Qatar having won the FIFA World Cup 2022 bid late last year and now coupled with this new move of ousting the out going vice-president Chung Mong-Joon, will only strengthen FIFA’s President Sepp Blatter bid for re-election later on this year.

I am an advocate of fair play and transparency. My only concern with the new changes are that they seem to be more politically and economically motivated rather then a ‘passion for football’.

Mr Blatter has confirmed support for his presidential bid from the 25 that voted for Prince Ali including Sheikh Ahmad Ali Fahad Al Sabah, Head of Kuwait’s Football Federation. The Middle East is an untapped market for Fifa and I am sure both parties will set to become rich over the next decade or so.

It is nice to rejoice during the current successes but being cautious about the new changes does not go unwarranted.

I recently read an article which was forwarded by an Egyptian colleague about over eating and watching TV during the month of Ramadhan in Egypt. The full article can be read here. I have lived 2 years of my life in Jordan and have spent the past 2 years in Egypt. I can safely say that this is not an Egyptian phenomenon.

Jordan:

Schools finish earlier at around 13:00ish because everyone is fasting, so people can go home and either sleep or think about eating. Once people have eaten, either at families house which is either on invitation or they have invited. It is well known that the stomachs grow smaller over the  month but we will still make and eat food like there is no tomorrow. Once everyone has eaten, mostly the men of the family will go to the mosque to pray the Tarweeh prayer, which are the recommended prayers only for Ramadhan. These prayers will be cut short because people are eager to go home to watch the latest Drama imported from Syria or Turkey such as Bab Al Hara. If your not at home watching these Dramas, you’re in the cafes watching.

Egypt:

Clocks are brought back an hour just for Ramadhan; Schools and businesses are closed at around 14:30ish. People generally work less. Time is spent either thinking about food, preparing food for large feasts for family members they have not seen the whole year around or  thinking about what you’re going to make the next day and who you’re going to invite. Once the food is eaten and consumed on an extra large proportion, then people head to the mosques for a quick recommended prayer, which is either so long that it puts off people ever coming back again or so short so people can go home or to the cafes to watch Egyptian dramas.

Ramadhan is time for reflection, for working harder, being more aware of your actions in accordance to the book (the Quran) and example of the Prophet. How can it be that some people do not pray all year long and yet they fast during the month of Ramadhan. How can it be that women do not cover, and yet they will fast during the month of Ramadhan. The Muslim community must throw away this ‘pick and choose’ mentality and use the month of Ramadhan is a reflection and purification time so that it can impact the other remaining months in a positive manner.

No one is perfect so lets make this month a spring board for change in the right direction. It is not all about eating and watching Dramas.

AMMAN — Jordanian police said on Saturday that they had recovered the bodies of two Asian women which had been dumped in plastic bags in a public waste bin north of the capital.

“Police recovered the bodies of two young women of Asian appearance from a public waste bin in the Jubeiha district, north of Amman, on Friday,” police spokesman Mohammad Khatib said.

A member of the public had spotted the bodies in sealed plastic waste sacks and alerted police, Khatib said, adding that the nationalities of the two women remained unclear but they had probably been working as maids.

Initial examination suggested that both women had been strangled.

Some 70,000 migrant labourers work as domestic servants in Jordan, the great majority of them women.

Some 30,000 come from Indonesia, 15,000 from the Philippines and 25,000 from Sri Lanka, according to labour ministry figures.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jClG1qxCLSbpKKGHeC4ebkblO82A

Ramadhan Kareem

wasapninjordan

Can they do this? Has anyone else received the emails from click-jordan?

wasapninjordan

Here are the pics of the Jordanian Dinar note pics. However I do not have the pics of the coins. If anyone is able to take pics of the coins and email them to me, so I can add them to this slide would be greatly apperciatted.

wasapninjordan

Q:Which Mansaf do you prefer?

A: You choose.

wasapninjordan

The great Mansaf from Al-Quds Restaurant

I was reading a great blog entry from ‘summer‘ on www.mimicooks.com. She was talking about Mansaf and it got me thinking. I remember eating Mansaf for the first time. The food was so heavy, all I wanted to do was sleep afterwards. I felt so heavy and I said to myself, I am not eating that again. But of course when you go and visit your friends on a Friday afternoon at their house, you’re most likely to be offered a Mansaf, well it was the case for me:-0. I know Mansaf is very hard to make, so I have been told. I don’t know what happened but the more I ate Mansaf, the more I wanted it.

I know everyone talks about Jabri being the best place for Mansaf and the late King Hussein used to eat from Jabri’s but I much prefer to eat Mansaf from the ‘Al-Quds’ restaurant in Down Town. They just simply do good food and the best Mansaf in town. You are not going to find a fancy table, with fancy waiters or fancy cutlery; they only do fancy food.

If you haven’t tried Mansaf, yet then I suggest ‘Al-Quds’ restaurant in Down Town. Enjoy it.

wasapninjordan

I was driving in Cairo the other day and heard the new track from Fadel Shakir and Elissa. I do not understand Arabic but you know how certain songs and certain artists take you back in time. Well that’s what happened to me when I listened to the duet from Fadel Shakir and Elissa, called ‘Juwa el rou7′. 

I went home and logged on to www.nogomi.com and downloaded the new track. Nogomi is a one stop shop to all your Arabic tunes on the web. You have to register, which is free by the way but I do not think you will be disappointed. Try it, you might like it.

Well I still remember my first few days in Jordan and I would hear songs from Elissa and Fadel Shakir. Whenever I hear songs from either of the two artists, it takes me back to the good old days in Jordan.

My all time favorite Arabic track is ‘Khidni Ma3ak’ by Fadel Shakir and Yara. Whats your all time favorite?

wasapninjordan