European Swag

Long time no post. I thought my first entry since my big European excursion should be about something that caught my attention while I was overseas:

EUROPEAN SWAG.

What is it about those foreigners that just makes them so damned COOL?! They rock harem pants like it's their job. I ACTUALLY saw a dude wearing a top hat, a tuxedo jacket with some serious coat tails and a cane.

Even the hijabis over there have killer swag. They don't let the headscarf stop them from gettin' their fashion on.

I took this picture while sitting outside of the Tower of London. There was a long line of impeccably dressed females, I'm not sure if they were heading to prom or just being their European fashionista selves and going out for coffee.

Check out that hijabi in the pink, looking like a Muslim Nicki Minaj!

And so I figure, if they can do it, why can't I?

Adieu!

I'll see London, but will I see France?

My amazing parents have given me a three-week trip to the UK for my graduation. Yes, my parents are pretty much the best people I know. Being that this is the first time I will be traveling without parental supervision and with my good friends, I thought I would make the most of it. Due to limited funds (seriously Bint Battuta, how do you do it?!) we will only be able to visit countries in the United Kingdom and perhaps one other.

My first thought was LET'S DO FRANCE. I have wanted to visit Paris ever since French class in high school. Eat fresh baguettes, visit the Louvre and of course the Eiffel Tower. And let's not forget the FASHION!

Then I paused...as a Muslim, a visible minority and a hijabi, I wondered if it would be safe for me to visit France. As you may or may not know France banned the niqab (the veil that covers the face, leaving only the eyes visible), and as of April 2011 this law came into effect. If a woman wears the niqab she is denied access to museums and other establishments, fined if seen in any public place and required to take citizenship classes - classes which teach students about gender equality and other French values.

"How can you defend liberty by denying liberties?" Not entirely sure where I read that, but I do know that it nicely captures the stupidity of this law.

And so, back to my concern. Should I go to France? Would it be safe? On the one hand I would like to boycott France altogether. If they don't want to give my sisters in Islam religious freedom, then why should I visit their country and spend my (parents') hard-earned money?

However, this could be precisely what 'they' want. When I was researching (read: Googling) this topic I came across an extremely hateful website. I won't post the link because I don't want this disgusting website to get any more traffic than it deserves. The author states that getting Muslims out of Europe by making them feel unwelcome and unsafe is exactly the point of laws like this. 'That's exactly how we want them to feel' writes the author.

Ultimately, who suffers if I don't go to France? Will it be me, denying myself an experience that I may never have the chance at again, or will it be France, with their 80 million or so tourists a year? I realize that thinking this way might be selfish, but I'd also like to think that I will be standing in support of my fellow Muslimas in France, who are fighting the good fight. I will go to France, wear my hijab proudly and stomp around the Louvre like I own the place. And I will speak my mangled Frenglish because ain't nobody gonna tell me where I can or cannot go! ...except maybe my parents.

You go, girls!

Baby steps into blog-dom.

I have been wanting to start a blog for a LONG time. I have many interests and thoughts, most of them coherent, and I figured that I should start documenting them. So here I am, fulfilling my dreams and what not. Narcissus, meet your match.

Let's get serious. The real reason behind my sudden start is this: as a recent graduate I feel the need to somehow occupy my time while also convincing myself that 6 years of education (read: many, many dollars) have not gone to waste. We'll see how that goes.

In any case, for my first post I thought I would share what has been on my mind lately - HEAD WRAPS.

Turbans, scarves, Carmen Miranda, Erykah Badu, June Ambrose, beautiful HEAD WRAPS. Whatever you want to call them, and to whomever you want to attribute this new fashion craze, there is no denying that the head wrap is IN.

Lucky for me, I've been wearing hijab since I was 5 years old, so I've got it covered. (Hahaha, did you catch the pun there?!)

In any case, I've been trying my hand at some different turban-inspired head wrap styles, and I have to say that I am most pleased.

Here is a picture of me trying out the Afrocentric look. I found some rather helpful tutorials on YouTube that show how to get this look. You'll need a scarf of stiffer material to get the height, not the usual pashminas that most of us hijabis use on a daily basis.

And so there it is, my first blog post. To all those who read it, I thank you for taking your time and I hope it was worthwhile.

duckfoot.