Catching Up!

That's Lise and Friederike, then Amrita, Barbara, and Me!

There's Chloe, Amrita, and Lise

Ok, so a lot has happened in the past week and I'm going to try and catch up on it all!

Every Tuesday night there is a gathering for all the volunteers. Usually they are done at one of the host family homes, but until the end of Ramadan we are having these gatherings at cafes or restaurants (it's far too tiring for the families to entertain late at night after they've been fasting all day). We went to a nearby cafe and I really enjoyed meeting everyone. There are a couple German girls, Friederike and Laura, who I work with in the mornings, a couple British guys, Will and Tom (Tom has become my running buddy), a French guy Simon (who insists I speak to him in French - no matter how poor it is), my roommates, and the other Americans I mentioned before. I was thinking about how it makes so much sense that we should all get along so well - we are clearly all outgoing and curious people with similar interests. It seems obvious, but it wasn't something I thought about as one of the wonderful things I'd gain on this trip. I now know fantastic and inspiring people all over America and Europe! (this will only further agitate the enormous bite the travel bug has given me)

Work is going well. The center is located in a very poor part of Rabat, and the change in economic climate is extremely apparent upon exiting the taxi. I think many children are taken to this center simply to be kept out of trouble. My boss Hicham started the center himself and speaks Arabic, French, and English. He and I speak in a (mostly English) mix of English and French. He is trying to help me by speaking French with me, but usually I look so confused he switches to English haha! He is extremely nice, as are Laura and Friederike. Right now our enrollment is very low because of Ramadan, but Hicham anticipates many more children will begin to show up in October. I don't mind the small class though - it's giving me a chance to slowly settle into things. The children especially enjoy drawing and those memory games with animals where you spread out all the little tiles face-down and flip over two at a time, trying to remember where all the matches are.

Before arriving here I was confronted with the reality of how uncomfortable I was made by people with disabilities. In the west things like that are hidden from the public eye and tend to a taboo subject. The reason it made me uncomfortable was because it wasn't something I was used to seeing or having to handle. In Rabat that is far from true. People with disabilities are everywhere. I have seen a few people in the Medina with elephantiasis, several in wheelchairs without the ability to speak or move, and it seems more people than not have a limp of some kind. It makes me want to take extremely good care of the working body I'm blessed to have.