Entry 3: July 27, 2008

This past week I visited a mosque and an Arabian restaurant with my Muslims in the UK class.

Before we went to the mosque, we ate lunch at a local Arabic restaurant. Everyone branched out and got different things. I ordered a Sprite and my can was written in Arabic. For lunch I had hummus and pitas, which were absolutely amazing. I tried everyone else's food, which was also amazing.

We went to the London Central Mosque, which is the biggest mosque in the United Kingdom. A young British Muslim man took us on a tour and answered all of our questions. We had to wear a headscarf because they believe that everyone should practice modesty. The prayer hall had a huge dome ceiling so the call to prayer could be heard by everyone. The hall can hold up to 3,000 people. The ceiling was painted blue with gold stars. Hanging from the ceiling was an enormous chandelier. We sat and asked him questions about the Islamic faith and he always gave us an informative and interesting answer. He told us about Mecca, which the biggest and most important pilgrimage to Muslims. It is required of any Muslim that is capable to go to Mecca. Mecca is Islam's holiest city and it is where the prophet Mohammad proclaimed Islam. I knew that it was important to Muslims but every time he talked about it his face lighted up. During our visit, we went to the preschool and the children sang us a song in Arabic. They were only supposed to sing one song, but they insisted on singing another one. The mosque has a restaurant and a library that is open to the public.

Entry 2: July 20, 2008

This past weekend I went to Dublin, Ireland, with Chelsie, Kelly and Kelley. While we were there we visited the main attractions, Christ Church and the Guinness Storehouse.

Christ Church is probably one of my favorite churches so far. The first Christ Church was built in 1030. The present building was built in 1186 under the first Anglo-Norman archbishop. Over the past years major reconstruction has been done and one of the major projects was the restoration of the crypt. This area is the oldest structure in Dublin and goes back to the eleventh century. It stretches under the upper part of the church and has a treasury exhibition on display. The crypt pillars are massive stone structures that hold the entire weight of the church. While I was walking around the church, one of the pastors got behind the pulpit and started praying and asked for those visiting to join him. He prayed aloud for a few minutes and then got done and started walking through the church. I thought this was interesting because while he was praying people kept walking around and taking pictures.

Our next stop was The Guinness Storehouse. The storehouse stretches across 60 acres of land. Arthur Guinness signed a nine thousand year lease because he knew that his business would succeed. He was right, the company has been going strong since 1759. It is the best selling beer in Ireland. There was a Guinness brewery in London but it closed in 2005 and was moved to St. James' Park in Dublin. During the tour we got to see what ingredients are used to make the beer and how the beer is made. There are only four ingredients in the beer: water, barley, hops and yeast. The water supply comes from a local area near Dublin because Arthur Guinness wanted the best and most clean water for his beer. After our tour we went to the top floor, which has a bar with a 360 degree of Dublin. We could even see miles of land that we had not seen before.

Entry 1: July 13, 2008

I finally made it to London after traveling for a week in Germany and France.

The first day I was able to do a bus tour with the group. I am so glad that I could do that because I got to see everything. The first week Kelly and I went to Wimbledon and watched Venus Williams play on the big screen. There is a lawn with picnic tables and people lying on blankets watching the matches on the big screen. It was amazing and I cannot believe that I actually got to go to Wimbledon.

We have been visiting every museum possible and I have learned so much. This past week a group of us went to go see “The Lion King” and it was wonderful! We also got to go visit Brighton, a town by the sea, and it is so much more different than our beaches at home. Instead of sand, there are pebbles and it is cold and windy. We visited the Royal Pavilion, which is one of my favorite things I have seen so far. When we first got into town we thought it was a mosque but it turned out to be a palace that was built by King George IV.

I have also had the opportunity to visit Parliament. Even though I am not in the class, it is still an enjoyable experience and I have learned a lot. The first time we went we got to go to the House of Lords and House of Commons. So far we have met with two members of Parliament and this week we get to meet three more.

This weekend I am going to Dublin, Ireland with a group. I am excited to explore a new place!