On the first day in Mauritius I lead a trip called a Faculty Directed Practica, which means the trip was associated with one or more of my classes. I am having my World Regional Geography students develop the theme of "place" as they journey out in the country side at each stop. This could result in many different topics such as the market place, churches, role of women in society, architecture, etc. Thus, I wanted to have a trip to the largest mosque in Mauritius and to have the Iman (head religious leader of the mosque) give us a lecture on Islam in Mauritius. We had 8 of us journey to the mosque, which was built in 1852 and is now right in the middle of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. They built the mosque around a wonderful Bandamia tree which remains prominently in the courtyard immediately outside the prayer room.
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| Bandamia tree |
Following presentations by the Imam and the mosque's historian we enjoyed a wonderful biryani, or lunch of rice, meat cooked in wonderful spices.
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| Place to cleanse oneself before entering the prayer room: note the coy |
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| Our lunch |
2 comments:
That is very cool and I'm sure incredibly interesting to learn about. I love your blog post...although they really make me jealous! :)
yumm, biryani - my favorite :)
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