Prayer Room opening

With thanks and praises to Almighty God, the new prayer room was opened at Warwick yesterday and I felt very lucky to be there for the occassion. I remember all the hard work we did for the fundraising for it, espescially during the first year of uni and the beginning of the second so it was great to see where all that work had gone to.

It really is a wonderful facility, with space for two hundred people, a mini-library, kitchen and bathrooms. Much better than the old shoe-box of a room we had in Humanities when I was there anyway. The best thing is that now no one feels they are bothering anyone when taking prayer water from the washroom basins.

The plaque was a bit too clean for my liking - you can see me and Vaq in the reflection.

The best part was seeing everyone again. Vaq was on good form and sported his traditional jacket, baggy trousers and whiter than white trainers combo. Khalil, the two Mawji's, Riyaz, Dina, Omar, Asif, Il Presidente Usmaan, the Algerian lads and loads of others were there too, which was magic and made for a great atmosphere around the place.

Good old Warwick Hospitality food for the lunch.

Il Presidente Mo Usmaan. The best President Isoc has ever had.

The other Il Presidente. My old English Lit buddy Brian was there in his position as President-elect of the Students' Union.

My favourite Algerians in the world. I've never seen them without a smile on their faces.

It was quite a big event. There were four hundred people there and even the VC was there to conduct ceremonies. There were a couple of television crews as well...although try as he might Vaqas didn't manage to get himself on camera.

There was also a bit of a police presence for all the ambassadors and guest dignitaries. Vaq had the quote of the day: "Do you feel threatened when police are around?".
Me: "No. I feel safer."
Vaq: "It shows you're not a true ethnic minority then."

It wouldn't have been a true Isoc event without some post-event Pro Evo at Asif's.

His collection of Nestle Clusters was most impressive.

I said bye to all the guys then went to see a play in the Arts Centre with Dinu and some of her mates. It was a typical student play. There was the obligatory over-zealous screaming, a sex scene, a brothel and some cross-dressing. On top of all that I had my hand kissed by a character in the play dressed in white underwear and white swimming cap. It turns out he represented sperm. The words "a few sandwiches short of a picnic" come to mind but it was still a good evening anyway.

Good seeing everyone again. I'll try to come back soon.