"2011"... Hmm... Eventful...

The simplest word the could be used to describe 2011 is eventful...

We've often gone through years and called them "bad years," we often say that when we feel things aren't going too well on the personal level. However, 2011 is really a bad year if you ask anyone... more like on a global level!

The first few days or months of the year were seriously stressing and surprising. Almost everyday a new mind blowing event took place.

So let's overlook what happened this year...

Jan. 1: First few minutes of the year witnessed a terrorist attack on a church in Alexandria, Egypt as people celebrated New Year

Jan. 9 to 15: Southern Sudan referendum took place

Jan 11: flood in Rio de Janeiro

Jan. 14: Tunisian government fell and ex-president Zine El Abdine Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia

Jan. 24: Moscow airport bombing

Jan 25: Egyptian Revolution starts

Feb 11: ex-President Hosni Mubarak resigns and Egypt goes under military rule

March 11: earthquake and tsunami in Japan killing more than 15 thousand and more than 4 thousand reported missing

March 15: uprising in Bahrain and state goes under emergency law for months

March 17: uprising in Libya starts asking for government withdrawal and lasts until today...

April 29: Price William and Catherine Middleton get married (finally some good news)!

May 1: Osama Bin Ladin announced dead

June 5: uprising in Yemen and president Ali Abdalla Saleh flees to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after presidential palace has been under attack

June 12: uprising in Syria to bring down the government starts

July 9: Sudan separated into the North and South

July 20: UN declares famine in South Somalia

July 22: terrorist attack in Norway

July 31: Syrian uprising intensifies, death toll reaches over 3 thousand, still on until today

Aug. 9: first on air trial for ex-president Mubarak

Aug. 20: Libyan uprising intensifies

Sept. 10: Kenya petrol pipeline explodes

Sept. 24: Palestine applies for membership in UN

Sept. 24: a 20 year old 6.5 ton satellite falls into the Pacific Ocean

Oct. 4: car bomb in Somalia leaves 100 people dead

Oct. 4: 283 people dead in Thailand flood

Oct. 5: Steve Jobs passed away

Oct. 9: Maspero, Cairo massacre, leaving at least 28 dead

Oct. 20: Ex-president of Libya, Qaddafi is killed

Oct. 23: Massive earthquake in Turkey killing 603 person

Nov. 22: Egyptian Revolution Re-loaded

Dec. 15: US finally declares an end to the war on Iraq

Dec. 16: Tropical Storm Washi hits Philippines

I wouldn't be surprised if I missed anything major; I tried keeping track... If you wanna add anything please go ahead :)

I'm posting this hours before the end of 2011 and I got to say... I wont be surprised if something else happens before it strikes 12 am! But I'm seriously hoping for the best!

So again; least to say... eventful!

Waking Up To A Different Egypt…

GOOD MORNING!!

No one can deny that on February 12th, 2011 we all woke up to a completely different Egypt…

I won’t claim that I was one of the people in Tahrir Square, because I wasn't… but anyone in Egypt or outside can agree that January 25, 2011 until February 11, 2011 really made history in Egypt…

Throughout this revolution, every time some changes were made I would think to myself “WOW, who thought this would happen in Egypt.” And I’d tell myself, “That’s it… what more do the people want… we’ve already taken leaps of advancement, they should know that’s all we’re getting. It’s time to go home!”

BUT… the people were determined and they had a BIGGER dream and they were persistent to achieve it…

February 11, 2011, around 6 p.m., The BIG announcement was made… the success of the Jan. 25th Revolution was announced… the people accomplished what they’ve dreamed for and worked very hard to achieve!



The "power of the people" proved to be stronger than anything else... their amazing will proved to miraculous...

I cannot begin to describe the look and feel of the Egyptian streets… it was beyond words can tell… you’d have to be there to know it… but it was unbelievable!

My reaction was quite delayed… I fell in complete and utter silence because I confused... I personally had very mixed feelings.

Disbelief… I wouldn’t have thought in a million years that the Mubarak regime would end, and above all end this way….

Happiness… for it was a successful revolution made by the people for the people no question asked…

Thankfulness... for all those who helped bring about this historical change...

Pride… for living and seeing this achievement and for knowing what Egyptians are capable of…

Relief... for knowing that those who died during these 18 days didn't die in vain... and again I send my gratitude, respect and condolences to their families and beloved ones...

Uncertainty… for we don’t know what is happening next… and I don’t think there will be certainty until September 2011 when we have a better vision for the future and things begin to stabilize...

Sadness… for I wished people would show a little more respect to someone who has served the country for over 30 years on many different levels, even if the system had many downfalls… He has been Egypt’s symbol for very long… and deep down I still really wished for a better exit for him…

Regret… For I have been very passive in the past… I have witnessed the change and not taken part in it… perhaps because deep down I never thought it would happen; now I know I’m wrong…

Optimism… for a better a future for Egypt…

Fear... for I'm worried we regret any of this in the future...

Trust… for now I know Egyptian people are stronger and more confident than before and they will not allow the country move anywhere but forward…

An even BIGGER trust… for I know God will never leave Egypt alone and that all will work for the benefit of the people and the country… 

What happened yesterday is a HUGE success no question asked… however, I feel it’s the beginning of a loooooooong way to go for all of us…

We will have a new president which we hope would lead us to a better Egypt, but we need to work on ourselves as well to making Egypt better for us and no one else… all the little things that we don’t think they matter, they do…

Let us clean up the roads, listen to each other, respect each other, accept our differences, follow the traffic, show respect to people of all sorts of standards, help build Egypt, invest in the stock, travel internally, be fair, work ethically, smile at each other, be there for each other... and all the things we know we used to ignore before simply because everyone else was doing them... let's stop them because they all matter... and changing them will help us move forward!

This change is enormous… and it’ll take forever to happen again! So let’s make the best use out of it…

Let’s pray for Egypt… we have a long way to go… let’s come out of this experience stronger and more united so we can move forward…

Again… today I woke up knowing Egypt is different… knowing things will never be the same again… and although my feelings are still mixed up, I’m hoping it all works well for our country…

Long Live Egypt and God Bless Egypt At All Times…