First and third. North and South. East and West. We use these terms whenever we talk about different parts of the world. ‘First’ refers to developed nations. ‘Third’ to non-developed ones. North is more about the same (rich) and so is South (poor). East is often related to Arabic=Muslim countries and West=European/American=mainly Christian countries. Why do we always have to separate everything into different ‘boxes’? Why do we have to point out those differences through these terms? There is just ONE world and its inhabitants are of the same kind, the human ‘kind’.

The reason why I’m talking about these terms is because I have returned from a trip that taken me to a different, yet equal, place of this planet. I’m of curious nature and with every visit I’ve made to different parts of the world, I’ve tried to learn something. So far, I’d always been to what we call ‘Western’ countries. European/American nations, like I said, predominantly Christian. For the last couple of years, I’d been feeling this restlessness inside of me that made me want to visit a Muslim country.

A lot has been said about Islam and the Muslims since September 11th, 2001. Whenever we watch the news concerning the Middle East, they’re usually related to conflicts. Bombs exploding in Baghdad, Palestinians dying in the middle of the street, attacks in Afghanistan… nothing good seems to be coming from these countries. Unconciously, people start looking and targeting every single Muslim person as a possible vandalist. We know it’s not true… but that’s what tv shows every day.

I knew it wasn’t true. I come from a small region that, unfortunately, appears much more than it should on tv and most of the times it does, it’s not for good reasons. So, I know about prejudices and stereotypes. I’ve heard many senseless comments over the years concerning the place I call home. Comments that are disappointing and often, hurtful.

It was in 2005, after I returned home from California, that I decided to take a class in college called ‘The Great Religions of The World’. I wanted to learn more about religions in general and about the Islamic belief in particular. The good thing about this class is that I became more interested in learning about religions; the downside on the other hand, is that the class was taught from a Jesuit’s point of view. Classes were not objective. After graduating from college, I kept reading books related to religions. I focused on Hinduism because, at the time, I was seeing -though not religious- a hindu born guy and I wanted to learn more about his faith, his culture, etc. But I still kept reading about Islam.

That restless feeling inside did not seem to fade and it only increased after Queen Rania of Jordan opened up a channel on Youtube. The goal of this microsite is to build bridges between East & West. I’m a frequent visitor of her channel. And it was partly because of this site that I finally decided to visit a Muslim country.

It was a friend’s idea really and it all happened so suddenly, but visiting Turkey has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Part of it is located in Europe, but most of the country belongs to Asia. 99% of the population follows the Islamic belief and Istanbul is a city of reference for Muslims. It is not Mecca, but millions of people from Middle Eastern countries go on a ‘pilmigrage’ trip to this beautiful city sorrounded by some of the most beautiful mosques in the world.

And it is then when you realize how insignificant those ‘differences’ (to say something) can be and how similar we all really are. But we still focus on those external differences rather than on the similarities… it’s sad. I keep many images from that trip in my mind, moments that the Turkish and people from other Middle Eastern countries shared with me. And I learned that love is love no matter where, friendship is friendship no matter where, motherhood is motherhood no matter where, fear is fear no matter where… and I also learned that there is misleading information everywhere in the world. Westerns mislead information concerning the East and Easterns mislead information concerning the West.

If inside of Hagia Sofia’s building the image of Virgin Mary can ‘live peacefully’ with the writings of the names of Allah and Muhammad on each side of the image, why can’t Christians and Muslims seem to understand each other? After all, both religions are Abrahamic. Both, along with Judaism, share the same roots. They’re the blossoming branches of the same tree.

We’re human and as such, we’re the same. That’s what this trip has taught me.

This year I’ve had the opportunity to visit a Buddhist temple and Muslim mosques… hopefully, I’ll get to visit Hindu temples sometime in the near future and learn more about Hinduism.

(este post lo escribiré sólo en inglés, lo siento… es que es un poco largo…)

February 24th. I can only think about Paris on a day like today. The TGV, french high speed train, had just arrived in Paris, the city of light, love and so much more. A sleepless night in the train, a worried mother left at the gare of Hendaye and thousands of butterflies fluttering in my stomach. As I’m writing these lines, I can’t help myself humming the following lines: The train pulled into Paris, like a rocket to the moon. The stage’s like a circus, every face is a cartoon…”. The faces I saw at Montparnasse sure looked like cartoons. It was 6.00am when the TGV made its entrance at the french gare. It was pitch dark outside. Our hotel was close to the station and I could’ve walked there, but I didn’t feel safe out in the streets by myself so I stayed till the sun came up. I waited impatiently until 7.30am, till I saw the first rays of light warming up the city of Paris. I had a quick breakfast and headed to Hôtel Atlantique.

As I left the station and walked down the street, I saw it for the first time. There it was, standing in the middle of the city. The Eiffel Tower welcomed me back in Paris. I hadn’t seen it in a few years. It only took me ten minutes to arrive at the hotel. A friendly man checked me in and gave me the key to my room. I unpacked my things and lay in bed trying to catch some sleep. It was impossible. Every attempt I made to close my eyes and not think about anything, was simply futile. Oh well, c’est la vie. I took a shower, looked at the mirror. “You look like shit, Maider”. I had only slept three hours in the train. They never turned the lights off and I was too nervous to get lost in some comforting dreams. There’s nothing make-up can’t hide though. Those huge rings I had around my eyes were easily “removed” within minutes.

I wasn’t sure how far the Gare du Nord was from our hotel, so I went downstairs and asked the receptionist for directions. I walked down to the Pasteur subway station and commuted all the way to Montmatre. I arrived in early, it was only 10.30am. So I decided to walk some before getting to the station. Paris looked as beautiful as it did last time. Not much had changed, except for the fact I was a few years older since I last visited la ville de l’amour. On that note, I’d never been to Paris with a partner before, I guess that’s why it looked more beautiful than ever and I dared to call it, for the first time in my life, the city of love.

I was at the station by 10.55am. Five minutes left. The Eurostar train made its entrance at platform one. Hundreds of people walked my direction, but as hard as I tried recognizing a familiar face in the crowd, I saw no one. I felt overwhelmed, worried, disappointed for a few seconds. “Dammit, Maider. Should’ve considered the possibility of him not coming. Of him standing you up”. I felt my blood pressure dropping. It was blurry around me. I looked again all over the station. And there he was, wearing a black coat, carrying a small grey suitcase. I walked with determination towards the place he was standing at, I pushed some people, it was hard to keep balance with all the nerves and low blood pressure. He looked as handsome as when we last kissed at the subway station in New York. He smiled when he spotted me in the crowd, that beautiful smile. I kissed him and hugged him, again. “Hold me, my pressure’s low and I’m afraid of fainting in the middle of the station”, I whispered in his ear. He held my hand and after exchanging some dollars, we left the station and walked back to our hotel.

That was a year ago. That was the beginning of the most passionate, adventurous, romantic, sexy, crazy, sweet, tender, exciting, cheesy, intimate and fun ten days I’ve spent in my life. I felt loved, I felt pretty, I felt I could conquer the world as long as he stood by my side. I hadn’t felt such way in a long-long time, as a matter of fact, I don’t recall feeling that way ever before in my life. And for that, I’m thankful. I will always treasure those unique moments we shared, those moments where time and spaces froze and there was only him and me in the world. Those moments where no telephone was needed to hear his voice, those moments where I had no need to close my eyes to imagine him touching me once again. Those moments…

It’s midnight, the bell’s ringing. But these lines I’ve written were not part of a dream. It was all real. At least for me.

“I’m on a roll when I’m with you. Don’t stop me now, I just can’t lose… ’cause you’re mine, that’s all I need to know. The sun shines, everywhere we go. It’s all right, ’cause I’ve got you to hold every night…” - Second floor at the Eiffel Tower, “singing” this to keep us warm in the cold winter.

No, I’m not going to talk about the basketball hero. I want to talk about the Middle Eastern country this time. I have always been fascinated about Jordan, I don’t know why. Probably because of what I’ve seen on magazines. I recall looking at pictures of Queen Noor and Queen Rania. I’ve always believed that Jordan is somewhat a different Middle Easter country, the gate that will open to communications between Western countries and Arab countries in the future, I hope.

I’ve never really cared about the royalty, not in my country nor in the other ones. But, I’ve always found Queen Noor and Queen Rania to be examples of the modern woman, yet attached to their believes and traditions. They look at their future without forgeting their past, where they came from. Two elegant women that stand out among other queens and princesses. True examples, in my opinion.

As for the country, I’ve always dreamed of visiting Jordan. This country has seen the birth and raise of so many civilizations. There’s so much history to see there. Petra is the first archaelogical remain that comes to my mind, but I had a talk with a travel guide yesterday, and he really opened my mind about other interesting spots in Jordan.

So, I should probably mark this country as a future visit in my agenda.