Al-Qahira

Its been a long time in coming but am finally in Egypt. I am sat here in my room in Cairo for the night before moving on to Alexandria tomorrow and it feels very surreal. The flight was like any other flight really not much to say. The taxi ride from the airport took me back to the first time I saw Al-Qahira striking.

Its already tomorrow so am going to get some sleep, will update soon

Random act

One of the guys whom when I first started took us through an introductory course just walked up to my desk with a wad of paper and said he had a present for me. During that intro course about 10weeks ago he saw me knitting a mitten and asked. Anyho the wad of paper was a host of information on knitting. He said someone left it on his desk and he though I could make use of it. How sweet is that, for someone to remember such passive information from 2months plus ago. I am very pleased with the wad of paper, I tried to thank him by offering him a piece of yummy chrystalised ginger but he declined. No idea why!

Evertheidealist

For my Precious Evertheidealist...

"We have been dear friends, and now you're going
Far away for many months
But please don't leave me without knowing
How I feel as your time nears.
I know you're older, more mature,wiser
And far beyond me in so many ways.
But there's between us something pure by Allah’s grace.
That has given me these beautiful days and memories
I thank you for the joy, for the care for the warmth of your laughter
That your sweet friendship's brought to me.
Think of this poem as an embrace
That says, "I love you" Our reunion I await my precious friend

I am sure anyone who knows Evertheidealist will agree she is truely a blessing to all those who know her. The Emirates will have you for a while but know that Manchester mourns your parting and awaits with an eager heart your return.

Stupid people and Power hungry nations.

I have decided there is nothing more annoying then a THICK person and America. This countries adult numercy and literacy rate is shameful especially as education in the UK mandatory till the age of 16! I had to spend 20mintues explaining a bill to a man and for the love of all that is good it was the simplest of subtractions.

The conversation went along the lines of if you take this away from that you get this…there I am expecting a simple agreement when he replies NO!! Excuse me…what…huh. How do you make an individual understand something so fundamental if they simply don’t get it! Silly man. I can understand people being upset if they are right and have been hard done by but when they are plain STUPID and have been billed correctly! They really tick me off Argh

Oh and just to sour my mood exponentially I have just read that America has began an air raid campaign in southern Somalia. All that the so-called president is quoted to have said is , "the US has a right to bombard terrorist suspects who attacked its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania".

So that is okay then! Please America keep bombing us because clearly as Mr Yusuf has already informed the world it is our fault, 27 dead oh well its just collateral after all! ARGHH

I swear my rage problems are not being helped by anything that happens today! I just went to pray (lets face it i needed some relief) so i walk into the room which doubles as a prayer room to only find a brother in there making wudu. He asks me if i want a prayer mat and i need to make wudu. He finished called me and preceeded to take out a prayer and start praying. So not only did he expect me to pray outside (how gentlemanly) but he expected me to make wudu with him about 1/2 a metre away from me...Hello! thick little pooh ever heard of awrah/hijab! like i was going to just roll up my sleeve and pull up my trouser...urgh! am appalled and even angrier then when i went to pray.

Count down

I was not made to work! My 16week plan to save for 6months in Egypt is going smoothly. Except for the fact that I have to work. Its not so much as the work (even if its not challenging or engaging) it’s the cold. It doesn’t seem to matter how many layers I may wear I am always cold. My poor African skins is freezing. 2weeks left at work and 3weeks till I actually fly inshallah so I am making dua that the time remaining goes dizzyingly fast. So that i can part with all the jumpers and breathe in the sea air inshallah.

I recently received an email informing me that there wouldn’t be a teacher available in Cairo in january…Huh…one of the most over populated cities in the world and the whole institution couldn’t find a single teacher for me? Its fair to say a little panic had set in and the lord and I had a word or 7. Although it took me a while to see that the lord in his wisdom wanted in Alexandria so am headed for an apartment near the sea (inshallah) with an American muslim and an Italian looking into islam.

A dying world

The world has officially gone mad, the Muslim world that is! Not only do we have the longest list of occupied countries, countries in conflict, countries ruled by the worst that humanity has to offer, but now even in places where there was hope of unity an inkling of brotherhood appear to be falling apart under our stare.

I am struggling to take it all in, its breaking my heart. Palestine the olive of the Muslim world, the symbol of struggle against unimaginable aggression epitomized by the picture of a boy with a stone standing before a tank! Our symbol of struggle, What went wrong when did brother turn against brother simply because they come under the name of Fatah or Hamas! Now the Egyptian government is sending weapons to Fatah to be used against hHmas and surprise, surprise Israel has opened the border so that this can take place.

A little closer to home and Somalis are turning on each other AGAIN. Was it not bad enough when we simply slaughtered each other the first time? The South verse the North. And now it’s the struggle for power! What makes a brother take sides with an invading force?

Our problems as an Ummah have grown such that hope is all we have to hold on to. Allah says that we will not change the situation of a people until the people change within themselves. We have immense work to do! Each and everyone of us counts so lets get back to the basics so that our creator hears our du’as and enables us to live with the light and justice of Iman once more.

Awww....

I am so touched, I had moaned about my lost cookbook at work especially as I have been making progress in the feeding oneself department. Today I walked into work today to be handed a "beginners cook book". The team got together to buy me a replacement cookbook, how incredibly sweet and thoughtful is that!

In her shoes

The best vantage point for understanding behaviour is from the internal frame of reference of the individual.

Little toe

Too weeks of being on the early shift at work are finally starting to take its toll, especially as am making up for two weeks of doing the late shift, effectively meaning that I have not seen anyone other then those brave enough to drop by at my house. So for the past week and half I have been making up for the lack of social life, burning the candle at both ends as such.

Bearing in mind that I am incredibly tired, I made arrangements to meets Newbie and Liz yesterday but first maghrib was due so we made arrangements to meet at the MYF. I got to the myf bone tired, met Whitey’s dad on the way had a bit of a chat then made my way to the ladies area as isha was approaching.

I pulled of my boots, practically fell onto to the door which is incredibly heavy and while I was pulling on it I whacked by little toe. Which was incredibly painful so I screamed (how undignified), pulled the door and fell into the room, clutching my sock clad foot, hopping on one leg, pulling faces contoured with pain. And all this unwarranted exercise along with my 3jumpers of varying thickness made me feel hot so I started pulling of my coat and jumpers discarding them all over the floor till I could breathe.

Then I went to the wudu area, made wudu and prayed a very slow maghrib because I was so tired to only finish praying then realise by bag and clothes where on the other side of the room. It was an utter mess yet I really just didn’t have the energy to get up and collect them. I didn’t want poor unsuspecting woman walking into the room with my mess all over the floor. I was torn as to what to do and in the end I could only muster up enough energy to crawl across. So I collected a jumper and then carried on crawling to pick up my bag and the rest of my unassorted items. I got a hold of my bag only in mid crawl to realise that I had absolutely forgotten about the cctv camera in the room!

Oh my lord, I froze, I know the brothers who work in the MYF, and one of them is married of my friend!!! All I could think of was what did they see? What did they see? Oh god very slow version of my demented antics I must have temporally lost the ability to reason because instead of getting up composing myself and walking away I crawled backwards! Why? Walahi I don’t know I think somewhere in my beleaguered mind I must have though if I did it backwards I could have reverse the days events! How can I ever return?!

My Daddy

How can I write a piece to document the greatness of a 66 year old man. Its impossible to describe how much I love and respect my dad, I have stars in my eyes when I look at him the man is perfect in my eyes. He is all I could have hoped for as a father, as a wise friend as a permanent guardian.

Allah truly blessed us with a man who could take on the task of raising 6daughters and a son firstly in his native Hargaisa and then in his adopted mancheser. He raised us to think with our heads and our hearts. He taught us what it means to be a family and to love each other unconditionally, to be able to fight and bicker but make up in a few hours later. He taughts us about our creator and our Deen. He told us stories about a world in which Allah’s religion was upheld and practiced and made us long for it and wants to strive for it.

He tried his best to prepare us for this world and the next. We got dropped of at school early everyday and we were picked up by him everyday after. A constant pillar of wisdom and discipline, I never feared my daddy I feared his displeasure because he means so much to me. My daddy lived his life for our success not necessary in money or materialist things but our success as humans.

Having 6 daughters, living in a foreign country his worst fear has always been our welfare when he passes away. I remember my daddy very early on in my teens sitting me down and telling me that a father leaves his children 2things in this life, The deen and the means within which to look after themselves and since he wasn’t leaving us money he was leaving us with an educated, strong willed mind so that he could be confident that no matter what we could look after ourselves. He would never want us dependent on another human being.

I will never forget your gentle way of correcting my behaviour, of patting me on the head as your said “may allah grant your father paradise”. I will never forget you trying to teach me the value of time and at 22 am finally learning to be on time. I will never forget your reflective face or your vast knowledge, I will never forget the way you hum your istikhfar, or your love for the Qur’an. I will never forget the way you understood your responsibility as the head of the household, I will never forget the way you made us present our case when we wanted to do something you disagreed with instead of simply saying no! I will never forget the way that you love and respect my mother, your understanding of the worth of your woman. I thank you for making our childhood stable, we never feared that you or mummy would ever separate or divorce. We never saw you fight or disrespect each other, am sure you had almighty rows and fights but we never witnessed one! My friends say i live in a rainbow coloured bubble thats because my childhood was so special. Daddy you are the standard by whom I will judge the father of my children.

My father now a days likes to talk about being in his sunset years, According to him he is in his Maghrib years. He likes to remind us that death is inevitable and one day he will pass away. I can’t say I won’t be heart broken or cry for him but I am truly humbled by Allah’s blessing upon our household when he chose to grant us my daddy as our father. It is said true love never dies and my father will always be the one man I have loved above all men. After Allah and our prophet it most definately is you and my mother.

I LOVE YOU simply does not do justice as to how I feel about you! You have made me all that I am. I make du’a that Allah grants you a place in jannatual-firdaus amongst his most beloved, amongst his prophets, his martyrs, and the heroes of Islam because you are my hero.

Terminated

Hot of the press, my computer system at work has been defunct for 3days now. On Thursday when the problems started I thought it was heaven but occupying yourself in front of the computer purposelessly for 7.5 hours a day for 3 days is starting to take its toll.

Today is Monday and as usual the Monday blues are rampant and as it gets colder and colder its becoming more and more arduous. This morning I literally had to tip myself out of my bed and it was only the proceeding bump and subsequent pain of landing on my bag that woke me!

The beautiful bus journey was made even more exciting by getting stuck in traffic! Now that am on the early shift for the next 14days I have an immense amount of joy ahead of me every morning, bring out the voluminous books.

To then walk into work with a pass that isn’t working so I can’t access anywhere in the building. I approaching the reception area which doubles as the security hut I was …erm…how shall I put it surprised to find out that I have been TERMINATED! What on earth! Well apparently when someone leaves NTL their pass is terminated, So now that am an not actually working at NTL anymore my poor bereaved manager had to come down and vouch for me.

I finally made it into the building only to find out that my computer system that hasn’t been working is shockingly still not working, or rather acknowledging my existence. Oh joy.

The light of a day came in the form of my temporary contract coming to an end in a week and a half’s time. After I have another interview on Tuesday along with a few psychometric computer tests! The ultimate blow is that I will now be paid monthly!! Why oh why! Counting my pennies and turning the them into Egyptian curency in my head every friday is what ensures I actually get out of bed.

So to some up my Monday
The waking up almost killed me
The stupid bus almost killed me
NTL has terminated me
My weekly pay as well and truly been terminated

The systems are down at work today so I have been sitting on my desk surfing the net ;) while reading the news I found the following article and took part in the quiz

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/quiz/questions/0,,1959163,00.html

here is my result

" Well done eco-warrior. Climate Change and the environment are moral issues and you are obviously a very ethical person. Is your name Monbiot? Any greener and the sheep would be after you!"

I always new it! fight to have the air conditioning of whilest sharing with Newbie in egypt! see I was saving the world!!

take part people and see what your doing for the world

the system problems continue and my joy at doing Absolutly nothing also continues...ahaa

Career change

I feel the need to document another career change ( i wonder if it can be considered a change if i have not actually had a career as of yet...hmmm) well anyway it appears a regular change of direction is part of my personality OR maybe i just don't want a career. Nine to Five just doesn't suite me (cue Dolly Parton).

So i have decided to embrace my indecisive ways and revel in it. To hug my wayward ways and enjoy the fact that i can change my mind and explore my options as really there isn't any pressure from anyone to settle on something!!

so the career of the week is counselling! I am enjoying the fantasy of warping many poor unsuspecting individuals :) I am going to keep fills on ALL i know mwhaha ( is that ethical, if i have persmission i guess it is )

The grave yard shift+fraud

I am sat here on my desk debating which i prefer the early or the late shift. There isn't much of a debate, I feel deprived of my two way debate but i would take the early shift everytime. coming to work at 12 and leaving at 8 is so anti-social.

How do people conduct a LIFE doing these sort of shifts on a regular and long-term basis?! Seriously this must put strains on relationships. As much as I actually enjoy working with my lot i can't imagine being with them on the grave yard shift long term...urgh

OMG i just took a call and my manager thinks am a weirdo magnet already as i continuously get the weirdest calls or the most friendly people ( i think its my little girls voice) anyway I just had a guy call me and tell me that he wants me to take down some names of some people in the leicester area who are "chipping" NTL settop boxes.

I had to enquire as to what "Chipping" was and he said its basically messing with the set top box so that people receive all the channels available for free as Ntl can't detect it. He has give me names and address. I feel like a fraud investigator. The excitment won't last for long though i have to pass the information on to my manager.

I am going to bring down a massive crime ring mwahaha

ting a ling a ling

Blog already I keep hearing, what about I ask myself, I only write when am upset or deeply moved, or excited either way I have to have my threshold raised, I have to be inspired, I have to be driven to write something whatever it might be. Lately I have been very mellow and very routine oriented, much focused and this doesn’t lend itself very well to me blogging.

But I have had two very nice experiences this week, one the Islamic awareness week marquee at saint anne’s square. It was incredible, the exhibition, the calligraphy, the henna, the food, the dress around the world section. Isn’t it wonderful the way these things bring you back into contact with people you have not seen, some for years and some for weeks but either way were there is genuine affection and love its always a wonder and a joy to be reunited.

What is becoming our tradition inspired by THE NEWBIE a very English Sunday roast was under way at the flat when we have a call saying that there is photo journalist on the way, who wants to document European Islam a typical day then. He came, he saw and he said he will return. Watch this space, the website is www.islamophobia.org.uk.

Apart from that i have another week of work to look forward to but since the people am working with are hilarious its actually almost a pleasure. Other then that since am so mellow I have no rants, no deep philosophical ponders ( if there ever where any), no causes or rights to fight for, no radio calls to inspire a feminist streak…. Again am mellow and elated mood.

Working life

Ramadan is over, Eid has graced us with its presence and gone, I have settled into a work pattern, and the Egypt fund is looking rather healthy and on par with the 16week saving plan of which I have 11 weeks left!! Then its of with the coat, gloves and scarf but until then am freezing. I feel the gale winds of winter upon us my toes and fingers are well and truly loathing the cold already, plus what little summer tan I had picked up is quickly fading.

Ntl is hilarious, I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed work so much, other then the early mornings and ridiculous bus journey its great. My colleagues are such a funny bunch , they make me smile and the concept of team is so strong its beautiful. I can’t remember the last time I was so relaxed and happy in a work place. Maybe it’s the size of the organisation or maybe its because its so impersonal, we get along, we have fun and then we go home, there is absolutely nothing to dwell on.

Colleagues should be just that, people you work with, people who have a neat little compartment to fit into and this compartment should contains the following words
Impersonal ( no personal matters should enter the office)
Friendly ( but not close friends)
Professional (an understanding of the word and its relevant practice, but an air of being professional when in fact its anything but)
Procedures and regulations
Clear and unambiguous dealings
Fair and unemotional treatment
Family and friends should NEVER EVER work together

Ntl seams to be all this and more for me and because its so stress-free I have an incredible amount of energy, I am getting things done. I never realised just how much my energy levels depended on my emotional well being. Now that am content and relaxed my acquaintance with lethargy seems so far away.

I am writing this after my Arabic lesson , which consisted mainly of grammar so my head is somewhere else. But it is a fine example of my high energy levels, I woke up as 6 this morning to go to work now its 9pm and I have just finished my lesson.
Sometimes dispite what people may think is best for you, or how well the exit door maybe blocked only you can know what is good for you. Sometimes its just a change of scene but alhamdulilah I am very very pleased with my work place even if it’s only that for the next 11 weeks. I was talking to my friend who works in a Muslim organisation and its very sad when a muslim prefers a non-muslim work place to a muslim work place, very sad indeed.

Masjid crawl

This ramadan has been so full,its been brimming. i felt work was taking over and
i needed something more spiritual. i found out about the MYF qiyam on wednesday night and i wentfrom isha till fajr. It was so much fun seeing all the ladies in one place, qiyams are incredibly beautiful for so many reasons, the closeness you feel to Allah, the sincere lightness of spirit from all there, the fact that you see people you havn’t see since last Ramadan. ahhh that was the beautiful part the not so joyous part was that I had work the morning after and literally jumped on the bus just before sunrise to get to work and survive a full days work. How I managed to stay awake for 24hours only Allah knows.

Then on Friday night, round two arrived and we stayed in the MYF till 3am when the twin announced that Didsbury Masjid was completing the Qur’an in a couple of hours, WOW but more then that there is nothing quite like a Didsbury Du’a especially to mark the completing of the Qur’an. MD and I jumped in the twins car and of we went. it’s a joyous surprise when the Iman is reciting the Qur’an and you realise you know more surah’s then you think you do. The Du’a was lived up to the Didsbury expectation.

Then we left jumped back in the car and made it back to the MYF for Sehri, fajr and the Du’a. For some strange reason I feel like my Ramadan is over now, its probably because I can’t possibility top up these last magical couple of nights. Alhamdulilah now that I made up for the initial dip in the middle.

I wish It could be Ramadan everyday! But then the essence of Ramadan is to carry all the lessons we have learnt.

Beginner's cooking

Feasting on everyone else’s offerings was making me feel that it was about time everyone feasted on my offering. Cue “The Osborne beginner’s cookbook” and a very motivated Naima. The results:

Meatball in tomato sauce ( with peppers, onions, mixed herbs...) with pasta



fudgy apple crumble with custard.



I experiment on MD, Sarah and little AD. They lovvveeeeeeeed it, my worries about starving in Egypt are long gone. I am actually on a high, what an achievement. Next time am doing this on a much larger scale inshallah.

They might look rather simple but am so proud! my first meal

aahhh

Wow i have had another absoultely hectic week, but this time its because am training with NTL , subhanallah its so much fun, not because the training is not challenging (which it isn't) not because my follow trainees are simple (which they are) but because its just a nice, relaxing atmosphere and since virgin merged their outlook is if the staff are happy this will translate to good customer service which will translate itself to revenue.......blah blah.

What it means for me is i get spoiled, i have eid off if it falls on a monday, i can take the prayer room key from the reception when ever i wish and 2 of my follow trainees are soooo simple bless them that they make me smile.

The first week of the 6 weeks training is almost over and am loving it. Alhamdulilah NTL or the egypt fund as am terming it simply rocks.

The arabic lesson are coming along nicely ( my head still hurts) and iftar has been the most adventurous yet. we have had

libyan food
English food ( roast dinner)
good ole somali food
indian
italian

and thats all i can remember.

full plate

The headache that is getting prepared to applying for a pgce is immense, especially when you’re fasting, trying to save for 6 months in Egypt, spend quality time with family and friends, attend tarawih, iftaris, a 9 hour intensive Arabic course, go to school placements. Is it any wonder i am starting to get a tad stressed!