//BIGGIE


Going behind the


hijab I


BY KELSEY MARTIN kelseymartin@csdecatur.net


t’s the end of the day and senior Cecilia Kühnel is at home putting on her hijab. She is preparing for her daily prayer in the direction of Mecca, but this ritual isn’t usually part of her daily routine.


For her senior project, Kühnel will enter into the lifestyle of a Muslim woman for a week. She will follow the Five Pillars of Islam, participate in prayer and traditions and attend the Mosque at 14th Street. Kühnel, who was born and raised


40 CARPE DIEM • OCTOBER 2011


in Munich, Germany, and moved to Georgia five years ago, is currently learning Arabic as her third language. She wants to get to know more about the culture where Arabic is spoken. “I have been studying the culture for the last three years, so I know very much about the Arabic culture,” Kühnel said. “I suddenly realized I didn’t know the culture as well as an Arabic learner should.” She attended the Federal Service


Foreign Language Academy (FS- FLA) this past summer, where she was fully immersed in Arabic. She studied Arabic eight hours a day for three weeks. “I couldn’t believe that out of hun-


dreds, I was chosen to be one of the 16 Arabic students,” she said. “I was


so nervous, and being alone without my twin, [Amalie], scared me more.” The camp definitely strengthened Kühnel both psychologically and physically. “I guess I had to establish my own kind of identity,” Kühnel said. “Te military aspect was also definitely there – every morning at 5 a.m. we would have boot camp.” Te FSFLA had a huge impact on


Kühnel . “It was very demanding and most likely the toughest thing I have ever done besides learning English when I was six,” Kühnel said. Te camp eventually paid off, and


afterwards, she could count, read and write in Arabic. “It was the best time of my life,” Kühnel said. “Te camp reached my goals.” She currently takes online classes, and her soon-


Photo by, Leela Goshorn


Photo by Leela Goshorn


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