Top ten Highlights

1. Friends
2. Birthday
3. Eid-Prayer
4. Classes
5. Tiger Fest
6. Karaoke
7. Riverwalk
8. Shopping
9. Institute of Texan Cultures
10. Trip to Austin

It is my birthday!

On the 24th of September was my birthday and I turned 22 years old (I know now I am pretty old). Normally I do not make a big deal of my birthday, because for me it is just a normal day like others. Therefore I have not planned anything special, but to visit the Alamo together with Judith. Olga wanted to join us and Michaela (Student from Trinity) drove us. On our way to the Alamo Michaela suddenly stopped in front of an Asian Restaurant. I was wondering and asked the others, if they are hungry. They replied “no” and then I slowly started to realize that they have maybe planned a little surprise for me. So we went into the Restaurant and what happened was nothing. Right! no one was in the Restaurant and I can tell that I was not the only one who was surprised by that. We figured out that we went to the wrong restaurant hahaha so funny. At the end we found the right Restaurant (thank God) and yes everyone was there to surprise me. It was so cute and I am still stirred. I really want to thank everyone for the cute surprise!!!

Tiger Fest

I was very excited about going to the Tiger Fest, because a lot of students told me that the Fest is awesome. They described the Fest as a prom; therefore I was even more excited to go to the Tiger Fest. So far I have just got to know proms from TV serials therefore I was curious to experience a real prom. As we arrived at the Fest I was kind of shocked. The prom was not a prom, but a huge party, which was ok for me, but a little bit disappointing, because I have expected something else. I really liked the theme of the Tiger Fest and also the fact that we had the occasion to wear cool masks. It was definitely something different and special. No doubt the highlight of the Tiger Fest was the DJ. The DJ was awesome, he played so good music I could not help myself, but start dancing. Besides Ithe atmosphere of the party was great too.

All in all we had an unforgettable evening!

American short stories

In my three weeks at Trinity University I attended an American short story class, which is taught by Dr. Aarons. I am really impressed by Dr. Aarons and her way of shaping the class. She is clever, well organized, but at the same time humorous. In my opinion she has the great ability to fascinate the class for the stories and therefore she is giving us a great opportunity to educate oneself.
Besides I chose the class, because I really love to read and also because I love to analyze stories to find deeper meanings in the written texts or even single words. It was  incredible to see how a few word may change your whole point of view about certain aspects.
Past Wednesday Will and I had to present the short story "upon the sweeping flood" by Joyce Carol Oates (I must admit it was a very disturbing but also interesting and powerful story). As you might guess I was very nervous, even the thought to speak in front of the class and Dr. Aarons in a foreign language terrified me. However, I had to go through it and it was indeed an unique experience. Once I have started talking the excitement drifted away and I had even fun to moderate the discussion and to shape the lesson. I'm so glad that our classmates were interested in our presentation.
Summarized I must say that the class, but also the presentation, where an unique experience that I don't want to miss!

A trip to Austin

Yesterday we went to see the capital of Texas, namely Austin. Austin is the forth most populated city in Texas and is still growing constantly. We visited many different sights such as the State Capitol of Austin or the Austin Peay State University. At the Peay State University I had the great opportunity to see an original painting from Frida Kahlo. It was amazing and I still can't believe it. Frida Kahlo is a role model to me, because she had suffered so much in her life, but though never gave up or lost faith. Getting to see the work of Frida Kahlo inspired me a lot and encouraged me in my own work. Hopefully I will have the chance to see many more paintings of Frida Kahlo.
After our city trip we went to the San Marcos Outlets. The outlet was pretty cool, but I must admit that time was too short. Generally the time in Austin was way too short. We hushed from one sight to an other and therefore had not the chance to enjoy the sights much. I would love to stayed longer at the gallery or also at the outlet.  Nevertheless it was a cool day and I had a lot of fun. I am looking forward to visit Austin again!

The Eid- Prayer

On last Monday Muslims all over the world celebrated  a special religious day, namely Eid ul- adha. At that day Muslims remember the history of Abraham and his son Ishmael and how Abraham was supposed to sacrifice his son, but finally ended up sacrificing a sheep instead. Muslims are supposed to go to the mosque on Eid ul- adha and have a special prayer, which is called Eid- Prayer.

Me, a few other students and Dr. Noor went to the Islamic Center of San Antonio in order to honor this day and to accomplish our prayer. This was the first time, that I celebrated Eid ul- adha in an other country and additionally without my family, but all sadness had suddenly flown  away, when I saw the huge mosque in front of me. I have never seen such a nice and huge mosque before, because in Germany we often have small mosques or mosques, which are located in cellars or flats. What surprised me too was the Muslim community in Texas and its seize. I must admit that I have always assumed, that the Muslim community in Texas must be small, due to the fact, that Texas is pretty conservative. Here I have seen once more that my prejudices about Texas were more that just wrong. Although I am aware that probably a large part of Texas  is quite conservative, San Antonio in my opinion is not. What I liked most about the prayer was the gathering of different people from different cultural backgrounds.  It is nice to see how region may unify so many and besides different people, it is absolutely amazing. I am not used to the imagery of such a diverse community. In Germany mosques are often separated in ethnic groups and therefore you just stick in your own group, which is actually very sad. I do believe that cultural exchange is an enrichment for everyone and may avoid many unnecessary conflicts.

Dinner at Barbara`s House

I will bet that you ask yourself right now who is Barbara. Barbara is a nice woman, who is visiting my English class, but she is not a student of Trinity. Barbara is attending the class just for fun. However she invited Johaina, me and some other students for dinner. So on Sunday we went to her house and the first thing that caught my attention, as I stepped into her house, were the amazing art pieces she owns. It was incredible! I have never seen such amazing art, neither such an unique house. I felt like I was visiting an exhibition, because we also made a little tour through her house and she showed us her unique treasures. For me personally the stories behind the art pieces were the most interesting.
The meal was very good, but what I even liked more was to connect with  the different people. We had extremely interesting conversations and discussions. It was en enrichment to get to know an other point of view regarding several themes such as the elections, but also the school and health system. What attracted my attention once again is the hospitality of the citizens. I think we as German people can learn a lot about hospitality by the Texan people