As you may have read earlier, we had the amazing opportunity to attend a Muslim ceremony during Ramadan in Las Vegas. We were presented with a perfect follow up to this experience when we were in Switzerland. Except instead of the middle of Ramadan, we were at the end. It was a ceremony called Bay Ram. Also, this time instead of gathering at sunset, we gathered at sunrise! It was a sacrifice… but it was worth it!

Fifteen of our cast made the sacrifice to wake up before the sun did and drive to the next town for this ceremony. We arrived and were greeted with the same warm hospitality as the last time. We drank coffee with the few that were there and then finally made our way to the balcony. At this ceremony, we did not participate, but we observed instead. The room slowly began to fill with men. With in thirty minutes, the entire facility was full. It was easily 700 people in there! We later found out that all the women were at home, preparing food for a three day celebration that was to take place following the ceremony.

We learned a lot of new things from this mosque, thanks to our friend Nadir. Nadir was our “guide” through Bayram. He answered all of our questions and filled us in on the history and issues this mosque has. Compared to the Las Vegas mosque where the congregation was full of many middle eastern countries, this mosque was full of eastern European countries. So the ceremony was done at two separate times, once in Arabic and once in Albanian. This mosque also had a time for the non-members to learn the meaning of the prayer and the actions that one does when one prays.

The differences were unique, yet the beliefs were the same. It is so amazing to me when you can be half a world away and yet still believe the same thing. It really is not that profound, but for some reason it really hits me. I think of this world as being so huge, yet experiencing these two mosques makes this huge place seem more personal and communal. It is extremely comforting. I think that is why I have loved the mosques so much. They provide a feeling of community in such a world that can seem so impersonal and easy to get lost in.

I also find Islam fascinating. I think in the USA I had such a negative view of Islam and Muslims, but these experiences hae opened my eyes to the beauty of these people. Their hospitality, open-mindedness, willingness to share, egarness to learn, their dedication, discipline, and understanding are all characteristics that have both touched and inspired me. This inspiration is what I am most grateful for.

Since my experiences at the mosque, I have really been inspired to learn more about Muslims and I too have tried to practice these inspiring characteristics that have touched my heart.

Mt. Pilatus was such an amazing experience for the cast here in Luzern! Through an alumni, we were able to visit the “Forbidden Mountain.” The history of Mt. Pilatus is that Pontius Pilate was buried there, which is how the mountain received it’s name. However, the mountain became a symbol of bad luck and devilish activity causing the mountain to get it’s nick name of the Forbidden Mountain. One time a man accidentally worked his way up to the mountain without realizing it and he fell into a large cavern with only a small opening in the very top. He met two dragons in that cavern that were friendly and helped him survive. Eventually they helped him back to his friends and family and the man made a vestment to remember his two dragon friends.

From then on the mountain became less forbidden and became the home of the steepest cogwheel railway. We got to ride it up to the summit of Mt. Pilatus and have an amazing view of the mountain in route.

We started out by taking a boat ride out to the base of the mountain. It was really cold there, because of the wind from the boat moving! But we all had warm jackets or went inside if it got too cold. From there we had an extraordinary view of some of the Swiss country side. Once we got to the mountain, we had a brief tour of the railway cars storage garage. We learned all about how the cars worked, when they worked (from May to November), and how they were made and repaired (since no one makes those kinds of cars any more).

After the tour we took the cogwheel railway all the way up to the summit for a presentation of the mountain’s history and logistics. Corinne Häggi, the woman who gave the presentation, is an alumni of UWP. It was awesome to meet her and see what she did with her life after UWP. Hearing about the history of it all was fun as well… Not just because I’m a huge fan of dragons though. ^^

We ate lunch on the summit and I walked up to the highest peak of the mountain, even though it was so misty out that you couldn’t see the view. It was fun just kind of looking down into the abyss and not knowing how far down it was. XD Well, it’s 7,000 ft, so we knew how far down it was, but it was still fun to imagine a dragon in the mist somewhere.

On the way back down the mountain a lot of us stopped by and sledded down the summer toboggan track. It was lots of fun to be sledding, even if there wasn’t any snow! Thanks so much to Corinne Häggi, Colette Rickter, the CRC’s of the city, and everyone else who helped us have such a fantastic experience on Mt. Pilatus! Thank you!!!

If anyone would like more information on Mt. Pilatus or would like to visit it yourself, please check their website at: www.pilatus.ch