Today we picked up my future SIL (my brother’s fiancee) and got her to select a few things for the new house. (My parents are making a new house and the bro. and SIL will get one floor for themselves).. I was so proud of my parents for being so open-minded and progressive (in a good way) as to respect her opinion and accommodate her wishes..

I’m very fierce about the SIL’s rights. I made sure she got one entire floor to herself complete with a kitchen and extra bedroom. The brother can’t afford his own separate lodgings at the moment so he’s landing with the parents but inshaAllah when he can afford better, he says he’ll get his own place. My parents all for it.. I mean they support all his decisions.

I’m just really proud of my family as far as this whole marriage goes, alhamduLilah. My brother liked this girl and told us about her.. he was only 21 at the time but I convinced my parents (at his insistence) that the best thing was to talk to her parents and get them engaged. I was worried the brother might rebel.. haha.. so dad wasn’t too excited about it and after constant cajoling, he gave in. Me and mom went to her house and asked for her hand. I was especially for it because I really liked the girl.. she’s such a sweet, elegant, demure little thing. I knew she was perfect for my over-bearing but kind brother.. haha.. the hot-temper runs in our blood so we need a patient spouse to balance out the heat. Please don’t think that I liked the girl because of her ’subservient’ nature.. I liked her cuz I could see that she was one of those persevering people who have the skill to bring out the best in a passionate person like my brother with their tact and sense. AlhamduLilah, so far we’ve been proven correct about that and the past two years have seen my brother culminate into a very responsible young man. He still has the temper, but he realizes it and works on correcting it inshaAllah.

So anyway, he’s taken a lot of responsibility for this marriage and has tried to help out my father financially as much as possible. AlhamduLilah, dad has a successful business but the brother still wanted to accept as much responsibility as his humble beginnings would allow him. I give him continuous lectures about his responsibilities and his future wife’s rights and he seems to understand what I say. He’s trying to decorate the house for her as much as possible so she understands that he is waiting in tow for her ‘dowry’.

As far as that ugly word, ‘dowry’ goes, we’ve tried our best to convince her parents that we don’t need anything, that in fact, we’ll be offended if she brings stuff like TV, fridge etc. I’m not sure what else we can do to tell them we really mean this, but let’s see what happens. So far we have no idea if they have paid any heed to our requests or not.. it’s a difficult cycle to break in our culture..

I’ve also been talking a lot to my mother, and trying to tell her that we all need to be kind and patient with her. We can’t expect her to act like an experienced 40-yr-old woman who knows the ways of the world overnight!! I was telling my mom that she (my mom) is in fact the ‘bigger’ woman here with the experience and patience that entails her age so she must demonstrate restraint and kindness if her DIL ever makes a mistake… that she is young and naive, we must discount her shortcomings (if she displays them) and we must MUST make her feel completely at home.. she can wake up as late as she wishes, she can go out and come in as she pleases.. etc etc. my mom completely agrees, alhamduLilah and likes to say, “Yes, I’ve had my time and now it’s hers.. inshaAllah I’ll try to remember that she is just another daughter of the house, like you and your sister.” Funnily enough, she is also my namesake!

I’m sure inshaAllah, she will fit in very nicely with our family. She is a very sweet girl. She’s also very smart.. smarter than my brother (that’s between us..haha ) .. she has a great job which she plans to keep and of course, she has every one’s support. My grandmother was just saying that she (my SIL) looks two years older than the brother… which isn’t true at all.. and I was surprised that it put me off that dadi was saying that.. I tried to explain to her that it wasn’t true and she better not go around spreading that rumor.. but that was just her way of saying that her grandson is sooo much better than the girl and deserves better.. haha.. dadis will be dadis.. she always thought IIIIIII deserved better than the hubby even though God knows the hubby deserves better!! haha!!

Anyway, so what else can I tell you?? Yeah my mom also took her shopping everywhere and made her all the clothes she wanted (which happened to be Bareeze..haha) but mom insisted for her to buy whatever she liked.. mom was like, at least that way she’ll actually wear what we buy her. What’s the point of imposing our choice on her? Even though she’s always very grateful for whatever I get her (from America) and never disputes our choice, but it’s good that she got all the clothes and shoes etc. she liked for barri (gifts the groom’s family gives the girl).

The purpose of this post is that I really hope inshaAllah that our culture learns to treat the DILs better. It hurts me so much to read of DILs being burnt by their MILS and being abused by the inlaws.. it’s so frequent in our country and it’s equally heartbreaking every time. Being burnt to death is bad but being treated like crap is not much of a life either… the women of this country have souls brimming with fortitude and valor. I admire these women so much who’s obituaries become headlines in the newspapers.. I always pause to shed a tear for them, for the anguished lives they led before they were finally done away with.. and even for those who suffer in silence like mere carcasses, their hearts plagued with pain and suffering which will never end.. the pain being inflicted often by other women… it all makes me sad and angry, and I thought there’s no better place to start a change than my own home.

The other day my cousin was making a joke and saying my SIL must be paying me for advocating her rights.. and I laughed at the joke but I knew she didn’t know what is behind my fierce attitude towards this… And if we all begin at home, inshaAllah we can make a change… many drops of water come together to make an ocean… let’s be that drop of water..

Guys I’m sorry if i take long to reply to the comments but its cuz my stupid net doesnt allow me to open the lil comment window and displays the error msg!! I finally gave up on it and decided to post replies to the comments as a new post.. oh and if anyone on my blogrolls wonders why I’m not commenting on their blog, it’s the same reason. I’m reading all your blogs and enjoying them very much.. just the stupid net doesn’t allow me to post comments. Sorry!! You know I love you!!

Ok here are my replies to the UGLY post..

believer.. haha.. most of those people are family and acquaintances. i think they think they’re trying to help me by stating the obvious. and yeah.. half the problem is that hubby never ever complains about my weight and though he teases me cuz he knows i get touchy but he wouldnt have loved me more if i looked like aishwirya!! hehe!! so therez lack of motivation for you!

sobia.. thts just it na! im fat but NOT happy.. im really upset with myself for not being careful earlier and like i always say. u have theree kids to show for ur gain.. wht do i have??

enyur.. thank you sweetie!! you’re exactly right.. people just putting other people down in any way.. and all these people who i talk about putting me down were people who used to be jealous of me.. and now its their turn to make my blood boil. haha. but yeah.. even if it wasn’t for all the media propagation of thin figures.. id still wanna lose some weight.. my BMI is not good

fatima.. thanks for the novel and feel free to write more and im concerned about what you said.. i’m gonna pm you.. thanks again!

ash.. thanks.. i actually split up the 45 min so i was ok

piniyini.. yeah you’re right.. this is defnitely for me and not for pleasing all the gumbos

So I’m gonna keep you guys updated on my progress. In the light of your comments, especially Fatima’s, I haven’t done anything rash or silly like starve myself but today Mama was already telling me that my face is looking thinner and healthier alhamduLilah. I’m also feeling better about the fugly situation because I’m actually doing something!! Thank you, you all for egging me on and giving me confidence!! Yaay to blogging (and bloggers, of course)!!!!

Yeah that’s what I said to myself yesterday!!I hate looking at myself in the mirror.. I hate buying clothes cuz I know it’s another outfit that’s gonna make me look hideous! Ever since I’ve gotten to Pakistan, people have been telling me how fat I’ve become (I’ve gained 30 pounds in the past 2 years) and I cover my head so that doesn’t help matters. These are the comments I get upon meeting someone for the first time (and subsequent times, for that matter):

“OHMIGOD!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU??” (the voice dripping with relish)
“Hayeeee.. you’ve become so FAT!!!” (Ditto from above)

And if not any of the above then a once-over laden with pity.. the eyes saying what the tongue is too polite to say..

So yesterday I decided I was just sick of being ugly. I know it’s shallow.. I know it’s pathetic but it’s the lucid truth!! I DO CARE ABOUT WHAT I LOOK LIKE AND I WANNA BE PRETTY AGAIN!! There!! I SAID IT!!! Look.. hear me out first. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had always been this way but alhamduLilah, I wasn’t. All my life I’ve been used to special treatment because of my looks; I took it completely for granted. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the envious looks I got from my friends and family every time I got dressed up but who doesn’t? However, I can honestly say that I really didn’t think too much about any of it.. I was never conceited or ostentatious alhamduLilah. I never have or will assign too much importance to looks..or judge anyone based on their looks… promise!!

So the point is that I accepted my good looks in a stride and never attributed too much significance to it. In fact, I remember I never learnt to accept compliments.. they always made me feel painfully embarrassed and I’d change the subject asap!! And even now, writing all this is really hard for me. I don’t think I have any right to say I was ever pretty.. I’m only saying it to give you background on my current feelings. I thought a lot before writing this post and decided I’ll risk losing a few readers.. haha.. cuz I really need to talk about this. So please forgive the element of narcism in this post as a purely neccessary evil.. haha..

So anyway, I was blase about the whole looks scenrio because I was taught to be a good person… to be good and kind and noble and all those REAL things that really matter. My dad doesn’t even dye his hair and lets it grow white because he says he feels vain doing that. So that’s what he always taught me… don’t be vain.. people of substance don’t care for cosmetic care and I promise you I never did. I never used make up.. never cared too much about what I wore.. I had very little concern for fashion trends.. and always always, I was kind to everyone around me and never looked down upon anyone despite my popularity (at school). When I was small I didn’t even understand why I was always the princess in all the plays. I never understood why classmates fought over who gets to sit next to me or why girls (ad boys!) would come up to me to propose everlasting friendship. And when I grew old enough to understand, for a long time I resented my looks because they seemed to bring more complications than relief. At any rate.. I don’t wanna get into the whole popular scene.. I never moved a pinky to gain popularity but alhamduLilah I got it anyway and it brought with it many heartaches but that’s another story. There were many times I wished away this imposed superior position and hankered for a more obscure existance but it wasn’t meant to be that way.. again.. I know I’m sounding vain but there is no other way to say these things.

So now that you know that whole story, can you imagine how I feel being told I’m ugly?? Well not exactly that but close enough.. so I finally realize that I do care for looks.. that despite my dad’s relentless efforts to instill in me the value of morals and integrity and deviod my existance of vanity, I’m sitting here today typing these very vain words.. but the truth is I want despertaely to go back to looking the way I used to.. I don’t want an entourage of adoring fans but I don’t want to hear those nasty comments about my weight and looks.

I WANT TO BE THIN. AGAIN.
I WANT TO HAVE THICK, LUXURIOUS HAIR. AGAIN.
I WANT TO HAVE CLEAR, FLAWLESS SKIN. (er.. I never had that so I thought i’d list it here in case Allah is listening!)
Amen…!!!

So today I starved myself and sweated on the treadmill for 45 minutes straight. Result? An explosive migraine and a protesting, beseeching stomach grumbling in anger.

People, pleeeeeeeease, I’m not vain!! This is about self-respect. This is about regaining my lost image. This is about…. winning.
So I’m gonna do this even if it kills me!! I’d rather die trying to be skinny than live a fat life!!!

Astaghfurullah!! (touching my ears!!)

I got this from Sobia’s blog.. thanks Sobee…

So I was gonna tell you about Lahore. It was really wonderful!! I mean I hadn’t been to Lahore for maybe, five or six years and in that time it has really changed. So the following will probably only interest people who’re interested in Lahore…

First of all, I’ll tell you the one thing that has NOT changed and that’s the incredible amounts of dust permeating the air. It’s just so hard to breathe in that air and we’re so not used to that. So that was the hard part..

Other than that, Lahore has really improved. I saw a lot of pretty fountains surrounded by perfectly manicured lawns with brightly colored flowers. I was pleasently surprsied to observe that these area were completely devoid of litter. Another thing that really stood out was the beautiful architecture and varying themes in many of the shopping buildings and restaurants. For instance, there was one restaurant called The Windmill and it was fashioned like a huge windmill whose wings were rotating just like a real windmill. There was another restaurant (which all the Lahoris know, I’m sure) called The Village which is designed like a traditional Pakistani village with faux mud walls and other fine touches (servers who dress like dehatees). Then there was this one store for kids called Honey Bee that had a huge bee hive above its door and other honey bee art all around the interior and exterior.

I wish I could show you the pictures but the net here is really slow and it would take forever to upload them.. perhaps when I go back to the US, I will..

So anyway, we went to a few very nice restaurants. One we went to was called Nairang (multi-colored) and it was sort of an art gallery and a small library and if you get weary watching NCA art and reading, you could plop down on the sunken couches, get comfy and eat some yummy food (I had chicken with oyster sauce). Another one we went to was called Mirchi (chilli) and the ambiance was lovely with dimmed lights and soft colors. The food was inevitably good.

The shopping scene was good too even though I wasn’t too impressed with the kapras (clothes).. I think what Lahore is really good for is stuff like curtains (they had such exotic fabrics), furniture (elegant like anything), kitchens (they had lovely Italian kitchens at some stores) and basically stuff like that which I think Islamabad is not enough endowed with (funny English, I know).

Ok so the clothes scene at Fortress and Liberty was not too great. Especially Fortress, anything at all even remotely wearable was way above what it should cost.. most of the stuff was reeeeaaaly paindu (cheap). Now what I really needed was some good advice about where to buy clothes for weddings.. like one of my readers said she had recently shopped there for her wedding. That’s the thing about Lahore, I don’t know a soul there.. I know a lot of people in Karachi and other cities but none in Lahore.

Anyways.. I had fun and I really wanna go again next month, inshaAllah. So if someone has some good advice please feel free. Tell me all your Lahore shopping secrets!! hahaha!!

I once heard someone say that if you let yourself get too consumed by hatred, then you end up becoming the very thing that you hated. I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time and dismissed it as some philosophical mumbo jumbo. Now, years later I witness this exact phenomenon proven true again and again.How many times have I seen lately, people berating discrimination against their own kind only to end up sounding like discriminators themselves? How many times have I seen people depracating certain cultures for their habbit to pass judgements only to end up sounding exactly the same? And worst of all.. how many times have I seen people bashing one culture or another and in the process doing the horrible unkindness of generlizing??!!

I don’t want to fall in the same pit and start thrashing the above kinds of people, but I want to say very calmly, very kindly, please don’t generalize. There is no such thing as “ALL” or “every” anything. This world and each and every one of its cultures is made up of a variety of people and if you generlize then you put yourself at the risk of hurting many feelings and do you have a right to hurt even one person knowingly? My dad always says that more than anything else, it’s important to be a good person; that Allah might forgive anything else but He won’t forgive us if we hurt anyone in any way. I don’t speak merely for myself but for any one who has been thrown askew in the tide of generalizations. They are unfair, unkind and callous. Chances are that when you are making a generlization, you are putting someone down for something.. so where does that put you? When you point one finger at someone, don’t forget that you’re simulatneously pointing four fingers at yourself.

The only thing that can be generalized is that ALL generlizations are cruel and wrong. Do you really want to find out that one day you made some offhand generic remark somewhere and it hurt someone’s feelings.. someone you don’t even know and someone who did not deserve to be categorzied the way you unwittingly categorzied them? Perhaps the best way to steer clear of this completely useless practice is to imagine how WE feel when someone makes a sweeping statement about OUR culture, about OUR race, about OUR anything.. isn’t the balance of justice inclined enough in the wrong direction? Do we really want to tip it off some more by making needless generlizations about cultures and backgrounds?

Yeah so we just decided to visit Lahore for some shopping!! haha!! No, I’m not that spoilt!! My brother (the one who’s getting married) is actually under training here and so I hadn’t met him.. Papa was coming this way and me, my mom and sis joined him.. so we met the brother (who’s work has given him a gorgeous place to live!!) and then we had some yummy chicken tikka.. and tomorrow we’ll go shopping inshaAllah!! Yaaay!! Lahore shopping is always so exciting!!

For those of you who don’t know, Lahore is Pakistan’s very bubbling, very happening and very historic city.. tousirsts flock here for the yummy food, the history laden buildings and the loads and loads of variety available in shopping!! Islamabad is great too but it’s famous for other things (it’s cleanliness, for one!) but about Lahore they say, if you haven’t seen it, you haven’t been born!! Well I’ve been born a few times… haha.. but I always love being reborn here!! I’m sure we’ll get some great bargains here and ladies.. don’t worry.. I’ll inform you all about the great shopping spree and even try to take some pictures as the salespersons give me that whats-the-hell-she-taking-picturs-for look!! Whenevr I take picturs here in Pakistan, people look like I’m gonna shoot them any minute..

Anyway.. I’ll let you know the shopping scene.. haha.. oh and damn these mosquitoes!! Isloo doesn’t have them.. *sigh* the things I’ll do for shopping!!

So finally, I’m here!! And in typical ungrateful-human style, I feel rather unclimatic. Hehee!! Well, I guess it’s mainly cuz I miss the hubby and I realize that being with him makes me feel so complete that I forget what’s it like to be halved again. The days are not so bad but the nights are awful. I have to fight down the rising panic and force myself to remember that I am not really alone. Lying down in my old purple room, surrounded by my girlhood memories, I feel anything but comforted. I realize how one person can change your life so completely that the room that was once my joyous retreat and my own private sanctum now offers me no comfort at all, and in fact makes me wonder how I ever managed to live without this person at all!! hahhaa!! You might think that I’m expecting too much from a room but believe me, there was once a time when I could spend entire days just locked inside, lost in my own world, doing my own thing.. I used to get yelled at by the parents for not stepping out enough! haha!! My room was always the prettiest one in the house.. adorned in different hues of my favorite color – lilac (or purple). The carpet is a beautiful royal purple with plush softness, the curtains are two layered with a sheer lilac color and the outer layer, a more opaque version of the same shade. The wrought iron bed is decked in matching lilac bedsheets (chen one) and even the light fixture on the wall is matching. The bathoom is all purple and mauve, which is funny because my parents are renting this house and it was a pure stroke of luck.. the purple bathroom!! Haha!! That’s why I always bonded so well with the room.. I felt it was made for me!! It’s so funny cuz a lot of people thought the walls of the room were painted lilac (by me) when in fact they were the usual white color.. I guess too much purple gave them this very nice illusion which I never cared to rectify! haha!!

So anyway, now it might make more sense as to why I expect this room to exude some tranquility instead of the chaotic panic that hits me as soon as I go there to sleep. It occurrs to me how strange it is that when the hubby and I were together in London, I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy.. I was happy to be with him, of course but I was surprised that I wasn’t more excited. Now I realize that being with him makes me so complete.. so whole.. and so at peace that I mistake it with nonchalance.. because the moment we are apart, I feel like someone just chucked off a vital part of me. *sigh* Now once again, I’ve started counting the days until I can see him.. 25 days to go….. haha…

So I guess that’s not a very bright post!! Haha!! But I want you to know that this is my life.. when I’m in America, I can never be really happy because I miss my family so much and when I’m visiting here, I miss my husband so much.. that’s why on the rare occasion that he and I are here together.. I truly feel like I’m on cloud nine!! I feel sooooo ebullient that it scares me!! AlahmaduLilah!! I promise you that you will see some very happy posts after mid-April!! haha!!

Besides all that, I was really happy to see my parents and siblings. When I got home, I was bombarded with phone calls (which I fondly refer to as protocol phone calls).. I got a little tired of telling everyone that yes, I arrived safely; no, hubby isn’t with me; yes, I’m very tired; yes, we’ll meet soon; etc. etc. I still have some phone calls I need to make.. haven’t called any of my friends yet.

Me, Mama and sis also went shopping. We placed orders for our wedding clothes. I’m so shocked by how long it took us to order eight suits (almost 5 hours) and what a big headache all the haggling gave me.. but it was quite fun. I wished I’d taken my camera with me and taken some pictures for you fashion buffs (some of you). Next time, I go, I defintely will. I just love the whole process, how they lay so many suits and fabrics before you, treat you to cold drinks and chaat (my mom had it twice!).. it’s kinda like the royal family women used to buy their clothes years ago.. haha.. I ordered one sari for myself, perhaps I’ll post a picture of it later, if it turns out good! It’s in my favorite color – lilac!! haa!! One day I’ll just wear my wedding dress inshaAllah and I have another dress I had made a while ago and didn’t wear so I’ll wear that on the valima. If anyone is inerested, I can post picturss of my wedding dress. I’m saying all this cuz some of you said you wanted me to talk about the wedding preparations n all.

I also got to eat my favorite chicken (steam roast) and roghni naan yesterday. That was such fun. I can never find those anywhere in US or even UK. I’ll definitely be telling you more about what I eat.. I LOOOVE the food here.. today I ate Mama’s biryini which is always wonderful!! The only think I don’t like is the pepsi.. its usually so flat!! haha!!

Ok that’s about it!! I’ll keep you updated!! More later…

So I’m finally going to Pakistan tomorrow, inshaAllah. I have mixed feelings about it right now cuz I’ve had such a wonderful time here in London for the past two months and I’m gonna miss everyone here, I’ll also have to part from the hubby again for a month but on the other hand I’ll be seeing my parents and siblings after all this time of anticipation. We’ll be preparing for the wedding inshAllah so it will be great fun. But I guess I’m mostly excited to go cuz uncle and family (from here in London) will also be going to Pakistan in about two weeks and the hubby will also join us soon inshaAllah so I guess it’s all good, alhamduLilah.

I always love going back to Pakistan; it’s such a wonderful feeling. The moment the plane touches down on the ground on Islamabad Airport, my heart soars with relief and joy…. my eyes tear up, my throat constricts with emotion and when everyone around me starts clapping, I hold my hands back just because I’ve been taught to withhold emotions and I feel embarrassed clapping with such outward joy but I commend everyone who does clap and I join them in my heart and soul.

Last time when I went to Pakistan, I couldn’t hide my tears when the plane landed. It had been a very hard few months and finally going home meant the world to me. This lady sitting next to me was watching me closely and like any dutiful desi auntie, she instantly pounced on me with questions, “Why are you crying?”, “How long has it been since you visited last?” “Has someone died?” etc etc. and when she didn’t find an answer in all of those questions, she was quiet. Little did she know that I was going home after braving the worst storm of my life.. that I had missed my mother’s warm and loving arms like something crazy.. that I had missed Papa’s wise and comforting words like something insane and that going home was like my soul finally coming alive after months of being a carcass within my body.

Living in Pakistan, I could have never known what’s it like to be a ‘pardesi’ (foreigner).. I would have never appreciated having a country of my own where I belong, like I do now. AlhamduLilah… back in school they always used to use this one sentence when talking about the history of Pakistan, “Our ancestors gave great sacrifices to win us this homeland. There is nothing like freedom and they gave us that.” It was such a cliched and beaten phrase that it meant nothing to us.. but now.. it comes back to me with such impact and fervor that I can not say.. how I respect and love and admire those people who shed their blood so I could fly back tomorrow to a place called ‘home’. May Allah have mercy upon their souls.. and may Allah give me and my generation the wisdom to cherish and nurture this freedom that we enjoy so indifferently. amen.

I’ve digressed horribly here and even now I’m having to pull myself back to my original topic, that I’m going to Pakistan tomorrow and in fact, my sole purpose in saying so was to inform you that I might not be able to blog… not that anyone cares too much.. I know I only have a handful of readers but I was never the kind of person who cared for quantity. I rarely look down at the hit counter and honestly don’t care what it says. The only thing that matters is that the few handful of readers that I have are so sweet and kind that I couldn’t just disappear on them. I’ve never had an unkind word from anyone so far, alhamduLilah. All of you who comment are such darling people! I don’t even know why you read my blog but your words mean so much to me that I wanted to honor your time and kindness by telling you about my possible absence and ask you to stick around and inshaAllah I’ll try to blog as often as possible.

Ok dears, I think I’ll drop by one more time tomorrow before my plane takes off in the evening. I think it will be fun to blog about being in Pakistan and about the wedding n all. So we’ll see how everything goes..

love and prayers,
M.

Thanks for your interest, guys.. I was excited to see you all responded so fast so I did these asap. Hope you like ‘em!

So once you walk up those 100 stairs.. this is what you get.. all these pretty building lined together.

Some more buildings here.. this was just interesting cuz it was all zig zaggy and undulating.. I was thinking they must have gone through some serious trouble making these building on the uneven surface cuz I was sure having great trouble walking around!! haha..

So Edinburgh is like this.. imagine a valley with buildings on either side of the valley and this park (on the left) is in the lap of the ‘valley of buildings’. On one side is Princes street (nothing special, just shops) and on the other side (up there) is all the nice buildings and the castle.. it’s kind of slanting in a way.. the Princes street is lower level than the other side which is really high and takes a lot of hard work to walk up to the castle.

This is the Royal Mile.. it’s basically a cobbled street with old buildings (mostly tourist shops) on either side. On the top end you get to the Castle and the other end takes you near the shore and another Palace, I believe. We couldn’t go there cuz we figured we’d already seen Buckingham Palace and it was a very long walk.. haha.. On the Mile is also the Cathedral in the pictures below.

The Cathedral was called St. James, I think.. but I couldn’t be sure. It was really really neat..

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This is the organ you see here.. it was HUGE.. I had never seen one like this before.. well I haven’t been inside many churches or cathedrals but anyway, this was pretty awesome. Somone was playing it when we went inside and it was just beautiful.

Ok guys, last but not the least, I have to show you the pictures of the Castle and the view from up there but unfortunately the Castle was closed that day so we couldn’t go in. But one of my sweet readers, Fatima, said she loves castles so I’ll post some pictures from inside another Castle, The Tower of London. In fact I’m defnitely gonna post some pictrues of our London tour, inshaAllah.. the architecture is just breathtaking. I actually didn’t post those at first cuz so many people have been to London anyway, but I will post some good ones anyway.

Coming soon.. The Edinburgh Castle..