Category Archives: Uncategorized

My mom’s easy recipe using basic ingredients that you can always find. Ruz hashweh (meaning stuffing rice) is traditionally used as a stuffing for either meat or chicken dishes or as a side, but it can be its own meal! It doesn’t take long to make and can last days in the fridge- making itContinue reading “Recipe: Mama’s Ruz Hashweh”

I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted this. Well except maybe the Simpsons, Bill Gate’s in his TED talk, and that one psychic. The coronavirus aka COVID-19 has wrecked havoc across the world, affecting everything from the stock market, to grocery stores, universities, and beloved sports (I miss you Premier League and Champions League). But weContinue reading “Let’s All Calm Down”

This piece is a follow up to last week’s post, ‘Does studying abroad live up to the expectations?’ If you still haven’t read it, click here.  The response to the previous piece was unexpected! Many friends have reached out since, relating to what I went through, some even asking for advice on how to surviveContinue reading “Surviving the Hardships of Living Abroad”

When I moved to America for university, I thought to myself, there is no way I’m going to get culture shock. I was raised ‘western arab.’ Mom and dad went to school in America, I was raised wearing shorts and watching Disney channel. More importantly, I was raised in Dubai, the America town of theContinue reading “Shocked.”

(and some of my book recommendations!) Growing up, I remember mama constantly begging me to pick up a book and read. I constantly refused and always hated when we were assigned books to read in English class for our exams or assignments. I hated reading, partly because we were forced to read, but also becauseContinue reading “How I Rediscovered Reading at 20”

As an Arab high-school student, the very idea of going to university usually goes side-by-side with studying abroad. It feels like the ‘dream’ we would sign up for without hesitation or second thoughts, for it represents independence and freedom from all the Arab cultural restraints.  Many people, however, do not realise what it actually takesContinue reading “Does Living Abroad Live Up to the Expectations?”

A question so seemingly simple, yet is one of the most complicated questions anyone has ever asked me. “Where is home?” Straightforwards, yeah? Not really. I’ve struggled to answer this question throughout my life because of all the cultures in me and all the countries my family lives/has lived in. Because of this, I don’tContinue reading “Where is Home?”

As an Arab living in the west, I have been asked some peculiar fucking questions. Some personal faves being; “do you go to school on a camel”, “does your father control you”, “do you have a gold plated car?.” But let me tell you what my TRUE favorite is. Like this is really one I’mContinue reading “How Do You Speak Such Good English?”

Hello Neighbors! I’ve been wanting to start this blog/page for so long and it feel so good to finally start it. Moving to the UK from the Middle East has to having all these conversations about me and my Arab culture that I never thought I’d have and made me seriously think about all theseContinue reading “Welcome to the Neighborhood”