Luba Saeed Zaki – Lu – Lulu – Zalabya
I have a friend called Lubna. She is a no-bullshit person who is very meticulous about how her name is spelled. She’s so beautiful with one of the best smiles in the world that just light up the room, and it’s not just because she has amazingly even teeth. The intelligence in her eyes and the transparency of her soul shine out. When she’s sad she looks like a pouty 5 year old girl, and when she’s high on coffee she sings, not necessarily in the best of voices although when she’s really in the mood she almost sounds like a pro. She has a very sophisticated air about her, which makes sense because, well, she’s sophisticated!
Lu’s into old songs; Arabic, English, and French with a touch of Spanish and who knows, maybe when she comes back from her stay in Poland where she is pursuing her PhD in politics (I did mention she’s intelligent AND a no bullshit person), she’ll be listening to old Polish songs too! She likes to be called “hanem” and she should be called hanem because she is a lady inside and out. She belongs in the balls where they dance the waltz and talk about arts and wear fancy dresses with silk gloves and diamond tiaras. She can be so very serious it scares me sometimes, but she always knows what she’s talking about. I’m impressed with how cultured and well-read she is, how much she pays attention to details, and how she is plain old fun at the end of the day. She has been told that she is conservative, holding true to her religion and tradition, with liberal thoughts, that accept so many opinions and welcomes change. What she has been told is true. Even in her conservativeness, she is not rigid as long as she sticks to what is right.
We’ve been together in school, only her being one year older than me was maybe the reason why we were never properly acquainted. I met her at the club when we were part of a team in a human development initiative. But again, we weren’t friends. All of a sudden, her brother who is my age, school colleague, and I became friends, and all of a sudden, Lubna and I, finally, became friends. I’m not really sure if I should be grateful to Tamayoz, the Human development group, or to Mostafa, the all of a sudden friend, for giving me the gift of Lubna, or if I should be grateful to the school or to the club. All I know is that all the pieces fit together that she is finally my friend who has a chamber all for herself in my heart.
This is usually about the time I say how annoying she is at something except she isn’t really annoying at all! Ok fine, she get annoying sometimes when she freaks out if she thinks she’s upset someone. But it does annoy me how someone with her amazing intelligence, working in politics, and brave enough to go all the way to Poland for her dream, is not able to see the bad in some people. Lu, when you read this, it annoys THE HELL out of me! On the other hand, she has always been there, more in Poland than when she was in Egypt maybe, always caring, always thoughtful, and just simply THERE! It isn’t easy, it isn’t something to be taken for granted, and it is the most amazing thing in the world!
I know that what I have said is not enough, it does not do her justice, and she will be shouting at me for how wrong or exaggerated she thinks this is, which is another annoying thing; how she doesn’t really know how amazing she is. But the thing is, it isn’t enough, and I owe her so much for how she stood by me in my worst time, and how she makes me laugh when I’m down, once she gets over all the empathy (sometimes I think I depress her because I’m sad, she is THAT empathic!) I don’t think we ever came to the point where she would need to bust my ass, but I trust that she will if I ever need to get my ass busted.
Finally, she belongs in a world that has long past, but God granted her strength to be able to deal with this world we live in now, which, let’s face it, sucks! She is my long lost sister. Sister, I ain’t gonna let you go!
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