there really are palm tress just outside my window, as Tiitta noted

ramadan time. what i find odd is some muslims referring to the period as "busy", like "could we meet after ramadan, i am busy until then" or so. yet they explain -and i understand- that during the ramadan they naturally try to work and do as little as possible, to avoid extra hunger and to stay inside etc. so instead of being busy, they are actually just avoiding doing anything. which makes sense, but then why say you are BUSY? lol. just tell me you CANT, because i KNOW WHY. i get it. well, perhaps its just a saying, more polite than "i dont want to". i get stuck in the illogical.

personally i dont get the whole "ramadan is about self discipline" as someone explained it. life in general is full of discipline stuff, school, work.... i dont need to starve to prove anything. but yea thats just me.

i was told that one of my ex-students is going to Mecca. and some of them are hoping to go there some day. it keeps surprising me (for some reason) how religious people around me are, its certainly widening my views of people or humans in general. my actual friends are typically hard core atheists and liberals, but if we expand the circle to my working environment etc. i start meeting religious people, whom i dont think actually seem as religious.

luckily i dont live near a mosque so i am not woken up by the prayer calls. im not bothered by them in general but i need my sleep...

i have also spent time in reading news boards etc where they argue about islam, whats true and what isnt, which scriptures should be followed and which shouldnt.... the list goes on. of course judaism and all kinds of other things get thrown into the mess too. so its rather thought provoking. is stoning mentioned in the Koran or not? was Muhammed's wife 9 or 17?

if Iran has an archaic law about stoning people, who is above it to say its not right? whats right anyway - what the self-appointed civilized people say, or? im certainly not saying stoning is a good idea, or right, but i think its fair to ask questions to be able to form a solid opinion which is not based solely on feelings or "cos everyone else says so".

and the thing about something being "inhumane"... its defined as something lacking compassion or pity. perhaps we are not carrying these characteristics in our genes? i dont know. or perhaps something is overriding them at times. but if humans (in large masses) do something, it is of human-origin (instead of alien-). i am still perplexed by some of the things us humans do, and i keep wanting to understand why and how is it to be explained.