10/16/11 ----- Leicester, England

the only boys I need in my life :)

About what I said at the end of that last post about probably not having much to update on, I was wrong haha. This week has honestly been so, SO great. After our first weekend that I already told you about in the last post, I had literally spent the first two days of the week here in my pajamas watching television, playing with the kids and doing pretty much nothing else and it felt great :)

 

After a couple days’ rest though, I was ready to go out again so Tahira bhabhi, who is pretty much one of THE coolest people I’ve ever met and probably will ever meet, took me out. We went to the big mall there just to look around and get some stuff and then she took me KFC! I repeat, HALAL KFC!! I hadn’t had KFC since I went to Florida for my cousin’s wedding in 2006. I was so excited and was not disappointed. The popcorn chicken I had that day and the drumsticks I had a couple days after when we went again was just as delicious as I remembered it to be :) Later that day, Sajjad Bha and Zainab Bhabhi took me out to watch Johnny English 2 and some dessert at pizza hut. I always knew Sajjad Bha was cool because, well he IS a haji you know. But I’m so so lucky to have been able to spend time with Zainab Bhabhi. She is so funny and upbeat and just so fun to hang with. Oh and the movie was HILARIOUS. I recommend everyone to go watch it like, now. I haven’t seen the first one but they told me the second was funnier anyway. 

A couple more days passed and before I knew it, it’s the last day at Leicester and we’re leaving for Paris tomorrow. It was a great last day though. Tahira bhabhi, mom and I went out in the morning, I chilled at home with the kids and bhabhi during the day and at night, we all went out for dinner and dessert. Mohd. Ali had come back again for the weekend from Birmingham where he goes to school and it was so great to get to know him. I really hope he doesn’t read this cos we have a fully established relationship of only insulting each other as much as possible so if he sees a compliment, I’m done for haha. But really, it was great to be able to talk to someone my own age and get to know more about him cos all I had remembered for ten years was a chubby kid who made fun of me for being scared of pigeons ten years ago. So yes, this is definitely progress! Oh, and he’s still chubby. Sorry cuz, it feels way too weird being nice to you, I had to get an insult in there somewhere :)

 

The night ended with me going for some shisha with mohd ali, his friends and sajjad bha and I got introduced to pretty much the best flavor of shisha…ever. Watermelon, berry and mint. It was so good that when we were leaving I was standing and still smoking it cos I couldn’t let go of it. Honestly, it was great, all you shisha fans have got to try it! When we got home that night, I got the best treat. Mohd ali and Abbas (my other cousin) had gone to the states this past summer and got to visit the NBC studios where they had a chance to film themselves doing a news and weather report and bought the video afterwards. I had been hearing all week about how embarrassing it was and couldn’t wait to see it. After I had made sure that everyone in the house was sitting in the living room to see my cousins embarrass themselves, I finally saw it. And it was so much better than I imagined. We didn’t get to see Abbas’ bit but mohd ali…oh man. He pretty much made the biggest fool of himself that he could possibly make. I’m happy to say that I recorded the whole thing on my camera and if I feel mean enough, you all might see it on Facebook sometime :P  

The next day was pretty much the saddest day of my trip so far. Saying goodbye to everyone was so much harder than I thought it’d be. The moment I’d been dreading more than any had finally come: saying bye to the kids. Muntazir, Irfan ali and Sakina have all made their own place in my heart and usually I’m not a mushy person but with them, I can’t help it. I didn’t get to say bye to Sakina because she was sleeping but I went to her crib just to see her before I left and that’s what triggered it all. After one last hug to bhabhi, the kids and my aunt and uncle, we were in the car on the way to the station and I have to admit, I actually teared up a bit. Getting a text from bhabhi a bit later saying that the kids were crying and wanted me back didn’t help at all either. I was trying so hard to be excited for Paris but it just wasn’t happening. All I wanted was to go back to Leicester and be on the couch watching cartoons with the boys, holding Sakina.

Eventually I made myself realize that hey, it’s been an amazing week and I’ve met such great people but it’s time to go and hopefully I’d see them soon. I just have to say though that I still miss you guys like crazy. Tahira Bhabhi and Zainab Bhabhi – the talks I’ve had with both of you and the time we spent together meant a lot to me and I feel like I’ve gained two more older sisters. Hasnain Bha, Sajjad Bha, Abbas and Mohd Ali – It was really nice to actually be able to see you all and get to know you throughout the week and thanks to each of you for such great conversations and yes, I miss you all even after all the teasing :)  Also, majorly special thanks to Chacha and Chachi for having us stay at their house and being so great to us the whole time. The amount of time and effort they’ve given to making us feel comfortable and making sure we have a good time is unbelievable. Inshallah, I’ll get to see you all very, very soon :)

10/10/11 ----- Leicester, England

the whole Leicester crew :)

 Greetings from Leicester! I’m currently at my chacha (dad’s brother)’s place which is absolutely beautiful. It’s so different from London in the way that it’s a really relaxing atmosphere, very green and hilly, kind of like being in the country side. I’m so lucky to be at this house right now cos I’ve met cousins I hadn’t seen in ten years and it’s so great to actually know them personally rather than hear about them from my sister who’s been with them plenty of times. I’ve also gained two nephews a niece and for the first time have been called fui jaan!! It’s seriously the most amazing thing to be an aunt and I can’t wait till my own siblings have their kids now! They’re so fun to be around even though they have become my alarm clocks for the morning with how loud they can get lol! But I really don’t wanna think about leaving cos we’re already so attached to each other so let’s not talk about that yet. 

Other than that, we’ve had a great time so far just in the past two days we’ve been here. Gone to dinner with the whole family, spent time at home getting to know everybody better and being introduced to the show ‘west wing’. Apparently it’s an American show about the west wing of the white house and all that goes on in there but I had never heard of it before I came here – kind of ironic eh? Now since three of my cousins are going to be gone for the week to back to work and school in other cities, I have the rest of my time here to be with the kids, their mom and my aunt and uncle. 

I’m realizing that my whole trip is getting a great balance with having been so busy last week in London and Kent compared to being really relaxed over here. I think sometimes we get so caught up in wanting to see so many places during vacation that we forget to actually just chill and do absolutely nothing which to me, is seriously necessary once in a while :) Anyways, I don’t think there’ll be anything new to update on for the rest of this week but if anything does come up, you all will definitely know about it!

10/7//11 ----- night with the london cousins

Funny Faces!!!

 Such a good, good night! Went to dinner at my aunt and uncle’s place and met a few cousins, some of whom I had kept in touch with through the years using Facebook and some of whom I hadn’t talked to ever. Basic result of the whole night: the one American (ahem) gets made fun of pretty much the entire time because of her accent and limited knowledge of British slang. But I’m quite proud of how many new words I  learned that night and also some from my time in Kent so I’m going to make a whole list right here to prove it :D 

Allow it/bun it – forget it

Creasing – laughing

Quid – pound

Chav – equivalent to a redneck

Wasteman – douche bag

Deep – being cold to someone

Motorway – freeway

Rank – disgusting

Bare – very

Ting – an annoying way of saying ‘thing’. I’ll never understand this one!

Chuffed – very happy. I learned this one from Yesser cos he was telling me how ‘chuffed’ he was to be talking to me :D 

That’s all I can remember for now! Will probably add more to this along the way :) Other than that though, spending time with those cousins was honestly really fun and I’m really happy I got the chance to hang out with them even if it was for only a few hours :)

10/6/11 ----- a day in the life of Shabbir Lakha

Shabbir, Yesser and I :)

 My amazing and close friend Shabbir lives in Kent which is a couple hours away from London and since we’ve known each other for two and a half years but never met, there was no better time to go down there to see him. It was such a great experience that I decided to dedicate an entire post just for that day :)

It was a bit of a mission to convince my parents to let me travel alone to a different place for a whole day but with the help of my relatives assuring them that it was completely safe and them being the awesome parents that they are, they let me go. ‘Excited’ is an understatement of how I felt about going. Since I had arrived in London I was itching to go on the trains and buses on my own to see how I would do. I absolutely love being independent and having an opportunity to test myself in a new city was a pretty big deal. The journey there was a bit frustrating because I kept getting told that there would be just one train that would take me straight there but I kept having to switch anyway. Eventually though, I found myself in Canterbury West, Kent. I knew we’d have an awesome time but when you’ve never meet someone in person, you just get really curious as to how it’ll be. Obviously though, it was better than I expected. Him being the person he is, I felt completely at ease and soon I had forgotten that it was our first time meeting in person. It felt like we’d hung out a million times before. Some of his friends joined us and we all hung out for a bit, eating and shopping and I have to say, I’m definitely impressed with the group of people he has surrounded himself with. All of them are such fantastic people and were so incredibly nice and welcoming that I felt right at home.

I had quite an experience at one point though, Shabbir being such a bad influence in all. You see, I've been doing shisha/hookah for about a year and a half now, not a lot but just once in a while but I've never in all that time ever had a head rush or felt dizzy or had any effect whatsoever other than coughing a little bit if I've had too much. But this time...oh this was different. Not only did I get so dizzy that I couldn't walk to the kitchen right, my legs felt weird, my stomach hurt and I just felt like I got hit by a bus or something. The fact that he himself made it got me thinking he might've put something in it you know! Haha nah just playing but the shisha here definitely is a lot stronger than what I’ve had back in the states. And since we can't drink and all, strong shisha is as bad as we can get! Oh and not only did I get introduced to 'special shisha' (which makes it sound a lot worse than it was), I also learned how to cover the fire alarm in the house so the smoke doesn't set it off! Good lessons I'm learning here ;)

Anyway, the shisha effects combined with the super long day got me to stay the night in Kent with some of Shabbir's school friends (all girls, don't worry!). I’m so glad I did stay because it ended up being the highlight of my trip there. Before I went to the girls' house to sleep, Shabbir, his friend Yesser (yes sir!) and I spent hours just chilling and talking about god knows what. From Islamic discussions to politics to British slang to making fun of the American aka me! Oh and special shout out to Yesser: you my new friend, are absolutely awesome to talk to. I rarely get so comfortable with someone I’ve just met but I have to say, you have that gift. I’m really going to miss hanging out with you and I truly do hope we keep in touch! Oh, and I’m only saying such nice things cos I feel like I insulted you a little too much there and I know how sensitive you are and all, so I thought this would make you feel better ;)

Before I left to go back to London the next afternoon, Shabbir took me to the cathedral in Canterbury which is basically the head of the church of England. All the arch bishops were buried there and it’s just so breathtakingly beautiful with the stained glass and stone walls. With one last walk through the main street of Kent, I was back at the train station saying bye to this amazing friend that is so incredibly lucky to have known me! Haha nah I’m joking. Well…kind of :P Seriously though, I thought it was awesome just knowing him but being able to hang out was such a great experience and I really hope we get to do it again soon - don’t forget Kilimanjaro Shabbir!

10/4/11 ----- London, England

At the Tower Bridge 

So, as most of you know, I’ve finally gotten the chance to get out of the country for the first time since I moved here which was about ten years ago! I’m super grateful for the opportunity and being able to have my parents with me just makes it all the better since I get pretty homesick if I’m separated from them for more than like, two days! Anyways, let’s get right to business - I'M IN ENGLAND!! I've been here four days now and it's absolutely amazing!! We’re staying at my dad’s sister’s house while we’re here and they’re so great! They’ve welcomed us so completely and let us totally mess up their house with all our suitcases with no complaints haha. The first day was really laid back because I was majorly jet-lagged and basically slept the entire day when I got here. At night though, we went to Queen's Walk just to walk around a bit and see the city from afar, get some fresh air and all. It was pretty nice but I was exposed to the ridiculously crazy driving here. I mean seriously, the roads are insanely complicated and there are cars going here and there and people walking in the middle of the streets and I honestly thought I was going to get into accident every two minutes! Overall though, it was a nice little introduction to city life and got me pretty excited to see even more.

I got that chance the very next day! We went down to East London to go for Indian shopping and food which was really nice cos the stuff there is so cheap and I got some pretty cool things! We also visited Oxford Circus which is one of the most famous streets in London, mostly for its’ shopping. Some random things I found interesting throughout the day: the pound notes! I was so scared that I'd mistake them for garbage and throw them away cos they're so flimsy! I also find that having so many coins is a little weird and confusing but it’s one of my goals to learn the currency before I leave so let’s see how I do :) Also, I got to sit in the upper deck of the double decker bus!! Sorry but that's sort of a big deal you know. It’s a really relaxing way to see the city and get some fresh air at the same time. What I found fascinating while getting glimpses of the city was that it's so modern and current but then you see the parts of it that remind you of how incredibly old it is as well. It makes it really easy for your imagination to turn back time a few centuries when there were horse drawn carriages going through the streets you're currently driving through.

That night we had some relatives come over for dinner and I got to see the great differences between my dad’s side of the family and my mom’s. Living here in Minnesota, I’ve been raised only with my mom’s family who are very liberal in their thinking most of the time and are pretty westernized. I only saw very little of my dad’s side during some weddings throughout the years. However, this vacation was specifically to meet all my relatives from across the pond and I got to do just that. They’re different in the way that they’re a lot…louder? Haha but in a really, really good way. I feel so comfortable and fully at ease. Yes they’re thinking is a lot more conservative but I’ll just make sure not to get into any debates while I’m here ;) Really though, no matter how different my families from both sides are, the one thing they all have in common is that they’ve all got really big hearts and would do anything to make a person feel at home and will make sure to be there for them no matter what. What more could one wish for in a family? So cheesy, but so true :)

Pray

I've always known that this life is far from perfect. Poverty, rape, greed, corruption, famine, homelessness and the list goes on. But is it just me or does it feel like, lately it's just all gotten even more out of control than ever? It may sound weird but at the rate we're going, no wonder everyone thinks the world's going to end soon. Yes, i know that people have been saying that for centuries but i mean really. Call me childish but in a way i hope it does just so all the horrible stuff can stop happening

Anyway, before i get too frustrated and negative, i just wanted to share a song that is pretty simple but touched my heart and really expresses how i feel. It definitely comes from a very surprising source - justin bieber. I know, i know. i never liked him much either but this song surprised me, coming from him at least. It's called pray and the lyrics are on the screen :)

where there is He

where there is He, there is love
where there is He, there is truth
where there is He, there is safety
where there is He, there is peace
where there is He, there is life

everywhere in me, there is He