Monday, May 15, 2006

Eye Candy!


I only wish I could read Italian, but this blog is a wonderful feast for the eyes! - Have a look at Molestine's blog - My Trip and also her fantastic photos on Flickr- My Tripoli. Posted by Picasa

15 comments:

  1. Thank you so much Khadija, I understand your frustration, I have the same feeling when I read the blogs in Arabic.... I hope one day I could read at least few words of them. You are doing a great job for Libya and basically I'm trying as well to let italians know all the beauty of this Great Libya

    Simona

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm sorry you don't speak italian, because I've written a lot about the libyan beauty in my blog. The beauty is in your people eyes, in the Medina in the afternoon or early morning, in Leptis, Sabratha, Yeffren, the beach in Al Khoms. The only thing I don't like of Libya is the dirt. This morning I was driving to Dhat El Imad coming from Gargaresh and I saw the beautiful beach. It seems to be in Brazil unless you get closer to it and see all the dirty stuff. In Italy there is an organization that every month call all the families out and together with the kids spend all day cleaning a certain area. I think we should do the same here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Uuuugh! Lybianwarrior - you are the most pessimistic person!

    Molestine - yes the beauty of Libya is marred by the garbage that is thrown everywhere. But this can only be blamed on the people of Libya who take little pride in their country and always expect that someone will follow them around and clean up their mess. Sad but true.

    In the US there are also community programs to help clean up litter - but most of all it is the attitude of the people themselves who would be horrified at the idea of leaving a mess.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, Khadija, I sense an unjustified generalization, here. But, anyway, now that Libya-US ties have been restored, maybe this will be an opportunity for you to get some help and start a community project on teaching Libyans how to be clean. As a Muslim-American woman, surely you are aware of the different views and practices on what constitutes cleanliness, even on the personal level.

    In my opinion, the refuse problem in Libya is a form of public protest. If you go to any zoo in any Arab country, you'll see what I mean.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Being clean has nothing to do with whether or not Libya has relations with the US or anyone else.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Patronism and public awareness programmes are the missing factors .All can be done one step at a time. When there's a will there's a way ! I agree with Khadija it's nothing to do with political relations with any foreign country.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes, Libya is so beautiful. I miss it. After i left I felt a part of me stayed there. I agree with Molestine in that the beauty is in the people's eyes. It is the humility, the pure, raw human nature. Yes, Tripoli streets can be unkept and dirty, but they are real, they have a heart. You can see it in the people, the shops, even in the simplest things.

    I know Libyan people have a lot to learn, but give them a break. They have been through a lot i think.

    I agree with all the criticism about LIbya and the women, etc I also had a very difficult time adjusting, but I love my fellow Muslims and religion more than the differences there might exist and i firmly believe the barriers can be overcome. I tried and saw some glimse of hope. We just need to be a bit more tolerant, humble and compassionate.

    I just can't wait to be back and make a difference, insha allah kheir.

    Was Salaam
    Adopted Libyan

    ReplyDelete
  10. Actually I originally tried to touch upon generalizing, and alluded to fundamental differences in personal values of cleanliness, but I thought the main point was about the social vs. state role in the Libyan trash problem, ...

    Anyway, I can understand the view that the cleanliness failure in Libya is a failure of personal values and social ethics, but not necessarily a failure of the state to pick up after them. That is a slightly different view from mine, especially regarding the public sector trash, and that's fine.

    But, regarding the public aspect of the problem, I can't say that there is no connection between politics and trash, or that there is no connection between Libya's foreign relations and trash. Politics and trash are related, in many ways and everywhere perhaps, but in the case of Libya the relation takes on a color of its own. And to a great extent, the state relations between Libya and the US are all about trash, really, of one kind or another!

    The public trash problem in Libya can and does disappear at (certain politically significant) times of the year-- I'd put the cleanliness peak around the second half of August. One can also point to connections between living conditions for Libyans and the state's foreign relations, e.g. compare present conditions with the state of affairs under the UN-US sanctions, the concurrent water shortage, etc.

    The return of US-Libyan diplomatic and trade relations provides, among other things, some special opportunities for solving the trash problems of Libya, or maybe I should say the trash problems of the Libyans, to avoid generalizing? For example, the Americans could teach the Libyans how to make better use of "illegal" foreign labor. If the problem has to do with the workforce, perhaps Libyans can import illegal labor from Mexico instead of Ghana? I see lots of opportunities, not only on the commercial level but also on the community level because the labor force will have to be neatly (aka invisibly) integrated into the local scene. It works for the Americans, so why not for the Libyans, and who better to make it happen than Libyan Americans?

    I once heard a joke about Libya that somebody asked, "What's Libya like?" and got the answer, "If you've ever been to the beach, just imagine there is no water there." It is interesting that some might take offense from that joke because it is geographically inaccurate, but others might find the real offense is reducing Libya to a purely geographical entity. If I could mix metaphors, I'd say, looking at Libya with "neutron lenses" reveals less of the beauty and more of the eye of the beholder.


    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well! These are fabulous pictures of Libya..........Thank you so much!

    Now to the trash point. Not all Americans rely on foreigners to do their work for them. I can get down and dirty, and clean my street, pick up trash, and I do. I am an American woman who is not afraid of hard work to keep my environment beautiful. ALL ROADS in America have a sign that says KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL - DON'T LITTER.
    THANKS FOR THE BEAUTIFUL PICS. TERI SANDI

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sandi - Thanks! - Yes in the US everyone is taught that it is their personal responsibility to make sure the streets stay clean. As gung-ho as America and Americans are about keeping things clean and the environment I am always amazed that the US refuses to commit itself to the Kyoto Protocol

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think that there must be a common effort of people and government to sort out this problem. Yesterday I had to keep an empty can in the bag and bring it back home as I couldn't find any litter basket in the street...

    Simona

    ReplyDelete
  14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol
    Teri, I have to research this b4 I can agree/disagree! ha. Keep up the good work. Sandi

    ReplyDelete
  15. Only by creating public awareness programmes and implementing them will we solve the trash problem .People have to be fined heavily if found throwing their trash where it's not meant to be.We have to start somewhere.Look at Tunisia and how they implement their public awareness programmes.Nowhere will you find Tunisians trashing away . The media also plays an immense role in teaching their fellow people about certain ways and means of doing everyday tasks like limiting the excess consumption of water and what the result would be etc....Drilling the kids in schools for keeping their country clean is an absolute must.At the end of the day we must do something about this problem of ours or we'll end up having no clean areas but many trash deposits everywhere!!!

    ReplyDelete

Guidelines for submitting comments

You can rant, you can rave, you can question. I ask only that you are thoughtful about what you write.

Comments are reviewed by me before publication. I don’t edit comments, but I do reserve the right to delete comments that violate my guidelines.

These are the kinds of comments that I think are not appropriate for publication:

- Defamatory or libelous remarks
- Abusive, harassing, or threatening language
- Obscene, vulgar, or profane language
- Racially, ethnically or religiously offensive words
- Illegal or encourages criminal acts
- Known to be inaccurate or contains a false attribution
- Infringes copyrights, trademarks, publicity or any other rights of others
- Impersonates anyone (actual or fictitious)
- Off-topic or spam
- Solicits funds, goods or services, or advertises



Please submit comments in English.


Thank you

My Link List