The Other Side

First of all let me start by saying Ramadan Kareem to everyone. i am sorry i dont blog as much as i used to but life is busy with lulu and even busier when ur fasting. First Ramadan in the US and its a LOooong Day. iftar around 8:15 pm now 7:55pm. i was thinking a lot about my previous post and i feel i was not very fair and i spoke about all the good in the states and didn't mention any bad and maybe even sounded like i was looking down on the Middle East. so let me start by apologizing to anyone who was offended or got that feeling because that was not the intention at all. I have lived all my life in the Middle East and i love a lot of things about it and i also hate a lot of things. Its normal and no matter where you are there is good an bad.

And all my life i grew up with this wrong idea about the states and maybe coming here and seeing that its not like what i had in mind is what made me react this way. i used to think i would come here and ppl would curse me and throw stuff at me cause i wear the headscarf. i thought people would just give me death looks and treat me bad cause of my hijab. i was surprised to see that they were friendly and even complement me on my headscarf all the time.

I still know that there are alot that judge me and are uncomfortable around me and just because they smile in my face does not mean they want to befriend me. Some smile because they dont want to piss me off cause i could be a possible "terrorist". I know that when lulu cries people look at me as if i just hit her. I dont want them to love me. as long as i am respected that is more important to me.

Today i was in the elevator. a black man entered the elevator. he was staring at me with his bloodshot eyes. smiling and murmuring something. lots of people murmur and talk to themselves here. usually the homeless ones. some scream out things to you and well you should usually ignore them. anyway. this guy stood there. with only me and him in the elevator. staring and said. " Ur so beautiful" and came closer. i freaked out. i felt unsafe. scared. a fear i have never felt before. memories of the story i read earlier about the NY cab muslim driver that was slashed came to my mind. i started reading quran in my head. he wanted to shake my hand. i didnt know what to do. i wanted to pull my hand away but i was too late. he held my hand tightly and pulled it towards his face and KISSED IT a very sloppy ya3333 kisss ! ii could not have been happier to hear the "TINGGG" sound of the elevator reaching the floor i get off at! i rushed out the door and pushed lulus stroller so fast i think i woke her up from her nap. i could still feel spit on my hand! EWWW!

My point is. i admit that no matter how friendly people can be i know that i dont feel safe. its not like walking down the street in the UAE. I turn on the news and everyday you hear about a SHOOTING or homicide. a hit and run. you see a man selling drugs right around the corner by the house. You see drunk homeless ppl in the street. you see things you dont see in the middleast and i miss that feeling in the middle east. Safety. well at least SAFER.

my husband also brought to my attention that every time he traveled to the states without me no one stopped him for an extra hand search and full bag search. it was only when i travel with him that they choose us randomly for and extra "regular" procedures.

i was walking down the street and i saw an old lady trip and fall as she was passing the street. she bumped her head and could not move. she layed there on the floor on the side of the street. ppl gathered and called the paramedics. Saddest thing i have ever seen. how helpless she layed there
her old hands shaking. her groceries on the floor.. actually she had bought 2 packs of cookies.
I admired how the policeman that arrived spoke to her and told her she would be okay. she held on to his hand so tightly with a smile on her face. she caressed her face and kept holding on to his hand. he kept saying " i aint goin no where you'll be okay maam". all this time she had a smile on her face. a smile so wide. like she has not had this much attention in so long. a smile that held so many words. made me realize that yes you might see a lot of handicapped people in the street, you might see many old ladies pushing a small cart with their groceries when they can barely walk. walking to the supermarket alone. walking home alone. i used to see that as a positive thing and yes it is good that old people should not all be put in homes and just give up on life. but in the middleast most our elderly people are not the ones going to buy the groceries because they have children or grandchildren who would do that for them. i cant imagine my gradnma goin to buy groceries onher own! they would not be pushing their electronic wheelchairs to the supermarket but would be taken care of. yes of course there are always exceptions here and there.

I miss the sound of adan. i miss the good arabic food. shawerma. fatayer. esepcially in Ramadan. you want to eat REAL food! crunchy cheese samboosa.... tabuleh... ma7sheee wara2 3inaab... ya salamm *drooling... finding mulookhiye was an event here for me!!!

when i walk in the streets here i see all sorts of things... things i would never have seen in the arab world. some amusing. some disturbing. i admire how they are confident and how they speak thier mind. i love how they just say what is on their mind. how they hold doors for each other. how they do whatever they want without thinking who is going to say what. but i admit sometimes its just.. weird... when you see a really fat lady dancing in the street with a box on her head saying " vote for mayor blabla" while she shakes her booty wearing really tight tights exposing layer and layers of blubber ..

you see women wearing barely anything with shorts i can used as head bands for lulu. you see gay men walking like they are on a catwalk with full make up hand in hand with thier "lover". you see a dog liking his owners face while he talks and actually probably swallowed all the dog slobber and spit. you see a lot of things some funny. som weird. some disturbing.

what im tryin to say here. there is good. and there is bad. i wish we took the good. like those great educational kid shows and books that you never see on tv or in book shops. A nice hello how is your day, have a good day. Salam Alikom for a change instead of glaring at each other from head to toe without a smile even. I am willing to make a change in myself. i want to take for the good that i have seen here and thank God that we don't have all the bad i have seen.

You also hear things like a church burning the Holy Quran & 70 % of the votes against building the Ground Zero Mosque close to where the twin towers are.And yes i am sure that there are a lot of people who dont support this. but truth is there are alot that do.

Just because someone did something wrong in the name of islam does not mean ISLAM is to blame for mistakes individuals make! I remember hearing more than one story about priests being pedophiles and molesting children. Does that mean i blame christianity? Does that mean all christians are like that? Does that mean you dont take you children to church or build anymore churches? NO when things like that happen you blame the person and not the religion. Stop blaming ISLAM and muslims all around the world for mistakes they did not make. And know that many muslims died on sep 11th.

My hubby brought to my attention.. now with the floods and crisis in Pakistan.. the donations and is aids are so slow in comparison to the Haiti earthquake donations..

these are thought i should have addressed in my previous post as well. and now i feel i have said both sides and i surely will miss a lot in the US and i there is also a lot that i will not miss.

Al Hamdulilah & Sorry this was long.

why i love amreeka

so i am back in the states and will be here for ramadan inshala.. fasting will be hard cause the days are so long here but al hamdulilah. Ramadan is about being with family and that is why im glad we are together here.

Now let me start about my love for amreeka... lots ask me.. what do you love so much about america? well its not just america. its not that love america because its america. i got this same feeling in london & scotland. This feeling of being free of society "3u2ad". before you become judegemental and analyze that sentence in your own way let me explain further. in the arab world i feel lots of things are frowned upon and they are not necessarily wrong. i am not talking about people being too free and openminded and walking around exposing thier blubber or another form of cheeks that is supposed to be be under the bantaloon! i am talking about being setting yourself free from " he said/she said/what will they say?" thinking. here in the states pretty much everyone does what they wants and no one really cares! you will find weird people walking around in thier PJ's, or barefoot, or with punk hairstyles and what i respect most about what ihave seen in this side of the world! is that people who are handicapped are SEEN everwhere and live a NORMAL life.. i dont remember the last time i saw a handicapped person working in the middleeast! i feel there if someone has a deformity or is handicapped even if its a slight handicap they hide. like its something to be ashamed of. you dont see them shopping, working or in the street! its sad.. this is how is should be.

here they find jobs. they live a normal life a life they can never have in the arab world because there they will always be seen as handicapped.

i love how people are so friendly. they open doors and always say things like " have a good day" " have a good one" and when they pass out compliments to strangers. i got many compliments on my HIJAB believe it or not! its just here you feel like you are a human being.

dont get me wrong i do see the bad side as well. but that doesnt mean i cant see the good. i love this feeling of being in a place where not everything is frowned upon and unaccepted. we grew up feeling that appearances are everything. i was told i was "dabdooba" (fatso), four(eyed) as a kid by some ppl although iwas never really fat i was just a bit chubby. so we grow up with so many comments like that in our heads making our self esteem get lower by the second. you will say this is also found inthe US.. yes ofcourse. but i feel there is an awareness here especially by parents and they treat thier kids in a way that they make them grow up to be very confident and independant.

i saw a very unattractive saggy and wrinkly lady in the street who was wearing a very revealing top. she was talking to a man saying " they are all jealous of me".... ok .. this woman is either in denial.. or just VERY CONFIDENT.. some people you wonder where they bring all that confidence!

anyway.. my point is.. from my expereince in amreeka. i feel more like a human being here. i feel like i am not worried what people will think of me. like if lulu ran in the park and i wanted to run after her. i would not look around to see if there is a group of old anties whispering things like " shoofi hal majnooneh hay".. yes i like to do crazy things sometimes and i dont like to be judged.

oh and ofcourse... not to forget... the best cupcakes ever created on earth.... georgetown cupcakes... *faints

and target... the place where you can find anything u need..

and ofcourse....... ben & jerry icecream..

i <3 amreeka.

my flight to al GORDON

So as soon as i enter the plane. and next to me is a lady that looks extremely exhausted carrying what i thought was a bag on her chest. and 3 hyper kids sitting next to her. as soon as i sat down she started complaing to me. saying. " hatha 6ayaran mush nafe3! mush mka3deena kolnajamb ba3d" so i assumed hes husband was in the second aisle. but well she said" hay ibni la7alo warah"


*WIDE EYES* ibnek ( if i was drinking water now it would have bazagt-ha out of my mouth)

side note : what i thought was a bag on her chest was a month old BABY! so small that you cant even see HIM!

so in total.. this lad had 5 kids. and is travelling ALONE!

i asked : liesh ma 3indik khadameh? keef bt2dareee????

she replied " JoWzeeee ma bido khadameh li2no rijaal mutadayen wa ma byakhud ra7toh fil bayt!!!!!!!wa bido lisa kaman walaaadd"!!!

omg?! and me i a thinking how do ppl manage with 2 kids without a maid!!!

she obviously was so exhausted and mutdamra. and i cant blame her. i also felt sorry for her eldest girl who is 5 years old! because she doesnt have a maid she makes her daughter help take care of her brothers.

for ex. many timeso n the flight she would say " roo7i shakheeekheee akhoooki fil 7ammaam"
how disturbing is that? her brother is like 9 months younger than her and she took him to the bathroom and seemed to have done this many times before! even when lulu ran away from my la on the plane she came to me with lulu saying " khalto hay bintik"

so i sit there hearing her complain about her life and how she would love to "zet wa7ad feehum" if not " zethum kolhum" !! ofcourse she spilt all sorts of drinks 3alay. and i could here her kids zinoo every 2 secs " yummmmaaa btilkli3 il 6ayaaara" "yammma hab6a6 il 6ayarah" " yammaaa hatha il talafezyooon fee 2al3aab" yammmaaa yaama yamma

they offered lulu some marshmallows with CHOCOLATE SYRUP... and u can imagine manzareee and weyaha. full of chocolate ( note to self - DONT WEAR WHITE EVER AGAIN)


so in conclusion... i dont believe children is a responsiblity that is only on the mother. its both parents! and it is unfair in marraige that man only thinks about his "raa7aaa" and neglects how tiring it is to take care of kids!women should not just keep getting children when they cant hadnle them till they reach a point where they believe thier life is over because of thier kids and start bottling up anger and rage that eventually come out on the kids. who grow up with major psychological problems.

2aall wa shooooooooo wa hiyeh taking care of all these kids and takes them to school and bitdaressss wa bit7ammem he comes and complains that she is ignoring his rights as a husband and bu3ud bitwa7am 3ala 6abkhaaaat!!!!

i just go frustrated.. and i had to share. havent blogged in a while guess gordon inspired me!

A7lam ru3ub

you wake up with a huge " GASP". something woke you up. you just were so deep in sleep you just dont know what it was. could be your neighbors dog/cat. it could have been the AC making weird sounds. Could be your husband snoring a snore that was out of rhythm. it takes you a minute to gather your thoughts and think straight and realize where you are. you actually woke up everyone in the house because apparently u were screaming like a maniac. and you dont even remember what you are so afraid of.

i wake up byt the slightest sound and usually my dream is mixed up with reality and it takes me a minute to realize im actually screaming. sometimes i talk and say things like " BISMILLAAAAAH" my poor sister used to suffer. i remember jumped on top of her in the middle of the night screaming " BISMILLAA in her face" i think she still has nightmares abt that night lol

now my poor husband has to suffer. ofcourse now with lulu my worries are 100 times worse. i always wake up thinking the pillow in my hand is lulu. or that she has the cover on her face. i sometimes even talk to him like he is lulu and pull him away from the edge of the bed 3ashan ma yuw2a3. thinking he is lulu and she will fall off the bed.

i am a seeko seeeko seeko. i dont know how to control something i am not even aware of. usually i dont even remember. the next day my husband would be like " yesterday sara3ateeeni at night"

the funniest is when you have a dream and you feel its so real and you actually "bti7radee" get pissed off about it and act upon as if it was a reality. like once i dreamt a girl had a fight with me the next day in uni i gave her attitude. and my poor husband has to deal with my mood swings :P

im sure he hopes i have happy dreams :P

Happy Birthday Lulu

i didnt manage to make a cartoon for this lovely occasion but i managed to make a birthday cake :)
its hard to believe that one year ago i was in the hospital screaming my head off for the epidural! which they refused to give me till the last hour ! i dont know why they say its " al waja3 al mansee" " the forgotten pain" because a year later and i still remember that pain was intolerable!

but ofcourse lulu is my world. she is worth everything. her laugh and kisses just make my heart melt. today she emptied a box of cheerios on the kitchen floor. but it was sooo cute how she laughed right after cause she knew she did something wrong.

Happy Birthday Lulu! Allah ykhaleeli iyaki wa ofcourse remembering lulu i have to mention her baba who makes us complete. Lulu is Daddy's girl and We both love you ya lulu so much

*group hug
*lulu is squished between um il lool and abu il lool

Jeel il GPS

So you are driving to somewhere with your GPS ofcourse because nowadays you MUST have a GPS. you enter the location code. and you wait for "jil /mursi fat7ieh or whatever you named ur GPS to start talking and leading the way. you find yourself using the GPS to get to locations you already know the way to but you still trust it more than yourself. you can be wrong but it surely knows the way.

So one day. you are driving and suddenly you hear the GPS say "lost reception" or "recalculating" and its stuck and you are stuck and you just dont know where to go! and you start freaking out! and sometimes new roads are not updated so it tells you to go left or right when there is no LEFT or RIGHT and insist on GOING because ofcourse IT SAYS so and ofcourse it CANT be wrong.

Pshhh.. jeel il GPS i7na :P i must say if they can implant one in my brain i will not say no because my sense of direction is.... ma3dooom.

On Marraige, Life and such..

First let me thank sha3teeely for being generous enough to share his customized Arabic font and also a link to help improve my illustration skills or maybe try different styles. Here is my first attempt to go with a "new look" :P

so before we are married people wont stop nagging on our heads to get married and i remember when a lady found out i was "23" and not married zman. she "Gasped" and said " ya habeebti liesh ba3dik la hala2, haram wallah haram" at that moment her reaction made me want to CRY! ino shayfe ya khaltooo wallah ma 3indhum nazar lol somehow no matter how you much you dont want to think about this topis its like forced on you and find yourself worried abt it and wondering if you will ever get married and HOW and WHERE you will meet the perfect guy. Random ppl you meet or even sometimes in the supermarket i would see someone tall and imagine dropping a bandora and he would pick it up and we would fall in love . we obssess and obssess and try to make things happen because our biological clock is TICKING! TICK TICK YAM Slieman... you start various accounts in qiran/muslim matrimonial sites with a fake name ofcourse just to see if fe 7ada mi7rez. cause bint ukht bint sa7ebtek fell in love on the net and you have watched " you've got mail" way too many times lol

So truth is... You can't make things happen so relax and let GOD'S plan take its course. Dont worry about kids and ur biological 40 is the new 20 these days. Don't marry a guy just cause of the idea of marraige. Marry him because he is the person you feel completes you and you want to spend the rest of your life with him. Don't settle and let go of your criteria just because of the pressure all around you and just because ppl say "mush 7ayeeji a7san".

so.. eventually some ppl do get married. some are happily married. others wish they never got married. Others dont get married and for those who dont. its not the end of the world. really before marriage u have this notion that as soon as you get married all your problems will be solved and the nagging will stop and everything would be like a fairytale. Dont get me wrong when you are married to the right person its great and amazing and when you find someone who makes you feel complete its wonderful. just dont be brainwashed and think that marraige is the solution to everything. Marriage is only a good thing when its with the right person.

Women are not slaves and a good husband helps out when he can instead of just expected everything to be done for him. It's a 2 way deal both have to work on the relationship for it to work. Al Hamdulilah my husband does not have that mentality and helps when he cans but i hate how sometimes in the arab world its frowned upon if a man did the dishes or if a man helped around the house. The Prophet (pbuh) used to helped his wives with the housework.

AMErtChaaaa vs Middle East

It's my first visit to the states. and i must admit its not exactly how i imagined it would be. there are alot of thoughts i had that were pretty much engraved in my head as i was growing up. like you hear someone say "wallahi ibni ra7 yudrus fi ameerka" replys with a GASP " yeeeee yeee Allah yustur.. hada il walad daa333 hadowl il ajaneb ma 3indhum la 3ayb wala haram" and so on.

So well you grow up with an idea that if u enter the states automatically you will be brainwashed and your mentality will turn into britney spear's. Or that when you go in with hijab ppl will swear at you and throw rocks at you and call you a terrorist. Its not at all like that.

Well there is very high security at airports and yes you will be searched and maybe a few people will stare. BUT generally speaking i have found that people here are more friendly. For Ex u enter a shop.. the first thing they say " HOW R U TODAY?" with a smil. when u leave they say " Have a Good Day, or Have a Good One" opposed to the " BIDEK musa3adeh?" with mush tay2a 7ali look. or those annoying ppl who follow you in the store and u just wanna smack them with ur purse. IM JUST LOOKing can i please breathe?

The ADS ON TV... WOW... i am serious. u would want to watch the ads more than the show ur watching! unlikes SEDAR al EMARAT ads or those MBC ads that repeat every 2 seconds. i mean did u really think i missed watching the ad the first 3 times u played it in the last 5 minutes?

I am not just praising amreeka sheeka beeka wa or saying il 3arab kokha. i am just saying that there is a positive and negative side to everything. yes they might be a bit too FREE. But i came from dubai and i have seen girls wear almost nothing to the mall. i have heard shocking stories about the oppeness that has reached dubai. so its not just in the states. its all around the world. maybe in the states its just less restricted and its considered freedom of choice.

They have many museums, libraries, activities for families. In the arab world i feel this is something that is missing. its not encouraged the way it is in the west.

The FOOD... no wonder usa has a high rate of obesity.. the variety of food u will find is... mouth watering.. but you will also find that alot of ppl jog and excersize and take care of thier health.

The baby food section.. ya salaaaaam... u have soo much to choose from... lulu is enjoying that!

What i love most is the simple way of life. Everyone does what they want and pretty much no one cares. You can have a garage sale. You can sue anyone for anything :P. they cant fire you for wearing hijab. They encourage Recycling and taking care of NATURE! So many helplines and awareness campains and help groups. And ofcourse i can get to watch all the tv shows on TV :P instead of downloading :P

Conclusion. Yes We have our differences. And it is harder to be a strong muslim when you dont hear the adan, and there is a lot of fitan when the culture has nothing to do with islam. but that is jihad and we face it even in the middle east. its within ourselves. and its not as bad as you would imagine! So my US expereince till now.. no2 bad no2 bad a2 all <-- very bad bri2ish accent. why british mush american accent.. because im sleepy... yala good night

BAGOORA'S BACK & SHE IS .....

VERY PREGNANT!

It has been a while and she has been busy with her new 6owr husband who apparently is very stubborn. The big news is that she is expecting baby bagoora now and she has gained a few pounds. Her link is no longer for 7aleeb 7amouda or Mara3i it is now saved up for her little bagoora. she says she that she always knew she was a cow but now she really really feels like one.

after seeing me and lulu she is afraid of how she will deal with motherhood and i told her not to worry about a thing and that "kol hal nasaween wil bagarat khalafoo wa ya ma7lahom" mostly those nasaween turn into bagarat in the process.. its normal ..

its true. i mean look at our grandmothers or great grandmothers! its like they were competing or something. meen ykhalef jaysh akbar! its like they were trying to build an army with thier children. they would marry off thier daughter when she was around 13 and then maybe that was the beginning of "3unooseh".

And ofcourse then she would deliver a kid a year and believe it or not somehow they managed! no nanny no khadameh from srilanka or indonesia helping out. they took care of thier little army and not only that they also used to bake at home, clean the house,cook and even work in the farm (fil 7aklaat). and the question is HOW?? Do they even remember all their kids names!

There is a show on tv here in sheeka beeka called 19 kids and counting... a family have 19 kids and are still COUNTING! omg.. i saw one episode and i felt like it was a school only they are all brothers. how she managed to get so many kids is because she used to khalef every year and sometimes bil jumleh ( twins ya3ni). i personally feel one is a handfull and already am worried about how i will manage in the future when its time for "akh" aw "okht" due to the constant ZAN i will hear. :P

Anyway.. will update u on bagoora. she is due soon. she misses u guys and is not sure what she will name her little one. so suggestions of the new member of the family would be very appreciated.


side note :for ppl who think bagoora represents anyone in my life or myself. she doesnt. she is purely fictional and is merely for entertainment.

Al Gurdon

Although i am not pure jordanian. And jordanians call us palestinians with jordanian passports "Baljeekeyeh" i must say when i think of home i think of jordan. ofcourse palestine is in my heart but i hardly lived in palestine and i carry it in my heart. but jordan is where i grew up.

where else would you hear a Ghaz icecream truck? where else would you wake up to sheep eating ur gardens 7asheesh as ra3ee il ghanam says "hrrrrrrrrrraaaaa3".

where else would u here DURrrrrrrrayehhhhhhhhh !

when you live in jordan for too long u start complaining about how ppl dont smile much wa darbeen booz. you complain about how they drive. and the way the men flirt in scary sometimes life threatening ways . like for ex almost running you over with his car and then blowing u a sleezy fly kiss. or knowing that when you go to AL BALAD (city center) you willl surely come back bruised from the many males who will pinch you and shove you with thier shoulders as they whisper " eishhhh ya lu3beh/khasseh/barbie/ pascal?/get3a/shagfeh"

i will always remember the cab drivers that share the weirdest stories. most of them claim have phd's or are drs and drive a cab for fun. or the 100 mirrors in the front of the cab so that he can look at u with alf 3ayn and ofcourse he is always playing the weirdest jordanian music. and what is up with the long pinky fingernail! ya33333

i go to jordan for one month and it takes me a few years to get rid of the "7afartaliness" talk. and i dont think i will ever totally stop the jordan effect. for ex. using expressions like "iglibi" wijhik or "6age3". it just rubs off on you. i think anyone who goes to jordan should stop by lebanon on his way to wear off the gordun effect

oh and the beggars.. ya salam. they should seriously go to hollywood. i mean look at the "slumdog millionare" kids. (sorry i hated that movie especially when i had to see it in a movie full of indians smelling like curry and the guy next me farted and i felt the vibration and ofcourse the fart smelled currlylike too)

so you would think send some of those kids from jordan to make a movie and watch them win 10000 oscars. i remmeber one kid who was crying at the edge of the sidewalk picking up the gum "s&b" that had fallen on the floor. i flet sorry for him. i knew he was forced to sell it and i knew he would get in trouble. so i gave him some money. a week later . same traffic light. same boy.. crying picking up his chewing gum! some guy actually felt so sorry for him got him a new box of gum! hahah

so in conclusion. i can talk forever about jordan. i can make fun of so many things but in the end i feel its a part of me. and i love jordan. it feels like home to me. and so many memories and funny stories come to my mind when i think of jordan.

whether ur full palestinian/ of full jordanian. or palestinian that has lived in jordan. we are all arab. and we should all be proud to be arabs. i personall am proud to say im a palestinian/ jordanian wa bazborti akhthar zay blaaaaadna il sarakoooha il yahood. oh i just remmeber my renwed passport is blue. so ignore that last comment :P

Newwwww Yooooooooork :)

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The news of the month is... lulu is walking now. she walks and falls then says "heeeeey" or " Kaa kaa".. see the word "kaa kaaa" or "go KA"in her language stands for many things. usually she says it when she wants to say " GOOD GIRL". she is at the cutest age now and interacts with me and loves to play and has a sense of humor already! She had her first walk in the park in New York Central Park! :)

New York is lovely. first time we went it was freezing so we didnt get a chance to see much but the weather is better we went to the MET museum. A museum i used to always want to go to in university since with my graphic design major i studied art history and learned about so many famous artists. I thought by going there i would actually remember something!! but as lulu would say " baa7777777" nothing.. the funny part is.. my husband expected me to know the names and to actually tell him about paintings lol so i didnt want to let him down so i looked at a painting and i saw the word "florentine" so i was like... (in a serious i know what im talking about tone)

Aaah Florentin.. ba3rafo i remember him from art class...

My husband laughed... cause the word was referring to a location in italy NOT the artists name lol

then again i did not surrender.. i did not want him to know i was clueless i was standing next to PICASSO paintings and i say.... "aaaah aaah i know this artist pablo fransisco" HAHAHA (btw pablo fransisco is actually a standup comedian)

after than i decided to SHUT UP and accept the fact that all my art history has gone down the drain and has been replaced with recipes and tips on diaper changing/breastfeeding/ and baby info!

but i just laugh when i remember my silly attempt to impress my hubby hhahaha

note to self = ma titfas7aneeshhhhhhh kteer..

having a great time here in the states and loving our lulu :)

IM Back

so it s been a while since i posted anything and its been crazy. i am now in the states yes.. amreeka sheeka beeka. with my taller other half and my mini me. or mini-us lets say :P
lulu has grow so much habeebti. and i think this is the best phase. when they start to interact and copy you. but now i have to be careful what i say! haha

so now being in america for a while. the flight is something i will not miss. travelling alone with a baby on plane full of not only babies but sick babies and kids coughing all over the place is not an experience i want to relive. i dont miss the indian guy sniffing his vicks and coughing and falling asleep almost on my arm . i will not miss the indian kid yelling "MAMA AJAAAA MAMAA AJA" throughout the 16 hour flight. aaaaah

soooo what else is new.. i will try to blog more often. as for now this is the creepy version of lulu the bride of chucky lulu which comes when she is naughty. she sure loves cheerios. they are all over the place.

will keep u posted :)

Order you LuShae Jewelry NOW

Hello readers. i am sorry i have not posted in a while things have been a bit crazy im in amreeka sheeka now with hubby( he is working). but i promise i will post all my updates soon. with cartoons! But for now i want you all to take a minute to check out this site LaShae Jewelry . i placed my order and just 3 days later it had arrived! they have a variety of designs that can get shipped right to your door with reasonable prices and great quality! its even better than in the photos :) check out their pendants and earrings as well !

I'm sure it's hard to find online sites you can trust and know wont dissapoint you .so if you're looking for one - you just might give them a try like i did :)

jingal jingal

its been a while since i posted. and well it is for many reasons. but mostly cause i like to post with a new cartoon and i havent had much time to do a cartoon for my posts. but coming soon is my cartoon for my visit to london!! and it includes a cartoon of the day i got BIT BY A SQUIRREL! i mean things like this just happen to ME!!! had to get a tetanus shot! LOL

anyhow.... its the first time i stay anywhere that is not in the middle-east and i am surprised that there are a lot of hijabees here and london is pretty much 90% arabs! in the emergency waiting room while waiting for my tetanus shot i saw, a syrian couple, 2 moroccan man, an egyptian with his mom, an iranian, a libyan and surprising the security gaurd who i thought was from nigeria came to me and said " ya ukhiteeee intii mneeenaaa?" in a SUDANI accent haha

when i was in london it was like a bigger middle east! it was nice and i learnt not to feed any squirrels! EVER!!

about my little lulu... she is getting bigger and everyday she does something new. i remember going into the hospital with my big belly/karsh and i just could not imagine how it would be like to be a mom. and i remember when i left the hospital with her in my arms i was thinking! IS THAT's IT? i can TAKE HER HOME?! i felt like i needed to go through some sort of test or fill in some papers that make sure i will be able to do this MOMMY job!

it gets easier everyday. and anything i do for my baby. no matter how hard or tiring. i do with love and i will never ever make her feel guilty for any of this. some moms keep bringing up the 16 hours of labor or the 9 months they carried you around in thier belly. or the sleepless nights or trips to the hospital in the middle of the night to thier kids when the grow up just to make them feel guilty for being born or like no matter what they do it wont compare to 9 months and labor!

yes a mom does go through a lot. but it is all worth one smile, one laugh, and seeing your baby grown up and okay. that is my reward. i dont need a future thank you. i thank GOd for this blessing and i love being a mom. al hamduliAllah


and to all you ppl who celebrate christmas! JINGAL JINGAL is dedicated to you :) hehe

GREETINGS FROM SCOTLAND ( SCO2LAND)

YES believe it or not i am in scotland! my taller other half (hubby) is here for work and we came along! where do i start... it's so beautiful here. i feel like i have never seen trees or nature till now! trees to me have always been one color. GREEN! here now that is autumn there are wonderful shades of orange,red & yellow sometimes even purplish yellow! well its cold here in aberdeen but if you see lulu wearing her winter clothes and how her little tiny face comes out of a rabbit hat it is worth it! not only is nature here breathtaking. there are lots of ..... COWS!!!! AAAAAAAH! am i in heaven ? lol

seriously never in my life did i see so many cow and sheep roam freely in one place! And it is also the first time i see a horse wearing a jacket!!! YES! some horses wear jackets lol! i mean i can so imagine a rich horse wearing a burberry's jacket ! oh and the people here are so FFRRRRRRRRiendly! i love the accent! but sometimes they talk Rrrrrrrrreeeeellly fast i dont get what they say! but so so so sweet! they say lulu is a "GOrrrrrrrgeous PRrrrincess" hehe she is lovin it here as well

i so soso dont want to go back to reality. i would move here in a blink. oh its so weird to drink tap water here! its actually drinking water! try that in jordan and u will be in the hospital within minutes. there are rabbits and squirrels running around. there is a smell of fresh flowers everywhere.

why did no one ever tell me scotland was so AMAZING! al hamduliah that God has granted me the gift of seeing such a beautiful country! Sub7an Allah is all i can say.

Big hug to scotland, scotland cows , and ofcourse scottish people!

*Dino skips in cow farm

OH AND on top of allllllll this.... CHOCOLATES HERE........ *dino faints

apparently i have not tasted chocolate TILL NOW! even the ones we have in dubai are NOT like the ones herE! they just taste SO much better....

conclusion is I LOVE SCo2land :)

Ramadan Kareem

May God bless you all in this شهر
May you never ever feel قهر
I wish you all happiness
and yummy salatas with lots of خس

ّi also am sure you will eat lots of حلو
qatayef for dessert with lots of حشو
careful from those extra calories
especially in the samboosa with cheese

Don't forget that this month is truely blessed
even though some ladies still are hardly dressed
Lots of rewards and أجر that can't be missed
The month of the quran & not هز الوسط

modern hijab

i can't help but notice that nowadays hijab has turned into a fashion statement and it is no longer stopping some girls from certain actions. for ex. i was walking in the parking and i see a girl bending over to get something from her car. i could not see her face yet. i could only see her thong and u know... i got used to this manzar but to my shock when she stood up and her head was out of the car.... she was wearing HIJJAB? r u kidding me? cover your head and expose ur (_/_) . not only that i have noticed that there are lots of girls that wear hijab yet have boyfriends, and don't even pray. so what is the point of it? just covering a bad hair day? i dunno but i feel slowly the world is coming to an end and the older i get the bigger the shocks i see around me.

Allah yihdeena

Bagoora gets a Makeover

after gaining a few pounds in her honeymoon bagoora decided to get a makeover with mbc joella a7la :) i was luck enough to record the episode for you all :P

enjoy my latest animation of bagoora and tell me if u like it

My heart needs Dry Cleaning

Okay this is one of my rather serious philosophical posts so just skip it if u dont like such posts. So i have been thinking a lot about life and how we tend to change sometimes without even realizing we are changing and before you know it you are looking at yourself and thinking WHO AM I? what happened to the OLD ME?! And no matter how hard you try to reach the person you were, its just not happening.

time passes and the old you is more and more intangible. like a faint memory that you yourself doubt was real.

I was sitting the other day while lulu was sleeping in my lap. i noticed the floor needed cleaning and well not major major cleaning. a few little crumbs of za3tar here and there. i ws too lazy and said i will clean it later. then i dropped my pasta plate later on that day and oh my you cant ignore THAT! so i ended up mopping the whole floor.

why am i saying this? get to the point ya dino! yes yes okay...

i feel our heart starts out like a white floor. or carpet lets say. little sins may be little crumbs we think are insignificant and we ignore them because we think its a mess that we will eventually clean. with time if we dont clean these little crumbs or stains our heart will no longer be white and it will be harder to get it clean.

Sometimes we fall into huge sins that we either feel so bad about that we repent and our whole heart is cleansed. other ppl choose to ignore the big stains thinking its too late to clean anything right now cause the stain is probably never going to go away after so long. so they add more and more 6eeneh to it :S

i feel my heart needs major cleaning. with chlorox jiff anything :) and i hate how i get caught up in life and i forget the major thing we were brought here for. 3ibada ( worshipping) Allah in everything we do. We have to fix out niya ( intentions) in everything we do so that even bringing up a child is rewarded.

things are easier said than done. and i will inshala work hard on going back to the way i used to be and better inshala. Even when i miss a prayer, even when i dont wake up for fajr, God still blesses me everyday in everyway & all i can say is Al Hamdulila.

oh how i wish i could send my heart to to the drycleaners!

God is the most Merciful. AL Rahman Al Raheem.

Cant wait for Ramadan.

Allah yu3fu 3anna wa yihdeena

My Updates

So... its been a while since i told you guys my news. Motherhood is a 24 hour job.
Don't even try to compare motherhood to a normal daily job. Any job is a piece of cake next to being a 24 hour mother and ofcourse a wife. If u have a maid at home and work and say ur life is even harder casue u are a mother and working. sorry. you have a maid. when you get home you actually spend quality time with your baby while someone cleans the house for you and will hold your baby for you when you need to shower or run to the supermarket. it's still hard but when ur on ur own its harder.

I mean even when i finally get a chance to sleep im sleeping and my mind is awake and worried about my little lulu. Worried that she would puke in her sleep and choke and that i would not hear her! b3eed il shar. All sorts of motherly fears come to my mind and i just am always so scared of doing something wrong. She will be 3 months in 2 days inshala! She always wants to be held and i must admit " dala3naaha". which is why she crys when we put her down and will only sleep in someones arms. At first she wanted to be held. then she wanted to be held while you are standing, then she wanted you to walk around with her, then now her new thing is to sit in the stroller while i walk around the house lol. soon she will need a helicopter ride!

she is starting to smile more and make the cutest baby sounds and sometimes yells at me in her baby talk and it sounds something like " INGEL3iii" :P

oh and if i finally get a chance to shower she has to puke all over me to express her love. I actually realized that babies have different crys! i mean is so amusing! there is the ENGGeee ENGEEEEEE and the AAGHH AGHHHHH and ofcourse the AWoooooooooooooooo! :P

i just have to tell any woman out there who is about to have a baby and is freaking out and who is a new mom as well. Its not as scary as it seems. It is a lot of hard work but its worth it . You'll get the hang of it. I can say i am now starting to enjoy motherhood more because im understanding my little lulu more and im not afraid to go out to the mall with her anymore. :) but i have to say you seem to forget about yourself, your life and your baby is your life now and you no longer live for you but for her.

I am loving her more and more each day and this love is the strongest love i have ever felt. I just want to protect her. I feel she was safer in my belly! :P now with her strong kicks and her "ras il belaGleG" <-- jiggly head. i always hope she doesnt hurt herself .

i still can't believe im a mother. i still cant believe i finally DELIVERED :P

So im getting better at animation and will post more bagoora stories soon inshala :)

bagoora's tribute to micheal

my second animation :) what do u think?

my first animation

i have been trying to teach myself animation on flash and here is my first bagoora animation :)
it is when i callef her in her honeymoon :P

i know lots of technical mistakes but will get better inshala :)

Ayyyyy

at 5 am i hear what sounded like lulu choke
so with motherly hysteria and fear i woke!!
half asleep i got out of bed with a JUMP!
i tripped on a blanket fell on my back with a"THUMP"

Ahmed woke up masroo3 from the sound
he was so scared when to see me on the ground
lulu was fine and was fast asleep
Ahmed gave me a lecture "not to Anu6 or LEAP"!

Moral of the story is for me is to wake up for fajer
Before i wake up hurt or with a broken ijer

Bagoora updates

i have not been able to update the blog for a while. i have actually not been able to do many things. Being a mom is a full time job. when i say full time i mean there is no time at all to do anything but feed lulu, change lulu, hold lulu, burp lulu *cycle continues. My time is not mine anymore, i forgot how it feels like to think of myself and to do anything other than be a mom.

It gets easier with time and everyday you fall more and more in love with your baby. She is starting to smile and makes the cutest sounds! sometimes i just feel my heart turns into melted hot fudge!

Now the Big News. After feeling neglected and replaced. Bagoora chose to accept a marriage proposal from 6owr from her past. She is happy and says she will visit me from time to time. I will miss her and will still update you with her cartoons when i get a chance :)

Motha-Hood

i have to remind myself everyday
that im the motha of this baby
She only wakes up at night to play
will mommy ever sleep? maybe!

Never in my life did i hold this much poop
My life has turned into a big Loop
i am feeding,changing, burping lulu 24 hours a day
i miss sleeping ofcourse ! lulu please sleepat night if u may

i was not informed that it would be this hard
i feel like lulu's body guard
i am her all you can eat open buffet
i feel like a cow in every way

but i must say all this work & lack of sleep
is nothing compared to this love so deep
i love you lulu no matter what you do
even when u vomit on mommy & cover her with poo

i introduce my lulu cartoon in this post :) she is cuter but its close

EPidural I Love You

i was in so much pain
till you came along
you are the sun after the rain
i am writing you this song

Epidural..Epidural i love you
I don't know why i hesitated to take you
You worked like magic!
Without you my delivery would have been tragic

MR amo who took my pain away
i thank you with all my heart
i would have hugged u but islamically its not okay
but your work is fine ART :)

(Chorus)
Epidural Epidural I Love you
Dunno what i would have done without you

MY TRUE LABOR EXPERIENCE

If you have followed my status updates & notes you might have known i have FINALLY delivered my lulu! I tried everything to deliver! and when i say everything i mean EVERYTHING! Including walking, driving on bumpy roads, eating spicy foods, dancing, foot massages, & finally my last resort CASTOR OIL! which i was told can cause major dhierria & Qontraqtiions! lol

So i was overdue and desperate to deliver and drank almost all of the bottle! So i sat there an hour 2 hours. 3. 4.. nothing. no REAQtion. no QontraQshon. so i lost hope and knew that this baby is here to stay.

I took the castor oil around 1 pm. at around 2 am finally a REAQtion. i got Qontractions. which i thought were false labor. i could still Qook afterall. they were a bit stronger. 5 mins apart. still i did not believe it could be REAL! So i told ahmed to go back to sleep & came on FACEBOOK.

As i was sitting and updating my status..... i felt my WATER BREAK! which explains how i updated my status! Some ppl thought i ran to facebook after my water broke lol i didnt i was on already and said i might as well UPDATE lol

So... after my water broke i knew THIS IS IT! I informed the world with msgs & calls on my way to the hospital. it was 6 AM traffic TIME. thoughts of delivering on the way were running through my mind! but hamdulila traffic wasnt bad! i reached the hospital!! Was put on a wheel chair! which ended up being full of more WATER lol

SO the Qontractions werent that bad. i was taking pics with my friends smiling making jokes. i would say " EWWWWA" with every contraction. i thought i was dialated ! Apparently i was only 1 CM! i should 10CM to deliver! AAAAAH!

Dr said i was expected to deliver at around 4 PM! AAAAH! it was 6 AM!

Qontractions started getting stronger! i asked for the epidural! they said they cant give it to me up until im at least more than 3 CM dialated!

THE PAIN WAS INTOLERABLE! i started saying things like : "BIDEEESH AWLED"
there were no more smiles. just tears & pain & even vomiting. i still cant believe that some woman deliver without any medication!

by 3 pm i was still just 3 CM!!!! i was in so much pain i became a bit violent lol

by 4 pm my friends would ask me to pray for them all i could pray for was the EPIDURAL!

FINALLY the DOCTOR Came. and btw on this day i think everyone had the pleasure of literally seeing another SIDE of me lol

After the magic of the epidural. i felt nothing anymore. no pain. i was making jokes. smiling. i could actually witness the delivery instead of just screaming with pain!

at 5:20 Pm after around 16 hours of labor. lulu arrived into this world.

AL HAMDULILAH.

yes i know i do miss sleep. i do feel like a cow more than ever especially when i pump milk lol
i do change diapers all day & night. I have been been puked on with milk many times. I have been pooped on. I am still recovering from the delivery. But lulu is worth it.

Allah yi7meeha. She needs mommy now. another poopie. lol

sorry lubna i didnt draw u. i used alia and zahray mama and 7amooda from older posts.

LULULEEESH Lulu is Finally Here

will post details soon. but for now summary is. i delivered april 20th. 5:20 pm after my labor started 2 A.M.

i am in love with lulu.

will post the labor adventures soon!

DIno Did Not Deliver

Too lazy to draw a cartoon. just updating you before u assume that i delivered in the past 2 days.
WE ARE still here! :)

*sigh* i will keep u posted

Lulu Bifafee LAba6

Ya Yumma.. Ya habeebti...
Would you like a cocktail or tea?
Whats so cool about my belly?
shaklek 7abbeh titbahdelly!

Ur laba6 is starting to get on my nerves
Ur kalbazah is adding to my "curves"
I think ENOUGH Is Enough already!
Will you ever be READY?!

I keep getting calls and msgs everyday
Asking if you came out to play
You already have a group of fans here!
PLEASE KHALSEEENI! *dino sheds a tear

Waley Lulu

Lulu at first waznek ma kansh t2eeel
I compared you to a happy meal
Now you are hurting my back
And you r leaving no room for my snack!

I must say for golfing there is the golf creek
So why don't u break my water! a small little leak!
Look around you for the nearest exit please
And when you're out the dr will spank your t$%z

Waley lulu your making mommy go insane
You better not give me major labor pain!
Also don't break the water in the rain
Allah ysam7ek 3ala this weight gain! :P

translation : waznek ma kansh t2eeel= u werent that heavy

When will u sharfeena?

Almost all my bregnant friends have had their babies
I asked my DR when will I?! she gave me lots of "maybes"
So here i am sleepless and inflated
i think my delivery will be belated

Since my little lulu is having fun inside
I shall jiggle my big belly with pride
"LULU U CANNOT FOREVER HIDE"
Soon my taf3eees u cannot ABIDE

The more you will make me wait ya binti
The more i will fa3is the inti
so please please yumma sharfina
ta3ali la your mama dina!!

Dear Lulu

Dear lulu! sho bitsawee in my batoon?
Isnt it crowded in there? R u Qoming soon?
I know you are not due for about a week
but i just can't wait to pinch your cheek!

Are you smoking shisha inside?
Are you enjoying the jiggly karoosh ride?
Are you dancing to dagat galbi?
When u are out akeed ra7 tghalbi

I wonder if u will be as crazy as mommy
So well as long as you are in my tummy
i must remind u girls are'nt meant to be soccer players
so bikafee shalaleet come out & answer mommy's prayers!

Pregnanc = Bagraneh

So maybe some of you are sick of pregnancy talk. Others are feeling pregnant themselves from my posts and status updates. But what can i say? I usually post about my life and now i am pregnant and pretty much that is all i can talk about :) wait till lulu is here and i'll drive you crazy with baby talk!

Before i was pregnant i just craved chocolate. Then after i got pregnant i could hardly eat for 3 months of puking and lost 6 kg . then....there was a major turn in my karoosh lovin!

I went to bed thinking of my next meal. i woke up thinking of breakfast. i ate breakfast and planned my lunch. My cravings changed from just chocolata to everything!

Thank God i didnt gain as much as some pregnant ladies but i also was no angelina when i got pregnant so i have to keep that in mind before i pig out! But sometimes my cravings are stronger than my self control. *munching on chocolates

About 2 weeks left! AAAAAAAAH!

Bagoora looked at me the other day and said " mama"

*sigh

My First False Labor Experience!

So recently i have been feeling some abdominal pain that i just assumed was some " bowel"movement or kick lol. Till i started timing the pain and apparently it was every 5 minutes.
Knowing myself and how i have high pain endurance it hit me that it could be contractions.

So i call the emergency number in the hospital and ask them what i should do.

Dino :
Hello im in my 37th week and im having constant contractions what should i do?
Filipino lady : ohhh maam.. ur still early... but now taqe a hot shower and two panadol and if the contrQshan not going away and you feel you qannat Qook then qome to emergency.

Dino thinking to myself " Can't what?"

So well i assumed she meant when the pain gets stronger.. so after all that i still had contractions.. i go to my mom " yumma batneee biwaji3ni"

MAMA *sits up in bed and although was almost asleep is wide awake and about to jump
" EIIIIIIIIISH!!! KAYF Waja3 ?! YA KHEEEEEBTI"

Dino *very relaxed... " mama it's probably nothing... momkin bas ghazaaat" lol

Mama : " mush 2oltelik itdubeee il shanta taba3t il mustashfa!"
Dino : ma3lish mama ma3lish mush 7awled today!

haram she starts running around the house trying to gather anything she could that i will need in case of DELIVERY! Then she remmeber that most of the baby clothes she has are 6 months or 3 months as she anticipated a BIG BAGOORA KALABEEZ BABY!

so my sister wakes up to the commotion and chaos going on around her and asks half asleeep
"sho 3am biseeer?"

Mom answers hyterically with a freaking out tone " UKHTIK BTUWLED"

LOL

sister went back to sleep.. i think she knew it was not the real deal!

After running around the house and gathering what we could at 3 am we headed to the hospital.
They connected me to a maching that senses the contractions . And apparently I WAS having contractions and I WAS unaware of most of them lol My mom would see the contraction on the screen and say " bit7iseeeesh inti yama"

lol

So after 25 mins of contraction monitoring the same nurse that answered the phone came to talk to me. she was like :

Nurse : your Qontracshans are not strong enough and you are not yet dialated. I told you on the pone to qome only when you qannot Qook..

Dino thinking... " cook?" i mean i could hardly cook anything when i came..
momkin kaset shay but not COOK

Nurse Qontinues " So epery 15 Miniks 10 miniks 5 minik qontraction and you qannot qook then qome"

It suddenly hit me.... she had a problem with the letter K... she replaces it with manhy letters..

Cannot Qook =Cannot COPE!

loooool.

And that was my first false labor experience... i cannot Cook but i can COPE :) and today i plan on getting my bag ready incase!!!

still getting small Qontraaaaaqshans! pray for me!!! Poor mama i gave her a good scare!

Dear Belly

My Dear Pregnant Belly
You were once simple a Karoosh
You sometimes still feel like jelly
And sometime i fill you with Fatoosh

You sometimes block my view
And are starting to get in my way
You are so big i can't reach my shoe
You are getting bigger everyday

I will miss using you as a table
But i will not miss you in my sleep
when you are gone i will finally be able
to sleep without counting sheep

:)

*p.s. this cartoon is an illustration of a real photo i took watching tv and was told its too embarrassing to post on my blog :)

Any Minute Now

i have officially entered the 9th month. Actually i am starting the 2nd week of the 9th month. It is said that as soon as you enter the 9th month you could POP anyday. Usually if its the first baby you finish your whole month but in some cases you deliver 2 weeks or more before!

So what am i feeling this month? Its like i was not pregnant till this month started! my movement is sooooo hard! getting out of a chair seems like an exhausting task! I sit there and have to swing myself off the chair or ask someone to help me up! I usually dont feel like getting up after i sit down! Baby lulu is getting bigger and so are her kicks! She is starting to hurt mommy with her turns and kicks. Not only is there pressure on my bladder but my intestines seem squashed ! *sigh

my days are long... and so are my nights... when will i boggg this baby already! lol

yes yes i know i will not sleep when she is out but i already cant sleep or roll over in bed !

GOTTA GO to the bathroom.. again... "YA MAMA BIKAFEE SHALALEET "

Pray for Dinos!!

Sea Lion Dino

So now that i am entering the 9th month! AAAAH! let me repeat that so that it will sink in the 9th month! im just feeling all sorts of things. i mean its only now that i REALLY feel pregnant!
At the beginning of the pregnancy i felt like i was just a bit bloated and maybe sometimes food poisoned because of the puking. Then in the second trimester it was like am getting fat only in mostly in my belly and that my meals are alive and just twirling in my stomach. I also felt like a pig from the way i have been attacking food! i also felt like a cow for reasons i am not comfortable sharing on my blog lol well im sure most of u got it already.

anyway....

Now.... i feel like a sea lion lying on a shore of an ocean. All i wanna do is sleep on a rock and listen to the sound of the ocean. I also feel like a penguin when i walk from side to side. i can't even turn around in bed without feeling like i need a crane to come and pick me up!

Not to mention that there is a head on my bladder. meaning i might move me bed into the bathroom.

Sigh.. so to summarize... pregnancy makes humans experience being all sorts of animal like traits and its a lovely experience lol

WISH ME LUCK!! AAAAAH!

Glad to be back & Alive !!

Egypt trip was a very in6aras6ing exberyons.. i sink i will talk lik zis for a waaayil :P

just kidding... i love the english egypshan.. its like language on its own! Well while i was there i spent most of my time in the hotel but still managed to go the mall "city stars"!

i have never seen worse driving EVER than in egypt! its like who needs roller coaster rides when u can simply get in a CAB!

Ofcourse i had a mild case of food poisoning after having a salad . should have listened to mama when she said dont eat anything that is not cooked. naughty dino.

whats up with people asking for tips for everthing there? "ma tekremeeena ba2a" "ma 3andikeesh haga 7ilwa" "tab 2ayzeen nishrab shay"

the lady in the airport who was checking me in was like " ma feesh haga 7ilwa liya" *shocking

we planned on going to khan al khalili but after hearing about the bombing we chose to stick to city stars mall :P we went to al neel had dinner.. it was nice... i had a good time...

on the flight back..... i ended up sitting next to 2 egybshanz ... both male.. on the right a very shy and nervous man and on the left was a very saye3 "yo yo wassap" guy who seemed to have 2 phones and 100 girlfriends. before the plane took off he would call different girls and say
" ideeni bosa" lol eww..

so an hour before landing the plane went through major turbulence.. when i say major i mean like the pilot lost control for a whole minute the plane was pretty much crashing.. ppl were screaming and crying... and yelling "shahada" ! i think i just wanted to hang on to anything! it was so scary.. i thought of the movie final destination.. the series lost and wondered if i will end up on an islan with ben and the lost shilah!

but most of all i felt omg.. i dont want to die. and in that moment i felt i regretted so many hours i wasted doing nothing and how bad it felt to know that im an not in that place where i feel islamicly ready.. i feel i got so caught up in life and meaningless things that i forgot that in one second i could die! In that moment i wish i read more quran. that i prayed more. did so many things.. and now im back and im fine and its hard to feel that feeling again. we forget. but God doesnt. we regret. but God forgives.

i wish that i can be a better person and that i can press one button to clean my heart and make my iman as strong as it once was.

ok that was a serious moment.. so well if u all wondered where bagoora is.. she is still in egypt and has been spending lots of time with a gamoosa :P will keep u posted with her news lol

Im Due April 18th inshala..... Pray for Me & little layla "lulu"

dino in egypt

Well so sorry for not blogging for so long i have been so busy with the new apartment and the baby room and the pregnancy that i havent had much time to blog. Well now i am blogging for the first time from EGYPT! :) Here for a few days with my hubby who is here for business.

The doctor said its okay to travel till the 34th week.! wouldnt want to get into labor in the flight! So here i am!! EGypt is something else... or should i say.. IT IZ SOMESINGE ELES! BEoble here all share the same english egyptian accent. I LOVE IT :) its so entertaining just hearing people talk.
even when they talk egyptian they are naturally funny without even trying.

WE haven't gone to the pyramids but i have seen them before and really dont think running around in the sun would be a good idea :S

Has anyone seen how people drive in egypt?!?!? There is no lane.. All cars drive wherever they want to in any direction. its SO SCARY! the cars here look like came out of a abd al haleem old movie! but in general its a nice experience.

don't go out much in the hotel all day while husbandi at work. but i must say i am enjoying watching tv. showtime and orbit and egypSHAN ShAnnelZ :P

any ideas of where to go if in egypt?? Share with me BLEAZ before march 1rst

masr um il dunya. and i had to come here before being an UM myself.

Moved to New Apartment

Hello I'm Back after a long time! I have been so busy with the moving process ! We moved to a new apartment ! It's in sharjah and its much bigger than the one we were in & i love it! hamduliah :) its 5 mins away from my parents house and my best friends live on the same ROAD! woo hooo :) 

My belly is getting bigger and bigger by the second and i find myself sitting and staring at it while baby lulu kicks and turns and i see it changing in shape! sub7anallah. her kicks are harder now and soon i think they will start to HURT! 

im in the 29th week. 7th month. so i think i should start the countdown and freaking out! AAAH! I need advice on what are the best stroller/car seat/crib/baby changing table to buy.

All you mothers and people with experience in that department don't hesitate in leaving me a comment to enlighten me to this world of baby stuff i just get so confused when i go into the baby shop! 

p.s. i officially walk like a penguin now 

Another Day Another Massacre

The israeli attack on Gaza continues and in 15 days 875 palestinians were killed (240 children and around 200 women) 4000 injured. Not to mention the many bodies that have not been counted yet as they may still be buried under the rubble. Seeing these war crimes happening everyday on international tv with the world watching and not taking action drives me mad it's emotional and mental exhaustion to see this going on everyday! 

My mom's family is in Gaza so is my husbands family and no matter what the israelis claim this war is not targeting HAMAS or (khamas) as they pronounce it. There is no shelter or place to hide. Not even ambulances are safe from their bombs, 11 ambulances destroyed . Israeli air strikes have targeted at least 17 mosques with the latest destroyed by a half-ton BOMB dropped from an F-16. A church seriously damaged, over 12 medics and a journalist killed.

My grandmothers house was hit by a bomb but thank God they are all fine. When i say FINE i mean barely surviving. With no electricity or water and very limited food supply left . The windows are all broken down and many die of illness if not by the israeli bombings. Not even schools or shelters are safe from the bombings. Israeli would warn the families they will be bombing in 5 mins and after this warning families would all gather in a shelter or school thinking that they were safe in the UN school. Israel didn't hesitate in bombing it and claiming Hamas was hiding in the school! 

Bombing homes and mosques and schools and killing innocent civilians every single day and claiming it is "self-defense"???? Has anyone seen the rockets launched by hamas? How many israelis have been killed? How man israeli kids? mothers? poor israelis have been taken to group therapy after the sound of the missiles caused them some major trauma! 

Is our palestinian blood cheap? Are we not as human as everyone else? 

The Red Cross is unable to reach the wounded people of gaza and stopped by israeli soldiers. Egypt borders also is not allowing any of the donated food and aid in. Claiming that Israel has the right to decide what goes in and out of the borders.

Israel is also using white phosphorus in military operations in areas with dense populations. This substance can burn down houses and causes horrific burns when touching the skin. 

Human Rights Watch believes that the use of white phosphorus in densely populated areas of Gaza violates the international humanitarian law.

Let's all pray for the people of Gaza and hope that GOD saves them from the hell they are living in right now. I only have hope in God as i have lost hope in the world.

 There must be an end to this blood shed and spreading the truth about what is going on is what we can do from where we are. 

Gaza you are in our prayers always.