1- Cinemas are called “theatres” here. Theatres are called “shows” and shows are called.. I don’t know what.

2- Petrol is called “gas”.. “I’m outta gas”… why is that? Petrol is nothing like a gas or gasoline.

3- Accelerator is also called “gas” for some reason.

4- Burger always means a bun with beef in it, as in, it can’t be a “chicken burger”. In Pakistan (and England, I think), a burger is anything with a bun so even if a bun has chicken in it, it will be called a chicken burger or a fish burger etc.. Don’t ask me about the first time I tried to tell the waitress at TGIF that I wanted a chicken burger. Haha. Here, chicken can only be in a sandwich. In Pakistan, sandwiches are only made with loaf-bread.. anything with slices of loaf-bread is a sandwich.

5- There are no “markets”, only malls or stores. You can’t say, “I’m going to the market”!

6- University is always referred to as “college”. No one will say, “Now I’m going to start my university“.. it will be, “I start college next week” etc. so if university is college… why does the word “university” exist? (In Pakistan and England, college is a separate institution from a university and university is usually referred to as “uni”).

7- Everyone says, “I have school tomorrow”.. even if they are doing P.HD!! No one says, “I’m going to uni tomorrow” or “I’m at college now”… it’s all “school”!!

8- When it rains, it’s a bad day!!!!!!

9- When the sun is glaring down at you and it’s sweltering hot… it’s a beautiful day!!!!!!

10- Hamburger doesn’t neccessarily have ham in it. Haha.

11- Kebob is anything boneless!! (In Pakistan, kebob is always made with ground meat)

12- No one knows what a dustbin is!! (It’s a trashcan)

Haha.. I wonder if some of you can add similar stuff that you encountered!! This is all in good humor, guys, I’m not saying Pakistan and England make more sense. I’m just saying it’s interesting how terms can vary from one geographical location to another. I’ll also be interested in knowing if Canada is similar to England. See, I think that the British rule accounts for the similarities between England and Pakistan and technically speaking, the same things should carry over to Canada since it’s also under the British Empire. However, Canada is joined at the hip to U.S.A so I’d think the same terms infiltrate the two countries. So speak up, Bedouin and Azzer.

Met someone from the SS forum today. Had a good time. Always nice to make new friends

I’m taking Arabic classes and really excited about it. I’ve wanted to learn it for the longest time! I realize it’s gonna take a while before I’ll be fluent in speaking it or understanding it but inshaAllah… this is a beginning. I have to drive almost 2 hours (one-way) at 10mph (rush hour) twice a week so inshaAllah Allah will accept this from me and make my task easy. I like my teacher. He’s awesome.. Here’s something I learnt today among other things…

Ha’l ha’da feel?

Ha’l = Is
Ha’da = this
feel = elephant?

Is this an elephant?

Na’am, ha’da feel.
Yes, this is an elephant.

Haha. (that’s not Arabic, just me)

So stuff like that. I guess at this point I have to increase my vocabulary a lot, inshaAllah. He told us about this website. He says it’ll be a great resource.

I actually had quiet an adventure driving there today. So it’s raining non-stop, right? I just dropped my friend off at the metro so I know I’m gonna be late for class, upar sai rain won’t let up! The traffic is so bad at this time anyway – it’s rush hour big time and this area is just so over-crowded even for rush hour. So I’m stuck in traffic and I realize my gas metre is below E! I’m almost out of gas and I don’t see any signs for it (you know the kind they put up before exits showing what facilities this exit has?). I’m beginning to panic as I imagine my car stuttering and giving way and the person behind me hits me and then my husband hits me cuz I wrecked his beloved car. Very palpitating experience, I tell ya. So the needle is slipping more n more below E and I’m nowhere close to my destination and no gas station in sight! The rain won’t let up, neither would the traffic! What’s gonna happen? Pray pray pray! I’m listening to Hamza Yousaf carry on about diseases of the heart and it keeps me distracted from the sinking needle… I’m now 6 miles away from my destination and if the car doesn’t stop now, it will be a miracle! Allah, I want a miracle! So the next exit is here and no much-awaited sign of the gas-pump appears even now so I say Bismillah and take the exit! InshaAllah there will be a gas station here close enough! Lo and Behold! I see a huge Shell sign and my heart soars! I want to bow down then and there to thank my Good Lord!! But hey, wait a second, I just made a wrong turn! Ok great, now I have to make a big U-turn, oh no, it says no U or left!! Perfect! Now I have to go down 5 lights before I can make a U and my class has already started!! Oh well. I finally make my U and get to my gas station. Ugh! This is not my lucky day! The gas won’t start pumping! What to do, what to do? I wave frantically to the man sitting all nice and cozy inside. He pays no attention while my butt freezes in the cold and rain! Eventually I ask a kind-looking dude to help me out except he promptly says, “I don’t work here!” Er… ok. I know you don’t work here, dumb ass. I just want your help! What’s wrong with you? Do you think I’m gonna kidnap you in my car cuz I’m a “Mozlim”? Jeez! He finally decides to risk his life and help me. He shaked the thing for a bit and it finally starts pumping gas at a snail’s pace. Of course. Why would it pump gas faster? It knows I’m running late. It knows I’m cold and hungry (ok, not hungry, I just had a big meal but still). Ok finally, it’s done and I get into my car and drive off. It takes me another 20 minutes to do 6 miles and I get to class an hour late but it’s ok. AlhamduLilah. I haven’t missed much. All is well. The day is saved.

Note to self: Next time fill the tank before starting out on any journey that itercepts the highway.

For some reason we immortalize our parents, no? So that when or if something happens to them or they begin to look their age, we are shocked and almost indignant! But they said they were always gonna be there and now they’re getting old? Old? No way!!! How dare they??!!!

Papa was once such a handsome man, mashaAllah. His skin was glowing pink and white. His cheeks puffed with health and vitality. His eyes shone and danced with ambition. His military-honed voice scared the living daylights out of the entire house-hold… where did all of that go? Why has time worn him out beyond his years? His cheeks are now hollow, his eyes gaunt and drawn, his voice mellow and resigned and his glowing skin… wrought with wrinkles and worry-lines.

When I think of the place where he was born and raised and compare that to the place he has brought himself today – with his sheer hard-work and iron-determination, I’m awed. How pompous I was to think highly of myself for a handful of accomplishments! Now when I’m done rebelling against him, I realize what a great man my father is in comparison – how my accomplishments wither and melt away in comparison to his, alhamduLilah. As it is, whatever it is that I fancy myself today, it’s because he poured his heart and soul into making me that. Allah is right, a lifetime worth of servitude couldn’t recompense for what my parents have done for me.

Now when I look at him, my heart cries out in a different kind of rebellion. The kind that refuses to believe that Papa is getting old, that he looks over-worked and tired all the time, that his voice no longer has that thunder, that his eyes often wander off into oblivion to mull over burdens he thinks he can not carry.

No one, better than me, is aware of his shortcomings (since there was a time I was so impertinent as to hunt for them and mark them) but the one thing I would swear by is his unswerving honesty. He would starve himself and his family before he’d accept a single haraam morsel of bread, alhamduLilah. That’s why it baffles me and angers me and frustrates me and hurts me all at once why he always runs into dishonest people. People who take advantage of his trusting nature and stab him in the back. People who take his blinded faith in them as a sign to rob him and leave him bereft. How hard he works for every penny he earns, I couldn’t begin to tell you! How he throws every ounce of his energy into his work, words couldn’t say! Always, always he says, “One must do one’s work with honesty and devotion. It is a thing of beauty to watch someone at work when they love what they do!” And that’s just how he does his work. And then someone comes along and takes it all away!!

It shocked me the first time it happened because Papa is usually such a shrewd man. He can take one look at a person and it’s as if he saw inside them! How then could he allow himself to be fooled? When I ask him this, his eyes soften and he says with a sheepish smile, “I don’t know, beta. I guess it’s because I don’t trust random people, I trust people who I’ve known a while and come to trust but then they become greedy… what can I say?” He doesn’t blame fate for his misfortunes. He blames himself.

I just told you all this because I want you to pause a moment and pray for him, please. He’s currently being beguiled by another friend-turned-traitor and his health is suffering by the moment.

O’ Allah, You’ve said that the best of men is one who’s best to his family and my father has always been best to us. He has provided us with everything we ever needed. He has raised us to fear you and love you. He has always been generous in Your way, Allah je. He is always the first one to come forth and help his friends and family and even strangers. Allah je, accept his good deeds from him and deliver him from this terrible test for only You can protect. Make his troubles easy for him for only You can ease troubles. Guide his adversay to do the right thing for only You can guide. Amen.

In a way I’m glad I’m not there to see all this unfold. To me, Papa is invincible. To see otherwise would crush me.

Sometimes the biggest sign that you love someone isn’t that you’re deliriously happy when you are with them but that you’re terribly unhappy when they’re away.

Sometimes the biggest sign that someone loves you isn’t that they get you roses for no reason, but it’s that they have to wake up at 6a.m. for work but instead they wake up at 5:50am just so they can make sahoor for you and you can fast. Because you’re too lazy to get up yourself.

Sometimes, love isn’t so evident in your every day life because you’re busy complaining about something else but other times, it manifests itself in small things and you have to pause and acknowledge it and feel fortunate that you are loved and cherished… that come what may, you have someone to share it all with. AlhamduLilah.

Tee has a contest on her blog for pumpkin carving. Who’s rooting for my angry pumpikn? (As you can see i’m no expert)!! haha.

How was yours?

And thenceforth (is that even a word?), I break my ‘blog fast’. haha. Eid is tomorrow inshaAllah or at least I have decided to celebrate it tomorrow. Some others are celebrating it today for reasons I don’t comprehend completely. But whatevs. I just wish we could all agree at least on ONE day in the entire year. But alas!

Anyway, the break from blogging n all gave me a wonderful opportunity to concentrate on my fasts and though, my Ramadan still leaves a lot to be desired, I do think it was one of the best ones ever. InshaAllah, I will retain the good habits I picked up this month.

Every year that I’ve been in America, my Eids have honestly sucked! It’s hard to conjure up the festive mood when you have practically none of your family around and most of the country is going about their normal work-routine. However, this year I vowed I’d make it different or at least as different as I possibly could given my limited options. Of course it helps that this year around I have an actual friend who’s becoming more like family with every passing day, alhamduLilah.

So here’s one thing I did:

Yep. I got everyone gifts. This is a sunnah and doing all this shopping and wrapping really infused some Eid spirit into me. Me and my friend S shopped together and it was just loads of fun. Do you like my wrapping skills? Haha.

Something else I did was make plans with the friend and her family to go to Eid namaaz together and then afterwards have a real oily desi breakfast with halwa poori and the works, inshaAllah. How awesome is that? Afterwards we’ll drive over to the next state to be with the inlaws and the rest of the family. My cousins will be there too and I think it should be fun. Sounds good, right?

This reminds of something I read somewhere. That chrysanthemums (or mums) are really quite beautiful by themselves but put them next to a single rose and they seem to wilt. So this Eid that I just described to you seems nice enough as long as I don’t think about the Eid my family is having back home…. they’re all together, my chacha from England is there too with his family and it’s very very hard to swallow but inshaAllah I won’t think of Pakistan. Not this Eid.

So anyway, thanks for sticking around. Thanks for your messages in the previous post. I was really very flattered, alhamduLilah. So Eid Mubarik everyone and have fun!