along in a peaceful harmony .We just  accepted  each other without value judgment, without discrimination.

The first hard news of calendar 2011 was out of Alexandria my city ,moments after midnight a suicide bomber ignited more than 10 kilos of TNT —  into the crowd of Christian worshippers emerging from Mass in the Church of the Saints. I don’t write this article to judge or talk about politics “though I love to read news and know what’s going around me “, it’s not my job either to assume or accuse! But the event itself of killing innocent people broke my heart even if I live miles away across an ocean

2010 was a condensed year we’ve seen many big events like Terrorist attacks, The Time Square bomb scare. We also heard about all kind of natural disasters, Pakistan Flood that taken over 1/3 of the Pakistani Area,2500 People were killed in these floods.Haiti Earthquake that killed Thousands of people, the  BP oil spill , Korean tensions,  Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud, the arrest of Wiki Leaks’ founder . More people died in air crash ,aviation information show the death toll of air crashes death jumped 13% between 2009 and 2010, from 731 to 828!

 I just wonder every day when I read the news what’s going on, why all this chaos?!

This Christmas I think Santa received huge number of letters not only from kids but from adults too  .Kids  that ask iPhones, iPads, iPods, iPets and other iStuff. It’s all about “I” today -sometimes I wish more kids asked for a “WE” game instead of a Wii game, or an US-box instead of an Xbox. There was a time when we asked of simple regular stuff  and  we were happy to  find them under the tree …Santa must have been busy with adult letters too ,people  wanting jobs, companies wanting endorsements, politicians wanting votes, presidents wanting Medicare and Russian XXX girls wanting to marry older gentleman to get a passport or a visa .”

I must here pause and ask myself did anyone  think to write a letter begging for Peace , Love , Hope and Compassion in this world…? I don’t think!

2011 here you are in your very first week and we already saw Alexandria’s bomb, Arizona shooting, Iran air crash and a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Chile and guess what ! dead birds falling from the sky and dead fish found in the sea ! More yet to come?

Come on 2011 stand still, calm down, where are you taking us!?

  Gihan