Bambi called her parents this morning to check on them.
Well, she learned about the latest saga in her country of birth.
Luckily she learned about this public “fight” before reading her sister’s tweet as she would have thought that tiny Lebanon (10, 452 km2) is huge Canada with its numerous time zones :).
First, what is happening in Lebanon’s caretaker government today? The Prime Minister there unilaterally announced a decision “that took many by surprise“, according to l’Orient Today. It was “adopted almost unilaterally, after an almost surreal discussion between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and House Speaker Nabih Berri” (https://bit.ly/42DuCvN).
As a response, “TV channels, media outlets announce they will not abide by decision to postpone daylight savings shift” (https://bit.ly/42DuCvN).
Furthermore (https://bit.ly/42DuCvN), local network operators have asked their mobile phone customers to adjust their settings, disabling the automatic time function; (to avoid automatic time change today at midnight.
In addition, one may wonder how will this decision affects other business sectors, including those related to travels or those relying on computers (provided they have access to power!)?
Bambi’s sister is a journalist and here is her tweet in French followed by an English translation:
The above means: “A fake country, a real problem. If the four institutions where I currently work adopt different times at midnight, like all the companies of the country, I will have serious conflicting schedules, which will be hard to manage”.
Roula’s tweet makes sense, especially if we recall that the start of daylight savings (in countries where it is observed) can affect people’s sleep, attention, and even memory from hours to up to a few days, that is until their brains’ circadian rhythms re-adjust.
Mmm, it would be interesting to conduct a study on Lebanese people now to see how this variation in daylight saving times will affect their internal circadian clock and, consequently, their circadian rhythms. The latter literally means about 24 hours (roughly about a day or “circa diem” in Latin). It refers to daily cycles of sleep and wakefulness as well as hormonal activity, and other bodily processes like hunger/ digestion, etc. Talking about digestion, hunger and different time changes, what will practically happen in the context of adjustment time to Ramadan in those who happen to be observant Muslims? Which time will they be following in their spirituality and most importantly in their jobs, if they still have one that can afford to pay them?
Anyhow, given the no-unity with regard to time, let’s put the latter aside for a few minutes. Yes, let’s resort to music to find a resemblance of unity in the Lebanese national anthem: “All for the nation” [“Koulouna Lil Watan”] and in a famous song to its capital. Yes, how about ending this post with two masterpieces of the Philokalia Choir, conducted by Ms. S. Marana Saad (who seems to be a nun), with Lebanese Orchestra Byblos?
The first song is the anthem of Lebanon, as mentioned above. The second is the famous song Li Beirut, based on Mr. Nizzar Kabbani’s poem. The latter gives Bambi goosebumps every time she has listened to it since it was released at the height of civil war and, more recently, following the Beirut surrealistic yet unaccountable port explosion.
To conclude this post, after listening to the talent below, reading l’Orient Today‘s article and Ms. Roula Azar-Douglas’ tweet, and beyond the current saga, Bambi could not help not to wonder once again: Why is Lebanon ruled by “idiots” (the same morally, financially, and intellectually corrupt warlords), with all due respect to everyone, which is none? Why is it not led by talented people like most of its creative and highly resilient citizens?
We are lucky to have Corneille among our great Canadian singers-song writers!
He sings in both official languages and his songs are beautiful.
He brings both smiles and peace to our faces despite “coming from far away” like his inspiring song “Parce qu’on vient de loin” (https://bit.ly/3LPjQg4). An English translation of its powerful lyrics follows the Youtube video (taken from: https://bit.ly/3FPa3mo).
May the memory of his assassinated Rwandan family, in front of his OWN eyes, be eternal. May God bless his resilient and peaceful heart, own beautiful family, and great musical talent. Selfishly, Bambi wants more of it!
Happy Birthday to Corneille, born on March 24, 1977 (Freiburg, Germany )❤️!
Bambi is blessed to have old and close friends who are like family to her.
Rita is one of them. It is hard to find words to introduce this friend to you, but Bambi will give it a try.
Rita is full of talent at so many levels. Bambi is both inspired by and proud of her. Indeed, she is smart and highly efficient while being a critical thinker. She has a rich philosophy of life, an authentic perspective on society, and a good sense of humour. She is also highly educated. In addition to her devotion to her lovely family as well as her inspiring career (in two different countries), she keeps impressing Bambi with her art creations and highly productive hobbies. Among her numerous other skills is her mastery of languages, including her beautiful French. She writes elegantly with beautifully chosen words and with much lucidity and a refreshing honesty.
All this being said, Rita has a precious quality in life: she is humble. Yet Bambi managed to convince her to accept to share with us part of her talent, appreciation of nature, and writing!
Let’s start with a picture Bambi received yesterday night from her friend with a funny note saying: “Spring is here!“
The cherry flowers are made by Rita herself
Bambi was much impressed by Rita’s new piece of art inspired by the cherry blossom season in Washington, DC. Bravo to her!
Following a brief interaction about spring and nature’s beauty, Rita shared another picture taken from the following source: https://bit.ly/40crm98.
A picture of the cherry blossom peak by Mr. David Coleman (taken from: https://bit.ly/40crm98)
Is there anything more beautiful and uplifting to the soul than the above?
Bambi was deeply touched as this picture reminded her of a DEAR friend in Japan [hello Bente :)] and of another UNFORGETTABLE one in heaven (the eternal Firas who inspired Bambi’s blog!).
“The beauty of Japan through the eyes of Bente” is the title of an older Bambi’s post show at the very end of this one.
A picture of Firas (Serge) Merhi taken in Washington. Bambi got it from Firas’ blog postmortem.
To come back to Rita now, she is generous. Indeed, she helped Bambi find a musical melody to go with the current post. She chose for us Dalida’s song “Le temps des fleurs” [“Flower Time“], which Bambi happens to adore.
Merci “Ratrout” (= “Little or cute Rita” :)). OK that was a Lebanese-style teasing!
Following the musical part of this post, it is now the the time to share with you Rita’s own writing. Many thanks for her generosity!
Bambi will first share her original French text, which she wrote a while ago. She will then conclude with a quick English translation of this text, thanks to the faithful and efficient, Mr. Google Translate.
If you happen to be a nature lover, a migrant or a new resident of such a lovely city or just a fan of the French language, you will adore Rita’s original writing piece! Its English translation also shows its depth and authenticity.
Rita’s text is about a specific moment in time in her adjustment journey to her new love (the beautiful Washington DC, and by extension, United States of America) in the magical cherry blossom season. It is also a time of mixed, and even negative, yet genuine feelings toward a birth country she left behind a few years ago.
Let’s call the above a sort of a love-hate relationship: A story of strong attachment calling for much detachment (LOVE) and of deep disappointment (HATE).
Let’s name Lebanon, which its diaspora around the world feels for it and is eager to see it finally rise (yet again!) from its ashes… into a brighter, and truly sustainable, politcal and economic future, which is free of corruption and of identity-based divisiveness, whether with or without external malicious interferences.
OK, Bambi will stop here to end this post with our linguistic “dessert”. Yes, she is referring to your beautiful text, dear Rita. BRAVO to you and thanks again for having accepted to generously share it. Please keep writing!
Original French
“Je suis plus concernée par la relation entre la vitesse du vent et l’état des trottoirs de Washington DC que par la situation libanaise.
Les arbres de
DC sont ma nouvelle patrie.
Ils me
consolent, me bercent, m’enchantent et leurs couleurs me coupent le souffle à
l’automne.
Les dates du début
des saisons sont inutiles dans ce pays. On devine les saisons par le feuillage,
foliage en anglais, quel joli mot. Folie et âge, âge et folie.
L’automne passe
vite à cause de cette saloperie de vent. Le vent fait voler le foliage, qui
tourne un peu dans l’air, virevolte avant de tomber et former des reflets de
ces arbres à leur propre pied comme si la ville flottait sur l’eau.
En Novembre, à la
fête de l’indépendance précisément, c’est l’époque à laquelle les tapis sont
ressortis au Liban pour être dépoussiérés, dé-naphtalinisés, suspendus sur les
murailles et frappés avec de vielles raquettes de tennis sur les balcons des
immeubles qui prennent soudain des looks persans ou turques. Très belle technique
d’ailleurs qui a inspiré des pratiques innovantes de vol de tapis. Il y a un
groupe pour qui cette saison est très lucrative, les professionnels ouvrent des
boutiques de nettoyage de tapis mais les plus créatifs ont inventé une
technique très simple qui consiste à nouer une laisse autour du cou d’un chat
et de balancer le chat en l’air dans une trajectoire parallèle et à quelques centimètres
du tapis convoité, le chat terrorisé se retourne et s’agrippe toutes griffes dehors
au tapis et le mec tire le chat et le tapis avec, balance le tout dans sa camionnette
et file à grande vitesse dans les rues sans arbres du Liban.
La promenade à
Georgetown en automne, trottoirs recouverts de feuilles aux couleurs
flamboyantes, me rappelle la sensation voluptueuse des premiers pas sur les
tapis fraichement posés sur le sol glacial de notre appartement à Beyrouth. Quel
dommage qu’il n’y ait pas d’équivalent en français au verbe to tread.
Quand il ne
reste plus aucune feuille sur aucune branche d’aucun arbre des rues et des
parcs de DC, c’est l’hiver.
L’hiver que je
détestais au Liban et que j’adore ici. L’élégance révélée de la ville dénudée
de tous ses ornements. Des lignes infinies de troncs d’arbres robustes et noirs
qui marquent les perspectives de la ville, montent en s’effilant pour former
des nuages de branches noires étonnement fines et faussement fragiles. Il n’y a
pas de métaphore, les arbres sont des poumons. Et quand il neige, une ligne
blanche se dessine au-dessus de chacune de ces lignes noires qui voudrait bien
la porter.
Soudain, se
produit le miracle des cerisiers en fleurs. La nuance de rose la plus claire
qui puisse exister sur le marron le plus foncé que l’on puisse imaginer. Aucune
feuille n’a encore osé se former par ce froid, aucune autre couleur ne vient
déranger ce contraste éblouissant. Une fleur d’une fragilité indescriptible
sortie de ce bois d’ébène dur et hermétique. C’est là que naissent toutes les
métaphores.
Le printemps
arrive dans la plus claire des teintes de vert, presque du jaune qui se fonce à
mesure qu’il pousse. Et la chaleur du vert recouvre la ville jusqu’à l’automne
suivant.
L’été qui fut
ma saison préférée toute ma vie n’existe pas ici.
L’été des
vacances, l’été des retrouvailles, l’été de la séduction, l’été des histoires.
Il n’y a pas
d’été sans mer.
Mais la mer
était polluée, je ne le savais pas, ou je refusais de le croire.
Depuis un moment,
j’essaie de comprendre, d’analyser pourquoi des larmes me montent aux yeux à
chaque fois que j’entends l’hymne nationale américaine et l’indifférence pour
l’hymne libanaise. C’est à la lecture des deux textes que j’ai compris.
Rien n’unit les
libanais, le Liban n’existe pas. « Koullouna » est une fiction et les
mots « land » et « home » me font pleurer comme une
orpheline.
Ça fait plus de cinq ans que je n’ai pas vu la mer. 69 mois. 2,110 jours. Le pire c’est que je ne veux plus la voir”.
ENGLISH
“I am more concerned with the relationship between wind speed and the state of the sidewalks in Washington DC than with the Lebanese situation.
DC trees are my new home.
They console me, rock me, enchant me and their colours take my breath away in the fall.
The dates of the beginning of
the seasons are useless in this country. We guess the seasons by the foliage,
foliage in English, what a pretty word. Madness and age, age and madness.
Autumn passes quickly because
of this damn wind. The wind makes the foliage fly, which turns a little in the
air, twirls before falling and forming reflections of these trees at their own
feet as if the city were floating on water.
In November, precisely on Independence Day, is the time when carpets are brought out in Lebanon to be dusted, freed of mothballs, hung on the walls and beaten with old tennis rackets on the balconies of buildings that suddenly take on Persian or Turkish looks. A very nice technique by the way which has inspired innovative practices of carpet theft. This season is very lucrative, for the professionals who open carpet cleaning shops. The more creative ones have invented a very simple technique, which consists of tying a leash around a cat’s neck and swinging the cat in the air in a parallel trajectory a few centimeters from the coveted rug. The terrified cat turns around and clings to the rug with its claws out and then the thief pulls the cat and the rug with it, throws everything into his van and goes at high speed through the treeless streets of Lebanon.
Strolling through Georgetown in the fall, sidewalks covered with flamboyantly colored leaves, reminds me of the voluptuous sensation of the first steps on the freshly laid carpets on the freezing floor of our apartment in Beirut. What a pity that there is no equivalent in French to the verb to tread.
When there’s no leaf left on any branch of any tree in DC’s streets and parks, it’s winter.
The winter that I hated in Lebanon and that I love here. The revealed elegance of the city stripped of all its ornaments. Infinite lines of sturdy black tree trunks that mark the perspectives of the city, tapering upwards to form clouds of surprisingly thin and deceptively fragile black branches. There is no metaphor, trees are lungs. And when it snows, a white line is drawn above each of these black lines that would like to carry it.
Suddenly, the miracle of the cherry blossoms occurs. The lightest shade of pink that can exist on the darkest brown imaginable. No leaf has yet dared to form in this cold, no other color disturbs this dazzling contrast. A flower of indescribable fragility emerging from this hard and hermetic ebony wood. This is where all metaphors are born.
Spring arrives in the lightest shades of green, almost yellow that darkens as it grows. And the warmth of green covers the city until the following autumn.
The summer that was my favorite season all my life does not exist here.
The summer of holidays, the summer of reunions, the summer of seduction, the summer of stories.
There is no summer without sea.
But the sea was polluted, I didn’t know it, or I refused to believe it.
For a while, I have been trying to understand, to analyze why tears come to my eyes every time I hear the American national anthem and the indifference to the Lebanese anthem. It was after reading the two texts that I understood.
Nothing unites the Lebanese, Lebanon does not exist. “Koullouna” is fiction and the words “land” and “home” make me cry like an orphan.
It’s been more than five years since I’ve seen the sea. 69 months. 2,110 days. The worst part is that I don’t want to see it anymore”.
My friend, the moon, told me that Ramadan will begin tomorrow!
The religion of Islam follows a lunar calendar, which consists of twelve months, including Ramadan (the holy ninth month). One must see a crescent moon to officially announce the start of Ramadan.
If Bambi gets it right, tomorrow, March 23, will be the very first day of Ramadan, which many (healthy) Muslims around the world highlight during daylight time in fasting (i.e., no eating, no drinking) and in abstinence from smoking and from sex to be more “zen” or to achieve “taqwa”, which means “consciousness of God” in English (https://bit.ly/3FEJS1F).
This being said, Bambi would like to wish all her readers, relatives, friends, and fellow citizens who celebrate Ramadan a blessed one. May it be as smooth as possible. May it be as spiritually rewarding, socially cheerful (in the evenings!), and generous as possible!
Sadly, in many parts of the world, including Lebanon, citizens are struggling with hyperinflation and increasing poverty. Just to provide a couple of examples, Bambi learned today that the salary of Lebanese army retirees is US$40 per month ONLY ( https://bit.ly/42zTa). Furthermore, the “Fattouche” Lebanese salad’s price, which many usually eat daily at “Iftar” (dinner) during Ramadan, has tripled since the previous Ramadan.
Anyhow, to end this post of good wishes on a positive and lighter note, Bambi will stop here in order to share three moon-related songs in English, French, and Arabic (subtitled in English). Best wishes again to all the observant Muslims!
Bambi appreciates smiles in life. Indeed, she has an earlier post entitled “Why don’t we just… smile?“. It is shown at the end of this one. Bearing this in mind, tonight just before going to sleep, she discovered a beautiful song entitled “Sourire” [“A Smile” in English]. It is composed by Mr. Nicola Ciccone and she would like to share it with you.
As she could not find this song’s lyrics online, neither in French nor in English, she pretended she was (still) a teenager :). So, she translated the lyrics for you by listening to the song and pausing to take notes. Thankfully, her friend Mr. Google Translate who never goes to sleep, kindly helped her :). You can find their quick English translation following the Youtube video.
Bravo and thank you, Mr. Nicola Ciccone for the depth of you writing, the charm of your voice, and for your inspiring philosophy of happiness!
“Smile when you’re in pain and can’t sleep at night.
When all is equal to us, smiling at our troubles.
Smile in the face of hatred and in the face of infamy.
Smile to those who hurt us. Disarm contempt.
Smile, life is much more beautiful through a smile.
Dare to take your pain away with a simple smile.
Smile even when love comes to break our hearts.
Smile at our weaknesses and face our mistakes.
Smiling is a medicine to soothe pain and give courage to face our fears.
Smile, life is much more beautiful through a smile.
Smile, yes even when facing death alone.
Smile through all the tears in your body.
Smile and if one day the life in you falls asleep, be sure that in our hearts you will smile again.
Smile, life is much more beautiful through a smile. Dare to take your pain away with a simple smile (2)”.
Louis, if you happen to be reading this post, do not panic! It is Mothers’ Day in Lebanon and part of the Middle East ONLY, not in Canada [Bernadette, your turn is in May :)]. Indeed, this fixed date coincides with the start of the spring season.
This being said, it is almost midnight and Bambi lacks words to express her deep love, gratitude, and fondness for her mom. Thus, she will borrow the beautiful lyrics of a few songs she would like to offer Robine today, wishing her a wonderful day with her family [OK minus Bambi :)].
The first deep Lebanese-Arabic song, by Ms. Nancy Ajram, is subtitled in English. The second French one about “the beautiful eyes” of Mr. Kendji Girac’s “mama” does not need any introduction. Plus, the talented Mr. Alexis Carlier was featured on this blog in the past. The third moving song is bilingual: in both Italian and French, thanks to Mr. Claude Capeo. As for the last two lighter kids’ songs, they are in Arabic and French respectively. They are meant to bring a smile to your face, mom.
To conclude this musical post, Bambi will advise you dear readers of this blog to block your ears because she is about to shout across ocean, sea, and land:
Bambi refuses to go to sleep without sharing a musical talent she discovered during the weekend. This artist’s name is Ms. Sama Aziz Shoufani. Her first name means sky [“Sama“] in the beautiful Arabic language. As you may notice yourself, her angelic voice seems to naturally travel through “the skies” in order to reach heaven!
From YouTube, we learn that Ms. Sama Shoufani “is a singer, guitarist and composer. Her music seamlessly blends two musical worlds of oriental and western rhythm into her own signature Arabic pop sound”.
We are also informed that “Sama was born into a musical family in Nazareth and from the age of six, she began to sing and play the guitar. Her parents recognized those gifts and fully supported her talent and passion. At the age of 18, she pursued an academic degree at the Jerusalem Academy of Music”.
Ms. Shoufani’s Youtube page (“About”) continues reading as follows: “Through the magic of her angelic voice, Sama brings joy and smiles into the hearts of our world and bridges cultural divides by singing in Arabic, English, and French. Sama says, “I sing to all people, embrace them with my music and want only to fill hearts with peace and happiness.” Sama was catapulted into stardom when her electrifying performance” .
Of note, Ms. Shoufani has her own Arabic songs:
In addition, she sings famous songs of Canadian and Lebanese artists in English and Arabic respectively.
She also sings for children, starting with Bambi’s favourite Amara Ya Amara’s melody.
She also sings Christmas carols in English and prays for Jesus in Arabic (i.e., one of Bambi’s favourite Byzantine prayers).
Last but not least, Ms. Shoufani sings for love and for Fairouz. As a Nazareth-born singer, it seems that she even got into public trouble for singing (a Fairouz love song) on the The Voice Israeli TV show. However, and ironically, isn’t she the one who stated: “I sing to all people, embrace them with my music and want only to fill hearts with peace and happiness“?
Related to the above, regardless of any political opinion about the endless Israeli-Palestinian conflict and despite Lebanon’s official “state of war” with Israel, Bambi’s Afkar posts are SURELY not into censorship (as you all know), especially when sharing Fairouz beautiful music (from out of Canada and as widely found on Youtube).
To conclude this musical post, Bambi wishes Ms. Sama Aziz Shoufani a LONG career. Please keep singing and charming us with your voice and your style!
Did you know that today is the National Let’s Laugh Day. It is all about reminding us to take some time to laugh or to make someone’s day with our humour (https://bit.ly/2EEEhXu).
Thankfully, humour is absolutely free of charge while being accessible to all. In addition to being a cheap stress and pain relief “medicine”, humour is often contagious. This serves to reinforce social bonds, partly perhaps via the release of endorphins, which are our brain’s “feel-good” chemical messengers called neurotransmitters (https://bit.ly/3n57cze).
To benefit from the above and for more reasons, Bambi wishes you a fun day with at least one episode of a good laugh and lots of smiles. She will conclude this brief post with one kid’s song, two adult songs in French and English respectively (mentioning laughter), and… with two shorts featuring Mr. Mark Hachem making fun of Arabs 🙂 (i.e., with their endless voicemails and an escape of one’s family into space).
Just randomly, before heading to sleep, Bambi came across a grandiose song entitled “Beirut” , which seems to be two-week-old only. Bravo to Ms. Carole Samaha et al.!
Here is the text found on YouTube about this production: “Carole Samaha sings the poet Mahmoud Darwish in the “Golden Album” Vision & concept Album : Carole Samaha Music composer: Dr. Taisser Haddad Music Orchestration: Alexandre Missakian Kiev philharmonic orchestra Mix & Mastering: Jean-Pierre Boutros, Studio Playsound Lebanon. Carole’s vocals recorded at Sot El Hobb Studios – Cairo Recording Engineer: Akram Adel Oriental instruments & chorus recorded at Nota studio – Beirut Sound engineer: Eddy Jazra Artworks & Lyrics Video: H Media Solutions, Ahmed Hashem Video Direction & Animation: Omar Ayman Photo: Juliya Veklich Media consultant & marketing : Elie Abou Najem Outfit: Hass Idriss Hairdresser: Hamo Mohsen“.
Following the song, you can find a quick English translation of the lyrics by the late and great Palestinian poet, Mr. Mahmoud Darwish. Thanks to Mr. Google Translate for his help. The original Standard-Arabic lyrics follow the English words.
May Beirut rise again ❤️… Long live Lebanon and its capital!
“We burned our boats and hung our planets on the walls, O Beirut.
We are standing on the lines of fire, Beirut is an apple and the heart does not laugh.
And our siege is an oasis in a perishing world. We will dance the square and marry the night.
Oh Beirut, oh Beirut.
We will awaken this land that rested on our blood.
We’ll wake her up and extract our victims from her cells.
Arise, go home, our loved ones, go back to the wind that uprooted the south of the land.
From our ribs, go back to the sea, which does not remember the dead or the living.
Come back again.
We did not follow your lead in vain.
Our boats here are on fire“.
أحرقنا مراكبنا وعلقنا كواكبنا على الاسوار يا بيروت” نحن الواقفين على خطوط النار بيروت تفاحه والقلب لا يضحك وحصارنا واحه في عالم يهلك سنرقص الساحه و نزوج الليلك يا بيروت يا بيروت
سنوقظ هذه الارض التي استندت الى دمنا
سنوقظها و نخرج من خلاياها ضحايانا
قوموا ارجعوا للبيت يا أحبابنا عودوا الى الريح التي اقتلعت جنوب الارض
من أضلاعنا عودوا الى البحر الذي لا يذكر الموتى ولا الاحياء
عودوا مرة اخرى فلم نذهب وراء خطاكم عبثا . “مراكبنا هنا احترقت
The lady shown above is (or was?) rather the HR Director of the City of Markham. She gave a talk to 100 students at the George Brown College. In discussing a real case study of an arbitration and engaging students to discuss how they would have handled this case, she pronounced the so-called “N- word“. Guess what happened? She apologized twice, immediately and again at the end of her lecture. Following this lecture, she was suspended from her municipal position (https://bit.ly/3ZWWJEi). If this is not a “Canadian delirium“, what is it then? Bambi calls such incidents “our collectively insane times“.
