07.11.2010
Aachen
9. 00 AM : Check who wants to go to the church? We have to leave at 9.30 AM.
9. 10 AM : better checking again…
9. 15 AM : Maybe tell them to hurry up.
9. 20 AM : They said they’ll need 5 more minutes, fine.
9. 28 AM : Where are the people?
9. 30 AM : We have to leave now.
9. 35 AM : Guys, we really have to leave now!
9. 40 AM : Let’s go… all who are here.
9. 45 AM : Come on, you’re the last ones, RUN!!
9. 50 AM : *breathing heavily*
9. 55 AM : There we are… finally
9. 59 AM : Mass starts. Germans… 1 minute earlier..
Bilal mosque 2
Bilal mosque 3
Bilal mosque 4
Bilal mosque 5
In order not to ignore our current topic, gender equality, we used our free time we had afterwards to talk about that… e.g. the question if women can walk as fast as men, who can carry heavier bags or is there the same amount of meat in kebabs for men and women?
Aachen
9. 00 AM : Check who wants to go to the church? We have to leave at 9.30 AM.
9. 10 AM : better checking again…
9. 15 AM : Maybe tell them to hurry up.
9. 20 AM : They said they’ll need 5 more minutes, fine.
9. 28 AM : Where are the people?
9. 30 AM : We have to leave now.
9. 35 AM : Guys, we really have to leave now!
9. 40 AM : Let’s go… all who are here.
9. 45 AM : Come on, you’re the last ones, RUN!!
9. 50 AM : *breathing heavily*
9. 55 AM : There we are… finally
9. 59 AM : Mass starts. Germans… 1 minute earlier..
For many people it’s a weekly spiritual and religious event but for most of us it was the first time to attend a Sunday mass in church. Those of our group who were willing to get up before 10 AM went to the beautiful dome of Aachen this morning and listened to the words and choir. Although it was held in German and therefore not understandable for everyone it was still an impressing and interesting experience for both our Christian and Muslim members because we could see both differences and similarities between Coptic masses, prayers in a mosque and a so to say German mass.
What a nice warm up for the day.
Our morning program got a little bit changed and so not gender equality but another challenge became our topic: how to get along with cultural differences and misunderstandings within a group of people who all want to share their ideas and are following different aims?
Respect, that’s what all of us see as the most important base for a good working group.
But we found out that there is not a lack of respect in our group but because of our backgrounds and cultures we sometimes see behavior in another way. For one person it might be the most normal thing on earth for another one it’s disrespectful.
During the last days the groups got to know each other and had a lot of fun. You can say it’s a team. But of course sometimes there are different points of view. We just have to respect all of them. As we said on the first day, we have a lot of things in common that connect us with each other, such as same aims, fears, and expectations. On the other hand we’re still all different which makes everybody special and interesting. As long as we keep on being tolerant and open minded we will for sure spend one more great week together!
For not letting us starve our great Aachen people prepared a nice lunch for us: homemade lentil soup. Thanks by the way to these organizers who really do a lot of effort to make us feel comfortable and welcome here!!
30 happy tummies later we went to visit the second oldest Mosque in Germany and met its representative and his family who were so kind to answer all the questions people had regarding the Islam and told us about the mosque and their life.
Also this family reminded us of our first topic, migration and integration. A perfect integrated family with migration background in Germany!
This visit was another chance to compare how Muslims in the Arabic world and in Europe live and follow practice their religion.
Bilal mosque 3
Bilal mosque 4
Bilal mosque 5
In order not to ignore our current topic, gender equality, we used our free time we had afterwards to talk about that… e.g. the question if women can walk as fast as men, who can carry heavier bags or is there the same amount of meat in kebabs for men and women?
Again our German organizers prepared food for us and after dinner and the reflection/ complain/ discuss/ find solutions groups the highlight of the day waited for us.
Andre from the AEGEE Aachen Team took us on a city tour which was really interesting and funny thanks to the stories and legends we were told in a very nice way!
We were shown the beauty of this city and also learned about its history. At night Aachen's sights such as e.g. the Elisenbrunnen, “the needle people statue”, different fountains, the market square with its town hall and of course the dome looked even more beautiful and impressing at night. We can say that Aachen is a wonderful charming city which is totally worth to visit it and a great place for our CST.
Let’s enjoy our last day here, keep in mind what we are talking about regarding the respect and look forward to all the other activities we are going to do in this week!
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