vendredi 27 novembre 2009

EID MUBARAK =)

Aidkoum moubarak sisters
Koul'am wentouma b'kheir inshallah :)
Also i want to apology to you for not updating the blog for so long! i was in Abudhabi for a while. I loved all the time i spent there!

jeudi 12 novembre 2009

Sorry i dont shake hands

"sorry i dont shake hand with men."


Each time it say it i feel embarrassed to embarass someone! But what is it with men!?! why do they always give their hands (if its not their cheeks)?
When i was doing boardings, many men would just get in the plane and just give their hand to shake...
Hellooooo even if i was shaking hands i wouldnt shake hands of ALL my passengers!!

Smiling is charity :)

Salam aleykoum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh! i hope you're all doing well inshallah :)

Sisters, who has not experienced this embarrasing moment where you smile at a sister but she is not smiling at you back??? Some would even look down on you! I have experienced that..especially in the U.A.E were women (el hemdulilah not all) would look like they are too good to smile back at another sister! Why this feeling of revalvy among us? i hate it... So lets just smile to each other its charity! :)


The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Charity is prescribed for each descendant of Adam every day the sun rises." He was then asked: "From what do we give charity every day?" The Prophet answered: "The doors of goodness are many...enjoining good, forbidding evil, removing harm from the road, listening to the deaf, leading the blind, guiding one to the object of his need, hurrying with the strength of one's legs to one in sorrow who is asking for help, and supporting the feeble with the strength of one's arms--all of these are charity prescribed for you." He also said: "Your smile for your brother is charity." - Fiqh-us-Sunnah, Volume 3, Number 98

samedi 7 novembre 2009

dont touch my heels pleeeeeaaase!

I love wearing heels but my fiance doesnt allow me to! He says that the way i walk when i wear heels is bad. I think he means that the way i carry myself is different...Well of course! No women walk the same with heels and without heels!! And i really dont get it because my shoes are hide under my long abaya!!
i need to convince him ...


Not fair, i really like wearing heels...


vs



Destination ----> The philippines


MANILA

MNL...3 letters that i couldnt wait to see on my montly roster! Manilla, capital of the philippines. Since i started flying some of my friends had 1 MNL each month....no fair i kept thinking! But finaly my turn...

Manama Manilla is a 10 hours flight! eek...No wonder why some girls always want to swap if its only a 24h rest there! But it was fine with me...My maximum flight was around 13h, i knew i could handle those 10hours.

Oh yes, did i forget to mention that Gulfair doesnt allow the cabin crew to have a rest time, even on a 10h flight?!
Filipinos are known to be very friendly and easy going! And its true during the boarding i noticed they were all very polite :)

After the service when all the passengers are sleeping, the light is turned off...and no passengers is using the call bell...so here i was on my jump seat starting to feel sleepy. Some pursers would allow their crew to take a tiny nap (on the jump seat of course as the aircraft is not equiped with a crew rest pfff). But if it wasnt nicely offerd, you couldnt ask of course.
And this purser was so moody that of course it didnt cross our mind to even ask lol.
The flight was going well and we landed to Manila. El hemdulilah....I was so excited to visit, see the city and discover new things :)

I reached the hotel, took a shower i changed into my abaya (many were staring)
And then direction Mall of Asia, one of the best mall ever!! If you love pumpering yourself, getting all kind of skin care products, get a manicure/pedicure...Anything you want is there!! And soooooooooooooooooooooooo cheap!
So of course i spent my whole day there :)
Oh yeah and i tasted PORK!!!! YUCK!!!!! i asked for shrimp dumpling and i got porc dumpling, i knew from the first bite that it wasnt shrimp :( ppfff

Back to the hotel, exhausted from the shopping! I went with the rest of the girls to the fish market!! Let me explain. You go to the fish market and choose all kind of seafood! A lot of people come around you just to listen or look what you're bying lol thats funny! And right in front you find the restaurant where they'll cook what you just bought. They have a thousand ways of cooking your shrimps, oyesters & fish....<3>

Coming out of the restaurant! my legs stepped into sooooo much water!! manila was flooded!! we didnt noticed a thing while we were eating and nobody seems to really care and thats because the local are used to it!!! i litteraly had my legs into the water!!! sooooooooooooo much water! i didnt want to walk in that water as i was scared for some reason that i rat would bite my legs! ahaha...it was funny though! everybody was walking (or swimming?) in that water!! i was just so surprised to see that so many water dropped while we were having dinner!!


I have found the locals extremly nice, you dont enter a shop without being so nicely greeted, you can see that the country is not very rich but yet the people are so so nice (yes im repeating myself lol), always willing to help, wherever you go you find filipinos singing...smiling!!! they sing everywhere...ahahah thats so nice! I have really loved that country!


National bus that you see everywhere in the streets


Only thing that surprised me so much is all the men with breast, make up astaghfirullah...it is uhm wierd! you see them everywhere! They plug their eyebrows, have contact lenses...lipstick! But you can clearly see ther are men they are not even trying to hide it...its like an (ugly) disguise...

voila...It is a country i would highly recommend to anyone who wants to go to Asia :)

vendredi 6 novembre 2009

Showing some love...?!

P.ublic D.isplay of A.ffection



OR

P.ublic D.isplay of A.ffection

Public Display of Affection? When we are in love we feel like letting the whole world know!Should couples only show affection in private? Of course i wouldnt mind holding the hand of my husband but affection between spouses should be reserved for the privacy of the house...
By PDA i mean kissing...hugging...



as Muslims we strive to be modest and kissing freely in front of others (including young children) is immodest. A husband and a wife are allowed to be intimate with each other, and it's also strongly encouraged in Islam to do so, but it should be done privately.


Yummy tagine

salam aleykoum wa rahmatullah barakatou sisters :)

I made a tagine with chicken the other day and it turned out really good
Lets me know if you want the recipe







mercredi 4 novembre 2009

Honeymoon

Salam aleykoum sisters :)


im going to need your help...Im thinking about my honeymoon and dont really know where to go. Not because im picky but because i want to go somewhere i feel comfortable wearing my niqab (yes by then i think i will have made the big step inshallah) and somewhere quiet but where its not only sand and beach.
A muslim country would be great...



Inshallah we will do omra and then travel somewhere




some really nice pictures

You better not forget the salt eheh


Any ideas sisters?

Where did i land part 2

In part 1 wasnt so interesting but i felt like i had to write it so you really get the whole picture of the story.

My friend and i were intrigued about these girls. Although my friend was being pushy about going ring at her door, i didnt want to. What was wierd to me is that Ashraf stopped talking as soon as she saw my friend coming. I wondered why...

The weekend was there and my friends and i felt like going to the city center mall. Aaah where was the athan in malls??? i never heard it in any malls of bahrain! So my friends and i were going in forever21 when i saw Amina walking alone with tones of shopping bags! Having a hard time walking with her heels...







I turned my head as soon as i saw her. I was embarassed, didnt know if she saw me or not. To be honest i didnt want to go to her. The mall was soooo crowded, and bahrain is soooo small. It may sound bad to you but i didnt want to be connected to her in any kind of ways. With the luck i have, she of course saw me and came up to! My friends disapeared in a heartbeat LOL!!!

- ah Jessica she said!! bahrain is sooo small!
Yes too small sometimes i thought


- How are you habooba? and how is flying? 7abooba uhm ok lol...she was still in training so she wanted to know all about my first flights...She was talking and i was walking along, didnt want to be standing in the middle of the mall, if you know what i mean. So i enterd the first store i saw, i thought it would be better.

- Im fine el hemdulilah, flying is good...things are different from the training school, but dont worry u'll pass all your exams inshallah and start flying soon.

- Yes inshallah! So any luck finding something you like??

- Well, they have some nice things but its a lot more expensive than Paris, a lot more, and you know ive just been flying my pay check is not at the highest now...so i try to be raisonable. But i see that you've have had luck. Looking at her bags (and at her breast almost hanging out)

- Ahaha you are so cute...are you short of cash?

- not really im fine el hemdulilah i just need to not spend on things i dont really need :)

- El hemdulilah but you could make things easier on you if u want

- What do you mean...

- Take my number and call me! we'll find time to talk about it...her phone rang! Yalla i have to go she said, i have a party tonight! bye bye habooba.




I took the number thinking i'd never call....I then looked around me, i was in MAC make up store. Why so many men then? aaaaah.....ok i understood....they all disapared when she left!At this point, i had my ideas on what was all her parties about (well so i thought) i just didnt think girls wouldnt try to hide it better. On my way home with my friends, i of course had to give a full gossip report *again*


Call as soon as we get home they said!! nooooooooo i kept saying! why would i call! its evident...And shes going to a party anyways! Its the weekend all saudi qatari and koweiti men are in town one of my friend said...

2 days later Ashraf and her friend Amina (the famous girl making VIP parties) knocked at my door. I was surprised...i was sleeping when they came. Middle of the day...She introduced me to Amina. We all started to talk about work and bahrain, on how much money we were paid. Amina sounded very bossy toward Ashraf, she has been flying for years Amina was new. They told me they knew each other before coming to Bahrain, both from casablanca morocco. Ashraf helped her to get the job to move to the gulf...
Well after this chit chat girls. Amina asked me about my love life, what i thought about men in the gulf...i told her i didnt have a good opinion of them really. Men who come in bahrain come to "have fun"...thinking all women and mainly expat are easy to get with just a drink.
Thats when Amina told me "let same think you are easy who cares, just get the easy cash"
i was just stunned to hear that!



Listen she said, we do nothing bad, we just make our lives easy. They want to have fun and we need money. All we do in dance in bikini and get paid! they wont harm you...most of them are old!


IS SHE ASKING ME TO BE A PROSTITUTE??? astaghfirullah!!!!!!!!


At this point i was soooo i dont know what i was! i got speechless for a minute! all i was thinking about was why did they ask me!?? i dont not look like i would do that (if theres a look for that), im not provocative in any kind of ways, im new so its not like they heard lies about me...i was just so shocked and mad!


When i realized what they were asking me. I told them to leave my flat and to never come back. Amina, told me, it is your lost!! u'll never make so much money even if you fly 27/7! think about it darling!


MY LOST?????? AHAHA SOMEONE PLEASE WAKE ME UP!!!!


Ashraf asked me not to tell this to anyone of course....ahah yeah right! i warned my friends about them! Later i heard that Amina was known for spotting newbies and get them enrolled with this nasty business.


Some girls of my group started doing with men they would meet in clubs. And they were very open about it...


It saddens me to see girls who have been brought up in practicing muslims families with good values forget all about it and Allah when money is involved.


May Allah guide them & us to the right path, and make us stronger to fight the sheitan.


Ameen!


ps: i am not only reffering to morrocan. It happens that the women who came up to me are from there.

mardi 3 novembre 2009

La vie en rose

Aaah i came across this video a couples of weeks ago and i would like to share it with you...you can watch it with you husband HIGHLY RECOMMANDED i'd say!

What do you think? i want to know!





shokran!


Tonight sisters, im in a grateful mood.
I want to thanks all the muslims around the world who make duas for me for you for our community! Whats more beautiful than someone praying Allah سبحانه وتعالى‎ for our right to live your faith freely, for health, for a stronger iman each day that Allah سبحانه وتعالى‎ makes...someone you dont even know but who only wants you good!


On the authority of Abu Hamzah Anas bin Maalik (radiAllaahu anhu) - the servant of the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) - that the Prophet (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :


None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself.


It was related by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim



May Allah strengthen our faith always and keep us united. Amine ya rabe al 3alamine








lundi 2 novembre 2009

My name is




Nice to meet you, Im Amina and you?
Im Jessica (not my real name but my real name can easily be in that catergorie)
Jessica??? but thats not a muslim name!!
I know..
Are you half french half arab? or something else?
No my whole family is arab, im arab....(smiling to hide my irritation. Ive been asked this for years)
But why Jessica then?
Well...i didnt get to choose my name, did you choose yours AMINA? (cant hide it anymore)
No eheeh but im arab with a muslim name. Strange, you should think about changing it into a muslim name!


GGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.......i have been asked about my name for 26 years now and im annoyed with this! I do not have a muslim name, but i have the name my parents gave me and im proud to have it. A different name would not make me more muslim, it doesnt represent my iman or anything! If i was called myriam would that make my faith stronger? would i love Allah more? Would i fear my lord more? Would i pray more? No...so jessica, linda, amina or kimberly its all the same.
Unless someone prove me that it is haram i will stick to my name :p

samedi 31 octobre 2009

Destination: Bengladesh


BANGLADESH


I visited the Bangladesh for the first time on my second month of flying. I heard so many stories from different crew that i did not know what to expect from this country and the people.

The bangali are known to be quiet violent on board. They drink a lot. All the men ask for wisky and beer. Serving alcohol was one of the hardest thing for me. As much as i was trying to avoid having the bar cart i still had to do it sometimes. Astargfullah!

As soon as i landed in Dhakka, the cleaners came on board and while they were cleaning and the crew waiting for the next crew to get onbard, cleaners started asking me for food juices anything to eat. I then understood that outside we would be asked as well. Instead of throwing the untouched food as we usually do i decided to take all the muffins, little bottles of milk, cheese...bread. We are not allowed to do this and could actually be fired for this but if your purser is somehow understanding they wont bother you with that!


When i passed the immigration, i saw kids, sick people everywhere....being kicked with a stick to stop them begging. Little kids...so young and violently hurt.



In a heartbeat all the food was gone. They all jumped all me. I was surprised to see them asking for pens.
As all the crew was getting in the bus to go to the hotel, a woman came to be with a newborn in her arms and gave it to me! what do you say to that? just heartbreaking...i of course could not take it but the mother was already gone. My purser came took the baby and gave him to the driver who gave it to the brother, im guessing.



On our way to the hotel i saw all these people in the streets and sooo much traffic. I wasnt expecting so many people in the street but from what i understood they have no where else to go since many of them sleep in streets.




On the bus our purser reminded us not to drink tap water, eat anything from the hotel and be very very cautious when going out, we were not allowed to go out alone and after 7pm. I didnt know we couldnt eat from the hotel so i didnt think about bringing food. But other girls filled theire suitcases with noodles, bread, cheese, chips...You honestly dont think about eating when you've seen so much misery outside.

In gulfair, dahkka is known to be like ive said before one of the worst destination but some enjoy it. Its a place where shopping is obviously extremly cheap if you come with ur Bahraini dinars or anything other devise. Dont be looking for quality you will be looking in vain....this is a very cheap quality of course.

So i decided to go with other girls to "the bongo bazar" a place even more crowded.



I became hysteric in this place. Old and sick people touching me while begging. Everything but touching. I could not handle this...i was afraid and scared. i've never been like this in my whole life. Bongo bazar was just too much for me. Other girls were just fine, used to it i guess...shopping like crazy. I could not concentrate in shopping at all! and even starting feeling guilty from being here. I mean how can you shop when you see all this around you. You cant even shop...they are all calling you from every side. No this is not like khan el khalili souq...when sellers call you lol!
I even paid a man to tell people not to touch me. I was scared, thinking about it now makes me laugh on how hysterical i was.

Back to the hotel after almost dying 20 times. Yes they dont know how to drive...i mean they know but in their own ways. Like if you bring a man in paris he would tell you that we dont know how to drive either!
That was a great experience to go there. I have loved being with all the kids around me...they were amazed to get candies. I met a little boy in bango bazar, not even 8 but able to speak so many different languages. He told me "my dream....is to fly in a big big plane, make money and come back to give it to my mom"
Aaaah he randomly asked me, are you muslim? I said yes...and he told me and you dad let you travel alone? that made me smile....

Here is the little boy

desperate housewife but not a wife yet...

So today im sad, and ive been sad for the last couples of days thats why i didnt feel like writting.

Do you ever feel like things are not going your way...like no matter how you try you feel things will not change. And if you complaing you will sound ungrateful so you keep it inside...and your heart get heavier and heavier each day...


It is taking so much time for husband to be to bring me in Abu dhabi...and get everything settle. And time here is going soooo slow as i am not working. We agreed that i would not be working in a mix place so theres not much (if not nothing) to do. AND im gaining weight of course...staying at home can be depressing when you have nothing to do.

This is all so different from what im used to. From a busy life flying everywhere to staying at home, looking fat. DEPRESSING!!

mercredi 28 octobre 2009

Covered but popping out....

salam aleykoum wa rahmatullah barakatouh

bismillah....


Tonight, i want to talk about something that bothers me...women well covered mashallah who show us their breast to breastfeed their babies.
How many times did i see this scene in flight...sister well covered mashallah...jilbab, niqab and the breast hanging out.

THIS IS WROOOONG....!!!! Give urself some privacy! no one wants to see this in public places and yes a plane is a public place! If you know you are travelling pump your milk...or at least put a veil something to cover yourself.


lundi 26 octobre 2009

yummyyyy


salam aleykoum wa rahmatullah barakatouh sisters!!

I want to share something with you...something soooo good and tasty!
You will probably go "ewwwwwww" when i'll say what it is but you really need to give it a try!

First let me tell you how it all started!
My aunt is really into organic food, she really is cautious about what she eats and only eats things full of vitamines, anti cancer foods (yes there is food that will prevent cancer).
So she was getting her food ready when i saw this!!!


And yes i went " eewww COD LIVER ewwww" how on earth can you even think about buying this???????
After convicing me to give it a try i was like "Uuhhhhmmmm give me more this is good"
On toasted bread, wheat is better!





Here are some of the benefits of cod liver and oil:

- Healthy skin
- Strong bones and teeth
- Healthy joints
- A healthy cardiovascular system
- A healthy nervous system and prevention of depression and other mood disorders
- A healthy lining for your digestive tract

No mentioning that it is full of Omega3. These are essential for the healthy function of the brain, the heart, the joints, the digestive system and many other systems of the body.

And vitamin E content, which helps the body process the fatty acids, is an essential antioxidant and promotes the health of the skin and the hair.


See, Allah sws gave us so many good things to take good care of our body is such a natural way! El hemdulilah...so sisters give it a try!!


Salam aleykoum my sisters!
The training was coming to an end.
I was waking up at 5:30 am, pick up at 7am...and used to be out at around 4pm! Long days...and thats how i looked at the end!




i was very motivated during the whole training but i was soooo tired. I didnt want to fail and be sent back home!
But el hemdulilah i passed all my tests even the emergency evacuation one!! Where theres smoke, no light and you have to evacuate people in less than 90sec out of the plane.


I got my wings on December 25th. The wings day is the most important day, it is what everybody is talking about during the whole training! It is the day where you get your wings to put in you uniform and you diploma attesting that you are qualified to fly. We were told on the first day of the training to prepare a show for our graduation day.




Wings to put on my jacket


It was a whole mess to get all the girls together. One was doing her nails when when was sleeping and the other one moving to another building!! The night before we all agreed to do something about christmas. When we finally ended up being all together, everybody was fighting ahahahaha when i remember it...ahahahah it makes me laugh!! But anyways we ended up doing something really original. And the cabin crew manager told us it was the best presentation he's ever seen since he was in Gulfair! we were really proud.
Just to give you an idea of what im talking about...what we did was different but this is just an idea so you know what im talking about :)

i'd like to warm some sisters that this video has music.



The training was over and the most exciting moment was now to discover my fam flight! where would i go to? Everybody was scared to get Dakka in Bengladesh (it is consider one of the worse gulf air destination) what i was really praying for was PARIS!!! so i could fly home to see my family even for just 12h rest!!
what i got waaassss...... *rolling drum* JEDDAH K.S.A

I was happy to go to K.S.A for my first flight but disapointed because its only a 2h flight...i wanted a longer flight with a night stop!But el hemdulilah ...after all i thought it was better for my first flight to be short so i can at least come back home and tell my friends how it went.



It was early/ late at night! My pick up time was 3 something am so i didnt really sleep...


Ready to take my pick up at 3 something in the morning...i was stressed and worried to fail the briefing where they ask you a bunch of questions about security, safety or 1st aid! When i reached the briefing room everything went fine el hemdulilah...all heading to the airport it felt so wierd to walking in uniform with people staring at me at us. And by staring i mean STARE! Maybe i felt it because it was my first time in uniform walking with the whole crew!



As i got in the plane i had my security check to do supervised by the cabin manager everything went well el hemdulilah. Once i reached Jeddah as i was checking my door




subhanallah these questions came to my mind, what am i doing here? what is this life im running after? why am i not home married taking care of my children? I wonderd if my dad allah yer7mo would be proud to see me doing this...this never came to my mind before. Since this first flight everything became different.

i love these 3 sets! What do you think?