Stuff I Read/Saw/did at the Weekend...

by Rana Asfour

• The Circassians (people who lived north of the Caucasus along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea in historical Circassia) have a Day of Mourning commemorating the destruction of their nation by the Russians. 'This was the first modern genocide on European soil - 50 years before Turkey's Armenians were butchered, 90 years before the holocaust - perhaps as many as 300,000 Circassians died from hunger, violence, drowning and disease when Russia expelled them from their lands in 1864'. The event is now noted on May 21! - From 'Let Our Fame Be Great' by Oliver Bullough.
  

---

• I always enjoy the choice of films that Lebanese actress and director Nadine Labaki goes for. I watched 'Stray Bullet' at the weekend. It was beautifully shot, with a powerful storyline, and a great cast. It was too slow in some parts but luckily the film wasn't a long one anyway (80 minutes). Loved the 70s mood and it did capture the societal atmosphere in Lebanon during the Civil War. And Labaki is - as usual - simply stunning. For a review click HERE.

---

• I love it when things connect: I was reading the novel 'The Mouseproof Kitchen' by Saira Shah last week and then only yesterday read the Daily Mail's story about the woman who had placed her Down's Syndrome baby in care wanting nothing to do with it. Although many of the events vary the similarity of topic and timing of the story was uncanny. Author Saira Shah will be a guest speaker at the Emirates Festival of Literature in Dubai this March. See you there!
  

---

• I learnt 3 words in Mandarin:
  

Qúnzi for skirt 
kùzi for trousers
wàzi for socks

---