Just to make you laugh

Hijrah New Year 1427

Today is the Hijrah New Year. It is officially the year 1427 because Islam is the youngest religion in the world obviously the calendar is different from the Gregorian calendar most countries use.

Muslims do not traditionally "celebrate" the beginning of a new year, but we do acknowledge the passing of time, and take time to reflect on our own mortality.

Muslims measure the passage of time using the Islamic (Hijrah) calendar. This calendar has twelve lunar months, the beginnings and endings of which are determined by the sighting of the crescent moon. Years are counted since the Hijrah, which is when the Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Madinah (approximately July 622 A.D.).

It is quite interesting how all the New Years are quite close and marked by the movement of the planets but at the same time 1 month apart.

The Islamic calendar is the official calendar in many Muslim countries, especially Saudi Arabia. Other Muslim countries use the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes and only turn to the Islamic calendar for religious purposes. This is also valid for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I did some research, even though i don't celebrate the Hijrah New Year. I found some interesting things i didn't know before.
The calendar, just like the Gregorian one has 12 months:

Islamic Month	Gregorian Dates
Muharram	January 31 - February 28, 2006
Safar	March 1 - March 29, 2006
Rabia Awal	March 30 - April 28, 2006
Rabia Thani	April 29 - May 27, 2006
Jumaada Awal	May 28 - June 26, 2006
Jumaada Thani	June 27 - July 25, 2006
Rajab	July 26 - August 24, 2006
Sha'ban	August 25 - September 23, 2006
Ramadan	September 24 - October 22, 2006
Shawwal	October 23 - November 21, 2006
Dhul-Qi'dah	November 22 - December 21, 2006
Dhul-Hijjah	December 22, 2006 - January 19, 2007

See... i didn't know this stuff...

Happy New Year - Gong Xi Fa Chai

To all that celebrate: wishing you a lovely, joyful, fantastic, eventful year.
I hope the year of the Dog bring us all love, health, wealth and prosperity.

I am going to be celebrating this holiday for the first time with some friends of mine who do celebrate (in Bosnia and Herzegovina people don't celebrate this new year but I happen to live right next to the Chinese Embassy here in Sarajevo and have the luck to see the fireworks and all so some of the customs seem to brush of slightly :).
I have for the first time ever learned about this new year during my visit to Japan where everyone started preparing for the celebrations 2 months earlier.

Again, all the best to everyone! May holidays bring us happiness...

Only in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Let's get this straight, I love Bosnia and Herzegovina. With all it's greenery, rivers, mountains and natural beauty, lovely friendly people, cheap food, excellent places to go to.... it's the place to be.

But... and a big but... some people have just gotten some stuff mixed up. Ever since the 1992 -1995 war, a lot of things (emphasize on religion) have been turned upside down and inside out. Yes Sarajevo is the city where you can see almost all European places of prayer, people of all religions and those religions, monuments, cemetaries, museums being respected...


..again but, I just don't understand this photo.... take a good look....

But maybe i was taught wrong..

Pyramids in Bosnia and Herzegovina!

Can you imagine this???

Near the city of Visoko, 30 km north of Sarajevo, there is a stone pyramid of monumental size, claims the Bosnian archeologist Semir Osmanagić, who lives and works in the USA. After several months of geological and archeological research, Mr. Osmanagić concluded that under the present hill of Visočica hides a stairs-like pyramid, about 12,000 years old. Osmanagić, who intensively researched on pyramids in Americas, Asia and Africa for the last 15 years and wrote several books on the subject, says he's quite sure he found the first pyramid in Europe, which is quite similar to ones in the Southern America. He believes that the project would completely change Bosnia's significance in the world of archeology. On the top of "Bosnian pyramid of Sun" was a temple, built by pre-Illyrians, people who lived, according to Osmanagić, 27,000 years ago. Mr. Osmanagić thinks he will solve the "Bosnian pyramid of Sun" in the next five years, but also prove the existence of "Bosnian pyramid of Moon", lying under the neighboring hill of Križ?.

According to BBC, the leading Bosnian newspaper "Dnevni Avaz" writes:

"The pyramid is 100 metres high and there is evidence that it contains rooms and a monumental causeway ... The plateau is built of stone blocks, which indicates the presence at the time of a highly developed civilisation,"

This morning I was listening to the radio where they said that a team of expert archeologists has arrived to Sarajevo where they have (after taking pictures from the sky and analyzing the soil and actually figured out it was a real pyramid.

In April 2006 a huge project is starting led by this team of experts all over the world and it will be the biggest archeological investment project in Europe. Apparently this will be the biggest historical founding of Europe in the last 20 years.

Just think about it, pyramids in Bosnia and Herzegovina… Wow.

More info

Good start off

I have decided to make a change in 2006. I have already made my New Year resolutions which go something like:

- Graduate

- Travel

- Finish my term successfully

- Call and visit my grandparents more often

- Grow my hair long

- Hang out with my girl friends more often

- Don’t ever let a guy dictate my life

- Take better care of my health

- Spend more time with my parents and my sister.

and so on…the list just goes on and on.

I have been limiting my budget, opening up saving accounts, getting the money for my trips this year. I might be getting a job soon, working on one of the four mountains surrounding Sarajevo for a huge Heineken campaign which will be a lot of fun and I will be working with some really cool people for about 2 weeks.

I am planning my trip (my last international AIESEC conference), the International Presidents Meeting in The Netherlands in February. It will be fun.

I am also working at The World Bank, having a lot of business trips in the middle of my exam season (which is not good). I am retiring, finally, after almost 2 years working at WB. I am still planning to apply for one of their Japan ABCDE conference grants (Annual Bank Conference for Developing Economies which might be the subject of my theses). Good luck to me on that.

Anyways these are my plans for the next few months.

I only have 1 wish:

It starts snowing again… Sarajevo is the most beautiful when it snows.

Wonderful 2006

Take twelve whole months. Clean them thoroughly of all bitterness, hate and jealousy.
Make them just as fresh and clean as possible.

Now cut each month into twenty-eight, thirty, or thirty-one different parts
but don't make up the whole batch at once. Prepare it one day at a time out of these ingredients.
Mix well into each day one part of faith, one part of patience, one part of courage and one part of work.
Add to each day one part of hope, faithfulness, generosity and kindness. Blend with one part prayer, one part meditation and one good deed. Season the whole with a dash of good spirits, a sprinkle of fun, a pinch of play and a cupful of good humour.

Pour all of this into a vessel of love. Cook thoroughly over radiant joy, garnish with a smile and serve with quietness, unselfishness and cheerfulness.

You're bound to have a happy new year.

~Author Unknown~