Feverish Conversation with a Muslim

This weekend was full of firsts. First time going to Houston, first time going to the international festival they have, first time talking to a Muslim man, first time nearly dying...I could go on for a few more lines. Well, it was on a somewhat chilly spring Saturday afternoon in Houston that I had the chance to witness the beauty of the international festival, which was centered around India this year. It was great, walking around and viewing the various vendors and tents of information; after a few hours of walking around the crowded park, we came to one particular tent called "Jesus in India." I thought that it would be interesting, maybe it was something about missionaries. Not very surprisingly, it was not about Christianity but about Islam in India. There was a presentation of all their beliefs and how science or the Qur'an backed them up; there was also an old man who was speaking rather loudly with one of the men in the middle of the tent, whom I desperately wanted to avoid. As a result of avoiding him, however, I was forced to answer questions about Christianity posed by one of the Muslim men who set up this presentation. He decided to delve deeply into the doctrine he believed, beginning by saying that Christians don't let every religious person into heaven, but Muslims do; then he continued by basically bashing other religions. Strange, considering Muslims accept every religion and supposedly believe that anyone with a religion can go to 'heaven' (I'm not sure of the term they use for it). As he kept talking, I gradually became more weak than I had been for the past few days that I'd been sick and nearly passed out, threw up, went blind, or just died. I honestly cannot tell you what this man said after the first few seconds of asking me questions, though I'm sure it was mildly interesting. In short, that's the last time I will ever talk to a devout Muslim (at least, while standing up).
In other news from this side of the world, Texas State has decided to be even more stingy when it comes to that stuff they call "food"; yesterday I attempted to eat (i.e. steal fruit and drink water, because I'm deathly ill) and apparently the 18 to 20 meal trades I have left somehow disappeared sometime between Friday afternoon and Sunday. As though I truly desire the somewhat edible choices here, I'm prepared to state my case and complain to some higher power this morning. I plan on telling them, "I demand that you return those $100-some dollars of 'food' to my ID; after all, it really shouldn't be worth that much money in the first place!" Another part of the plan has to do with crying, but I've never cried on cue so that may need to be changed to just looking pathetic. Which isn't a problem for me, a lot of people seem to think I've been crying when I'm feeling perfectly fine. Plus, who would really cry over not getting to eat the delicacies that can be found at on-campus dining facilities? Not I. I actually hope they tell me that they're not going to help me out because, in a way, they would be encouraging me to eat much healthier than I have the rest of the year. Oh, how I miss JMU food...and for that matter, home-cooked meals. Next year's coming soon enough though, no need to complain.
Until next time (when I'm hopefully not feverish and frustrated),
Anna