spice girls

on new year’s day, nadiya, naveed, bikey and i made new year’s resolutions for each other. naveed and bikey’s resolutions are private so i won’t disclose them but mine was to share my chocolate with everyone and nadiya’s was to cook at least one meal for us. i think amongst all of us, i'm the only one who's kept her resolution. i share my chocolate all the time...except the times i hide in my room and eat it by myself.

several weeks ago, i was cooking something and nadiya came into the kitchen and said, ‘teach me to cook.’ so i said to her, ‘desi cooking is very simple. allz you gotta do is fry some onions and then put in the basic spices that go into practically every single indian dish....mirchi, adrak laison, haldi and namak....’ (chili powder, garlic-ginger paste, tumeric and salt). of course, other spices can be added as well to add flavor.

so today was the big debut for nadiya. she bought some chicken breasts and potatoes. she also had an assistant...naba. while they were in the kitchen, i happened to peak in to see how the progress was going. nadiya picked up a container of chili powder and asked me what it was. that made me a little nervous. then she continued to ask me to explain all the spices in the cabinet even though they were labeled. oh boy! i thought. not sure if i can trust someone to prepare my meals if they don’t know what they’re putting in my food.

anyway, i went back to my room and left the chef in the kitchen with her assistant. i heard some screaming a bit later but didn’t bother checking. found out that nadiya had set the stove knob on fire. that’s pretty dangerous...especially since we have a tank of gas right next to the stove...enough to bring the whole building down, i think. but alhamdulillah, naba blew out the fire.

so the food was ready. presented on the table were the following: white rice; chopped fried potatoes spiced up a bit; a veggie medley flavored with desi spices; chicken curry, and yogurt with onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. i must say everything was delicious! masha’Allah, nadiya and naba! job well done. can’t wait till you guys cook again.

the village people

naveed and i went to a village called shabramand about 2 hours from cairo. we went with some People who volunteer their time to help the villagers with what they need. for example, they collect money to build water pumps, simple homes, a mosque, etc. and set up projects to help villagers become self sufficient. naveed and i wanted to check out the village to donate money for something useful before we left egypt.

there’s a stark difference between the city and the village/countryside. the village definitely has a lot more greenery. lots and lots of trees, and acres of farmland....corn, wheat, sugar cane and cotton. it was soothing to the eye and peaceful to the soul....something about the color green that makes you feel like that.

anyway, a branch of the nile river runs through it and is used for pretty much everything. i mean, it didn’t matter that a donkey was crapping in the water...boys were still swimming and people were taking baths in the very same water....alongside the animals crapping! unfortunately, it’s also used as a dumpster. tons and tons of garbage.


the people in the village are very warm and friendly. everyone says salaam to everyone else walking down the street or even in the car. it makes you feel like everyone is family. and the kids are oh so cute!


we made several stops to assess the needs of the village:

the village mosque does not have speakers for friday khutba and curtains for the women’s side.

a woman who has 4 children doesn’t have a 4 walled house. her ‘house’ literally has 2 walls and not even a complete ceiling to cover it completely.


we tested out a few water pumps that were recently built. many times, the water came out muddy meaning it wasn’t dug deep enough. despite the water being dirty, some of the locals started drinking from it. funds are needed to dig deeper for cleaner water.


another woman has a child who is paralyzed in both legs and the doctor told her the medical treatment required was something she could not afford.

the village doesn’t have a hospital. there is a pharmacist who collects unused medicine from sick patients who’ve become healthy and then he redistributes it to those who may need it but can’t afford it.

we were standing in front of a dilapidated building. i thought it was abandoned but then realized it housed the village clinic! the walls were unpainted and falling apart, and the stairs were crumbling...there was so much dirt and garbage on the floor. i felt like i was in an insane asylum from a black and white film. the ‘operating room’ was so small and ancient. the instruments and sinks had so much rust on it. the bathrooms were stained and filthy. even if someone were to have an operation there, they would probably die from infections afterwards. we asked if there was anything the clinic needed but the doctor seemed content with what he had.

there is this family of 4 orphans (ages 20, 18, and two kids) who had lived in a one room rented place for 9 months without paying the rent and were then kicked out by the landlord. so the People found an abandoned building in the village, cleaned it up and now the 4 orphans live there. but they don’t have any means to support themselves so the People want to start a project with them and teach them to take care of chickens and sheep, etc. funds are needed to start this project and also to fix up their decrepit house.


the People also have a place where they store donated clothing, shoes, furniture, etc. and distribute them to the poor.

at the end of the day, naveed and i were exhausted and sad to see the conditions some people lived in. alhamdulillah, it made us feel grateful for what we have and ashamed of the little things we complain about. we plan on going back after we have collected some money, insha’Allah. if anyone would like to donate money to help, please let me know. if enough people are interested, i’ll post up a contact.

flaming lips

today we (nadiya, naveed and I) went to masjid al-azhar to pray juma’a (friday prayer). it is one of the most beautiful mosques in egypt in my opinion. however, it gets really crowded during juma’a time, especially the women’s side. but there was an old woman who was in charge of directing other women where to sit during juma’a. she was a cute old woman...sorta reminded me of my grandmother. she was short and stocky, with a round sweet face and wrinkled skin and she was wearing white...very angelic looking. but oh my! she sure wasn’t! when the 3 of us entered the women’s section, we stood at the entrance for a second to determine where to sit. but this old woman didn’t even give us a chance to think. she jabbed me in the back with her pointy fingers and demanded us to go to the back. i was scared of her and we did as we were told. after we sat in our assigned seats, i continued watching this old woman in action. she pushed other women to their places, made others move if they weren’t sitting in a straight line and even scolded a BABY for crying during the khutba!

for some reason, after juma’a, the women like to argue. unfortunately, i’ve seen this happen every time i’ve been to masjid al-azhar. i don’t know what they argue about but it always involves a screaming match between two really big tough arab women. it’s like watching sumo wrestling without the wrestling.

after juma’a, we decided to sit around the marble courtyard for a bit and do some work...it’s a peaceful and cool retreat from the crowd and heat of cairo. naveed and nadiya brought their qurans with them and i brought my calligraphy homework to do. people were sitting around with their families and eating. others were pacing back and forth memorizing verses from the quran. still others were sleeping or sitting by themselves contemplating on life. children were running and playing in the courtyard. as i was doing my calligraphy, this old man saw my work and was very impressed. he said something in arabic as he was passing. i didn’t get it...but he was smiling and seemed to be praising my work. i was happy.


some strange lady drank from my water bottle and i couldn’t stop her ‘cause i know there’s a hadith about the rewards of giving water to a thirsty person. i had a big bottle of water out as i was doing my calligraphy and i happened to step away from my things for a few minutes. the next thing i knew, this lady had polluted my water with her backwash. her lips were around my water bottle! i had to bite my tongue from screaming at her. i was actually nice and told her to keep the bottle ‘cause i wasn’t going to drink from it anymore but she refused. first of all, i don’t understand how anyone could just approach a half drunk bottle of water and drink from it without knowing who it belongs to or how long it’s been there or where the water is from, etc. secondly, i don’t understand why she didn’t just go to one of the 6 water stations around the masjid!

afterwards, we decided to climb the minaret (pic was taken from on top of the minerat). this is the 3rd minaret i’ve climbed in egypt. it’s always a wonderful experience to climb the minaret of an old mosque. just imagine, back in the day, the mu’azzin (person who calls everyone to prayer) used to climb the minerat 5 times a day. it’s nice to imagine yourself in his shoes....plus, it’s good exercise.

ode to cow

cow left today to return to england so this is dedicated to her:

your 3 months stay was like a breath of fresh air
and now with you gone, our apartment is bare.
even though your time with us was brief,
your obsession with jinns provided great comic relief.
appearance wise, you look innocent and sweet,
but deep down inside, you really are a beast.
your impression of gollum (from lord of the rings) was damn freaky
and the tricks and mind games you played on people were pretty sneaky.
your baqaaqing (like a chicken), barking and meowing had people terrified
yet your pout, charming smile and baby face had men hypnotized.
but seriously, you are thoughtful, kind hearted, caring and generous.
a bit OCD at times, yet constantly at our service.
to the grocery store, fruit seller and vegetable man...you walked miles
and returned with borios and chocolates that brought us smiles.
to see you leave, we really were sad
but to Allah we are grateful for the experiences we had.
we wish you the best of luck in everything that you do
and that all your dreams and dua’as really come true.
remember the goals we set for each other to complete
and insha’Allah in the year 2008, again we shall meet.

NOTE: borios are a knockoff of oreos cookies and cow got us addicted to them.
the four of us (nadiya, naveed, cow and i) set goals for each other and decided to have a reunion sometime in 2008. i can't remember the exact goals but it was something like: nadiya has to do something with her calligraphy, naveed has to go back to university to get her master's degree, i have to work for a relief organization and cow...i can't remember.

dude...like a lady

yesterday, the father of one of nadiya’s friends who is staying in egypt for diplomatic purposes (he’s an american diplomat with pakistani origins) invited us to his part of town. he lives in a beautiful suburb called ma’aadi. this Uncle is neighbors with many other diplomats, ambassadors and foreigners on overseas jobs. many of their homes are guarded by cement walls and/or security guards with big rifles at the entrances. there’s a different feel to this area...a lot more greenery, less sand, more westerners, cleaner air, etc. there’s a rule that a building cannot have an occupancy of more than 50% american. that’s in case the building ever gets blown up, only ½ the americans die, not all....how clever.

Uncle took us to another uncle’s house for a dars and lunch. he was also of pakistani origin and married to a turkish woman. i don’t know what he does but he’s one of the big guys as well. there were other important people at this lunch. the 3 of us felt like we were one of the elite. we had to sit up with perfect posture, one leg crossed over the other and hands folded over our laps just like posh ladies. i so wanted to sit with my legs up and back slouched but was afraid of being scorned at. unfortunately, nadiya did something that lowered her status in the eyes of the women and at the same time lowered ours through association. you see, she was experiencing some ‘discomfort’ in what she was wearing and instead of going to the bathroom to fix it (which probably the ladies there would have done), she went behind the chinese screen. mind you, all the women were sitting right there and saw her through the cracks of the screen. when she came back around, they were all staring at her. hahaha! she thought no one saw. actually, it wasn’t like that. everyone was so nice to us and laid back and invited us to their places in the future.

i’m trying to locate a particular place so i can volunteer there before i leave. it’s through islamic relief and the place is called ‘early intervention rehabilitation center’ and it’s located somewhere in the town of helwan in cairo. i can’t find the exact address nor the telephone number of this place. if anyone knows, please inform me. thanks.

good riddance

naveed, cow and i went to khan al-khalili to do some shopping. we prayed asr at masjid al-hussain (12th century). that’s the masjid that supposedly has the head of hadrat hussain (grandson of the holy prophet (s)). the masjid is huge and old but not very well kept, unfortunately. it has an amazing presence from the outside but people loiter around it demanding you to buy stuff you don’t need. this old lady was chasing us trying to force us to buy mini qurans. she would literally try to grab your arm and place the quran in it. and then she would scream something...as if she was cursing at us when we refused. inside didn’t feel like a masjid...a place of peace and contemplation. there was too much noise and movement. women in black were sitting along the walls, chatting about loudly. some were sleeping and others were eating. little kids were running around. there were a couple stray cats in there as well. it was dimly lit and the carpet had a dull color that was old and filthy. people don’t clean up after themselves after eating. it’s a shame. my forehead was covered with crumbs after i got up from sajjud.

before we entered this masjid, naveed and i gave our shoes to the man at the front and he gave us our tickets but he kinda slammed them on the counter as if he was mad. cow was smart and kept her shoes with her. after we prayed, naveed and i gave him our tickets and some money and then he returned our shoes but he slammed them on the counter as well as if we did something terrible. then he asked us where we were from and naveed said pakistan. so he took back our shoes! wrong answer, i guess. anyway, we had no idea what was going on. the man began to recite surah fatiha and then took out a box and demanded us to pay sadaqa (charity) for the masjid. now naveed and i don’t have a problem giving sadaqa but it’s not nice to single us out from everyone who's entering and leaving and demand us to pay sadaqa. why didn’t he ask cow for sadaqa...why not the other egyptians?! why us?! charity is something you give out of your own freewill not by someone else’s will.

anyway, we were supposed to meet nadiya, asmah and naba at maghrib time at masjid al-azhar (10th century) which is right across the street from masjid hussain. masjid al-azhar is drastically different from masjid hussain. it has a tremendous presence as well but the inside is extremely beautiful. there is an open courtyard in the middle with marble flooring and 5 unique minarets. after maghrib, we started taking pictures of ourselves in the courtyard. then we looked at the pictures, made comments on how bad we looked and did retakes. this happened several times and the whole time we were laughing and giggling without realizing how loud our voices became. all of a sudden, we heard deep angry voices of men shouting at us. 5 older men in long thoubs approached us and scolded us for being too loud and kicked us out! we were so embarrassed and walked out with our heads lowered in shame as people sitting in the courtyard glared at us.

ode to naveed

naveed! naveed! naveed!
if i offended you with my previous deed
your forgiveness and mercy i do plead.
for i swear by Allah’s creed
hurting you was not my intention, indeed!
you are like a sister i go to in need
and it is with you i prefer to spend my eid.
but if this ode has not removed the seed
of sorrow in your heart that breeds,
go ahead! hit me till i bleed.
perhaps then, i shall die a shaheed
and from my blog, forever you will be freed.

alien ant farm

i was in class today with ustadh ehab. he was sitting directly across from me talking about the situation in palestine. i was listening attentively. all of a sudden, he says, ‘don’t move!’ i freeze. he gets up slowly, his eyes locked on my head as his right hand reaches for a tissue that’s on the table. what’s he looking at?! i ponder. what’s on my head...a cockroach?! or is my hair exposed?! he leans close to me and slaps my head with the tissue in his hand. OUCH! why’d you do that?! he opens up the tissue. apparently, there was an ant crawling on my scarf. i couldn’t keep a straight face throughout class after that.

the others

something creepy is going on in the apartment and there is no logical explanation. the topic of jinns always comes up in discussion with my roommates. we’re all very much intrigued by them and explain any weird circumstances by them. so listen to this...cow always leaves her laptop on the bottom shelf of the china cabinet ‘cause she can’t really reach the top shelf of the cabinet. the other day, she was looking for her laptop. it wasn’t where she thought she put it...ie. the bottom shelf of the cabinet or even on the dining room table. she found the laptop on the top shelf...right hand corner. i didn’t move her laptop nor did naveed. and nadiya was away for a few days so she couldn’t have moved it either. cow thought perhaps she put it there and forgot about it even though the chances of that happening were next to zilch. whatever. we didn’t dwell on it too much.

this morning, cow worked on her laptop and put it away on the BOTTOM shelf of the cabinet before she left for class. nadiya and naveed were already out ‘cause they had morning classes. i was still at home in bed ‘cause i had a late class. cow comes back a few hours later and runs screaming into my room that her laptop had been moved again! she asked me if i moved it since i was the only person in the apartment. i didn’t. nobody else was in the apartment between the time she left and came back...only me. but i was just in my room. and the laptop was moved to the same EXACT location...top shelf, right hand corner. cow was 100% sure she left the laptop on the bottom shelf. there were dust marks on the bottom shelf to prove where cow had placed her laptop. apparently, the laptop was moved while i was alone in the apartment. now if i didn’t move it, who did?!?!? do we have Others living amongst us?!

rage against the machine

a particular roommate (no names will be mentioned but it's not cow or nadiya) has become a bit violent lately. i don’t know what it is...the stress...the pollution...the heat...us? several weeks ago, cow said something and Roommate started punching her as if she was a punching bag. that was the beginning of Roommate’s rage. and then on another incident, she threw books at me while she was trying to explain an incident when she ACTUALLY threw books at someone. i don't know....but, i personally could have done without the physical demonstration. Roommate has this evil laugh that she does where she throws her head back and lets out a deep eerie cackle and then she glares at you with her big bulging eyes. it’s frightening. just today, i told her i wrote a new post on my blog and then out of the blue, she threw a punch at me along with her cackle. she didn’t actually hit me but God knows, she could have! i cowered with fear. now she thinks i’m a wimp. i’m not! i get startled easily and if i wanted, i could beat the crap out of her or anyone else for that matter. i just have a gentle demeanor and wouldn’t even hurt a fly unless it annoyed the living daylights out of me. but i have a high tolerance for annoyance...i can take in a lot of crap without exploding but once i do...it’s not a pretty sight. so just a general surgeon's warning: don’t piss me off or else be prepared to fight tharwa, muslim warrior princess!

blowin in the wind

today marked the first day of summer....i think. i’m playing meteorologist. i believe this to be so because i was told that summer would officially arrive when on a very hot day, a sandstorm would hit. there have been a couple of sandstorms in cairo but none along with very high temperatures. but today was different. it was blazing hot. i had just hung out my laundry on the balcony to dry when all of a sudden, the sky became blurry and tan and the trees and everything started blowing in the wind. my roommates and i were studying at the dining room table with all our papers and books out. we had the window open but the screen was protecting the window to prevent bugs and other thing from flying in. as the sandstorm occurred, we stepped out onto the balcony to see all the action only to choke and cough as we breathed in sand. when we returned to the dining table, all our papers and books were covered with sand. yeah, i think summer's here and i’m scared....the heat! the bugs! the smell! the pollution!

i bought a very girly top today...it’s pinkish in color and has lace around the edges...completely outside my tough-girl image. i plan on wearing scruffy jeans and my worn out converse shoes with them.

what goes on

i know...it's been a while...but i’m back....after receiving many comments and emails anticipating the next post. i really had no excuse not to write...just laziness and stress from arabic. anyway, let me give an update on what’s been occurring in the past month.

1. our old roommate, nadiya has returned. she lived with us from november till january. bikey (former roommate) is in jordan. so now, it’s me, cow, naveed and nadiya living together. i share a room with cow.

2. a new supermarket (olaad ragab) opened up in place of the old supermarket (shoprite). but to tell you the truth, it’s nice buying grocery from the little shops because you interact and become friends with the locals.

3. since nadiya came back, i’ve been listening to her i-pod while i do aerobics at the gym. i do my own thing but i have an audience (i.e. big fat arab women who should be working out but instead just sit and blatantly watch me). but i guess i can understand why having seen their version of aerobics. you see, it’s not really aerobics. it just consists of dangerously jerky stretches.

4. my roommates and i decided to give each other haircuts. but it was nadiya who did most of the cutting. she’s never really cut hair but she gave the 3 of us very distinct hairstyles. i look like a member of a heavy metal band from the 80’s, cow looks like a prepubescent teenage (male) skateboarder and naveed looks like a little 6 year old girl who just needs to wear a frilly dress and run through the grass with a lollipop in her hand.

5. naveed, cow and i were planning on going to tunisia ‘cause nadiya had a fulbright scholarship presentation there and thought it would be nice to take a break from cairo. plus, i remembered during the african nations’ cup, tunisia’s soccer team consisted of VERY pleasant looking players . unfortunately though, tickets were a bit steep so the idea was nixed.

6. i've been wearing sandals everywhere i go which really isn't a good thing considering the dirt and sand and what it does to the soles of your feet. now, i don't think i really need to wear any sort of footwear 'cause my soles have become so hard and rough, it can withstand any sort of terrain.

7. dahab...my favorite and my roommates' favorite resort site was bombed a few weeks ago. alhamdulillah, one of our friends is alive and well since he worked far from the explosion. unfortunately, we do not know the fate of our other friends who worked in the very location of the explosion. i hope to go back one last time, insha'Allah before i leave egypt.

8. i bought my return ticket to the states. june 28th is when i’ll say good-bye to egypt, insha’Allah. i don’t wanna leave. i still have soooo much to learn. i’m just now getting into the meat of things. the only way i can stay longer is if i get engaged to a guy in cairo. perhaps i should hire someone to play my fiance....ahem, just joking, daddy...if you read this.