I still can’t rent a car

Sitting here on my 24th birthday, I’m now creeping into that mid 20s where the quarter life turns into the third of life stage. Time’s really passing by here. I just finished my first semester doing my Masters part time and the transition has seemingly been OK while still working full time. The only problem is the lack of free time has become very draining mentally to get certain errands done and having any semblance of a life hah. But all’s well.

Reminiscing on the last year just makes me realize how much has happened in such a short time. I lost my grandmother this past summer, my family sold our house of 10 years and we moved in the Spring, my dad has been in Somalia since June, we got a cat running around in our house, my other grandmother (mom’s mom) has been healthy but with a couple trips to the ER for infections, and then there’s school coming back into play. Phew. I’m just so glad I have a little break here. But it just means I have more time to do things that I put off.

But it brings me back to turning 24. I think to what my parents were doing at that age. My dad had already been in the U.S. for years at my age on his own and working… my mom at 24 had me as her first child (wow!) and she had only been here a few years and again she was on her own for the most part too. Just thinking of their challenges just makes me realize how easier it is for me despite the difficulties to move up in this particular society.

I think turning 23 brought responsibility… and I pray 24 will bring more reward for responsibility. I’m a realist much more than an idealist but I have a strange feeling of going more with the latter as I turn the page to a new year of life.

The solstice has passed and we moved from the darkest time of year into the slow arrival of more light. This analogy could prove useful for the entire past year. Difficult struggles shall pass. Just as tomorrow fades into a dusky death and the birth of a new day”s dawn. Take a moment to hear the wispy winter winds sending snowflakes scurrying across the driveway or the highway. Take a moment to hear the chickadee afoot in the spruce tree. Take a moment to hear the sunflower shells drop from the birdfeeder as the juncos scurry about. Take a moment to hear your own breath amidst the chaos of this world.

We’ll see what 24 brings insha’allah.

New developments everywhere

Last few months are just featuring new, new, new.

Doing a real estate sale process with pitfalls and dead ends? Thats new.

Family selling our house and renting a new one for a couple years.

Dad starting business projects in Somalia, of course that’s new.

My father actually being back in the US after over 7 months in Somalia? Thats new.

My maternal grandma who is in her 90s living with us? New.

New pope? Check.

Owing money on my taxes? That’s definitely new.

New music? Check out my brothas at LEFTIST and their new EP: http://weareleftist.com/?page_id=8

It is straight fire.

Be on the lookout for the album. Check out the site and see what they’re all about. Genuine music is hard to come by and these guys deliver here.

 

 

 

As the winds of summer approach..

I am feeling the aura of the past four summers. It is strange because I feel this coming summer will be a sort of culmination of the previous four. Before I get into that, lets go back in time and see what I did each year..

2007: I graduated high school here and at this time, I had just gotten my car too. This would be the busiest summer to date because I started to work at the Taco Bell at Arundel Mills Mall. I worked 5 days a week and was beat by consistently long shifts and standing for hours and hours… 12 hrs was the norm on Saturdays. Probably the worst summer ever because I gained so much weight eating the free fast good around me and lack of travelling sucked too.

2008: The end of freshman year marked the beginning of the longest summer of my LIFE. I worked 6 weeks in Baltimore and then I started renting out Budget Trucks for the rest of the summer and school year in Northeast Washington DC. Crazy times, crazy money, and free food of course. I was operating next to a carry out… so while I was exercising, I ate a lot of horrible food for a 2nd straight summer. It sucked that I didn’t hang out with a lot of friends and found myself working 7 days a week for a stretch in July and August. Draining experience and I wouldn’t have much down time until the end of Fall semester.

2009: Summer started off with quitting the Truck Rental… after a month, I became a Security Officer… and I been doing it ever since on a part time basis (weekends at the Ice Cream factory). The month in which I looked for a job was chill and my days just involved being online, playing a lot of basketball, and just hanging out. I started at the end of June guarding the 2000 Tower Oaks Blvd building in Rockville. It was a year old back then, and there were only two tenants. Who were they? The first were the people who built the building, the Tower companies (they build a lot of towers and apartments in the arean focusing on energy efficiency). The 2nd tenants were the Lerner family, they are the people who own the Washington Nationals… yeah, rich and powerful stuff. In July, I found myself at the Ice Cream plant and meeting my site supervisor (captain) was an intimidating experience. I came over to the site dressed in a tie and the uniform for the factory was a military “hard” look. I have been working there weekends and in spot duty ever since.

2010: Maybe the best summer in a long time. It certainly topped the previous 3 because it was finally a chance to travel for the first time in a long time. Before I left, my family went to Ohio over Memorial Day weekend. However, when we arrived, we received news that my grandfather, May Allah bless his soul, passed away from cancer. It was a sad time and everything started to happen quickly and my dad had to go to Sweden the next day, as well as many other family members. It was the last time I saw my father for almost three months!

I remember we came home on Memorial Day and I found myself scrambling to pack for the big trip to Egypt with flagship at the end of the week. Wednesday, I was dropped off by my uncle at the Embassy Suites in DC and I gotta give the flagship folks credit, ya boy was eatin’ good for breakfast, lunch, and dinner before we departed on Friday. My group was from five Universities (Maryland, Texas, Michigan, Michigan State, and Oklahoma) and I didn’t think the group as a whole would be that cool, but I was pretty wrong!

I remember arriving to Alexandria and being pretty intimated by not being able to communicate with the Egyptians but after a couple weeks… things started to become clearer and clearer. It also helped that I took introductory Egyptian Arabic to help with the transition. I could write up a lot about last summer… a lot of stuff went on. We had class every day from Sun-Thur from 9-1 most days and afternoon classes a couple days. Trips to pyramids and Sinai were cool… also went to a desert oasis my last weekend. This was the first time I was away from home for that huge period of time and coping with it wasn’t too hard… I really missed my mom’s food though… no one in Egypt can cook like her.

Anyway, after I came home in August, I found myself having nothing to do except go and get my job back. I managed to not spend all of my cash in Egypt but it was great coming home and my first meal was malawax, baasto, suuqar… oh man, it was mumtaztic!

And with this summer, I have already attended orientation for The Washington Center program. I’m supposed to be interning tomorrow, but I don’t have an internship yet. I don’t know what the process is, but I’d like to be at some NGO, Non-Profit, or something. We’ll see in a week. I also have orientation for the Center for Global Understanding, this was the organization that gave me a scholarship to intern in Washington, DC.

So, in a way, I see this summer combining elements of the past few. I’ll be working my butt off, I’ll be doing academically oriented assignments for the Washington Center, I’ll be doing something 7 days a week (weekends at the factory, of course), and I’m in a program with people from across the country. I hope my last summer as an undergrad will be extremely valuable. I’m just glad, Alhamdullilah, I live in the DC Area. Oh snap! I almost forgot, I take the GRE again in July as well!

Until next time.