I have been wondering what happened to certain members lately.

If you guys are reading you should check in and let us know how you all are doing! We miss having you around (well, most of you. Just kidding)

Here's my list:

Carrie and Simo
Sonicliz
USMA
Jennieh
Vonnie and Abdel
tariktchach
zenaelarabi
rabie007
bornot2b
maryandatif
ameramouttaki
Morac
kofuku
sarachid
najia
karen2705
appletree
dixiepeach
frndly1
chery_fouad
lima
libragoddess
Jean

Oh, and Noura. Oh shoot, nevermind I forgot she rejoined under the name "~MeNhim~".


So has anyone heard from these guys?


Oh and if I missed someone then add them to the list!

shon/babybunny
veiled princess (VP)
iceyspots

Appletree i believe is in medical school, so might be off on holiday before uni starts up again.

Sonicliz I believe her in-laws are visiting...

Jean domestic issues

VP ya'll boo-ed her off

Iceyspots ya'll boo-ed her off too

Babybunny got the visa revoked

And I believe I do remember Amera talking about her husband wanting to move back to Maroc.............But I could be wrong.

vp was fun

oh and add honeyblonde to the list too

"Domestic issues" are not the reason I don't care to post here anymore. As far as my domestic issues those have been working themselves out beautifully and have turned into a very positive thing. See ya.

Most of these are still active and many are still posting (at least within the last couple of months.)

There are only a couple that seem to have actually disappeared -- USMA, Jennieh, and Vonnie&Abdel. I remember Jennieh announced that she was leaving the forum; I think Vonnie was her mother (?) -- maybe she decided to do the same.

Many members have been very busy with their personal lives -- arrival of their husbands/fiances after a long wait, weddings, helping their SOs adjust to a new country, filing AOS, moving, getting new jobs, having new babies, etc. Some are still dealing with the agony of returned petitions and may not feel like posting a lot, but they're still checking in on the board. Some have ended their visa journeys. And some have just changed their names or started new accounts, desiring to avoid some of the drama of the past. We should respect their privacy.

But almost all of these members have been active within the last few months. I always enjoy hearing updates if people care to share ! They may seem to be gone but they are not forgotten....



-MK

henia, what is the middle language in the picture in your signature? just curious!

Dixie Peach is fine and well. talk to her on a daily basis. Shes just too busy for internet lately

That's good to hear Jean. How are you doing without Mohammed?

I think some people might be very suprised by who is still around or not too far away.

Checking in....

Simo and I are still around. Things are great, a little hectic, but still great!

Hi! We're still here. I lurk around and post sometimes but I missed out on a big gap of time and haven't really got caught up on what's happening. Hubby and I talked about moving back to Morocco but didn't. We did move to Washington D.C. and so we've been adjusting to that big life change. Hubby's looking for a job and I'm settled into mine. Is anybody going to the ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) convention in Chicago in a few weeks? I'll be there (working of course), and if any of ya'll are going to be there I want to meet you!!!!

Chaishai: It is Tamazight, more exactly Kabyle (one of the native languages of my husband's country Algeria)...

Hi you two, good to see you around! I'm glad everything is going well.

It's always funny when people leave VJ and make a point of it then rejoin and change their name! Doy!

a list of people come to mind. surely you are not referring to jp?

JP still has her name only it's in Arabic

Amira-Princess Ordonia-Jordan/Jordanian

the people to whom Sarah and I are refering know who they are and understand what we mean...

surely you are not trying to stir up trouble here charles? I;m sorry if you don;t know who they are, but considering you do not have a spouse a spouse from MENA and you have stated very clearly on this board about your feelings towards Musims, and have insulted some very good members of this regional forum in the past, there is a reason these people are not visible to all eyes.

i just asked a simple question, no need to dig out the ax and start grinding it. we've been over the requirements to post in mena before, dear, so get new material.

thanks for making my point about how you treat women in MENA...i think the word we are looking for here is condescending

rather amusing you consider that condescending while trying to stir up trouble with me. thanks for demonstrating you're quite capable of being a hypocrite......
and who appointed you the mena sheriff?

Frankly I dont think Charles is the problem nor the reason why some people are not visible to all eyes... The women of MENA seem to have no problem turning on each other and driving each other out. The pages and pages of attacks, venom and condescending seem to pop up periodically no matter what......

Sorry, but how could you know that?

the past few locked threads in mena have occured while i've been sleeping...........

I dont KNOW that for a fact in every case, which is why I said I THINK, however I do know that the people I personally know and have spoken to that are gone from this forum are gone due to the general nastiness and cat fighting on the part of the ladies....

I wouldn't deny that. Nobody pointed to any single reason for people leaving. But I too have spoken with some who have left, and they would disagree with what you said.

just as i know more than a few who left due to certain members who are still here....and i'm not one of the members they cite as the cause for their leaving........

I guess you missed where I said I wouldn't deny that.

no, i didn't miss that, nor did i miss the attempt to blame me as usual.........

Glad you didn't miss such.

I didn't know thre was a pink ranger

I didn't know there was a white ranger. Where's the green ranger????

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6657247110201494437

My observation is that most women here actually don't think Charles is a problem, because they have pretty low standards when it comes to what they will take from men. He makes sexist remarks and many women come in and post laughing smileys, as one example. He posts the popcorn smiley in threads that are heated, which in fact, is a passive aggressive attempt to fuel the fire, while at the same time he posts condescendingly "I see nothing has changed in MENA." Which is it? He wants to watch the show or he wants to admonish people and be "above" the arguing? He calls a woman his own age "dear" because he knows it's condescending, yet he argues "she started it" when called on it, all the while insisting his own behavior is above reproach.

But I do agree most women here don't think he's a problem. But then again, you are pretty sexist yourself, Sara. You have just called arguments between women "attacks" and "venom" which completely demeans any sort of discussion around here. Women can discuss, argue, and fight, and considering the topics going around lately about women who are made to feel less than human, I'd think you'd keep your demeaning remarks to a minimum. But that's just me. You also accused "rightbeforeyou" of making up her story, so I guess your defense of Charles and your pissyness at the women here aren't surprising.

Sara, You said the women here turn on each other, but it seems everyone rallies around when the chips are down. I'd like to know when women have turned on each other? Maybe somewhere in the 19 page thread supporting Dee? Or in the hundreds of PMs to Jackie and Dee the last several weeks?

Not to mention the "b!tch" cartoons, "Midol" pics AND SUCH.

Absolutely. The problem is that there are women who still find things like that amusing.

I'm sure now I'll be accused of burning bras and not shaving my armpits...

don't shave.... have them waxed! it's much better and lasts longer.

Oh I am not debating that at all, I think this is a wonderful place for support and absolutely when the chips are down most people stick together. If I didnt think that I wouldnt still be here as one of the longest active members on this forum, the only one here before me was Jackie. I've watched pretty much everyone of you go through your 'journey'. Its truly a dysfunctional family. My point was, and is, that its NOT perfect here at all. Look back at all the locked threads, there have been numerous numerous personal insults. I am not referring to civilized discussions where everyone 'agrees to disagree' or we swap various interpretations of things, no, there are indeed personal attacks here and I certainly hope you are not going to deny that!!?? It IS one of the reasons why people have left. Not the only reason but one of them. But dont throw out a question like you'd like to know when women have turned on each other, read back in time to the locked threads and I think there is plenty of evidence. Frankly I am surprised that you act surprised at that statement! I am not trying to be 'pissy' or demeaning at all and I am sorry if its interpreted that way, I wasnt even trying to 'defend' Charles, more I guess just making the observation that sometimes we here can be our own worst enemies as well as our best friends. Whether or not Charles stirs up the pot is not the root of the issue and honestly I am not an expert on his behaviour here as I generally try to stay out of the more heated fiery debates. When I initially responded to the post I think I was reacting more to what I perceived to be the insinuation that Charles and his comments were what had driven people underground when I know for a fact from my friendships with long standing old timer members that they were gone due to the attacks by other women. thats all. no need to turn on ME now....

Nor do I think that makes me sexist to say it, the fact of the matter is the vast majority of posters on this forum are women so when it turns ugly it usually IS the women doing it....Its not sexist to acknowledge that there are percentage wise a much higher number of regular women posters here than men. Again, I am not sure how that observation singles ME out as being sexist.

An observation can be made without demeaning adjectives.

Women here argue and fight and are passionate about things. If that's not your thing, then fine, but the continuous insistence by those of you uncomfortable with discussions and arguments that most of these interactions are "Attacks" and "venom" is totally sexist since all of us ARE women having these interactions.

And your melodramatic assertion that because I post my opinion is "turning on you" proves my point that perception around here is key. We all don't have the same ideas about what passionate arguing is, clearly. If you don't want to join in, then that's fine, but I hardly think anyone who argues for 10 or 20 pages in a thread feels the same way you do, so let it be.

ah so the women here have low standards - and that's not a cheap shot on your part? don't worry peezey, everyone thinks you're totally innocent of anything in mena

for those who find you dreadfully dull, crass, and unfunny and are utterly bewildered that the women here haven't all come to the same conclusion, the distinction between peezey's postings and those of yr addle-brained admirers is quite clear. as such, the standards are completely and utterly different.

glad you think so. everyone is entitled to their opinion.

wow, was it just on the last page that Peezey was pointing out that there are ways to make a statement without being rude and demeaning?? oh, wait, as you say, the standards ARE completely and utterly different....

Where were you when Charles called MK a terrorist, called MBP a b!tch, and stalked Jenn? You want to know why there is a division in this forum sometimes? Well it might well have to do with women sidling up, sucking up, and defending him after he's said such heinous things. So you are right in your observation....some of us have a different standard when it comes to dealing with him.

On the subject of fighting on the threads, if the VJ moderators are so against fighting in the threads then why did they add that popcorn smiley?