Reunion

I haven't been updating this for a few days even though a lot of things have happened in each day I slept over at my aunt's place.

Dad drove me and my sister to sign the contract for our apartment, we got a month free because of the damage that has been done due to the water leakage. Then dad drove me all the way to Halifax Shopping Center (AKA mall) so I can cut my hair!!! They didn't have a private room for women the way I was hoping for, but they did have a little barrier so no one could see me when I remove the hijab. She also offered me that the men would be seated behind the wall in the center of the store so they wouldn't see me from the back.
 The offer was hair wash + hair cut + blow dry = for 43 $ including Tax. so I thought it was pretty decent. Unfortunately, I didn't use the hair wash offer, my hair was already washed the night before and I didn't feel too comfortable walking around the store without the hijab, and I might have to wear it to and from the sink. It's too hectic, so I just ignored it.

I listened to my aunt M and my older sister's suggestions to cut my hair short from the back and then it descends longer and longer to the front. I think it's a bob cut. I'm not sure, but I know one thing and that's I LOVE IT!
The girl was super friendly, she texturized it and straightened it and instead of criticized my hair the way some salons do, she told me she liked it's thickness, and the smell of the cream I used for my hair!

We then picked some of the family up, and others chose to ride the taxi all the way to the Chinese Buffet place. We ate and Aunt R's sisters all gave her a make over. One of my crazy aunts H ran inside the bathroom when R was showering and started scrubbing her back for her! Aunt R was screaming bloody murder, or so I heard. I have funny people in the family like that!

We then went to putting edge, where we played in groups of three. It wasn't that great of fun, but we took some pictures there, and dad was acting a little retarded. He kept making weird noises and laughing way too loud.It was dark and some of our clothing glowed in the dark, including Nour's undershirt, which looked like a bra.

We walked at night and fooled around, ate some ice-cream and had fun teasing and laughing. I think we also danced that night. we put some music and the girls started shaking it, specially my mom. My mom kicks ass at belly dancing, I wish I was half as good as she was. My mom says I move like a rock, I'm too heavy on my feet, I don't feel the music and that I do everything like it's a task! It's kind of funny and we laughed a lot, and danced a lot. Nour didn't dance much except the dabkeh, which is a cultural dance that looks a bit like tap dancing because it's made up of stomping, jumping and moving in a line while holding hands while creating music with one's feet. It's great! my aunt H taught me the Palestinian Dabkeh, which is the hardest to do, and also the Lebanese dabkeh, which is the most common because it's the simplest.

The next day, we woke up to eat breakfast at Cora's. I really love the food there. My Aunts walked with me, my sisters and Nour back home from the restaurant. We stopped at a church, and at the black market to look at the strange accessories inside. We found a lot of penis sculptures inside and of course my aunt H cracked a joke or two about that. My aunts bought some things and then we continued to walk home. My Aunt R went to take a nap, she's been really stressed lately from her household. She's the one that takes care of her husband, and she has two sons that slack off and are too lazy to work  hard for a living, they want easy money and in her eyes, Nour is the only good thing about her life and she's afraid of losing her. It's quite sad.
What's left of us went to ride the Segways that Nour has been wanting to try for a while. Dana was too young for it so she rented a bike instead. It's really easy to ride a segway, just push on your toes a bit and you move forward, relax and put your weight on your heels and you stop and skid a bit backwards. the steering is the easiest, anyone can do that. I tried experimenting in the parking lot and moving faster and I looked at my aunt H and told her "Don't be scared, go faster" The moment I uttered these words, my left wheel crashed into a car's bumper and I fell right off the segway and rolled on the concrete floor. I got up pretty quickly, but was a bit shocked because I DID NOT SEE THAT CAR AT ALL! everyone laughed at me and asked if I was alright, which I was. My aunt H then looked at me and asked "what was it that your mom calls you again?" and so I replied with the obvious "moving disaster"

The rest of the ride was fun, we rode across the harbor for half an hour, and dana was following us on the bike. Some teens were sitting on top of the huge wave sculpture thing and when I rolled by they said "they see me rollin', they hatin'" I looked up at them and when they saw me looking we both laughed so hard. It was pretty refreshing rolling by people and some give comments like that, the elderly folk take some pictures, and one man put up a thumbs up as if he was hitchhiking. I love the humor.

We took pictures on the Segway, the guider was really friendly to allow us to do that after we were done with our time. Dana had some extra time with her rented bike so I asked her to show me the tricks she knows. She clapped while riding, she stood on the pipe in the middle, she sat on the side and crossed her legs. She even gave me the bike for a few minutes and taught me how to stand on the middle of the bike the way she did. I didn't do as good of a job, but I've never dared do such a thing before.

At home, I revealed my bruised up and scratched up knee to everyone. It's purple, green and red today! We also played some cards yesterday. Aunt H taught me how to play banakel and she previously told me how to play tarneeb in oman. I'm happy that I learned some card games, I'm still not that good because I only played a few times and with H standing over my shoulder. She's amazing, she kept trying to tease my mom and her sister R so that they wont be as good of a team. It was hilarious.

Inshallah these reunions will live on forever, I've never heard my mom laugh so much in her entire life than she does when shes around her sisters.