I think I can't agree more Sabri :)

Beautifull, just beautifull

القرد بعين أمه غزال

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

That was so inspiring.

Sabri ...
I salute you ...
I once told you that I like seeing things through your eyes because they actually look different and that's the whole point
We need more of you wallah

Thank you Sabri, you are touching on a very important issue here which is the judgmental mentality of a lot of the people in our country. Be it from the city towards the village or vice versa, we all suffer as a result. You talked about beauty, but you also mentioned things like the way people sound when they talk and what bumper stickers they like.

We have all had an encounter where we meet someone and upon first look, we quickly pass judgment that they are "7afartaly" or "nawary" or something of that sort, and then after really knowing the person, they become our best friends.

well , i was the fist one who commented on yr previous post about " Madaba's Fashion " but i hope that u didnt understand me wrong i was just making fun of the Post Title :)with no offense to any other things which u have mentioned
Cheerz !

How inspiring this sounds but how Ideal it is somehow...

I do agree with every single word you said, but it kind of reminds me of Gibran khalil Gibran and how he picutres everthing in life with a rosy shade...


There are things in life that are just as they are (I dont mean 7afartali here), if we all have the same onlook at things and the same onlook on beauty we'd all end up wearing the same clothes, the same look, the same appearance.There will no longer be any individuality!

I think the most important thing (in the issue you adrressed) is not demeaning the people in ones onlook and not judging them just according to their appearance...

promises, I dont think that was what sabri was saying, he said quite the opposite, he is saying that you shouldnt follow others and their means of beauty. also said that some things are beautiful even if they dont apeal to us, also he said he is trying to undersand and appreciate the difference. he didnt say he wanted to change anything but appreciate it as it is.

great entry

Sabri - First, I'm honored to be the inspiration for your post.
Second, it's as though you read my mind when I was writing the comment, although I didn't want to go into detail at the time. My heart is singing right now reading your words, for you have expressed something that I have thought about MANY times. What is beauty, and what is beautiful? I truly believe, as you've said, that there is beauty in everything in this world. A crooked smile is still a smile that is inspired by the beautiful human feeling of happiness. A small, weak, and perhaps almost colorless and odorless flower growing between the cracks of a sidewalk's concrete slabs is still beautiful in its tenacity and search for life. It angers me when people deny their own culture in order to conform to a 'universal' standard of beauty. Thanks Sabri, and sorry for the long comment!

Great post sabri i really enjoyed reading it :)

V good thank you.

"Photographing beauty in the eye of the beautiful." I have always felt this about your work... Every detail is a manifestation of beauty, every picture tells a story, every face, every expression speaks with an attraction that can't be ignored... and it's only because you see it that way. Art is about portraying things not the way they are, but the way our eyes perceive them. "Beauty is simply reality seen with the eyes of love".

Thank you for this post. This is something I'll be thinking about for some time. I hope I learn to see things differently.

if we start seeing things differently then we might enjoy the tiniest detail in our life...

Rafa3et rasi abu shreek.

Sabri I’d like to pinpoint another aspect of western Amman naïve people by asking those questions.
Why is a baggy accepted in Jordan as a fashion? Even though it’s a lower class aspect in the states for some people there (construction men who usually wear baggy pants).

Why do we have always to party and show off with drinking and getting drunk aspect (wallah kunt sakraann , wallah en3amait)? While in the states the legal age of alcohol consumption is 21 and western communities never make a big deal out of it as much as we do; now it’s a show off to get drunk in our awkward society. The guys show off the next morning with their hangover. What is cool about it, don’t they have anything else to talk about, maybe cause its so easy to get drunk and its so easy to show off about it to spend hours on the same lame conversations laughing on their experienced wild moments while wasted. (Of course it ends with a fight).

Let me go back to the core of your topic, sabri am sure you have heard people making fun of those who drive on the airport road and start their BBQ, well many people cant afford going out to fancy restaurants on Thursday nights, also many of them live in small houses that don’t have gardens, for them; its such an experience and an exotic night to sit under a green tree and enjoy spacious play grounds with the kids. I don’t think they care about the “dark night clubs” or the “crazy music” wallahi ya sabri they enjoy going out there more than any party that might mean so much to anyone of us.

Please appreciate life.

MNT

I injoyed your post, it was very insightful of your culture. and you would surpised how many simialrites you can find around tthe world not nothig exactly like it.

I have grown up in the great northwest of america. I have been surounded by so many cultures and views in my life, even though I have not done very much traveling.

I have evn had the privilage to attend a cross cultral training class. and diversity is beauty.

You can even look at the contrast between africa sivanna and the Great northwest. Both are very beautiful yet extremely different. just the landscape alone! let alone the people.

I have seen beauty in butchering a deer when many here in the U.S find it repulsive to mention the word. I have seen beauty expressed in so many ways, from painting to building, from science to cleaning a toilet. and from fire to water, living and the dead, from poetry to rap, There is so much.

Now each of us have are personal taste, witch shows beauty in it's own ways.

But I will say there are pure ugly or evil things out there but that is a different topic I think.

I do injoy you blog and I hope to see more of you updates.

If some people view some Jordanians as 7afartal, they should seriously come to the U.S. I have never met so many uncivilized people living in a rich and prosperous nation like the US. Don’t let MTV and Hollywood deceive you. The majority of Americans don't even live the lifestyle you see on TV.

I have lived here in the US long enough to have realized how really civilized the Jordan culture is, except in west Amman where many try to copy the American life style. A lot of Americans are polite and respectful, but many are just plain nasty and gross in their habits.

So often have I witnessed a situation here that I thought of how I've never seen something like this happen anywhere in Jordan.

But the sad truth is those who label people based on a photo are as ignorant as they can get since they haven’t met that person yet to find out his/her character.

As hard as some Jordanians try to imitate the American culture seen through TV, believe it or not that many Americans here are attempting the same thing in vain. The “coolness” that they are looking for is ultimately just an idea shared only by the holder. And those who judge people based on their appearance are usually self conscious, “nagseen.”

After meeting people of all levels of society here as well as all level of “coolness”, I so long for people like those in Sabri’s photos. Something about people who don’t follow today’s trends just tells you that they are busy worrying about something else. Probably more important than wearing Diesel shoes.

My heart aches every time I think about the class segregation in Jordan. I swear we don’t deserve prosperity.

The men in the truck appear to be happy and that's nice. It gives happiness to others seeing it.
I like the message of your post about finding beauty in what may appear ordinary or mundane.
Peace.

well... first if the all, most of the commenters r contadicting themselves, to my opinion i dont think sabri wrote the article 4 ppl to come say nice post, i was inspired! i think we should look deeper in any words we read.

btw i didnt like what sabri said about the veil, not all of veiled women r forced to put it, but some r, u r right, and veiled doesn't mean poor or 7afartali as i think u implied, but yes arabs uses it for the way wrong original reason, i agree with u that we should look deeper in things,

i.e. i told my fiance i don't want a saloon in my house, i just want a living room, cauz saloon was made for hypocracy, and i just want my friends to visit me in my house, so to the living room

On April, 10, 2006 9:38 PM , fuck
from Jordan said:

fuck u man, u have a suck site
and please remove ur ugly pic

On May, 02, 2006 8:57 PM , Pheras
from Jordan said:

Sorry Sabri, but I must disagree with you and most people here.

Being a 7afartali isn't based on looks only. It's the attitude as well, it's when a guy breaks his neck while staring at a girl, or even whistling or commenting, it's when 18384 guys congregate in the middle of the street for no purpose or reason, and start car racing and cause car accidents. It's when some very rude people intrude cafes and bars where they only go to only to comment on other girls and to make fun of them.

7afartali people do not accept non-7afartali people. I've faced this when I first got here. When I first came to Jordan, I remember going to buy let's falafel and lots of guys would make fun of my Arabic, and would always stare, till today everybody still stares at for no reason. I dress up very 3adi, I don't go crazy with my clothes and still they stare, how on earth is that acceptable? I need about 17 chapters to discuss this. But I know what you're trying to say.

You're trying to ask us not to judge 7afartalis cause usually they're not very rich. No, some are filthy rich but lack style and manners.

On June, 11, 2006 7:34 PM , DKJO
from Jordan said:

I gottta disagree, too. I'm getting ready to move out of my neighborhood in the East and move to somewhere more like Jabal Amman, because the guys here keep stalking her in groups of 20 or so yelling 'Fuck you', and asking her to kiss them. The 7afartali shabaab here are something that Amman should be ashamed of. There is no beauty there.

On June, 11, 2006 7:35 PM , DKJO
from Jordan said:

Oops, I just said 'her'. I meant my wife. And what is worse is they know she is my wife, too.

On June, 11, 2006 8:15 PM , Pheras
from Jordan said:

I bet that's just because she looks/is foriegn. Hafartali people are called so not only for their appearence, but also for their ill manners. I can't see anything good in that. You'll even find loads of them here in Jordan's blogosphere, only thing is that they're in disguise, lol. Just disgusting.

On August, 01, 2006 3:18 AM , Moey
from Jordan said:

impressive

On August, 03, 2006 4:01 AM , Dino$
from Jordan said:

when i first looked at the image i smiled and laughed cause the word "7afrtal" did come to mind.. then i remembered all those jordanian mo3akasat that included ' eish ya khasseh"

then i read what u had to say and i felt really shallow.. a bit snobby... just cause someone drives a truck with " rithaki ya ummi" on it doesnt make him 7afrataly... i dont even know the meaning of the word or how it originated.. 7afart ta le? u digging for me? lol lame

anywway... i totally agree with everything you said.. and making fun of ppl for thier social status or appearance is just wrong.. no one is better than anyone.. and i can name many rich labseen 3ala singit 3ashara but are true "7afartal" at heart :)

thanks for sharing :)