what stands out

When I got home, everybody had many questions for me about my trip. Most of the questions revolved around food, Spanish men, and camels. Everybody always asks "what was your favorite part" or "what was the most memorable part." This question can often be stereotypically answered by saying I loved riding a camel on the African coast. Or the most memorable thing being standing on the walls of the Alcazar looking across at the Cathedral and the Giralda all lit up at night. But after a conversation I had with a member of the Merrimack community yesterday, I want to be able to answer the question "What stands out the most about the trip?" My answer to that comes after a little thought and reflection. At Merrimack I studied Psychology and Sociology and accepted a fellowship position to work with the Greater Lawrence Community Partnership for Children starting in July. So my passion is working with kids.

What stands out for me the most about this trip was the children we were able to meet and spend time with. We spent a day with the program Hope for Sale, and the kids were just so happy to have us around. We spent a solid 45 minutes at one point just taking pictures with all of the kids who were from 5- 16 years old. It was just so awesome to see that we made their day by just hanging out, singing songs with them, and taking a few pictures.

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Later on in the week, we went up to a mountain villiage to see how differently their lives were as opposed to city life. And we basically added 13 more people to their family. Immediately, they welcomed us in to their home. A few different families from the villiage were there and there were about 6 or 8 kids around. None of them spoke English, but I got to sit in the living room and play hand- clap games and laugh with them. The kids thought it was so funny to climb on me like a jungle gym and their laughs when we tickled them could absolutely lighten up your day. We spent the day there and then the older 2 girls took us on a hike up more of the mountain side. Of course all of the kids came along, and at least 3 or 4 of us had a child hanging on for a piggy back the entire way. We walked and walked and finally came across the most beautiful view. (below is me, and my piggy back passenger- to the right- with the amazing view of the mountains behind me)

What stands out to me the most about this trip were the kids that we got to touch the lives of. Granted we only spent a view hours with them but it was so humbling for them to be so happy to spend time with us laughing and playing games and running around. Our Moroccan Exchange leader, Katie, said to us as we were driving away from the mountain town that it was so much more important what we did with the kids, rather than bring them gifts and toys. We were able to spend quality time with them and then when we left we were able to collect up some money and donate it to the community program in that village to help the kids learn and stay active. Our presence, instead of presents, is what really counted. At the end of the day, these kids really touched our lives as well. We had traveled thousands of miles and seen the biggest, most intricate sights that Spain and Morocco had to offer us. But what stands out to us the most are these little balls of energy that opened their arms to us and found their way into our hearts.