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
Thursday, October 2, 2008
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.
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