Hello all, hope you are doing as well as we are over here, busy but we doing good Alhamd.
Just wanted to inform you guys that we have internet, at pretty good speed at our school. Alhamd... its high speed and wireless, but kinda wireless, only 2 computers can access the internet at one time... first time we are hearing about this new method, but Alhamd :) Now we have to come up with a schedule that all the students can use it without any problems...lets see how it works....
Ok, we will write more, pray that once we get to our house, it works over there too...
Take care
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Eid Mubarak to All
Salaams everyone, Eid Mubarak to all. The Holy Month of Ramadhan has sadly come to an end, and we pray that everyone's prayers and fasts have been accepted by Allah SWT, iA.
If you have been reading our blogs, you wil know that last Eid was fantastic here. It made up for the fact that Ramadhan wasnt packed with the same feeling as it normally is back home, due to the community atmosphere that is lacking here. But anyways, Eid last year made up for it. This year, not quite :)
So there is a story to all this. Eid was either supposed to be on Wed or Thur. Our school is normally off on half of Thur and all of Friday. If Eid was on a Wed, we would have to come to school for half a day on Thursday. The Institute did not want to give us that half a day off :) LOL, everyone tried, from teachers to students..lol... but we have to obey the rules.. anyways, much more to the story...
So as we got closer to the date, it was still unclear when Eid was going to be, however it was clear that the Country of Syria had confirmed that Eid was going to be on Wed. Because it is a govt holiday, the Inst. was forced to close its doors. That meant that we had Wed off for sure. There was a catch though, if our Eid fell on Wed, we didnt get that Thursday off.... basically a two in one kind of holiday. We waited patiently Tue night to find out when our Eid was going to be, and at midnight we received a message that Ayatullah Sistani declared that Eid would be Thursday, you know what that means, a 3 day weekend :) wed, thurs, and friday :-)Well deserved for both students and staff. We were in class from 9-5, 5 and a half days a week while fasting... not an easy task, though rewarding :)
However, ther was a catch to having Eid on Thur.. all other Maraja's declared Eid on Wed, therefore the formal Eid prayers that take place at the Haram was on Wed and we missed out on it :( We had a small eid prayer gathering at our school, where Sheikh Mohammad Ali Ismail lead the prayers and us students were there. Alhamd it was nice but not the same as last year... oh well, cant win them all:)
One of the couples at our school has started a photo diary, this way you can view pictures of happenings, he doesnt mind that we put it on our blog, so cut and paste the link below to view pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/JAMIL.BANDALI/JamilFatimaSYRIAPhotoDiary
Thats it for now, much more to come in the upcoming weeks :)
Salaams
If you have been reading our blogs, you wil know that last Eid was fantastic here. It made up for the fact that Ramadhan wasnt packed with the same feeling as it normally is back home, due to the community atmosphere that is lacking here. But anyways, Eid last year made up for it. This year, not quite :)
So there is a story to all this. Eid was either supposed to be on Wed or Thur. Our school is normally off on half of Thur and all of Friday. If Eid was on a Wed, we would have to come to school for half a day on Thursday. The Institute did not want to give us that half a day off :) LOL, everyone tried, from teachers to students..lol... but we have to obey the rules.. anyways, much more to the story...
So as we got closer to the date, it was still unclear when Eid was going to be, however it was clear that the Country of Syria had confirmed that Eid was going to be on Wed. Because it is a govt holiday, the Inst. was forced to close its doors. That meant that we had Wed off for sure. There was a catch though, if our Eid fell on Wed, we didnt get that Thursday off.... basically a two in one kind of holiday. We waited patiently Tue night to find out when our Eid was going to be, and at midnight we received a message that Ayatullah Sistani declared that Eid would be Thursday, you know what that means, a 3 day weekend :) wed, thurs, and friday :-)Well deserved for both students and staff. We were in class from 9-5, 5 and a half days a week while fasting... not an easy task, though rewarding :)
However, ther was a catch to having Eid on Thur.. all other Maraja's declared Eid on Wed, therefore the formal Eid prayers that take place at the Haram was on Wed and we missed out on it :( We had a small eid prayer gathering at our school, where Sheikh Mohammad Ali Ismail lead the prayers and us students were there. Alhamd it was nice but not the same as last year... oh well, cant win them all:)
One of the couples at our school has started a photo diary, this way you can view pictures of happenings, he doesnt mind that we put it on our blog, so cut and paste the link below to view pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/JAMIL.BANDALI/JamilFatimaSYRIAPhotoDiary
Thats it for now, much more to come in the upcoming weeks :)
Salaams
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Cant believe how fast the Month of Ramadhan has gone
Hello all,
Start off with the customary apologies for not blogging enough, but our trips to the internet cafe have been far and few this year, as opposed to last year. Probably having to do with the Month of Ramadhan, as our nights are busy along with our days. We cant believe how fast this Holy Month has flown by, only 5 or 6 more fasts to go, unbelievable. We ask Allah SWT that he accept our fasts and prayers, and IA give us and opportunity to do the same, but better, next year.
Our school organized Aamal nights (prayer nights) for us at our school, and all the students came along with some other students from England who are studying here. Sheikh Mohamed Ali Ismail delivered some very nice lectures and then they had an Arab lecturer come and recite the Masaeeb portion of the Martydom of Imam Ali AS. After which we had our Aamals. It was nice to do it in a group environment, and since we have more students this year, it was a really nice atmosphere.
Quick mention that last time we blogged, we mentioned that one of the couples is from Peterborough, but it turns out they are from Portsmouth... (have no idea about the spelling ...) so we are sorry about that mistake :)
We went to the Haram on the day of the Martydom of Imam Ali AS, and it was amazing. We got there about 20 minutes before the time of Fajr prayers and the Haram was packed. Alhamd we got a place to sit and recite our prayers... Right after the prayers, they had set up a Minbar (pulpit) inside the Haram and a lecturer got on to recite the Gham.. it was amazing, to be in the presence of Sayyida Zainab AS and to be hearing about the tragedy of her fathers death, was really moving. Right after the Lecture, they removed the barrier between the women and the men, and a taboot (coffin) representing our Imam was carried in from outside and it went around the actual Tomb a few times... Truly amazing, it was like a wave, Jaffer got caught in the wave and it moved him without him having to walk... really amazing... and then they had Matam outside in the Sahan for an hour and everyone then went home. Another great experience in Seyyida Zainab AS :)
Anyways, thats it for now... iA we will have more to write about in the near future....
Take care and remember us in your prayers!!!
Start off with the customary apologies for not blogging enough, but our trips to the internet cafe have been far and few this year, as opposed to last year. Probably having to do with the Month of Ramadhan, as our nights are busy along with our days. We cant believe how fast this Holy Month has flown by, only 5 or 6 more fasts to go, unbelievable. We ask Allah SWT that he accept our fasts and prayers, and IA give us and opportunity to do the same, but better, next year.
Our school organized Aamal nights (prayer nights) for us at our school, and all the students came along with some other students from England who are studying here. Sheikh Mohamed Ali Ismail delivered some very nice lectures and then they had an Arab lecturer come and recite the Masaeeb portion of the Martydom of Imam Ali AS. After which we had our Aamals. It was nice to do it in a group environment, and since we have more students this year, it was a really nice atmosphere.
Quick mention that last time we blogged, we mentioned that one of the couples is from Peterborough, but it turns out they are from Portsmouth... (have no idea about the spelling ...) so we are sorry about that mistake :)
We went to the Haram on the day of the Martydom of Imam Ali AS, and it was amazing. We got there about 20 minutes before the time of Fajr prayers and the Haram was packed. Alhamd we got a place to sit and recite our prayers... Right after the prayers, they had set up a Minbar (pulpit) inside the Haram and a lecturer got on to recite the Gham.. it was amazing, to be in the presence of Sayyida Zainab AS and to be hearing about the tragedy of her fathers death, was really moving. Right after the Lecture, they removed the barrier between the women and the men, and a taboot (coffin) representing our Imam was carried in from outside and it went around the actual Tomb a few times... Truly amazing, it was like a wave, Jaffer got caught in the wave and it moved him without him having to walk... really amazing... and then they had Matam outside in the Sahan for an hour and everyone then went home. Another great experience in Seyyida Zainab AS :)
Anyways, thats it for now... iA we will have more to write about in the near future....
Take care and remember us in your prayers!!!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Finally a day off... kind of :)
OK... so after a nice and long week, a week that we really found productive, we have finally come to our first well deserved weekend break...lol, and if you have been reading our blogs from before, you will know that it means one day off! but its ok, we kinda used to it after going through it last year. We have received information that some of the Coordinators of the course are coming down this weekend, or that they are already here, and they are hosting a student seminar that begins, yup, you guessed it, on our day off...but really, its all good, iA it will make our fasts go by that much faster. The really good part is that the seminar will go into Saturday and Sunday, so we will miss two days of classes. So it all works out :)
We got a message on our blog from someone wanting to know where the other couples are from. One is from Peterborough, one is from Ottawa and one is from Dar. Good variey and mix,and Alhamd all are really nice. But besides the students, there are a whole bunch of new teachers for the 2nd year students, and being really honest, they are all fantastic. So far, we have a few that are our favorites already, our teacher for Fiqh (Islamic Jurispudence), our teacher for Mantiq and Aqaid (same teacher for these two classes) and our teacher for Tafseer. Amazing people!!
Besides that, we had half a day of class today, so we along with another couple went to Sayyida Ruqaya AS to pay our respects to her. The weather is still hot but its definitely better then when we first arrived last week. We have nearly unpacked all of our luggage, to be honest, Sabiha has done most of it, while Jaffer has been relaxing...lol... moreso because Jaffer knows Sabiha will do it better....:)
So besides that, the Holy Month of Ramadhan is already 1/3 over, amazing how fast this Great Month comes, and how fast it goes. We pray that all of us make the most out of this Month, and that you remember us in your prayers.
If you want us to write about something in particular, let us know by leaving a message.
Take care
We got a message on our blog from someone wanting to know where the other couples are from. One is from Peterborough, one is from Ottawa and one is from Dar. Good variey and mix,and Alhamd all are really nice. But besides the students, there are a whole bunch of new teachers for the 2nd year students, and being really honest, they are all fantastic. So far, we have a few that are our favorites already, our teacher for Fiqh (Islamic Jurispudence), our teacher for Mantiq and Aqaid (same teacher for these two classes) and our teacher for Tafseer. Amazing people!!
Besides that, we had half a day of class today, so we along with another couple went to Sayyida Ruqaya AS to pay our respects to her. The weather is still hot but its definitely better then when we first arrived last week. We have nearly unpacked all of our luggage, to be honest, Sabiha has done most of it, while Jaffer has been relaxing...lol... moreso because Jaffer knows Sabiha will do it better....:)
So besides that, the Holy Month of Ramadhan is already 1/3 over, amazing how fast this Great Month comes, and how fast it goes. We pray that all of us make the most out of this Month, and that you remember us in your prayers.
If you want us to write about something in particular, let us know by leaving a message.
Take care
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Back in school again
OK... so now we are back in Syria, and back "home" again, so IA we will begin blogging again. After a long break between blogs, we do hope that people are still actually reading, but IA you are. We felt that no one really wanted to read about our 2 month vacation, but people actually cared about what we were doing here in Damascus. So now that we are back, expect regular blogs from us, please tell your friends to start reading again :)
We got back here last wednesday, the 3rd of September after a LONG flight from LA. We had to fly from LA to NY, then to Abu Dhabi and then to Dam. After a few days of extreme tiredness, our classes finally started. We never really got this tired last year when we came, or again because it was so long ago we dont remember.
So this year there are 3 more couples who joined the class, which makes it really nice because there are more people at the school, shows that the school is growing as well, and there are people that we can bully now, since we are the big kids on the block.. LOL.. just kidding...
So our school is WAY WAY more intense this year.. LOL, we kept talking about how crazy it was last year, doesnt compare at all.. lOl... its nice though, we have different teachers for every class, they come, teach and leave... not like last year where all the teachers were full time and were there all day. We have 10 different subjects our first semester.... they are: Tafseer, Uloom Al-Qur'an, Nahjul Balagha, Qur'an (tajweed and tarteel), Aqaid, Fiqh, Khitaba, Nahu, History and Mantiq (logic)... and since all are different teachers, all assign homework...LOL, almost :)
Anyways, almost time to break our fast... by the way Ramadhan Mubarak to all. Pray for us, and expect more updates in our blog IA....
Take care
We got back here last wednesday, the 3rd of September after a LONG flight from LA. We had to fly from LA to NY, then to Abu Dhabi and then to Dam. After a few days of extreme tiredness, our classes finally started. We never really got this tired last year when we came, or again because it was so long ago we dont remember.
So this year there are 3 more couples who joined the class, which makes it really nice because there are more people at the school, shows that the school is growing as well, and there are people that we can bully now, since we are the big kids on the block.. LOL.. just kidding...
So our school is WAY WAY more intense this year.. LOL, we kept talking about how crazy it was last year, doesnt compare at all.. lOl... its nice though, we have different teachers for every class, they come, teach and leave... not like last year where all the teachers were full time and were there all day. We have 10 different subjects our first semester.... they are: Tafseer, Uloom Al-Qur'an, Nahjul Balagha, Qur'an (tajweed and tarteel), Aqaid, Fiqh, Khitaba, Nahu, History and Mantiq (logic)... and since all are different teachers, all assign homework...LOL, almost :)
Anyways, almost time to break our fast... by the way Ramadhan Mubarak to all. Pray for us, and expect more updates in our blog IA....
Take care
Monday, July 14, 2008
Still blogging, but does anyone care!!
Hello All, yes we are wondering the same things you are, why are we still blogging?? LOL, the first year of our studies ended, we are back home enjoying our summer vacation, so we were wondering if there is still a need for blogging...? But the fact that we are currently still blogging, must tell you of what our answer was to that question.... still with me...LOL.
So since we have been back, we have done quite a lot of nothing... we have hung out with family and friends, gone to eat at some nice restaurants that we were looking forward to (by the way, since we have been gone, there have been a few very nice restaurants that have opened up here in LA.. some fanstastic burger joints.. yummy...) we have also done a couple of presentations at different centers. A few weeks ago we did a presentation about our first year experience at our mosque, and then we were invited to an Iraqi mosque to do the same presentation. Alhamd, it was a big success, and one of the important things we learned is that the same issues which are effecting us Khojas are the same issues that are effecting others as well. Also, what we learned is that the Iraqi youth are just like our youth... they dont speak their mother tongue. So this is a problem that effects all of us, here in this land of the free and home of the brave :) actually dont this is a prob of just America, it is problem of the west, where people lose their identity and culture.
Oh well, besides that, we are soon going to Orlando for a wedding. Neither of us has been to Orlando, so this will definitely be fun. Really looking forward to it. Then we will come back to LA and then head out to TO.. we are planning a little get away just for ourselves in between those two trips, once confirmed we will let you know about it :)
Take care and remember us in your prayers...
So since we have been back, we have done quite a lot of nothing... we have hung out with family and friends, gone to eat at some nice restaurants that we were looking forward to (by the way, since we have been gone, there have been a few very nice restaurants that have opened up here in LA.. some fanstastic burger joints.. yummy...) we have also done a couple of presentations at different centers. A few weeks ago we did a presentation about our first year experience at our mosque, and then we were invited to an Iraqi mosque to do the same presentation. Alhamd, it was a big success, and one of the important things we learned is that the same issues which are effecting us Khojas are the same issues that are effecting others as well. Also, what we learned is that the Iraqi youth are just like our youth... they dont speak their mother tongue. So this is a problem that effects all of us, here in this land of the free and home of the brave :) actually dont this is a prob of just America, it is problem of the west, where people lose their identity and culture.
Oh well, besides that, we are soon going to Orlando for a wedding. Neither of us has been to Orlando, so this will definitely be fun. Really looking forward to it. Then we will come back to LA and then head out to TO.. we are planning a little get away just for ourselves in between those two trips, once confirmed we will let you know about it :)
Take care and remember us in your prayers...
Friday, July 4, 2008
Back in LA...
It's funny how we used to have to go to the internet cafe in Syria and we were able to update our blog...since we've been back in LA we've had access to internet 24/7 and are just getting around to updating now lol perhaps it's because we've been so busy relaxing hehe!
well its been quite an eventful almost two weeks...before we get into how our stay has been so far...it was quite the journey getting here...it took us around 35 hours to get here! yup and with the 10 hr time difference we were exhausted to say the least when we arrived. it took us a few days to get over the jetlag...but it was definitely great to be back and to see family and friends! everyone was just as excited to see us as we were to see them...we've already visited some of our fav places to eat as well as enjoyed meals with our friends and family.
so guess what? as soon as we arrived...the next day when we turned on our laptop, our hardrive crashed!! we were lucky enough to have someone take a look at it and retrieve all our data...we need to get our hardrive replaced...better here than in Syria because we still have our warrenty!
a few days our community organized an event where they wanted us to share our experiences over the last year and tell our community more about our course. we created a powerpoint presentation with pictures (good thing we were able to retrieve them) and everyone really enjoyed it... there were people there from different communities as well and want us to go and do the same presentation at their respective communties...we're definitely looking forward to that!
we didn't realize that being away for 10 months would make so much of a difference when it comes to our health ... we don't if its the food in Syria or here that is dirty because as soon as we got here and ate we both got sick lol the fruits and vegetables are organic in Syria and perhaps our bodies are so used to that, either way we are both better now and are enjoying our vacation at home! more updates to come...
well its been quite an eventful almost two weeks...before we get into how our stay has been so far...it was quite the journey getting here...it took us around 35 hours to get here! yup and with the 10 hr time difference we were exhausted to say the least when we arrived. it took us a few days to get over the jetlag...but it was definitely great to be back and to see family and friends! everyone was just as excited to see us as we were to see them...we've already visited some of our fav places to eat as well as enjoyed meals with our friends and family.
so guess what? as soon as we arrived...the next day when we turned on our laptop, our hardrive crashed!! we were lucky enough to have someone take a look at it and retrieve all our data...we need to get our hardrive replaced...better here than in Syria because we still have our warrenty!
a few days our community organized an event where they wanted us to share our experiences over the last year and tell our community more about our course. we created a powerpoint presentation with pictures (good thing we were able to retrieve them) and everyone really enjoyed it... there were people there from different communities as well and want us to go and do the same presentation at their respective communties...we're definitely looking forward to that!
we didn't realize that being away for 10 months would make so much of a difference when it comes to our health ... we don't if its the food in Syria or here that is dirty because as soon as we got here and ate we both got sick lol the fruits and vegetables are organic in Syria and perhaps our bodies are so used to that, either way we are both better now and are enjoying our vacation at home! more updates to come...
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Exactly One Week to go!!!!
Hello everyone, yup you read the title correctly, we do have exactly one week to go in Damascus, before we head back home for a well deserved break. We dont think anyone is still reading this, because of the long interval between blogs, but if you are, hopefully you will enjoy this one.
Lots has happened in the 3 weeks that we havent blogged, it will be difficult to try and remember all, but we will give it a shot....
A few weeks ago, people from the Winchester University (the Uni. which is accrediting our program) came down to look at the Institute.. They are of course British, so they did stand out quite a bit. It was 2 men and one lady. They were here for about 6 days where they sat in a few of our classes, but were mostly involved in meetings and some touristy things. Sabiha gave the lady guest a chador and a scarf and took her to the Haram where she was asked by some lady to convert some british currency..LOL. One of the nights, we went to the area where our new school will be in 2 years and we had a wonderful bbq. We enjoyed some mushkaki, camel kabobs, chicken, rice, tabbouleh, mutabbal and some other type of salad. Great food and good times.
A week after that, we, the teachers and students went out on a little field trip for swimming and relaxing. They have a wonderful system here where they have swimming pools for men and separate swimming pool for women, this is one of the coolest things we like about Syria. It gave a chance for Jaffer to bond with his male teachers and Sabiha a chance to do the same with her teacher and their families. Since then, Jaffer has gone a few times for swimming with a few of his friends from school, but for sure we will make the most of this swimming thing in the years to come.
Lets see, what else.... oh yeah, WE ARE NOT PAKISTANI!!!!! LOL... everywhere we go, every store that we enter, the first question they ask... Antum min Bakistan??? and right away in a snappy reaction we say... Nahnu Lasna Bakistani!!! LOL, just kidding about the snappy reaction, but we do say that all the time... This has happened from the first day, probably because there are a lot of Pakistani tourists that come here, even our Nephew from NY who is studying here faces the same questions on a daily basis...LOL.
As the title tells you, we have exactly one week to go... infact less, it is currently 540pm our time, and our flight leaves syria next saturday at 4pm... exciting.... for those of you who are following (this might be a repeat, but oh well :) ) we fly to bahrain first and have a layover there for 5 hours, during that time we have made arrangements for a taxi to take us around Bahrain so we can see the country, dont know when we will get a chance to see it again.. ofcourse we will make sure to visit some good american restaurants, here they have a great steakhouse that we want to try...LOL, then we fly from Bahrain at 1am into London and have another 6 hour layover... yup, i know, thats crazy, we will no doubt be dead tired by then... then at 1130 we fly back to LA... yaaaayyyyyyyyyyy
In all this excitement of packing and wrapping things up, dont forget, we have our final exams this week... we just had our first and hardest exam today, Arabic! boy, was it a killer...lol... but thank goodness that its over with, and iA it will be easier from here on out... Please pray that everything goes well for us.
K, we gave you lots to chew over... maybe the next time we blog will be from LA.
Lots has happened in the 3 weeks that we havent blogged, it will be difficult to try and remember all, but we will give it a shot....
A few weeks ago, people from the Winchester University (the Uni. which is accrediting our program) came down to look at the Institute.. They are of course British, so they did stand out quite a bit. It was 2 men and one lady. They were here for about 6 days where they sat in a few of our classes, but were mostly involved in meetings and some touristy things. Sabiha gave the lady guest a chador and a scarf and took her to the Haram where she was asked by some lady to convert some british currency..LOL. One of the nights, we went to the area where our new school will be in 2 years and we had a wonderful bbq. We enjoyed some mushkaki, camel kabobs, chicken, rice, tabbouleh, mutabbal and some other type of salad. Great food and good times.
A week after that, we, the teachers and students went out on a little field trip for swimming and relaxing. They have a wonderful system here where they have swimming pools for men and separate swimming pool for women, this is one of the coolest things we like about Syria. It gave a chance for Jaffer to bond with his male teachers and Sabiha a chance to do the same with her teacher and their families. Since then, Jaffer has gone a few times for swimming with a few of his friends from school, but for sure we will make the most of this swimming thing in the years to come.
Lets see, what else.... oh yeah, WE ARE NOT PAKISTANI!!!!! LOL... everywhere we go, every store that we enter, the first question they ask... Antum min Bakistan??? and right away in a snappy reaction we say... Nahnu Lasna Bakistani!!! LOL, just kidding about the snappy reaction, but we do say that all the time... This has happened from the first day, probably because there are a lot of Pakistani tourists that come here, even our Nephew from NY who is studying here faces the same questions on a daily basis...LOL.
As the title tells you, we have exactly one week to go... infact less, it is currently 540pm our time, and our flight leaves syria next saturday at 4pm... exciting.... for those of you who are following (this might be a repeat, but oh well :) ) we fly to bahrain first and have a layover there for 5 hours, during that time we have made arrangements for a taxi to take us around Bahrain so we can see the country, dont know when we will get a chance to see it again.. ofcourse we will make sure to visit some good american restaurants, here they have a great steakhouse that we want to try...LOL, then we fly from Bahrain at 1am into London and have another 6 hour layover... yup, i know, thats crazy, we will no doubt be dead tired by then... then at 1130 we fly back to LA... yaaaayyyyyyyyyyy
In all this excitement of packing and wrapping things up, dont forget, we have our final exams this week... we just had our first and hardest exam today, Arabic! boy, was it a killer...lol... but thank goodness that its over with, and iA it will be easier from here on out... Please pray that everything goes well for us.
K, we gave you lots to chew over... maybe the next time we blog will be from LA.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Exactly One Month Left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whats up everyone... We doing good, as you can tell by the title, the countdown is ticking away...lol... I wish it was that easy tho, just to sit back and then catch the plane home... We have exams coming up!!!!!! And we still have to study, though it is safe to say half of our minds are back home already, the other half wants to join but its not allowed :) Not yet anyways, besides that, we have begun to start packing, i know you may be thinking, but why start so early??? well, there are many clothes that we brought here that we havent worn all year long... For example, I dont wear short sleeve shirts here anymore, most of the time I am wearing the traditional Arab dress (dishdasha/khanzu) and sabiha is always wearing an abaya, so alot of clothes we will only wear back home, therefore those things have been packed :)
We havent seen too many pilgrims these last few weeks, in a way its been good cause we have been able to focus on our studies (just kidding...lol.) We finally got a book in arabic about rings and stones... There are lots of important stones (like diamonds or zarconians, ruby...etc) in Islam and lots of significances to wear them and the good it does to you.. so we are almost becoming experts.. lol, atleast we learning something right...haha..
On a final note, the LAKERS are in the Western Conference Finals...OH MY GOODNESS, we really missing it alot... Our brother in LA has recorded one of the games, but if anyone wants, you too can record the games for us and save it onto a DVD...lol...
K, pray for us!!!
We havent seen too many pilgrims these last few weeks, in a way its been good cause we have been able to focus on our studies (just kidding...lol.) We finally got a book in arabic about rings and stones... There are lots of important stones (like diamonds or zarconians, ruby...etc) in Islam and lots of significances to wear them and the good it does to you.. so we are almost becoming experts.. lol, atleast we learning something right...haha..
On a final note, the LAKERS are in the Western Conference Finals...OH MY GOODNESS, we really missing it alot... Our brother in LA has recorded one of the games, but if anyone wants, you too can record the games for us and save it onto a DVD...lol...
K, pray for us!!!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Khushali Mubarak to all of you!! 'kul 'aam wa atum bi khair iA"
Salaams to all of our readers, if anyone is still reading :) Today we are celebrating the birth anniversary of Sayyida Zainab AS and it is an honor to be here in Syria, in the close proximity to her tomb. kul 'aam wa antum bi khair iA! We had a day off today, ALhamd, lol, long time over due and really needed by us :) so we did the only thing students know how to do on a day off, we slept :) LOL, then we actually studied... haha.. we went to the Haram last night and it was amazing packed with people, it hasnt been this packed since the 40th of Imam Husein AS. It was nuts, but Alhamd. Today we had a bbq at our campus and all the teachers and their families came, we had some mushkaki, kabobs and chicken tika..lol. It was a good change to the everyday routine of school.
So for those keeping the countdown like we are, we only have 41 days left before we come back home.... will be definitely nice to come home, we were thinking the first thing we would like to do is go to the cemetery and pay respect to our father, and then relax and not have to worry about studying for a while..lol. Our arabic teacher said he will give us assignments over the summer so we dont forget our arabic, which was appreciated by all the students, cause he doesnt really have to do that. But then he said he would email us assignments every day.. and the entire class said no!!! LOL, we agreed to once a week which is much more doable.
One of the things we are looking forward to is food when we come back, ... some of the things we are looking to is: IHOP - International House of Pancakes...lol.. i know, we get pancakes here, but its not the same... There you get Pancakes, eggs, hasbrowns all for $5.99... WHAT!!! LOL, unless the price has gone up... we are also looking forward to Chinese Food, Red Lobster and ummm... cant think of anything else...LOL...
Anyways, time to get going, remember us in your prayers.. talk to you soon!!
So for those keeping the countdown like we are, we only have 41 days left before we come back home.... will be definitely nice to come home, we were thinking the first thing we would like to do is go to the cemetery and pay respect to our father, and then relax and not have to worry about studying for a while..lol. Our arabic teacher said he will give us assignments over the summer so we dont forget our arabic, which was appreciated by all the students, cause he doesnt really have to do that. But then he said he would email us assignments every day.. and the entire class said no!!! LOL, we agreed to once a week which is much more doable.
One of the things we are looking forward to is food when we come back, ... some of the things we are looking to is: IHOP - International House of Pancakes...lol.. i know, we get pancakes here, but its not the same... There you get Pancakes, eggs, hasbrowns all for $5.99... WHAT!!! LOL, unless the price has gone up... we are also looking forward to Chinese Food, Red Lobster and ummm... cant think of anything else...LOL...
Anyways, time to get going, remember us in your prayers.. talk to you soon!!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
48 Days and counting...
Haha... i know we have been counting down for a long time, but dont worry, we still love it here and love being in school. The environment, people, and city is excellent, and definitely cherish every moment here. Not to mention that we meet someone we know or someone who knows us every week or so... lol. We just got a call from someone who knows our cousin in London and they heard that we know some good ring places or tasbih places... so we are taking him shopping today... LOL... .we just asked our teacher that the prices here compared to the prices back home are much different, so are we allowed to charge people more who order stuff, and we got the approval...LOL... just kidding.... about what, i will never tell!!
So, major developments here over the last few days, prices of nearly everything has gone up in Syria, and all to do with Gasoline and Diesel prices... Diesel used to be 7.5 cents per liter, and it just went up to 36cents... thats nearly a 360% increase, so everything also went up.. All the taxi people were on strike yesterday cause they wanted permission from the government to change their rates, and they were given the permission today, so we the students who are receiving a monthly stipend based on old figures, are now also going on strike until they increase our stipend...lol, just kidding... But really they should increase it :)
We went out walking through Damascus a few days ago, from Sayyida Ruqaya AS to Abu Rumana where KFC is, and it took us nearly 3 hours because we stopped at a lot of stores on the way, but we did end up buying lots of DVD's, of new movies that are in theaters back home... each movie costs $1... lol.. now we just need to find time to watch them... haha... all good tho.
Anyways, thanks for reading... we hear we were in the new INFOCUS magazine that the WF came out with, though we ourselves havent read it... So if anyone is coming this way, bring a copy with you please :)
Take care!!
So, major developments here over the last few days, prices of nearly everything has gone up in Syria, and all to do with Gasoline and Diesel prices... Diesel used to be 7.5 cents per liter, and it just went up to 36cents... thats nearly a 360% increase, so everything also went up.. All the taxi people were on strike yesterday cause they wanted permission from the government to change their rates, and they were given the permission today, so we the students who are receiving a monthly stipend based on old figures, are now also going on strike until they increase our stipend...lol, just kidding... But really they should increase it :)
We went out walking through Damascus a few days ago, from Sayyida Ruqaya AS to Abu Rumana where KFC is, and it took us nearly 3 hours because we stopped at a lot of stores on the way, but we did end up buying lots of DVD's, of new movies that are in theaters back home... each movie costs $1... lol.. now we just need to find time to watch them... haha... all good tho.
Anyways, thanks for reading... we hear we were in the new INFOCUS magazine that the WF came out with, though we ourselves havent read it... So if anyone is coming this way, bring a copy with you please :)
Take care!!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Its Playoff Time!!!
Hello everyone, hows everything going. Alhamd, we are doing good, busy with school and studying...lol.. Alhamd, we have found a good niche and have learned how to manage our school time and at the same time find time to relax. But now we are looking forward to coming home, i know we have said this many times over the past few blogs, but just to get a break from classes and studying, and to be back home with family, really looking forward to that. We dont really miss any amenities, maybe ofcourse for some different types of food that arent available here, but Alhamd as we have mentioned before, pretty much everything is available here. By the way, if anyone is keeping tabs, tomorrow will be exactly 2 months before we come HOME!!!
This last week of school we have been getting lectures from our next year teachers to see if we are ready to take Hawza lectures in Arabic, and Alhamd they have been very happy with us and feel confident that we will be able to take classes next year. Sabiha and I just hope that we dont forget the arabic we have learnt when we come home. We have made a pact to speak to each other in arabic for at least an hour a day, though Sabiha just mentioned to me that we had decided to only speak to each other in arabic, and our teachers have said they will give us tools so we can prepare and practice when we are back home. We have started to take Aqaid - our core beliefs - classes this semester, just to get us ready and prepared for when we take classes next year. They have been great classes, cause a lot of philosophy and questions when it comes to this subject... really nice.
Lastly, the NBA playoffs are starting :( I cant believe the Lakers are number 1 and I wont be able to watch any of the games. This is heart breaking...lol, not really a laughing matter to tell you the truth. But we hope for the best and will be checking the internet constantly to see what the outcomes are....either way, GO LAKERS!!!
This last week of school we have been getting lectures from our next year teachers to see if we are ready to take Hawza lectures in Arabic, and Alhamd they have been very happy with us and feel confident that we will be able to take classes next year. Sabiha and I just hope that we dont forget the arabic we have learnt when we come home. We have made a pact to speak to each other in arabic for at least an hour a day, though Sabiha just mentioned to me that we had decided to only speak to each other in arabic, and our teachers have said they will give us tools so we can prepare and practice when we are back home. We have started to take Aqaid - our core beliefs - classes this semester, just to get us ready and prepared for when we take classes next year. They have been great classes, cause a lot of philosophy and questions when it comes to this subject... really nice.
Lastly, the NBA playoffs are starting :( I cant believe the Lakers are number 1 and I wont be able to watch any of the games. This is heart breaking...lol, not really a laughing matter to tell you the truth. But we hope for the best and will be checking the internet constantly to see what the outcomes are....either way, GO LAKERS!!!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
What to write about????
Hello everyone, hope you days are going as well as ours are over here. We finally are at our weekend, one whole day off!! miss our 7-3 schedule back home and two whole days off... JUST KIDDING!! dont miss anything about our old work schedule..we love it here and the schedule we have. no kidding about that..
the last couple of days was a blast, a lot of our family were here visiting... nearly 20 Jaffer's all together.. it was fantastic. We would finish with our school and right away go and hang out with them. Being here in Sayyida Zainab AS we see so many of our family members, more then we ever did back home. They have all left now, but most will be back in a weeks time for one more day before they all go back home. So we are looking forward to that one day again.
As I am sure you are aware, there is a countdown taking place, after today, we have officially 71 days left before we come back home..lol.. dont worry, we will regularly countdown, cause i know you are counting down as well.. LOL...
Also, we have mentioned, that we have become expert ring buyers and tasbih (rosery beads) buyers... lol... in this month alone, we have taken people to go buy stuff, and all together, we have given this one store 36,000 syrian pounds worth of business. Now, thats alot of money, nearly $700.00. Now if we receive orders from abroad, there is a service fee that we charge, so the price will be higher... lol, im just joking, not about the service fee, about taking orders from abroad :)
Oh yes, forgot to mention, last week we here at the internet cafe and some guy sitting next to me struck up a conversation with me and asked the usual questions that all do when they talk to us.. "Anta min Bakistan?" LOL, so i replied Im not from Pakistan (the B was not a mistake, no P in the arabic language..), but I am from Canada... lol, thats right, havent dont tell many people im from USA, just to avoid any uncomfortable talks... anyways, to get to the point, he showed me this computer program available here that lets us call people in the states or in Canada for FREE... you read it right, FREE... so we have been making lots of calls to family members, excellent way to keep in touch.
Anways, all for now, will talk to you later!!
the last couple of days was a blast, a lot of our family were here visiting... nearly 20 Jaffer's all together.. it was fantastic. We would finish with our school and right away go and hang out with them. Being here in Sayyida Zainab AS we see so many of our family members, more then we ever did back home. They have all left now, but most will be back in a weeks time for one more day before they all go back home. So we are looking forward to that one day again.
As I am sure you are aware, there is a countdown taking place, after today, we have officially 71 days left before we come back home..lol.. dont worry, we will regularly countdown, cause i know you are counting down as well.. LOL...
Also, we have mentioned, that we have become expert ring buyers and tasbih (rosery beads) buyers... lol... in this month alone, we have taken people to go buy stuff, and all together, we have given this one store 36,000 syrian pounds worth of business. Now, thats alot of money, nearly $700.00. Now if we receive orders from abroad, there is a service fee that we charge, so the price will be higher... lol, im just joking, not about the service fee, about taking orders from abroad :)
Oh yes, forgot to mention, last week we here at the internet cafe and some guy sitting next to me struck up a conversation with me and asked the usual questions that all do when they talk to us.. "Anta min Bakistan?" LOL, so i replied Im not from Pakistan (the B was not a mistake, no P in the arabic language..), but I am from Canada... lol, thats right, havent dont tell many people im from USA, just to avoid any uncomfortable talks... anyways, to get to the point, he showed me this computer program available here that lets us call people in the states or in Canada for FREE... you read it right, FREE... so we have been making lots of calls to family members, excellent way to keep in touch.
Anways, all for now, will talk to you later!!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
New information received !!!
OK... its like a 2 for 1, two posts published on the same day... haha... i think it may be a first...
Last weekend our school had a meeting here in Damascus and a lot of people came down. For starters the Coordinator of the course, ex pres of WF, VP of Nasimco and Coej, our uncle from Mombasa and cousin from Switzerland and a few other very nice people from England... We were fortunate enough to sit in on the meetings and it was nice to see that people are putting a lot of effort to make this course successful. So all the future candidates for this course, have no fears, things are looking good... though there has been some changes that you should know about when you go back to your hometown for 2 months, this piece of info caught all the students off guard.
Before we came to Damascus, we had lots and lots and lots of questions, and some of those questions pertained to when we go back home for 2 months. We were told repeatedly that dont worry about a thing, everything will be taken care for you, and that we wouldnt want to make life hard for you. So what did we do? we sold everything...lol, both cars, all furniture, basically emptied everything we had... We asked our jamaat (mosque) if they would be able to pay for anything when we come back home and they said they couldnt because it would be too expensive for them, and we totally understood that... The jamaat themselves calculated and it would cost anywhere from 4000-4500 a month to live in LA, and for those that live in LA, they know that it sounds about right... but we repeatedly told not to worry about a thing, so we didnt....
Now, we just found out a day or two ago, that the only thing they are going to pay for is our Housing when we get back. So we asked the basic questions that anyone would ask.... why? have you ever been to LA, if so you know that you need a car, who is going to pay for the car? what about cost of living? what about food? why were we not told about this from before so we would have kept one of our cars? many questions were asked and no answers were given. Only thing we were told is that they are over budget and they cant afford to pay for anything else but housing!!!! Great!!!! Alhamd tho, we have no doubt that Allah SWT will take care of us, He always does, this post is just for future students to plan well for when you go back home. Dont let this worry you, at least you know about it so you can plan better.
Besides this bomb shell of information, everything else is good. Sabiha has lots to write but she said she will do it next time, dont think our readers can handle 3 blogs on one day!!!
Take care and pray for us :) we only have 80 DAYS left before we come back home!!! WOOOHOOO
Last weekend our school had a meeting here in Damascus and a lot of people came down. For starters the Coordinator of the course, ex pres of WF, VP of Nasimco and Coej, our uncle from Mombasa and cousin from Switzerland and a few other very nice people from England... We were fortunate enough to sit in on the meetings and it was nice to see that people are putting a lot of effort to make this course successful. So all the future candidates for this course, have no fears, things are looking good... though there has been some changes that you should know about when you go back to your hometown for 2 months, this piece of info caught all the students off guard.
Before we came to Damascus, we had lots and lots and lots of questions, and some of those questions pertained to when we go back home for 2 months. We were told repeatedly that dont worry about a thing, everything will be taken care for you, and that we wouldnt want to make life hard for you. So what did we do? we sold everything...lol, both cars, all furniture, basically emptied everything we had... We asked our jamaat (mosque) if they would be able to pay for anything when we come back home and they said they couldnt because it would be too expensive for them, and we totally understood that... The jamaat themselves calculated and it would cost anywhere from 4000-4500 a month to live in LA, and for those that live in LA, they know that it sounds about right... but we repeatedly told not to worry about a thing, so we didnt....
Now, we just found out a day or two ago, that the only thing they are going to pay for is our Housing when we get back. So we asked the basic questions that anyone would ask.... why? have you ever been to LA, if so you know that you need a car, who is going to pay for the car? what about cost of living? what about food? why were we not told about this from before so we would have kept one of our cars? many questions were asked and no answers were given. Only thing we were told is that they are over budget and they cant afford to pay for anything else but housing!!!! Great!!!! Alhamd tho, we have no doubt that Allah SWT will take care of us, He always does, this post is just for future students to plan well for when you go back home. Dont let this worry you, at least you know about it so you can plan better.
Besides this bomb shell of information, everything else is good. Sabiha has lots to write but she said she will do it next time, dont think our readers can handle 3 blogs on one day!!!
Take care and pray for us :) we only have 80 DAYS left before we come back home!!! WOOOHOOO
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Back from mini-vacation... school starting soon - AAAAHHHHH!!!!
Yes, we are back from our mini vacation, a tour around Syria, thus the long delay between blog updates... and school is starting in a day!!! AAAAHHHH!!! lol, just kidding, all good, let it start, we are ready, so we can begin the major countdown - when we come home!!!!!!!!
Out trip was a lot of fun, really needed break to get away from our studies, and just go out and relax. It was us, the other couple and their family, a total of 9 of us. We left on saturday morning at 7 and made our way to Aleppo... on the way we stopped at a city called Hama when they have a water wheel (lol, sounds funny when we write about it, but its supposed to be a big touristy thing, so we did it :) for the 2nd time..lol, remember 3 months ago we went on a mini vacation?? we stopped at this city) after the water wheel we drove to Aleppo (another city we had been too, but worth it to go again simply for the religious sites at that city). After Aleppo we drove to Idlib where we spent the night at a 4 star hotel, the name of the Hotel was Carlton - no no, not Ritz Carlton, it was nice, not bad... or as they say in arabic 'la bas'.
The next morning we drove to Latakia, its a coastal town and we stayed there one night, then drove to Tatrous which is also on the coast... The Mediterraneans ocean is nice but it does not compare to the beaches back home in Mombasa or back in LA... the next morning we drove to Palmyra.. its supposed to be the most visited city in Syria, and there we saw only western people...:) Everything there is old and archaic, but real nice.. old buildings around 4000 years old.. really beautiful.. you know the best part of our trip tho... the hotel in Palmyra... lol.. it was great, the best hotel we stayed in without a doubt. It looked like cottages and felt like we were staying by the ocean, though we were in the middle of a desert!! haha..
OK, so by the time we publish this post, some things have changed.. for starters our school has already started, in fact the first week is almost over..lol, and we have some big news... so hope you read the next blog.. or you might have already read it if this is posted after it..dont know how that works...
Take care!!
Out trip was a lot of fun, really needed break to get away from our studies, and just go out and relax. It was us, the other couple and their family, a total of 9 of us. We left on saturday morning at 7 and made our way to Aleppo... on the way we stopped at a city called Hama when they have a water wheel (lol, sounds funny when we write about it, but its supposed to be a big touristy thing, so we did it :) for the 2nd time..lol, remember 3 months ago we went on a mini vacation?? we stopped at this city) after the water wheel we drove to Aleppo (another city we had been too, but worth it to go again simply for the religious sites at that city). After Aleppo we drove to Idlib where we spent the night at a 4 star hotel, the name of the Hotel was Carlton - no no, not Ritz Carlton, it was nice, not bad... or as they say in arabic 'la bas'.
The next morning we drove to Latakia, its a coastal town and we stayed there one night, then drove to Tatrous which is also on the coast... The Mediterraneans ocean is nice but it does not compare to the beaches back home in Mombasa or back in LA... the next morning we drove to Palmyra.. its supposed to be the most visited city in Syria, and there we saw only western people...:) Everything there is old and archaic, but real nice.. old buildings around 4000 years old.. really beautiful.. you know the best part of our trip tho... the hotel in Palmyra... lol.. it was great, the best hotel we stayed in without a doubt. It looked like cottages and felt like we were staying by the ocean, though we were in the middle of a desert!! haha..
OK, so by the time we publish this post, some things have changed.. for starters our school has already started, in fact the first week is almost over..lol, and we have some big news... so hope you read the next blog.. or you might have already read it if this is posted after it..dont know how that works...
Take care!!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
EXAMS ARE OVER!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, thank goodness the exams are now over and we can relax!! We had our last exam today and we are sooo glad its over..lol. 6 exams in 6 days!! Alhamd, finished. We did well in them too, Alhamd, Sabiha ofcourse better then me, but that was expected :) We dont know how the other students did, but the teachers said everyone did well. So thats great!!
We just found out today as well where they are sending us for our 1 week break. So there is actually a story that goes with this, so be patient!! :) About a month and a half ago, we were told that they would send us to Umra - Mecca and Medina, because we are the first students and also we came into the course blind so they wanted to reward us for that. However, after trying and trying, the school was not able to obtain a visa, mainly because our residency in Syria has not yet been given to us. So that plan was put on hold.
Then about 2 weeks ago from today, they said Plan B would be to send us to Iraq - to go for pilgrimage to Najaf, Kerbala, Kadhmain and if possible Samarra... so we were excited, i mean who wouldnt be. However, they put together a Plan C as well, it was called "Syria - the cradle of civilazation" just in case the 'head people' of this course wouldnt accept plan b. so we waited and waited and waited, and they didnt tell us. We asked and asked and asked, and they wouldnt tell us. Finally yesterday they let us know that it is................. you ready?????
PLAN C!! lol, we are not surprised, but definitely excited. It will be a good chance to get away from here for a few days, and just relax. So Plan C we were originally told would be for 5 nights to different cities in Syria, 5 star hotels and 3 meals a day provided. That was yesterday... yup you guessed it, it has changed. Now its 4 nights (Palmyra, Aleppo, Latakia and Tortous - one night in each city) from 5 star hotels we are down to 3 stars, LOL, and from 3 meals a day we are down to only breakfast LOL LOL. Not the organizers fault at all, but the agency was giving him different answers, but thats Syria for you. We still excited, dont worry. We were planning on going to Latakia sometime in the future anyways, this way we dont have to go.
So we will be leaving early Saturday morning, that is what is confirmed right now, lets see what changes :) Its us, the other couple, and the other couples family, 5 of them, so all together 9 people. We pray that transportation is comfortable and we are not all cramped, especially cause we will have luggage as well. Tomorrow we plan on going to KFC..lol, its finger lickin good!!
LOL, ok, take care for now, wont get a chance to blog till we get back in 5 nights, i mean 4 nights... :)
Take care!!
We just found out today as well where they are sending us for our 1 week break. So there is actually a story that goes with this, so be patient!! :) About a month and a half ago, we were told that they would send us to Umra - Mecca and Medina, because we are the first students and also we came into the course blind so they wanted to reward us for that. However, after trying and trying, the school was not able to obtain a visa, mainly because our residency in Syria has not yet been given to us. So that plan was put on hold.
Then about 2 weeks ago from today, they said Plan B would be to send us to Iraq - to go for pilgrimage to Najaf, Kerbala, Kadhmain and if possible Samarra... so we were excited, i mean who wouldnt be. However, they put together a Plan C as well, it was called "Syria - the cradle of civilazation" just in case the 'head people' of this course wouldnt accept plan b. so we waited and waited and waited, and they didnt tell us. We asked and asked and asked, and they wouldnt tell us. Finally yesterday they let us know that it is................. you ready?????
PLAN C!! lol, we are not surprised, but definitely excited. It will be a good chance to get away from here for a few days, and just relax. So Plan C we were originally told would be for 5 nights to different cities in Syria, 5 star hotels and 3 meals a day provided. That was yesterday... yup you guessed it, it has changed. Now its 4 nights (Palmyra, Aleppo, Latakia and Tortous - one night in each city) from 5 star hotels we are down to 3 stars, LOL, and from 3 meals a day we are down to only breakfast LOL LOL. Not the organizers fault at all, but the agency was giving him different answers, but thats Syria for you. We still excited, dont worry. We were planning on going to Latakia sometime in the future anyways, this way we dont have to go.
So we will be leaving early Saturday morning, that is what is confirmed right now, lets see what changes :) Its us, the other couple, and the other couples family, 5 of them, so all together 9 people. We pray that transportation is comfortable and we are not all cramped, especially cause we will have luggage as well. Tomorrow we plan on going to KFC..lol, its finger lickin good!!
LOL, ok, take care for now, wont get a chance to blog till we get back in 5 nights, i mean 4 nights... :)
Take care!!
Monday, March 17, 2008
3 down 3 to go!
whew! we just finished our 3rd exam and boy was it an exam! since we have exams every 3 months now instead of every month...the exams are quite comprehensive...we've all been doing well on them alhamd...so we think lol - we'll know for sure once we see our results! the exams are definitely a good way for us to know though how well we are grasping the material...they are not difficult as such if we keep up with the material, there is just a lot of material to cover as they are finals; some tricky questions as usual...but hey, can't just earn a masters without hard work/exams/effort eh? lol
we just finished one - probably the most comprehensive and involved one of them all and decided to come to the int cafe for a break before we head back to study for the next few exams that we have left.
we have our last exam on thursday and then have a 10 day break...we're definitely looking forward to the break lol our school is planning a trip for us...we're not sure where just yet but hopefully we'll find out soon as there are few days left before our break begins...regardless of where we end up going, it will be a nice well deserved break for us all i'm sure!
keeping this one short as we have to get back studying...thinking of grabbing some ice cream on our way home as its a nice sunny day...till next time...
~peace
we just finished one - probably the most comprehensive and involved one of them all and decided to come to the int cafe for a break before we head back to study for the next few exams that we have left.
we have our last exam on thursday and then have a 10 day break...we're definitely looking forward to the break lol our school is planning a trip for us...we're not sure where just yet but hopefully we'll find out soon as there are few days left before our break begins...regardless of where we end up going, it will be a nice well deserved break for us all i'm sure!
keeping this one short as we have to get back studying...thinking of grabbing some ice cream on our way home as its a nice sunny day...till next time...
~peace
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Its time for Finals!!!
Yes, the title is correct, we have exams starting in two days...(can you hear the drum roles..lol) but its all good, we are pretty excited, to get them done... haha.. no no, just kidding, to actually see what we know and if we have truly understood the material. Our Arabic final is going to be crazy... Our teacher has told us he is going to challenge us, and knowing him as well as we do, we have no doubt it will be difficult. So here is the schedule:
Sat 3/15 - Fiqh (Religious Laws? dont quite know the best translation for it)
Sun 3/16 - Hadith (Sayings and Traditions from the Holy Prophet PBUH and his family PBOT)
Mon 3/17 - Arabic (Can you hear the drum roles again?!?!?!?)
Tue 3/18 - Imla (Our writing class, the teacher talks and we write, not too difficult, but would not say by any means easy, lots of rules in writing Arabic)
Wed 3/19 - Qur'an (Last time I thought this was going to be the easiest but ended up being my worst mark, mostly because our teacher expects perfection, soon IA :) )
Thur 3/20 - Comprehension (Dont quite know how to study for this class, so just pray for us :) )
Then we are done!!! Yes, and we have a 9 day break, really deserved 9 day break... Dont quite know what we are going to do, our school is planning a trip for us, but they havent decided yet, due to some issues regarding our residency here in Syria... we will let the experts handle that, but as soon as we find out we will definitely let you know.
We are still continuing to meet lots and lots of people here, really enjoyable, and we are told that more are coming, so we will wait and see :)
Thats all we have for now, sorry that this entry was kinda boring :) Will talk to you soon... please pray for our success in our examinations.
Peace!
Sat 3/15 - Fiqh (Religious Laws? dont quite know the best translation for it)
Sun 3/16 - Hadith (Sayings and Traditions from the Holy Prophet PBUH and his family PBOT)
Mon 3/17 - Arabic (Can you hear the drum roles again?!?!?!?)
Tue 3/18 - Imla (Our writing class, the teacher talks and we write, not too difficult, but would not say by any means easy, lots of rules in writing Arabic)
Wed 3/19 - Qur'an (Last time I thought this was going to be the easiest but ended up being my worst mark, mostly because our teacher expects perfection, soon IA :) )
Thur 3/20 - Comprehension (Dont quite know how to study for this class, so just pray for us :) )
Then we are done!!! Yes, and we have a 9 day break, really deserved 9 day break... Dont quite know what we are going to do, our school is planning a trip for us, but they havent decided yet, due to some issues regarding our residency here in Syria... we will let the experts handle that, but as soon as we find out we will definitely let you know.
We are still continuing to meet lots and lots of people here, really enjoyable, and we are told that more are coming, so we will wait and see :)
Thats all we have for now, sorry that this entry was kinda boring :) Will talk to you soon... please pray for our success in our examinations.
Peace!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Things we love about Syria!!
Hello all, know we write this heading a lot, but is anybody still reading???? if so, thank you!!! Everything is going well for us, we have exams coming up in 2 weeks,not looking forward to that, but i guess we are in school, so its ok :) We just came back from KFC, Sabiha had a spicy Zinger sandwich and I had a 3 piece spicy dinner combo..lol, it was real good :) not as good as popeyes in TO but still pretty darn good.
I dont think we have written about things we love about Syria. I know we have written many times things we miss about home :),lol can you blame us, by the way we have 108 days before we return home, YAY!!! Anyways, here goes a list from the top of our heads, i know there will be many things that we miss.
1) Being in the close proximity of Sayyida Zainab AS - truly a dream come true, words cant express how blessed we feel, and how we truly feel that life has been really good to us over here, all because of her. No Doubt about it!!!
2) The Language - truly Arabic is an amazing language, beautiful and gentle, though when the locals speak it, it doesnt sound that gentle, lol. One of our teachers told us that once we start learning Arabic, we will crave more and more, and he couldnt have been more correct :)
3) The people - no were serious, lol. They are really genuinely nice people, most go out of their way to make sure we are comfortable.
4) Saying Salaamun Alaykum to strangers - We still cant get over this, just walking down the streets or to our neighbors, instead of Hello, we say Salaamun Alaykum, absolutely fantastic!!
5) Hearing the call for prayers (Adhaan) from everywhere - So Cool!! We have never had the opportunity to be in a place where we can hear the call for prayers, for every prayer. Really fortunate!!
6) Hearing "Ash-hadu anna Aliyyan Waliyullah" (I bear witness that Ali is the Wali of Allah (so many meanings of Wali, best english word for it is Loyal, but doesnt do it justice) - After being here for 6 months, we still cant get over the fact that this line is proclaimed loud and proud from the minarets of Sayyida Zainab AS, and it still gives us goose-bumps when we hear it, LOVE IT!!!
7) Everything is Halal to eat - Really enjoy not having to worry about whether the food is halal or not. Life is easier this way ")
8) The fruits - Seriously, you havent had fruit in the west unless you have had it from a third world country :) They taste real out here!!!
9) i know i know, we love the school too :) - if we start writing about our school and how much we love it, it will be too long, rest assured, we do love it! A lot!!
10) Our teachers - They are the best group of people we could have ever asked for. All of them are great and we Thank God all the time for them.
K - thats quite enough for now... hope all of you are well, pray for us!!
I dont think we have written about things we love about Syria. I know we have written many times things we miss about home :),lol can you blame us, by the way we have 108 days before we return home, YAY!!! Anyways, here goes a list from the top of our heads, i know there will be many things that we miss.
1) Being in the close proximity of Sayyida Zainab AS - truly a dream come true, words cant express how blessed we feel, and how we truly feel that life has been really good to us over here, all because of her. No Doubt about it!!!
2) The Language - truly Arabic is an amazing language, beautiful and gentle, though when the locals speak it, it doesnt sound that gentle, lol. One of our teachers told us that once we start learning Arabic, we will crave more and more, and he couldnt have been more correct :)
3) The people - no were serious, lol. They are really genuinely nice people, most go out of their way to make sure we are comfortable.
4) Saying Salaamun Alaykum to strangers - We still cant get over this, just walking down the streets or to our neighbors, instead of Hello, we say Salaamun Alaykum, absolutely fantastic!!
5) Hearing the call for prayers (Adhaan) from everywhere - So Cool!! We have never had the opportunity to be in a place where we can hear the call for prayers, for every prayer. Really fortunate!!
6) Hearing "Ash-hadu anna Aliyyan Waliyullah" (I bear witness that Ali is the Wali of Allah (so many meanings of Wali, best english word for it is Loyal, but doesnt do it justice) - After being here for 6 months, we still cant get over the fact that this line is proclaimed loud and proud from the minarets of Sayyida Zainab AS, and it still gives us goose-bumps when we hear it, LOVE IT!!!
7) Everything is Halal to eat - Really enjoy not having to worry about whether the food is halal or not. Life is easier this way ")
8) The fruits - Seriously, you havent had fruit in the west unless you have had it from a third world country :) They taste real out here!!!
9) i know i know, we love the school too :) - if we start writing about our school and how much we love it, it will be too long, rest assured, we do love it! A lot!!
10) Our teachers - They are the best group of people we could have ever asked for. All of them are great and we Thank God all the time for them.
K - thats quite enough for now... hope all of you are well, pray for us!!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Arbaeen in Damascus
Salaams all, hope you are in good spirits, we are doing great by the Grace of Allah SWT. We have just finished Arbaeen now, and the experiences were magnificent. For those who dont know what Arbaeen is, remember how we wrote about the Grandson of the Holy Prophet was murdered in the desert of Kerbala, we actually commemorate that for 40 days, and we just finished that period of mourning. It was packed packed packed here, but amazing amazing amazing!!!!
For the last 5 days, the streets have been packed with people, for the first time we saw more Pakistani's then we did Iranians. All the stores that usually played Arabic poetry (Mataams) were now playing Urdu poems, lol, guess they know how to cater for their audience :) Also, everything is slightly more expensive. Bread that we used to buy for 35 syrian pounds, is now up to 50. Someone told me they used to buy a sandwich for 85, it is now up to 150. Crazy, IA the prices will come back down after Arbaeen. Lots of our people (khojas) here too... really cool, we have met Loads and loads of them, lol. We actually met an uncle of ours that we havent seen in over 20 years, from East Africa, last week here. There is no doubt it is due the great presence of Sayyida Zainab AS that has made all this possible for us.
We have been fortunate enough to listen to many arabic lectures here, a few at the Haram and then on Arbaeen night and the next night, our school organized lectures for us, so it was nice to listen to as much arabic as we could. We also went to an english lecture by Sayyid Ammar N. at that Safir hotel, it was aiight, we prefer the arabic lectures, lol, just cause we are thirsty for it. But the coolest part of this whole week was that on Arbaeen night, around 4 in the morning, there are buses that take people from Sayyida Zainab AS to Sayyida Ruqayya (Sakina) AS, and then the people walk from there back, in a procession to Sayyida Zainab, nearly 15 KM. (On a side note, in our community we call that a Juloos, but a Juloos in Arabic means to sit, lol!!!!!!!!!) Anyways, we actually did that walk, took about 2.5 hours, it was amazing, thousands and thousands of people did this walk, we started around 6 and got back here at 830, it was really a great experience. Tiring, but we kept thinking that the family of the Prophet walked from Kerbala to Damascus in chains and shackles, we had no excuses :)
Besides that, things are ok here, a funny thing happened a few weeks ago. Our close friends from Los Angeles called us and it was really nice talking to them. The funny part was that I was talking to my friends Grandfather, and I normally speak to him in Swahili, but as i was trying to talk to him in Swahili, only arabic words were coming out...LOL, Sabiha couldnt stop laughing at me, luckily he spoke English so i was able to resort back to it. They say that when you are learning a new language, it replaces other languages that you are not too strong in, So Alhamd its good i guess...LOL.
Anyways, written a lot, please pray for us, and we will IA do the same :)
Take care!!
For the last 5 days, the streets have been packed with people, for the first time we saw more Pakistani's then we did Iranians. All the stores that usually played Arabic poetry (Mataams) were now playing Urdu poems, lol, guess they know how to cater for their audience :) Also, everything is slightly more expensive. Bread that we used to buy for 35 syrian pounds, is now up to 50. Someone told me they used to buy a sandwich for 85, it is now up to 150. Crazy, IA the prices will come back down after Arbaeen. Lots of our people (khojas) here too... really cool, we have met Loads and loads of them, lol. We actually met an uncle of ours that we havent seen in over 20 years, from East Africa, last week here. There is no doubt it is due the great presence of Sayyida Zainab AS that has made all this possible for us.
We have been fortunate enough to listen to many arabic lectures here, a few at the Haram and then on Arbaeen night and the next night, our school organized lectures for us, so it was nice to listen to as much arabic as we could. We also went to an english lecture by Sayyid Ammar N. at that Safir hotel, it was aiight, we prefer the arabic lectures, lol, just cause we are thirsty for it. But the coolest part of this whole week was that on Arbaeen night, around 4 in the morning, there are buses that take people from Sayyida Zainab AS to Sayyida Ruqayya (Sakina) AS, and then the people walk from there back, in a procession to Sayyida Zainab, nearly 15 KM. (On a side note, in our community we call that a Juloos, but a Juloos in Arabic means to sit, lol!!!!!!!!!) Anyways, we actually did that walk, took about 2.5 hours, it was amazing, thousands and thousands of people did this walk, we started around 6 and got back here at 830, it was really a great experience. Tiring, but we kept thinking that the family of the Prophet walked from Kerbala to Damascus in chains and shackles, we had no excuses :)
Besides that, things are ok here, a funny thing happened a few weeks ago. Our close friends from Los Angeles called us and it was really nice talking to them. The funny part was that I was talking to my friends Grandfather, and I normally speak to him in Swahili, but as i was trying to talk to him in Swahili, only arabic words were coming out...LOL, Sabiha couldnt stop laughing at me, luckily he spoke English so i was able to resort back to it. They say that when you are learning a new language, it replaces other languages that you are not too strong in, So Alhamd its good i guess...LOL.
Anyways, written a lot, please pray for us, and we will IA do the same :)
Take care!!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
WOW, 2 blogs in 2 days
So whats going on? Not much on our end, i mean we just blogged two days ago..lol. We are back at the internet cafe, to check our mail and talk to family. In a few days, we will have only 4 months left!!! ALhamd, dont get us wrong, we love being here, but we do miss our family and friends a lot. We are also looking for dates to spend between 2 homes, LA and TO
Now... for some Arabic!!!
alhamd nahnu takallamna ma' ahlina, wa kulluhum jayid alhamd. ukhti indaha camara fi al-bayt, wa hadha mufeed jiddan lana, lianna nahnu nastatee an naraa kulluhum.
huna jaw jayyid alan laysa barid katheer mithl qabla isbuain, wa lakin lana al-bard laysa mushkil, nahnu lam nabqa fil bait ba'da darse, kul yawm nahnu nadhhab wa namshee likay nakudh isteraha qaleel wa aidhan natakallam ma akhareen lil tamareen lilugat al-arabia.
alan kul yawm yujad zehma akthar fi alharam lianna katheer min zuwaar yatoon li ziyarat min kul anwah al alam!
hadha jayid lil aan... :)
Not bad huh? lol, iA soon will get better... Please pray for our success....
Ma'as Salaam
Now... for some Arabic!!!
alhamd nahnu takallamna ma' ahlina, wa kulluhum jayid alhamd. ukhti indaha camara fi al-bayt, wa hadha mufeed jiddan lana, lianna nahnu nastatee an naraa kulluhum.
huna jaw jayyid alan laysa barid katheer mithl qabla isbuain, wa lakin lana al-bard laysa mushkil, nahnu lam nabqa fil bait ba'da darse, kul yawm nahnu nadhhab wa namshee likay nakudh isteraha qaleel wa aidhan natakallam ma akhareen lil tamareen lilugat al-arabia.
alan kul yawm yujad zehma akthar fi alharam lianna katheer min zuwaar yatoon li ziyarat min kul anwah al alam!
hadha jayid lil aan... :)
Not bad huh? lol, iA soon will get better... Please pray for our success....
Ma'as Salaam
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Popays
so here we are nearly 6 months into our course - incredible eh? its seems as though sometimes time is just flying by - and at other times 4 years seems a long ways away. that's how it always is i suppose.
the past few days have been raining which means all the roads are muddy...its next to impossible to go out and not come home with muddy shoes and spots all over the back of your pants lol all the drivers still drive crazy - not like in some places where trafic slows down in the rain - la laysa hakadha huna ( no not like that here).
so last night, the administrator of our course (Hussein Ravji) was kind enough to take us out for dinner...jaffer and i and the other couple...we were all super excited as he was taking us to popeyes - we got there and guess what? it was actuallly 'popays' not the popeyes we know, but nonetheless it was great...lots of variety on the menu and was nice to just hang out and get away for a bit.
Its almost time for Arbaeen - 40 days since the martydom of Imam Hussein AS, and we hear its going to be crazy busy over here... we thought that Ashura was busy, but they said nearly 3 times as many people, we cant even imagine but definitely looking forward to it. We expect to meet a lot of people here, we already know that Sabiha's uncle is coming, as well as someone from LA, and we expect lots of Khojas.... lol
A couple of days ago we got a call from a guy who is living in Qum, his wife knows Sabiha from TO, dont know how they got our number, but its pretty cool they got a hold of us, they are coming down for a week, so we look forward to meeting them. He said that he reads our blog in Qum, the question i have is that how can Iran allow access to view blogs when Syria doesnt..lol.. all good though.
other than that not much else going on here...we have weekly lectures in the evening at our school which is great...different speakers come so we get to practice our listening and then have short discussions after... Today we heard a majlis from Sheikh Ali who works at Ayatullah Sistani's office and the amazing thing was we understood the whole lecture, no joke, though we have no doubt that he lowered the level of his arabic. Its really cool that we can understand and sorta speak this beautiful language. Our first week here a teacher told us that Arabic is like a key and this key opens up thousands of doors, we are beginning to really understand what he meant. Today we read Dua Kumayl and we understood most of it (without reading the translation), pretty darn AMAZING!!!
We learnt something amazing in one of our classes, and many of you might appreciate this. As we know, Our Prophet (PBUH) and his famiy were generous and sharing, however there was one fruit that they ate by themselves, and that is a pomegranate. Ofcourse they would always give another one to their guests, but they would finish the entire pomegranate themselves. And that is because as we all know that it contains the seeds of paradise. But more then that, and here comes the amazing part: It is said in traditions, that if one eats an entire pomegranate, first thing in the morning, before anything else, the entire pomegranate, all the seeds, Allah SWT removes the whisperings of Satan from your heart for 40 days!!!! and if someone eats 2, then He removes Satan for 100 days and 3 for 1 year!!! Can you imagine.... Try it, i know we will!!!!
Other then that, all is good, will leave you for now, will write more later.
alhamd kul shai jayyid huna. saqta al matar katheer min ams wa kul share' wasekh jiddan wa lakin alhamd matar baraka
Ma'asalaam
the past few days have been raining which means all the roads are muddy...its next to impossible to go out and not come home with muddy shoes and spots all over the back of your pants lol all the drivers still drive crazy - not like in some places where trafic slows down in the rain - la laysa hakadha huna ( no not like that here).
so last night, the administrator of our course (Hussein Ravji) was kind enough to take us out for dinner...jaffer and i and the other couple...we were all super excited as he was taking us to popeyes - we got there and guess what? it was actuallly 'popays' not the popeyes we know, but nonetheless it was great...lots of variety on the menu and was nice to just hang out and get away for a bit.
Its almost time for Arbaeen - 40 days since the martydom of Imam Hussein AS, and we hear its going to be crazy busy over here... we thought that Ashura was busy, but they said nearly 3 times as many people, we cant even imagine but definitely looking forward to it. We expect to meet a lot of people here, we already know that Sabiha's uncle is coming, as well as someone from LA, and we expect lots of Khojas.... lol
A couple of days ago we got a call from a guy who is living in Qum, his wife knows Sabiha from TO, dont know how they got our number, but its pretty cool they got a hold of us, they are coming down for a week, so we look forward to meeting them. He said that he reads our blog in Qum, the question i have is that how can Iran allow access to view blogs when Syria doesnt..lol.. all good though.
other than that not much else going on here...we have weekly lectures in the evening at our school which is great...different speakers come so we get to practice our listening and then have short discussions after... Today we heard a majlis from Sheikh Ali who works at Ayatullah Sistani's office and the amazing thing was we understood the whole lecture, no joke, though we have no doubt that he lowered the level of his arabic. Its really cool that we can understand and sorta speak this beautiful language. Our first week here a teacher told us that Arabic is like a key and this key opens up thousands of doors, we are beginning to really understand what he meant. Today we read Dua Kumayl and we understood most of it (without reading the translation), pretty darn AMAZING!!!
We learnt something amazing in one of our classes, and many of you might appreciate this. As we know, Our Prophet (PBUH) and his famiy were generous and sharing, however there was one fruit that they ate by themselves, and that is a pomegranate. Ofcourse they would always give another one to their guests, but they would finish the entire pomegranate themselves. And that is because as we all know that it contains the seeds of paradise. But more then that, and here comes the amazing part: It is said in traditions, that if one eats an entire pomegranate, first thing in the morning, before anything else, the entire pomegranate, all the seeds, Allah SWT removes the whisperings of Satan from your heart for 40 days!!!! and if someone eats 2, then He removes Satan for 100 days and 3 for 1 year!!! Can you imagine.... Try it, i know we will!!!!
Other then that, all is good, will leave you for now, will write more later.
alhamd kul shai jayyid huna. saqta al matar katheer min ams wa kul share' wasekh jiddan wa lakin alhamd matar baraka
Ma'asalaam
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Hello Readers
Hello everyone, yup you guessed it, we are back at the internet cafe so thought we would update the blog. We cant tell if anyone is even reading anymore, as the counter page doesnt work here at the cafe, so if you are reading, THANK YOU!!
We are back in school in full swing after the 12 days of Muharram, no more holidays for a few more weeks, so nothing to really look forward to, lol, just kidding, we do look forward to school :) A week ago the Coordinator of the course along with some "consultants" were here to make sure everything was ok and to interview our teachers for next year. If most of you get the WF weekly emails, last weeks email had pictures of most of our teachers... lol... none of them speak english!! LOL, but thats good, cause IA by next year our arabic will be good enough to understand fully and carry a discussion with our teachers.
Also the coordinators of the course made some changes, trying to meet all the needs of the students to the best of the ability. Sabiha and I were craving more arabic from our school, we feel for us to get better we need more conversations and understanding. So they were nice enough to accommodate us by giving us an extra hour to practice our arabic, while the other students had different needs that needed to be met, and they were accommodated. Overall, the classes are going great and Alhamd, our progress has been good as well. They also gave us a possible good surprise, we wont share yet until it is confirmed, but pray for us that it works out....
In the next couple of days we will go to Town Center - a shopping mall in Damascus... yes they have malls here..lol. Normally we go to this mall called ski land close to the airport where they have a big super market where we do our shopping for the whole month. They literally have everything we want from spaghetti, sauce, tuna, cheese, cookies (like back home...lol) to meats and cold cuts..etc. But someone told us about this other place - town center- which is supposed to be a bigger mall with a bigger grocery store inside it too. So we are real excited!! But dont get us wrong, they dont have everything, we still occasionally randomly miss things like Del Taco, Taco Bell, Cold Stone, Lotus Chinese Rest...etc..lol, and ofcourse Steak!!
Ok, will leave it at that for now, by the way, super bowl was last sunday!!??!! what!! totally forgot about it, but amazing that the Giants won!! AND OFCOURSE THE BIGGEST NEWS OF ALL - THE LAKERS GOT PAU!!!!!!!!! WHAT!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! LOL, THAT IS CRAZY!! I know i have missed the entire season, but this HAS to make them title contenders!!! I'M LOVING IT!!!!!!!! take care
We are back in school in full swing after the 12 days of Muharram, no more holidays for a few more weeks, so nothing to really look forward to, lol, just kidding, we do look forward to school :) A week ago the Coordinator of the course along with some "consultants" were here to make sure everything was ok and to interview our teachers for next year. If most of you get the WF weekly emails, last weeks email had pictures of most of our teachers... lol... none of them speak english!! LOL, but thats good, cause IA by next year our arabic will be good enough to understand fully and carry a discussion with our teachers.
Also the coordinators of the course made some changes, trying to meet all the needs of the students to the best of the ability. Sabiha and I were craving more arabic from our school, we feel for us to get better we need more conversations and understanding. So they were nice enough to accommodate us by giving us an extra hour to practice our arabic, while the other students had different needs that needed to be met, and they were accommodated. Overall, the classes are going great and Alhamd, our progress has been good as well. They also gave us a possible good surprise, we wont share yet until it is confirmed, but pray for us that it works out....
In the next couple of days we will go to Town Center - a shopping mall in Damascus... yes they have malls here..lol. Normally we go to this mall called ski land close to the airport where they have a big super market where we do our shopping for the whole month. They literally have everything we want from spaghetti, sauce, tuna, cheese, cookies (like back home...lol) to meats and cold cuts..etc. But someone told us about this other place - town center- which is supposed to be a bigger mall with a bigger grocery store inside it too. So we are real excited!! But dont get us wrong, they dont have everything, we still occasionally randomly miss things like Del Taco, Taco Bell, Cold Stone, Lotus Chinese Rest...etc..lol, and ofcourse Steak!!
Ok, will leave it at that for now, by the way, super bowl was last sunday!!??!! what!! totally forgot about it, but amazing that the Giants won!! AND OFCOURSE THE BIGGEST NEWS OF ALL - THE LAKERS GOT PAU!!!!!!!!! WHAT!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! LOL, THAT IS CRAZY!! I know i have missed the entire season, but this HAS to make them title contenders!!! I'M LOVING IT!!!!!!!! take care
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Muharram in Damascus
Hello, again long time since last blog but we have been really busy cause of Muharram and all the programs that take place here, not forgetting school was there too, lol. For those who are reading this don't know about Muharram, please go to http://www.al-islam.org/short/Karbala.htm for more info.
Ok, so how were the lectures of Muharram for everyone out there? We had fanstastic lectures. Our school organized lectures for us, every night for 10 nights, after school around 6pm. So they were looong days cause we were in school from 8-530 and then had a lecture right afterwards. It was really good tho and totally worth it, Alhamd. And ofcourse the lectures were all in Arabic!!! The speaker's name was Sayyid Mudhar Qazwini, from the same Qazwini family that is well known in the states, but a distance relative. This guy who came for lectures, is one of the nicest people we know. He has such great Akhlaq-behavior and conduct, and you can just tell this from his face. He speaks in Fusha Arabic which is what we are learning, and Alhamd, we were able to understand about 90% of his lectures. It was awesome. The funny thing is that he also recited at another center right after ours, so the first time we went there to listen to him, we understood only half cause he was speaking in Aammi - the dialect spoken on the streets...lol, almost 2 different languages. But we continued to go and ended up understanding most if it and got the gist for the rest.
So after our program, for the last 4 nights before Ashura, we would go to his lecture at the other center as well. So we would leave our school at 7, and get there by 715, where we would stay until 830 and then come home around 9, eat, do some homework and get to to bed around 1130 and have the same long day again. But totally worth it, we decided not to go to any urdu lectures so as to practice listening to arabic only, which was a good idea. However on the 11th night of Muharram we were forced to catch an urdu majlis cause the place we normally go to didnt have facilities for women to sit, so we had a choice between pakistani urdu, indian urdu or some good-ol' fashion khoja urdu, and yup you guessed it, we went to the khoja majlis. LOL, there was a group here from London and were having a majlis at some hotel, so we decided to go there, and yup we heard some traditional marshias, traditional nawhas and ofcourse traditional Suff Matam...LOL, its in our blood, cant help it!!! Although we didnt do Suff ourselves.
The whole feeling here for Muharram was great. Everywhere on the streets people were serving tea or hot milk, hot chocolate, literally every few feet, and they would call you to come and have some, and there were Nawhas being played from loud speakers everywhere, black banners and posters all through the city, and you could literally go for lectures from 8 in the morning till 12 at night. Ofcourse we were in school but we managed to squeeze as many in as we could. We went to lectures as late as 11pm which would end around 1 in the morning. Absolutely great experience. After our Holy month of Ramadhan wasnt as festive as we thought it would be, this surely made up for it.
Anyways, have written alot, and i know have forgotten alot, but if we think of anything will add it next time. Still dont have internet at our school so we have to come to smokey internet cafes to check email and update blog, but def. worth it!!
Oh yeah, guess what, it snowed here!!! and not just some flakes, good fashion snow for 12 hours. People were happy, kids were playing outside. Last time it snowed like this here was 15 years ago!!
K, take care!!!!!!
Ok, so how were the lectures of Muharram for everyone out there? We had fanstastic lectures. Our school organized lectures for us, every night for 10 nights, after school around 6pm. So they were looong days cause we were in school from 8-530 and then had a lecture right afterwards. It was really good tho and totally worth it, Alhamd. And ofcourse the lectures were all in Arabic!!! The speaker's name was Sayyid Mudhar Qazwini, from the same Qazwini family that is well known in the states, but a distance relative. This guy who came for lectures, is one of the nicest people we know. He has such great Akhlaq-behavior and conduct, and you can just tell this from his face. He speaks in Fusha Arabic which is what we are learning, and Alhamd, we were able to understand about 90% of his lectures. It was awesome. The funny thing is that he also recited at another center right after ours, so the first time we went there to listen to him, we understood only half cause he was speaking in Aammi - the dialect spoken on the streets...lol, almost 2 different languages. But we continued to go and ended up understanding most if it and got the gist for the rest.
So after our program, for the last 4 nights before Ashura, we would go to his lecture at the other center as well. So we would leave our school at 7, and get there by 715, where we would stay until 830 and then come home around 9, eat, do some homework and get to to bed around 1130 and have the same long day again. But totally worth it, we decided not to go to any urdu lectures so as to practice listening to arabic only, which was a good idea. However on the 11th night of Muharram we were forced to catch an urdu majlis cause the place we normally go to didnt have facilities for women to sit, so we had a choice between pakistani urdu, indian urdu or some good-ol' fashion khoja urdu, and yup you guessed it, we went to the khoja majlis. LOL, there was a group here from London and were having a majlis at some hotel, so we decided to go there, and yup we heard some traditional marshias, traditional nawhas and ofcourse traditional Suff Matam...LOL, its in our blood, cant help it!!! Although we didnt do Suff ourselves.
The whole feeling here for Muharram was great. Everywhere on the streets people were serving tea or hot milk, hot chocolate, literally every few feet, and they would call you to come and have some, and there were Nawhas being played from loud speakers everywhere, black banners and posters all through the city, and you could literally go for lectures from 8 in the morning till 12 at night. Ofcourse we were in school but we managed to squeeze as many in as we could. We went to lectures as late as 11pm which would end around 1 in the morning. Absolutely great experience. After our Holy month of Ramadhan wasnt as festive as we thought it would be, this surely made up for it.
Anyways, have written alot, and i know have forgotten alot, but if we think of anything will add it next time. Still dont have internet at our school so we have to come to smokey internet cafes to check email and update blog, but def. worth it!!
Oh yeah, guess what, it snowed here!!! and not just some flakes, good fashion snow for 12 hours. People were happy, kids were playing outside. Last time it snowed like this here was 15 years ago!!
K, take care!!!!!!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Hello Readers
Salaams to all... hope all of you are doing well, if anyone is still reading:) Lots has happened in the past week or so since we have written, we will try and get you guys updated with most of it, IA....
Sometime last week, all the pilgrims came back from Hajj, and we stopped over at Safir hotel to go and greet them back..lol, we met so many people, all our cousins and nephews from london, few of our peeps from Los Angeles, got a free meal out of it and met and got to know some new people we had never met. It was really nice to see everyone and thats one of the best parts about being here, especially in the heart of Sayyida Zainab, is meeting all these people who know about the course and are interested in learning more...
We have also become official Islamic ring (especially Aqeeq) buyers for anyone who needs help. In two days we helped about 3-4 people buy over 20000 syrian pounds worth of rings, i know its not alot in conversion, but its alot over here... lol.. our teacher showed us how to tell if a ring is Yemeni Aqeeq which is recommended to wear, so now we use that info and help all we can.... So if anyone is interested or wants a ring, please send a check to my brother in Los Angeles, and once the funds are deposited, we will purchase a nice ring on this end...LOL LOL hahaha...
I know we blogged a few blogs ago that we were home sick, but now that school has started, Alhamd we are not as home sick as we were, ofcourse we still miss our family and friends but its not nearly as bad.. now we miss some food that we dont get here or dont want to try and making here..lol... so here is the list :) enjoy :)
Steak - I'm talking about some proper Sirloin or TBone steak, marinated and grilled on the bbq...umm umm umm :)
Some proper Khoja bhiryani - like the kind they make at mosque..lol..
Some proper Khoja Pilau - with pettis or cutlass on the side.... dont get us wrong, they sell meat here, but it seems to risky to go and buy...lol.. you should come check it out for yourself to understand.
Virani's ribs - hahahaha enough said
East African Mushkaki - yesss
Fish Bhiryani - or better known as Machi Bhath..(only I miss this, Sabiha doesnt like it to begin with...)
Proper grilled fish with rice pilaf and mashed potatoes (from Red Lobster, again only me :))
Im sure there is alot more, but thats all we can think of right now...
Anyhow, take care, till next time, remember us in your prayers.
Ma'asalaam
Sometime last week, all the pilgrims came back from Hajj, and we stopped over at Safir hotel to go and greet them back..lol, we met so many people, all our cousins and nephews from london, few of our peeps from Los Angeles, got a free meal out of it and met and got to know some new people we had never met. It was really nice to see everyone and thats one of the best parts about being here, especially in the heart of Sayyida Zainab, is meeting all these people who know about the course and are interested in learning more...
We have also become official Islamic ring (especially Aqeeq) buyers for anyone who needs help. In two days we helped about 3-4 people buy over 20000 syrian pounds worth of rings, i know its not alot in conversion, but its alot over here... lol.. our teacher showed us how to tell if a ring is Yemeni Aqeeq which is recommended to wear, so now we use that info and help all we can.... So if anyone is interested or wants a ring, please send a check to my brother in Los Angeles, and once the funds are deposited, we will purchase a nice ring on this end...LOL LOL hahaha...
I know we blogged a few blogs ago that we were home sick, but now that school has started, Alhamd we are not as home sick as we were, ofcourse we still miss our family and friends but its not nearly as bad.. now we miss some food that we dont get here or dont want to try and making here..lol... so here is the list :) enjoy :)
Steak - I'm talking about some proper Sirloin or TBone steak, marinated and grilled on the bbq...umm umm umm :)
Some proper Khoja bhiryani - like the kind they make at mosque..lol..
Some proper Khoja Pilau - with pettis or cutlass on the side.... dont get us wrong, they sell meat here, but it seems to risky to go and buy...lol.. you should come check it out for yourself to understand.
Virani's ribs - hahahaha enough said
East African Mushkaki - yesss
Fish Bhiryani - or better known as Machi Bhath..(only I miss this, Sabiha doesnt like it to begin with...)
Proper grilled fish with rice pilaf and mashed potatoes (from Red Lobster, again only me :))
Im sure there is alot more, but thats all we can think of right now...
Anyhow, take care, till next time, remember us in your prayers.
Ma'asalaam
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