And it's pouring...

Snug at home, I'm watching the rain and lightning from my window. Sounds like a waterfall outside. Thankfully, we've still got electricity. Stay safe people!

Lazy me

These days I'm sleeping at 6:30 am (after sehri) and getting up around 1:30 pm (insert embarrassed smiley). My twelve year old sister gets ready for school at around 6:30 am and comes home exhausted at 2:30 pm, rests for an hour and then starts homework... bechari... :p

I'm glad I'm through with that phase of my life but I miss the routine, the assurance that I'd wake up at a certain time every morning, wear certain clothes, associate with the same people and repeat the cycle the following day.

I think I'm becoming increasingly lazy in Karachi. Just received the reading list for the core course and I'm slightly overwhelmed... so not ready for grad school :S

E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One)

I got a chance to visit the State Department in DC for one of my policy task forces and found this interesting. Notice that the American (bald) eagle is holding a branch in one talon and arrows in the other. In times of peace, the eagle's face is turned towards the branch and in times of war, its face is turned towards the arrows.

Another Cat Post...

The kittens are at their cutest right now :) They're frisky and full of energy while mommy (cat) dearest is perpetually exhausted... They've recently started eating solids (boiled chicken liver purchased by moi from Pervaiz Chicken Center in Khadda Market).

Sometimes, I feel guilty spending Rs. 100/day on the cat when the streets are full of human beggars :S. We took them to the vet for shots and the other cats (pedigree Persians and Siamese) looked down their nose at our old pussy cat adopted off the street :p.

Ramadan'09

And so, Ramadan 2009 begins today! I feel like it came upon us really suddenly this year... Hopefully, we'll settle into the routine pretty quickly.

When I was a kid, Ramadan was a huge deal. My mom would wake me an hour before Fajr (around 4:30 am), force-feed me parathas and make me drink 6 glasses of water so I wouldn't become dehydrated. School would start early and end early too so students could go home and sleep until Iftar. My brother and I would watch Ramadan programs on tv while our mom cooked yummy iftar food (pakoras, samosas and dahi baray oh my!). My dad would make fruit chaat with each piece of fruit perfectly sliced, diced and cubed. We'd send food to our neighbors in a platter covered with an embroidered napkin and they'd send us food in return.

I never really "felt" Ramadan in college... It's no fun waking up for a solitary sehri when you've barely slept 4 hours all night :( but my friends were wonderfully supportive and we'd have dinner together. Usually, I'd grab a bearclaw pastry from Panera on my way back from class and eat in my room while watching Full House on youtube before starting a paper or finishing homework :p.

Anyway, these days I'm unemployed and basically home all day... it actually feels good!