Red Tape

Egypt is unique. There's really no doubt about that. This is probably the only country of the world where getting out of medical school is so much harder than getting in it. We seem to be clawing our way out of one of the gates of hell just to prove that we've spent almost a third of our lives in this hellhole.
The way we're drowning in paperwork is getting downright comical. They're like little bureaucratic supervillains that never seem to die. As soon as you think you're done with one of them, it seems to breed two more. Then those little bastards seem to be dancing in front of your face jeering about the number of stamps and approvals each one of them wants - nay, my pretties - demands!
It's also weird that while the university hospital seems to have an abundance of officials and employees, yet we have to do some of their work. We have to go around the hospital buildings getting our attendance and vacation histories, which for some reason are so impossibly hard to transfer along with our names from one building to another.
Also, if they find it necessary to drown our paperwork in so much ink, how about we stick all those with the mystic power of the ink within the same vicinity. I'm not asking for much here; just stick them all in the same building.

I'm just asking for a little mercy for our sore feet. Is that really so much to ask for!?

Book Review

So I haven't posted in ages, been busy, bla bla bla..yada yada yada..moving on.

The next couple of posts are some thoughts on a few books I've read recently (warning: Some spoilers included) :

Vertigo by Ahmed Mourad
I saw this in a bookstore and after reading the summary on the back and seeing that it was already in its fifth edition, I decided to give it a go .

The short version of my review :

I hated it and I can't believe trees had to die to make paper for this crap.

The detailed version :

Ten pages in, I felt like I was reading a movie rather than a novel. A movie starring Ahmed El Sakka no less (with Karim Abd El Aziz as a possible stand-in in case El-Sakka pulls a muscle). Just in case you're confused, this is in no way, shape or form a compliment. I don't like my novels playing out like bad action movie scripts.

The lead protagonist (Ahmed) and his best friend and partner in crime are in a word: repulsive.

They're sexist and disgusting. They almost always fail to have a conversation where they don't talk about women derogatorily and I just don't understand why the writer insisted on letting us know every time the best friend farts or burps.

I hardly think his intestinal movements are pivotal to the novel's events and if it was an attempt at comic relief, it failed miserably.

I also don't understand the reason for the incessant use of vulgarity in this book. Was this supposed to be some sort of lame attempt at gritty realism by trying to accurately depict conversations between young Egyptian men? So how accurate was this depiction? Do all young Egyptian men have conversations that are this sexist and retarded? In that case, we're even more screwed than I had ever previously thought.

Now that whole alter-ego business...

-An old dude shows up...
-He knows stuff only *gasp* Ahmed himself could possibly know!
-He shows up suddenly and disappears into thin air!!
-And he has a ring with the first letter of his deaf girlfriend's name!!!

It was not only painfully obvious that the mysterious old man was a ~figment of his imagination~, he also had absolutely no use in the novel. Seriously, erase him completely and see if anything's different.

Don't even get me started on the ~big revelation~ when Ahmed suddenly realizes that he and the old dude are actually...*drumroll please*...the very same person!

As Keanu Reeves would say: Whoaaa...

The most tragic part I suppose is the ending. While reading the last pages of the book, the only thing I could think of (besides I can't believe I spent money on this friggin' book) was...damn, they couldn't think of that a couple of hundred pages ago?

I'll admit that I did like the sister's story line quite a bit and even Gouda's although it's hardly original as a viewing of several Egyptian movies can demonstrate.

Next up, A review of 1/4 Gram...

Please tell me I'm not the only one over 10 years of age and of a supposedly sound mental state who has to exert a great deal of effort in order to restrain herself from running delirious with joy down the toy aisles in a hypermarket?
Anyone?

Happy Eid

Let these tasty, decadently high-caloric homemade cookies we all know only too well usher you all into a happy Eid.

I Can Feel it Coming in the Air Tonight...

..Oh, Looord.

It's this time of the year when you feel the air heavy with a distinct yet, familiar flavor we've all come to know by heart.

It's the gift that keeps on giving. It's particularly generous with our lungs.

There's not a single year that goes by when it doesn't pay a visit.

In fact, we've become so accustomed to its ubiquitous presence all over Cairo's night sky, that we feel a little anxious if it isn't around.

And its color just never goes out of style...

A Parallel Me

I find the idea of parallel dimensions quite charming. I'm somewhat pleased to think that somewhere out there in the vast and (possibly) infinite universe, there's another "me" who's making better, smarter choices.
At the same time, I find it rather comforting to think that somewhere out there in the vast and (possibly) infinite universe, yet another "me" is looking right at me with her mind's eye and thinking the exact same thing.

High Hopes

I always find it weird how other people are so much more sure of my talents and potential than I personally am. I try to calmly and gently tell them that they've got the wrong idea and that they're overrating me beyond belief, but they seem to hold on to the idea that I will become the living proof of how they are insightful enough to foresee who will succeed and will not.

Nobody knows what the future holds but I'd like to go ahead right now and apologize for disappointing everyone... just in case.


High Hopes - Pink Floyd