Grand Mosque

So the first weekend free a group of people from my class and another class and I went to the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It is the largest mosque in UAE and was just recently built about 5 years ago. My pictures do not give justice to the size or beauty it has. I have been learning that UAE is not afraid to flaunt their stuff/wealth!! This mosque is made from all Greek marble with murals of semi-precious stone. The towers have 24-karat gold on top. It also has the world's largest handmade rug that is all 1 piece and can be seen below (about the size of a football field). There is also other world records they have for this place!! We ended up having a tour guide to show us around which was really nice. They are really proud of the mosque and want it to be more than just a religious building but also a cultural center to learn about Islam and the heritage of UAE.

I have never really know much about Islam so I was excited to learn more to have a better understanding of what they believe. There are many similarities to Christianity which I was really surprised about. The tour guide helped us understand many of our questions that we had about it which was really nice. She also helped with the mess conceptions we usually have about the dress. I know that I always thought that everything that they wore was due to rules in the Koren but actually some of the dress is actually not part of Islam but actually is a culture thing. Here in UAE the women wear all black while the men wear all white. You still see a lot of head scarves that are red but that is normally people from Saudi. The women have to cover their heads but do not necessarily have to hide their faces. Only coverage of you head is Islamic law. Many women choose to hide their faces, however, because they feel uncomfortable or do not want anyone to know who they are when they go out in public!! To go inside the mosque I got to experience what it felt like in the all black outfit! All the women have to be in full attire. I never really figured out how to wrap my head to keep the scarf on it especially when the wind blew but in all it was a good experience. I actually felt like I fit in rather than stick out like I always do!!

Below is a picture of all the guys that went with us and of the 3 girls (a couple from my class and a few from another class) . . . of course the guys did not have to wear anything different! They would have though if any of them were wearing shorts. Again, I think it is so awesome of all people I get to meet. In this group there was 4, including myself, from the US, a Mexican, a Colombian, a Venezuelan, a Russian, a Frenchmen, and an Italian. I LOVE this about my job!!

And last but not least we went to a marketplace and shopped a little bit. At one time I heard my friend Paolo talking but could not find him . . . well I couldn't find him because he and Posi were in traditional clothing!! They were absolutely hilarious walking around together!!