Top 10 of my time in San Antonio

...three weeks went by so fast and slowly come to an end. My time here was amazing. Many experiences, highlights and learnings....
Time  to sum up the top 10 Moments of the trip! (no chronological order)

• Huston

Our Huston trip was spontaneous and really fun. If you have the chance to travel al little by your own: do so!

Don't forget to visit the NASA!

• Austin

Austin is a really beautiful city and really different from San Antonio. You get another view on America and its people.

• Lectures/Studies

May sound boring but honestly the lectures and classes were almost every time really informative and interesting. I enjoyed them really much.  

• Eid-Prayer/Mosque

Because religion is quite important for me it was really interesting to get in touch with the Muslim Community in the U.S.

• Food

Food in this country is crazy. There is so much to taste. I am a little ashamed of that one, but I had ice-cream in coke- amazing.

• Americans

People on campus and in town a really polite and try to help you. Especially on campus I met really open-minded and reflected persons. Thanks for crashing my stereotypes!

• Uber

Uber needs to be in that list, because it  was such a loyal friend for us!

• Football

Even still have no idea how this game works, I had the feeling to get in touch with American-culture, so I really enjoyed that one, too!

• Campus-Activities

Life as a student in the U.S is so different from Germany. On campus are so many activities, so you can get in touch with people, learn about yourself and your skills!

• Growing

What I really appreciate most on this journey is that I could learn a lot about myself and others. This journey opened up my mind in so many ways.  

Traveling always means growing.

And because I know that not that many people will read my blog, but for sure Dr. Noor and Mrs. Horbert I want to take the chance to thank you  both for everything! For organizing everything and for being always there and making sure that we have a good time.

You have no idea how much I could take from this-thanks!

Yours,

Sara

Yesterday I visited a lecture by  Dr. Amal Alachkar about the long-term consequences of the war in Syria.

First: This woman is absolutely impressive! Her story, her view on things and her researches! But step by step.

First she gave a short introduction to the political situation before the war in Syria and why people had the need to stand up against the government and why she, herself wanted to change something. Her main reason was actually that the government don’t give people human rights. That’s why she thought it is important to stand up for those rights, well knowing that the consequences are life-threatening. And obviously she was in danger, this is why she doesn’t live in Syria anymore.

With her research, which based on experiments with animals, she proofed that long-term consequences for pregnant women and their children are immense. Children of Women who suffer from malnutrition because of war have a higher risk of having serious psychological issues such as schizophrenia.

Dr. Alachkar pointed out that those symptoms could be handled through medicaments. But a medicament can face the symptoms. But to really heal people from PTBS or other diseases it is important to work on the actual reason. So I think that here a psychological therapy is really important.    Because of the huge numbers of refugees and the different languages I really ask myself how the world-community can handle that. Even if there were enough Psychologist, different languages wouldn’t allow a therapy…I need to do better in my arabic-studies :/

First Football Game!

Last Friday we visited a football game in San Antonio. I’ve never been to a fooball game before and that’s why I had no I idea how this game works. One of the interns explained the rules of the game a night before, so we will know what’s going on. But when we arrived in the stadium and the game started, no one of could really find any parallels between the explanation before and the actual game which was confusing, but still funny. It seemed like the football player just tackled each other randomly…Confusing.

When you have the chance to go to a fooball game, know that you are actually not just going to football game. It is also a circus and a concert(!) which sometimes is hard for giving attention, because while you are impressed by the athletic moves of the cheerleader and the music, you might forget that there is a football game going on, too J

All in all it is interesting to be a part of American culture. Even I haven’t still any idea how football works, it was a worth experience!

 

Extremism in Europe

Yesterday I visited a lecture by Dr. Erin Saltman about "Extremism in Europe". Because of the title I expected her to talk about Extremism in Europe in general but she just referred to ISIS. I think that the process of radicalization works for every kind of extremism. It doesn't matter if you look at religious or political extreme groups. Pointing that out is important in my eyes so people don't form stereotypes against certain groups, but see the danger of extremism in general.

Moreover I think it is important to point out what we define as "extreme". Is it extreme to wear a headscarf? Or are we already talking about extremism when people visit mosques once a week? Is it a sign that people will decide very soon to join a "holy war"?

To jump the definition-part can cause many misunderstandings and can lead to even more stereotypes and fears against Muslims. I don't think that she meant to do so, but still I see the danger behind that kind of argumentation.

Religious Radicalization is a huge topic in Germany at the moment. Young people really often join Salafi  groups because there they get attention and can flee from everyday problems. Young Muslims are facing to kind of challenges in Germany: On the one hand they are always told that they aren't belong to Germany because of their roots, religion or skin-color. On the other hand they don't can define themselves as "German Muslims", still feeling more Arabic or Turkish than German. . Because of this identity issue it is easy for radical groups to give them a identity that they like them to have.

And it is the same with right groups. People don't feel accepted, so radical groups can easily get access to their minds.  

Eid Prayer

Eid Prayer. Last Monday was Eid. A special holiday to Muslims all over the world.

When we woke up in the morning we went to a mosque in San Antonio. As everything in Texas the mosque was huge and really beautiful. I think this is the biggest mosque I’ve ever been to actually. Entering the building was full of people with roots all over the world. Arabic, Indian, Pakistan and, for the day, Germans as well. I was really impressed by that. In Germany the average mosque is different. Normally people from one nation share a mosque, and mosques are hidden. People don’t recognize them directly. They used to be really small and because of the guest-workers who came in the 1970s to Germany also more pragmatic. This is changing at the moment. People are making effort to build new mosques, that answer to the needs of communities.

This year Eid was on 9/12, one day after 9/11, which happened before exactly fifteen years. As you can imagine, this brought mixed feeling to me. This remarkable coincidence of course brought new perspective on Islamophobia in general as well. I know that islamophobia is an issue in US and Germany as well. But I think that Americans are more aware of having this problem. As I could learn by talking to other Muslims in Texas is, that Muslims here have the insurance to be protected by the law. I think this is different in Germany. Even if People in Germany are given the right to choose religion freely, still Islam is not accepted by law. I believe that both countries do face that problem, but still they have different challenges within this problem.

Huston.

Yesterday some of the group decided to spent some time in Huston. We took an Intercity-bus. This was really unproblematic. At night we arrived and were welcomed by a shining Skyline. 

Even if I now think that San Antonio is more beautiful than Huston, still it was a worth daytrip. 

We visited the national-science museum which gave us an idea of how the human at his nature developed and was formed.

But my personal highlight was visiting the NASA. 

I am far away of being an Mechanic of an engineer. But still it was like looking at a piece of human achievement, so I felt really connected to the museum and impressed. Everything was literally out of space und felt kind of unreal. What I wasn't expected was that our Trip to the NASA also will give me an answer to the living together of Communities. As often: perspective counts. 

This is why I want to share the fellow quote with you, which I think is worth thinking about.

"When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system." -Kaplan Chawla, STS-107 shuttle misson specialist.

If you thinking about going to Houston too, make sure you book a room (Hostel, Airbnb or Hotel) and your ticket on time. As I said we took the intercity-bus (megabus.com). That was actually a good choice because it was cheap and unproblematic (and you can complete reading assignments :))

Room and transportation in Huston alone weren't that expensive, but still museum, food and using Uber all together can be. So decide by yourself if it's worth to you.

Personally I think that a daytrip is totally enough to explore the city. I really recommend the National Science Museum and also the NASA.

First Impressions

First Impressions. 

San Antionio - a town which I have never heard of before will be my home for the next three weeks. Sounds exciting? Well, it is! 

My very first impression of the town and the  is that San Antonio is a city full of history and culture. The movie lone Star by John Sayles confirmed this Impression. Hispanics, Angelos and blacks are living in the small town near the border. Of course this also brings a lot of conflicts. 

For me it is kind of interesting to get to know about the different cultures here and their challenges here. They often have to do with legal and illegal immigration and with stereotypes about others. The challenges in Germany I think are different from here, but still I believe that the stereotypes are the reason for many of the conflict.s Basically the U.S is a country which was formed by immigrants decisively, so I am looking forward to talk to as many People as I can and profit from thier view onthe things!