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!!!!!!

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