The baby has arrived!

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So I am not sure if I said this before, but the whole time I have been here my program director, Madiha, has been pregnant. We got an email at the very end of the break that the baby had finally arrived! This was especially exciting because we have pretty much been on the edges of our seats trying to guess the gender...turns out she is a girl! Her name is Safiya and she is TINY. Aliya, her two year old sister is fascinated but also quite jealous (as to be expected). There was a party for her birth the other day, as is customary to Moroccan culture once the baby is about ten days old. We had amazing food, pastilla made of almonds, vegetable tartes, artichoke and cheese wraps, and then piles and piles of fruit. On top of that there was non-stop tea. It always strikes me as funny, however, that very loud bands are hired to sing at these parties, since the baby is so young and her ears must be so fragile. It's culture though! And definitely very fun. Well I need to head out and do my homework and I will update on Thursday about our Eid AlShkr dinner. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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