Janis Joplin Said....

Janis Joplin said ,
   "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose,
    Nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free, now now."
in her song " Me And Bobby McGee".

The Libyan people have stood up against all odds and said we count. We're mad and we are fighting back. We want our freedom.They stood up to a dictator and demanded their freedom . You know what ? They got it when everyone said it will never happen . No way you can fight Ghadaffy  and ever win.Take your pick of reasons from below:

He will never let you win .
He is too strong.
You aren't strong enough.
You will never get any support.
 The people are too afraid to stand up for their rights.
Everyone is afraid to fight.

Good thing Ben Ghazi didn't listen to any of those things huh ?

I cam here to Libya the 1st time when I was a idealistic , naive ,pregnant 20 year old that knew nothing about birthing no babies. I came here after having worked for 3 years supporting myself , help supporting my mother. and supporting my new husband until he got his work permit in the US after we married.

I was fully independent.I was hard working. I believed in equality.I was used to thinking for myself and making my own decisions.I thought that would continue to happen when we moved to Libya.I  was so excited to come to Libya and be a trail blazer , a pioneer .

Mohamed's family was a good family.They were  a well educated family that had traveled much and seen the world outside of Libya. They were as open minded as a Libyan family could possibly be in 1972. They welcomed me with open arms and treated me as a daughter of the family. I called Mohamed's parents Bouy ( my father) and his mother , Ommy ( my mother) and I meant it .I felt they were my parents. I also called his sisters and brothers mine as well . I still do to this day.I am honored they call me sister.

We get along like a family , some times it's onions , sometimes it honey.There were times when it was mostly  onions with Mohamed when we lived here in Libya. I had no one to help me . No one had my back. There wasn't any one to turn to .I felt so alone.I never want another  wife to come here and feel like that because she discovered she didn't have any rights like I did.

Those of us (the foreign spouses) that live in Libya, have lived in Libya , or even just visited Libya all have a story.Usually one that ends like this , I had / have no rights because I am a foreigner.  If you never lived here or even visited and you are a foreign spouse, it was for one reason I am sure , the lack of security,the lack of freedom of your rights. Correct?.Now , for the 1st time we have a chance to change that.Change it for ourselves , for our daughters , for our grandchildren from our daughters that married non Libyan men.We can give them what no one gave us ... a chance to have freedom ,equality , and rights. A voice for future non Libyan women married to Libyan men , not just ourselves.This may be the ONLY time in history that this will happen.Don't miss out on your destiny.Your voice counts . Let's hear it.Tell the NTC what you want , your equal rights as a foreign spouse married to a Libyan.

Equal Rights For Foreign Spouses Of Libyans

News Update From The Condo

Despite all that seems to be going on in this part of the world , thank you God , things are pretty calm and peaceful here in Libya.So far no shortages of anything that  is imported .It's just the same ole same ole here . It's all good .

Moe and I have had a rather lazy month . Hanging out around the apartment , going on slow leisurely drives around town now and then .Watching movies on TV and in general doing nothing much other than what is urgent , like washing some clean underwear when needed , lol .A vacation of sorts .

I decided to begin the new year in a more relaxed way than last year , so took a vacation off from the computer , Facebook , the blog, and sending emails , flooding my poor family and friends mail boxes . At first the withdraw was hard .I felt like I was cheating on my computer by watching so much TV .Then with each passing day it became easier , until I almost had to force myself to turn on the computer today to write to my family and you .

So what have all of you been up to this year ? Is it going well for you ?Has 2011 lived up to expectations so far ?Have you started that new diet yet? Began the new exercise regime you talked about doing this year ?Cleaned out the hall closet ? All those 101 things we all say we will do in a new year and STILL never get around to doing ? Write and let us know what has happened in your life so far this year .Peace out , OTE

Painting by L.C.Neil, "Peace"

Adventures Indiana Jones Style

Hi ! Guess what ? The other day Moe and I were doing our usual coffee runs in the neighborhood while checking out some of the new roads that have been paved in Tagura . I drove down this new road that we hadn't been down before .We saw the normal things , houses , feilds , sheep and what not but then an unsuaul sight caught my eye just by accident . A pile of rubble along side of the road had been moved away from a old roof top of what looked to be a Roman villa buried in the sand . It looked as if when the rubble had been moved , the top layer of the dirt was scrapped off ,or a corner was exposed to sight .Someone had dug even futher down where the door to the house was and it looks as if part of it was excavated , maybe . I will definitly go back and take pictures for you to see . That was pretty exciting to see . It looks as if not too many people have seen this site so far .I wish I was able to crawl inside to inspect it for myself .So neato ! I felt like Indian Jones when I saw the house sticking up out of the ground .

Sighing Going On Here !

 

Life in the Condo On The Seaside is gearing up for the big FIRE CRACKER NIGHT,  or otherwise known in this part of the world as The Malude . Mohamed's birthday , no, not Moe , but the OTHER Mohamed , the Prophet Mohamed . There are many ways to celebrate the Malude here in Libya and I have already talked about that before , but mainly , the children set off firecrackers of all types , from little sparklers to giant roman candles .It ends up sounding like a war zone before it is all over with .


I heard that this year it will be on Wednesday night.It starts around sunset and goes on until the kids run out of things to blow up .Many years the fire works are on sell well before the actual day and children take advantage of this and buy as many as possible days ahead of time to stock pile them for the night of Malude . But , as with most kids , temptation gets the best of them and you can hear the BOOM and POW of the firecrackers days before the event ! Poor Patches La Chat is in a nervous state and runs to hide at the least little noise now .She is even jumping in her sleep , poor baby .

My Internet time ran out this past week .I really hate when that happenes ! It means I have to get dressed in street clothes , do my hair , SIGHING GOING ON HERE ,put on sort of make up ( I hate to wear any) ,go down ALL THOSE STAIRS , dust the car off ( it has been miserabley dusty and windy all this past week ), drive to the store that sells the cards for the Internet in my neighborhood ,make chit chat with the guy , who is actually a very nice young man , and THEN that leads to going to the grocery store next door where there is ... CHOCOLATE !!! My downfall . I give in to my weakness and buy CHOCOLATE , but do I stop there ???? OH NO ..... I buy CHIPS too . I like the salty taste and then I need will something sweet to take away the salty taste , right ? Then after that I will need something that isn't too sweet or too salty , so search for the perfect food , which does not exsit ! So , by now I have spent well over the amount of money that Moe is happy with going out of his perfectly planned budget, which means he will be very unhappy when he finds out . SIGHING ALL OVER THE PLACE NOW !!!!!!!!!!! What to do ? Stay home .And people always ask me why I stay home all the time !

A Mini Trip To The USA

I had a ball yesterday !!!! Khadijateri came and got me and we went to the new Ace Hardware store. OMG! I know this sounds odd for a woman to be this EXCITED over a hardware store but it wasn't JUST a HARDWARE STORE . It was a mini trip to America, for me .

I saw things that I had forgotten all about completely. Saw new things that weren't around 20 years ago when we moved back to Libya .We saw NEW and IMPROVED things ,like purple masking tape . Who would have thunk it ??? And CLEAR duct tape??? A plastic / rubber mallet that has sand in the head ? AND over 8 different lawn mowers ! OMG , in Libya! A leaf/ grass blower that has a attached bag that will also suck up the debris , WOW ! Paint brushes you would never find here in Libya until now? A ladder that is almost 3 stories high !Be still my beating heart ! Can use that to finally get to those cob webs way up high in the corners of the ceiling huh ? ! We went down one isle that had cleaning products  that I hadn't seen before . I also saw come products that I hadn't seen since I was a small child . I thought thay had stop manyfacturing them , lol.

We oood and awed over  every single thing , well I did , lol . Khadijateri had a twinkle in her eye too that was full of plans for the future .While we were there we noticed that we were being followed not just by store staff but also by other customers . We realized it was because we KNEW what almost everything was and it's uses, so they were listening to LEARN  their functions .We also ran into one of Khadijsteri's former studernts . It was so lovely to see  how much he held her in hi esteme . It gave him instant status , because he knew her.

All in all , we were in the store for over 2 hours examining everything . I had a ball ! I went home and told Moe we were going on a field trip soon to the store and dream of projects that neither one of us will ever do , but have so much fun all the same . He was all ready to go that instant ! LOL ! The man has a tool fedish and there are tools to drool over ! Tool chests , tool belts that are crying out for a new home with Moe . Oh , he will LOVE this store .

Ok , I know there will be those of you that will be thinking , there are hardware stores already in Libya why not go to them . Well , yes there are . Some very nice ones as a matter of fact .But what makes this one different for me is that I am able to find what I need or want with out all the confusion that I experence in the other stores . It was so fun to see familar things that are not found here in Libya .

So a very big thank you to Khadijateri for a fantastic trip home to America , with out all the hassle of the plane ticket , the airport , and the long , long flight ! The only thing missing on this trip was my family ! And Moe will not need to fill out tons of red tape/ paper for a visia to go on a mini trip to America either . What a fun time we had !Wish you could have been there with us .

Pilgrims , BBQ, And The Eid

It looks like the Eid Al Adha might be either this coming Thursday , which is Thanksgiving in America , or Friday , which I am mentally geared up for .You might remember that the Eid Al Adha is when the Muslims honor the obedience of Abraham ( Ibrahim) to Gods command to sacrifice his son Ismael .Which so pleases Allah , that He tells Abraham to sacrifice a sheep instead . It is also the end of the Haj for many that make the Pilgrimage to Mecca . Rather fitting that the Eid should come during the American Thanksgiving , don't you think ? Both having something to do with Thanksgiving and Pilgrims .

Here in Libya the 1st day of the Eid is spent traditionally killing the sheep , cooking the sheep , then eating the sheep. Among all the different foods prepared of mutton on that day, the all time favorite is BBQ . And with that in mind, I am posting the joke below as a homage to the all important BBQ of the day .

BBQ  RULES
We are about to enter the BBQ season .  Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this  sublime outdoor cooking activity.. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain  of events are put into motion:

 Routine....
(1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and  makes dessert.
(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a  tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to  the man who is lounging beside the grill .
(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter  exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly  bonding activities can take place without the interference of the  woman.

 Here comes the important  part:
(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE  GRILL.

 More routine...
(6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and  cutlery.
(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is  looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another drink while  he flips the meat .

 Important again:
(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT  TO THE WOMAN.

 More routine...
(9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread,  utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.

 (10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does  the dishes.

 And most important of all:
(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.

 (12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night off' and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women!
Painting  by Diane Whitehead , entitled Fun, funny Family

Ponder This

The Universe is change and our Life is what our thoughts make it .

Marcus Aurelius


The Marcus Aurelius triumphant arch in Tripoli , Libya

Long-Isolated Libya Plans New Archeology Drive

I read this item below on the Reuters Africa on line . It was written by Tom Pfeiffer and is about the resurgence of Libyan archeology . Pretty interesting and hopefully will yield all sorts on new discovery's for all to see and learn from concerning the rich historical significance of Libya.

Long-isolated Libya plans new archeology drive

Tue 18 Nov 2008, 10:59 GMT

[-] Text [+]

By Tom Pfeiffer

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya plans to invite the world's top archaeologists to unearth its ancient past as it tries to lure more tourists after decades in isolation, the head of the government's archeology department said.

With a central role in early human migration, the desert country on the Mediterranean is home to a multitude of ancient and prehistoric sites. Many are thought to remain undiscovered.

But years of western sanctions tarnished Libya's image and only a few hundred thousand people visit the north African country each year, compared to over 8 million for neighboring Egypt.

"We will open our arms to the best scientists from Japan to the United States. We will not exclude one major institution, be it Oxford, Cambridge, the Sorbonne or Rome," said Giuma Anag, chairman of the government's archeology department.

In a recent interview, he described discoveries to date as only the tip of the iceberg.

The archeology campaign is backed by leader Muammar Gaddafi's most prominent son, Saif al-Islam, who recently approved setting up of a society for safeguarding archeology that would coordinate the work of foreign and local researchers.

"It is a huge acceleration," Anag told Reuters. "We never had this kind of support before."

Archeology took a back seat after Gaddafi's 1969 Islamic Socialist revolution although work never entirely stopped. Some foreign archaeologists continued work -- making significant finds -- even during the low point of relations with the West.

Libya, three times the size of France, was inhabited by humans over 60,000 years ago when Homo Sapiens began moving north from east Africa before colonizing Europe.

In ancient times, coastal settlements were established by great civilizations from the to the Romans, Greeks, Carthaginians and Ottomans.

Archaeological work began in earnest in the 1930s when Italian fascist colonialists hoped to demonstrate the Roman presence and prove Italy's historical dominance of the Mediterranean. That work also led to the discovery of oil.

150,000 YEARS

With a low population and dry climate, Libya's secrets are well preserved. Historians say the vast desert was once savanna that supported small communities of which little is known.

"We are discovering more about one of the most interesting aspects of human pre-history -- when and how Homo Sapiens left Africa," said Elena Garcea of Cassino University in Italy.

With new technology for dating objects, her team has found evidence of human habitation in Libya up to 150,000 years ago and is unearthing details of little-known societies.

Key discoveries were made in recent years by French researcher Andre Laronde at the ancient Greek port of Apollonia in Cyrenaica, birthplace of the philosopher and mathematician Eratosthenes. In the south, an Italian team has studied rock art to shed light on prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities.

A Sicilian group is working on the wreck of a 17th century Venetian warship, the Tigre, scuppered by its captain after a storm drove it south and the Libyan Karamanli fleet gave chase.

The team's head, Sebastiano Tusa, says the ship is yielding useful information on the period when Venice's power waned and Turkish forces threatened its eastern Mediterranean possessions.

But Tusa's dream is to find a land settlement on the Libyan coast that proves there was a sea route via North Africa for ships traveling between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean in the second millennium B.C.

"I'm sure there will be something proving a connection between Crete and the Aegean and Cyrenaica," he said.

Libya's government says that as more sites are opened up, it wants to avoid the mass tourism of Egypt and Tunisia and its emphasis on history will help draw a smaller number of discerning travelers.

"We will discourage mass tourism which would ... be a disgrace towards this fantastically rich and diverse cultural heritage," said Anag.

© Reuters 2008. All Rights Reserved.

Clarification

Let me go on record as saying ..... I am NOT AFRAID of the Black Magic they practice here in Libya , simply because in order to be afraid you have you believe and I don't .I am just amazed at how prevalently it is practiced by all these so called "self righteous , right thinking Muslims" here in Libya .The ones that would love to join the Tailabad and go kill the non believer Infidels !They are so Holy Roller but still they break the Laws by practicing Black Magic which is expressly forbidden in the Quran . How they think they will be able to square that with Allah/ God on Judgment Day is beyond reasoning .

I become shocked when I run into prejudice here in Libya because I have always been made welcome by almost everyone I meet , especially Moe's family . I have always been welcomed , considered family by them, and treated as such. So when I encounter bald hatred for no true apparent reason it bowls me over in shock .My kids did have to cope with it more than I did.I found that when dealing with the more ignorant uneducated prejudice people , it is better to smile and say hum . Sadly , ignorant superstitious prejudice people are everywhere in this world , not just here in Libya .

What ? Saif Who ?

I read the below article in the Reuters news service on line .It talks about Saif Gaddafi's view to a "new and improved Libya " . I found it interesting. I am not too sure that everyone else did though when I also saw this news story fresh off the press today .I will print them both out for you to read so you don't have to go to the links but , just in case my blog disappears in the near future ( well you never know !) this might be the reason why . I mean Saif has decided to retire from politics now .

Countdown to reforms in Libya begins: Saif

Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:59pm EDT

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya, now in the mainstream of international politics after decades of isolation, needs reforms to revamp its political system into one that stands out against the region's "forest of dictatorships", Muammar Gaddafi's most prominent son said on Wednesday.

Saif al-Islam said his North African country has to strive to build a better future based on independent institutions and a thriving civic society since it had reconciled with the West.

Ties between OPEC member Libya and the United States have improved dramatically since 2003, when Libya accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie airliner bombing and said it would stop pursuing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Since then, the United States has dropped many sanctions, removed Libya from a terrorism blacklist and restored diplomatic ties.

Saif has long called not only for a free market economy but also for deeper democracy in Libya, saying the country of six million lacks a free press and its democracy is imperfect.

"The countdown to build the state of institutions begins," he told a youth rally at Sebha town, 800 km (500 miles) south of Tripoli.

Saif, whose speech was broadcast live on Libyan state television, said the country needed reforms of its Jamahiriyah system of town hall meetings inspired by his father's political philosophy.

Saif sees a revamped Jamahiriyah to be different from the current system.

Gaddafi's admirers say the system of communal gatherings, in which political parties are banned, guarantees ordinary people a direct say in ruling themselves and ensures political stability.

Critics say the Jamahiriyah system, the only government most Libyans have known, is a fig leaf for authoritarian rule and has kept the country poor.

"Reforms will start by a new administration structure and end with a popular contract which will keep the Jamahiriyah system in place but with a new form that is different from the bad initial one," said Saif.

Gaddafi seized power in a coup in 1969 and in 1977 he proclaimed Jamahiriyah popular rule to try to create the perfect society in line with the teachings of his Green Book, which combines aspects of socialism, Islam and pan-Arabism.

"FOREST OF DICTATORSHIPS"

"Now we want to agree on laws that rule us in the future. The era now is different. We want a new administrative system, law and a constitution for once and all that do not change each time," said Saif.

Saif named an independent media and judiciary as the pillars of the future reformed political system and a free civic society bent on defending human rights.

"We are living in a forest ruled by dictatorships and hereditary regimes that trample human rights. All are dictatorships with fictitious parliaments and constitutions," said Saif, giving his view of the Middle East and North Africa's Arab political landscape.

He said Libya's reformed political system must be different from those in the Arab world now. "It should be an example and a model in the Middle East," he added.

"We Arabs have become a mockery, with pervasive torture and sites of secret prisons," he added.

Saif said reforms in Libya were on track to succeed. "The train of reforms is on track. It has not reached its final stop but it is on a good track to arrive," he added, claiming a leading role for himself.

"I had played a role in diplomacy, in government, in development policy and other things because Libya has no institutions to do that," he said.

(Writing by Lamine Ghanmi)

© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved

Then today this story ....

Gaddafi son retires from politics

The son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has announced his retirement from political life.

Sayf al-Islam Gaddafi has been a leading proponent of reform through his charity, The Gaddafi Foundation.

He said he had been obliged to intervene politically, but this was no longer necessary, as Libya now had institutions and systems it had lacked.

He has previously denied reports he was being groomed to take power and said there was no rift with his father.

He has no official role in government but in the past four years he has come into the limelight internationally because of his interventions.

The situation has changed and if I continue there will be a problem Sayf al-Islam Gaddafi

The BBC's Rana Jawad in the capital, Tripoli, says in an hour-long televised speech, Sayf al-Islam Gaddafi took some credit for the rehabilitation of Libya's reputation.

"I intervened extensively in everything: our foreign policy, in a lot of problems, in development, in housing. Because there were no institutions or an administrative system that were able to do so," he told a crowd in the desert town of Sebha.

"But now the situation has changed and if I continue there will be a problem."

He said the decision-making process should not be held in the hands of a few people and again urged the creation of more civil societies, an independent media and a judiciary enshrined in a new constitution.

These goals were the responsibility of all Libyans, he said, to a standing ovation in Sebha, where he was addressing a crowd of thousands of young supporters.

Sayf al-Islam is one of seven of Col Gaddafi's sons.

The Libyan leader's youngest son, Hannibal, has caused a diplomatic row with Switzerland after being charged with assaulting two of his servants last month.

Libya's state shipping company halted oil shipments to Switzerland in protest.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7574083.stm

Published: 2008/08/21 10:38:45 GMT

Things that make say HUM !

More News From Me

So much going on I'm not really sure where to begin but I guess the biggest and most talked about here in this part of the world is the deal between America and Libya settling a fair compensation for victims from the bombings of Pan Am Flight over Lockerbie , Scotland and the USA's bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi that ended diplomatic ties back in 1986 . Secretary Rice is actually saying she will make a diplomatic visit to Tripoli before the end of her term as Secretary of State .

More on the diplomatic front ...... Libya and Bolivia are establishing relations . It seems both countries have the development of energy resources on their minds for mutual benefits of each other . I don't know if I have mentioned this before but if I have , please forgive me , lol , but when I met Moe the very first time I asked him which country he was from . He told me Libya . I thought , poor thing he doesn't even know how to pronounce his own country's name and kept correcting him by telling him , no you mean Bolivia every time he said Libya . He finally smiled at me and just nodded his head . It wasn't until several days had gone by that I realized there was a real country named Libya ... all the way in North Africa , not Bolivia in South America ! OMG , that man has some patience huh !

I just watched the movie " Cold Mountain " with Nicole Kidman and Jude Law. I normally won't watch a movie that covers the American Civil War . Nor do I like to read any books pertaining to that subject . It was a terrible time in American history that to this day you can still see and hear the scars if you look or listen hard enough . But this movie was so good that I became lost in the love story it told instead of focusing on the war it was placed in . The acting was very moving . If you haven't seen it , I recommend it .

I broke down and bought myself some reading glasses , along with a new pair for everyday . It is so amazing when you get new glasses all the things you notice that you hadn't seen before , lol ! Like dirty windows . They never bothered me all that much before . Now , I think I will have to break down and wash the rest of the ones my nice daughter in law didn't do when she was visiting us !

And now that I have reading glasses I am begging for books to read from my friends again . After I read "The Pillars Of The Earth " I realized how much I have missed reading . Used to you could never get my head out of a book but when I started to need reading glasses , I just stopped reading rather than buying the glasses . Isn't that stupid to give up something so wonderful for a silly reason?

So now I have a large stack of books waiting for my attention . I don't know when I will find time to cook this Ramadan for all the reading I have waiting for me ! Right now I am reading " The Secret Life Of Bees " by Sue Monk Kid . I like it . It is bringing back forgotten memories of my childhood times , even though my childhood was nothing like the girl in the book . It was in the same time period as in the book. Yes I am all that old , lol !

Some sad news to report to my family and friends that read my blog to stay in touch , our daughter in law has miscarried her pregnancy of two months . She is alright and the doctor says she can try again in the future .

My News In English

Been pretty busy this week and last week . Moe thought he was going to go out of town for a vacation . That needed all sorts of planning , running to and fro for things he might need , or wanted for his trip . All that rush , rush doing this or that and the man is still here ! OMG !

I had planned on all sorts of fun for myself while he was gone . I was going to sleep as long as I liked . NO PLANNED MEALS !!!! No cooking !!!! Eat ice cream in bed while reading a good book .Visiting friends , going to weddings , having some clothes made for myself . Many of these things I can still and will do , but half the fun is NOT having to do all the everyday things I do normally for him . A mini vacation for me but with all the comforts of home thrown in , lol ! Maybe he will go after all , keep your fingers crossed for me , lol !

It has been the Annual Pre Ramadan clean out the freezer thing this past week end . I made a solemn vow this year as I hammered the ice off the sides of the freezer ..... next year , I WILL HAVE A FROST FREE FREEZER AND REFRIGERATOR ... or else ! Or else what I am not too sure but definitely a OR ELSE !

In the mean time , I read "The Pillars Of The Earth" book and loved it the second time around . Yes , I said second time , for after all that searching for the book here and finally getting my hands on it , I realized after the very first paragraph , that I had read it when it came out in the 1980's ! Of course that was so long ago , I had forgotten most of the story so it was new again for me . Loved the book !

I have also done most of the Pre Ramadan shopping now . I am so glade that's over with !!! The prices haven't gone up too much ... so far . But I didn't notice many new food items on the shelves as in years past . But the port of Tripoli has ships stacked waiting to come in and unload their goodies for Ramadan , so maybe I just went shopping too early this year .

So nice to see the ships waiting to come in the harbor . Made me think of how things were in the 1970's when ships had to wait days to again entry to the docks to unload their cargo . At night you could see the ships lights out at sea as far as you could look , like stars on the water . Maybe it will be like that again ?

Did any of you watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics ? OH WOW !!!! That was something else ! So fabulous !!! I loved the way the countries came in ,out of alphabetical order , like a deck of cards that had been shuffled . I appreciated the thought and planning that went into the placement of countries not on good terms with one another . I thought it was so ironic that Syria was placed in the middle between the US and Russia , lol , like a Peace Keeper , lol ! What a sense of humor those Chinese have!! I had to get up to do something and missed Libya's entrance . Does anyone have a picture of that ? If you do will you place it on the comment portion of this post . Would live to see them !
So , that's what I have been up to lately . What abut you ????

The News In English

We aren't moving .... Yeah !!!! I didn't seriously think we would . We've only moved back and forth from the US to Libya , to the US , to Libya , to the US , back again for the final time to Libya in 1990 . I refuse to move trans Atlantic EVER again ! Really ! I mean it ! Enough with the packing all you own and love into two suitcases.


I told Moe years ago that when I die to just bury me in the family cemetery here because this is my home .The only thing I want .... lol , is ..... for them ( the family ) to serve the people sweets instead of the bread with the tea that is customary to serve during funerals here , since that is sooo boring. Don't you find you get a hankering for something sweet when you are upset ? I think this might be wishful thinking on my part here , the grief I mean. Oh , something else ... I want some rock and roll music played when they bury me .A couple of my favorites . Oh , I nearly forgot ... I want to be buried in clothing too , not naked ! All this is contrary to custom but it's my funeral ! AND I KNOW THIS ISN'T ISLAMIC , so don't throw stones at me , ok ? This is what I want , but I won't be there so , hey , who knows what they will do ? LOL !


THE WALL update ..... the guy that was building the wall on our land has quit . He says he is tired .The doors need to be installed still . I guess we will have to find some one else to finish it .


Then , week before last , our roll down shutter that covers the living room balcony door broke .A disaster !!!!! No sunlight in the living room . It is like sitting in a cave . I called the seranty ( that's what the shutter is called here )guy and told him my tale of woe . Asked him how soon could he come over to shed some light on our subject ,i.e. the living room . He said in a day or two . He would call . Now he is a pretty reliable man and does good work at a reasonable prices , so I said good see you soon , inshallah !God willing !!!

We waited .He came four days later . Oh well . He put the shutter up for us and said he would have to come back the next night . Ok . The next night he comes and says he can't repair this old worn out shutter . We need to replace it with a totally new one. OK, I mean , what else can we do , right ? Well , how much is that gonna cost ? Don't know he says . Well , we can't live with out one so , go ahead and get us one . He had by this time managed to roll down the thing , why I don't know , but he did , and it wouldn't go back up ! Sighing going on here , can you hear me ? He said he would have to leave it like that , down , until he could bring the new one to install .I said ok , what choice did we have ?

We waited a day or two and no word from the seranty guy .I got Moe to call him . I would have called but the guy is clearly uncomfortable talking to me , a woman , when a man is there instead . The conversation was interesting to listen in on, to say the least, since the phone was doing it's own thing with the creaking , buzzing , swooshing, and humming in the back ground while Moe , who was stressed out having to talk to the guy , was having his own troubles talking that day . He was shouting above the din on the phone , trying to get the right words out . The guy was trying to figure what Moe was talking about . Sad to say , I found this funny , well it was , and started to laugh! Poor Moe was trying to talk and glare at me all at the same time . I had to leave the room .

Long and short of that conversation was , he would come over to try to roll up the seranty . He was hopeful that he would have the new shutter that night to install and could just skip fighting with the old one. He didn't have the new one and couldn't get the old one up . More sitting in the dark . He came last night with the new one . Yeah !!!! BUT ..... as he ripped out the old one and shoved in the new shutter , he told Moe that this was good news / bad news . Good news , here is the new shutter .It is in the up position . The bad news ... it still needs a new part that he can't find BEFORE we can roll it down or up ! So , if you drive by a condo on the seaside with it's living room shutter open at night , it is probably mine .Work in progress .

Honey Pack The Bags

Ever once in a while Moe would come home and tell me , " Honey pack the bags ,get the kids , we're moving to "...... take your pick :

1. Cyprus
2. Libya
3. America
4. England
5. Italy
6. Spain
7. Malta
8. Egypt
and the very latest .....
9. Tunisia

The kids are all gone and I can't find the suitcases .... Thank God !!!!! By tomorrow he will have changed his mind , um maybe , lol !

Women's Lib In Libya

I found this story at the BBC web sight .It is about Libyan women and their climb to equality in the work field .I found it accurate in covering the advances and disadvantages women in Libya face when working.


Tuesday, 29 April 2008 14:08 UK
Women's lib takes off in Libya
By Rana Jawad
BBC News, Tripoli

Kulthum Bouseyfi graduated as one of Libya's first female pilots and three years on she is still one of the country's few.

Kulthum Bouseyfi
The sky is the limit for Kulthum Bouseyfi

"I remember one time when I announced, 'This is Captain Kulthum Bouseyfi', some elderly men panicked," she says, recalling some funny moments working for state-run Afriqiyah Airways.

"They started shouting, 'How is that possible? It's a woman!

"Then the cabin crew took some of them to the cockpit and reassured them that the system could be learned by anyone."

The aviation industry in Libya is arguably one of the country's most male-dominated sectors.

But Ms Bouseyfi's story is a sign that things are changing in what was once a man's world.

"I thought that no-one would accept women working in such a field," she says.

"But I see people's respect when they find out I am a pilot."

Ms Bouseyfi's dream is to establish her own commercial aviation company.

The times they are a changing

The emancipation of women in Libya has come a long way in the last few decades.

They now make up more than 22% of the workforce, compared to just 6% in the 1970s.

Libyan law provides free and equal participation for women in all social, political and economic activities.

Famous women have included ministers and judges, as well as doctors and lawyers.

As the country shifts towards privatisation, female entrepreneurship is bearing fruit from IT companies to accounting firms.

Ibtissam Ben-Amer owns a franchise of the French chocolatier, Jeff de Bruges, in Tripoli, but her experience has been bitter-sweet.

"It was not easy," she says. "I started in business 15 years ago when there was an embargo on Libya, so that was a really difficult time."

Ibtissam Ben-Amer's chocolate shop
Ibtissam Ben-Amer wants to open more chocolate shops

"Right now things are getting better and the Libyan market is opening up very fast."

She is looking to branch out with her chocolate shop in other parts of Libya.

But in North Africa generally, fathers, husbands and brothers still have a huge say in women's choices, so women's lib is an uphill struggle.

Haifa El Geblawi, who works for a foreign oil and gas company in Libya, says she has the support of her family to pursue her career but other women are not so lucky.

"Some men prefer their wives to work in schools - that way they get to come home earlier," Ms El Geblawi says.

"The husband still depends on her to take care of the children, the housework and cooking. So even if she works, she still has to do all of that as well."

Rough terrain

In private, young Libyan women, who are considered "too liberal", will complain of being sidelined or even excluded from business trips abroad because their male bosses want to pre-empt any gossip.


Our society is very conservative and patriarchal
Libyan business woman

A young Libyan business woman shared her experience on condition of anonymity.

She works in a government investment firm while most of her peers work in the private sector.

It is in the civil service, she says, that she comes up against many barriers.

"Our society is very conservative and patriarchal," she says.

"It is unusual for a woman to live on her own and work in the public sector. I struggle all the time to overturn the stereotype of women working only as secretaries.

"As a result, my ability to do my job is often hindered and made difficult. I deal with bureaucratic and chauvinistic obstacles every day."

The Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, has been seen as an emancipator of Libyan women.

He has challenged social taboos and even appointed female bodyguards.

Libya's military academy for women also had foreigners training in it during the 1990s, including recruits from Sudan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

But despite the progress, Libyan women in the security field are in the minority as society's perceptions of more traditional roles for women prevail.

And the abiding image in Libya is still of women who rarely mix with men in public and still cover themselves up with a veil.

Lopsided Policies & Politics

I was reading a commentary by Ann Woolner for The Bloomberg.com on line magazine entitled " U.S. Sides With Oil Firms, Not Libya's Victims: Ann Woolner " in which she is discussing the possibilities that the US congress might exempt Libya from a four month old law forcing former / or other wise considered terrorist sponsored states from compensating it's victims of terrorism .She is very much against any such action on the US Congress part to allow leniency as is most Americans .

She sites some reasons for the law passage in the US Congress and gives examples of the acts that are heinous by any ones thinking , the States that condoned them or actually sponsored the appalling ( Among such plaintiffs are hundreds of Americans who sued rogue countries responsible for terrorizing them or killing people they loved.These are men and women who have been kidnapped, held captive, tortured or maimed, or whose child, parent, husband or wife was blown apart by a suicide bomber or an exploding airplane carrying a bomb.The families of 241 Americans killed in the 1988 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, last year won a $2.6 billion judgment against Iran. In January a judge in Washington awarded $6 billion against Libya because of the 1989 bombing of a French aircraft in which 170 people were killed, including seven Americans. ) actions .


President Bush is asking that Libya be exempted from this new law since it will hurt the newly signed trade agreements between the two countries . The oil companies in particular , also construction , as well as much needed technology support systems such as telecoms and internet .

Ok , this isn't too surprising considering the state of the American economy and the price of oil on the open market .The need in Libya for almost everything after years of imposed sanctions left the country in a commodity's vacuum limbo . My question along with many Libyans is this .... WHEN will America compensate the Libyan victims for the 1986 bombings by America to Libyans sleeping peacefully in their beds when they were bombed into wakefulness ?

The bombings here in Libya that killed , maimed many people , destroying their homes and property ? Several delegations from Libya have gone to the UN headquarters in Switzerland at different times to petition for their compensation for these acts of terrorism by America . The Libyans have even tried to petition the US (The April 1986 American bombing of Libya took the lives of scores of people and wounded another hundred or so. The dead included Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi's young daughter; all of Qaddafi's other seven children as well as his wife were hospitalized, suffering from shock and various injuries. A year later, 65 claims were filed with the White House and the Department of Defense under the Federal Tort Claims Act and the Foreign Claims Act, on behalf of those killed or injured. The claimants, who were asking for up to $5 million for each wrongful death, included Libyans, Greeks, Egyptians, Yugoslavs and Lebanese.[9] Before long, the number of claimants reached to about 340, but none of their claims got anywhere in the American judicial system, with the Supreme Court declining to hear the case.[10] ) to no avail .

This has always seemed to me to be lopsided Justice where only the mighty are supported in their claims of injustice and the little people are neglected and ignored .Does this mean that only Americans hurt when they lose their family members to terrible acts of violence and not Libyans ?