Hey everyone, Assailant-alaikum to al my Muslim bros and…

Thursday, April 22, 2004

Hey everyone, Assailant-alaikum to al my Muslim bros and sistas out there. Gosh I'm being serious even though it sounds horribly corny. lol. Anyway. Since some of the pple were wondering what the heck this whole MIST thing last weekend was about, here it is: MIST=(Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament) which is most amazing thing anyone can ever take part in!!! It lasted from 8 in the morning on Saturday and Sunday and ended around 8 on both days as well. There were some VERY interesting and mind-jogging nativities headed by the UMCP MSA president and really got us all guys and girls from MD, DC and VA ready for the day. Each student was part of a team, for example, I am from Clarksville thus I signed up to be on the Dar-Al-Taqwa boys team (the team form the local mosque, situated right across from Cedar Lane Park on 108).....so each team was at least 6 all the way up to 13 or so in the big teams like those from VA and Wilde Lake. Anyway, so anything you did or any activity you took part in won your team points, so if you were late to any competition you were supposed to attend at lets say 8:40, and you got there at 8:42, it cost your team points, I know they were pretty strict on time, but I guess that was one of the lessons you learned, punctuality and time management. BTW, only HS students could attend. We had around 200+ students in the big Stamp Student Union this past weekend in the Grand Ballroom where we like got together during the morning, lunch and evening.

Back to the competitions, lets say I had a debate competition in the morning, I had to attend it at the time I had been specified, or if not, I had to sign up for some extra classes like Building the MSA or every once in a while you would instead have transition time, when you could eat, sleep, chat, etc. There was the Interscholastic Tournament, of course, lol, then there were Debate competitions, Community project competitions, Research Project presentations, Tajweed (reading open book from the Quran) and memorization (where you read anywhere from the last chapter of the Quran without looking) I know all this sounds not so interesting but the competition aspect made it awesome! There were so many other competitions like photography, public speaking, 3D Islamic Art and so much else. Our photo (for the Dar-Al-Taqwa boys team) was so COOL!! we got 2nd place!! Congrats to Abrar, he helped us win that one. I took place in the Tajweed, I got second place, Mashallah, I also took part in the Debate competitions, where I got past semi-finals, but I didn't have enough individual debate points to make it to finals (they didn't have time for an additional semi-finalist competition), but hi was really happy since this was the first time in my LIFE I had even attempted debate. I also did the research Project presentation where Mahmoud and I placed 2nd....out of two teams, LOL, but I gotta admit the Wilde Lake girls we were up against had an awesome presentation, so congrats to them. The debate final was in teh big Physics hall at UMCP and it was AWESOME, i've never been in such an aweosme or high-stakes debate compdtition before! I also took part in teh skit us guys had made up for the competition and go figure, we got 1st PLACE!!!!!!! It was awesome, it was HILARIOUS haha, i still crack up thinking of us juvenile delinquents sitting around a semicircle in front of all the MIST competitors and coaches and jugdes and the whole shebang making them laugh their heads off, as Ibrahim, acting the therapy session psychiatrist asked the guys his questions while Ehab was his assistant, i was narrator, and the rest were bad kids kicked outta school. It sounds corny i know, but it was soooo funny, especially since we had awesome lines and Ibrahim was talking the whole time in a very Indian accent, LOL. The most amazing thing about it all was that i got to be around other Muslims my age who thought like I did, were passionnate about their religion and wanted to learn more. We all had such a good time, boy it was so amazing! Ya'll can go to www.dcmist.com to check it out. Mostly i learned teamwork, acceptance of a leader in a group, being a leader and how to be one, lots of respect, and a lotta other stuff that'll be converted into complete thoughts over time. I guess its true whenever you have an amazing expereince its a little bit of time before you can completely understand it realize how its little nuances have changed your life.

On a different note, i was surfing the net last friday night and I came across an amazing website regarding motorbiking and Chernobyl. If you do visit, I'll warn you of something: Don't regard it as any plain website, and I implore you to read EVERY word you see and don't skip any part. The lady doesn't have any superfluous explanations, just enough to tell you what you need to know the extent of the seriousness of the situation, even now, and definitely in the year 2600.

Most importantly, I GOT INTO UMBC!!!! Mashallah

After so much time and frustration, they have finally accepted my application, YAY!!!!!!!!!! Thats all for now, but i hope to update by friday.....lol, tomorrow i mean,

some interesting links:

I like james Brown and wouldn't propogate anyting necessarily bad about him, but this is too funny....well, its kinda wierd listening to him high on something...

And since the political bug isbiting me in the butt, heres somethign i dug up some of you more liberal or conservative whatever might like to see: US use of mini-nukes in the Persian Gulf War. Its very sad that a sergeant found it pertinent enough to expose, but then, who else would, CNN?

A pic I found online of Hyder, Alaska and Stewart, British Columbia which are two towns stuck together right on the BC-Alaska border. I know this is not a very good pic, but this is some of the most gorgeous country you'll ever have the pleasuer of seeing. I can't tell you guys what an amazing feelng I had in me as we stood among and then above the clouds you guys see at the top of the picture......omg.....i wish i could go back so bad lol....

If any of you are interested, I have been trying to find a picture or any information on a lake that had a wierd Native American name that sounded like Takaizee and a lodge next to it that had the same name...a gorgeous place like none other in my opinion...gosh i am wondering if the old guy who owned the place and the lodge is still alive...one of my intentions upon graduation (BS) or after i am done with Med School, is going there.

WOW lol, i suddenly made this into Nostalgia Central but lol, since the weather turned so gorgeous, I've been itching to go there.....