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!!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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!!
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