Mosque and a Haircut: Two Birds, One Stone

This morning I stopped by the DITIB-run mosque that’s just down the street from my apartment and found the solution to two of my problems.  The first is that I wasn’t sure if I should visit DITIB’s director in Cologne before trying to contact staff at this mosque; I suspected I might need a formal introduction from the top.  Instead, it turns out that the religious attache here in Berlin is quite open to discussing the project and I’ll be scheduling a formal meeting with him soon.

Secondly, I need a haircut, but I don’t know where to go or what to pay.  Lo and behold, there’s a barber shop in a corner of the teahouse on the floor above the mosque.  Only costs 5 Euro for a cut, and if there’s one person you can trust your hair with, it’s a Turkish barber.  (However, if you see him dipping q-tips in a jar of purple goop, start shaking your head–unless you’d like him to tap your ears and cheeks with flaming q-tips in order to singe off all those tiny little hairs).

So, it was a good morning.  And tomorrow I’ll probably stop by the mosque, chat with whoever is around, sip some tea, and get my hair cut all at the same time.  That’s productivity.