And we're almost off!

Sorry so many blogs in so few days! I am trying to catch up because we are taking off tomorrow at 4:00 AM! The girls and I, that is. We have a large then small (with Mom & sibs/families) Friesen reunion near Kansas City. Gerald has to stay and teach and will be joining us in Winnipeg July 15 . Today has been a hard day - thinking about being away from each other (I know, it's not that long - it's just that we haven't had to be apart at all up until this point). We are also saying goodbye to our good friends, the Wrytzens and most of the girls' teachers, some of whom we know & love very much. To top it all off, our much-loved furball of a cat disappeared Friday night and we have not seen him since. The girls say so many goodbyes that I hate to see them say another one! I know we will get through today and have fun on the other side of the ocean, though!

And here's proof I got to talk to Buzz Aldrin last Saturday! A bunch of the kids were invited to a photo shoot with him (which was kind of a joke since so many people were crowded around). Then we walked up to a reception. I was looking around the kids I was in charge of when there he was! He said, "Hi! You don't see many blonds around here!" Then he told me how his luggage almost got lost. So he's a pretty normal guy too! It was a really special day because we also had the surprise of meeting some very special kids we haven't seen for a long time. I had a grin on my face most of the day!

As usual, probably won't write much if at all this summer. I'll be back (like a bad cold) in late August!

The Arab Spring

I had written a whole post on this, but can't find it. To summarize briefly, Morocco has also had protests for change. At first it was just for parliamentary changes, but people have become more and more bold asking for a reduction of the king's power. So the king has responded by listening to requests and has ordered a new constitution to be written. There is to be a referendum July 1. But many still say the changes do not go far enough. A year ago or even a few months ago, I would have been willing to make predictions on the future. Now I really have no idea. All I know is that the king is listening and that hopefully Morocco will be the model Arab country in how to walk this fine line between maintaining tradition and moving forward.

Here's a helpful article about where things are now:

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/06/18/153744.html

End of year

Last Thursday was the end-of-year program for the French System. They put on quite the show after hours and hours of practice. We are forever thankful to the French system and its teachers for teaching our children to read, write and speak in French fluently. After a very hard start, it is rewarding to see this day! Their Arabic has improved greatly too and Katrina is able to read and write pages and pages in Arabic, though comprehension is still hard (that gives you an idea of how it is taught).





Now the school is switching back to the American system. We are happy about this because we did have issues with the French system (I won't go into the gory details). But we are concerned the girls will lose their French and are pushing for a strong French program next year. The Moroccan parents remain torn and upset about the decision and we do empathize with them. The French degree opens all doors to them in Morocco, whereas an American Diploma opens very few. Plus, the previous American system was very low on quality. But we hope and pray that the majority of our friends will stay in the school and give it a chance.





I have been told I will have a half-time place in the school but I don't yet know where. I sure hope I find out before the first day of classes! To give you an idea of the confusion about the school, I was asked for my resume 4 times and offered a job by five different people! But finally we have the new director and hopefully the confusion will come to an end!

Kendra - a monkey in "Hansel & Gretel"

Katrina - a fairy in "La Belle au Bois Dormant" - "Sleeping Beauty"

Graduation

Another school year is over! Graduation was celebrated June 18 with all the usual fanfare. Buzz Aldrin was the speaker and I even got to talk to him!

Gerald is in charge of the graduate program so he got to be on stage shaking hands of his students which was a special thing for him since he gets to know them so well. Gerald is still teaching in the summer session until mid-July.

The quality of the students this spring and summer has dramatically gone down. We are not sure why exactly - but our guess is the standards for admitting new students have gone way down. It's been more frustrating to teach the lower-level classes because of this.

Some of Gerald's Graduate students. By the time they graduate some of them will have had Gerald for 3 classes so he gets to know them well.

Brahim, a very energetic, brilliant and opinionated guy!

Us & Them

To end Friendship Club this year I thought I'd do a pantomime skit. One day as I was driving home from Meknes by myself with the music playing, the whole idea for the show came to me very quickly - so I can only thank God for that! This is the first time I've ever done anything like this and it was so fun. We could have used a few more hours of practice, but oh well! Below the pictures is the synopsis & the links to watch it. Enjoy!

Mean girls







Nice girls!

US AND THEM: Synopsis

The Meeting: Two different groups of people meet and feel mistrust, prejudice and suspicion towards each other. They begin to have small conflicts which lead to pride, gossip, mocking, arguing and cruel words.

The Wall is Built: The two groups decide to build a wall between them to be separated from each other. But the problems grow as they throw accusations and lies at the other group.

The Wall Comes Down: The wall does not last long and it is torn down so the groups can fight and yell at each other face to face. But eventually each person collapses under the weight of their anger and sadness. It appears that Hatred, Conflict and Despair have won.

Love, Peace and Hope Arrive: Then comes Love, Peace and Hope. Together they push out Hatred, Conflict and Despair and try to revive the two groups. But it is difficult work and they are discouraged. Finally people begin to respond and get up. But they are still not willing to talk to each other until one brave soul crosses the line to talk to another. Both of them apologize and forgive each other which inspires the others to do the same.

A New Beginning: Finally the two groups join to form one group which dances together. Then members from both groups begin to talk and get to know each other discovering that though they are indeed very different from each other, they can still be friends. Together they discover that being friendly, comforting, being positive, helping each other and cooperating takes effort but is worthwhile. Once again the two groups join together to dance a truly joyful dance of friendship.

Love, Peace and Hope have won!


Here are the youtube links:

First time - filmed by Kolin Gonclaves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu9oC2bikLs
Second time - filmed by Jonathan Wyrtzen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dcUfKfHcLw

Daniel's visit

A few weeks ago, my brother Daniel (far left), came to visit. He spent most of the time charging around to villages in a whirlwind trip Ron had planned - installing solar panels and eating tajines at midnight (yes, that is dinner time!). Then they came up to the university and spoke in the engineering class about renewable energy. They did a fabulous job of presenting and got an amazingly warm response from the faculty who want to work with both of them! It was really an encouraging time considering a year ago Ron was about to be deported! The next day we took Daniel on a sinkhole hike with a bunch of other families and then got back together for a day of fun with Ron's crew. It was a privilege to see my brothers being able to work together. They are all so spread out, this was a unique opportunity!

Chief Kendra

Here she is - Kendra at age eight! It has been fun this year to see her sense of humor develop. She loves to laugh and make jokes - her spontaneous ones being funnier than the ones she tries very hard to make up!

For her birthday, Kendra wanted an Asterix & Obelix theme. These characters are from French comic books about a tiny village in Gaul/France which is the last to resist the Romans thanks to these two brave fellows and a lot of magic potion which makes them super-human strong.

Here the girls/Gauls were told the Romans have stolen all the Cheetos for the party - they must go and find them! Talk about a sneaky way to get kids to hike :) They found all but one package which a shepherd had found instead and happily ate!

There she is - Chief Kendra - being carried on her shield!

The famous magic potion. Just after I poured it, a bright green frog jumped in! So we had to come up with a different magic potion!

Most parents, being of the sensible sort, decided not to drive off-road to our spot so Gerald carted a few loads of kids down in our friend's car! We're not sure exactly how many we fit in there!