the "fun list"

TEA TIME!!!

Tea for the day: fusion of green and white tea. What tea would you like me to serve you now?

During one of my hotline trainings, we were discussing "self-care". As the name implies, it means taking care of yourself to avoid or reduce the probability of getting secondary trauma or depression as a result of interacting with survivors of trauma (in the case of my hotline: survivors of rape and sexual assault). Speaking of which, I had my very first call in my very first shift overnight on the Monday that just passed! It went very well, although I was so nervous at first and felt like I forgot everything from the training until I picked up that phone!!

Anyways...among the suggestions for self-care is to create a "fun list"! I really like this, I mean, a lot of us create lists about errands we should get out of our way, however, although I think that is very good habit, when we finally have some free time, we have no idea what to do! We therefore end up spending those hours in facebooking, watching T.V., etc. when we could be doing something we love to do but always felt we didn't have the time or mood for it!

So I finally decided to create this "fun list" (although in my case, I decided to call it the Free Time List (a boring and lame name, I know!) because I also added hobbies I wanna learn, like knitting, or relearn after a while of not doing it like Tae Kwon Do). In my current list though, I just added stuff I wanna do during my free time while I'm in Boston in the vicinity of my campus so that I don't feel too overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I wanna do (although my list is still looking somewhat overwhelming...).

What do you **Tea Mates** think about this? Any other suggestions about how to deal with "free time"?

From your Tea Mate,
Reema B. :-)

oil-filled lenses bringing sight to those in need

TEA TIME!!!!!


Tea for the day: that same old blend of green and white tea (oh yes, and I still got more Lipton tea to get rid of....I don't know why I have too much of both of these teas!). What tea would you like to have?


I found this video after clicking on a link from one of my friend's links on Facebook about a Hello Kitty Chanisaw! Haha, well now this video doesn't have anything to do with chainsaws or Hello Kitty lol, but it talks about a simple yet innovative idea; a solution to providing eyeglasses to those who need it in developing countries.


I personally find the narrator's use of the label "Third World Countries" as very offensive...I'd personally rather use "Developing Countries", because no world to me is first, second, or third, in reality, we are all poor and it is this denial that breeds arrogance and increases the gap between the "rich" and the "poor".


I also don't get why is there a rabbit in the very beginning of the video...


Anyhow, enough of my blabbering, here's the video!  Oh yes, and before you start the video, don't forget to pause the background music via the Ipod gadget on the right hand side of the blog!! (Scroll down a bit and you should see a dark brown, floral Ipod)


Adspecs from Joel on Vimeo.

From your Tea Mate,
Reema B. :-)

inspiration of the month 4

TEA TIME!!!

Tea of this blog post: organic Moroccan herbal mint tea by Numi. Although I was at first skeptical about whether this was really mint until after I smelled it and drank it; this sort of tea is also part of my childhood and I always loved it. What tea would you like to be served today?

Yes I know, this ritual of "inspiration of the month" has been skipped twice I guess....that is why I'm not skipping anymore by posting now. For new **visitors** of this **Tea House** who don't know what this ritual of "inspiration of the month" is about, please see the first "inspiration of the month" blog post.

Before I share with you the "inspiration", I'd like to say something about the music I've finalized for this **Tea House**. The Ipod gadget (the Mixpod) gadget displayed in the right hand side of the blog now has a total of seven soundtracks. I made sure that they were as diverse as possible and yet matching the theme of the **Tea House**. I'm open to suggestions. By clicking on "menu" in the Ipod, you can choose what song you'd like played as you sip some **tea** at the **Tea House**. Below is the name, singer/composer, and language of each of the soundtracks:

1. "Tea House Moon" by Enya (instrumental) 
2. "Memories of Light and Wave" theme from the video game Final Fantasy X-2 (instrumental)
3. "Now We Are Free" by Lisa Gerard; theme from the movie "Gladiator" (I'm not sure what language is this sung in, but I'm assuming it's Gaelic or an invented language?)
4. "Chouwa-oto" by Kokia (Japanese)
5. Naseer Shamma playing Jamil Bashir compositions (instrumental: oud)
6. "Doosh doosh" by Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat (Farsi)
7. "Mina Sonati" by Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat (Farsi)

I hope you enjoy them!

Now, here's your simple inspiration of the month! I found this simple yet beautiful quotation from a bookmark I found in Barnes and Noble bookstore nearby my campus:

"Wisdom begins in wonder." 

---Socrates

I really think that this quotation still stands true especially for our modern age where people seem to be much more cynical and critical of everything and justify such attitude as being realistic and as key to knowledge. However, although asking questions is indeed key to knowledge, it is the attitude and mindset from which it is asked that matters, for one can approach a problem, statement, argument, etc. with a mindset of either blind-faith, doubt, or wonder.

In blind-faith, one accepts anything without doubting; simply basing their values, etc. on mere faith. Doubt involves critical thinking and always questioning everything. With doubt, you're only making sure that you always argue against the claim, argument, etc. without attempting to understand it more fully or considering views that maybe a balance between your view and the other's view. Wonder also involves some amount of critical thinking, but it also involves creative thinking and leads to a more open mind compared to the previous two.Wonder is a balance between the extremes of blind-faith and doubt.

If we can learn to live our lives always in constant wonder and awe, like childish scientists or childish artists, then indeed there's so much more we can unlock and learn and we can thus live our lives fuller. It is with wonder that a lot of music, art, and inventions are made rather than abiding by either of the extremes of blind-faith and doubt. I'd love to learn how to master this art of wonder myself, I always feel I forget this wisdom myself or that there's much more to it that I still don't understand yet. However, having this bookmark with this quotation by Socrates helps remind me to keep that mindset as I mentally have a "debate" with the claims and statements of an interesting book. I hope he does the same for you.

From your Tea Mate,

Reema B. :-)

package of joy

TEA TIME!!!

Tea for the post: green tea (yup, I'm still struggling to finish those AND the Lipton tea off!!). What tea would you like to have? (You better choose your favorite, 'cause it's been quite a while since I've last posted...you must celebrate the reopening of the **Tea House**!)

Wow, I seriously didn't expect to get this busy for so long...yet I'm surprised how I have apparently gained two more **Tea Mates** rather than lost any **Tea Mates**! I now officially welcome our two newest **Tea Mates** Barry Hamdani and alonzoevans41 to the **Tea House**, I hope that you have both received my personal welcome email...

I had left Dubai for Boston on Janurary 7. My Spring semester of my Sophomore year just started on January 11. As I had mentioned in my previous two posts, it was so great to be home and to have delicious Gulf Arabic food after a whole year! (For those of you who are new to this **Tea House**, I had posted a recipe of a dessert from this region, please see both Milky Rice Pudding Disaster and Solution to the Milky Rice Pudding Disaster for more info and a link to learn about other food from the region).

I had also attended the opening of Burj Khaleefa (previously known as Burj Dubai; the tallest building/man-made structure in the world) and got VIP seating through my uncle who works in Emaar; the Burj Khaleefa itself and the Burj Khaleefa Downtown were among the company's projects. Click here to see the opening of the tower via the Facebook fan page of the governor of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Although I am only taking three classes (one of them only being a one credit course), I am more busy with extracurricular activities. So far, I am volunteering at

1. Big Sister Association. Mentoring 1 hour a week
2. Institute of Urban Health Research where I am currently just doing data entry for one of its projects (they may have me do something else later...dunno lol) that evaluates services for women with substance abuse in Boston. Currently doing it 5 hours a week  
3. Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, where I will be volunteering as a hotline counselor (I am currently undergoing training three times a week until Feb4 when my shift starts. Hotline shifts are only once a week. Each shift is 5 hours)
4. International Carnevalle Committee member...although all I've been doing was just offering ideas for an annual 2-month long festival my campus organizes to celebrate cultural diversity, haven't been too seriously involved but still attend its meetings one hour a week.

I'm hoping that once I'm done with my hotline trainings that I'll have more free time to go to the gym and/or blog to sip more **tea** with you!! I like my schedule better than the Fall semester where I felt it was more about academics. Also for some reason, I was barely even seeing my friends as much! I was especially feeling so stressed for finals during the Fall semester...that was when I got the surprising PACKAGE OF JOY!!!! (See picture above)

I was one day checking my online student account and noticed that I had a package waiting for me. I was wondering: "hmm...I don't remember ordering anything online to receive a package at this time...also, mom didn't mention anything about sending me a package of any sort...".

When I went to the package pick-up center on my campus, I was even more confused...I had a hard time learning who it was even from!! I opened the box to see if there was a message or something inside...but instead I only found LOADS of snacks. I dug up the snacks to see if there was anything but with no avail...

After quite a while though, I finally noticed that the yellow label stuck to the box was actually an envelope! I open this envelope to find this card with a heart warming message...I'll let its picture below speak for itself:

Although this was a very simple message along with a box of snacks (mostly junk food), it made all the difference for me. It reminded me that indeed back home, I'm having a family cheering me on regardless of how much I may put myself down or how much naysayers may get to me. It made me feel happier that I was going home after these finals and will be enjoying the beautiful weather (in fact, I had left Boston right before the snow storms!), the amazing food, and the company of my family, cousins (who are technically my childhood friends), and friends (although I didn't get to see a lot of them once I got to Dubai since most of them had finals and I had lost all their numbers due to my sim card issue I talked about in my last post). Now that I'm thinking about how uplifting was this package for me, it actually reminds me of the following Arabic proverb:

"Sisters' eyes may dry, your wife may find solace in another's arms, but your mother will weep for you till she dies."

Of course, I think that this would also apply to fathers. In the end, friends will come and go. But it is the family (and your closest of friends) who will always be with you throughout life. Therefore, it is critical to have a good relationship with your family. Personally, I feel quite sad when I hear of people who don't even know about their first cousins and don't even care while I consider my first cousins and second cousins to be my childhood friends whom I still stay in touch with. What I find even sadder is when one has bad relationships with their parents.

During my visit to Dubai in winter break, I had gone to Bahrain for a weekend along with my parents. We went there because one of my cousins had married a Bahraini man (whose family we know through other cross-marriages) and his family wanted to see us. I had so much fun there as I saw how different their culture was compared to the Emirati culture. I felt like they were more open, independent, humble, social, and lively. I think this is because they have not received the same attention or had undergone the same developmental insanity as the Emirates or rather as Dubai in particular. I have also noticed that unlike in the Emirates, there weren't so many immigrant workers in the airports, bazaars, etc; they were more self-reliant.

I felt quite attached to the family in Bahrain and wished that I could've stayed longer; I felt as though I've known them for two years rather than just two days; in fact, I felt like they were my family. I also thought that I'd love to marry a Bahraini man myself so that I can be connected to such a culture and to such a family who treat strangers as their own.

Phew....I hope this long post makes up for all this time I haven't been posting!! For those of you who are having good relationships with your parents, family, and close friends, I hope that this post will prompt you to give them a call or something to tell them (whether directly or subtly): "Thank you for being you."

From your Tea Mate,

Reema B. :-)

PS: I have finally updated the play list for the **Tea House** and have thus added two more songs besides the one that automatically plays (which is by Enya). The second song is Japanese sung by Kokia while the third is by one of the most famous oud masters in the Arab world called Naseer Shamma. Click on the "menu" in the Ipod gadget on the sidebar of this blog to access them. Please do offer suggestions as well for more songs that can suite this blog. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Jan 29: After adding even more songs, the order of the music has changed....so please do ignore the description of each particular song above....

**tea house** background music

TEA TIME!!

Tea for the post: Lipton tea with milk and cardamom. Lol, in fact, that's really the only kind of tea I've been drinking during my time here in Dubai--my home. I will be back in Boston in January the 7th; I hope that I'll be posting more often by then.

As I had already mentioned, during my time here at home as well, I've barely had access to a computer (I didn't bring my laptop) and even when I did, it would only be for a brief time. It is now late at night here and I am going to bed, but it suddenly occurred to me that it is time for me to change the background song of the blog; what do you **Tea Mates** (or any other visitor of this blog) suggest? I am looking for a relaxing, welcoming, and preferably non-vocal music; kinda the sort of music that'd suite a **tea house** atmosphere (not necessarily Asian).

In case I don't get the chance to post tomorrow, I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year (and a very late merry christmas as well!)

From your Tea Mate
Reema B. :-)

jet lagged, busy, and phoneless...but good to be home!!

TEA TIME!!!!

Tea for the day: karak tea (click here to know what karak tea, which is also known as chai karak, is), what tea would you like me to serve you today?

Omg....this week has been quite insane indeed....I had traveled back home on the same day as my last final which was on December 15. It's been a year since I've last gone home lol. The flight from Boston to Dubai (with a 5 hour transit to Amsterdam) took about 19 hours. I slept quite a lot but my eye glasses broke when I got to the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. So, I had to wear my disposable contacts (and yes, I ended sleeping with them as well...I just couldn't keep myself awake especially in the flight to Dubai!). Because I had slept quite a lot, I was surprised that I didn't feel as jet lagged as I used to in my last Winter Break in Dubai (I was literally exhausted for a whole week!). But after a day or two, I'm now beginning to start crashing down!!

I didn't bring my own laptop with me as I wanted to travel light. In fact, I came here with only a backpack and a purse! This is in fact my very first time not checking in any luggage; and I would love to keep traveling in this simple way! In fact, I would actually like to buy myself a light laptop...but nothing too small...any suggestions?

I would also like to buy a new phone. My US phone doesn't work in other countries and my Dubai phone was broken ages ago. To top that, I hadn't used my sim card for a whole year and it got locked! Hopefully I'll get my sim card unlocked and will get a new phone. Was thinking of either an Iphone or a Blackberry...but I feel like everyone has those! I wanna be "unique" lol :-p haha, any suggestions for that too?

I have been quite busy this whole week especially with family and I barely get the chance to use my dad's laptop to blog. However, I have been working on 2 drafts and hope that I continue posting more often! I have been slacking off quite a lot in my blogging these past 2 months lol....

I guess this is the end of my post...wasn't really expecting to post anything this plain and boring but thought that I'd update you with what's going on with me and what my current excuse is for not blogging for a while. In fact, I think I may begin just blogging once a month if I continue being this busy...

Anyways...happy holidays **Tea Mates**, please do update me about your holiday season ;-)

From your Tea Mate,
Reema B.

the social business

Photo by: The Hostess

TEA TIME!!

I'm now sipping (for the very first time) Organic Red Rooibos Tea from Peet's Coffee & Tea which had recently opened near our campus. What tea would you like to have?

I had bought a small box of this Rooibos tea (in teabag form) since I've only briefly heard about it and its health benefits and was just curious about how it tasted. To be honest with you, although the aroma of the teabag was welcoming, I am slightly disappointed. I was expecting a bitter yet refreshing taste that relaxes the senses but...it doesn't seem to have any taste at all, although I've steeped it for more than five minutes! Any of you **Tea Mates** had rooibos yourself and think differently?

Although I didn't like the tea too much, I did try their Pumpkin Spice Latte while I was in Peet's Coffee & Tea cafe. I must say that I like their pumpkin spice latte more than either Starbucks' or Dunkin Donuts' because it feels like I'm actually drinking a coffee with legit natural flavors. (I just realized that I'm now speaking positively of coffee in a tea house!! What hypocrisy and blasphemy!! XD)

Aside from either tea or coffee, one thing that I really liked about Peet's Coffee & Tea is its aim to not only provide with quality teas and coffees, but to do so with socially, environmentally, and economically responsible practices. It also donates to and supports organizations and entities (like TechnoServe) that aim to improve the lives of the farmers it works with. Unlike some businesses that make similar claims, Peet's Coffee & Tea seems to be more transparent about how it aims to achieve such ideals and what particular organizations and entities it supports.

This may seem like a childish thought, but I wish that all the businesses out there follow such practices that is good for everyone; practices that both take and give back rather than just take till all is exhausted. It is indeed quite childishly stubborn of our "modern", "civilized", and "cultured" societies to be still doing the latter and to still associate being a "do-good-er" as being "anti-capitalist". In addition, it is ironic how even when societies may value democracy, equality, morality, etc. their economies exclude the poor and underprivileged in their own nations and/or worldwide (a topic discussed in a blog post I had shared in my last post:  http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/back-to-the-land/). At times, I feel guilty of eating the food I eat, wearing the clothes I wear, etc. in our highly globalized world since I wonder whether a single poor person, an animal, or the environment has been abused or denied their full rights in order to produce and sell me such products. And it is astonishing to see that such tyranny still exists. I also feel guilty for being the one to have such luxuries while many others are denied it.

It is, however, uplifting to see the increasing awareness of individuals and businesses about the importance of equitable and sustainable trade. Instead of continuously feeling guilty and hopeless and blaming God, Fate, or any person or circumstance, I think that we must make use of this challenge and produce a positive ripple effect which can not only uplift those whom the ripple touches, but also ourselves. Otherwise, we'd paralyze ourselves with vain negative energy and that is not adaptive for us or anyone. I think we should also consider that the underprivileged have much more to teach us and that we ourselves are "poor"; we are just too arrogant to acknowledge that. I could go on and on about how in the end we are all "poor" but I'd rather leave it up to you to reflect in your own way and maybe possibly promote discussion.

After blabbering about being thankful, charitable, and socially minded in my previous two or three posts, I now present to you a video of a speech about the concept of a "social business" from Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank. My professor of  my Social Entrepreneurship class showed us this video and I'm glad that I found it myself to share it with you (this is not a complete video though and I highly recommend watching the full video via the button already provided (watch full program) or look it up in http://fora.tv, the question and answers part in the ending is not to be missed. Oh, and don't forget to pause the background song by pressing the pause button on the Ipod gadget on the right side bar of the blog before playing the video!):

From your Tea Mate,
Reema B. :-)

inspiration of the month 3 & blog changes

TEA TIME!!!

Tea for the post: Thai jasmine tea. What tea would you like me to serve you today?

The end of the month has come so fast!! I mean, I feel as though it was just Summer yesterday and now the Fall semester is suddenly ending and winter break is approaching (by the way, I will be going back home to Dubai during this 3 week holiday!! I'm quite excited especially since I'll finally be learning to drive so that I can get my licence...even if I don't, I'll at least have finally started!!)

Speaking of speed, I had recently bumped into this interesting blog post about the connection between our speedy modern lifestyle, food, and democracy. Please do check it out as it is quite a fun and interesting read about a very important topic. It actually reminded me of my trip to Ecuador where I had stayed in a reserve/organic farm and where almost everyday I would eat organic food that came fresh from that farm...you have no idea how healthy I felt after the end of that trip...and I had lost a lot of weight (in a healthy way...not an anorexic way)! I hope that maybe in a future post, I could start a discussion related to this blog post. Anyways, here's the link to the post: http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/back-to-the-land/

As you **Tea Mates** may have noticed, I have made some changes to the blog and have added a playlist and a book shelf. I plan to add more books but there seems to be a problem with my Shelfari account and I'm trying to solve it. I also don't remember the names of some past books I've read which I'd love to share in this shelf. I have so far only added one song to the playlist but I will change the song once in a month or two so that it doesn't get too monotonous. I have also removed the shout box and chat widget as I noticed that no one was making use of them and they were only taking up space in a blog that was otherwise meant to have a simple design like a simple **Tea House**.

Enough of my blabbering lol, now that it is the end of the month I think we need to continue our second ritual! For those of you who are newbies of this **Tea House** and would like to learn more about one of its ritualistic traditions of sharing an inspirational quotation in the end of each month please click here and here.

Now, I present to you....the INSPIRATION! This is a translation of one of Rumi's poetry (however, I typically hate how translations tend to ruin the essence of the written art...I also wish that I knew more Farsi to be able to read the original piece myself! This piece seems to be related to the blog post I just shared, especially the part where the author talks of abundance and heedlessness).

Oh yes, and one final note: since the time in my laptop is in Dubai timing, and since Boston is 9 hours behind Dubai, the date of the post is a day ahead! Oh....and I just realized after posting this that today is December 1st...not November 31st!!! XD

"Thanksgiving is sweeter than bounty itself.

One who cherishes gratitude does not cling to the gift!

Thanksgiving is the true meat of God's bounty;

The bounty is its shell,

For thanksgiving carries you to the hearth of the Beloved.

Abundance alone brings heedlessness

Thanksgiving gives birth to alertness.

The bounty of thanksgiving will satisfy and elevate you,

And you will bestow a hundred bounties in return.

Eat your fill of God's delicacies,

And you will be freed from hunger and begging."

----Rumi

charity in the unity of 2 festivities from east and west: thanksgiving and eid al adha

TEA TIME!!!

Today's tea: Pumpkin Spice. What tea would you like to have?

It is quite interesting how two different festivities one from the east while the other from the west, are coinciding together this year; it just makes the atmosphere even much more festive than it already is! Both Thanksgiving and Eid Al Adha involve lots of food, being thankful, and charity. I thought that before the festivities arrive that it'd be a good idea to share some links of charitable websites whether you're Muslim or non-Muslim. In two of these websites, you can be charitable for free! Click on them and you'll see exactly what I mean ;-)

Donations in these websites are all tax deductible. You're also more than welcome to share other trustworthy charitable websites yourself in the comments section :-)

Learn new words and facts while giving free grains of rice to the world's hungry for free:

http://freerice.com

Be charitable for free just by clicking everyday either for the sake of literacy, hunger alleviation, giving free breast cancer check and mamograms for women in need, rainforest conservation, animal rescue, or child health. You can even buy some of the site's products in its shopping section and all its profits go for the causes involved:

http://theliteracysite.com

Donate your Udhiya/Qurbani  to Islamic Relief USA to help those in need around the world celebrate their Eid Al Adha (the organization in general doesn't differentiate between Muslims and non-Muslims and only 3% of the money the organization gets goes to administration, the rest is spent on the causes involved)

https://www.islamicreliefusa.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=433&utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb_ppc&utm_campaign=qurbani_09

I think that the fact that two similar festivities from conflicting cultures are coinciding this year is a Sign for us to reconcile our differences and any enmity remaining toward one another and to unite in our diversity to focus on more pressing issues: serving those in need who in the end do not deserve to be in need because of our greed and constant desire for excess.

Yes, fulfilling desires maybe natural, but let me tell you this: what is natural is not always adaptive, but what is adaptive is always natural. And it is indeed adaptive and natural for us to be in harmony with one another and to spread our resources with fairness the way nature naturally does itself. That is much more organic. In Islamic terms, I believe that that is the way all things in the heavens and in the earth submit themselves and prostrate to Allah and celebrate His Glory as the Holy Qur'an emphasizes in several chapters; as Muslims, let us join them and submit our will to Allah rather than give in to the surface of our immediate desires.

From your Tea Mate,

Reema B. :-)

japanese tea ceremony and giving thanks

(Source of picture: http://www.sleepwarrior.com/matcha-green)-tea)

TEA TIME!!

Tea of the day: Aveda's Comforting Tea. What tea would you like to have?

Finally I get to post something!! I was worried that you Tea Mates will desert the Tea House and leave me so lonely when I come by! I have been quite busy and overwhelmed with different things, but now I finally have a week long holiday--a thanksgiving break! It'll be my first time celebrating thanksgiving; last year, I simply went to NYC with some of my international friends and stayed in a hotel for a weekend and we had managed to be there in time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. This year though, I will be experiencing for the first time a legit American thanksgiving. Me and my brother have been invited to 2 American households in the same day; one for lunch and the other for dinner!!

I need to fulfill the promise I made in my previous post, so I am going to write about the Japanese Tea Ceremony demonstration I saw in the Sacred Space of my university. For those of you who don't know, a sacred space is a place where people of any religion and spirituality or even no religion or spirituality can pray and meditate. Our Sacred Space is part of our university's Spiritual Life Center which coordinates different religious, spiritual, and interfaith programs. I am a member of Multi-Faith Student Connection which meets there in the Sacred Space once a week.

The week in which I had posted my previous post was Spiritual Wellness Week which was organized by our university's Spiritual Life Center. In one of the programs, we had an event called Zen and Japanese Tea Ceremony. Staff and students from the Kaji Aso Studio , which is a Japanese art institute in walking distance from our campus, came to demonstrate a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony and explained some of the philosophies behind it. Now, what I am going to explain below is only a description of what I've seen the way I understood it, please feel free to correct me if you know more about the topic or if you are studying and practicing this yourself (I've heard that it takes years to master the tea ceremony!). I guess that this is indeed a better time to write about the tea ceremony as it is almost thanksgiving and I think that the process of the tea ceremony is in a way a form of giving thanks.

Tea Ceremony embodies the concepts of Zen Buddhism. There are three components to the ceremony: the host, the person who passes the tea to the guest(s), and the guest(s). All of the people sit on the floor and the utensils are wiped and the tea made on the spot. The whole ceremony is a meditative process and is thus done very slowly and with great care, from wiping each and every utensil, to folding the napkins, to pouring and serving the tea, to the guest admiring the artwork of the cup (he may even ask who was the artist) and then to him/her finally drinking the tea and saying: "It's delicious" (those are the only words exchanged, it is a very silent ceremony) everyone including the guest(s) bows. I honestly would've loved to post pictures and videos here but I was worried of disrespecting the people who may not want to have their pictures in a blog for complete strangers to see. I had also forgotten to bring my camera with me to the event anyways (yes, photography wise, I had become much more lazy...what happened to the days when I used to carry my camera everywhere and would even picture the most mundane things to the extent of being annoying to people around me?!).

The tea that is drunk in Japanese tea ceremonies is called matcha (see picture above), which is expensive as it is the youngest leaves from the black tea tree and is freshly hand-picked and then crushed into powder. It is associated with multiple health benefits. Although we unfortunately didn't get the chance to drink the tea, we were told that it is quite bitter. Since the Japanese don't like bitter things too much, they usually have a sweet in their mouth as they drink the matcha tea. I can't remember the particular name of the sweet but it was a kind of crystalized sugar that artists design in a variety of shapes.   


I always found it interesting how most religions emphasize the appreciation of simple things and what's around us. However this is done in different ways. In Zen and other similar religions, the appreciation is done with the immediate objects directly. In Islam it is done with both appreciating the detail of the object while glorifying and thanking Allah since He is seen as the Infinite and the origin and sustainer of each and every process and molecule involved. In the end, whatever you believe in, I say simply be thankful and grateful and try to make every second a meditative process. Happy thanksgiving and Eid mubarak (yes, Eid has coincided with thanksgiving; I love it when different festivities coincide like that!)

From your Tea Mate,
Reema B. :-)