Qum Girl

Botanical Gardens

2012-02-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

I know, I know it's been ages since I last blogged. After a last-min unexpected trip to London, I came back to Syria and had a month of back-to-back family and friends come to stay. It was great fun, but that, along with the 6 hour daily power cuts are not helping the blogging cause!

Anyway.... here are some pics of one of my fav spots in the Old City of Damascus. It's the Botanical Gardens. Yes, you read that correctly - Syria does actually have a botanical garden! Not much of a site in the winter.... but spring/summer this place is an explosion of colours and fragrances!

There's also a little cafe that probably has the best desserts I've had in Syria so far! Crepes with fruit and even Nutella shawermas!

The new shia mosq in Sayyidda Zaynab!

2011-12-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

I'm back to Syria and back to blogging! Yes, thank you all for reminding me that I haven't blogged for a while!

Here's a new pic from Sayyidda Zaynab - its of the shia mosque that's being built on 'the other side of the roundabout'! It's not quite finished yet, but already open for business!

It's called 'Imam Khumayni Mosque'. No prizes for guessing where its funding is coming from. LOL

Here's to my friend...

2011-11-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

I cried most of my flight today. You see one of my closest friends passed away yesterday. She was the friend that made all life's problems disappear with her smile and a extra large box of Millies Cookies.

Life wasn't kind to my friend, even before I knew her. But yet she was the one who always said life is our test, and she always accepted what life threw at her. With a smile and matching accessories! And I knew that as long as she was there, everything would turn out ok.

I first met S when I was six. She was a bit older than me and her mum was organising a fashion show. Somehow I'd been roped into modelling a sari (which was thankfully changed to a peach dress later). I remember seeing S and thinking how glamourous she was!

Fast forward a few years, and we soon became good friends!

The day I realised what my friend was made of was the day I covered her year 4 boys class at Saturday Workshop. After half an hour of shouting at the boys to behave and sit still, and only managing to cover 3 mins of teaching material, I just knew S was angel sent from above! Every time I see her students, who incidentally are now themselves volunteers in our centre, I know its because S taught them with her tremendous patience and calm.

Always one to shy away from the limelight, S was one of the most hard working people I knew. And unlike me, she didn't want any recognition. She even got angry when people asked for prayers for her on facebook. Id love to see her expression if she knew how many facebook status' were dedicated to her right now!

And then the adventures and the memories. That's a good few blog posts! The shopping and chocolates private jokes, the trekking to Manchester (including the toilet stops on the way!), the Hours we spent making nasheed playlists for her walima, only for someone on the day to request that the first 30 secs from track one to be repeated over and over again! Then there was all the freebie toothpastes and toothbrushes and dental floss ( if you are S's employer, I'm sure she paid for them!) and her bright idea of scrubbing my bridal mehendi with a toothbrush (my skin has never quite recovered!). And the jeans theory... Which I never did get to clarify!

S's passing away still feels like a bad dream. In the back of my mind, I'm still working out her next chemotherapy date and planning how I'm going to skip a couple of hours of work to sit with her (if you are my employer and reading this, I promise, I was delivering notes and plans!). Even with her being so sick, she'd always turn up for hospital appointments with a huge rucksack full of snacks, even sandwiches she'd made especially for me! S is the ONLY sick person I know who's made food for other people!

My life has definitely been richer with S in it and I pray I can uphold her legacy with her patience when facing trials whilst looking like a glam hijabi babe!

Miss you.

School Books

2011-10-04T06:13:00.000-07:00

School is in full swing... I have classes from 8am to 1pm 5 days a week, with Thursdays and Fridays off.

My school bag is heavy! These are my books:

From Top left:
The brown book is 'Duroos fi Uloomul Qur'an' or Lessons in Quranic Sciences. 355 pages. We've been told that memorising the summaries at the end of each chapter is enough to pass the exam.

The blue book next to it is Jafer Subhani's 'Seeratul Muhamadiya' or the Life story of the Holy Prophet. 287 pages, but written really easily in story format

The blue and white book is 'Aadaabal Islam vol 1' or Islamic Manners/behaviour. 325 pages. The teacher summarises the chapters into bullet points which she makes us number in the book. She also expects us to regurgitate the lesson on the spot! scary stuff. Especially when you are one of the few non-Arabs in the class!

The little book on the bottom left is the last chapter of the Holy Quran (Juz Amma). It contains the last 37 chapters of the Holy Quran and we are expected to memorise it by the end of the term.

The light blue book next to it is 'Aqeedatul Islamiya' or Islamic Principles of Faith. 458 pages, badly photocopied and bound together. Actually its not the whole book, its just the half we are studying this term!

The green book with the pic of Imam Khumayni is our Tajweed book - or how to recite the Quran with the correct pronunciation. We haven't started this class yet as the teacher hasn't returned back from the summer holiday (she's not the only one - 6 members of the class are still in their home countries!)

The blue and brown book is our Sarf book or morphology. Its the Arabic grammar book we're studying this year. Our teacher is Egyptian, but you would never guess from the way she speaks Arabic. She's convinced I don't know grammar very well, so she's always asking me questions.

The books arrived late - we were well into our first week before the deliveries starting trickling in. The theory is that the books are printed in Iran and then shipped over.

We're still waiting for our Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and Hifdhul Mawdhooi (Memorisation of the Quran by subject) books, but nevertheless, the teachers are ploughing on with the lessons.

The books have cost a grand total of 260 liras, which is just under 4 pounds - a hell of a lot cheaper than university textbooks back home!

With so much studying this term, I guess I can kiss my social life goodbye!

Musalla of Sayyida Zainab

2011-09-30T01:17:00.000-07:00

There's one thing that REALLY annoys me when I got to the Musalla of Sayyida Zainab (The bit where they have the congregational prayers).

It's not the fact that you have to go early to get a spot near the fan in the summer, nor the fact that you have to hang around at the end to avoid the rush. Nor, as the guidebook says, is it the overpowering stench of feet (I guess 2 years in Iran made me immune to that!). And I can even deal with people not praying in sync - not everyone is lucky enough to have areligious education.

The thing that really annoys me is this... there is a certain group of people (whom I won't name, otherwise I'll get tonnes of hate mail) who think its ok to come into the prayer room lastminute.com and assume that a spot will mgically open up for them. Just so you know woman - the space doesn't open up, but rather you squash the rest of us who actually turned up on time. And, to make matters worse, they often bring in these huge shopping bags with them. It's kinda ironic that in the shrines in their own country, they are not even allowed to take food and water bottles, let alone shopping, but in Syria they think nothing of huge 'take up a whole person's space' shopping bags.

A friend of mine last summer used to refuse to let them squeeze in at the last minute and actualy lecture them about turning up on time, rather than taking the scenic route via the souk. I tried it once, but turns out the woman had just arrived to Syria and she'd literally freshened up and ran out the door in order to get to the prayer room on time. She did promise me, however, she wasn't going to do any shoppping :-)

Pic taken last night of a lastminute.com lady who squeezed in next to us and her shopping bags

Back to school

2011-09-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last blogged. Since my last post, I've been back home to
London and returned back to Syria and started school!

After the scary interview (4 teachers on the panel asking everything from the rules
concernig doubts in prayer to the basis of wilayat!) and then a series of blood tests,
chest X-ray and blood pressure, we got accepted into the hawza (religious school).

Walking into school on the first day took me straight back to Iran. The hawza is
actually run by Iranians, but everything is taught in Arabic. Dua Ahad was playing
on the speakers and the day started in pretty much the same way as it did in Iran-
in complete chaos! We were sorted out into classes, and just like Iran, my class
has students from all over the world- Pakistan, burkino faso and France! The teacher
is from lebabnon and speaks a bit of french, which is lucky as most of the African
students speak French too.

Class ran from 8 to 10 after which we went next door to the mens hawza for the
opening ceremony. It consisted of three vey long speeches, which gave me an
opportunity to type out this blog post on my phone so it can be uploaded when I get
home! And read a LOT of Quran.

A group of students got up to sing some nasheeds and in the process managed to massacre
an Imad Rami nasheed. Actually thats a bit unfair- part of the blame needs to go to
the dodgy mikes. I'm sure the Stanmore AV team would have done a much better job. Lol

We all got given a goody bag with a pen, magazines, and snack pack to welcome in the new year.

This is what I was busy doing today...

2011-06-10T09:05:00.001-07:00

When we moved into our apartment in Syria, it was dirty! The previous tenants were related to the landlord, so they didn't bother cleaning the place properly.

Unlike when we moved to Qum, I didn't make myself ill scrubbing the place. I took things slowly - doing a bit every week.

The kitchen walls were caked in grease - all the way to the ceiling (no idea how the grease got up there!) and one day before classes started, I got on a chair and scrubbed the walls with steel wool. Problem was, being a bit vertically challenged, I couldn't reach all the way to the top. So for the past 8 months, my kitchen walls have looked like this:

BEFORE
(The top 2 rows of tiles are still caked with grease)

That was until I spotted a ladder last week, borrowed it and spent the next 2 days scrubbing the walls. Now it looks like this:

AFTER (all sparkly and clean)

I even managed to study in between all the scrubbing. A day well spent :-)

Notes from Sister's circle...

2011-06-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Our last sister's circle was conducted in Arabic. Its great for our language skills (and an ego booster when we find we can understand most of it!)

We looked at a hadith from our 6th Imam who says that there are 8 characteristics of a believer:

1. They are firm in times of tremor (that means anything that knocks you from your day to day routines - a death, accident etc)

2. They are patient in times of hardship

3. They are grateful in times of ease

4. They are satisfied by what God has given them

5. They don't oppress their enemies

6. They don't oppress their friends and forgive them easily

7. Their body is always tired

8. People are always at ease around them.

We discussed each of the points - some of them are quite obvious, but I'll expand on a few of them:

(4) It's human nature to look at people and only see their faults. For example, you see that your friend's husband does x y &z around the house and so you fault your husband for not doing the same, forgetting that he does a b &c.
If you think of everyone as a glass - half of us is filled with good qualities and half with bad qualities. So we need to start looking at the good half.

(7) This one was a bit puzzling - because we straight away thought it meant that the body should be tired with worship. But actually it means that the believer shouldn't rely on other people to do their work (unless of course they need help), but rather try and do as much as they can themselves. I guess its all about setting the right expectations of other people and realising that no one 'owes' you anything.

You know you're a talabe (student pursuing religious education) when....

2011-06-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

...You squeeze every last drop out of shampoo/face cream/shower gel bottles (even cutting the lids off to get to the hard to reach stuff) cos you don't know when your next parcel from back home will come

...You have 3 types of tea; the imported tetley tea bags which are reserved for yourself. The local stuff which is used when people come over and the random tea/coffee/powdered milk that zawwar (religious pilgrims) leave behind

...You can have upto five types of Chevro (Bombay mix) in your cupboard at anyone time. And all of it has been left behind by zawwars. I still have yet to understand why people think bringing chevro on a trip is a good idea. You need spoons and bowls to eat it with, it's messy and it makes you thirsty.

...You become an expert at airline weight restrictions. Hell, you even book your ticket with the airline that gives you the most. You can pack your suitcase to within 100g of the allowance. And you have even perfected the 'puppy dog' look for the check in staff in country of origin to make them give you an extra few kilos. Obviously going back home is easier - you can slip the check-in guy $20 and he'll let you off with the excess luggage!

...You have worn 4 layers of clothes (and even worn a winter jacket in summer) on your return flight so that you can bring the last few clothes that won't fit in your suitcase.

...You look like a refugee with 3 pieces of hand luggage

...Your parents are experts at finding passengers to bring the much missed goodies from back home (thank you to everyone who has kept us topped up with dairy milk - we love you lots!)

...You don't mind when zawwar leave behind chevro, biscuits, shower gels, even broken biscuits. They are a reminder of back home. Again, thanks to you all! We love you too!

...You write lists of things to do back home in the summer and they include mundane things like 'go to Tesco'

...You consider Primark clothes to be good quality, because they are - compared to the rubbish you get out here!

... You don't feel hot when temperatures reach 30 degrees back home. Its not really hot until its 53 degrees (Anyone remember Qum, Summer 2009??)

...You don't flinch when you see cockroaches or ants. And you are used to seeing hundreds of stray cats. (and on that subject, I have yet to figure out one thing - there are thousands of stray cats and dogs here, but where are their droppings??? This is proving to be one of life's mysteries)

...You throw the concept of recycling out of the window. In fact the closest you get to recycling is bagging up bottles and cans separate from the rest of the garbage so the people who search through the dumpsters for things they can sell have an easier job

...You get home to find that the grocer has sold you out of date groceries, but you lack the language skills to go back and complain

...You are asked the same questions by all the zawwar who visit. And try and put the answers on your blog, but quickly realise that no one bothers to read it.

...You learn how quickly the fresh produce goes bad and shop for the week and not a tomato more than you need

...You learn which fruits are in season during the year from their prices

...You know every decent eatery within a 5 mile radius because there are so few of them and you are on first name terms with the owner and you know what you are going to eat before you even leave the house!

...You have a profound relationship with the sayyidda of the town (the decendant of the holy prophet) who is buried in your neighbourhood. She is everything from a surrogate mother to confidante

...You realise that what you learnt in Sunday school barely even built the boat that set off on the sea of knowledge. You start to appreciate the lengths that our aalims go through to research and learn in order to relate it back to us. And you seriously worry about people who sit on the mimber without studying

...You miss home, especially the friends and family and going out. But in reality, you wouldn't give upthisnew lifestyle, even for mountain of gold

Thoughts from class.

2011-05-24T03:36:00.000-07:00

We're covering 8th form verbs right now - for the Arabic groupies amongst you - thats the افتعل pattern. (verbs which indicate internally activism with will and determination)

Our teacher taught us a phrase:

الأقتصاد في النفقة نصف المعيشة

which roughly translates to 'economising in expenses is half of living'

So when I heard this, it made me think of a certain East African muliyani who always says that the wife has 3 duties to her husband - cooking, cleaning and economising. (LOL). Maybe someone forgot to tell her that cooking and cleaning aren't wifely duties religiously - but rather a wife does them out of love for her family.

Anyways, the saying is more applicable today than ever before. It really made me ponder on things. How easy is it these days to stock up on clothes, food and other things! With the advent of Primark, Tecso, Pound/Dollar/10 lira stores its so easy to pay next to nothing and fill our cupboards with things that we hardly use. This isn't economising at all!

And it made me think - I have clothes in 3 countries - I have no idea how much I have, let alone when I am going to wear it all! Do I really need so many clothes? Each summer when I go back to London, I try and de-clutter my things, but then end up splurging in Primark or Tesco, so end up with the same amount of things!

When we moved to Iran (almost 3 years ago), we set up our home with new things, splurged on kitchen gadgets etc (not that there is anything wrong with having nice things).But 2 years later when we packed up everything to move to Syria, it made us realise how much stuff we had accumulted in such a short time. And how much food stuff we had in the cupboards which we couldn't finish off before we left. We set up our home in Syria very differently. Rather than hoarding the 'good stuff' for a day which may never come, we just use what we have. And rather than buying things from the souk, I try and buy them from the 10 lira store, so I don't feel bad leaving things behind when we leave Syria.

A scholar once made an interesting point in a lecture -

In life, we can choose the car we buy, the house we live in, the job we accept and others. Buying an expensive car like a Jaguar or Lexus will get us to our destination, as will a cheap car like a Ford Escort or a Lada. The main difference is the price, although the ride may seem a bit smoother in a Lexus.

But if you look at the other costs, the operating expenses, petrol, insurance for a Lexus are much higher. A Lada on the other hand, can be maintained and operated quite cheaply. Anyone with half a brain can fix a Lada!

If someone wanted to borrow your car, you would lend a Lada to someone at the drop of a hat, but if someone wanted to borrow your Lexus, you’d think twice. You’d offer to drop them to their destination and pick them up! Don’t get me wrong, Islam does encourage us to earn a living and have nice things! But think about it, even though both cars get you to the same destination, the ride in the Lexus is more egotistical and so there is more attachment to the expensive luxury, and it is this that diverts us from what we want to achieve.

Imam Jafar as Sadiq (as) has said: imagine yourself going through customs with lots of luggage. Say I was going to Paris for a short trip. Even if the customs officer wasn’t suspicious of me wearing hijab and my husband with his beard and dishdasha, he will be once he sees my 2x 30kg suitcases and he’ll ask “What do you have in there? Gifts? Clothes? You’re staying for 2 days and you have 2 suitcases?” they will question me and make sure that I don’t have anything beyond my means. But, if they see me coming through with a small carry on bag, they’ll just let me through. The 6th Imam tells us that it’s exactly the same in the Hereafter, the more we have, the more responsibility we have and the more we have to answer for. So on the Day of Judgement, the less we have to account for, the faster we will be able to enter Jannah.

Random Thoughts

2011-05-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

Two things struck me the other day....

The first was seeing a little 3 or 4 year old boy with his parents visiting the shrine of Sayyidda Zaynab for the first time. He looked cute wearing his 'Friday' best - a little suit and red bow tie.

The second was meeting an aunty and uncle (who incidently turned out to be distant relatives!!) telling us about how their suitcases had gotton lost on the way. The aunty commented: 'It doesn't matter that my suitcase got lost because I had only packed old clothes, but uncle had packed all his good clothes'.

It really got me thinking - why shouldn't uncle be allowed to bring his nice clothes? Surely he has recognised the personaility that is is about to visit and wants to look his best!

Why is it that when we go for ziarat, we pack all our old clothes?? Seriously, do we want to be going to the graves of our ideals wearing old trackie bottoms and tshirts with holes in them and scarves that have seen better days??

One of the things we teach children from a young age is that if they are going to visit the queen/president, they would put on their best clothes, so when we pray, we should wear our good clothes too, because our God is far more important than the queen. Right?

So why is it that when we come to visit the Holy Shrines, we bring our oldest and ugliest clothes?! Don't the Imams/Holy Household deserve to see us wearing our nicest clothes and scarves?

OK, so the roads here are dusty and the laundry facilities are adequate, but when we go on trips to the far east and africa etc, we take our good clothes and the roads are just as dusty there and the laundry is just as third world.

My latest Addiction...

2011-05-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

... is polo juice! It's a mix of mint, lemon and ice and is soooo refreshing! I just can't get enough of it!

So far, I've tried the one at the Safir Hotel's Fresh Delight's cafe and Anas Restaurant in Babila. But by far the best so far is the one at the Ecological Cafe in the Old City of Damascus.

Long Johns

2011-04-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

Syrians have an obsession with them... they even sell them in the summer!

Just a word of warning - to the visitors who come here and get excited when they see them - the elastic on them is rubbish! It is only stretchy on the first wear, after that, the long johns fall down. So it means one has to rush to the nearest rest room and pull them up every 10 mins.

Story from a previous class

2011-04-17T03:53:00.000-07:00

Once, a companion of the 6th Imam was out in the bazaar. He started talking nonsense to a baker and in the confusion, managed to steal 2 loaves of bread from him. He walked a little further and started talking nonsense to a fruit seller and again managed to steal 2 pomegranates from him.

The companion then found a poor family and gave them the fruit and bread to eat.

He was feeling quite good about himself and when he next met the 6th Imam, he informed him of what he had done.

The Imam asked him why he had used stolen goods in order to do a good deed. The companion replied that he had heard the Imam once say that each good deed is worth 10 in the eyes of God and each bad deed is worth 1. So by giving 4 things to a poor family is equal to 40 good deeds and stealing for things is minus 4 - so he ends up with a net of 36 good deeds.

Imam retorted: ' Don't obey Allah with disobedience, but rather obey Him by staying away from Haraam'.

i.e. The ends don't justify the means.

Qaymeh (not sure how to spell it!)

2011-03-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

We hosted a gathering a while back and our teacher's wife made an Iraqi dish called Qaymeh (No idea how to spell it!). It tastes a bit like kitchro, but it's a lot lighter. I got the recipe from her and tried making it a couple of times (although I cheated a bit!)

Aparently, the spices the each person puts into it are a family secret, and I am told that I am lucky that Umm Zaynab disclosed her spices and quantities to me! I have put my variations in brackets!

A day or 2 before making the dish, soak 1kg of dried chickpeas in water. They should double in size. (I think next time I will use the canned ones)

On the day, put 1kg of meat with bones (half beef,half lamb) and boil it with the chickpeas in plenty of water. (Or pressure cooker it up!) Save the water for water.

Once the meat is cooked, grind/mash the mixture by hand. (I used boneless meat, so I threw the mixture into my Braun mini grinder)

Take the fat from the back of the sheep and cut it into small pieces. In another saucepan, heat some oil and put the fat in. Heat on low heat until the fat dissolves. (I missed this out completely - couldn't bear the thought of touching the rear end of a sheep!)

Chop and fry 4 onions (I blend them with a little water) and fry in oil until yellow. Add 4 tablespoons of tomatoe puree and half a kilo of chopped tomatoes (I blend the tomatoes too!)

Heat until very red.

Add 1 tablespoon each of cardamon powder, cinammon powder, grinded dried lemon (the black things), black pepper and salt. I also add chilli powder, garlic and ginger paste to 'indianify' it.

Mix in the chickpeas/meat mixture and the fat and simmer on hot heat for an hour. If the mixture dries out, add in the water that was used to boil the meat.

I think Iraqis eat it with rice, but it is just as yummy with naan bread or on its own. As you can see, its so yummy, that there was hardly any left to photograph!

More Syrian English

2011-03-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the carrier bags from the store that sells designer fake handbags and shoes (Ground floor of the Safir Hotel)

Since when did bags and shoes become 'needs' and not 'wants' ?????

Make Mine a 'Cheer-Up'

2011-03-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of the local version of 7-Up!

And here it is in Arabic:

Tajweed Quiz for you all!

2011-03-06T03:27:00.001-08:00

What is special about the following sentence???

(Those of you studying Tajweed should get this one!)

صراط علي حق نمسكه

(I havn't figured out how to type shadda's yet, but there should be a shadda on the yaa!

Steak!

2011-03-06T03:20:00.000-08:00

I have 2 steak recipes that are really easy and turn out really yummy!

The first is from my sister in law

Marinate the meat in garlic, ginger, 1 blended onion, green chilli and coriander.
Cook on low heat (covered) for 1 hour.
When the meat is cooked, add garam masala, ketchup and half a chopped tomato. (I add chopped green peppers too)

The other easy steak recipe is from the 'Asian Cuisine Globalised Cookbook' - the one the Stanmore Early programme mums put toghter a few years ago (pg 62)

Marinate 1kg fillet in 2 tablespoons soya sauce, 1 tablespoon garlic and ginger, 1 tablespoon sugar and salt/pepper to taste for 6-24 hours.

Heat oil in a wok. Saute green peppers and onions. Take out and keep aside. Add more oil and fry green chillis and meat. Cook on medium heat until tender.

Make a paste with 1 bowl of chicken stock and 1 tablespoon corn flour. Pour the paste over the meat and let it simmer until it thickens. Add the sauteed onions and peppers and serve hot with Parathas.

MY TIP: After peeling the onion, put it in the fridge for 15 mins before you chop it!

Anyone can make Aloo Gobi but not everyone can bend it like Beckham

2011-02-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

Inspired by watching Bend it like Beckham last week, I decided to try making Aloo Gobi. And Jassminder is right, ANYone can make Aloo Gobi! The recipe I found on Spark (ipod app) is soooo easy!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ginger paste
2 medium potatoes (cubed)
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
salt
1lb cauliflower

1. Heat the oil. Stir in cumin seeds, garlic and ginger paste. Cook for about 1 minute until garlic is slightly browned

2. Add potatoes. Season with tumeric, chilli powder, cumin, garam masala and salt. Cover and continue cooking for 5-7 mins, stirring occasionally.

3. Mix in cauliflower. (I added in water too, as the potatoes were starting to stick). Reduce heat to low and cover. Stir occasionally. Cook for 10 mins or until cauliflower and potatoes are tender.

4. Serve with boiled rice.

Microwave Rice

I only make rice this way. It's so easy and there is never any burnt rice at the bottom of the saucepan to scrape off!

1. Wash 1 mug of rice in a microwaveable plastic container
2. Add 2 mugs of boiling water, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 table spoon of oil.
3 Cover with clingfilm and make 10-15 holes in the clingfilm with a toothpick
4. Microwave on high for 10 mins
5. Stir the rice with a fork. If it is still watery, microwave on medium for 2 mins and check again.
6. Repeat step 5 until rice is cooked.

(UK rice tends to cook in 12 mins, but Middle Eastern rice needs longer - usually 15-16 mins)

Lessons from Sayyidda Fatemah - some points from our last sister's circle

2011-02-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

Our fortnightly wednesday sisters' circles have now become weekly! They're a great opportunity to catch up with each other and learn something too!

At the end of the last session, we looked at some lessons from the life of Sayyidda Fatemah, daughter of the Holy Prophet:
1. She never spoke anything unless it was the truth
2. She never mentioned or remembered anyone negatively
3. She protected others' secrets
4. She accepted others' excuses
5. She always kept promises
6. She forgave others

We discussed each of them and came up with the conclusion that the best way to show your love for the Ahlul Bayt (family of the Prophet) is to follow the examples that they have left for us. Obviously there is no way we can ever be as generous or as forgiving as they were, but at least we can try.

Take number 5 - one way we can follow this through is if we are invited to someone's house or gathering (or even a sister's circle!) and we tell the host we are going to attend, then its mandatory on us to attend, otherwise we are not keeping our promise of attendance!

Anyone visiting Syria on a Wednesday is more than welcome to attend!

Story from our reading comprehension book

2011-02-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

(Credit must go to The Husband for translating and typing this out!)

Imam Musa a-Kadhim [a] relates the following story:

The once was a man from the Bani Israel, he was a pious man. He had a wife who was also pious. One night the man had a dream where an angel came to him and said that Allah had ordained for him such and such amount of time for his life on earth. In addition Allah offered him that one half of his life would be with ease (wealth) and the other with difficulty (poverty). He was to choose which half he wanted the ease and which he half he wanted the poverty. The man told the angel that he had a wife who was his partner in life and he needed to consult her and that the angel could come back tomorrow night when he had consulted her. The following morning the man awoke and related to his wife what had transpired the previous night to which she replied: 'Choose the first half with ease and let us pray for a good ending (to our lives) perhaps Allah will have mercy upon us and bless with blessing throughout our lives.'. The following night the man saw the angel and he informed the angel of his decision to which the angel said you have requested it and so it will be.

The blessings of the world began to make their way to the man and his wife from all facets and they increased on a daily basis. The wife said to her husband that with these blessings he should assist those amongst his relatives and he should gift and assist those amongst his neighbours and brothers in faith. When the first half of his life passed by he saw in his dream the same angel whom he had seen previously. The angel said to the man: 'Allah appreciates (that you did 'husn u dhan' [thinking well of God] on him and that you made good use of your first half) you and therefore has ordained the second half of your life with with ease like the first half.

Homework for you all:
What lessons do you take from this story? and what Shariah points?
(we came up with a total of 13 in class!)

My washing machine

2011-02-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

My washing machine is ghetto. There is no other word to describe it! I was explaining the concept to a British lady who was visiting here last week and she said that it was exactly how she used to do her laundry in 1960s England!

There are 2 tubs.

The clothes go into the left tub.

I fill it up with water from the tap, via a hose. Throw in some detergent and turn the dial. Once the cycle is done, I have to drain out the water and refil it again with tap water. On the second cycle, I add fabric softner too. One cycle runs for 15 mins, but I usually do 2 cycles with detergent and one with fabric softner.

After draining out the water, the clothes go into the right tub to be wrung out.

It takes about an hour to do one load of laundry and I have to constantly babysit the washing machine! If I'm doing whites, I have to remember to turn the water heater on, as I tend to 'boil' the white clothes. The clothes come out reasonably clean, although all the dirt tends to magnetise itself to one piece of clothing (usually my black dress trousers!)

It's all part of the 'living in the third world' experience ;-)

Roghan Josh

2011-02-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Here is the first of many of my tried and tested recipes. I'm aiming to try at least one new recipe a week, so watch this space!

This one comes from the Marziabai Asaria Cookbook (pg 82)

2lbs cubed lamb fillet
3 tblspoons lemon juice
1 cup natural yoghurt
1 tsp salt
2 crushed cloves of garlic
1 piece grated ginger
4 tblspoons oil
toasted cumin seeds and bay leaves to garnish
1/2 tspoon cumin seeds
1 finely chopped onion
2 tspoon ground coriander
2 tspoon ground cumin
400g chopped tomatoes (I used blended fresh tomatoes, canned ones are $$$$ here!)
2 tblspoon tomatoe puree
2/3 cup water (I ended up adding a lot more than this, as meat wasnt cooked)
4 green cardamon pods
2 bay leaves

1. In a large bowl mix together the lemon juice, yoghurt, salt, garlic and ginger. Add the lamb, cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
2. Heat the oil in wok or karahi (I used a large frying pan) and fry the cumin seeds for 2 mins. Add the bayleaves and cardamon pods and fry for a further 2 mins.
3. Add the onion and a bit of garlic and fry for 5 mins. Add the coriander, cumin and chilli powder. Fry for 2 mins.
4. Add the marinated lamb and cook for a further 5 mins, stiring occaisionally to prevent the mixture from sticking to the frying pan.
5. Stir in the tomatoes and tomatoe puree and water. Cover the simmer for 1-1.5 hours. Garnish with toasted cumin seeds and bay leaves and serve with rice.

On the left of the plate is the very yummy 5 lira bread they sell near the Haram.

p.s. There was LOADS of masala left over, so I froze it. Any ideas on what I can do with it??

Medical Museum

2011-02-10T02:31:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Old Damascus and visited this 12th Centuary hospital. Its now been converted into a museum, housing medical appartatus discovered by Muslims many hundreds of years ago.

The Hospital Courtyard

There are models in all the rooms showing anatomy classes and operations

Syrian English

2011-02-10T02:26:00.000-08:00

Another example of poor use of English by the Syrians!

Genteel Man!

Iceland

2011-02-03T03:24:00.000-08:00

We have one of these too! Albeit, selling different things from the UK chain.

One of the things that irritates me about Dubai and increasingly in Syria too is how they transliterate English words into Arabic. There is a perfectly good phrase for 'Ice Land' in Arabic, but yet they don't use it!

Swimming!

2011-02-03T03:17:00.000-08:00

This is the swimming pool that we try and visit once a week. Its a short, 5 lira bus ride away from Sayyidda Zaynab in a place called Baabila. Recently, the prices went up to 250 lira (about 5 dollars) for a 2 and half hour swim. They hardly ever turn the jacuzzi and sauna on, bt when they do, its scalding hot! Luckily though, they heat the pool up.

This pool has really made us miss the lovely, clean, cheap Jamia pool in Qum :-(

Is Syria the place for you??

2011-01-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

One of the things I get asked over and over and over again is 'should I send my daughter to study Arabic in Syria?'

My short answer to that is 'no'.

The reasons are many..... (this blog entry will be forwarded to anyone who asks me the question in the future!). I am going to share my personal experiences with you. If you think your young daughter will be able to deal with them, then by all means send her!

The people (and by people I mean men!) are weird here. Just yesterday, a friend and I were walking home from the Haram towards the WF Institute, when out of no where a man selling socks comes up to me and hits me in the chest with his socks. We tell him we are not interested. He keeps following us.... we're almost at the institute which is a 7 min walk from the Haram and he comes face to face with me and starts asking weird questions. My friend grabs me, we overtake him and we run into the building.

A few weeks back, an Indo-Pak maulana 'insists ' that I have to do mutaa with him (even though I told him I'm married) to stop him from doing haram. And a few days later I had this old man try and give me his phone number (eeeewwwww, gross... my stomach is turning just thinking back to that incident)

I've lost count of the number of taxi drivers that have tried to rip me off, shop keepers that have acted inappropriately etc And the beggars who just don't leave you alone! Our local fast food owner has often helped me out in these sticky situations!

There have also been numerous incidents in the women's side of the Haram recently.... bags, phones, wallets and ipods all stolen while people have been praying!

All I can say is thanks to my parents (especially my Dad) who always made us aware of our surroundings when going out and about. It really helped me to become street smart!

The other day, one of the London aunties told me that she was sending her daughter to Syria and that I should keep an eye on her. Aunty, I didn't have the guts to tell you to your face, but I'm not running a baby sitting service here! If you want someone to keep an eye on her, bring her yourself!

Don't get me wrong, there are nice people out here that keep an eye out for others (our Arabic teacher for instance and the local fast food restaurant owner!) and we have a friends network (albeit a small one) who look out for eacher other, but at the end of the day, most people are busy with their own lessons and we only see each other at the fortnightly sister's circles and the weekly sessions at the WF institute.

And I don't want to put anyone off from coming here to study. It's a fantastic place to learn Arabic (especially if you have an amazing teacher like ours!), but my advise is for young girls to come with a family member, friend or husband. (sorry, I know that's not want everyone wanted to hear). And there are so many issues that I am personally glad my husband deals with (paying the landlord, getting a gas cyclinder for cooking, arguing with the plumber when he leaves us for 7 days without hot water!). I'm the first one when it comes to equality for women and womens rights, but trust me on this.... there are some things that are better dealt with by the men folk!

If anyone is thinking of coming here to study... make up an action plan. (this bit is for the guys and the gals!) What are you aiming to achieve while you are here?? And how are you going to achieve it?? A lot of people assume that they will go to the University of Damascus. I haven't studied there personally, but I know that they teach Modern Standerd Arabic. So if you want to study Arabic in order to be able to understand Quran and Duas, this is not the right option for you.

Our course (Alhamdulillah) takes ayaat from the Qur'an to illustrate grammer points and teaches us hadiths and Qur'anic stories. Now, when I read Qur'an, or listen to a dua or lecture in the Haram, I'm able to understand a good chunk :-) I believe the hawzas use a similar approach too.

The other options include private teachers and hawzas. If you are thinking of private tutors, then my advise would be to shop around and choose a teacher that suits you. Compare prices too. The prices doubled from Jan 2010 to July 2010!! (We were not expecting that at all and it hit our pockets hard!). The down side to private lessons is the speaking. I am finding that I really have to force my self to speak Arabic at home.... its so easy to slip into English! In a university/hawza environment it is much easier to practise speaking as Arabic is the only language you have in common with your classmates.

If someone was to ask me about sending their daughter to Qum, my answer would be completely different! I know that the hawzas there have dedicated housing for the single girls and restrict their comings and goings (I know some call it prison, but I'm sure that parents would sleep better at night knowing their daughters were locked up!)

If there are any brothers or sisters that have studied in Syria and would like to share their experiences, please feel free to leave a comment!

(disclaimer- I am NOT putting down the courses at the University of Damascus. I know there are some wonderful teachers there. Nor am I putting down anyone who has studied there.)

Post Script - If there are any parents out there sending single boys to study in Syria, please please please teach them a few basic recipies and how to look after themselves (e.g. how to wash and iron clothes, sew buttons....) :-)

The Walk from Sayyidda Zaynab to Sayyidda Ruqayya

2011-01-26T13:57:00.000-08:00

One of the local traditions on Arbaeen Day (the 40th day after the martyrdom of Imam Husayn) is that people drive to Sayyidda Ruqayya's shrine for the morning prayers, pray there and then walk back to Sayyidda Zaynab's shrine. Its a distance of more than 10km and it takes about 3 hours.

Our teacher walks the other way - i.e. from Sayyidda Zaynab to Sayyidda Ruqayya. It was an interesting walk. We laft at 8am and made a pit stop at Sayyidda Zaynab's shrine. Even though it was so early, the shrine was full-ish, with people starting mourning rituals. There were even people handing out tea and bread to the zawwar (pilgrims).

Muharram this year had been toned due due to government restrictions and so this year, the groups of walkers were a lot less. Nevertheless, we did see about 3-4 big groups of people walking and reciting poems and lamentations. I was surprised at how many elderly, children, full-term-pregnant women and disabled people were doing the walk. There were also hundreds walking barefoot too. I was told that in previous years, people stand by the roadside and hand out water and refreshments too, but we only saw a truck handing out bananas this year!

Just like how fasting in the month of Ramadhan reminds us of the hunger of the poor people, this walk made me think about how Sayyidda Zaynab and the other members of the Holy Household made the walk from Karbala to Kufa to Shaam. We (Alhamdulillah) had a energising breakfast and cup of tea, ate vitamins and energy tablets, had water and snacks along the way and were wearing comfy sketchers. It was such an easy experience (even with our power-walking teacher!) The ladies and children did the walk (which was much longer than our walk) on barely enough food and water to keep them alive and in the hot desert sun. And that was just after witnessing their family members being killed. And seeing so many infants and children die along the way.

I've post up the pics on FB and the link for my non-FB readers is below:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=600949&id=775340390&l=482c39050f

The Muffin Mosque

2011-01-26T13:49:00.001-08:00

One of our friends calls this the 'Muffin Mosque' because of the odd shaped dome.

My favourite store

2011-01-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

My favourite store (apart from the supermarket downtown where you can get EVERYTHING at overinflated prices) is the 10 lira store. It rocks!

10 liras works out to about 13p and this store has everything from stationery to waxing strips, from kitchen utensils to sewing kits, and from makeup, jewellery and scarf pins to batteries, electrical cables and screwdrivers. (you get the picture). We even manage to pick up branded items from time to time!

If I need anything for the house, I usually head to this store first before going to the souk (market). It's only 3mins walk from my house and I know I will pick up a bargain!

For those of you who were worried that I didn't know how to cook before I got married....

2011-01-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

... this post is for you!

I've become an experimenter in the kitchen these days! Recently, I've made pakistani biryani, pitta bread, mandazi, carrot and ginger cake.........
Here's a picture of one of my masterpieces:
If anyone has any interesting recipies that don't need readymade mixes/sauces please share!

Aashura in Damascus

2010-12-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

This was our first Aashura in Damascus. It was probably the first time I have spent Muharram away from the khoja community, so it was slightly weird not knowing where to go and what time things were starting! By the 4th night though, we'd got into a routine of going to the Shrine of Sayyidda Zainab for the evening prayers and then sitting for the Arabic lecture there and then running to one of the local hawzas for a second lecture. We tried to pick out the lecturers that used simple, classical Arabic so that we could understand a little!

The government had put a ban on all things 'azadari' related. On Aashura day there were no processions, no open displays of mourning and no sabeel either (the stalls that give out water/drinks on the sides of the streets) There were even bus loads of soldiers placed at various points to control the crowds. Shame really. We were told it was for 'the protection of the shias' - whatever that means. It will be interesting to see what Arbaaen is like this year.

Most people were commemorating Aashura on the Thursday, whereas we were marking it on Friday (moon sighting issues are not just limited to London LOL). On the Thursday I went to the Musalla of Sayyida Zaynab's Haram and listened to the narration. I was surprised at how much Arabic I had picked up, as I managed to understand most of it. It was an interesting experience, unlike the khoja centres back home, there was no amaal of Aashura (it was good our Aashura was the next day!). I didn't realise that most khateeb's (narraters) read the actual naration of the story of Karbala from a book. Its reasuring to know that they are reading from authentic books and not adding extra spice like so many of our indo-pak shaykh's do (another post on that soon!)

Even though it's Aashura, the locals still keep their stalls open and try and make a quick buck from the pilgrims!

Banners in the courtyard of Sayyidda Ruqayya's Haram

Matam taking place in Sayyida Ruqayyah's Haram

Banners on the actual Dhareeh of Sayyida Ruqayyah

Cartoon narration of the story of Karbala in Farsi

Shrine of Sayyida Zaynab

Banner outside the shrine of Sayyida Zaynab

The Reward of the Patient Ones

2010-12-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

Our reading comprehension book features stories from the lives of the Prophets and Imams. More often than not, the stories featured give us food for thought, as well as increasing our Arabic vocabulary. Yesterday's story was about people who are patient.

It is narrated from the 4th Holy Imam who said that on the Day of Judgement, Allah will gather a group of the early people and the later people and call out for the patient people to enter into Heaven without having their deeds accounted for! So a group of people will stand up, only to be stopped by the angels. The angels will ask: "where are you going?" So the patient ones will reply: "To Heaven". The Angels will ask "Without being accounted for!?" The patient ones will say "Yes". The Angels will then ask "So who are you?" The patient ones will reply "We are the patient ones". And the Angels will continue to ask "And what was your patience?" The people will reply "We were patient in obeying Allah, we were patient against disobeying Allah and we were patient in the trials and tribulations of life".

Then Allah will tell the Angels "They speak the truth, enter them into Heaven. Only the patient will be paid back their reward in full without measure." (Qur'an, Chapter 39, verse 10)

This story really got me thinking. Living in the West, we are so accustomed to having everything here and now. If our blackberrys, laptops, ipods break down, if our email stops working, if our cars get a puncture, if the hot water heater breaks down... we are so 'put out' and 'inconvenienced' and 'feel we are experiencing trials and tribulations'. One of the things you realise when you move to the 3rd world is how unimportant these things really are. They are nice to have and keep, but really our lives don't depend on them.

And entering into Muharram and hearing the narrations of the events that transpired over a century ago in the hot sands of Karbala, you realise that those people lost everything - their family, their possessions, their hijabs all in a matter of a day. And yet when they were asked about their experiences, they replied by saying "I didn't see anything but beauty". This is really inspirational.

Even when I recite the ziarat of Sayyidda Zainab, at the end there is a line near the end which says: "Assalamu Alyki ayatuhas Saahibatul Museebatul Udhmaa" which means "peace be on you O the one who is the bearer of the greatest tragedy" and whenever I recite this line it puts everything into perspective. No matter what I experience in life, it will be nowhere nearly as tragic as what this lady went through in Karbala and after. It makes me that that I have no right to complain about the small things that go wrong in my life. Just deal with what life throws at you and move on. That's my new motto for life.

Qum vs Damascus

2010-12-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

One of the first things that people ask me when they meet is what the differences are between studying in Qum and Damascus and which one I prefer.

I prefer Qum, without a doubt. The city there was geared around studying and students. You can tell someone there that you can't do something or go somewhere because of exams and they will believe you. Not only that, if you go to the mosques at exam time, you will see people studying together. There are also big supermarket-type-stores that sell things at a discount and once in a while, the school gives out things like rice, material for chadors, vouchers etc.

There's something magical about the atmosphere in Qum which I just can't put into words. And that just doesn't exist in Syria. Sure, Damascus is a great place to come and learn Arabic, and you can get pretty much everything here (in the city centre) and I love living a 7 min walk away from the shrine of Sayyidda Zainab, and it's great seeing so many people passing through here on pilgrimage (we didn't get that many visitors in Qum), but there is definitely something missing here.

We have private classes in Damascus, so I really miss the social aspect of studying in a university. No one to practise Arabic with at break times (I am the only girl in the class!) But the upside is that I have a 2 minute commute to class!

Word Associations

2010-12-01T12:40:00.000-08:00

Our teacher is obsessed with them. He shows us how most of the words in the English language have been derived from Arabic. One lesson, he was telling us how many of the places in Africa have come from the Arabic language. Just like when the Europeans landed in America and named the city 'New' York, in the same way, the Arabs when they reached Africa named the city 'Nairobi' or 'Nay (new) Aruba (Arabia). Mombasa is 'New Basra' and Arusha is 'Arustatal Bahr' or Bride of the Sea (i.e. Mermaid)!

Nigeria comes from 'Nay Gariya' (Gariya is how the coastal people pronounce 'qariya'- village)

Even Europe comes from 'Euroba' (Aruba- Arabia!)

Quite possibly the gay-est email I've received in a while...

2010-11-26T10:41:00.000-08:00

As-salamu alaikum brothers and sisters,

Are you going to fast tomorrow? Think about it, it is Eid Al-Ghadeer when it is highly recommended to fast, and Thanksgiving! So why not time your dinner for iftar? If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, then fast anyway! If you have days to make up, this is a perfect day to fast. It is Thursday, Ghadeer, and a short day.

If you have days to make up then make sure your intention is to make up fasting days.

Please make dua for me and all the believers.

Tourist guide, part two

2010-11-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

Etiquette of Ziarat (Visitation) of the graves of the Holy Personalities

(Notes taken from Sisters' Study Circle and accounts from zawaar who visited Agha Bashir Najafi in Iraq recently)

The word Ziarat comes from the Arabic verb zaar which means to visit, but it also has roots in the verb zawara which means to turn away. Seems a bit odd that we should turn away from someone when we visit them! Actually it means that we should turn away from everything and everyone EXCEPT the person we are visiting. Ziarat is a form of united oneself with the person who we are visiting and that means standing for what they stood for. So, someone visiting the shrine of Sayyidda Zainab in Syria needs to appreciate the things that she stood for in her lifetime (truth, justice, hijab etc) and make sure to apply these principles in their own lives.

There is a saying that 'a believer is a mirror for the beliver' i.e. try and rub of good qualities onto each other. In this case, try and follow the examples laid out for us by the Holy Prophet and His Household.

There is a saying from the 6th Holy Imam about using ziarat as a means for asking for your needs and Allah will not turn you away.

A scholar once visited the shrine of Imam Husayn in Karbala and saw all the people around him asking for their burdens to be increased! In other words, they were asking for material things (the more material things we have, the more we have to account for). So rather than asking for increased burdens, we should try and ask Allah to remove our burdens and our attachment to this temporary life and help in our goal towards perfection.

The first time we visit a shrine, we should just go and pay our respects to the personality and not ask for any of our wishes. The analogy is a bit like getting in touch with your long lost school friend. You don't see each other for years, but as soon as you meet, you tell your friend - nice to see you, but actually I only came to see you because I need x, y and z!

The other etiquette to maintain are the obvious ones - recite the 'idhne dukool' - permission to enter the shrine supplications. You wouldn't barge into someone's house without permission, so it goes without saying that you don't just go into a shrine without seeking permission. Be humble, don't push anyone (just because the Iranians push, it doesn't give us a licence to! LOL) and don't litter the place either (again, just because the locals have no respect for the environment, doesn't mean we shouldn't either!)

Don't put money into the shrines in Syria. Unfortunately the money in the shrines goes to the person who owns the land and not to the upkeep of the shrine. If you want to donate to the servants of the shrine or the maintenance fund, you will see boxes in which to put the money in.

Last but not least, look after your possessions! Taking valuables (or flashing around expensive mp3 players, phones and cameras) is never a good idea in a 3rd world country. There are many stories of people being engrossed in praying or trying to touch the shrine and having bags stolen or pick pocketed.

Syrian English

2010-11-19T09:35:00.000-08:00

Or Syrilish. Its sooo bad its funny. Here's an example:

Instead of 'Building Muslim bin Aqeel', they have made poor Muslim into a middle aged balding man. (bin means 'son of' i.e. Muslim son of Aqeel)

And another example:
I actually thought it was a sweet shop selling baklava and other Middle Eastern Delights, until I walked a little closer and realised that they meant to write 'suites'

Tourist Guide, part one

2010-11-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

One of things that people ask me when they come for ziarat is where to eat. Here is my list of recommended eateries:

1. Safir Hotel (The Hotel and the Fresh Delights 'tent' next door to it. The pizza and shawerma are both highly recommended, as it the fresh juice. (I recommend the fruit cocktail with ginger, but beware, its an acquired taste!)

2. Meraj Hotel serves the best Indian food in town. The chef has been trained to feed khojas, so the food always has added spice! (n.b. The chef here used to work at Safir, so standards are high!) Although some things need to be ordered in advance, the chicken karai is always available. The chicken fajitas are not too bad either.

3. Paninos restaurant is near Noorudeen/Dar al Taqwa/ Al Hussain Hotels and near the Iranian Bazar. The mexican chicken is good, as is the pizza. The bill usually comes to half the price of the Safir restaurants. Fresh juices are good too. The owner speaks English, so most of the time you can get your order how you want it. My tip is to tell them to skip the salads and add extra fries!

4. Mahabba Pizza is located near the Iraqi street roundabout. The mini cheese and tomato pizzas are good (and cheap). The shawerma here is good too.

5. KFC: There are about 7 in the city centre. Jumping in a taxi and telling the driver to take you to KFC usually works!

6. Cham City Centre Mall (Yes, they spell is Cham here!). There is a basement full of restaurants. Taxi fare from Sayyidda Zainab area will cost you about 200 liras. Supermarket in the basement is good to buying olive soaps and shampoos. United Colours of Benetton and other clothing stores in the upper levels.

7. Damascino Mall (right behind the Cham City Centre Mall) has a Costa, Subway, KFC, Italian Pizza place. The supermarket here is worth seeing.

Dessert Places

A. Ice cream place near Meraj hotel has a range of ice creams, baklava, cakes and desserts. The hot baklava is particularly recommended! The shop has seating outside and also sells baklava to take home and biscuits.

B. Fresh Delights, next to Safir Hotel serves a nutella fruit salad - chunks of nutella and biscuit, with some of the 5 a day thrown in. Death by Nutella! (Too rich to eat alone!)

My tips:
A. Don't eat shawerma off the streets (apart from Safir and Mahabba). If you saw how they are delivered (and we have!) its not worth it.
B. Stay away from coleslaw (and salads from unreputable places)

A gift from the American people?!

2010-10-31T13:43:00.000-07:00

We were out grocery shopping the other day and we saw this being sold in the store:
Yup, we couldn't believe our eyes either! (The pic is a bit small, but basically it is food aid that the USA sends to 3rd world countries. And it was being SOLD in a gorcery store!)

Pasta really sucks here (not nearly as good as Iranian Tak Pasta!) and we were really tempted to buy it! But luckily our consciouses overruled!

Go away ants!

2010-10-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

My kitchen is controlled by ants! They are everywhere. And I've tried everything! slices of lemon, cockroach spray, clove oil.... as soon as the swarm of ants goes from one part of the kitchen, I find them re-populate in another part! If anyone has any tips, please feel free to add them in the comments bit!

Want to buy a tacky doll?

2010-10-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

The streets around the Sayyidda Zainab mosque are not only filled with shops, but also stalls and people who have laid out tables/mats on the floor and are trying to flog their wares. Normally it wouldn't be a bad thing - people coming to us to sell their wares. The problem is that they not only take up the sides of the streets, they also crowd the streets, making it hard to walk. And they actually shove their tacky jewellery/socks/dolls in your face. Needless to say, I've become very quick in dodging away from them!

Dirhams...

2010-10-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

We're now learning the numbers in Arabic. Sounds easy? It's not!

Anyways, our teacher sometimes diverts and tells us interesting stories in Arabic to liven up the classes. Today's story was about a king who was trying to teach his son the value of money. One day, he asked his son to go out and work and bring home his wages. Instead of going out to work, the son asked his mother for a dirham (currency commonly used in the Middle East). When he got home, his father asked him for his wages and the son presented his dirham. The father threw the coin into the fountain and told him to go back to work the next day. The same thing happened the next day... the son took a dirham from his mother and gave it to his father and the father threw it in the fountain. The 3rd day, the son was a bit puzzled by his father's behaviour, but instead of asking his mother for money, he actually went out and worked. In the evening, he presented his father with the dirham that he'd earned and just as his father was about to throw the dirham into the fountain, the son grabbed his hand to stop him. (i.e. how can my father throw the dirham I've sweated to earn into the fountain!!)

Middle Eastern TV

2010-10-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

We didn't have a TV in Iran, so we're fortunate to have a TV and a satellite dish in Damascus. We get all the Middle Eastern channels here (MBC, Dubai One, Fox, Iranian channels) and we also get Ahlul Bayt TV and all the other international ones too (CNN, BBCWorld etc).

Its weird watching Indian films dubbed in Arabic - it just souds sooo wrong (they don't dub the singing and dancing). Fox airs a whole host of 'straight-to-DVD' films and also all the crappy shows that never went past a second series. Oh and there's an episode of CSI on every other hour - there are only so many gruesome murders and rapes I can cope with in one day.

All the swear words and nudity scenes are blocked out. But the funny thing is that if the swear word is made up of 2 words (e.g. mother f@$%^&) then they don't bother to beep it! And even though nudity scenes are cut out, they still air shows where adultery is the main theme.
It's probably a good thing that the TV here is crap - it means we get more studying done!

Arabic Classes

2010-10-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

We're now entering our 4th week of Arabic classes. We have an amazing teacher who has developed his own programme. Its really cool - we learn grammer rules without even knowing that we're learning them! We also study saying of the Prophet nd analyse the grammer and also a 3rd book which has reading comprehension passges. We have classes 5 days a week (Thurs and Fri are the weekend for us)

Our teacher keeps us on our toes. He has quick fire questioning sessions and god forbid if you are sleeping! you miss your turn! He has also figured out what our weaknesses are... for example, one of the students has issues in determining where the 'is' in the sentence goes, so the teacher ALWAYS asks him.

Our classes are in the afternoon - a little different to Qum (where all our classes were in the mornings). It just means rearranging the day so that homework, housework and cooking are done in the mornings, class in the afternoon, shrine of Sayyida Zainab for evening prayers and then home for dinner.

Garbage

2010-08-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

I realise that we were a bit spoilt living in Qum and having the orange-clad street sweepers cleaning the streets every night and picking up our garbage. It was a little too good to be true. In Damascus the garbage is picked up once a week, umm, no make that a month, umm, maybe annually? Actually I'm not sure. In my month here I have only seen one garbage truck. Instead there are little piles of garbage here and there.
The sadder thing is seeing people going through the garbage and trying to salvage things that they can sell.

Airplanes

2010-08-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

I've taken a lot of flights this year and passed through more airports that I can remember.

Watching the safety instructions are often a good indicator of how the rest of the flight will pane out. Take BA for example.They show a safety film that features an English mother, coloured father and mixed race children. Very politically correct. Emirates on the other hand flicks between actors wearing national dress and ex-pats (4/5ths of their population is not Emirati after all). While all the 'better aircrafts' tell you to turn off ipods, blackberrys and laptops during taxi, take off and landing, the poorer relative (Iran Air) tells you to turn off your first generation game boy. Does anyone actually still own one of those?!

But the airport that takes the biscuit is Damascus Airport. The only excuse I can give them is that they must have built it with the intention of only sending out 2 flights a day.

When you first get there, you have to pay 50 lira ($1US) for a trolley.That's not an issue - even Gatwick trolleys are a pound. The issue is that about 3 porters come and try and 'help' you with your luggage, even though you (a) didn't ask for help and (b)can manage perfectly by yourself. And of course they expect a tip.

The second issue is that everyone departing has to enter the airport through one door. That's right, one door. And Arabs don't know how to queue. And you get 5 'senders off' for every passanger also trying to squeeze in. And once you get to the front, there is one guy trying to check everyone's passports. Not fun nor the best way to start a long haul flight.

The next step is getting your luggage scanned - that is all the luggage, not just the hand luggage. Even though the metal detecter beeped on every second person, no one was searched!

Finally the check in desk. As mentioned previously, Arabs don't queue. So its fun and games again.

For a 3rd world country the duty-free isn't half bad. But getting on board the plane is another scramble. First there's the queue at the gate, or should i say 5 queues that merge into one. Then when you do finally get to the front, they guy checks EVERY single page of your passport. Even though the passport has already been checked at the airport entrance and twice at security and there is no way on earth one can get to the gate without the correct stamps, they still feel the need to check everything again.

Oh well, at least there is some consolation in that the next flight I take will be out of good ole Heathrow.

Out and About

2010-08-13T16:35:00.002-07:00

Funny things have a way of happening to me, but nothing to report so far. Unless you count the incident where I wanted to buy 2 carrots and ended up with a kilo! (The lowest coin here is 5 lira and many fruits and vegetables cost 10 lira for a kilo, so its not really possible to buy a quarter kilo of something!). I had to put carrots in everything I made for 10 days!

The other thing is, unlike Iran, you can buy eggs individually!!! But they still come in a plastic bag, so half of them end up breaking on the way home. At least I can buy what I need, rather than buying to the nearest half kilo.

Arabic Classes

2010-08-13T16:35:00.001-07:00

Not being one to sit at home and do nothing, I started Arabic classes to try and get a head start before school starts in September. I'm hoping to join the Imam Khumayni Hawza (religious school) to learn Arabic, but in the mean time, the Husband and I started the University of Damascus Arabic books. Although I have studied Arabic Grammer before, I was finding that while I could understand the Qur'an and prayers, my Arabic wasn't helpful for say buying a kilo of tomatoes in the souk.

The books teach Modern Arabic and jump from the basics (Alphabet and joining letters) straight to present tense verbs. I must say that I much prefer the teaching methods of our UK Arabic teacher!

Souk Hamidiyah (Hamidiyah Market)

2010-08-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

This is one of the more famous markets of Damascus. Its probably the oldest and its the one that that the family of the Holy Prophet was dragged through after the event of Karbala in 61 AH. In recent years a tin roof has been constructed over the souk. The holes in the roof are a result of French bombings and celebratory shootings during weddings!You an get practically anything you want in this souk. As well as the regular stalls, there is a whole host of people selling from tables and the floor.
(Excuse the quality of the photos... the husband was making me walk quickly!)

Belly dancing outfits...

Tacky dolls....

Children's clothes....

A new watch....

A funky vegetable peeler...

Or perhaps some new underware?

LOL

Habil (Abel)

2010-08-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

Habil, son of Adam, is buried just outside Damascus. The Qur'anic story is quite similar to the Biblical one. Qabil (Cain) was jealous of his brother and killed him. The event took place in a cave in Mount Qaasiyoon. Because it was the first murder on earth, the mountain was so appalled by what Qabil had done that it wanted to crush itself down on Qabil and kill him too. But that wouldhave meant the end ofthe human race, so an angel was sent down to hold up the roof of the cave.
After Qabil had killed his brother, he wasn't quite sure what to do with the body. After all no one had died before. So God sent down 2 crows. Both crows fought, resulting in one killing the other. The alive crow dug a small grave in which he buried the other crow, ths showing Qabil what to do with his brother's body.

Habil's grave is huge! And its quite a distance from Mount Qaasiyoon, which means that Qabil would have walked around with his brother's body for quite a while before realising what he had to do.

Syria

2010-08-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

After a busy few months jetsetting and working, we finally reached our next new chapter - our move to Syria to learn Arabic. We arrived in Damascus in the middle of the summer season. People from neighbouring gulf states come to Syria in the summer as its the coolest Middle Eastern country - the days are about 35 degrees and the nights are pleasant. Well, that's usually. This year the days were over 45 degrees and the nights felt just as hot!
Within a week we were fortunate to have found an apartment to rent 500m away from the shrine of Sayyidda Zainab (the grand daughter of the Holy Prophet). Being summer season, the shrine, like the rest of the city is crowded, and most days I would have to go to the mosque an hour and a half before prayer time just to secure a spot near a fan!

Blogspot is blocked in Syria, along with Facebook and a whole other range of sites. Blogs have been used in the past to critisice the government - a crime that is punishable by imprisonment. So while I've written this blog in Syria, I won't be uploading it until I get to London. So if anyone has any ideas on how I can update the blog while I'm in Syria, please post a comment!

The other issue is that we dont have internet at home. Its quite hard to foreigners to get internet, so that means that we'll just be regulars at the local internet cafe. So don't expect regular updates!

Syrian School

2010-07-02T02:54:00.000-07:00

I've been watching the Syrian School BBC serial in preparation for our move to Syria. One of scenes showed a family watching a news flash about a footballer being offered xxx million to transfer to another team. The young teenager made a comment about how life in Europe is easy and how Europeans have everything they need and they don't have to worry about the future.

I'd just like to say that life is difficult in the East and the West. One is faced with uncertainities in whichever part of the world you live in. The grass always seems greener on the other side. My advise would be to make the most of the life you have now.

Notebook Messages

2010-06-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

Notebooks have random messages in English. Some of them make no sense at all - like this one on my Farsi note book.

Update...

2010-05-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

Its been ages since I've last blogged!

Since my last post, I've been travelling around the world and am currently spending some time with my family in London.

I'm hoping to use this time to upload the pics from Qum which the internet in Iran didn't allow me to!

Meanwhile, here's a Farsi clip from youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SqaD2wPhm0&feature=related

Crisps/Chips

2010-02-07T03:25:00.000-08:00

Iranians seem to have a love affair with junk food. There really doesn't seem to be a concept of healthy snacks - everything is crisps or cakes (and the cakes are really nasty and dry)

In most of the supermarkets I've been too (and when I say 'supermarket' I mean the little corner stores), there is at least one wall filled with crisps. You get all kinds of flavours and shapes here. Infact, one of my relatives loved the crisps here so much that she took 2 boxes back to Canada with her!

I'm strictly a Walkers (Lays) girl. If it isn't salt and vinegar Walkers, don't bother offering it to me. Although I am finding a suitable alternative here... Cheetoz lemon flavour are not bad. Sounds gross, but they are really tangy.... a bit like chilli and lemon, but without the chilli. The other alternative is to buy plain crisps and sprinkle chilli powder on them. In fact I have a salt shaker just for chilli powder!

Another Encounter with a Taxi Driver...

2010-02-07T03:06:00.000-08:00

This is what happened to me today...

So, I got a taxi off the street as I was out and about. (Don't worry peoples, it was a real taxi driver, not one of those unmarked cars posing as a taxi driver). I asked the driver to stop somewhere along the way so I could rush into a shop to get something.

While I was in the store, the driver's wife called him and started yelling at him. I got in the car and he was really, really angry saying things like "I provide for you every day and just one day I forgot something and you start shouting at me" etc.

So the driver cuts the phone and starts yelling at me about how good a husband he is and how ungrateful his wife is etc. Not that I really care about his martial stuff. I thought the 'smile and wave' Madagascar-film-not-the-country approach was best here.

So this guy is really vexed. We're going towards home and suddenly he stops the car and tells me to wait. I'm thinking he's going to buy an axe or machete to kill his wife. Instead, he picks up a banana peel from the middle of the road and chucks it in the bin. He comes back into the car, a completely changed and calm man and explains how he once saw a motorcycle go over some garbage in the road, have an accident and break an arm.

Random act of kindness, although I wish he'd been a bit calmer with his wife!

Syria

2010-02-05T11:51:00.001-08:00

In preparation for our move to Syria later this year, I hopped over there for a week to check the place out. The Husband and I are hoping to learn Arabic properly over there, before continuing our studies in Qum. Thing is, you can learn Arabic here, but you don't really get the speaking environment in which to practise and they really concentrate on teaching the grammer parrot fashion, so off we go to Syria!

I stayed with some friends in an area called Sayyidda Zainab, which is named after the granddaughter of the Holy Prophet, who is buried there. The mosque complex is really nice (if a little small). The surrounding area, however, REALLY made me appreciate Qum. Garbage is only picked up once a week there and the streets are only swept once in a while. Compare that to Qum, where we have orange-clad street sweepers who pick up the rubbish every night and clean the streets.

And not only that, the place is CRAMMED full of Iranians. The shopkeepers all speak Farsi and accept Iranian currency. (Iranians are known to shop, even though the merchandise in Syria is exactly the same as Iran!). Infact on my flight back to Iran, every single person was overweight by at least 10kg. (apart from me - I only had 9kg in total :-) lol!).

But on the plus point, the supermarkets in Damascus City Centre are well stocked up. I saw all the things that I've been missing in Qum (like flash kitchen cleaner, puff pastry and kellogs cereals!)

It was also nice to meet some of the Westerners who are studying out there. The family I was staying with even took me to a place called Maloula, which is an hour away from Damascus. Its the only place where they speak Arameaic (the language they spoke in Jesus' time). Transport is quite cheap, so it cost about a dollar each way. The town is famous for a girl who was supposed to get married, but at the last minute changed her mind and became a nun. The townspeople were furious with her, as her fiance was one of the richer members of the town, so they tried to burn her, chase her away etc. but each time, something happened to save her. It is said that once she was being chased by soldiers and she stopped to pray and the mountain opened up in front of her letting her escape.

Update on the eggs!

2010-01-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

We can now buy eggs the same way as 'back home'. They still get sold by the kilo, but now they come wrapped in cardboard and plastic and actually survive the 5 min walk from the grocery store to home!

I photographed the label, it's translation is quite corny...

The bit on the right read "Its yolk is gold in reality"

Only in Iran

Chocolates for change!

2010-01-21T12:34:00.000-08:00

One of the really annoying things about Iran is that when you're in a grocery store and you hand over your cash, if the change owed to you is really small, the shop keeper will sometimes give you a small chocolate or sweets instead of giving you the money. Personally, I'd rather have the cash.

Thing is though, the chocolate is usually bi-mazeh (tasteless) compared to Galaxy or Cadburys... so I have a collection of chocolates/sweets in a little dish at home. Chocolate anyone?

Barf

2010-01-21T12:22:00.001-08:00

In Farsi, 'barf' means snow.
In other languages, it means something else! LOL

Inna lillaahi wa inna ilaihi raji'oon...

2010-01-16T02:29:00.000-08:00

... To God we belong and surely to Him we will return

Khanum Zahra Hajj Khalili passed away on Thursday.

Please remember her and her young family in your prayers.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T06:07:00.000-08:00

Happy (Belated) New Year!

Hope the year to come is filled with health, happiness and lots of blog-ilicious smiles :-)

Water Supply

2010-01-03T05:54:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I really dispair at our water supply.

We're lucky to have a drinking water filter fitted in the kitchen. Qum water is salty and so you have to fit a filter, or fill up from the nearest 'sweet' water tap and then drag the cannister back home. Our filter can store 12litres at a time and takes about an hour to fill up from empty. Its quite funny trying to 'squeeze' water out of the filter. It dribbles out and reminds me of old man's pee. LOL

We're currently supplying our neighbour with 'sweet' water. Just have to remember to change the filters every now and again!

The worst thing about living on the top floor is that our regular water supply is rubbish. We're the last priority for water. So even if we're having a shower or washing dishes and someone downstairs turns on the tap, our water stops. Imagine being in the shower with shampoo in your hair, only for the dude downstairs to start washing dishes... it sucks. Not only that, but once the water comes back online, this nasty yellow stuff comes out first before the regular water. Perhaps I'm writing this in the hope that the landlady reads my blog and does something about it?!

Yesterday, the neighbour comes up to ask for water, which is cool. His cannister is 12 litres so it pretty much cleans us out of water for an hour. I filled up his cannister and even though I needed to cook, waited for a bit for the tank to fill up. (we use 'sweet' water for cooking) While I was waiting, decided to wash dishes with the Qum salty water and guess what - the dude downstairs starts using the water. So not only did he clean us out of 'sweet' water, but then cut off the other water too.

Only one more month to go. Only one more month to go.

Khanum Hajj Khalili

2009-12-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

Today's blog is dedicated to this special woman. Khanum Hajj Khalili is the head of the dormitories (khaabghah in Farsi) of the university where I go to school.

She's an amazing woman. She manages to look after her husband, 2 kids, house, manage the dormitories (800 girls when its at full capacity), do her MA and stay sane! She was in my English class last year and always did her homework, even with her full workload - something the other students couldn't manage. Ok, so I was a bit apprehensive about having her in the class at first, with her being a manager and all (and me not exactly being the model Qum Girl) but actually she was kinda cool. And she always knew the latest developments at the school!

Khanum Hajj Khalili always baked cakes for our class 'parties' i.e. the lessons where we used to eat junk food and play games to practise speaking English. (Yes, I got paid to play 20 questions and miming games last year!)

I will always remember the day when she pulled out the Eid card I had sent to her in 2004 - the year we spent 2 months in the dorms learning Farsi. She kept this card for 5 years! She made my day when she pulled out the card from her handbag - it was such a small gesture on my part, but meant so much to her that I had remembered her once my trip to Iran was over.

My other Khanum Hajj Khalili memory is the day when she asked me if I get tired studying in the mornings and then coming back to teach in the afternoons. I replied that I look to her for inspiration on that! She has accomplished more in her life that most people only dream of.

I dedicate my blog to this amazing woman. This amazing woman needs our prayers right now. She's in a semi-coma in ICU with advanced cancer. We pray that all those who've had the pleasure of knowing her to continue this relationship and those who have yet to embark on the journey of knowledge in Qum have the pleasure and honour of forging a relationship with this wonderful woman. God Willing.

Adhan

2009-12-06T06:39:00.000-08:00

You can hear the call to prayer (Adhan) nearly everywhere in Qum. We're lucky. We have 2 mosques in our neighbourhood which both play the adhan from their loud speakers. It starts of with a recitation of a few verses from the Qur'an, followed by the 'synchronised singers' and then the call to prayer starts.

There's not really synchronised singers! I just like to call them that. They kinda go like this - "SubhaaaaanAllah, SubhaaaaaaaaaanAllllllllaaaaaah, SubhanAllaaaaaaaaaaah". There's a few of them singing it together and it lasts about 30 secs. Its really cute. And I'm really going to miss it when we leave! Maybe I should record it on my phone.

Eid e Ghadeer

2009-12-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

Eid e Ghadeer is the anniversary of the appointment of the successor to the Holy Prophet. It happened on the way back from the Holy Prophet's last pilgrimage to Makkah before he died.

As is the tradition at school, we had a 'jashn' (celebration gathering) to mark this. Now I don't really want to get into the usual sunni-shia arguments that usually happen around this time of year, so any comments posted on the blog along these lines will be deleted. During the celebration, I noticed that all the girls just went crazy shouting out Imam Ali's name and cheering and it made me reflect a little about how things are 'back home' in the West.

Don't get me wrong, I loved living in London. But when we have celebrations and commemorations of Islamic significance, it makes me appreciate living here in Qum a little more. And this is something I'm really going to miss when we move back to London (or Toronto depending on whether The Husband or I get their way!). Every happy or sad occaison is marked with coloured or black flags in the streets. And happy occaisons find the streets of Qum decorated with lights.

The thing which really made me ponder was hearing my fellow students cheer for Imam Ali with such enthusiasm. Muslim children back home rarely have such enthusiasm for our Islamic Heros. They would most likely be found cheering for football teams, X-factor or the latest Big Brother wannabe. Maybe we've forgotten who the real stars are... the ones that will help us achieve eternal success. The role models we should be following... not the ones who encourage us to be the next talentless reality show moron.

It made me wonder where we've gone wrong? Have we moved to the West to make better lives for ourselves and children and in the process forgotton our basic values and principles? I was ashamed to see the state of our community on my last visit back home. Many of the kids/teenagers had no sense of what was haram and halal.

Anyway, thats today's rant over with... now lets get back to celebrating Eid! The tradition is that Sayyids - decendants of the Holy Prophet and Imams - give presents to non-sayyids. So email me at qum_girl @ hotmail . com and I'll send you my address to post my pressie to!

My faith in Qummies is restored! (well, sort off)

2009-11-29T01:39:00.000-08:00

I feel a little guilty about my last rant re: smelly taxi drivers. While it's true that a lot of them smell and/or try and rip you off when they see you're a foreigner, you do get the odd gem.

Like last night. One of the '133' drivers (one of the bigger taxi companies in Qum) dropped us off at someone's house. Not even 2 mins later, the guy drove back to the house and handed me my mobile phone. I didn't even realise I'd left it behind! And to top it off, its a brand new nokia E71!

So I felt really guilty cos I previously slagged off taxi drivers and came home and immeadiately changed my facebook status in the taxi driver's honour.

But one day later, as I sit and ponder on what happened (yes, I'm really that sad) I realise that actually, I gave the driver my phone to speak to the family whose house we had been invited to, to check we were in the right place. And HE forgot to give the phone back to me! And I forgot to ask for it back. So technically I didn't leave the phone in his car, he held onto it and drove off, but realised his mistake and came back. So its a little from column A and a little from column B.

And I'm changing my FB status!

Eid Mubarak

2009-11-27T10:38:00.000-08:00

I hope you all have a fabulous Eid, with duas Qum Girl and The Husband

Smug people

2009-11-23T02:36:00.001-08:00

I really hate smug people.

You don't get a lot of the convenience food in Qum that we're used to back home. There is no concept of sticking something in the micro and 5 mins later having a meal in front of you. Most things have to be made from scratch. (perhaps that's why most people loose weight here - because they can't be bothered to prepare meals/snacks themselves).

So when a new product comes out in the shops, I get really excited. The latest additions to the grocery list include frozen chips and frozen veggies! (We get the tinned ones here already, but I think they look very anaemic - esp the peas).

I once made the mistake of telling one such smug person that I found frozen chips in the grocery store. She spent the next half hour explaining to me the benefits of the homemade variety, how its better to do it yourself, how her husband doesn't like anything that isn't homemade, how eating chips doesn't fill you up. Jeez, I wish I'd kept my mouth shut. In reply to said smug person, I'd just like to say:

1. I'm not a stepford housewife. I'd rather go out and see the world and have fun rather than be chained to the kitchen peeling potatoes.
2. Train your husband better - a time will come when he will have to eat leftovers/freezer food etc. Or better still, teach him how to cook!
3. If such convenience food exists in Qum, make the most of it! After all, the mullas will be buying and eating it too, so who are we to deny ourselves such things! :-)

The other variety of smug people are the ones that withold information from others. What's the problem with telling people where you got something from or which classes/programmes are taking place. Share information people! It can be very frustrating for new people to find their feet in a new place with such barriers put in front of them.

That's my whinge for today.

Police line: Do not cross!

2009-11-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

You know that yellow tape that the police put across crime scenes to stop people wandering in a contaminating evidence at a crime scene? I saw a refreshing alternative the other day. It was a green tape which said: "Grass and flower seeds planted. Do not enter".

How cute!

Smelly People

2009-11-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

I wish people would learn to wash. Its no good covering your sweaty, gross. 'I haven't showered in 3 days' body odour smell with nasty Iranian rose water perfume Mr Taxi Driver. It makes your passengers want to throw up in your equally dirty taxi.

Gym Class

2009-11-16T07:32:00.000-08:00

I've now had a couple of gym classes. They are just too, too funny. I wanted to share a couple of observations with you. Although to get the full benefit of the experience, you need to be in the class, but I'll try my bestest. But first maybe a warning. If you're in love with Jamia, Iran or lack a sense of humour, you might want to navigate away from this post!

1. No matter how much the teacher insists that there are no men in the gym, some of the girls refuse to take their scarves off during gym class.

2. Same about gym clothes. Girls trying to exercise in shalwar kameezes, jeans, 'school shoes' and a variety of other non-practical clothes is indeed a sight to be seen.

3. You know those funny soldier marches that you see on the news in 3rd world countries where they walk and kick their legs up to hip-height - they learn them in gym class. And yes, we did them last week and no, I can't bring my legs upto hip-height.

4. Sport bras don't exist in this country. Or in any of the countries where the students in my class come from. I'll leave the mental picture up to you. Future potential business idea?! Import sports bras from Primark and sell them here.

5. People who have bad backs, knees etc. are not exempt from class. The teacher takes these people to one side and makes them do stretches! I've learnt that its better to do as much as you can in class rather than make up some ailment. The only thing that gets you out of class is getting pregnant.

6. Pace yourselves people! My classmates have yet to learn that if they run fast, or are really energetic in the first hour of class, there is no energy left for the 2nd hour.

7. They have some really strange exercises in this country. For example, lieing on the floor, bringing your knees up to your chest and rocking on your back is supposed to help strengthen your back?! Makes mine hurt more)

8. We have this sequence of star jumps and arm/leg movements that we are going to be tested on?! We're supposed to practise them at home. The second part of our exam is an obstacle course. My PE grades sucked at school. Hope these ones don't bring my grades down too :-(

9. I thought I was unco-ordinated. You should see some of the other students in the class. Picture Mr Bean (or Mr Blooby) with a long pole trying to kick his foot up in the air upto hip-height and walk 3 steps forward and back in synch with the teacher. That's what last week's class was like!

10. Our teacher is stick thin. My classmates ask her for dietry advice! Maybe there is something in her exercises!

Afternoon Siestas

2009-11-16T07:25:00.000-08:00

Afternoon naps are a national institution here. One would never dream of calling an Iranian between 1 and 5pm. Most shops are closed between these times too, which kinda makes it hard if one runs out of ingrediants while cooking lunch. (yes, for those of you that know me you'll be glad to know that I'm finally getting the hang of the cooking thing!!)

I haven't quite got the hang of the afternoon nap. It sounds great in theory. 40 winks after lunch to help you get through the rest of the day. The trick is to time it. The nap should be exactly an hour. Any more than that, just makes you feel more tired.

I love my sleep. I could sleep all day - just give me a duvet and a dark room. But this afternoon nap thing is beyond me. I ALWAYS over sleep and then it takes me the rest of the evening to 're-wake-up'.

Khaste na Basheed!

2009-10-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Iranians use a lot of Taarof.

For example, when you're in a shop and want to pay the shop keeper, he'll say "Qaabil nadare" which means "it's no big deal" i.e. don't pay me. But the customer insists. Shopkeeper and customer keep playing this game of taroof until the shop keeper relents and tells you the price. Once a taxi driver said "Qaabil nadare" to The Husband. So he left without paying. Of course taroof is false. Obviously someone will want paying after delivering goods or services. The taxi driver ran after him and claimed the money.

Another example of taarof is when a random stranger invites you to their house. It's not a real invitation. Or better still when you go to someone's house and you're standing at their door and they say "Befarmayeed" (please come in). But rather than open the door and let you in, they close the door on your face!

One of my favourites is "Daste shoma dard na kone" Which little means "may your hands not hurt". This is what you say to someone who gives you something or opens a door for you or passes you a pencil. The reply to this is "sare shoma dard na kone" which literally means "may your head not hurt" (i.e. think nothing of it)

The other phrase you use for someone who's working is "Khaste na basheed" or "don't be tired". You generally say this to the teacher at the end of each class.

We had our first gym class today. Our teacher put us through the ringer. We started of running around the hall about 50 times, then a variety of stretches/star jump-type things etc, followed by a mini-assult course and stretches to finish off. We were all SHATTERED and had aches and pains in muscles we didn't know existed. At the end of the class, she tells us "khaste na basheed"! Excuse me, if you don't want us to be tired, don't make us do so much!

School Update

2009-10-25T05:26:00.000-07:00

I've been back at school for 2 weeks now. That's excluding the classes I've bunked!

This term, I'm studying Ahkam (Islamic Jurisprudence), Aqaid (Beliefs) and Tarbiyat e Badani (Gym class). It's a light work load, which is great as I'm hoping to make the most out of the swimming pool this term.

I went to the big library today in one of my free periods. The place was heaving and I had to sit on the floor and try and study! They've also changed the rules a bit. You have to leave your bag outside the library (so stop people sneaking out books perhaps?). There are some lockers, but unluckily they were all taken. My brand new designer (non-fake) school bag had to be left outside on the floor :-(

Noisy Neighbours

2009-10-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

I think some new people have moved into our neighbourhood. The father is REALLY loud. We can hear everything he says when he's out in his yard (which seems to be most of the time!) and what's worse is that he has a really annoying laugh.

Actually, I lie. The worse thing is that his little son has inherited his loudness.

There go my friday lie-ins!

Lady Masuma Qum part 2

2009-10-23T03:24:00.000-07:00

When this year's batch of summer camp kids were here, we were lucky enough to visit the International Relations Office situated within the shrine. If you ever visit Qum, its worth going to the office (Its found in Sahn e Ateeq - the old courtyard, and its open until 2pm every day). They give out books in English about the shrine. The books aren't written in the best English, but they are useful in pointing out the main sites within the shrine.

Anyways, the man in charge of the office (Agha Nazeri) gave us an insight into the life of this lady, who, if we're really honest, we only remember on her death anniversary and barely know anything about.

She's refered to in history as "Zainab e Dowvom" or the Second Zainab. We hear that she was very attached to her brother and when he moved to Iran, she missed him a lot and decided to move closer to him. What Agha Nazeri told us was that this was partly true. Some historians also narate that the 8th Holy Imam asked her to head towards Iran after his departure and use the cover of 'missing her brother' as a cover for the journey. On the way from Madinah (Saudi Arabia) to Iran, she (along with her brothers and nephews that were accompanying her on this journey) stopped and she gave speeches. Her aim was to educated the people about the unjust ruler - Mamun Rashid. In the same way that Lady Zainab spoke against the tyrant Yazid after the massacre of her family members in Karbala, Lady Masuma did the same.

Her words were starting to enlighten people about the unjustices of their ruler and when Mamun Rashid caught wind of this and sent his soldiers to kill Lady Masuma and her brothers. They were stopped in a town near Qum called Saveh. Lady Masuma was poisoned, and taken to Qum, where she died a short while later.

Agha Nazeri went on to explain that hundreds of books have been written about the position of women in Islam, but if you want to see the real position of women in Islam, come to Qum and just look at the area around the grave of Lady Masuma. You will see high ranking scholars, government ministers etc all come to her grave and kneel before Lady Masuma.

Personally (and I'm sure that all the students who live here will agree with me) I find that every time I'm stressed or having problems with my studies, I go to her shrine and tell Lady Masuma what's bothering me. I find that sooner or later my issues all go away.

Lady Masuma Qum

2009-10-23T03:19:00.000-07:00

I promised a while back that I'd write a little about Lady Masuma Qum - the sister of the 8th Leader of the Shia Muslims who's buried here in Qum. This week was her birthday anniversary, so the shrine was filled with fresh flowers and lit up with lots of lights!

Here's a little bit about her:

Lady Fatima Masuma (A), born on 1st Zilqaad 173AH, was the daughter of the 7th Imam, Imam Mūsā al-Kāđim (A) and the sister of the 8th Imam, Imam Ali al-Ridā (A). She was a noble lady who dedicated her life to Islam and Allah. She was highly gifted and due to the training of her father and brother, she has achieved a high reputation in history for her knowledge and piety. She was only six years old when her father was arrested by Hārūn (the 6th Abbasid Caliph) and thereafter, she was brought up under the care of her brother, Imam al-Ridā (A) for twenty-one years.

In the year 200 A.H, Ma’mūn (the 7th Abbasid Caliph) forced the Imam (A) to move from Madina to Khurāsān, in Iran. And so, Lady Fatima Masuma (A) was once more separated from her guardian. In the year 201 A.H, she decided to leave Madina and travel to Khurāsān to be at the side of her brother, intending to help him in his mission to preach Islam. But regrettably, she never reached him. The caravan that she was travelling with, was ambushed at Sāweh, where she had to witness the brutal killing of her close family members. As a result, she can be compared to Lady Zaynab (A), who suffered a similar plight in Karbalā.

Lady Fatima Masuma (A) was taken ill at Sāweh. From here, the Shi`a of the nearby Qum brought her to their city, where she spent her last few days, before passing away. Lady Fatima Masuma (A) is buried in Qum, Iran. Due to her blessed presence and patronage, the city has grown into a centre of Shi`a learning; a destination for thousands of Muslim students from over 80 countries.

Life in Qum largely revolves around the Haram of Lady Fatima Masuma (A), which is the focal point of this holy city. Every year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims come from all over the world to pay homage to this noble lady. They come to pay their respect to Lady Fatima Masuma (A) in accordance to the reliable traditions of three Holy Imams (A) which are quoted below:

From the 6th Imam, Imam Ja`far al-Şādiq (A):
تُقبَض فيها امْراةٌ منْ وُلْدى، اِسْمُها فاطِمَةُ بِنْتُ مُوسى، وتَدْخُلُ بِشَفاعَتِها شيعَتي الجنّة بَأجْمَعِهِمْ
“A lady from my children whose name will be Fatima, daughter of Mūsā, will die in Qum.

On the day of Judgement this lady will intercede for all my Shi`a to enter Heaven.”[1]

From the 8th Imam, Imam Ali al-Ridā (A):
مَنْ زارَ الْمَعْصومَةَ بِقُمْ كَمَنْ زارَني
“Whoever visits Masuma in Qum is like the one who has visited me.”[2]

From the 9th Imam, Imam Muhammad Taqī al-Jawād (A):
مَنْ زارَ عَمَّتي بِقُمَّ فَلَهُ الجَنَّةُ
"Whoever visits my aunt in Qum will enter Heaven.”[3]
Notes:
[1] `Allāmah Muhammad Bāqir Majlisī, Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 60, p. 228; Qādī Nūrullāh Shūshtarī, Majālis al-Mu’minīn, vol. 1, p. 83.
[2] Mīrzā Muhammed Taqī Khān Sepehr, Nāsikh al-Tawārikh, vol. 3, p. 68; Shaykh Dhabīhullāh Mahallātī, Rayāhīn al-Sharī`ah, vol. 5, p. 35.
[3] Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 102, p. 265.

That's what we're taught about her in lectures/Sunday school. In my post I'll write a little about what I've learnt about her since I moved here and what she means to me.

Back in Qum

2009-10-10T07:48:00.001-07:00

After a busy summer filled with summer camp, going back to the UK, working, catching up with friends and family and spending as much time in Tesco as I can, The Husband and I are now back in Qum.

We've had a wonderful welcome back home - seems like nothing has progressed in the 2 months that I've been away. Facebook, BBC and You Tube are all still blocked. But the icing on the cake is the next door neighbour's building work. It started during the time of my final Farsi exams (February) and it still hasn't finished!! So instead of my 'bunking off school lie-in', I had to listen to drilling all day long. n.b. the bunking off school was justified - (1) I never bunked off school when I was a kid, so I'm making up for it now (2) There was a power cut this morning which meant no water to shower or electricity to make tea.

The cherry on the icing of the cake is that our water pump is broken, which doesn't help the piles of laundry I have to do. Also means that I have to cross my fingers and hope/pray that there is enough water in the tank when I need to flush!

Eid

2009-10-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article I was sent about Eid. Some of you will be interested to know that moon-sighting issues aren't restricted to London - we have them in Qum too!

Belated Eid Mubarak - whenever you celebrated the Eid

"But how can we have more than one Eid?"

The answer: why not?!

Instead of making mountains out of molehills, let's try to resolve such issues with a little bit of common sense. If Ramadan ended on Saturday for the parents (i.e. Sunday Eid) and on Sunday for the children (i.e. Monday Eid) and on Monday for the followers of Ayt.. Sistani in Europe (i.e. Tuesday Eid), surely the parents can wait just one or more days to wear their new clothes or cook up all sorts of ethnic delicacies! If the other members of your family are fasting today, and you are not, just drink a glass of water in the morning – you don't have to eat a four-course meal in front of them! In regards to Eid prayers, most places have services to accommodate various situations, and even if your community doesn't, keep in mind that Eid prayers are not obligatory during the occultation of the Twelfth Imam (may Allah hasten his reappearance) and can also be offered individually (Ayatollah Sistani: Islamic Laws, ruling #1525).

Furthermore, even if we see the Arab community celebrating Eid on one day, the Pakistanis the next days, and as usual the Khojas after them, what exactly is the big deal? In many parts of the Muslim world, people celebrate Eid for a whole week. The more, the merrier! I for one fail to see the problem with being able to dress up, visit friends and having delicious meals in the evening for three days instead of just one!

Instead of panicking and rushing to hurl the vilest accusations at our religious scholars, and turning and twisting their research and presentations to suit our needs, let us try to be a bit more reasonable. Unity does not mean uniformity. Instead of becoming upset at such minor differences, let us learn to appreciate and enjoy the blessings of variety and diversity.

Also, we must realize that even if we ignore all jurisprudential differences, we still would not be able to avoid the issue of multiple Eids. Indeed, we see that during the caliphate of Imam Ali (peace be upon him), a man once came and told him that he had sighted the crescent for the month of Shawwal, while no one else had. The Imam told him that since he has sighted the moon himself, it was Eid for him the next day, but for the rest of the community, since there were not two reliable testimonies (as required by Shariah), it would be the 30th of Ramadan. So while it was haram for the man to fast the next day, it was in fact wajib upon everyone else!

Hence, for those who have proper knowledge and understanding of Islamic jurisprudence, this is really a non-issue. In all honesty, the moonsighting drama has nothing to do with unity or keeping our families intact. The Shia world has had multiple Eids for centuries now, so it has hard to fathom why this has become such a divisive issue. The fact of the matter is that this is a simple jurisprudential technicality which certain nefarious elements have hijacked and used to attack our Maraja-e-Taqleed, and many simple-minded Shias are sadly following suit. If we are really so concerned about maintaining unity, let us keep in mind that the one institution that has safeguarded and protected Shi'ism for the past 1200 years and the only platform that is capable of uniting us is the same Marjaiyyat which we so quickly rush to accuse of causing disunity amongst us!

On a final note, History tell us that in the 16th century, as Mongol armies were about to overrun Baghdad, the Muslim world was too busy fighting among itself over apparently a far more pertinent matter: whether it is permissible to consume owl meat or not! While they were busy discussing this issue, Baghdad was captured and run over. Today, as we face enemies and calamities from all sides, let us learn from our own history, let us cease from wasting so much time and energy complaining about such trivial matters, let us unite under the banner of the Marjaiyyat, and let us focus on the greater problems that threaten to overrun our communities and the Muslim Ummah today. Remember the famous statement of Ayt. Khomeini (r.a.) who used to say: Muslim world is fighting whether to keep hands open or closed during prayers, forgetting that enemies are ever ready and waiting for the chance to chop those hands."

It is time to wake up and face up the real danger which is on our doorstep. May Allah swt accept all your Ibadat's of the Holy Month and the special Ibadat of the Eid day - no matter, whenever you celebrated it!

The fun fair

2009-07-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

The Huband and I braved an Iranian funfair yesterday. It wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting - a typical third world experience!

We had to queue up and buy tickets for each individual ride (and yes, each one was priced differently!), and then queue up for our rides. The first ride was a boat ride - you know the pirate ship type thing that swings. As we got on, the man said something along the lines of "don't be scared". An odd comment to make, I thought, considering that the ride is no different to other pirate ship rides. Once the ride started, I realised what he meant. The first few swings were so squeaky that even a lorry load of WD40 couldn't have fixed it! Once the ride was in full swing, the noise went away (thank God!)

The next ride was similar, except that it swung us 360 degrees as well as swinging from side to side.

The caterpiller ride was the funniest though. We waited in queue and watched the ride in action before going on. The ride had to stop every 3-4 minutes as the women's chadors were flying out of control! As annoying as it was to have the ride stop so often, it was good to see the ride operators taking this seriously, and making people aware that their clothing could get stuck in the machinery.

The nice people

2009-07-16T00:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit my last blog entry was a bit harsh. Sometimes the annoying people annoy me so much that I forget about the good people (happens all the time in every country). Some Iranians will actually go out of their way to help you, like the lamp guy I encountered the other day.

My parents had brought me a desk lamp from the UK. They brought me a lamp that needed a bayonet bulb, but you only get the screw type here. The man was overjoyed at the fact that a lamp from Inglistan (England) had been brought into the shop! He offered to change the fitting and put in an energy saving light bulb. He also changed the plug from a 3 pin to a 2 pin, and made sure that everything was properly secured. He must have worked on the lamp for a good 2 hours and only charged me $4. And, the best part was, he didn't complain but rather relished the challenge.

And while some (or rather most) taxi drivers will try and rip you off, you do get the odd gem who will tell you where the best kebabi in town is, introduce you to the owner and even offer to pick some up when you have a kebab craving!

Is the heat getting to people??

2009-07-13T02:18:00.000-07:00

I went to the Monday market today, on the outskirts of Qum. Its a great place for time-pass and buying things at a cheaper rate than the bazaars.

They also sell fruits and vegetables, so I thought I'd stock up. I found a stall with the most loveliest tomatoes and seeing the woman in front of me selecting her own, started picking some out for myself.

The stall holder started shouting at me for touching the tomatoes!! While I pointed out that the woman next to me was choosing her own and that usually stall holders give you the worse fruits (which they do!), he grabbed the 4 tomatoes out of my hand and started filling the rest of the bag himself. When I pointed out that he was giving me the rubbish ones, he started bouncing them on the table to show me they were ok!! Is that some kind of tomatoe test??!! Do the good ones bounce back and the rubbish ones go splat, or something?? If they weren't the nicest tomatoes, I would have told him where to stick them.

Weirdo or what??

As I walked through the rest of the bazaar, I noticed EVERYONE picking their own fruits and vegies. Oh well, only one month till I'm back home and shopping in Tesco again!

Ice Pack

2009-07-12T08:23:00.001-07:00

Ice pack is the name of one of the ice cream milkshake places in Iran. They make yummy shakes, complete with choc sauce, bananas and smarties. Not as nice as Tinseltown ones, but they'll do in the mean time!

I'm spending my last month here going through the menu and trying all of them. (Apart from orange), and from the ticks you can see I have a LOOOOONNNNGGG way to go!

The puzzling thing is that all the Ice Pack literature says "Ice Pack Inglistan", i.e. Ice Pack England, but I've never seen an Ice Pack in England! Wonder if they trade under another name? I guess I have the summer to find out!

Polution

2009-07-09T04:41:00.000-07:00

I love the random public holidays we get in this country. Makes up for having one day weekends.

The other day, (Tuesday I think - without school, the days are all merging into one!) was declared a public holiday in Tehran because of polution!!

It's affected things here in Qum too - school is closed (even the sports centre) and the new funky bread shop in town hasn't had any deliveries (so that makes it a funky breadless bread shop!).

The air in Qum is a little bit dustier than usual I guess, but not reason to close shops and offices!! How am I to survive the next 2 weeks if shops are closed?!

Eggs

2009-07-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

The first time I went grocery shopping by myself, I asked the guy behind the counter for 6 eggs. Makes sense right? Eggs come in packs of 6 or 12. The guy behind the counter looked at me strangely while he packed my 6 eggs. Later I realised that you buy eggs in this country by the kilo! And they don’t come nicely packaged in a tray with a see-through plastic lid. They come in a plastic sandwich bag. Inevitably, some of the eggs get broken on the way home.

When my mum came to visit, she accompanied me on one of the grocery shopping trips. She insisted that the shopkeeper pack the eggs in a tray and cover it with a plastic bag!!

Here’s a picture of yesterday’s kilo of eggs:

...yes, the green thing is what you think. The eggs are completely organic, poo and all!

Summer...

2009-06-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

I came across an email the other day. Not sure how true it is, but it gave me some comfort being here is the boiling sun as my friends all prepare to escape the oven and return home for the holidays.

Basically is said that in temperatures over 40 degrees, you loose 15 calories a minute just in breathing! That's 900 calories an hour, and 21,600 calories a day and 151.200 calories a week. Just for breathing!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!!

2009-06-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

My blog was born on June 28th, 2008.

Not one of my mum's cakes.... but it will do for now!

Apologies...

2009-06-22T02:10:00.000-07:00

I know my blog entries have been a bit erratic over the last 2-3 months. Please bear with me. I have one exam left, after which I will be more regular in posting.

Meanwhile, please send Islamic History (Especially life of the Holy Prophet) vibes this way!

Swimming in Qum

2009-06-22T01:56:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here! So is exam period, but that's another blog entry!

The school swimming pool has finally opened... I have to say that it has been well worth the wait! And just in time for the boiling weather too! The pool complex is complete with a jacuzzi, children's pool, sauna, steam room and a cold plunge pool. (You're supposed to have a dip in the cold pool after using the jacuzzi to firm up your skin!?)

I was sitting in the jacuzzi today with my back in front of one of the jet streams. One of the ladies told me off (didn't really understand why) and told me to sit with my abdomen against the jet stream instead! My friend and I tried to do this, but found it ergonomically impossible! If anyone knows any sensible reason why its good to have your abdomen blasted with a stream of water, leave a comment!

The entry procedure is a bit like swimming in Mashad (see entry from August 2008). You have to check in your mobile phone and swap your outdoor shoes for a locker key! Before you give your shoes in though, you have to wear a pair of their flip flops. What puzzles me is that there are only 3 available colours - white, red and pink - but it is IMPOSSIBLE to find a pair in the same colour. I think there must be a place where all the left red flips and right pink flops go to hide, because I can NEVER find a pair in the same colour!

We can bring our mothers and daughters with us to swim, so if you're in Qum and old enough to be my mother or young enough to be my daughter, you're welcome to join me!

Juice cartons

2009-06-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

What really frustrates me about this country, more than the crazy driving, the nosy people and the teacher's expectations that you will memorise every word in the book.... all these things do not annoy me as much as juice cartons.

Juice cartons are designed to not pour out the last 30ml of their contents. Its sooooo annoying! I think I will have to resort to cutting the tops off the cartons.

On year on...

2009-06-20T05:21:00.000-07:00

Its exactly a year since we got to Iran. I've been thinking a lot over the last few days and at how much has happened in a year!

The first and most important thing is that I've actually finished the Farsi and most of the basic Islamic studies course! Major achievement :-)
Well, assuming of course that I pass my final exams!!

I'm also thankful for all the people that helped me settle in:

* The Husband - for putting up with all my strops when I first moved here!

*All those people who helped us set up our home, take us out shopping and told us where to buy things from and what brands (very important to know what brands to buy here, some cleaning products will actually burn your skin off!)

*All those people who went out of their way to make me feel welcome here

*And I have to thank those people who were mean and unhelpful too, as it taught me very quickly who my friends were.

*All my friends that I left behind, for equipping me with heart-shaped ice trays (essential for the boiling weather!) and suggesting I take a panini grill with me (my most-used appliance!)

*All my family, who telepathically know when I am feeling homesick and call me at those moments!

*And,most importantly, all those people that keep me supplied with English chocolate! I love you guys the most!

Finally, we have some order!

2009-05-24T01:41:00.000-07:00

The concept of queuing is one well known to us Brits – we love them. Very little annoys us more than somebody who jumps to the front of a queue after we’ve been standing patiently in line for our turn, except maybe being called away just as we make it to the front.

Those of you that have been to Iran will know that Iranians do not know how to queue for anything. Paying bills, shopping, entering/leaving the mosque - its the survival of the fittest, or rather the person with the strongest elbows (to elbow everyone else out of the way!)

So over the last few days, I was amazed to see a queue forming outside the school tuck shop.

Today, as I got to the front of the queue, a girl tried to push in front of me. The kiosk lady refused to serve her and made her join the queue!

Finally :-)

Teacher's Day Part 2

2009-05-03T11:51:00.001-07:00

Teacher's Day is turning into Teacher's week! Today we had a little celebration at school. Our teachers were all made to sit at the front and given flowers. One of the teachers did a little speech to explain the significance of the day.

Teacher's day is the 12th of Ordebehest (2nd month of the Iranian Calender). It's also the death anniversary of Murtaza Mutahiri. You can read more about him on wikipeadia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morteza_Motahari

In her speech, the teacher narrated some funny stories from her years as a Farsi teacher. Not sure how they'll translate into English, but here goes:

A student whose Farsi wasn't very good was trying to book a vehicle to transport a large number of people. The man told her that all the autobuses were booked, but he could send her a minibus. So the student replied: "Don't worry, send whatever bus you have" (bus in Farsi means kiss!)

The other story was from a class. The teacher was giving her students Jumle Saazis (a random word that you have to make a sentence from). The first student was given the word 'gul' (flower), so she said: "Shoma gul hasti" which means you are a flower. The teacher was really chuffed by this! The next student was given the word 'meegh', so the Student number 2 said "Shoma meegh hasti" which means you are a nail!! (the type you hammer into the wall, not finger nail!)

Layla and Majnoon

2009-05-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

My Naurooz fish sadly died shortly after they were bought :-( I didn't even get a chance to photograph Majnoon! Contrary to the actual story of Layla and Majnoon (see a previous post), my fish Majnoon died before Layla, but just like in the story, Layla was very sad after his death and shortly after joined her companion in Fish Heaven.

Here is a picture of Layla:

Teacher's Day

2009-05-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

They have lots of 'days' in Iran. Thursday was the birth anniversary of Sayyidda Zainab (Granddaughter of the HolyProphet of Islam) and also 'nurse's day' (I wonder if that includes radiographers??!)

Today was teacher's day. This day had been drilled into us during our Farsi days, so I had marked it on my calender and remembered to bring in little gifts for all my teachers! My English students surprised me with the HUGEST gift I have ever seen! Nicely wrapped, with flowers and a box of shireeni! (Sweet cream cakes)

Didn't get a chance to photograph the cakes - we dusted them at school!!

Layla and Majnoon

2009-04-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

Nizami Kunjehei was one of the poets of the late 6th and early 7th century (hijri). He's one of the most famous poets of stories/poems read at parties and gatherings in Iran. He is famous for 5 books:
1. Makhzanul Asrar
2. Khusru and Shireen
3. Layli and Majnoon (they call her Layli in Farsi, Layla in Arabic)
4. Haft Paykar
5. Iskander Nameh (lifestory of Alexander the Great)

Layli and Majnoon is a Romeo and Juliet-type story.

Layli and Majnoon (not his real name, means madman) lived in the same village. They loved each other a lot, but when her father found out, he married her off to someone else in a village far away.

Majnoon was so caught up in the love of Layli and so depressed at her loss, that he used to wander the deserts and mountains. His father, seeing Majnoon's grief, was very upset and tried to research ways of removing Majnoon's grief and freeing him from the 'pain' of the love of Layli.

Majnoon's father tried to advise his son to help him overcome his grief at the loss of Layli, but the fire of the love of Layli was too strong and all the fatherly advise was forgotten.

Majnoon's father sought the counsel of his relatives who advised him to take Majnoon to Makkah and that perhaps the association with Allah will lessen his grief. But when they got to Makkah, all Majnoon prayed for was for Allah to take some years of his life and give them to Layli (i.e. prayed for her long life) and no other prayers!

When the father heard this prayer of Majnoon, he understood that the pain of the love of Layli has no cure.

Basically at the end of the story, Layli dies in childbirth. Majnoon travels to visit her grave and cries so much there that he dies too.

You have no idea how surprised I was to be studying a love story in the religious city of Qum!!