Be my guest tour

It's an event that my university (Saxion University of applied sciences - Deventer) had started last year (I was chosen to do the promotion since I'm an international student) and guess who's planning and executing the event this year?

Correct, ME!


Now if you think it is no big deal, suit yourself the 'x' button is up there, whereas for me this was a big deal because executing an event is no easy job, like you see those event planners on movies running left and right to get it all done right.. I love the rush!
So the idea behind this is: since we are international students in the Netherlands, and there are all those stereotypes coming and going around; this event has been created to eliminate these stereotypes, and bring us together. Moreover, it is difficult sometimes for Dutch to interact with internationals, because they will have to speak English, so this is like a cute way of get together, psst we don't bite kinda thing.

This experience also is something like, traveling to a country by visiting the person. A few hours that would make your perspective change about certain culture, perhaps answer your questions. People volunteer to be hosts, and invite others to their house, in which those guests should adapt to the hosts' do's and don'ts.

For example, when people come over to my place, during dinner we would sit on floor and eat with hands. As much as it sounds scary, it is fun to try!

Here is the video of the kick-off :

And here are some pictures from different guests who came over.

Believe it or not, the demand to visit my place is large since it's super new experience, and I'm all about teaching everyone the Omani culture.




Note: some food might not look typical Omani but hey, what is a little improvement on the food eh? it's like being modern and traditional.
If they can serve shuwa burger, why can't I improvise, right?
PPS, also coz not all materials are available here =P

My trip to: Russia

Yes, I did it.
I went to Russia.


I did not know I had it in me, but when the school said we had to choose between Russia or Iceland, without second thoughts I said Russia.
I had some doubts later on, but I ignored my fears and made it.
The trip officially was supposed to take time between 20th to 24th of April 2015

This is how the journey went:

So many people decided to go a day earlier or so, in order to get a rest after arriving, because it was going to be one busy trip.


19th of April: 
My flight was at 7 pm I think.. and we had a stop in Latvia. We finally reached Russia, St. Petersburg at 1.30 am.
Airport was almost empty, I think we were the last arrivals for that day. So I went to the passport check.. The lady speaks no English word, and the thing is, I have European ID, but for Russia we had different Visa. 
I gave the lady my passport, she stared at me then back to the passport..
In a very rude way she pointed back to where I came from ' GO!!'. I said "this is my European ID" she responds 'GO!!'. mhmm.. okay..
I sat down on the chairs, and I was alone there as everyone else passed the control check.. 
There were bunch of policemen standing there, laughing and talking.. 
The control desks all shut down, half the lights in the place were turned off while I'm sitting there alone waiting.. what next?
I approach a policeman, and ask him "so what do I do now?". He can barely speak English and apparently no one was working on my case anyway since the windows were closed. He was however kind enough to ask me where I came from so I told him Amsterdam, he asked for my residence permit, and I gave him.  
I started panicking.. Almost was going to cry, then I activated international internet and sent a message in our Whatsapp group, I was too shy to call any of the teachers because it was too late. One of them called me right away and calmed me down.. I didn't cry. I also heard Bryan from the other side where I couldn't see anything screaming "where is my friend? why don't you let her out?" and it made me laugh. so sweet!
After sometime the policeman came with my ID and Passport, and said that I could pass now. 
When I passed the control check I realized that I've been waiting in there for over an hour.
The hostel we are supposed to stay in, supposedly should send us a Taxi driver with my name plate on it, apparently he never came to the airport. First, I received an Email from the hostel asking if we're showing up or not, I replied yes but having some issues passing the control check. Then the lady said he left, but she will contact him to come back.
Meanwhile, other taxi drivers in the empty airport are annoying us, we were warned not to take those. it was then 3.30 am, the taxi driver claims to be in the empty airport but we don't see him.. Then he claims hes by the bus stop, and since all the letters are in Russian and there is no sign we didn't know where the bus stop was. Bryan went outside to check for the taxi driver, and now they won't let him inside the airport anymore. So I decided to leave too since there was no point in waiting inside. We called the Hostel, and hes yelling kinda that there is no one to pick us and such.. When suddenly two LARGE men approach us.. one of them grabs the phone (My dear iPhone6) and says two words in Russian.. Then he says "come come i take you". The two men argued who to take us, then one of them said follow me.. He took our bags before we could say anything. So we followed him to a garage... Then he put our bags inside a car which had no sign of TAXI and i looked at Bryan and said " OMG are we really going with him??" but there was no time to argue, and there were no one around us. Bryan tried to take a picture of the plate number but didn't go well as the picture was all blurry. They told us it wook 15 minutes from the airport to the hostel, but this one I'm pretty sure took us more than that. Also, the price later was high. 
Finally we reach the hostel at 4 in the morning all exhausted and tired. Met with the others and felt relief. What a first day!



20th of April:
I woke up feeling weird, and mentally exhausted, yet so happy to reach safely to the hostel after what happened the previous night.
Went to the common room, which also had the kitchen where everyone were having their breakfast.. Well, it was a hostel what did I expect? 
Sorry, not sorry.. I'm not used to being in a hostel. When I've been raised all my life in a certain way, then seeing this will never be okay for me yet I co-oped with the situation. 
We went for a walk around the city, discovering the place. Walking on the Nevsky prospect, it was so beautiful. The weather was cold, which I had no problems with because I love the cold weather. 
Took a couple of pictures here and there.
Later on in the evening, somewhere at 18.00 we met with our two lovely teachers who accompanied us in this trip to go to a typical Russian restaurant. 
Now, I only eat halal meat, so it was not very convenient because in countries like Russia -unlike Holland for example- finding halal meat is not easy. However, the fish dish that I've order was a mind blowing delicious dish!! The restaurant itself was so welcoming with this typical Russian style, I loved it!
I'm sorry I don't remember the name, but it was so close to the hostel, and on the Novsky prospect as well.

That is all I remember about that night.



21st of April:

At 10 we met at the common room in the hostel, then we walked to the metro station, and took a metro in order to start our first company visit. 
All this time I was thinking, God.. If I had to travel around here alone I'd cry, because I don't know the language, and I don't somehow feel safe. So I was happy to travel with my friends.
then later on at 12 I think we had a lunch in a Japanese restaurant which was next to the hostel. I didn't really like their food as much as the Russian cuisine.
Later, we had a walking tour with a woman from 'WOW Russia'. They offer really nice tours, check their website. No this is not marketing, but I liked their ideas honestly.
So we walked around, visited all those amazing monuments..
I love their architecture... It is indeed rich with history. The lady did explain some of the stories that took place in certain monuments, but I was interested more to know about the Tsars, and all the historical events.

 The church of our Lady Kazan

 Metro station

 in front of Lady kazan church

The church of the Savior on Blood

Acting Russian? :P

At night.. I went with some friends to the same restaurant we went the previous day, the one I don't know what is called, but had typical Russian atmosphere and food.

22nd of April:

Waking up early, is exhausting. I managed to be on time. Some people were late, this time we didn't wait. Walked with the group to the metro\underground station. 
I was thinking in myself 'I'm happy I managed to be in time, I wouldn't know how to reach our destination otherwise, especially using an underground!!'
When we reached the place, we saw the others.. I was impressed how they reached there the same time we did though they were late (the late ones were 3 guys.. no wonder they knew how to reach :P )
We finished our company visit, then went to another typical Russian restaurant. Again, no Halal meat, but man those seafood variety and vegetarian dishes they offered were so delicious. This time it was a buffet. 
After that we went to Baskin Robbins and you have no idea how happy I was that there was a Baskin Robbins (Because in Holland, or europe generally there is no Baskin).

Yes, even with the scary letters, I was happy!!

There was a problem however, when ordering the ice cream because they don't speak English, and everything is written in Dutch!! Thank you google trans!
After that we went back to the underground, went to somewhere else for our company visit. 
After the company visit, the group split, there were me and other 3 who decided to go to the mall!
Now, when you tell me MALL i get all excited because again in Europe you don't have what we know as Mall, in let's say Oman\Emirates .. I was so excited.

After that we were so exhausted. We went back to the hostel only to find out that people went to different places, so we decided we'd shower then go for dinner and call it a night.
We went to the same restaurant that I went to, twice in a row.
We were extremely exhausted, and because of that we were laughing on everything and anything. At the restaurant we were 6 in total, laughing the whole time.
We finished dinner at midnight, before heading back to the hostel, we decided to go to a shop which was on the opposite street from the restaurant, and from the hostel. While walking and laughing.. I saw an old begger (lady) approach us.. Normally, I'm scared of beggars, imagine a beggar in Russia.. 
The other didn't hear me, and i laughed at something someone said.. A friend of mine who was face to face with the beggar, got spooked because apparently the lady was too short she almost didn't see her, so she stopped, then ignored and continued walking.. 
That's when we heard the old lady scream on the top of her lungs, and actually she started running after us, and we screamed and ran too!!
The funny thing is that no one in the street bothered to see what is happening, everyone were minding their own business. The traffic light had red light on, we didn't care we just kept running to the other side of the road, into the shop. We literally were catching our breath, scared to death from that random action. Bought what we wanted but dared not to go out because I think I saw an old lady peeping from the shop window, wasn't sure if it was her, but I was not going to leave the shop if she was waiting outside. Then the guys went out, said she wasn't there, so we left and quickly went back to the hostel.
I had a goodnight sleep, the others claimed they were hearing a scream all night long from the outside.
Now, that would not be the same old woman would it? How can she have the power to shout all night long? Mhmmm..


23rd of April

We met again somewhere at 10 or 11, I don't remember. Then the journey started where we had to walk to the Hermitage. 
Before going to the Hermitage, we stopped in another typical Russian restaurant, where they had the most delicious pies I've ever eaten. Now again, I only ate vegetarian and fish, but believe me when I tell you this was no ordinary pie!! They were just so amazing that now when I think about them, I drool!

Then we walked to the Hermitage. My goodness, the Hermitage was so beautiful.
our tour guide then told us the different stories about each room, kings, princes and all.. it was simply magnificent 

After the Hermitage visit, we quickly went back to the hostel to get ready.
We went to a Fancy Russian restaurant (I'm sorry I'm bad with remembering the names!) where again they served us some mouth watering super delicious food.

Then we went to the Mariinsky theater, where we attended a ballet show.

Finally, since it was our last official day in St. Petersburg, we decided to go on a limo tour around the city, celebrating the end of the trip. We went to the monuments that we have already been to, but at night it was a different story...

It was even prettier than what we had seen in the day light.

of course, these are some of the pictures, not all! Just so you can put an image to the story you're reading.



24th of April:

It was the departure day, I was supposed to go to Scotland to visit my friend and spend 3 more days doing nothing. However, an emergency appeared out of nowhere where I had to go back to Holland. So, I traveled back with some of my friends who were going back too.
So, my fear started once again when we stepped into the airport. We went to the control check, and some friends went ahead and one stayed in case something -again- happened to me. 
Once more, I had to wait for 15 minutes this time thank god, and the woman behind the desk could sense my fear so she tried speaking English with me, another officer came asked me some questions then they let me in. Whoa.. 

That minions, was my journey to Russia.
Unforgettable, lovely, and amazing experience.
But never again!



 

Disorders do not mean CRAZY!

Minions,

Been a long time since I last posted, I know.
It has come to my attention lately, actually since sometime now, the fact that people generally in Oman are not properly aware about the different (mental) disorders. To them it's either 'crazy' or 'fine'.

Before coming to the Netherlands I had no idea about Dyslexia.
Maybe you did not know about it either? Here's an insight about it:

"Dyslexia is a learning disorder characterized by difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words. Also called specific reading disability, dyslexia is a common learning disability in children.
Dyslexia occurs in children with normal vision and intelligence. Sometimes dyslexia goes undiagnosed for years and isn't recognized until adulthood.
There's no cure for dyslexia. It's a lifelong condition caused by inherited traits that affect how your brain works. However, most children with dyslexia can succeed in school with tutoring or a specialized education program. Emotional support also plays an important role."1

 People also are not aware of schizophrenia 

"Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that generally appears in late adolescence or early adulthood - however, it can emerge at any time in life. It is one of many brain diseases that may include delusions, loss of personality (flat affect), confusion, agitation, social withdrawal, psychosis, and bizarre behavior."2

People might recognize 'Bipolar' but still don't really understand what it is:

"Bipolar disorder, also known by its older name "manic depression," is a mental disorder that is characterized by serious mood swings. A person with bipolar disorder experiences alternating “highs” (what clinicians call “mania“) and “lows” (also known as depression). Both the manic and depressive periods can be brief, from just a few hours to a few days, or longer, lasting up to several weeks or even months. The periods of mania and depression vary from person to person — many people may only experience very brief periods of these intense moods, and may not even be aware that they have bipolar disorder.A manic episode is characterized by extreme happiness, extreme irritability, hyperactivity, little need for sleep and/or racing thoughts, which may lead to rapid speech. A depressive episode is characterized by extreme sadness, a lack of energy or interest in things, an inability to enjoy normally pleasurable activities and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. On average, someone with bipolar disorder may have up to three years of normal mood between episodes of mania or depression."3

There is also Epilepsy:

"Epilepsy is a group of related disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent seizures. There are different types of epilepsy and seizures. Epilepsy drugs are prescribed to control seizures, and rarely surgery is necessary if medications are ineffective."4

Funny story here, so once I went to a trip with the school (public school) and one of my classmates pointed at a girl, and said 'When this girl rides one of those rides that are fast and go upside down her demons come out' She meant to tell me that the girl is possessed by the devil. Little that she knew that girl suffered from epilepsy. 

So there are so many other disorders, which we don't know about normally. However, in other countries, people seek help somehow, or when they're diagnosed it's okay, people understand that they need help, but from where I come from people jump to one conclusion : S\HE IS CRAZY and that is sad. Moreover, the judges and whispers start.

I mean to say, we're human beings. A human is not perfect, such unfortunate things can happen to anyone, anytime.. Instead of laughing at it, or at the people we should be more understanding. 

We should be helpful to them instead of calling names. 

Encourage seeking help instead of letting them suppress their feelings and suffer alone.

Don't let these people feel alone, misfit, or different. 

I hope the point I'm trying to make is clear, and you minions get what I'm trying to say, perhaps change your view about this matter, and help change the overall view of others about it too, because it is serious.

Let's make the change instead of waiting for others to do something.

In the references below you can find the links to some of the disorders I mentioned, and you can read about others which I haven't mentioned.

Laters!

References:

1. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dyslexia/basics/definition/con-20021904
2. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/36942.php
3. http://psychcentral.com/disorders/bipolar/
4. http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/

Counter Strike Global Offensive

Minions,

As most of you might already know.. I'm a Gamer.
A moody gamer if needs to be specified. There are certain games that I'm hooked to, and believe me, I'd play them continuously without getting bored.
I'll leave the details of games I like to play for some other time.. or in another post. Today I'm talking about counter strike global offensive.

Back in .. I don't know somewhere in 2006 or 07 I think, when I was in middle school, our school applied the electronic system.. Which meant we would study using laptops instead of books.
How cool is that right? It was so so so cool!
So in breaks.. ( ugly confession: or not in breaks!) we would play counter strike in the class.. & we had a custom server.. so almost whoever in school played counter strike, played together in the server. 
Ps: I think I was the only girl who actually played it at school!
This was for that phase of time only.. and after that year (or when we left middle school to high school .. which meant back to books) I didn't play it again.

Sometime later I tried CoD (Call of Duty) on playstation.. Much as I liked it.. it was a bit hard for me to play it to be honest. 

& now again, a friend told me about CSGO, which in the beginning I was like 'Ugh old school, I don't think I'll enjoy it the way I enjoyed it in middle school!' 
Truth be told I was scared I'd go all nostalgic over those days.. Because those days somehow everything was easy and fun.. it was just different.
So I played one game on my friend's PC.. and that was it. Next thing was me buying the game.. installing it on my laptop.. GOODBYE WORLD!

I turned into a zombie.
I can't stop playing it.
I LOVE IT!!
Never been better at the game hahah.
I'm not marketing for it.. I'm just expressin' my LOVE to the game.
I've been winning on competitive games.. and they're giving me cool down time ugh,,


wana join me?
Stream Name : PastaMuchacha
Lets go!


Back to the game now.. 
Until the next post
x

Why so negative?

Minions!

To start off, I'm pretty sure I've written a post about 'negativity' before. However I think it's okay to write about it again, considering the fact that it's happening again around me, and I dislike that vibe I'm getting from the negative people. 

If you think this post is helpful - off course decide after reading it - help me out and spread it. Who knows, maybe it will be helpful for someone and they would change their view of life, and stop being negative!

Now, I'm not a shrink or anything of that sort, but I happen to know about so many situations, and so many people who are\were going through some difficulties, and somehow together we found a solution.

Being negative is bad for you, and those who surround you.

How?

The effect on you:

You will feel miserable.

You will always feel sorry for yourself.

You will hate everything around you.

 

Those who surround you:

will start avoiding you.

We all go through ups and downs.. & we need to adapt on those changing situations, the different phases we go through, learn how to be strong and never give up.

Sometimes those times where you think there is no exit from might take long, but believe me there is always a light by the end of the tunnel no matter how long that tunnel is. Do you recognize this? Try to remember a situation where you thought this is it, what happened next?

It all depends on yourself, and how you see things around you. It's easy, everything is on the palm of your hand, you just need to know when and how to react.

I've read this inspirational book called 'the secret' only to figure out that the solution has been always right in front of my eyes.. 

It simply suggests, if you think positively, you attract the positiveness in your life, while if you think negatively, you will get the negative!

See? easy.. isn't it?

If you ever felt sad, or negative in anyway here is what you do:

- Grab a paper and pen... List down everything that you love in life, and see how that changes your mood immediately.

- Write inspirational lines or phrases that you like and put them in your wardrobe or wall, somewhere where u can read it every time you come and go, so that it stays in your mind.

- talk to your loved ones.

- write the negative feelings on a piece of paper, and throw it away, never think about it again, that way you let it out of your system, and threw it away where you don't have to read it or think about it again.

Remember, everything you experience is some sort of test that you somehow need to pass.

Talking to your loved ones always HELPS! at least that's what I do.. I have specific friends whom I complain to, no matter how big or small the issue is, I let it out of my system, my friends either give me a good advise or make fun of it, and then we just let it go and continue living.

Focus on something that is bigger than those negative feelings, like how will you accomplish something, or do something you haven't done before (something good!).

Remember one more thing: Envying others will never do you any good, so let go of that feeling too. Feel happy for others and you'll feel better. Peace of mind, that's important.

If you have a place to sleep in peacefully, food to eat, and water to drink you have nothing to be sad about!

Well, those are some of my humble thoughts. If you feel sad or negative read again the part that is in PINK an try to do it, don't ever think it's stupid or childish, it's actually helpful, you'll feel the smile on your face when you do it.

If you want more inspiration I strongly recommend you to read 'The secret' it's really inspiring!!

Most important part is: Never let anything or anyone bring you down. & stay away from the negatives!

Here is a unicorn.. it makes me happy.

Have a goodnight!

x

 

Happy belated new year

Minions,


Today is the 4th of January 2015.
I kinda got so busy the last two days of my vacation in Oman, so I couldn't post anything.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Did I mention I was on plane when the new year thing happened? 
Yeah.. Not so exciting, I was sleeping.
I remember this morning before writing this post I was inspired with all kinds things that I thought I thought I would write, however right now.. I just don't feel like writing any of them somehow!
I kinda feel homesick..
So what's new is, I played counter strike and it reminded me of them good ol' days at Huda school.. You see in G7 or 8 we started using laptops instead of books to learn.. and there I was playing counter strike in the class.. which was so much fun.
Oh yeah.. I played one game which led to another.. then one more..
All I know is if i bought the game I can kiss the studies goodbye, because I'll turn into a zombie once more. I hardly stopped spamming league of legends lately, I don't want to start again..
Wait a minute.. who am I kidding.. I think I'm going to turn into a zombie, it's too cold outside!

I kind of have a list to do for this year.. Gotta seize all the little and big chances I have here, and hopefully by the end of 2015 I will list em all!


x