In August 2015, NASA (the North American Space Association) announced its plans to colonize Mars before the year 2040. Nearly four years later, on July 18, 2019, headlines around the world read: “Elon Musk Wants Man on Mars in Four Years”. With the recent collaboration between Musk’s SpaceX and NASA and their successful launch of the first crewed orbital spaceflight from American soil since July 2011, it...
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Jokes and a sense of humor have pretty much existed in every culture since mankind’s beginning. Indeed, in every culture around the world, the goal of jokes and humor is to reduce the daily pressures of life, creating a sense of understanding and often bringing us together. In this regard, the Arab world is no different and though they are often stereotyped in the West...
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One of the fastest growing sectors in the Middle East are Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) with some estimates predicting that by 2022 the sector will bring in about $920USD billion to the Gulf Cooperation Council members alone. Add to that the fact that more than 40% of the GCC’s population is under 25 and you can see why many countries within the council have...
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Lately, when we’ve talked about Arab culture or the Arabic language, we’ve often talked a lot about the oldest this or the oldest that; however, with the recent news of the United Nations estimates that predict two-thirds of the population of the Middle East will live in cities by 2050, it’s time we switched directions and started talking about the youngest this or that. So, today,...
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So you want to learn Arabic, but with more than a dozen different dialects, you have no idea what kind of Arabic to learn? Well, if you’re traveling to the Levant, Arabic is spoken a little different here than the Modern Standard Arabic you’d probably learn in a class or book. “So, wait, what is this ‘Arab Levant’, or whatever, you just mentioned?” you may...
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If you’re traveling overseas visiting any of Arabic speaking countries for any long period of time, eventually you might have to get a تحلق / tiHla2 (haircut). However, if you’re like some and suffer from tonsurephobia (the fear of getting a haircut), the idea of a tiHla2 might only be less than that of getting a قناة الجذر qanat aljudhur (root canal). (Incidentally, barbers used to be...
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