"Holes In The Floor Of Heaven"

Some neat little things happened this week...An Arabic teacher asked me to observe her class. She had some questions and heard the new guy was happy to come in and make suggestions regarding instructional methods and strategies and behavior management. For 50 minutes I heard absolutely nothing but Arabic, not a single word in English. It was a fun challenge to work solely on the basis of non-verbal behavior...Our open house night was yesterday. I had to submit notes ahead of time so that the translators had time to rework problematic words and phrases from English to French. In one class, a mother asked a lengthy question to the translator. The co-teacher and I looked at each other, neither of us having a clue what was being said, but I did know it wasn't good. Unfortunately, I was right...The daily planner-type things finally arrived this week for the students. You can write down your assignments, etc., plus there are some resources in the back, like the periodic table, measurement conversions - stuff like that. After they went out to the homerooms, someone noticed a HUGE problem - there was a 2 page map in the back with Western Sahara depicted as a separate country immediately to the south of Morocco. Um, that is ILLEGAL in this country. I'll spare you the details of this disputed territory - let's just say people were hurriedly blacking out or tearing out that page... Last Saturday I took off my shoes and took a tour of the Hassan II Mosque. It is the largest mosque in the country and well within the top 10 in the world. Its minaret (tower from which the adhan, or call to prayer, is made) is the world's tallest at just under 700 feet. It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic Ocean. A total of 105,000 worshippers can gather for prayer at the mosque simultaneously, 25,000 inside the mosque (20,000 men on the floor and 5,000 woman separated from the men in two hanging mezzanines) and another 80,000 on the mosque's plaza. The inside is 100 feet wide, 200 feet long, and 200 feet high at the highest point. The interior can house Notre Dame or Saint Peter's. Built on reclaimed land, almost half of the surface of the mosque lies above sea water of the Atlantic. This was inspired by the verse of the Qur'an that states "the throne of Allah was built on water." Part of the floor is glass and offers a view down at the sea. This feature was a result of King Hassan II declaring: "I want to build this mosque on the water, because God's throne is on the water. Therefore, the faithful who go there to pray, to praise the Creator on firm soil, can contemplate God's sky and ocean." A spotlight shines in the direction of Mecca at night from the top of the minaret. The building also includes a number of other modern touches. It was built to withstand earthquakes and has heated floors, electric doors, and a sliding roof. The mosque cost $600M US. Locals will grumble about that much money being spent on the mosque and not programs for the people, but they will grumble quietly... Beneath the main floor is the ablution room, where 41 fountains allow for the ritual cleaning before worship. Beneath that is an enormous hammam, or public bath - they are hugely popular here; many people will go a couple of times per week to mellow out. Work on the mosque began in 1986, and lasted until 1993. During the height of construction, 1400 men worked during the day and another 1100 during the night. 10,000 artists and craftsmen participated in building the mosque. Every inch of the place seemingly is covered in some sort of hand-carved/painted, etc., piece of work. All of the granite, plaster, marble, wood and other materials used in the construction, were taken from around Morocco, with the exception of some Italian white granite columns and glass chandeliers. Six thousand traditional Moroccan artisans worked for five years to create the mosaics, stone and marble floors and columns, sculpted plaster moldings, and carved and painted wood ceilings. All in all, it's an extraordinary structure. Enjoy the photos and see you next week!