Yea - MashAllah I think I was very blessed and still am with the sort of the parents I had. They are very kind hearted and accepting people… but are very true to their own religion and culture … the way they live their lives has been a great example for my siblings and I.
I can understand the frustrations u had about spending time with friends Farrah… my cousins in Pakistan have similar complaints and vent to me often about it. My Khala’s family is really conservative and the girls rarely get to go to friends homes… only for special occassions such as birthdays or a shaadi. My mamu’s family are more open minded on this subject so their kids go to their friends house and have them over more frequently. But its still never as frequent as they wish it was and yea - sleepovers are totally out of the question.
Growing up - as long as my parents knew whose house we were going to be at and talked to their parents before hand (just so that they knew it was ok) … they were not a stickler about how late we were out with them on the weekends. Thinking back we didn’t really have a “curfew time”. We would tell our parents we will be back at a certain time and if it got later than that, we would call (or friends parents would call) to let them know we were having such a good time and be a bit late. Never a big deal at all. I think due to this - none of us ever developed this rebellious streak. And it helps that there is nowhere to go in our “pind” … except for friends homes and there is always parental supervision… so nothing to worry about. My parents lucked out.
We were allowed to go to sleep overs… but even better than going to sleep overs was actually HOSTING the sleepovers!!! My parents awesome open door policy extended to this. It would be so much fun… my mom would take us to the video store so we could rent movies, lend us girls her nailpolish collection so that we could paint each others nails, she would supervise our “baking and cooking” experiments. It was truly wonderful. I luved the sleepovers and had them frequently. All of my friends wanted to come over to my house because my mom made it so much fun!
For educational and job opportunities, it is common here. Just for the hell of it??? Not so much. But I have seen parents here be completely ok for a child go away to college because their child mashAllah is gifted and smart and got accepted to some amazing school. America is known for some amazing schools.. so if you get accepted … why waste away that opportunity? There are some schools in my area… but none of them were that stellar. And because I lived in a pind, they were still pretty far away from us that I would have had to live away from home regardless. So this is obviously something my parents were mentally prepared for when they chose to settle in the middle of nowhere. They had and continue to have no problem with me and my siblings moving away from home and living on our own to pursue our education and then later careers. So I guess the age is 18 since that is when you complete HS and go to College. I’m the eldest and the guinea pig.. so my parents still preferred me to go to school that is driving distance away. Which I did. But with time, they have become more lax about it. I pursued my higher education in another state and am now a plane ride away. My younger brother applied to colleges all over america. My younger sister is exploring her educational options in even OTHER COUNTRIES. lol. My parents raised us right… we know our boundaries… our rights from our wrongs. So they have never been afraid of “outsider influence”. Sure they miss me (and soon others) … but realize that for us to get further in life… we can’t be afraid to take risks.
I met my fiance once I moved away from the state I grew up in and moved to a bigger city 
So got my doctorate degree AND a significant other… parents couldn’t be happier for me!
So here are some more answers for ya:
what’s your life like?
All of my life its been busy busy busy busy … balancing working + school + family + social life! But now a days its more low key since I am unemployed and officially done with my education. I guess you can say that I am enjoying the more simpler things in life … or atleast trying to!!!
what do you like to do?
I luv exploring the city I live in. Its been 4 years since I moved here but its the first time that I really have some time to really get to know my surroundings. So I am truly enjoying that! I luv to read and have been completely engrossed in a couple of amazing blog novels online that a guppan friend recommended to me! Now a days I am experimenting with new recipes as well and am in the midst of creating my own personal “cook book”. lol I also paint. My paintings decorate my apartment and my parents home. I like to make them to give them as gifts as well…
what do you do for fun?
Shopping! Kinda broke now a days due to the unemployment but I still get a lot of enjoyment from window shopping. Watching movies. Going to restaurants. Spending time with the fiance is the best as well. Getting some quality girl time is important as well with my friends.
where do you hang out?
I luv to host little get togethers at my apartment - gives me an opp to clean, decorate, and cook for my luved ones!, I often hang out at my friends apartments as well. Going out and trying new restaurants is something my fiance and I do - once a week we have a proper “date” night where I get dolled up and we try a new restaurant! Restaurants in general are good hang outs with my friends as well. In the evenings, lounges are good too. There are a lot of nice classy places here where one can go for a night out and enjoy the company of good friends, and order appetizers. The music is good .. no one is dancing… people leave you alone at the table you are at. Its really really nice.
what kind of friends do you have?
Most of my friends are not muslim and of all different backgrounds. They all share similar morals and ambitions as me. People are often shocked that I have friends that are hindu, christian, etc but that they dont drink or have boyfriends etc. ! its like omg! But it goes back to my parents thing that you can find good people with good morals in any culture and background and one shouldn’t immediately judge just based on the color of their skin or religion. My closest friends are all girls - a Lebanese Christian, Greek Orthodox, Kashmiri muslim, Gujurati Hindu, Guyanese Hindu, Irish Catholic, Jordanian Christian, and a Russian Jew. lol. I also made some great guy friends along the way during my educational process. They may not be my “best friends” but are really nice guys who I know I can trust and rely on if I need their help or advice. One of them even got me the job I had last year. 
. And the million dollar question: do my parents know about them??? Yes - they have even met most of them. lol.
how do you celebrate eid?
My parents made it a big deal for us when we were kids (and now a days for my youngest brother since he is still only 10). If Eid came during a school day, we always skipped it that day. Even if their was a test or something. My parents always raised this issue and cleared it with principals before any of us started at a new school. Day started with us getting dressed up in new clothes and going to the Masjid for Eid Namaaz (Masjid was over an hour away.. but this never deterred my parents). The masjid itself was on the top floor of a building and the bottom half was a banquet hall. So Everyone bought a dish and after namaaz there was an extremely yummy brunch. Afterwards, we would go and visit family friends who lived in the area. Then my mom would take us to Toys r us - and let us buy ANY toy we wanted. Our limit was like $150 each. OMG it was the best part of eid… we would spend soooooo much time walking through the aisles and trying to decide which toy to get!!! My mom would then take us to a place called DZ … which is similar to Chuckie Cheese (but better.. i’m sad that place closed and my little bro never experienced it).
My family always tries to attend a formal Eid party that is held a hotel in one of the cities we live by (all of them over an hours drive tho). But it extends eid… makes it special and gives all of us another reason to get decked out. lol.
As we got older, we got eidi instead of toys obvi and sometimes we are not able to make it home for eid because our university exam schedules and such wouldn’t let us.
** do you do any volunteering? **
Yup… its all i do now since I can’t find a job 
**how would you compare the little details of your life with your counterparts back home? **
Just a lot more independence in general in every aspect of my life… .without rebelling and still having the blessings and trust of my parents intact.
Also - this could just be my own parents. But they have really been ok with us kids traveling without them. My sister and I have the freedom to go and visit a friend in another state. We can travel to pakistan by ourselves… travel to England by ourselves. My parents even let my sister go to China because she was chosen to be part of this American medical research group due to her high grades. A girl traveling alone… is a big deal in Pakistan… even if she is traveling overseas.
or perhaps when you visited pakistan .. what did you find different that you had to do? something that you liked, something that annoyed you?
I truly enjoy visiting Pakistan and keeping a link with it. If I didn’t - I wouldn’t go back every two years (always on my own). Its a different way of life and its a different country … so just like how we should respect that when we go on “vacations” in other countries… we should do the same with our own. The only thing I really can’t stand is the staring problem that men have over there. It seriously creeps me out and I am not a fan. Like I just dont understand what issues those idiots have. I mean i’m sure all of them have mothers and sisters and some even have WIVES (i doubt every single fool giving me the eyeball is single) … and they would flip if someone did that to the females in their lives… so why do they do it themselves to others??? Its so freaking frustrating. It’s completely different over there how one can’t really go shopping by themselves as opposed to here. But I understand why its done over there - safety reasons.
How is your family life different?
Loads of time with friends out and about …and grew up in a mixed gender household and environment. I spend lots of quality (read: informal) time with my fiance and his family as well already… which is quite strange by Pakistani standards. Respect for elders is emphasized in our house… but so is respect for youngers.
how are your family rules different?
Everything is discussed and reasoned out…opinions are given and reasonably considered before rules and decisions are made.
how much freedom do you have to do various things? whats your curfew time? All the freedom in the world because I know my own boundaries and know the limits of what I can and can’t do. My parents completely trust me.
whats special about your life that you would like to share with us today?
I guess nothing too special about my life Just happy to be living where I am, having the life that i have, and having the friends and family and worlds best fiance to share all of this with