My Best Friend

“Truth” I answered to my friends as it was my turn for ‘Truth or Dare.’ There were six of my closest friends, all crammed into a van on our way to SkyZone, which was a three hour drive. We were half way through when we started playing ‘Truth or Dare,’ which soon became ‘Truth or Truth’ because there was no room to dare anyone. “Who’s your best friend?” was the question I was faced with. Great, I’m in a car filled with my friends and I have to choose between them I thought to myself. “Malaak” I answered. A few of them protested with my response, as they didn’t think answering my sister was fair.

At the time, Malaak was my safe answer, because surely none of them could get offended I chose my sister over them. In reality, Malaak and I argued a ton and she wasn’t my best friend. Maybe it was the fact that we shared a room or were only a year and a half apart that sparked our fighting. Or maybe it was because we were sparring partners in taekwondo, so our fighting spirits naturally carried over to the house. But as time passed, Malaak and I argued less and got closer. Whenever we’d plan to hang out, I started to look forward to it, instead of dreading going along for the sake of it.

This change happened after I started attending a different school than her, and I think that’s because we didn’t see each other as often. Before, we went to the same school, participated in the same sports, and had the same friends; which meant we were always in each other’s faces. But once I started at Uni, I’d stay on campus until my dad could pick my up around 7, made friends with a different group, quit practicing martial arts and instead joined the swim and soccer team. These drastic schedule changes barely allowed me to see and talk with Malaak. I started to miss her snarky comments that always put my in my place if I was getting too full of myself, or her sassiness that would lighten up the mood. 

As we got older, we both had more work to do and less time to hang, so we naturally became study buddies; which is the best and worst thing to ever happen. It's good because we’re both hardworking, so when we’re in the zone, we get our work done. Also, if either of us starts talking, we aggressively shush each other and ignore them. We’re not perfect in no way, so sometimes we do get off topic. The downside is that when we get distracted, we talk for HOURS, so our library trip that was only supposed to be 3 hours, turns into 8 hours because we spend so much time talking. 

One thing I’m always grateful about Malaak is that she doesn’t get annoyed when I hang with her and her friends. Maybe it’s a cliche in the movies that I watch, that the older sibling hates when the younger sibling tags along, but Malaak is always inviting me to hang with her friends. Honestly, it’s probably because she knows I’m not the most social person, so she pushes me to interact with others than my usual 4 friends. Another thing I really appreciate about Malaak is that she’s been my roommate for the past 16 years, and she puts up with my weird schedule. She’s never complained about my alarm clock going off 3 times before I finally get up at 5am on some days, or me sleeping at 3 in the morning on other days. My brother, who’s room is at the other end of the hall, complains about my routine and scolds my habits. So Melooka, thank you for putting up with me, I appreciate you <3 .="" 3="" nbsp="" span="">

My Dream Vacation

If a year ago you asked what my dream vacation is, I would’ve responded Turkey; but that was only because all of my family members visited it and talk about how heavenly it is. More recently though, I’ve done some of my own research and I REALLY want to travel to Bali, an island in Indonesia. Yes, Turkey seems interesting but I enjoy doing activities and going on crazy adventures. From what I’ve researched and heard, Turkey’s beauty comes from its architecture and history, so there aren’t many activities to do there, and I don’t think I’d enjoy it as much.

My interest in Bali sparked when my sister was taking a gap year and wanted to take a trip with her friends. I was helping her find destinations, and we came across Bali, Indonesia. She ended up visiting Malaysia, but I was still interested in Bali, and what it has to offer so I continued to look into the activities. The first thing the internet showed me that really interested me is the hiking opportunities. Mount Batur is a volcano in Indonesia that many people hike up, and it has a beautiful view from the top. Another really cool hiking activity you can do in Bali is a scavenger hunt to a secret waterfall. Basically, you start with a clue and it tells you a general direction to walk in, and it explains the scenery that should lead you to the next clue. After following all of the clues, you are supposed to find yourself at a majestic waterfall.

Due to the geological location of Bali, it offers a lot of activities you can’t do in the US. Yes, the US also have zoos, but something about just viewing the animals is restricting. In Bali, they have certain zoos that people are allowed to interact with the animals. They also have something called “monkey forests,” where it’s a jungle-area filled with monkeys that you can feed (with food provided) and play with. I love monkeys, they are literally my favorite animal of all time and it pains me that it’s illegal to own a monkey in the US, because I’d definitely have one as a pet and can imagine being best friends. So when I heard about monkey forests, I knew Bali was my dream place to be. Also, Bali is known for having one of the best snorkeling locations in the world. They have calm bodies of water that make it easy to clearly see what’s ahead. 

When I was helping my sister find places to travel to, she mentioned she wanted to go ATVing, so we used that to narrow our options. There are many places in Bali to ride ATV’s and even multiple places allow you to go water rafting afterwards (they come in a package). The last thing that attracted me to Bali is the giant swing. I see instagram posts with people riding a swing in the middle of nowhere and I always assumed they were photoshopped, because it looked too good to be true. Turns out, Bali has a giant swing that’s in the middle of the jungle, and it overlooks trees and surrounding nature. Other than taking a picture, the swing looks like it would be good to free yourself and just enjoy the moment. I think the rush in me would be different than anything I’ve ever experienced because although I know it’s safe, it doesn’t appear to be (as opposed to roller coasters, for example, that have seat buckles). Lastly, Bali would be completely different than any other place I’ve ever visited, so I think even learning about the different lifestyle of the people living there would be an adventure in and of itself.