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October 2005Issue # 92

www.teenstuffonline.com

The Pretty and Perky

The Pretty and the Perky Kate HudsonTeen Stuff in 1973?!The New Law: Smiling is ProhibitedRamadan and The Sad RealityThe Pharaoh Syndrome: An Egyptian Identity Crisis2005 Elections Go Zaza Go

FREE Posters: Kate Hudson - Black Eyed Peas

Mail

Bits and Pieces- G-articles- Flashback- Aregica- Elections- What If- Azhar Park- Teenz Comment

From the Heart- Prose- Introspection- Open Letter- Poetry

SpotlightHalloween Feature

Star CornerKate HudsonDarren Hayes

Plain TalkIt's Time To Wake UpThe Foreign Obsession

In FocusRamadan: A Mixed UpContemplation

StoryThe Curse of the BlackCat

Chill Out

Confessions

Teenz Stars

THIS ISSUE October 2005

TeenStuff . July 2005 . 11www.teenstuffonline.com

Hi Teen Stuff,I’m Sahar, 19 years old. Iwant to say that this is theonly magazine which I readmost because it’s full ofenergetic articles which helpme so much and make mefeel that I’m not the onlyone in this world who hassuch ideas. Anyway, thankyou very much.The September issue is very,very good; it’s more thanwonderful. Also, I want tosend my greetings toSondos. She’s really a verytalented girl and I love herarticles so much. I hopeyou publish my mail,because this is the first timeto send an email to amagazine.

Sahar,19

Dear Sahar,Thank you so much foryour kind words and nicefeedback. I’m glad thatyou like the Septemberissue and on behalf ofSondos I thank you. Wehope that this won‘t beyour last mail to us andhope to hear from youagain.

October 2005 . TeenStuff TeenStuff . October 2005 . 11www.teenstuffonline.com www.teenstuffonline.com

The Daily Star EgyptDistributed with the Herald International TribuneThursday, August 11th, 2005

Our DearReaders

When you are soproud of somethingyou would like to

tell the whole worldabout it. Teen Stuffto all of us is notjust a magazine itis like a member ofour big family. It isabout time to showyou all how othersappreciate it just as

we all do.

3een MagazineSunday, August 28th, 2005

My dear Teen Stuff’s fansBe proud of your magazine

October 2005 . TeenStuff TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com www.teenstuffonline.com

Have you ever thought thatyour life could be just adream? All the people aroundyou, all the places you go to,everything you do is just apart of your imagination - youcreated it and you’re living itwith all your senses!What I mean is that we don’tchoose the life we live in theway we really want it to bebut we still have ourimagination which I think isthe greatest blessing we’vebeen granted. Imaginationhas no limits, no barriers andeven no time. You just letyourself go and escape fromreality to the wonderfulmoments you can ever have.

Many people think thatwhoever has a greatimagination can’t be realisticand just lives in an illusion.Do you agree with this? Let’ssee about that….Consider a man who has aplan for everything in his life,always thinks that his plansare perfect and he doesn’tconsider the word maybe orwhy not as an option. Sincehe was a little kid, he knewhe’d be going to work, knewthat he’d be getting marriedand even how many childrenhe’d have and their namesas well. In his point of viewhe’s living a normal andarranged life, never lettinghimself go or never leavinganything to happen bycoincidence. He never dreamtof that villa or that fancy carand he never even liked fairytales and used to call themnonsense. What do you thinkof this man; a complicatedor a realistic man?

Consider another, who never

planned what he was goingto study or work. He justlived his life with no plansand used to dream so muchand had faith that thosedreams would come true oneday, but he never worked forthat. He used to say that he’sgoing to be a famous and richman in the country after afew years.Can we call this man adreamer who lives over theclouds and needs to returnback to earth?!I think now you may thinkthat both characters aren’tright but that something inbetween can be great. Sohow can we achieve thisequilibrium between realityand imagination?

How important isimagination?

I think imagination has agreat role in living reality. Itkeeps you dreaming of abetter life and trying toachieve what you want. Ithelps you to have an ambitionand a goal to go for. It takesyou from a hard day andsends you to that magicalworld of your own. It alsohelps you relax and to havehope when you feel all doorsare closed.Everyone has his own way ofimagination depending onhow he thinks and what heneeds. Actually, imaginationwas the Mother of mostinventions; the plane wasinvented because of thedream of flying. You mayhave noticed that science

fiction movies of the lastCentury were close to thetruth and what we thoughtwas far from reality turnedout to be reality itself and soon. That’s why imaginationhas no barriers when youthink it has reached itsultimate, you just find out it’sa new minimum to start allover again.

But should we be imaginativeall the time?We can’t live in dreams allthe time. Also living in realityall the time would be so hard.What we really need is to letour minds - without anyrestriction - imagine anddream. But not forgettingabout reality and trying tomake our dreams come true,by keeping faith that one daywe can reach them byworking and not giving uphope.We can’t know our future butwe can imagine it and try tomake it what we want it tobe.Never have restriction on yourmind, but never stop strivingjust because you believe thatliving in dreams is better thanreality. Believe me, realitycan be more amazing as youcan’t control it all yourselfbut with imagination, it’s justyou who controls this world!In reality you can be surprisedby things you never imaginedcould happen to you.So just enjoy both and keepgoing!

Nada Ayman, 18Paradigm Shift Club

You wake up in the morning feeling groggy because you’vebeen at the computer checking out a new game. Everytime you played, the computer beat you at it and youdidn't want to give up until you won at least once. Butyou didn't and you fell asleep in the wee hours of themorning cursing the guy who devised the game. Youwake up with a startle and remember that you need someinformation for a project you're working on. You try to logon to the Net but the server is down. You bang thecomputer in frustration and ring up a friend for help. Hesays he’s stuck as he has run out of floppies and hisprinter isn’t working. So, you ring up another friend onlyto be greeted by an answering machine. You’re in a foulmood and you go to school feeling all wound up. A typicalday? But it could be tougher if you were actually tryingto wrestle with these electronic devices to earn a living.Imagine working in an office where every move you makedepends on the cooperation of these inanimate devices.You’d be all stressed out, right? Well, the consolation isthat there’s a word for it. What you’re suffering from iscalled ‘Technostress.’ It’s a kind of stress that comes fromworking in a technological environment, especially withcomputer technology. It's a mental illness that affectspeople who have difficulty in adapting to new technology.‘Technostress’ was first identified in the USA in the mid1980’s as peoples’ working environments changeddramatically because of the onslaught of the technologicalrevolution. In 1984, American Psychologist, Craig Bord,wrote a book on the subject and drew public attention tothis strange ailment. You’re ‘technostressed’ not only whenyou can't cope with technology but when you spend anentire day in front of a computer.Some of the symptoms of ‘Technostress’ are paranoia,fatigue, low self-esteem, anxiety headaches, and over-stimulation leading to a highly alert brain that refuses toslow down and lack of interest in the opposite sex.In the Silicon Valley, psychologists recommended‘Electrobashing’ as therapy. This consists of taking one'sfrustrations out on a computer to release the tensioncaused by ‘technostress.’ Until technocrats found otherways of letting their steam out, it was common for themto hurl malfunctioning TV sets, telephones and othergadgets out their windows. One of the reasons of‘technostress’ is we have let our lives to be run bytechnology and avoid face to face human interaction. Thetelephone and the Internet do most things for us. So wecan run our lives through remote control; well, ‘tele’ inGreek means far off, doesn’t it?‘Tele’ seems to have spawned an entire family of wordsduring the last century. We have ‘telemarketing’ whereyou get unsolicited calls from sellers; ‘teleordering’ whereyou order items like books directly from publishers orbook sellers. In ‘teleshopping’ shopping is done from homethrough a computer and a telephone. Then we also have‘telebanking’ ‘telemeeting’ and ‘teleconference.’Things have reached a peak with ‘telecommuting’ orworking from home and communicating with the officeand other business contacts via data links. It’s becomesuch a rage that you now can own a place in the suburbsfilled with equipment for teleworking. This set up is termed‘telecottaging’ and if you’re an expert in all this "tele"mumbo-jumbo then you’re a ‘telepundit.’ But, hey! Allthese devices are supposed to make our life a lot easier;right? But they often don't. No wonder we suffer from‘technostress.’

Fatma Atef, 15

ELECTROBASH!

G-articles

G-articles


Have you ever thought thatyour life could be just adream? All the people aroundyou, all the places you go to,everything you do is just apart of your imagination - youcreated it and you’re living itwith all your senses!What I mean is that we don’tchoose the life we live in theway we really want it to bebut we still have ourimagination which I think isthe greatest blessing we’vebeen granted. Imaginationhas no limits, no barriers andeven no time. You just letyourself go and escape fromreality to the wonderfulmoments you can ever have.

Many people think thatwhoever has a greatimagination can’t be realisticand just lives in an illusion.Do you agree with this? Let’ssee about that….Consider a man who has aplan for everything in his life,always thinks that his plansare perfect and he doesn’tconsider the word maybe orwhy not as an option. Sincehe was a little kid, he knewhe’d be going to work, knewthat he’d be getting marriedand even how many childrenhe’d have and their namesas well. In his point of viewhe’s living a normal andarranged life, never lettinghimself go or never leavinganything to happen bycoincidence. He never dreamtof that villa or that fancy carand he never even liked fairytales and used to call themnonsense. What do you thinkof this man; a complicatedor a realistic man?

Consider another, who never

planned what he was goingto study or work. He justlived his life with no plansand used to dream so muchand had faith that thosedreams would come true oneday, but he never worked forthat. He used to say that he’sgoing to be a famous and richman in the country after afew years.Can we call this man adreamer who lives over theclouds and needs to returnback to earth?!I think now you may thinkthat both characters aren’tright but that something inbetween can be great. Sohow can we achieve thisequilibrium between realityand imagination?

How important isimagination?

I think imagination has agreat role in living reality. Itkeeps you dreaming of abetter life and trying toachieve what you want. Ithelps you to have an ambitionand a goal to go for. It takesyou from a hard day andsends you to that magicalworld of your own. It alsohelps you relax and to havehope when you feel all doorsare closed.Everyone has his own way ofimagination depending onhow he thinks and what heneeds. Actually, imaginationwas the Mother of mostinventions; the plane wasinvented because of thedream of flying. You mayhave noticed that science

fiction movies of the lastCentury were close to thetruth and what we thoughtwas far from reality turnedout to be reality itself and soon. That’s why imaginationhas no barriers when youthink it has reached itsultimate, you just find out it’sa new minimum to start allover again.

But should we be imaginativeall the time?We can’t live in dreams allthe time. Also living in realityall the time would be so hard.What we really need is to letour minds - without anyrestriction - imagine anddream. But not forgettingabout reality and trying tomake our dreams come true,by keeping faith that one daywe can reach them byworking and not giving uphope.We can’t know our future butwe can imagine it and try tomake it what we want it tobe.Never have restriction on yourmind, but never stop strivingjust because you believe thatliving in dreams is better thanreality. Believe me, realitycan be more amazing as youcan’t control it all yourselfbut with imagination, it’s justyou who controls this world!In reality you can be surprisedby things you never imaginedcould happen to you.So just enjoy both and keepgoing!

Nada Ayman, 18Paradigm Shift Club

You wake up in the morning feeling groggy because you’vebeen at the computer checking out a new game. Everytime you played, the computer beat you at it and youdidn't want to give up until you won at least once. Butyou didn't and you fell asleep in the wee hours of themorning cursing the guy who devised the game. Youwake up with a startle and remember that you need someinformation for a project you're working on. You try to logon to the Net but the server is down. You bang thecomputer in frustration and ring up a friend for help. Hesays he’s stuck as he has run out of floppies and hisprinter isn’t working. So, you ring up another friend onlyto be greeted by an answering machine. You’re in a foulmood and you go to school feeling all wound up. A typicalday? But it could be tougher if you were actually tryingto wrestle with these electronic devices to earn a living.Imagine working in an office where every move you makedepends on the cooperation of these inanimate devices.You’d be all stressed out, right? Well, the consolation isthat there’s a word for it. What you’re suffering from iscalled ‘Technostress.’ It’s a kind of stress that comes fromworking in a technological environment, especially withcomputer technology. It's a mental illness that affectspeople who have difficulty in adapting to new technology.‘Technostress’ was first identified in the USA in the mid1980’s as peoples’ working environments changeddramatically because of the onslaught of the technologicalrevolution. In 1984, American Psychologist, Craig Bord,wrote a book on the subject and drew public attention tothis strange ailment. You’re ‘technostressed’ not only whenyou can't cope with technology but when you spend anentire day in front of a computer.Some of the symptoms of ‘Technostress’ are paranoia,fatigue, low self-esteem, anxiety headaches, and over-stimulation leading to a highly alert brain that refuses toslow down and lack of interest in the opposite sex.In the Silicon Valley, psychologists recommended‘Electrobashing’ as therapy. This consists of taking one'sfrustrations out on a computer to release the tensioncaused by ‘technostress.’ Until technocrats found otherways of letting their steam out, it was common for themto hurl malfunctioning TV sets, telephones and othergadgets out their windows. One of the reasons of‘technostress’ is we have let our lives to be run bytechnology and avoid face to face human interaction. Thetelephone and the Internet do most things for us. So wecan run our lives through remote control; well, ‘tele’ inGreek means far off, doesn’t it?‘Tele’ seems to have spawned an entire family of wordsduring the last century. We have ‘telemarketing’ whereyou get unsolicited calls from sellers; ‘teleordering’ whereyou order items like books directly from publishers orbook sellers. In ‘teleshopping’ shopping is done from homethrough a computer and a telephone. Then we also have‘telebanking’ ‘telemeeting’ and ‘teleconference.’Things have reached a peak with ‘telecommuting’ orworking from home and communicating with the officeand other business contacts via data links. It’s becomesuch a rage that you now can own a place in the suburbsfilled with equipment for teleworking. This set up is termed‘telecottaging’ and if you’re an expert in all this "tele"mumbo-jumbo then you’re a ‘telepundit.’ But, hey! Allthese devices are supposed to make our life a lot easier;right? But they often don't. No wonder we suffer from‘technostress.’

Fatma Atef, 15

ELECTROBASH!

G-articles

G-articles

October 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com

“The healthy animal grooms. Takecare of your appearance.”American proverb

Some people claim that physicalappearance isn't a significant factorin a person's character. On thecontrary, physical appearance isthe most important aspect whenit comes to first impressions.When you first set eyes onsomeone, nothing is moreobvious than his outer lookwhich, in fact, manifests atleast some of his innerqualities. In addition, oneshould be feeling comfortablewith his very own self. Beingrelaxed or tense is mostlyrevealed through the eyes,which are the windows to theinner soul. Yet, this initialimpression isn't the one thatlasts; it’s only the key thatopens the door.Advice: Don't use the key tounlock the wrong door.

“Not everyone who chased azebra caught it, but he whocaught it, chased it.”African proverb

Everything is worth a try. Mostlywe assume we do knoweverything we’re capable of;which is incorrect. If you have10 things to do and you selectfive which, you believe, are theonly ones that match your abilities,how would you ever know you can'tdo it all if you didn't even give it atry? Being qualified is an acquiredmatter. To know, you have to learnand to do, you should be totallyconfident that you can get thingsdone.Advice: Select your target andseek it out!

Have confidence that if you haveزdone a little thing well, you can doa bigger thing well too.”American saying

Achieving success is certainly hardbut keeping success is twice ashard. First, you take care of yourappearance, crossing the first step.Next, lifting yourself up for thesecond step; you seize chances.Subsequently, you seek success,devoting all your senses for thisone and only aim. Then comes thehard part which on the surface

looks like the relieving point buton closer observation, this is wherethe hard work starts. That hardpart is attaining success, or rather,maintaining it. Typically, there'salways a blinding aspect aboutprosperity and success. Reachingthis point of "I finally did it" isfantastic but it can also be veryintriguing because it makes youlive and re-live the moment,forgetting all about how to keep it,and before you even notice, itbrings your happiness to an endand you suddenly discover you’vebeen living in the past.Have a firm grasp on yourachievements.

“A bad workman always blameshis tools.”American Proverb

No doubt that failure is an awfulexperience. Everyone has, atleast, one moment in which hethinks to himself "I'm a big failure,I'm not good in anything". Theone huge mistake here is simplythe narrow angle through whichyou perceive yourself. It’s likebuilding an extremely high blockthat separates all your recognizableaccomplishments away from thismoment of disappointment. Thathigh block can be a split secondthat you may use as an instructivepoint or a destructive one. Somepeople go into a stage of denial;being convinced that other people,or circumstances, obstructed theirsuccess and caused that distressingfailure experience.Advice: Don't lose faith in yourself.Learn from your mistakes!

”.Leadership is action, not positionزAmerican saying

Life doesn't always seem to be fair;every now and then it also happensto be very tricky. Sometimes youthink you’re not in position to dothis or that, while in fact, you’reright there or, at least, you’resituated in the place that wouldlead you to your intended positionbut you don't see it. It's alwaysabout action. You just have tobelieve that wherever you are, youcan be whatever you want to be.Advice: Use what you have to getwhat you lack.

Sherihan Adel Hassabo, 21

Confidence is one of the most essential qualities that each and every individual isrequired to possess in order to achieve his goals in life. To be highly successful,

appropriately esteemed, and easily capable of being a person who walks throughthe crowd with his head kept high; you must acquire your self-confidence first.

"To be or not to be that is the question" Hamlet

Achievingsuccess is

certainly hardbut

keepingsuccess is

twice as hard


October 1973 HeadlineHoggers

•The entire Arab world followed in speculation of the news flyingin from Sinai as a coalition between Egypt and Syria launcheda surprise attack in Sinai and Golan Heights and , respectively. Both regions were captured by Israel during the in 1967, andthe October war was the attempt to regain the previously occupiedterritories. Two weeks later, a United Nations cease-fire cameinto effect, paving the way for the peace process that followed.

•On the other side of the ocean, the Watergate scandal was justtaking off. American President Richard Nixon was under heavypressure to turn over some tape recordings he had made ofconversations with various folks in the Oval Office. The tapedconversations were regarding the break-in at the Watergateapartment/office complex in Washington DC. Nixon eventuallydid turn over those tapes, and suspicion about the President’sinvolvement in Watergate grew to the point where he resignedfrom office on August 9, 1974 rather than face (almost certain)impeachment.

•And in a place called Graceland in Memphis, Elvis and PriscillaPresley were divorced after six years of marriage and one child,Lisa Marie.

The news, films, music and fashion that rocked our world 32 years ago…Compiled by Ahmed Raafat

‘To find work back in the70's was a lot easier thantoday because thegovernment was alreadyemploying freshgraduates and more jobopportunities were availableback then than they aretoday. However, this didn’tstop graduates from fleeingto foreign countries thatoffered better opportunities,or higher pay, in particularthe Gulf area. There, animmense fortune had beenvery recently found thanksto the petroleum industrythat had just taken off.There were less concernabout terrorism andgraduates found it easier togo study abroad.’

‘Life was more laid back. Itwasn’t stressful and quicklike today. There was timefor everything. Like familytime, or going out. Peopleweren't in a rush ineverything. Like love forinstance, it had moreromance in it becausethings would go slowlybetween couples.’

The idea itself is quite simple. So simple thatwe don’t feel the need to explain it, but we willanyway in case someone completely misses thepoint of this fresh new section. Let’shypothetically assume that this fine publicationhad existed beyond its nine years plus run; thatthere was Teen Stuff back in 1984, in 1965, orwho knows, maybe they had it published backin the medieval times, although the magazinewould have had a hard time reaching its 10000plus readers circulation without the presenceof printing techniques. How would the magazinebe like? Each month we’ll pick a year withrelevance to the month in question and for thesake of argument, fun, and everything else,imagine that Teen Stuff existed back then. Ourchoice of the year 1973 for this month is anobvious one: it’s the most significant date in ourmodern history. But make no mistake: this isn’tthe kind of lazy, lame type of October war tributethat magazines are expected to run at this timeof the year. While in no way undermining themarvelous achievement of our armed forces,we’re stressing more the social circumstancesthat surrounded that particular time: the livesof the average ordinary people, with emphasison teens. So hop into the time machine, buckleyour seatbelts and take off to the good ole’ days!

Fashion:

October 1973 Chart Toppers

Half-Breed - CherLoves Me Like aRock - PaulSimonHigher Ground- Stevie WonderYou’re the BestThing That EverHappened toMe - Ray Price

October 1973Box OfficeSmashers

The Way We WereAmerican GraffitiThe Day of theJackalLive and Let DiePaper Moon

October1973

Do You Remember…

Testimonies:

Flashback

Bored of school already?Looking for some goodbooks to keep you going?Well, look no further!Luckily, Meg Cabot is hereto save the day! I knowthat many people maynot have heard of Meg,but I am sure thateveryone, especially girls,has heard of her series ofbooks that has made herfamous worldwide,The Princess Diaries. Youare probably all sayingOh! The films starringAnne Hathaway! The filmsare based on a series ofbooks known by the samename. Until now fivebooks have beenpublished and thesixth,The Princess Diaries,‘sixsational’ is comingsoon. All I can say is thatthey are great books (forgirls) that once you startreading you just can’t putdown.

They are all about Mia, anordinary, ninth grade NewYorker who finds out oneday that she is heir to thethrone of a Europeanprincipality calledGenovia. Written from herpoint of view in the formof a journal, Mia revealsthe problems in hereveryday life, such as thefact that she has aboyfriend but she is inlove with her best friend’sbrother who is a seniorand graduating soon.Then once she gets theguy of her dreams, she isterrified that he will leaveher for someone else, areally smart girl whoknows how to clone fruitflies, and how. Just howis she supposed to gethim to ask her to hissenior prom? Add to thatthe fact that she has totake these weird princesslessons everyday with hercrazy grandmother andRommel, her hairlessminiature poodle. It is awonder that she getsthrough the day at all!

The best thing about ThePrincess Diaries is MegCabot’s style of writingand originality. The wittystyle of writing makes youlaugh out loud and thecrazy situations that Miafinds herself in arehilarious. This is one adultwho has clearly notforgotten what it is like tobe a teen. Meg’s booksare different from others,

which usually havebeautiful and heroic maincharacters, but Megshows that you do nothave to be gorgeous andsmart; all you need is aloving heart.

Anyway, enough abouther books. What aboutMeg herself?

Meg was born inBloomington, Indiana asthe eldest sibling to twoyounger brothers but shenow lives in New York withher husband and two cats(Henrietta, a one-eyed catand Jenny, a diabetic). Inher spare time, Megmostly likes to lie around,watch TV or read a bookand eat cookies. She wasfirst inspired to write ThePrincess Diaries, when hermother, after her father’sdeath, started dating herteacher, just as Mia’s mumdoes in the books. Theprincess thing comes fromthat when she was little,she kept on insisting that

her real parents, the kingand queen, were going tocome and restore her toher rightful throne! Mia’scharacter is based on Megas a teenager who was,according to what Megsays, a major geek aswell.

Meg has also writtenbooks other than ThePrincess Diaries such asAll-American Girl, whichis about a girl who savesthe life of the President.I recommend this book,which will be made into afilm soon. She is alsowriting a new series calledThe Mediator. It willdefinitely be as good asall her other books!

Yasmin Sherif, 14

A thriller novel that revealsSecrets in the History of Faith "Exceedingly clever. Bothfascinating and fun... aconsiderable achievement." The Washington Post As an outstanding work offiction, all the artwork,architecture, documents,and secret rituals depictedin this novel are true. DanBrown, the author, interpretsand debates these aspectsof society through fictionalcharacters. In Dan Brown’sown words the summary ofthe story plot goes like this:"A renowned HarvardSymbologist is summonedto the Louvre Museum toexamine a series of crypticsymbols relating to Da Vinci'sartwork. In decrypting thecode, he uncovers the keyto one of the greatestmysteries of all time... andhe becomes a hunted man." Many scholars believe thateven Leonardo DaVinci's most famousart works such asMadonna of theRocks, The LastSupper, and eventhe Mona Lisa,contain anomaliesthat all seem tobe pointing to acryptic message.Such scholarsbelieve that thismessage hintsat a shockinghistoricalsecretwhich

has been kept and guardedsince 1099 AD by a Europeansecret society called thePriory of Sion. Since manyof you might not be familiarwith this name, the Prioryof Sion is a secret societyconsisting of people whohave a different perspectiveon the faith and the valuesof Christian beliefs. In 1975,the Bibliotheque Nationaleof Paris discovereddocuments known as LesDossiers Secrets, stating thatSir Isaac Newton, Victor

Hugo, Botticelli, andLeonardo Da Vinci were onetime members of the Prioryof Sion. The Da Vinci Codeis a mystery thriller that cantake you on a heart-pounding non-stop racethrough France to find thetruth and protect a secretthat could shake the world!Dan Brown said that his hopein writing this novel was thatthe story would serve as acatalyst and a springboardfor people to discuss theimportant topics of faith,religion, and history.

Even though some criticsmight argue that The DaVinci Code acts as an anti-Christian novel, Brownclearly states that the novelis not anti-anything oranyone. The Da Vinci Codehas simply sparked renewedinterest in grave topicsconcerning faith andChristian history.

Finally, this novel hasrecently been turned into amovie, directed by RonHoward, and is yet

to be

released. The release dateset for now is May 19, 2006.And guess what?! The movieis starring Tom Hanks, JeanRbeno, Audry Tautou, IanMckellen, Alfred Molina, andPaul Bettany. Check out this book to revealthe secrets and uncover thetruth yourself.

Raghda Salama, 15

The Princessv Diaries

Book Review

TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com

not all, movies that deservewatching more than once. Forexample, that spicy tragedy of amedical student over 40 yearsold, who dreams of being a singer.Another one presents the booming

dramaof a butcherand his belovedone in theslaughterhouse. It’s consideredone of the best in the series ofthe educational movies thatteaches us the new fashion in theArabic accent.Finally, I advise the film producersto work on increasing the numberof movies during the summermonths since the majority ofmovies are released in the othermonths of the year!!

3) Towards Solvingthe Means of theTransportationProblemIn a step that’s considered a

breakthrough to solve the crowdedmeans of the transportationproblem in Aregica, the Ministryof Transportation decided toincrease the number ofmicrobuses on all lines. These

microbuses, flying on thegrounds of Aregica, are

assumed to take thejourney from the

beginning of theline to the endof it in lessthan 10minutes.Thesemicrobusesdrivers aregiven thelicense tobreak all

traffic rules soas to achieve

the above goal.The lunatic asylum

in Gabassya isoffering to send 150

patients to work asdrivers on these

microbuses only to make upfor the huge number of injured

drivers in microbus accidents lastmonth. Observers predict adeclination in the Aregicanpopulation very soon!

On the other hand, the airconditioned buses called BTA, areno longer conditioned after thebig number of complaints writtenby citizens who caught flu becauseof that. In addition, the AregicanMinistry of Transportation ismaking a 50 piaster discount perticket to encourage citizens to usethe air conditioned (unconditioned)buses.Take my advice; better stay home!

BreakingNews: TheUnmask of theTerrorist Attacker

Two hours after the terrorist attackon Aregica, the Aregican Policewas able to reveal the truth aboutthat guerrilla who murdered morethan 200 citizens in a terrificexplosion!Habala Barmeel, 25 years old,accused of this attack, works asa garbage collector down town.His atomic bomb which was usedin the attack was cleverly madeof small pieces of glass, rubberand nails.The only evidence against thatdespicable guerrilla is that heemptied the garbage car 15minutes late and that,consequently, meant that he spentthe whole 15 minutes carrying onthis cursed attack.All reasons that pushed Barmeelto prepare for the attack are totallyemotional and not political, asmentioned by some satellite TVchannels.Barmeel wanted to take revengeon his fiancée who works as ababysitter in the house of thefriend of the cousin of the womanwho lives in a building on thesame street where the attack tookplace.It's worth mentioning that Barmeelhad two partners to help him inthe attack. The first is Dr. ElBashar, who works as a NASAscientist abroad. The second isSoha Karrara, a journalist who fellin love with Barmeel!Barmeel used to collect thegarbage from Dr. El Bashar'smother who made thecommunication between her sonand Barmeel using a secret codetransceiver.On the other hand, Karrara got toknow Barmeel when she wascarrying out a wide survey aboutgarbage collectors and streetbeggars for her magazine. Karraradecided to help Barmeel takerevenge on his fiancée, hopingthat one day Barmeel would forgethis fiancée and love her!Finally, investigations are stillgoing on through a wider scale toverify if Barmeel had otherpartners or not.Waiting for more informationabout the attack so keep updatedand stay with us!!

Noha Samara, 21Illustration by: Adnan Hesham

October 2005 . TeenStuff TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com

Just free your imagination and livethe moment with Aregica NewsRoom!

Let's begin with the headlines:

1) Go, Zaza, Go!2) Summer Movies Resume3) Towards Solving the Meansof the Transportation Problem

Time for detailed news!

1) Go, Zaza, GoZaza, 30 years old, the youngAregican presidency candidate, hasrevealed his program and futureplans in a press conference,yesterday. All political critics weredelighted with the smashing speechof the young candidate. Young ashe is, Zaza is one of the strongestcandidates, among the 300 of themin the next elections battle.One of his main goals is to eliminateunemployment. It's worthmentioning that Zaza, himself, wasnever employed. And that's whyhe declares that if he was chosenas the President, he would succeedto solve, at least, one of the millionunemployed cases all aroundAregica.Zaza, declared, that the firstdecision he'll take is the obligationof wearing sporty caps all overAregica. "In the past, they usedto wear the ‘Tarboosh’, but nowwe must be up to date with

the new fashion styles, we're theNew Generation," Zaza claimed.Zaza will offer one free cap for eachcitizen and the second with a 50%discount as long as the caps arebought from his father's store.Regarding the reasons that pushedZaza to take the eylection step isthe 500poundsbet hemade

with his friends. If he succeeds inthe elections, Zaza will be able topay the delayed rent of his roomon the roof of an old building!Despite all the suspicions of politicalcritics, who agree on the weakchance of Zaza's success, he stillinsists on continuing the electionsbattle. One of our trusted sources

knows that Zaza isn’tqualified enough for thisposition, only, becausehe lacks the twoconditions stated in the

presidency law. The twoconditions are: His name

should begin with "M" andhis mother should be Aregica's firstlady!!

2) SummerMovies Resume

Ending one of the hottest summersever, we have to comment on somefacts about it.First of all, only one new moviewas released every week and thatmeans a big loss in the Aregicanbox office because producers shouldhave made good use of thosethousands who have nothing to doexcept go to the cinema every otherday..Unfortunately, those thousands areobliged to see the movies morethan once. On the other hand, wehave to admit that there are some,

When Imagination Becomes the Only Fact…



OnWednesday,September7th 2005,we, asEgyptians,witnessed avery

important day, filled with tensionand challenge. It was the day ofthe Presidential elections.For more than 50 days, all streetswere filled with posters ofcandidates running for Presidency.We had 10 candidates in thatelection. They were too many. Werethey all qualified to apply for sucha position? Or were some of themjust running so as not to give ourPresident the chance to stay in hisposition? While, still, others werepushed by some unknown sourcesto turn the laws upside down andcreates disturbances and troubles.

What happened on that particularday? Can we as teen writers knowthe truth and its explanations?What's the story of the candidates’promises of the 20 L.E and a mealafter voting for them? What's thetruth behind the youth who weren’table to vote that day?

While I was looking around for newinformation, I met someone andhe told his story on the day ofelections.Mohamed el Awam, 22 years oldhad this to say:

"A week ago, we were told and itwas written in the newspapers that youth born between 1982-1986may vote with their ID number andthat they need no voting cards. SoI went down at 9 o'clock to a

committee in the school which isnearby my house. When I reachedthere, they told me that my nameisn’t included. They recommendedanother school where I might findmy name. So I went there. I foundit only for women voters, so I wentto another committee. They toldme that they don’t have thealphabet letter ‘M’ in these papers. I went to another but I had to lookmy name up through six piles ofpapers; each pile was 90 papers!Each paper contained 12 nameswhich weren’t chronologicallyordered. So I went up to theCommittee Head who told me, “IfI were you, I would go home.” ButI still had the enthausiasm to lookfor another place where I can vote.Until 9:30 p.m. I could do nothing.So I returned to the sameCommittee Head and threatenedhim; if he didn’t let me vote I’d goto ‘Al Jezira’ station office and tellthem about what's been going onduring the last 12 hours. Only bysaying that did he let me vote!"

That was one of hundreds,thousands and maybe millions ofyouth, who did their best to sharein the destiny of their country.Some did like him but othersweren’t able to reach their targetin voting.The disorganization made youthlose their enthausiasm and faith.They were deprived of theirminimum right which is to vote andchoose the person who is supposedto represent them. They felt sohumiliated that they weren’t ableto be recognized as adults and theworld to take by their opinions.

Among all this technology we’re

living in nowadays, why can’t wevote online? Or why don’t they usecomputer networks to supply thenames of the people so it would beeasier for them to reach the namesrather than putting them in pilesand so on. For example, thehundreds that are suffering fromunemployment, why weren’t theytaken to help in the committeeservices? Truly, we needorganization in our work.

The most striking event was the‘20 L.E. and a meal’ promise afterthe vote; one candidate promisedto pay 20 L.E. and a meal toeveryone who would vote but afterthe vote, nothing was received!!

When I was walking in the streets

and saw people rushing to vote, Ifelt happy that people have suchenthausiasm. But I never knewwhat lay behind the curtains, untilthe show was over and everythingwas discovered.

Mahie Ahmed, 20

6th of September:I decided to go to the police station to takemy voting card as I was born in 1984 and itwas announced that the voting cards wereautomatically available for those who wereborn between1982 - 1986.I entered a dull room where a man welcomedme with a smile. He was really friendly andkept on searching for my name through thevery long lists he had. I took my first shockwhen we failed to find it although I was bornin a hospital located in the area in accordancewith that police station and that's written inmy birth certificate!I was just asking myself, how come we can'tfind my name? And the next question, whichI asked out loud that time was, "What shallI do now?”With the same big smile, he told me, “Comein November, you may find it!”Right then, I found myself taking my ID,putting it into my bag and heading to thedoor with a quick move when I heard himsaying, "Come tomorrow, maybe it will workwith your ID.” I wondered if ‘come tomorrow’was just a phrase he uses with everyone orif he really meant the word!That day I convinced myself, or let's say,went back to the starting point of a monthbefore, that my vote won't count.

The Big Day - 7th of September:

I started the day not caring to read anypapers talking about the elections and tryingto avoid any TV channel discussing it. Thatwas really hard - obviously!I, then, decided to go to the cinema with mysisters since it was a day off (because of theelections) from my programming course in

TV programs, newspaper pages, adsand a number of video clips. A wholemonth of slogans, words and endlessspeeches!Ten candidates remained for thePresidential elections after eliminatingdozens of unknown and unqualifiedcitizens who dreamt of the ‘POSITION.’Ten was still a large number to choosefrom, but it wasn't difficult becausemost of them were never known ornoted by the average Egyptian citizenlike me!I'd been asking myself during that longmonth, does it really matter who’ll bethe next President? Do I have tochoose? And if not, who’ll vote then?When I reached this point I decided totake the initiative. Maybe moved bythe emotional patriotic video clips andthe TV ads urging you to vote, butnever by the candidates' promises!

the university. When we arrived home and after taking lunch,I couldn't resist switching on the TV. I kept on watching ‘AlKahera Al Youm’ (Cairo Today) and it was having a fullcoverage on the elections. An hour later, I became soenthusiastic to try again and called my friend asking her togo together to the Nasr City police station where my ID wasissued from.We first went to a school in front of her house where therewas an electoral council. I was sure we would find her namein the lists because both her birth certificate and her ID werefrom Nasr City. When we arrived there we didn't pay somuch attention to that man who was shouting and askingthem loudly why they tore his paper!After watching the same scene of yesterday but this timehappening to my friend and then to myself again, we foundothers having the same problem. They were either ‘84 or‘85 born and they didn't find their names. They told us itseemed that ‘84 and ‘85 born aren't listed and that it wasour fault because we didn't apply for the voting card lastNovember. I went back with my memory to last Novemberwhen we knew nothing about the modification of Article 76in the law and then kept on remembering all the responsiblefigures who had appeared on TV last month saying that weare entitled for a voting ID card, automatically. I was startledby the voice of an old man shouting, for our sake, to themen of the council. In the background of the scene, I founda man of the council offering my friend to modify a somehow

similar name to hers written in the list andmy friend refused because the case wouldcomplicate if that person came to vote afterus. It was a melodramatic scene and I didn'tknow what to do then. I then found myfriend grabbing me by the arm and tellingme, "We'll go to the police station."

On our way to the police station, we werediscussing the case. I was sure now thatI must find my name there besides hersof course or where else would we findthem?!

The police station was so crowded. Asking about ourvoting card, a man quickly asked us about our birthdatesand instantly answered that ‘84 born are not listed.We concluded that there's something wrong with ourbirthdates; they seem to bring us bad luck!!Just before we were about to leave, we found a woman,who was a member of one of the known political

parties, suggesting that we goto another school which mayaccept us voting with just ourID. In front of the gates of thepolice station, we were shockedto see the same old man again.He asked us about what we didand smiled with a sarcastic smilewhen he knew we did nothing!Moving to my car, I found apoliceman stopping me and

telling me I was parked in a forbidden area. I wassupposed to be shocked because his colleague wasthe one who told me it's ok to park here. I then realized

he wanted moneyso as not to fine me!After moving to theother school, I guess youknow what happened there bynow; we were no longer shocked.It was as if watching a boringmovie for the fourth time!I drove my car back home,

unresisting the sarcastic tone in my voice. I couldn'tfind my name anywhere and neither could my friend.I concluded four things at the end of that tiring day:First, don't trust all that's said on TV or in the papersSecond, 1984 born are not defined as Egyptian citizensThird, Maybe it was all because of that pen which myfriend was holding each time we went to vote. Thatpen must be thrown to keep away the curse!Fourth, I must change my birthday!!

Noha Samara, 21

Frustrating but True

My Elections Experience:Some tiring thoughts from my diary

October 2005 . TeenStuff TeenStuff . October 2005 . 11www.teenstuffonline.com www.teenstuffonline.com 30 . October 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com

Despite the fact that I haven’t writtenfor a long time, I always thought I couldstill write whenever I want. But nowthat I’m turning 22 on New Year’s Eve,it struck me that I simply have to writemy retirement piece.

Never had I imagined that thisretirement piece of mine would beattributed completely to the dearestperson in my whole lifetime; my mother,only she won’t be able to read it.

I can’t really say who she was or whatshe did or used to do. I might’ve notrealized it back then but to me she’ssimply everything and now she’s gone…to my awe and disbelief until this verymoment… gone forever.

When you lose someone, it will alwaysfeel like you never gave enough, thatyou never let out all the floods of feelingsthat would burst your heart and shakeyour whole being instantaneously, themoment you know and you realize thatthis flood will remain locked up withinyou… forever. The problem is that shewasn’t just anyone; she was simplyeveryone.

The unique Dr.Fatma Ismail was an artcritic and the General Director of theCenters of Art. Despite the fact that shewas a graduate of the Faculty of Arts,Eastern Languages section (Hebrew),she had been able to, amazingly, workher way up the Fine Arts field ladderand become one of the most importantart critics on both the whole Arab level,and the international level as well. Thisis due to the fact that she was theSecretary General of the InternationalAssociation of Art Critics ‘AICA’, theEgyptian section; which is aninternational organization that includesall art critics from all around the world,in addition to her also being a memberof the International Committee forsetting the policy of this association.

After finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in1976, Fatma (allow me to refer to heras Fatma, having been my best friend)finished the Diploma of SemioticCivilizations in the Faculty of Arts by the

year 1978 showinggreat interest in theArab-Israeli conflict. Mymother had been avery sincere nationalistwho cared about Egyptmore than almostanything else in theworld and who believedthat with herknowledge of Hebrew,she could help a greatdeal. Later onwardswhen the Camp DavidTreaty was signed,eradicating Israel asbeing our official‘enemy’, at least on theofficial level.Haven been extremelyshocked by the newrealities, Fatmacompletely lost interest

in her field and one day while she wastearfully wandering around the districtof Zamalek, she went into the Centerof Arts in Zamalek, and accidentally metthe famous Egyptian artist and theDirector of the center back then, Mr.Ahmed Selim, who offered her anadministrative job in the center. Justthen Fatma had her life and dreamsturned unexpectedly upside down andwhat seemed to be like a dead-end,turned out to be an extremely brightand newly planned future.

Since she had not studied artacademically in university, Fatma decidedshe must go for post-graduate diplomasand degrees to achieve prosperity inher new world which she dearlycherished as being as creative andenergetic as she was. So in 1988, shereceived her Diploma of Art Criticismfrom the Academy of Arts. She keptgoing up the ladder reaching the postof the Deputy Director of the Center ofArts. Fatma still decided she didn’t haveenough and later in 1989 she went onan Italian scholarship for ContemporaryArt Studies in the Faculty of Art, RomeUniversity. She finally received herMaster’s Degree in Fine Arts Criticismin the year 1990 in Cairo. Moreover, shebecame the Director of the Center ofArts from 1992 till 2001. Back then,Fatma started to be one of the mostfamous and important Fine Arts criticsin the Arab World, in addition to theinternational conferences, exhibitionsand projects that she participated inworld-wide, which made her quite wellknown on the international level as well.During this period, between receivingher Master’s Degree and her Ph.D.,Fatma became very active in her field.She participated in a flood of artisticevents, created dozens of new artisticprojects, conducted a lot of researchand wrote tons of papers and articlesin famous Egyptian newspapers like ElWafd and Cairo’s Magazine.

The most important projects and mypersonal favorites, are what I’ll highlightfor you. First, a book that she wrote in1995, titled 29 Artists in the EgyptianModern Art Museum, which was the first

book ever written to document the artistsand their works in the Modern ArtMuseum.

Another major project that was also oneof a kind was the Kom Ghorab Project,which was a squatter area on theoutskirts of Cairo. Fatma and her artistscolleagues Adel el Siwi and MohamedAbla decided to renovate and paint thefacades of the houses in that areamaking it actually habitable rather thana ‘planned-to-eradicate’ governmentproject. Kom Ghorab was also meantto be an artistic experiment that includedthe interaction between the art-critiqueand the artist and their relation to thematerialistic reality of the city.

Lastly and most importantly is the filmtitled, Windows which was carried outby Fatma. Windows is a five-minutedocumentary which embodies a criticalexperiment, which according to Fatma,enables the critic to replace the lingualtext with the visual image as “a way ofseeing” to comment on the artwork. Inthe same year of producing thisdocumentary, the year 2000, Fatma wasinvited to present Windows in the ModernTate Gallery in London. Windows wasdefinitely Fatma’s favorite project, as itmade her feel and believe that she wasan artist, and not merely a critic,throughout its five minutes duration.

Later in the year 2001, Fatma finallyreceived her Ph.D. after one year ofhard work and concentration, in additionto also reaching the position of beingthe Head of the Central Administrationof the Centers of Art. Nevertheless, theposition never stalled Fatma from herenergetic and creative ongoing projects.

I feel art is so lucky due to the amountof love my mom had for it. I can considermyself the luckiest person on earth iflove is the criteria. Having talked to youbriefly about my mom definitely bringsabout the impression of how amazingand unique a character she was. Shecan be your best friend, your sister andyour mother. She was a ‘Lady’ with allthe meanings the word carries. But mostof all, she was an ‘Artist’… with all themeanings the word carries.

Dedicated to the 1st year memory of mymom; Dr. Fatma Ismail

I miss you and I will always love you

Maha Afifi, 21

Head of the Central Administration of the Centers of Art

A Lady, a Mother and an Artist:

Dr. Fatma Ismail

“Hehehehe,” Igrinned.

“Take care, YOU! You’llsimply be arrested next timeyou do it! I don’t have thechance to catch you now;I’m running out of time!”yelled the police officer tomy face while passing byme, riding a white car witha blue stripe on the topwhere you can find thatnoisy thing placed.

What now?

Guys! I was just smiling noteven laughing out loud! Ican’t truly shape a pictureof a frowning clown or a paleneutral face neither smilingnor grinning. I can’t holdmyself from giggling whenhearing a funny joke orwatching a comedy!

When I was discussing thetopic with my brother, beforeI started writing, I wasshocked to hear him say,“Wow! It’ll be great!! I hatesmiling to people I detest.It’s really stupid, you know!” I understood what he wastrying to say then. Maybesometimes you find peoplethat you must smile to theirfaces and appear at easewhen you see them.Personally, I extremelydislike doing so - and I rarelydo. The worst thing is whenyou feel other people smilingto your face while they don’tactually like you!

‘Hypocrites!’ Yes, hiddenbehind the smile. Well, doesit mean that we can livehonestly, for instance,without fake smiles here andthere? Will it make life moreclear and pure? I can grantthat we’ll get rid of loads of

untrue feelings that somepeople can show

halfhearted yet hide,behind their smile,

which is evenworse!

But NOOO … How can I bearto meet my best friendwithout a greeting smile?When my mother’s birthdaycomes, how can I presenther my gift without a warmsmile? What about my littlecousins and babies in thefamily … will they acceptto let me play with them?Won’t I get to talk tothem and laugh whiletelling them stories andacting them outtogether?

My school graduationparty was four monthsago. I can’t describe howhappy I was becauseactually the professors oflinguistics haven’t inventeda word yet that I find couldcarry my feelings andexpress them. So, I won’tdescribe myself because Iwant you to imagine myface. What do you think I’mdoing? Grinning? Smiling?Laughing? Ummm… actuallymore!

Don’t know how to say it,but I’ve never felt thatfeeling before! I think if thatso-called law that forbidssmiling was declared twomonths ago, I would chooseto smile, giggle and laughwith all my senses as deepas I can. Then the policemencan freely put me underarrest. Don’t be surprised toknow I’d really do that. I’mnot worried at all, knowwhy? For the reason that I’llnever be alone; all myschoolmates would surelybe with me :P eh?

‘BE UGLY PEOPLE!’ the lawclearly stated. My God!Imagine your world’s full ofpeople, but ugly people.Never smile, never saythank you, with even thetiniest leer decoratingtheir faces!

Smiling isbeauty’scrown!

Do you accept to take it off? Smiling is your soul’s mirrorthat reflects your kindnessand your

pure spirit. I won’t stopshowing my white teethever! nor shouldn’t you :)

Now, unfortunately I haveto end right here. Hope tohave drawn a smile on yourface! After all – don’t trustthat impossible law that Iinvented above -

I get to shake hands withthe broad, eye-catchingsmile of all of my sweetsmiling readers. As always,I’ll wait for your feedback oreven an email saying thatyou now, more than ever,believe in a smile’s effect!Waiting for your opinions at:[email protected]

Sincerely,Doaa Samy, 18



AzharPark:The Biggest Park in theMiddle East? Sure!

If you have not heard of italready, then the first thingyou should do when you andyour friends go out is paythis breath taking park avisit, if not to enjoy thebeautiful scenery or thehistoric sense of the place, then just go to enjoyyourself in the marvelouslandscape that this park

offers.Azhar Park aims at using itshistorically rich context thatis made of uniquecompositions of IslamicCairo that can be found nowhere else. Inspirationsfrom traditional styles forpublic places, combined withvast green areas beautifullydesigned in geometrical andfree form patterns, withwater fountains and pathsall merging in a rhythmicsymphony that enriches allthe senses, makes this placea one of a kind here inEgypt.It also acts as a ‘Green Lung’

Like You’ve Never Seen …

“Throughout history, strong links have been forged between Islam andthe civilizations with which it has come into contact; these links remainalive in the Islamic heritage today, nowhere are they more evident thanin art and architecture…”

Aga Khan

Egypt,

for Cairo. It is clear that we need more greenspace. One study found that the amount of greenspace per inhabitant was roughly equivalent tothe size of a footprint; one of the lowestproportions in the world. So besides the fact thatwe needed a park, it seemed critical to have aplace to breathe!The project funded by the Aga Khan was not justthe (US) $30 million park - no! It also includedthe excavation and extensive restoration of the12th Century Ayyubid Wall, which is directly facingthe park, and also the rehabilitation of importantmonuments and landmark buildings in this historiccity. It also encompasses an extensive socialdevelopment program for El Darb El Ahmar

community, including apprenticeshiparrangements, housing rehabilitation,micro-credit and health care facilities.So you see, it is not just a place forgoing out, having fun, or sight seeing. It is now considered a place ofutmost importance for thesurrounding community, as children areencouraged to learn and have fun in naturalsurroundings. It is a place for thinking andmeditation, a space of multiple dimensions thatis truly a must-see.

Tarek Rakha, 20

The entrance to the park is a beautifulgate acting as a portal to another realmwhere you can feel, while going throughit, that you’re being transferred to aworld of its own.

Historic layering merged with new found landscaping,blending the society with nature, and providing thatbreath of fresh air that we all miss here in Cairo.

Fountain of water rising from thefloor will greet you as you step inand if overwhelmed by themagnitude of the place, you’ll stillfeel the place very familiar.

Water as an element isn’t just forcreating a certain mood, feeling orhumidity but is considered a symbolof life and purity in Islamicarchitecture, which can be found allthrough the park.

Landscaping in the park is mixed, between perfectgeometry and free form and you’ll probably find yourselffeeling light, and wanting to run - I suggest that youprobably shouldn’t fight it, and do it!


AzharPark:The Biggest Park in theMiddle East? Sure!

If you have not heard of italready, then the first thingyou should do when you andyour friends go out is paythis breath taking park avisit, if not to enjoy thebeautiful scenery or thehistoric sense of the place, then just go to enjoyyourself in the marvelouslandscape that this park

offers.Azhar Park aims at using itshistorically rich context thatis made of uniquecompositions of IslamicCairo that can be found nowhere else. Inspirationsfrom traditional styles forpublic places, combined withvast green areas beautifullydesigned in geometrical andfree form patterns, withwater fountains and pathsall merging in a rhythmicsymphony that enriches allthe senses, makes this placea one of a kind here inEgypt.It also acts as a ‘Green Lung’

Like You’ve Never Seen …

“Throughout history, strong links have been forged between Islam andthe civilizations with which it has come into contact; these links remainalive in the Islamic heritage today, nowhere are they more evident thanin art and architecture…”

Aga Khan

Egypt,

for Cairo. It is clear that we need more greenspace. One study found that the amount of greenspace per inhabitant was roughly equivalent tothe size of a footprint; one of the lowestproportions in the world. So besides the fact thatwe needed a park, it seemed critical to have aplace to breathe!The project funded by the Aga Khan was not justthe (US) $30 million park - no! It also includedthe excavation and extensive restoration of the12th Century Ayyubid Wall, which is directly facingthe park, and also the rehabilitation of importantmonuments and landmark buildings in this historiccity. It also encompasses an extensive socialdevelopment program for El Darb El Ahmar

community, including apprenticeshiparrangements, housing rehabilitation,micro-credit and health care facilities.So you see, it is not just a place forgoing out, having fun, or sight seeing. It is now considered a place ofutmost importance for thesurrounding community, as children areencouraged to learn and have fun in naturalsurroundings. It is a place for thinking andmeditation, a space of multiple dimensions thatis truly a must-see.

Tarek Rakha, 20

The entrance to the park is a beautifulgate acting as a portal to another realmwhere you can feel, while going throughit, that you’re being transferred to aworld of its own.

Historic layering merged with new found landscaping,blending the society with nature, and providing thatbreath of fresh air that we all miss here in Cairo.

Fountain of water rising from thefloor will greet you as you step inand if overwhelmed by themagnitude of the place, you’ll stillfeel the place very familiar.

Water as an element isn’t just forcreating a certain mood, feeling orhumidity but is considered a symbolof life and purity in Islamicarchitecture, which can be found allthrough the park.

Landscaping in the park is mixed, between perfectgeometry and free form and you’ll probably find yourselffeeling light, and wanting to run - I suggest that youprobably shouldn’t fight it, and do it!

Cafés can be found in the park, also restaurants and playgroundsfor children, all in a historical sense that makes the park a uniquespace for outings for all ages all the time.

TeenStuff . July 2005 . 11www.teenstuffonline.com

I guess now we can’t accuse the government of not providing the proper jobopportunities … Wa7edoooooooooh

We herby declare that there is no truth whatsoever in this report“PS: We are paid to say that” :)

That is great! Now I know that my late grandmotheris not the only loyal dead citizen

Too bad such news doesn’t shock us anymore.We know humans are worthless here. The less the merrier!

After all this poverty they still voted for him …Miracles will never cease

El Wafd Newspaper

Al Destour Newspaper


Al Ghad Newspaper


October 2005 . TeenStuff

October 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.comTeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com

Most people havetheir life plannedout, while othersdon’t know yet whatthe future holds.Most people aim atachieving theirdreams even if theirlife depended on it.But others don’thave a clue whattheir goals are. Andeven if they did, theyfeel incompetent toattain such dreamsor goals.Unfortunately, themajority who leadthese aimless livesare teenagers.They’re thefoundation of thefuture but withouttheir goals or aimsto build; everythingwill topple to theground.

Why is it that theylead such aimlesslives? Why is it thatthey don’t exert theirefforts to achievewhat they’ve beendreaming of since

theywerelittle? Why is itthat oncethey hitthe phaseof beingteens,their aimsbecomeelusive?Basically,the onlycommonanswer givenis theshrugging ofshoulders andthe uttering ofone word;LIFE.Life’sconsidered theobstacleblocking theway. Its crueltyis too much tobear. Instead offacing it valiantly,we’d ratherhuddle in a corner,fearfully, or escapeit by just

indifferently lettingit pass. Most teens

accept this state ofennui adequatelyenough just to moveon with their lives;not thinking of theirpurpose in life. Noteven rememberingwhat they want orwanted to do. Whenasked what talentsthey possess, theiranswers are, mostly,filled with pausesand stutter, untilthey resolve to thefact that they don’thave any talents.They can’t

remember what theyliked to do whenthey were young ormainly believethey’ve grown out ofit.

When we considerthe youth who lackambition in the Arabsocieties in general,we can find differenttypes. For example,there are those whorarely wake up earlyin the morning,striving in their lifeto earn a living oreven studying toreach what theywant. They actuallydon’t know fromwhere to begin; howto have a goal andset the steps tosafely reach it. Theseare the types ofpeople who’re justliving. They’retargeting nothing. Allwhat they do in theirlives is just eat,drink, have fun,hang out and finallygo back to wherethey came from. I’msorry to say these

people aren’t reallyliving! They’re justmoving with thewind. I just have aquestion to be keptin the minds of thosepeople: Why areyou living? That’s aquestion that’salways runningthrough my mindwhen I see peoplewho’re always goingout, having funtwenty-four hours aday and also thepeople who’re neverpreparing for the

future; peoplewho’re alwaysmoving towardsnothing. If they lookbehind or in front,they see nothing;nothingaccomplished andnothing to beaccomplished.

They lack experienceand have noexample to follow intheir footsteps.Sometimes,however, you findones who can thinkdeeply and organizetheir lives but theproblem is losingconfidence andsupport. They triedonce or somethingbut failed. Here,some people aroundjust stop caringanymore. We haveto stress thesociety’s view righthere. As long aswe’re short ofencouragement andalways feel down,people just see thenegative parts in ourcharacters, which

isn’t the true us!!

We can find youngsterswho truly need a chance

to be boosted! That remindsme of a story. There’s a guy I usedto know who had nothing to live foruntil he met a girlfriend. But hisgirlfriend got sick and suffered froma kind of illness that neededphysiotherapy twice a week. He wasbewildered and felt even more lostbut what concerned him the mostwas to help her endure her pain andconquer her illness. He wanted herto be stronger although he knewshe’d never be cured. But how?He had nothing to help her, meaning;he actually had nothing to offer.How could he lift her up before liftinghis own self? How would she everbelieve in him before believing inhimself?

Here was the start!He focused all his life on working.He worked day and night and he hadtwo related desires; earning moneyto reach a further thriving positionand, more importantly, to helprestore his girlfriend’s health - atleast by spiritual means. Earningmoney was the reward as a resultof his hard work. But unfortunately,he couldn’t help easing her pain longbecause God chose to do so.See! Even in her worst situationever, the girl pushed him to the topand so the best change took placein his life. What do you think now?Is it a situation that can suddenlychange the person? Or is it achallenge where you must prove toyourself and to others that you canstand tall and face life’s hardest hits?

No one grows because of a talent orsome kind of passion. Anything canbe done if you set your mind to itbecause it’s just an ability to achievesomething, nothing more. Yet, somedon’t bother to search for their talentsor gifts to make them fruitful. Thesegifts can create aims that canaccomplish a person’s wildestdreams. If teens give themselves achance to revive their talents or theireffective ability towards certainthings, then whatever they’vedreamed for can come true. Theirproblem is that they never look tothe future. All their dreams are stuckwith the current time. For instance;a boy who’s in high school and hisonly dream is to get good gradesnever asks himself, why? Is it to bebetter than his friends, is it to getrewarded from his parents, is it tomake them happy, or is it a one steptowards achieving the bigger dream?

One should have a dream in life. Adream’s the reason why we exist.Everything that you do in your lifeis just supporting this dream to cometrue. It’s the reason of existence andwhy you fight the daily problems thatyou face. These are the motives thatmake us struggle when we faceeverything. Sometimes they help us

face ourselvesin person.When we findourselves veryexhausted andnot in themood ofmovingforward,thesedreams actas ourpower thatbump intoour bodysaying,hey, comeon I’mhere topush!!

“To be or not to be…” we all know

thisquote but have we ever thoughtabout it deeply? How can you satisfyyourself when you don’t know if youwant to be or not to be? The word‘dream’ makes the person who ownsit really rich! Every thing in life hascircumstances, except for dreams.You can dream to be a pilot even ifyou’re a little five year old kid. Youcan dream of being the Presidenteven if you know it’s a hard thing toachieve. Many people think that tohave a goal is completely differentthan having a dream. I believe thatdreams build up goals. If you havea dream and you really love thatdream, you’ll work extremely hardto bring it to life. And you’ll considerit your ultimate goal too. Then at theend, you’ll find that what you alreadyachieved now was just a hazy picturethat once popped into your head,which you can actually call a dream!

On the other hand, you must know

that there are certain peopleresponsible to make you give up

your aims in life, just becausethey don’t have ones and

never want you to bebetter than what theyare. Your job is todefend your little

thought till it becomesolder and stronger and

then it’ll talk on yourbehalf. All people will seewhat you did and how you

tolerated days andstress to be in sucha successful position. Never confer thechance for anyone to

destroy your dream.You must never lose

hope, even if you findeveryone and all thecircumstances standing

against you, because thatmay happen and for sure

sometimes you’ll find everythingagainst you, but never should youlose hope because it’ll turn on yourside one day. Just bear it!

Yes, life has its ups and downs. It’smainly about succeeding but whenfailure knocks on your door, greet itwith acceptance and learn from yourmistakes. If you fall off the wagononce, that doesn’t mean you can’tget up and try again and keep trying.Sadly, most of us don’t have thatkind of will power and are alreadyconsumed with a deadly venomknown as ‘lack of interest.’ It’s beenplanted inside of us due to gettingshunted in life, again and again. It’sa major problem and is growing moreand more inside of us. We’ve gottenused to it to the extent that we’vegiven in easily to it.

Now, time to wake up! It’s neverlate.Love your goal! And alwaysremember, if there’s a will, there’s away…

We really hope you could pictureanything in the future by now. Neverwait and start on your way …bear,fight, and be optimistic till youcapture your goal and achieve youraspiration.If you’ve got any thoughts concerningour issue, go ahead and write youfeedback. We’ll be waiting to knowwhat you think about it. Write to usat:[email protected]

By Think Green Club:

Doaa Samy, 18Esraa Hegazy, 18Mahie Ahmed, 20

Mohamed Bahar, 19Reem Ahmed, 15

Compiled by Doaa Samy(Head of the club)

Find yourself!Have you ever foundsomething you believein that’s really worth it?…Have you ever dug deepinto one thought? …Does a dream sound thatdifficult? …Or is it YOU who neverfought? …

No, you’re not too late …Just need to start NOW!…It’s your life…don’t letgo…Come on…walk andrun…Think… search … andalways know:You can reach the sun!

Doaa Samy, 18

Search for your goal …

Findyourself!


Most people havetheir life plannedout, while othersdon’t know yet whatthe future holds.Most people aim atachieving theirdreams even if theirlife depended on it.But others don’thave a clue whattheir goals are. Andeven if they did, theyfeel incompetent toattain such dreamsor goals.Unfortunately, themajority who leadthese aimless livesare teenagers.They’re thefoundation of thefuture but withouttheir goals or aimsto build; everythingwill topple to theground.

Why is it that theylead such aimlesslives? Why is it thatthey don’t exert theirefforts to achievewhat they’ve beendreaming of since

theywerelittle? Why is itthat oncethey hitthe phaseof beingteens,their aimsbecomeelusive?Basically,the onlycommonanswer givenis theshrugging ofshoulders andthe uttering ofone word;LIFE.Life’sconsidered theobstacleblocking theway. Its crueltyis too much tobear. Instead offacing it valiantly,we’d ratherhuddle in a corner,fearfully, or escapeit by just

indifferently lettingit pass. Most teens

accept this state ofennui adequatelyenough just to moveon with their lives;not thinking of theirpurpose in life. Noteven rememberingwhat they want orwanted to do. Whenasked what talentsthey possess, theiranswers are, mostly,filled with pausesand stutter, untilthey resolve to thefact that they don’thave any talents.They can’t

remember what theyliked to do whenthey were young ormainly believethey’ve grown out ofit.

When we considerthe youth who lackambition in the Arabsocieties in general,we can find differenttypes. For example,there are those whorarely wake up earlyin the morning,striving in their lifeto earn a living oreven studying toreach what theywant. They actuallydon’t know fromwhere to begin; howto have a goal andset the steps tosafely reach it. Theseare the types ofpeople who’re justliving. They’retargeting nothing. Allwhat they do in theirlives is just eat,drink, have fun,hang out and finallygo back to wherethey came from. I’msorry to say these

people aren’t reallyliving! They’re justmoving with thewind. I just have aquestion to be keptin the minds of thosepeople: Why areyou living? That’s aquestion that’salways runningthrough my mindwhen I see peoplewho’re always goingout, having funtwenty-four hours aday and also thepeople who’re neverpreparing for the

future; peoplewho’re alwaysmoving towardsnothing. If they lookbehind or in front,they see nothing;nothingaccomplished andnothing to beaccomplished.

They lack experienceand have noexample to follow intheir footsteps.Sometimes,however, you findones who can thinkdeeply and organizetheir lives but theproblem is losingconfidence andsupport. They triedonce or somethingbut failed. Here,some people aroundjust stop caringanymore. We haveto stress thesociety’s view righthere. As long aswe’re short ofencouragement andalways feel down,people just see thenegative parts in ourcharacters, which

isn’t the true us!!

We can find youngsterswho truly need a chance

to be boosted! That remindsme of a story. There’s a guy I usedto know who had nothing to live foruntil he met a girlfriend. But hisgirlfriend got sick and suffered froma kind of illness that neededphysiotherapy twice a week. He wasbewildered and felt even more lostbut what concerned him the mostwas to help her endure her pain andconquer her illness. He wanted herto be stronger although he knewshe’d never be cured. But how?He had nothing to help her, meaning;he actually had nothing to offer.How could he lift her up before liftinghis own self? How would she everbelieve in him before believing inhimself?

Here was the start!He focused all his life on working.He worked day and night and he hadtwo related desires; earning moneyto reach a further thriving positionand, more importantly, to helprestore his girlfriend’s health - atleast by spiritual means. Earningmoney was the reward as a resultof his hard work. But unfortunately,he couldn’t help easing her pain longbecause God chose to do so.See! Even in her worst situationever, the girl pushed him to the topand so the best change took placein his life. What do you think now?Is it a situation that can suddenlychange the person? Or is it achallenge where you must prove toyourself and to others that you canstand tall and face life’s hardest hits?

No one grows because of a talent orsome kind of passion. Anything canbe done if you set your mind to itbecause it’s just an ability to achievesomething, nothing more. Yet, somedon’t bother to search for their talentsor gifts to make them fruitful. Thesegifts can create aims that canaccomplish a person’s wildestdreams. If teens give themselves achance to revive their talents or theireffective ability towards certainthings, then whatever they’vedreamed for can come true. Theirproblem is that they never look tothe future. All their dreams are stuckwith the current time. For instance;a boy who’s in high school and hisonly dream is to get good gradesnever asks himself, why? Is it to bebetter than his friends, is it to getrewarded from his parents, is it tomake them happy, or is it a one steptowards achieving the bigger dream?

One should have a dream in life. Adream’s the reason why we exist.Everything that you do in your lifeis just supporting this dream to cometrue. It’s the reason of existence andwhy you fight the daily problems thatyou face. These are the motives thatmake us struggle when we faceeverything. Sometimes they help us

face ourselvesin person.When we findourselves veryexhausted andnot in themood ofmovingforward,thesedreams actas ourpower thatbump intoour bodysaying,hey, comeon I’mhere topush!!

“To be or not to be…” we all know

thisquote but have we ever thoughtabout it deeply? How can you satisfyyourself when you don’t know if youwant to be or not to be? The word‘dream’ makes the person who ownsit really rich! Every thing in life hascircumstances, except for dreams.You can dream to be a pilot even ifyou’re a little five year old kid. Youcan dream of being the Presidenteven if you know it’s a hard thing toachieve. Many people think that tohave a goal is completely differentthan having a dream. I believe thatdreams build up goals. If you havea dream and you really love thatdream, you’ll work extremely hardto bring it to life. And you’ll considerit your ultimate goal too. Then at theend, you’ll find that what you alreadyachieved now was just a hazy picturethat once popped into your head,which you can actually call a dream!

On the other hand, you must know

that there are certain peopleresponsible to make you give up

your aims in life, just becausethey don’t have ones and

never want you to bebetter than what theyare. Your job is todefend your little

thought till it becomesolder and stronger and

then it’ll talk on yourbehalf. All people will seewhat you did and how you

tolerated days andstress to be in sucha successful position. Never confer the

chance for anyone todestroy your dream.

You must never losehope, even if you findeveryone and all the

circumstances standingagainst you, because that

may happen and for suresometimes you’ll find everything

against you, but never should youlose hope because it’ll turn on yourside one day. Just bear it!

Yes, life has its ups and downs. It’smainly about succeeding but whenfailure knocks on your door, greet itwith acceptance and learn from yourmistakes. If you fall off the wagononce, that doesn’t mean you can’tget up and try again and keep trying.Sadly, most of us don’t have thatkind of will power and are alreadyconsumed with a deadly venomknown as ‘lack of interest.’ It’s beenplanted inside of us due to gettingshunted in life, again and again. It’sa major problem and is growing moreand more inside of us. We’ve gottenused to it to the extent that we’vegiven in easily to it.

Now, time to wake up! It’s neverlate.Love your goal! And alwaysremember, if there’s a will, there’s away…

We really hope you could pictureanything in the future by now. Neverwait and start on your way …bear,fight, and be optimistic till youcapture your goal and achieve youraspiration.If you’ve got any thoughts concerningour issue, go ahead and write youfeedback. We’ll be waiting to knowwhat you think about it. Write to usat:[email protected]

By Think Green Club:

Doaa Samy, 18Esraa Hegazy, 18Mahie Ahmed, 20

Mohamed Bahar, 19Reem Ahmed, 15

Compiled by Doaa Samy(Head of the club)

Find yourself!Have you ever foundsomething you believein that’s really worth it?…Have you ever dug deepinto one thought? …Does a dream sound thatdifficult? …Or is it YOU who neverfought? …

No, you’re not too late …Just need to start NOW!…It’s your life…don’t letgo…Come on…walk andrun…Think… search … andalways know:You can reach the sun!

Doaa Samy, 18

Search for your goal …

Findyourself!

Did you ever stop to think what kindof world do you want? We all wishwe could just close our eyes for afew seconds and wake up to a newworld; a world where everybody'scivilized and respectful. But can thisdream ever come true? Sure it can. The problem is that we're alwayssearching for the solution in changingwhere we are and the people welive amongst rather than in changingourselves. The typical thinking is"Having a corrupt universe like this,how would things go on differentlyif one changed?" Well, since whenare probabilities not accepted merelybecause they aren’t certainties?There are no guarantees offeredexcept that you'll get to learn moreabout yourself. The more you do,the more you'll become awareof that inner potential insideyou that can do things younow think of as miracles.

We all deserve a betterlife. We just needpatience, or give it amore fascinatingname -call it hope. To wish is to hopeand to hope is toexpect and youcan't go onexpecting thingsyou aren't reallyworking for. Andbecause we reallybelieve in this, wegathered together,although we’redifferent in age,studies, hobbies,looks and evenminds, but wesure haveone thingin

commonwhich is,wanting to makea positive change.We want to make a changein us, in people, in our country andin our lives. We want to make thisplace we’re living in, a better place. We want to be the change we wishto see in the world. We are theParadigm Shift Club. Hey, it's ok!We don't bite or anything. Our aimis to make a paradigm shift. I thinkI heard you asking what’s aparadigm shift?

Well, Rene Descartes, a FrenchPhilosopher, mentioned a methodwhich uses an analogy of a basketof apples. This basket contains twokinds of apples, rotten apples andfresh apples. In order to make thebasket perfect, we should dump thewhole basket on the ground andpick the fresh apples only and putthem back into the basket. The

basket represents the human mindand the apples represent our ideasand concepts. So, Descartes wantedhuman beings to free their mindsfrom all the ideas and put the distinctideas back again. This

method issomehow likethe paradigmshift. Aparadigm is amodel orpattern, yourviews andyour way ofliving isyour

paradigm. The main idea of a paradigm shiftis to change the world and improvethe wrong ideas. These changesstart with a breaking away fromtraditions, with old ways of thinking,with old paradigms.

A very good example for paradigmshifts is the astronomical shift doneby Copernicus. Up to the time ofCopernicus, people believed that theearth was the center of the universeand all celestial bodies, includingthe sun and fixed stars, revolvedaround it. Such a theory boastedthe human ego. Copernicus knewthat and when he developed histheory (that stated that the earth,like any other planet, revolvesaround the sun) he feared ridiculeand disfavor by his peers and by theChurch. He feared the impact ofsuch a shift. His work went againstthe philosophical and religious beliefsthat had been held during themedieval times. It also led men tothink that they’re simply part ofnature and not superior to it.

Looking at this,a person wouldthink that theCopernican theorydied before it evenbegan. But, what really happenedis that Copernicus is nowsaid to be the founder of

modernAstronomy.

That is whathappens

with

paradigmshifts.

You're probablynow asking

yourself, why am Ireading all this? Well,

if you feel lost andconfused or think you don't

deserve to live, reading ourarticles will make you adifferent person and helpyou to see the hidden goodin you, know youraspirations and set yourgoals. In case you’realready a ‘perfect’ person,our articles will make youproud of yourself, give youself-confidence and helpyou to change other peopleto be ‘perfect’ like you! And

if

you don't care about changing,reading our articles won't waste yourtime because we’ll provide you withlots of interesting information thatmay help you in your life. Finally,you HAVE to read our articlesbecause it's Bassem Sabry's Club(just kidding!)

Written by:Nada Mahmoud, 18

Shams, 18Walaa Emam, 20

Nour Khedr, 20Eman Ragab, 19

Compiled by:Nada Mahmoud, 18Salma Tharwat, 17

Some people believe thathumans react only afteranalyzing the situationahead of them. If theyfind that the pain they’llendure is more than thepleasure they’ll feel afterthe dissolution of thatsituation, then they won’tgo through it, but if it’sthe opposite, they’ll startreacting. This is knownas the pleasure/painprinciple (or in businessterms: cost/benefitanalysis). But, are wealways that analytic? Imean do we always gothrough the process ofanalyzing the pains andbenefits of each situationbefore going through it?

Imagine a hot summer day. The sun’s shining and you'rein the middle of a verycrowded street. Cars arehonking, it's very noisy, dustis everywhere and all youcan think of is a warm bathand a decent meal. You can'twait to get home. In themiddle of all this mess, youfind a blind man who's tryingto cross the street. Heseems so helpless in themiddle of all these cars andall those people. Will youhelp him? The normalanswer is "yes", you’ll helphim even though you needhelp yourself. Maybe afterhelping him you'll feel happy,like "Oh, I helped this man,"but before helping him, youdidn't have time to weighthe pains and benefits of thesituation. You just acted bynature without theinterference of any rationalthinking.

Another experience I wentthrough was in going to anorphanage. I didn't go onlybecause playing with the kidsmakes me happy. Well, ofcourse it does, but this isn'tthe reason why I went in the

first place. I went becausethese kids need someone tovisit and play with them,without necessarily bringinganything over. Just beingthere makes all thedifference. Going therechanged me as well. In away, I started looking at lifedifferently. I becamethankful for what I have andmy problems didn't seem asgross as they used to. Itgave me a broader view oflife and

made me more appreciative. I was discussing that witha friend once and her pointof view was that I gobecause going makes mehappy, makes me feel good. In other words, it gives memore pleasure than pain andthat's why I do it. But thenthere was this otherorphanage. It was for thehandicapped. I sat in frontof a baby, not more than one

year old, and I tried to playwith him, just hold his handand things like that. He didn'treact at all. He just sat therestaring blankly. Seeing thesmile on a normal orphan'sface was my reward. Yet,continuing the path with adisabled child, I realized theimportance and the strengthof a smile. A smile can makesomeone's day and a frowncan turn it into the longestand worst day ever. Beingable to smile is a gift thatmust be passed on to

others.

That day, I actually cameback home depressed.Despite the fact that Icame back depressed, Iwould definitely go again. Why? Because I reallybelieve that these peopleare the ones who need tobe visited the most.Although I got no reaction,I know I made adifference. It's like whenyou're having a problemand you call a friend andask him to come over andwhen they arrive, you don'tsay a word. Yet, just thembeing there makes you feelbetter.

The bottom line is: Somethings give us more painthan pleasure, but we stilldo them, even if there'snothing in it for usoutright. Also, withoutpassing through hardtimes, we wouldn'tappreciate the happyones. Life's full of ups anddowns and the sweet isnot as sweet without thesour. It’s the obstaclesthat we pass through inlife that make us thestrong beings that we are.

Nada Mahmoud, 18Salma Tharwat, 17

Paradime Shift Club

www.teenstuffonline.com TeenStuff . October 2005


Dust Upon the PearlI was pondering at that picture…watchingthe pearly Nile with its stream. The soundsof its tiny waves were the melody ofmagnificent words which were written forthat realm. The Pyramids were boastingof being the vocalists who vivify the soulof that fascinating land. I started to lookat that enchantment with resentmentwondering where is its wand? Searchingfor a brave soul who will be mindful of

leading its civilization to the top. Who can mollify its tormentand make all its volcanoes stop. In that land a seed of mischiefis starting to swell. So who will hear its vociferation Beforehearing the end’s bell?

Domss, 18

There he stands, leaning on a dimming street light withthat fake smile on his face, desperately trying to lookat himself in the mirror in an optimistic light.Everyone sees his pessimism ravaging his poorly litheart, where from the inside, his realistic ways arerobbing him of his dreams in his heart of what he caresabout the most. He does not know what he wants, hislife so mesmerizing.He needs to stop pretending everything is okay beforeit is too late, before he is robbed of his hopes, of his

ambitions, of his dreams.

Does it even matter what he wantsanymore, when there is always agreater force out there, disablinghim from any decision-making, aforce which he truly loves, buthates what it is doing to his life?Another wasted night, anotherexhausted breath drawn from alost boy's lungs, another lost heart,feeling its way through thedarkness. His heart is filled withso many underground, disguisedsecrets that are slowly consuming

his heart, hiding the glorious reality from the eyes ofhis soul.Thoughts of desperate hopelessness scurry through hismind, having nothing to plan for; nothing to build hisdreams on in this effervescent convalescence to whatmay be his life forever.He must now discover what he really cares about themost, how much he cares, and what he is willing tosacrifice to keep what his heart leads him to. All he cando now is let his mind and his heart struggle with eachother; an odyssey that will teach him the outcome ofwhat he has been building his dreams on.It is the journey that will show him that he does notneed to wait for people to put their ears on the wall ofhis heart to hear what is inside and to understand him.

Andro Shoukry Hakim, 14

The Odyssey to a New Life

Prose

October 2005 . TeenStuff TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com www.teenstuffonline.com 30 . October 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com

My Soul's In MyBag Cuddling My Grenade

It's that somber night as the mud we trudgeexcept the pearls above glittering the scopeAbove the sleepy mob of fainting bodiesAnd wide open eyes murmuring through—The way to their grave inches underneathMayhap there sleeps those weary smiles!Forever!

My soul's in my bag caressing my grenadeFor death may come riding some clouds—Of loss and misery and fate and tragedy:Souls to crop tonight like fruits on tressOne after another responding to the toll;I know my soul is on the line yet I fightAnd shiver!

Thick dark clouds smoldering into redShattering bodies and tearing the turf:Bullets keep showering heaving bloodMy eyes focusing, beholding my rifle,Hand's on bullets, another's on grenades.And carrying my soul behind my backI suffer!

Amongst the bodies I still hear his sob

Mixed with another's mourning eyesDespite the gloom our hearts do beatFor tomorrow our land shall be free:Water it our blood wash it by bodiesDespite it's only left you ten and meWe whisper!

Souls left to crop some distance awayAnd that radiance of glory shines to us;Enemies fall as leaves to autumn windsAs we see angels at the gate of heavenMartyrs of heaven, only two and meTasted victory's honey coated bitternessAnd torture!

All those memories and even moreThat betray my weakened memory,A moment of glory for a whole nationCarved in golden chronicles of fate,Written by heroes, bodies and limbsDrawing eternal smiles on your faceAnd laughter!Yet an enemy lays cruel and hatefulIn the darkest hearts there he lurksGulps past victories feeds on prideEyeless skulls lead mindless bodiesLike full speed cars towards the cliff;That's corruption of minds and soulsThe danger!

Simon Youssef Adly, 21

In TributE To…

Tick tockTick tockTick tockA sound so loud for those inwaitingFor the clock to strike two inthe afternoonOn a certain dateThe 6th day of the 10th monthof the yearWhich year, is of littleimportance;For every year is a playbackof the originalBoth the dead and the livinggo back to haunt a place thatwas once so familiar…Home…Some come to weep,Some to celebrate

Four of them gather today,33 years later;To remember,To relive,To tell the taleEach of themPart of the weapon,Part of the victory.All of them making a home

Sadeem El Nahhas, 21

Listen!Is it victory?!Am I right, or can’t I recognize?Is it our blood decorating history?Our beloved country!

God pushed our hands that day,

But HEY!We deserve to live free,Remember who sacrificed their lives?Or can you still not recognize?He’s my friend, my cousin, and brotherHe’s the tear shed by a mother…Because of joy and not torture!They are alive, still breathingWith us now celebrating!What was done will forever be,A crown to wearAnd let the globe seeLet them remember, as we never forget!We were up to it and feared no threat

Doaa Samy, 18

A Day Like Today

Straight to my eyesYou looked at meRecalling allMy memoriesThis moment I hadIn a distant pastOn a day like todayWhen the command came to me"Move right now!""Set your country free!"

I had those feelingsOf faith and courageBut threats all aroundEmbedded our horrors

But with one single shoutIn the name of GodWe broke straight throughFrom hills of sandTo hills of mud

And all these memoriesOf pride and victoryI came to the presentAnd found it all in history

Where are you men;No more to fight for?Where is the nationIn such a cold indirect war?

Move on you peopleSet your country freeRise with the sunFreedom is meant to be

A day like todayI never did stopAnd a day like todayI still, never give up

Heba Mostafa, 19

This is a poem written by a

pilot killed in the October 6 war,and back to our world on thesame day every year addressingSinai:Dead to the world, back on the same landHello blessed sky, it’s been a while since we havebeen togetherYou have changed. We are dead … nothing lastsforeverWe fought like a hurricane, chased by deathSorry my life was short I wish I had more breathUp in the skies, we turned it redDown on the land was more than a threatTrees of cut moaning headsGrass of fingers joined by threadsFalling into the hole of the endless painWhen pain was everywhereWhen death was not thereThis was the moment of justiceNow things changedAnd who’s to be blamedI can’t see my blood on the sand of the shoreAnd we are losing the land once morePeople forgot about us after we gaveAnd here is a message from my graveMy life has vanished, and soon you will be thesameMy end has come, and history I becameWhat we gave we got back in the graveAnd what you lost was more than dust

MotazBellah Mohamed, 19

Poetry

October 2005 . TeenStuff TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com www.teenstuffonline.com October 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com

Concerning the era of teenmovies, the victims andsituations become slightlypredictable. They all go checkout a deserted building, orsuspicious noise. The stuckup cheerleaders and footballjocks are usually the first togo. So, they should havehung out with the smartpeople who are the only oneswho survive. The forgottenone always has the tendencyto save the day. Just whenyou thought there was nohope, that person appearswith perfect timing afterbeing knocked out. Thedialogue is the only originalaspect in these films. We allknow that the character is inbig trouble if he says “I’ll beright back…'c9” because hewon’t be. Also, once a personis separated from his group,by suggesting to ‘split up’,you might as well know thathe’s dead anyway. Finally,the main and most importantaspect of these movies is thatthe killer - who is the leastperson ever to be expected- always and I meanALWAYS- comes back,especially in the end whichgives away the fact thatthere’ll yet again be anothersequel with more elaboratedeath scenes, more bloodand even a bigger bodycount. And he’ll be comingback as long as film studioshave the time, money andeffort to bring him back innever ending sequels.

To sum up with a quote: “Doyou like scary movies?”“What's the point they're allthe same; some stupid killer

stalking some blond girl whocan't act and is alwaysrunning up the stairs whenshe should be running outthe front door, it's insulting.”

Now, supernatural films arequite different. There isn’tany blood or disgusting deathscenes. But there’s theeverlasting suspense ofsomeone, or should I say,something, coming out frombehind the person. Also,objects can be seen flyingand doors being slammed,but don’t you think thatspirits are more capable ofother new tricks? The endingusually involves the herohelping to free that spiritwhich has unfinishedbusiness in the world ‘above’.So, that doesn’t make youedge slightly out of your seat,you say? And you walk out

of the movie theatre thinkingthat they’re all the same;what else is new? What doyou mean, “what else isnew?” everything is 100percent original. The

characters have altered motivesare different; there’s the sibling,the high school boyfriend, thefisherman, the plain psychotickiller out to seek his unknownrevenge, the doll or the spirit justwanting to hurt people. How onearth can you say that they’re allthe same? The problem thendoesn’t lie within the films but,rather, with you and I whoobviously don’t recognize feareven if it was sitting right next tous eating popcorn!

“That sounds really fake”Sound effects are used in the filmindustry to create effects thatcan’t be achieved by normalmeans. They’re often ‘invisible’.That’s to say that the audience isunaware that what they’re hearingis actually a sound effect.

Synthesizers are almost alwaysused in horror movies becausethey can produce other worldlysounds. But for straightforwardemotion, horns are used too. Thelength of the sound from itsbeginning to its peak is called‘The Attack’, which may be fastlike a door slamming or slow likea dog growling. Loud sounds aremore frightening than soft ones,yet sudden sounds are the mostfrightening of all. Sounds to hearfor in an upcoming eerie attackinclude such things as: the tickingclock, the thunder and rainbeating against the window, thehowling wind, the shuttersbanging against the side of thehouse and – the creepiest of all– the sound of steps comingslowly up the creaking stairs.When King Kong climbs theEmpire State Building, the musiclikewise rises and falls with eachof his movements. A heavy brass

chord announces danger, a lowsustained tone creates mystery;sliding intervals of gliding stringsimply seductiveness. This musicalsignal prepares the audience forthe dramatic events following.The recognition value of reallysuccessful music like the Jawsand Psycho themes allows themto be parodied. Music has thepower to affect the emotionalimpacts, visual field and theimagination.

But have you ever wonderedwhere these sound effects comefrom? How are they produced?Honestly, I was very astonishedwhen I knew how this stuff is

created because these soundeffects are normal sounds we hearevery day but they never scareus.Directors take advantage of simpleevents and trival situations. Nosimple everyday sound isconsidered worthless. They made,for example, the metal twangs inThe Blair Witch Project by usingstainless steel mixing bowls. Theviolin in Psycho was so effectivebecause it was used as a

percussion suggesting thestriking of a knife. Jawsused a sinister but verysimple double bass whichbegan with long, heavynotes gradually acquiringa much faster attack. Tomake Aliens sound effectsseem real, they weresometimes made of bitsof exotic earth languages spliced together. In thecase of Aliens, it was areal cat’s voice mixed withdistorted James Brownscreams.

They may use a womanin labor to create a realscreaming effect like inthe film,they used thecinematographer’s wife’svoice, who was in labor atthe time of filming. Alsoin The Langoliers, thoselangoliers are nearly allmouth, so they needed tohave a predatory effect.But Stephen Kingdescribed the sound oftheir approach as beingreminiscent of RiceKrispies Cereal. So theyspent days recordingcereal sounds, dry cereal,wet mushy in a bowl. InTerminator II, the soundof the crushed skull isactually a pistachio beingcrushed by a metal plate.For the sound of a bulletgoing through the sinister

T1000, it’s a glass in a bucket ofyogurt, getting a hard edge toaccompany the goopy sound. Alsothe sound of the flow around andthrough a gate of steel bars isactually dog food being slowly

sucked out of a can. In The Ring,the sound of the water dripping intothe gulper is actually the producermaking a sound with a straw whiletaking the last sip of his milk shake.The sound crew of Congo found thata gorilla’s natural cry is not scaryenough, so they combined its soundwith the sound of howler monkeyswhich have a throaty growl.Sometimes the noise in films isactually the editor’s Honda Civiccoming down his drive way. In TheGrudge, the spooky popping soundsthat accompany the appearance ofthe female ghost were made with ahair comb and the open-mouthrasping sound of the ghosts is madeby director, Takashi Shimizu.

Now that you know where thesesounds originally come from, isthere any reason why these lamehorror films should frighten youanymore?

“Ewww…Gross!”Even the creepiest things you seeon screen aren’t real. The bloodyou see spurting out a choppedlimb is actually strawberrysyrup…'c9 yummy! The knife yousee super-glued to the psychokillers’ hands is actually plastic.The gunshot wounds you see onlow-life thugs are actually causedby small explosive devices calledsquibs which contain red ink tosimulate blood. All of these effectsare just simulated to provide youthe feeling of sickness andquivering while watching horrorfilms with disgusting effects. Youmay even recall some sceneswhere you were shocked out ofyour skin, but once it’s revealedto be nothing more than specialeffects, the illusion of fear suddenlydisappears. For instance, if youmay remember a scene in Child’sPlay when Chucky is trying to getout of the fire place, before he‘sset on fire, you can see a handpushing him into the fence. Thisproves that Chucky is nothing morethan just an animatronics puppetthat requires to be moved bypuppet technicians. You call thatscary? Or how about Aliens whenandroid Bishop is cut in half and

lying on the ground, reaching to getNewt; you can see the hole he’sstanding in to make it look like he’scut in half. You may recall the scenein Nightmare on Elm Street whenNancy runs up the stairs near theend of the movie; the camera showsa close up of her feet sinking intothe ‘goo’ stairs. You can see exactlywhere she’s going to put her feet asthe ‘goo’ pots are clearly visible. Oryou may also recall the scene inFinal Destination when the teacher(who dies in the fire) is struck in theneck with a piece of the computer.There’s a shot when she’s packingthe boxes and hears a noise. If youlook closely, when she moves herhead, you can see the prostheticneck she’s wearing -for the next

shot when her throat is cut. Thereare tons and tons of goofs andspecial effects that are revealed tobe phony as the effects becomemore complex. This shows thathorror films are the biggest joke infilm history and if all technicalwizardry is set aside, the films havenothing.A burnt-up child killer can kill youin your dreams? Come on nowpeople! That's like a kid’s doll comingto life and killing people or zombiestaking over the world. Now that Ithink about it, every horror movieis full of holes!! But maybe that’swhy we like horror films in the firstplace…

And always remember whatmommy and daddy told you:“When watching a horror film,just close your eyes and sayto yourself, it’s just a movie.It’s not real!”

Written by:Esraa Hegazy, 18Mahie Ahmed, 20

Ali Nasser, 20

Compiled by:Ali Nasser, 20

Head of the Film Club

Halloween Feature

Be AfraidReasons Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Horror Films

“That’s so cliché!”

How many times have you toldyourself that while watching a horrorfilm? I personally have said it quieta lot. Supposedly, horror moviesscare you. Most films do so, no doubt.But they don’t really horrify the livingdaylights out of you. The plot isredundant; you’ll usually find it inone or two other horror films whichare categorized as supernaturalphenomena or the psychotic killeron the loose. Both kinds are filledwith never ending cliché'8es. Forinstance, the killer has to have hisown mask even if it’s not Halloween.He rarely uses a gun but prefers touse a sharper weapon easily pickedup at the nearest hardware store toperform the shedding of fake blood.He usually has one or two catchphrases that are repeated throughout the whole movie. Chases are anecessity, especially with girls. Everyfemale in the film, who’s usually halfnaked, has to be chased. Eventually,she has to trip and is thenslaughtered. If not being chased,then she’ll either be killed in theshower or after coming out of one.

Halloween Feature Halloween Feature

Do you like scary movies?

After

Before

TechnologyHoror Movies’

Star























Ali Nasser, 20



Halloween Feature





After

Before


Star























Ali Nasser, 20



Halloween Feature





After

Before

Even thecreepiest

thingsaren’t real


Star

46 . October 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com

She is the daughter of the Oscar winner and legendary actressGoldie Hawn, who was one of the biggest stars in the 80s andearly 90s, and Bill Hudson, the musician and comedian, famousfor the band Hudson Brothers. Kate was born on April 19th, 1979in L.A. A couple of months after Kate’s birth, her dad and momgot divorced and her father left her and her older brother. Shewas raised by her mother's long-term partner Kurt Russell whomshe considers as her real dad. As she lived with two of the biggeststars in the movie industry, it was obvious that she would beinfluenced by them. Since she was young, her artistic talentsbegan to appear as she sang and danced on every occasion. Herinterest in acting showed up when she was seven years old asshe appeared as Goldie's daughter in Wildcats (1986). Despiteher love for drama, her parents chose another career path for her.She was accepted in NYU's Tisch School of Drama after shegraduated from Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences.

As she planned for her career she went straight to Hollywood anddidn't spend time in classes and Student Theater. She didn't wantto depend on her family's fame so she got herself an agent andbegan to go through different auditions. Because she wanted tostick to her principle, she didn't take a role in Kurt Russell's Escapefrom L.A. but she did land a role in Fox’s hit series Party of Fivebut her part was taken away after one episode. She had anotherrole in another TV series, EZ Streets before she had her first silverscreen role in a small movie, Ricochet River in 1998 and anotherone in Desert Blue in the same year. Then she appeared in 200Cigarettes, as Cindy the virgin, co-starring with Ben Affleck andCourtney Love in the year 1999.

The year 2000 was the biggest year for her as she had four rolesin it. She began with another small movie, About Adam and thenshe had another role in the teen thriller, Gossip. After that shelanded a role in Dr. T and the Women, co-starring with RichardGere, Liv Tyler and Helen Hunt. Her biggest breakthrough camethrough in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. It was intended forher to play a minor role as the lead actor's stewardess sister whileSarah Polley was meant to play the role of the Band-Aid PennyLane. But Sarah turned down the role and this was the rightmoment for Kate to show up determined to get this role. DirectorCameron Crowe was impressed with her determination and gaveher the role. This role opened the door for her real fame.

Then she headed for some real drama movies as she turned downthe role of Mary Jane Watson in SpiderMan to get the role of Ethne

T h e P r e t t y a n d P e r k y

Kate Hudson, when you hear this name the firstthing you will remember is the confident look withthe smile on her face. This look gives you theimpression that she has more than she shows.She started in her stardom career with the musicalrole in Almost Famous and has reached, so far, ina horror flick, The Skeleton Key with a variety incharacters and roles. She is also known for herability to light up the room and almost everyonewho has spent time with her, including directors,family members, co-stars and interviewers, isquick to comment on that.

Kate Hudson

in the remake of Four Feathers starring Heath Ledgerand Wes Bentley. Kate headed back to some romanticcomedy movies as she played the role of AndieAnderson in the hit How to Lose a Guy in Ten Daysco-starring with Matthew McConaughey. Alongside,she has also had some hit comedy movies like, Alex& Emma (2003), Le Divorce (2003) along with TheRing lead actress Naomi Watts and Raising Helen(2004). Her current hit movie is The Skeleton Key,which grossed in $16.1 million in its opening weekend.

Next for Kate is the mystery/thriller movie, The KovakBox (2006) alongside Cate Blanchett and TimothyHutton. After that she will join the ever-busy OwenWilson in the universal comedy, You, Me and Dupree(2006).

Personal Quotes:

"I'm not a big fan of romantic comedies, believe itor not... Well, I don't run out to see them."

"I have zero problems when people say, God, youlook like your mother,” I go, “Well, great! Thanks!”

Alaa M. Jalal, 19

Fun Fact and Trivia:She is married to ChrisRobinson the lead singer ofthe band Black Crowes andgave birth to their child RyderRussell Robinson. As sheconsiders Kurt Russell to be

her dad, she gave her son thename Russell.She started the productioncompany CosmicEntertainment with hermother Goldie Hawn, KurtRussell and her brother OlivierHudson who is an actor andaspiring writer-director.

She was ranked #51 in StuffMagazine's ‘102 SexiestWomen In The World’ (2002).She was rank #38 on VH1's100 Hottest Hotties.She was ranked #99 inPremiere's 2003 annual Power100 List. It was her first timeon the list and she was the

youngest person on it thatyear at the age of 24.Her salary in Raising Helenwas $7 million.She enjoys playing guitar,writing music, and arts andcrafts.

October 2005 . TeenStuff TeenStuff . October 2005 . 11www.teenstuffonline.com www.teenstuffonline.com 30 . October 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com

The End?

Well, yes. The second album was theend for Savage Garden. No one knowsthe real reason behind it and what makesit a big dilemma is the wide base of fansthe group had gained in such a longperiod with a very short fortune of twoalbums. But Darren didn’t want to giveup and it was then when he decided tostart his solo career.

Spin

In 2002, the first album marking thesolo debut of Darren Hayes, was in theinternational market a year after it wasreleased in Australia. The album consistedof very unique tracks such as theromantic Insatiable and my favorite,Strange Relationship.Sometime after that strong start of hissolo career, Darren had to face so manyrumors and gossip that spread aroundhim; about his splitting Savage Gardenand about his contract with the recordingcompany he’d been working with."I had my own mother ring me up fromAustralia in the middle of thenight to say did you lose your recorddeal? Of course I didn't lose myrecord deal, that's ridiculous,” Darrenstated.He decided not to give up and performeda world tour to show people his realtalents. “People will judge me for how I

get through this period. I will respondthrough sticking around… the thing I dofeel confident about is my ability to singand to write songs. That’s why I'm excitedabout this tour which is a far betterresponse than any press release I couldput out or a video showing the realDarren," he assured his fans before thetour.

The Tension and the Spark

It’s the Darren Hayes 2004 release.That album was released on the 21st

of September and featured a totallynew style of songs written by Darrenhimself. He got rid of his Pop attitudewith the help of his friend RobertConley, an electronic music master, asmusic experts call him. Thiscooperation was unintentional actually.It started when Robert was in Darren’shome in San Francisco."He would be tinkering away on thekeyboard," Darren recalls. "Andalthough I had told anyone who wouldlisten that I was not interested inwriting or making an album, everytime I walked past his room I foundmyself singing along to his tracks."To our surprise, the album wasrecorded in Darren’s home andproduced by legendary mix engineer,Mark ‘Spike’ Stent who assures that

Darren has moved forward music wise.About that album, Darren says: "It'san album that describes a personaljourney from darkness into light, fromblame to forgiveness and, finally, tothe acceptance that everything, evenmisery, happens for a reason. And atthe end of the day, there is a light atthe end of the tunnel."The newest single for Darren is, SoBeautiful… adding even more light ona bright star.

Darren HayesMany people sent in requests urging us,the Music Club, to write an article aboutDarren Hayes…so, of course, we’re hereto write what you want to read. Aspromised, here’s all the info you needto know about Darren Hayes.

The year, 1995; somewhere in Australia, a track that toppedthe world charts three years later and formed a special memoryin each one’s head, was born. Truly Madly Deeply is consideredthe real start of Savage Garden consisting of the duet, DarrenStanley Hayes and Daniel Jones. The band was a huge successthroughout the world and produced long running songs thatstill top the charts and are requested everywhere. There secondalbum was called Affirmation which includes the top hit, I KnewI Loved You which I, personally, love so much. That albumsold over 20 million copies worldwide

The Start:

Maggie Balbaa, 21Head of the Music Club


I don’t know from where to start but all I can say for a beginning is that I’mgoing to talk about a serious disaster jeopardizing us as Egyptians. I believe thisis a good way to get your attention as readers.First of all, what’s said by almost everybody, including me actually, is that we’rea Third World country, a bit poor, have lack of technology, etc…. I’m sorry to saythat but we’re technically backward in comparison with the First World. Forexample, developed countries like the USA; isn't it the promised dream for eachof us? Don’t tell me that none of you have never ever fantasized, even once,about living and working there or even being an American? Everybody wishesthat, right? But why is that? Didn’t you people ever ask yourselves, even once,why? What kinds of situations make us want to leave our own country?? I don’twant to go too far with this but you all know what I’m talking about, don't you?We weren’t born to be like that. That's not who we’re supposed to be. We’resupposed to be the rest of the Pharaohs' human race, remember? Ancient Egyptand Egyptians don’t exist anymore. You know, when I thought about it seriously,I found out that we don’t relate to these mighty people. I mean the way theylived, their way of thinking, their technology, and their minds; is that what wehave now? Do we live their way? Do we think their way now? Aren't thesethoughts driving you crazy, people?

Frankly, I do not blame American scientists for thinking that our Pharaohs were"aliens" who landed on Egypt, lived there for a while and then went back towherever they came from! They tell us that in all of their movies and books.They think that the Pyramids are a sort of spaceship or some thing like we haveall seen in the movie Star Gate and its episodes; haven't we? Can’t you seepeople? Doesn't it hurt knowing how they think about us? Jewish people teachtheir children in schools that they built the Pyramids. For God's sake!!! We arein some sort of coma and we should all wake up and prove that we’re the Pharaohs'generations and that the Pyramids are our property. This country isn’t going tochange unless we change ourselves deep inside.

I'll tell you what our problem is. When I was young, I couldn't stop fantasizingabout living and going to school in the U.S. But now I'm old enough to realizethat they're not who they seem. We can be better, meaning that they have a lotof imperfections. They have no history but what made them who they are isplanning and only planning! Their life is a perfect plan, but we have the morals,the manners and the great history. Unfortunately, we’re about to lose what's leftof our manners because we imitate their imperfections only and nothing else.We imitate how they look, how they dress, their video clips and I think this showsthese days in our media and in our streets. I don't think that half naked ladiesare ever going to make us like them; it's a disaster, can't you see?

Think seriously! If only we could imitate how they plan their integrity in work.They’ve got time for hard work, for leisure, for love, for fun...for everything.Don't you see? We can have it all because morals and manners aren’t easy toget but planning and hard work are, right? We’re the future and we can be braveenough to achieve that. We have so much potential but we can't find the chanceto get it out. If we cooperate we can do it. Free will can do anything, can't it?If memory serves, I guess the Egyptian child is known to be the second mostintelligent child in the world so we can be more than we can imagine. This is aserious call for everybody! What do you think we should do to accomplish that?

Mai Adel, 15

“These are not the people who built thePyramids! You are not the Pharaohs…”

These were the exact words I heard from a Germanlady, who works here in Egypt in an institute. Shehas been living in Egypt for about two years. Oneday I was chatting with her and we were talkingabout Egypt and the problems that we are facinghere and its limitations. The first thing she said tome was, “After I came to Egypt I was talking toone of my friends and I told her these are not thepeople who built the Pyramids.”I asked her for more elaboration of what shemeant. So she told me, “You are not the Pharaohswho had built the world’s history and civilization.”I was so angry about what she said but I realizedthat it was true.

Let us begin by answering her question, ‘Are wethe Pharaohs?’ Till this day I do not see we haveachieved anything that our grand kids would beproud of. What I only see is that we are just alwaysproud of what our great grand fathers hadaccomplished. When Egypt tried to promote itselfto organize the World Cup 2010 on Egyptian landhere, you know what our delegates said? “We arepeople who have built the Pyramids”. This is theexact problem that I am talking about; we arealways relying on what was accomplished, and notfocusing on what is still needed to be accomplished.For 7000 years they had created a great civilization,but what have we created?? .We need to stop saying we are the people whobuild the Pyramids because we are not. They arethe people who built the Pyramids, but we are notthem. We still have nothing that can make ourchildren proud of us as there ancestors. I thinkthe time is now for us to start facing reality - weare not them! All countries have realized that butwe still have not. I think we should start buildingthe history of our children and do what can makethem proud of having us as their parents. Hundredsof countries started and are extremely successfulnow such as, the USA, Japan, China, etc…. A wiseman once said, “It is never too late but if you wantto start, the time is now.” It is time for us to stoprelying on the past and start building our ownfuture.

Mohamed Bahar, 19

These days, each society isdiscovering something new andinventing various things, so everycountry is making progress and weare watching and criticizing ourcountry. How can we be mad at ourcountry without making a single moveto improve it? Actually, I have nothingto say except that we live on thehope that we will be better in thefuture but that is just a hope, nothingmore.

If you want to know the reason ofour "backwardness", it is so simple.It is because of the horrible treatmentand relationship between people.Everybody just cares aboutthemselves and nobody wants tolisten to the other, and everyonewants to be the Master that peoplefear and the result of that is theabsence of the cooperation which isthe root of happiness, health and themost important thing - progress. Thetruth is that society, if it remains likethis, will never improve and the othersocieties will be making progress.Well, that is the fact, so what shallwe do? Where are the Egyptians

whom historian writers used to writepoems about our great effort to makeprogress? Where is the sensibility?What kind of life is this? Wake uppeople and cooperate with each other.Be nice and never be against eachother. Make our great dreams cometrue and let the world be a betterplace. Try to be always successfuland the best and never give up orbe miserable. Let Egypt be a perfectcountry; not just the country thathas incredible monuments with agreat history. We have got to beproud of our country and never beashamed of it and to achieve all thatwe need to stick together, and neverseparate. I hope that our society willadvance and never be left behind.

Finally, I would like to say ‘goodbyebackwardness and hello progress.’I hope that everybody is saying thissentence right now and taking thissentence as the first step to makethe first move. Do not forget thatthe desire is the most importantthing.

Israa Hassan, 14

Relyingon the Pharaohs

It's time toWake Up Egyptians!

BackwardProgress

Would you buy anEgyptian madeshirt for 50pounds? No, ofcourse not! But ifyou knew that itwas made inEngland youwould buy exactly

the same shirt for 500 pounds or more,wouldn’t you? Then suddenly, the shirtdoes not look that bad. You tell yourself,maybe it is the lighting in the store or Ijust did not have a good look at the shirtthe first time. Of course it is not Egyptianmade.

I’m sorry to say, it is not the lighting thatconfused you or any other reason of thatsort. It is our obsession with everythingfrom Western countries or the Easterncountries or even from Mars! Just fromanywhere other than our own country.The countries of the North have stressed- for its own colonial reasons - over andover again on the fact that we areincompetent of being independent or ofeven being remotely self- sufficient, somuch so that we actually believe thisclaim very firmly even more than theydo. We have become the first enemy ofour local products - and culture – andhave become also its biggest obstacle.I agree that sometimes the local productcan not compete and is unacceptable;but other times it is the same as itsforeign competitors. The reason behindus choosing the foreign product is notonly quality, but also it is the illusion thatwe have created for ourselves and havelived in it for centuries; that everythingand anything that has a foreign‘nationality’is better.

This hasbeenhappeningforgenerations.But theproblem nowis everycountry thatexports itsgoods wantsto export its culture with it. So now, it isnot only about what country your shirtis made in, it is about what country areyou “made in”? It is as if those magicclothes can actually make you walk, talkand act very differently than your ownculture! It is not so much an industrialcatastrophe as it is a cultural one. Andthe question remains after generationsof distrusting ourselves and believing inother countries, that I think it is in ourgenes; what will cure us from ‘TheSyndrome of Foreign Obsession?’

Dina Wahba, 20

O u r S o c i e t y :The Foreign

Obsession

I don’t know from where to start but all I can say for a beginning is that I’mgoing to talk about a serious disaster jeopardizing us as Egyptians. I believe thisis a good way to get your attention as readers.First of all, what’s said by almost everybody, including me actually, is that we’rea Third World country, a bit poor, have lack of technology, etc…. I’m sorry to saythat but we’re technically backward in comparison with the First World. Forexample, developed countries like the USA; isn't it the promised dream for eachof us? Don’t tell me that none of you have never ever fantasized, even once,about living and working there or even being an American? Everybody wishesthat, right? But why is that? Didn’t you people ever ask yourselves, even once,why? What kinds of situations make us want to leave our own country?? I don’twant to go too far with this but you all know what I’m talking about, don't you?We weren’t born to be like that. That's not who we’re supposed to be. We’resupposed to be the rest of the Pharaohs' human race, remember? Ancient Egyptand Egyptians don’t exist anymore. You know, when I thought about it seriously,I found out that we don’t relate to these mighty people. I mean the way theylived, their way of thinking, their technology, and their minds; is that what wehave now? Do we live their way? Do we think their way now? Aren't thesethoughts driving you crazy, people?

Frankly, I do not blame American scientists for thinking that our Pharaohs were"aliens" who landed on Egypt, lived there for a while and then went back towherever they came from! They tell us that in all of their movies and books.They think that the Pyramids are a sort of spaceship or some thing like we haveall seen in the movie Star Gate and its episodes; haven't we? Can’t you seepeople? Doesn't it hurt knowing how they think about us? Jewish people teachtheir children in schools that they built the Pyramids. For God's sake!!! We arein some sort of coma and we should all wake up and prove that we’re the Pharaohs'generations and that the Pyramids are our property. This country isn’t going tochange unless we change ourselves deep inside.

I'll tell you what our problem is. When I was young, I couldn't stop fantasizingabout living and going to school in the U.S. But now I'm old enough to realizethat they're not who they seem. We can be better, meaning that they have a lotof imperfections. They have no history but what made them who they are isplanning and only planning! Their life is a perfect plan, but we have the morals,the manners and the great history. Unfortunately, we’re about to lose what's leftof our manners because we imitate their imperfections only and nothing else.We imitate how they look, how they dress, their video clips and I think this showsthese days in our media and in our streets. I don't think that half naked ladiesare ever going to make us like them; it's a disaster, can't you see?

Think seriously! If only we could imitate how they plan their integrity in work.They’ve got time for hard work, for leisure, for love, for fun...for everything.Don't you see? We can have it all because morals and manners aren’t easy toget but planning and hard work are, right? We’re the future and we can be braveenough to achieve that. We have so much potential but we can't find the chanceto get it out. If we cooperate we can do it. Free will can do anything, can't it?If memory serves, I guess the Egyptian child is known to be the second mostintelligent child in the world so we can be more than we can imagine. This is aserious call for everybody! What do you think we should do to accomplish that?

Mai Adel, 15

“These are not the people who built thePyramids! You are not the Pharaohs…”

These were the exact words I heard from a Germanlady, who works here in Egypt in an institute. Shehas been living in Egypt for about two years. Oneday I was chatting with her and we were talkingabout Egypt and the problems that we are facinghere and its limitations. The first thing she said tome was, “After I came to Egypt I was talking toone of my friends and I told her these are not thepeople who built the Pyramids.”I asked her for more elaboration of what shemeant. So she told me, “You are not the Pharaohswho had built the world’s history and civilization.”I was so angry about what she said but I realizedthat it was true.

Let us begin by answering her question, ‘Are wethe Pharaohs?’ Till this day I do not see we haveachieved anything that our grand kids would beproud of. What I only see is that we are just alwaysproud of what our great grand fathers hadaccomplished. When Egypt tried to promote itselfto organize the World Cup 2010 on Egyptian landhere, you know what our delegates said? “We arepeople who have built the Pyramids”. This is theexact problem that I am talking about; we arealways relying on what was accomplished, and notfocusing on what is still needed to be accomplished.For 7000 years they had created a great civilization,but what have we created?? .We need to stop saying we are the people whobuild the Pyramids because we are not. They arethe people who built the Pyramids, but we are notthem. We still have nothing that can make ourchildren proud of us as there ancestors. I thinkthe time is now for us to start facing reality - weare not them! All countries have realized that butwe still have not. I think we should start buildingthe history of our children and do what can makethem proud of having us as their parents. Hundredsof countries started and are extremely successfulnow such as, the USA, Japan, China, etc…. A wiseman once said, “It is never too late but if you wantto start, the time is now.” It is time for us to stoprelying on the past and start building our ownfuture.

Mohamed Bahar, 19

These days, each society isdiscovering something new andinventing various things, so everycountry is making progress and weare watching and criticizing ourcountry. How can we be mad at ourcountry without making a single moveto improve it? Actually, I have nothingto say except that we live on thehope that we will be better in thefuture but that is just a hope, nothingmore.

If you want to know the reason ofour "backwardness", it is so simple.It is because of the horrible treatmentand relationship between people.Everybody just cares aboutthemselves and nobody wants tolisten to the other, and everyonewants to be the Master that peoplefear and the result of that is theabsence of the cooperation which isthe root of happiness, health and themost important thing - progress. Thetruth is that society, if it remains likethis, will never improve and the othersocieties will be making progress.Well, that is the fact, so what shallwe do? Where are the Egyptians

whom historian writers used to writepoems about our great effort to makeprogress? Where is the sensibility?What kind of life is this? Wake uppeople and cooperate with each other.Be nice and never be against eachother. Make our great dreams cometrue and let the world be a betterplace. Try to be always successfuland the best and never give up orbe miserable. Let Egypt be a perfectcountry; not just the country thathas incredible monuments with agreat history. We have got to beproud of our country and never beashamed of it and to achieve all thatwe need to stick together, and neverseparate. I hope that our society willadvance and never be left behind.

Finally, I would like to say ‘goodbyebackwardness and hello progress.’I hope that everybody is saying thissentence right now and taking thissentence as the first step to makethe first move. Do not forget thatthe desire is the most importantthing.

Israa Hassan, 14

Relyingon the Pharaohs

BackwardProgress

Would you buy anEgyptian madeshirt for 50pounds? No, ofcourse not! But ifyou knew that itwas made inEngland youwould buy exactly

the same shirt for 500 pounds or more,wouldn’t you? Then suddenly, the shirtdoes not look that bad. You tell yourself,maybe it is the lighting in the store or Ijust did not have a good look at the shirtthe first time. Of course it is not Egyptianmade.

I’m sorry to say, it is not the lighting thatconfused you or any other reason of thatsort. It is our obsession with everythingfrom Western countries or the Easterncountries or even from Mars! Just fromanywhere other than our own country.The countries of the North have stressed- for its own colonial reasons - over andover again on the fact that we areincompetent of being independent or ofeven being remotely self- sufficient, somuch so that we actually believe thisclaim very firmly even more than theydo. We have become the first enemy ofour local products - and culture – andhave become also its biggest obstacle.I agree that sometimes the local productcan not compete and is unacceptable;but other times it is the same as itsforeign competitors. The reason behindus choosing the foreign product is notonly quality, but also it is the illusion thatwe have created for ourselves and havelived in it for centuries; that everythingand anything that has a foreign‘nationality’is better.

This hasbeenhappeningforgenerations.But theproblem nowis everycountry thatexports itsgoods wantsto export its culture with it. So now, it isnot only about what country your shirtis made in, it is about what country areyou “made in”? It is as if those magicclothes can actually make you walk, talkand act very differently than your ownculture! It is not so much an industrialcatastrophe as it is a cultural one. Andthe question remains after generationsof distrusting ourselves and believing inother countries, that I think it is in ourgenes; what will cure us from ‘TheSyndrome of Foreign Obsession?’

Dina Wahba, 20

O u r S o c i e t y :The Foreign

Obsession

October 2005 . TeenStuffOctober 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com

October 2005 . TeenStuff TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com www.teenstuffonline.comOctober 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com

In a growing cloud ofsmoke, Ramadan andhis friends are chillingout. Meanwhile, a hotgirl crosses the street.“Hey man, watch outfor this chick,” one ofthem shouts. Andwithout a secondthought, they alldecide that thenatural thing to do isto follow her.“What’s up babe?,”Ramadan calls afterher.“Hey babe, want togo for a ride?”She, filled with fearand anger, tries toelude them.Ramadan finally says,“Enough guys. I’mbored and she doesn’tseem to comearound.”“I’m in the mood fora ‘shisha’,” a friendsuggests.“Good idea man, let’sgo to the coffee shop.”They all head to theireveryday coffee shop,order ‘shisha’ withdifferent flavors andsit there staringhopelessly at a musicvideo channel. Aftera while, they get out

some cards and startplaying for anotherfew hours. Suddenly,a voice erupts,“YOU’RE CHEATING!!”“You’re calling me acheater?!” Both areat each other’s necksin a quarrel whichends with somepunching and cursing.Eventually, they forgetabout what they‘refighting about in thefirst place and makeup once again. Atabout 2 a.m. theyleave the coffee shopand meet up withanother friend whohas a fancy car witha loud sound systemturned on to thehighest level. Theykeep roaming thestreets aimlessly untilthey meet anothergroup in another car.They pick on eachother and decide tostart a race. In themiddle of the mainroad, they’re too busyswarming the placewith curses that theydon’t notice an oldman crossing thestreet, at least notuntil they hit him.

They all freak out andrun off without caringto check the old man.At six in the morning,the incident iscompletely forgottenand Ramadan says,“I’m dead tired. Iwant to go home.”“Why?” his friendasks. “Are you goingto college tomorrowor something?”“College!!! Ha ha ha…of course not.”Ramadan replies.

A few months later,fasting season hasbegun. A phone callat 2 p.m. wakesRamadan up. “Goodmorning, man”He yawns and returnsthe greeting, “Goodmorning.”“How you feelin'today?”“I have a terribleheadache from lastnight.”“So are you going tocollege?”“Hell no! I’m fasting,”Ramadan exclaims.“Ok, then let’s meetjust around thecorner.”Ramadan getsdressed and meets upwith his friends. Tiredfrom fasting theydon’t know what todo.“I’m hungry. Let’s geta bite to eat,” one ofhis friends suggests.“No, I’m fasting,”Ramadan remindshim.“Ok, how about acigarette?” anotherfriend offers.“Yeah sure,” Ramadansays, taking thecigarette from hisfriend and both ofthem start smoking. A while later, they allfeel bored again andstart to think of other

things to do.“Let’s meet some girls.”“No, after breakfast,” Ramadaninsists. It’s only three hours tillbreakfast.”“What’ll we do till then?”“Let’s waste the time and playsoccer,” Ramadan says.

Breakfast time came sooner thanthey knew it. They all go homeand eat delicious meals after ahard day of fasting. Ramadanheads straight for the TV aftereating to check the new shows.He flips from one channel to theother watching different TVserials. Between each one hefights with his sister on who hasthe right to call up his friends totalk about the show. Then herips off the speaker from hissister's hand and dials up hisfriend.“Hey man, did you see thatexciting episode?” Ramadan asks.“Yeah, I couldn’t believe she’d dothat.”“After what he did, she has theright to do anything she wants.”

An hour and another serial later…

“Dude, tell me if you watchedthat show?” Ramadan asks.“Yeah, that one was pretty funny.That guy always makes a foolout of himself. Hey let’s go out.”No, after this other one then wego out.”Ramadan watches another show

then meets up with his friendsat a coffee shop. They smoke‘shisha’ but don’t play cardsthis time as they’re too busywatching the sixth series onTV.“They keep getting better andbetter each year,” one friendcomments.“Yeah, I know. I wait for themeach year. TV’s never beencooler,” Ramadan agrees.“Yeah but the prank shows arebetter than any series.”“Are you kidding? The biggeststars always pitch in each yearto fill the channels with theirinteresting shows. Now shutup, another one’s about tobegin.”After what seems like the tenthseries, they all decide to checkout a Ramadan tent. It’s toocrowded and the smell ofsmoke fills the place. Finally,they find a place to sit andorder another round of ‘shisha.’“When’s the belly dancercoming?”

“In a while,” Ramadan answers,checking his watch “I got to goand call my girlfriend.”Ramadan goes to call hisgirlfriend, who spent her daywatching TV. He returns just intime for the belly dancer. Theyenjoy their time watching thebelly dancer, smoking andswaying to the music.At about 2 a.m. Ramadan andhis friends leave the tent and goto eat at a falafel restaurant.They all order sandwiches anddiscuss the exciting events oftheir day; whether it was thedelicious food or the amazing lineup of TV serials that glue you tothe television set. Not to mentionthe great hang out at the tentwith the hot belly dancer. All inall, Ramadan had the best timeof his life. After ‘sohour’, theyhang out for a while decidingwhat to do the next day of thisfun month.“So, what’s up with tomorrow?”Ramadan asks.“Mostly like today. What else isthere to do?”“Yeah, today was pretty cool,”Ramadan replied. “Okay, I thinkI’ll head home. I’m dead tired.”So, some of them go home whileothers are still planning for therest of their day!

Chit Chats Out There

"A day before Ramadan, I keep

on wondering about how I'mgoing to fast and worry about mebeing hungry all the time. Butlook at the bright side; I'm goingto lose weight!!"

"I like watching TV a lot,especially in Ramadan; there area lot of serials. It's fun talkingabout last night's series besidesthe commercials that interruptall the time!"

"I agree with my friends to stopcertain bad habits, so wheneverany of us forget, there are alwaysthe rest who remind him of that!"

Those are some of the verynormal comments we hear anddo everyday during Ramadan.Some of our behaviors need tobe changed; others need to bepersevered, even, after Ramadan.Let's make it our mission thisyear to do our best in Ramadan!

Mission Statement:

‘Rebound’ is a term that canadequately describe the periodthat follows Ramadan. By the endof the holy month, we’re all readyto switch modes and return backto our old selves. Those whosmoke burn twice as manycigarettes as they used to duringRamadan. Those who prayedregularly, did good deeds and cutdown on their bad habits duringRamadan, usually go back to theirformer attitude in life.However, if you want things to

be different and better this year,then how about writing downyour own mission statement?Jot down things that you’d liketo do better starting Ramadanand afterwards; bad habits thatyou want to get rid of, virtuesthat you’d like to attain. Promiseyourself that you’ll try as hardas you can to be a better ‘you’even after Ramadan. That’s thewhole point; to continue goodhabits after Ramadan, not justduring it.

Here are some things that youcan add to your statement:

* I’ll be kind:

Hypothetical situation: You’vebeen standing in line for 30minutes waiting to pay yourcollege fees. Unless you pay thefees, you won’t have yourexamination ID. The old lady incharge is so slow and by thetime you reach the window,you’re exhausted, thoroughlydrenched in sweat, and you’rehaving all kinds of visualizationsabout strangling the old lady andtelling her what a lousy job she’sdoing.Instead, try to imagine thenumber of students that havebeen there before you today topay their fees. It’s 1 p.m. already.Has she had any rest? Howmany “please’s”, “Excuse me’s”and “I’m in a hurry’s” has sheheard today? Let alone all thegrunts!Maybe it would make both ofyou feel a little better if you smileto her, ask her how she’s doing,call her by name (a person’s

name makes him feel morespecial) then go ahead quicklywith the rest of the process.It might also feel better if, for achange, you let the car on yourright get ahead of you in a trafficjam, or slow down for a ladywho wants to cross the street.

* I’ll try to forgive as muchas I can:

Hypothetical situation: Imagineyou’re a girl (unless you’re onealready!) One of your colleaguesat school or college has startedto spread gossip and rumorsabout you after seeing you witha male friend of yours. Itfrustrates you, because besidesthat, the guy you were with isjust a friend! This colleague hasabsolutely no right to violateyour privacy like that.One day, you run into yourcolleague, however, and yourealize that you’ll be spendingquite a few hours with her inclass. After a few moments ofsilence and barely able to concealhard feelings, you decide to getover it and forgive her. As analternative, you’ll show her whata nice, kind and forgiving personyou are. Gradually, she’ll get toknow you better, thus, doubtingher biased opinion of you andrealizing that she’s made a bigmistake.

* I’ll be more honest:

Are you the kind of person who’d

stop lying or cheating inRamadan because it’s a holymonth? If you’ve managed todo that for thirty whole days,maybe you should try to abideby that principle progressivelythroughout the rest of the year.We’re constantly being evaluatedfor everything we do during thewhole year, not just Ramadan.And don’t they say that marksgained by cheating are alreadylost in some other way?Avoiding the truth makes usscared and whatever we try tohide comes out sooner or lateranyway. So maybe we shouldjust follow the famous quote,“The truth shall set you free.”

* I’ll be more patient:

It’s kind of funny how we, asteens, can be so laid back ingenerally important matters likefilling in our college forms orhanding in assignments, yetwhen it comes to having fun ordoing what really interests us,we can be very excited andimpatient.Try to adapt yourself to patience.Though a hard trait to attain, itcan be very rewarding. It’s okto wait for dinner, don’t fussabout it. It’s ok to wait till therow in front of you has receivedtheir exam sheets first, then youcan take yours. And it wouldeven feel good to wait till anelder, who uses a walking stick,is up on the staircase ahead ofyou.

* I’ll pay my dues to my familymembers and friends on aregular bass:

You don’t have to see members ofyour family in Ramadan only. Getcloser with your relatives andfriends. Remind yourself that youhave to visit a certain member ofyour family every, third Tuesdayof the month, for example. Takeyour old aunt’s number and callher every now and then or visitan old friend; you’ll feel really goodabout yourself. And they’llappreciate it too. Besides, whenyou lose someone close forever, ithurts to think of the many timesyou could’ve seen him/her butchose not to.

* I’ll be more giving:

Do something nice for a strangeror a friend without expectinganything in return. Help out yourfriend with his research. Explainto him a certain chapter that he’sbeen having difficulty with. Get

out of your owncircle and have agood look atpeople aroundyou. Buy a littlegirl or boy someclothes, books orfood…etc.

* I’ll cut downon my badhabits andmake way forgood habits:

If you’re a heavysmoker, then itmust’ve beenhard enough,during Ramadan,to cut down onthe number ofcigarettes youburn per day.Maybe it won’tbe such a badidea if you try tocontinue this ‘cutdown’ mode afterRamadan.Instead, you canmaintain thepattern of goodhabits thatyou’ve adopted

during the holy month like readingQu’ran on a regular basis, prayingand lots of other good deeds.

A Synopsis …. Long DistancesAbroad:

Many of us might assume thatRamadan in other parts of theworld isn’t taken into considerationwell enough by the Muslimcommunity. Others might assumethat Ramadan days and nightsaren’t spent correctly. However, inmost cases, that isn’t true! Infact, it could actually be the exactopposite.

In most Western nations, as youmight know, Ramadan is just likeany other month that passes by.Since the majority of citizens aren’tMuslims, the overall atmosphereof the month is not focused onRamadan entertainment as wehave here, in Egypt. Thus, aMuslim's life would simply go bynormally. But then, how doMuslims living abroad spendRamadan? Since this minority hasthe right to practice its ownreligion, they do wish to celebrate

the month's holy spirituality in oneway or the other. The only waythat proves to be suitable and well-fit for their surrounding culture is,in fact, the correct way. So, theonly possible correct way to spendRamadan is to focus on respectingthe month's religious nature byworshipping Allah in all correctways.

Final Word

Unfortunately Ramadan islike this now:

. Smoking during the day

. Flirting and hanging out withgals. Eating till our stomachs burst. Watching TV serials all nightlong. Wandering the streets withfancy cars. Smoking ‘sheesha’ and goingout to tents. An unofficial school or collegevacation; no studying. Choosing friends over family

....when it iw used to be likethis:

. Getting closer with God

. Getting in touch with our innersoul. Enhancing our religious values. Family gatherings. Praying ‘Taraweeh’ andattending lessons and ‘afterprayer’ meetings. Redeeming our sins

Written By: The SocialClub

Nahla Sallam, 21Noha El Nahal, 21

Raghda Salama, 15Shady Sadat, 21Esraa Hegazy, 18

Yasmine El Gibaly, 20

Compiled By:Noha Samara,21

(Head of the Social Club)Illustration by: Adnan Hesham

It’s 5 p.m. whenthe sun starts to

set. YoungRamadan wakesup and starts hisday. Without evenwashing his face,

he runs to thephone and calls up

a friend.“What’s up dude?

What are wedoing today?”

His friend replies,“Same like every

other day.”“Cool! Where arewe going to meet

the guys?”Ramadan asks.

“Round thecorner.”

Try to imagine the number of students thathave been there before you today

to pay their fees

It’s too crowded andthe smell of smoke

fills the place

“Dude, tell me ifyou watchedthat show?

They keeproaming the streets

aimlessly

A Mixed Up ContemplationRamadan:


















Mission Statement:




* I’ll be kind:






















Final Word























to pay their fees


fills the place



aimlessly




















Mission Statement:




* I’ll be kind:






















Final Word























to pay their fees


fills the place



aimlessly

A Mixed Up ContemplationRamadan: A Mixed Up Contemplation

Ramadan:

speak through her non-stoplaughing. She suddenly stoppedlaughing stood up straight andwas looking past them at thecrimson and gold curtain. Exceptthat there was an old manstanding pushing away thecurtain. He seemed very old as ifhis skin was melting off his face.His eyes were shooting, piercinglooking at the three of them.“What are you three doing here?”he asked in a hollow voice. “You’retrespassing, you know. I couldget you in trouble; or worse…Icould make you disappear,” hismelting face tried to smilewickedly.Delilah felt Daniel’s hand pullingher back. He looked at Lavenderand nodded. She nodded back,knocked off some books from theshelves to create a diversion andall of them ran out of the shop,jumped on their bikes and went

along the dark and gloomy road.Daniel and Lavender werelaughing and yelling sounds ofexcitement. “Did you see that oldman’s face when we ran and hecouldn’t catch us?”“Exactly what was fun about thatDan? We broke in and we meddledwith magic. Who knows whatcould have happened?”“You need to be more adventurousDelilah.”“No, I don’t. I’m happy like this.I don’t think adventure requiresbreaking and entry and doingmagic. Now take us home Dan,you know the way, right?”“Yeah, I do. Don’t worry.”They started cycling through thedark neighborhood for a fewminutes but without reaching theirside of the town. It seemed as ifthey were biking in circles. Theyrealized this when they stoppedin front of the Magic Shop again.

“What’s the Magic Shop doinghere?” Daniel asked perplexed,stopping with his bike with a loudscreech.“We’re going in circles. I thoughtyou knew the way,” Lavender said,also parking her bike.“I thought I did. But it’s like thisstreet came out of nowhere.”“Don’t be ridiculous. Nothingcomes out of nowhere. Let’s tryagain,” Delilah said and took ahead start at cycling through theend of the road. They went behindher but after another few minutesof cycling they were back in thesame street.“What the hell?!” Daniel said,throwing his bike to the groundand starting to look around forany directions, signs, people…anything. But there was no one,no signs. They were stuck in astrange and isolatedneighborhood. Silence was

deafening and they could barelysee each other in the gloomylights.“Are we lost?” Delilah asked,fearfully. She parked her bike,carried her cat and joined Daniel.Lavender did the same and sheseemed to be also panicking,looking around in the dark afraidof something luring out ofnowhere. “I don’t get it. How canwe be lost?”“I don’t either. There isn’t anydetour or any route to take us outof this dump. We tried six differentstreets; somehow they all broughtus to the magic shop street.”“Well, why don’t we try and askanyone living in of these houses,”Delilah suggested, raising hervoice over her cat’s hisses.Lavender ran to one of the houses,started knocking and asking ifanyone was home. “Could youshut that cat up for a bit? I can’t

think straight,” Daniel insisted,also seeming panicky. “I can’t, Idon’t know what’s wrong with it,”Delilah said, trying to calm it downby scratching its belly. “Ever sincewe left that magic shop it’s beenmaking weird hissing noises Inever heard before. Maybe he’safraid because you got us strandedin this unknown place,” Delilahraised her voice furiously.Lavender approached them fromthe house and said, “There’s noone at home. I’ve tried threedifferent houses.”“We wanted to leave way beforewe came here,” Delilah continuedshouting at Daniel. “But no! Youhad to explore, you had to enterthat stupid shop!”“How was I to know that we weregoing to get lost?” Daniel yelledback.“Guys, it’s ok. We’re in thistogether and we’ll find a way back.Don’t worry,” Lavender told them,trying to pacify them both whowere completely furious. Theystood there for a few secondsquietly. The only sound made wasof the cat’s purring and hissing.“Ok, I have an idea,” Daniel finallysaid. “We’ll split up and knock oneach house to see if anyone canhelp us. Try to find anyone in thishaunted place and I’ll head backto the Magic Shop to ask the oldman.”“Go back there… alone? What ifhe does something to you?”“What’s he going to do, Lavender?He’s old. I’ll just ask him fordirections.”“He owns a magic shop he couldput a curse on you or something,”said Delilah anxiously.“D. Stop being a kid. Magic can’tmake people disappear like hesays and please shut your cat up;it’s becoming annoying.”“Well, what am I supposed to do?Maybe he’s afraid.”“Maybe it’s sick of you carrying itall the time. Here…'c9.” Hegrabbed the cat out of Delilah’sarms and threw it in the basketon the bike. The cat attacked himbefore it was completely settledin the basket. Daniel let out asmall ouch! He backed away fromit and stood in the street cursing.“God, Delilah. Your cat is horrible!Why did you bring that stupidanimal anyway? All it does isannoy the hell out of me!”“Don’t talk like that about my cat!Stop being uptight, it’s just a cat.Ignore it.” But it wasn’t just cat.It was more than a cat. Daniellooked at his scratched hand andfound that it wasn’t bleeding. Ithad three golden marks instead.He kept staring at his hand for afew minutes perplexed. Why were


“So, where are we headed?” sheasked“No where. Just around the towna bit,” Daniel replied, while he wasfixing his black hair in front of acar window, trying to spike itupwards. But it was useless; hishair was so soft it wouldn’t spikeup the way he liked. So he justmessed it up with his two handsand sat on his bike. He was theonly one who changed out of hisschool uniform. Instead, he worea black t-shirt with ‘Rock Rules!’written on it and a pair of darkjeans with a chain hanging out onthe side. Lavender also wore ablack t-shirt with a picture of aguitar on it, but still wore the bluepleated skirt girls wore to school.“Why did you bring your cat?” sheasked Delilah“I wanted to take her for a ride,”she replied still scratching the cataround its ears.“You know, ever since you got that

cat a month ago you’ve been doingnothing but talking about it andtaking it every where. C’mon, givethis cat a break from you!”Delilah, jokingly, gave her a dirtylook. Lavender smiled and said, “Iwas only kidding.”They all got on their bikes andheaded off for town. They madetheir usual stops to have a bite toeat and then at the record storeto buy new records of the latestrock band. They were having somuch fun they didn’t realize they’dalready been out for a few hoursexploring different parts of thetown they hadn’t seen before. Theyreached a dark and gloomyneighborhood. The houses andbuilding were small and crammednext to each other.The street lights were very dim.“Where are we?” Lavender asked.“I have no idea,” Daniel replied.“I’ve never been here before. Let’scontinue exploring it for a while.”

“No, let’s head back. This placelooks scary. It’s time to go homeanyway,” Delilah said staringaround as if a monster might comeout of nowhere.“Calm down D. It’s just a town.We’ll check this out first then leave;I remember the way,” Danielassured her. He’d always been theadventurous one. He always likedto meddle in things unexplored.The houses were all the same. Thesame pale color and scratchedpaint. They all had red, worn outbricks. The windows were brokenwith empty slits on each side.Garbage was thrown everywhere.The grass was yellow and dry underthe damaged picket fences. Thistown looked like no one hadentered it in years. No one seemedto live there. There was no sign ofhuman civilization at all. They kepton cycling till they reached a smalland dingy shop. The sign was tornup but they managed to read on

October 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com TeenStuff . October 2005TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com

it, The Magic Shop.“Cool! Where was this place whenyou needed it? We could’ve usedmagic to study or to get theanswers to exams!” Lavender,wishfully exclaimed.

“Let’s goinside,”Danielsuggested,with abeaminglook on hisface.

They allentered thestore,ignoringthe‘CLOSED’

sign. The door squeaked and thebell on top of it rang. But no onecame; the store was empty asthe whole neighborhood.“Great! Just great! Doesn’tanyone live in this wretchedplace?” Delilah said angrily, tryingto hang on to her cat whichseemed annoyed by the powerfulsmell of incense burners. Theplace was also dimly lit. It had ahuge library. Tons of books werestacked everywhere, on theshelves, tables and floors. On theother side of the room there wasa counter and a worn out crimsonchair. Behind it there was a longcrimson curtain with gold edgescovering a doorway. Everythingseemed worn out and shabby atthe Magic Shop. Dust popped outof the wooden floor as theywalked inside. The floors creakedas if they were protesting againsttheir walking on it. Probably, noone had walked on them foryears. Lavender headed straightfor the books and Daniel headedfor the weird objects and spellingredients while Delilah stood inher place without moving. “Guys,this place is freaking me out.Let’s head home…please,” shesaid. But they were all awed withthis shop, jumping from cornerto corner, checking out everysingle dusty little thing. “Delilah,take it easy and come check thisout.” Lavender was standing in-front of the ancient Egyptianmagic section. She had a darkand dusty book in her hands titledAnimals in Ancient Egypt. Thepages had a pale brown color andwere rough in touch. She waspointing to a section about catsin Egypt. “I can’t believe theyworshipped cats. What for? Hereread it.” She handed her the bookand she started reading. Danielnow was reading a black magicbook also under the AncientEgyptian section. “Oooou, let me

see, let me see!” Lavender saidtiptoeing to see over his shoulder.“Hey, listen to this,” Daniel said.“Magic was very common inancient Egypt. Black magic wasnot spread but it existed. It wasknown that ancient Egyptiansused to put a spell to send fearfulcreatures and animals to protecttheir graves from tomb raiders.While the spirits were in theunderworld knew how to protecttheir tombstones with help fromtheir living relatives. Somemagicians used magic to do evildeeds. An evil and most powerfulmagician, Seckhtet, who wasnamed after the god of war andcorruption, planned a conspiracyto kill King Ramses the third. Buttheir evil plot failed and everyoneinvolved in this conspiracy was

condemned to death. It wasbelieved that Seckhtet left behinda spell to bring his spirit backfrom the underworld. Not in hisfull form but through possessinga certain creature. His plan wasto return to the world above andretaliate. There has been no prooftill this day that it worked. It wasbelieved to be only a myth.”“Hey look, they have the spellwritten down,” Daniel pointedout, exchanging weird looks withLavender. They smiledmischievously and Delilahunderstood what they were aboutto do and decided to protestagainst them. “No way, are youkidding? This is magic. You can’tdo this. What if something terriblehappens?”“Nothing will happen,” Danielassured her. “They said it wasnever proven to be real. It’s onlya myth.”“Yeah Delilah, we’ll just do it forfun. Nothing will happen,”

Lavender assured her, taking thebook from Daniel and beginningto go through the pages.“How can you be sure? I don’tknow guys; I don’t think weshould meddle with magic. Theremight be unexpectedconsequences,” she said tryingto hold on to her cat that wantedto flee from her arms to chase amouse running by. It jumpedfrom her arms and startedchasing the mouse. Delilah ranafter the cat while Daniel caughtthe mouse.“Fine, we’ll do it on our own. We’lluse the mouse in case the spiritwants to use it.”Before Delilah could say anotherword they were already sayingthe incantations. They repeatedit three times, and waited for

something to happen. Waiting,listening, keeping their eyes open,nothing happened. The mouselooked like a normal mouse tryingto flee from Daniel’s hands. Helet go of it and it ran into a tinyhole. Delilah caught her cat thatwas hissing weirdly but she hadn’tnoticed that it was shaking. Danielcame up to her and said “See D,nothing happened. It was all amyth. You shouldn’t have freaked…'c9..”“Delilah… ” Lavender interrupted.She had widened her eyes spokein a low and harsh voice almostsinging, lifted up her handstowards Delilah as if about tochoke her. “Delilah…'c9,” shecontinued and walked closer. “Iam the evil spirit of Seckhtet....I will take revenge….” She thenburst into laughter.“That wasn’t funny Lavender!”Delilah shouted furiously.“You…should’ve seen the…lookon your face.” She could barely

the scratch marks golden? And whycouldn’t the cat keep quiet? Whywere they stranded in an isolatedneighborhood unable to get out,only running in circles and returningto their starting point? He keptthinking for a moment, not evenrealizing them asking him what’swrong. “D, you said that you neverheard the cat make these soundsbefore?” he asked, ignoring theirconcerned questions. “Yeah. Why?”Delilah replied. Daniel was dazed.He didn’t speak a word. He onlystared at the cat stunned. But how,he kept asking himself. It wasn’tpossible; the book said it was onlya myth. Or was it?“Dan, are you ok?” Lavender asked,looking troubled. “Yeah, it’s justthat the spell we did…'c9”He keptthinking how to tell them withoutseeming crazy. He was on tosomething far fetched. “It’s justthat…what if…” but he didn’tcontinue the sentence.The cat’s hisses were even louderand suddenly out of nowhere a carcame rushing at full speed hittingDaniel. He was thrown five feetaway from the street and landedon his back with a loud thump. Thecar stopped for a second - it wasdark as that night. The two girlsscreamed and ran to Daniel’s bodythat lied motionless on the ground.Lavender tried to wake him up,Delilah looked back at the car butit was gone just like it had appearedout of the blue, it vanished. “Wherethe hell is the car?” Delilah asked,but Lavender was more concernedwith her brother. She was cryinghysterically and tried to wake himup. Delilah checked his pulse butthere were no heart beats. She wastaken aback, she felt as if herstomach would explode. Daniel wasdead!“Noooo!” Lavender screamed, afterseeing the look on Delilah’s face.“It can’t be.” But Delilah didn’tanswer. She couldn’t bring herselfto speak or even move. Lavendersuddenly stood up and ran to oneof the houses. “Where are yougoing?” Delilah asked her, in a panic,and ran after her. “I’m going to findhelp, I can’t leave him like this!”she screamed, and started knockingon every door of each housefrantically but no one wasanswering. “How can the cardisappear? It’s kind of weird youknow,” Delilah said wiping her tearswith her shaking hands. “We didn’teven hear the stupid engine. OhGod, I don’t know what I’d do ifhe’s gone,” Lavender cried out asshe ran, frantically, to the nexthouse screaming for anyone home.Eventually, she decided to breakinto a house that had brokenwindows in order to find someoneor even a telephone. “Watch outfor the broken glass,” Delilah warned

her but her arms were cut anywayby the sharp glass. “Damn it!”Delilah heard her yell from inside.“It’s ok, I’m ok. I’ll open the doorfor you.” Delilah headed to thedoor but her mind was buzzing withquestions. She couldn’t believe whathad happened. Images were racingin her head, Daniel’s body, and thecar. Then she remembered the lastthing he said before he died.Lavender opened the door andwalked inside the house. “Lavender!Wait,” Delilah pleaded, rushing afterher but Lavender didn’t stop; sheonly walked slowly into the house.It was huge and dark. They couldn’tsee much but a rotten smell filledthe air and they could feel thatcarpet beneath their feet. Theywalked carefully and slowly, notwanting to trip till they find a lightswitch or a lamp. “Lavender, do youremember what Daniel said beforehe…” Lavender stopped and staredat her; she couldn’t bring herselfto say that word. They didn’t believehe was gone.“He said something about a spell.”Lavender replied.“And the cat...” Delilah added.“What about it?” she asked, as shestopped walking and turned toDelilah. They couldn’t quite makeout each other’s face. The moonlightand the remaining street lampswere the only light source. “Well,it had been acting strangely afterthe Magic Shop.”“So?”“You said he mentioned a spell?”Lavender gaped at her. “D, whatare you saying?” But the problemwas, in fact, that Delilah didn’t knowwhat she was saying. She wastrying to relate things together butit didn’t make any sense. What ifthe spell had worked and her catwas really possessed? But shediscarded this idea. It seemed driveland silly. The look on Lavender’sface indicated that she was thinkingthe same thing as Delilah. “You

don’t think that all this is becauseof…”“Magic…” Delilah finished thesentence. All of a sudden the floorboard started to crack and shake.There was a loud crash; the woodenfloor was falling apart. Lavenderwas caught in the middle of thecollapsing floor and fell with thebroken floor boards, while Delilahtripped and fell flat on her face.She quickly got up to see nothing.There was no hole, no broken floorboard, only the dusty carpet andmost of all no Lavender. Delilahpanicked. What if she was trappeddown there? She lifted up thecarpet, but there were no cracksor frictions; the wooden floor lookedsmooth as ever. She threw thecarpet away, and dust fleweverywhere. She started coughingand stomping the floor, hoping tobreak it; hoping to let Lavenderout. She wasn’t willing to loseanother friend that night. Shestopped unexpectedly at the sightof her cat. It was standingmotionless at the door way. Delilahfeared what it might do next, thatis... if it’s actually possessed. Butshe was sceptical, and didn’t wantto admit something like that toherself. She thought the best logicalthing to do is run out of the housebefore it collapsed again, butsomething was holding her down.Something was restraining her feet.Eventually, the house started toshake again and fall apart.Everything collapsed on Delilah….

To this day, no one ever heard againfrom Daniel, Delilah or Lavender.They were wiped from the face ofthe earth. It’s still a mystery howthey vanished without a trace. Allthat remained was the black cat.

Esraa Hegazy, 18

The Curse of the Black Cat

veryone was so eager to start theirsummer vacation. They consideredit the celebration of finishing school.Next year they’d be heading off toa new destination, a new journeyknown as college.Delilah, Lavender and her twinbrother Daniel

were best friends. This was theirlast summer together before headingoff to different colleges so theywanted to make the best of it. Onceschool was out they all headedhome and traded their books withtheir bicycles. Delilah carried herPersian black cat and placed it ina small blue basket with ribbonson her bike. She then joined herfriends at the end of the road tocycle around the neighborhood fora while. She felt glad that schoolended. She parked her bike next toher friends’, brushed aside herbrown curls from her face andstarted scratching her cat’s ears.

E

It was known thatancient Egyptiansused to put a spell

to send fearful creaturesand animals

to protect theirgraves from tomb raiders

She suddenly stoppedlaughing stood

up straight looking at thecurtain

It’s still a mysteryhow

they vanishedwithout a trace.

All that remainedwas the black cat.

speak through her non-stoplaughing. She suddenly stoppedlaughing stood up straight andwas looking past them at thecrimson and gold curtain. Exceptthat there was an old manstanding pushing away thecurtain. He seemed very old as ifhis skin was melting off his face.His eyes were shooting, piercinglooking at the three of them.“What are you three doing here?”he asked in a hollow voice. “You’retrespassing, you know. I couldget you in trouble; or worse…Icould make you disappear,” hismelting face tried to smilewickedly.Delilah felt Daniel’s hand pullingher back. He looked at Lavenderand nodded. She nodded back,knocked off some books from theshelves to create a diversion andall of them ran out of the shop,jumped on their bikes and went

along the dark and gloomy road.Daniel and Lavender werelaughing and yelling sounds ofexcitement. “Did you see that oldman’s face when we ran and hecouldn’t catch us?”“Exactly what was fun about thatDan? We broke in and we meddledwith magic. Who knows whatcould have happened?”“You need to be more adventurousDelilah.”“No, I don’t. I’m happy like this.I don’t think adventure requiresbreaking and entry and doingmagic. Now take us home Dan,you know the way, right?”“Yeah, I do. Don’t worry.”They started cycling through thedark neighborhood for a fewminutes but without reaching theirside of the town. It seemed as ifthey were biking in circles. Theyrealized this when they stoppedin front of the Magic Shop again.

“What’s the Magic Shop doinghere?” Daniel asked perplexed,stopping with his bike with a loudscreech.“We’re going in circles. I thoughtyou knew the way,” Lavender said,also parking her bike.“I thought I did. But it’s like thisstreet came out of nowhere.”“Don’t be ridiculous. Nothingcomes out of nowhere. Let’s tryagain,” Delilah said and took ahead start at cycling through theend of the road. They went behindher but after another few minutesof cycling they were back in thesame street.“What the hell?!” Daniel said,throwing his bike to the groundand starting to look around forany directions, signs, people…anything. But there was no one,no signs. They were stuck in astrange and isolatedneighborhood. Silence was

deafening and they could barelysee each other in the gloomylights.“Are we lost?” Delilah asked,fearfully. She parked her bike,carried her cat and joined Daniel.Lavender did the same and sheseemed to be also panicking,looking around in the dark afraidof something luring out ofnowhere. “I don’t get it. How canwe be lost?”“I don’t either. There isn’t anydetour or any route to take us outof this dump. We tried six differentstreets; somehow they all broughtus to the magic shop street.”“Well, why don’t we try and askanyone living in of these houses,”Delilah suggested, raising hervoice over her cat’s hisses.Lavender ran to one of the houses,started knocking and asking ifanyone was home. “Could youshut that cat up for a bit? I can’t

think straight,” Daniel insisted,also seeming panicky. “I can’t, Idon’t know what’s wrong with it,”Delilah said, trying to calm it downby scratching its belly. “Ever sincewe left that magic shop it’s beenmaking weird hissing noises Inever heard before. Maybe he’safraid because you got us strandedin this unknown place,” Delilahraised her voice furiously.Lavender approached them fromthe house and said, “There’s noone at home. I’ve tried threedifferent houses.”“We wanted to leave way beforewe came here,” Delilah continuedshouting at Daniel. “But no! Youhad to explore, you had to enterthat stupid shop!”“How was I to know that we weregoing to get lost?” Daniel yelledback.“Guys, it’s ok. We’re in thistogether and we’ll find a way back.Don’t worry,” Lavender told them,trying to pacify them both whowere completely furious. Theystood there for a few secondsquietly. The only sound made wasof the cat’s purring and hissing.“Ok, I have an idea,” Daniel finallysaid. “We’ll split up and knock oneach house to see if anyone canhelp us. Try to find anyone in thishaunted place and I’ll head backto the Magic Shop to ask the oldman.”“Go back there… alone? What ifhe does something to you?”“What’s he going to do, Lavender?He’s old. I’ll just ask him fordirections.”“He owns a magic shop he couldput a curse on you or something,”said Delilah anxiously.“D. Stop being a kid. Magic can’tmake people disappear like hesays and please shut your cat up;it’s becoming annoying.”“Well, what am I supposed to do?Maybe he’s afraid.”“Maybe it’s sick of you carrying itall the time. Here…'c9.” Hegrabbed the cat out of Delilah’sarms and threw it in the basketon the bike. The cat attacked himbefore it was completely settledin the basket. Daniel let out asmall ouch! He backed away fromit and stood in the street cursing.“God, Delilah. Your cat is horrible!Why did you bring that stupidanimal anyway? All it does isannoy the hell out of me!”“Don’t talk like that about my cat!Stop being uptight, it’s just a cat.Ignore it.” But it wasn’t just cat.It was more than a cat. Daniellooked at his scratched hand andfound that it wasn’t bleeding. Ithad three golden marks instead.He kept staring at his hand for afew minutes perplexed. Why were


“So, where are we headed?” sheasked“No where. Just around the towna bit,” Daniel replied, while he wasfixing his black hair in front of acar window, trying to spike itupwards. But it was useless; hishair was so soft it wouldn’t spikeup the way he liked. So he justmessed it up with his two handsand sat on his bike. He was theonly one who changed out of hisschool uniform. Instead, he worea black t-shirt with ‘Rock Rules!’written on it and a pair of darkjeans with a chain hanging out onthe side. Lavender also wore ablack t-shirt with a picture of aguitar on it, but still wore the bluepleated skirt girls wore to school.“Why did you bring your cat?” sheasked Delilah“I wanted to take her for a ride,”she replied still scratching the cataround its ears.“You know, ever since you got that

cat a month ago you’ve been doingnothing but talking about it andtaking it every where. C’mon, givethis cat a break from you!”Delilah, jokingly, gave her a dirtylook. Lavender smiled and said, “Iwas only kidding.”They all got on their bikes andheaded off for town. They madetheir usual stops to have a bite toeat and then at the record storeto buy new records of the latestrock band. They were having somuch fun they didn’t realize they’dalready been out for a few hoursexploring different parts of thetown they hadn’t seen before. Theyreached a dark and gloomyneighborhood. The houses andbuilding were small and crammednext to each other.The street lights were very dim.“Where are we?” Lavender asked.“I have no idea,” Daniel replied.“I’ve never been here before. Let’scontinue exploring it for a while.”

“No, let’s head back. This placelooks scary. It’s time to go homeanyway,” Delilah said staringaround as if a monster might comeout of nowhere.“Calm down D. It’s just a town.We’ll check this out first then leave;I remember the way,” Danielassured her. He’d always been theadventurous one. He always likedto meddle in things unexplored.The houses were all the same. Thesame pale color and scratchedpaint. They all had red, worn outbricks. The windows were brokenwith empty slits on each side.Garbage was thrown everywhere.The grass was yellow and dry underthe damaged picket fences. Thistown looked like no one hadentered it in years. No one seemedto live there. There was no sign ofhuman civilization at all. They kepton cycling till they reached a smalland dingy shop. The sign was tornup but they managed to read on

October 2005 . TeenStuff www.teenstuffonline.com TeenStuff . October 2005TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com

it, The Magic Shop.“Cool! Where was this place whenyou needed it? We could’ve usedmagic to study or to get theanswers to exams!” Lavender,wishfully exclaimed.

“Let’s goinside,”Danielsuggested,with abeaminglook on hisface.

They allentered thestore,ignoringthe‘CLOSED’

sign. The door squeaked and thebell on top of it rang. But no onecame; the store was empty asthe whole neighborhood.“Great! Just great! Doesn’tanyone live in this wretchedplace?” Delilah said angrily, tryingto hang on to her cat whichseemed annoyed by the powerfulsmell of incense burners. Theplace was also dimly lit. It had ahuge library. Tons of books werestacked everywhere, on theshelves, tables and floors. On theother side of the room there wasa counter and a worn out crimsonchair. Behind it there was a longcrimson curtain with gold edgescovering a doorway. Everythingseemed worn out and shabby atthe Magic Shop. Dust popped outof the wooden floor as theywalked inside. The floors creakedas if they were protesting againsttheir walking on it. Probably, noone had walked on them foryears. Lavender headed straightfor the books and Daniel headedfor the weird objects and spellingredients while Delilah stood inher place without moving. “Guys,this place is freaking me out.Let’s head home…please,” shesaid. But they were all awed withthis shop, jumping from cornerto corner, checking out everysingle dusty little thing. “Delilah,take it easy and come check thisout.” Lavender was standing in-front of the ancient Egyptianmagic section. She had a darkand dusty book in her hands titledAnimals in Ancient Egypt. Thepages had a pale brown color andwere rough in touch. She waspointing to a section about catsin Egypt. “I can’t believe theyworshipped cats. What for? Hereread it.” She handed her the bookand she started reading. Danielnow was reading a black magicbook also under the AncientEgyptian section. “Oooou, let me

see, let me see!” Lavender saidtiptoeing to see over his shoulder.“Hey, listen to this,” Daniel said.“Magic was very common inancient Egypt. Black magic wasnot spread but it existed. It wasknown that ancient Egyptiansused to put a spell to send fearfulcreatures and animals to protecttheir graves from tomb raiders.While the spirits were in theunderworld knew how to protecttheir tombstones with help fromtheir living relatives. Somemagicians used magic to do evildeeds. An evil and most powerfulmagician, Seckhtet, who wasnamed after the god of war andcorruption, planned a conspiracyto kill King Ramses the third. Buttheir evil plot failed and everyoneinvolved in this conspiracy was

condemned to death. It wasbelieved that Seckhtet left behinda spell to bring his spirit backfrom the underworld. Not in hisfull form but through possessinga certain creature. His plan wasto return to the world above andretaliate. There has been no prooftill this day that it worked. It wasbelieved to be only a myth.”“Hey look, they have the spellwritten down,” Daniel pointedout, exchanging weird looks withLavender. They smiledmischievously and Delilahunderstood what they were aboutto do and decided to protestagainst them. “No way, are youkidding? This is magic. You can’tdo this. What if something terriblehappens?”“Nothing will happen,” Danielassured her. “They said it wasnever proven to be real. It’s onlya myth.”“Yeah Delilah, we’ll just do it forfun. Nothing will happen,”

Lavender assured her, taking thebook from Daniel and beginningto go through the pages.“How can you be sure? I don’tknow guys; I don’t think weshould meddle with magic. Theremight be unexpectedconsequences,” she said tryingto hold on to her cat that wantedto flee from her arms to chase amouse running by. It jumpedfrom her arms and startedchasing the mouse. Delilah ranafter the cat while Daniel caughtthe mouse.“Fine, we’ll do it on our own. We’lluse the mouse in case the spiritwants to use it.”Before Delilah could say anotherword they were already sayingthe incantations. They repeatedit three times, and waited for

something to happen. Waiting,listening, keeping their eyes open,nothing happened. The mouselooked like a normal mouse tryingto flee from Daniel’s hands. Helet go of it and it ran into a tinyhole. Delilah caught her cat thatwas hissing weirdly but she hadn’tnoticed that it was shaking. Danielcame up to her and said “See D,nothing happened. It was all amyth. You shouldn’t have freaked…'c9..”“Delilah… ” Lavender interrupted.She had widened her eyes spokein a low and harsh voice almostsinging, lifted up her handstowards Delilah as if about tochoke her. “Delilah…'c9,” shecontinued and walked closer. “Iam the evil spirit of Seckhtet....I will take revenge….” She thenburst into laughter.“That wasn’t funny Lavender!”Delilah shouted furiously.“You…should’ve seen the…lookon your face.” She could barely

the scratch marks golden? And whycouldn’t the cat keep quiet? Whywere they stranded in an isolatedneighborhood unable to get out,only running in circles and returningto their starting point? He keptthinking for a moment, not evenrealizing them asking him what’swrong. “D, you said that you neverheard the cat make these soundsbefore?” he asked, ignoring theirconcerned questions. “Yeah. Why?”Delilah replied. Daniel was dazed.He didn’t speak a word. He onlystared at the cat stunned. But how,he kept asking himself. It wasn’tpossible; the book said it was onlya myth. Or was it?“Dan, are you ok?” Lavender asked,looking troubled. “Yeah, it’s justthat the spell we did…'c9”He keptthinking how to tell them withoutseeming crazy. He was on tosomething far fetched. “It’s justthat…what if…” but he didn’tcontinue the sentence.The cat’s hisses were even louderand suddenly out of nowhere a carcame rushing at full speed hittingDaniel. He was thrown five feetaway from the street and landedon his back with a loud thump. Thecar stopped for a second - it wasdark as that night. The two girlsscreamed and ran to Daniel’s bodythat lied motionless on the ground.Lavender tried to wake him up,Delilah looked back at the car butit was gone just like it had appearedout of the blue, it vanished. “Wherethe hell is the car?” Delilah asked,but Lavender was more concernedwith her brother. She was cryinghysterically and tried to wake himup. Delilah checked his pulse butthere were no heart beats. She wastaken aback, she felt as if herstomach would explode. Daniel wasdead!“Noooo!” Lavender screamed, afterseeing the look on Delilah’s face.“It can’t be.” But Delilah didn’tanswer. She couldn’t bring herselfto speak or even move. Lavendersuddenly stood up and ran to oneof the houses. “Where are yougoing?” Delilah asked her, in a panic,and ran after her. “I’m going to findhelp, I can’t leave him like this!”she screamed, and started knockingon every door of each housefrantically but no one wasanswering. “How can the cardisappear? It’s kind of weird youknow,” Delilah said wiping her tearswith her shaking hands. “We didn’teven hear the stupid engine. OhGod, I don’t know what I’d do ifhe’s gone,” Lavender cried out asshe ran, frantically, to the nexthouse screaming for anyone home.Eventually, she decided to breakinto a house that had brokenwindows in order to find someoneor even a telephone. “Watch outfor the broken glass,” Delilah warned

her but her arms were cut anywayby the sharp glass. “Damn it!”Delilah heard her yell from inside.“It’s ok, I’m ok. I’ll open the doorfor you.” Delilah headed to thedoor but her mind was buzzing withquestions. She couldn’t believe whathad happened. Images were racingin her head, Daniel’s body, and thecar. Then she remembered the lastthing he said before he died.Lavender opened the door andwalked inside the house. “Lavender!Wait,” Delilah pleaded, rushing afterher but Lavender didn’t stop; sheonly walked slowly into the house.It was huge and dark. They couldn’tsee much but a rotten smell filledthe air and they could feel thatcarpet beneath their feet. Theywalked carefully and slowly, notwanting to trip till they find a lightswitch or a lamp. “Lavender, do youremember what Daniel said beforehe…” Lavender stopped and staredat her; she couldn’t bring herselfto say that word. They didn’t believehe was gone.“He said something about a spell.”Lavender replied.“And the cat...” Delilah added.“What about it?” she asked, as shestopped walking and turned toDelilah. They couldn’t quite makeout each other’s face. The moonlightand the remaining street lampswere the only light source. “Well,it had been acting strangely afterthe Magic Shop.”“So?”“You said he mentioned a spell?”Lavender gaped at her. “D, whatare you saying?” But the problemwas, in fact, that Delilah didn’t knowwhat she was saying. She wastrying to relate things together butit didn’t make any sense. What ifthe spell had worked and her catwas really possessed? But shediscarded this idea. It seemed driveland silly. The look on Lavender’sface indicated that she was thinkingthe same thing as Delilah. “You

don’t think that all this is becauseof…”“Magic…” Delilah finished thesentence. All of a sudden the floorboard started to crack and shake.There was a loud crash; the woodenfloor was falling apart. Lavenderwas caught in the middle of thecollapsing floor and fell with thebroken floor boards, while Delilahtripped and fell flat on her face.She quickly got up to see nothing.There was no hole, no broken floorboard, only the dusty carpet andmost of all no Lavender. Delilahpanicked. What if she was trappeddown there? She lifted up thecarpet, but there were no cracksor frictions; the wooden floor lookedsmooth as ever. She threw thecarpet away, and dust fleweverywhere. She started coughingand stomping the floor, hoping tobreak it; hoping to let Lavenderout. She wasn’t willing to loseanother friend that night. Shestopped unexpectedly at the sightof her cat. It was standingmotionless at the door way. Delilahfeared what it might do next, thatis... if it’s actually possessed. Butshe was sceptical, and didn’t wantto admit something like that toherself. She thought the best logicalthing to do is run out of the housebefore it collapsed again, butsomething was holding her down.Something was restraining her feet.Eventually, the house started toshake again and fall apart.Everything collapsed on Delilah….

To this day, no one ever heard againfrom Daniel, Delilah or Lavender.They were wiped from the face ofthe earth. It’s still a mystery howthey vanished without a trace. Allthat remained was the black cat.

Esraa Hegazy, 18

The Curse of the Black Cat

veryone was so eager to start theirsummer vacation. They consideredit the celebration of finishing school.Next year they’d be heading off toa new destination, a new journeyknown as college.Delilah, Lavender and her twinbrother Daniel

were best friends. This was theirlast summer together before headingoff to different colleges so theywanted to make the best of it. Onceschool was out they all headedhome and traded their books withtheir bicycles. Delilah carried herPersian black cat and placed it ina small blue basket with ribbonson her bike. She then joined herfriends at the end of the road tocycle around the neighborhood fora while. She felt glad that schoolended. She parked her bike next toher friends’, brushed aside herbrown curls from her face andstarted scratching her cat’s ears.

It was known thatancient Egyptiansused to put a spell

to send fearful creaturesand animals

to protect theirgraves from tomb raiders

She suddenly stoppedlaughing stood

up straight looking at thecurtain

It’s still a mysteryhow

they vanishedwithout a trace.

All that remainedwas the black cat.

I live on the first floor, so I hada ‘contract’ with the porter thatwhenever I’m late, I can climbover his wooden ladder to reachmy room and, in return, I won’ttell me parents that he smokeshashish!

I was once talking to my boyfriend and my dad stepped in theroom so I told him that I wastalking to my friend, he said weirdshe’s waiting for you outside.

Mahie Ahmed, 19


If you did something behind your parents’ backand would like to share it with us please send it to:

[email protected]

We're having a Halloween party at schoolI'm dressed up like Dracula. Man, I look cool!I dyed my hair black and I cut off my bangs

I'm wearing a cape and some fake plastic fangs

I put on some makeup to paint my face whitelike creatures that only come out in the night.My fingernails, too, are all pointed and red.

There's no doubt I look like evil undead.

My mom drops me off and I run into schooland suddenly feel like the world's biggest fool

The other kids stare like I'm some kind of freakThe Halloween party isn’t till next week

Amgad Kh, 15

HalloweenFunnyPoem

(HalloweenTeen)


I’m not your baby kid anymore,I’m not your little boy.

I’m not your normal child that you would fight for.And I’m not that dog called Roy.

I might not be Albert Einstein,nor my smart Mother,

But I’m not David Beckham,nor dumb and dumber.

You might not be Bill Gates,But come on! Give me some money.

I need to go buy something,I’ll even buy you some honey.

I don’t talk nonsense,Like Ella Fitzgerald,

But I might not at times make a lot of sense,Like Honest Abe, so go complain to Harold.

I’m not a drug addict,So, don’t you worry.

But you can stay out for as long as you want,There’s no hurry.

Don’t make me do more chores,I’ve got enough to do.

I promise (swear) I didn’t drink last night; I wasjust a bit dizzy,

Honest, it’s true.

I might have been rude a few times,But I don’t deserve this.

Why ground me for a month?I’m sorry if I’m not a parents pet like my sis.

I’m not your baby kid anymore,So don’t try to control me.

Now I know how it feels to be free. Coz I’m not going to be enslaved by you again.


I’m not your normal child that you would fight forAnd I’m not that dog called Roy.

Essam, 12, NCBIS

"Ohhhh, it's the same routine again and again. Goto the production line, have my shower, get packed,bla bla bla…I just wake up every morning and keephoping this would be my day out. Life outside is fullof challenges waiting for me. That's what makeslife worth living; adventure!

Then came the day to bid the factory farewell. Ican't deny I was a bit scared. After all, I have neverbeen out before this, nevertheless, I was quiteexcited. My first stop was in a supermarket. Istayed there for about a week. To tell you the truth,I was somehow boastful. You know, when you seeyourself daily on TV you tend to be like that. I waslike ‘I'm a teenage mutant Cola can and alwayswent for the best place in the fridge. Yet my friendsstill liked me (I mean the other brands).

One morning, I was bought by a boy. He shook mereally hard to the extent that I thought I was goingto have a concussion. Then, he drank me as if hewas going to die or something! Just as I thoughtthings couldn't get any worse, some of his friendscame along and they decided to play football. Theyhad no ball, so they used me instead. I keptscreaming at the top of my lungs to stop them. But,of course, they couldn't understand. By the timethe match ended, I was about to faint. Not only didthey use me as a ball, they left me in the middleof the street. Can you imagine? I managed to rollmyself to the pavement just before a speeding carcame. I could've gotten run over. Night fell and bythat time I was hungry, lonely, scared, missed myfriends and hated everybody. I felt lost, didn't knowwhat to do and had a strong yearning for my home,the factory.

The next day, a young girl saw me on the streetand picked me up. At that point I was almost positivethe day wouldn't end with me still breathing afterthat horrible experience I had. To my surprise, shetook me home with her and bathed me. This wasthe first time I actually appreciated a shower. Istarted to like her, but I was still sceptic. She paintedme with lovely colors and made me into a vase.Since that day, I've been beside her bed and shekisses me everyday when she wakes up. Once again,I felt secure and loved. Most importantly, I realizedthat adventure is great ONLY if you have a hometo go back to and friends that miss you. “

Salwa Tharwat, 17

I’m aTeenager

Now

I live on the first floor, so I hada ‘contract’ with the porter thatwhenever I’m late, I can climbover his wooden ladder to reachmy room and, in return, I won’ttell me parents that he smokeshashish!

I was once talking to my boyfriend and my dad stepped in theroom so I told him that I wastalking to my friend, he said weirdshe’s waiting for you outside.

Mahie Ahmed, 19


If you did something behind your parents’ backand would like to share it with us please send it to:

[email protected]

We're having a Halloween party at schoolI'm dressed up like Dracula. Man, I look cool!I dyed my hair black and I cut off my bangs

I'm wearing a cape and some fake plastic fangs

I put on some makeup to paint my face whitelike creatures that only come out in the night.My fingernails, too, are all pointed and red.

There's no doubt I look like evil undead.

My mom drops me off and I run into schooland suddenly feel like the world's biggest fool

The other kids stare like I'm some kind of freakThe Halloween party isn’t till next week

Amgad Kh, 15



I’m not your normal child that you would fight for.And I’m not that dog called Roy.

I might not be Albert Einstein,nor my smart Mother,

But I’m not David Beckham,nor dumb and dumber.

You might not be Bill Gates,But come on! Give me some money.

I need to go buy something,I’ll even buy you some honey.

I don’t talk nonsense,Like Ella Fitzgerald,

But I might not at times make a lot of sense,Like Honest Abe, so go complain to Harold.

I’m not a drug addict,So, don’t you worry.

But you can stay out for as long as you want,There’s no hurry.

Don’t make me do more chores,I’ve got enough to do.

I promise (swear) I didn’t drink last night; I wasjust a bit dizzy,

Honest, it’s true.

I might have been rude a few times,But I don’t deserve this.

Why ground me for a month?I’m sorry if I’m not a parents pet like my sis.

I’m not your baby kid anymore,So don’t try to control me.

Now I know how it feels to be free. Coz I’m not going to be enslaved by you again.


I’m not your normal child that you would fight forAnd I’m not that dog called Roy.

Essam, 12, NCBIS

"Ohhhh, it's the same routine again and again. Goto the production line, have my shower, get packed,bla bla bla…I just wake up every morning and keephoping this would be my day out. Life outside is fullof challenges waiting for me. That's what makeslife worth living; adventure!

Then came the day to bid the factory farewell. Ican't deny I was a bit scared. After all, I have neverbeen out before this, nevertheless, I was quiteexcited. My first stop was in a supermarket. Istayed there for about a week. To tell you the truth,I was somehow boastful. You know, when you seeyourself daily on TV you tend to be like that. I waslike ‘I'm a teenage mutant Cola can and alwayswent for the best place in the fridge. Yet my friendsstill liked me (I mean the other brands).

One morning, I was bought by a boy. He shook mereally hard to the extent that I thought I was goingto have a concussion. Then, he drank me as if hewas going to die or something! Just as I thoughtthings couldn't get any worse, some of his friendscame along and they decided to play football. Theyhad no ball, so they used me instead. I keptscreaming at the top of my lungs to stop them. But,of course, they couldn't understand. By the timethe match ended, I was about to faint. Not only didthey use me as a ball, they left me in the middleof the street. Can you imagine? I managed to rollmyself to the pavement just before a speeding carcame. I could've gotten run over. Night fell and bythat time I was hungry, lonely, scared, missed myfriends and hated everybody. I felt lost, didn't knowwhat to do and had a strong yearning for my home,the factory.

The next day, a young girl saw me on the streetand picked me up. At that point I was almost positivethe day wouldn't end with me still breathing afterthat horrible experience I had. To my surprise, shetook me home with her and bathed me. This wasthe first time I actually appreciated a shower. Istarted to like her, but I was still sceptic. She paintedme with lovely colors and made me into a vase.Since that day, I've been beside her bed and shekisses me everyday when she wakes up. Once again,I felt secure and loved. Most importantly, I realizedthat adventure is great ONLY if you have a hometo go back to and friends that miss you. “

Salwa Tharwat, 17

I’m aTeenager

Now

TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com

The Student Union is awidely respectedorganization within theAmerican University inCairo (AUC) that consistsof more than 120members who work onprojects together withother AUC students. Theestimated number ofparticipants in organizingcommittees for ourprojects is 750. We have

cooperated and continue to cooperate with companies of allsizes and magnitudes in the business sector. Although theStudent Union is run by students who are between the agesof seventeen and twenty four, this fairly young age does notprevent us from being an extremely conscientious,hardworking, mature and charitable organization. We takeour responsibilities very seriously and pride ourselves onour dedication to the students we represent, our work andour sponsors. Former members of the Student Union havegone to take major positions in or have become an invaluablepart of both Egyptian companies and world's resoundedmulti-nationals. The Student Union is the largest on-campusorganization in terms of financial transactions, humanresources, as well as authority and power. Compared to manyStudent Unions in the Middle East, and even worldwide, our

Student Union is one of the most dynamic.

The Student Union offers many activities and services inwhich they aim to serve, entertain and enlighten our studentsas well as university outsiders. Our activities vary from thepolitical (Egyptian Government Simulation) to the entertaining(Talent Show, The Carnival, Talk Show) to the service-oriented (Welcome Package, Book Fair, Discount Card).The Union aims in providing whatever the students needthroughout the year in addition to entertaining them andproviding them with a helping hand whenever needed. Whilethe motives of the Union are certainly not profit-oriented,we cater our services according to the students’ needs sothat not only do we provide regular services to the students,but we also aim on improving the quality of our activitiesand services to better suit the everyday needs of our studentsas well as make our presence felt within the student body.And through the sponsorship and guidance of prominentcompanies such as Pepsi Cola, Good News Group, Vodafoneand many more, we have not only become one of the mostefficient organizations on campus, but also one of the mosttrustworthy. And hopefully, through a newly realized StudentUnion, we aim to fulfill our promises to both our studentsand our sponsors in providing the best services that will trulyflesh out the Student Union as an organization thriving onexcellence and uniqueness while maintaining a decent imageboth within and outside university borders.


Pioneers of oral hygiene, Oral-B is introducing its latest entry. The Professional Care 7000 Series. With this rotating-oscillatingtechnology, devised by Oral-B more than 10 years ago, the newseries gives you customized speed control. Also, ergonomichandle designs are made for comfort plus an array of multiplebrush heads and accessories for more advanced cleaning. Thesenew power brushes assure you a thorough cleansing , proved tobe much more effective than manual brushing.

The Extè label first appeared in1996. Ever since then it has beenin the forefront for its ability toanticipate the future, not only inthe stylish forms and lines of thegarments, but also in the choiceand use of avant-garde materials.Extè is a forerunner in the fashionfield, making a mission ofexperimentation, always movingforward, capable of constantevolution.Today Extè fashions and designscan be found everywhere in theworld and have become areference point for a young andattentive publics, seekingnovelties that satisfy their needfor the new.The new J'S Extè line will launchin 2005, showcasing the intrinsicsensuality of the brand, which isintense and modern. These arethe same characteristics thathave distinguished the firstfragrance, J'S Extè Women.

THE PROJECTJ's Extè Woman – a contemporary,elegant being, expressing thetechnological and revolutionary styleof Extè fashion. An invitation todiscover the universe of femininity,glamour and modernity.

THE PACKGINGThe bottle – a series of transparentplanes intersected by two bewitching,entwined spirals that create anopening at the center of the bottle,representing a center of energy. Abeautiful bracelet, with an specially-designed Extè charm, is gracefullyconnected to the bottle through thedelicate opening and then clasped.The bracelet can be detached andworn, creating a unique fashionstatement for the J'S Extè woman.A crystal stopper contains a metalinsert which echoes the design ofthe spiral. The outer carton releasesa halo of enigmatic, penetrating lightwhich is a symbol of harmony andinfinite space.

J'S Extè Woman

OFLACTIVEFAMILY:Floral Fruity

TOP NOTESTransparent FruitsQuinceVeilchenblau Rose

MIDDLE NOTESJasmineLily of the ValleyViolet

DRY DOWNWhite AmberRaspberryMusk

THE FRAGRANCEIt's a surprising, dynamic and vividperfume. The top is of a rain colors.The quince joy twist around theTransparent Fruits brightness andthe Veilchenblau Rose preciousness.Then the intense Jasmine femininity,the Violet harmony and the Lily ofthe Valley freshness make the heartseductive and vital.In the dry-down sensual WhiteAmber and enveloping Musk createa modern and anti-conventionalcharm with the Raspberry brillianttouch.

THE ADVERTISINGCAMPAIGNSean Ellis, a young but veryestablished British fashionphotographer, and director of a filmproduced by Ridley and Tony Scott,has created the image for the newfragrance J'S Extè Woman adcampaign.He has captured the clearest andmost explicit moment of pureenjoyment,mingled withthe cool, partyatmospherecoveted by thehip crowdtoday.A profoundlymodernimage, theads projecta vision offemininitythat issensual,free,dynamicand aboveall, full oflife.

Two New Launches from NokiaKnown for their easy to use handsets, Nokia has announced the releaseof two new mobiles: Nokia 1110 and Nokia 1600. Both are aimed at firsttime users and offer a highly intuitive user interface. The 1110 has aninverted black and white display, (ideal for sunny conditions) while the1600 has a 65,536 color display. Both also offer new features includinga ‘speaking’ clock with an alarm that can announce the time in the user’slanguage. Also, find larger font allowing for greater readability. Manageall your calls and contacts with the latest from Nokia, the world leader inmobile communications.

The Student Union in The AUC

Oral-B Introducing Its Latest EntryTHE STYLE

30 . October 2005 . TeenStuff TeenStuff . October 2005www.teenstuffonline.com www.teenstuffonline.com

Dear Dr. Tamer,How are you? I hope you’re fine. Thankyou for your great efforts in trying to solveour problems. I have a minor problem I’llbother you with; a studying problem.Through my school years, beginning fromfirst Preparatory, I declined in my studies.I was re-examined and this was repeatedthe following year. Only in third Preparatorydid I barely succeed. In first Secondary Iwas re-examined. This time I failed. Forfear of repeating first Secondary, I wastransferred to IG (my father’s idea). Istayed for two years. I was supposed tosucceed in eight subjects, but I succeededin only two; languages and literature (theother subjects were mathematics,business, biology and chemistry). AgainI was transferred and I changed schoolsfor the first time in my life and attendedanother school near home. I made a dealwith the schoolmistress, to take one yearplus a summer course.Believe me, this year was hell on earth.The students treated me badly and to runaway from them I buried myself in mystudies, quarter tests, mid year exams,participation grades, extra work, projects,

researches and final exams. My handswere full. I always had a lot of work todo, including homework, which I forgot tomention. I got 97 percent and entered thefaculty of Alsun.First year in college I took the secondlanguage Italian and Arabic with me tothe second year. I succeeded with anaccepted grade. Second year, I tooklinguistics and second language to thirdyear. Now I’mtaking drama,poetry, linguistics,translation andArabic. In short, toomuch work! Canyou suggest a plan/schedule which Ican follow to savemyself from thismess. Please helpas I feel I’m goingto repeat the thirdyear.

Miss farfour

Dear Miss farfour,It seems that your studying problem isnot related to your abilities, but morerelated to the inability to manage yourtime properly. Studying is far from beingfun and most of the time we don’t likemost of the subjects. So, simply our brainsassociates studying with torture. Nobodylikes to be tortured, so a good way out isprocrastination. We keep on postponinguntil it gets really dangerous always tellingourselves that “I’m not in the mood today”or “I’ll start next week.” Actually we don’tstart until it’s too late.To work on that, let me suggest the MHR(Minimal Healthy Routine). Assign yourselfa time target, e.g., 30 minutes of studyingper day, six days a week. All effort shouldbe directed to do those 30 minutes,disregarding amount or the quality of whatyou study. Keep doing it daily, andremember it’s a minimum; I mean that ifyou feel that you’re achieving you couldgo on, if not, just remember that the initialtarget was to sit to study for 30 minutes,and if you achieve it, you should feel proudand in control. Yes, it’s all about gainingcontrol of your time and your moods.

Nothing to Live ForDear Dr. Tamer,My problem is big but first, I’d like tothank you for your time and I appreciateyour solutions that you provide toproblems of teens in the magazine.I’m a 16 year old girl. You’re the only onewho could solve my problem. I know I’mbad at writing but I’ll tell you how I feel,so please try to understand what I mean.I’m fed up with life and I think I have norole in life; I can’t make one decision. I’mafraid of any situation concerning thefamily. I’m always alone or feel alone. Ifeel I’m always less than everyone; alwayshesitate in everything even if mom asksme if I want to eat or not. People nevercare about what I want. Everything I dois wrong. My dignity is down I can’t shoutat who offends it but can escape. I thinkI should obey peoples’ needs and neversay no, because it’s the only way to gaintheir love. I want to be what people wantme to be. When I’m with my familyespecially my mother’s family… I have tohide, I can’t sit with them and I’m afraidof becoming their servant. “Get us thetea from the kitchen,” though one of them(my relatives) is the same age but sheknows how to control them, but I can’t.I always feel I’m less than my aunt’sdaughter. She has a foreign style of looks(green eyes, blond and slim) I feel shealways wants me to feel I’m nothingcompared with her though I already feelit.I can’t face anyone or make them respectme even my younger relatives. I canshout at them. Every time my cousinand I are out, she takes the spotlight,but I don’t. I tried using cheap ways tomake people hate her, but I ended uphating myself, because I love her. Manytimes I tried to avoid her and not to seeher, but I couldn’t - I love her, she’s sodear to me.

My second problem is I can’t speak well

and when I do, I sound like a child. Iforget letters and words are too hard forme. I think my words are useless, and Ican’t face anyone anymore, though I amthe eldest in our family.Sometimes I feel I have too many thingsinside me and sometimes not. People tellme to do things that I don’t like; like oneday at my cousin’s birthday, I went andbought new clothes but no one noticedthem, I tried to hide my face with makeup that I don’t like.Most of the times I feel that I’m born tobe tortured, not to taste what every girlwants, like feeling beautiful and loved bysomeone. I hate myself I’m nothing. Thisis the fact that I’m trying to escape from.Many times I thought of committingsuicide, but my life is hell and also myending. If I kill myself, hell will be waitingfor me, so what should I do? I can’t livenor die!I don’t have an independent character,I’m not good at anything, I’m afraid toget to know guys, because I know they’llbe attracted to my relatives (not me).But poor me; curly hair, spots all over myface, my style is poor in comparison;whatever I do I never fulfill my needs.See Dr. Tamer, what trivial things canmake me suicidal; I don’t see anythingto live for; I hate all people but for noreason so help me please.I feel I’ll never get married.The Damaged Girl, 16

Dear Damaged Girl,Let me focus on some key words you’veused; ‘afraid’, ‘avoid’, ‘beauty’ and ‘Ican’t’.Let’s start by the first two. You’re soafraid of facing some situations to theextent of avoiding almost all situations.Because of this constant fear of gettinghurt you avoid any situation that carriesthis possibility. The result is that you’reactually more hurt but for a totally differentreason. You’re hurt because you don’tknow your capabilities and you’ve made

yourself lose all the confidence.Consequently, the fourth key worddeveloped - ‘I can’t’. The truth of thematter is that you really don’t know.Constant avoidance makes us unawareof what we really can or can’t do. Howabout trying to speak to your mind moreoften; shout when you’re angry, takedecisions when you’re not absolutely sure,take some risks. How bad can it get?You’re already feeling so down, believeme it can’t get worse. On the other hand,facing your fears on and on would surelyhelp you realize the person you’redestroying by tons of self-devaluation andcriticism.

Lastly, what’s all this emphasis on beauty?So they look better than you. This isn’tan excuse for you not to be in contactwith your areas of strength and talents.I don’t believe we’re living in a beautycontest, but you sure make it seem thatway. Reading your letter, I couldn’t helpnoticing that you have a good writingstyle that could be developed.Of course you won’t notice that becauseyou’re too busy scrutinizing yourself. Goeasy on yourself, love yourself more. Youdeserve more from you than you’re doing.

Dr. Tamer El Goueli


Libra:Family: Doing a lot to 'serve things up for others'would be typical for youLove: Romance holds nothing but good news thismonthFriendship: Friends can be very helpful this monthin bringing in 'important info' and making goodcareer connections

Career: Having some kind of 'long time problem'solved is likely this monthFinances: Rather promisingState of mind: Creative, inventive and in good humorYour number Karma this week: 7, 11, 22, 30, and55'Buzz word/phrase' for the week: Beauty comes inmany forms; seek them all

Scorpion:Family: Having to 'adapt at the last minute'would be a typical challenge along withcompromising to 'make do.'Love: Use a soft approach, especially ifyou’re discussing a point or trying to makeone.Friendship: Friends are most helpful this

month, especially in business connections.State of mind: Looking to exploitYour number Karma this week: 8, 15, 16,20, and 44'Buzz word/phrase' for the week: Followthe moneyMost compatible sign this week: Sagittarius

Sagittarius:Love: Romance can do very well if you’vebeen wishing your 'heart's desire' to befulfilled.Friendship: This month indicates new friends.Existing friends also appear to wish to bemost helpful

Career: You’re easily 'being watched' thismonth by powerful people, bosses, clients

and those 'speculating' about entrusting youwith projects and 'big plans.'Finances: A bit more going out than comingin would be typical if not 'actually a goodsign'State of mind: Focused on 'higher issues'Your number Karma this week: 2, 6, 11, 12,and 60'Buzz word/phrase' for the week: Ask!Most compatible sign this week: Libra

Capricorn:Love: Love may have to take a back seatthis week and appears only critical to attendto it if you already have a romanticcommitmentFriendship: Friends are very helpful inpicking up the slack in your life and 'fillingin' to free you for other duty this monthCareer: Very important future connections

can be made this monthFinances: Fair onlyState of mind: In need of expressive andcreative opportunities to 'speak up'Your number Karma this week: 10, 11, 20,100, 101'Buzz word/phrase' for the week: CarpediemMost compatible sign this week: Taurus

Aquarius:Love: Be willing to 'trust'Friendship: Friends may be very helpful thisweek in getting you past 'romantic concernsand fears'Career: No news is good news this week asproblems should be few and fixes should befast.

Finances: Very goodState of mind: Insightful and expressiveYour number Karma this week: 0, 18, 20,22, and 28'Buzz word/phrase' for the week: Invent asolutionMost compatible sign this week: Cancer

Pisces:Love: Romance does very well this month,especially if you’re paired to Leo, Aquarius,Sagittarius or Libra.Friendship: Be willing to 'ask' for what youwant or need and call them; Sagittarius,Libra, Capricorn and Aquarius for the most'reliable’ helpCareer: Return the favor to keep your karma

in 'good status'Finances: Good considering all the 'need'you may find this monthState of mind: Extremely 'hopeful'Your number Karma this week: 10, 19, 20,29, and 99'Buzz word/phrase' for the week: The sky’sthe limit.Most compatible sign this week: Sagittarius,Libra and Aquarius

Aries:Love: Love is in the airFriendship: Friends appear to gather thismonthCareer: A rather anxious feeling mayprevail as some older problems appearto solveFinances: Fair to quite good

State of mind: Eager and in need of 'overseeing many things'Your number Karma this week: 5, 11, 15,50, 55'Buzz word/phrase' for the week: Examinebefore proceedingMost compatible sign this week: Aquarius

Taurus:Love: Romances may hold a few challenges.Be patientFriendship: You appear to help others in severaldifferent ways this month with emotional supportState of mind: In need of thinking 'exploit' as

often as you canYour number Karma this week: 4, 6, 7, 9, and21Buzz word/phrase' for the week: Buy onlywhat you 'can' affordMost compatible sign this week: Capricorn

Gemini:Love: Romance claimssome strong 'needs'this month in the formof taking time tocommunicate honestlyFriendship: Friendsextend invitations,especially for thefall/winter and holidayevents.Career: Things appearto 'move along asexpected' for the mostpart with the exceptionof a few projectsrequiring a bit morework than you mayhave expectedFinances: Fair only

State of mind: In needof adapting to abruptchanges while stillfocusing quickly on onething at a time.Your number Karmathis week: 3, 9, 12,13, and 40'Buzz word/phrase' forthe week: Focus on the'near future'Most compatible signthis week: Leo

Cancer:Love: Romanceappears to do fine.Don’t try to spoil it!Friendship: Friends are the bestpeople to resort to wheneveryou’re having a bad time thismonth.Career: You may be a bit overeager on some issues thismonth.Finances: Fair to sound.State of mind: EagerYour number Karma this week:3, 9, 11, 12, and 13'Buzz word/phrase' for theweek: Get it done with a planMost compatible sign this week:Aquarius

Leo:Love: Don’t expect a perfect lover,because no body’s perfect, just tryto have the perfect relationshipFriendship: Friends are here foryou whenever you need themCareer: This can be a very 'speedymonth' for the Lion withaccomplishments and cooperationreally picking up speed nowFinances: Very promisingState of mind: PumpedYour number Karma this week: 2,5, 11, 33, 401'Buzz word/phrase' for the week:I’m my best investmentMost compatible sign this week:Aries, Aquarius and Gemini

Teen Stuff’s Birthdays!

Sondos Shabayek (3/10)Noha El Nahal (28/10)

X-TeensNour El Deen Khairy (2/10)

StaffHaytham El Nashar (20/10)Ibrahim Mohamed (21/10)Shaimaa Dayhom(25/10)

X-StaffSandra Adel (22/10)

in October

Famous Birthdays!Julie Andrews, Jimmy Carter, Walter Matthau (1/10) Sting,Mahatma Gandhi (2/10) Ashlee Simpson, NeveCampbell, Gwen Stefani, Tommy Lee, Kevin Richardson(3/10) Rachael Leigh Cook, Alicia Silverstone, SusanSarandon (4/10) Nikki Hilton, Kate Winslet, Bernie Mac(5/10) Elisabeth Shue (6/10) Rachel McAdams, Toni Braxton ,Vladimir Putin (7/10) Matt Damon, Sigourney Weaver (8/10)Tony Shalhoub , John Lennon (9/10) Joan Cusack, EleanorRoosevelt (11/10) Hugh Jackman (12/10) Ashanti, MargaretThatcher (13/10) Usher, Sir Cliff Richard, Roger Moore(14/10) Sarah Ferguson Mario Puzo (15/10) Tim Robbins,Oscar Wilde (16/10) Eminem, Evel Knievel, MontgomeryClift, Rita Hayworth , Arthur Miller (17/10) Jean-Claude VanDamme, Navratilova, Lee Harvey Oswald (18/10) SnoopDogg, Viggo Mortensen (20/10) Benjamin Netanyahu, AlfredNobel (21/10) Shaggy, Jeff Goldblum, Catherine Deneuve,Sarah Bernhardt (22/10) Martin Luther King III (23/10)Kevin Kline (24/10) Pablo Picasso (25/10) Theodore Roosevelt(27/10) Joaquin Phoenix, Julia Roberts, Bill Gates (28/10)Winona Ryder (29/10) Diego Armando Maradona (30/10)Peter Jackson (31/10)

in October

Virgo:Love: Romance can do okay thismonth, but if the partner has'complaints' of any kind or isdealing with an issue that appearsto need your support, you’d betterlistenFriendship: Friends 'in need' thismonth can easily be Pisces,Aquarius, Leo, Virgo and GeminiCareer: Most of the week movesalong nicely and your cooperationlevel is upFinances: GoodState of mind: Becoming clearereach dayYour number Karma this week:18, 22, 24, 40, 48'Buzz word/phrase' for the week: Hide practicality and projectconfidenceMost compatible sign this week: Aquarius

4500

Education

living reality

isabout time

forgettingabout reality

reality turnedeverything

lastyour life

knewbetter life

magicalarranged life

magazine itis