Just Right Now

I wish I knew how to add a clip from a song...I'll figure it out sometime...but my students LOVE the song "Sakeena" by Native Deen. They actually just love hearing the little girl say "Sakeena" and then laugh it off! :) If I listened to them, I'd just play that beginning over and over and over again.

I love my kids....I love all 50+ of them...I love my job (at least right now, alhamdulillah)...ALHAMDULILLAH! (check out the pic from our last lock-in---we did this really cool rap/spoken word poem that we made up and performed----they were awesome masha'Allah!)

I am currently in love with www.muslimhiphop.com !!!!!!! Seriously awesome...why didn't I listen to the people who told me about it a long time ago???? Why????!!! (Noteworthy: Kumasi "Same Soul"---really, you SHOULD check it out. Just forward the player until you get to that song.)

:)

Muslim Wedding

A VERY good friend of mine recently got married. (May Allah make them happy and bless thier marriage. Ameen!) The bride is Palestinian and the groom is an Okie who became Muslim over 4 years ago. They didn't have it easy when they wanted to get married, but alhamdulillah their trial only made them stronger in the end.

Point of the story: The wedding was fabulous! It was a mixed wedding although we split it up in the end (the ladies like to let their hair down---:) literally---and dance it up!). I was a bride's maid (their were 7 of us) and we all walked down the aisle and did a little mix of cultures. Masha'Allah, Sana looked gorgeous. She wore a traditional white wedding dress, but she wore a hijab on top of it. All of her bridesmaids (except his non-Muslim sister) wore scarves and a short matching jacket on our dresses. I've never been to a wedding where the bride wore a scarf. As a matter of fact, I've always thought it might look tacky. But wallahi, she looked wonderful Masha'Allah. And everyone was awesome. My brother was the official "unofficial" photographer, so I have pics of everything. Unless you've been to a successful upscale truly "Islamic" wedding, you won't believe how awesome a wedding can be even when you follow the rules.

Funny thing: My dad LOVED the wedding. He did the marriage ceremony so he had to be there, otherwise he would have rather stayed home. Whenever he goes to do a wedding, he usually leaves AS SOON as he can (which means as soon as the papers are signed :). Anyway, he was SO happy that the bride wore a scarf and we were all covered and she didn't overdo her make-up and it was Islamic and and and. :) I've never seen my dad gush about a wedding like that EVER! It was cute.

Another funny thing: We played "Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis (country song) as a dedication to the bride and groom (especially for the country-loving groom). While we were eating and taking pics we played
simple Um Kulthum songs on low as background music. So me and the other bridesmaids went up to the front of the room and announced the song. You should have seen the faces of the arabs...it was funny. Most people enjoyed it, his family found it cute and we all sang along quietly as we passed out favors (okay, so maybe that is not exactly following the rules, but I LOVE that song cause it reminds me of my Grandma and I remember it from when I was a young country fan back in the day). We did get some comments---"What is THIS???" but it didn't matter at that point.

how i really feel

Had a dream that we had to have an electrician come to the school (repair men are generally always here these days---so not too far fetched). Well, after they did some work they came to say that they had messed up (it seems like it was three people---one was a woman) and that we would not have electricity for three days until they could fix it. It would take 3 days because the parts they needed would have to be shipped and they were booked for the next two days. I was really mad and started arguing about how it was inconvenient for us and since it was their fault they should fix it NOW. But Principal was trying to calm me down telling me it was okay. The lady also told me that the heaters and the lights would work though all other electricity would be out. I looked up at the lights and then wanted to argue some more but backed away because it wasn't my battle to fight. I was just the little guy with big opinions...