The Infinity Dreams Award

I have to say, this is pretty cool. I’ve only been blogging (again) for about two and half months as a way to document my experiences and to take a break from everything that’s going on and focus on my happiness.

I never expected that a lot of people, old friends and new, would read the blog regularly- and even end up nominating me for an award!

This one comes from the dear A.B Mood over at Couch Potahto. She’s very talented and all her writing flows so easily, as well as never failing to put a smile on my face. Do follow her!

Side note: I truly love the WordPress Community for bringing people together- people that wouldn’t have met under normal circumstances.

As it goes, here are the rules:

• Thank the person who gave you this award, and include a link to their blog.
• Next, select 10-15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
• Nominate those 10-15 bloggers for the Award — you may include a link to this site.
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things/facts about yourself.

Now, for the seven things or facts about me, I’m going to choose a few things that I don’t usually write about:

By virtue of being Lebanese, I am trilingual. I speak Arabic and English with native fluency and I am proficient in French. I also have a basic understanding of German and Spanish, thanks to Duolingo courses,my undying love for Latin music, and having been around a lot of Germans.

I’m not an impulse buyer. I prefer to look around many stores and find the best deal possible before making a purchase. Unless that purchase happens to be books, makeup or earrings. That’s where it’s impossible to tell me to stop. I can’t walk into a pharmacy and not come out with eyeliner or a khol pencil and I definitely cannot walk into a bookstore without at least a magazine.

I have a fear of walking under construction sites. I had a really nasty accident involving one when I was 16 where a careless worker threw a plank of wood from over-head and it landed on my left shoulder, bringing me to the ground. Nothing was broken, thankfully, but it hurt like hell for a while. Sometimes I still can’t carry something heavy on that side.

I don’t watch a lot of TV. And the shows that I do love? I’m terribly behind on, like seasons behind. Unless that show is The Amazing Race. There should be a limit to how much a person can love a TV show because my fandom knows no bounds. I’d love to go on it someday (though Lebanese passport, no way!) but for now, I stick to watching. I guess this is me overcompensating for Parks and Recreation.

Growing up, I always used to worry that I’d be with a group of people and have nothing to say or discuss. So, I started watching CNN, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, and reading magazines like Scientific American and Time to be a lot more knowledgeable of what’s going on. I’ve kept up the habit since then.

I make a mean Honey Mustard Chicken. You know how they say you should always have one dish to fall back on? That’s mine. I can make it in my sleep and it always ends up really delicious and with the most beautiful glaze. It’s so good that a local food magazine featured the recipe in one of their issues. No joke.

I was inspired to work in healthcare by my father who is a doctor. For some weird reason, he once took four year old me on a tour of the hospital he worked at. It was also my preschool graduation day. Somewhere along the way though, I also studied Environmental Sciences/Health, Creative Writing, while also writing for and editing the university newspaper, Healthcare Management and had a brief  training stint in environmental journalism. How I ended up where I am now is beyond me!

In no particular order, I choose to nominate the following blogs. They all offer unique perspective on all sorts of issues and have become some of my favorite blogs to read every day, so they too are worth a follow. They are:

1. Lucile de Godoy 
2. Bali Info
3. HumaAq
4. Finkelstein and Sons
5. Work in Progress
6. Smiley, Like I Mean It
7. An Inconsistent Boy 
8. A Slice of Life
9. DanBlogs994
10. Stranger in a Strange Mind

Happy Reading! And once again, thank you to AB and all the wonderful readers of Beyond Beirut. Knowing you are reading keeps me going.