Louq Louq Tariq School

Ahad lalu I sempat menghantar mimi ke sekolah kerana izzat demam n mimi tak nak pergi sekolah seorang dengan Ummu Khatif (drebar mimi&izzat), so pagi tu i ikut mimi ke Louq Louq Tariq School, sebuah sekolah swasta dengan pengantar bahasa arab.Sekolah ni terletak dalam 15 minit perjalanan dengan kereta berdekatan University Balqa' .
It's a small school but clean n beautiful. Sekolah ni terbuka untuk kanak-kanak dari umur 4 tahun hingga grade 9(15tahun) sebab ianya sekolah yang agak baru. Di Jordan peringkat menengah yang paling tinggi ialah grade 12. Izzat studies dalam grade 7 n mimi peringkat tamhidi(taska) sebab baru 4 tahun. Walaupun baru 4 tahun tapi pelajaran yang diajar lebih kurang sama dengan peringkat tadika/raudhah. Kebiasaannya kanak-kanak mula masuk saf awal(darjah 1) semasa berumur 6 tahun.

Satu yang I admire this school kerana ianya diselenggara sepenuhnya oleh kaum wanita dari pengetua, guru besar ,kerani sehinggalah janitors semuanya wanita. Cuma lelakinya hanya pakcik-pakcik drebar bas sekolah(drebar mimi wanita !)

Hebat kan? Di tanah arab yang selalunya kita kaitkan dengan wanita dikongkong tetapi hakikatnya adalah sebaliknya, wanita diberi sepenuh kebebasan terutama di bidang pendidikan...

Di Amman sekolah swasta tumbuh bagai cendawan selepas hujan..samada sekolah swasta pengantar bahasa arab atau bahasa inggeris (international school) Katanya bukan rakyat asing sahaja yang suka menghantar anak bersekolah di sekolah swasta tetapi jordanians sendiri lebih cenderung menyekolahkan anak-anak mereka di sekolah swasta ...

Why ? No Comment!!Make your own judgement!!

Lagi satu yang I salute this school ialah di peringkat taska lagi guru akan menulis report harian dalam sebuah buku yang akan dibawa balik oleh pelajar dan semuanya lengkap dengan apa yang dipelajari dan homework untuk hari berkenaan..just imagine daily report sent to each single student...tak taulah i kalau di negara sendiri rasanya habis semua guru 'mengamuk' dibuatnya.

Bukan itu saja, laporan bulanan lagi lengkap siap dengan pencapaian/kebersihan/ kelakuan /interaksi dengan guru /kawan-kawan sekolah...siap untuk setiap pelajar. Baru minggu lalu mimi bawa balik surat pekeliling dari pentadbir sekolah berkenaan larangan memberi hadiah kepada guru sekolah dalam apa jua bentuk sekalipun..Kadang-kadang kita sebagai parents nak jugak bagi sesuatu sebagai tanda appreciation kepada guru yang mengajar anak kita selama ini..tetapi di sini dikira seperti rasuah kerana ditakuti guru akan terhutang budi dengan pemberian anak murid dan ibubapa. Memang di peringkat mana sekalipun hatta peringkat universiti, anak i zaid bagitau pensyarah tidak akan menerima sebarang pemberian dari mahasiswa sekalipun kopi secawan sebaliknya pensyarah yang selalu belanja pelajar minum , alangkah mulianya hati pendidik-pendidik arab/muslim di bumi anbiya ini.

Dulu sebelum berpindah ke amman ada jugak rasa gusar n risau macamana izzat n mimi nak bersekolah di sini, risau tentang sekolahnya/curriculumnya...bukan apa ingat sekolah arab 'out-of-date'...rupanya tidak malah ada subjects yang lebih updated dari sekolah di tanahair...di sini pelajaran sejarah (bukan sejarah jordan sahaja) tetapi sejarah tanah arab diajar di sekolah, pelajaran komputer jugak diajar bermula dari peringkat rendah lagi , bukan sebagai ko-kurikulum tapi termasuk dalam kurikulum sekolah, pendidikan jasmani juga diambil markah semasa ujian di sekolah...pendek kata lengkap sekali pembelajarannya....

Itulah sedikit sebanyak maklumat yang dapat i raih dari pengamatan /pengalaman anak-anak sendiri belajar di louq Louq Tariq School Amman......

Do You Know........

I just wanna share this lyrics which relates to our life......just ponder.......

Do you know
Where you're going to
Do you like the things that life is showing you
Where are you going to
Do you know?

Do you get
What you're hoping for
When you look behind you
There's no open door
What are you hoping for
Do you know?

Once we were standing still in time
Chasing the fantasies
That filled our minds
You knew how I loved you
But my spirit was free
Laughin' at the questions
That you once asked of me

Do you know
where you're going to
Do you like the things that life is showing you
Where are you going to
Do you know?

Now looking back at all we've planned
We let so many dreams
Just slip through our hands
Why must we wait so long
Before we'll see
How sad the answers
To those questions can be

Do you know
Where you're going to
Do you like the things that life is showing you
Where are you going to
Do you know?

Do you get
What you're hoping for
When you look behind you
There's no open door
What are you hoping for
Do you know

So long my dear friend.....

Petang ni my tetamu akan meninggalkan jordan ...sedihnya rasa , sekejapnya masa 9 hari berlalu...hope to see them again..pagi tadi kami mengimbau kenangan masa belajar di US...berkongsi nostalgia silam yang belum pernah di ceritakan......semoga pertemuan kali ini mengeratkan lagi tali persahabatan kami buat selamanya....

So long, farewell, goodbye, until we meet again, InsyaAllah.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Yesterday satu rombongan NGO Muslim Care dari Malaysia singgah lunch rumah i, diaorang baru balik dari menghantar bantuan kemanusiaan ke Palestine n Lebanon, singgah di jordan semalam dan dalam perjalanan balik ke malaysia...i tak sangka bertuah menerima kedatangan rombongan delegasi Muslim Care , thanx to firdaus , anak murid i juga kenalan zaid yang sudi membawa rombongan ini bertandang ke rumah....

Banyak pengalaman rombongan ini dalam menyalurkan bantuan kepada mangsa-mangsa perang serata dunia terutama di negara timur tengah yang tidak henti bergolak.

I jugak dihadiahkan sebuah buku terbaru tulisan ustaz Riduan Mohd Nor ( beliau juga hadir bersama ) dan Ustaz Ahmad Adnan Fadhil berjodol : SIRI SERANGAN PEMIKIRAN, Islam Liberal dan Pluralisme Agama, InsyaAllah i akan baca buku ni dalam minggu ni.. Thank you ustaz Riduan......

Semoga Muslim Care akan bergerak lebih aktif membantu sahabat-sahabat se Islam yang ditindas tanpa belas kasihan dan semoga Allah membalas jasa kalian dengan syurga di akhirat kelak, amin............

Daily life customs...

There's nothing much happening for the past two days..i've been staying indoor to avoid coldness ...my guests came back from syria and straight went to mu'tah n petra.. .will come back to amman late this evening. They only have 1 day left before going home this Monday. Really hope they enjoy their holidays here.

Let's forget about them for a while because today I like to post some jordanians daily life customs/culture which I've encountered for the past 11 months.

1. Visiting the arabs..

When u visit your neighbour, first let them know that u are coming(who/time)..
They will let u know whether they are available or not...
They will chat n serve u coffee or sometimes soft drinks . Usually they serve coffee in a tiny cup,thank god it's so tiny , why? It's bitter because the coffee is mixed with cloves(cengkih). When u do not want anymore coffee, all u have to do is to shake the tiny cup n they'll not refill , if not u'll have to sip some more bitter coffee..unless u like it. So far no one does.

After talking for a while, they'll serve u cakes or peanuts(they love all kinds of nuts , that's why they have strong memory..)

Then they serve u tea...meaning after this, take a leave.....


2. Arabs are caring n generous.

Arabs are not busy-body people .They are caring n loving.

Example 1.

Last winter the heater that we used ( using diesel ) was leaking but we didn't know, we thought the loud bang-bang sound (never used this kind of heater before )from the heater was normal..until muhammad's father came to see zaid n told zaid that the heater was leaking n he fixed it there n then...

Example 2.

Izzat was staying alone because all of us had some outside business to do..it was already dusk..Muhammad's mother ,muna came n invited izzat to stay at her house until we came back.Izzat said it's ok(he's already 12 years old), later muna came n offered izzat some veggie soup because she thought izzat hadn't had dinner yet.. Izzat said he had already eaten..

Example 3.

Muna used to be a nurse n now working at the ministry of health. She always offers us all kinds of medicine if we need any. I remember when my friend (mukrimah , she's now in malaysia ) who was sick, muna came n treated her everyday until mukrimah was getting better n went back to her house in Sweileh.

The arabs are surely very caring, generous n kind, Alhamdulillah.

3. Let's party..

Arabs like party..men with men, women with women..the party is clean.. women can take off their hijabs/veils n they wear pretty colourful dresses/skirts, they dance/chat/smoke(yes smoking, many arab women do)...

I remember Maha's high school graduation party (maha is muna's daughter ) many makcik arabs were also present, they really enjoyed the party, they danced n wore beautiful dresses (I was surprised because all this while they seemed very islamic , all covered wherever they go ) I wasn't ready to dance...actually it wasn't that difficult to dance the arab folk songs, but i wasn't ready ( i didn't wear pretty dress!!) Sumayyah got up n dance ...it was so funny because she wasn't dancing the arab steps, she seemed like dancing 'joget melayu' hahahaha....what a party...we couldn't find this party in malaysia...women here enjoy their life..........


There are many more arab customs to write but i'll reserve for next time...So far..I like being/living in the arab community....Hope i can stay longer, amin.

quite beezee.........

This week I'm quite busy entertaining my guests from Malaysia. The first two days we spent our time in amman(ashabul kahfi, balad, rome theatre, jabal qala'ah,wadi seer,qasr iraq al amir, maqam bilal ibnu rabah)... jerash, umm qays, ajlun, irbid.

Yesterday my friends went off to Syria with Zaid as their tour guide.

It's so nice to meet them ...we chatted and talked and giggled.. etc...so so so much fun being with one true friend indeed.

Ahlan Wa Sahlan.........

Harini kawan baik I since I first arrived in Washington DC 23 years ago (13/08/1983 , to be axact) akan datang melawat kami here in jordan for 9 days. 5 of them are coming n akan stay kat my house. mula diaorang nak duduk hotel, i offer them to stay at my place since bukan nak duduk rumah je, nak melancong , balik tido je, itupun kalau ziarah tempat2 lain termasuk syria memang tak tido rumah, so might as well jadikan my house station/transit.

My best friend, kak rohana or i call her kak ana is one year senior than i am , an english teacher in kuantan n her hubby ,Wan Khairuzaman is an engineer working for TNB in KL . Masa i pegi belajar di US dulu i pegi sekali dengan Rahayu, adik kak ana n kak ana yang sambut kami di Dulles airport. Tapi i baik n rapat dengan kak ana n kurang rapat dengan aidknya rahayu walaupun i n rahayu same batch, same u n ambik same course. Kak ana belajar di George Mason U , virginia, dalam sejam perjalanan from DC. Nak dijadikan cerita macamana i boleh rapat dengan kak ana.........., selepas 4/5 bulan being in DC i felt something missing inside of me...the life was so challenging/busy/hectic..i was so involved with all kinds of social activities ( ????remain secret) when it came to the point that i started to find/search for my true identity..."who am i? why am i here ? where should i go ? etc " I really thought i have to do something about myself. I have to come back to ISLAM...that's it!! Yes . that's it.ISLAM is the answer...not that i wasn't a muslim(Nauzubillah) but it seemed my life was away from the true teaching of islam. memang waktu awal 1980an adalah zaman kebangkitan islam(zaman dakwah),alhamdulillah Allah pilih i sebagai seorang yang kembali kepada islam waktu tu.

Hampir every weekend i (modern girl, skirt, tight jeans ,body pun very slim!! )akan ziarah kak ana(kak ana waktu tu berjubah, bertudung labuh) untuk observe life kak ana ...kira macam cari bahan buat assignment...i duduk je kat rumah dia n kadang2 tidur kat situ, kalau dia solat, i tengok je, kalau nak solat, i ikut kalau tak nak, tengok jelah. Satu yang i pelajari kak ana pandai main psikologi, dia tak de nak pakse i solat, tak sindir, tak marah i tak tutup aurat...dia macam buat tak endah je...sampai minggu ke berapa i tak ingat dah , masa i pergi rumah kak ana buat observation lagi...baru kak ana bersuara..." sarinah, u tak nak cuba pakai pakaian muslimah, bertudung, tutup aurat....Allah akan sayang kita n hidup akan jadi lebih tenang......" Waktu tu i gembira bukan main bila ada yang bertanya begitu sebab ingat dia tak kisah, padahal hati ni memang dah terpaut dengan cara berpakaian muslim /cara hidup kak ana yang nampak begitu tenang ... Actually i ada rahsia yang jarang i ceritakan sebab ramai orang akan kata i buat-buat cerita..tapi inilah hakikatnya, ....saban malam i dapat 'dengar satu suara' yang suruh i tutup aurat , kembali pada islam....sampai sekarang i mencari dari mana datangnya suara tu..only Allah knows..ini bukan drama , it's reality..

Semenjak hari tu hidup i mula berubah, i mula belajar apa itu islam , mula praktik islam yang sebenar walaupun ambik masa nak tutup aurat sebab masalah tak de baju kurung n tudung, kena impot dari malaysia . waktu tu family di malaysia 'gerun' bila dengar anak dia ni yang lincah/aktif nak bertudung,ingat mula2 call mak nak mintak kirim baju n tudung , first soalan yang mak tanya " ha, nak masuk dakwah?? "...waktu tu mak ayah (bukan my parents je, ramai lagiiii)seriau n takut sangat kalau anak-anak nak masuk dakwah sebab biasanya lepas masuk dakwah, akan berhenti belajar , yang perempuan akan kahwin( memang i kawin pun tak lama lepas tu haha, tapi yang penting i tamat dapat BSc.) , tinggal/buang mak ayah yang kononnya mereka jelah yang islam, mak ayah tak islam...n gerakan al arqam abuya baru tumbuh bagai cendawan...memang mak ayah takut betul tapi i explained to them that i takkan nak berhenti belajar because that's my ambition nak pergi belajar oversea.....USA pulak tu negara yang i idam-idamkan....kalau i berhenti teruklah my penjamin nak bayar balik pada JPA...........baru my parents cool down..sampailah baju n tudung...I chose 1st ramadan 1984 (lepas setahun tiba di US ) mula bertudung......Alhamdulillah kawan2 ramai yang bagi good response walaupun ada yang menyindir/perli maklumlah i bukan budak baik waktu tu... ada yang kata, alah ina tu nanti bukaklah tudung, bukan tahan dia nak bertudung kat sini...sampai ada one american guy, Michael ( my ex-sweetheart !!, who cares now..) dia terkejut bila dia jumpa i dah bertudung, dia bagitau..." You look so sweet in your veil, but it's not impossible that you'll take it off one day because before this you weren't wearing it" teringat dia cakap balik, macam iklan biskut lu, kejap ada kejap tak de..waktu tu i cakap balik pada " I won't take it off , InsyaAllah, I won't take it off ", and i meant it.

Itulah kuasa Allah dalam mengeratkan ukhuwah islam yang terbina , takkan padam cahayaNYa selagi masih ada hamba yang mencari redhaNYa. Salam ukhuwah yang terjalin kerana Islam takkan padam sampai bila-bila...

Kebetulan kak ana tinggal di kuantan n i di kemaman(45mins drive )dapat jugak jumpa walaupun tak setiap minggu/bulan...memang she's truly my best friend/sister ever...InsyaAllah...

I'll be going to the airport this afternoon to welcome my dearly/darling kak ana n family...
Ahlan wa Sahlan ya habibi, ya maulana..ya kak anaaaaaaa....

Souq Muqayyam, Irbid

2 days ago Zaid n I went to Irbid, as usual main reason nak cuci gambar(Zaid tak suka yang digital, kamera dia hebat, tak tau guna blur lah gambar..). Waiting for the photos to be developed, we went to souq muqayyam which is only 5 minutes by taxi from University (Yarmouk) Street or Syariq Jamiah.

Souq muqayyam atau 'Kem Pasar' is a palestinian camp found in Irbid, Jordan. This is like the Baqa'ah camp which I visited during last Ramadan but this one in Irbid is better in terms of infra-structure(still shabby houses!! ) n they have a street full with shops which sell mainly clothes/jubah n household items at low prices. I bought myself a new long winter coat/jubah with hood, easy to wear/very practical like many arabs do. If I buy this same jubah in Amman it'd cost JD20-Jd25, but here at souq Muqayyam i got it for only jd??, what a bargain, itupun I jenis tak pandai tawar n zaid only bargained sikit je(rugi,rugi..kena belajar bargain..dari muda sampai tua tak pandai bargain, takut!! )

Other stuff yang I beli, mainly for mimi since a lot of cute little gloves, snow caps, mufflers, long socks, long johns.. geram tengok, very colourful n more important, very cheap, tak sampai sedinar for a a pair of cap n muffler, mana nak dapat kat amman... Next time nak beli jubah casual yang murah di sini n teramat mahal di amman..No wonder many malaysian students go shopping here before they go back home to malaysia.....

Kem ni asalnya kem pelarian palestine n mana-mana kem pun walaupun dah berpuluh tahun wujudnya, the physical of the camps remain the same, macam rumah setinggan, kem di irbid ni nampak bersih sikit n orang-orang living here nampak lebih ceria/happy . Mungkin kehidupan di sini lebih bagus coz they have shops n market where thay can sell their goods( source of income ).. Nasib pelarian palestine ...kesian lihat hidup mereka di dunia ni...sayu ....

Last week masa naik taxi nak ke bus station besar untuk ke Mu'tah, the taxi driver told us that 75% of jordanians came originally from Palestine, he himself moved from palestine to jordan 50 years ago.He n his wife used to take a bus from Abdali to masjidil al aqsa in palestine every friday just to perform friday prayer . It took only 1.5 hours to get from abdali(downtown amman ) to masjidil aqsa..how nice if we can do the same thing now...The driver also said during 1940s( he wasn't in jordan yet !) a person could finish getting around the city of amman in only 5 minutes, the only street found back then was the street in front of king hussein's mosque. Nowadays, one may take up to 4-5 hours to do the same...

When you talk about jordan , u can never refrain yourself from talking about palestine because jordanians are palestinians n palestinians are jordanians...Souq muqayyam or other souqs are actually dominated by mostly palestinians, they are the merchants, jordan's economy depends on these people......they know they have to strive n quest for their survival.......

perginya bersama seribu kenangan..............

I baru je dapat call dari my darling hubby, biras i(my kakak ipar's husband), abg Piey baru kejap tadi meninggal dunia(around 9pm malaysian time ) setelah sehari koma akibat stroke.

Alfatihah......

My biras ( I think dalam umur late 60s) adalah bekas guru besar di sekolah-sekolah sekitar Parit , Perak...Memang dia pun berasal dari daerah Parit. He married my kakak ipar after her wife died long time ago. He has 4 children, 1 with first wife n 3 with kak noriah, my ipar.

Abang piee seorang yang peramah, kelakar, very humble , baik hati n dia memang terkenal di sekitar Parit sampailah ke Bota, memang nama dia famous.Selepas pencen masanya banyak dihabiskan di rumah dan masjid/surau.

Abang Piee sangat sayang pada cucu-cucunya dan saban minggu akan melawat anak cucu yang tinggal di sekitar KL. Satu yang takkan dilupakan loghat parit nya yang pekat yang banyak perkataan yang i pun kurang faham even though i asal Perak, tu yang selalu jadi kelakar bila bersembang dengannya.

Semuanya kini tinggal kenangan ...kenangan amat manis yang takkan dilupakan..

Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh beliau dan ditempatkan bersama roh orang yang beriman, Amin.

Mu'tah memory lane....

I just got back from Mu'tah, 160km south of Amman. Alhamdulillah I spent 2 days in that small town where more than 100 malaysian students living there. All of them are studying in the U of Mu'tah. Mimi n I stayed at Azra's (housemates:murni, saadah,nazihah,aini , all from N9) house in Mazar just 4 minutes by van from downtown Mu'tah while zaid n izzat stayed at Adam's house in front of Mu'tah mosque. Usually when we went to mu'tah we'd spend our time staying at zaid's house, but since zaid is no longer staying in mutah after he graduated last summer, we had to stay at 2 different houses.Furthermore ,there's no hotel/motel in this small town.

Mimi n I spent our friday going to Istana Darul Ridwan's(the name of the house ) open house(tak habis raya lagi since last week they had exams) The ex-Kolej Darul Ridwan's girls cooked mee hong kong+roti jala+nasi impit+kuah kacang+pudding+choco cake. Sedap betul semuanya. Thank you Ainul, Sari n other girls who invited us to their open house.

After that we went to Fadli n Saadiah's house ,a loving married couple, fadli is my ex-student back in kemaman. They served mee jawa(both orang jawa)+lontong+kuah kacang+biskut raya+kerepek which are all home made food, uuummm very delicious. I know fadli is very good cook.Thank you both of you for entertaining/serving us with mouth-watering food...

Zaid n Izzat spent their time at U of Mu'tah indoor stadium because the MSA (mu'tah) organized a futsal league tournament. Zaid n his team, Selamba FC played in the match, izzat the spectator...Result: The champion :Irbid FC ( all future doctors) , 2nd : SBB ( saya budak baik ) team from mu'tah.

Mu'tah is a very peaceful town where according to Islamic history, the battle of Mu'tah took part here . many Rasulullah's companions died in that battle including Zaid bin Harithah, Jaafar Abu Talib, Abu Ruwaihah n many other warriors who died as martyrs. The battle field can still be seen at the entrance of the town...the maqam of the companions are located in Mazar. I couldn't stop my tears from dropping whenever i visited the maqam, it looked like i could see how they(the martyrs) fought till the end of their lives with only one ultimate goal: ISLAM is the way of life .

Saturday 2.30pm, while waiting for izzat to come back with me to Amman at the bus stop ( zaid overstayed for another day), I saw a group of malaysian boys from Damascus , Syria who were also waiting for a bus to get back to Amman before going home to Syria.To my surprise, one of them, Nakaie was also there. He is my ex-student in kemaman....There he was, talking loudly/proudly telling his friend that I'm his teacher n bla bla bla.He is now married with one kid (another one is coming soon), he n his wife, Abidah (also my ex-student) have been staying/studying in damascus for 6 years.... how nice to meet him in mu'tah. He n other boys came to Jordan for a business-trip( MSA syria n to visit MSD Jordan ). I invited them to my house in Amman but then they had to get back to damascus by tonight (Thay have classes on Sunday )Maybe next time, InsyaAllah. We exchanged goodbyes at Amman Bus station at 5pm.

Izzat, mimi n I took a taxi home . Nakaie n the gang took a bus to abdali where they hired 2 taxis back to damascus, syria.So long, farewell, see you all next time....

Al Fatihah........

Al Fatihah............

This morning I received an sms from my darling hubby that it's confirmed that the Malaysian Helicopter Sdn Bhd (MHS) pilot who was found dead in a helicopter wreckage near exxon-mobil platform was Captain Salleh Teguh who used to be our neighbour in Kerteh.... He used to be a TUDM pilot before he joined MHS whose job was to carry workers to/from petroleum platforms daily. Captain Salleh as we know is a very kind person n it so happens that his father-in-law ,Pakcik Hamdan used to be my arwah/late father's best friend when they were in the army long time ago. I got to know this pakcik when the late captain salleh moved to our housing area in kerteh early 1990s.. That captain's house was the 3rd on the right of my house (double-storey terrace then!)

When I browsed through Malaysian newspapers today, I saw the faces of arwah n his children(they are all grown ups now )...I was sad but I know his wife ,Mariana or I call her Kak Midah is 'pasrah n redha ' with what had happened.She also mentioned in the paper that during last ramadan her late husband who 's also their nearby surau committee member, spent most of his time performing ibadah n read Quran a lot, Alhamdulillah.

This incident reminds me to always think of Allah the AlMighty because I never know when my heart stops beating...this entire colourful/attractive world is only a transit before heading n residing in the permanent destination.

Let's pray to Allah the Most Gracious God to grant Captain Salleh with paradise, Amin.

3 hours in Balad...

Harini I n zaid spend 3 hours in balad /amman city centre.....actually lama tak pergi..so zaid kata why not kita pegi Assyorofiyyah,sebuah perkampungan arab atas bukit opposite Jabal Qala'ah dekat city center.

Apa yang ada kat situ ?

Abu Darwish Mosque, a unique checkered black n white painted mosque which was built by Abu Darwish (a chechen muslim scholar ) long time ago... (has yet to know when it was built!!).It was on top of the hill n standing in front of the mosque was like standing in red square,Moscow. The mosque looks similar to St. Basil Cathedral in moscow( with different colour !! ).

Then, we went straight to the city center, captured a few photos n bought some food (takeaway coz we are fasting )from cairo restaurant.

1. A lady in black, selling rokok, selalunya sama je style diaorang ni, muka agak gelap, jubah hitam , big body size, duduk di kaki lima.

2. Gerai 10 qurusy(RM0.52) yang jual macam-macam aksesori hiasan wanita/kanak-kanak. Tempat favourite Maya n I (wajib singgah !! ) harini singgah beli gelang mimi 2 baru 20 qurusy.

3. Men with painting/cleaning/ buckets/brushes . Gang ni sokmo ada kat depan masjid Hussein, tunggu kalau ada orang upah cat /cuci kat mana-mana.......selain tu ramai jugak yang lepak, apa kerje diaorang ye.....

4. Pemuda jual jam tangan depan toilet. Zaid kata semenjak zaid tahun 1 (2002) orang ni dah jual jam kat situ, betul2 dpn pintu tandas kat kawasan tepi masjid hussein.

5. Lottery...halal agaknya di jordan...penjualnya lelaki berjubah , tak pun berserban, jual di kaki lima ...Waktu zaid nak ambik gambar ni pakcik si penjual lottery ni cepat-cepat beralih tempat, kononnya bukan dia yang jual, tau pulak malu jual benda haram.

3 hours spent in balad dapat lihat pelbagai ragam arabs/jordanians(banyak lagi pics yang zaid snapped...) which sometimes buatkan I semakin mengenali cara hidup mereka yang simple/humble/moderate/etc......

palestine oh palestinian...

Harini nak tulis sikit pasal palestine n palestinians...

I could still remember during my final semester belajar dulu which was fall/autumn 1987 masa di American U, Washington DC , i ambik 1 course, hebrew language untuk my last elective subject, hebrew language is spoken by jews or bangsa yahudi, alphabets nya banyak yang hampir sama yang buat susah nak kenal, i saja ambik course ni sebab saja nak tau n my U pun diasaskan oleh yahudi n in the uS memang jews yang dominate negara tu. Masa i ambik course tu , gerakan intifadah di palestine bergelodak semula sebab jews yang provoke ambik tanah bangsa palestine...My lecturer, a jew lady was so nice( I got A of course )...I remember dia offered one palestinian student( nama dia Kamil tapi ni kristian arab) jika kamil ada apa2 barang nak kirim pada keluarga dia di palestine because she's going back to israel end of that year...lecturer tu kata dia tak suka peperangan antara jews n arabs...memang cikgu ni baik sangat...waktu tu baru start nak perang (dingin/armed) yang sampai sekarang tak habis lagi......

Memang bangsa yahudi akan menentang n memusuhi arabs yang paling utama n second memusuhi muslims...

Sentimen anti yahudi ni takkan berakhir selagi bangsa derhaka ni wujud di dunia dan yang paling merana sekarang ialah bangsa arab di palestine, tanah yang telah diambil pihak yahudi melebihi 90% dah sekarang, ramai rakyat palestine undur dari bumi tumpah darah mereka termasuklah ke bumi jordan ..di amman city center saja lebih kurang 100 000 ribu palestinians tinggal semenjak 1948...tak termasuk lokasi lain dan negara lain...

Semasa berada di Malaysia hati terasa sayu setiap kali berita tentang bangsa palestine teraniaya , sungguh kasihan..... namun perasaan sedih n belas kasihan kian terhakis apabila berada di bumi jordan hampir setahun ... It's a reality here in jordan that most of the richest men come from palestine, n most of the bad guys also are from palestine. Palestinian are well-known for their bad habits/kaki putar belit n macam-macam perangai buruk yang menyebabkan terasa dalam hati patutlah bangsa arab palestin ni dihina ... Memang tak dinafikan masih ramai palestinian yang memang berjuang/berjihad demi ALLah n Islam . Paling hairan di jordan ni bila kita tanya dari mana asal mereka tak ramai yang nak mengaku mereka asalnya palestine, semua mengaku Jordanian walaupun pada hakikatnya ramai yang asalnya palestine. Mereka malu mengaku berbangsa palestine because persepsi orang if you are palestinian then you must be a bad guy...selalunya begitu...

Nak dijadikan cerita mengenai palestinian ni lebih lebih happening, jiran i kat sini anaknya nama Omar, mukanya putih (most palestinian putih, rambut sikit perang lain dari arab jordan)...Peliknya bila tanya dari mana asalnya dia selalu kata dari jordan tapi kawan-kawan arab dia yang lain semua kata omar palestinian. Omar akan marah kalau orang kata dia palestinian..dia ni pulak perangai tak baik, selalu ejek izzat, dia selalu dengki kalau kawan arab lain main dengan izzat, bila diajak main dia bukan nak main betul-betul selalu nak buli orang, akhirnya orang jarang nak main dengan dia.

Semenjak dari mula kami pindah ke amman, omar selalu je cari pasal dengan budak-budak terutamanya izzat (mungkin tak suka orang luar ), mula2 izzat diam je tapi sekarang dah berani lawan sebab omar kecil dari izzat (baru 10 tahun ).Keadaan tambah teruk sejak akhir2 ni bila semua budak tak berapa suka main dengan omar.

Then something terrible happened yesterday evening, masa tu izzat main bola depan rumah (memang biasa budak2 arab datang main petang2), Omar tak nak main n memang kawan-kawan izzat yang lain tak nak bagi omar main sebab sebelum ni omar tak bagi diaorang main sama, omar duduk je kat tangga luar rumah I, waktu tu dia dah provoked izzat ejek macam2 n izzat sempat tendang bola ke arah dia, kuat jugak izzat tendang (izzat memang born-footballer) . Lepas habis main izzat bersembang dengan muhammad yang tua setahun dari izzat tentang seorang goalkeeper faisoli football club yang juara AFC cup baru-baru ni , tinggal di belakang rumah I, tiba2 Omar mula mengejek-ejek apa yang izzat cakap, Izzat pun balas balik dengan kata omar palestinian, dia kata bukan, dan terus nafikan, kebetulan Zaid ada kat rumah, bengang dengar omar ejek izzat, zaid keluar n kata diamlah budak palestine, omar makin bengang, bila zaid tutup pintu rumah , omar terus baling batu (memang senjata palestine, batu tak de lain ) ke arah rumah I, apalagi tak sempat i nak larang zaid berlari keluar n kejar omar n maki macam-macam pada omar ( zaid amat fluent in arabic), omar lari dan meraung kata dia orang jordan bukan palestine, zaid kalau jordan /palestine ke jangan buat orang ejek orang...suara zaid kuat bukan main sampai semua jiran menjenguk nak tau apa yang berlaku, agaknya semua tak sangka' malizia' naik angin sebab zaid ni nampak lembut je.. I dah risau takut abang omar datang menyerang balas. Satu yang peliknya mak omar dah tua macam nenek dia, abang dia 2 orang dah beranak-pinak n muka memang tak sama langsung, I andaikan betul kawan-kawan arab yang lain kata omar palestinian, yang hairan lagi apa yang malu sangat nak mengaku palestinian, ni yang I tak faham.. agaknya memang benar palestinian ni perangai tak elok n memang orang malu nak mengaku palestinian... entahlah masih mencari jawapan.......................

Malam tadi sewaktu Zaid on the way nak pergi main billiard di abu nuseir billiard club(dekat je dengan rumah ) dia terserempak dengan abang omar depan rumah omar...zaid kata ok je dia salam abang omar n macam tak de apa-apa yang berlaku, lega I dengar, bukan apa tak nak lah nanti bermusuh pulak dengan jiran...Alhamdulillah, semua kira settle dah...

Nampaknya mungkin palestinians yang berani mengaku they are palestinians n who are still living n struggling in palestine are the real n true warriors ..

I'll always pray for the success of the intifadah...latest news, jews have killed more than 49 palestinians in the past 2 days...OO Allah, please help the Palestinians, Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful, Amin.

Refresh..............

It's now November, in less than 2 months 2006 will be gone . This also means I've been staying here in jordan for almost a year. I could still remember how we struggled cleaning/clearing up our house when my hubby made up his mind to let us move from kemaman to amman since it's easier for him to meet/see us because he doesn't have to travel all the way from abu dhabi to Malaysia when he's on leave. We(I, Sumayyah, Izzat, Mimi) moved to amman one week after sumayyah finished her SPM examination. We had twelve boxes/bags but Alhamdulillah we were not charged with excess baggage because I told the officer incharged that we were moving abroad. My hubby had gone back to abu dhabi earlier , so I had to settle all the necessary matters all by myself : cars( for rent) , house( not for rent just find a care-taker) , utility bills(all paid for a year except phone was disconnected ), furniture( some were sold except the bedrooms sets)..etc.

Until now many people wonder why we moved to amman, jordan n not abu dhabi where my husband works. The answer: my husband works n stays on an island called Das Island(100++km )offshore from abu dhabi mainland n the island is only for adgas(name of the oil co.) employees to stay ( all men of course) n my husband can only leave the island on scheduled dates(usually after 40-60 working days) n spends his holidays (14-28days) off the island. My hubby says the environment in abu dhabi city is not quite condusive for our small kids(izzat n mimi ) n the cost of living is lower in amman than in abu dhabi .Furthermore, my eldest son, Zaid is studying in jordan, even though he stays in Mu'tah but at least there's a man who can look after us(he comes back every weekend!) I'd been to jordan twice before i moved here so i know jordan is a nice/safe place to live, Alhamdulillah.

When we arrived here in amman the weather was not quite cold even though it was supposed to be very cold then (December)... Now is early november but it's already cold with rain n sometimes thunder... I love autumn/fall where lots of dry/brownish/yellowish leaves fallen off the tree(i once cried to see how beautiful autumn was at that time in west virginia, usa)...not in jordan, autumn is by the name , the feelings of coldness, the bald rocky mountains remain the same...no fallen leaves since there's no trees on the mountains...all i could see ... leaves from my backyard grape tree has started to change colours n little by little i could see the branches/stems/twigs more vividly than before....goodbye grape leaves....gonna miss u all...

2007 is just around the corner , i really hope we can still spend our wonderful life here in amman ,I don't know for how long , it's all depend on my husband's job ..so far no news yet when to leave.. , i was so busy back home... rushing early in the morning sending my kids to school n i seldom cooked back then(busy,busy, easy to buy delicious tasty food ) . I'm so relief n i think i have a peaceful mind after staying here in amman. I have started to love the city of amman (old n new), i love my caring n kind neighbours, I feel safer here than in kemaman, i'm now cooking more than i used to back home because here i have more free time n most of all not all food in amman suit our tastes ...i remember sumayyah n izzat said :" wah, mama dah pandai masak, rupanya mama pandai masak... etc"...i don't know whether to take it as a compliment or what...

May Allah grants us with lots n lots of happiness n faithfulness in our hearts here in Amman, Amin.