Friday, September 11, 2009

Schedule: SOS Children's Village & Evening with a Moroccan Family

This morning around 11am I went on yet another one of my SAS trips. However I had hopes that this would be life changing, and I was right. First stop of the day was the George Washington school. Here is where all the privileged kids get to go to school. They like to say that this is where Morocco's future leaders are shaped. The school was nice and started about 10 years ago and started with 20 children. They now have around 700 students of all ages. We ate lunch here in the cafeteria and at first it was really really awkward. All the children were looking at us and we were looking at all the other kids. Oh boy. But then something changed… they approached us. Oh my goodness it was so nice.

Now for my favorite part of the day. The SOS children's village. THE KIDS WERE IN SCHOOL….AHHHHHH. I was so upset. We had been there for about 45 minutes before they told us that the kids do not get out of school until 4:00. sadface. So we waited. The kids came home early at about 3:30 and we were able to play with them for 45 minutes. It was fantastic. To see how shy they were and all that we wanted to do was to take pictures and play. Our hearts and souls were completely released in their presence. It was fantastic. I don't know her name but she truly captivated me. All of us received a traditional Moroccan greeting from her, a kiss on each cheek. It was phenomenal. For the next 45 minutes all of us SAS big kids fell completely at home and had a blast playing. I took photographs of course, because that is how I have fun. I even broke out the Polaroid camera… it was a big hit. Those are my most favorite photos. The reactions on the girls faces as they posed with me. I wish that I would have take more. None of us wanted to leave. But eventually we did, and I know that I left with a completely different perspective. Oh how I wanted to stay.

Lastly I ended my day with my Moroccan family. Shady is 11 and his brother Sammie is 17. Shady was quite the talkative little boy. He was fantastic. Both Shady and Sammie go to the George Washington School so their English is much better than their parents. However communication was never an issue. Shady always understood when there was a question so he was able to communicate in French to his parents. But for the most part we all understood and just had to talk a little slower. :D I had an amazing time. Mustapha was the dad. What a gorgeous man and so genuine. He insisted that we call home… remember mom? I was so excited to not have to hunt down a phone card to call home. And I remembered the number off the top of my head! ;) The mom, I can't remember her name. She was beautiful and you could tell that she loved having four girls around. Overall it was a beautiful day.

To be able to call home was my highlight. However the day was fantastic. I have the email and the address of the Mustapha's family and shady has facebook so I will be adding him soon as a friend. I again used my Polaroid camera to take a picture so we are all up there on my magnetic walls. :D I couldn't have planned for a better day and I couldn't have planned for any better company.

The emotions that overflow me right now are miraculous and I can't help but pause and reminisce on the day. I am so very happy.

Ta Ta for now.