They ask: “why Mauritania and not Egypt nor The Gulf?? I reply:

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” Ralph Waldo Emerson

I received a call yesterday from my husband. Since his return to London, he always made sure to call us on a daily basis. The unusual thing about his call was the timing. He would normally call us early weekday mornings before the start of the day or late evening to ask about how our day went- Alhamdulilah for viber and the free calls otherwise we would’ve gone bankrupt by now. The call came in right after 1pm and he was sounding a bit down.  I was in the middle of my day with homeschooling my older children.  During the call he asked to speak to the kids as he was missing them terribly… He told S that it was on a saturday exactly a year ago that we had set off to Mauritania which explained the sadness in his voice.

A year’s gone by, how time has flown! While searching through my notes I discovered that I actually didn’t record down much of what we went through.  I do not remember why I missed out on some of the important events, maybe I was overwhelmed by everything that was happening this year…I do remember some days where I would be so eager to write down the happenings of the day and as soon as I put the little one to sleep I would doze off at the same time as her. Even though My mind is still full of many of the details of those events, I regret that I didn’t manage to capture the emotions of the moments by writing them down.

After Lunch, I sat the kids down and told them how proud I was of every single one.  Being away from their comfort zone and loved ones, I realize how we’ve all become much stronger. Opportunities like this make us grateful at how much we have achieved being in a foreign land.   Adjusting to our new life here hasn’t been easy and not having hubby around has actually made it more difficult.  People say that with time being apart becomes easier, but we both realized that it actually got harder.  More so for him being all alone, coming home after a long day at work to a quiet house with no bakhoor burning scent after having cooked for him- trust me even if it was fish & chips in the oven, I know he wouldn’t have mind it now… Yep! I’ve learnt how they do take us ladies for granted.  As comfortable as my husband has made it for us here…I do miss my house in London.  My first car, I miss our cats the big supermarkets.. but no I don’t miss the grey clouds and the cold weather that’s for sure. The sun has definitely done me good. One of the most amazing blessings here is to walk out to a bright Sun-Shiny day.

Although we still have another year here as part of the initial plan – I couldn’t tell you what’s after that…We are totally leaving it to Allah. At this moment all I can say is..I just can’t thank Him enough for all the blessings He (s.w.t) has bestowed upon us.  Alhamdulilah!!!

♥

Looking back at this year, the first thing it’s offered is to actually give me first hand experience of a beautiful poem I read  many years ago when I was in Canada . It was in 1997 before my big move to England, I was surfing on one of the arabic websites and came across Imam al-Shafi’i’s book of poetry. His words were so  inspirational and very encouraging….

  From the Dīwān of Imām al-Shāfi‘ī

Translated by Ammar Alshukry

There is no rest in residence for a person of culture

and intellect, so travel and leave where you’re residing!

Travel! You will find a replacement for what you have left.

And strive! The sweetness of life is in striving!

I’ve seen that water stagnates if still

becomes pure if it runs, but not if it doesn’t flow

If the lion doesn’t leave his den he cannot hunt,

and the arrow will not strike without leaving its bow

If the sun stood still in its heavenly course

then people, Arab and non-Arab, it would bore

Gold dust is as the earth where commonly found,

and in its land, oud is but another wood in store

If one travels, he becomes sought out

If one travels , he is honored like gold.

 ♥♥

 Being here and trying to settle in from scratch has really made me feel I’ve regained my strength and self-confidence as a woman. Mauritania has been the ideal place for that -The respect a woman has here it’s incredible – although when I mentioned this to one of the local sisters here she said, “this is nothing it used to be much better for women here” Being here has also improved my french and arabic.

 My children witnessed the amazing first hand experience of leaving everything behind and starting all over, which surely can never be learnt in a classroom.  It was a big sacrifice what they had to make.  Leaving their friends, schools and knowing that they were going to be without their dad most of the time was most difficult.  I remember on our last night my eldest cried so much after our family friends had left…It made me break down in tears..It was nothing like my move to London or my previous moves as a child ..The latter was hard but this one was going to be harder as I had my kids depending on me.  At times I would feel the pressure that if things go wrong, I will be the one to blame, but alhamdulilah on many occasions I would push away this negativity by making sure to communicate with the kids and when things did used to get tough this year I always made sure that I would sit them down and explain this to them, but without worrying them of course.  They have truly been my greatest supporters.. Especially on the days when I would feel lonely, I would sit them down with me and ask them to make duaa together.  I am sure our hardships aren’t over yet but wallahi if we will have to go back now the best thing we will take back with us is our bond as a family…I can really say that I understand and know my kids a lot more now…

Being a stranger in a land where people know each other and where families here are known for their close ties because of their tribal or clan connection. I don’t think I ever felt like I was a stranger between them…apart from the incidents of trying to over charge you for services..People were always warm and welcoming… Generally kind and hospitable to foreigners. And like our Imam al-Shafi’ (rahimahu Allah) said that we have been truly honored like gold, and the more people we meet even a year later the more precious they make us feel for leaving our homeland and coming to theirs.

So Before our departure a year ago, Nadeem and I decided to make the journey exciting for the kids… Therefore we planned to get to Mauritania by rail.  Well until Morocco and then had to fly from Casablanca to Nouakchott.  It was really breathtaking and truly enjoyed the journey with the kids… My three eldest had their journals with them and made sure to write everything down on a daily basis… Traveling with 5 kids is not as easy and especially when they get ill…over all it was something that we would certainly love to do all over again…but maybe next time by road…

♥♥♥