Religions of the world

Hello - today I sampled ethnic aspects of 3 of the world's major religions. Granted, it doesn't mean I indulged in theological or intellectual aspects, but I consider it a positive step all the same. I spent the morning at the American Church in Paris, getting my normal Christian dose on Sunday morning. I have enjoyed attending - it is interesting to see how a church that must draw from an audience so diverse has to work. First, they welcome everyone - I mean everyone. While it is a multi-denominational Protestant church, they want anyone who is a Christian and can speak English. Sort of adds a new meaning to "Open and Affirming".


My next experience was slightly different - the Grande Mosquee du Paris has a hammam (a Turkish bathhouse). Sunday is for men, so I went. It was a bit of a challenge since I didn't know what I was doing, but I managed. I also was lucky that one of the masseuses spoke English well. You enter through the tea house (entrance pictured above). You step through a door to the left and pay your money. You get a towel, some rubber pool sandals, and some soap and head back to a locker room. You need a Euro to put in the locker to use the key (but you get it back). You change into whatever you have (running shorts for me), then head into the steam rooms. There are 3 (sort of like the old Roman baths) - the first is warm and has some showers. The second is hot and has a high dark-blue dome ceiling. You take a plastic bucket, fill it, and dump it over the area to plan to use. There's a central area and others surrounding the room. Of course, you start to sweat immediately. Then theres the 3rd room - you can see the steam about eye level in this room. It is really hot - I went in but the drops falling from the ceiling burned a bit, so I went back to the second room.

After however long you want to go with this, you shower off and then the masseuse rubs you down with some sort of rough cloth. Makes you all pink like a new-born baby! Then you go back into the steam room for as long as you like. When you come out next, you get a massage, which was quite nice. Some sort of scented oil is used – I know the smell, but couldn’t quite place it. That lasts for 10 to 30 minutes depending on how much you pay. When it was all done, I felt quit relaxed. At this point, I returned to the showers to clean up with some sort of soap gel I received. After this, I returned to the locker room to change. I was given a cup of hot tea (in a glass) on my way out and sat in yet another little tea room while drinking the tea. I think it all went ok, except the end – I recommend you take the tea before showering and changing. Then you can cool off a bit. As it was, I needed to go outside before I could cool down. That’s my Muslim experience for the day.

My final religious experience was with Judaism. It wasn’t so theological as the ACP (that’s what they call American Church in Paris), nor so new or unusual as a hammam. It was more biological – I walked to rue du Rosiers and had a Maccabee beer and falafel special at L’As du Falafel in the heart of the Jewish quarter. I did pass the Temple on the way also! It’s what I think of as a well-rounded experience overall!