Im sooo flattered

[Chica Yeyé 41]

T-loves-A (hey that is kind of catchy) your sweet to try to lighten things up here. As far as Len and Bren and I, well hey we are peeps, and I think something was misunderstood, thats all. I just want to make sure no one misunderstands what I said. It is so hard to catch the meaning behind what is said when it is typed words. I tend to be a bit sarcastic, but it could come across mean, so I need to be careful.

You know I just had a wild hair the other day and decided to dye my hair auburn. A few people (that I know well) has mentioned that I now take on a ####### status. I thank them profusely and admit that was my goal. Of course we are all teasing, but when typed it could sound really harsh.

That's cool sister, and yup; we are peeps. I did misread- thinking you wrote that ALL in expats have"personal issues and live in a miserable world".

Peace and GO AUBURN!!!!

Awww...I feel a group hug coming on!

Hmmm... I iz no lezbian

[Nothing1234 2]

Okay thats enough! My arms are getting tired! *HUGS AGAIN*

P.S.---Don't trust Charles w/ group hugs!

T-loves-A (hey that is kind of catchy) your sweet to try to lighten things up here.

Thanks girly! Well, Im just going to share my thoughts for the day. I know alot is going on with words and alot of things on peoples minds. Everyone has an opinion and everyone is going to say something about a situation, its natural bcz we are humans... but sometimes when my mind starts thinking ... what I sit back and think about is this... when my life is over with on earth, how did I live my life? Did I love my neighbor or others as myself, did I help make a difference in someone elses life? Did I go farther than that and love, bless and even pray for my enemies? Thats what I want to do before life on earth is over for me bcz those are things in this earth to be treasured. I dont want to hate my enemies or even curse them... this is not about how anyone else feels in this matter, this is how I try to live my life. There is things in life I dont agree with, there are religions i dont agree with, there are family members I dont agree with, but... I still am required, to love pray for and bless anyone and everyone in my path. Its not easy, I do have a mouth on me, but I try really hard to do those things that I talked about. Im not perfect bcz none of us are, but theres nothing wrong with trying to live in words and actions the things that make a difference to others. and by the way, we have enough hate in this world... lets not add to it... -Tamara

T-loves-A (hey that is kind of catchy) your sweet to try to lighten things up here. As far as Len and Bren and I, well hey we are peeps, and I think something was misunderstood, thats all. I just want to make sure no one misunderstands what I said. It is so hard to catch the meaning behind what is said when it is typed words. I tend to be a bit sarcastic, but it could come across mean, so I need to be careful.

You know I just had a wild hair the other day and decided to dye my hair auburn. A few people (that I know well) has mentioned that I now take on a ####### status. I thank them profusely and admit that was my goal. Of course we are all teasing, but when typed it could sound really harsh.

That's cool sister, and yup; we are peeps. I did misread- thinking you wrote that ALL in expats have"personal issues and live in a miserable world".

Peace and GO AUBURN!!!!

Awww...I feel a group hug coming on!

Hmmm... I iz no lezbian

LOL We can add Charles to the mix...he loves to squeeze a little!

T-loves-A (hey that is kind of catchy) your sweet to try to lighten things up here. As far as Len and Bren and I, well hey we are peeps, and I think something was misunderstood, thats all. I just want to make sure no one misunderstands what I said. It is so hard to catch the meaning behind what is said when it is typed words. I tend to be a bit sarcastic, but it could come across mean, so I need to be careful.

You know I just had a wild hair the other day and decided to dye my hair auburn. A few people (that I know well) has mentioned that I now take on a ####### status. I thank them profusely and admit that was my goal. Of course we are all teasing, but when typed it could sound really harsh.

That's cool sister, and yup; we are peeps. I did misread- thinking you wrote that ALL in expats have"personal issues and live in a miserable world".

Peace and GO AUBURN!!!!

Awww...I feel a group hug coming on!

I know the other thread is closed but i want to say:

No i never pm'd someone else saying something bad about a MENA girl behind her back and No im not fake; i give support; advice becoz i do care and im not hiding my true feelings about anyone here. I love MENA and i enjoy it so much even charles i ve never had issues with anyone and inshA Allah wont have any. I ve met the sweetest ppl here and those are the ones i intend to be friends with and ive also met very scarey ppl and those whom i intend to stay away from.

Hopefully this is the last time i wd have to post something about this. Lets move on ppl; bring the peace back in here

OMG...Another group hug!

Okay, but no butt grabbing. Is Charles around?

I said the same thing about Charles! He sure has a name for himself!

[morocco4ever 63]

[Nutty 2]

I am 4 years older than my husband (but I look much younger than him and fatter too (he does prefer me to be 25 pounds lighter). But my answer to this is: Fine, I will quit my job and join a gym.

[Nasturtium 500]

Wow, this sure went out of control quickly, didn't it?

Some people are over there because there are members here who have been spreading their personal business all over town. Apparently my miscarriage is a great topic people like to talk about on this side. Our posts (well some of us) are sarcastic… not real… and exaggerated. Surely you understand what it's like to hear the constant berating of Arabs and Muslims and the stereotypes that are thrown at you knowingly or unknowlingly on a daily basis.

The Muslim Olympics... The war is going to be started with ANOTHER MUSLIM. It’s about people who come in and trash those who are just trying to live their lives and have the misfortune to post something someone disagrees with.

I specifically mentioned that I was NOT talking about VJ-MENA thread people in my posts. It was actually about an Islamic board and about bloggers who had spent time harassing me, but I didn't post it here because I thought people would assume it was about them and get mad, especially the shyer ones who lurk mostly. VJ has a history of that.

I didn't say a thing about people's kids.. I asked about random baby/children pics from e-mail forwards... I gave examples from the VJ forum because I was asked but said they weren't what was irking me-- those are fine. It was random email chain letters that get sent around the Jordanian network of people and that isn't even irking me, it's just so different it made me curious. So I wondered what was up with them. is this some kind of cultural thing?? I didn't say a thing about baby pics from mothers actually. I like babies in siggies what are from their mothers. I like putting faces to names. The random thing was actually a real question which no one seemed to know anything about. Or care about anyway. I was actually hoping that people would discuss the cultural aspects of this but people b!tched instead. See, I get invested in people I meet and therefore get invested in their children. I am not invested in stolen baby pics off people's blogs and whatnot, which are hotlinked, and passed around while people oo and ahhh over them. I also do not understand why pictures of kittens are in long chain emails from the same people who say they hate cats. Why would you then oo and ahhh over kitten pics when you actually hate the animal itself? That is weird to me. the stuffed animal thing is interesting. I like my stuffed animals, but here in the USA we have age-cutoffs for it which is obviously not true for over there. Any takers here then to discuss this? Probably not.

The reason I said make the baby pics into one thread was actually because I have spoken with other women who have had miscarriages/stillborns who say it is painful to come back to MENA and see the baby pics everywhere, as well as those who are infertile. On the one hand, it is their right to post in their siggies and I love it—no one can tell me not to put cats or you to put your babies in your signature… OTOH, it can cause other people who are having a hard time a painful reminder and I wasn’t aware of that before until I spoke with others. That was actually why i thought of the one thread at one time. I like seeing people's babies (who are their own) in their signatures. I guess that is an offensive idea since it was mentioned in the thread here on VJ. I thought about it but never mentioned the thread just because i thought it would offend people to mention it. I thought it would be a great place people could go and see photos if they wanted to, or not... that way people wouldn't have to feel they couldn't come on the board for support. Then I remembered you can turn siggies off so never said anything.

The Arabic thing. it isn't about the saying Insha'Allah. it's when someone who is not walking the walk or who just forces it in just to look cool... I just wish people would learn how to make it really fit. I think I made my point with my terrible random and awful edit of my own post where I stuck in insha'Allah, masha'Allah and all of those in the most FORCED manner possible. It's the forcing too which irks me. Let it flow. Use it right. People associate this forced usage with real Muslims who are using it right and mean it… and it loses the meaning and truth behind their feelings. It becomes empty. That makes me sad for those who mean it. So does this apply to you? only if you try to force it into your sentances thinking it gets you more points with people. It's not about points with poeple, or so I thought, i thought it was about meaning what you said.

It's funny how badly I was misunderstood. It's interesting in a way. Looking to start a fight I guess. 99.9% of the time when I wrote MENA I meant it as Middle Eastern/North African not MENA on VJ. My Arab changeling observations, language, etc are mostly from the blogging world which some of you may remember I was in for some time. I almost never wrote about our MENA on VJ. MENA= Middle Eastern/North African associated…Most of the bad ones are actually in the second-wife club, so I guess they probably wouldn't be on VJ. But Expats was supposed to be a place where you can vent about ANYTHING, not VJ necessarily, and it not be carried back like a black hole. Some of us were trying to just vent about non-VJ related things without getting Vj people involved who may mistake it for themselves.. you never know how someone will read your stuff. And now? Point proven.

What's funny to me is that all the measures I took to make it general as possible actually ended up making me look bad to others I guess? I should have named names and then people would have known I wasn't talking about anyone on the VJ board, or maybe not. I don’t know anything about most people’s real names, maybe a Misty would have been present, or an Emma… etc. Anyway, Staashi helped me see that even though my posts weren't about VJ, i opened the door for others to blast MENA women in general who were trolling. For that and for any hurt feelings, I apologize.

As someone who was on there, I can say Ash was not on there, leave her alone.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I love you sister Julianna. And those who know you know what a loving and funny person you are.

I didn't know about your losing a baby, my prayers are with you.

p.s. and I iz not huggin' charles

Edited September 18, 2008 by Len_and_Bren

[Sandrila 1]

it's time to close shop and go home

[morocco4ever 63]

I am sorry about the miscarriage Julianna.

Another group hug? We are safe, Charles still isn't around.

[HLM 1]

I am sorry about the miscarriage Julianna.

Another group hug? We are safe, Charles still isn't around.

Yes M4E quick lol

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I am sorry about the miscarriage Julianna.

Another group hug? We are safe, Charles still isn't around.

Yes M4E quick lol

quick before yoyknowwho shows up and grabs someone

[sara535 15]

Julianna I also had no idea you had lost a baby and I can assure you that your loss as well as the others (the ones I do know about) have never been a subject of my conversations. I have also lost a baby in the past before I had my daughter and I know how sad and painful it is. I am so sorry that you have gone through it but let me reiterate, at least to my knowledge it is NOT a big topic on 'this side'....

(((hugs)))

[Staashi 371]

What's funny to me is that all the measures I took to make it general as possible actually ended up making me look bad to others I guess? I should have named names and then people would have known I wasn't talking about anyone on the VJ board, or maybe not. I don’t know anything about most people’s real names, maybe a Misty would have been present, or an Emma… etc. Anyway, Staashi helped me see that even though my posts weren't about VJ, i opened the door for others to blast MENA women in general who were trolling. For that and for any hurt feelings, I apologize.

As someone who was on there, I can say Ash was not on there, leave her alone.

Well put Julianna.

I love you sister Julianna. And those who know you know what a loving and funny person you are.

I didn't know about your losing a baby, my prayers are with you.

p.s. and I iz not huggin' charles

Girl, you know you want to hug Charles.

[SaadBell 0]

The only problem I had was the baby comment, that is personal, and the older women and young studs. Not too many things are said about the American men going over to some other country and marrying much younger women. I have read comments on one picture that showed his wife doing laundry in a bucket, and stating, I bet no American women would do that, REALLY?????? Here is a wakeup call for you, I have done laundry before in a bucket, not that it is much fun, but when you have no electricity, from a major disaster not much choice. That is the kind of thing that makes my blood boil, but apparently that is just ok, but for an American woman to do the same, than it is a joke. Said it once and will say it again, I see ton's of divorces every day in court, and these are the all American couple, where you would never think this marriage would break up. One never knows what will happen in any relationship, if that was the fact, than why are divorce rates higher for people who live together before marriage, since if you are living with someone you must know that person a little. I wish I could predict something like that, I would write my book, cash in on my gift, and sit my butt right at home collecting checks and watching lifetime while playing puzzles on the computer. So as for now, don't have any answers for you, but let me tell you this, when I do, you will see my acquiring a nice home in Lake Tahoe. Charles I am working on something of a rumor for you to spread, I am seeing something like Antonio Banderas and Brad Pitt in the mix, maybe undying love, and pine for me forever. I think you see where I am going with this. lol

[Nothing1234 2]

Julianna,

I'm truly sorry to hear about your miscarriage. Thanks for your words to clear things up. Truly I think some of this was a misunderstanding (not comprehending all that was posted) and other parts, well I'm glad those things came out. Sometimes, you find out who your true friends are, right?

It might be just an "immigration site" and such but some of us are close and know each other well. Taking advantage of that fact and using peoples personal lives as a form of mockery cleary sucks eggs!

I think we should create a thread for MENA babies because they are so darn special or perhaps a thread sharing our babies, pets or favorite things? Who knows...but I like the idea a lot. I'm not offended. I think we can have our siggy's and also have a thread we update within our group. Hey, if we can have an entire thread about dieting techniques, we certainly could use a thread about our babies, pets or other favorite things (scared about the OTHER things...again, Charles and his mind! I love teasing you Charles...its tooo fun!)

Thanks again for your words and I think we have to stop the group hugging thing. Charles will most certainly find out and be sniffing around!

HUGS

Nawal

Edited September 18, 2008 by Nawal

[Staashi 371]

Just an FYI - if you ever read any of my posts on Expats, I would just like you to know that I curse like a sailor.