Leaving a new friend is harder than I thought....

This photo was taken on Valentines Day 2010. Mariama is one of the many cleaning ladies at our school. She cleans mine and Gail's rooms at the end of every day.

Mariama and I have become very good friends, even though I speak very little Arabic and she very little English, we seem to manage to communicate and have developed a special friendship.

I just made the connection and found out that her three year old son is at the school every day. She took Gail and I over to meet him the other day after school was out. He is adorable and just as cute as she is!

Well, today I took a bag of clothes in to school to give to Mariama. They were things from the winter season that I didn't want to take back to the US with me. I thought she or someone in her family could use them. Somehow I got across to her that I was leaving to go back to America in June. Then she asked if I would return again for school in the fall. When I said no....we both had tears in our eyes. She asked for a photo of the two of us and I promised I would give her that. 

She left the room with the bag of clothes after thanking me and giving me a huge hug. I stood there crying, surprised that it hit me harder than I had expected. Some things in life just can't be explained.....the bond of friendship is one of them. 

I know in my heart that I can't come back here for another year, but I also know it will be hard to say good bye and tough to jump back into my old world. I'm praying God will help me do both of those things without too many tears!

A Valentine gift Mariama made from real flowers!

I'm so thankful to have had this year to add to my life journey. What an incredible, challenging, awesome experience I have had here in Morocco! Thanking God for SO many, many blessings.....for keeping me safe, for bringing so many wonderful people into my life, for allowing me to travel to places I thought I would never see, and for letting me learn more about myself!

Well, this Friday is the end of our 3rd Quarter, soooo 9 weeks to go! I'm busy with grades this week and making lesson plans for the coming weeks. We have our spring break in two weeks. Everyone is reallllly looking forward to the break. I am headed to southern Spain for the week with my new roommate, Judy. I'll send photos! :)