Grand Mosque Bahrain

When we first began homeschooling we met up with homeschool group for a field trip to a cathedral in town to learn about Christianity.  We had missed the Mosque visit a few weeks beforehand and just hadn't had a chance to make it to the Grand Mosque (even though we drive by it almost every single day!) Since then we've also visited the Sikh Gurdwara  with the group and Buddhist Temples and a Hindu Temple in Sri Lanka.  A few days ago the group got together for another visit to the Bahrain Grand Mosque and we jumped at the chance to go!

The giant door at the entrance

Our guide had asked us to arrive a little before prayer time so that we could watch them pray, so we got there, the mom's donned Abaya's and we herded the kids up the stairs to the viewing area and watched the men pray. The place we were in is also where the women pray (though its not terribly common for women to come to the Mosque to pray unless its Ramadan). We watched and listened for about fifteen minutes- it was all in Arabic but it was really cool to be invited to watch. 

Afterwards, during our tour, our guide told us that they all come to the Mosque to pray together to be united and to remember that God created everyone to be equal- from a laborer to a banker- they all pray next to each other. 

At the end of the prayer they all turn to the left and right to bless each other-- kind of like passing the peace in church (another similarity... which I absolutely love finding!)

Once the prayer was over we met our guide downstairs and he began our tour. The Grand Mosque in Bahrain was built in 1988 and is one of the largest Mosques in the world. It can house 7000 people for worship-- 5000 inside the mosque itself and the rest outside.  The huge dome on the outside is currently the worlds largest fiberglass dome and weighs 60 tons and was built in Bahrain.

He told us all about where the materials used to build different parts of the mosque were from-- the chandelier is from Austria, the glass globes hanging around the chandelier are from France, the carpet from Ireland, the teak wood from India, and the marble from Italy. It is simplistic in design, but still beautiful. And honestly, as stunning and breath taking as the fancier mosques like the one in Oman or Abu Dhabi are, these one felt more reverent and like it was built for worship and not just for show. 

Every Mosque we've visited have had these curved niche's in the walls and I've always wondered what they were for or if they were just for aesthetics. Turns out, the curves help amplify the Imam or the speakers voice so that it reaches the whole of the room. Our guide had all the kids go into the niche and yell their names and it resonated through the whole mosque!

He sat us down and talked to us about their prayers and their faith and even shared a prayer with us. He sang it and it was lovely! 

Before they pray they wash their hands and arms, face and feet to be clean when they come before God in prayer. This is done even at home when they pray. 

This is the prayer that he sang.

He let us ask questions about Islam and was open about his faith. He was very strong in sharing that Islam is a peaceful religion and it is against their faith to be violent towards anyone and that the extremists who try to use Islam as an reason for their violence aren't truly following Islam. (I'd heard this before from one of my friends-- she had explained that its against Islam to even use their tongues against another person; that they shouldn't speak ill towards or about anyone else). So again I say to all the stateside Americans out there... the garbage you see on the news... the word "Muslim" that gets thrown in front of the word "terrorist" shouldn't be there. True Islam isn't meant to be violent. 

After that he let us wander about for a little bit and the kids what they do best and spun around and danced in the middle of the room... which is another thing I just never expected about the Middle East... kids are encouraged to be kids. There's no looking down on them for having extra energy or dancing in the middle of a house of worship. They understand they're children. As much as it challenges my American sensibilities, I do really love that Stella is able to just be herself and no one shoots us nasty looks or says anything about it. They smile and understand. 

We finished up our tour and hung our Abaya's up (which... we never got a picture of all of us!) and then one of the women in the office wrote all the kids names in Arabic on the back of a postcard for them!

Stella (also-- Arabic is read right to left not left to right)

Our guide and the women in the office were so patient and awesome! Stella asked them what her name was in Arabic and they just kept telling her... "Stella". And she was convinced that there was an actual Arabic word for Stella and was so mad there wasn't. We finally compromised and I told them her name meant "Star" in Latin and so they breathed a sigh of relief and told her that Star in Arabic was "najima". 

We had a great tour! I really, truly love all the opportunities we have had to visit all these different houses of worship and learn about different faiths. Finding out that there are so many similarities between all the major world religions has been eye opening and incredible. Seeing kids from all different faiths play together without issue and spending so much time with women of all different faiths has warmed my heart and brought me so much joy. Its just proof that people can live in harmony even when they believe different things. 

Another interesting thing about Islam that I've learned.... 

• Muslims believe in Jesus. They believe in the Virgin birth and that he was an important man. He is actually one of their prophets and they believe in his teachings of love and his importance in the world (they just don't believe he was God's son or that he was resurrected). But they respect and believe in him. 

I'm barely scratching the surface on Islam and all there is to learn. It is truly fascinating and I'm so excited to keep learning. As far as our world Religion home school field trips we're still trying to get a tour of the Hindu Temple in town and possibly visit the Jewish Synagogue (which is the only one in the whole of the Middle East). 

Sri Lanka...final day

Ah. Our final day in beautiful Sri Lanka. We told Predeep that instead of doing a big city tour of Colombo we'd rather just check out at the last minute from the resort and spend all morning and early afternoon on the beach and at the pool. So we did just that. 

We did attempt to get up early and watch the sun rise over the Indian Ocean, but it was foggy and cloudy when we first woke up so we slept in a bit before headed out to play!

We got to the beach before 8am and it was all but deserted! It was amazing!

The kids absolutely had a blast! You can see how crazy and strong the waves were though-- that is sand in the middle of the wave being pulled around!

You can really see the sand in the wave in this shot

And I took her in the ocean... proof that yours truly actually got IN the Indian Ocean. 

Some pool time before we checked out! The grown ups got smart at this resort and scheduled spa time! We staggered it so someone would be with the kids the whole time but I had a pedicure and an Indian head massage. Absolutely the best way to end a vacation!

One last look at the view from our balcony

And one last twirl in real grass before heading back to the land of sand.

We stopped at a couple of places to do some quick shopping on the way to the airport...these Sari's were so gorgeous!

Traditional masks

Huge shop filled with wood and stone handicrafts 

This girl. She fell asleep on the flight and then I somehow managed to get our bags and her off the plane, through customs, through security, and to baggage claim without her waking up! While we were waiting for our bags she sat up, looked around and said, "Wait, how did we get here?" it was hysterical! Also... she's finally getting heavy. My arms were SO tired!

My takeaway from Sri Lanka is that if it isn't on your radar, it should be. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen and I absolutely adored it. The people were welcoming and kind, the food was delicious, the scenery unbeatable, and the tea divine! I would go back in a heart beat! 

So now I'll leave you with one of my favorite traveling Buddha pictures. Tammy is the one who snapped this one and I don't remember what day it was from but we all loved it! 

Sri Lanka... Day 5

We woke up on Day 5 and headed out towards our last resort. We'd planned it out to have the last day to be a relaxing day on the beach since we knew the week had been crazy and hectic. 

When we were leaving Predeep told us that Adam's peak was off in the distance-- its the largest peak you can sort of see here. Supposedly at the peak there are Buddha's footprints. After some quick research since getting back home the "sacred footprint" is a rock formation near the summit, which in Buddhist tradition is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Hindu tradition that of Shiva and in Islamic and Christian tradition that of Adam, or that of St. Thomas. Which is super interesting and totally fascinating that all these traditions hold something so similar in this same place. 

Traveling Buddha on his way...

Buddha almost getting side swiped by the amazing drivers in Sri Lanka...

Predeep asked us if we wanted to see the stilt fisherman and we said absolutely! So we headed down the coast by that beautiful turquoise water. 

We came across a small stretch of beach and Predeep told us that we had to pay the guys to get up on the stilts and that they weren't real fisherman, but actors. So, we were a little disappointed in that, but we had them do it. 

Then Quinn wanted to get up on the stilts so of course, Stella had to as well!

Despite the lack of authentic fisherman, the beach was beautiful and there was no one around!

We stopped in a town called Galle for some lunch and a little bit of shopping

We walked around the little town that was situated right on the water. It was beautiful! 

The Galle Lighthouse (built in 1938)

A Mosque in Galle

At the top of an overlook

So apparently there are people who come and jump this overlook and into the water all the time! It was crazy high up and absolutely didn't look deep enough to warrant jumping! 

As we headed to the last hotel we ended up getting stuck in the craziest traffic that we had to figure out how to maneuver around. Apparently these college kids got permission from the police to have some sort of crazy parade. And it was...Crazy. There were young guys doing tricks all over their cars and motorbikes-- one guy even stood on his head on the back of a motor bike! Unfortunately we were all a little shocked and no one grabbed for their cameras til it was too late and he'd come down. 

We finally got to our resort and checked into our beach view rooms. 

We headed to dinner and found the largest buffet we'd had yet. They had everything from curry to dim sum to noodle soup to roast chicken and just about everything in between! 

But the best part was they had gluten free options!!! So Stella had a gluten free pizza (and she had gluten free pasta the next day at lunch!)

After dinner we stopped by the lounge and were treated to a fun show with dancing and music! 

After that we went back to our rooms and after Stella was asleep the grown ups headed out onto our balcony and drank sparkling wine and listened to the waves crash right in front of us. It was amazing and relaxing and just what we needed after a busy week!