My Brother's Wedding/Cali Vacay

Shortly after returning to the States from Iran, Mohammad and I were off to Cali for my older brother's wedding!  Yes, he is my older brother.  I'm not sure why I keep getting comments about me being the older sibling... do I really look that old?!?!  I guess it's time to start buying anti-aging and anti-wrinkle creams.

Okay, first thing first.. what to wear to my brother's wedding?!?!  It was a formal-ish wedding (for American weddings, which means suits with tie for men and cocktail dresses for women).  The problem is... I'm a hijabi.  Unless you are a hijabi living in the west, you have no idea how difficult it is to find formal/semi-formal dresses that are appropriate!  Actually, the truth is that there aren't any available in the U.S.  Usually, I end up buying a regular sleeveless dress in a size or two too large (so that it doesn't cling to my curves) and then pair it with an undershirt, leggings, and a shrug.  As usual, I end up in two to three layers of clothing plus a hijab and I just pray that the wedding location will have awesome A/C.  But, this is my brother's wedding!  I needed something better than my usual layering!  Good thing I live in Houston where there are just tons and tons of non-Americans (Houston was recently rated the #1 most diverse city in America).  Best solution: go for ethnic wear.  At the first Indian/Pakistani clothing store I found some awesome material that could be made into an appropriate dress for me in less than 3 days and for custom wear it was super affordable!  However, at the second store, I found a pre-made dress in a color I really loved that was even cheaper.  Yay!

Let me just say, I LOVE California!  To me, California has it all.  Mohammad and I literally ran from the airport to the rental car pick-up (where I thought we were getting an Aggie colored car so I made Mohammad take a pic with it, then I realized we were actually getting the car next to it... oh well!) then we drove slightly faster than we should (which is just how Californians drive all the time) to my brother's wedding rehearsal. 

Yay!  Weddings!  So the location was GORGEOUS!  I'll post pics from the wedding below.  After the rehearsal lunch Mohammad, my lovely sweet little sister, my brother, and I hung out for a bit.  It's always nice hagging with my siblings.  We're a sarcastic bunch, but we love each other and like helping each other out.  My bro had to leave for some wedding preparations, but my sister, Mohammad, and I had a nice Mexican dinner (NOT TexMex) and then I met my sister's boyfriend, who is super nice.  He's not quite as sarcastic as we are, but I think with time, he will get there. 

On the wedding day, Mohammad and I went to hang on Coronado Island for the day.  We sat watching to bay, had some ice cream, and tried our best not to get sunburn.  After we were sufficiently worn out, we went back to our hotel to get dressed, where we promptly received a call from my bro asking us to head over in like 45mins.  Ahhhh!  I think it took us like an hour to get ready, but we rushed over and then the festivities really started! 

The wedding was pretty awesome!  My bro and new sis-in-law wrote their own vows, which were super cute and fun and romantic!  The location, again, was so so awesome!  There was this giant koi pond and an outdoor dance floor with a formal dining area just full of friends and family all having a good time and talking away.  Of course, with my family, we were just so silly and fun.  I also introduced the clicking of the glasses for kisses, which was just so fun.  At the end of the night, we were all super exhausted and the lightest mist just stating falling from the sky making everything sparkle.  Such an awesome night!

The next day Mohammad and I went to Disneyland.  I LOVE Disneyland.  I don't think I will ever grow out of my love for Disneyland.  I can't wait to take my future little kiddos there (InshaAllah/God willing).  This was Mohammad's first REAL trip to Disneyland (what?!?!?!  such a deprived life!). 

On our last day in Cali we had a nice huge breakfast at our favorite spot (If you're ever in Temecula, pls eat at Penfold's Cafe!  Great food, good price, and can't beat the staff) with My Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister-in-law, my sister-in-law's mother, friend, and brother. 

Quick shout-out to our airline, Frontier Airlines.  They were super efficient, on time, and seats were more comfy than United.  Down side, they truly check your carry-ons to make sure they fit in the carry on bin (so no over-sized carry ons). 

Picture time:

The Aggie color car that was not ours...

Rehearsal time!

 

Beachy harbor view from Coronado

Us at the beach :)

The temple from the freeway near our hotel

Our hotel - totally recommend.  Would stay here again. 

We had a lovely big suite for low price.

Inside the hotel.  Loved the little river and pond inside with HUGE koi.

Outside the hotel, totally Cali.

My sis and I in the hotel elevator

Wedding time!

Yay!  We match!

Love the beading on my dress

The wedding party

They're married!

My fam, minus my sis who was with the bride

My sis helping my bro get ready

Getting ready for their vows

See!  Gorgeous place!

At Disneyland!!!

In case you can't see... there are fake snakes in the background

The castle at night... love!

Aren't we sooo attractive?

I loved the ride!  Mohammad looks like he's smiling

but he is actually yelling, "Oh God, God save me!"

This was an intense ride... we were super tired at this point,

but we were still battling it out for the win



My Favorite Moment in Iran

My brother-in-law and mother-in-law were kind enough to take me to Shiraz while I was in Iran on my last trip.  Shiraz is definitely my favorite tourist city in Iran.  The entrance to the city, known as the Quran Gate, sits in Allah-o-Akbar gorge and is breathtakingly beautiful and oh so inviting.  The large Quran Gate sits just below an ever flowing waterfall which spills off of the cliff and down the gorge behind a beautiful and very elegant hotel that is dangling from the mountainside overlooking the city.  When I entered the city, I was excited, but I had no idea what kind of treat was in store for me.

After a day filled with traveling from one place to another and one tourist attraction to the next, we finally arrived at Atigh Jameh Mosque, our final destination.  While it is a requirement for women to wear a chador in order to enter the courtyard, once inside the rules are a little more relaxed.  We arrived quite late in the evening as the mosque was preparing to close.  There were workers all around gathering the various materials needed to close-up while several families sat around observing.  A few men were gathered on one of the hundreds of carpets laid out for worshipers to pray on.  I was sitting on a ledge observing the courtyard and looking for mullahs to photograph.  Several exhausted laborers started rolling up the carpets and stacking them in gigantic piles on top of push carts so that they could be retired for the night and that's when it happened...

A child, a young girl, appeared and began rolling some of the carpets up for the workers.  Soon other small children joined it.  The children were busy rolling up the carpets until they noticed they were working faster than the exhausted laborers... what should they do?  They squatted to the ground in a huddle and then quickly surrounded a nearby carpet.   They tiny children bent to the ground and wrapped their little arms around the bundle and tried to lift it!  Seeing that they needed more help, more children came over and together they carried the carpet to the push cart where one of the workers, with an enormous smile, took the carpet and lifted it onto his pile.  The children shouted with joy and ran squealing back to the rolled up carpets.  The other workers noticed their helpers and smiles quickly spread across their faces as they began working faster, feeling their load lightened. 

I sat and watched with a beaming smile spread across my face.  These loving children, so merciful and kind were spreading joy.  I looked around the courtyard and noticed only a few adults paying attention to the children.  I wished everyone could see the kindness in their hearts, I wished everyone would stop for a moment and observe the joy I was seeing.  I felt moved, changed somehow.  And as I was about to get up to walk with my relatives back toward the entrance, I saw it!  A grown man came toward the laborers and children, he bent down and rolled a carpet then tossed it on the push-cart and returned to roll another... then another man joined it, then another.  Soon the courtyard was full of children and men rolling carpets and putting them away!  The exhausted laborers, whose job it was to roll the carpets and put them away, were all smiling and looking at their helpers with amazement.  This sort if thing does not happen every day. 

 

“Even the smallest act of caring for another person

is like a drop of water -it will make ripples throughout the entire pond...” 

― Jessy and Bryan Matteo

The Quran Gate with waterfall

The courtyard

One of my secret mullah photographs

The main mosque building facing the courtyard

Look at the giant smile on his face!

The kiddos getting brave enought to carry the carpets

This is when the adults start helping out

The workers were so happy! 

They were loving those little kiddos!

Another secret mullah photo

 

A day in Pictures: "Esfahan is half of the World" ~French poet Renier

"Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast"

 

 

 

I LOVE Esfahan.  What a beautiful and romantic city. 

This is part of Naghsh e-jahan square; one of the largest squares in the world!

If you want to buy traditional Persian handicrafts, you MUST visit Esfahan.

There are pocket parks everywhere.

This one is located just behind the main bazaar

We sat in the grass and had a picnic lunch here surrounded

by others taking naps in the shade of the trees

Madar-joon and my brother-in-law are discussing the best route to Shiraz.

Our hotel was quite beautiful inside. 

All of the walls were ornately decorated with carvings, miniatures, and murals.

Driving in Iran is no easy task... and no need for GPS, just roll down your window and ask random strangers how to get to where you want to go.  It always seems to work out.

One of the several bridges lit up at night.

I was so disappointed to miss the water again. 

There is  a water shortage so the river is dammed for the majority of the year.

One of the many lit up round-abouts.

To have seen Esfahan in it's golden age with all it's splendor must have been breathtaking.  What is left is but a skeleton worn down and robbed of it's grandeur.  To have seen the city at it's height... what has been lost, we may never know.

A Late Walk

When I go up through the mowing field,
The headless aftermath,
Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,
The whir of sober birds
Up from the tangle of withered weeds
Is sadder than any words

A tree beside the wall stands bare,
But a leaf that lingered brown,
Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.

Robert Frost