Silent Scribbler: Life in the US of A

Showing posts with label Life in the US of A. Show all posts

Recently we went to NYC to renew hubby's passport at the Malaysian consulate. It was a really short trip but my impression of NY is not too good! Ha ha ha. It's a busy city. Everybody's rushing. People are not too friendly. Taxi cabs are everywhere. Food is surprisingly cheap and plentiful, if you are not too fussy. I liked that they had little carts everywhere selling halal meat. There was also many charming cafes selling all sorts of pastry and sandwich. We found a halal biryani restaurant; I had chicken which was quite good but the portion was huge! It was also rather aggressively spiced so I couldn't really eat the whole thing. Hubby had lamb I think and it was swimming in ghee!

The good thing about the Malaysian consulate was the relatively short time it took to make the passport. We were in by 9am and out by around 12. The officers were rather err... business like and aloof. None of that Malaysian muhibbah attitude. Ha ha ha. You didn't even have to provide passport sized photos; they had an officer armed with a digital camera so that was handy.

After settling the passport, we just walked about but it was so exhausting. The Malaysian consulate was situated near the Empire State Building. We crossed Broadway and Madison Avenue looking for Time Square but the GPS was wonky and we got lost. We tried asking for directions but unfortunately some people did not speak English clearly (e.g. reminded me of London, that had a huge immigrant community), while others were too busy on their way to entertain us. On the way back, in the taxi cab then only we saw Trump towers, Time Square, a huge Macy and Zara store (among others) and Central park. It was too short of a trip to do much, and I did not sleep for two days so I was really feeling grumpy so we headed back to La Guardia since we didn't want to miss our flight. Definitely we needed to take another trip back to NYC for a longer and more leisurely trip. The highlight of the trip was meeting some friendly Malaysians (college students from Iowa), also waiting at the consulate. They made me feel at home (even just for a brief minute).

All in all, I don't think I miss much not living in a big city in the US. NYC is not unlike Chicago. The vastness, noise and frenzied pace scares me a bit. I prefer a more laid back kind of life I guess...

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Overdue update!

For me unfortunately, 'lazy not just today but almost daily! he he he Source: Google images

It would seem that I am blogging less and less lately. :-P Therefore, this is my half-hearted attempt at trying to update my blog. Short spurts of updates is about all I can manage right now. He he he.

It's winter... going into spring. I am so grateful that this winter has been really kind. Very few snow storms. Not too cold. Even some sunshine once in a while. Today, it was snowing briefly but I think it will stop soon. Yeay!
I've given my SV an outline of my prelim paper. She hasn't given me a feedback yet, but I am writing my paper in the meanwhile and hoping that the corrections aren't too bad. I am OK with my topic and I think I won't be bored of it by the time I defend my prospectus!
Emee is probably coming during her spring break. I am very looking forward to it, and I hope it materializes. We have visited her in Chicago so it's time for her to return the visit. I will also use her visit as an excuse to get a little break he he he
Sad has to renew his passport and we might have to do it in NY. I am not sure when we will go but hopefully sometime when the weather is more forgiving
My brother got married last week. It saddens me a bit not to be there but it can't be helped and I am glad we have a new family member. Welcome to the family, Nani!
The Oscars is tomorrow, can't wait to watch it. Haven't seen any of the movie in the list, except for The Help. Though, am rooting for Meryl Streep FTW! (can't stand smug Rooney Mara; don't care how good the movie was! And I did like the Swedish version)
Did you guys read about the father who shot his daughter's laptop because she was rude to him on FB? Moral of the story: A bit OTT, I know but be careful what you say on social networking websites, OK! Dr. Phil berated him but I am not sure how I would react if my kid badmouths me on social network so I am in no position to judge. :-P If you didn't, you can read about it here.
Enjoy the weekend, people. :-)

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All-American Muslims @ TLC

This is a new show on American Muslims that debuted in TLC a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't had a chance to watch it until this week. I was very excited to see a show about Muslims in American in the midst of all the anti-Muslim sentiment in the US. This show follows the lives of Arab Muslims in Dearborn. You can watch the trailer I posted above.

I have mixed feelings about it. It's exciting what they are trying to do... I hope that in the end, it educates and let people know that Islam is a peaceful religion. And just like they are many different kinds of Christian or Buddhists, they are also many different kinds of Muslims. Some Muslims are devout, some are less so. Some are even kind of liberal. I am just wondering though about the choice of location. Why Dearborn? And why Arab Muslims? What about African Americans who are Muslims? Indian/Pakistani Muslims? Surely, the Muslim community is more diverse than that. But perhaps, as somebody mentioned, they chose Arab Muslims for a specific reason.

I get asked this question a whole lot in class, too. How do you feel about being Muslim in a non-Muslim country? Honestly, it is a question that has not occurred to me much, meaning I do not lose a lot of sleep about it because I come from a Muslim country where the question of my religion is not made salient. Here, sure I stick out like a sore thumb because of my hijab. But to say that it's difficult to practice my faith would be a stretch. It's not hard at all. I do things like I would do back home. I pray. I cook halal meat. We go to the mosque for Eid prayers (kalau rajin he he he!) and Sad goes to the mosque every Friday for prayers. I am perhaps also rather lucky as I am located in a university campus where my identity, although not well understood is tolerated. Just last week a classmate of mine asked me very politely why I wear the hijab and other Muslims (that he has seen) do not, and I was happy to oblige. I dare say if I was in another part of the US, such tolerance may be limited, or might not even exist. So I am happy to be where I am.

And I find it easier to deal with non-Muslims who accept our faith tolerantly, and with an open mind compared to other pseudo Muslims who drink and dress scantily, and look down on other Muslims who do not! (and there are quite a few here, mind you! :-P). Practice your faith if you want, but do not look down, condescend, insult or argue with others who choose not to. That's my take on it. After all... la ikraha fiddin...

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Chicago the windy city!

Last year, I found out that one of my closest uni friend, Emee would be in the US to continue her Masters. I was very happy to hear that! It's nice to have a friend from back home to talk to. So we decided to help her out when she came to settle down. We knew how hard it would be to settle down in a foreign country without a familiar face, as we had gone through the same process. I was luckier because I had a husband with me, and I was located in a very small, university town so getting around was not so hard (except in winter). She came last month, and as soon as both of us had some free time we packed our stuff and headed to Chicago last week!

University of Chicago: Image courtesy of Google Images

It takes about six hours to get from Ohio to Chicago. She got a place in the University of Chicago, which is actually located in the middle of town, very much like University of Akron, I think. Her apartment is minutes away from her school building, so that was good. Build in the 1890s, its really one of the more established private universities in the US. Transportation was very complicated; it is after all one of the biggest cities in the US also. She had access to subways and LRT but you have to get your bearings right and learn how to navigate the area before even attempting to get on the train. Even getting to the next neighborhood was very confusing for me. And coming from a small town, I was really, really scared in Chicago. Her apartment was of course in university campus, but it's open campus so next door was not a very safe neighborhood. As with Kent, you have police escorts walking with students after dark, but I've never seen so many police car patrolling the neighborhood at such a frequent rate! And of course, I was struck with the living expenses. Where I am, USD600++ for a one bedroom apartment is considered expensive, but she is staying in a studio apartment at the same rate, and that is considered cheap!!! And if you are used to small town driving, it was quite a shock to be back in a big city. I think hubby was given the horn more than once; people are so impatient! You rarely see drivers in small town being impatient. I guess life is much more laid back where I am currently living in. The diversity of the city was evident; you can see people of different races walking around in different parts of the city, and some university cafes even sold food catered to Muslim students.

Another thing that surprised me was the prevalence of halal @ zabihah food in her neighborhood. She had at least one good halal store (Valley of Jordan, I think it's called) and the food pricing was relatively inexpensive too compared to our halal store (perhaps due to competition, they probably had a larger market to cater to there)! Plus, the owner was super friendly. We also found a halal restaurant right near her neighborhood called Numeca. I had the Chicken BLT there which was really, really good. The owner is African Muslim, and there was even a Masjid there near the restaurant.

Chinatown, Chicago. Image courtesy of Google Images

We only spent two days there so I can't tell you much about the great tourist attraction there; I was told they have great museums (Museum of Science and Industry), the aquarium (Shedd aquarium) and the Millennium Park (which I think we drove by on our way to the premium outlet). We did however, see the sears tower from afar, and dropped by Chinatown (to go to the Asian store). (sorry, no personal pictures. I took some, but quality wasn't that good... plus, all three of us were not cam-whoring type of people he he he).

Sears Tower. Image courtesy of Google Images

To Emee, hope you have settled down properly, and we will see you again soon when we have the time. Don't worry, as long as we are still here we will help you the best way we can. It was nice to see a familiar face in Obama land. He he he he. As for me, I am glad to be living in a small town! Sure, it's less exciting, but much less expensive and a lot more 'tame'. Plus, my studies would not be any easier even if in a different place!

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