Into the Wild..(1) Jon Krakauer !!

Jon Krakauer was born on April 12, 1954. He is an American writer and mountaineer, well-known for outdoor and mountain-climbing writing. He is also the author of best-selling non-fiction books — Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven,

Into the Wild was published in 1996 and shortly thereafter spent two years on the New York Times bestseller list. The book tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young man from a well-to-do East Coast family who, after graduating from college, donated all of the money in his bank account to charity, renamed himself "Alexander Supertramp," and began a journey in the American West. In the book, Krakauer draws parallels between his own experiences and motivations and those of McCandless. Into The Wild was adapted into a film, which was released on September 21, 2007. (Wikipedia)

 

in the author's note, Jon Krakauer describes the story of Christopher McCandless and ends it with his mysterious death ,which really disappointed me,. he then mentions his interest in McCandless story and his character in the same time as he says " unwilling to let McCandless go, I spent more than a year retracing the convoluted path that led to death in Alaska taiga, chasing down details of his peregrinations with an interest that bordered on obsession".

He also He compares himself to McCandless to give a little perspective, and describes the reaction many people had to McCandless’s actions and ends his note by announcing he hopes to allow the reader to form their own opinion of McCandless and his actions.

What is Ramadan???

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and the holiest one of the entire year.

The month in which the Qur'an, the Islamic book, was revealed to Angel Gabriel, who later revealed it to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims do not eat or drink anything from dawn until sunset.

there are also special nightly prayers called, Taraweeh prayers. The entire Quran is recited in these prayers in Mosques all around the world.

Here is a short video explains a bit about Ramadan

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In Ramadan, families and friends gather on one meal to break their fast, Muslims around the world donate food  to the Mosques where some people sit together to break their fast.

in Turkey

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in Pakistan

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in Malaysia

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in the US

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after eating and spending sometime together, we usually go to the Mosque to perform Taraweh prayer.

Muslims also love to visit makkah in Rmadan for it's unique spirituality and praying there is the dream of any Muslim.

in Ramadan, the number of prayers in The Holy Mosque in Makkah can reach up to 2 millions in one night.

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This is a short video of Taraweh prayer from The Holy Mosque in Makkah

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At the end of this month, we have a holiday where we celebrate the completion of Ramadan.

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hopefuly I've given a brief idea about this month and for those who fast like me, I say

Ramadan  mubark

The Snow Leopard

The Snow Leopard is one of the books that we've discussed in literature class and since I like the themes of the story, I'm planning to read it in the near future.

It is a novel written by Peter Matthiessen who is an American novelist and nonfiction writer,

famous for being an environmental activist and won many awards for his writings,

 the first one is National Book Award in 1980 for his book The Snow Leopard.

This novel is based on his two months journey to Himalayas accompanied with the naturalist

George Schaller to seek out the elusive and precious mountain cat.

The author reflects back to elements of his wife's death and explorations of what life involves,

he also links both spiritual and natural aspects

 which make his book a peaceful yet a powerful inspiration for the reader.

Many reviews recommended this book as an excellent escapism and

a good choice for those who wish to read an informed and enlightened travel journal.

So, who is also interested in reading The Snow Leopard???

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The challenge of imagining!!

Australia is one of the destinations that I'd love to go to for many reasons, the principal being its outstanding nature, from the beautiful beaches to the superb deserts & of course I wouldn’t mind visiting my fiancé who resides there.

Well,, I’m supposed to imagine that I’ve been to the Australian desert which I pretty much have failed to do. To be honest, I’ve tried to picture that I’m in the desert doing this crazy adventure as Robyn Davidson did in her famous book Alone Across the Outback, but I couldn’t do that.

I think I’m just terrified by the idea of being alone in the desert, I’m telling you, I would die if I found myself in an empty place and no one around me and I’d be really scared if I were in Davidson's shoes.

yes, yes I admit that I don’t have the courage to journey unaccompanied, I remember when I first got here, I was so frightened to sleep alone in a closed room, so I took my quilt and silently crept to my brother’s room, who was shocked when saw me in the morning while I was making excuses to not look like a coward.

I also hate hot weather and when I read the traveler's description about how hot  the weather was in the desert and how thirsty she was, I couldn’t complete reading and ran for an ice cream which comforted me a lot because I felt hot and unable to breath. Sometimes I have a drop in blood pressure and feel dizzy in hot days, so imagining such situations is so difficult for me.

This, however, doesn’t mean I hate desert because I truly like going to such places in Saudi and camping out there, enjoying the beauty of the desert BUT usually in spring time where the weather is cold and rainy.

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