#283 ~ Brothers of Friends

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There used to be a school on this spot.


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Ibrahim is back!


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Catching up at a cafe. Like always.


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OTHER POSTS BY NESSREEN:

The Right Answer.

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Interesting thing happened to me today at the salon. So I go with friends to have things done at the salon we always go to, where most of the ladies are Filipinos. We've been going there for most of our nails and eyebrows for a while now, so the ladies know us, they know our stories, our backgrounds, etc. I'm always mistaken for a non-Filipino. Sometimes, Filipinos come up to me asking me where I'm from, because they kinda feel that I'm Filipino, but aren't so sure. Other times, they just assume I'm Saudi or Malay. That's when it's funny, because they start talking about me and I understand everything they say. ( I heart gossip. ) So this one customer, who was Filipina, starts gossiping about me and my friends. She was saying something about how "our kind" (Saudi girls) are too lazy to groom ourselves, how bratty we are, etc. The manicure lady shushes her quickly. "Shh, shh," she says. "This one's Filipina, no! She understan...
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Parents.

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It's never easy when parents die. For obvious reasons. They are the people closest to you; they know everything about you, and their love is unconditional. It's a big loss. There goes your comfort zone. Your safety net. Your Plan B. In our culture, being an "ulila", an "orphan", is something that all children are warned about. "Take care of your parents, because if you don't, you will lose them, and when you lose them, everyone will walk all over you." Parents protect you. It's even harder when your parents are dying. To witness their pain. To be helpless. To want to protect them in return and yet be unable to. My condolences to anyone and everyone who has lost a parent. Especially to those who are far from their parents, who have no means of closing that gap and paying their last respects to the people who raised them. My condolences to my brother Z, who was raised by my grandmother, who is devastated by this feeling of helplessness. My co...
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Freedom of Trash-Talk.

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So there's this guy on my Facebook friend list who's really annoying. Classic fuckface behaviour. He makes uneducated hypotheses, calls everyone stupid (except himself, it's hilarious if it weren't so annoying), and makes all these really fucking stupid generalizations and arguments. Very offensive guy. All of this on Facebook status updates. I know, I can just easily delete him, and move on and stop complaining about how offensive (and stupid) he is. It would save me from seeing all his comments and just shut him up. He can exist somewhere else beyond my hearing (or my feed). But then what about Freedom of Speech? Does he not have the right to voice his own opinions, just as I fiercely defend mine? Would I not be stepping on his rights or freedom by deleting him, shutting him up? Could I not give him his little FB space to stage his little rants and beliefs? I do not have to accept his views, but I must respect his right to have them and say them out loud. So what if t...
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Swimming.

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Sink or swim. Everybody needs friends to go swimming with. To remind them of the things that make them happy despite bad decisions, despite misfortune, despite turn of events. Some friends don't know how to swim, they just stay in the shallow end. Some are excellent swimmers and teach you how to swim or tread water in the deep end. Some sit by the pool and wait for you, or come and sit on the edge so, feet in the water, and chit-chat with you about video games while you enjoy the water on a hot day. Some tell you to pull up your bikini top. Some get competitive in the water and just want to race, and whoever wins or loses doesn't really matter, as long as they had that rush of competition. Friends bring their kids and trust you to look after them while they go change into their swimsuits. Some don't even swim, they just come over in their regular outfits to have a smoke and enjoy the weekend. With you. The stuff you will remember in the future. Swimming pools are a lot like...
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