Jamilah and Raad on the sea wall. Their house is the one directly in back of Jamilah.
from right to left Tor, Jamal, Chanthavone holding Raad and Jamiliah
During my second year in Cairo, a newly married couple moved into our church branch (congregation). They were Jamal and Chanthavone Qureshi.
Jamal- At about 6'4", Jamal is the child of a Norwegian mother and a Pakistani father. All of the children in his family have Arabic/Urdu names. Being a devout member of the LDS church, he served a mission in London. He works for an oil company in Norway. He speaks fluent Arabic and some Norwegian and Urdu.
Chanthavone - ( pronounced John -a -juan although sometimes for fun I call her Chan tha vo nay) A tiny thing barely clearing 5 feet, Chanthavone was born in Laos and came to the United States with her family when she was seven years old. Leaving her Buddhist upbringing behind, she joined the LDS church. She went on to serve a mission in Taiwan, where she learned to speak Mandarin. (She says her language skills are minimal, but I heard her speaking to her father over the phone in fluent Laotian. I bet the Mandarin would come back if she had to use it.)
During her mission, a junior missionary, which in LDS culture is known as a "greenie" suggested to Chanthavone that she meet someone at BYU. The "greenie" had met Jamal when he was in London. Chanthavone, as I recall the story, was not pleased at getting dating advice from her "greenie". When she did meet Jamal, she was not thrilled. He, however, was persistant.
A newly married couple, they traveled to Cairo where Jamal studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo. Chanthavone fit right in with the women in our branch, because she likes to shop! The first day we met her she said that when she and Jamal had children they would be "Pakilaowegians". (Pakistan, Laos, Norway)
They did go on to have three Pakilaowegians. But with such a diverse cultural heritage, and with parent names of Jamal and Chanthavone, what to name the kids Tom, Becky.....Nah!
The children being one quarter Norwegian, one quarter Pakistani, and half Laotian would receive names from these cultures. First names would be Norwegian, Arabic, or Urdu/Persian, and middle names would be Laotian.
Jamilah is their oldest child and only daughter. Her name is Arabic and means beautiful She is nine years old. She is a sweet girl. We spent an evening going over her rock collection. I would like to encourage that hobby. I collected rocks when I was a kid. She looks like her daddy.
Twins, Tor (Norwegian for Thunder) and Raad (Arabic for Thunder pronounced "rod") have names that are easy to pronounce, go with the family naming requirements, would fit into American society, and are "twinny" - a term coined by Jamal. They are seven years old. They look like mom. They are currently sporting mohawks, which was their idea. I have seen pictures of them with full heads of black hair and they are really cute. Not, that the mohawks aren't cute. Tor keeps telling me he is going to spike his hair with gel for school, Chanthavone whispers to me "Not gonna happen!"
Tor is the oldest and a mischevious child! I went into the bathroom the other day, and he was hiding in the corner. Nearly gave me a heart attack! He said he was checking his hair. Yeah.....but the lights were off and he was not near the mirror. (Hmm, I used to hide behind furniture at my preschool, and the teachers would have to come looking for me.)
Raad is the more mellow of the two. He went with me and Jamiliah for a walk to the sea wall the other day. His big source of excitement was feeding bread to the swans. (Ah, I remember doing that as a kid at Ross Park - it is fun!)
All three children are attending Norwegian schools so they can pick up the language. They will probably transfer to the International school next year, but I am not sure.
It is nice to have good friends who invite me to visit. I have had a fun time here in Norway. I hope to return.
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