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[ Thursday, April 08, 2004 ]

 

Beautiful Day

Yesterday was one of those never-ending lazy days. I slept in and leisurely got ready for school, satisfied in the fact that I didn't have class until 2 pm.

The psycho older sis, the veird cousin, and her cool older bro skipped some classes to drive to Berkeley for lunch at everyone's favorite Pakistani/Indian restaurant near campus. It was funny because I didn't even recognize my cousin when I walked into the restaurant. I looked around and as I pulled out my phone to call him, he stood up and approached me. I laughed in shock because I don't think I'd ever seen him look as dressed up as he did (He had just driven from work). He laughed and said that he had at least taken off his tie. Funny, he looked so much older and sophisticated. I guess I'm used to his old long, curly haired, scrubby look, and although he's three years older than me, I still think of the times when we played tag and blindman's bluff. Those were the days. Anyway, we had fun walking around while waiting for our sisters to show up (The poor things were stuck in traffic). I showed him around the campus. Although it was nice to talk to him about his work and plans for his masters, I felt a little sad because we were talking like grownups. I'm glad that we've come to the point where we can do that, but at the same time, I miss our old times. We're all growing up. Reminds me of that saying though: "Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."

We still act goofy though. Take for example, while we were all eating lunch. We laughed at the way we rhyme everything in our language: pari shari (water), rooti shooti (bread), loth shoth (salan), dud shud (milk), etc. I think we burned all the calories from eating just by sitting there laughing it up. Hehehe. We made Somayya B spill her water into her glass. Gross, but very, very funny!

Alas, it was time for them to all get back to their busy lives, and I had to go to class. That's the class with mainly Muslims in it, so it was a nice reunion with all my friends. After class, we all caught up again. Sis S and I decided to hang out on Sproul, but then we remembered that it's under renovation (stupid, stupid renovation stole our Sproul!), so instead we hung out on the steps of MLK, facing the main street. We hadn't done that in a while, so it was nice just chilling together again and talking about our plans and uncertainty for the future. Every now and then, other Muslims would walk by and we'd say salaams, wave, and catch up. It was one of those unhurried moments when you don't know what time it is, and you don't really care. You're just relaxed and happy to have that time together.

One guy walked by with his camera, and as he did a double take, I got a deja vu feeling. "Don't you even think about it!" I thought, but of course he did anyway. Smiling, he aimed his camera at us, while Sis S and I quickly held our arms up in front of us as if to ward him off. I told him to please not take our picture, but he proceeded to anyway. At least we had both turned our faces away, but we were still mad. "Thank you!" he called out as he left smiling, satisfied with himself. I turned to Sis S and said, "Dude, either way, with our arms out like that we look like oppressed Muslim women trying not to be beaten or something." You seriously never know what they do with pictures. Photos are powerful. A picture speaks a thousand words...and there's a lot you can do to manipulate them or to use them to your advantage. Our biased media is proof of that. "I don't understand it. I mean, I guess we look good together or something." Sis S said, referring to the last time we were randomly photographed and when a homeless man once beseeched us to accept his outstretched flower. "I think it's because we just look different to them. That must be it." I replied, still unnerved, but not willing to let it ruin my good mood.

Like all good days, though, it must eventually come to an end. After some time, Sis S had to leave. More Muslims stopped by to chat, but we finally got up off the steps and walked our separate ways...some to pray, others to eat, and yet others to study. I drove home and was so exhausted that I went straight to sleep.

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