souraya - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Half English, Half Lebanese, I feel neither but was once a convinced Londoner until Italy stole my heart. Technologically incompetent and something of a luddite, I'm nonetheless a bit seduced by this virtual world. Grammar pedant and frustrated eco-warrior with a social conscience, I want to change the world, or at least a little corner of it. I'm rational and a bit reserved but will come out of my shell if you press the right button. I dont get outwardly excited enough when people give me things but that doesnt mean I'm not the happiest girl on the inside. I waste too much time but I never mean to. I will remember everything about you down to the name of your first pet hamster and what you wore on Tuesday 21st November 2001. Im just like that.

I edited my profile with Thomasâ€™ Myspace Editor V3.6 !

My Interests

Lebanon, Italy, languages, the sound water makes when it hits a hot frying pan, warm stone steps, round numbers, making lists compilations and cards, emptying the dishwasher, cutting things out of newspapers, posting things overseas, playing with the cat, swimming, dancing, walking barefoot.

I'd like to meet:

Someone to join me on my quest to rediscover London and the finer things in life. I've kind of been away for a while...

Music:

Dirty Squelchy Beats, Electro and Electronica, The Organ, Apartment, Friends of Theydon, Mr Whelk, Bloc Party, Interpol, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Broken Social Scene, Bowie, Grand National, Madrugada, Patrick Wolf, Postal Service, Portishead, Arcade Fire, Bjork, Anthony & the Johnsons, The Smiths, Pulp, Radiohead, Franco Battiato, Vinicio Capossela, Rino Gaetano, Paul Simon.

Movies:

The Sea Inside, Hable con Ella, Volver, Amelie, La Haine, La Stanza del Figlio, Le Fate Ignoranti, The Edukators, House of Flying Daggers, De battre mon coeur s'est arrete - if it has subtitles I tend to like it, whatever that may mean.

Television:

I dont watch it. Maybe I should.

Books:

Castelli di Rabbia - Alessandro Baricco, Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer, The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera, Midnight in Sicily - Peter Robb, Nana and Germinal - Emile Zola, Il Barone Rampante - Italo Calvino, La Peste - Albert Camus, Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi. Regerneration - Pat Barker. Pity the Nation - Robert Fisk. Recommend me some more!

Heroes:

Jon Snow! Robert Fisk.

My Blog

I made a book

For those of you that dont know, I've spent a lot of time over the last 6 months working on a book with Lebanon United, the charity that I'm part of. The book is called "A Lost Summer: Postcards from...
Posted by souraya on Fri, 23 Mar 2007 02:11:00 PST

The Aftermath - chapter 5

The Aftermath Safely back at home several weeks on, I am still in shock over what has happened. I have watched in utter disbelief as the prosperous and vibrant country I was celebrati...
Posted by souraya on Sun, 03 Sep 2006 04:28:00 PST

Cyprus - chapter 4

We're out and safe but it's a very bittersweet feeling. We should be relieved, and I guess we are, but somehow it doesn't feel that way. It feels completely wrong to be here. I'm racked with ...
Posted by souraya on Sun, 03 Sep 2006 04:27:00 PST

Words from a Warzone - a War Diary - chapter 3

Wednesday Like every morning, I woke today to the sound of construction. They have been drilling and hammering away every morning since we got here. 8am sharp. The worlds most reliable ...
Posted by souraya on Sun, 16 Jul 2006 01:17:00 PST

Party People - chapter 2

Party People Before the civil war which tore the city apart, Beirut was known as the Paris of the Middle East. This was a reflection of its French colonial history, its cosmopolitan culture an...
Posted by souraya on Sun, 03 Sep 2006 04:54:00 PST

Bulletin from Beirut - chapter 1

Bulletin from Beirut Walking through the arrivals gate at the airport is like plunging head first into a new reality - free fall, full body weight, it hits you all at once: the heat, the noise...
Posted by souraya on Sat, 01 Jul 2006 01:29:00 PST

The death of an animal lover?

I hate spiders but I if I find one in my room, I wont kill it, Ill prance around with a bit of newspaper trying to scoop it up and whisk it to safety, depositing it carefully in the patio. Im not a b...
Posted by souraya on Sun, 11 Jun 2006 02:40:00 PST

The birth of a feminist?

Since school, I have always heard about the corporate world being a male dominated environment where inequality and sexual discrimination is rife, pay is inexplicably different for the two sexes, mate...
Posted by souraya on Sun, 11 Jun 2006 02:26:00 PST

Regeneration

Its amazing what a difference two days can make. On Wednesday I was in pieces, tormented by the thought of all the suffering around me and tonight I feel uplifted and inspired by the people around me....
Posted by souraya on Sat, 13 May 2006 05:11:00 PST

Rosie

A friend of the family died this morning of leukaemia. Or rather of a hospital bug which her battered immune system was too tired to fight after years of battling with Leukaemia. And years of battling...
Posted by souraya on Wed, 10 May 2006 01:51:00 PST