After exams life

As my sisters Sakinah and Munirah are at the peak of their success story as medical exam candidates, I cant help not to get back to the memory I had left on my last days in Odessa, the place where Allah has sent me to get to know His Creation and Its Creator more. I feel so blessed to be thrown there and if you asked me what are the blessings that I consider the most precious for me, I would put being chosen to study in Odessa, Ukraine as one of the top 5 in the list. I am so much grateful for that. Though most people think it another way around, I dont give a heck on what they think what studying in Ukraine has done to me. As I told you, it has done me golds and jewels, shining my life and my Islam and yes, if you asked me if I wana go there again I say yes I want. I really want. Maybe if I go again I wont have the wish to come back lols.

On the last few weeks in Odessa after the exam, I was trying hard to clean and clear my things out of my room. Luckily, I had many local friends who I knew from the masjid and they were actually my close companions in my life in Odessa and some are still in contact with me until now..they helped me with the stuff. I gave away most of the stuff I only sold the big stuffs like the study table and the study chair, the sofa, the coffee table, study lamp, my thick big winter blanket with panda painting on it (i miss it now!) and some of my clothes which I considered worth selling especially my winter clothes and again I was lucky for having lots of junior friends who were quite close with me especially the Muslim girls. They fancied my clothes and bought some. I didnt put any price I just tell them pay whatever price u can afford. I just wanted to get rid of them but at the same time I was in need of some good dollars to settle the hecks about visa. 

I also paid more regular visits to the mosque and my friends'. Basically, when they knew I was done with exams and was going to leave soon, I got lots of calls inviting me for eating outs and even staying overnight at their places. I went for every invitation, spending as much moments I could to tighten our friendship and fill the precious last moments with Odessan friends. Most of them were Arabs and Persian girls from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and even Tartar and there was an Uzbek family who I considered as my host family. I cant forget them in my life. Never. May Allah bless our friendship and protect my friends in this Dunya and Akhirah ensha Allah...

Then I went shopping, just small cheap things that could be stuffed into my 40kg limited weight luggage. I didnt want it to be overlimit so I tried my best to buy really wise things to bring home for my family. There were many shops that sold All Two Griven things, or All 20 Griven things, etc that I really loved to go and actually was good at finding where they spotted on the map!. The thing about this kinds of shop that pulled me everytime I passed them by was that they sold good things and strange things at cheaper prices compared to the malls. And they sold things I didnt know where to find them on this earth like unique sandals with strange shapes, strange stickers, cute saucers and spoons, strange boots etc... just my taste! I loved wearing strange things while in Odessa. Most of my dundee dundee stuffs were of eliens type and sometimes my friends got attracted to my style and they went with me to shop and started wearing dundee and I decided to go 'normal' then... hehe I just didnt like to be stereotype ( oh yeah?)

I llloved second hand shops too especially the ones that sold clothes and shoes, mostly because it was difficult to find clothes that suit my Muslim way of dressing at the malls or bazaars and if there were any, they were either too expensive or too ugly. So I tried the second hand ones and I was sooo fascinated and addicted by the many long long loose clothes I could find in there with again, strange designs because most of the clothes came from Turkey and Europe. I can still remember once I found a really good one with funky style but yes of course loose and long, and very very cheap. I wore it to the Gyne class and everyone asked me which boutique I got it from and they were crazy about it hahaha when I said it was from second hand their jaws dropped. Funny.

Well, sometimes when I had nothing to do I simply go to roam around alone in Odessa. I didnt need someone to go with me and Im actually this way since I was at school. I spent most of the days just roaming around the busy culture center in Odessa and watched people making 'mamochka' and knitting the traditional Ukrainian outfits. I liked to sit at the fountain in front of the biggest church in Odessa just watching kids skating and roller blading and sat at the children playground refraining myself not to join in the swinging and jumping ( I wished I could also rock there but no it was just for under aged kids). When Suhyu was around we used to sit and roam together and actually the playground thing was her idea. On my last days in Odessa I went out more often, I went to the street market near the hostel everyday to buy things to cook everyday. I didnt stay in the room much. But something happened that some very last days I had to stay in the room being sentimental and as I think it back I do hate it.

Anyway, the best thing I did was about the mechet or mosque in english. The mosque was my best friend of all the years I was in Odessa. Being a Muslim girl with hijab on, it was not easy to find hijabese international friends than in the mosque. They liked me and I liked them and we met, breaking our fast, learn quran, tajwid, etc, we even slept, partied and gathered at the mosque.. it was just so cool being muslims overseas. Islam felt easier outside but at home here I found masjid is only for prayers and tahlil and lecturers. The women area here is not safe I had to look around to be sure that no man is around, in the women area!! I have been in many mosques in different countries and to rate worst privacy given to women at the mosque, I give it to mosques in Malaysia. Next is Turkey. The best between Jordan, Australia and Odessa. I speak no lies, no prejudice here. I speak what I found out. I travelled a lot and I deserve to learn from my travelling.

So, well, I hope my sisters are having the best moments they could have in Jordan or Russia now. They deserve all the best moments there as they have worked really hard. I was in their place where all the sorrow and heavy feelings came to strike thinking you have to leave the place who have made you grown up more and thinking you might not have the chance to be there again in the future... it was not easy to get over all those feelings.

May Allah help us to reflect to all things that happen to us, to learn the best from the places that Allah has prepared for us, to use all these valuable experience that we got, in the best way, ensha Allah.

Well, Nirah and Kinah, welcome to the world you ought to return. Tell u what, it is not easy here but hey, we know what to do with what we got, dont we?