Stephen Colbert on the Norwegian Terrorist

LOL. This guy's brilliant!!! I can't get over it, man!
Here, take a look at his views on this ... oh how I love the way he spreads the truth and the way he mocks the media! He's so clever, so smart, so honest, so funnny!! God preserve him.

Oh, and I have a long blog post coming on this whole Norwegian attack thingie, but I'll have to wait until I can actually edit and post it. But do take a look at this quote (in addition to the video below):

If the person who killed 100+ people in Norway were Muslim, the Press would have declared him as a terrorist. For now though, he is just an 'Assailant ', 'Attacker' (Reuters), 'Gunman' (BBC, CNN & Al Jazeera). Looks like 'Terrorist ' is a name reserved for Muslims? The US Dept of State calls it an 'Act of Violence', Not an 'Act of Terrorism'.

Talk about the hypocrisy of the media!

P.S. Ramadhan mubarak to the whole world!!! Best wishes for a beautiful year to all!

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Self Reflections: Learning to be Humble

Have you ever met someone who just never gets angry and seems to get along well with everyone? Someone who seems to love and respect everyone? And have you ever wondered how she/he does that? Well, I have this friend who went to Morocco a couple of years ago, and she says she met this one person there who's just like that someone who *never* gets angry at anyone and gets along with everyone. She says she asked him how that is possible, and here's his response (rough):

Touring through a Rich Past: The Trip to Petra, with Pictures

Hello, beloveds!
So, here are some photos and stories from our trip to Petra.
Before anything, get this:

Some history (pasted verbatim from this website):

Petra is a city which was carved out of the Sharah Mountains by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2,000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice, and other trade routes that linked China, India, and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece, and Rome.

Petra fell into obscurity for hundreds of years, its location and very existence kept a closely guarded secret by the local Bedouin, before being re-discovered by the Swiss explorer Burkhardt in 1812.

I got my nose pierced!!

So, I got my nose pierced, people! It's sooo exciting! The extremely low prices were too irrisistable, though I'd have gotten it no matter the cost, since I've been wanting it for years! I don't know why I never actually got it done before, but thank God I didn't -- 'cause they're bloody expensive in the U.S. I believe a nose piercing is at least 15 dollars in the U.S. whereas *all* piercings here are barely 3 dinars (plus a dinar for service/tip, but they charge you that themselves), including belly piercings, damnit! Belly piercings in the U.S., for example, are 50 dollars ... and to think they're only 4 here :( ... but, hey, ma'lish! :D

k, that's all, folks! :)  It's just, this nose piercing was rrreally important to me! Oh, and I think traditionally (Pakistanis/Indians, etc.) get it done it on their left nostrils... and that suggests you're being traditional. Although I would have had no problem getting it on the left one, I wanted to be, um, "different" (:|) and got it on the right one instead :p Whaaaaaat, doesn't the right side of everything represent goodness and everything good/positive in Islam?! Yeah, well, to all the goodness that I'm to experience after today, then :)

I'll show you photos of my nose (LOL! This sounds so funny) some other time, k? Haven't taken any yet.

Missing my Parents and the Apple of My Eye - Kashmala!!

So, you guys, I miss my family terribly! They miss me, too, of course (I mean, who wouldn’t), but it’s just … I don’t know. The missing isn’t going well right now. And Kashmala?!?!?! Oh my God! I’m going INSANE without her, world!! I always knew I loved her this crazy, but I’m going crazier than I ever thought I would if I were to be away from her for longer than week! I managed to survive without her in Pakistan, and I’m tryina figure out why that was. It can’t be that I was always busy there, since I’m even more busy here. There, I had people/family/relatives to meet every day, something to do every day, somewhere to go every day; here, same thing (save the family/relative part): there’s always a group activity, meeting, event, homework/assignments/presentations/etc. that need to be taken care of every day. But then again, in Pakistan, there were trillions of kids around, so I guess I didn’t feel the need to have a kid around me so much. But here? None :( Well, I saw this little baby boy at the center the other day, and OH MY GOD!!! He was not only the handsomest thing ever, but he was also soooo adorable he took my breath away! MashaAllah, tf, tf, nazara na shi. But that doesn’t happen much. Few scholars/students working at the center have babies. ~sighs~

I don’t know . . . I’m just wondering now *how* I’m gonna live without her when I move next month. And the worst part is this: By the time I see her around August 15^th, ka khairee, she’ll be three months older than I saw her last time! THREE MONTHS OLDER, people, THREE FREAKING MONTHS OLDER!!!! I don’t want her to grow!!!! I was talking to her on Skype the other day, and she’s sooo grown up!!! But she’s still the most prettiest, most adorablest thing on earth, so it was still cool. But I can’t let her grow any older than this, y’all. I try to talk to her every other day, if not every day, but you know how babies are: my sister leave her at the computer to talk to me, and she stares into the camera and plays peek-a-boo and “Shanu-sing-this-song” with me for a little while, and then she gets bored so she leaves without saying bye K ughguhgerteiwruituir!!!!!!!

Anyway, all this just to say I miss my family very much.  Oh, and this is the first time I’ve been away from my family, too :) I mean, it’s not socially acceptable for Pashtun (and many other eastern) parents to allow their daughters to live on their own, even for a little while, and especially to be abroad. So I love, love, LOVE my dad and mom for having let me do this. In a matter of some days or so, I’ll post a blog entry on how the conversation between me and him went when I informed him that I got the scholarship and was asking him whether he thinks I should go or not. To be honest, I applied for the scholarship thinking I would never go even if I got it! But I sorta needed it for my own self confidence, to feel like I could get something this important, y’know.  I can’t imagine how I would’ve felt had I not won it. But anyway, so, yeah. That conversation was really interesting, too. And when he approved of my going to an Arab country all alone (well, okay, with the CLS program), I felt like I was dreaming. I couldn’t believe it! My sister and I had discussed it before I told him I got it, and she’d reminded me he’d never say yes, and I’d prepared myself for a “Congratulation!! – but of course you’re not going” (but in a bit nicer way, ‘course). And then when he said yes … OH MY GOD!! I was like, “Dad, are you SURE?” Ohhh man! That was a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL day! It taught me a lotta things about myself and my dad. And even my mom was happy about it and told everyone I was going to Country X for the summer!! I’d be like, “Mom, shh! What if dad says I can’t go?” She was like, “Don’t worry. He’ll prolly say yes.”

Will post that conversation another time. I should get going now. I also have a LOT of other stuff to write, like on my trip to Swat and my recent visit to Um Qias, this rrrreally exciting place here where Palestinians who were kicked out of Israel or who fled for their lives come to that spot to look over their homeland. You can see Syria, Lebanon, Sea of Galilee, and Israel all from that one point. Amazing stuff.  All this to come soon – with some photos!

Details on the Dead Sea Trip - with Photos!

Imagine standing in the footsteps of Moses, peace be upon him!

Okay, so, on Friday, July 15^th 2011, I had a very “spiritual” day. I accomplished a lot, and I saw some places I’d been dying to see ever since I got to the Middle East, among them the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. There’s something really special about this place (not just this country but about every country where a Prophet lived or spent some time or traveled through or visited), and I love it for this reason among many others. The feeling you get that you’re *probably* stepping in the footsteps of someone as important as Moses or Jesus (peace be upon them), for example, is worth dying for. To stand on a mountain, looking over a place that is certainly somewhere a Prophet must have stood, given a speech or two, or at least laid his eyes on is beyond wonderful. It is believed that John the Baptist baptized Jesus (peace be upon him) at the River Jordan. Now, this river is long, but the part where it is believed he was baptized at – I saw it. It’s called the Baptism Site. I’ll tell you about how we got there and all in a minute. 

I Was at the Dead Sea!

Dearest readers,
So, a friend and I went to the Dead Sea and a number of other historically and religiously significant points of the Middle East, and OH. EM. GEE!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm really, really tired right now (it's 12am here), so I can't write much, but I had, had, HAD to get this off my chest :) You understand. It's just ... I'd been waiting since foreeeever!! And I saw a mountain where Moses (peace be upon him) gave his last speech and the parta the Dead Sea I saw was the one facing Israel, so that was exciting, too! And the part of the Moses mountain that I saw was facing Palestine, and that, my beloved friends, was a feeling to cherish! And then I saw the part of the River Jordan that's right across from the West Bank (Palestinian Territory), so that, too, felt rrrrreally awesome. I mean, I got in the water and "almost" touched another country, LOL. It felt beeeautiful being in two places at once, y'know.

k, more on all this later. I must sleep now.
Thanks for listening!

My Arabic Nickname: Amira!

So my friends call me “Amira” (princess in Arabic! Surprised? Don’t be :p I’m lurved!), mainly ‘cause I act really “rich” and spoiled and all. I mean, well, it’s just that … my bookbag is very, very important to me, y’know. So I don’t want it on the floor when we have enough chairs in class for everyone to sit in, plus some 2 or so extra seats available, y’know. And it’s not like the floors are clean enough to begin with. I mean, they’re not clean, and so when I put my bookbag on the floor, it gets dirty, and then when I pick up that bookbag, it dirties my back, and I don’t like that. You understand.

Pictures Time!

Okay, so I think it's time I showed you a few pictures, world, no? Just a few, k? Here you go. Enjoy!

Remember how I said this city I'm in is built on 7 hills (so they tell us -- but I fully believe it) and that it's hilly all over? Well, here is the proof.

Try counting the stairs! In reality,
it's at least twice as many more as what you see.

The Middle Eastern version of Taco Bell :D (I half swear.)

Now, remember when I sad I curled my hair?!?! Yeah, well, take this: 

Middle Eastern Hospitality!!

EDIT: The country I'm referring to here is Jordan.

YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!! I had the BEST day of my lifetime!!!! ‘Hamdulilllah! (No, no, I really, really think it was the best day ever! Not just “one of the best”!)

Okay, so here’s what happened.

Today, a group of my friends from CLS decided to go to this agricultural city here in the Middle East (RE: Since I don’t wanna name the country, I’m just gonna use “Middle East” instead of the name of this country, k?  You understand. Shukran jazeelan.) This city was the capital of the Ottoman Empire in this region of the Middle East, so it has historical significance as well. But blah blah blah on that. Lemme get to the story. Oh, but before that, lemme say that we had to leave really early, which means waking up extra early, even though today (Friday) was and is the only free day we’ve had and will have for another 2 weeks or so, because most stores, etc. are closed on Fridays here, since this is a Muslim country and weekend here is Friday and Saturday. So we decided to wake up early to leave early. But then more people requested to join us, and for that, we took a bit longer. And I, too, woke up 30 minutes later than I’d set my clock for, because I was too tired from the day before. What we did and where we went the day before is a whole ‘nother story to be told in another blog post—soon, inshaAllah, I promise! :D But for now, get this:

A Typical CLS Schedule

So, CLS is an intensive program, and we were warned about that long before we accepted their scholarship. So far, I have no complaints, even though we get little time to ourselves. The teachers are ammmmmazing; I haven't heard a negative thing about any teacher from anyone as of yet. The classes are fun, and the "speaking partners" (will explain in a sec who they are) are sooo much fun to be with and they're very helpful.

Basically, we were divided into 2 groups, group A and group B. Group A = those students studying at the level of Intermediate 5 and above, and group B = those studying from Beginning to Intermediate I. I'm in group A, and here's what my schedule looks like. It's not the same every single day, but I'll just tell you what it's been like so far. ... Oh, and why am I telling you this? 'Cause I feel like it. (Shoot. There's a word for this in Arabic... learned it yesterday, but clearly, it didn't stick in! It should be in my notes somewhere. I'll use it on you later. Mush mushkil (no worries).)

7-7:30am - wake up and get ready
7:30 - 8am - leave for the center (the one right up the street) to eat breakfast and socialize a bit (and talk in Arabic only :S We signed a language pledge the other day to talk only in Arabic during all program activities. It's actually not bad, even if it means a lotta the time Qrratugai has to be quiet 'cause she can't say what's really on her mind.)
8:00am-ish - take the bus to the center where we're studying Arabic (it's about 10 minutes away by bus)

8:30am - Fus'ha (Modern Standard Arabic) class
9:30-9:40 - break
9:40 - 10:30 - continue Fus'ha class
10:30 - break
10:45ish - 12-ish Media class (it's basically reading from this media book with a lot of text with questions following it and all. It's basically written Arabic that appears in the media)
12 - 12:45 - LUNCH (we've been trying different restaurants close to the center every day :D They're sooo good! And the foood... OH EM GEEEE! I love, love, looove Middle Eastern food more than I ever did before! :D I should like take some pics and make you jealous by posting them here in the blog, no? k.)
12:45-1:50-ish - 'Amia class (spoken/colloquial Arabic, with a focus on the dialect of this country)
2 - end of classes at that center
2-3 - break time for me. So far, I've just been spending 50 minutes of this hour figuring out what to do during that time that won't involve Arabic, haha. And then next thing I know, it's 3 o'clock!
3-3:30 - conversation with my speaking partner. You see, we have these really awesome speaking partners who talk to us *only* in colloquial. If we use fus'ha with them, they correct us and teach us the colloquial words/expressions. They also take us around the city (so far, only the city; haven't the time to leave the city just yet, but this Saturday is our first trip out, ka khairee! :D) and show us around and all. We get to ask them for nice restaurants, salons, malls, etc. And, so, during the conversation we have from 3-30:30 (some people's is from 3-3:30; others from 3:30-4, and it goes up to 5. And about 7 people share the same speaking partner.) Since I'll be using her name often, I'm sure, lemme tell you that her name starts with M. So let's call her M, k? And damn - she's gooorgeous, mashaAllah! But then again, we think all the women of this country are beautiful, LOL. They really are! And their make-up?! Oh God, it's to die for! It toootally goes with them... as opposed to women from many other places around the world, who shower themselves with make-up and still look ugly. I've never been a fan of make-up, but I may change my mind after I visit some salons here :D Starting in a couple of days, ka khaireeee! :D Oh yeah, and our topic of conversation today was: Salons! Learned all the things I need to know to visit a salon -- for now, anyway.
3:30-5: Brreeeeeeeakk!!!
5-6: Al-'amia class (colloquial/dialect). It's an extra class that we were to have all this week only. Today was the last day. We learned terms/expressions that have to do with getting/giving direction to a place (left, right, "keep straight for a loooong time," near this particular center, etc.). Since Ahmed is a common name all over the Muslim world, I guess I can tell you that our teacher's name is Ahmed for this class. He's also a speaking partner for another group of people. He's sooooooo funny! He claims he can't flirt, but, girrrrrl, he tooootally was on the roll when he was showing us how the girls of this country (or Arab/Mid Eastern girls in general, I am sure) want and expect to be treated and where and all. It was more a cultural lesson. Hilarious stuff, I tell you. He and M. acted for us, and it was so cool!
6-7-ish - dinner!!! In case I haven't said this before, the food is too delicious for me to describe it! Ahhhh!! We had a special chef, popular around the country, come to this place to cook just for us, we were told :) He's talented! Tf, tf, mashaaaaAllah.
7-12-ish: Work on homework/studying, lol. No, seriously, it does take that long :S Takes longer sometimes, even! But it's not like all we do is homework during that time.We take breaks, and we talk and socialize and laugh like crazy, and I sometimes chat with friends and family in the U.S./Pakistan in between. But it's fun to do homework together, so 4 or of 5 people in my class and I usually do it together.

Oh, and yesterday, between 7:30 (I think ... or maybe 7?) and 9:30, I went shopping for a jacket. I think by now, most of the students in the program knew I needed a jacket :p it was funny :D I mean, whaaat - it's rrreally cold here, especially at night. For me, anyway. (Remember: I'm tiny, so the little meat I do have doesn't help me much.) I wanted to get some nice hijabs and hijab pins, too, but guess what!! Some of the stores were selling hijabs for 38 dinars :| Like, what the hell! The hijab pins were cheap, though, or I thought they were - till a friend told me you can get 10 of them for a dinar in Downtown. I got 5 for a dinar in that one shop. It didn't have the dangling ones that I couldn't wait to get and still can't wait to get, so I still have to go shopping for those soon. So, yeah.

I think that'd be all for now... I have homework to take care of, remember? :)

Ma' assalaaaaamah!!

P.S. Sorry about such a broad title for this post ... I still don't wanna name the country, so I have to say "Midd East" until I tell you (or until you guess, whichever comes first, haha) which country it be, k?

Loving the Middle East!

Okay, so, I just discovered something that I had refused to believe for the longest time: colloquial (spoken/informal; "aamia" in Arabic) Arabic is almost nothing like formal Arabic (or standard; "fusha" in Arabic), and it's like an entiiiirely different language! Very few phrases and words, as far as I have learned now, are actually the same or similar :S Most bear no resemblance whatsoever! And who follows grammar rules, lol. It's lovely, though, I have to admit. A teacher of mine who has studied in Egypt and is fluent in both fusha and Egyptian dialect once told us that when he went to Egypt with the CASA program, he was totally lost in Egypt when he found out that the language he'd learned, the Arabic he'd spent three years studying and learning, was actually not spoken anywhere. I'm lucky in that at least I was warned in advance, but my poor teacher said he hadn't even been told that!

So, note to those interested in learning/studying other languages: understand that there's a huge difference between the language that people speak and the one that they write.

I'm also fortunate in that the people here, unlike most of those in Egypt (from what some of the students here have told me), are actually very friendly and understanding, and if they realize that you're speaking fusha with them, they'll teach you how to say what you wanna say in colloquial. In Egypt, I hear, they'll just laugh and say, "Quit it already. That's not Egyptian. Stick to English!" (LOL?! I know!) and they'll just speak English with you. Here, I haven't come across anyone who's like that; in fact, they'll stand there with you the whole time as you struggle with figuring out how to say something, whether in colloquial or formal! And they'll smile so brightly when you finally make it (lol!) and they'll even tell you how beautifully you spoke :D They love it when you talk to them in Arabic! :D Of course. Who wouldn't love hearing their language being learned by foreigners? I love, love, loooove it when a non-Pashtun speaks to me in Pashto, too.

Yeah, so, yesterday, we were touring the  city and went to the university. There, we encountered a few people who had musical instruments with them, and we were like, "We wanna hear you guys play!" We had with us what our program calls a "speaking partner," who is basically our tour guide and all. And so she taught us how to say that in (colloquial Arabic). The guy who agreed to play for us was like, "No English! Ask me in Arabic." And so we asked him in Arabic. Since we're learners, our accent was too English, and so he was like, "No, try again." Since I was taught to read and write Arabic from a veeery young age (something I'm soo grateful for right now!), and since I was taught tajweed rules (i.e., rules of reciting the Qur'an properly) by a teacher who wouldn't let us sleep until our tajweed was perfect, my Arabic speaking skills are pretty strong. It's just grammar at this point that I'm tryina learn desperately 'cause, BY GOD, Arabic is a difficult language! :S Anyway, so my point was that when I spoke up and begged him in the accent he wanted us to talk to him in, he was like, "You're Arab?" And I said, "Na, I'm Pakistani." And he played for us! I didn't record it, but I totally will the next time I see him. (I think chances are high, yeah?)

Moving on to the exciting stuff!! Did you know that this city that I'm in is built on seven hills?! No wonder it's soooo hilly, and in many parts, they even have these loooooooooooong stair cases -- long = over 60 steps, I must say! :S Great way to lose weight for those interested in doing so ... but I'm not one of them. :'(  AND it doesn't help that my hotel room is on the third floor, and even for that, I've to use a loooooot of stairs! Yes, there do exist elevators around here, and in this hotel, too, but unfortunately for sweet innnocent me,  the elevator doesn't stop at exactly my floor. Explaining that will take time, which I don't have at the moment, so that'll have to wait for another time.

Food is sooo good and cheap here!! I mean, roughly speaking, you can get a great meal for a price as low as 2 dinars!!! (I think 1 dinar = 1.8 U.S. dollar) Electrical stuff, though, including mobile-related goods (e.g., phone cards) are not cheap. And texting and long-distance calls are very expensive as well.

So, yeah :D That's all for now, folks! I'll talk about my classes in the next entry -- inshaAllah! Today was our first day. They were mumtastic (haha!! Get it? "Mumtaz" in Arabic = "excellent," "beautiful," "awesome," "great," etc.) I'm growing to love the language more than I did before, and I thought I loved it to the limits before!

k, more later.