Men are running out!!! Or so it seems...
I am turning 24 this year and by most Arab standards that would probably mean I am towards the uhoh-getting-old-time-to-get-married age! Since most of my friends are in their late twenties, there is an unspoken panic regarding marriage and the lack of likable, decent men. The silent hopelessness in our conversations is very evident.

But even worse than that questioning looming over us marriage-age-girls is the pressure... Why are we being made to feel that we need to give every man who comes for us a chance in fear of him being the last man you will be introduced to? Why is it that a girl can't just say NO I AM NOT INTERESTED when she is introduced to someone she does not necessarily feel chemistry with? In the back of our minds our mothers' words are uttered - "give him a chance, there aren't many good men out there" or "hmmmmmmm you are getting older now honey... " and my personal favorite, "you know back in my day, we weren't so picky.. we just said yes to whomever our parents' approved of and we made the relatonship work". How many girls have I met who aren't necessarily crazy about a guy but are keeping in touch with him and building a relationship in hopes that "he will grow on me"... Why do we have to feel like the situation is forced, almost desperate? Are men running out?

A few months have gone by since I visited my blog. I have been overwhelmed by the newness of everything. New job. New country. New boss. New city. New people. New shampoo. New gym. New (much higher) number on the scale.

As much as I absolutely love change, as much as I realize that it is truly exhausting some days! I am constantly on the run and learning new things. Life is busy, very busy. I can not remember the time when I used to have a whole day free with nothing planned. Opening my outlook agenda, I see little blocks of time all filled up - even after the work hours. I am addicted to life, to experiences, to being busy and even when I try to "relax" and do nothing I fail miserably.

Within these few months that I have been in Canada, I have gone to a hockey game, been to Miss Canada 2006 beauty pageant, gone hiking in the beautiful rivers in the North, attended a two-hour intensive Sushi class (the chef gave me a 10!! but I ended up eating all 18 pieces of Sushi I made..ahem), gotten completely lost all over the city (darned one way streets), gone to a book signing by the amazing Robin Sharma, regularly attended an Islamic monthly Hip Hop Poetry night as an outlet to all muslims for their feelings... and the list continues..

There is so much to live, so much to see and so much to LEARN that I am absolutely unable to stand still and watch it go by. In fact, I refuse to. I spent so many years in Geneva stagnant and dying away that moving to Montreal has made me feel alive again and that is why I am compulsively trying to compensate! For now, I am enjoying it.

Mind you, despite all of this, I am still in bed by 10:30pm and up at 6:30am every morning - so as active as I am these days, some things will never change!!!