My Great Mother

     I always want to write about my mother, but every time I don't because I think I can't describe adequately in terms of her effort to raise me and my sisters, and make our lives easy and wonderful. My great mom, I love to call her that. She is really a great person. She is a patient, struggling, and ambitious lovely mother.

     My father passed away when she was 25 years old, and left behind him three small girls and a baby on the way. I remember that day when my dad died, I was five years old and I'm the oldest child. I can't forget my mom's face that day. She was shocked, helpless, worried about us and what was going to happen to us in the future.

     We used to live in Jeddah, but after my dad's death we moved to Makkah to live with my mother's family. So, I spent my childhood with my grandparents, uncles and aunts. My mother was studying in King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, so she would go there every day from Makkah which was about one hour away by car. She wanted to complete her studying and get a bachelor's degree, so she could find a good job with a good salary.

     After she graduated, when I was about 8 years old, she found a job with difficult work hours. She used to work from 8 p.m. until 2 p.m., then she had a break until 5 p.m. , and would go back to work from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. I remember that we couldn't see her during the weekdays except in her break time when we had lunch together because she went to  work when we were at schools, and would come home when we already had gone to bed. Therefore, she tried to spend her weekends with us, taking us to the beach or the entertainment city. Finally, she got a good job when I was 13 years old.

     Honestly. I didn't understand what a great mom she was until I got married, especially when I became a mother. I realized what a hard life my dear mom had, and how many difficulties and obstacles she faced. She refused to marry again because she wanted to take care of us by herself even though she was young and many of her peers hadn't gotten married yet. I asked her one day about the reason and she told me that she couldn't forget my dad, and she couldn't imagine herself with another man!! She gave us all what we needed. We didn't feel sad or ashamed that we were orphans since we had our strong mom who struggled to live a decent life.

     I am in awe of my mom. She is my hero since she shouldered the burden alone. She raised us on her own, and completed her education to get a better life. She is a really great mother, and I hope I'll be like her.             

Ramadan the Lovely Month

Ramadan is the ninth month of the islamic calendar -Alhijri calendar- , awaited by all Muslims every year when they perform the fasting which is the fourth pillar of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims refrain from eating food, drinking, chewing gum, smoking cigarettes and the like from dawn to sunset. Muslims focus on praying and reading the Quran . 

How do we know when Ramadan is? 

Ramadan crescent moon 

The crescent moon is the mark of the beginning of Ramadan.  After proving sighting of the moon, people start to prepare 'Sahur' which is the meal before fasting.

Why Ramadan is special?

It is a precious and special month because it is the month in which the Holy Quran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him. Therefore, Muslims are encouraged to complete the full recitation of the Holy Quran at least once during the month. With an average of 600 pages, this seemingly huge task can be achieved through the recitation of four pages before each of the five prayers daily throughout the entire month. 

The Wisdom of fasting

The fast is not simply about denying your body food and water. It is also kind of self discipline to avoid ill speech, arguments, loss of temper and malicious behaviour. The whole point of the fast is to demonstrate submission to God and keep the mind focused on a spiritual plane. Ramadan is viewed as a month-long school where graduates leave with a developed sense of self-control in areas including diet, sleeping and the use of time. 

Here are some videos explain Ramadan meaning

Ramadan in my home country

If you come to my country in Ramadan you will see the streets and houses decorated with lights and lanterns. 

Lights and lanterns

before the sunset, all the family member gather to have 'Iftar' together. There are many Iftar feasts for poor people in the mosques and in some wealthy people's homes. People break their fast with dates and water, then pray the prayer called 'Almaghrib'. After that, they eat some soup and traditional kinds of pastry called 'sambusa' which are stuffed with ground beef or chicken, vegetable, or cheese, in addition to other kinds of food.  

Sambusa

another kind of Sambusa

Iftar feast

After that, they pray "Al esha'a" and an extra praying named "Taraweeh" in mosques. This is my favorite part of Ramadan. After that, people sit together having Arabic coffee and sweets and watching TV until Sahur time. 

Here is the Taraweeh prayer in The Holy Mosque 

I miss Ramadan in my country, and I hope I'll celebrate it with my family next year Insha'allah. 

My Seattle

I mean by "My Seattle" is my favorite places and lovely memories in Seattle.

Mathew's Beach park was the first place I visited . It was in my second day in Seattle. I went with my little family in the morning and had breakfast. We had cheese and tuna sandwiches, some pineapples, and black tea.

 We sat down in front of the lake. The weather was so nice and we enjoyed feeding the ducks. My daughter was so excited, especially when one duck started to follow her to get more food!

My favorite restaurant is Crab Pot since I love seafood. I like the idea of breaking crab with a small, wooden hummer. It's funny!

This is our celebrate of Eid Aladha, the second holiday of  all Muslims, last year.

 I invited my friends and their children. It was a wonderful day full of candies, balloons, cake, games, and happiness!

I always see the cherry blossoms in an Asian dramas, but I never imagined their beauty until I saw them in the quad of the University of Washington. they are Amazing!!

I was surprised when I saw them because I thought there were only in East Asia! Recently, my teacher, Sudi, told us in the class that the cherry trees came from Japan as a gift to University of Washington. 

Last but not least, one day last winter, I was visiting my friend in a hospital when suddenly it started snowing outside!! I was so excited because it was the first time for me to see snow, so I left the hospital quickly to enjoy the marvelous snow.