He's here!

Magellan Mike has joined his sister CRV in a union that is bound to bring happiness and peace of mind to the Mike family.

With pre-loaded detailed maps of the 50 united states, Canada and Puerto Rico, Magellan will make sure Ranya finds her way home back from the mall, the restaurant, her friend's and anywhere else she might have driven herself to (Ranya had experienced several instances of getting herself lost after arriving to her destination; she forgot to map the way back or could not figure out how to read the map she printed out!).

Jeff will also benefit from the advent of Magellan. Magellan also comes preloaded with the location of nearly 2 million businesses, banks, ATM machines, gas stations and restaurants, among other points of interests. With that, Jeff will no longer have to wonder where to golf, he would simply browse the golf category on Magellan and off he goes... Who knows, he might even play a good game that day ;-)!!!

2.9 inches wide and 2.2 inches high, Magellan is lightweight (a mere 9oz) and portable. A TrueView® 3D screen shows upcoming turns while a female voice prompt directs Ranya and Jeff turn by turn to their destination. And Jeff can certainly rest assured that Ranya will still find her way should she take the right turn when Magellan explicitly instructs her to go left (sometimes Ranya has two lefts and two rights!); Magellan automatically calculates the new route when Ranya deviates from the one she is on.

A gadget? Maybe. An expensive accessory? Maybe. But one thing is certain: with Magellan in the car navigating the roads of Virginia and DC will be a breeze and Ranya will be able to make it home!

Welcome home, newest member!

Inspirational

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost

"Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,A
nd miles to go before I sleep."

she let herself go

"on a singles cruise,
To Vegas once, then to Honolulu.
Let herself go to New York City:
A week at the Spa; came back knocked-out pretty.
When he said he didn't love her no more,
She let herself go." (click on the link to hear the song)

She stood up for all that she missed. Went to the lake, spend time with friends, buy a new car… she became true to herself and to her desires. She had been sacrificing for him, their home and their children. She was at the grocery store when he left her a note; “said he didn’t love her no more.” Did she lose sleep? Did she cry? Maybe some…but then she moved on…

For all that its worth, that is what many of the friends I left back home should do; move on, and let themselves go, stand up for their rights and decide that marriage is in fact an equal partnership and a joint venture. It is not about what one person wants, it is about what the couple wants. What is best for the new family, the wife, the husband and the children.

I have been waking up recently thanking God I am not married to a Lebanese - not that I would have married one even if I had stayed in Lebanon (Lebanese men are just not my style). But after much observation of the interactions between Lebanese couples, I now wonder even more how my counterparts could live like that. I see that there are basic rights that my friends are denied, say in matters, equal partnerships, respect, attention...(and the list goes on).

Take for example naming a child: how could a husband enforce what to name the child just hours after the baby is born without even remotely considering the wishes of the mother? How could a husband decide to buy a family house and write the title in his name only? How could a husband sacrifice the needs of his wife and child and bend backwards to the whims of his mother and siblings?

I frown when I think of the things that Lebanese women tolerate in order to avoid confrontations in the domicile. They pile it all on themselves, sacrificing their opinions and their needs in the hope of maintaining a marriage. I ask one of my friends: “why?” “I do not want to start an argument,” she responds. I thought marriage was about communications. I try to tell her that much, but she brushes me off before I finish with my sentence. “We are living in Lebanon, and I am just happy to be married.” Now isn’t that shocking…marriage is considered a privilege in Lebanon, a rare commodity bestowed on a lucky few. That is too bad…

I hate to see my friends in such a situation, but what is the alternative they have? Get a divorce and live alone? Be a single mom? Maybe just having a man under the roof is enough for them. But I think they should let themselves go…