My Moroccan Sisters

Dear parents: If you ever want to discourage your teenage daughters from becoming pregnant teenage daughters, I have discovered the most effective method of birth control on the planet. Send them to work at an orphanage on bath day.

I really love the work that I am doing at Le Nid – truly, I do. Holding those little babies and seeing them smile is something I could do every day forever. But dear sweet lord did I need prayers for patience today. I get emotional and upset so easily, and it isn’t easy to control that when I’m in the middle of an assembly line of babies being fed, changed, bathed, and medicated. It makes you want to scream and take all the children somewhere far away, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Also, screaming babies are screaming babies; it grates on your nerves regardless of how much compassion you feel. So this morning was exhausting and heavy, but I still loved being there. The sound of babies’ laughter has officially become one of my favorite songs. There’s a little boy with the most beautiful brown eyes that I love to hold, and today I sang him to sleep. He giggled when I started singing and continued smiling until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. I know it will be one of my favorite memories.

Cooking class this afternoon definitely revealed my personality, namely my complete lack of ability to be organized. Today’s American recipe was brownies. As soon as I got to the association, I realized I had forgotten the butter in the refrigerator, so Amina had to take me to a corner store to buy some. Then later, I was literally in the middle of mixing the batter when I realized I had also forgotten the eggs. Amina managed to save the day again and ran (literally) to buy me eggs. Next it occurred to me that there was not an appropriate brownie baking pan available to me, so I poured the batter in a skillet and stuck the whole thing in the oven. I was quite embarrassed by this point, so of course then I burned the brownies. I wasn’t really hitting any home runs in the baking department today, I’ll tell you that. But is anyone really surprised?

Things turned out, as they usually do. I scraped the burnt off of the brownies (my mom taught me well), and they came out delicious. We ended up with another great week of America meets Morocco baking class and a ton of great tasting treats. The Moroccan gatos this week were a sesame shortbread cookie with powdered sugar coating and a savory gato with corn meal, tuna, and onion. (Explanation – Gatos can be sweet cookie type treats or savory snackish treats.) I am actually thinking about trying to make the tuna ones at home, so we will see if I can continue my terrible baking streak in the states.

To top off today’s class, Amina gave me a beautiful bracelet and a ring as a late birthday gift. I tried to give it back, but she insisted. They even sang happy birthday to me (in multiple languages, of course). The women at IPDF are absolutely amazing, fun-loving, and kind people who make me feel so blessed to spend time with them. They’ve taught me a lot about being a support system for other women and how powerful those relationships can be. It has brought new meaning to my understanding of sisterhood. We are all sisters, and it’s so important to be a mentor or friend to another woman. There could be a time when those relationships are all she has.

I have to get to sleep now because tomorrow we are up bright and early to head to Asilah. I’m hoping I’ll be able to update this weekend, but if I can’t you’ll hear all about it on Sunday.

Goodnight!