Favorable Changes

So, the reception with the SIT kids went well enough, but we were all much more interested in the abundant cookies than in cross-group socializing.

I did a terrible thing. I practically ran away from the Khadiri house. While I was there for the lunch break, I grabbed my big duffel and left to drop it off at the center. Upon my return, Mother asked where I went (she hadn't seen me leave with the bag). I said that I had forgotten something at school. I ate lunch with Father as Mother had long since decided to not eat with the family for several days. He went back to watching TV, Mother went to the terrace to do laundry (after having asked me where my clothes were), and I grabbed the rest of my stuff and left the house with nothing but a small note and the key remaining in my alcove.

My new family is absolutely wonderful. Their house looks like a Moroccan house. I was force fed cookies and mint tea 'til I almost popped last night. My sister, Hanane, is six months pregnant with her first child. She and her husband live upstairs. I have a 20-something-year-old brother Touriq who stopped by for a few minutes. My mother is one of the sweetest and funniest ladies I have ever met, and she is small and fierce to boot. I have a real room with a real door, a real bed, a real pillow, and real shelves to put my stuff on. I am so happy to not be living out of my suitcase anymore! The bed is so comfortable, the house is so warm, everything smells good (not mildewy like the last house) and I still have a western toilet and hot water! I am so happy now! Hanane and her husband Mohammad showed me their three wedding albums, each showing a few of her eight total kaftans (fancy Moroccan robe) and the henna and the partying and the honeymoon in Marrakesh. We watched a homemade video of a friend's baby's baptism which included the slaughtering of a lamb. I was informed that this baby's not due until a few weeks after I leave but I was informed of a party for him/her the first of April and that I will be attending and there will be some shopping done to have me properly dressed for the occasion! We ate dinner (all together!) and it was this amazing little bitty ball-shaped pasta each maybe a quarter of an inch in diameter with LAMB! It was my first time eating lamb at home!

Bottom line - I AM NOW SO HAPPY THAT I AM ALMOST SUSPICIOUS! THINGS HAVE IMPROVED TENFOLD IN JUST A MATTER OF TWELVE HOURS!

Of course, there had to be some sort of come-uppance. It came in the form of Mother Khadiri walking past me in the street on my way to school this morning. I live on the opposite side of the medina, and this happened at 9am, when she should be working at the school. She stopped me and kept insisting that I tell her what she and the family had done wrong. Rather than insult the woman to her face, I kept insisting that it was I who needed to change and that I had come to Morocco with the intention of changing families a time or two in order to have a more well-rounded experience. She dismissed this by saying that all families are the same. It was incredibly hard for me not to laugh at the point. I kept assuring her that I am the kind of person who is always seeking change. She didn't really believe me; I am sure. The point is that now I have changed and I am so much happier and that is that.