“Like, you really reppin traffic, homie?”
11/1/11
That date is cool :). We leave Medina today, iA. Just prayed Fajr at Masjid Nabawi. I’m locked out of our *luxurious* 2-star hotel. Further advice: make sure your group leader is fluent in Arabic – speaking & reading. They also should have gone through this journey before, as a group leader, and know the basic fiqh (legal rulings) regarding the rituals, and have a basic history of the places being visited. Stay away from tabliqi’s. Straight up. [Apparently groups typically have an Imam (spiritual leader) that tags along. Gee, that would’ve been nice…]
Have you noticed how foreigners wear clothes with charged English words, but they’ll be mad random? As if they’re thinking, “yeah, that’s real big in the West – everyone cares about that!” For example, this one’s common, you’ll see dudes rocking t-shirts – or shoes, backpacks, hats, etc. and the only thing written on them will be the word “SPORTS”. Like, in big, bold letters, across the chest. I saw, a few times actually, dudes wearin tight t-shirts with the word “Fashion” written on them. Right. Fashion. Really, dawg? The best one, and this is what made me realize that they go for words that are loaded in the West, emotionally charged, serious stuff. Guy had on a shirt, across the sleeve there was the word “Traffic” in elegant, script letters. Like, you really reppin traffic, homie? I don’t get it. But, I do laugh about it everytime I think about it.
Look Me.....wth?
I also saw a group of Desi guys, stuntin harddd at the masjid – all wearin they stylish jeans & t-shirts, swag-walkin through the Haram. One of the guys had a shirt I still don’t understand. It was a red t-shirt, like the (RED) campaign joints. It said, all bold & dramatic: “If you can’t see the future, turn on the lights.” I’m like damn, that sounds so heavy…but…makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever. SMH at overseas fashion. Yall too funny. Thank you for giving me plenty to laugh about though. Who am I playin though, I know I look like a total bum here. I’m so ready to shave my head, long hair don’t care status right now. I got these thobes for 10 riyals each. I throw on a different one each day & each one rips at the leg, they’re not wide enough for my stride. So, I’m basically all disheveled, walkin around with some flip-flops, a torn thobe, a low cut collar with the chest hair bangin. Can’t see me in these streets son, Hajji status. Sigh.
Later on, my mother and I were walking and we saw a guy wearing a black t-shirt, with rainbow colored letters that said, “MY LIFE IS GEM STONES”. I pointed it out to her and went on my little rant about how ridiculous all of these shirts are. I was like, “Seriously, what does that even mean??” She laughs, then thinks for a second and says, “It means his life is precious”. My jaw drops. “OMG…I think you’re right! How did you…?” She just…got it. It’s a FOB thing I guess. I normally don’t consider my mom a FOB since she basically lived most of her life here, since high school pretty much. Stuff like this proves she clearly still has a different perspective.
Journey to Hajj 