CURRENT MISSION

Put down the books and board a plane!!

ABOUT ME

I wish I could fill out this space with a rightful sense of grandeur and awe-inspiring fulfillment. But truth is, like most, I am still amidst an eternal journey of self discovery. I believe we are always evolving as personalities and as individuals. It's hard to say I AM....and follow that with a coherent list of traits. However, some things about myself I do know. For example, I like to stick out of the crowd, I hate feeling forced to be a certain way. F' that! I stop and have conversations. I smile at you instead of look away. I bury my nose in books and my fingers are constantly scribbling or typing away. I love meeting people, might take me a bit to break the ice, but once I do, I am a festival of sociability. I guess it's the writers curse, sometimes its easier to communicate in writing. But that's a barrier of only a few minutes. I love to laugh. You should know this. I have had random people stop me and say I love your laugh. I personally don't see it, but well I laugh from my heart and if I end up sounding like a drunken horse so be it! I enjoy nothing more than speaking about cultures and how our differences are really similarities and how our similarities are most definitely differences. It fascinates me learning about others and I am constantly soaking it all in. I love to observe things, all the time, and it has made me more understanding and open minded than a lot of people I know. You will be safe talking to me. I hate judgment and all I want to do is for us to get along. Not in a lets clutch onto each other and sing kumbaya kinda way. But in a, we have a lot to learn from each other kind of way. Another writer's curse...I don't stop writing. It seems I'm rambling. So to sum up, if you are looking for a conversation about something deeper and more interesting than rating how hot people are in different countries, drop me a line. I'm not able to host currently since I don't live alone but I will try my best to meet you or at least talk to you, give you some tips. I am hopefully going to Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice), Paris and Amsterdam mid-July. If you have any tips or are willing to meet let me know!
I need to stop writing now, yikes!!
PS: I am currently learning French, any French speaking buddies who would like to help me practice online are more than welcome =D

PHILOSOPHY

These quotes sum up a lot of what I believe in:

"Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood"

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Fear makes strangers out of people who should be friends.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.--Chinese Proverb

Simon's Law: Everything put together falls apart sooner or later.

We choose to be afraid of things. We can also choose not to be.

Actions speak louder than words.

I don't think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that still remains.--Anne Frank

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.--Sydney J. Harris

The fastest way to lose love is to hold on too tightly.

Strange needs teach us strange truths.

Pride is that which compels a man to do his very best even when nobody is watching.

You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.--Barbara De Angelis

We all die, but do we all truly live?

Rules have greater value if you love the ruler.

I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.--Philippians 4:13

The Lord says, "I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you."--Psalm 32:8

Do unto others as you would have them do to you.--Luke 6:31

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.--1 Timothy 4:12

We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation. ~Francois De La Rochefoucauld

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop. ~Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland

Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it. ~Andre Gide

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. ~Aesop

By daily dying I have come to be. ~Theodore Roethke

If you think you're free, there's no escape possible. ~Ram Dass

Alice came to a fork in the road. "Which road do I take?" she asked.
"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.
"I don't know," Alice answered.
"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."
~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Each forward step we take we leave some phantom of ourselves behind. ~John Lancaster Spalding

Only that in you which is me can hear what I'm saying. ~Baba Ram Dass

Would there be this eternal seeking if the found existed? ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet. ~Roger Miller

What deep wounds ever closed without a scar? ~George Gordon

The scars you can't see are the hardest to heal. ~Astrid Alauda

We become aware of the void as we fill it. ~Antonio Porchia

兴趣

Writing, reading, photography, meeting new people, learning, dancing, singing (I'm horrible, but screw it) and acting.
I also love me some good food!!

音乐、电影和书籍

My favorite books.

The Bastard of Istanbul
Fall on Your Knees
A Thousand Splendid Suns

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

Egypt will always be a place of magic to me.
The night Nile rides, the magnificent pyramids, St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai.
History and modernity colliding together in the most fascinating of ways.

A sunset in Bahrain's desert.

Standing in the middle of a cloud in the Lebanese mountains

教，学，和分享

Wow.
Well, this is a hard one.
I'd say never judge a book by its cover.
Especially if you tend to place people into categories that consist of culture, religion, sexuality, etc.
I am really a big believer in this concept.
Besides that, I always think you should listen not just using your ears, but with your mind and heart.
You will be amazed what you will really be exposed to.

我游览过的国家

Cyprus, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates

我居住过的国家

Bahrain, Egypt