MY TRIP 2:THE SAMBUNGAN
beside me and said assalamualaikum.I turned and
saw a cute friend of mine, Ain staring at me with
amusement and her eyes were red. Mixed emotions I
would say. She was in her early twenties, with a
beautiful sophisticated look, provocative and
exciting personality, a decent muslim lady with an
elegant tudung anywhere she goes.
She helped me and accompanied me to Holborn, where
I was to be staying with another friend, Yusof
(usop). When I arrived, he was not there as he was
having a holiday trip with his parents in Italy. I
settled down and rest for the whole day in his
room. The next day, Saturday, as planned, all
KTJs friends of mine came to LSE and had dinner
together. We laughed, chatted, and picked on every
single of us just like the old days.
On Sunday, we were expecting a group from Angkatan
Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM). They were abang
Jufitri, abang Wira and abang Edy. Briefly, abang
Ju, a slim figure with a pair of spectacle, a very
warm and friendly bright young man, always curve a
smile on his face. He was the chairman of the Grup
Pengkaji Tamadun Dunia (GPTD). Abang Wira was the
Secretary of ABIM pusat, a tall hunk who was so
calm in anything he does, loves poetry and above
all a very well-read man. The other person was
abang Edy, a dark fellow, youngest of them all,
looked very active with his JackWolfskin Gotec
set, armed with his gadjets as he was the gifted
cameraman of GPTD. We had dinner together and rest
for our tiring journey tomorrow. Five of us,
including me and Ain, we woke up at 4 and ready
ourselves to catch the 6.55 am Ryan Air cheap
flight to Granada, Spain. It was a miscalculation
by our lady Ain for the journey to the Stansted
Airport. Perhaps she had long stopped learning
mathematics as she is now reading Law in LSE.
Anyway, it was not absolutely her fault and we had
no one to blame accept our own self. We arrived at
6.45 am and we missed the flight. We had no choice
but to buy new tickets which cost us 40 pounds
each for a single journey. Hahaso sad.but
syukur, we finally departed from London later in
the evening after we almost made the airport our
own bedroom!
When we arrived in Granada, Spain, we rent a car
and find a place for the night. In the next
morning, we did some survey around the place and
make our final research and study on the history
of Andalusia as we were still waiting for two more
people from London, Usop and Farhana (Paan). Usop,
my friend from Kolej Yayasan Saad, was a
tall-athletic-build young guy, always concern and
good in picking what to wear, and was currently
studying Actuarial Science in LSE. Another person
was a happy-go-lucky Brit rock fan, a young lady
who loves to make surprises, and beyond that she
is our savior in moody days. Thanks Paan.
A short history of Andalusia (Spanish:
Andaluca), it was a region of Spain and its
capital was Seville and was bounded on the north
by Castile-La Mancha, on the east by Murcia, on
the south by the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic
Ocean and Gibraltar, and on the west by Portugal
[1]. The name Andalusia was derived from the
Arabic name "Al Andalus", which referred to the
parts of the Iberian Peninsula which were under
Muslim rule [1]. We start our first day in
Granada by visiting a mosque which was located on
the other side of the city (opposite of Alhambra).
This mosque possessed an unexplainable feeling of
tranquility. Historically, Spain didnt allow any
azan to be made public for 700 years and
alhamdulillah, in 2003, millions of people of the
world became witnesses of the first azan ever in
Spain in this small white mosque. Form here we
could see ……
TO BE CONTINUED…
