I am a person who highly believes in coexisting.
Upon our departure, I saw a woman in the metro station holding up a flag that showed a red cross over the illustration of a mosque. And it's not of a big deal really, but it did hurt me a little.
I walked out of the metro station not able to smile at strangers in the street like I usually do, something inside me felt wrong, I was genuinely angry. You might say she is free to express her thoughts, but no. I am free to practice my religion wherever I want to, without people like her protesting against me.
I really hate what this world made of our religion, I hate the idea the people have of it in their minds. And me being a Hijabi student in a non-muslim country feel responsible for giving a better picture, the true picture. People like her will always exist, no one can end the hate the world carries, it has been inherited by blood since the beginning of time, as this planet has not ever seen a year of peace since man stepped foot on it. That is something they teach us in school and raise us to believe, that there is always an enemy, there is always someone you should hate. But it doesn't have to be that way.
During our visit to Prague we have been to many churches and chapels, we also visited the Jewish synagogue. To me they are all houses of God, no matter what the religion practiced in them is, they are all holy places.
I find houses of God beautifully built. My german photography doctor told me last semester, I don't like how those places are, so huge, so expensive, they tend to make one feel small and invincible. But that is what the human is, I told him, small and invincible. People need to visit places like this to remind themselves that they are not the centre of the universe. That no matter how much we fight over religion in the end, one way or another, we all obey the same God.
Prague...
Between all the long turbo escalators, all the red and green roofs, all the badly shaped roads, and all the tourists, between the streets full of the smell of yummy Trdelnìk, the weirdly shaped map, the beautiful architecture, I fell in love with this city. I probably say this about every city I visit, but Prague was so beautiful. Its food was good, its people were nice, its scenery was captivating, it had a lot to give and we went with a lot to explore. Thanks to my cousin who planned the whole trip and organised a plan every day I can easily say we've seen as much as a person could see in four days and more. We went everywhere and saw everything, we used up our days from the first minute until the last.
I remember when she and I were young, and we spoke of travelling together like it was a faraway dream, and there we were, finally together in one of the most beautiful cities and boy did we make it worthwhile. Our young selves would be looking down at us and smiling, they would be damn proud.
And with that, I leave you, because this will get longer if I keep going.
Until next time...
