An encounter

11:45am
I was having a one hour gap today between lectures, so I went to sit at a place that I really like, I don’t know what it’s called .It’s not as big as a park, yet it has a lot of green and lovely bright-yellow seating benches. It is situated above ground level, you have to go up 7 stairs and it has iron gates on its 2 entrances. Below it or rather under it, below ground level there is a garage. and the place is overlooking the Mediterranean sea from one side, Ramlh station from the other side, which is one of the most active areas in Alex. I'll try to remember to get a photo of the place.

I went to sit at my favourite chair, passed by a sleeping dog in a sunny spot, then paused when I found that all the seats overlooking the sea were occupied but one! And a man was walking in front of me, I waited for him to pass by the seat & continue with his walk, but …!! Ah well. Just as I turned to look for somewhere else, a man on the bench next to him caught my eyes, then stood up and left…yess!! A bench of my own :)
The sight is breathtaking, the number of times I sat here, yet it’s always different..The sky is never the same; today it was baby-blue with no clouds. The sea itself, always has something new to tell me, today it was very happy reflecting the skies above it, with not a single wave. Smooth as silk. The horizon line so distinct .

The sea suddenly vanished, I was faced by 2 black bodies, I refocused to the narrow range.”May we sit here?” said a middle aged woman, I looked at her, & her companion, an old woman with one of the purest old faces I’ve ever seen & grey-blue eyes, yet it appeared to me that she was in so much pain .”Yes, of course “ I replied. And sure enough , as soon as they sat ,the old woman started ahhhing & ohhing.” I want to go home” “ I can’t take it” ahh “I can’t sit” ahh“ I can’t take it” At that moment, this seventy something woman sounded like a 7 year old!! I almost teared. The woman accompanying her was making some phone calls, from which I understood that they’re not from the area, they just came to the old woman’s doctor. And they were now waiting for a guy –who was running some errands- to come & take them home. Probably son of the old woman and husband of the other.

The aching sounds of the old woman in pain was like stabs right in the heart. “Just look at the sea, this beautiful sight is bound to make you forget all the pain” I told her. “Oh, thank you my child, I just can’t take it, is there a bus from here that can take us to Wardian, it’s where I live..?” “Yes there is, lots of buses “Interrupted the other women while still on the phone.

We sat for like 15 min, in which I was talking to the old woman about the view, the people, and then it was time for me to leave. The lecture was about to start. I wanted to stay, I really wanted to stay till she got on that bus, where I believe is when her pain will be eased just by the thought of going home. I stood up “May Allah eases all your pains “I told her & I turned to leave and she started calling out prayers for me “May Allah guide your way, and may you be always happy”. I went back to the gate, passed on my right by the sleeping dog who changed his sleeping zone into a more shaded area. I walked through the iron gates with mixed emotions and new feelings than the ones I entered with!!

On the Pathway of joggers (1)

Monday 29th of March.*delayed entry


This is basically a diary of my morning jogs. Morning jogs might sound a bit boring I mean you just jog,what's there to write about; at least I thought they were. But not now, that I’ve got to know some regular joggers, cyclers, high-paced walkers and exercisers in general.Though we never actually talk, EYES have a conversation of its own.And I suddenly feel like I know these people from a very long time,& I feel comfortable whenever I see them , & if they don't show up, I wonder what could have possibly made them miss out there daily excercise.


Today’s jog,
Conditions:
1) The weather: chilly, slightly windy.
Which is not my favorites, the 2 things I hate the most are sun and wind. They exhaust me faster than usual, plus the sun here is really terrible, I could actually feel it burning my face. Wind is more tolerable, yet when it’s against me or even worse when it’s pushing me, I just don’t like clothes sticking to me.. I like the cold chilly weather, because it’s cool to walk and enjoy such weather, I also like the hot weather cause more sweating = more body cleansing.


2) Sea colour: Still recovering from the past 2 days’ horrible colour
Honestly, the past couple of days the sea resembled the colour of cat’s gut, I never actually saw the cat’s gut but I have a strong feeling it did look like it. Yellowish-brown, ergh… with foams, oh the foams, they’re not like the soap’s white fluffy foams, but turbid yellowish foams, with no bubbles, sitting there as if forming their own carpet on the sea not even bothering to move with the waves. It’s really weird, because it’s usually like this in the late summer. It’s not always like this okay; don’t get a bad image of the usually lovely Mediterranean Sea.

I first pass by my favourite person of all, an old man in navy blue training suit, white cap,white sneakers.He's kinda short and small sized...always walking with high pace, more like a soldier on a mission. That man, NEVER misses a day,God Bless him. At first I used to be jealous of him,yes I was...I mean come on he's old & active, & I'm young & well, not THAT presistant, but that was a year ago, now he's like my motivator. Although I'm 1 or 2 steps beyond him now, since I started jogging & not just speed-walking.Even though he has this straight marching technique, he's eyes are like the hawk's, scanning all he's surroundings.So this is my "Navy Motivator" the 1st character on the Pathway of Joggers.
More to come later.

Tip of the day:

If you just speed walk as an excercise ,at some point you get an urge to run for a while because you've got some built in energy, you release it by runnung -usually a short distance-then stop & continue walking.NOT SO GOOD. Studies found that fighting that urge to run & continuing to walk against your body's will is more beneficial than just giving up & running.
so you either walk or jog/run for a specific intervel, lead your body & don't let your body leads you.

Picture in words

I was sitting there thinking, what am I supposed to be doing here ??!! I got dragged by ...emm, well not really ,I did accept the invitation, but then again, this isn't me. I mean the place is beautifull, specially in sepia mode. :) The hall was extremelly humongous, to the left was the entrance door, standing with all its glory with 2 tuxedo men on each side of it welcoming you with their masculine smiles, then passing you to a formaly dressed lady who leads you to your table ,smiling all the way as if her facial muscles have stopped at this position, a smile!!
To the right is the heart of the hall.It takes about 50 of these tabels in a row,with a wooden dannce floor in the middle.There are no windows in the entire place , which perhaps is another reason why I felt uncomfortable. Claustrophobic?? mabye!!
The small entrance in the picture where the man is standing at the far, is the toilets' corridor. The toilet is a story of it's own, shiny glittering spacious light-coloured,& that's where I wanted to spend the rest of the evening. :D