Location: Paris, France

بعد ما عديت أزمتي النفسية مع فريدي، قررت إني أبتدي رحلتي الإستكشافية بباريس. بدأت الرحلة صباح اليوم التالي بريوق - بريكفاست- فرنسي محترم. لاتيه و كرواسون من لوكال بيكري يم العمارة. الجو كان شوية مغيم و يرذرذ مطر بين فترة و الثانية. بطبيعتي مزاجي يتعكر مع تعكر الجو، بس باريس جوها غير!

أني وييز.. أول محطة لي لليوم كانت في نوتردام. من يوم عرفت أحدب نوتر دام و أنا أتحلم أزور هالكنيسة. دخلت و كعادتي لمن أدخل أي كنيسة، شبيتلي جم شمعة و قعدت أدعي. المزعج بالموضوع إنه على الرغم من إنه تصميم الكنيسة من أروع ما يكون، إلا أنها تفتقر الجو الروحاني!

المحطة الثانية كانت اللوفر. قبل يوم كنت مخطط الأقسام اللي لازم أزورها. أحلى شيئ بالسفر بروحك إنك ما ترتبط بأحد. أبيخ شعور لمن يوقف وراك أحد ينافخ و يتحلطم و إنته تحاول تستنبط فكرة من لوحة!

المتاحف كل أول أحد من كل شهر تكون ببلاش. فإستغليت الفرصة و إفتريت على أغلب المتاحف إلي عندي باللسته.

ملاحطة: كلك على الصور فور مور ديتيلز!..

Location: Paris, France

30.5.08
وصلت باريس من بروكسيل حوالي الساعة واحدة الظهر. أول ما وصلت إتصلت على “فريدي” بتأكد إذا كان بالشقة و إلا بالدوام. هذه أول مرة أتصل عليه، حسبت إنه بلبل إنجليزي، بس الحبيب طلع خبر خير، و مع الأكسنت الفرنسي أنا حدي ضعت، بس عرفت أنه بالدام للساعة خمس.

قررت إني أروح أقز حوالي برج إيفيل دام الجو صافي و عليل. بسرعة لقطت نظام المترو، على عكس بروكسيل المعقد. وصلت برج إيفيل، قطيت جنطتي و إنسدحت عليها و مارست هوايتي المفضلة بالسفر، البحلقة!!

الساعة خمس إلا ربع ركبت متروي و أنا إلي رايح شقة “فريدي”. دشيت العمارة، فجأة حسيت إني بحولي و إلا السالمية. صعدت الأصنصير للطابق ١٨. الممم بين الشقق كان ظلمة و ليت واحد مسفر. الوضع كان حده “سكتجي” بس يالله هاردلك!

طقيت الجرس، فتح لي الباب شاب حليوه. من شفته قرصني قلبي. لااء شالدقة البايخة، قلت إب قلبي. حتى من قبل لا يتكلم عرفت إنه “قاي/شاذ”. قلت يمكن ناعم الولد. صج إنه قنفته حمرة و عنده ألعاب صوف مقططة كل مكان بس.. بس الحبيب معلق القاي فلاق “علم قوزقزح” و لمن دخلت الحمام “يكرم القارئ” الحبيب ملزق صور لاعبين كمال أجسام بكل ربعة! بهاللحظة أنا قلت لا رحنا!!

الخطة ألف إني أشيل جنطتي و أنحاش أدور لي فندق.. الخطة باء إني أغامر و أشوف آخرتها شنو. بعد ما تفحصت عضلاتي و لياقتي، قررت أني أمشي مع الخطة باء!

“فريدي” كان طابخ غداء على شرفي. معكرونية و خضرة و جبن. شكلها يشوق، بس لسبب ما مو قادر أزرط اللقمة. بطرف الشوكة أقز المعكرونية، أتمقل فيها ساعة، أغمض عيني و أبلعها. الطعم كان قوي، بس مو قادر أستقبل من “قاي” أي شي. حدي الهوموفوبيك!

تالي الليل، قالي إنه يبي يوريني الأماكن السرية بباريس. طبعا أنا على الغدة كل سوالفي إني شكثر أحب البنات و شلون بنات باريس البتيت خوش بنات. بعدها حولت السوالف إنه شلون القيز مو مقبولين إب مجتمعنا، سولفت له شلون بإيران يقصون روسهم! المهم.. تمشينا يم البانك و بعد نص ساعة دشينا “زقاق” يمكن عرضه مترين.. متروس أوادم. ألتفت يميني و يساري و إلا كله قييز!! قلتله وين يايبنه، قالي ويلكوم تو ذا أندر قراوند قيز كومينيتي!

رجعنا البيت بعد ساعتين تقريبا. كنت حدي متليش، فرشت سليب باقي بالممر و حطيت راسي و نمت لا قرير العين ولاهم يحزنون، كل ساعتين إمبطل عيني أجيك على الوضع.

و إنتهى اليوم الأول في باريس على خير..

مخلص اليوم:
- القاي، كائن غريب لاهو بنية و لاهو صبي.
- في أشياء من غير الممكن إنك تفهمها إذا ما غامرت و صرت جزء منها

من يوميات رحلة “ابن بطوطة - باك باكنق أوروبا سولو”

Location: Brussels, Belgium 

The City of Brussels, 
A panoramic view of the city.

A Mess, 
I don’t know what happened in here, but there was people looking through garbage and old stuff.   (more…)

Location: Brussels, Belgium

Strangers: 
I had no clue where I was. I knew I was in Brussels and that was it. I stood in front the city map for more than an hour, and I couldn’t locate where I was nor where my destination was! I walked down hill, up hill, west and east. I spent more than four hours on my feet with my backpack on. I asked couple people, but no one spoke english!

I finally found an underground station. I went down and asked the first guy I saw. He was bald, wearing a red shirt with a blue tie, he looked at the address and murmured some french words. I asked him if he could repeat that in english. He asked me to follow him to get a bigger map. He opened the big map and studied it for a bit. For some reason I felt something wrong is going on. The situation started getting a bit sketchy when he asked me to follow him to a nearby place, he said it was eight blocks! All my instincts were telling me to ditch him and suffer on my own. But I was too desperate to find my host’s apartment.

On the way to the place, he started a conversation about Bush. Apparently he though I was from the US. He asked me to kick Bush’s ass when I go back! At that moment I started freaking out. I didn’t know what to do. Should I scream help or follow that guy to the end. Few minutes later, he pointed at a bus and told me to hub in. He went and talked to the bus driver in French. I was like this couldn’t be real. The guy gave me few suggestions about what to do and wished me a pleasant stay in Brussels. I guess good people are still alive!

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Nuns Housing,
Just outside the old city, there was a big wooden door.  Behind that door there was this beautiful garden.  

The Thinnest House In Amsterdam,
They used to tax houses depending on their width.

(more…)

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Love with a Hooker:
Us and them were confused about the term “Love”.  My first remembrance of the word was back in the pre-school, when my teacher asked me if I loved Donald Duck or Mickey mouse more. I wanted Donald Duck, therefore I told her that I loved Donald Duck. At the moment “Love” was a word that I associated with possessing, and used it whenever I wanted something. 

As I grew up the term “Love” grew with me.  I started having crushes on girls at junior high.  I thought that must be the real “Love” I was looking for.  However, as I learned more about sexuality and the way hormones function, I found that the “Love” I discovered wasn’t more than a physiological urge. 

I met this girl in high school.  She was a beauty queen, and I had a wonderful time with her.  It might sound lame, but all I wanted from her was to talk!  I felt that I finally found “Love”.  A couple years later, I started loosing interest on her.  I realized that I was just curious about her life and love couldn’t be something come out of a curiosity.  

I went on with my life, and the search for love kept going.  I met tons of girls, and every-time I evaluate the term “Love” in that relationship it fits under one of the last categories.  It’s either out of curiosity, need or possession.  I totally gave up in love after that.  I started to believe that “Love” was a made up word with no true feelings associated with it. 

Until I went to Amsterdam, where I finally found “Love”.  It was a Hooker who showed me what real “Love” means.  As she explained to me her situation and how she was taking care of her three starving children and her old mom by selling her body.  The amount of sacrifice she was giving couldn’t be easily done without caring and LOVING her family that much.  I left Amsterdam knowing that to “Love” someone is to be able to sacrifice to those who you really care about! 

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Coush Surfing:
I met him online through the Couch Surfing service. He was a fifty-year old man living alone in apartment close enough to the city to walk there. I stayed with him for three nights and all he asked me in return is to inform him about the culture and the country I came from!
It might be awkward to knock at some stranger’s house and sleep at their couch, but the amount of experience I saw coming through this experience overcame all my fears and made me strong enough to do it.  It was fun!!

Sexuality in Amsterdam:
I was shocked about how open the people were about their sexuality. The tour guide tried to explain how sexuality is viewed as a human desire that need to be fulfilled the same way hunger need to be fulfilled. I strongly disagreed with him and that didn’t make him very happy. My argument was “I have the desire to burn your house, shall I do it because I need to fulfill my desires the same way I fulfill hunger?” He was like “well… let’s talk about some history!” 

The flight from Dulles airport to Amsterdam was so smooth. Nothing is really worth mentioning except for what happened at Heathrow airport.
I was sitting in the boarding area at the new terminal, watching the news and minding my own business. I saw an ugly woman heading toward the same boarding area, I thought to myself “Shush, she is going to sit just right next to me!” Indeed, she came and sat just next to me.  I didn’t mind sitting by her, but she stunk really bad and I was thinking of how bad it’s going to be if she sat next to me in the airplane.  And guess what? I was at 12A and she was at 12B.
I turned toward her and asked her “Are you real or am I imagining you in my head?” She smiled and moved to the free seat in the back!!

Was she real?

My trip is over and now I’m in Kuwait for two weeks to recharge and get ready to start school at the end of the month. This is my first summer in Kuwait for four years!  Although Kuwait is theoretically the hottest place on earth, I found Rome and Madrid to be hotter than Kuwait!  At least ave everything is air conditioned and it’s not as humid.

The trip was awesome. I am carrying with me tons of good memories and stories to tell my children and grandchildren. It was the most enjoyable 50 days in my life.

I made a lot of changes on the trip as I met people and got recommendations to visit places that I have never thought of. Here is a list of the places I ended up visiting: (more…)

Bonjour..
I know its been a while since I last posted anything in this blog.  I felt the summery reports are a bit boring, so I decided to take a breake and post everything in details later on.

I am currently posting this from Interlaken, Switzerland.  Such a wonderful place with tons to do.  I am leaving to Zurich and then fly from london to Kuwait and spend two weeks with the familyah before flying back to the US.

I hope you all are having a great summer, looking forward to share some interesting stories with you =)

Have a great day

- Mario