February 2012
40 posts
7 tags
I'm really excited about tonight...
This is a pretty crazy story…
Last week I got an email from a reader of my blog asking if I would like to come to her house to have dinner with her family this week. She said she knew I was moving away soon and it would be nice to take advantage of me being here before I leave. She told me other people would be coming and it’s going to be a bit of celebration - not in my honour or...
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thebokehlife asked: I listened to a certain cool man and got Tumblr! I taught secondary school kids at KKM City, it's a few hours from Riyadh. This is slightly crazy but so cool. I'm currently chilling in Bradford but off to New York soon.
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I love it when the imam recites Fajr Salah and I...
(I know I should be praying in the mosque but I prayed at home already)
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Eugh...
I’m so bored… Why can’t people be more interesting and fun and have engaging things to talk about instead of being all shallow and conceited and vapid and hollow. Is it so hard?
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Watchgoodbyeblighty:
My sisters are sooo excitable. The main people in this video are… my brother who opens the door, my eldest sister who is the most excitable of the lot, my sister-in-law who’s excitable but you don’t see that much and my other sister who is also excitable but I don’t think you see her at all.
The thing I love the most, other than the screams and squeals of joy, is how they flip...
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Right now, this very second, I'm happy.
2 weeks and 6 days until I’m home. I’ve been making plans with friends from home for when I’m back and my schedule is looking really nice and kind of full. I can’t complain about that.
Home! Good old home. It’s a shame I’m not surprising my family like I did at the end of June. That would have been the best.
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It's fajr...
on the 9th of Feb.
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yagalby asked: Salaam friend :) this is (smc27lv). I deleted my tumblr and then decided I wanted it back <---Stupid. Are you counting down the days? I wanted to bother you about your classes. Are they integrated skills classes or do they have a focus?
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Anonymous asked: Tell me one thing, about yourself, that makes you an ugly person.
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I had a 4 hour nap after work
I guess I really needed the sleep but it’s kind of messed up my sleeping pattern. I don’t think I’m going to get to sleep until Fajr at the earliest. That means I have five hours.
That means I’m kind of bored.
That means I would love for you guys to entertain me.
If you ask me anything (pretty much anything), I’ll answer it tonight. You can be anon or off anon....
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Anonymous asked: I'm from Bradford too! I was teaching in Saudi for a while as well but it's ridiculously hard without family, even harder being female. I find this cool.
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Tumblr has taken over my life
I used to be addicted to myspace (yes, I’m *that old*) and then facebook came along and took over completely. Recently I’ve totally fallen out of love with facebook but the fact of the matter is that it is still the best network of people I know in real life.
I’ve been telling tumblr for weeks and months about my plans to go home and how March 1st can’t come quickly...
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Anonymous asked: Thank you Waq! You've totally got me listening to Born to Die on repeat now too!! Love it!
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Today was a really special day for me
It started in a really low place. I didn’t get any sleep at all after Fajr and I didn’t feel like talking to anyone at work. I was thinking about Syria and my own life and had all these things running through my mind and it was crap.
It got better once I started teaching. My new batch of students are actually really good kids. There are a couple who stand out already and they can be a...
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3 weeks and 2 days, 3 weeks and 2 days, 3 weeks...
If I keep telling myself that it might make it go by faster, right?
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dansmesbras asked: I thought I'd just pop in and say hi before going back to studying. So yeah, hi there! How's everything going, amazing man? :) I'm sorry I haven't written for a while.
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claritahome asked: Hey there - cool blog you got going! Hope you don't mind if I use some of your content later down the road, great stuff. New follower, can you please follow me back?
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Anonymous asked: Oh, no, I'm only anonymous as I don't have Tumblr. You're from Bradford?
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I've been waking up for Fajr these last few days...
I try not to be too political on this blog but sometimes you just can’t help it.
I go through my dash and it’s full of people talking about Syria and it makes my heart bleed. Innocent people are dying in the most grotesque way whilst the world watches on and does nothing about it.
They do nothing about it because Syria isn’t rich with oil.
Is that all human life is worth?
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I listen to this song and I just want to get up...
One of my absolute favourite songs ever
Beautiful
Arcade Fire - Mountains Beyond Mountains
They heard me singing and they told me to stop, Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock, These days, my life, I feel it has no purpose, But late at night the feelings swim to the surface. Cause on the surface the city lights shine, They’re calling at me, “come and find...
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I've watched a whole bunch of Ryan Gosling films...
and I’m actually pretty impressed with him as an actor.
I have to admit, I never ever gave him a chance when I first came across him. I watched ‘The Notebook’ a long time ago and wasn’t very impressed. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood when I watched it.
Anyway, I recently watched “Crazy, Stupid, Love”, “Drive”, and “The Ides of...
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Anonymous asked: I love you for introducing me to your music. Best musical taste ever!
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I really love this song even though it's really...
This is way too eugh
The Script - Break Even
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I'm in bed and I should be asleep but I can't...
I’ve been sat at my computer for the last two hours thinking about life, the universe, and everything and how we present ourselves to new people. I’ve been thinking about how we show some parts of ourselves whilst keeping others hidden away.
I’m a very open person, like I keep saying on this blog, and I’m very forthright in how I present myself but I think we all check and...
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Wow!!
That was a pretty amazing game of football. It’s a shame we didn’t go on to win it at the end. I’m happy considering..
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Man Utd face Chelsea!!
Come on United!! Do me proud!
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Who says it better than Oasis?!
I seriously love this song!
Stop Crying Your Heart Out - Oasis
Hold up Hold on Don’t be scared You’ll never change what’s been and gone May your smile (may your smile) Shine on (shine on) Don’t be scared (don’t be scared) Your destiny may keep you warm ‘cause all of the stars Are fading away Just try not to worry You’ll see them some day ...
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Anonymous asked: Can you tell me something about Islamic prayers, those which are made five times throughout the day? Can you explain what a Rak'ah is? Thank you.
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Thank you
This is my 1500th post. It’s taken me nearly two years to reach this landmark. I think about it and I feel like I’ve put more of myself in this blog than anything else in my life. It’s staggering.
Anyway, this post is to say thank you. It’s not to say thank you to Tumblr or people on tumblr or any of that. It’s to say thank you to one person. It’s to say thank...
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Who needs to sleep anyway?
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I had such a fun night!
I met some cool new people. I ate some great food. I had some enlightening conversations. I laughed a whole lot.
The best bit is that I prayed isha before I went out so now I can just crawl in to bed and pass out.
Work tomorrow, though… That sucks!
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On loop! Her face and her voice and the song! OMG!...
It’s like every shot is a painting. There are so many things about this song that I just can’t get over!
Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
Feet don’t fail me now Take me to the finish line All my heart, it breaks every step that I take But I’m hoping that the gates, They’ll tell me that you’re mine Walking through the city streets Is it by mistake or design? I...
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Anonymous asked: Have you been to other cities in Saudi Arabia? I really enjoyed Dammam and Al Khobar back in the day.
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Sleep!
I love it. I didn’t go to work over the last couple of days and it’s meant I’ve really caught up on lost sleep. Today I napped for three hours after maghrib. I prayed isha and now I want to go back to sleep until fajr. After fajr I’ll probably sleep until I have to wake up and get ready for jumma.
Back to work on Saturday.
Only four weeks left of my time in Saudi.
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Anonymous asked: check your e-mail please :)
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You get a song stuck in your head...
and it eats away at your thoughts. It lodges itself in your conscious mind with a root as entrenched as a redwood’s and you can’t knock it out regardless of how hard you try.
The beat goes around and around and around goes the beat.
And then, just as suddenly as it took over everything, it’s gone.
Poof.
Disappeared.
To be replaced by something else.
Doesn’t that...
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I miss my dad
I miss just sitting in the same room as him and not saying anything. I miss talking to him about his day at work and his life and thoughts. I miss talking to him about Man Utd and I miss talking to him about the Pakistan cricket team.
I miss giving him these huge hugs out of the middle of nowhere when we both happen to be standing at the same time and hugging him by surprise.
I just miss him.
...
January 2012
115 posts
6 tags
What a powerful song and that voice! OMG!
Adele - Rolling in the Deep
There’s a fire starting in my heart Reaching a fever pitch and it’s bringing me out the dark Finally I can see you crystal clear Go ‘head and sell me out and I’ll lay your shit bare See how I leave with every piece of you Don’t underestimate the things that I will do There’s a fire starting in my heart Reaching a fever...
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So I went to the doctor to get a sick note because...
Before I carry on let me just let you know that there wasn’t all that much wrong with me but I needed to present the doctor with an excuse for why I didn’t go to work today. I told him my stomach was upset and that I’d had problems in the morning.
His response was to administer me antibiotics and get me on an IV drip for lost fluids in the clinic. I had to sit there for an hour....
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Gotta love football today!
Great results all around.
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I called in sick.
I’m not going to work today and probably not tomorrow either.
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Do you ever have that dream you're falling?
The one where you don’t quite know how you got to that point but you realise you’re falling.
The one where the earth below you is miles away but the terrain and earth starts to come in to focus.
The one where you realise that the wind is hitting your face and it’s starting to hit it at 9.8 meters per second per second faster.
The one where the earth is far below you but you...
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Purgatory
Islands - The XX
I don’t have to leave anymore What I have is right here Spend my nights and days before Searching the world for what’s right here Underneath and unexplored Islands and cities I have looked Here I saw Something I couldn’t over look I am yours now So now I don’t ever have to leave I’ve been found out So now I’ll never explore See...
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I had dinner with the dean of my university...
A bunch of us were invited to have dinner with the dean at a fairly nice restaurant so we could share ideas and make suggestions to him on how to improve the teaching and learning experience at work.
I ended up eating a little bit too much as I often do when I eat out nowadays.
Anyway… more importantly than food it was a really good experience to look in to the mind of a guy with that much...
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I gave my notice in at work today
I sent a short, but straight to the point, email to my boss and all the admin staff at my employers and started telling everyone that I was leaving. I told fellow teachers and my students that I’ll be gone in under five weeks. I told them all that my days in Saudi are literally numbered.
Thirty one of them to be precise.
I’m going to be on a jet plane landing in London before I know...
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Not your fault, but mine...
Little Lion Man - Mumford and Sons
Weep for yourself, my man You’ll never be what is in your heart Weep little lion man You’re not as brave as you were at the start Rate yourself and rape yourself Take all the courage you have left Wasted on fixing all the problems That you made in your own head But it was not your fault but mine And it was your heart on the line I really...
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A smile
I smile. I have this huge smile and I flash my teeth and my face lights up. I look at a person and smile at them and make them think it’s just for them. I smile sincerely and wholeheartedly. I smile with everything I have. My soul smiles.
That’s when I’m happy; content; comfortable.
When I’m sad; when I feel empty; when I feel hollow; when I’m broken my smile is the...