It's Raining

It seems like it was only a few days ago when I would be coming out of the school gates with sweat on my forehead. And today, I open the curtains this morning to discover it has rained.

Now, as spiritual as Laylit Il Qader may seem, this is definitely a sign that yesterday was not the night - since there must be no clouds in the sky.

But we all went for it anyway and I guzzled down quite a lot Mountain Dew bottles to stay awake this one.

Even with all of that I slept like a log at around 2 o'clock and woke up later at noon. Anyway today I have a 3azoomeh, here in my house. Wish me luck.

So, how did you spend your Laylit Il Qader? (other than sleeping of course...)

It's 11:30

And I can barely see the computer screen through the slits of my eyelids that are open.

My English teacher wanted our project to have subtitles for everything said in the play. And she wanted it tomorrow. So we accepted and did it.

My Math teacher wants seven problems of sine, cosine and tangent solved. I did that.

My English teacher also wants a writing assignment, 100 words, to be handed in tomorrow. I did that as well.

My Arabic teacher wants a writing assignment as well, 300 words. But I'll do that later.

Add to that we have Chemistry, Biology and IT quizzes on Sunday.

Ah, and my report card (or shahadeh, as you may call it) will be given out tomorrow. Oh, dear.

And my body needs a rest. I must go do that, now.

I hope I won't have nightmares about that Mary girl ghost thing I saw today on Criss Angel Mindfreak.

Eww, creepy stuff.

Nighty night.

Sleeping During The Day

I tried to sleep this morning during the day. Bad mistake, I woke up feeling as bad as hell. For some reason, if you want to sleep during the day, you mustn't have the window closed. And the throbbing headaches and seas of sweat didn't stop until iftar. I won't be doing that again.

But is sleeping during the day actually doing you good, or is it actually harming you? Although it does pass time, studies have shown that there is a harmful side to taking naps. A study at Buffalo University shows that sleeping more than your recommended eight hours a day is bad for you. And not just that, it also increases ones chances of stroke!

If you sleep more than eight hours a night, snore or regularly are drowsy during the day, you may be at an increased risk of stroke, University at Buffalo researchers have found.
These results from the Western New York Stroke Screening Study, presented in Fort Lauderdale today at the American Stroke Association's 26th International Stroke Conference, showed that people who regularly slept more than eight hours a night had 9 percent more strokes than those who slept less.
Persons who regularly were sleepy during the day showed a 10 percent increase in stroke, compared to those who didn't experience daytime somnolence.

The study also showed that people who regularly feel sleepy during the day (ahem ahem), are also included in the risk. But at the same time, other studies show that lack of sleep is also bad for you, causing strokes and memory loss.

Sleep disorders are not just embarrassing to sufferers, but potentially life-threatening and experts believe that people are not receiving an accurate diagnosis in the UK.
Sleep disorders in turn cause excessive sleepiness, which affects about 6% of adults or 3.5 million people in the UK.
People with sleep apnoea and hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS), which cause people to wake up many times during the night, are at higher risk of developing an excessive sleepiness condition because they get fragmented, poor-quality sleep.
The condition is also associated with Parkinson's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Consequences of untreated OSAHS include strokes, mood problems, impotence and memory loss.

So, in your opinion, is it right to sleep during the day to pass time by, and if not, what should we spend our time doing?

[Sources: Science Blog, BBC News]

Every Single School Day

- Around 5:30 AM, time for salat al-fajir

Mum: Khaled, wake up.
Me: (Snores)
Mum: Khaled.... wake up!
Me: Why?
Mum: To pray al-fajr
Me: Oh ok. (Snores)
Mum: KHALED!!!
Me: Yes?
Mum: You're going to miss the salah!
Me: Ok, no problem. (Snores)
Mum: KHHHHAAAALLLLEEEED!!!!
Me: No.
Mum: Yes!
Me: Ok just a minute and I'll get up. (Snores)
Mum: (Drags me out of bed)

I get up, crawl to the bathroom, do wudu' then pray. I go back to sleep.

- 6:25 AM, around 5 minutes before school bus

Mum: Khaled! The bus will come in 5 minutes!!
Me: Ok I'm coming.

I get out and start wearing my uniform that needs ironing (but I don't really care) and then go back to sleep.

Mum: KHALED!!! WAKE UP!!

I drag my heavy bones to the kitchen. I eat my breakfast (which is oatmeal of course - yuck), and drink my tea. Then the dreaded sound comes - BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Me: Is it my bus?
Mum: YES!!!!
Me: Oh god, he's 10 minutes early, again! Is my sandwich ready?
Bus: BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEP!!!
Me: QUICK!
Mum: Go and tell him to wait!

I go out and try and signal to the bus driver to wait. He replies with a huge scowl and more beeps.

Mum: Here, take the sandwich. Do you have any tissues?
Me: Yes...
Mum: Ok, bye
Me: Bye

By this time I'm still half asleep. I get onto the bus, sit down and put my head back. Zzzzz...

- 7:00 AM, still 30 minutes till school starts

We get to the stupid school. I get out and drag my self to the cafeteria, were all my friends are. They're all frantically doing homework.

Me: What? Do we have homework?!
Friends: Yes of course, Biology!
Me: Oh no!

I get out my book and start copying from another student. From the inside of the the cafe I can hear Jamal, the seller, shouting to the Egyptian sandwich makers inside: "Wahad Falafel Suber. Khaleeha itneen!"

- 7:30, School time

And there we go, 8 periods, and after each one finishes I start counting how much periods left.

- 3:30, At home at last

1 down, 10 million days to go. (Sobs)