March 28-29 2015

Since I only have less than a month left in Nantes, I thought it was time to do some more spontaneous exploring of the city. Nantes is huge and I forget this until I take the tram out into the banlieu, the suburbs of the city. Amanda showed me where she had seen the Mosquée Arrahama, a small mosque that leads almost straight into a prayer room. I took in the outside of it before taking a bus to the other one I had been wanting to see for a while, Mosquée Assalam. It's a lot bigger with an elegant, traditionally styled prayer room, a community center for Arabic learning, a courtyard, a library, and a bookstore. It was definitely situated in a part of Nantes I had never been before. As Renée advised me, it's good to seek out and explore other parts and neighborhoods that are outside of the touristy areas. I enjoyed the adventures of exploring new sites and seeing how French mosques are adapted to the local French culture. I also saw a carving into the wall of Mosquée Assalam, a passage from the Qur'an written in French and Arabic. It's nice to create solo fieldsstudies outside of the classroom.

Today, I also went to the Buddhist Center Kadampa Toushita in Nantes, which was an old property now converted into a community residential center and the chapel is a Mahayana Buddhist temple. It was really interesting to observe how the teachings of the Buddha have been translated into French and how the language expresses them, for example, the word for enlightenment in French is illumination. I participated in a guided meditation, prayers for invoking peace into ourselves and the world, and a lesson of the day. Afterward, Evelyn, who is going to be ordained soon a Buddhist nun, gave me a tour and explained to me the significance of the symbolism of each statue and the offerings at the altar. Then I was happy to stay as well for afternoon tea and have a one-on-one conversation with her. I felt very welcome and I look forward to going back.

The residential part of the center