Day 1

Marhaban my friends!

Today (rather three days ago, December 31), I am in pain. I now have typhoid, hepatitis A and B, polio, and swine flu.
Beware.

Maybe this isn't a good way to start....

Christmas Day:
Christmas Day, I recieved the best present EVER that helped boost what shall, in' sha Allah (if God wills it) become one of the best experiences of my life:

Teddy gave me a hat.

I know you guys. You're laughing and thinking "what the heck"- not quite sure how to respond to the idea that a hat can spark the journey of a lifetime. But this isn't just any old hat, my friends, oh no.

Still not convinced? Fine, I'll be honest. Teddy and I have been searching for this thing for the last five years at least. We explored hat shops in every major city we went to, plus the Mad Hatter in Savannah, GA and South of the Border in SC. Teddy even searched while he was in NYC a couple years ago.

We found leather hats, camo hats, water-proof hats, straw hats, fancy hats, hotdog hats.
Nothing worked.

Then, al-ham-da-Allah (praise be to God), there was a shift in luck.

Teddy recently went on a road-trip with our mom to Monterey, CA to help our older sister pack up her apartment after graduating from her master's program at MIIS. They had about a week to putz around California, and it was there that The HAT was found.

This one is an olive-brown, two and a half inch brim, legit Indiana Jones hat.

(They avoided purchasing the leather whip that went along with it).

My other preparations thus far have included washing cloths, taking Malaria pills, pretending to brush up on my Ammiya (colloquial) Arabic, and enjoying the last vestiges of general laziness before school starts back again.

What am I saying? School???

I mean adventure =)

Happy New Year to all!
Til the next post, ma'salama!!!