Lesser Pilrgimage to mecca

[misin]

Oh hi.

Tomorrow i'll be taking a plane to the Holy City of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to make a lesser pilgrimage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajj

Here is some information if you're curious. I'll be making Umrah, as Hajj itself is only done in a certain month in the islamic lunar calendar.

I'll pray for you all

<3 Meso <3

[Douleia]

have a safe trip! :toot:

[iaeolan]

Send me some riyals. I have some old ones, but not the newer issue. It's an interesting currency.

[Xarpolis]

That's pretty cool man, I hope you have fun.

Talk to you when you get home.

[Allielyn]

That IS pretty cool. I hope your trip is everything you want it to be.

Let us know about it when you get back!

[phlit]

Remember to FD if there's a stampede.

[Hasrett]

That IS pretty cool. I hope your trip is everything you want it to be.

Let us know about it when you get back!

What Allie said =) I look forward to hearing about it.

[misin]

Ok, so I'm back now. 2 week trip. Had a lot of fun.

We barely made it through the steps of Umrah. I brought my wife and 20 month old child with me which really slowed me down which meant we were walking barefoot on marble floors for like 3 hours straight carrying our son so he didn't get lost in the crowd. It was the first time my feet have been bruised. Then i slept for about a day trying to recover. We stayed in Mecca for 2 days then made our way to Medina which is the city in which Islam expanded from, home to what we call the Prophet Mohamed's Mosque which is also very sacred to us. (Our 3 sacred places being Mecca, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem- not the dome of the rock, mind you) Anyhow we went to Medina and stayed for a day and prayed our 5 daily prayers there. On the way to Medina i always see a "Beware of Monkeys" sign but i have never seen any and couldn't imagine monkeys living in such a barren desert. So on the way back i was talking to the driver and asked him if he had ever seen any of these monkeys and he said he personally hadn't, but he had heard stories of them. About 30 minutes later we saw a bunch of cars stopped on the side of the highway surrounded by, low and behold, BABOONS! First time in my life to see a wild baboon. It was like going on a safari side trip in the middle of our pilgrimage. We fed them some bread and saw their bright red buttockses. Mind you, the ones you see in the zoo have much prettier cheeks to sit on. The ones we saw looked burnt from the blazing sun and/or domination quarrels between the males. It was kinda yucky tbh, but the monkeys themselves were pretty. Enough about monkey asses, we fed them some bread and we through a packet of BBQ sauce out there and got to see them open it up and enjoy the goodness inside. Then at the end the driver puts the car in drive so the doors lock automatically and the sound scared one of them that was sitting next to my door. He jumped back as if he was insulted by the noise then jumped at me and smacked his face into the window. Scared the crap out of me tbh, but no damage was done. We were out there, though. came back from medina and stayed another week in Mecca praying all the prayers we could in the Holy Mosque there. I read much Quran in the Arabic language and have becoming much more literate thankfully. I prayed and worshipped God alone with pretty much nothing else to do, which was a very relaxing vaccation. We just got back to Egypt and are getting outselves readjusted. It was a wonderful trip, we had lots of fun and felt we had fulfilled a part of what we owe to He who provides us with everything.

I'm too tired to even proof read so forgive my unedited ranting. Also-
Weather was actually nicer in Saudi Arabia than it is in Egypt. We're having a heat wave atm and people are having a lot of trouble.

<3 from Meso

[Hasrett]

That sounds really fantastic, Meso! Congratulations on a rewarding and successful pilgrimage.

[Douleia]

Wow, that sounds like a great pilgrimage. I'm happy for you three that you got to experience such a wonderful, relaxing time, close to God... and also for the baboons! :toot:

Again, welcome back. <3

[iaeolan]

Umrah


This is honestly all I could think of

http://web.syr.edu/~daparker/mummra2.jpg

EDIT: omg i was owned

[Aaubert]

This is honestly all I could think of

http://members.tripod.com/~Thunder_Cats/mumrah.jpg
TRIPOD'D!

[misin]

Shnaaaarf lionoe

[vistachiri]

sounds like a neat as hell vacation man

[misin]

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but i'm doing this again tomorrow! (look at the first post)

[SparrKenga]

Good God 07 Bump lol. Since i didnt do the bump i have to say Pilrgimage is really exciting sounding but, i live in a town where Catholic's come from the middle east and come to feast on the assumption of Mary. Which is totally cool and all being im Catholic but, Tbh its all the damn Younger badass kids that think when they come here they own this town. Which is really sad because they ruin the whole point of the pilrgimage. One year pretty much all the Surrounding counties had brought their police to my town to make sure nothing happened.

[Xach]

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but i'm doing this again tomorrow! (look at the first post)

Just die already.

[phroggonalog]

hope it was a good trip


Just die already.
hey now

[Arcen]

/rez Meso.

[Lithan]

Baboons with big red buttocks going to be included in iksith? They can use the face-first attack as described above.

[misin]

Bump. Same thing again! See you guys in a month

[vistachiri]

Man dude, I thought you only had to do that once?

[misin]

i do only have to do it once, but i enjoy doing it and i am meeting my family (who i haven't seen in a year) there

[Dimmi]

Take pictures, there's some hella cool scenery over there

[Gregor]

Take pictures, there's some hella cool scenery over there

I was about to say the same thing.

A friend of mine went last year and had a great time! Shes also has family over there and tries to make the trip once a year to visit during this time.

[jew_nose_it]

TAKE SOME PICTURES OF CAMELS!

have funnnn

[Dimmi]

I bet pwr thru will be disbanded by the time you get back XD

have funnnn

Can you please try, once in five times, not to shit up something remotely decent by posting on it?

Delete your post, put something in about agreeing that pictures would be awesome. Fucking retard.

[x3rox]

I bet pwr thru will be disbanded by the time you get back XD

have funnnn

Warden of Torment, walking mushroom, ski'rashki (however the hell its spelled), etc. downed just last night.

Lick a ****.

On a better note, hope your trip is going awesome seeing your family and such. Couldn't imagine being half a world away from mine. Safe trip and eat some good food ( and crazy food ) Andrew Zimmern style!

-Marikethil

[Tarutao]

On that same note, eat some really nasty disturbing food while you're there too, Anthony Bourdain style. We want some good stories when you return. None of this "I had a good trip", we want to hear something awful (ba-dum tish).

[Notpit]

That is really cool, Misin. I hope you have a great time.

[misin]

I am having a great time. The wierdest thing i've eatten so far is wheat soup i think. Just chicken broth and whole wheat grains. nothing gross quite yet.

I am looking forward to having friend liver/brain sandwiches, though. Also, camel meat is available here.

The most intersting thing so far is that culturally, all the women wear black robes and cover their faces except for a small slit for their eyes (this is loosely based around an islamic concept that women should cover their beauty in front of men who aren't part of their immediate family) , but if you walk into a hotel or go to someone's house they couldn't care less about covering.

Also, on the airplane over they serve alcohol right up until they pass over the Saudi Arabian territory then they have to stop. (Air France apologized for any inconveniences) None of the women were wearing their traditional blade garments, but once the captain announced that we were going to start decending there was a line outside of the bathrooms. Women would go in normal western clothes and come out with their whole bodies covered.

Finally, on the way to Mecca (the city i made my pilgrimage to) there are signed on the highway that read "Muslims only, non-muslims must take the next exit"

It is refreshing to know i fit in with all the other fundamentalists while i'm here

[BranFlakes]

I am looking forward to having friend liver/brain sandwiches, though.

Necro to the end, eh?
Hope your trips give you an enlightenment sought for by many.

[vistachiri]

Liver sandwiches are actually pretty awesome, idk about brain though. Prion diseases make me nervous. Liver is a pretty acquired taste though.

[jew_nose_it]

Finally, on the way to Mecca (the city i made my pilgrimage to) there are signed on the highway that read "Muslims only, non-muslims must take the next exit"


What exactly is the reason for this. Thats really interesting.

[vistachiri]

What exactly is the reason for this. Thats really interesting.

It's because non-muslims are not allowed into mecca under Saudi law. The Saudi govt supports it based on some dubious support from the Qur'an. This I believe is one of the primary quotes for support of it.

O you who believe, the idol worshipers are polluted; they shall not be permitted to approach the Sacred Masjid after this year. If you fear loss of income, GOD will shower you with His provisions, in accordance with His will. GOD is Omniscient, Most Wise.

That's referring directly to the Mosque in Mecca, though they also do the same thing with Madinah. Basically its outward intent is to provide a peaceful spiritual atmosphere to the city, and keep down congestion etc. However it probably adds to the desire of foreigners to enter, simply because it is forbidden.

[misin]

Once again i've had the honor to make another pilgrimage to mecca this month. As has become usual in these last 3 years, i meet up with my wife and 2 children and stay for a few weeks in the holy city of mecca. We spend our time worshipping God, catching up on life and doing quite a bit of shopping :p

I've been unable to visit them in egypt due to an unfortunate security problem and the immigration papers i've filed for them have not yet been accepted so this is usually the happiest time of the year for us.

[Animand]

It's good to hear you could spend more time with them. Thanks for the update.

[Nodnal]

I hope you are enjoying your vacation/family time! See you when you get back~

[DookeyKing]

I can't even imagine being separated from my family for that long. I hope you can get their visas worked out soon.