This Ramadan will be different than any Ramadan anyone has experienced. Ramadan is known for its mercy and peace but in the Egyptian culture its also known for its noisy gatherings, crowded restaurants with long waiting lists, Arabian colorful outfits and late curfews. However all these things are cancelled this Ramadan. While we’re all used to spending some days of this holy month at home all day with our family, this ramadan this will be what we’ll do all month. It will strictly be spent at our homes with our family members all day. There wont be the luxury of having iftar or sehour at a fancy restaurant or a rooftop lounge. We expect that the delivery orders will also be limited since most parents are afraid from any contact with the outer world.

We think this will affect people in many aspects of life. Firstly, most teens and children will be asked to give up their gatherings with their friends and late night outings. The moms will be requested to cook food for more family members now and for all 30 days of the month. Even restaurant owners will suffer not gaining the benefit of the extra profit they make each ramadan.

-Lama Sewidan

Through the interviews that I had with my family and friends about Ramadan during COVID-19 and how they will be affected by this crisis I concluded several things. Generally my family and friends said that this Ramadan will be completely different in terms terms of its vibes. They all mentioned and agreed about they no one will be invited to someone’s house to have ifttar. They also mentioned that prayer rituals probably wont be held in mosques to prevent the spread of the Virus, especially Tarawih prayer which is something most people wait for everyday of ramadan. It is supposed to be a main aspect of the holy month. My father said that we have to go to work as we usually do, but we have to take our safety measures in order to protect ourselves and others from this virus. My friends said that their family’s will try to enjoy more time with each other without the need to invite anyone and go out for sohour or ifttar and be more exposed to the COVID-19. I think that we all must stay at home to protect ourselves and others from this virus and respect the curfew imposed by the government.

-Omar hussein

source: https://www.allaboardhe.ie/Aspire/Learner/content/index.html#/lessons/Li0K4-xwzv6AE4_QEA4Q09JZ3qdLjbkr

I found this article to be useless in some parts and informative in others. Most of it I found to be stating the obvious (facts already known) such as the fact that I need to have reliable internet for a better experience or that I can watch videos in lower quality when I have weak internet connection Other parts were useful to me such as the fact that I can do a speed test for my internet. This I did not know and I think im going to use it allot!

I felt this course aims to explain to us that while online learning is not the most favorable method of learning, we could still make the best out of it since its our only option. We can make the best out of it through things like self-motivation and trying to learn new technical skills about technology.

1. Depressionhttp://www.depressionquest.com/dqfinal.html#2n.1e.4s.y.1d

While playing this game I felt that I related to some parts of it however I felt that other parts where overly dramatic so I did not empathize with them at all. I felt like this game shows how a person who lacks motivation would feel like however I believe that this tackles depression only due to this one reason “lack of motivation”. I think there are many forms of depression and they vary according to the reason. I think this game would be better if it werent very specific in its details because this decreases the odds that someone playing it would relate to it. I also thought that the boring white and black theme of the game really boosted the depressing vibes.

2. Reality check
https://mediasmarts.ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/games/reality-check/index.html#/

This game was about making a decision whether or not a piece of news found on social media for instance is true or fake. The game teaches you how to double check that information. For example you can open the profile of your friend that shared the post and check if they double check the authenticity of their previous posts. Or you can click the link and check if the website is trusted. I think its very smart and wise to double check news in this manner before believing it. However, in the real world I think if someone finds a piece of information on their facebook profile they wont bother to waste all that time to double check the sources unless its a topic they are REALLY interested in. Because honestly this process of research is very time consuming and its easier for people to just either ignore the news or assume its validity.

3. Losing a parent https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScff3zm_c_vwAc5Blgb9rpV2CQIoMrr6kUVqESA-E-MM7KEGw/formResponse

I was never in this situation so I could never imagine what its like but this game really helped me to empathize with someone who could be in this situation. I don’t have any negative comments about the game.

4. Sleep deprived moms
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScap1su2i270VXK3DtWGWA683lyU6UkXJer_cSpN2tl0rXCjQ/viewform?c=0&w=1
I really liked this one because it tackles a subject that I think needs more attention. I always worry about my mom on that matter and try to imagine what its like so playing such game really helps me put myself in her shoes. However it really saddens me to see that this is what moms experience.

In general the losing a parents game was the one that affected me the most because it tackles an issue that literally no one can imagine what its like unless they are put in the situation. The second one I thought was the least important because it doesnt tackle a mental health issue or a emotional problem like the rest of the games. I felt like it was more of an online lesson about checking your sources more than it was about imagining myself in a situation.

I, Lama Sewidan was born and raised in Cairo thus i’m fully Egyptian in terms of the traditions i’m used to and the way I act. However, i’ve been told that my grandparents are Turkish which is likely why my sisters and I don’t look fully Egyptian. I think AUC is a place where cultures clash, more specifically the Egyptian and western culture because it is a university where there are many nationalities however it still exists in Egypt. Also, many of the Egyptians that go to AUC are from the upper class of Egypt which I believe tend to drift away from their Egyptian roots and more towards the western lifestyle. Therefore, I think that even the people who are fully Egyptians tend to lose some of this identity on AUC campus and replace it with a more western lifestyle in terms of the way they dress, the language they speak and their social interactions. I however try my best not to fall into this. Since I have started going to AUC I have tried my best to maintain speaking in Arabic and sticking to the lifestyle I had before being an AUCian.

I knew what the word “Bias” was before taking this class however I did not know what it meant in the context of identity and race. I wasn’t aware of the existence of such thing as “being biased because of who you are or where you live”. Even if I was unconsciously aware, I would think some people are biased and some are simply not. And those who are biased, are ignorant rude people. However, my knowledge on that matter was broadened as I learned that everyone has even a tiny bit of bias in them. You dont have to be a bad person to be Biased, you only have to be human. I learned that we as humans unconsciously tend to be biased because of who we are; our race, where we grew up, and maybe even the social media views that might affect our views.

I was once staying at an hotel in 6th of October with my elder sister. I was going down the elevator to visit the spa and as I came out there was a Nigerian football team in the lobby. As I walked through them I got the most disgusting and harassing looks from multiple team members. I was very uncomfortable. I as someone who doesn’t interact with Nigerians at all on a daily basis consider this the only interaction I had with Nigerians in my life. Thus, I unconsciously hate them although im aware that this football team comes from a nation that has over 100,000 Nigerians.

I think there are many biases that exist around us in our daily life; against woman, against dark skinned people, against people from the lower class of Egypt. I think the major bias that exists right now is that against Asians because of the Corrona virus. I have encountered and heard of multiple situations happen where they are mistreated because of their race. The most recent one was in a super market where people would instantly empty the aisles where the Chinese people walked in.

The quizzes results stated that i’m more of a happy person and that I more calm than anxious. I honestly don’t believe that is completely true because I believe we all have our times of anxiety and calmness so this is very broad to describe me with being “Calm than anxious”. Also, I tend to be more anxious than calm. The questions in the test were not very detailed in order to determine such a thing. None of them asked about my daily experiences or how I act in certain situations.

After reading the digital citizenship article and attending the class in assembly hour discussing digital literacies I learned a lot however I found the class to be way more beneficial than the article as the article was rather written with some advanced vocabulary I did not totally understand while the class was rather friendly and I had the chance to ask questions whenever I did not understand anything.

My favorite part about the class was the activity where we held blue or white cards representing either “literacy” or “skill” and we held them up upon multiple examples of that were previewed such as “sharing a google doc” or “commenting on a google doc”. After this activity I learned that a skill is something simply one learns “how” to do and the steps to do it while a literacy is more of knowledge about the digital world and therefore its the actions that are made due to this knowledge.

There was a part in the article that states “A friend recently told me how he responded to people who were calling Muslims violent. He told them about me, someone he had never met in person, but whom he knew so well, and could cite as an example of a Muslim who was anything but violent. My friend lives in Florida, and he was the first person I asked about after the tragic Orlando shooting, even though I knew he was not in Florida at the time. Because of social media, I have come to know people different from myself so deeply that events like the #PulseOrlando shooting and #Brexit took on a much more personal meaning than just events happening on the other side of the world. I felt pain and grief.” In the article this situation is stated as an example of empathy. However, I disagree with this definition of empathy. I think that even if I had a friend I got to know through their tweets and twitter profile. This should not be enough for me to befriend them to the extent that I use him\her as a representation of their race or even to the extent that my emotions are affected after an incident that happened in the area where they live. What I see on their twitter profile is merely 10% of who they actually are and what they do in their daily life. I could very easily be a terrorist and have a fake profile that covers that up. We are sometimes surprised that the people we interact with in our daily lives dont turn out to be who we thought they are. Let alone people we befriended online. I actually think it is dangerous to allow one’s emotions and beliefs to be affected by people we only know through a digital screen.

Article link : https://clalliance.org/blog/critical-digital-citizenship-empathy-social-justice-online/

I learned how to play the piano through youtube videos without going to any classes.

I was able to study my own courses in grade 12 whilst helping my younger sister in her math and english studies all year long.

I have a visually appealing instagram profile where all colors compliment each other.

I designed my own bedroom and it’s often thought of as a designer level-room.

I used to make bracelets and sell them when I was 13.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
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The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

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• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
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You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.