Packing and Swimming

I've started to pack for my trip (I leave in 19 days insha'Allah) I think that was a mistake now hehe. I got more stuff and it's the kinda stuff you don't want to put on top of everything. Like perfume and candy. My mom said to be careful since most of the candy they don't get in other countries and someone might take it. I hope that doesn't happen to any of my stuff but just in case I'm trying to hide it in the bottom of my case. My mom is saying that I'm going to go over the weight. But I hope not. 50lbs. is a lot lol. So basically once I get my next shipment of stuff, I will be repacking my entire bag :( O well, at least this gives me a chance to double check on my stuff :D

SWIMMING!!! I loooove it. I also really miss it. The last time I swam was at the Sister's Sports Night my MSA at college threw. This was way back in Jan. We walked out with wet hair at 5 in the morning to like 0 degree (Fahrenheit) weather. :S Well tomorrow my masjid is having a sister swim night at a local YMCA. I'm ooooo so excited! I miss it even though I'm not good.

My "Pets"

I only have one really pet. She is a mini rex rabbit. She's super soft and cute. I've had her for like 3 years. Then my other "pets"are just wild animals lol. Tonight I saw a raccoon and some bats.
Everyday we have a million and a half birds lol

• goldfinch
• cardinals
  
• robins
• indigo buntings
  
• red breasted grosbeaks
  
• pheasants
  
• turkey vultures
  
• bald eagles
• grackles
  
• blue birds
• humming birds
• oriels
  

I'm sure there's more and I butchered half their spellings lol.
I also have seen mannny deer, snakes, opossums, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and a fox. I absolutely love watching the animals sometimes. Tonight I waited until my little masked bandit came and watched him eat for awhile. Then I watched a bat fly around for a bit. My picture by the way is a deer my dad saw and took the pic of up north. He's a good photographer.

The Secret Life of Words

Like every week, I went to the library to get some DVD. I picked up one, "The Secret Life of Words." It was a very good movie.

First, it starts out as just showing this woman working. Then all of a sudden this little girls voice starts talking in the background. I was like "...if this is a horror movie I'm NOT watching it." But the little voice soon goes away. The woman is forced by her company to take a vacation, so she leaves to a little hotel on the sea. While she was there, she overheard someone needing a nurse for a burn patient that is also blind out on an oil rig. She takes the job and starts working with him.

He tries to get information out of her about who she is but she won't tell him anything. After working with him for awhile, he tells her a story about how he can't swim and has a fear of water, and another about how he fell in love with his best friends wife. She finally tells him about her life which turns out the she was forced to be a prostitute in the Yugoslav Wars. During that time she witnessed a mother forced to kill her daughter, and the girls that screamed at all would be cut open with shards of glass. She had slowly watched her one friend die from being cut open and not being treated. She then has him feel the shoulder area of her chest which is covered in scares from being cut.

The guy is air lifted off of the oil rig and she leaves him, but sends with him a backpack that has enough info in it for him to find her. He does and convinces her that she will be alright. It then cuts to her getting a glass of water by herself in a nice house and the little girls voice comes back. The little girl says that the woman doesn't think about her too much now except when she's alone on Sunday morning when her husband is getting the paper and her sons are out next door. "Yes, she has 2 sons now. My brothers." At this I started crying. It doesn't say if she had the baby or if she was forced to give it up...

I looked up information online about the Yugoslav Wars and found out it was basically an ethnic war. Rape camps or camps to impregnate women were set up, so the "pure" race men would rape "impure" women until they became pregnant. They did this because they thought the child would take on the fathers ethnicity and that would purify the land of unwanted ethnic groups.

I was horrified to read this. I didn't know anything about it even though it happened from 1991-2001. Why can't people just accept different ethnic groups for what they are? Why must one group be better than the other? Can't we just live in peace with everyone, no matter what their ethnic groups or background is? I also highly doubt that the ethnicity of these people were all that different...

Abaya?

While in Egypt this summer it's my wish to buy many things. Including a ton of hijabs, a prayer rug, and some abayas. I told this to a friend of mine and he sent me a link of something he said isn't called an abaya but didn't know that name. I was wondering if any of you could help me out on the name of it. I really like it. I want to get plain black ones and ones that are colored. :)

First

Well, well, well. This is my first blog ever. I thought I would try it out and see how it goes. I will try and use proper grammar/punctuation. If not sorry hehe.

So about me. I am a recent revert to Islam. I absolutely love it. I took on the hijab the first day which I also love. I am a college student studying civil engineering. I know... I'm crazy. I got good grades this year, elhamdolallah. This summer I will be traveling to Egypt. My family thinks they will never see me again. Those same family members are giving me a hard time about my conversion, but I just try to smile and ignore them.

Please pass my blog onto some sisters. I would love to meet more and get their input.

Well that's all I have for now. Leave me comments for more ideas to write about hehe.