When Abu Shayma and I decided to make the journey to Mauritania extra special for our children. We came across this amazing website http://www.seat61.com. I got very excited at the thought of traveling across France, Spain and Morocco to reach our final destination- Mauritania. As a mother my first concern was how the children would cope with such a long journey. I recognised that it was going to be challenging for the kids, hence why we decided to slow it down instead of the 48hours that was suggested … This would give us a chance to spend some time sightseeing and mostly to allow the kids get some rest. Abu Shayma has travelled previously to France and Spain by road- a typical thing for an eager traveller from young age living most of his life in England. I had a million and one thing to do but instead we sat in front of his laptop, viewing a map and a few pictures of the route… I was well impressed by the many train journeys on the site. Mark Smith ‘the man in seat sixty-one’ lives in England- he has built his website after finding that most information of travels via rail beyond Paris or Brussels were impossible to access. I left Abu Shayma organising the timing while I was packing the last few items and the kids’ rucksacks.
He managed to get the bookings for the Eurostar trains for the 10th of March, 2011. The rest of the bookings we were going to arrange as we go along, because most of the other bookings weren’t accessible from London. The Elipsos hoteltrain to Madrid was the most complicated one to book online. It wasn’t too clear how it all worked, for a large family, especially with the pricing. We weren’t sure if the prices were per berth or per cabin etc, therefore we thought it’s best to leave it until we get to Paris. Abu Shayma’s plans were very strategic mashaAllah the way he chose the hotels and the distance to the train stations, was just the thing we needed… To be honest although the journey overall was a bit hectic it was all worth it generally.
And yes like many journeys in life we had many lessons to learn from as a family. One of them was about S’s task…Abu Shayma had asked her to research for tourist attractions to visit in Paris- the hows to get there by Metro etc. My poor baby did all her research, but forgot her notes at home in London. So you can imagine our next day, after checking out of our hotel what it was like. I was caught between a father who is not willing to let go of the fact that she is only 13 and these things do happen.. He kept thinking out loud: ‘how irresponsible’ it was of his daughter to forget her notes- and the terrible feelings of guilt from S as she walked around with a gloomy face all day. After a big detour by foot we managed to find the ‘Grand Mosque du Paris’. In the masjid we prayed our Salah. Met a lovely Moroccan sister, who works for an NGO and of course as always we exchanged contact details. We also met a family who came from London and surprise, surprise! Their daughter recognised mine, yep they both went to the same school. What a small world subhannAllah! The only difference was though that the young girl was going back to I.G.School.
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The information on seat61.com was excellent except for how small the sleeper in the hoteltrain was. Mainly it was the sales agent at Paris Austerlitz station who told us, “4-berth tourist class sleepers will be big enough for all of you and it’s cheaper”. The lady couldn’t even complete the booking as she struggled with entering a family of 7 into the system…She called for assistances from her manager and finally we had our tickets for the train. However, once we boarded the train, as we opened the door to our cabin- we all froze and thought no way! How will we all fit in here and with all of our luggage??? The kids kept going in and out saying it’s impossible… Looking at how the children started to panic, got me really annoyed and told them with my usual stern voice- to stand against the train’s windows and to stop talking…All 5 kids lined up and I said, “That we need to remind ourselves that there are some people in deprived parts of the world who live in large families and in much smaller homes than this. “Make sure you all say bissmillah before you enter”, I said still annoyed at how ungrateful we can be. This reminder was most importantly for me as for my kids. I love my comforts especially when it comes to sleep… I often forget to be grateful for whatever we have. By that time Abu Shayma had managed to fit all the luggage in- don’t ask me how he did it but alhamdulilah everything was in. Then it was the kids turn…
At the start of the journey the sleeper cabin is in evening mode with 4 seats folded out… we managed to all fit on the four seats and by Allah being so squashed up with my family- sharing vegetarian/tuna baguettes- was truly one of the most amazing heart-stirring moment. As the hoteltrain started it’s 14 hours journey heading to the south of France, we spent a few hours just chatting and laughing about everything. And yes finally S and her father made up. He took the opportunity to explain to her the importance of taking one’s responsability seriously, She gave him a big cuddle and told him that she understood his point… As it started to get late, the train attendant came in the sleeper cabin and changed the seats into beds. Exactly, what I thought.. Four beds shared by seven people… 🙂
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We prayed our salah by squeezing between the beds, combining Maghrib and Ishaa. It was very important to show the kids the importance of salah wherever we are. Praying in that small gap while the train was moving was an amazing feeling. Reminds me of how the entire world is a suitable place to prostrate. And no one said it better than Our beloved Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said: “The (whole) earth has been made a mosque (or a place of prayer) and a means of purification for me, so wherever a man of my ummah may be when the time for prayer comes, let him pray.”
After salah and the brushing of their teeth, the kids managed to get some good rest and I had finally got little W to sleep…I turned my head and saw Abu Shayma in deep slumber in the next bed. He looked extremely tired. As for me, although it wasn’t a pleasant night it gave me a lot of time for reflection. My allergies were acting up all night. It was actually strange and kind of impossible to sleep on the train as it alternated between full acceleration, full braking and going around corners at breakneck speed. Looking at the top bunk and how close it felt in the darkness of this small cabin reminded me of the grave. I started to feel anxious – the smell of the dusty carpets- The movements of the train just like the movements of the deceased transported in a car to it’s resting place – The darkness inside the grave and not forgetting the loneliness. All this felt so real and strange. The thoughts of how suddenly our lives can just end. Sometimes not even having the time to say our goodbyes. As rates of sudden deaths have increased lately we surely can never take things for granted. All sort of thoughts come to mind when someone thinks of life after death and the torment of the grave.
H couldn’t sleep either for a bit so he took out his Quran and from the top bed the sound of his beautiful recitation echoed the entire cabin… It was soothing to my soul- hearing the recitation… The Words of my Creator, stirring my heart and reminding me to call upon Him “before the soul reaches the throat”.
‘O, Allah Lord of this world, Make us among Ahl-ilQuran and bless us with righteous children who will pray for us long after we have gone… O’ Allah forgive us and forgive our dead and have mercy on us and them. protect us and them from the punishment of the grave and the torment of the Fire.’
Ameen!!
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