2:30 am - Lahore

I just hopped on after the most recent (late night) load shedding here in Pakistan to write a small blog.

Dubai was pretty awesome. Although I’m not really into the typical Dubai experience (tons of shopping), I did go to one mall and walked around some neat places, even though it was pretty hot. One thing I *had* to do was buy a new Hanayen abaya, to join (replace?) my 3-year-old abaya from them. The store clerks there are so nice and helpful and the abayas are perfect. (black on black!)

It’s extraordinarily hot here in Lahore during the day, (over 100 F / 38 C) and quite bearable but muggy at night. The city seems exactly the same as last time. Lively, interesting, a bit sad.

Today I (with some family) went to a local movie theatre here to see “Shutter” (English movie! with popcorn!) which was neat. My 6-year-old niece went with us and sat on my lap while I covered her eyes during the scary parts and tried to stop her from throwing popcorn on people . She whispered to me during the movie “Some people will think you’re my mom” hehe… She doesn’t know how funny that is. She also “tests” my Urdu… She’s softening my heart a bit toward children but still reinforcing my decision NOT to have any.

We also had ice cream at a very neat shop (pics coming soon). Nice to see all the Westernized youngsters hanging out, being cool in their jeans

This place is really … different bordering on strange. Last time I only caught glimpses of stuff and I reminded myself to pay closer attention this time, which may have been a bad idea. Within my first hour being here, I saw some pretty sad and heartbreaking things (I won’t go into details). The state of animal and human welfare here (and on this planet in general) is so poor and inexcusable. Seeing things like that out in the open just shocks me. I don’t understand it.

Visit the Flickr album for this trip, where I’ll add all my shots as time goes by when I can grab some internet time in between electricity outages.

Saara recently asked how I manage to stay vegetarian while in Pakistan. I find it’s quite easy! Thankfully, my husband’s family is very understanding and always makes sure there is some vegetarian dish available for us. I don’t budge on it and they don’t push. Maybe they are unusually accommodating for a Pakistani family (I have no other experience to draw from)? They just know I am vegetarian and there is no problem. Thank God for that… (It seems there is usually chanay or daal around, I hope all you veggie ladies married to Pakistanis don’t have too hard of a time :/)

More later…

Oof… I stayed up way too long, ignoring my to-do list to make two new themes. It’s comforting to code… It takes my mind off of packing (bleh!) and worrying (meh!).

There’s a new ThemeSwitcher area on the sidebar to set your preference. I couldn’t make up my mind. Feedback is appreciated.

This new stuff wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the very fun and FREE compilation of “avant-pop” from adult swim and Ghostly International (whose site inspired the new themes): Ghostly Swim!

I have a new camera to take on my Pakistan trip, the Canon Powershot G9. I posted some test shots at Flickr recently. It’s a great little camera.

Hopefully, I’ll live long enough to write another blog and share more of my silly adventures. I love you, my dear readers!

Just uploaded a bunch of stuff to Flickr. I also added some VIDEOS. Flickr is afire with anti-video sentiment, but I think it’s a neat feature.

I’m going back to Pakistan in about two weeks. It’s been three years… eep!

It was good; could have been better; hopefully will be better next time. It’s good to meet other “Quranies” in the world and know what’s going on. Humans are always let-downs, though, which is sad. And I’m horribly anti-social. But anyway…

I had a little tiff about the food. For the Saturday dinner, there was no vegetarian food available (well, rice, but… come on, we paid for this stuff.) For a group of concerned and justice-minded folks to not serve at least a vegetarian option was upsetting to me. I made my disapproval known, of course.

Trips are always interesting for people-watchers like myself.

For instance, the mini-experiment at the “full trashcan” at the airport — 99.9% of the people who approached it and found it full simply placed their trash on top of it, instead of turning around where there was another can. Or any of the likely dozens in the area. Human nature annoys me…

Also, I saw a dude on the train carrying his little daughter on his shoulders as he exited. He looked like a total goofball and I knew what was going to happen. As soon as he came to the lower ceiling near the exit — bap — his daughter’s head smacks into the metal. It was only a scrape, she didn’t cry or anything but thankfully ducked down in time to miss the next ceiling, because the dumbass didn’t stop. Like the evil person I am, I laughed. I can’t believe what kind of doofuses have children. Ugh, what a shame.

Atlanta was quite nice (what little I saw from the train and the people.) It was nice to be in a place where my slight Southern accent is almost Northern.

I’m totally exhausted. I don’t know why I can’t ever seem to maintain healthy sleep lengths on a trip, maybe I feel like I’ll miss something if I sleep too much?

We visited Detroit and a few nearby cities where hubby’s family lives. That was great. Lots of delicious food!

Being so extremely absent-minded and stupid, I left two important items in Detroit — my “regular” glasses and my notebook (which contains… everything). If you saw me at ISNA, I was undoubtedly wearing my sunglasses. Thankfully both of my glasses are prescription so my backup wasn’t bad, but it probably made me even weirder to people I talked to.

The sessions and lectures were really good. The whole experience was great. The only downside I would mention from the whole thing would be CHILDREN.

Almost everywhere I went, I was met with the powdery(?) smell of babies. In the lectures, it was common to be seated next to a crying, complaining or mischievous child. Too many times, my husband and I noticed a child ripping up paper or other things and leaving them on the ground. The parents never bothered to pick up their mess. There was a lot of “mess” at ISNA. I wonder if convention centers always encounter this much mess, or only when Muslims come to town?

I saw a few of the “famous” people, Aminah Assilmi, Zaid Shakir, Ingrid Mattson, Suhaib Webb, guy from Native Deen, Hesham Hassaballa and for some strange reason: Morgan Spurlock. I felt like I wanted to congratulate Dr. Mattson in real life, but I didn’t approach any of these people. I’m sure they had enough people stopping their paths as they walked around.

I also got to meet two people I like and admire: Yasmine and “Izzy Mo“.

We stayed at “the other Hyatt” but we had to catch the shuttle at the “main Hyatt” where I observed what Eteraz described as the “Club Hyatt” meat market. A lot of fashion and tight clothes, brown boys thinking they’re the ish, etc… Kind of funny for my old, married self. On the other hand, there were a few devastatingly handsome maulvis there too, furiously avoiding the gaze of all the scantily-clad ladies.

My photos from ISNA.

In ending, I leave you with the best toy EVER. Hijabman’s pig. Who, oddly, thanks the very Muslims who consider him repulsive. I wore him around on my bag all weekend.

Since my last (ancient) post, I’ve done one large thing and a bunch of very small ones. The large one was that I took a trip to California to see the Coachella Festival (which ruled supremely). I have plenty of new pictures (and a few treats for my Flickr friends). The West Coast was everything I never expected it to be. I was impressed by the beauty of the landscapes there, different from the fluffy green trees and brown dirt East coast ones. The desert (well, sleeping outside in it) was a VERY new experience. I didn’t see any famous people, although I really tried hard. We drove down all the well-known streets in Los Angeles and many of the beaches nearby. It was unforgettable.

As for more recent “things”:

Today, while reading my AlterNet.org newsletter, I found an article about controversial animal-rights supporter and author Peter Singer called “It’s Not Enough to Be a Vegetarian” Which caused me to think about my own food opinions. As I attempt to be a conscientious consumer, I have considered all the diets that are available for human beings. I try to educate myself about the choices that will have the “least” impact on environment, animals and the world. Singer suggests that everyone be vegan (not eat any animal products or by-products [milk, cheese, etc.]) and that our consumption come from the most sustainable, least-harming places.

Unfortunately, while arguably the “best” option, it is not an option available to all, as many of the commenters and the writer of the article point out. One commenter noted that,

“We should consider ourselves VERY lucky to be able to talk abstractly about the ethics of eating. Most of the population on earth cannot engage in that discussion. They eat whatever they can manage to.”

I wonder, is the reason that they have to eat whatever they can an effect of our eating whatever we want? Many Veggie-proponents have described the environmental, economic and other impacts of the meat-heavy diets in this country; the water, soil and air pollution; the suffering of animals ^(link). But no amount of numbers can change a person’s “choice.” Most people are too far removed from it to be bothered and others simply don’t care.

Singer’s ideas are certainly controversial and in a few ways, hypocritical, but I will likely be reading his book soon. :-)

Another interesting addition to his story is his interaction with Harriet McBryde Johnson, a feisty (and funny) disability rights activist and lawyer, about his belief that we should (or should have the choice to) abort or euthanize disabled or ill babies and humans. Please read: Unspeakable Conversations. A favorite from the article:

He asks what I thought of the students’ questions.

‘’They were fine, about what I expected. I was a little surprised by the question about meat eating.'’

‘’I apologize for that. That was out of left field. But — I think what he wanted to know is how you can have such high respect for human life and so little respect for animal life.'’

‘’People have lately been asking me the converse, how you can have so much respect for animal life and so little respect for human life.'’

‘’And what do you answer?'’

‘’I say I don’t know. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.'’

I updated the look a little bit. Apparently, I just have to express my personality!

I don’t really have much to tell. I should get a more interesting life, perhaps. Or maybe just be more open with my blogging?

Although, we have planned a trip to California. It’ll be my first time. I am excited! As a devoted East Coast girl, I never really thought that I would be going to California… ever. But it just so happens that we are. We’re going to be attending the Coachella Music Festival in Palm Springs. Mostly for Depeche Mode, but also for the environment and fun. I do intend to take thousands of pics, hence the new camera present. :-)

I’m really, really looking forward to spring… :-(

Finally, a pic from Philadelphia’s Chinatown: The Friendship Arch.

I’m going back to Virginia for Thanksgiving. I’m extremely excited about it for a number of reasons. ;-)

The new National Geographic came the other day. It contains some articles about these prehistoric sea creatures which are really horrifying. Take a look at the scary monsters.

I’ve been admin-ing a chatroom on Paltalk for the past few days and I’ve encountered some of the most ill-mannered Muslims you can imagine. Surprisingly (or not?) some of the ones who consider themselves the most religious and “correct” are often the first ones to burst into the room and shout out any of the following scripted lines:

“kaafirs!!”
“you must be sufis!”
“you must be shi’as!”
“you have the wrong ‘aqeedah”
“haraam!”
“you are all going to hell”
“silly, ignorant people”
“hypocrites!”

You get the point. Bravo to all those who continue to uphold the stereotype of the “backward, intolerant” Muslim!