My favorite part was the diversity in their wardrobe, influenced by many cultures, the Swahili culture influenced by the Omani culture. The last photograph is a picture of what their public bus looks like. Learn more about Zanzibar by clicking here.
Venice, Doge’s Palace is all about the details for me, every little inch of it is a form of art, architectural art, how wonderful of a time had the architect enjoyed during his work of art, this is some type of forever beauty that can never have the lights dimmed on but always highlighted. People from all over the world come to see it, to study it, to meditate on its beauty, manmade beauty, a form of art that can not be missed or misjudged, but aways loved and studied. This is what details are about, if we can not use the details for our own advantages then let us not use details at all. Love the Details.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Details
Zanzibar (also known in Arabic as Zanjibar) is a beautiful Island to explore by the Indian Ocean. We first went to Paje beach, which is located in the southeast of Zanzibar, we stayed in a hotel that looked beautiful but was extremely dirty (Paradise Beach Bungalows). Make sure there is an air condition working in your room, it is very hot. Paje is a lagoon and it is famous for its kitesurfing and kiteboarding.
Visit The Rock Cafe which is on the Michamvi Pingue just 10 minutes away from Paje by car, the Cafe was voted to be one of the most beautiful restaurants around the world. Make sure you do early reservations as it is always fully booked. You can also try Upendo which is opposite of The Rock Cafe and offers great food and ambiance.
We then moved to Nungwi, which was recommended by most of websites and people who have been to Zanzibar. It is also known as Ras Nungwi (Ras in Arabic stands for head/tip) as it is located in the far north tip end of the island. We loved it, and stayed there for about a week, our hotel was amazing and is highly recommended (Mnarani Beach Cottages).
I would recommend you settle in one area in Zanzibar and enjoy the breathtaking scenery that you will never get enough of. The distance from one area to another is long, about an hour or an hour and a half from Paje to Nungwi.
Learn how to play Bao, check out the shops by the beach, have seafood, try Langi Langi (an Italian cuisine, with great food), meet their people, stay away from the beach boys who will always try to sell you something (and sometimes you can actually get yourself a good offer), watch the sunset, lay down on the sand and get a beautiful suntan.
Click here to learn more about Zanzibar and what more to see during your visit.
I found this stunning photograph of a village in occupied Palestine known as Kafr Kanna or Cana of Galilee, I then found out that this photograph was captured in 1925 by a female Palestinian professional photographer who used to work between Lebanon and Palestine before the Israeli occupation. She captured beautiful images, and exhibited them during the first half century. Karimeh Abbud was her name and she was born in 1896 in Shefa Amer, Palestine, known as the Lady Photographer, she died in Nazareth in 1955.
The second photographer is another beautiful photographs of the Jordan River, also captured by Karimeh.
Today’s Guest for the wordpress daily prompt.
The meanest earning that goes on in the world,
is it ever practiced without the guidance of a master?
It begins with knowledge and is followed by action
That it may yield fruit after a while or after death.
Apprentice yourself, O possessor of intelligence,
To a generous and righteous craftsman.
Seek the pearl in the oyster-shell, my brother,
And seek craftsmanship from the skilled.
If you meet sincere spiritual counselors,
Deal fairly with them, and be eager to learn:
Don’t put on any airs.
If a tanner wears a threadbare coat,
That doesn’t diminish the master’s mastery;
If the blacksmith with massive biceps
Wears a patched apron while flexing the bellows,
His reputation doesn’t plummet in people’s eyes,
So strip the raiment of pride from your body:
In learning, put on the garment of humility.
Rumi – Mathnawi
DailyPrompt on Layers
It is like being stuck in jail, only you have made this jail by yourself for your own self. Caged inside your own thoughts and head, creating knots that only gloom your serenity and sanity. You block the air from reaching out to your brains to free your repeated thoughts from strangling you down your own drain. Just breath, forget about it for a moment, get up and shake it off, move, leave, do something different, put a smile on someone’s face, change the nature you have created around you and pull yourself down to your own ground. Breath again, think about the possibilities, the multiple doors that can yet still open, think about the miracles that took place and still can take place , think about your opportunities, un-limit yourself and stop limiting yourself. Free yourself from your own cage, your own mind that can twist you apart. Let your mind serve you and let it not destroy you… Autonomy
Space Out to an Island.
A photograph of a Church built-in 1889 next to a Mosque built-in 1824 in Tripoli, Lebanon.
We have been segregated and divided from one another, when we were actually made for each other. We have been made opposites when we are nothing but truly very similar. We have the perception of Opposition built into each one of us and we have interpreted our spiritual beliefs into differences. Once we know we have different religions we automatically check the different box and mark ourselves different from one another. And why is that? because we pray in a different temples, we pray in a different form, or because we might dress differently, and because we might eat and drink differently? But did we forget to look at our similarities, that seem to be much bigger than our opposites? Our similarity in believing in a bigger meaning to our existence, our similarity in believing in the existence of the Divine God (whichever you wish to Call It), our similarity in the stories recited to us, our similarity in our values, our similarity in the use of our temples, our similarity in practicing a ritual to connect us to spirituality, our similarity in giving to our community, our similarity in our pure existence. Our temples have been built one next to the another since centuries ago, people lived together in harmony, people still live in harmony, we still share the same food on the table, we celebrate and congratulate one another, we seek peace and love upon our lives and upon each other. It does not matter if there is a minority out there who believe we are opposites, who dislike our opposites, as long as we no longer do see it as a fraction, but instead we see our opposites as our attraction; the beauty in our diversity, the beauty of our natural differences, being attracted to love one another for our differences, the true beauty of accepting and loving our differences, to look into our differences as a possible continuation of our own misinterpretation. We live with opposites, our lives are incomplete without opposites, puzzles only fit when opposite. Opposites are beautiful.
In response to the Opposites Photo Challenge by wordpress.- Read more about Tripoli, Lebanon.
This is my second creative prompt in response to Elizabeth Gilbert Workshop on Hobbies, Job, Career and Vocation.
I am driven by passion everyday. I do things because I want to do them and I want to do them with love. My activities change and expand because I am driven by my passion. I wake up and I listen to my callings. Today, I feel like doing this, so I do it, and if I can’t do it today, I make sure I do it in the near future. I don’t wait on things to happen, I go and make them happen. I try, at least, I give it a chance, to understand, to listen, to feel, to experience, to elaborate on, to free myself from the curiosity that roams around inside my head.
My job was my career, and it was a choice I made and I went after it. It combined all what Elizabeth talks about; from hobbies, job, career and vocation. I used to enjoy holding photo shoots even if we didn’t make money out of them, I used to enjoy watching live shows that can support us be more productive and creative at work with the team, I used to enjoy creating fashion shows and events, even if it was at a small-scale, but of course the bigger they were the more enjoyment I felt. It was also my job, my money-making, my 9 to 5, my challenges and it sure did included many situations, moments and days were I wished I could disappear from existence. It was my career, nine years, building a small name into a brand, into a trend, into a tree with branches. And it used to be my vocation, for I felt fashion was what I was here for, what I was here to create, to expand in, and to share.
Two years ago, I decided to quit it all. All of it. I reached a point where I felt I wanted none of this and more of everything else, and as much time as I made for myself to do new things, I still did not have enough time. I was frustrated, because I wanted to follow my passion again.
I discovered, that it is okay for your passion to change. For your callings to change. What is not okay, is for you not to answer the change. Today I wake up every morning, and I write, I work on my book, on the blog, or on my note books. I read, online or offline (books). I exercise, I do yoga, cross fit, I run or swim. I enjoy the kitchen, I bake, make salads or cook. I travel when I can, I love exploring, discovering and meeting new people and new stories. I photograph during my travels, I love to document what I find beautiful and I love sharing them. But today, I do not have a job. I have few small little things on the side, but I do not have a full-time or a part-time job. I can afford it for a little bit, but I sure will need to find myself a source of income.
Nonetheless, I believe life is too short. Your vocation is your calling and your calling can change, and if it doesn’t then you are lucky. But I still consider myself lucky. I believe my vocation changes because it is changeable, it can never be the same. I feel I am here to find new findings, to learn new things and maybe change is my vocation, I am here to always find the new, and the very old can be the very new. I love researching, discovering, exploring, understanding, connecting the dots, I love staying alive, my Vocation is learning and trying something new everyday, and my favorite part is sharing it all.
They were enormous, I have never seen them before. There were too many, they were migrating for sure, they were real fun to look at, and every time a car passes by, they stop and stare as if they know what they are looking at, they are truly wild, wild like the rays of the sun, nothing can stop them and nothing can dilute them, they are there when they rise.
Razan Masri 