Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Nostalgia

Spending time back home never fails to send me on trips down memory lane.

Its been five years since I've graduated from high school. That's half a decade. That equates to slightly less than 1/4 of my entire life (21.7% to be anally exact). A lot has happened since then, and it almost seems like living in Bahrain was an entire lifetime ago. I bet this is amusing the over 30s of you out there, that a relative youngin has the nerve to go on about how old he feels.. to that I say: isn't it time to empty out that colostomy bag?

Alright, I'm sorry. That was harsh. I'm actually quite excited about growing up, becoming more mature and knowledgeable is quite gratifying. It's funny looking back at the past five years and realizing how dumb I was.. and I'll probably look back on this five years from now and realize how stupid I am at the moment, its kind of a depressingly never-ending kind of thing.

Getting back on topic: Its things like fishing through my bookcase and taking a look at all the novels I used to read back in high school. Its opening a drawer still stuffed with old IB notes that haven't been touched in five years. Its catching up with old friends, running into people you haven't seen in such a long time and realizing that most of them have jobs and some even have children (yeah, one guy in my class is actually a father now). Its visiting your high school for the first time in five years only to realize that things are not quite as you left them. Its seeing all those kids graduating (June is graduation season, of course) and reading through this year's yearbook, all that stuff about how old they feel and how they've just accomplished something tremendous and thinking.. that used to be me. Its remembering the old days with your buddies, all the things we used to get up to and all the childishness of days past. Its hanging out with my parents and realizing how different our relationship has become, how its become a horizontal one of friendship, rather than a vertical heirarchy of authority. Its seeing my siblings growing older and wiser, becoming interesting people that make me want to spend time with them, changed from the kids who's silliness I tried to avoid. Its thinking about things like domestic and foreign politics, personal finances, career decisions, future aspirations, religious beliefs.. just.. serious stuff.. things that have replaced the peaceful, innocent, oblivious contents of my childhood cranium. Its things like having to renew my driving license and getting a new 5-year UK visa because the old 5-year one expires next month. Its looking at old photos of senior year and seeing the difference. Its starting to think about what happens after I'm done studying. Its looking at myself in the mirror and spotting a few stray grey hairs (for fuck's sake, that's just unnecessary.. I'm only 22 and a half).

I think I lost my way there, I set out to write about random nostalgic moments I've experienced since I got back but ended up ranting about growing older. I guess they're inextricably linked, the older you get the more nostalgic you become.

I just read an article about this Haitian man living in Cuba who's 120 years old. Apparently he doesn't remember the first 40 years of his life. Amazing.

5 Comments:

At 6:58 AM , Blogger Mother Courage said...

well the aging issue is women's most terrifying nightmare !!

i've just graduated from university and am so confused .. dunno how should i really feel ? its just a mixture of sadness and hapiness at the same time ! am done with all those irritating teachers and boring books ! yet am growing old and am really going to miss my friends and our gatherings back at the univ's yard ! i mean wuts next ? now wut would i say if someone asks me wut grade am in ? i wont say am already graduated ? i mean they would immediatly know how old i am. right ? lol
but wut should we do ? this is life ! it flows like a river, my advice to you would be never go to old places which u had good memories at, coz they'll never gonna be the same and yet that image would erase the good image u have in ur mind .

and about the 120 yrs old dude ! thats hillarious. zeen mennah he can remember the rest 80 years untill this day, i cant remember wut i've had for lunch yesterday ;p

 
At 10:32 AM , Blogger Bahraini Rants said...

great food for thought Mo..

I guess the only thing I can say is enjoy every aspect of your life and every level of responsibility.. cause the next rung on the responsibility ladder is going to be even more vexing.

by the by - you owe me a drink

 
At 6:02 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I miss you guys, I miss home, I miss eating some good '3oozi, I miss my mommy, I miss my dad, I miss my grandmothers.

6 yrs I've been out of Bahrain man, and I've missed 2 cousins marriages, a couple of births, my grandfather's passing (allah yir7ima), my sister's graduation, our HS reunion. I've missed a lot of shit man, and its tough. All this because I decided that getting a little experience and making it on my own here will help me in the long run.

But as I gain the experience I'm gaining, loved ones are ageing and time doesn't stop. I've promised myself that i'll be back to bahrain in a couple of years. not because its a magical place, but because I my family and you boys like never before. I'm sick of reliving the memories in my mind.

Inshalla i see you all soon and till then, best of regards to everyone over there. but, as for me, no more sob stories.. i gotta go see about a girl ;)

love,
nomadicarab.

 
At 12:06 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's scary how much can happen in such little time. Five years is half a decade, but every passing moment opens new doors and closes old ones.

We've certainly come a long way. In 5 years from now, I'll bring my sister's kids to see Dr Uncle Mo, and we can tell them the fish story, which happened 17 years ago (February KG2, la?)!

Daaaammnnnn.. We're ooooold!

 
At 1:47 AM , Blogger Mo said...

Marwa here crafted a giant red heart with her own bare hands when we were kids, and when she gave it to me I ran to my mother to show her the "fish" my friend made me.

17 years later and I'm not much more intelligent, to tell the truth.

I'll be glad to take a look at your sister's kids. I doubt I'll be a paediatrician but I'll do my best. I'll even give you the "friends and family" discount.

 

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