By Bassam Tariq
Sitting in a hallway at Montana State University — with a broken car and draining laptop battery — I feel like it’s a good time to look back at some of the best moments and photos of our first 15 days on the road.
Day 1: Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood – A brother eats the break fast meal in a hurry since the adhaan, the call to prayer, was right around the corner.
Day 1: Ground Zero Mosque – Bored security guard reluctantly poses for the camera.
Day 2: Augusta, ME – Two young men spend the hour before break fast memorizing the Quran.
Day 2: Portland, ME – A Southern Sudanese boy stares me down in the playground.
Day 7: Charlotte, NC – The summer school program bulletin board displays the best artwork for different kids.
Day 8: En Route to Jacksonville, Fl – The welcoming Confederate man.
Day 9: Jacksonville, Fl – A kid jumps off the slide.
Day 9: Mobile, Alabama – After getting kicked out of the Islamic Society of Mobile, we all come to this nice restaraunt. Ayan, a 13 year old Kurd, breaks his fast at his family restaurant with Kurdish Biryani.
Day 10: New Orleans – AbdulRahman Zeitoun calls his son from the ladies section of the mosque
Day 11: Masjid Al Mu’mineen [ Houston, TX ] – Unfortunately, we had visited this mosque, but didn’t have time to write a story about our experiences there. We’ll get to it, one day.
Day 12: Oklahoma City, OK – Sarah goes down the slide in the playground near the mosque.
Day 14: Denver, Colorado – The brilliant Shaikh Abu Omar gets irritated by how close my camera is to his face and sticks his tongue out in hopes of ruining the photo. If only he knew how he saved it.
Day 15: Santa Fe, New Mexico – Rashid prepares a morning meal for Aman and I at the Taha Mosque. He spent the night at the mosque when he found out we’d be staying there.
