At times in our lives we look back and wonder how we got here. I cannot believe that I have been in Morocco for a month now. I have become accustom to eating only when a bell is rang to let me know that all the food is out and I can start my plates, even though I may have been waiting in line for a few minutes already (depending on the meal). I have even gotten used to throwing my toilet paper in the garbage since you can't flush it down the toilet (yes, poopy toilet paper and all). That one took me a bit to get used to but now it is just a natural thing to do. Surprisingly, I have enjoyed living in a house with so many other people. In the beginning I needed my own space and got annoyed that there was not even a corner of the house where you could go to read in piece and quite; or even just to think! Now I look back at last month when I got here and the experiences I have been blessed to have. What I have seen and done has been incredible. Actually what is really incredible is how it has changed me. I have been forced to live with people that aren't like me, which has taught me how to view things in different ways. In lives we pick our friends, people that are like us, people that share same qualities and interests (after all that is why they are your friends) but in situations like this you are forced to be with friends that aren't like you, that don't believe in the same things as you. And you have to get along because if you don't you will be exiled out of the house :) Voted off the the island we call Cross Cultural Solutions of Morocco. I have been to some of the most indigenous places of Morocco and found some of the most beautiful people. Smiling and happy, offering me tea, even though they live in a cave and have no hot water and minimal electricity; nor do they even speak the same language as me, but some how we can understand each other perfectly. Teaching "street children" English, the same children who's parents make them beg on the streets during the weekends. Let me tell you Mondays can be hard because some of the kids are still "drugged" from the sleeping pills or NyQuil that their parents feed them in order to get them to sit for hours on end begging for money. Even with the hard upbringing and the unfairness of how their lives are playing out right now, they are the sweetest kids. I have gotten attached to each and everyone of them. I cant imagine what it is going to be like leaving them behind. Through all of these experiences I have learned that life is precious and petty little things really dont matter. What matters are the moments like when I walk into the class room and a bunch of 3 year old faces light up and in English tell me Good Morning all in unison. The same kids that in the states would be consider helpless (or even worse...dare I say it...useless). These kids that at 3 years old are learning not only Arabic but also French and, because of me and a few other volunteers, English here in a third world country! It amazes me how little these people have and yet how smart and kind they all are. Why does America value money and status? It is the heart that truly matters!!!!