Hafla Hookah fi Saaa wahida

Well it is boxing day, aka Christmas is over. I can't say I really have any feelings on the subject. Interestingly enough I think I had a pretty good Christmas. The last few years I've been really pissed at my family and upset about all the commercialism and stuff that is Christmas in America and especially southern California. Strangely enough, this year, when I was expecting to have insane culture shock based around Christmas and really just hate it with all my heart, I found myself relatively enjoying it.

I'm pretty sure some of you must've been praying for me and my family because things have been pretty good this year. Me and my dad have been talking all the time, like really talking (and he never talks), my mom and I have been bonding even, and my mom's been so much more patient than I've ever seen her and actually wanting to hear about Islam and my view on things I saw. Christmas day instead of being pissed about commercialism and all the crap we were accumulating I was instead just so glad that I had a family, and that I could still come home to this, and that I had people to be with who cared about me and we have a home. I was really grateful for once. Yay!

I also have had a few christmas parties, which God knows are not exactly the greatest time, but they've been great because I've got to talk to people about the middle east and dispel some myths with some authority. Some people have just been so flabbergasted that I went to the middle east, or that egyptians are laid back and friendly, or that I felt safe there, or that women can drive and not wear headscarves there. One of my friends here was in china this last semester, and we've done a lot of bonding too. It's good having him around to remind me that the middle east isn't the only interesting, misunderstood place in the world, and that there are tons of other cultures and languages and people far away from here, and that I'm not the only one here going through culture shock.

So ya, in approximately 1 hour, I am hosting a hookah party for my San Diego friends. Haha, so far they like my arabic music, and they're really excited about the hookah, too bad I don't even know how to set it up, let alone smoke it. My dad says among a bunch of college students, we should be able to figure it out, haha.