The Beautiful Blogger Award

I haven’t written any thing for the past three weeks because of some disturbing news from back home. My father had difficulties in breathing, every now and then, that lasted about two months and therefore had to go through a Bypass surgery. Alhamdulilah he is doing well now. Also, the situation in Syria is getting very bad while the world is watching at their comfort on TV. My sister’s house in Syria was raided by the Syrian Armed Forces along with other houses in the neighborhood. Luckily, she left her house two months ago because of the situation there. The Syrian Armed Forces vandalized and broke every thing in the house claiming they were looking for arms. My sister was told by her neighbors that men found in the houses were beaten badly.

Anyway, last week I received an exciting comment from the American writer and blogger Jim Wright that I was nominated for the Beautiful Blogger Award. Jim lives in Jordan and became accustomed to its desert, tradition and food. He has some very good Jordanian and Palestinian recipes as well. I highly recommend his Musakhan recipe.

Like all awards, this one comes with some “Obligatory Rules”. They are:

• Copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post,
• Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog,
• Tell 7 things about yourself,
• Nominate 7 other bloggers for their own Beautiful Blogger Award, and comment on their blogs to let them know.

So, here are 7 things about me:

1. I like reading non-fiction books, trying food I haven’t eaten before and travel.
2. I like talking about religion and culture with people from different faith and cultures.
3. I like living in USA but hate being away from my family.
4. I have a fantasy to live for at least one year in England.
5. I did my first 11 years of school in Kuwait, I got a Bachelor degree from Jordan, I got a Master’s degree from Malaysia and currently working on my PhD dissertation in USA.
6. I like living in a multicultural city.
7. I am the only single person among my friends and it is very embarrassing.

Now, for the bloggers that I like to read there are many. Here are the ones that I read most with no particular order:

1. This & That
2. Chez Chiara
3. WinterSamar’s Blog
4. Ana Naddoush
5. Things I Like To Whisper About (in Arabic)
6. A Tale of Three Beans (She is back!)
7. Kinzi. (She recently closed her blog but I am sure she will come back. I hope this award will give her some incentive to blog again)

I am very fortunate that I got people to read my blog and comment on my posts. What is more exciting is that there are actually some people who like my blog. Again, thanks to Jim for this award. I am honored!