Croatia & Cross-Cultural Psychology
Trip Start
May 22, 2009
1
5
Trip End
Jul 19, 2009
Zagreb, Croatia
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
In contrast, at the mosque we had to follow a strict protocol to uphold the integrity of the center and in the morning we were told that we needed to cover our knees and our shoulders. When we arrived we discovered that the girls' legs, arms, and heads needed to be completely covered. Unfortunately I was wearing Capri jeans that were sewn on the fold so I had to pull my jeans down as much as possible, zip up my jacket, and put the hood on. I was embarrassed that I could not accurately show my respect (and a classmate told me that I looked more inclined to rob a bank than visit a mosque). Regardless, I enjoyed learning more about the Islamic faith and culture within an actual mosque and I definitely felt very fortunate to be there. As a group we struggled with the position of women in the Islamic society but the leader did his best to explain how covering up was a means of protection for the Islamic women.
We spent our last day on the coast of Croatia in Split. Split was much more touristy but not without history – we visited Diocletian's palace and got to explore the city a bit. Spit was beautiful and very much what I had pictured Croatia to look like and on our second day we stumbled across the cutest market that sold everything from flowers to fresh produce to Croatian souvenirs. There was something very refreshing about the market and the self-sustainability of the city.
