I went to an iftar dinner on Saturday night. Funny how the topic of weight loss so often comes up during Ramadan. You’d think with the long days and the not eating that you’d lose a lot of weight during Ramadan. In fact some people gain. All the fancy dinner parties. At this party on […]

Oh how quickly the year has passed. Mind you it does come ten days earlier than the Gregorian calendar. It’s funny with Ramadan, I always approach it with a mixture of dread and excitement. And yet, when it arrives there’s such a blessing of peace! It’s like no other time! Reminds me of the days […]

…if only I knew someone real, someone legitimate, on the other side of the world, who was struggling, who needed money for a legitimate business venture, who wasn’t just looking for a hand out but a hand up… I remember watching one Oprah episode where she talked about some photography book that had been sent […]

So last night there was a sort of cocktail party/dinner to launch the Bookaroo experience. Members of the press were there, including one of the sponsors of Bookaroo, and it was held on a rooftop veranda/restaurant with the cool night air and occasional fireworks in the area–such a contrast from the night before! All sorts […]

It’s been weird over the last few days. Even while I’ve been nourishing my soul, I’ve been feeling a bit restless and impatient on the career front. That’s pretty normal during ‘wait’ mode. ‘Wait’ mode of course is when you’re waiting to hear and even though it’s supposed to get easier it never does. And […]

No matter where anyone stands on the carnage in Syria, the refugee situation in the neighboring countries is desperate. Women and children who are innocent victims just trying to run from slaughter. I’ve been reticent to donate up till now because I wasn’t sure of the people working on the projects over there, but with […]

That’s what one kid said to me yesterday. She was in the grade five class and they’d actually come into the library to return books, but when their teachers hadn’t opted in for the Roses in my Carpets presentation, I decided to do an impromptu presentation for as many grade fives as I could fit […]

We went to see the Confuscious Temple. It was in a very touristy district, lots of foreigners and when I stepped off the bus I saw a Chinese woman who was wearing what could only be hijab! She was so cute! And I felt incredibly homesick. And despite all my qualms at being photographed by […]

I was going to write a blog post about how as a Muslim, I try my best to counter all the negative images in the media by trying to uphold an example of what Islam really teaches us to be. I was going to talk about how hard it’s been growing up. How at first I […]

The weight has been gained and regrets and recriminations are slowly making the rounds inside my skull. “If only you’d been less of a glutton! You could have kept the weight  you lost during Ramadan off!” They’re telling me. Having Ramadan in the middle of summer has left me feeling quite disoriented. Feels like I blinked […]