Friday, September 19, 2008

I'm wondering about you!

L_Oman from Culture Shocked started a game of tag. She asked:
Am I the only blogger out there that sometimes thinks of other bloggers?
Have I lost it? Gone over the edge? Is it right? Is it ok?
Oh dear! If it is not "right" and "OK," then I am really in trouble because I am always wondering about the other bloggers I read. So L_Oman tagged me. She wants each of us to list 5 other bloggers that we think about.
Post at least five blogs that you read and tell us what you wonder about with them!
So I have been pondering this for a couple days now, and I have no idea how to choose just 5. If you look at my blog roll, you will see that I have way too many blogs I try to keep up with. LOL, my Google reader has twice that many.

Beth used to have a blog called "Indiana Beth," but she recently moved to Jordan and now it's called The United States of Jordania. She hasn't posted a lot lately, and I am wondering how she is adjusting to the big changes and how is her Ramadan going? And Molly from The Confessions of a Multicultural Muslimah just moved to Egypt and Izzy Mo just moved to Dubai, so I am wondering how all three of them are doing.

Najiya from Prairie Heart of Damascus doesn't update very often, but I often wonder what is going on in her world. She teaches English in Syria, and she has written a novel. Cool, huh?

Aaminah Hernández has been updating her blog a lot lately, journaling about how her Ramadan is going and posting some very useful hadith for building an Islamic character. I keep checking her blog to see if she is meeting her goals and if she has gotten over the nasty cold she got as soon as Ramadan started.

Saha has recently returned from Yemen where she was studying, and I have been reading about her trip and some life changing experiences she had in Yemen Journey. The Cairo Gyro is by a sister who is studying Arabic in Egypt, and Damascus dreams was studying Arabic in Syria, although she has not updated in nearly a year. I always want to hear more about their travels and studies. I wonder what it is like. To be honest, I am kind of jealous of their chance to concentrate on their own education, although I don't think I would have been up to what Saha went through.

I always make Southern Muslimah one of the first blogs I check if she has posted. I am jealous of her too, because she has been involved in this wonderful project to assemble packages of food to distribute this Ramadan, and before that they made up backpacks full of supplies for poor kids going back to school. I wonder how she got all that organized and wish I was doing something as good as that too.

In addition to L_Oman's blog Culture Shocked I always read Stranger in this Dunya and Susie's big adventure but they both have been tagged already. I would love to have them over for tea along with Underwater Light , KhadijaTeri and mamamona, so I could hear more about their kids and lives.

Amy from Ibnat al-Hidayah: Daughter of Guidance sounds really interesting. She is about my daughter's age and I wonder how her school work is coming along and how she is coping. I wish I had had a friend like her when I was in college.

I also wonder about a wayfarer's journey... and Outlines since they are both pregnant, may Allah give them safe deliveries and healthy babies, inshaAllah. And I wonder when JD is going to post more baby pictures at Dunner's. What a darling, mashaAllah, mashaAllah!

There are a bunch of Palestinian bloggers that I wonder about, but they don't have the kind of blogs where they play games like tag. I always read Joy in Palestine's blog I Saw it in Palestine. She is a member of the Christian Peacemakers Team and she was living in a very small village called Tuwani south of Hebron where the people are often subject to attacks from settlers. Joy has gone back to the US now, temporarily I think, but her friend Jessica is there writing Ordinary People. Orphans Under Threat is all about the schools and orphages run by an Islamic charity in Hebron that the Israelis are planning not only to close, but to confiscate so no one can use them. That blog is maintained by another CPT member. Then there is Hannah in Palestine and Nora in Palestine. I used the signature "Carol in Palestine" for years and years, but I guess that was not so original, lol. Neither is alajnabiya. I have run across 4 other variations of the name ajnabiya online since I started using that name. :-( Back to my topic, Body on the Line is an American woman teaching at an Najah University in Nablus. I always wonder how all these people ended up in the West Bank. And there is UN-Truth and Our life in Jerusalem, who are westerners in Jerusalem.

From Gaza, with Love, tabula gaza, Contemplating from Gaza and Gaza Gardens: The Save Gaza Blog are all by people living in Gaza. How do they manage? May Allah give them strength and change their situation for the better. Is the Gaza gardens project still going, I wonder? They gave seeds and chickens to people and helped them to be a little more self reliant.

There are 2 more pro Palestinian bloggers that I wish I knew more about, Lawrence of Cyberia and bruised earth, but they both have serious, not chatty blogs. I assumed that Lawrence of Cyberia was a guy, but apparently he's a she. There is a link to a facebook profile on the page, and I have almost been tempted to join facebook just so I can read more about the author of this excellent blog.

I have resisted joining facebook, because I already spend way too much time online, can't you tell?????

Who you telln' to get a life? hmm...... Was I supposed to choose 5?

15 comments:

JDsg said...

Very soon, insha'allah. Milady took some photos the other day and she wants me to put them up on the blog. ;)

Anonymous said...

Assalaamu alaikum,

Wow ~ I bet it'll take you ages to let all those people know via a comment on their blogs, if you didn't do that already! LOL

Love your post and how you wrote it... makes me want to check out all the blogs you listed that I don't already read. And I'm supposed to go and cook some dinner and get on with ironing. Oops.:/

Anonymous said...

lol, I've been out of it for a while, as I wasn't reading blogs overseas, but I used to wonder about bloggers all the time.

And when the fihting happened in Yemen, I thought about you and wondered how you coped living in Palestine!

Am i really so serious now?!!!!!!!!

alajnabiya said...

JD- Yay! I love baby pictures and your daughter looks adorable, MASHAALLAH.

Strangerinthisdunya- I got about a third of the way through the links to comment, but I had lots to do and my kids were kicking me off the computer. It's a pain to have to share it with 6 other people. Ironing... blech, yuck, patooie!

Saha- well, your Yemen Journey blog is pretty serious, after all it is all about a spiritual journey, right? You're not posting pictures of your new, pretty, blue paint and such anyway.

I don't know, but your experience seems way more scary to me. When the Israelis re-invaded Ramallah a few years ago, I could hear gunfire and missiles from the helicopter and even tank fire a few times, but it wasn't close. I was never worried that it was going to come to our street. And most importantly, I always had my husband near. The real stress is just the long term uncertainty and worrying when my kids are out. Sometimes I just wish I could make them all stay in the house forever, but they are uncooperative and insist on growing up! I have 3 adult children now and in less than a month one will get married. Makes me feel so old.

UmmFarouq said...

I detest ironing, mostly because I'm no good at it.

Your wonderings are so appreciated. Great links to many blogs I've wanted to check out but have not. And thanks for the compliment, although I could never do any of this charity stuff without
1. the help of Allah
2. the help of so many great sisters in our community, who really hold me up

Pray for us...this could get big, and that would be a great thing, inshaAllah.

Susie of Arabia said...

Wow! You did a great job with this post. I haven't done mine yet, but you have introduced me to many more blogs I didn't know about yet. If only there were more than 24 hours in a day and I could read faster!!!

alajnabiya said...

Thanks for stopping by Susie and Umm Farouq. Someday, inshaAllah maybe we will sit down together for a cup of tea. Wouldn't that be nice?

UmmFarouq said...

...tagged you back...

(but not necessary to return tag again) :)

Susie of Arabia said...

I can't think of anything I would like more than to sit down with you for a cup of tea ... to me, you are inspirational.

KhadijaTeri said...

I wish we could get together for a cup of tea... sigh... You are not alone.. I spend time worrying over bloggers that suddenly stop posting too. I wonder about people's lives and notice the similarities and differences. The life we lead in this small, small world.

Thanks for thinking about me. I worry about you too. At least I am safe here in Libya.

Mona Zenhom said...

Done! And I'd love to have tea with you too!

L_Oman said...

Wowzer! Major blog reads to add to my list, alajnabiya! By the way - I totally love your name! :)

And see - I'm not the only one worried 'bout ya!

Would be nice to sit round with a nice cup of tea and all these ladies, hu? I'm sure we'd have so many stories to share!

alajnabiya said...

Well, anytime you all decide to visit Palestine, stop by for that cup of tea.

About the safety issue, I admit that there are times that things seem unsafe, but the real issue in my life is more the feeling of being hopeless and trapped, and seeing injustice all around me and not being able to do anything but whine about it online to my friends. Where I am is generally quiet and safe. I would feel more at risk in one of America's big cities than I do here. Unless the Israelis decide to invade Ramallah again, in which case I will stay in my house until it blows over, like I did last time. But I try to remember Qur'an 3:154

After (the excitement) of the distress, He sent down calm on a band of you overcome with slumber, while another band was stirred to anxiety by their own feelings, Moved by wrong suspicions of Allah-suspicions due to ignorance. They said: "What affair is this of ours?" Say thou: "Indeed, this affair is wholly Allah's." They hide in their minds what they dare not reveal to thee. They say (to themselves): "If we had had anything to do with this affair, We should not have been in the slaughter here." Say: "Even if you had remained in your homes, those for whom death was decreed would certainly have gone forth to the place of their death"; but (all this was) that Allah might test what is in your breasts and purge what is in your hearts. For Allah knoweth well the secrets of your hearts. (Yusuf Ali's translation of the meaning)

Katherine said...

It's because of blogs like yours and others I've had my mind and opinions irrevocably altered.
Now if I could just find the resources to study christianity and Islam it seems like they share so much......

Anonymous said...

Salaam Alaikum,

Thank you for your sweet thoughts.

I often wonder about you too. Masha Allah, I often feel so humbled by your strength when I read your blog.