Houston- The end of our trip; Day 3

Our last target location was Houston. First of all we just wanted to visit the NASA Space center, but in the end we decided to visit the Holocaust museum too.

Thereafter we finally drove to the Space center. It was very interesting to see how much they have to organize before they are able to fly to the space. The astronauts need special equipment; special food and they also need special practice to be able to survive in the space. The Space center was very all-rounded. They had an area for children, where they were able to play there. You could touch a part from the moon there, if you want. Now I am able to say: “I touched the moon!”  And that is a great feeling!!!

A piece of the moon

Day 2 of the tour trip- Austin

Arrival in Austin,
first of all we met the rest of the Fulbright group there. We all were very happy to be together again, especially our friend Minh. He started immediately to talk with the others about our tour. He seems to be happy to talk someone als than me or Mahmut.

Arrival in Austin

After we were together again we went shopping, but to be honest, it wasn´t something special. After our shopping tour we three made the decision to drive with the car to the Mckinzey falls by accident.  It was awesome there. I would advise everyone to visit this place and the ticket price is cheap too (just 6 Dollars- you can swim there, you can have a picnic and you can take a shower there too).I enjoy the falls to the full. I never saw something so beautiful. It´s so beautiful that a couple decided to marry there

McKinney Falls State Park

After this great and unique experience we drove to the State capitol. It shines so much that it wasn´t difficult to find it. It looks very pretty. At the first sight I was happy that many people were there to enjoy this great view. But it was wrong. Most of the people were just there to play Pokémon Go. I was surprised at the beginning but later I realized that it´s good that families do something together.

Texas State Capitol

Road Trip across Texas

Road Trip

It would be too dangerous for three students, who don´t know Texas really, either Amerika.  That is what I thought about our trip across Texas at the beginning. But in the end we did it.

Arrived at Corpus Christi

Our first target location was Corpus Christi, a city close to the Atlantic. 

My first word when we arrived was awesome. It looks like a fairy tale. We noticed many beautiful palms, wonderful sea animals and Seagulls.     

Palms like in movies

We stay there for a whole day but it was worth. We took more than 200 pictures just in the first day because we wanted to keep every moment safe recorded. Corpus Christi is a city for almost everyone. One of the highlights in Corpus Christi was the USS Lexington Museum. To be in a navy warship was a unique experience. It was very difficult to take a picture with the whole ship, but in the end it was possible. It was very interesting to see it from inside.

USS Lexington Museum

Afterwards we drove to an island near to Corpus Christi. That is the place where many students are heading to for Spring Break. It was great there. So great that we went there also swimming.  
 

After that we went to eating in a restaurant, called black beard restaurant. Something that I really like about America is that you can get water for free in almost every restaurant. 

Free water $

   

The servers in there were all very cool. One of the waitresses gave us all special sources for free. In the end we took a picture together.  

 

Everything was perfect until this moment, but than we had to thing about our rest place. Unfortunately we made the decision to sleep in the car. It was a big mistake. We didn´t think about the heat and the mosquitos. Nevertheless I will never forget this great experience.

Sleeping in the car --> BAD IDEA

Eid prayer- Muslims in Texas

 

Yesterday we went to the mosque to make our Eid-prayer. I was really surprised that Texas has so many Muslims. I was surprised too that the mosques in Texas are so much bigger compared to german mosques.

In front of the mosque with Enes

I saw people with so many different migration backrounds, but they seemed to me more like a big family. I wouldn´t say that they  went to the mosque just to pray, they went to the mosque to meet their friends too.

 

Inside the mosque

Nevertheless I noticed that the people there are true american too.
I saw inside the mosque how a man donate money ( Zakat- is a form of alms-giving treated as a religious tax and/or religious obligation in Islam)  with his credit card and to pay everything with a credit card is typically American. This made me smile.

Donate money with credit card- Typically american  :D

Northside- the unknown world of san antonio

Like in a movie,

That the way how I would call this banlieu. Since yesterday I just know the wonderful side of San Antonio, where everyone is welcome, where everything seems totally peaceful. But the trip today proves the opposite side of San Antonio. That doesn´t mean it was bad. Far from it!!! It was amazing.

The people in this area find a way to express themselves and their thoughts about their life with art, rather graffiti. It makes me so happy to see how great graffiti can look at its place of origin- America. 

Windows were broken there, everyone there possesses a watchdog, and the streets were empty. It felt  strange to be there. It was like in a movie but with every mural we saw it felt more normal to be in an empty area. 

Every mural told us a story and it was awesome for me to see how creative they are. The artists want to evoke hope in the minds of every citizen there. Much to my surprise, I noticed easily how religious the people are in this area. You can notice it everywhere. You can see religion in their art; you can see it on their skin. Probably religion gives them hope and strength to look forward towards their life. Maybe the murals seem to a lot of people spooky because skulls are often depicted, but this fact is connected to their religion too. They don´t fear the death because death means salvation for them. Salvation from this hopeless place. 
 

It has to be hard to live there and much harder is it for me to know that even the people, who live and were born in San Antonio and don´t know this different San Antonio. I really hope that someday someone notices the potential of the people there.