Saturday, August 27, 2011

Lentil Soup: A Ramadan Staple


One of my favorite things about Ramadan (a month of fasting during the daylight hours for Muslims) is all the yummy food. Every Ramadan I look forward to eating lentil soup (shorbet addes). It is so hearty and delicious that sometimes I get full breaking my fast on just this soup.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Lévis: journey to the best ice cream ever


Ferry ticket station
Riding the ferry was probably one of my favorite experiences in Québec. My friend and I decided to go to Vieux-Québec to cross the St. Lawrence River to get to Lévis. We were supposed to meet our other friend there around 3:30 but got there around 5. We had some delays because we got off the bus a couple stops too early and got a little lost. Luckily we asked a woman at the bus stop the way to the port and she said she was riding the ferry also so we could follow her. It's convenient that the monthly bus pass I had worked on the buses as well as the ferry.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

À bientôt Québec

One day I will return to Québec, insha'Allah (God-willing).

I stopped updating this blog about halfway through my trip because I was too busy but I will try to rehash some of my experiences in the coming days. I think I'll be able to remember most of it by sifting through the 2000+ pictures I took while there.

My flight left around noon and the departure was an emotional one. It was a beautiful sunny day in Québec. We gave our host-mom a framed picture of all of us as a parting gift. I was tired because I had only gotten 5 hours of sleep in the two days before I left but the traveling went pretty well. I had one connection of 4 hours before returning home. I was kind of nervous for airport security because it was at Newark which is close to NYC, because of my hijab. I got to the part where you had to walk through the metal detector and the guy directed me to stand in an area designated for patting down and then he called for a female assistant. When she arrived a few minutes later she instructed me to pat all over my head and neck area then she wiped my hands with a cloth and put it in a machine. I asked her what it was for and she just said bluntly "It tests for bombs." She was really friendly though.