Foreigner and the Fast: How to Survive
One time I saw a meme for Ramadan that read “Happy Hunger Games” featuring that heavily make up’d lady from the Hungar Games movies. It made me laugh, and seeing how my muslim friends were the ones passing it around, I imagine they got a good chuckle out of it too. In the grand scheme of things, however, the fasting month of Ramadan is pretty serious business for a lot of my muslim friends. They’re serious about their gifts, their seeking after God as they fast, and, of course, their fitaar, the meal they break their fast with everyday once the sun goes down! Ramadan can be a… Read more >>
Captain Crazy
“Oh yea, Xander, by the way a guy from the port authority came by the institute today. The Captain wants you Tuck arrested because he said you didn’t pay him.” Larry, a fellow worker who was housing us, said this over a light afternoon lunch as if he was just reading an interesting headline in the sports section of the newspaper. “Huh…” was all I could manage to vocalize in perplexity. “No, Xander, this is serious.” Larry clearly wasn’t impressed that my reaction reflected the same nonchalant manner in which he delivered the news. “Well, I guess I’ll go pray.” I replied, carefully weighing an… Read more >>
The Cliche of S and A
I hate the fact that people rag on clichés. Maybe it’s the hipsteresque vibes reverberating throughout our culture that scares us from liking anything likeable, but the truth is clichés are cool. Want to know why they’re cool? Because they’re usually at least a little bit true! If that wasn’t the case, then no one would have said them in the first place, and they never would have become cliché! Why do I say all this? Because ‘God works in mysterious ways’, that’s a cliché, and it’s true! Few things exhibit this better than S and A, two new friends I’ve made here in the city.… Read more >>
What do I Say to My Friends?
What do I say to My Friends? What am I supposed to say to my friends in this country? Our apartment is pretty international right now. The four of us living there come from 3 different countries, two of us are refugees, and all of us are foreigners. The home countries of my two refugee roommates were on Donald Trump’s recent list of countries whose immigration status to America was put on hold. On top of that, last night 10 women and children were killed in an American-backed attack against terr-rists not far from my roommate’s home province. The hardest part is… Read more >>