tshewang'sJournal For ye hadth I been; and for thou shall I be

I along with two other youths from Bhutan were privileged to represent Bhutan in 5th World Youth congress. There were 1600 participants from 172 countries of the world. This year’s theme for the Congress was kept was “imece” a Turkish word meaning joint Action.
My two weeks in Istanbul really made me contemplate the meaning of relationships, community and the importance of stable friendships. It’s not very often that you get to have Indonesian, Bulgarian and Ugandan roommates. There are also very few places where you can have lunch with a Conservative Muslim, a liberal Chinese living in Canada with Communist parents, a Romanian student living in America and a El Salvadorians going to a United World College in Canada. The friends I’ve made there – I plan to keep them for life. In fact, I have made a pact to attend many of their weddings. I’ve really had a genuine cross-cultural experience. I went to the mosque least not every day – and I had in-depth discussions with many Muslims, Christians and Jews about their religion.
I know that I’m not the most avidly religious person in the world – but I’ve sat in a mosque before during the prayer calls – where flocks of people would flood in, put their shoes in plastic bags and then set out to pray. As the congregation crossed their body as is tradition in the Catholic Church – I couldn’t help but contrast the Buddhist monasteries and temples making comparisons. Either way, to enter the Paro Taktshang or the Blue Mosque requires some modest dress. I accompanied a friend of mine as he went to the mosque to pray. He informed me that out of all the European-Asian countries, Turkey is the most welcoming in terms of religious faiths. Christians, Muslims and Jews apparently all live there in harmony – without persecution.