A Wonderful Trip to New Mexico







































Okay, I'm finally back home in Utah and back to the blog. I have just returned from two wonderful weeks in New Mexico at the Dar al Islam Teachers Institute. This has truly been an eye-opening experience as I've been able to meet and get to know some great people from around the country. I think the thing I'll appreciate the most is the fact that this has been a trip of clearing up incorrect perceptions. The media doesn't do justice to the greatness of the faith of Islam. If all Muslims were engaged in a holy war (as the media seems to like to portray), the crisis of terrorism would be infinitely larger than it currently is. The fact is that Muslims are like any other group; they have their bad apples, their freaks, their lost fundamentalists. The graciousness with which we (the teachers) were treated at this institute is proof that there is much to admired from the world of Islam.

Above are just a few pictures from the trip.

The porcelain dog is in Taos.

The second photo is also in Taos, at a restaurant called The Adobe. I pretended to be taking a picture of Jura from New York and Jennifer from Arizona but was in fact taking a picture of the couple in the background. Notice how the girl has her leg up on the table. She had her leg up on the table the whole night. It was rather distracting to say the least. At one point in the night, the flexible couple (I actually don't know how flexible the boy was) left their table. We considered the idea of sitting in their chairs and trying to put our legs up on the table. We all decided that none of us are that flexible.

The third photo is of me at the bowling alley in Juacamole, New Mexico. This was a nice release after nearly two weeks of lectures and reading. I was the only one not drinking but was perhaps the drunkest one there. Bowling always loosens me up. After strikes, I pulled out my Michael Jackson leg kick and aaaoow! This was not a conscious decision. Many people tried to capture the magic but every time they were ready, I either didn't throw a strike or my leg kick was just far too swift for any camera. This is a picture of one of the many times I almost got a strike but didn't. Here's a fun fact: I bowled my all time best score ever--193.

Okay, more on the trip later. This was just a glimpse.