OMG/A

OMA I am so sorry all fellow blog readers i haven't been posting for the longest time ever. I had so much work  to do for school, and I'm actually doing my homework now also.

Well, good news:


WE FINALLY GOT OUR TICKETS FOR BANGLADESH!!!!!!

The only bad thing is that from here to Dubai we'll get front seat 1st compartment but then from Dubai to BD we'll get front seat second compartment. But, at least the majority of the trip will be in the first one inshaAllah. We'll be leaving on December 8th and we'll come back January 14th inshaAllah. I'm ssssoooo happy. We're gonna have so much fun inshaAllah.

I finished reading The Giver like, a LONG time ago but, as it is, I haven't written in my blog since a LONG time ago. But, the book is so sad but happy at the same time! When they revealed what Release was, I was on the verge of tears. It was just horrible! And when they describe Jonas's travel to Elsewhere and how they felt and looked my heart was just torn apart for the poor boy and toddler.

I do wonder what happened to The Community though. Did the plan work? And was Jonas able to find his place among the people of Elsewhere?

I want to read the next book, Gathering Blue, but, I highly doubt that it has anything to do with Jonas or The Community. But still, I'd love to read it.



My uncle came over for 5 days from BD. It was so fun. But this really weird thing happened too. My uncle had this old friend who's house he came and stayed in 10 years ago. So, of course, he had to visit again. I wore my black abaya with pink rosebuds there (the one from Dubai). The couple had one older son and one girl in 6th grade. I chatted with the girl. She seemed nice enough for a Muslim in public school and parents who barely practice Islam. At one point she asks me:


"So, umm, do you, uuh, where that all the time? Like, at school and everything?" She gestures at my abaya.

"No, actually, I wear other things too. I just wore this 'cuz I wanted to, it's my favorite, and we were in a rush and everything."

"Oh."


So, to fill in the blank spaces, I asked her when she wakes up for school. 7:00, she said. She asked me when I wake up. I answered "6:00, because I have to pray Fajr and everything."

"Oh ya, FAJER. I pray that too. I actually just learned today!!!"


I was like, cool!  but, I mean, seriously? I MUSLIM 6 grader learning how to pray?????


Then, later on, she's talking to me. This is what she says:

"It's really weird like how kindergartners like each other and, like, how high schoolers like each other. Kindergartners are like, 'He has a dog, and I have a dog, that's why I like him!' and with high schoolers, it's like, 'He's so hot! Did you see his abs?'"

By this time, I had gotten a little uncomfortable and had started fidgeting in my chair. I cleared my throat and croaked out a "ya"

She didn't seem to notice. She kept on talking about crushes and everything until she comes to this part:

"So, I told my mom about my Bengali crush (meaning, she has two crushes, one Bangladeshi and one non-Bangladeshi) and she was like, 'Oh, your crush is coming to that party! You should dress up nice!'"

I don't know what my expression was like then, but, I could NEVER imagine my own MOTHER saying that to me. So, I just kinda smiled and let out some air from my mouth, hoping that it could pass for a laugh.

And then came the inevitable:

"So, do you have a crush?"



What I said in my mind:       What do you think of me? I'm wearing abaya and a hijab, and I'm gonna have a CRUSH? Well, she doesn't know that it's not allowed, I guess, but her parents should have taught her something. And, even if I did have a crush. I barely know you for and hour!!! And I'm gonna go babbling about some boy that I like? This is so totally weird.


What I said out loud:          Umm, no, I don't.



Her reply:           Oh.



So, you can understand how relieved I felt when we left the house. My dad was relieved too. I think so was my uncle. I don't supposes that he thought his old friend would turn out to be like that.






Well, for Eid, my aunt came over. My uncle had left two days before though. So, he left the Eid money with my dad. So, altogether, on Eid, I got $60 AlhamduliAllah. Pretty good for a girl who barely ever gets eidy.







We got this pretty strong bull for Qurbany. Qurbaany. Qurbanii. Whatever. But for the slaughtering. We kept it in a nursery over night and the next morning it got mad and ran away in the nursery. And that place is like  a JUNGLE. The people called my dad and were like, "The cow got loose!!!" But, nevertheless, they caught it. But then it got loose AGAIN and ran into the street. They caught it once more (Thank Allah) and then slaughtered it.


We are gonna go to the LA ScienCenter to see the 1001 Inventions from school on Wednesday inshaAllah. We're gonna take the Amtrack!!! I'm so excited! I've never been on a train before.



Well, I have a big Quran test today, so plz pray that I pass inshaAllah.



Salaams!





A Muslimah

My Eid

So, here I am once more to talk about my Eid.

'Tis the night before Eid (I like saying that) we were all excited and everything. So, at like 10:00 or 11:00, I went to my Indian neighbor's house. Her husband and in-laws are Sudani, and her in-laws just came to visit and they brought lots of henna/mendi. So, around that time, I went to her house and she put African-style mendi on the front (the side with the nails) of my hands and a little bit of my arms. She outlined it with black and filled it in with red. It was beautiful mashaAllah. Only problem was, it kinda itched, which usually doesn't happen, and in the morning, when I tried to take off without water, it hurt BADLY because the hairs on my arms were COMING OFF WITH IT. Ouch. I still cringe when I think about it.

So, we stayed up until like 1:00 AM drying our mendi, because my sisters put it on too. Except they only did red and my mom did theirs traditional bengali style. Then when my youngest sister went to sleep my mom finished cooking this special chicken curry called murgir korma. SubhanaAllah, it just smelled so goood. So, when Ammi saw the look on our faces, she asked us if me and maryam wanted some. We just nodded with big smiles on our faces. So, she took a porota (paratha. in Bengali its porota) out of the fridge and after she cooked it, she got a plate, put some curry and gravy, got a mat and gave it to us. If you're wondering how I ate, the mendi was pretty much dry by then and it was on the TOP of my hands, so, i could eat alhamduliAllah. I don't think chicken ever tasted so good.

I slept with the mendi, as I always do, and the next day when I woke up and looked under my pillow for my Eid present, well, you know what happened if you read the post before. Well, I was officially in a bad mood then, but I couldn't show it, because, it's EID MORNING, so I went to wash my mendi off. You also know what happened then. I also had a black swirl mark on my left cheek because I guess i slept on my hand at night. That made me even madder, and I couldn't help but scowl while I washed my face with Johnsen's Baby Soap.

Then I got ready. I wore a black abaya with brown designs on the arms, a perfectly matching hijab (that my mom found in the back of her closet, thought it would go great with my abaya, and hemmed the edges so I could wear it.) And I wore new Nine West black heels (I found them at Ross : D  and a cool ring. The we walked to the masjid.

After prayer and everything, we came home, and my dad gave us Eid money, aka Eidy. I was a bit taken aback and surprised because this was the first year. I got $10, and each of my sisters and brother got $5. Nevertheless, my mood started to get better.

My mom started getting cravings for donuts and a boba shake, so we went to our favorite donut store and bought some donuts, bagels, and a mango boba shake. After we finished eating, we got ready.

I decided to change (or rather, my mother decided for me) and I wore a new brown pishwa, which is basically a shelvar kamis except it's A-line cut. With that, I wore a thick gold necklace, called booter mala because the balls are big and circular. Kinda sphere-ish. I wore matching gold ear rings, and a maroon ring, since there were maroon designs on my pishwa. And I put a little bit of mascara.

Then we drove 20-30 mins to a friends house. I had a bit of grilled chicken, since I was still full from breakfast. I talked with my friend and teased a boy whom I had known since he was 3. Then we drove two hourse to SD (aka San Diego) and I took my friend with me.

In SD, we first went to one friends house, where I had morok polaw which is basically rice and chicken. For dessert, I had rosho golla which is curd balls boiled in a simple syrup. Then I played Wii.

After that, we drove 20 mins went to ANOTHER friends house. From there, we visited 3 other houses because they all lived in the same complex. One of the aunties gave me a present. It was a REALLY CUTE porcelain mug. MUCH better than what my dad gave me.

After that, we drove another 20 mins to ANOTHER friends house. There, we had dinner. We played, and really goofed off. I talked with my old friend who I usually see only on Eid. And we played tricks and scared each other. It was fun.

By the time we came home, it was 1:00 AM


pretty good eid alhamduliAllah

My Ramadan

Assalamualaikum and Eid Mubarak to everyone!!

I really am sorry for not keeping u with the blog during Ramadan. But, I'm back now, so, let me give you a short fill in:

Aunt (Dad's little sis) came for 5 days
I do the Quran contest.


When my Aunt is pretty cool. We call her Choto Phupi, which basically means "little Aunt" or "younger/youngest Aunt." She's a doctor, I think for kidney or something like that. She said it's very depressing, because most of the time there's not any solution to the problem. She lives on the border of Ohio, and works on the border of Pennsylvania, all alone. I feel really bad for her. She lives in a two bedroom home with no one to keep her company except the TV. Not to mention she just went through a slight depression because when she came i could barely recognize her cuz she was so thin....................................

So, I think she really enjoys coming here. Our house is smaller than hers, and ours is FULL of people. When she comes, there's 7. And it's all fun. Sometimes its annoying, but Baba always says that later on we'll miss it.

The night Choto Phupi came, my mom made really good Bengali food, and we all ate till we were full. Then we all went to the living room to get our stuff. Auntie just came from BD (AKA Bangaldesh) so, we were sure to get lots.

My sisters got LOTS of clothes. I got two new shelvar kamis, and a bag full of pens, a ring, and two bracelets. And the bag.

The first day, we were all sitting at home and getting bored, so we thought we'd go to Lagoona Beach. I was like, "Why not?" I guess everyone else was thinking the same thing, so we went, and came home before 5. I was amazed. That was like a record breaker compared to our other visits.

Then, another day, Choto Phupi took me to Ross, and I bought a really cute ans funky hijab, a ruffled sweater, and a pair of black flats. I just LOOOOOVE my Aunt.

When she was leaving, I could tell my dad didn't want her to go. As a big brother, I think my dad is especially attached to his sisters. Even the one older that him. He took my aunt into a looong biig hug. And then watched her go. I felt bad for both of them, because even though my Aunt seemed cheerful, I knew her long enough to know that she was hiding a crying heart.

Ever since the "certain incident" (which I cannot tell you because it is family business. Even I don't know everything) everyone has gotten more attached to Choto Phupi. She really suffered through an emotional breakdown. Now, my mom calls her almost every other day, and I'm happy. There's a chance that she might move here, closer to us. My Grandmother really wants her to. It would be good.



No, about the Quran contest.

Not much, except I was SO NERVOUS, I thought I forgot a word (I know, I'm dumb) and stumbled on it, but I got it right. I don't know if the judges liked it or not, but they said a big mashaAllah and JazakaAllahu Khairan, and the lady looked at me with BIG WIDE EYES. I just hope I'm not humiliated.


Eid was OK. I got the worst eid gift though. An ugly green pen, a plastic book mark, a snickers bar, and a sheet of stickers. I mean, what type of ___ year old likes that? (I'm not gonna tell you my age just yet. Maybe five years later or something. But I am old enough NOT  to like those stuff)  I'm probably gonna ask for something else. Like, when I memorize another Juz or something, I'll put it all together and ask for an abaya from SHUKR. Now that's something I would LOVE.

I'll tell you about my eid day in another post. This one is getting too long.