Today I recorded a short video, and at the end it is the voice of my mother you hear calling me from inside the house. And as I am a bit shy, I didn't know how to respond to her, while carrying on my video. She was asking me a question about the water pump, whether I needed it to water or not. So I had to end my video abruptly.
My nickname is Ricco, and as a child my nickname was Ricotino, an Italian form of my first name.
Also, for years, since 2018 - 2019, I disappeared from all social networks because of all my suffering related to the unfair treatment I received, and my disgust with the world.
This disgust was further deepened by what happened in August 2020.
Around three or four weeks ago, encouraged by the Faerie Princess, I decided to create a linkedin profile and reconnect with my old friends / acquaintances / colleagues. You can visit it here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-zakhia-085vi1991/
I'm doing it slowly, but I now have more than 150 connections, which is not a lot compared to other people, yet I only add the persons I well know (except a few exceptions related to my writing career and my permaculture interests).
There are a lot of persons who are in their summer holidays. So things are going slowly.
Yet I got a few endorsements on my skills from very serious persons, and also a beautiful, public recommendation written about me.
I also posted four stories about my life in the last years, and got some engagement on them.
The aim of this profile is to prove to the family of the Faerie Princess that I am a serious, and well-appreciated person.
My policy is never to add or do research any person of the entourage of the Faerie Princess. Because of the very unfair treatment I received in the past, I think that when they will be ready, they will have to make this step in my direction. So I do not use linkedin to communicate with them, but rather to show them my skills, and how I am a well-appreciated person despite having disappeared for six years, and despite having chosen to follow my own way (my writing career, and being self-employed on my family lands as an ecosystem engineer). For now, these experiences are not recognized or rewarded, yet one day, all the value of what I've done will become clear, I believe, and my work will be appreciated by others.
There is even a famous writer who got interested in me, and commented twice one of my posts.
I also managed to connect with the new president of the university where I studied and where I met the Faerie Princess. I told her my story, and it greatly touched her, and she even invited me to meet her, if I one day return to Switzerland.
I write all these things publicly, because I do not use names, and only those who well know this story know about this blog and come read it.
I ask my readers not to use linkedin to try to research / add / contact any member of the entourage of the Faerie Princess, as this is not the right way to do things. Whoever wishes to help can write them a direct letter of support / recommendation, directly by email.
However, I invite my readers to follow the progression of my profile on linkedin, and the new initiatives I will launch.
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Also, on another note. These are some facts for the entourage of the Faerie Princess who reserved to me a disgusting treatment in the past.
Perhaps these individuals thought that we still are in the 17th century, at the time the Netherlands had colonies all around the world, and could embark slaves on their ships without even asking for a permission.
Six years ago, I was treated, and questioned almost as if I were a slave, without any rights. As you have noticed already, I am a proud person, not in a negative sense, but rather in the sense that I cannot accept nor tolerate the way I was treated six years ago, as it was completely unfair. It is not something I can forget or forgive, as long as the attitude of the entourage of the Faerie Princess does not change toward me.
So here are some pretty obvious facts about me, my family, my culture and my country.
- We shower every day (with soap, of course!)
- We wash our teeth twice or thrice per day
- We change clothes every day
- We usually have three meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner)
- We have access to all the modern commodities
- We do not eat food raw, or frozen, as you seemed to think in the treatment, you, your culture, your country, reserved to me. We eat proper food.
We eat meat / poultry, but not a lot, by choice. We eat a lot of grains (lentils, red beans, chickpeas, fava beans), as, mixed with rice, they contain a lot of proteins. We eat of lot of vegetables, of greeneries, of fruits. We have access to fresh fish, fresh eggs. We also eat bread (many of which my mother prepares herself), and pasta.
There are supermarkets at 5 / 10 / 15 minutes from where we live where we find anything we might want, even Gouda cheese. My great grandfather used to love Gouda with cumin seeds. I did not have the chance to meet that great grandfather, and it is my grandfather who kept that tradition.
I even visited Gouda, the town, during one of my trips to the Netherlands.
Also those are perhaps less obvious facts:
- We use natural soap to wash fruits / vegetables / salads, and are always surprised to see that many Europeans just rinse the fruits / salads they buy, despite all the pesticides that are used.
- We wash glasses with soap too, and for us it is unconceivable to just rinse a glass, as many people living on your continent do.
There is a concept that we call "zankha" and that translates as "egg smell". When a glass or a plate is not properly washed, it does that scent. When meat / poultry / fish are not properly cooked, with aromatic herbs, with pepper, with salt, etc., or if they are not very fresh, they also risk to do that smell.
I stayed for one week in the Netherlands in a youth hostel and was shocked to discover that I was scolded when I pre-cleaned my plate / glass before putting them in the dishwasher. "You are wasting water!" the responsible there told me each time. It was absurd, because heavy rain was falling outside.
The result was that each time I used a plate or a glass, I nearly fainted because of the "egg smell" that accumulated on them. The people who slept in that youth hostel seemed to have a rich diet of meat, and as they did not even rinse their plates before putting them in the dishwater, the result was terrible.
I had to secretly re-wash by hand each item I used.
This is not to mock your culture, as probably (and hopefully), you are much cleaner than those who took care of that youth hostel. But this is to tell you that you were wrong to look down on me, and give me the unfair treatment you gave me. This is to tell you that we have as much culture as you do, if not more. Sorry.
- Also we do not drink in one another's glass or bottle, and we do not eat in one another's plate, and this, well before the corona pandemics.
I was always shocked in Europe when classmates asked me for a sip of water, sucking at my bottle.
We have a drinking technique without touching the bottle, that is much more hygienic.
Our culture is quite similar to the Sicilian culture for instance. As you know, I have multiple origins, and love and honor each of my countries. However, you, the entourage of the Faerie Princess, denied that in your prejudices against me. And this forces me now to defend, explain and expose the culture of the country where I live.
We are not barbarian savages, as you seemed to think. We have a very long history. Modern history has not been very fair toward us. And yet, if you visit the Mounts of Ylliriel, you will feel as if you were in Sicily, in Sardinia, or in Greece. The towns here at 5000 years old. The history is very rich. The food is rich and diversified, but in a healthy way.
And the landscapes are very diversified too, ranging from Mediterranean, to Alpine.
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Also, I am a Maronite, which means that I am a Christian Catholic. The Maronites are among the oldest Christians in the world. When the Arabs invaded the region, the Maronites fought them, and refused to convert to islam. This is how we kept our mountains, and our independence.
So around the 1400s the Romans were very surprised to discover there still were Christians who lived where I live.
The Maronite Church is officially recognized by the Vatican as a Catholic Church.
For me, being Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant does not make much difference. It is the Christian values I embrace.
I respect all other schools of thoughts, beliefs, faiths (ranging from other religions to atheism), while however disagreeing on some aspects.
Many European countries have embraced laicism, making of laicism a "religion".
The Maronites are laics in the sense that they do not mix religion with each aspect of their life. However they do not have the luxury of doing what many Europeans did, as the survival of our country and our lands pass by never forgetting our origins, and the struggle we kept for more than one thousand years in order not to be forced to convert to another religion.
So while being respectful and open-minded, we cannot do what Europeans did, because, as you know, other faiths are not as tolerant as we are, generally speaking.
My country protects the right of each of its citizens, and as the Maronites were behind its foundation, the President, and the General of the Army are chosen among Maronites (each faith, each religion, each school of thought, is represented in the State, in order to make everyone heard). This is why my country is such a complex country.
It is easier when people of only one identity form a country. When a country has multiple identities as mine, it is a wealth, but also makes it more difficult to govern.
And, what does it mean to be a Christian, for me?
It means that:
- Life has a meaning. Its meaning does not end with death. There is a much fairer and beautiful life after death.
- God, the Virgin Mary, Jesus exist, and are entirely pure and loving beings, they are like loving parents, or like the loving King and Queen of a beautiful kingdom that is fair to everyone.
- I do not believe in hell. I believe that people who live bad life will self-torture after their death, till when they find a way to repair their mistakes. I do not believe in the devil.
- I believe that people who live very good and pure life can become Saints, and very positively impact others, or even miraculously heal them
- I believe that miracles are possible, even if I haven't seen yet major miracles happening in front of my own eyes. I believe that there is an ultimate reality beyond science, despite having a solid scientific education as I am an engineer
- I believe each human being deserves to live a fair, decent, happy life, here on Earth, and beyond
- I believe that Love is sacred, and that you meet YOUR unique true love once in your life. The name of my true love, the Faerie Princess, is Annelies Broeders of Dordrecht
- I believe the family is sacred (parents, siblings, grandparents...), and in general that there is a way to have a positive bond with each human being
Those are my core beliefs. I respect all other beliefs, as long as they respect others. I do not like at all the beliefs that try to be imposed on others. Without naming them, some religions are unfortunately not very respectful for the beliefs of others. Christianism, in the past, also did not always respect the beliefs of others, and I am very much against what happened when the Europeans conquered America. The people who lived in ancient America had a lot of wisdom. The celts too, had wisdom.
Conversions should never happen by force. When it does, it ruins everything.
Also, atheists and laic people sometimes want to impose their beliefs on others, and on their own kids, by not giving them the choice to believe or not in the existence of God. And that too, is not something I like or appreciate.
A Godless world is a very sad one, and right now, we are in a Godless world. A world where the leaders believe in money and power, more than in values such as love / friendship / peace / harmony and forgiveness.
This post is long, but at least you now know who I truly am.
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