Hi everyone
This is to confirm that we will be meeting on Friday at 12.30 in Aula Comune in via del Santo 28.
We'll use this opportunity to discuss your progress in the discussion sessions, your video projects which you should be well on your way with, and any problems or issues you may have. Please make note of any language doubts you may have, and any other questions you'd like to raise with the group.
Looking forward to seeing you all again,
Francesca
This is to confirm that we will be meeting on Friday at 12.30 in Aula Comune in via del Santo 28.
We'll use this opportunity to discuss your progress in the discussion sessions, your video projects which you should be well on your way with, and any problems or issues you may have. Please make note of any language doubts you may have, and any other questions you'd like to raise with the group.
Looking forward to seeing you all again,
Francesca
Luca Haddad
RispondiEliminaI will be there :)
me too!
RispondiEliminagood evening guys!
RispondiEliminayesterday i had my fourth session. i just realized that we are at the half way to the end, and it's sad because the project every monday is better compared to the last. The group is getting along so well, i like the people that i met there and i like our work.
At the beginning the facilitators show us a picture with a kind of iceberg shared in two pieces and some words in each ;we had to guess what the figure would represent. It was an introduction for the topic of the week, which were sterotype and taboo. I was quite surprised because some people of the group didn't know the meaning of the subject. But when they got it we started off our discussion. It has been very interesting when some opinions become contrasting and the conversation went higher. I was so sorry for an egyptian girl which found herself so embarrassed about some topics but the facilitators asked her to be sympathetic even if she was unconfortable with the topic because one of the goal of this project is really this: listen others people to understand their point of view with no judgement. Anyway we had a great discussion until the time line.
I'm now waiting for the next session :-)
November, 6th
RispondiEliminaHi!
Today I had the fourth meeting with my Soliya’s group and this time was rather different from the previous ones. In the beginning there were just a few of us, for different reason: Mohammed had an exam, Sonia was late for personal reasons and Ahmed didn’t joined us today. We started cheating about the US?S election that took place last night (European night) and we discussed about the big impact they were going to have because they brought up difficult issues such us gay marriage or death penalty. It was something much deeper than just voting for one man or another. The three American members of my group said them all were proud they could go and went voting.
The new schedule of this meeting was having separate chats in the breakout rooms: we were divided on group of two or three people and we were free to decide what to talk about, starting from the articles, depending on what touched us deeper. The goal was, whatever we talked about, to let the other know our opinion and why we thought that. My group was supposed to be made of three people, Ahmed, Christopher and me, but Ahmed was absent today, so there were just me and Chris. At first I thought that, since I’m italian and he’s American, we wouldn’t have so many things to talk about because we would agree on everything. Truly it was not so. We started from the article and we discussed the relation between religion and education. We both were impressed that, standing to the report, most of the fundamentalist have a higher rate of education than the average moderates. We switched to more personal topics, then, and we talked about learning religion at school, our and the common opinion about the war in the Middle East and the loss of Christianity in the Western world. Just when we got to a really deep point, why we would define us as Catholic or religious or not, we were called back to the main meeting room. We had to be called twice at least! It was a real shame, because the talk was getting to be very interesting and we both were deep involved in it. It was better being just the two of us in the breakout room; even if I don’t feel shy to talk in the meeting room, we are many, and talking is harder because it takes longer and when it comes your turn to talk it may be that the topic has already changed into another prospective. having a chat with just one or two people may be more difficult if there’re no issues coming out, but when you start to talk, you have more time and it is easier to talk about different feelings and to share the all of your thoughts. I really enjoyed this part of the meeting today; I’d like to repeat this experience.
When we got back to the main meeting room, we talked all together about a different issue: giving money and support to religious organizations. Deborah says we use to give the 10% of her income to church, apparently because of a tax. I can’t consider giving money to church as sort of a fee, it makes no sense for me. Chris said that, on his knowledge, it is something mandatory from the Holy Bible. Abdellatif said he was amazed from this fee, and that this would never happen were he lives, in Tunisia. At the same time, however, he said that is the government that gives support to mosques. He was not sure whether it gives support also to other churches.
RispondiEliminaOur next point of discussion was the veil: despite religion differences that exist in the Arab world (there are place were the total body veil, the burqa, is mandatory; others were it is forbidden as in the Western countries), the veil should be approved or not by the person who has to wear it. Abdellatif said he would not mind whether his wife wears it or not; she should just get along with her ideas and what makes her feel good. He is really an open-minded guy, I like him a lot. It is easy to talk and get confrontation with him. Despite the big differences between us, we go along very well.
The last topic we talked about was a proof of this difference: we talked about the role religion played in our daily life. I said that, since I’m an agnostic, religion doesn’t affect my daily life at all. On the other hand, Abdellatif, as well as other Catholics of my group, feels religion is really important in their life, they feel a deep happiness and relief from their daily prayer, it is something that makes up their day and changes it.
I am amazed in hearing this words. As an agnostic, my thought are totally different, the opposite I would say. But I am really curios to get to know what people with different believes things and what they fell about it.
Cla
Just noticed my last diary is really long, sorry whether you'd get bored reading it!
RispondiEliminasee you all on friday (btw, do you know how long it'll take?)
Clod
No worries about length of diaries, I've really been enjoying reading them and hearing about your discussions.
EliminaOn Friday we have the room for 2 hours, it's up to you how long the discussion goes on, and if you have videos ready and want to watch them.
Francesca
Hi!
RispondiEliminaI'm sorry for my late but tomorrow I'm going to have an important exam and I had to study a lot!
Anyway, the last session had been very interesting and stimulating because we talked about stereotyoes and taboos in our country. The discussion had been quite heated because we talked about gay marriage, contraception, sex etc.. but the muslim guys felt this discussion unpleasant (because of their religion) and wanted to change the topic of the discussion, but in spite of this matter I did some pointed questions to the muslism guys refferenig to gays in general.
I hope that the next session will be as interesting as that one of Monday!
See you!