Visited the Islamic Cultural Center of Belgium with our class on June, 26, and had the pleasure of meeting Imam Nordin Taouil of Antwerp, Belgium.  He described the structural and religious features of the mosque, the five pillars of Islam and even recited a verse from the Holy Quran.  A clip of his recitation can be found in an earlier post by Julian.  Here is a group picture.

Internship Coming to an End

So far, I feel like I’ve gained a lot of useful skills from my internship. I will be finishing my last week very soon and I have enjoyed working at the Gresham Belson Hotel for the past 5 weeks and it has taught me some helpful lessons in business and also some things I didn’t expect. I have gotten the chance to work with computers the majority of the time and this has helped me both with my analytical skills as well as my research skills. I have been working on the sales department’s database while at the hotel and my main task has been to acquire various types of information from past customers to create a library of names and companies that other employees can refer to. Through my work I have learned how to dial a phone very well and navigate through websites where English is not available for reading. Those were 2 things that I hadn't really thought about when I first got to my internship but I had to learn as I went through my tasks each day. Of course this work has come with frustrations from my lack of skills in other languages but I have been able to make my abilities fit my tasks where necessary. It has been a huge learning experience for me and I have enjoyed working with my coworkers at the hotel. I wish that I could stay longer to go to all of the different departments; the time here went by very fast and I will definitely miss it.

Islamic and Cultural Center of Belgium

Last Friday, we paid a visit to the Islamic and Cultural Center of Belgium where we met with a visiting Imam from Antwerp, Nordin Taouil. He went over some of the basic tenets of Islam and what it means to be a Muslim. He even recited a few verses of the Quran for us. Although he didn't speak much about politics, meeting him was particularly interesting because his political views are considered fairly controversial in the Netherlands, one of his most frequently discussed positions was his support of a boycott on schools in reaction to a headscarf ban in 2009.  

Nordin Taouil

Ismail, the coolest cab driver ever

When Julian and I were walking home one night, we caught a cab back to our apartment and the cab driver's name was Ismail.  He was a Moroccan and we asked him about being a Muslim living in Belgium.  He seemed to really enjoy living here, and said that his father got a work visa 20 years ago.  He and his mother were only just now able to join him, and he said that he has never felt unwelcome in Belgium or been treated differently, and he is excited about having more opportunities in Brussels than he ever would have had in Morocco.  He ended up giving us a reduced cab fare because I spoke with him in Arabic, and we got his cell number so we can use him as our cab driver in the future.

Getting used to Brussels (Kind of...)

I apologize for the lateness of my first post, but I have finally mastered this blog system.  Ill have pics to share next week.  The first week here in rainy Brussels was deceptively sunny and warm, it rains almost 230 days out of the year.  Also I learned that this guy does not get along well with public transportation.  I got lost at least once every day for the first week, and one of those nights I took the last Metro of the evening in the complete wrong direction and ended up in Molenbeek (Which I would later learn is a very bad Arab neighborhood).  But I was able to speak enough Arabic to meet Khalid, who didnt speak any english, but he was from Morocco.  Khalid walked me to an all night Kebeeb shop where his Turkish girlfriend Fatima was able to speak to me in english and get me on the last night bus back to my apartment.  I thought that was really interesting because in class we learned that the Arab and Turkish communities of Europe typically do not get along, and seeing Khalid and Fatima crossing that norm seemed like an interesting instance of experiencing the information from the classroom. 

The European Parliament

As part of Western Kentucky University's study abroad program in Brussels, participants had the option to intern at a company in Brussels or enroll in a course taught at Vesalius College; I chose to enroll in a class titled The European Union in the World- what better place to study the E.U. than in the capitol of Europe! Thus far, it has proven to be a very interesting course, but the most exciting aspect is that we take many "field trips" to the different buildings which house all the branches of the E.U.

Pictured to the right is the outside of the European Parliament, which is comprised of MPs elected by the member states of the E.U. Currently, the parliament is the most democratic branch of the E.U., for it is the only body elected by citizens of Europe; consequently, they also wield much power in advancing or hindering potential Eurozone policy. 

 Left, is the chambers of the European Parliament. There are over 700 members and 23 languages represented in this room. Since there is no common language for E.U. membership, everything that occurs in this room must be translated and interpreted into the 23 languages. This alone costs the E.U. hundreds of millions of dollars each year; however, this status quo will never change, as the member states believe that if they sacrifice their language in the parliament, they lose a bit of their sovereignty as well. 

    

An interesting story on this topic... to prove the importance of representing all languages, an MP from Ireland completed the opening remarks in Shelta- a dying Irish language. Of the hundreds of translators and MPs in the chamber, no one understood Shelta, so his remarks were never recorded.

Learning Even More at the Gresham Belson Hotel

I’ve finished my 3rd week of work at the Gresham Belson Hotel. So far I have gained some useful skills while here in Europe. I’ve learned how to write addresses and dial a phone which I didn’t realize was so much different than in the U.S. As far as business-knowledge goes, I have had the chance to look over the hotel’s budget and figure out how certain services and room reservations can be compensated for. My usual tasks include making advertisements for the hotel, acquiring information for our customer database and analyzing the budget versus the money coming in from the customers. Today I was working on making an information letter for guests who have made future reservations. This is for the customers who have booked the cheapest room available and the letter will inform them of upgrades that are available for bigger rooms and more amenities. My supervisor has told me that this is to shift some of the reservations to higher level rooms because the lower level ones are always booked and they cannot take any more guests so by moving reservations upward we are able to make more room in the hotel. It’s a very interesting system that he explained to me and I am really enjoying learning about the hotel business.

Building Bridges

    During the Spring Semester of 2012, I had the opportunity to participate in Soliya program at Western Kentucky University. The objective of the online program was to build a bridge between students of the Arab world with those in Europe and the U.S. The Brussels 2012 study abroad trip was the perfect complement to the Soliya experience as it allowed me to apply concepts learned through Soliya to the real world, which is something you can not do sitting behind a computer screen. 

     As part of the Brussels trip, I have enrolled in an Islam Politics course as well as a course to study policies of the European Union. Both of the courses are crucial to understanding how followers of Islam, many coming from immigrant families, are integrated in to the European culture. The transition has not been easy for first generation immigrants, but one can easily see that younger, second generations have blended well with the European culture.

   Interestingly, during the Soliya program, I became friends with a participant who lives in Amsterdam, Holland. As part of the Brussels 2012 trip, students of WKU traveled to Amsterdam, and there I was able to meet my fellow participant, Rosa. She showed me and the group from my school some non-touristy places in Amsterdam, which made for a truly unique experience. 

   So far, the trip to Amsterdam was the best experience solely based on the amount of English speakers in that city. It made navigating the cobblestone streets easy compared to the French and Dutch speaking Brussels. Rosa expressed that the English language is dominating the commerce of Amsterdam; One time, she expressed, she visited a shop in Amsterdam, and began talking to the clerk in the native tongue- Dutch. The clerk was dumbfounded and asked Rosa if she could please speak English!

  (Pictured from left to right- Rosa, me, Dr. Kiasatpour)

Visiting Amsterdam

This past weekend, our whole group was able to travel to the city of Amsterdam. We got to meet Mr. Achmed Baadoud who was the city councilman of Amsterdam Nieuw-West. He oversees that area of Amsterdam which is a large mixture of both Dutch and foreign people. There is a Muslim community within this district and Mr. Baadoud described many of the challenges that they face which were discussed in our Islam and Politics class such as language barriers and the educational system. It was great to be able to hear about things that were from our class and how accurate they were to real situations. After visiting the city councilman we went to the Blue Mosque where we met Mr. Abdulhafiz Acherrat who is the Assistant Director. He gave us a tour of the mosque and also told us about some general practices of the people who attend. I got to see where the people of the mosque pray daily and that they have special places for programs for men, women and children. I was impressed with how open Mr. Acherrat was and that we were able to walk through practically the entire mosque. This visit applied greatly to the beginning portion of the Islam and Politics course explaining the general beliefs and learning of the Qur'an at an early age. It amazed me how early children start and how much they are able to retain by memorizing the whole book. I felt that the visit was very informative and gave me a greater appreciation for those who participate in this daily lifestyle.


Outside of the Amsterdam Nieuw-West



Our group with Mr. Achmed Baadoud



Our group with Mr. Abdulhafiz Acherrat

Laffineur Law Firm Internship

This summer I am interning at Laffineur Law Firm in Brussels. As Brussels is the headquarters for the European Union, Laffineur is consistently dealing with many cases that involve EU regulations and directives. Recently, the European Commission issued a directive regarding a certain chemical that has been disallowed to be used within the EU. A client of Laffineur was inquiring as to whether their firm would be affected by the EU directive and I was given the task to decipher the directive for possible inconsistencies. Laffineur is an EU lobbying firm and they have been communicating back and forth recommending possible amendments for the directive. Many of the amendments were accepted but I was responsible for pointing out to the client which items that the new legislation did not accept, and items that were added.

In addition, my internship partner and I are working on a presentation for Mr. Laffineur as he has been invited to speak at the AIDV (International Wine Law Association). Our presentation will heavily focus on the conflict surrounding the 2001 WTO trade negotiations, also called the Doha Development Rounds concerning geographical indicators (an issue which has not been settled and is still debated). Many EU countries want generic terms that are used on wine bottles in the US, like champagne, to be "claw backed," so that US wine firms cannot put the name champagne on the bottle unless it comes from Champagne, France, for example.

Overall, I feel my internship is a great fit for me. I am doing a lot of reading and learning extensively about EU law and how European firms and businesses operate within the spectrum of EU law.

Amsterdam Mosque Visit

This past weekend our group had the opportunity to visit a mosque in Amsterdam. Though I have been learning about Islam it was an entirely new experience to have the chance to visit a mosque and learn how it operates. When we first entered we were told that men and women usually enter through separate doors though the gentleman leading our mosque tour informed us that it was not a huge concern if women did enter through the men's door. Once inside we had to take off our shoes. Muslims are also to wash themselves before praying which we observed from the adjacent wash room in the mosque. Muslims do this before praying because when praying their face comes into contact with the floor. 

Once inside, we viewed the area where the Imam, or worship leader, of the mosque stands during prayer. This area is situated so that when Muslims pray they are facing towards Mecca. 

 

 Next, we learned how young Muslims learn to memorize the verses of the Quran.

He explained that while many Muslims have access to technological advances that allow them to learn the verses of the Quran, many still enjoy to use this piece of wood below and with a bamboo pen write the verses of a chapter down, and then erase the words with water and start again until you have the verses of the Quran memorized. 

Many of the mosques are helped out with funding from countries in the Islamic world. The mosque we visited was helped out by Kuwait.

 This sign signified the area of the mosque where only Muslim women were allowed to pray.

After we were finished with our mosque tour, I was overhearing the man who gave the tour mention that while no women were allowed to lead worship that their mosque has actually allowed many women to come in and give speeches on occasion. This visit made me realize that all who follow Islam are not the same though many seem to assume that all Muslims fall together under the same category. Mosques and followers of Islam vary in their degree of beliefs and practices. The man who lead our tour seemed more open to women coming into the mosque to speak, which may not be allowed at other mosques. Overall, the experience was very insightful and put what we are learning and reading about in our Islam and Politics class into perspective. 

Internship at the Gresham Belson Hotel

So far I have enjoyed working at my internship at the Gresham Belson Hotel and I have had the chance to learn a lot of things about how a hotel operates. My main tasks so far have been creating charts that correlate with the budget or rates of the hotel. I have gotten to speak with the general manager a few times during meetings to learn about how plans of action are made. Because the hotel tries to have the lowest rates in the area on any given day there is a constant need to check the rates of other surrounding hotels. I’ve learned that by looking at close competitors and determining times of the year that are exceptionally busy they are able to create a schedule of rates to both meet their budget and give them a competitive advantage. I look forward to the many other things that I will be able to learn while I’m here. My supervisor has told me that I will get to see the different departments of the hotel and how they operate too.