News gem

I came across this article on the bbc and couldn't stop laughing...poor parishioners

'Spitting vicar' sacked by bishop

Rev Dr Tom Ambrose was a vicar at St Mary and St Michael Church
A Church of England vicar accused of spitting at and intimidating his parishioners has been ordered to leave his Cambridgeshire post by his bishop.

Rev Dr Tom Ambrose, 61, of St Mary and St Michael Church in Trumpington, has been disqualified from carrying out any of the functions of his office.

A church tribunal last year recommended the move citing "pastoral breakdown".

Dr Ambrose had clashed with parishioners over his plans to modernise the church.

The tribunal heard evidence of "arrogant, aggressive, rude, bullying, high-handed, disorganised and at times petty behaviour of Dr Ambrose".

'Astonished and dismayed'

In the decision letter to the vicar and those who brought the tribunal, the Bishop of Ely Dr Anthony Russell wrote: "I am astonished and dismayed that there are recorded two occasions on which it is said that Dr Ambrose spat at parishioners, allegations which were not challenged in cross-examination."

The incidents were part of a long line of disagreements between Dr Ambrose and worshippers at the church, the tribunal was told.

The tribunal heard allegations that he inundated opponents of his plans with e-mails and letters.

Dr Ambrose also allegedly upset older parishioners by using slide shows instead of sermons and using so much incense in church that some worshippers felt sick.

Dr Ambrose denied being aggressively confrontational and claimed that "envy" had been behind the allegations against him.

A Diocesan spokesman said Dr Ambrose remained a vicar.

He said: "He has not lost his orders, essentially he's lost his job."

The case of the exorbitant wedding dress

I have been on a few websites to get an idea of what I wanted especially because
am one of those females that does not had an idea of her perfect wedding or wedding dress .I don’t have names picked out for potential offspring’s and nor do I have an idea of what my ideal house would look . Basically am not really all that fused… I like to think that this is because am not materialistic and people matter to me more then things.

So being non-fussed and non-impressed with what I have seen so far I went to a particular wedding shop recommended by a friend. I had planned to take a couple of siblings and a few friends till It occurred to me that I hate shopping unless its grab and go and that 6 differing opinions would drive me crazy I had to ask a 2 of my friends if they could sit this one out ( I felt really bad actually and it stayed with me for 2 whole days although they were understanding).

I called the shop in advance and they told me it takes about 6 months for an order to be fully processed and to allow for fitting etc…Dear lord, what non-sense people planned to get married this far in advance…that beach wedding with select family and friends sounded better and better by the second.

The day arrived and I had chosen 6 from the website , I tried them on one after the other and eventually fell in love with a period dress, of lace and embroidery. Well the coat is and the dress underneath is rather plane except for the waist. I was having this one no matter what and it helped that I didn’t have to return for more shopping. I and my advisors were all agreed we loved it. The assistant then gave me the prices, they were priced separately…oops!

For someone who is so anti extravagant weddings, hates the idea of what should be a simple ceremony ended up buying a dress that she will only wear once that could easy feed an orphanage…ouch! I am telling myself that the rest of wedding cost I totally disapprove of and if it was up to me I would do away with them all so one expensive item is okay…..i feel the need to bellow don’t judge me…clearly that’s my own inner voice struggling with my self concept! Something to bring up in my counselling course me thinkith…I love it though!

Hermit no more

After what can loosely be termed as advice (or realistically as threats of violent bodily harm) if I don’t start blogging again. I have taken my virtual quill and parchments and started writing (if it can even be called that). Gosh were to start, well its been over 8months since I returned from Egypt. I have turned 24(yesterday actually).

I am enjoying my counselling course very much although it has turned me into a hermit and taken over my social life. I am still mourning the loss of the myf circles on Tuesday my spiritual and social hub…Its an utter killer.

I am getting married on the 19th of July to a friends brother and yes he is Somali, my fathers sense of relieve is soo obvious. Other then that really am not sure what else is happening except I have been told for someone who only has 3plus months left until the big day (what an odd title anyway) that am freakishly calm. I don’t see anything to get stressed about as of yet. Although things might change closer to the date although I feel in control so I doubt that.

I have taken to being a full time specy, I can’t seem to switch back to contacts although eventfully am sure I will break them and then go back to sticking bits of jelly like plastic in my eyes every morning.

That’s it jolly good people I am however looking forward to reading all your blogs and catching up on everyone’s lives

spoof news

I came across this story and it made me laugh enjoy ;)


METROPOLITAN Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has refused to resign despite setting fire to a tramp in central London.

Sir Ian said he was too important to the fight against terrorism to be forced from his post by people who were sentimental about vagrants.

He faced down his critics after the Independent Police Complaints Commission pin-pointed a series of management failings which led to Sir Ian torching an anonymous hobo under a railway arch near Vauxhall tube station.

Sir Ian said: "There is nothing in this report to suggest that a future Metropolitan Police Commissioner, faced with the same set of circumstances, would not set fire to a tramp.

"A senior policeman who has finished work for the day, is a bit bored and is looking for someone to set fire to is just one of the many risks we now face.

"I deeply regret the chain of events which led to me setting fire to that tramp, but I have to tell you I would not hesitate to do it again."

Sir Ian stressed that the tramp in question was not English, adding: "Throughout this inquiry I have made it clear that he looked and sounded foreign. If I had to guess, I would say he was Scottish.

"Are we really going to hand a victory to Al-Qaeda because I set fire to some random Scotsman?"

Continuation

Mona D has flown the nest and i have a driving lesson after work who would have thought it eh? Life doth continue

Relocating

My older sister just sent me a text to say that she has finally booked her ticket to Dubai as she is relocating! Who does these things? just ups and leaves everyone and everything to work and live in a different continent because you fancy a change . Honestly this is what happens when parents give their children too much freedom.

Its only finally starting to register that i will be losing my older sister! We have always been incredibly close although there is a 5 year gap, she has always looked after me emotionally and financially am sure over half of the things i actually own she has paid for at one time or the other. I don't need her financially anymore but how do i replace the emotional support, there is nothing quiet liking discussing something with an older sister for a different respective!

I am finally going to have my own bedroom since ifrah has gone to university and muna is relocating. I can't believe i ever thought having my own room would be great! Who will listen to my nightly pondering, its going to be just me, my lamp and a book how sad

Subhanallah this is already difficult and emotional its going to be like when ifrah (my younger sister) went to university but at least we knew she would return every other weekend. I am going to have to book a ticket to Dubai for Easter now just so that i KNOW when i will see her again. Why do siblings grow up and decided to make their own way in life

Boycott list (there you go AYA)

Here is a list of the worst of the bunch (from ethicalconsumer.org)


3 Mobile
for being on Free Burma UK's list of companies with investments in Burma. Contact Burma Campaign UK for a full list or ring 020 7324 4710


Aeroplanes
Aviation is the fastest-growing source of climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions.
Contact Flight Pledge Union or send an email


Adidas
for using kangaroo skin to make some types of football boots.
Contact Viva tel 0117 944 1000

Altria (previously Philip Morris)
for giving the fifth largest donations to the Republican party in the period 2002-2006
See Boycott Bush campaign
Ethical Consumer magazine (issue 108, September/October 2007) has also called for a boycoptt of Altria becuase it has funded groups which claim that global warming is a "myth" or “uneconomic” to address.

Asda and Wal-Mart
for being on Ethical Consumer's list of top donors to the Republican Party. See BoycottBush for more information.

Bacardi
for continuing to use its Cuban origins in its marketing despite being active in anti-Cuba lobby groups in the US.
Contact: Rock around the Blockade on 020 7837 1688
Buy instead: Rum buyers' guide available online to Ethiscore subscribers. The report can also be found in issue 87 of the magazine, price £3.50.

Barclays
CorporateWatch has called for a boycott of Barclays due to its financing of the Narmada Dam in India (and the Trans Thai-Malaysia gas pipeline). The Narmada dam (or rather a series of 30 large dams) would flood one of India's most productive agricultural regions and forcibly displace two million people.
Buy instead: Bank buyers' guide available online to Ethiscore subscribers.

Body Shop
Since L'Oreal (26% owned by Nestlé) bought out the Body Shop earlier in the year, campaigns have brought together concerns about animal testing, relations with the Majority World, human rights, discrimination in the UK and the environment.
Contact: Boycott Body Shop or 01452 539 916
Naturewatch (01242 252 871) have a long-standing boycott of L'Oreal due to animal testing, and have extended this to cover the Body Shop.

Botswana
for forcing the Gana and Bwi Bushmen out of their land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Contact: Survival International on 020 7687 8700


British Heart Foundation
for conducting animal testing in order to find out about a human condition.
Buy instead: The boycott is called by PETA whose British Heartless Foundation website contains a list of health charities which do not test on animals.
Contact: PETA on 020 7357 9229

Burma
is ruled by one of the world's most brutal regimes and has used forced labour to prepare the country for tourism. Burma Campaign UK has a list of companies operating in Burma.
Contact: Burma Campaign UK, 28 Charles Square, London N1 6HT,
Tel: 020 7324 4710 or email


Bush and the Republican party
Take a look at our Boycott Bush site for the main corporate donors to the Republican party.
Buy instead: see the Brand List on the Boycott Bush website.

Canada
for the government-subsidised slaughter of nearly one million seals over the last three years. Campaigners are also calling for a boycott of Canadian fish and seafood, as exports to the UK earn five times more for Canada than the landed seal hunt in Newfoundland.
Contact: Respect for Animals www.boycott-canada.com 0115 952 5440
Humane Society of the USA www.hsus.org/ace/19076
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) www.ifaw.org 020 7587 6700

Caterpillar
for selling bulldozers to Israel in full knowledge that they will be armoured and used to destroy Palestinian homes, infrastructure and agriculture in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. These abuses are detailed in War on Want's alternative company report on Caterpillar.
Contact: War on Want, Fenner Brockway House, 37-39 Great Guildford Street London SE1 OES
Tel: 0845 193 1952

ChevronTexaco
For dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon and failing to clean it up.
Contact: www.chevrontoxico.com


China
for its continued human rights abuses and for its occupation of Tibet
Contact: Boycottmadeinchina, email usa@boycottmadeinchina.org

Coca-Cola
for its repression of trade union activity in Colombia and its depletion of groundwater resources in India.
Contact: Colombia Solidarity Campaign, UK arm of campaign on 07743 743041 or email.
Websites: Colombia's Food and Drink Workers' Union SinalTrainal, who called the boycott on 22nd July 2003, Killer Coke, and Coke Watch
In India, Coca Cola has caused severe water shortages, polluted groundwater and soil around its bottling plant, distributed its toxic waste as "fertiliser" to local farmers and sold drinks with extremely high levels of pesticides.
Website: India Resource Centre

Colgate-Palmolive
as part of a boycott of the products of companies which still test on animals. The focus of the boycott is the testing of household goods and their ingredients.
Website: BUAV on 0207 700 4888

Daewoo International Corporation
for involvement in the development of gas projects off the coast of Arakan State in Western Burma. Contact SCHWE Gas Movement


De Beers
for supporting the Botswanan government’s efforts to forcibly remove Bushmen from their ancestral lands to resettlement camps.
Contact Survival International on 020 7687 8700

Dolce & Gabbana
for using a chimpanzee in an advert.
Contact: Animal Defenders International on 020 8846 9777.

Donna Karan
to hold the clothing company accountable for sweatshop conditions in its suppliers' factories. The Ain't I A Woman campaign is sponsored by National Mobilisation Against Sweatshops and the Chinese Staff and Workers Association.

Esso
for doing more than any other company to sabotage international action on climate change, and for being a top donor to George W. Bush. Find out why you should Boycott Bush or contact Greenpeace at 020 7865 8100.
Website: www.stopesso.com

Gecko's Adventures
for being on Free Burma UK's list of companies offering tours to Burma. Contact Burma Campaign UK for a full list or ring 020 7324 4710


Iams (owned by Procter & Gamble)
for unnecessary animal testing. It is estimated Procter & Gambles is responsible for the deaths of 50,000 animals each year.
Contact: Uncaged Campaigns, 9 Bailey Lane, Sheffield S1 4EG tel: 0114 272 2220, info@uncaged.co.uk
See also Procter & Gamble.

Israel
following 'decades of refusal to abide by UN resolutions, International Humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.' Click here to find out more about the boycott of Israeli products.
Film-makers, musicians, performers and academics have also added their voices, and are calling on their colleagues not to visit, exhibit or perform in Israel.
Websites: Boycott Israeli Goods or Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Box BM PSA, London WC1N 3XX tel: 020 7700 6192. See the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and the British Committee for Universities of Palestine (BRICUP) for information on cultural boycotts. BRICUP can be contacted on 0207 712 1709 and info@bricup.org.uk

Japan
due to whale hunting for "scientific" reasons in a protected whale sactuary around Antartica. This year, Japan may also start hunting endangered humpback whales. See Boycott Japan for more information.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) on 020 7587 6708 is also campaigning for the conservation and protection of whales and co-ordinates letter writing campaigns to the Icelandic, Norwegion and Japanese governments.

Joseph Ltd
for selling coats and other products made from animal fur.for selling boots made from rabbit fur. Contact the Campaign Against the Fur Trade Tel: 0845 330 7955

Junckers
due to selling Indonesian merbau flooring despite confirming that it is of unknown source. Without guarantees of the wood's origin, it's likely that merbau wood flooring could have come from Indonesia's last remaining rainforests.
Contact Environmental Investigation Agency for more information or ring 020 7324 4710.

Kahrs
due to selling Indonesian merbau flooring despite confirming that it is of unknown source. Without guarantees of the wood's origin, it's likely that merbau wood flooring could have come from Indonesia's last remaining rainforests.
Contact Environmental Investigation Agency for more information or ring 020 7324 4710.

Kurt Geiger
for selling boots made from rabbit fur. Contact the Campaign Against the Fur Trade Tel: 0845 330 7955

Let's Go
for being on the Free Burma UK's list of companies publishing travel guide books with information on travel in Burma. Strong evidence exists that tourist facilities, roads and other constructino programmes in Burma have used forced labour and involved severe human rights abuses.
Contact Burma Campaign UK for a full list or ring 020 7324 4710.

Liberty Apparel
to hold the clothing company accountable for sweatshop conditions in its suppliers' factories. The Ain't I A Woman campaign is sponsored by National Mobilisation Against Sweatshops and the Chinese Staff and Workers Association.

Lonely Planet Guides
for being on the Free Burma UK's list of companies publishing travel guide books with information on travel in Burma. Strong evidence exists that tourist facilities, roads and other constructino programmes in Burma have used forced labour and involved severe human rights abuses.
Contact Burma Campaign UK for a full list (tel: 020 7324 4710)
or Tourism Concern on 020 7753 3330 or email info@tourismconcern.org.uk

L'Oreal
Naturewatch has a long-standing boycott of L'Oreal due to its continued use of animal testing for cosmetics. The French multinational uses ingredients that have been tested on animals, despite public statements to the contrary. It has also been criticised for lobbying against an EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics.
Contact: Naturewatch on 01242 252 871

Lucozade (owned by GlaxoSmithKline)
for being on Ethical Consumer's list of top donors to the Republican Party. See BoycottBush for more information.

MBNA
for being on Ethical Consumer's list of top donors to the Republican Party. See BoycottBush for more information.

Microsoft
for being on Ethical Consumer's list of top donors to the Republican Party. See BoycottBush for more information.

Nestlé
for its irresponsible marketing of baby milk formula which infringes the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.
Contact: Baby Milk Action, 23 St Andrews St, Cambridge CB2 3AX, 01223 464420

Nouvelle recycled toilet paper
Boycott called by Ethical Consumer magazine, issue 108 (September/October 2007). Brand owners Koch Industries, also makes toilet tissue from virgin forests, was the main US importer of wood from Indonesia and came bottom in a recent World Wildlife Fund comparison of toilet tissue companies. It has also been part of a team advising George Bush on “conservative environmentalism,” or in short, deregulation. See toilet roll report in issue 107 for alternatives.

Pakistan International Airlines
The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) have launched a consumer boycott of PIA, acting on behalf of eight trade unions to pressurise the Pakistani government to stop the victimisation of aviation workers. For more information contact ITF +44(0)20 7940 9260.

Peugeot
for moving production from the UK to France and low-wage Slovakia. Contact Amicus and T&G unions for more information or ring 020 7611 2500

Procter and Gamble
for its continued use of animal testing for cosmetics, household products and pet food. Brands made by P&G include Always, Ariel, Bold, Camay, Clearasil, Crest, Daz, Dreft, Fairy, Flash, Head and Shoulders, Insignia, Milton, Napisan, Oil of Ulay, Old Spice, Pampers, Sinex, Tide, Viakal, Vidal Sassoon, Vortex and Zest.
Contact: BUAV, 16a Crane Grove, London N7 8LB (0207 700 4888)
and: Uncaged Campaigns, 9 Bailey Lane, Sheffield S1 4EG
tel: 0114 272 2220, info@uncaged.co.uk

Reckitt Benckiser
as part of a boycott of products of companies which still test household goods and their ingredients on animals.
Contact: BUAV on 0207 700 4888

Rolls-Royce
for being on Free Burma UK's list of companies with investments in Burma. Contact Burma Campaign UK for a full list or ring 020 7324 4710

SABMiller
Altria (formerly Philip Morris) has a substantial shareholding in SABMiller, which also owns Appletiser, Peroni Nastro Azzuro and Pilsner Urquell. See above for details of the Altria boycott
For alternative mainstream beer brands, Ethical Consumer magazine gives the best scores to Budvar (13.5) and Grolsch (12.5).

SC Johnson
as part of a boycott of products of companies which still test household goods and their ingredients on animals.
Contact: BUAV on 0207 700 4888

Shell
until the peoples of the Ogoni region in Nigeria receive a fair share of profits from oil extraction, and are able to live in better environmental conditions.
Contact: MOSOP-UK (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People), Suite 3-4, Albion Place, Galena Rd, Hammersmith, London W6 0LT, 020 8563 8614


Starbucks
because for every cup of coffee that it sells, farmers in coffee-growing countries such as Ethiopia earn about 2p. It has also been accused by the Industrial Workers of the World union of 'retaliatory firing' of four union organisers in the US
Contact US Organic Consumer's Association for information on the campaign for fairer terms for Ethiopian coffee farmers. More information on how to support the union can be found on by visiting the National Lawyers Guild website or telephoning (001) 212 679 5100.

Singapore Airlines
in protest against threats of government repression during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Annual Meeting. The Singapore Government had issued a warning that it was prepared to cane or imprison protestors who committed "violent crimes" during the meeting meetings, but Friends of the Earth International argued that it was very difficult to identify violent offenders in crowds.

Superdrug
for being on Free Burma UK's list of companies with investments in Burma. The connection is via Superdrug's parent company Cheung Kong Holdings.
Contact Burma Campaign UK for a full list or ring 020 7324 4710

Suzuki
for being on Free Burma UK's list of companies with investments in Burma.
Contact Burma Campaign UK for a full list or ring 020 7324 4710



Tarkett
due to refusing to provide evidence to prove the legal source of their merbau flooring. Without guarantees of the wood?s origin, it?s likely that merbau wood flooring could have come from Indonesia?s last remaining rainforests.
Contact Environmental Investigation Agency for more information or ring 020 7324 4710.

Tesco
due to its escalating use of Radio Frequency identification. The tiy computer chips embedded in products or packaging allow monitoring of items which consumers normally consider private, like clothing, wallets and backpacks. Contact CASPIAN (Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering)
also due to the sale of live turtles, tortoises and frogs in their Chinese stores. China currently has no animal welfare laws. Contact Care for the Wild International Tel. 01306 627900


Unilever
as part of a boycott of the products of companies which still test on animals. The focus of the boycott is on the testing of household products and their ingredients.
Contact: BUAV on 0207 700 4888

Going Green Ramadan and beyond

Now that we are at the end of Ramadan I have been looking for something that I can implement from now on. Allah loves that which is small but consistent we all know this but I am not sure I have been implementing it practically. Acts of worship are one things but Islam is comprehensive so I have decided a mix and match philosophy is needed! Something that is practical but inshallah has the sincere intentions of doing good, bettering the lives of others and generally making a stand against the things which I rage about but that I have not yet managed to do anything about.

Where is all this leading?.... well I walked into Shared Earth a fair trade shop in Manchester and I browsed brought a few things and in the process discovered a book entitled “do the right things!” a practical guide to ethical living. Finally I can do more then just have an emotional reaction to trade injustice or boycott an item or two. Now I can actually find out companies ethical or rather unethical labour polices and make a stand with my fellow “third worlders” ( how I loath that term)!!

So my after Ramadan resolution is to inshallah not only strive to worship my lord in acts of ibadah but to also make conscious choices about what I buy and to email and write to companies that immorally place profit over justice. The little Bleeeeps

As Benjamin Zephaniah puts it “The seas will rise, the rivers will flood, the air shall be heavy, darkness and famine shall be upon the land, and a man in a suit will genetically modify –if you let him.”

I am turning into a little hippie, person-centred counselling, fair-trade and ethical living now I need to move out of the city and grow my own vegetables as I live on a hill top (sounds rather appealing).

How to earn less but feel much richer

This morning I was reading an article in the independent called “how to earn less but feel much richer” At the end of my stay in Egypt I had already decided to study further and I was wrestling with the choice between 2 courses. One would almost guarantee a job and a very healthy annual salary the other would cost me more to study whilst offering less job security but a greater potential for personal growth.

Ultimately it because a choice between idealism and reality until I realised that a major part of reality is living and if the option is there we should always choose the option which is more likely to enrich our lives as a whole and not just financially. Happiness and a satisfied soul should come above financial gain. So after the istikhara I made my choice. Counselling it is.

My dearest friend graduated this year and instead of making the most out of her degree financially speaking she has chosen to take a job with Islamic relief which will mean that she will be struggling financially but the elusive satisfied soul that we are all in search of will be attainable more readily here.

So when I read this article about people giving up there high-powered jobs for jobs which would get them out of the rat race and read their experiences it made me think is this the beginning of a trend? Is the 20plus generation looking for more then just a healthy bank balance or is it as symptom of this society ills. I read somewhere earlier on this year that by 2020 the second biggest killer in the western world will be depression. Maybe we are starting to recognise that there is more to happiness then the values championed by capitalism.

Du'a of a fasting person

Once Moosa (AS) asked Allah Taala: O Allah ! you have granted me the
honour and privilege of talking to you directly, Have you given this
privilege to any other person?

Allah Taala replied, O Moosa during the
last period I am going to send an ummat, who will be the Ummat of Mohammed
(SAW) with dry lips , parched tongues, emaciated body with eyes sunken deep
into their sockets, with livers dry and stomachs suffering the pangs of
hunger- call out to me (in dua) they will be much much closer to me
than you

O Moosa! while you speak to me there are 70000 veils between you and
me but at the time of iftaar there will not be a single veil between me
and he fasting Ummati of Mohammed (SAW) O moosa I have taken upon
myself the responsibility that at the time of iftaar I will never
refuse the dua of a fasting person!

Ramadan Mubarak

moment of truth

It’s finally here! I have my counselling course interview this Wednesday although the course starts in September. Talk about last minute but I had to rearrange my July interview because I had the flu. So here I am waiting for a life changing decision for the first time in a long time I actually REALLY want to do something so please lots of du’as this way and inshallah khayr.

2 weeks on

I have been back in my own room, sleeping in my own bed, eating my mummys food, socialising with friends i have not seen for a long time and ones who came to Egypt, Evertheidealist wedding came and went. I am supposed to be job haunting but honestly i have not yet activiely tried am too busy enjoying the rain in manchester there is such a thing as getting too much sun.

To add to it all i have been having a long-term sleep over with newbie in my room as her manchester home is being renovated by the land-lord. Shukri had a girlie party on saturday, and i have another party to go to in two weeks time. Any excuse for food, music and all girlie fun.It it really any wonder that i have not been job haunting.

For the first time ever in one of these bring a dish parties i actually cooked and didn't just pop to a supermarket an hour or two before. I was so proud ;)

This weekend am going to sheffield to visit family. I am really looking forward to that. Eventually i will have to get on with some reading for the up coming counselling career!

I am back

Yep am back in rainy ole manchester, alhamdulilah couldn't be better family, friends and my beloved rain. i have arrived

when things go wrong

The girls have been here for two weeks and a bit now and the non beautiful highlights of the trip are

1)The girls arrived a day earlier then I had planned for and where stranded in luxor airport (which by the way is so much cheaper and you can fly directly from Manchester airport only takes 5hours)

2) The travel agent messed up my ticket changing my surname to HUSSEIN but I still managed to fly from Aswan to cairo as Nhussein domestic flight eh…am not sure how I feel about that, or how save these domestic flights are especially as people who are not who they claim to be can board, but I was grateful I made it to cairo.

3) A taxi driver tryed to drop us of on street corner in Cairo at 2am because we wouldn’t go to his overly priced hotel. His reasoning was that he was going home to his wife the little ******** and to his thinking it was okay to leave a group of females on a deserted street corner. I have never felt so angry in my life and the brother knows about it the little…..

4) Katrina, Asia and I where in a taxi when a man threw what looked like a piece of rubbish into Asia’s window. The girls start shouting at him when Asia unravels the piece of paper and we realise it’s his mobile number and name…MEN!

5)Katrina and Amina lost their digital cameras so we went to the police to report it, then the consulate only to be told they need 350 L.E to translate each statement and verify it. I wonder just how helpful they would be in a real emergency. Pathetic

6)Three of the girls got mild food poisoning (from a kofta sandwich), I stayed with them and we all missed Mount Sinai poor loves.

7) Some of us missed the train to Alex and had to catch the Superjet which although is rather luxurious simply doesn’t give you enough room, take the train every time.

8)In Luxor Sarah (aka newbie) called my name and within second the whole market was chanting my name…weird I tell you.

9) A group of the girls got locked in a hotel room, the handle broke and they where stranded. All this happened on our first night of arrive and the hotel staff had to break the handle and get the girls to throw down the key from the 7floor.

10) I had a mini breakdown in the first week where I walked of and left the girls in a market in Aswan because I couldn’t handle so many differing voice and the indecisions and simply taking so many into account. Talk about need to be reintroduced to society. I wondered around Aswan to re-centreJ

11) Beenish had her phone stolen 2hours before leaving for the airport!

luxor,Aswan and now cairo

Dear lord

am sooo old and the longer this crazy trek continues the more i realise that Newbie and i are old beyond our time. Any given opportunity we find a cafe and have a tea fix!The girls have so much energy and are so much fun alhamdulilah that sometimes we just don't realise were the time has gone.

After level 3 i needed sometime to just let loose and this has certainly been it. You can imagine how excitable 9 girls become...it all makes me laugh alhamdulilha

I have a lot of tails to tell but its past 2am and i have a 6 hour bus ride to sinai and then a climb so am going to go to sleep and see just how fit i am now as compared to 2 years ago when i got to the top by foot.

trying 48 hours

There are testy days and then there are trying days, the 25-26 of June was an incredibly trying 48hours . First we had to go and extend Newbies visa which was of course a barrel of joy especially as the day before we had been lying side by side on make shift hospital beds (a.k.a hotel room) taking turns to visit the bathroom with threat of vomiting hanging over our heads. There is nothing quite like standing around while you feel like your dying

We asked our parents to put money into sarah’s account (I lost my card a while ago..AGAIN) the past week we shopped and just generally used up our flight to luxor reserves because we had money. So went to the HSBC as other cash machines kept rejecting Newbies card (should have been the first sign that not all was well)

Anyho we walked in, used the cash machine except it also rejected her card, then we went to take it out as a point of sale and nope! Her card had been rejected by the issuer (bloody HSBC) so after about an hour of trying to sort the situation out the hard fact was we where stranded in Alex with 4oo LE between us!

I have to say though we took it exceptionally well and even laughed about it and joked about how if worst came to worst we could trade Newbie for a few camels On a serious note though we saw a young boy looking through bins for food and that definitely put things into perspective we went home and prayed the prostration of thanks.

Then I got a text saying "salam we are here" from a UK mobile number, Dear lord!!! My little sister and her friend arrived a day earlier then I had booked the pick up from the airport and the hotel for! I have to say I was really panicked the money thing I took in my stride but the girls being stuck in luxor undid me. Older sister responsibilities came flooding through the gate that had been locked for almost 6 months.

I got on the phone and for some reason the lady who sent for the pick up sent the man to the national airport as she thought they were arriving from Somalia, They had been waiting for about an hour and a half now, by the time they were picked up they had been hanging around the airport for over 2 hours!

Newbie called the bank and as she had neglected to tell them she was coming to Egypt they had put a stop on her card incase of fraud so alhamdulilah we have money again.
Oh and to top of our glorious day just as the Aadan for fajr was called our electricity died ( just our room and the room next door) which went we couldn’t see anything and the airconditioning had gone, a not so fine layer of sweat was now our companion. Newbie opened the door and there was a beautiful breaze but then we were woken up again as the sun coming through our balcony had burned our feet!!

Then we missed our train to cairo and when i tried to buy another ticket the man told me that they were all booked. But alhamdulilah he found two tickets on the next train and we jumped on that. Got to liz's in cairo stayed up with her and then 3.30am we hailed a taxi put all our luggage on and the taxi broke down! But alhamdulilah the taxi after a lot of dua it re-started and we jumped on the plane

We are now in luxor ( all 10 of us) phew....

General update

By god its getting hot now! although i can't complain too much its topping up on my tan like nothing i have ever seen. For the first time a few days ago someone asked me if i was Aswani :) that fulfilled on my long sought after ambitions here in egypt!

i have 5 more days before i complete my level 3 and then start travelling around egypt with 8 girls including me. How these trips get so big i have no idea but since i now know its extortionate to go with a tour company i have take it on my self and sarah to lead this tour.

i have been planning the itinerary, the hotels and a flight from aswan to cairo so inshallah its should be smooth but if its not then its part of the experience.

I know its premature and am not home yet but i have been trying to evaluate the crazy girl who came to egypt not knowing a soul to the woman who is now leaving! some of the changes are obvious and am aware of but some i guess only time and the people who know me well will tell.

But taking on this tour is one of the many changes that has taken place. I would never have taken on such a task before but know that i have developed a no nonsense attitute am not actually apprehensive about the possibilities.

All in all am looking forward to just partying with the girls level 3 has been hard on me and incredibly intense so letting loose and just sipping minute tea sounds wonderful.

youml jumm'a wa suratul kahf

Another jumm’a has come and gone and since reading surah Al-kahf on jumm’a is recommended I thought I would become reacquainted with this surah so there I am reading it from my copy the qur’an that combines the English translation with the Arabic text side by side (courtesy of native female, May allah never cease to reward her)

Near the end the surah talks about Musa (AS) meeting with khidr whom Musa asks to go travelling with because of his knowledge. The first thing that Khidr does Musa (as) is shocked by because it appears to the deliberate damaging of someone’s boat. Then it gets worse when they meet a boy along the way and Khidr kills him! Then finally before they part, they come to a town, asked for food but the people refused. They then came to a wall about to collapse and Khidr set it straight when Musa (As) said surely you could have taken wages for that. At this point they parted ways because Musa( As) could not be patient with Khidr and what he was doing.

Khidr revealed to Musa (As) the wisdom behind what seemed like abhorrent acts.

1) In the case of the boat it belong to a miskeen (poor person) working in the sea so he defected it as there was a king who was seizing all the boats by force so as to make it undesirable to the king enabling the miskeen to repair it and continue with his source of lively hood. (Subhanallah I can imagine that from the miskeens point of view this would have seemed like a major disaster, his only source of lively hood was now damaged, what was he going to do, was his life not hard enough etc etc. But inactual fact allah loved him and was saving his means for him and in fact what seemed like a disaster was a mercy.)

2) And as for the boy, his parents were believers and we feared that he should oppress them by rebellion and disbelief so we intended that their lord should change him for them for one better in righteousness and nearer to mercy. (Subhanallah, I can’t imagine anything worse then losing a child and the pain and grieve that must accompany that, Yet the all mighty who gives life and take life only wanted to spare these believing parents long-term suffering but was also going to replace that which he took with something better and more comforting for them. What ordinary person would consider the death of their child a mercy or a blessing but that is what it was.

3) As for the wall, it belong to two orphaned boys in the town; and there was under it a treasure belonging to them and their father was a righteous man, and your lord intended that they should attain their age of full strength and take out their treasure. (subhanallah but here were two orphans seemingly without any protection but they had the greatest of protector looking after their interests and regulating their affairs)

So all in all what seemed like calamities were in fact Allah bestowing his mercy and blessing upon these people and when we make du’a for Allah to grant us the best of this world and the next do we really understand that what is best for us in this word and what will gain us the best of all prizes in the next world may not always appear to be good and may infact appar to be a disaster?!

I guess the true manifestation of “allah is the best disposer of affairs” to be thankful and pleased with your lord even when it would appear that all is lost or that something terrible has happened to you. So be it the loss of your job or the loss of a child or the loss of our parents allah is truly the best of all providers.

May he make us of those who are continuously patient and thankful….Ameen

Visa madness

I was speaking to one of the girls from the institute a couple of days ago and she was telling me about the horrors of extending her visa here in alex. Which reminded me of my fateful morning when i happily walked to the “al-jawaazaat” to extend my visa. Now I have to admit that I was a tad late and was prepared for a slap on the wrist fine for flout Egyptian law etc but what I did not expect was the 3 hours ahead of me. In fact It was so bad that I dug my pen and pad out of my bag and kept a note of the preceding for the intention of blogging but never got around to it so here is my experience.

I walked into the building asked the guy sat next to the door where I needed to go, he looked at my passport and directed me upstairs. i had to pass a crazy number of booths mostly with French and Arabic words on top ( the Arabic looks like a scribble so that’s no help)

I asked a guard when I went upstairs where I needed to go next he directed me to window number 7 entitled “Resident Touristique” so I bobbed along happily, gave the woman one of my ecstatic smiles (which usually makes people so much more amiable) only to be met by a hard unsmiling, scowl wearing face of an elderlish woman. The next 3 hours proceeded like this.

1) window number 7 ( most unfriendly woman I have ever met)
2) sent to window number 10 ( to buy 2 stamps and a form)
3) sent back to window number 7 ( was told to fill in form, proceeded to fill the form in, was told by the hellion to move off her window and fill in my form across the room, how rude)
4) filled in the form, returned to window number 7 ( were she practically took my arm off whilst trying to take the form from me, at this point I was forced to raise an eye brow)
5) She then sent me to window number bloody 10 to get another stamp, at this point I had a 100 note was the woman at window number 10 was getting irritated with me but a smile and a sorry was enough to restore her humour (normal human there then)
6) Back to window number 7 except she is not there, I had to stand there for 15 mins while she held a rather heated conversation with one of her colleagues ( bless the poor man)
7) She returned, snapped a few words of ammiya far beyond my grasps at me, at this point am contemplating if prison would be more pleasant. She throws my form back at me and sends me to window number 8
8) Window number 8 is now occupied by the man she had that scathing argument with ( oh joy) so I stand there and try a smile, old man isn’t affected by my attempt at civility but he doesn’t swear at me so am thankful (she conditioned me to expect abuse in under an hour)
9) Window number 8 the man takes my papers and picture, I brought two but they only need one. He had read over my details and asked me if my mum was Egyptian, then I try and joke with him by responding with “if I say yes will it speed up the process”. He said nothing and continues scribbling on my form ( note: never smile or joke with a government official)
10) Then its back to window number 10 to buy more stamps
11) To window number 8 again to be handed a letter and was told to take it, go downstairs and pay my fine then return.
12) As I am descending i ask a man which window I needed to go to pay my fine, he points to a window entitled “cassie” window number 6.
13) I paid and was then told to go back up, a return to window number 8 and was told to go and photocopy the receipt and the letter he gave me. ( by now am ready to punch the first non- government official to cross me)
14) There is a convenient photocopy guy just outside the building (praise the lord) so I stand there queuing like a polite Brit when people start pushing in front of me ( wrong day) so now am telling people to move out of my way! And when the photocopy guy took the papers of the guy behind me I took a step towards him, I must have looked really angry because he took my papers from me and copied them promptly J
15) Then I return to window number 8, he scribbles a few more things and then sends me to
16) window number 7 ( at this point she is the one who is met by a scowling non-smiling face, serves the wench right )
17) She hands me my growing papers and tells me to get the “Captain” to sign them, she directs me to a room, I turn up and find the captain, give him my wad of papers he asks me a few things, I look blank, he shouts for a Hasan (by now am not contemplating the merits of prison over this ordeal, the captain looked like he could pull of all ten of my toe nails without flinching once)
18) I go back to window number 7, she tell me to return in an hour without any explanation as to why so I stand there demanding why and she says to collect your visa and passport. At which point I mutter a strained shukran and exit.
19) Found the nearest coffee place and grabbed some well deserved tea passed my time there, regain control of my temper.
20) Returned! Took my passport with my visa and left the place ( alhamdulilah)

For the love of all that is good if this is the system is Cairo as well anyone thinking of staying in Egypt for longer then a month please get your visa from your home country, it’s a matter of downloading a form and posting it!