Naseeb

In junior year of college, I went to visit my ABCD cousin in Peabody, Boston. She introduced me to the world of "Halal Hookups". Basically, this is a way for young Muslims to meet and greet and check out one another in order to find a spouse and eventually get married. Being young, naive and somewhat gullible, I signed up for an ISNA get-together (ISNA = Islamic Society of North America). Lots of single Muslim girls and boys, men and women along with their hopeful ammis and abbus attend this event so their children can meet "a nice Muslim boy or girl", "settle down" and give up their hedonistic lifestyles.

This was the first time I was introduced to the concept of Muslim speed-dating... Enjoy :)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/us/19dating.html?pagewanted=all

Petty Issues

Since I'm slightly in shock and don't quite know how to go about these things, I might as well free my mind here... Mr. F is refusing to talk to my parents and things are blowing waaaaayyy out of proportion. To put it mildly, I don't think that's a good sign.

Everyone in my family's going ballistic, but I am strangely calm :O.

Dear God, please help me out here... thank you.

Mood Swings

I'm a monkey on a trapeze :P crazy high to crazy low but thankfully, Alhamdulilah I've got a sturdy safety net... Some nights, I'm lying in bed giggling hysterically at 1:00am and sometimes, I've got tears leaking out of my eyes... When I told my mom, she goes, you drank too much water at dinner :P

Yesterday, I went to get my wedding jewelry. Inshalah, I'm going to wear my mom's wedding set (the one my paternal grandmother gave her when she got married). It's shiny gold with emeralds and very traditional and nazuk... I got all teary-eyed when my mom made me put it on and model it for her... She wore the same set 25 years ago on her wedding :").

I'd been looking for a word to describe what I'm feeling these days and I think I finally found it...

Surreal: marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream

My Baby Sister

is 11 years younger than I am and I will miss her more than anyone once I leave home... At night, she tells me about her trials and tribulations in seventh grade at KGS and we giggle hysterically or we'll put on Bad Romance or Soul Sister and groove at 1:00 am :")

Dear Sis,

I know I'm mean sometimes, like when I evict you from my room when talking to Mr. F or when I push you away when you're hugging me and making icky kissing noises to irritate me. But I just want you to know that you'll be my only real blood sister and absolutely no one will ever take your place. You're the only one whom I am totally comfortable/un-self-conscious with and Inshalah I hope I will always be there for you and especially when you get your O'Levels results, when you attend your school farewell, inshalah when you leave for college and when you go on your first date :)

Thank you so much for your unconditional love, for making me brownies and for getting me flowers (when there was no Mr. F to do it) and for putting up with my moods.

Lots and lots and lots of love,

Your big sis.

Rickshaw Diaries

I used to follow Baraka and then it just made me really sad, so I stopped. She's having a baby!!! :)

*tears of happiness*