Monday, 4 May 2009

Facebook life

At that thought, I decided to join facebook. Whether it was a coincidence or not, it was only a matter of days before that Ustaz Maszlee emphasized on networking, and how facebook helps much in building one. I was convinced that it could help me prepare for my going to Bosna- and by the will of Allah, it surely did. Within days after opening up an account, I've managed to gather a handful of helpful friends that proved worthy in the days to come.

I strongly hold that in traveling, knowing the community is of utmost importance. A man can walk into, through, and out of any city and make judgements from what his eyes can see, the whispers his ears can catch, and the weather that crawls on his skin. Added together, these are still far less than what the same man can learn from mingling with the locals. The more people he meets, his learning opportunity increases, simply because each individual is different- and hence unique. Moreover, these individuals are not robots, they are the God-created human beings who fed on their past experiences to make them whoever they are today. Each and every one of them has a story to tell.

Undeniably, as has happened to many of its users, facebook costed myself a lot of my time. But I was prepared to sacrifice some time for a better return- a memorable and enlightening experience in a country I've loved as much as I do my own. This is a country whose people I've heard much of, whose history I've studied deep, and whose landscape and beauty is world-famous. This is Bosna i Hercegovina.

Never had the thought of holidays cheered me as much as this one did. I've spent more than a couple of years in the UK, and yet had not stepped anywhere far from it. I defied and resisted a dozen of invitations and persuasions from friends that I should come with them to see Europe, without a tinge of hesitation, let alone regret. While my friends embark on journeys to Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Marrakesh, Cairo, Prague, Berlin and Rome, I sat quietly in my room, curled myself with shelves of books. Holidays were to me my special moments with the books; there'll be no classes or tutorials to disturb our 'dates'. If anything, I 'traveled' with my books. I held that books could take me to all time and places, almost without any boundaries or limitations. In other words, I was unconvinced that traveling could give me anything better than these books can- and might have already done.

The Bosnian experience changed me starkly in this aspect, among many others. My friends were surprised, and to an extent puzzled, to see me being so excited for the holidays. It seemed like I could not stop thinking about it; Bosna will be my main preoccupation whenever I had free time. It was as if my eyes glowed and shined with every mention of the word. Some people couldn't understand the passion I have developed deep inside me, but there was one thing that they were invariably sure of: it was real.

4 comments:

  1. salam,

    very good post mashaAllah. respect2, u manage to create this post on the promised date..:P

    i do agree with facebook paragraph!

    heheh

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  2. Bro, hvala puno tuh ape?
    And se cuvaj?
    Adeh...am i gonna have to learn bosna lang. b4 i can fully grasp what u guys wrote??

    Please...be nice & put some subtitles for the uninitiated n the unlearned amongst us...Huhu

    -khade/ khadijah

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  3. to prostator2115: it's actually pre-written bro, you knew it :) Anyway thanks for coming over and read ahadith with us :):)

    to khadijah: hvala puno = thanks so much. I said to Adnan that I wish to go there once again :)
    I'm still learning the language myself, having to start from zero. It's difficulty is comparable to Arabic :(

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  4. hahahaha.... Safwan... same here! Ever since husband announced that we are going to Bosnia (for holiday) in 2011 (either in Summer / Autumn)I have been super excited! Any free time I have I will google Bosnia, look at the pics of my travels there, and that's when I stumble upon your blog! your blog has fueled my longing to go back!
    It's the only "holiday" i ever look forwrd to! :) - Ilham

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