gifts

Today instead of sleeping in and probably not doing homework all day, I woke up at 7am, got on a bus and headed about an hour south of Meknes with a portion of my study abroad group and about 20 Moroccan girls from my University.

We made this odyssey in our lovingly used charter bus that has taken me all over Moroccan in style. The floor of this beauty is green astro-turf and when you sit on the seats a cloud of dust always comes up. I no longer question this occurrence or the cleanliness of the vehicle because it is, most definitely, cleaner than most of the destinations that it carries us to.

But that's beside the point- today our bus was filled with strangers in hijabs and strong perfume. We listened to loud foreign music and danced and sang for the entirety of the journey. The girls taught us calls in Arabic and forced us into the aisles to clap and shake and dance. I could only laugh at myself like I did at the hammam- being completely wrapped up in another culture.

We journeyed, or should I say danced, south and visited several different rural villages where we handed out bags of sugar, olive oil, couscous and tea- things considered nutritional staples in the Moroccan diet. Along with these packages of sustenance, we gave out clothes that the girls had collected around the city.

It was awkward and confusing most of the time. We Americans had no way to communicate with the villagers we were approaching and we instead had to rely on body languages- which is always fun. One thing I am particularly glad for in this culture that continues to reveal itself to me as a mystery, are the traditions and rituals of greeting. When greeting women you greet them with an arabic phrase meaning, "Peace be upon you" and you kiss them on each cheek. It's really a beautiful and intimate moment to partake in- exchanging kisses with these strangers who live in the mountains of rural Morocco- and it will be something that is forever engrained in my mind.

I brought along some suckers and got to hand them out to the children that we met. Their eyes lit up and one girl pulled me down to her level and gave me a sweet little kiss on the cheek. Her mother then invited me and two other girls into the courtyard of their house and chattered on in a foreign dialect her thanks for the things we brought to them. I was humbled by the image of God made manifest through his creation. A woman who may not even know her creator personally. I pray that the Holy Spirit will move in her and reveal to her the truth about her salvation and not the lostness that is around her. I feel burdened for the lost that we encountered, but hopeful that my God can move in ways far beyond my comprehension.

All in all, it was a beautiful day. The Lord gave us bright skies and mild weather, welcoming households with pots of tea and little cakes and the beginning of a chaco tan-line.

alhamduli'llah,