Open Arms

Ok Guys, in my last updating of the blog I left out an entry! Here ya go:

9/17/09

Rabat and Sale are sister cities (like Dallas/Ft. Worth). Many volunteers teach English or French in Sale, which tends to be the poorer of the two cities. There are some shanty towns there that are pretty discouraging to see. One of the centers there invited all the Projects Abroad volunteers to break the fast with the children tonight, and it was an absolute blast.

As unfriendly as some adults here can be toward Westerners, the children are completely enthralled with us and were literally mobbing us when we arrived, fighting each other to be close to us. They all surrounded us, each one eagerly asking "Comment tu t'appelles?"

A word on that - I love the confused look people get on their faces when I tell them my name. I usually follow it with "Comme le mois Avril, mais en anglais - April." If they speak French they usually understand a little better then, but their pronunciations still sound like a mix of "apple" and "opera." I love it, and it is absolutely fine with me because I have a lot of trouble pronouncing their names as well haha. It's funny, I never thought about it before, but I have a much harder time pronouncing things if I can't imagine a spelling in my head.

The food was amazing, and there was music and dancing, and some of the older kids who take dance and circus class at the school performed. Above is a picture of Me and the French guy Simon and Allah (Allah married me and Simon at the dinner table - that's fine). Also are some photos of Simon DJing along with his little helper.