Family

Family
This trip has been full of many surprises. Thankfully as the trip has progressed the surprises have increasingly become better. Through many tears, lessons, breakthrough moments, home visits and sharing a house with a bunch of amazing people, this trip is shaping into the best of my life.
Never in my life have I been challenged more. Teaching is not easy, let alone teaching kids who do not even know how to say, “Where is the bathroom?”  This gives me a little more sympathy for teachers. The hardest part is having so many different levels of understanding. One student understands in ten minutes, another student understand in 30 minutes or longer. However, teaching seems to get a little easier every day. It helps to know what you are teaching is helping them. Conversations have gone from “Hello how are you?” with no answer to, “Hello how are you? I am fine thank you, how are you?” or, “What is your name? My name is Zineb and I am very excited.” Never in my life have I seen kids so excited to learn and to go to school. You would think that the kids just heard they were going to Disneyland! Even though the schooling in Rabat does not even give close to the amount of opportunity as ours does in the U.S.A the kids still understand that the opportunity to learn is now. It saddens me to know that the kids here would definitely take hold of the opportunity of schooling in the USA better than some kids in the USA do.
During this trip I have been on two home visits and they were both very similar. Despite the fact that both the houses were immensely different in size, one being fairly big and one being the size of a bathroom, the energy and feelings that the homes gave off where both welcoming and cozy. To be welcoming and kind seems to be a trend here in Rabat. Neither family I visited had much money but they both offered us the food and drink that they did have. It’s very heartwarming. I did not want to take any of the food because I wanted to save the food for the families because they need it, but it is a sign of disrespect.
In both my home visits a very big topic was family. Family is everything and the biggest reason far greater than any other for life. In the USA we love our families but here in Morocco you really love your families. They think we are crazy when we tell them we leave the house at 18. We think it is crazy for someone to live in their parent’s house at age 30 but here in Morocco that’s normal or sometimes even expected. One of the mothers said, “I cannot live without my family.” You love your family so much here that you never leave them or you live in a one room house with two other people and until recently, only share one bed.
“I would do anything for my children especially if it meant they would be better than me” said one mom. Would all my readers think about why in the USA we are so eager to leave our roots, our home and our love so soon? Sorry Mom and Dad, you going to have to try really hard to get me out of the house.
Beslama,
                Karsen




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