May the work begin...

Wow. Today was the first day of the orphanage. Afterwards we had a house meeting where we were asked to explain how our first day volunteering went in one word, and mine was “overwhelmed”. I could seriously end my blog post with simply that word, and it would sum up exactly what I was and am feeling about the orphanage!

I don’t think I can get into it too much tonight; it’s far too raw and I really don’t want to start crying again. The bottom line is I’m glad I’m there and I know this will be a life-changing experience. There was the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I’m just plain emotionally exhausted from it all. I promise to tell you all about it in the next couple of days, but for now I think I need some more time to process it all. I’ve heard the first day is the hardest, and so I look forward for what is to come.

After a rough morning we went on a tour of Rabat, which was super cool. We took public transit into downtown to the medina which was an experience in itself for me as a Bellevue Gal! It was much easier than I thought and it was quick and affordable. The medina is absolutely amazing and there was so much to take in, including: beautiful carpets, leather purses, colorful hand-woven sandals, fresh spices, and even a bucket full of pet turtles for only 20 dirhams each (about $2.50). The colors were unbelievable and I couldn’t get over how beautiful yet inexpensive some of the stuff was! There were carts much like our hot dog carts that have fresh orange juice, men on large bicycles with huge bushels of vegetables in the side baskets, and women with itty bitty babies tied to their back. It was a really cool spot and I can’t wait to go back and check it out when we have some more time.

We also went to the Kasbah des Oudaia, which is a large fort next to the medina built by the Almohads back in AD 1150. Inside is a beautiful garden, amazing blue and white walled walkways, a wonderful Café for mint tea overlooking the ocean, and so much more! My stupid camera battery died halfway through so I’m going to have to go back and get more shots (Side note: Mom, any idea how your camera warns you it’s going to die?!).

Finally, we finished at the Hassan Tower, which was intended to be the largest mosque ever before construction was halted due to the King’s death. Once again, it was very beautiful and a huge honor to see such an important part of the Muslim world! While we were walking around I noticed a few people signing near the water. I decided to go over and see if they were able to understand my American Sign Language (ASL), and while there were some differing signs, they totally could! It was such a trip to meet them and it felt so ironic that I was finally able to converse with locals in a full-on 5ish minute conversation, all the while never opening my mouth. They spoke French Sign Language which ASL is largely created from, so many of the signs are the same or similar (except for where were you born, which they asked by creating a pregnant stomach. I was quite adamant that I was not pregnant, and finally figured it out after some more clarification!). It was a pretty neat experience; I could have chatted with them all afternoon.

Well, I told you that I wouldn’t blog a lot, and alas I did it again. I guess it’s my blog so I can blog as much as I want, and you can choose how much you care to listen to ;) I was going to leave you with a quick video from the medina but I’ve waited over an hour for it to post without any luck; pictures of today will follow in the next couple of days. As a side note, I’ve had a few of you say that you cannot comment because you don’t have an account- so sorry about that! I’ll look into it to see if there’s a way you still can. I’m still available via e-mail as well. Hope everything is good in the states!