Southern Masala

Brag Box!

2011-03-01T12:28:00.000-06:00

My wonderful, talented, adorable (MA) husband is getting ready to take the step from serious amateur to professional photographer. I just wanted to share so of my favorite images he's taken this year, because I am so proud of him! Here are a few of the photos I chose to make a calendar from this year. All pictures are copyright S.M. Husain.

Old Red Courthouse, Dallas, TX

White Rock Lake, Dallas Texas

Missions National Park, San Antonio, Texas

Glacier National Park, Montana

Shah Jehan Masjid, Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan

Creative Arts Center, Dallas, Texas

Glacial Lagoon, Vatnajokull Glacier, Iceland

Cedar Hill State Park, Dallas, Texas

Prismatic Pools, Yellowstone National Park

Thanks for putting up with my bragging. I love his pictures and I hope you do too!

Hello, hello, is this thing still on?

2011-02-28T13:12:00.000-06:00

I know, I am the worst blogger in the world, and despite it all there are some of you who are still out there who occasionally drop by to see if I'm still here. If I can make any exscuse, its that I've been really busy in the last year. My in-laws moved in with us in July being the main thing that has changed, along with getting busier with work and a very active almost three year old! I still want to catch up with chronicling what has happened in my life since I started this blog in 2006, but I will post some new stuff too as we go along.

Watched the Oscars last night, realized that I am fully in the throes of mommy-hood. The only movie I had seen out of all ten nominated for best picture was Toy Story 3! The only ones I had seen nominated in any other category were kids' movies too! How to Train Your Dragon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (well, that one I definitely did not watch with my two year old, but I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and insist on seeing all the movies as soon as they come out!). The only way we got to watch Harry Potter was by going to the drive in and giving Little D a movie to watch on the iPad while we watched HP on the big screen.

Big thing at our house right now is the ICC world cup (one-day Cricket world cup for those of you not following!) I have learned a bit about cricket and the rules, etc. I actually learned most of what I know from watching Lagaan with M and him explaining the rules to me. I'll never love cricket like I do soccer or American football, but it beats out baseball and basketball for me now on the list of sports I will watch on TV. (And creams golf, man, golf is so boring).

So I'll leave you with this image of my favorite Pakistani cricket player:

Picture credit

Go Pakistan!

Also, I am taking the word verification off my blog because it has been brought to my attention that some of you can't post comments with it on. So I hope you all can comment now! I love to get your comments.

Velvet Cloaks in May in Atlanta Do Not Make You Look Nice In Graduation Photos

2010-04-16T14:48:00.000-05:00

You know, I just haven't felt like blogging much lately. It's been so hectic since getting back from my trip, then the boys coming home and trying to catch up with work. Plus, the weather has been so amazing that whenever I am not at work, I try to be outside as much as possible. I have really gotten into gardening lately, and want to really make our backyard a cozy welcoming place for our family. I feel like we're getting there slowly, after having somewhat neglected the yard for the past two years, as we have been working on the inside of our house.

So, this post is basically going to cover the time period from when I got back from Karachi in 2006, until my graduation from law school in May of 2007. Having already received and accepted a job offer at the firm where I currently work, my third year of law school was basically sitting in a holding pattern, making it through my classes with semi-decent grades and preparing to move to Texas to take the bar and start work. Also, by that time we had set the date for our U.S. wedding for August of 2007, so I was starting to work on preparations and plans for ANOTHER wedding!

My last year of law school was great solely for the reason that I was a research assistant for one of my favorite professors, Professor Abdullahi An'naim. He is a professor of Islamic law at my law school, and I worked with him, helping to edit his latest book on Shar'iah. His classes and my interactions with him really have shaped my own faith and interaction with the world as a Muslim. As a lawyer and a Muslim, I really agree with the principles he sets for for governance of predominantly Muslim countries. He is an amazing mind and an inspirational person, and I would highly recommend checking his stuff out if you have any interest in progressive Islamic government and Shar'iah.

In May of 2007, my parents came out to Atlanta, and attended my graduation, along with my sister and some of M's relatives who were living nearby. My sister was graduating from nursing school at the same time, so it was convenient for them to come back East for both graduations at once. As I was hooded, I really felt like I was getting ready to move on to the next stage of my life. And I was, we had just a few days to pack up all our stuff, finish negotiating the purchase of our first house, and get to Texas.

In which I embark on the next major stage of my life in a floppy purple velvet hat with a gold tassel.

What's Wrong With Your Hands?

2010-03-10T14:03:00.001-06:00

I'm in the end stages of the henna on the palms of my hands fading. The tops of my hands and wrists have already scrubbed off. The bottom of my hands looks like either (a) I've developed some kind of rare skin disease, or (b) I didn't wipe my hands very well after eating a basket of buffalo wings. I love wearing henna, but the end stages are not very pretty! I thought it would probably fade before I got back, or at least not be very noticeable, yet here it is. So far, I have had quite a few people at work ask me what is wrong with my hands, although some people (surprising number actually), have recognized it for what it is. I wonder about the people who haven't said anything at all. Do they just not notice, or do they really think there is something wrong with me, and are to polite to say anything?

I'm Back

2010-03-08T17:50:00.001-06:00

I'm back from my month long blog hiatus. I was traveling, to Pakistan to be specific! I don't announce trips publicly prior to leaving because of security reasons (even though this blog is semi-anonymous, I don't want to take any chances). We went to Karachi for two weeks for my sister in law's wedding, which was a tons-of-fun, full blown Pakistani Shaadi in all its glory. I plan to blog it all on here once I recover. I didn't get home until last night around midnight, and I am totally exhausted now, but forcing myself to stay awake through the jet lag to get over it more quickly. I promise to resume my regular blogging schedule now that I am back, which means more track back over the past couple of years.

My Apples Cause National Security Alerts

2010-02-10T23:56:00.001-06:00

We left Karachi at the end of August, just a few days before my third year of law school was scheduled to start. We had three days to fly from Karachi to Dallas, then get in a car and drive 12 hours back to Atlanta. We were young, we could rough it, we thought. What we didn't expect was that I would get massively, disgustingly sick on the way home. Yep, I spent seven weeks in South Asia without so much as a gurgle, but when I got to the airport in Karachi, I started to get the hint that I might not be having a nice flight home. The worst thing about it was that we got perks all the way home that I wasn't able to enjoy. We got upgraded to first class for the flight from Karachi to Muscat, but I was feeling so sick, I couldn't even take a bite of my gourmet first-class meal. Then, when we got to Muscat, we had a nine hour layover, so Gulf Airways put us up in a hotel. We were standing in line to get our room in the hotel lobby, there were a lot of people in front of us since it appeared our whole flight was transiting. As we waited, I was feeling worse and worse. Unexpectedly, a hotel worker whisked us out of the line, and took us up to the penthouse suite of the hotel. (I have suspicions that we were not "randomly" selected for the royal treatment, that maybe it is some special "blue passport" treatment that we got because of me, but who knows...) Any way, the suite was gorgeous, with a giant balcony overlooking downtown Muscat, with (according to M) wonderful views. I don't know about the view, because I spent the entire nine hours either lying on the floor of the (very nice) bathroom, or lying in the bed. I have never been that viscerally sick in my life (I will spare you the disgusting details). I was still really sick when we left to get on our next flight (although at least I wasn't puking anymore). Before we left the hotel in Muscat, I slipped a few apples in M's carry-on bag, since they were the only thing I thought I might be able to eat.

A view of what I missed in Muscat. Maybe one day we will get to go back.

Photo Credit

We transitted through Germany, and finally got to Dallas. As we were going through customs, M, of course, had to be specially screened, or whatever they call it when you have to go into a little room to the side and get questioned extra because you come from the "wrong" country. Anyway, I waited for him the waiting room while he was taken back to a private room. I always get kind of anxious waiting for him to come out (key reason why I refuse to watch the movie "Extraordinary Rendition"). Finally he came out, looking quite a bit perturbed (with me--anyone who has been married for a while can tell when their husband is not too happy without a word having to be said). Turns out that the immigration officer had asked him whether he was carrying any food on him, and he said no, not knowing that I had stashed some apples in his bag. Then the officer searched his bag, found the apples, and berated him for "lying." Then he took out our customs form and wrote APPLES on it in big red letters with a permanent marker and told M it would be a $500 fine for illegally bringing fruit into the country. M was so mad at me!

When we got to the customs inspector, he looked at our form, and said "I see here you have some apples, how much do you have?" obviously holding back a smirk. "Three." I said. "Three apples?" he said incredulously. "Well, it seems like you all have had a long enough day already, so why don't you just give me the apples, and you can go on your way." I gratefully gave him the apples, and we finally made it out of the airport and met my dad, who was wondering why it was over two hours since our flight had gotten in, and he still hadn't seen us. A few days later, after recuperating at my parents' house, we made the drive to Atlanta, and it was the only time in my life I ever missed the first day of school.

Treasures from Karachi

2010-02-07T00:04:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about visiting Karachi is the shopping. I love the atmosphere, the variety, and of course, the prices! The first time I visited Karachi, since I was there for six weeks, I had a broad variety of shopping experiences, including Zainab Market, Tariq Road, Millennium Mall, Dolman Mall, Pak Towers, ZamZama, to name just a few. One of my favorite things to buy is home goods, because I like the style of traditional Pakistani textiles, and the home goods are just so much more affordable in Pakistan compared to here. The first time we went, we brought back a lot of rugs, wall hangings, etc. Of course, I also like to go clothes shopping, and shoe shopping (ZamZama day was nothing but shoes, I think I bought 8-9 pairs in one go). Zainab Market is great for souvenirs, especially pashmina shawls, I always go there to pick up some pashmina shawls as gifts for people back home (I have quite a nice collection of my own as well).

Here is some of the stuff from my first trip that we use at our house. I love all this stuff.

Rug in the foyer of my house. We bought this from a rug sale that was going on at a hotel that M heard about. This is an Afghani rug.

Wood carvings from Zainab market, the top says "Allah" and the bottom one says "Muhammad."

This smaller rug is in my downstairs hallway. We received this rug as a wedding present

Wall hanging in our family room. This is also from Zainab market

We use these large pillows as floor pillows in our bedroom. We also got these covers as wedding presents.

This rug is in our bedroom sitting area, we also got it from the same rug sale. This is a handmade silk rug. The ja namaz (prayer rugs) are from Pakistan too. M brought back the small one for Little D last time we went to Karachi.

Last year we went to Karachi again, and, although I didn't go out as much, we did manage to pack our bags full of treasures once more. This time, we decided to get curtains made for our house. Having custom made curtains done in the States costs thousands of dollars, and takes weeks. But in Karachi, you can have them custom made in just a few days, and for only a couple of hundred dollars. The curtain man came to our house and brought tons of samples. I looked through all the books and chose the patterns I liked. Then M went back with him to the store and told him how he wanted them finished out, and they were done and back to us by the next day.

Dining room curtains

Living room curtains

Bedroom Curtains

Last time, I left early because I had to get back to work, and M and Little D stayed a week longer. M went shopping some more and brought back some pottery, and other knick knacks as well.

Sindhi style pottery that I display in my kitchen.

Decorative animals. Little D is always very sad that he can't play with the "booo" (elephant).

A decorated toy truck for Little D's room. This is what big trucks in Pakistan actually look like. I have a miniature rickshaw too, that I keep in my office. On the back of it, it says "Look at me, but with love" in Urdu.

A sampling of my pashmina collection. These are just the first few I happened to pull off my shelf.

Why? (Weekly Rant)

2010-02-05T18:00:00.000-06:00

Why is there an ugly purple couch in the women's restroom on my floor? Why are there stupid little teddy bears on it with dumb cutesy sayings on them? Why do I have to maneuver around it everytime I want to go to the bathroom? This isn't the frickin' Neiman Marcus bathroom! I have never seen anyone sit on this couch, ever. Why would anyone want to? I'm a mean intimidating woman litigator (ha!) I don't want cutesy teddy bears in my office bathroom. If I went to another firm and there were teddy bears in the women's restroom, I would make fun of the women attorneys at that firm. (I'm mean that way, ha!) Sometimes I hide the bears behind the cushions of the ugly couch just to see if someone will find them and take them out. After a week or so, they always regain their postions of honor.

Thank God it's Friday...

Wedding in Pakistan: Pt 5- Reception

2010-01-30T16:20:00.002-06:00

The day after the Nikkah, we woke up late.

Aside---Well, to be honest, we wake up late every day in Pakistan, unless the power is out and it's too hot to sleep anymore. M's family, and from what I've heard, many Pakistani families are like this, tends to wake up later, and stay up later. Often, they don't eat dinner until nine or ten o'clock at night. I've heard that Latin America is culturally similar in this regard, so perhaps it has something to do with how hot it is during the day. People would rather be more active during the night when its cooler.----

The nikkah festivities had gone on long into the night before and we were tired, but excited about our reception that evening. Traditionally, a Pakistani wedding includes multiple reception-type events, including baraat, rukh satti, and valima. However, because my family was not able to be there, and because we would be having another wedding in the U.S. soon (more about that in the future), we decided to stay simple and opt for one reception instead of multiple events. We just called it a "reception" on the invitations.

A couple of weeks before this whole thing went down, M and I and my sils had travelled around Karachi to various wedding halls and sites trying to pick the one that would work best for us. We decided to have the wedding outdoors, which was brave, or dumb, depending how you look at it, since August is monsoon season in Pakistan. We decided to just pray that the rain would stay away on that one day. We looked at quite a few empty lots. See, that is where outdoor weddings happen in Karachi a lot of times, big empty lots. Sometimes they are kind of trashed and overgrown looking too. When we first started looking for places, I couldn't believe that this is where they had wedding receptions. I thought M and my sils were kidding with me. But they assured me that within a day of the reception, the site managers could clean it all up, roll out the (literally) red carpets, string banners, lights, and set up the food, stage, tables, and flowers to make it look gorgeous. I was somewhat dubious, but I went with it, and it turned out to be breathtaking.

Our Reception Site, The Fleet Club, Karachi Pakistan

Here you can see what the stage looked like. That is my sil giving me a gift.

For the reception, I went to the beauty parlor in the Marriott to have my hair and makeup done. The lady who was doing my makeup has a salon in Karachi and in London, and flies back and forth between the two. She was really good, and I loved both my hair and make up for the reception. She wound strands of jasmine through my hair in the back. Then she helped me put on my jewelry and sari. Not that many brides in Pakistan wear saris, but I decided to do it because M likes saris, and M's mom, who is from East Africa (Gujurati Indian ethnically), has always worn saris, and wears a sari every day. So I liked the idea of wearing one to honor her as well. I thought the simplicity of the banarsee silk sari ended up working great for me and was really happy. I wore a filmy red duppatta on my head, with tiny bells that jingled softly when I walked. (Although it was so long that it touched the ground, and M managed to step on it a couple of times as we were walking, leaving me to be comically jerked backwards unexpectedly). After a couple of hours in the salon, my sils came to get me. When I walked through the lobby of the Marriot, everyone was staring at me. My sils were regretting that they didn't bring a chador or something to cover me up, what with all the jewelry and stuff and the unwanted attention we were getting. We rushed through the lobby, and jumped into the waiting car, and the driver sped off, as a hijra knocked on the window, asking for some money to bless the bride. We hurried back to M's house to take pictures before heading to the reception.

You can see my jewelry and hair pretty well in this picture

My sari

The reception was literally that, a reception. M and I sat on a stage, while people came up to greet us and congratulate us, take pictures with us, then go get food and eat at tables. I should mention that we also had quite a few uninvited guests, which were a whole bunch of stray cats, who were fighting and mewling quite loudly under the stage, and at times ran out to snatch food off of unoccupied tables, while the wait staff tried to discreetly shoo them out of the tent. There was no music, like there is here, although there was a Christian wedding reception on the lot behind ours, and we could hear the muffled beat of bad Eighties music from our stage. Many, many pictures were taken. After that, my eldest sister in law and her husband did something which I have been told is somewhat unconventional for Pakistani receptions, which is they took M and I around to every table, and we said hello to everyone and thanked them for coming. M shook hands with all the guys and I got hugs or nods from all the women. It was actually really fun, but exhausting. The whole thing really didn't get going until around 10:30 p.m. and by around 1:30 a.m., the crowd had thinned out and we actually got to sit down at a table and eat. The food was delicious, including a lot of my favorite things, chicken biryani, palak paneer, sikh kabab, kulfi for desert, and diet coke! As we were finishing our food, and everyone else had gone, we felt the first few drops of rain hit our faces. It had held off for the whole reception, just as we had hoped. We gathered our things and left before it began pouring, thankful for a beautiful reception and no rain.

Here I am holding M's cousin's little baby. His family told me it was good luck for the new bride to hold the youngest baby in the family.

Enjoying my diet coke before the rain started coming down. Wouldn't this make a great ad? I'm holding the bottle with the label turned just the right way, lol!

Wedding in Pakistan Pt. 4: Rasaams (Traditions) following the Nikkah

2010-01-24T10:47:00.000-06:00

After the Nikkah-nama was signed by M, everyone hugged and congratulated each other (well, M and I still hadn't seen each other, but all the family members were going from room to room and congratulating each other). Then they made M leave the big room, and they brought me out of sil's bedroom and I, with all the women surrounding me, veil still covering me, walked from her room to the big room where I would get to meet M for the first time as his wife. Looking at pictures of me, standing in the doorway, surrounded by all of M's female relatives, I look like a ridiculous Amazon woman. At 5'7, in over 2 inch heels, I towered over most of them, the addition of the red veil just adds to the effect of my mammoth-ness.

So, I was swept across the room by my escorts and deposited on the floor at one end, with my legs curled up beneath me. I sat in this postion, under my veil, for what seemed like a VERY long time. So long, in fact, that my legs feel asleep. Totally, numb from the waist down asleep. Then, when I tried to shift a little bit to wake them up, blinding pins and needles pain shooting through my entire legs! I'd never before had both my entire legs fall asleep! It was horrible, I was so worried that once I had to get up I would just fall over!

Finally, they brought in M. He walked in under a red duppata, carried by some of his male relatives.

I was still hiding under my veil. And he sat down in front of me. Someone placed a decorated mirror in between us, and pulled back my veil, while we both looked into the mirror at the same time. This was the first time we saw each other as husband and wife. Traditionally, this would have been the first time the bride and groom saw each other, ever. Then some of the girls (who had been designated as representatives from my side, since I didn't have anyone there) tried to push my head together with his, and some of his "representatives" tried to push him towards me. I didn't know I was supposed to resist this, so I just let them. Then my sil leaned over and whispered, don't let them push you, so I gave back a little resistance. They pushed a few more times until we both gave up and they pushed our foreheads together.

Then someone brought the Qur'an, and placed it on our laps. M had to trace Surah Ihklas (‘Say He is Allah, the One, Allah is eternal and Absolute, He begets not, nor was He begotten, there is none equal to Him, He is alone’) on my forehead seven times with his finger.

Then he took a ring, and dipped it in something similar to sindhoor, except it was silvery instead of red (I will have to ask him what this was), and placed it on the part of my hair seven times.

After that, they brought a plate of halwa (sweet dessert). They placed a small bit in my hand and then my girls took my hand and held it out teasingly to him. His side pushed his head forward, trying to help him eat the halwa from my hand. My side pulled it back each time, to keep him from getting it. Everyone was laughing so hard! This went on for a while. One time he cheated, reached out and snatched it with his hand and ate it. Another time, he got one of his little nieces to sneakily help him get it. He had to eat the halwa three times. Then he took a small spoon and gave me three tiny bites of the halwa.

After that, the rasaams were finished, and we sat up on the couch for pictures, and gifts were given. Each of M's relatives (as families) gave me a gold set and gave M's sisters, mom, and dad clothes.
Then there was more song singing and drum playing in line with what went on at the Mehndi. Finally, everyone began to leave, and we were exhausted and looking forward to the next event the next day, our reception.

M's idea of a funny joke while we were taking pictures.

Wedding in Pakistan Pt. 3- The Nikkah Ceremony

2010-01-14T22:39:00.000-06:00

So there I was, sitting in my sil's bedroom on the bed, waiting and wondering what was going to happen next. It seemed like I waited quite a while, although it couldn't have actually been more than 30 minutes. Later I saw the video of what was going on in the other room, and so I got an idea of what parts I missed.

So, the way the nikkah is done in Pakistan, the groom is in one room and the bride is in another. Aside: The Nikkah-nama itself is the actual written contract that both parties sign, and upon signing it are married. It is much more legalistic than marriages here. For instance, I had the opportunity to write terms into the Nikkah-nama prior to the ceremony, I considered doing it, just for the heck of it, but decided against it, as I knew the contract would not be legally binding here in the U.S. and I didn't want to embarass M or his family by making it seem like I distrusted him by writing things into it. (Although as a lawyer, I would have taken great glee in drafting my own clauses!) Also written are the bride and groom's information as would be put in a marriage license in the U.S., and the amount of mahr (dowry) that the bride will receive. I accepted my engagement ring (the value of it) as my mahr.

Ok, so back to the nikkah. While I was sitting waiting, all the men and M were in the other room and two Maulanas (religious leaders) were there reading dua's (prayers) etc. The witnesses were filling out the required information about themselves into the forms (name, father's name, address). M had three witness and I had three witnesses. We also each had our own Maulana, who would then negotiate the nikkah on our behalf. It was kind of like we each had our own "lawyer." So M's "lawyer" recited the terms of the Nikkah to my "lawyer." Then my "lawyer" came to my room to recite the terms of the Nikkah to me and get my approval of them. All the women were in the room with me. My mil sat next to me on the bed the whole time and squeezed my hand very tight. I was so anxious and had a light butterflyee feeling in my stomach. The veil was still over my face, so I could only barely make out the Maulana, but this is what he said "Do you Southern Masala, daughter of Dr. Ali Masala, take M... under such and such terms?" I was so confused, who was Dr. Ali? Had they told him that my dad's name was Ali so that he would think my Dad was Muslim? Then I realized the Maulana was saying "R.E." my dad's initials. I almost started laughing out loud, but I didn't say anything. You see, M's Appi (aunt) had told me before the ceremony that I shouldn't answer the first time because traditional Pakistani brides don't answer on the first question (they have to ask you the same question three times). That way they seem shy and modest and not eagerly rushing towards marriage. However, this maulana knew that I was American, so when I didn't answer on the first time, he was really suprised and confused! He was worried something must be wrong! M's Appi and his sisters all said "answer! answer!" So of course I said yes! And yes again and yes again! I was crying then and so was my MIL, ha ha, from all the pent up emotion and happiness.

Then he stuck the nikkah-nama at the bottom of the veil, and I had to sign it, but I can't read Urdu, so I didn't know where to sign, so I signed on the wrong line at first, and they had to cross it out and then I signed on the right one. Then my MIL put a small gold and ruby ring on my finger.

My Maulana went back to M's maulana and said I accepted these terms. Then M's maulana recited the terms to him, and he had to accept them each three times. The whole recitation is done in very sing songy Arabic, and M was sitting in between the two of them on the couch. The whole time, I can tell that he is trying not to laugh (remember everything from M's side I have seen on the video), and BIL is trying not to laugh that was sitting across from him too. Then M signed the nikkah-nama and that was it, we were married, but more waiting was to come, and then a lot of fun with rasaams (means traditions, have to wait to the next post)!

Our maulanas discussing the nikkah-nama. My maulana is the one in the brown robe and M's is in the black robe.

Getting my assent to the marriage. After thinking about it, I decided to say yes (j/k M, I knew yes all along!)

Here is a closer picture of the nikkah-nama. That is me signing it.

My MIL putting the nikkah ring on my finger.

M in between the maulanas as they were reciting. I can't believe he was laughing on such a solemn occasion!

M signing the nikkah-nama. Now we are married! The red arm band is called Imam Zamin. I had one too. It is to keep away nazar (evil eye) and protect you on the start of your journey (in this case, our marriage).

To be continued...

Lurkers?

2010-01-14T17:12:00.000-06:00

According to The Gori Wife, it's national de-lurker day. Do I have any lurkers on my blog? If so, please say hi! I promise you can go back to obscurity.

BTW, the next round of my Pakistani wedding posts is coming out tonight, with pics. Just waiting to get home from work so I can upload them!

Wedding in Pakistan Pt. 2- Getting Ready for the Nikkah

2010-01-06T09:39:00.001-06:00

The day after my mehndi was the nikkah. The nikkah is the religious ceremony where the marriage is legally solemnized, so technically after the nikkah you are married legally and Islamically. For my nikkah we decided to make it a relatively small affair, at M's house, with just family and some really close friends invited. I think ultimately there were between 30 and 40 people there. I had already gone out and chosen my dress for the nikkah, which was a firoze green sharara with heavy yellow gold work, from Rizwan Mozzam, one of my youngest sil's favorite clothing shops in Karachi. It was the only one of my wedding outfits that I personally chose myself. All the others were picked out by sil and M before I reached Karachi, and then "approved" by me. A sharara consists of a skirt, a top (relatively short top, not long like a kameez), and a duppatta. The duppata on my sharara was very heavy, we'll come to that later.

Two days before the nikkah, I went to one of M's cousin's house to do a test run of my make up. This cousin had a beauty parlor in her house (similar, but smaller than the one I had my mehndi done at). I warned her about putting too much pale make up on me, since I am already a pasty face to begin with. Many brides in Pakistan wear very pale make up, which looks fine when you have darker skin, but I didn't want to end up looking like a mime on my wedding day! So she did the make up, and then we drove home. When we got there, M about died laughing, he said I looked like a zombie. She had put on too pale make up and really greeny-bluey eye shadow to match my sharara, but it looked awful. I told my sil's that they had to tell her to go much much more natural for me. I still had some misgivings about her doing my make up for the nikkah, but I couldn't say so, not wanting to hurt her feelings or cause any family tensions.

The day of the nikkah I got ready in the new big bedroom that would be "ours" once the nikkah was finished. Although I had been in Karachi for 6 weeks, I had been sleeping in my sil's room, while M slept on the floor in our bedroom. We had a new bed and he refused to sleep in it until we could both be there. So he was sleeping on the floor. So back to getting ready. I got my sharara on, with help from my sils and M's Appi. My hair was done up, and then M's cousin stepped up to do my make up. I didn't look, but when she stepped back, she had done a wonderful job! M's sisters had told her about what went wrong the first time and she corrected it all perfectly! Then I put on my nikkah jewelry, two 24k gold necklaces, gold earrings, and rings, and green and gold churian (bangles) that covered pretty much my entire forearms. Finally it was time for the duppata. M's cousin placed it on my head, and using about a gazillion hair pins, pinned it into my hair. It was so heavy! Then she safety-pinned it into my hair for good measure, and then safety pinned one side of the duppata to the shoulder of my blouse, to create a really nice cascading look. When I was finally ready, I had to be helped up to walk and move around, because the weight of the dress and accessories and moving around in my high heeled gold flowery chappals (sandals) was beyond the grace of my tomboy self :).

Finally, we made it down the stairs and into my sil's bedroom, where I was deposited and arranged, and then pretty much left alone, with some aunties and teenage girls, who basically just gawked at me and talked to each other. I don't know if they could speak English or not, but none of them talked to me. After seeing other weddings there, I understand why, because a lot of times the bride is supposed to me acting really sad and almost in mourning that she is about to get married, and not want to talk to anyone. So I don't think it was a snobby thing, just a normal thing at Pakistani weddings.

So there I was sitting and sitting and sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting...

Close up of the work on the duppatta of my sharara.

The jewelry I wore for my nikkah. M picked all my jewelry for me.

You can see my earrings here. These are fresh jasmine (motia) garlands that we got after the nikkah.

Once I was finished getting ready, they put this veil over my face. Here I am pretending to be very sad and morose like a proper Pakistani dulhan.

To be continued...

My New Year's Resolution

2010-01-05T12:25:00.000-06:00

Oh no, has it really been over a month since I posted anything on here? After I promised that I would restart this thing and even persuaded some of my old friends back here to read it and everything? I am sooooo sooo sorry. Can I make excuses? Two trials out of town, Christmas, Muharram, fixing up our house, etc etc? Ok, so one of my new year's resolutions is to write at least one post a week from now on and I really want to do better about it. (And no, this doesn't count as my one post). So I will be doing some more wedding posts, travel posts, catching up on the past 4 years of my life posts.

For New Year's M had this cute idea that we should write down ten resolutions and seal them up (not let each other see), and then open them at the end of the year and see how many we kept. (He even decided we should get graded, with 60% being passing!) I have written my ten down, (actually 11), but I won't write them here, because I think sometimes he actually reads this thing. So I will just say that one of them is to post once a week on here (at least!)

A Lot of Love in a Little Space

2009-12-02T17:41:00.005-06:00

Sunday night I got back from a visit to Wisconsin to spend the holidays (Thanksgiving and Eid Al-Adha) with my two sisters in law, brother in law (husband of one SIL), and nieces (all M's family). We drove from Dallas to Wisconsin, which is a 16+ hour drive, even without an 18 month old tagging along. We had to break the drive up into to two days, which means we spent four days driving. Despite the long travel, it was a really great vacation and well worth it.

We loaded up the car on Wednesday night, made sure we had enough kiddie dvds, Kix, and juice boxes to placate an army of toddlers, and headed up on the journey from Dallas, through Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and finally Wisconsin! When we got to Wisconsin, we all bundled into the small two bedroom apartment that my sister in law and two nieces are living in while she completes her fellowship at the U of Wisconsin (they usually live in Chicago).

So including M, little D, me, sil, her husband, two nieces (ages 5 and 7) and other sil visiting from Karachi, we had 8 people in her two bedroom apartment. And we had tons of fun! People from here think I'm crazy when I say that we all stayed together in one apartment. "Why didn't you stay in a hotel?" they ask, truly puzzled. It's hard to explain to them that, first of all, it would be offensive to M's family if we wanted to stay at a hotel, even if it means cramming even more people into said tiny apartment, and second of all, we actually all have fun hanging out together in such close quarters (and for ten days, no less). I think that this is something far removed from the typical "American" experience and most people would get a hotel rather than all cram together. Actually, when we got married here in the States (detailed posts to follow on that wedding, if I ever get around to finishing Pakistan wedding posts), we had 14 people staying at our house! (And we were the newlyweds!) We have a pretty big house, but people were still having to sleep on couches, air matresses, etc. It's just normal for M's family to all stay together like that. They would think it's weird for everyone to stay in hotels.

I had a lot of fun in part because I got to cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal for M's family, all of whom (except M) had never had one before. Everyone except for sil's husband had never even had turkey before! Although I guess it truly is an North American food, seeing as how you only get them on this continent. This was the first time I have ever cooked a Thanksgiving meal by myself (my mom usually does it), so I was really nervous, especially when BIL showed up with a fresh halal 15 lb turkey on Wednesday night. Luckily, after a long day of basting, baking, and cooking, I ended up with an extremely delicious turkey (which I credit wholly to its freshness and halalness, have you ever had a fresh, never frozen turkey before? wow wow wow!) I also made the Thanksgiving staples of green bean casserole, stuffing, gravy, squash, crescent rolls and cranberry sauce. For dessert we had pumpkin pie. All in all everyone really enjoyed it, and then we collapsed into a tryptophan-induced stupor and watched the Cowboys play the Raiders. Doesn't get more traditional than that!

Turkey Before and After

Eid followed shortly thereafter, and turned out to be wonderful as well. I had never celebrated Eid together with M's family, usually its just the three of us, so I was so happy to finally have the chance to do so. There was no masjid for us in the town we were in, so we decided that we would get up, put on our Eid clothes, and say the Eid prayers together as a family in the living room, then have M take pics of us all in our finery. Afterwards, we had chai and yummy sheer korma that sil from Karachi made. The week had flown past already and it was time to go home. As I reflect on the celebrations of last week, I realize just how lucky I am to be able to share the Thanksgiving traditions I love so much with M's family and be able to experience the beauty and peace of Eid traditions at the same time, so close together. Somewhere in there it shows what the ideal of being an American means to me, striking a balance between the long held traditions of both Thanksgiving and Eid. Taking both and making them uniquely ours, as Muslim Americans.

Support Saudi Women in their Campaign to End Guardianship

2009-11-18T10:15:00.000-06:00

I've added a black ribbon to the side bar of my blog to support Saudi women in their "black ribbon campaign" to end guardianship.

"Saudi Women Launch International Campaign Against Guardianship

November 5, 2009 10:16 p.m. EST

The Media Line Staff

A group of Saudi women have launched an international campaign against the kingdom's male guardianship law, on the anniversary of a prominent protest, in which dozens of Saudi women publicly drove their cars through the country's capital.

The campaign calls on supporters all over the world to tie a black ribbon around their wrist signifying a call for Saudi women to be given equal rights to men and an end to the male guardianship system, in which Saudi women are represented by men in all public and official spheres of life.

"We are calling on everybody, both Saudi and non-Saudi, to show their support of Saudi women," Wajiha Al-Huwaidar, the leader of the campaign, told The Media Line. "It's not just about the right to drive, it's everything," she said. "We want to have our lives back, which the male guardianship system took from us. So we are calling for everyone to wear this black ribbon and spread the word."

A statement by campaign organizers called for women to be given "rights to marry, divorce, inherit, gain custody of children, travel, work, study, drive cars and live on an equal footing with man."

"We, Saudi women activists, appeal to all those who support Saudi women's rights, inside and outside the Kingdom, to participate in the campaign by wearing a black ribbon on their wrists as a symbolic and peaceful gesture of their advocacy to Saudi women's rights," the statement read.

Under the motto "we will not untie our ribbon until Saudi women enjoy their rights as adult citizens", the "Black Ribbon Campaign" was launched Friday to mark the anniversary of a famous event on November 6, 1990, in which 47 Saudi women publicly drove cars through the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in a protest calling for Saudi women to be given the right to drive. The women were subsequently detained by Saudi police, had their passports confiscated, and some were fired from their jobs"

Click on the link in my side bar to read the whole article.

Although the campaign is calling for people to actually wear a black ribbon on their wrist, I think it would be great to get a movement to "wear" a black ribbon on your blog. So if you support Saudi women in their campaign for equal rights, rights in keeping with those promised to women by Islam, please consider adding a black ribbon to your blog.

Wedding in Pakistan Pt. 1- Mehndi

2009-10-25T00:25:00.000-05:00

So I am going to do a series of posts about our wedding in Pakistan and the different ceremonies, etc. We got married in August of 2006, and we didn't have the full-out traditional Pakistani wedding with all the multitude of different ceremonies. Basically we had three, a combination mehndi/dolkhi, a nikkah, and what we called a "reception" which I guess was some hybrid valima/rukh satti thing.

The first thing that happened was the mehndi/dolkhi, the night before the nikkah (the actual religious ceremony). The day of the mehndi, I went to this salon near M's house to have my mehndi (henna designs) done on my hands and feet. One of the interesting things about a lot of salons in Pakistan is that they are in people's houses, instead of in a strip mall like here, which was the case with this salon. I had quite a few pre-wedding beauty treatments at this place, as well as being my first experience with threading, ouch! Back to my wedding mehndi, the designs were quite elaborate, and reached all the way up to my elbows. When the lady doing my henna found out that I had not shaved my arms and did not want to shave my arms, she was not happy with me at all. I have blonde hair and have never shaved my arms, and wasn't about to start, so I decided she was just going to have to deal with it. (It's not like I'm really hairy or anything anyways!) I had to sit pretty still for about 4 hours while my henna was done and I couldn't put my arms down because if the henna gets smeared when its wet, then you mess it up. Plus my SILs left me there alone because they had a lot of errands to do before the wedding, so basically I was stuck in this room for four hours holding my arms out to my side and I couldn't even talk to the lady doing the henna (she didn't speak English and my Urdu was pretty much non-existent at that point).

Here is what my mehndi looked like soon after getting home from the salon.

When the henna is first applied it dries black and then crusts off to leave the red designs underneath. I was told to let it fall off naturally, because that would keep the dye sealed in longer and make the color more vibrant. You can see places where the crust had already started to flake off before the pictures were taken. I was also told that the darker and more vibrant the henna showed up after the black part fell off, the more auspicious it was for our wedding.

After we were done with the mehndi, I hurried home to change into the traditional yellow shalwar kameez for my combo mehndi/dholki ceremony that night.

After the guests arrived, we all went upstairs, for the dholki, which is the name of the party and the drum that is played at it. My sister in law took the drum and we went up stairs, and split, boys on one side of the room, girls on the other. The girls played the drum, and sang fun songs. I don't know what they were singing, but they seemed to really enjoy it.

You can see the dholki here in the center of our group of girls.

At some point during the dholki, the girls began to sing songs making fun of the guys. The guys would then have to give them money in order to get the teasing song to stop. Some of the guys would hold out longer than others. Some guys would try to be cheap about it, and their first offers would be rejected. Sometimes they would try to trick the little girls, who were acting as the runners, into taking less money, and their mom's would shout, "nahin, nahin," and send them back to their husbands for more. M's brother in law tried to get away with giving some rupees, and was rejected. Since he lives in Chicago, they would only accept dollars from him! With all the money they collected, the girls pooled it together to go out for a nice lunch together. Considering I have no idea what the songs were saying, I found the whole thing rather hilarious and a lot of fun.

After the singing was over, we all went downstairs to the dining room for a nice dinner of chicken broast from a local restaurant. I was already looking forward to the next day, and the Nikah, which will be the subject of my next post.

Veiled Ambivalence

2009-10-15T11:43:00.001-05:00

What is up with the obsession with hijab, niqab, and all things "covering" for Muslim women?

Here's my disclaimer-- I'm a Muslim woman. I don't wear hijab. I know all the different takes, arguments, etc., so if anyone wants to read this and then criticize me for not wearing it, or post a bunch of hadith in the comments or whatever, feel free, but its really not going to change my mind, and I've probably read them all a thousand times, so, you might not want to waste your time. I am not opposed to people wearing hijab, or think it is bad, and in fact I have a lot lot lot of respect for people that do, I'm just not at a point where I can do it.

When I first converted, I wanted to wear hijab, really really wanted to. But then I had a conversation with M that went something like this, M- people who see you wearing hijab will think you are oppressed, people who see me with you wearing hijab will think that I am your oppressor. Ouch, I could see his point. We all know that its not true, but it is what people will think. And I can say I don't care what people think about me (true, to some extent), but I do care about what people think about M and about how what I do affects his life as well, so hijab was put on the back burner for a while.

Meanwhile, once my hijab-obsession was quelled for a while, it freed my mind to really delve into other aspects of Islam that had been pushed aside while I had been focusing exclusively on how I dressed. I felt more connected to Allah and more spiritual. I began to discover what it meant to me, personally, to be a Muslim, and what I wanted my relationship with God to be. I'm still discovering.

Meanwhile, I keep reading current events dealing with Muslims and Islam, I am reading Muslim blogs, main stream media reports, etc. There is so much focus on the veil, hijab and niqab, it's like an unending drumbeat through the internet. Every cliched article on women in Islam has some title like "Going behind the Veil" or "Islam Unveiled." It's as if we, as women in Islam, are purely defined by our veils. Western politicians pontificate on relieving Muslim women from their oppression by banning the veil, saving us from a prison of polyester/cotton blend. Education, health care, birth control, protection from violence, equality in legal rights are all issues tacked on as an afterthought, as if, somehow, if we could just get women to de-veil, all these problems would be solved for them. Simultaneously, women who veil seen as more conservative, more religious, more pious, dare I say more fundamentalist, than those who don't. Women who don't veil are seen as irreligious, presumed to disapprove of those who do, or to follow a more "modern" version of Islam.

All these presumptions based off a little piece of fabric, about who I am, who you are, what we believe, how we feel.

We Muslims don't help the issue of veil obsession. We obsess about it too. As I mentioned before, I spent a large part of my early days as a convert doing just that. Our mosques are so obssessed with veiling and segregation that our communities become fractured, and our youth become disenchanted with the mosque as a community center. Our mosques offer no safe space for youth to interact with members of the opposite gender in a halaal way, and to build the foundations for our young people to lead the mosques in the next generation, working together for the interests of both genders.

Instead of discussing spirituality, prayer, introspection, tawhid, and other ideological doctrines of Islam that could provide inspiration and a foundation for the next generation of American Muslims, we continue to focus and harp on hijab and segregation.

Overseas, Muslim insistence on the morality of society being pinned on the bodies of women and obsession with regulation of women's clothing, in my mind, must contribute to Western obsession and focus on hijab as an overriding issue for Muslim women.

If we didn't obssess about it so much, would everyone else?

As for my own feelings, at this point, I am ambivalent. I do not honestly believe that I can wear hijab and be successful in my chosen career. I do believe that hijab is a beneficial act in Islam, and maybe one day I will wear it, but not yet. And I definitely have plenty of other things I personally consider more important to get right in my own spirituality first.

Gotta do some lawyerin' and other odds and ends

2009-10-12T13:17:00.000-05:00

I am supposed to go to trial in 2 weeks. It is my first trial ever. I am not going to be actually doing anything in the trial, but I will be a "support attorney" (I guess). Which means a lot of behind the scenes grunt work. But I'm not complaining, I'm really excited. Our cases rarely ever go to trial, so when they do, it is a great opportunity for everyone involved. Anyway, all of that is a long way of explaining why I haven't posted in a while and why I probably will be sporadic in my posting until November. I want to do a series of posts on my wedding in Karachi next, and have even started writing them, but I have to go and find the right pics off one of our many hard drives full of thousands of pictures. So hopefully I can do that soon.

This weekend we went to the Arboretum to their Pumpkin patch and took some fall-themed pictures. We had a lot of fun even though the weather was gloomy and M got some great shots. I think he is a great photgrapher and have tried to encourage him to enter some contests, freelance or something. I think maybe I will post some of his work on here and let you all see it because I am so proud of him.

It was so cold for Dallas, already in the 50's. It's like we skipped fall and went straight to winter (50's is winter in Dallas for all you northerners :) ).

Little D looks more and more like a little boy and less like a baby every day. Where does the time go?

Call Me Amma

2009-09-28T11:23:00.001-05:00

So I don't want to make this blog all about my kid, Little D, which I could easily do, being the braggy besotted mommy that I am, but I know that not everyone in the world wants to hear about how many cheerios Little D had for breakfast today, so I promise not to let this blog devolve into that (although as a mommy, I like reading other mommy blogs!) Anyway, one of the things I am really interested in has been learning about raising bilingual children. M and I are really making an effort to raise Little D in a bilingual environment and I think there are a lot of benefits to it, but it can also be very confusing and there is a lot of conflicting information out on the web about raising bilingual kids. Since Little D stays at home with M during the week, M and I are trying to make sure that M talks to him in Urdu as much as possible, because I figure that he will get plenty of exposure to English from me and my family and later from school and just generally being surrounded by English all the time. I am not worried about it at all. Both of my nieces, who are 7 and 5 now spoke only Urdu with their parents early on, and now are fluent in both Urdu and English with no accent in English whatsoever. (I can't tell if they have an accent in Urdu, not being fluent in it myself).

Little D as of now seems to be pretty much bilingual. I try to speak to him in Urdu a lot too, mainly because it also helps me to keep learning at the same time. For a while, I considered the one-parent, one language strategy, which is where each parent speaks only in their language to the child, but after speaking to some other people who have raised bilingual kids who didn't follow this method, I decided that it wasn't necessary. I like being able to talk with Little D in both because it helps me to keep practicing my Urdu and it also follows the natural flow of language in our house pre-little D, which was a general mix of both languages (in an attempt to help me improve my Urdu). M's English is pretty much perfect, and sometimes he corrects me, so he doesn't need any practice.

So at 16, almost 17 months, here is Little D's progress so far:

Of course, his first word was Baba (daddy in Urdu), followed closely by Amma (mommy), although for the longest time he would only cry Amma, as in AAAAMMMAA, when he was upset, he would never just come up to me and say Amma, like he would to his Baba. Now he will look at our pictures and point and say Baba, Amma.

After that came dudu, which he still says uddu or uggu. (Milk in Urdu), then ball, and then juice, which he says for everything that is wet that is not dudu. So juice is juice, water is juice, coke is juice, even rain is juice! He also says quack, for any bird, but especially ducks. And nok, (nose in Urdu), sometimes nok and quack get confused.

Then book, and now his favorite word for the last few days is juta (shoes in Urdu, don't know if I spelled that right). Also lately added to the repertoire is choo choo.

So far seems like he is pretty even on English and Urdu. As a language nerd, I am finding his language acquisition fascinating (and from a bragging mommy standpoint, I just like to talk about it, ha!)

Humpity Bumpity

2009-09-23T21:51:00.001-05:00

When I went to Karachi in 2006, we went to the beach with M's friends one day. The beach we went to was really far away from M's house. Karachi is a port city, right on the water, so there are a lot of beaches relatively close to M's house, with the nearest probably being Clifton. However, M and his friends wanted to go to a less crowded beach that would be more fun and where there would be less people to pay undue attention to me, so we drove about an hour to the other side of the city to go to the beach. We spread a blanket, had a picnic and walked by the waves. Some of M's friends' wives and I waded out a little bit into the water and then went for a walk on the beach. As it started to get dark, a man came by with a camel offering camel rides for around 25 rupees. So of course I jumped at the opportunity for my first (and hopefully last!) camel ride. It was not very much fun at all in my opinion! The camel's "saddle" seemed to be very precariously attached to it, and when it stood up with M and I on board I realized just how tall it was and how it was probably going to hurt if we fell off. We humpity bumped down the beach and back. The camel getting up and down is probably the scariest part. So I can say that while I am glad that I had one camel ride in my life, I probably won't be sad if it I don't have to ride on one again!

At the beach with M's friends.

Our noble steed

Humpity Bumpity down the beach

I look much more confident than I was!

I have to be off next week to celebrate a holiday, I just don't know when...

2009-09-21T09:38:00.000-05:00

Eid Mubarak to everyone! Yesterday was Eid here in the States, it's today in Pakistan. Because Muslims celebrate Eid based on the visualization of the new moon (there is a more technical explanation for this, but I don't know how to explain it), Eid can be on different days in different parts of the world. In the U.S., because every mosque does their own thing, a lot of times Eid can be on different days for different groups within the U.S. It gets pretty confusing and sometimes frustrating. I don't know why, but we almost always celebrate Eid here in the U.S. a day after the Sunnis do. This year was the first year since I converted that we have both celebrated it on the same day. Every year on the night of the 29th, we start checking our mosque's website, seeing if they have declared Eid. It can be quite suspenseful, and while it would be nice to know way ahead of time when Eid will be, it is kind of fun to have the anticipation of checking and checking and checking the website to see if the moon has been spotted. Then there is a frantic dash to get everything ready for the next day. Presents wrapped, house cleaned and decorated (this year we had adorable balloons and center pieces from NoorArt), gathering all the ingredients to make a big meal and the traditional Sheer Korma.

Another thing about Eid being slightly unpredictable is that it makes things a little hard at work. I always never know how to handle it. I always feel kind of strange saying, "I need to be off one day next week. Which day? Well, I'm not really sure, could be Monday or Tuesday. I won't really know until the night before. Why? Well, its like Muslim Christmas...yeah, we don't know what day our holiday is going to be on yet." Lucky for me, I work in a place where people are rather understanding, and as an attorney, I have some flexibility in my job to take off whenever I feel like it, meaning there is no set amount of vacation or any schedule that I have to follow. Initially I was going to take today off, but we are supposed to go to trial in a little more than a week, so it was either yesterday or today that I was going to have to work. (The flip side to this flexible schedule is that if you have to work, you have to work, whether it's a weekend or late at night, if something has to get done now, you have to do it).

So yesterday we had a great Eid. We went to the masjid (mosque) for the Eid namaz (prayers). The nice thing about our masjid is that they have two sessions of namaz, so M went for the first one, while I sat on the women's side with Little D and visited with my friends, then we listened to the Eid khutbah (sermon), and then I give Little D to M so that I could say the prayers at the second session. Afterword there was a nice breakfast and a carnival with some food and bounce houses for the kids (although Little D is too little to go in them, and he was sad that he couldn't!) While I was saying the second namaz, Little D played on the toddler playground with M. He loves the slide! After that we left the masjid, picked up some mithai (Indian style sweets) and went to my parents' house for lunch, which was nice. Then we took family pictures all dressed up in our Eid clothes. I told Little D to ask his grandfather for Eidi, so he held his hand out and my dad gave him five dollars, which I thought was really cute. Even though my parents aren't Muslim, I think they had a fun time celebrating Eid with us. Then we went home, and changed and went out to dinner at a delicious desi buffet down the street from our house. Back again and opening presents, Little D got some Arabic Blocks and a really cute picture book about Ramadan called Under the Ramadan Moon. I love the pictures in this book!

Because my gift from M hadn't arrived yet (or Little D's gifts from family), we have decided to have a traditional three days of Eid, just like in Muslim countries. Tonight we will open more presents, and I am going to make a big dinner, and afterwards Sheer Korma, since we didn't get time yesterday (also because of another reason that I will explain in a different post).

So Eid Mubarak whichever day you are celebrating on, may you have a blessed day!

Beach Trip to Karachi 2006

2009-09-12T22:12:00.004-05:00

So I said I would pick up where I left off three years ago, which was leaving Chennai to go to Karachi for the first time. I spent six weeks in Karachi, and had a blast. Besides getting married (a post or more to come in the future), I went shopping at a bunch of great malls and bazaars. I also went out to eat at all the places where I can't eat the food here, like KFC, Pizza Hut, had hamburgers. KFC in Pakistan is sooo much better than it is here. Two words--zinger burgers. Anyway, one day we decided to go to the beach, all the way on the other side of Karachi, so I decided to document some of the interesting people and things that you may see on the streets of Karachi and thought I would share some of the pictures with you.

I have seen up to 7 members of a family on one 70cc motorbike, babies and all.

This is a hijra (someone correct me on the spelling if I got it wrong, my Urdu transliteration skills are horrible). They can be transvestites or transexuals, drag queens, in the rare instance actual eunuchs (although I don't know how common that is anymore). They are usually working as beggars. There were many of them on the street in 2006, and some even came door to door in M's neighborhood. They will offer blessings for you if you give them money, or some people believe they can send the evil eye on you if you anger them or don't give them money. Strangely, I did not see any when I was there this year, don't know why. They will show up at weddings and offer to bless the couple. In all, I think it is a very interesting cultural aspect for such a conservative country, and I think for the most part their lives must be very difficult, like all beggars on Karachi streets.

This is a gadha guardi (donkey cart). These cute little donkeys sometimes have to pull very heavy loads. In the rainy season (like when I was there in 2006), their owners put plastic bags over their ears so that they don't get wet.

Little donkey with a big load. I also saw horse carts and camel carts, but those are less common.

Rickshaw full of laundry, for some reason M thought this was really funny.

Ok, next time I will actually do a post from when we got to the beach. Maybe I should rename this Karachi Street Scenes 2006. When we went this year, we took an actual video of the street as we were driving along, but you'll have to wait for that, as I am working my way forward (may take awhile, ha!)

Picking Back Up Where I Left Off

2009-09-11T16:48:00.001-05:00

So I've given it some thought, and decided that I will just pick this thing back up where I left off and try to recount some of the more interesting stories from the last three years of my life that I probably would have been posting if I hadn't been doing the many many things I have been doing. Basically here is my excuse for not posting for the last three years. In the last three years I have...had two weddings, graduated from law school, moved to another state, bought a house, studied for and passed the bar, started my career as an attorney, gotten pregnant, had a baby, and gone back to work. Somewhere in between there I have traveled to Iceland, Pakistan (twice), and England. So as you can see I have been quite busy, and...ok enough excuses, next post picks up where we left off, leaving Chennai for Karachi, first time around. I am going to have to dig up some of those pics to stick on here too. Stay tuned!

Here Goes Nothing

2009-09-11T11:58:00.000-05:00

Well, I've decided to give this thing another go. Took me a while to figure out my password and pretty up the old blog. I'm leaving my old posts from law school up for posterity, and let's see if I have come up with anything worth saying the last 3 years. Wonder if anyone will even check this anymore. Stay posted, I promise I will post something more substantive soon.

Temple in Chennai

2006-09-14T09:58:00.000-05:00

I could really only mostly see the outside of the temple because non-hindus are not allowed. My friends told me that this was not the way it had always been, but was more a product of the British Imperial era. Hindus were bannned from Christian churches by the British (I guess they didn't want the locals hanging around?), so they did a tit for tat and banned everyone from their temples. I thought it was weird about the Christians banning Hindus because I always think of Christianity as such an evangelical religion that they would want to bring people into the fold. Maybe Anglicans aren't as evangelical as folks where I come from?

The largest temple in Chennai.

A close-up of some of the figures on the sides of the temples.

India Part 3

2006-09-06T18:21:00.000-05:00

Here is the stage where the wedding took place (that is the guru who led the ceremony):

The ceremony was very elaborate. Here is an offering that was made for the ancestors so that they would come down and bless the married couple:

In the evening there was a reception, which is literally that, a reception (not a party like we have here in the States).

All in all I had a great time, although I was only in India for four short days. After the wedding I visited some landmarks around the city, mostly some pretty amazing temples. It was very interesting and my friend's sister explained to me about all the different gods and stories behind them. Although I must admit I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept of polytheism, coming from where I come from.

India Wedding Cont'd.

2006-09-06T17:56:00.000-05:00

For some reason blogger would not let me post this pic in the last post, so this is a continuation of the post below.

The ones in the middle are a model of a sari and a dhoti (sarong type dress that the groom wears). I don't think anyone actually ate them, but they looked nice :).

I was so jet lagged, I was literally falling asleep at the pooja. So I went off to sleep at a guesthouse with some of the groom's cousins from France, who were really nice (we are such an international bunch!) There were people there from the following countries: India, United States, Germany, France, and England. At the German Wedding there was also a Russian. Pretty cool, huh? (And all different religions, present as well, Christian (Catholic and Protestant), Hindu, Muslim, and Jewish). Shows you that on the individual level, we really can all get along.

So on to the wedding itself: the next day, we woke up quite early and went back to the groom's house to get ready. I wore sari for the first time, and thank God there were people there to help me put it on! (Actually the hardest part is the pleats and they were pre-sown for me by M's aunt). I wore a steel blue and maroon silk sari that M's mom sent for me which I love. Too bad I am anonymous, so you won't get to see the pictures ;).

The wedding itself took place in a hotel, here is one of the decorations from the hotel lobby right before you entered the wedding hall:

The ceremony itself was quite elaborate and took several hours to complete. It was really fascinating. People don't really watch the whole thing, they kind of mill around and stand on the stage and around the stage and take pictures. In all it was interesting.

Madras Marriage

2006-09-06T10:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I want to apologize for my extended absences, I just have not had time and that can be explained later, but I would like to pick back up where I left off and continue to tell you about my trip this summer because it was a lot of fun and definitely a once in a life time experience. So after I left the airport I got into the car and headed off with my friend's dad to their apartment. Upon pulling out of the airport, immediate panic set in. Oh, no, we are driving 0n the wrong side of the road!! I am going to die!! It was an instinctual response, even though consciously I knew that they drive on the other side, my whole being was rebelling against it, and it took quite a while to get used to it. Not to mention the traffic! There are no lanes, people just drive helter-skelter, along with all the rickshaws, bicycles, motorbikes, pedestrians, and so on. Although Pakistan was much worse, but I will get to that later.

My friend's house was all decked out for the wedding:

Color design on the floor outside the apartment.

Front door of the apartment decorated
with flower garlands.

Everyone was ready for the wedding and reception, which were both taking place the next day, but I quickly fell asleep in the only room with air conditioning. My goodness it was hot! I slept until the afternoon and then got up for some lunch and just relaxed. That night they had a pooja to bless the clothes that they were wearing for the wedding. All of this was totally new to me, as the only thing I knew about Hinduism was what I had seen in Bollywood movies. During the pooja, everyone stepped forward to place turmeric powder and other substances (not sure what) on the bride and groom's hands and face. Also, some sweets were blessed to be taken the next day for the wedding. They were very cute.

Passage to India- Southern Masala Style

2006-08-03T05:36:00.000-05:00

Well, let me start off my series of posts on my trip so far with India, which is where I went first. I left the U.S. on July 9 and got to India on the morning of the 11th. That was not a fun trip, but it definitely prepared me for the heat here. First leg of the trip I took American Air to Frankfurt. When I got to Frankfurt, I had no idea where to go, there were no signs in English and when I did finally find a departures board, my flight wasn't on it. Finally I just decided to follow the group of desis that had gotten of the plane with me and they took me right to the gate!

The next leg of my trip was on Gulf Air, which was an experience. First we flew to Bahrain, which was just supposed to be a quick stop (i.e. I wasn't even supposed to get off the plane). For some reason of which I was never informed, they decided to take us off the plane in Bahrain and put us on a new one, which means getting on a bus, going into the airport, going through security again, and then getting on another bus and going to the new plane. Did I mention that it was ungodly hot during this whole process? I was also exhausted at this point because I had not slept the entire trip, due to the very nice but overly talkative man from Oman sitting next to me. He spent half his time trying to convince me that I don't need to buy zabiha meat in the U.S., if I just say bismillah over it it is halal. Riiiiiight, I get this all the time from people who must assume that I know absolutely nothing about Islam. Just because YOU don't care if your meat is zabiha or not does not mean you have to convince the rest of the world that they should eat the way you do. Hmmph, but that is a totally other rant (which btw, I don't care if you eat halal or not, that is your own business, as whether I do is mine). Ok so after I left Bahrain, we flew to Muscat, Oman, where I had a 3 hour layover. I tried to sleep in the terminal, which was an absolutely ridiculous idea, especially with the litany of people staring at me. When they finally called for boarding the aircraft, I went down and stood in line for about an hour. I don't know why they called us to board and then made us stand there. Then when we got on the plane, we sat there for about an hour with no AC! I thought I was going to die, even the South Indians were complaining about the heat. So again no more sleep and then we were finally on the way to Chennai.

When I got to the Chennai airport, I breezed through customs, as there was nobody in the "foreigners" line and went to collect my luggage. I had two huge suitcases because my trip is for 7 weeks, and they were both coming down the line at the same time, so there was no way I could pick them both up. I asked one of the men standing next to me if he could grab one of them, while I got the other. Of course, when he picks it up, it flies open and my clothes go everywhere, including my underwear and bras. People scatter to help me grab my clothes off the conveyor belt and floor, including a couple of extremely embarassed guys when they realized they were handling my panties! Poor guys, but I am so grateful that the people were so nice and helpful in that situation. I was terrified that I had been robbed blind because the case was open coming through the airport, but miraculously, nothing was missing! So I exited the airport to find my friend's dad who was there to pick me up. Wow, this post has gone on longer than I thought, so I will have to do another one about the actual time I spent in India, LOL.

No Censors for Me!

2006-08-03T03:24:00.000-05:00

I busted the Pakistani block on blogger! Look for more updates about my trip to India and Pakistan so far, coming soon!!!!!!!!!

Update

2006-06-25T12:41:00.000-05:00

Hello out there and thank you so much to anyone who is still reading this blog after over a month of absence! I have not been this busy EVER. I love my job, but we keep going 24/7! I work all day and then usually they have a social event for us in the evenings, so I leave my house at about 7 am and don't get back until midnight or later. So here is a quick update on what I have been doing this summer.

The Work- has been fabulous. Complex litigation stuff for big name clients, with actions pending all over the country. Exactly what I wanted. Now my difficult decision is do I want to practice general lit or labor and employment?

The Firm- Everyone has been really nice and fun. I've meet a lot of people that I get along with really well. Also, our clerk class got along really well, which apparently doesn't happen all the time. I know that if I come to work here I will have to work hard (2000+ billable hours a year). Other great things about the firm --> they have a great track record with retaining women and making them partners. I have worked with some amazing female partners while I am here. They are pretty family friendly too, seems like most people have kids and they spend a lot of time with them.

The Social Scene- Do you need to know anything about any restaurant near downtown Dallas? I will give a review. I go out to lunch EVERY DAY. I don't know how I haven't gained 200 lbs. I also go out to dinner about 4 times a week. We have had many great parties also. I think some people think it is weird that I don't drink, because alcohol is a big part of the social scene, but no one has said anything. We have gone to some cool locations in Dallas, as well as some of the partners' houses which are beautiful. I just wish that M could be here.

Ok, so you say, that is all well and good but you could have dropped us a line at some point! Which leads me to the other, darker side of my summer, which would be.....

THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE LOST MY PASSPORT!!!!!!

Yes folks, thats right. I am supposed to leave for my big India/Pakistan trip in 2 weeks and my passport is MIA. I sent it to the Pakistani Consulate to get my visa via express mail and the P.O. lost it on the way back. The thing has tracking numbers all over it and still they can't track it! ARRRGH. Well, that is only the first part of the story, because after battling the P.O. for about a week I realized that I needed to concentrate on replacing the passport and my visas. My mom, who is amazing, spent about 20 hrs one week researching the whole process and now my stuff is being expedited by a private service. Insha'Allah it should be here by Wed. or Thurs. Here's the kicker though: the whole thing is costing me about $650. Ouch!

The moral of the story, never send you passport via U.S. Mail, always use Fedex, UPS, or DHL. And when you send it, insure the dang thing for 1,000 bucks because that is how much it is going to cost to replace it.

Also, now I have to worry about identity theft, because I am sure that someone stole it from the P.O. So I have taken all the measures to prevent that. Fraud alert, etc.

Anyways, that is the summary of the past six weeks. I don't know when I will post again, but if you are still hanging around I appreciate it.

Am I supposed to be a grown up now?

2006-05-16T06:33:00.000-05:00

I made it to Dallas on Sunday in 12 hours driving straight through. It is by far the longest car trip that I have ever made by myself. And then I started my first day of work. I don't know about "omens" but yesterday I spilled coffee in my lap on the way to work, so I stunk of coffee for the rest of the day. Thank God it was a black suit so I didn't have visible coffee stains. And then I got on the Dallas Tollway and sat there for an hour and half! I was late for work on my very first day! How embarassing. Oh well, I hope that they don't just decide to write me off becuase of that. I don't think they will because everyone seemed really cool about it.

So far everyone is really nice and I am working with a team that does mostly litigation and labor and employment, which is what I wanted to do in the first place. It is just weird that I go from being a law student lucky to snag my own cubicle in the library to having an office and all these other nice goodies that law firms give you. It makes me feel like I am "playing grown up" and maybe I don't really belong there yet. I guess I don't really for at least another year, but while I am here I am going to enjoy it :).

Time of Transition: Be Back Soon

2006-05-11T18:03:00.000-05:00

Right now we are putting our entire apartment in storage. My bed is gone, my couch is gone, my table is gone. I will be sleeping on an air mattress for the next two nights.

I end Trial Techniques on Saturday, with the grand finale being a jury trial that I have not begun to prepare yet.

I will be in Dallas by Sunday night.

I will start my job on Monday morning.

I don't know what M is doing (coming with me, staying in ATL, or going to Karachi).

Can I just let out a scream right now? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Ok, I will be back in a while, I can't even think straight, much write a coherent post.

Calling All Previous Travelers to India/Pakistan, Give Me Your Wise Words

2006-05-05T21:28:00.000-05:00

I haven't felt much like blogging lately. Mostly because I have been studying. I finished my last exam on Tuesday and tomorrow we start our Trial Techniques program which is every day for the next 7 days from 9-5, yay. I mean, come on, starting it on a Saturday right after we've finished exams? Seems just a wee bit sadistic to me. Ah well, might as well get used to it, right?

On a lighter note, I am really excited to be starting my new job in about a week. I will be in Dallas for the summer and then in July I will leave for India and Pakistan!!!! I am really excited about this, but also apprehensive. Plus I have not bought my tickets or gotten my visas yet. Did I mention that I am the best procrastinator? So break it out guys. Anyone who has traveled to India and Pakistan give me the scoop. What is one thing that you wish someone had told you before you went? Any sage words of wisdom or advice I would appreciate greatly. Especially because now it looks like I will be there for almost 2 months. Looking forward to hearing what you all have to say.

Strong Woman?

2006-04-18T10:43:00.000-05:00

Ok, so here is something that occasionally crosses my mind: Is it ok to sometimes NOT want to be a strong woman? (both physically and otherwise?)

Case in point:

This weekend we go to the park to play cricket. I am fielding and M hits a line drive directly at me at about 100 mph. The ball smacks me directly in my knee cap, which really hurts and leaves me with a giant knot. Everyone laughs and says what a good fielder I am, M says it can't have hurt because we are using a tape ball (because taped up tennis balls don't hurt when hitting you at 100 mph, of course). Then our friend's wife is batting and the bowler hits her with the ball, (throwing it very slow and easy because she is a girl and probably can't hit the ball at normal speed). Everyone runs over to her to make sure that she is ok, and she stops batting. Am I stupid to be jealous that everyone makes such a big deal over her getting barely tapped with the ball, and noone cares that I got killed?

I have always been one of the "guys," a rough houser. In soccer, I was an enforcer on the field. I was strong, physically benchpressing and leg pressing quite a bit for a girl. I've since lost quite a bit of my muscle mass (thank God, so I don't look like a she-Hulk anymore). But sometimes I get jealous about not being pampered and treated like a delicate flower of feminity. Of course, I am torn, because if I was treated that way ALL of the time, it would really piss me off. I guess I really shouldn't be able to complain that I want it both ways.

The same thing goes in my personal life. Sometimes I am so tired and scared of trying to pursue my career and be sucessful, I wish that I could just put it all on my husband to provide for the family and I would just stay at home. I mean it is scary and a lot of pressure to be a stay at home mom too, but I think in a different way. But then I know that that path is not going to be for me, that I need the interaction and stimulation of the kind that a legal career can provide and I have worked hard for it. So in the end I will muscle up to it, even when I don't want to. I will shoulder it all, house and career, kids and court, God willing. In the long run, I know that I will be happier being the way that I am now.

Exam Time: A Brief Hiatus

2006-04-13T11:22:00.000-05:00

Exams are here. I have not studied near as much as I need too. First one is next Friday. I may be around a little bit, but my posts would probably be something really boring for you guys, like rambling about Sec. 2 of the Sherman Act or Federal Rule of Evidence 403. Ack, I have started already.

As a sidebar: I had to add word verification to the comments, I was getting way to much spam comments. Sorry, I know that it is a pain in the butt, what can you do?

Technical Difficulties

2006-04-10T21:09:00.000-05:00

Hello, We are experiencing technical difficulties. Right in time for exams, of course. My computer broke 3 weeks ago, now M's laptop, which I had been using up until now is acting completely stupid. We don't know what has happened, but if it doesn't start working soon I am pretty sure that we will see if a laptop will float after it is thrown from an 18th story balcony into a swimming pool. So now you know that if I don't show up for a while, where I am (in the library cussing out Acer).

Cell Phone Annoyances

2006-04-04T11:32:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I'm sure that about a thousand blog posts have been written about cellphones. About people driving with cellphones, talking in restaurants on cellphones, talking in lines on cell phones blah, blah. Man are they all annoying situations. But I have a complaint, if you are going to talk on your cell phone, really loud, in a public place, I would seriously advise you not to talk about the extremely personal details of your life. This has happened to me several times recently and it makes my ears burn like I'm eavesdropping, but I can't help it when you are talking at bullhorn level into your cell, I am going to listen.

Incident #1:
I'm on the shuttle bus that takes me from school to the stop where I walk home about 2 blocks. Some undergrad girl is on the phone with her boyfriend. She starts yelling at him. "Why do you always blame me. I don't know who took your pills, I didn't take them, ok!!" Hmmm, maybe I am reading that the wrong way and she could be talking about using his Claritin, but I seriously doubt it.

Incident #2:
I'm sitting in the student lounge area at school, innocently studying (read-surfing the web or playing sudoku). Some type of rep for one of the many exam studying programs is sitting there on her cell: "Ok, don't tell anyone and you are the first to know. I haven't even told (some guy's name) yet. I am pregnant! *girlish squeals*" So now her, her friend, and me all know that she's pregnant before the guy who made the baby? Ack.

Incident #3: Most uncomfortable moment of my life.
I'm waiting for the elevator in my building. Girl shows up on cell phone. She is obviously arguing with boyfriend. Deep serious arguing that leads up to break up arguing. I am standing there uncomfortably hoping that she finishes the conversation before we get on the elevator together. Elevator comes, I am not going to wait for it to come back again just because this girl won't get off the phone. We get on, the argument keeps going on. I can't even repeat it here, stuff about how can she trust him, she told him she didn't want the same relationship as she had last time, blah, blah, blah. Arrrrgh. I want to stand facing one of the corners until she gets off.

Ok, so now that I have complained about cell phones so much. I have a confession to make, I have been guilty of a cell phone annoyance to the extreme. Maybe someone can help me out with this dilemma. I'm at the mosque. We have started Magrhib my phone is on the other side of the mosque against a wall. It starts ringing, ahhhh. I stop praying and run over to switch it off. Disrupting even more people than just the ringing probably did and having to redo my prayer all over again because of the interruption. I was mortified. Insha'Allah it will never happen again because I will remember to put the phone on vibrate, but if it does should I run over and turn it off, or just let it ring and hope that they don't call back?

How Sheetal Got Paid

2006-04-04T09:16:00.000-05:00

Why am I sitting alone in my apartment, shouting at my TV? Why are my books sitting neglected beside me on the couch as I plead with the TV? Because I am watching the latest mindless TV game show, Deal or No Deal. I cannot believe that some people keep going with 100,000's of thousands of dollars on the line. While I am yelling Deal! Deal! You moron!, the audience is egging them on to keep going. Usually I am right, and the person ends up with less money than they had in the middle of the game. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this show here is a short summary of the rules taken from NBC's website:

"The rules are simple. Choose a briefcase. Then as each round progresses, you must either stay with your original briefcase choice or make a "deal" with the bank to accept its cash offer in exchange for whatever dollar amount is in your chosen case.

Once you decide to accept or decline the bank's offer, the decision is final.

Contestants are encouraged to ask friends or family in the audience for advice; however, only the contestant's answer will be considered binding and final."

I think that they try to pick people who generally make low salaries in noble professions (such as teachers, people in the military, firefighters, and a doctor who runs a clinic in a low income area). Or they will pick someone who has a large debt or specific problem that they need money for. And I love it when they surprise the contestant with a family member who they didn't think could come.

I heard about an interesting study done by some economists, who analyzed versions of Deal or no Deal Game all around the world (45 different countries).

"A team of economists - Post, Van den Assem, Baltussen & Thaler (report) - have analyzed the decisions of people appearing in Deal or No Deal and found, among other things, that contestants are less risk averse when they have seen their expected winnings tumble. "Losers" tend to continue playing the game even if this means rejecting bank offers in excess of the average of the remaining prizes. The findings provide support for behavioral economists, who claim that the classical expected utility theory falls short in explaining human behavior by not accounting for the context of decisions. The study of the Dutch is unique, for the underlying "experiment" Deal or No Deal is characterized by high stakes, a transparent probability distribution and only simple stop-go decisions that require minimal skill or strategy." From this Wikipedia article.

What do you think about this game? Do you think that this show counts as gambling? You haven't put up any of your own assets to enter the game, so you aren't losing anything that was yours to begin with? But once you get the first offer, you are gambling with that money, so...?

Last night Sheetal Shetty won $375,000. I wanted her to deal at 199,000. She is the first contestant to prove me wrong. It was pretty exciting. I still think its a stupid game, so why can't I stop watching?

ABCs of Life MeMe

2006-04-01T14:11:00.000-06:00

Got this MeMe from Pixie and thought it looked fun. If you do it too, let me know :).

Accent ~ Very slight southern one, people usually don't believe that I'm from Alabama
Booze of choice ~ None, I don't drink.
Chore I hate ~ cleaning the bathroom and cleaning the cars.
Dog or Cat~dogs, of course, who can forget my little puppy featured below
Essential Electronics ~ my computer, my Treo, and my iPod
Favorite perfume/cologne ~ Tuscany, it is the first gift that M ever gave me
Gold or Silver ~ both
Hometown ~ Well, I was born in North Carolina, but I lived almost my whole life in Birmingham, AL
Insomnia ~ big problem for me, especially when M is not here.
Job Title ~ law student
Kids ~ one day, insha'Allah, I want to have 2 or 3
Living arrangement ~ highrise Condo
Most Admired Trait ~ I really admire people who are sincere and good listeners
Number of countries visited~ 12
Overnight Hospital Stays ~ 0
Phobia ~ um, I don't really have one. I guess I a most scared that someone may try to hurt me, break in my house or car. When I was a kid I was scared of drains because I saw that movie IT one too many times.
Quote ~ I don't really have any good ones right now
Religion ~ Islam
Siblings ~ one younger sister
Time I wake up ~ 7 on school days and 10 on weekends :)
Unusual talent/skill~I don't think I have any
Vegetable I refuse to eat ~ peppers, I hate them!
Worst Habit ~Procrastination
X-rays ~the 3 times that I tore the ligaments in my ankles, they thought they were broken.
Yummy foods I make ~ I like to make Pakistani food (especially dopiaza and biryani), I make good country fried steak, mashed potatoes, and fried okra too!
Zodiac sign ~ Aquarius

Ice Age II: The Meltdown

2006-03-31T11:50:00.000-06:00

The Scrat is back!!!!!!! Ice Age II starts tonight and I have to go and see it. I loooove this movie just because of the scrat. He is hilarious running around with his acorn trying to hide it everywhere. I hope that it is good and doesn't suck like sequels usually do. O, yes I am 24 years old, but it doesn't mean I don't appreciate a good cartoon. Finding Nemo is right up there too.

Here is another great picture of the Scrat.

Scrat update: Movie was hilarious, even more scrat than before. He really makes the movie! I also love the little dancing mini-sloths, but I guess you will have to see the movie to enjoy!

Random Bits

2006-03-29T13:55:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, I have just been busy and in a mood not to write anything lately. To be honest, I haven't had anything to say worth making a whole post about, but I do have some random tidbits in my mind lately:

1. I have begun the inevitable descent into lawyerdom, which I realized after I told Aisha I would have to schedule lunch with her into my palm so that I do not forget. Gack.

2. I did this cool face recognition thingie, which told me that the celeb I most look like is Jodie Foster. It is pretty funny I think. Who do you look most like? I would be interested to know, lol :).

3. I am thinking about doing a judicial clerkship when I graduate. I am not 100% sure whether I want to do this or not, but the more I think about it, the more appealing it seems. Everyone who has done one has said that it is the most enjoyable work experience they have ever had. This is a really recent idea of mine, so I have yet to really think it through. It would mean making substantially less money for a year or so, but it should pay off in the long run. Difficult decision when I will have a massive amount of student loan debt upon graduation.

4. I am taking classes at my mosque to learn Arabic and Urdu. It is pretty fun, but hard too. I get Arabic classes on my own and for Urdu I am in classes with 7-8 year olds who are waaaay more fluent than I am. I just need to bite the bullet and start talking in my Urdu class, because right now I am at the point where I understand 80% but hardly say a word. It is much harder to put sentences together than to just listen and comprehend.

5. M comes home in 1 week from today. Yay!

Thats all for now. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their spring. It is beautiful today and I hope that it stays that way. The last two weeks have been miserably cold for late March.

Will the Real Executive Managing Editor Please Stand Up, Please Stand Up

2006-03-23T23:01:00.000-06:00

I won my election to executive managing editor of my journal. Well, I say won loosely, because I ran unopposed, but I am still happy, especially because I did not have to give a speech. The elections lasted for about 3 hours, from 8-11 pm, so I am kind of tired now and also I think I am coming down with something. I've got sore throat and a little bit of drainage and general fatigue (although that could just be a general condition and not a symptom of any illness). I am taking some Nyquil and going to bed. G'night.

Aerobics????

2006-03-22T17:32:00.000-06:00

Ok, so the South Beach Diet thing did not work for me at all. I am definitely way too attached to my carbs. Diets in general make me unhappy. So my next attempt at the whole weight loss thing is.... (drum roll please), Aerobics! I bought this video on Ebay that has all different kinds of workouts on there and I thought it would be really fun. But alas, I realized shortly into the first workout today, that I am the most uncoordinated person on the universe when it comes to these sort of things. I never took dance or gymnastics or anything, I was always too busy playing soccer. I am still going to just bounce around in front of the TV (no doubt looking ridiculous) because it is fun and runnning on the treadmill is just sooo boring. Well, I am off to buy one of those step thingies and get down in my living room. Wish me luck and hopefully I won't trip over my own two feet and end up hurt :).

I Have A Puppy

2006-03-21T11:39:00.000-06:00

I have a puppy. His name is Bentley and he lives in Dallas with my parents. Right now I am really missing this puppy. We had to send him to Texas because we were living in a small apartment and he got much bigger than the pound said that he would be. Also, we could not keep the house clean of his hairs, they got everywhere. He is really smart, but really lazy and he was always doing things to make me laugh. Sometimes he was a very bad puppy though. He has an affinity for all things plastic and accordingly chewed up three cell phones and 3 remote controls and a myriad of other small plastic thingies, the more expensive, the better (including an XBox game conroller and the wire on a power supply for my laptop). Now my Mom has to deal with his shenanigans, which are always pretty funny because she treats him like he is a person. Like she will say, "oh I am mad at Bentley today so I am not talking to him," or "Bentley is mad at us, so he is pouting." I think that this crazy dog thinks that he is a human. He is part beagle and part lab, we think (or something else maybe?) I think that he is the cutest dog in the world, but then again, maybe I am biased.

Playing in the snow. This is the first time he ever saw snow when we took him to Dallas.

He is a hard working dog, riiiiight.

Ok, this is by far the cheesiest post I have done so far, sorry :).

Now that's some Nation Building

2006-03-20T00:59:00.000-06:00

This is a pretty cool game that lets you build your own country and even interact in a UN type government. At least, I think it's cool, but then again, I am a law nerd. Check out the The Republic of Southern Masala. Let me know what you think about my nation and build your own nation state too! I bet we do a better job than all the wackos out there right now, lol! (BTW, I did not choose gambling as a major industry, it just stuck me with that, tsk tsk tsk. If I get a chance I am going to outlaw it).

Spring Break is Over :(

2006-03-19T23:09:00.000-06:00

No more spring break. I am pretty burnt out on school and this break seemed like it just flew by. In one sense this is good because it means that M will be coming home that much sooner, but on the other hand I have to go back to school tomorrow, ick. I am just too excited about my summer to concentrate on school and I am worried that it is going to affect my grades. I am really excited about my internship with a really great firm and I am even more excited about my trip to India and Pakistan.

The problem is I have not told my parents for sure that I am going to Pakistan this summer. I have brought up the topic a bit, and my parents are really worried about my safety. I can't really blame them, with bombs and stuff going off in Karachi and American diplomats being killed. Still, I am not worried about my own safety. The way I look at it, there are places in this country that are more dangerous for me than in Pakistan. As long as I have people around me who know what they are doing, I am not worried about it. I will definitely wear salwar kameez and cover my hair to blend in a little more, although I don't think that I will actually "blend in," you know. I just hope that they will take it okay and not give me too much grief about it, insha'Allah. I just don't want themt to worry, sigh. That's all for now, I really don't have much else to talk about.

Congratulations Yasir and Bushra!

2006-03-17T17:31:00.000-06:00

May God Bless You Today and For the Rest of Your Lives Together!

News from Karachi

2006-03-15T22:16:00.000-06:00

M has made it safe to Karachi and is settling in. He got in around 3 am and his friend came to pick him and take him to his parents' house. He got there around 4 am, and his mom answered the door. She was not too surprised, because she was suspicious that his friend had called the house so early in the morning to ask her to open the door. Then his youngest sister came to the door. At first she didn't realize who he was, then when it set in, she started screaming! Of course that woke the whole house up and his dad came running down stairs ready to defend them from robbers! He nearly gave everyone a heart attack!

So far he has been meeting old friends and family and I think he is having a good time. We had a little chat on the im, which I thought was pretty funny, so I am putting it here. *Warning, mildly bad language, but really funny*

M says: so we played snooker for 2 hrs, 90 ruppees
M says: 3 biryanis and 3 lassis 110 rupees
M: the shits
M says: priceless
S says: HAHAHAHA
S says: i told you not to eat street food. did you eat street food?
M says: some damn good biryani
S says: was it worth it?
M says:yep

More updates to come later, he still has not gotten into contact with Yasir to tell him he is coming to the wedding. I can't wait to hear that conversation!

Sua Sponte

2006-03-15T15:08:00.000-06:00

Sua sponte is Latin for "on its own will or motion." It's a legal term, and its also the name of my law school football team! Yay, that's real football (aka Soccer), not American football. I am a huge soccer fan. I have played since I was four years old. In high school I played on a competitive traveling team and was captain of my high school varsity team. I also played in college, at one of the smallest Division I schools in the country: The Birmingham-Southern Panthers. I didn't have too much fun playing soccer in college. I think that I was burnt out by my senior year of high school after playing for so long. I did get to play with some pretty good players though, which I will always cherish, probably the most famous being Catherine Reddick, who played on my club team.
Since coming to law school, I have rediscovered my love for the game, and I have quite a bit of fun playing intramurals and indoor soccer league. One of the best things about playing in co-ed indoor league is that girl goals count for 2 points! Women's lib. be damned, I will take any extra points where I can get them, lol. Especially now that I am old and slow.
This summer is the World Cup, and I can't wait! And even better is that the U.S. is ranked the highest they have ever been, #5. I don't realistically think that they will actually win the World Cup, but it is nice to see them doing well.
Another thing about my soccer obessession is that I am constantly trying to convert kids into soccer players, especially girls. So if you want your girl to be a cheerleader and not a footballer, better keep her away from me! J/K, you can do both!

My Heart is in Karachi

2006-03-13T21:40:00.000-06:00

M left yesterday for Karachi for 3 weeks.

I am already missing him but I am also so happy that he will finally get to go home to see his family. He has not been back to Pakistan in 8 years! He has not seen two of his sisters since then either.
His youngest sister was 17 when he left and she is 25 now. I can't
imagine what it must be like to leave someone as a child and meet
them again for the next time as an adult. It must be like re-
"meeting" them all over again. It was a very emotional day for us
both with mixed feelings of my happiness for him in finally going
back and sadness that he is gone.

He did not tell anyone that he was coming because he wanted to surprise his family. I just hope that he does not give his parents a heart attack when he shows up on the doorstep! He is also going to surprise our dear friend Yasir who lives in Atlanta, but has gone to Karachi to get married. I think that he is just going to show up for the wedding on Friday and say Surprise! I think that it is pretty funny and I hope that he has a good time. :)

My Alma Mater is in the News, and Not for a Good Reason

2006-03-08T14:16:00.000-06:00

Apparently the recent rash of church burnings in rural Alabama can be attributed to three college students, two of which go to my undergrad. institute, Birmingham-Southern College, and one who goes to UAB, where M got his MBA. They were actually arrested in the dorms!!! This may not seem like a big deal until you realize that BSC only has 1500 students. What a bunch of morons.

Check out the full story here: Students say church arsons meant as "joke"

Now, call me crazy, but in my day our "jokes" consisted of leaving funny notes on peoples' doors or toilet papering someone's dorm room. Even the fraternity pranks were pretty mild, like stealing another frat's mascot, etc. Since when is setting churches on fire a "joke"? They have ruined their lives because "the three students just liked to set and watch fires." Wow, I am speechless

Things Are Afoot

2006-03-08T10:20:00.000-06:00

I have been MIA for the past few days because I have been so busy trying to do the 1,001 things that I have to do. I finally turned in the very last, final, no mas version of my Journal Comment and I will know within 2 weeks whether I am going to be published or not. It would be nice to be published, but I am not going to be heartbroken if it doesn't happen. Also, I am running for Executive Managing Editor of the journal, which is a largely technical editing position (checking sources and textual editing), which I've always liked to do. I can really make the red ink fly, :). Even in undergrad, people used to ask me to read their papers and make corrections for them. Later on I used to do it for M's friends' grad school papers, which is a whole other ball game when you are editing someone whose first language is not English.

Also, things are afoot with M, but I am not at liberty to say what, I will explain more later on next week, which is taking up a lot of my time.

Next week is my spring break but I am not going anywhere, so here is my wish list for things to do around the ATL, because I am going to be all by my lonesome:
1. Hang out with Wayfarer and Little Dude
2. Go to the Georgia Aquarium
3. Exercise everyday
4. Read some good books
5. Catch up on all the studying I have not done this semester (I know, this one sucks)
6. Clean the house, and start packing for when we have to move in May
7. Go to the park and lay in the sun
8. Maybe go to Birmingham

Do you think I'm being overambitious, considering the other unwritten goal is to sleep until 10:00 everyday?

Muslim Legal Woes of Varying Degree

2006-02-28T22:06:00.000-06:00

When I first set out today to write a post, I wanted to write about this story: U.S. Muslims Fight Halal Meat Scam. ***Warning, this link directs you to Al-Jazeera English News page, so if you aren't yet being monitored by the NSA and don't want to be, maybe you don't want to click on it, lol***

Of course, half way through my post, I lost the wireless connection at school and my writing disappeared into an electronic vortex. Basically the article is proof of the fact that con artists can penetrate any aspect of our lives, as more and more American Muslims are learning that the meat that they buy from so-called halal markets is not actually halal. This is truly disappointing, especially as I would say that the halal market is almost completely controlled by people claiming to Muslims. Therefore, we are getting scammed by our own.

Interesting aspect is that the article mentions several pieces of legislation that have been proposed by various states to provide for a certification process for vendors of foods offered in compliance with religious laws (I guess Kosher and Halal, not sure what other ones are out there?) And then goes on to say that this may violate separation of church and state under the U.S. constitution if the state becomes involved. I don't really see how that is an issue, because this seems like a simple case of false marketing/deceptive advertising, which can be dealt with under laws already in place, either by the government or private parties. Although maybe Muslims are reluctant to sue their halal butchers?

On a more serious note, this topic has been popping up in quite a few forums: Internment Camps for Muslims? . Wayfarer brought it up first on her blog, and I thought I would give my "prediction" for what could actually happen, based on my deep knowledge of constitutional law obtained through my one semester course, although it was with the eminent Professor John Witte, which was one of the most challenging clases I have taken, as well as my worst grade in law school so far (which still wasn't that bad, but I'm not telling...)

Ok, so for those of you who remember your history, the U.S. already put the Japanese in internment camps during WWII. A case was actually brought to the Supreme Court contesting this as a violation of due process and equal protection. In Korematsu, the Supreme Court upheld the government's use of their "police power" to protect the country in a time of crisis. The issue here was that the program has to be "narrowly tailored" enough to meet the government's goal.

Korematsu has gone down in history with cases such as Dred Scott (upholding the legality of slavery) and Plessy (upholding the legality of segragation), as being a notoriously unjust ruling. However, unlike Dred Scott and Plessy, Korematsu has never been overruled. This means that in another time of war, it is still legal under Supreme Court jurisprudence to place people of certain nationalities in internment camps, provided that the government can prove that they pose a threat to the safety of the nation.

Additionaly my professor put this hypothetical to us, which was put to him and other professors at a think tank called by John Ashcroft following 9/11.
Hypo (taken directly from my class notes):
What if dirty bomb was dropped on Atlanta by Zarquawi and his followers. He then declares that Iraq has struck the U.S. and credits Iraqi terror cells located in America with a victory. Could we round up every Iraqi- American citizen or subject and put them in an internment camp? (This was Ashcroft’s hypothetical).

The answer is Yes!!!!!

Now, what do I think realistically can be done under a ruling like Korematsu.

- Could people of certain nationalities or ethnicities be placed internment camps? Probably

- Could all Muslims be placed in internment camps? Probably not. Why? Because this characterization is too broad to meet constitutional challenges for the narrow tailoring requirement (mentioned above).

- What would be the most likely scenario? All people of certain nationalities (predominantly Muslim countries) residing in the U.S. who do not have citizenship could be rounded up, placed in camps, and eventually deported. Although, who knows who long that could take? In more extreme situations, naturalized citizens could be stripped of their citizenship and deported as well (this happened quite a bit during the McCarthy Era, and I wrote a paper about it, if you are interested in that too, let me know).

Just my viewpoint on the legal actualities of what could happen, but insha'Allah none of this will never, ever happen.

Sorry if the stuff above is too technical, or I dissolved into "lawyer talk." If I didn't make something clear, please let me know and I will try to explain it better.

Professor Abdullahi Ana'im: Cartoons of the Prophet: Neocolonialism and the Politics of Protest

2006-02-26T14:27:00.000-06:00

For anyone interested in this discussion I thought that it was a great analysis of the Cartoon issue, but it is much deeper than that. I just always enjoy Professor Ana'im's point of view and I am really lucky to have access to an expert like him at my school.

Cartoons of the Prophet Audio File

Should I go to the Law School Prom?

2006-02-24T15:57:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow night is my school’s “Barrister’s Ball,” or as we like to call it, the law school prom. We are supposed to get dressed up and go to this “dance.” They even elect a prom king and queen from the 3L class!!!! It is true that law school is much more like high school than undergrad. We even call our school (Gambrell Hall), Gambrell High, lol. I didn’t go last year because there is no way that I am going to get M to dress up and go to a “prom.” So this year, there is a big group of my girlfriends going and I thought that maybe I would go with them, even if M doesn’t come. Just to say that I went to one. Of course, I will definitely be more of a wall flower than a party animal, but I think it will be fun just to hang out with my friends and wear a pretty dress. Here is the dress I am thinking about wearing… What do you think? Should I go or not?

I am going to wear a cardigan over the top so that it is a little more modest.

Amazing, Beautiful Pictures

2006-02-23T19:55:00.000-06:00

Please check out the blog: Muslim Cultures

These are some of the most amazing and beautiful pictures I have ever seen, representing the radiant diversity of our Ummah! The photographers are obviously very talented.

2006-02-23T08:31:00.000-06:00

A woman is like an artichoke, you have to do some work to get to her heart.
- Steve Martin as Inspector Closeau in The Pink Panther

Did you know that artichokes flower?

Sportsmanship in These Olympic Games, or Lack Thereof

2006-02-21T12:01:00.000-06:00

Is it just me, or do these Olympics seem to be all about drama? Controversy has been plaguing these games since before they even started, from Bode Miller’s admissions of drunken skiing antics on 60 minutes to the dismissal of the U.S. skeleton team’s coach for alleged sexual harassment of team members. Despite the fact that we often put athletes on a pedestal and expect them to act with character and behavior above the average man, these games have highlighted the fact that often athletes fail to meet the standards that we place on them. Admittedly, sometimes we place to high a standard on athletes, especially at the Olympics. However, the open displays of pettiness and lack of sportsmanship at the Olympics this year have really gotten me down on the whole event this year. I am talking about two specific instances in the past week that have really struck me as displaying a disappointing attitude by Olympic athletes.

Issue #1- The Shani Davis Controversy
First let me say Congratulations to Shani Davis on the first individual gold medal to be won by an African American athlete in a winter Olympics, EVER! I am truly appalled by the way that Shani Davis has been treated by his own teammates and the media. He has been called selfish and unpatriotic for refusing to skate in the team pursuit. He never agreed to skate in the team pursuit and it was 2 days before his most important individual event. He made the decision way in advance not to skate in the team event. However, his “teammate” Chad Hedrick decides to have a temper tantrum because Shani’s decision to focus on his own best event kept Hedrick from winning 5 gold medals. The root of his complaint is not that Shani was not a team player, but that Shani didn’t put his own goals on hold to help another teammate (Hedrick) reach his. Hedrick was even so petty as to refuse to congratulate Shani on his gold medal and instead only saluted the silver medal winner (Cheek) at the award ceremony. Makes me ashamed that Hedrick is representing America at the Olympics, not to mention the reaction by many Americans who have derided Shani for his decision (someone even went so far as to call him the n-word on a post to his personal website!). I could say a lot more, but this author does it better: Shani Davis Disrespected in His Moment of Glory

Issue #2- Ice Dancing Prima Donnas or The Glare Heard Round the World
Two nights ago ice dancing turned into a “demolition derby” with an unprecedented five couples falling during the competition. The Canadian couple had to quit because the girl was dropped on her hip from about five feet in the air. (Sorry I don’t know peoples' names). And then you have the Italians, who fell right at the very end of their otherwise beautiful performance. When they stopped in their poses, they glared, and I mean glared, holes through each other. You could just see that each of them was blaming the other for the fall. Hellooooo, you are a team, when you fall, you both fall. Next night, all during warm-ups and up until they entered the ice they refused to speak to each other and kept giving each other eat-s***-and-die looks. Unbelievable. They came out of retirement for this and that is how they want to remember their last Olympics? Luckily they came out and skated to a very passionate and aggressive score (I think if their skate was romantic they would have bombed) and did really well and apparently forgave each other in the end. But it was disappointing to see them acting like children on international television.

Maybe I am just being too hard on people, but I have always expected more from Olympic athletes than from the pros or even most college players. Where are the personal interest stories that make me want to root for someone? Its just not here for me this year so far. I hope that this week will be better, we shall see.

Do You Sudoku?

2006-02-20T15:53:00.000-06:00

Add this to my long list of procrastination tools. I have become very creative in finding ways not to do school work. Right now my top procrastination methods include

1. Watching the Winter Olympics (hey it only comes around every 4 years).

2. Reading books that are not in any way related to law school (see my consuming list).

3. Playing Sudoku, my new addiction(my mom acutally gave this book of puzzles to M for Christmas and I have done all of them)

4. Playing with my blog and reading everyone else's. (But how can I resist, you all are so fascinating!)

5. Cleaning the house, yes that is right, I would rather clean the house than read for the classes I am taking this semester (have you seen the classes I am taking this semester).

Please feel free to suggest new means of procrastination at anytime, I am open to all your ideas :).

The Quartet Meme

2006-02-17T19:05:00.000-06:00

I got tagged by Baji about 2 weeks ago and didn't notice it until last night, so I will do this meme too. Sorry if I am boring everyone with memes :).

Four Jobs I’ve Had in My Life
1. Waitress- I was a waitress for 4+ years at two Italian Restaurants and a County Club (which was not very fun)
2. Smoothie Maker at Smoothie King- I did this for quite a while too and it was a lot of fun, but smoothies make you fat when you drink 2-3 a day
3. Sales girl at Express- I lasted here for two weeks only. The other employees were stuck up and I picked the wrong time to start working here (Christmas season, ack!)
4. Clerk for State Court Judge- awesome, awesome experience. Maybe I will try for a Court of Appeals Clerkship after I graduate (insha'Allah!)

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over, and Have
1. I don't really like to watch movies over and over and when I do they are soppy romantic comedys, so French Kiss
2. Moulin Rouge
3. The Usual Suspects (M's favorite, not a romantic comedy, but good movie)
4. Sleepless in Seattle (I'm a Meg Ryan fan, there its out in the open)

Four Places I Have Lived
1. North Carolina
2. Alabama
3. Georgia

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch
1. Cold Case Files, City Confidential, and American Justice (I can watch A&E for hours)
2. King of the Hill (hilarious, especially now that my parents live in Texas)
3. Rescue Me
4. Nip Tuck (I know, isn't it awful)

Four Places I Have Been On Vacation
1. Europe (3 times)
2. Canada (2 times)
3. Bahamas (2 times)
4. Las Vegas (Once was enough!)- the detour to the Grand Canyon was amazing.

Four Websites I Visit Daily
1. My blogroll
2. Beliefnet discussion boards
3. My yahoo groups
4. Ebay

Four Favorite Foods
1. Country fried steak and mashed potatoes
2. Macaroni and Cheese
3. Chicken Katakat with fresh naan
4. Trout Nociialo from Carrabba's

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
1. Dallas with my parents
2. On a cruise
3. Visiting Karachi
4. Alaska, well not right now, I'd like to wait until summer

Four People Whom I Tag Next
1. Pixie
2. Blossoms of Thought
3. Anyone who hasn't done it yet that wants to.
4. Seems like everyone else has done it, so I won't retag someone

I got tagged for my first meme!

2006-02-16T20:51:00.000-06:00

I got tagged by wayfarer for my first meme :) and it looks like a fun one too. I tag you, anyone who is reading my blog and hasn't done this one yet :).

1. Your name spelled backwards.- alasam nrehtuos (sounds like an ambassdor to the UN)
2. Last incoming call on your phone- M, of course, he is pretty much the only person who calls me
3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? A pocket Qur'an to go on my Treo 650, pretty cool
4. What's your favorite restaurant? Favorite desi restaurant- Moghuls, Favorite other restaurant- Carrabba's Italian Grill. I worked there for 3+ years and I still think that they have the best Italian food.
5. Last time you swam in a pool? This summer, me and M snuck downstairs to the Condo pool after midnight and swam around when noone could see me. Well, I swam around, he just sat there cuz he can't swim. I've tried teaching him and he almost drowned me.
6. Have you ever been in a school play? Once, I had like 2 lines and spoke from offstage. Does that count?
7. 2 or 3? 2?
8. Type of music you dislike most? Rap, I think that the lyrics and videos ar disgusting, objectify women, and glorify criminal life. I know that there is some rap out there that doesn't, but I just don't have time to try to find the speck of good in the load of garbage that is out there.
9. Do you have cable? Yep, what would I do without A&E and Discovery Channel?
10. Have you ever ridden on a 4 wheeler? Suprisingly no, and I grew up in Alabama!
11. Have you ever made a prank phone call? Yep
12. Boyfriend/Girlfriend? Nope
13. Would you go bungee jumping or skydiving? Neither, roller coasters are my limit. I went on the Agoraphobia thing at Six Flags and almost threw up.
14. Farthest place you ever traveled? Austria. This summer I am going to India and Pakistan, insha'Allah!
15. Do you have a garden? Do two window boxes on my balcony count?
16. What's your favorite comic strip? Muttz, I think they are so cute
17. Do you read a newspaper every day? Nope, I get my news online.
18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Definitely.
20. Best movie(s) you've seen in the past month? I haven't really seen any great ones. Wedding Crashers was pretty funny.
21. Favorite pizza toppings? Extra cheese, mushroom, hamburger, pineapple, mmmm
22. Chips or popcorn? Chips and french onion dip! (secret addiction)
23. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? Who has?
24. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? No
25. Orange Juice or Apple Juice? Orange
26. Who were the last people you went out to lunch or dinner with? Excluding M, I went out with Wayfarer and her dh and their cutie pie
27. Favorite type chocolate bar? White chocolate Reese's Cups
28. When was the last time you voted at the polls? The 2004 election, I also served as a poll monitor.
29. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? Last summer when I visited my parents in Dallas.
30. Have you ever won a trophy? Lots of them, most for soccer. I played competitive soccer through high school and NCAA DI in college.
31. Are you a good cook? I think I'm alright, M eats it.
32. Do you know how to pump your own gas? Yes, is there anyone under the age of 80 who doesn't?
33. Sprite or 7-Up? Sprite
34. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work? Yes, four years of catholic school and various part time jobs.
35. Last thing you ate? Hamburger steak and green peas. I am doing the South Beach diet and it is only the first day and I think it is hard.
36. Ever thrown up in public? I don't think so, but I may not remember it...
40. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? Our family's last exchange student from Germany. She got into a car accident on Prom night and had to have minor surgery.
41. Did you have long hair as a young kid? Never really long, from about 2nd to 4th grade I had a bowl cut. Horrors!
42. What messages are in your voice mail? None
45. What kind of bag do you have, and whats in it? Plain black one, keys phone, wallet, tons of random pieces of paper
46. What was the last thing you drank? Water, trying to cut back on my diet coke intake
47. What is one thing you are grateful for today? The beautiful weather (70 degrees today!). Cancelled classes and afternoon naps!
48. What do you think about most? My faith, my family, school, my future
49. What is your new years resolution? Be a better Muslim, work on learning new languages, lose 20 lbs before this summer.

Sins of their Fathers

2006-02-14T13:56:00.000-06:00

This is an issue that touches closely on areas that I am interested in, both in the areas of immigration law and education law. The Georgia State legislature is attempting to pass a bill that will deny public services to illegal immigrants, including post-secondary education and health services. See this article for a description of HR-256 Rogers to Revise Immigration Bill.

Now, just for minute, lets concede that it is legitimate to deny health care and education to people who entered this country as adults. They came here of their own free will, they knew that they were breaking the law. But these same people have brought their children with them. These children had no say in where their parents chose to live and in what manner they chose to establish their residence there. Yet we are willing to allow a generation of children of illegal immigrants to be denied healthcare and education because of the sins of their parents? Not only will people without documentation be turned away from public clinics, any private clinics which receive funding from the government will be required to check the documentation of patients and turn away those who are here illegally! Guess they need to tack that clause onto the hippocratic oath.

When they first introduced the bill they wanted to deny access to public schools for the children of illegal aliens as well. Apparently someone finally figured out that the Supreme Court has ruled on this issue more than 20 years ago in Plyler v. Doe, ruling that you cannot deny primary education to children based on their immigration status. Despite the ruling in Plyler, this ruling has been severly limited in further decisions. Consequently, there is no fundamental right to education in the United States. Amazing isn't it? The "most developed" nation in the world does not guarantee the right to its children to receive an education. Ok well now I am off on a tanget.

If you want to send a letter to your Georgia State legislator asking them to vote no on HR-256, or a letter to your United State Representatives asking them to support education for ALL children in this country: click the link below
Letter Writing Action for the Coaltion for New Georgia

Armadillo Fruit Salad?????

2006-02-12T16:25:00.000-06:00

I talk in my sleep. I have done this since I was a kid, but in recent years I have become much more fluent in sleep talk. I think that this is because M thinks it is funny to talk to me when I am sleeping and see what I will say. A lot of times he will talk to me in Urdu. Last night he told me that we was saying Karachi janne? (Do you want to go to Karachi?) And I kept saying haan. A few days ago I started laughing out loud while I was sleeping. I woke up M and he started laughing too. When he asked me what was so funy, I said "armadillo fruit salad." What the???? I have no idea where that could have come from. I have no memory of any of it either, he had to tell me about it the next day.

The sleep talking thing is genetic I think, my mom is notorious for talking in her sleep too. One time she cussed my dad out so bad while she was sleeping and he didn't realize that she was asleep. He didn't talk to her for a couple of days and she had no idea what was wrong!

One of my most embarassing moments of my teen years comes from a sleep talking experience. This guy had asked me out several times and I kept turning him down because I just didn't think he was attractive (shallow I know). So finally I thought I will give him a chance and agreed to go out with him. I told my mom before he came to pick me up that he wasn't that cute, but was really nice. When we came home that night the light was still on, but my mom was asleep on the couch. He insisted on coming in to say goodnight to her, although little warning bells were going off in my head. As we came in she said in her sleep, "I don't know, I didn't think he was that ugly." Needless to say, I was mortified and he never asked me out on another date again.

Diet

2006-02-12T16:15:00.000-06:00

Has anyone out there done the South Beach Diet? Did it work? How much weight did you lose? Was it really hard? I am wanting to lost about 15-20 pounds before I go to Pakistan this Summer! I want my stomach to look like it did when I was playing ball in college. I weigh the same as I did in college, but all of my muscle has turned to flab. So I want to loose it. I am glad that I have lost some of my muscle though, I looked way too bulky before. I had huge shoulders and huge thighs and even my pecs were too big. So let me know if I should get the South Beach Diet Book!

My First Ashura

2006-02-11T00:33:00.000-06:00

I have been a Shi’a Muslim for 2 years now. I have fasted for two Ramadans, but I had never experienced Ashura until now. The night of Muharram, that night I went to the majilis first and listened to the speaker. I felt my chest tighten and my throat close as he painfully described the murder of Imam Husayn’s tiny six month old son as he held him in his arms. Yet I did not cry, every night of Muharram I had felt this tightness, a shortness of breath that often precedes tears, but I could not cry. I could not weep like the other ladies who put their heads down and sobbed as the Maulana recounted each night the fateful moments of Karbala.

Leaving the Majilis, I returned home to study and think about what I had learned that night. Meanwhile, M had come and gone to the Urdu Majilis which started after the English session. He called me to say that he was going with some people to the Jaafari mosque, a somewhat bigger mosque closer to my house. I told him that he should just go and I would go tomorrow. It was already past midnight. At 1 am he called and told me to come downstairs, there were so many people there, close to a thousand, that he wanted me to see it, he was coming to pick me up. I went down stairs and we drove to the mosque.

Here, he said, take your phone and keep it close to you. If you get scared, call me and we will come out. He dropped me at the door and went off to find a parking spot. From a hundred yards away I could the grey-white smoke wafting from the doors. People were milling through the parking lot and standing in the doorways. I slowly made my way to the front, looking for any familiar face.

Entering the mosque the final plaintive strains of the Ziaraat were being recited. Assalaamu Alaikum, peace be upon you, Husayn, a final farewell. I joined the throng of women that pushed to fit behind the meager barriers. Women pushed me to move, move. Where was I going? I was so confused. I managed to squeeze into a space and to find a friendly face, a sister to help me, she pulled me closer to her. The smell of the incense was strong in the air. I watched in amazement as the men lifted an enormous replica of the tomb of Husayn onto their shoulders and carried it around the room, straining against the awkward weight. The flag bearers, carrying the Alam, followed them, balancing their precious banners precariously.

Then the nohays began. The rhythmic chanting filled the room, swelling, overriding all other sounds, an ocean of sound, a living pulse. It drew me in inexorably and the crowd began to carry me forward. Towards the tomb and the alams, my friend grabbed my hand reassuringly. Ya Husayn, Ya Husayn, we cried, beating our chests to the rhythm of the room.

The crowd brought me forward, leaning, desperate to touch the tomb, the alams, touching and kissing, wiping their faces. I reached out tentatively to touch the alam and then, as soon as I was there I was swept away again by the crowd.

I turned to face the crowd of men who stood there, mourning, beating their chests to the rhythm of the nohays. The smells of sweat and incense mingled in the air. On and on it continued, Ya Husayn Ya Husayn. We are here, we will not forget you. We will not forget what you did for us, you saved Islam for us and we will not forget your sacrifice. We will not let our children forget your sacrifice.

The pure physical connection to God was present in that room. In the rhythm and the smell, in the sweat and the tears, so far removed from the cold and sterile God of my previous Christianity. This was life, this was love, this was faith. Husayn’s sacrifice is life, it is love, it is faith. And now I was experiencing genuine connection between the spiritual and the physical for the first time in my life.

Finally I turned from the scene and met M in the parking lot to go home. What did you think, he asked. As I turned to him, the tears welled up in my eyes. Finally, I could cry. I could cry for Husayn, for his baby, for his brothers and sisters, and companions who laid down their lives that Islam may live. I could cry for every man who fought for his beliefs only to be slain by injustice and tyranny. I could cry for every baby who thirsted for water, only to be denied by cruelty. At the end of Ashura, as I stood there in that parking lot, I know that 2 years ago, I made the right decision- La ilaha il Allah.

Ashura 2006

2006-02-09T10:10:00.000-06:00

Every Day is Ashura, Every Land is Karbala

The Battle of Karbala
A Marthiyaa of Anis, translated into English verse by David Matthews, Rupa Co.
The sun had run his journey o'er the night;
Unveiled, the Dawn revealed her glorious face.
The King who rides the heavens saw her light
And called his brave companions to their place.
'The time has come at last; to God give praise;
Arise! In fitting prayer your voices raise.
Brave hearts! For strife and slaughter dawns this day;
Here the blood of Muhammad's race will flow.
'Zahra's darling, honoured, seeks the fray;
The night of parting fades 'neath union's glow.
'We are those for whom the angels weep;
To live this day we sacrificed our sleep...

And here amid the thorns the Prophet's flowers
Imparted fragrance to the desert lands;
The house of Fatima faced its last hours
In the garden planted by Muhammad's hands
This garden cut down in those ten sad days,
By traitors wasted, cruelly set ablaze...

Here sad laments and pleading supplication;
But there oppression, cruelty, wicked deeds.
Umar, son of Sa'ad cried, 'Keep your station!
Watch the river, guard the banks and meads !
Husain is without water for two days.
Let him not drink a drop until he pays...'

Baqir rests, Sakina is in a swoon;
This feverish heat our babies has oppressed.
In tears they sleep, their faces like the moon,
Weak from hunger. Where to give them rest?
Theirs is no fault. Why do these arrows rain?
They seek the coolness of the breeze in vain...'

Suddenly arrows rained upon the horde.
Husain advanced and pleaded with his foe.
His thirsty friends came to protect their Lord;
They struck the Syrian force and laid it low.
With swords held high, the fight was underway
All strove like Malik Ushtar in the fray...

'Mid dead and dying stood the lone Imam.
The Prophet's cloak was soaked in crimson gore.
Dejected, anxious, thirsty, in alarm,
He heard their victory drums; the enemies' roar
Proclaiming slaughtered martyrs broke his heart;
It pierced his spirit like a poisoned dart.

Only he who grieves can understand.
The garden of life's toil now wasted lay.
No rest from lamentations cruel hand
The lamps were out that once burnt bright as day.
Scattered limbs exposed to seering heat;
On Ali Akbar's corpse there was no sheet.
The King of the Age moved slowly to the tent;
He could not bring his thirsty lips to speak.
Lifting the flap, he cried: 'My heart is rent!
My sister, it is Asghar that I seek.
Now bring him from his cradle to the door
I long to see his moon-like face once more.'

But now enough! No more, Husain! No more!'
Tis time to rest. The horse pants from the heat.
The time for prayer draws nigh.
The battle's roarIs over now for thee.
No more! Retreat!No one can fight thus, thirsty in the throng.
Attend to thy dear kin, and soothe their wrong.'

Sheathing his sword, the King; cried: 'I obey!'!
'The Day of Judgement came upon the world.
The enemy stood like animals at bay.
Their arrows fixed, their standard's flag unfurled.
Husain stood helpless. See and you will know
Your helpless Lord alone before his foe!

Ten thousand arrows dashed upon his chest;
A hundred at one time sought out their prey.
The spears transfixed his side and pierced his breast;
Ten stuck for every four he pulled away.
The Shadow of the Lord was filled with spines,
Like needles in the backs of porcupines.

From all directions arrows poured like rain;
Assassins rushed with spears and daggers bared.
Such pain befell Husain. Such pain! Such pain!
The one who on the Prophet's lap was reared.
No one to pluck the arrows from his chest.
No one to lift him to his place of rest.

To read the Poem in its entirety click here: The Battle of Karbala

Phew!

2006-02-06T14:49:00.000-06:00

I am finished with my comment, alhhumdullilah! I can't write anything else right now because I am brain dead.

Hate Speech

2006-02-05T16:21:00.000-06:00

I wrote this short paper last year as part of my Criminal law class and an exercise in comparative law. With the recent controversy over Danish caricatures of our beloved Prophet, I ask, do the cartoons qualify as hate speech? Especially considering the fact that they were reprinted in German and French newspapers which have specific hate speech statutes on the books. Will those editors be prosecuted? Seems like hate speech applies to every group but Muslims. Please note that I in no way condone the violence that Muslims around the world are engaging in as a means of protest. For a great post that pretty much speaks my viewpoint on the issue see Aisha's post on It's My Life (on my blog list).

Hate Speech in Germany and South Africa.
Hate speech is defined as any communication that “degrades a person or group of people based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other distinguishing status.”[1] In examining the controversial tension between the values of freedom of speech and freedom from prejudicial and discriminatory speech, the differences between Germany and South African provide insight into this area of the law. Both nations retain vivid memories of a history of repression and violence against a specific class or group within their society. However, they have responded in vastly different ways to the problems accompanying such infamous histories.
The basis for German Hate Speech legislation finds its roots in the German Constitution (“Grundgestz”), which was created under allied guidance after Germany’s surrender during World War II.[2] The constitution allows for the promulgation of such laws as are necessary to promote the protection of the youth and of personal honor.[3] Although the constitution provides a fundamental right to freedom of speech, it also provides that this right may be forfeited if that speech is used to promote the violation of the rights of others or if it offends the “constitutional order or the moral code.”[4] In Germany, hate speech is classified as a violation of the personal honor and rights of others. Therefore under Germany’s Basic Law, the government is given the right to limit freedom of expression and has done so through the passage of several laws outlawing hate speech.[5] These laws especially target neo-Nazi groups and ultra-right wing political parties whose rhetoric add to the increasing problem of hate crimes in Germany.[6] These laws specifically outlaw acts against “parts of the population” which lead to the “incitement of hatred, provocation of violence or lawlessness, and insult, ridicule, or defamation.”[7] [emphasis added]. Further related laws prohibit the selling of certain “dangerous materials” to people under the age of eighteen, and “inciting the public to race hatred.”[8] Thus, in Germany the dangerousness of certain forms of speech outweighs the concerns regarding freedom of speech.
South Africa, also known for its own forms of invidious discrimination and violence against a specific group within its society, has addressed the concerns over hate speech in a completely different manner. The “New South Africa” is significantly closer in time and therefore all the possibilities and ramifications for hate speech legislation have yet to be examined. However, South Africa has already shown one step away from strict legislation of hate speech through its rejection of a hate speech provision in its new constitution promulgated in 1992.[9] While several proposals were made during the drafting of a Bill of Rights for the New South Africa, none of these were accepted in the final version. Certain key passages pointed towards the ability to allow the state to enact legislation prohibiting racial hostility, along with many other forms of hostility, and allowing the state to prohibit the dissemination of racially divisive materials which “insult, degrade, defame, or encourage abuse of any … group.”[10] Ultimately, the African National Congress rejected these additions for several reasons. Among them were qualms as to the ability to criminalize insults, the practical ability to apply laws limiting speech, and the fact that the black majority, having finally seized political power were not feeling “powerless or excluded as a result of racist expression” any longer and did not feel a pressing need to criminalize hate speech.[11] Only time will tell as to the needs of the South African society in the future and to whether they will feel a need to ban racist speech at a later date.
Although Germany and South Africa share a past steeped in violence and oppression of minorities, each country has chosen to approach the problem of hate speech in a different way. Germany looks to protect all classes of minorities within its borders from the resurging dangers of neo-nazism and increasing xenophobia through the regulation of speech. Meanwhile, South Africa’s recently oppressed population finds itself suddenly in the seat of power, perhaps lessening feelings towards the necessity of legislation criminalizing hate speech, and choosing not to add provisions to its constitution allowing for such legislation.
[1] Appleman, Bradley A., Note and Comment: Hate Speech: A Comparison of the Approaches Taken By the United States and Germany., 14 Wis. Int’l L.J. 422, 422 (1996).
[2] Id at 428.
[3] Id.
[4] Id. at 429.
[5] Id. at 431.
[6] Id. at 432.
[7] Id.
[8] Id. at 433.
[9] Neisser, Eric, Hate Speech in the New South Africa: Constitutional Considerations for a Land Recovering from Decades of Racial Repression and Violence. 3 D.C.L. J. Int’l L. & Prac. 335, 355 (1994).
[10] Id. at 354.
[11] Id. at 355.

National Lampoon's Redneck Wedding

2006-02-05T00:05:00.000-06:00

Here is a good story from back in my home state of Alabama -->

For those of you who don't know, I grew up and went to college in Birmingham, Alabama. When I was a freshman in college I was invited to the wedding of an acquaintance of mine from high school (at the ripe old age of 18). So being the first friend of mine to ever get married, of course I had to go.

The wedding was to be held at sunset on the banks of the Warrior River, aw how romantic. I had no idea where I was going, but I was warned by a friend who was going as well that I should leave early because it would take at least an hour to get there, even though it was only a few exits away on the interstate.

So I coaxed my boyfriend of the time to go with me. His response was no way, they are going to lynch me out there (speaking as a relatively dark skinned Hispanic man). But I made him go anyway, I still didn't believe that it could be that far out in the country.

We are driving along down a highway, then a two lane road, then an unlined blacktop, then a gravel road, then two ruts in the middle of a field and finally an hour later we get to the site of the long anticipated nuptials. At this point, Jose refused to get out of the car until I threatened to kick him out and leave him there.

So we get out and head towards the river where the site for wedding was designated by pews made from hay bales. There were those tiki torches which people use for luau parties on the end of the rows of haybales. So we went and stood in front of a hay bale as the bride appeared, radiant in her prom dress worn for the first time only a few monts before, and barefoot. The groom was also barefoot wearing a white untucked shirt and black pants. At this point the soot from the tiki torches is blowing into the guests eyes and a large golden retriever appears out of nowhere and begins jumping on us (yes, a dog), although this probably didn't bother most guests, as I felt overdressed in my sundress compared to most of the other guests' blue jean cut offs and fringe leather vests. The vows are then exchanged without a hitch. The minister informs us that no rings will be exchanged as the bride and groom will be tatooing their wedding bands on their ring fingers (how Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee!). Then its time for the reception!

We turn and march 100 yards down a hill to where the grooms parents have set up a tent in their front yard for the reception where plenty of barbecue, coleslaw, and cold beer await the guests. The bride and groom complete a wonderful toast with pink lemonade (as obviously they are too young to drink alcohol). But wait, something was missing... the music. Don't worry, an obliging guest simply backed up his JEEP wrangler, took down the soft top and blared some CD's from the car stereo.

What more can I say? I heard about six months later that the marriage had ended after 4 months of bliss and stocked this story away as quite possibly the most amazing redneck spectacle I have ever seen. And I'm glad that I went.

My First Muharram Majilis

2006-02-01T09:57:00.000-06:00

I went to my first Muharram majilis last night. Even though I have been Muslim for over 2 years now, I had never been to a mosque until this Ramadan. The English majilis was amazing! The maulana (sp?) was a very good speaker and his speech had everything, laughter, wisdom, and of course, tears. The well of emotion that occurs at these events is just amazing and it sweeps over you like a wave. Suddenly you are crying for people who died over a thousand years ago, but it seems like it is happening all over again through the maulana's words. It is a very difficult thing to explain until you have been there, but I am looking forward to the majilis for the rest of the week and to learning new things and experiencing new emotions insha'Allah.

Doe v. Walmart

2006-01-28T21:34:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I know I haven't posted in a while, but I have a good excuse that will have to get me through until Monday. My final draft of my Journal Comment for the Emory International Law Review is due on Monday (30 pages), and I have been procrastinating quite nicely up until this point. If I write well enough there is a chance that I could get it published!

If you are interested in my Comment, which is about labor abuses overseas, especially those committed by Wal-Mart, check out the NGO who is suing them for breach of contract here http://www.laborrights.org/.

So wish me luck and insha'Allah, I will be back to posting more soon.

My Top 10, See these movies!

2006-01-25T11:25:00.000-06:00

Amelie- The story of a shy and quirky French girl who embarks on a quest to make people happy. She learns a lot about herself in the process. This is just a beautiful film and an interesting story. It's in French, so expect subtitles. Actually,
most of my top ten are foreign films because apparently Hollywood doesn't make good movies anymore.

Children of Heaven- This is a beautiful story about a little boy in Iran who loses his sister's shoes and then decides to share his with her so that they can both go to school. They make a kind of weird relay where he runs from school to give her the shoes and then she runs to school. It's just very simple and sweet. In Farsi with subtitles. Broaden your mind, learn new languages!

The Terrorist- This is loosely based on the true story of The nmuli Rajaratnam (also known as Dhanu), who assassinated Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. It gets into the mind of a woman suicide bomber fighting with the Tamil Tigers and grants a humanizing look to the motivations behind someone who would do such an atrocious act. It also has beautiful cinematography. In Tamil with subtitles.

Hotel Rwanda- This movie displays in vivid detail the horrors of the conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda and the bravery of one man who worked very hard to save as many people as he could. This is an important film becuase so few Americans actually know about this, one of the worst genocides of all times. And this one is in English!

Life is Beautiful- This movie is about the Holocaust, but much more than that it is about a father's love for his family and his willingness to sacrifice everything just to make his son smile. This movie has both incredibly funny parts and incredibly sad ones as well. Watch it in English or Italian!

Rabbit Proof Fence- The story of three little aboriginge girls during the 1930's in Australia when the government supported extreme measures to assimilate half-white, half-aborigine children into the population. The girls are stolen from their mothers and taken to an orphanage, where they escape and travel thousands of miles back home. Amazing true story! Expect both English and Aboriginal language (not sure what it's called?).

The Station Agent- This is the story of a dwarf (I think this is the PC term?), who loses his best friend and moves to the countryside, only to make an odd group of new friends whether he wants them or not. This is kind of a strange movie, but beautiful in its own way. It makes you think. English.

The Message- A true classic and the Musilm equivalent of the Ten Commandments. It is my goal to make watching this movie a Ramdan tradition for my family in the years to come. Truly tragic that it's talented director, Mustafa Akkad, was murdered by terrorists in Jordan only a few months ago. In English or Arabic

Garden State- An anthem for disillusioned twenty-somethings, this movie is thought provoking and the cinematography is good. See it just for the soundtrack if you must! English.

Earth- The story of what happened in the troubled city of Lahore during the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, told through the nuetral eyes of a young zorastrian girl. The film highlights the religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims and the damage caused by centuries of colonialism and repression. This is not your typical Bollywood film and a must see for anyone interesting in the history of both nations. In Urdu/Hindi with subtitles.

Boys v. Girls

2006-01-24T12:33:00.000-06:00

There is an article in Newsweek today which I found particularly interesting. The Trouble with Boys

It talks about why America's boys are systematically doing worse than girls in school. The thing that I found most interesting about the article was the portions of it which discuss how the biological differences between girls and boys affect their attention spans and skill proclivities.

"For many boys, the trouble starts as young as 5, when they bring to kindergarten a set of physical and mental abilities very different from girls'. As almost any parent knows, most 5-year-old girls are more fluent than boys and can sight-read more words. Boys tend to have better hand-eye coordination, but their fine motor skills are less developed, making it a struggle for some to control a pencil or a paintbrush. Boys are more impulsive than girls; even if they can sit still, many prefer not to—at least not for long.
Thirty years ago feminists argued that classic "boy" behaviors were a result of socialization, but these days scientists believe they are an expression of male brain chemistry. Sometime in the first trimester, a boy fetus begins producing male sex hormones that bathe his brain in testosterone for the rest of his gestation. "That exposure wires the male brain differently," says Arthur Arnold, professor of physiological science at UCLA. How? Scientists aren't exactly sure. New studies show that prenatal exposure to male sex hormones directly affects the way children play. Girls whose mothers have high levels of testosterone during pregnancy are more likely to prefer playing with trucks to playing with dolls. There are also clues that hormones influence the way we learn all through life. In a Dutch study published in 1994, doctors found that when males were given female hormones, their spatial skills dropped but their verbal skills improved.

In elementary-school classrooms—where teachers increasingly put an emphasis on language and a premium on sitting quietly and speaking in turn—the mismatch between boys and school can become painfully obvious. "Girl behavior becomes the gold standard," says "Raising Cain" coauthor Thompson. "Boys are treated like defective girls."

The article also discusses single gender schooling, which appears to have a positive affect on the acheivement of both sexes, with single gender girls classes to the best, followed by boys, and then co-ed.

While it is sad that boys in America are suffering as their educational needs appear to be overlooked, other things about the article struck a chord with me as well.

One of the issues that I am constantly battling is those men who attempt to enforce "Hislam" on the female muslim populace, i.e. their misogynistic cultural values disguised as legitimate Islamic principles. The general attitude is to declare that women by their "nature" are weaker and less intelligent than men, need to be taken care of by men and therefore owe their due obedience to their protectors and sustainers. So when I see studies like this which show that yes, women are biologically different from men, but NOT inferior, it just makes me smile :).

I welcome any comments on the article in general, or the concept of single gender schooling. Do you think that it will affect kids negatively later in life when they have to work in a co-gender environment? How much of the problems confronting today's boys are due to the lack of strong male role models because of divorce or unmarried pregnancy?

Happy Birthday To Us!

2006-01-21T10:41:00.000-06:00

The only cake I'll be getting this year because of my "diet."

Today is my birthday. I am the big 24. I guess that it is not that exciting anymore. After 21, you just don't get any cool birthdays. Well, even 21 wasn't a big deal because I had already quit drinking by then. The only interesting thing about my birthday is that M has the same birthday. We are exactly 8 years and 15 minutes apart (not counting the time difference, since he was born in Iraq and I am not sure what the time difference is between here and Iraq?). Poor M though, he doesn't like birthdays because he is 32 now, and of course I am all "Yay! its my birthday" and force him to have fun, lol. It was pretty funny the first time we found out that we had the same birthday. He jumped up and yelled "Get the hell out of here!" And I made him show me his driver's license because I didn't believe him. He is always making stuff up to tease me. But sure enough, there it was on his license. So Happy Birthday to us!

War On Error

2006-01-20T23:00:00.000-06:00

Hello All,

My friend Melody wrote a book, and I am sure that it is going to be really good. It is releasing sometime in the summer and I am very excited for her. By the way Mel, since I'm plugging you, any chance you can get me an advance copy??? LOL.

Here is what her website says about her new book, War on Error.

"In this insightful and provocative book, Ms. Moezzi explores a rarely seen side of Islam. The individual Muslim Americans around whom her book revolves reveal a more personal, less sensational, and most importantly, more realistic portrait of the faith and its practitioners. "

Check out her website here: Melody Moezzi

Oh you crazy law student...

2006-01-17T09:41:00.000-06:00

I thought I would make a little post about some of the different "types" that you can run into in a law school which I had never previously experienced in all my long years of education. For some reason, law school seems to just pull these people out of the woodwork and disperse them to annoy us "average" students who just want to get along and not draw too much attention to ourselves. Please note that all names have been disguised to protect the not-so-innocent, but these are actual conversations that I or my friends have been witness to in the past year and a half.

Type #1- The Gunner (aka "That guy," as in, don't be "that guy")
These are the people who seem to know everything about everything, have already read the entire casebook before the class even starts, and generally think that they are smarter than the professor. They also talk in "smart people" voices (think the boss from Office Space). Some choice tidbits from the gunners in my class.
"I'm glad that there are people like you around to round out the curve," said to a student who expressed the belief that she is not extremely competitive in class.
"Well, if law school doesn't work out, you can always be a billings clerk," said to me upon learning that I was an administrative assistant for 9 months between undergrad and law school.
To the professor who wrote the casebook used in our class, "Well, as you wrote in your book..."
I could go on and on.
Needless to say, these people tend to irk me just a little bit.

Type #2- The What-Planet-Are-You-From Guy

Ok, I only have one really good story for this guy but here it goes and it came from a close friend of mine (let's call her Janine)

So Janine is in the student lounge area studying when THPAYF Guy comes up to her and...
THPAYF Guy: Hey Janine, are you going to the girl's restroom anytime soon?
Janine: Umm, I don't know, why?
THPAYF Guy: Well, I heard that there is a list of the 10 hottest guys in the 1L class on the wall in the girl's bathroom and I wanted you to tell me what number I am.
Janine: Ummm, I don't know what you are talking about (to herself- if there was one, you wouldn't be on it).

Where do these people come from?

Type #3- The Professor that's just sooo good at being mean
Seems like every 1L class is subjected to one of these, a professor who makes Professor Kingsfield from The Paper Chase seem like a pussy cat (mine was even my contracts professor)!

Choice comments from this guy:
"That's the second dumbest thing I've heard all day."
"I'm going to get you some ballet shoes so that you can dance around the question a little more."

Hilarious when directed at someone else, not so much fun when coming at you, this guy actually made me forget the name of my Civ. Pro. professor because I was so intimidated when he asked me in class.

Another miscellaneous comment from people in my class that I thought were hilarious, or unbelievable-
The girl who during discussion of the U.S. v. VMI case in Con. Law (this is the one that forced VMI to let girls in), said "I just don't understand why women are trying to be men by being soldiers, why don't you just let the men do that, what woman would want to be in the army?" Huh? Why are you in law school, you are trying to enter a traditionally male dominated field, shouldn't you just let the men be lawyers? just blows my mind.

Ok, I'm going to stop now, who knows, maybe I am someone else's annoying personality type? Well, turnaround is fair play, lol.

Tears in Heaven

2006-01-14T15:21:00.000-06:00

So I was just listening to that Eric Clapton song "Tears in Heaven" on my iPod while I was ironing M's clothes and that song always makes me think about this story from my childhood which simultaneously makes me laught and feel guilty.
So when I was a kid I played soccer (actually I played all my life, into college NCAA D1, but thats a story for another post). Anyway, we used to have a carpool to go to practices and this girl was in my carpool and we were really good friends in school and everything too. So one day, "Tears in Heaven" comes on the radio and we have this conversation.

K: This song always makes me sad because it reminds of my best friend's dad's funeral back in Oklahoma (she used to live there).
Me: Wow, that's really sad, how did he die?
K: (very seriously) He was gored to death by a water buffalo.
Me: (laughing so hard that if I had been drinking milk it would have come out of my nose) Are you kidding me?
K: (very hurt and offended, and almost crying) Why is that so funny? He was a water buffalo farmer, there are lots of them in Oklahoma.
Me: (feeling very guilty now and like a real idiot) Oh, sorry.

So now whenever I hear that song I think about how this guy I don't know and never met in my life was "gored to death by a water buffalo." And as awful as it is and as guilty as it makes me feel, I still snicker just a little bit. I think it was in her delivery, please tell me I'm not a horrible person!

My Porkchops Glow in the Dark!

2006-01-12T13:34:00.000-06:00

Today I decided to comment on the news, because there are some weird and interesting things going on out there.

Weird thing- Scientists in Taiwan have created a flourescent green pig. Tres bizarre, I think. This has something to do with stem cell research, which I don't have any particular opinion on because I don't know much about it. So are green pigs, like, extra haram? Ha ha, I don't like pork anyways, even before I became Muslim I very rarely ate it because its yucky. I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I Am!

Sad thing- Many pilgrims were killed today during Hajj as they rushed to stone the pillars at Mina. Inna lillahi wa inna rajaoon. I don't know what the solution is to this problem, but something more must be done to ensure the safety of the pilgrims. The Saudi officials KNOW that there are going to be 2.5 mil people there, so.... The way I look at it there are a few problems, which is inefficient crowd control, and the demand by Wahhabbi clerics that people complete the stoning between noon and sunset. Shi'a clerics say that people can complete it anytime during sunrise to sunset, so most of the Shi'a got through it early in the morning and had no problems. Another thing which is horrible is that another hotel collapsed earlier in hajj and killed many pilgrims, that is totally preventable by requiring people to follow building regulations, but I guess that is just too much to ask. Arrgggg!

Thing I am worried about- Let me tell you a little story. In summer 2002, I went to Germany and actually backpacked from Muenster to Rome and back again with 3 German friends of mine. Along the way we met several other friends. Sometimes people would ask me, "do you think that the U.S. is going to invade Iraq?" "Ha ha", I would suavely reply, "that would never happen, your press over here is so sensationalist!" Oh little did I know... Boy did I feel like a dumb a*** a year later. Now the war drums are beating for Iran, and I will say this, we as a country do not have the troops, resources, and public morale to support ANY kind of military action into Iran. Iran is not a feeble dictatorship that has been suffering under more than a decade of UN imposed sanctions. The U.S. is getting in TOO deep, even for themselves, unless they have MASSIVE EU support, which I don't think will happen, even with murmerings going on right now. I hope that we stay away from Iran, if solely for the sake of my middle age, when I will be paying off the national deficit (not single-handedly, but you know what I mean).

Ok, enough of my political commentary for today and my news commentary. Ta ta!

Eid Mubarak

2006-01-11T10:41:00.000-06:00

Eid Mubarak to everyone!!!!!

We went for the Eid prayer this morning at the Shi'a masjid. It was nice even though it took us over an hour with the rush hour traffic! Why do they have to plan these things to start in the middle of rush hour (8:30)?? A half hour before or later would make SUCH a difference. Ah, well. Apparently the mulana was stuck in traffic too, so the prayer started late and we only missed half of the first rakat. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the day and hopefully I won't drop completely off my blog again now that school has started. Ciao!

Hilton Head Hell

2006-01-06T16:10:00.000-06:00

Looks nice, doesn't it? but.........

Hello,

Well, I have just spent the past three days in Hilton Head with my maternal grandmother, which was, let's say, a trying experience. She is not a very easy person to spend three days with and normally I manage to avoid her scrutiny, as it is normally deflected to one of the other cousins who is a bigger screw-up at the time than I am. Let's see, some of the things that this crazy woman has done in the past just to give you an inkling of what I am talking about.

- She told my oldest cousin that if he didn't get married before he was 30 she was going to cut him out of her will (which would be a substantial amount of money).
- She did cut my cousin out of the will who had a child out of wedlock.
- She told my uncle that his two children were not truly apart of the family because they are adopted (well, she later disinherited one, so...)
- She told my cousin who has battled anorexia in the past that she was overweight (she's not at all, she used to be a model before she got married).
- She didn't want my Mom to marry my Dad because he was poor.
- She told my cousin that she wouldn't come to his wedding if my dh was invited (so he wasn't invited because she always gets her way, and the rest of the family are closet xenophobes anyways).

So this time, I got to hear in the course of about 2 days that I was overweight a good 20-3o times. ("My, don't you have a healthy appetite","you may be able to fit into my clothes if you lost a dew pounds"). She is always saying that if I lost a few pounds I could wear her clothes (she is very fashionable actually and I like most of her clothes), but come on! she weighs 102 lbs and is 5'2. I am almost 5'7 and weigh 150! There is no way I will EVER fit into her clothes, urgh.

Other fun topics, how I should get rid of dh (she says this very subtly, asking questions about his immigration status and telling me that I don't need to be tied down too young). Also we watched Fox News and Bill O'Reilly and she lauded his political genius, which I just sat there and took, rather than open that can of worms. Other choice comments, "I don't understand why all those Muslims want to kill each other." "Well, as long as they are killing each other over there in Iraq and don't try to come over here and kill us again, I don't care." "It's their religion that makes those Muslims so violent." Obviously she doesn't know that I'm Muslim, I'm pretty sure that she would disinherit me too, which I don't care about but which would effectively disinherit my parents too.

Ok, sorry for the long post and I'm going to shut up now, but I really needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

Qur'an Verse-A-Day Calendar

2006-01-02T15:17:00.000-06:00

Salaam,

I wanted to buy a verse-a-day calendar for the Qur'an and hadith and I couldn't find one anywhere online, so I am making one myself. If anyone wants a copy, just leave me a message or send me an email to sea6242003(at)yahoo.com and I will send you a copy gratis! I am only half way through February right now, but I will try to finish each month in time and send it out to anyone who is interested. I am going with Qur'an verses first and I am thinking that if I run out of the book I am using right now, I will fill in with sayings of Imam Ali (as) from Peak of Eloquence.
Thanks!

Happy 2006!

2006-01-01T14:31:00.000-06:00

May all of you have a blessed and happy New Year in 2006!

A Few of My Favorite Things

2005-12-31T09:58:00.000-06:00

Hello! I am back from Dallas and had a wonderful time visiting with my parents and my sister, (and dh too, although I'm around him all the time!). I'm not really big into gifts, materiality wise, but this year I got a few gifts that were really amazing and made me appreciate my family that much more. My mom spent the last 6 months pulling together every family recipe that I have ever enjoyed since childhood from all her cookbooks and put them together into one cookbook that she typed up along with her commentaries on the recipes. Wow! She even got it bound together at Kinkos. Another special gift, a mancala set from dh, which is a great game that I love and which was "borrowed" by an acquaintance a few years ago and never returned. It is a traditional African counting game and its also great to teach your kids to count, but even us so-called adults think its fun! If you have never played it I definitely recommend and it is not very expensive to get, see pic above!

The Cherry Tree Carol

2005-12-24T22:55:00.000-06:00

When I first reverted to Islam I was especially attracted to learning about the stories of Isa and Maryam in the Qur'an, probably because it was the most familiar to me, so it made the reversion process easier. Anyway, the story of Maryam and the fig tree in the Qur'an really struck me as oddly familiar the first time I heard it, but I knew that it was not a traditional Christian story:

From Surah Maryam:

17. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent to her Our Ruh [angel Jibrael (Gabriel)], and he appeared before her in the form of a man in all respects.
18. She said: "Verily! I seek refuge with the Most Beneficent (Allâh) from you, if you do fear Allâh."
19. (The angel) said: "I am only a Messenger from your Lord, (to announce) to you the gift of a righteous son."
20. She said: "How can I have a son, when no man has touched me, nor am I unchaste?"
21. He said: "So (it will be), your Lord said: 'That is easy for Me (Allâh): And (We wish) to appoint him as a sign to mankind and a mercy from Us (Allâh), and it is a matter (already) decreed, (by Allâh).' "
22. So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place (i.e. Bethlehem valley about 4-6 miles from Jerusalem).
23. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She said: "Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight!"
24. Then [the babe 'Iesa (Jesus) or Jibrael (Gabriel)] cried unto her from below her, saying: "Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you;
25. "And shake the trunk of date-palm towards you, it will let fall fresh ripe-dates upon you."
26. "So eat and drink and be glad, and if you see any human being, say: 'Verily! I have vowed a fast unto the Most Beneficent (Allâh) so I shall not speak to any human being this day.'"
27. Then she brought him (the baby) to her people, carrying him. They said: "O Mary! Indeed you have brought a thing Fariya (an unheard mighty thing).
28. "O sister (i.e. the like) of Hârûn (Aaron) [not the brother of Mûsa (Moses), but he was another pious man at the time of Maryam (Mary)]! Your father was not a man who used to commit adultery, nor your mother was an unchaste woman."
29. Then she pointed to him. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"
30. "He ['Iesa (Jesus)] said: Verily! I am a slave of Allâh, He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet;"
31. "And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has enjoined on me Salât (prayer), and Zakât, as long as I live."
32. "And dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, unblest.
33. "And Salâm (peace) be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!"
34. Such is 'Iesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary).

Hmm it sounded so familiar, just like this Christmas Carol from my childhood, which is a very very old carol (13th or 14th century) and which is not very commonly sung as far as I know, but it was one of my mom and my favorites.

The Cherry Tree Carol:

When joseph was an old man, an old man was he
He married virgin mary, the queen of galilee
He married virgin mary, the queen of galilee
And one day as they went walking, all in the garden green
There were berries and cherries as thick as may be seen
There were berries and cherries as thick as may be seen
Then mary said to joseph, so meek and so mild
"joseph, gather me some cherries for i am with child"
"joseph, gather me some cherries for i am with child"
Then joseph flew in anger, in anger flew he
"let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee
Let the father of the baby gather cherries for thee"
Then up spoke baby jesus, from out mary's womb
"bow down ye tallest tree that my mother might have some
Bow down ye tallest tree that my mother might have some"
So bent down the tallest tree to touch mary's hand
Said she, "oh look now joseph, i have cherries at command"
Said she, "oh look now joseph, i have cherries at command"
When joseph was an old man, an old man was he
He married virgin mary, the queen of galilee
He married virgin mary, the queen of galilee

How did this story enter Christianity in the form of an obscure carol when it is not a part of the modern day bible? Was it taken from the Muslim neighbors of Europe during the Crusades? Or is it a part of Christianity that was later wiped out of the Bible, only to be confirmed in the Qur'an? I don't know the answer, but it sure is interesting to think about!

Christmas Shopping Blues

2005-12-21T15:39:00.000-06:00

It is that time of the year again. Time to battle the crowds at the mall, agonize over what to buy for your family and generally (in my case) get grumpy about the whole situation. First of all, my parents are impossible to shop for. They have no hobbies, or very few hobbies that aren't very stuff intensive (for example, my dad is a soccer referee, you can only buy so many yellow jerseys!). My sister isn't that hard to buy for because she is a college kid so she always needs something. And this year I thought---thought- that dh and I made a deal to make each other little stockings with lots of small goodies in them. $50 limit. We don't really celebrate Christmas since we are Muslim, but it is part of my culture as an American and my family is Christian, so I still like the traditions like giving presents, eating cookies, and so on. Anyways, back to me and dh's deal with the stockings. I spent 5 hours last night finding cute things for him and today he says, why don't you just pick whatever you want out and that will be your present from me. NOOOOOOOO!!!!! I want him to pick something. Is that too much? I don't really want anything, I just want something thoughtful from him. I can't even think of something that I want for myself?????? Ah well, there are still a few days left, maybe we can work something out. Also, I have Christmas depression from getting in a huge fight with my sister over the phone yesterday, but that is a whole other story. Salaams!

That's This Cricket....

2005-12-21T02:33:00.000-06:00

Not This Cricket

2005-12-21T02:32:00.000-06:00

Pakistani Cricket Madness

2005-12-21T02:22:00.000-06:00

Today is the last ODI (one day international, for you less cricket savy readers) and my dh and his best friend Yasir are watching in the living room, while I am chilling in the bedroom. I am definitely cricketed out after having watched every match in the last series. For those of you who don't know, a one day cricket match lasts approximately 8 hours and when they are playing Pakistan, the game starts at 1 am and goes until about 9 am. So you have to stay up all night and watch. I will say that I am a secret fan now, even though I complain about it. And of course I cheer for Pakistan! I even know most of the players. My faves, Shahid Afriidi (he hits all those sixes!) and Inzamam (the captain, I think he looks like a big teddy bear). I don't like Shoaib Akhtar because he had such an attitude and his hair is always long and greasy, lol. Sorry if I butchered any of their names. Well, it is 3 am now and England is batting, and I am ready for sleep. Can't wait till January when Pakistan plays India, I am sure that we will be up all night for that too!

I'm Baaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-12-21T02:17:00.000-06:00

Well, first of all, let me say that my pre-new year's resolution is to actually write on this thing, although noone reads it! That's ok, I am just going to use it to spout off and hopefully it will help me even if it isn't any good. I have just finished the worst semester of my entire life (including the second semester of my junior year of high school when I had mono). I am sooooo glad that it is over. I think that I am going to make a resolution to blog a little bit everyday, even if it is just a paragraph or so. My problem before is that I was trying to write too much at once, which made me feel like I didn't have time to keep up with it during school. So hopefully I will do better and maybe someone will actually start leaving me comments that aren't ads for weight lose or low interest mortgages. (hint-hint to anyone who has left or is planning to leave those types of comments, please don't do it, you get my hopes up when I see the comment email in my inbox until I figure out that its spam).

The Devastation of Katrina

2005-09-01T22:08:00.000-05:00

Bismillah ar rahman ar raheem,

My prayers go out to those whose lives have been taken or those whose lives have been destroyed by this horrible hurricane. It truly saddens me to see the thousands of people who are suffering in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. On a personal level, this is a deeply shocking and heart breaking event. I have been watching the news covering of the hurricane andit is unbelievable. I am asking everyone to send their prayers and support to the people who are suffering and I hope that these people can turn to God in this desperate time. I pray that the violence that is ocurring right now will stop, because it is only making the situation worse. At the same time, I can only imagine the desperation and abandon that these people must feel about their situation. The government must react now to help them! What is going on? It doesn't seem like things are happening fast enough. Are we dropping supplies into the people who can't get out right now? Why have they gone days without food, water, and medical aid? IT IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE!!!!! We are the most developed nation in the world. We have spent millions of dollars in preparing for terrorist attacks on our major cities. How is this different? and why aren't we prepared for it? The people in the streets are crying out for help and it seems like we can't help them. It is inconceivable to me that there is not more that we can do to help the people that have not been evacuated yet. On another note, alhumdullilah for the generous outpouring of help from the citizens of Texas. It seems like the mayors of Texas cities have it together more than the federal government does. It brought me to tears to see the gratefulness of the refugees arriving in Houston today. They were crying out of gratitude just for the opportunity to sleep and take a shower. I hope that my own city can provide assistance to the refugees as well, unforunately with the destruction of the major interstates coming East, it does not seem like there is the ability to get people here to Atlanta right now. Once again, I am keeping all the people of the gulf states in my prayers right now.

Guerilla Warfare Interviewing

2005-08-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Sorry I have been gone for so long without posting anything, but I have spent a week in Dallas with my parents and then last week I spent in Chicago with my sil, her husband, and my two neices, who are sooooooo precious. It makes me want to have kids right now! The oldest one is almost three and she is so smart, mashallah. She is speaking both English and Urdu very rapidly and switching back and forth. For example she would talk to her parents and her mamoo (M, my dh, it means mother's brother) in Urdu. Then she would talk to me, the obvious ghori, in English, lol. She calls me Susan Bajji. The other one is one and she is learning to walk and basically just says uh-oh! to everything, which is really cute too. Well enough of me bragging about my neices, just wanted to explain why I haven't blogged in about two weeks. And I am probably going to disappear next week too because its time for ....

Guerilla Warfare Interviewing!!!!!!!!

This is what I call my school's on campus interview program. Next week I have 15 interviews in a span of three days, as well as four cocktail parties all on the same night (we will see how that one works out, lol). Admittedly, the interviews are only 20-30 minutes long, but that is a lot of interviews. I have already had one and then will have another one following the OCI, which will put me up to 17 for the month. Lucky me. The worst part is when they ask you if you have any questions. You are supposed have some witty and insightful questions for them, and you CANNOT ask them anything that you could learn by reading their websites. Well, most law firm websites are extensively detailed. They are lawyers, after all. So there I sit, racking my brains, trying to find a question for them that will make me look like a genius. Err, so wish me luck next week as I go into the trenches to do "war" with 15 of Atlanta's biggest law firms. Well, maybe war is a little bit of a strong word. However, at times, it does remind me a lot of Sorority rush.

Helpful hint: For muslim law students, or anyone else who is in law school and doesn't drink: The pressure at these cocktails and things to drink is pretty big, not to get drunk, but to at least be seen with a drink in your hand. For some reason, it makes people think that you are more sociable, have good people skills, etc. So the solution, drink gingerale, or sprite with a splash of coke. It looks like you are drinking alcohol and you don't have to field a thousand offers for someone to get you a drink, or asking you why you are not drinking. (Or them secretly checking you off in their mind because they figure you must be pregnant). Actually, all law students should try it, you can look like a social bunny without having to worry about getting buzzed and saying something stupid or spilling your drink, etc.

Allah hafiz for now and send your duas/prayers for me for next week.

Dallas Aquarium

2005-08-09T16:51:00.000-05:00

This is a Giant River Otter, or Lobo del Rio (river wolf in Spanish). It is the largest species of otter in the world! They were playing the whole time, very cute :)

Keeping cool in the Dallas heat! These little guys come all the way from the southern tip of South America.

Hello From Dallas

2005-08-09T16:38:00.000-05:00

Hello! I am in Dallas for the next week visiting my parents and having a few interviews with some Dallas firms, yes, that's right, the interview process for NEXT summer has already started. Oh, the joys. I have 13 interviews in 3 days in two weeks. But for now I am enjoying my time with my parents and my baby sister who is also here. Today we went downtown to the Dallas Aquarium, which is probably that best aquarium that I have been to so far. I would definitely recommend it if you are ever in Dallas. I am going to post some pics of the oh so cute penguins and otters and manatees that we saw.

When I was a kid I always wanted to be a marine biologist until I realized that I am completely mathematically and scientifically challenged (ahem, why I'm in law school, maybe...). But I still love seeing all the marine life, especially the mammals.

So I will try to post them, but since my parents have not entered the 21st century and gotten dial up yet, it may take a while. Everytime I come I keep bugging them to get DSL and a wireless router, but they stubbornly stick to their dial up. M, if you are reading this, I hope that you are doing alright in ATL without me. I hope that you are actually eating something and going to sleep at a decent hour, miss me! cuz I miss you.

Tonight we are going to a baseball game maybe, and then tomorrow shopping, interview on Thursday. I doubt that I will blog again this week because the internet is sooooo slow here, so see you all next week :).

A View From Above

2005-08-04T00:33:00.000-05:00

Cooking Queen and Halal Food

2005-08-04T00:09:00.000-05:00

So tonight was a cooking night for me. Sometimes, usually once or twice a week I will get the bug to actually cook something. Poor M, otherwise he suffers through and eats Ramen noodles or soup or whatever else I can warm up on the stove in 5 minutes. So I get this urge to cook and whenever I do it is usually desi food, which is really funny. I didn't know how to cook at all before I met him, so I basically learned since we've been together and all I know is desi food. So I made Rogan Josh curry with chicken and daal and bootleg roti (I call it bootleg because I buy tortillas from Wal-mart and heat them in the chappati pan, that is so lame, lol).

On a random side note, I read a case last year in criminal law about a kid who killed a Pakistani guy by hitting him in the head with a chappati pan. The man was trying to make sexual advances on him, it was something along the lines of whether it was manslaughter or murder because of the mitigating circumstances. I just remember thinking how bizarre it was to read about chappati pans in law school.

Anyways, back to my mad culinary skills, I also made yellow cake with chocolate icing which was a really bad idea because that means that we are going to eat it. We are always trying to diet and then I go and do things like buy donuts or bake cake and ooops, there we go again.

So on to my second topic for today, halal food. When I first reverted to Islam we were living in Birmingham. I decided that I wanted to only eat zabiha food. There were two halal stores in the entire city and they only stocked frozen chicken and ground beef...every other week. So I was eating fish and veggies non-stop. My mouth watered when I passed Chic-fil-A and Eddie's, whose philly cheese steaks I miss desperately. I literally had a break down in the grocery store one day and started crying because I wanted to eat chicken and brocoli hot pockets so bad. It was pretty hard, but now I am used to it and we have come to Atlanta, which has halal butchers with fresh meat! I mean you can get filets, lunch meat, fresh chicken and beef. Its great! And we have a kosher Publix here, pretty unbelievable, I live in the middle of an orthodox Jewish neighborhood, but Kosher is waaaaaay more expensive than halal, so I try to avoid it if I can.

Funny thing is that I have been mistaken for an orthodox Jew in the grocery store many times. The worst was when I went to the Kosher deli because I had a total craving for a turkey sub. So I go to order it and the deli guy gives me this really weird look and says "um, we don't make subs during Passover." I was so embarassed, I said "I'm sorry I didn't realize its still Passover" which made him look at me even weirder. So I kind of forgot that Jews don't eat leavened bread during Passover, duh. He must have thought I was some kind of horrible Jew. Ah, well.

Its late and time for bed so goodnight.

Sura An-Nisa

2005-08-03T16:25:00.000-05:00

Welcome to My Blog

2005-08-03T15:57:00.000-05:00

Well, my summer vacation is winding to a close and I have been addicted to the internet the entire summer, so I thought that I would take it one step further and finally start my own blog. We shall see how this goes :). I have not really had a summer vacation as I have been working close to 80 hours a week at two seperate internships and a restaurant job on the weekends, ugh. I swore to myself when I graduated college that I would never work in a restaurant again, but being broke does have a strange effect on one's promises. Oh well, 3 more weeks I will be back in school and I will be working myself to death in an entirely different and more enjoyable way. Oh yea, lawyerly disclosure for my first post:

This blog represents solely the opinions of the blogger and in no way represents the opinions of Emory Law School, or any past, current, or future employer of the blogger, or any family members of friends of the blogger, or any pets that the blogger owns or will own in the future (including Sydney, whom I am dog sitting now).

Now I will introduce myself and wonder if there is anything interesting enough about my life to make other people on the internet want to read it. I am 23 yrs old, getting ready to start my second year in law school, which I love. I am here in the big city for the first time in my life and still trying to get used to it. Thank god that M, my Pakistani mian, mere dil, is here with me or I would go crazy. I am a revert to Islam for the past two years which has been the most interesting, difficult, and inspiring journey of my life and I am so thankful for that. Also, I am Southern born and bred and have lived here my whole life. I love Southern culture and I am proud of my roots (but I am not some crazy "The South will rise again!" confederate flag waving redneck, although I do know quite a few and are related to some of them). So I hope to make this blog interesting and up to date and thanks to anyone who will take the time to read anything that I write.