Do Immigrants Celebrate Independence Day?

In 1994 on the Fourth of July, Dr. Suheila Hajj and her family landed in San Antonio, Texas as a new immigrant family.

“We landed here and were surprised and astonished by the look of the American flags small and large everywhere,” said Hajj, “and we learned that it was the Independence Day.”

Hajj is a married Syrian woman, a pediatrician and the mother of two adult children, her son Wissam and her daughter Nagham. She lives in Phoenix, Ariz. with her husband Toufic.

They left their luxurious life in Syria as young professionals who had a very nice family, an active social life and a support system that any person wishes to have. They came to this country when her husband Toufic got his green card from his siblings.

“I cried through the whole trip from Damascus to San Antonio.” Said Hajj, She sadly adds that she cried nightly from homesickness for the next three years as her family slept, so she would not discourage them from going on.

People immigrate with hope for a better life. The history of immigration started with the creation of the Earth.

In the 1600s and 1700s, colonists sailed from England and other European countries to America to escape persecution and to look for freedom.

Freedom caused them many hardships: loss of life, poverty, unstable lives, displacement, deracination and unemployment. But they never gave up because they believed that freedom was worth sacrifices.

Hend Faraj was originally a Lebanese woman. Currently she is the mother of three kids ages 21, 20 and 7, a real estate professional and president of The Lebanese Club in Arizona.
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Her journey into the United States of America started in 1992 with the words “I DO!” A marriage proposal that offered her the dream. The dream of having a family, like all young women, and the dream of exploring new horizons in the U.S., the land of the free!

“Like all immigrants, my life was a struggle,” said Faraj. “A struggle to fit and to blend in my new society and yet to keep in my heart and mind and to implant into my kids the great values and supreme culture I carried with me from my Mother country.”

When Faraj first came to the states, she wished she could bring her Lebanese values and principals here to the U.S.; then it will become Utopia, the perfect society. Faraj dreams of returning to Lebanon. She also prays for peace and freedom in Lebanon.

Hajj also prays for peace in the Middle East and especially for her home country of Syria. After 20 years, Hajj says” I’m grateful now more than any time in my life that I came to America, despite the hard and difficult journey we’ve had here.”
She adds,” Through hard work and dedication and the help of the Lord, God helped me finish my residency and start my practice in the U.S. and make a difference in people’s lives. My daughter Nagham made it to one of the best schools in the country and in six months will be an attorney. My son Wissam finished his under grad school with almost a full scholarship and currently is doing his Master’s in Architecture along with his beautiful bride who’s sharing his journey and pursuing her education as a pharmacist. ”

The United State was and remains the refuge for people from all over the world. People from different countries, ethnicity and religions escape to this country, seeking freedom, peace and hope.
Faraj, like other American people, celebrates the Fourth of July with her family and friends at a gathering with a barbecue and fireworks.
“Currently and in spite of what is going on all around the world: wars, killing, terrorism, genocides, etc…. I think how can any country claim independence? Are they really?” For these reasons, I would like to ask President Obama and all the world leaders, “Why choose slavery over freedom? Why choose war over peace? Why choose death over life?”
I have my answers; do you?

Exercise is appropriate for persons of all ages

        Despite knowing that regular exercises improve health while a sedentary life style can lead to many health problems, such as diabetes and cardiac disease, Americans are still lazy and have yet to be convinced that an investment of only thirty minutes a day is a small investment that pays a big health dividend.
        Science has shown that regular exercise improves the health of body and mind. Exercise is appropriate for persons of all ages. Exercising on a regular basis is the best remedy for the sick, for office workers, for the over weight, for the person depressed, and for any person with sedentary job or lifestyle. The sick person needs to move around rather than stay in bed or laying down in front the television. Some exercise helps improve the positive mood of the sick person. The challenge is to found some form of exercise that is appropriate for the particular person. For the person who has a sedentary lifestyle or the office worker that does not exercise, that person may easily develop many health issue such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Depression can be treated with a regiment of exercise or drugs. The drug often have side effects if used for long period of the time. Exercise can improve the condition with other health benefits.
       Dr Andrew Weil is a physician and a teacher; he has written books and is an authority in the field of holistic medicine. One of his remedies for depression is physical exercise. In his book ,Eight Weeks of Optimum Health, Weil mentioned that exercise is one of the suggestions for changing our lives: “You have in your hands a tool to the power of spontaneous healing in your body. I will guide you through this program
to changing your life, an Eight Week Program for improving health and gaining access step by step, explaining the change I will ask you to make in how you eat, how you exercise, how you breathe, and how you use your mind.”

        “A healthy mind is in a healthy body” is a common belief. Some people take it more seriously than others. Our brain is an organ and a muscle, and it needs regular exercise. Some people do crossword puzzles, to keep their minds sharp; others, read daily newspapers, magazines, and other publications to keep their minds active. A part of the population is addicted to the television, no matter what kind of show they see or spend their time watching, others choose game shows, such as,” Family Feud “, “ Deal or no Deal”, “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader.” The audience of those programs can also practice these exercises.
        On January 5, 2010, a new research showed that regular weekly regular exercise can boost the body’s immune system. This research was published in an article titled “The Hidden Benefits of Exercise”, by Laura Landro. Landro stated the importance of physical activities:” As millions of Americans flock to the gym, armed with New Year’s resolutions to get in shape. Medical experts are offering an additional reason to exercise: Regular workouts may help fight off colds and flu, reduce the risk of certain cancers and chronic diseases and slow the process of aging.” Furthermore , Landro adds:”Physical activities has long been known to bestow such benefits as helping to maintain a healthy weight and reduce stress, not to mention tightening those abs. Now a growing body of research is showing that regular exercise – as simple as a brisk thirty to forth five minute walk, five times a week – can boost the body’s immune system, increasing the circulation of natural killer cells that fight off viruses and bacteria. And exercise has been shown to improve the body response to the influenza vaccine, making it more effective at keeping the virus at bay.”
        Many websites invite overweight people to join in a helpful and fun exercise program that will orient the people to the right exercise with consideration of age, sickness, and climate.
         AARP Bulletin, in one of her pubication; stated in the special report section, Titled “Fit@50+” an invitation to join a group of people and work with them in a special fitness program: “Get fit. Have fun. Visit our online fitness center for exercise news and motivational tips. You will find helpful articles about getting and staying active, plus interactive health tools. You can also join an online group, Fat2Fit that has helped nearly 4,000 people lose weight and become more physically active over the past ten yeasr”
          Women are more likely than men, to follow an exercise program because they are more concerned about their health and wellbeing. A new publication in February in the archives of Internal Medicine finds that women who get the moderate amount of exercise in middle age, tend to be much healthier at seventy and beyond “ Active women cross – over into the senior decades with far fewer chronic disease and greater mental acuity. So, you may wonder, how much exercise? Well, there is good news for the eighty-five percent of Americans who don’t have a regular, or a vigorous work-out routine. Turns out, walking is enough—the brisker, the better .”The Benefits”.
        A small investment pays off in big health dividends; there is clear and compelling evidence that regular exercise is beneficial to all ages and both sexes. As a prevention measure, it is a worthwhile habit throughout a person’s life. People buy fire, flood, vehicle, and health insurance, but they hope they will never have a fire or a flood. The exercise program is an insurance policy that pays in good health or in dividends the benefits are evident everywhere, in publications, in the media, on the internet, in the doctor’s offices, in the nutritionist’s office, in schools, universities, and sports programs.
        With hope, this article will raise awareness and motivation to improve the health of the nation’s population.

 

Raising Chickens

If we ask the previous generation, our parents or grandparents, how to raise chickens they have the answers. Today if you ask the new generation of  adults, the same question, they would not be able to answer correctly. The civilization and the new laws have changed to regulate city codes as well as the practices of a new generation.

  Fifty years ago, most of people were farmers, they secured their income from their cultivation and farming and they raise chickens, cows, sheep and goat.
 

It was simple practice to raise chickens because it provided fresh eggs and meat as a source of protein, and provided an income. All what was needed was enough room for them to eat and grow. The chickens can find some plants, seeds, grass, small insects and vegetables leftovers from the kitchen.

Today, farming is not a common  practice or occupation and raising animals like chickens is not allowed by the city codes except some areas were raising animals such a horses is permitted.

The Animal Depot’s store manager encourages people who have the will, the space, and the time to taise chickens

There is a Green Movement that encourages people, especially those who live in town, to plant a garden according to the space available and the time needed to maintain the garden. After that it would be a natural growth to add a chicken coup.

Talent show @ Saint Joseph church

   On Sunday, April 17, 2010, the (MYO) Maronite Youth Organization organized  the 5^th anniversary  of the talent show at Saint Joseph church’s stage.

 This activity is one of many activities organized by the church members.

      This talent show showcased the talents of the children and adults by singing, dancing, playing musical instruments or telling jokes.

      While the most of the participant’s ages ranged from 3 years of age to 18, this year the age extended to 65 years.

      The organizer asked the membership to volunteer and show off their talent two months ahead by auditioning their part.

This show started right after the Divine Liturgy. The favorite food for this occasion were hotdogs and hamburgers 

     The set up and the management of the program was carried out by ( MYO), directed by the head of (MYO) Marlene Boulos.

     Yara Boulos and Joe Achkar were M.C’s. The opening show started with the American anthem followed by the Lebanese anthem .The priest of St Joseph Church, Father Ghattas Khoury, welcome everybody by way of a  poem. The talent show went on with American and Lebanese songs. There were comedians; joke tellers; piano, violin and other instrument players; American and Lebanese show dancers. Near the end, the poet Jim Salem, 65, presented many of his poems.

     Despite the warm day, everybody was happy and the parents were proud of their children.

The next talent show will be on April 2011, with more talents, and hopes that our future participants may go on to compete in American Idol.

This activity is one of many activities that showed the people who come from the other state, Phoenix is not a boring state like Lusineee’s blog   mention “Activities in PHX!.. isn’t  a boring city after all..”http://tinyurl.com/lusineee.

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The value of Grapvine

 

      The history of grapevine cultivation goes back to the first agriculture. The studies showed that wine production started around 4000 BC. The Scripture and the Bible talk about the grapevine and Jesus Christ compared Himself to the grapevine and his shepherd to the branch.

      The importance of this vine is that we can use the leaves to make rolls. With the fruit, we can eat grapes, from the grapes we can make grape juice which is very popular because of the health benefits.Also vinegar can be produced as well as wine, Arak ( Middle Eastern drink), jam, and we can dry the grapes for raisins. Other benefits of the grapevine are: the grape seeds can be pressed for oil, the skin and other materials leftover from the press can be a good addition to the soil. At our house the grapevine provides shade for a picnic table and we use the leaves as a food wrap. We have enjoyed the fresh grapes and we have produced vinagare from the ripe fruit. The birds are the first consumers of the grapes from our vines.

      Here in phoenix, the climate does not allow the healthy vine to grow. The grapevine needs long spring season, warm days and cool at nights. But, in some places, some people the vine for its leaves and for shade.

      The ideal climate for the cultivating grapes is the Mediterranean Sea climate. Northern California has a Mediterranean climate and western Australia has a portion of the Coast that has this ideal climate.

Spring Barbecue In Scottsdale

It’s a right time for barbecue festival. Last Saturday on April 11th , an annual barbecue festival was held on a waterfront in Scottsda
The media covered this event live and the TV station shown the audience that the event is important and well organized, and people came from different area and cities to share in this event and taste different kinds of barbecue items.
The press encouraged me to visit the festival, especially since the hours were from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight.
I encouraged my husband to go have diner by sampling some of the available barbecues. It was 6 p.m. I thought we were still in time to taste the barbecues and hear the music. Once we reached the waterfront, I was surprised that most of the booths were empty and some other packed their stuff. Beverage service was still available. The band was still there singing a western song. The place was dusty because the grounds were not paved, and the wind didn’t help matters.
We decided to leave the place and have diner somewhere else.

I am not criticizing, but the event organizer should advertise the time more accurately. We were not the only people arriving to take part of the tasting, there were others coming and like us probably willing to pay the entrance fee.
We are ready to encourage the event organizer in any activities or festival in Phoenix or Scottsdale or others places, but with hope to be more attentive to the details, such as opening and closing time.

Easter Makes A Real Change

     It’s time to wake up from our slumber. Incarnation and Resurrection, two events happened and change the face of humanity.
 Some people appreciate this reality, they practice their faith and become Saints.They support different kinds of difficulties and accept anything in the name of God. They choose a solitary life to be closer to Jesus and after their death God will raise them and will give them the power to heal the sick through His Son. An example,Saint Charbel, a Saint from my home town and country of Bekaakafra in Lebanon.

Others understand God’s plan. They live according to His will in their daily life.They build a strong family. Raise their kids and teach them the love of God.
    
Some people ignore the word of God and his plan of salvation. They prefer to live aimlessly, using their potential in the wrong place. They are poor people not in money but in love of God. Like kids who live in a house by themselves, they are happy because they can do whatever they want without supervision from their parents, but they risk the opportunity to be saved.

      My vision of how these three groups celebrate Easter is as follows.
The Saints are already in heaven and they share with Our Father His joyful day.
The people who received God’s word and worked on it, go deeper and deeper in search of the truth “Jesus was raised from the dead and gave us the eternal life”
The group that ignores this truth, celebrates Easter by vacationing and eating.

     In which group do you see yourself? do you fit in or do you belong?

     I hope you choose the right way, the way of God. He knocks on the door and is waiting for our answer to come in and live with us forever.

   Don’t be late. Go and open the door.Don’t let Him waiting anymore. He will change your life.

Easter is the best and right time to start a new life with God.

Happy Easter.

Poor eating habits cuts the life span short

        Over eating has become an epidemic in the U.S.A. Some people eat to live while others live to eat. One of our basic instincts is safety, this is followed by satisfying our hunger and our thirst.Over eating is simply taking in more calories than expending, which leads to obesity, and obesity is the leading cause of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, hypotension, cancer, and many other complications. Training start early, during   infancy when babies cry we give them food.  As babies continue to grow  (through the years) we use food as a way to deal with stress through the years.This habit continues through life.   

                                                                                               

      The family life style is detected by what they eat. Unhealthy people eat fatty fast food, junk food, rich restaurant food. Today’s food consumers rarely cook wholesome  food at home. When students are on their own, they eat anything to satisfy their hunger. Living in the moment, they rely on fast food and junk convenience food. Most people do very little physical exercise and life style is changing, and today people live differently than ten years ago. Most people own their own cars and drive everywhere. They spend most of their time sitting in the office in front of a computer screen. When they return home tired, they don’t have enough energy to exercise. Finally the health problems start. People lose balance between food and physical activities: no walking, eating unhealthy food, little or no exercise.

   In contrast there are many movement now that they promote a healthy lifestyle .For example, the guidelines by the government through the food Pyramid “My Pyramid – Steps to the Healthier You –“(My Pyramid.gov). This site promotes a healthy life style with specific recommendation for a balance individual approach to calorie intake and expenditure. In conjunction with the Pyramid a set of stairs symbolize the importance of regular exercise .There is abundant information about the importance of maintaining a healthy body through proper eating, exercise and dedication to regimen. In addition to the information available, a person needs a support system, like family members or friends to reinforce their exercise and good eating habits

    One may debate as to the principal cause of obesity; whether it is over eating or lack of exercise. Over eating is a problem: people eat more than the body needs and people exercise much less than the body needs. Consumers need to know that an office worker on average will burn less calories on a daily basis than a construction worker. Which way is the right way to find the principal cause that starts the slippery slope to obesity?. Some people think that genetics is responsible for obesity, while others believe that lifestyle is the principal cause of obesity. The reasons for obesity are complicated because of many issues that are intertwined, such as education, economics, genetics, lifestyles, level of physical activity and overall health. Often more than one issue is at play. There are also extreme measures to limit the body’s ability and to absorb the nutrients. Surgical procedure exist  for restricting the size of stomach. There are pills that limit the appetite.  The extreme conditions such as: bulemia and anorexia are example of eating and health problems.

     En conclusion for a healthy approach to maintain a sound body and mind, each individual has to balance calorie intake and calorie expenditure. In order to succeed a person must be motivated with enough will power to do what is necessary. It is not a temporary  diet, it’s a change of lifestyle.

Phoenicians moving to Phoenix

The Phoenix

Phoenician Monument

Moving from the mother country to a new country will be a gain for the person on one hand and a sacrifice on the other.   A comparison between two cultures will follow showing differences and similarities.  Lebanon is the homeland of the Phoenicians, who are the credited with developing the first alphabet and discovery the glass.  Phoenix is a large city and the capital of the State of Arizona.  Lebanon is a small country   (10,452 km) on the Mediterranean Sea, while metropolitan  Phoenix is much larger in size (12,305 km). The weather is different between these two locations.  Lebanon has typical Mediterranean climate with four seasons.  Phoenix has basically desert climate.  In Lebanon the dominant language is Arabic but French and English are also spoken.  Some schools teach all three languages.

Lebanon – Country of Phoenician

In Phoenix the schools teach their own language and student can choose one additional language.  The cultures of both Lebanon and Phoenix are similar in some respects, but there are differences in family gatherings.  In Lebanon the families share the good and bad times.  Many generations live in the same house.  In Phoenix, the families live separate, and sometimes in different states.  In Lebanon, the neighbors know each other and communicate regularly, they share rides, foods, social events, and feasts .  In Phoenix, the families usually have their  own  privacy .   International cuisine is popular and available in both cultures.  In Lebanon, dinner is usually after eight o’clock, while in Phoenix is around six to eight o’clock.    The basis for the Mediterranean diet in Lebanon is vegetables, fruit, beans, and a little meat.  In Phoenix the basis for meals tends to be high in fats like beef and commercially prepared food.

En conclusion living in a new location with different cultures is a challenge to assimilate the new life style.

Time to plant trees and seeds

Days go fast, March is upon us. In this time and place, it’s right time to plant trees and seeds. People whom are concerned about the environment ought to not  miss this opportunity. The ancestors valued this time  of planting  with hopes of a plentiful  harvest season. The harvest from the trees is the benefit to the environment from the trees.

Here in Phoenix if the opportunity of planting is missed, the weather will change and the opportunity will be missed for another year. In this area, the trees help in many ways by reducing pollution and the leaves absorb CO2 and produce O2. This may alter the climate to produce more rain.

There are many different kinds of trees and seeds available  that do well in this climate.Nurseries and big stores offer many options and are able to provide services and information regarding planting and care of trees, shrubs, and plants.

Planting trees is the best way to control the pollution from the growth of the population. Do it now. Buy some trees. Plant them on your property. Be an example while the weather is conducive to the planting of the trees.