The Ramadan Diaries: Eid!

I think I should start this post by saying EID MUBARAK (belatedly).

Eid is the religious holiday which Muslims celebrate after Ramadan, the month of fasting. As a result, it is celebrated in a unique spirit among all Muslim households. Eid starts off with the Eid Prayer which is in the morning, around 7 to 8 am.

This year's Eid was a little toned down in my family due to a very recent death, the death of my father's uncle who was a main elder in our family. He had been diagnosed with cancer at it's last stages and despite all efforts to combat it, he succumbed two days before Ramadan started. The entire illness lasted maximum four or so months. (Innalillahiwainnillaihirajiun)

Another reason for the somewhat lack of festivity was the fact that a good 1/3rd of our relatives had decided to celebrate their Eid in Karachi instead of Islamabad.

After the Eid prayer, we usually have lots of people coming and going but that wasn't the case this time. Around 12pm we went out to meet some relatives. During Eid, such meetings usually involve eating all the yummy stuff made and collecting Eidi. Eidi is money that adults give to children to celebrate.

On the second day of Eid, we were mostly at home until 6pm because that's when the Family Variety show started. The FVS (I shortened it :D) is a sort of program conducted by my uncle with help from some of my cousins and it involves lots of competitions and games. I didn't really participate in anything except the 3D art category because I'd REALLY wanted to make a pinata D: also, I felt kind of embarrassed to go and do anything else- not with tons of younger kids to 'compete' with. So I've decided that next time, I'll get my younger siblings totally prepared so they could do something worthwhile.

The pinata I made was somewhat a success. Nobody hit it with a stick though- children were given one chance to punch it and it kind of broke (I'd attached a string to hold it up with but it collapsed within the first five punches) and then it was broken by the time the kids' turns were done. It started spilling out candy and all the kids were like "Wooooww" and they collected whatever they could find and I felt rather pleased with myself. (The pinata got me first place, no surprise there)

Overall the event was great, it was lots of fun and really entertaining. I think my family has the greatest Eids ever and I'm extremely grateful for that. Not many families have such creativity displayed on their festive holidays.

Eid Mubarak :D

The Ramadan Diaries: Third Ashrah

Here's the third installment of my Ramadan Diaries. I am posting this pretty late because the last few days of Ramadan were pretty busy and then Eid is entirely another affair as well.

This week, I finished a couple of books and struck them off my reading list.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Sekret by Lindsay Smith

I also went to the Academy regularly, including the Sunday of 20th July. I was also supposed to go on the Sunday of 27th July but the timings were changed from 9am-1pm to 730am-1030am and I was like "They're totally asking us not to come so I'm not going, haha"

You can get a better look at my week by seeing my planner. I have always kept a planner but after seeing a couple of blogs with really cute and adorable planners I thought I'd neaten mine up a bit so it actually looks like a neat planner instead of a bunch of scribbles and crossing over on words.

I've color coded it a bit. The light blue is for the "important thing about today" which in this week's case was the date of the Islamic calender. Purple is for the tests I would have at the academy. Blue is for my study plan and the orange is every thing extra, like books, shopping and episodes.

On Thursday, we had went to a lot of shops to look for clothes for Eid and I got a dress too. I'd show you a picture of me wearing it but that isn't very possible because I don't have a full length mirror and also I'd never be satisfied with some one else taking the pictures.

I wore this with the dupatta as a scarf and my black jeans underneath this because the dress came without trousers.

Oh, we also met this cat on the roof before Iftar one day.

~Gave kitty some milk~

~Gave kitty some meat but kitty not interested~

Oh, and I also started making a pinata for the Family Variety show we were having on the second day of Eid- but I'll describe that more on the next post xD

The Ramadan Diaries; Second Ashrah

So 2/3rds of Ramadan is already over, although it still feels like it just started. I don't feel as apprehensive about fasting as I used to feel in the beginning and that's because I've got used to it. I was listening to a lecture by Nouman Ali Khan earlier and the gist was something like 'Your stomach tells your heart "I'm hungry! Let's eat something!" and your heart says "Shut up! No food until Maghrib!"'

So Ramadan is basically you being able to tell your body to shut up and endure it which is pretty amazing because normally, you don't endure it. Whenever you're hungry, you automatically go to the fridge and check what's available but in Ramadan, you just steer clear of the kitchen- you don't even bother to check what you could have eaten if you weren't fasting.

If it's so easy to control your food and drink intake, it shouldn't be too hard controlling other things your life totally doesn't depend on.

Anyway, this week was pretty busy in the sense that we had invited people over for iftar two times and both times involved a lot of people. That obviously increases the work load and preparation three times and I can't help but get rather cranky. That's what happened the first time. Its like, I get told we're having about 8 people over and then when I'm almost done preparing the fruit dish I make, it turns out that there are 5 more people coming and that I'd better accommodate for them as well. Believe me, I love having loads of people come over but I don't like having what I've planned turned upside down.

When I cut the fruit, it's all really ordered and mathematical, such that every dish gets the same amount of apples and bananas and peaches and it really makes me mad when the balance is upset (is it OCD? Maybe o.o)

There was supposed to be a seminar on 14th July which I really wanted to go to. It was about the MCAT (medical college admission test) and it was being held in Rawalpindi Medical College. The main reason I wanted to go was because the only medical college I have seen so far is Shifa. Anyway, Monday morning- I'm going to academy and I'm half asleep and I meet my friend in the hallway and she's like "Aren't you going?" and I didn't understand what she meant because I'd totally forgotten about the seminar.

When I remembered, I kind of panicked and started texting my parents.

Me: TODAY IS MONDAY 14TH JULY.
Baba: Ok. Don't panic. It's okay. We'll get the form when available.

Me: I was supposed to go to RMC (Rawalpindi Medical College) today at 10 o'clock!
Amee: ok.

^My reaction.

So I didn't go which wasn't really a problem but its just that I wanted to see what that medical college looks like but I'm sure I'll get loads of chances later when I try to get admission in there.

My MCAT classes have been going alright. Did I tell you about the new English teacher we have? This new one is younger than the old one and he's super energetic and he likes demonstrating what he's talking about to the point that it gets extremely awkward. Like, I can't tell if I should laugh at him or just be embarrassed on his behalf. For example.

Him: Question twenty seven.

Him: After our dash criticisms, we were asked to leave the stadium.

Him: The correct answer is-

Everyone: Alpha!

Him: I wouldn't say alpha is wrong, I mean "After our vocal criticisms, we were asked to leave the stadium" is correct.

Him: But beta, "Hurled" is a better word because hurled is like throwing insults.

Him: Hurl is like

Him: *roars* YOUR GOVERNMENT IS CORRUPT AND DESPOTIC AND WE NEED A REVOLUTION!!

Everyone: *pin drop silence* o.o

Him: See, that is hurled.

One thing I don't understand about the academy is why it has to be so difficult sometimes. We had a "self study" counseling session one morning where the counselor guy came in and he was like "So kids, you have to study!" and then he outlined this plan which, in my opinion, made us look like nothing less than beasts made for studying. First he's like "Study everything you learned today at home" and then he's like "Ask the teachers what they're teaching tomorrow and then study that as well" and then "Don't forget to study for the daily test you get assigned" and "You should study 8 hours" and "Try maxing it to 10" and "Finish one course book in one day"

^My reaction

Like, excuse me, I do not exist for studying, are you trying to pretend my summer vacations don't exist, do I look like a nerd to you. Anyway, I DO study what I think I should study but to be honest, it's maximum two hours because I only study for the daily test and when I'm done, I think I'm ready for the test but it's an extreme understatement when I get the test sheet the next day.

It's horrible. I don't think I'll be able to pass this test. I'm just hoping my A grades from O Levels and A Levels carry my overall percentage up to the bare minimum (If I even get As in my A2 result, InshaAllah) because I'm starting to lose hope on the MCAT. The studying is way too fast, there's too many things I haven't even studied ever and my mind is on the O/A Level study track where I give importance to concept and knowing the numerical alone. But in the MCAT, you need to memorize -what I call useless- facts and figures. I hate memorizing facts and figures. Why should I care about which scientist discovered what or what the three frontiers of science are.

I disagree with the frontiers of science questions from the depth of my heart. There's this ONE sentence in the physics book which says "There are three frontiers of science which are.." and proceeds to name three frontiers as first, second and third and if you ask me, the order doesn't matter but if you ask the MCAT, order TOTALLY matters.

^I think I'm going to have to rewire my brain and have it  obsess over totally useless bits of information that makes me, currently, twist my mouth in disgust at its utter uselessness. I'm sorry, but I think this is turning into a rant again D:

We went out shopping one day for shoes. It didn't go very well. There was this one pair of shoes I really liked and wanted but my foot was too slim and kept sticking out way too much from the front. I tried getting a size smaller but it wasn't available. All the other stores had shoes that were too open. I like covered, closed shoes better since my feet aren't exactly what I'd class as pretty enough to parade. So I just walked around pretending to look interested in shoes I did not like.

^My reaction.

I've finished the third season of Sherlock and a book I was reading, called "A Tale for the Time Being" which I'll review soon. That's all as of yet. :D

Ramadan Mubarak.

The Ramadan Diaries; First Ashrah

Here's the fresh blog segment I've decided to start. The Ramadan Diaries would cover the month of Ramadan in four posts, one for each of the three Ashrahs and the last post for the three days of Eid.

#DayOne 

Didn't go so bad. Chalking out a regular routine to follow which would involve reading Quran, studying for the MCAT Academy and adding sleeping to the schedule. Sehri is at 3:00am and Fajr Azan is around 3:15am. Academy time shifted from 11am to 9am. Didn't wake up in time, went to Academy an hour late but there hadn't been any classes until 11am. Went home at 1:30pm before studying a bit and falling asleep in the middle of it. Woke up at 6pm and got ready for iftaar which is at 7:30pm.

#DayTwo

Didn't wake up for Sehri today. Everyone else was up late as well and had enough time just to drink a glass of milk before the Azan. I was sleeping in my room because it had been raining, but shifted to my parents room (which has AC) cause it got hot and humid. Woke up at the same time today to go to Academy but skipped the shower, making me late by only twenty minutes (no English class... again). Came home at 1:20pm and didn't go to sleep this afternoon. Spent my day studying and writing notes. 

#DayFive

Finally started reading out the Quran from the start. My strategy is to go for thirty pages a day so that I'm done with the entire Quran in twenty days, five to make up for the past days and five if I randomly decide to slack off a bit. There's a total of 600 pages, I totally did my math right. I read three times a day, ten pages at each sitting and that's how I manage to cover thirty without my throat dying on me. Today is also the first Friday of Ramadan. 

I finished reading "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline and it's amazing o.o (blogspost about it coming up soon)

#DaySix

Slacked off today x.x Finished reading The Bone Season and burned through six episodes of Mekakucity Actors and one Sherlock. Also posted the Sunshine Award today. I was planning to study physics but that didn't happen at all.

#DayEight

Woke up for Sehri and the first thought in my head was "Today is not going to be a good day". As a result, I skipped class and stayed at home. I did get a little questioned by my parents but it's okay. My day went alright. I figured it was better having a bad day in my comfort zone rather than going out and feeling even worse- or regretting coming out at all. 

#DayTen

Yus! One Ashrah complete! Two more to go! So far I've covered 130/600 pages of the Quran. It's going pretty smoothly, I'll hopefully be done with days to spare :D