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Published: October 22nd 2008
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Oh the tears!
Today was our last day working in the Kasbah, and how do bonds like that get established so quickly? We were only with these woman for such a short time and they have left a lasting impact on us both. I guess when there are no words all that is left is character and heart. These woman have it in spades. They kept making hand motions to us that was something similar to don't get on the plane. I thought that I was keeping it together really well until Wedid struggled to find the words to tell me that she loved me in English and gave me a little silver ring right off of her finger. Hadisha and mom were pretty much the same story, not only did they cry yesterday, but today too. Wedid and I walked arm in arm all the way to the car, only to look back and see mom and Hadisha with their arms around each other.
The girls didn't let us leave without painting our hands with Henna and I was surprised at how cool it makes your hands feel. It was way better than a manicure and the perfect
way to combat the heat on a warm day!
Mom has been feeling really under the weather since yesterday and it was hard for her to go out today because she was and still is so exhausted. We both didn't sleep well last night and we laid awake talking to each other until late in the night and woke up to do it again early in this morning. I was so sick of laying awake that I got up at 5:30 this morning and asked Mohammed made me warm milk. He looked at me like I had couscous for brains when I made this request of course, but being the gracious man he is, he made it anyways. I guess no one has told him that warm milk helps you sleep.
Aziz's family is bending over backwards to make us feel at home. We keep telling them to stop fussing, but they don't listen (maybe we just aren't so good at communicating it in Arabic). Last night I simply asked if I could go and sit on the roof and Mohammad rushed up there to lay down a clean mat on a bench. I told him that I
was just going to sit on the foor, but how many Canadians does he meet that prefer the floor to a chair? So to his surprise, when he laid the mat down, on the floor I went. I was happy as a cuccumber, when all of the sudden he re-appeared to screw in a new light bulb so that I would have light. I told him that the light from the stars and the computer was enough... but again, he didn't listen. They are so kind to us. It is amazing how quickly our family grows when we travel overseas!
Last night I went out to Aziz's parent's home with him and Havid at about ten. They were just sitting down to eat dinner with each other. They offered me some Tagine, but, alas, us crazy Canadians eat at like 8 when we are here and I was already full. That didn't stop them from trying to get me to eat more. Coolie, coolie they say (something along the lines of "eat! eat!"). Sitting there watching them interact with one another was WAY better than any socioloy class that I could have ever taken, and I managed to pick
up the basics of what was being said even though they didn't speak much English to me. The moment I walked through the door, Aziz's neice Waffa, was showering me in kisses and wouldn't let me go until she fell asleep. After dinner she got up to brush her teeth and I came along just to see how my star student was doing. She didn't dissapoint!
As a goodbye to us we are getting together with the family to have a family dinner. I think that they are feeding us couscous and we are looking forward to it. The only couscous we have tried was from a hotel restaurant and clearly home cooked will win hands down.
Tomorrow we are off to the desert for our Camel trek and we will spend the night in a Berber tent in the dunes. How adventurous!
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Karyn
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Making a Difference
Nicole and Rachel you both should be so proud of yourselves for making such a difference in the lives of the ladies in the kasbah. They will not forget how you touched their lives. Nic I love the pic of the night view out the apartment window...it is lovely! Rachel, hope you are feeling better...you gotta primed for your camel ride.