My life in Aachen. Home organisation: Jesuit and Brothers Association for Development (JBA), El Minia, Egypt.

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Vincent Hamilton
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1 Mariam Abdalla My life in Aachen Home organisation: Jesuit and Brothers Association for Development (JBA), El Minia, Egypt. Host organization: Missio Internationales KatholischesMissionswerk e.v., Aachen, Germany. CCP scholarship holder 2013 First of all I would like to say it's my first time to travel abroad and be away from my home country Egypt, so the whole experience is totally different and great for me because I learned to depend on myself more than before and also everything I went through have made me more independent; starting from the airport to the rest of my internship. First week: My first day started with arriving to Aachen after getting a train from Frankfurt, and I have to say that wasn't easy for me at the beginning because I was a little bit nervous and scared as I was a stranger in a new country and I don't know anyone there. But also I have to admit that I have met very friendly people since I have arrived, they helped me a lot especially in the train station. After I have arrived to Aachen's station I met Mrs. Dina Samak who helped me a lot in most of the things that I need such as we went down town to buy a German mobile sim card, showed me my apartment's address. My neighbourhood is great and the people here are very friendly and nice to me especially when they know that I'm a foreigner. 1

Aachen is a small lovely city actually it reminds me of my home country especially a city called Alexandria in Egypt, I think it's similar to it in many things.

2 Aachen is a small lovely city actually it reminds me of my home country especially a city called Alexandria in Egypt, I think it's similar to it in many things. From the first day I used to the life there and maybe the similarity between the two cities didn't make me feel home sick. The next day I spent most of it with a friend of mine; we had lunch together and went for a walk. In the afternoon I have met the owner of the building where I'm staying in to show me things related to the apartment I wanted to know it such as how I use the devices which in the apartment, also to answer me about some questions I had. In the third day I went to the host organization to meet the colleagues there and get to know them before we start the work. Also they explained to me the tasks which I am going to do. During the weekend a friend of my friend has invited me to attend a party in a Dutch village which called Vaals. In this party I've met very interesting and wonderful people, I really enjoyed being there with them and also we had a very interesting discussion about the culture and the differences between our countries. I've met not only German people but also Turkish people which made the discussion more interesting. In that night I can say that I have gained new true friends in Germany and also Turkey. Second week: Today is my first week of working with Missio. Everybody here is very friendly, I helped someone from the press department called Susanne through arranging a meeting with the Pakistanian intern from CCP 2

3 "Mariyam" who lives in Aachen too, because Susanne is going to travel soon to Pakistan and she wanted to know more about the Pakistan's culture, habits and traditions, what to do and what should be wore there. The gathering was really fun and we had a great time together, also Mariyam's friend was just arrived from Pakistan and we went to a Chinese restaurant and it was very interesting gathering because we are from 3 different countries and each one of us was talking about the culture of the country which she belongs to it. Also we talked about the similarities and the differences between the 3 countries. Later there were a gathering at Missio to the collaeges who work there, also it was a welcoming to the new members who recently joined Missio. I made a simple introduction about myself and my home country also about the reason why I joined Missio. For now I have made several appointments with some people to arrange and prepare for the camgpain which I will participate in it. This weekend I went to Aachen cathedral to attend the mass with a friend. It was really marvelous because it was different a littel bit than the mass in Egypt, the choir also was just like angels singing. Even it was in german language but I enjoied this mass very much. After that we went to have breakfast together down town in the center of the city where was a festival "Aachen September special", I saw a marathon for the unemployed people called (Fifty-Fifty) started from 11:00 morning till 1:00 at noon. It was more than 800 runners and walker also about 50 organisations participating in it. Also there was a musical band plays very nice music while the people were running. I liked the idea of supporting the people who have no job through an event like that, becaause in the arabic world you can't find such ideas much. Third week: 3

4 This week I participated in an event in the host organisation and it was about opening Missio shop, we started with a Mass in the morning then there were some volunteers who made some hand crafts. They presented their work also there were a camera team who recorded that entire event for the local site of Missio. In the evening I invited some of my colleagues to have dinner together; it was really great time because I wanted to make them try the Egyptian food so I prepared a Egyptian meal. It was a little bit difficult for me because I kept searching for the ingredients here and I found them. I was really happy because they for the first time ate an Egyptian food and they liked it very much even some of them took the rest of the food with them. Through that dinner we had a great discussion and it was really rich with culture and knowledge because we were from different countries; Egypt, Germany and Burkina Faso and we were speaking three languages to be able to understand each other and it was really marvellous as we were teaching each other our own language. This weekend I went to Mainz because I work there and it was great place as in Saturday I went to Jakobsberg, which is very magical place and the view from the mountain is very nice. Also I have met a lot of people there we had a great chat about my home country and the current situation also we spoke about the preparation for the campaign which I am participating in it. In the evening I went to attend an event with my friend, this event called Night Fever in Frankfurt and I really enjoyed it and it was very spiritual night and I made a small speech there also for our campaign and about Egypt as it is the guest country this year in the world mission Sunday campaign. Sunday morning we went to attend a Mass in the church; I enjoyed it a lot after the communion I spoke about our campaign again. 4

Then we came back home to have lunch and together we cooked a traditional Egyptian meal "falafel" and it was good time we spent in cooking. Later I went with my friends for a walk on the Rhein River.

5 Then we came back home to have lunch and together we cooked a traditional Egyptian meal "falafel" and it was good time we spent in cooking. Later I went with my friends for a walk on the Rhein River. I was really happy that I gained a lot of new friends here especially in Mainz as I have met an Indonesian girl and also a half Egyptian girl and it was such a pleasure that I met her because since I arrived to Germany I have not met anyone from Egypt except Frau Dina from ifa. So that was my trip to Mainz it was full of fun, work, and also culture as I visited most of the famous places in Mainz such as the Cathedral and it was really very great time with my new friends. They saw me off in the train station and we are in contact now through Facebook, to be able after that when I come back to Egypt be in contact if they want some day to visit Egypt. After that trip I was really glad because when I came back to Aachen a friend of mine who was with me in the faculty knew that I was in Mainz and he called me to meet for some time together and it was really great because since we graduated we haven t met. Mariam Abdalla, 24 September

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