Raya Oh Raya

My 2nd day of raya is nearly over. I'm sitting here with no feeling of discontent or whatsoever. I can gladly say my first raya away from home isnt so bad after all! A few days ago I was about ready to hit rock bottom on the first day of raya. I thought it was seriously gonne be an emotional torture not being able to celebrate raya at home. but then, phew! seriously, not bad at all...

Since KL is like, 14 hours ahead from Kansas, pagi raya in KL was like, petang my time. I was dreading the thought of having to call up my mom. So I slept all the way till my night class. After class, I went straight to the gym n ran my socks off on the treadmill, all because I just dont want to come back to my room n have to pick up the phone to make that one oh-so-important phone call. Gym closed at 9.45 so I had no choice but to come back to my room. Once in the room, Aliya told me how much she cried when she called home. I was like, shittttttt... I sooooo dont wanna do this. But then mcm, ok la.. had to get it over with.. Called home, my mom picked it up n we're like, all cheerful.. My mama was like, "SELAMAT HARI RAYA!!!" I could just see her beaming. So yeah, trust me, I was soooo effing relieved. Talked to my emotional aunt (who was suprisingly v. cheerful), her kids, my sleepy ayah, and then back to my mom. Asked her for some recipes, then it was time. The minta maaf bit. I was like, "Ma, I nak minta maaf ni.." Then she was all quiet. Then came the sobbing. I was like, damnit... there goes all my effort not to cry. So of course la kan, I cried too. My mama cried, how can I not? Has there been a time that I dont cry when someone oh so dear to me is crying? Na'aaahh... I dont think so! But thank god, it was a reaaaaaaallly short one. Both me n my mama ended up laughing n talking just like always.

Malam Raya. Just like any normal ibu2, me and Aliya cooked our asses off till like, 4 am. It was just great. We got over our sadness n were singing n stuff in the kitchen. and oh, our suitemate even had to ask us to turn down the volume. Ritttteee.. whatever. So yeah, penat ya ampun. The end result : ABSOLUTELY SMASHING!!!
We made :

• Nasi Tomato
• Ayam Masak Merah
• Acar timun + tomato
• Nasi Impit
• Kari Daging

Pagi Raya. Aliya came back from class n kasi kejut I bangun tido. More like paksa actually. Yeahlaaa.. I tido lambat.. penaaaattt.. Hehehe. We got into our Baju Kurungs and had our very own salam2 session then our lil raya lunch. Yummy! I skipped the whole day of classes. Like, c'mon.. dahlah raya, not at home pulak tu.. dont expect me to go to classes, yea.. please! I gave myself an off day. We walked around the campus to settle some stuff for Aliya's courses, then head off to McDonald's to treat ourselves. All in our Baju Kurung, no less! We had a couple of guests at the room. Kasi them makan the nasi all. Also sent some food to the three Malaysian guys here in the spirit of sharing during raya.

Raya kedua. Didnt do anything much during the day. But there was this Eid Celebration dinner at the Fairmount Cafe on campus. A lot of food. A lot of people. All decked in bright colorful traditional gears. Except for the mat sallehs n all la cos like, they dont have anything traditional to wear pun. Had fun. Ate a lot. As always.

So yeah, of course I didnt have a lot going on over here for raya. but at least, I wasnt all miserable n depressed. I actually had fun. Neeeeaaaaattt! There's even a party going on tonite that I can go to but I decided to skip it n lay low instead. Kaki sakit sudah ni. I'll start going out once I habis ganti puasa. Heh. *grins*

Hmmmm.. Ok. I realized I havent made my raya wishes. Here goes...

My true blue GF, Shamaine.. It sucks that I cant celebrate this raya with you.. It sucks that we didnt get to buka puasa together.. It sucks that I wont be able to make it for your annual raya open house... but I'll be able to see u soon... 1 month n 2 weeks.. counting down the days... I love u unconditionally... Julye + Emma, I miss u girls terribly... We'll go on that lil holiday trip when I get back n do lotsa catching up. Everything just seems so bland without both of u girls.. Armand, hmmm.. what can I say? You've been wonderful... Sometimes hard to get by, but still wonderful nonetheless. For all the major blows, the unpredictable mood swings, the ugly side of me, I apologize sincerely. The 3 motek gila girls, u guys rock big time! Hope u can make it here next year n make my raya even more smashing. Fafa, jgn marah budak2 tu sangat.. tongue stud jgn kantoi lagi wey... Chekgu Fafa rocks my socks off! Jaif, miss u la dude.. Make sure we'll meet up when I get back OK *hugs*.. Irfan, I'm glad ure finally having a blast... remember dude, take ur time, let it happen... pop that collar & paaaarrtaaaayy!! The wonderful kodi guys kat Uitm, Pao + Mizzi, I sooooo know u guys miss me like hell! Nobody to bug u guys now huh? Wait yeaaa.. I'm coming back soon.. hehehe.. Melawatians, STFians, Uitmers, G3 kids, all my other friends.. Have a good raya... travel safely, dont drink n drive.. *winks* Omg, I just have to stop now cos if i want to shout out to everyone it will take ages! So yeah, basically, I wanna wish Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin. For those who I've snubbed, hurt, and yg sewaktu dengannya, ampunkanla yea.. I'm only human, one who's really far from perfection. Oh yes, before I forget, a special thanks to Aliya whose presence in this dead end place called Wichita, has truly made it a whole lot better to live through. You've been a wonderful friend. Without you, I'd be spending my days covered under the blanket, waiting for the time to finally get on that plane home.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

MAAF ZAHIR BATIN