Scalene Triangles

The most often repeated commandment in the Bible is "Do not fear." It's in there over two hundred times. That means a couple of things, if you think about it. It means we are going to be afraid, and it means we shouldn't let fear boss us around. Before I realized we were supposed to fight fear, I thought of fear as a subtle suggestion in our subconscious designed to keep us safe, or more important, keep us from getting humiliated. And I guess it serves that purpose. But fear isn't only a guide to keep us safe; it's also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life. 
--Donald Miller

A couple days ago I learned something pretty insightful in one of the unlikeliest of places.

As I've mentioned before, along with meeting Moroccan students I have made friends with several other international students. One of these is Rafael, a recently married college student from New Orleans. I met him while waiting for our interviews in Arabic during placement exams and now when we see him around, we say hello and sometimes he comes to chat a bit. A couple days ago I noticed the tattoo that he has on his arm, just above and on the inner curve of his elbow. It is a tattoo of two scalene triangles (just in case you aren't familiar with what they are), one red and one blue. I asked him about it, if it had any special significance or meaning to him. His answer was "I like triangles." In further conversation, he explained how his girlfriend (now his wife) wanted to get a tattoo and he agreed to get one with her, and decided that two triangles would be cool. And so he got two scalene triangles tattooed on his arm (his wife also got two triangles, although hers are equilateral). The story is quite random and getting triangles as a tattoo is quite the rash decision, but Rafael is a rather spur of the moment kind of person. Although this attitude could easily be taken to an unhealthy extreme, I found his philosophy convicting and profound.

Triangles are cool. Why not just go for something rather than over thinking it, adding it to the enormous To Do list of things that never get done? I am a person full of ideas but don't have much when it comes to follow through. (If I actually did everything I think would be great to do or that I say I will do "at some point"--which usually means never--they would have made a movie about me by now.) I easily get distracted and caught up in the mundane, whatever is most comfortable for the moment, forgetting about the goals that I've set for myself, the commitments that I have to others, and the purpose that I have to glorify Christ. So I was really impressed to see someone who decides to do something, impulsive as it is, and then actually goes for it. Does this mentality probably get Rafael into predicaments? I'm sure that it does. But I bet he rarely has to wonder about the what if's and if only's that I constantly face.

This is one of the biggest lessons, so far, that Morocco has taught me. Life is precious, time is precious, and God is offering me an opportunity within every day. I don't want to be standing before Him wishing I had gone for it, that I had relished each minute for all it was worth, that I had taken the chances that were given to me, that I had lived a story worth remembering that could inspire others and honor Him.

In order for that to happen, I need to make myself more uncomfortable more often. This was reiterated in me today as I was reading A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (the quote at the beginning of this entry was taken from this). I'm learning that I'm a person full of fear, and my biggest fear is that I will be uncomfortable. The day I left for Morocco, I was wishing for all I was worth that something would break the plane or my passport would go missing or a meteor would crash from the sky, anything that would cause an obstacle so I would have a legitimate excuse not to go. Coming here is probably the scariest thing that I have ever done, because I am not comfortable here. I'm constantly reminded that things here are foreign. But there have been moments in these past couple weeks where I have felt more keenly alive than ever before. Fear makes us real, and overcoming it is one of the greatest feelings in all the world. There is definitely such a thing as discretion and I need it, but at the same time I don't want to let fear trick me into leading a mundane life anymore. It blows my mind that over 200 times in Scripture it says "DO NOT FEAR." It must be pretty important. But coming to think of it, God could do such incredible things in me, things I can't even wrap my head around, if He could show me how to stop letting fear get in the way.

So, I highly doubt that coming out of this trip I will be getting tattoos of triangles on my arm. But hopefully I will be living a little more intentionally in my day to day life. Just one more Donald Miller quote to finish off:

If I learned anything...it's that there is a force in the world that doesn't want us to live good stories. It doesn't want us to face our issues, to face our fear and bring something beautiful into the world. I guess what I'm saying is, I believe God wants us to create beautiful stories, and whatever it is that isn't God wants us to create meaningless stories, teaching the people around us that life just isn't worth living.

Face our fear, and bring something beautiful into the world.

Til later,

Al Akhawayn

First of all, if you haven't had a chance, check out the pictures linked to this blog (up on the top tabs)! I've finally had a chance to upload them all and am putting the best of them out there so that you can all see some of the things that words can't really describe. So yep!

Since this weekend we've been at Al Akhawayn University. It is located in Ifrane, which is a small resort town that is more resemblent of Switzerland than Morocco. This is one of the only places in the country that gets snow in the wintertime. The university here is absolutely beautiful though, and aside from some evening thunderstorms we've had nothing but sunshine so far.

AUI offers an incredible chance to meet people from literally all over the world. One of the main goals in establishing the university was to create a place where people of all cultures, backgrounds, and belief systems could learn together and engage in dialogue. The origin of the university is actually very interesting. It was founded in 1993 by the kings of Morocco and Saudi Arabia (the name Al Akhawayn means "the two brothers"). There was an oil spill off the coast of Morocco that the Saudi king offered a large endowment to pay for, but then the wind blew the oil away from the coast and the money was then decided to be spent on establishing the university. It is a picturesque campus, with red-roofed buildings that look like they've come straight from the Alps, beautiful landscaping and other architecture, and a grand mosque at the center of campus.

Already I have met students not only from Morocco, but also from Sweden, Spain, Italy, Austria, Somalia, France, and several other places (also from many of the American states.) I can't get over how nice and friendly everyone here is. It's so wonderful. Walking around campus you can easily strike up a conversation with nearly anyone. Moroccan hospitality is really difficult to match. It makes me feel inspired to be more hospitable in my own life. Anyone who knows me or my family very well knows that hospitality is a big part of our lives, we have dozens of people going in and out of our house each week. But my hospitality doesn't always go much deeper than my actions. That's maybe what makes Moroccans so special: not only are the hospitable by offering you a seat or some tajine or serving hot mint tea, but their demeanor really is what makes you feel so welcome. Hospitality really is, more than an action, a heart attitude. I'm sure anyone that I have served in that way has been able to tell whether or not I really feel they are welcome.

To be honest, here it is hard to see Morocco as part of the "Arab World" that we associate with terrorist attacks and religious fanatics, or even with nomads on camels and belly dancers. The Morocco I am experiencing is a warm and welcoming place rich in culture and tradition, which holds tightly to its belief systems yet at the same time is laid back and makes you feel right at home. There is consistently a fascinating blend of the customary and the novel, such as seeing a girl wearing full hijab walking alongside her best friend whose hair is uncovered and is wearing a tank top and short shorts. Such are the contrasts of Moroccan culture.

Today was actually the beginning of our classes. I am taking Basic Arabic 2 and History of the Arab World. It is a fortunate thing that I got my schedule on time, others who are here for a full semester and have 5-6 classes to work out have not been so lucky. The laid back Moroccan attitude apparently also carries over to administration... Tom, Emily, Chandlor and I (the four of us doing the humanities program) spent a total of 5 hours just waiting to find out which classes we would be taking. From there Tom and I had to work through network failures and not having the information to get into our university online accounts to take our Arabic placement tests. We did have diagnostic Arabic interviews on Sunday, which were an interesting experience. Although I have taken three classes in Arabic (a total of a semester and a half), I by NO means am fluent. This interview was basically a very nice Moroccan professor smiling at me and saying things in Arabic much faster than I could understand, than me having her repeat them and trying to formulate an answer in some mess of a sentence (usually a hybrid of Arabic and Spanish because I was so nervous, I kept on saying "si" instead of "na'am). The online test was nearly just as bad. However, we were placed in a class that is basic enough to keep us sane and difficult enough to offer a challenge, so I am happy with how things worked out there. (Only about 15 minutes before class started were we informed where the class would be, once again the efficiency of Moroccan administration...)

It has been nice too to be able to grow in relationships with the other WPI students who are with me. Since projects are still in formulation, more or less, we have had a decent amount of spare time to explore Ifrane or just hang out on campus together. Things are bound to get busier as the term goes on, but for now it has been so nice to have time away from a full, rushed schedule and to just really spend time together. We already feel like family. Maybe it is just because it is such a contrast from the regular WPI climate, which is so fast paced and busy and often stressful, but it seems like this sort of time for relationship building is very special and rare. It's one of my favorite things about the trip so far. I am too, however, trying to get to know some more Moroccan students here in my time studying at AUI.

Also, tonight marks the official 1 week since I left the US... it has gone by fast so far, but at the same time I feel like I have been here much longer than that. I am so thankful for the time I get to enjoy here.

Til later,

Aftertastes of Mint

I got my charger and found a sweet spot for the internet, after another full day here in Rabat. There's a lot to catch up on here! I'm sorry if my thoughts are disjointed.

Leaving home on Wednesday was both chaotic and emotional. Props to my amazing family for getting up early to help me finish packing and making sure that I was as prepared as possible to leave. After finishing up we went to the airport and said our goodbyes. It's a strange thing to leave your family (this trip is the longest I'll have ever been from home.) Although two months isn't such a long time, for me it's an eternity as far as being away from my family is concerned. I miss them so much already and I'm already so excited to come home and see them again.

The actual process of traveling here was more or less uneventful (which i consider to be a very good thing!) And any highlights that it had don't compare to the ones that I've had since then!

Morocco is a place really unlike anything that I've seen before. It's beautiful. Walking around the older parts of Rabat feels like walking through some sort of movie set. Homes with front doors that look like they came off of a post card are tucked among spice and carpet shops, with minarets rising above every neighborhood so that the call to prayer can be heard all over the city. People here are friendly and seem to deliberately choose to enjoy each day. It is customary here to have some sort of pastry each afternoon, attitudes are generally cheerful and laid back, and tea houses are always full of people wanting to share in conversations over steaming glasses of mint tea.

Speaking of mint tea, one of the highlights of yesterday was spending part of the afternoon at the house of Professor El Korchi, a WPI professor who grew up in Morocco and is helping us settle in. Walking into the house, all of our eyes grew wide as we saw the incredible main room, basically a courtyard with a roof, covered in intricate mosaic tiles and lined with couches to recline on. There we had a tea ceremony, where Prof El Korchi's mom poured us mint tea and we enjoyed traditional Moroccan sweets. Yesterday we were also able to explore a market in the old city. We saw some women on the side of the road with beautiful henna designs on their hands. One of them grabbed my hand, asked me my name, and proceeded to design beautiful henna along my left hand and up my pinky. It took her maybe 15 seconds to create a beautiful design (and to announce a price of 20 dirhams that had to be paid for her handiwork that I "asked" for!)  This part of Rabat is right along a river and it is beautiful; you feel like you've stepped back in time. There is a character about old cities that can never be matched anywhere else, no matter how fantastic new technology and architecture becomes: character cannot be engineered.

Everything here seems to have mint incorporated into it, in some way or another. There is, in my opinion, an aftertaste of mint after eating or drinking more or less anything. (My favorite so far has been fresh lemonade with mint that we enjoyed at the El Korchi home, it was so refreshing on a hot Moroccan day!)

Today, like yesterday, was full and exciting. We first visited the mausoleum of Mohammed V which was beautiful. We met a nice elderly Moroccan man there who told us that he has met the chief of state police from Boston (so he was excited to know we were form there) and loves American heavy metal music. :) We were able to spend time at the palace grounds where the king of Morocco resides (a luxury not allowed to all who visit Rabat, as heightened security has closed palace doors to most guests) and see ancient ruins and botanical gardens at a fortress. One of the most interesting things to me here were the giant stork nests that were perched atop many of the ruins. No matter how old and decrepit the ruins are becoming (as they clearly are becoming, considering that people pay to come and appreciate how old they are) growth continues there through these stork nests. The storks will likely still be there long after the ruins have crumbled. These were wonderful experiences that gave me more of a taste of Morocco's rich history, but I also am looking forward to going to the university where we will be able to get to know Morocco on a deeper level than the tourist attractions.

Another highlight of today was that we enjoyed an afternoon at the ocean. It has been very hot here these last few days, and being at the beach was a perfect way to cool down and relax! The two things that impressed on me most from that part of the day. First was the contrast of women's dress here among Moroccan women. Many of them wear hijab and are covered from head to toe, with long sleeves and even sometimes wearing gloves to cover their hands. (Even at the beach I saw this quite a few times, including among ladies that were swimming!) However especially in this urban area, there are also many women who have shrugged modesty and wear bathing suits even skimpier than an average American girl. Although this is not something unique to Morocco, it struck me to see the paradox. The other thing that stuck out to me was seeing a camel on the beach!!! It was more of a tourist attraction to offer camel rides to children there than anything else, but it still excited me to see a camel there :)

We also were able to feast with the El Korchis again with a traditional Moroccan tajine with couscous. There was a giant bowl piled high with vegetables, 2 full chickens, beef, and enough couscous to feed an army. We each had to use our hands to eat from our part of the bowl (shaped like a slice of pie, working our way in). Most of us made a mess and we barely made a dent in all the food there! There were a lot of laughs that went along with the meal. It's hard not to feel like family when you're sharing a meal with someone, especially when you're all eating with your hands from the same plate! This makes me even more amazed to think of the times where Jesus shared meals with people throughout His ministry, including the sinners, tax collectors, and outcasts of society. These were the people He would have been reclining with, licking the couscous from His fingers and smiling and laughing with the other dinner guests. How incredible it must have been for people like Zaccheus to share a meal with Jesus.

Tomorrow we will be traveling to Al Akhawayn to begin orientation there. I am both excited and nervous to start! God has been sustaining me so far and I can already see His faithfulness. Please continue to pray for me and for the other students that I am traveling with. The internet here is too unreliable, but I will be trying to post pictures on the blog soon.

Til later,

Arrival

This may not end up being a long post, considering that I battle jet lag, spotty internet connection, and a dying computer battery (with my outlet adapter still packed away so I can't charge it). However, I just wanted to let you all know that I arrived safely in Morocco at 12:00pm local time today. It was a long trip and has been busy since then, but I'm here and safe! I will be posting something more substantial (and hopefully pictures along with it!) very soon!

Til later,

Lasts (for now)

I will readily admit that I am pathetically sentimental. I keep the most random and mundane things (such as receipts, ticket stubs, notes and cards, etc) not having the heart to throw something out because I get the idea in my head that the object had or is going to have meaning at some point or another. I find myself attached to something that in and of itself does not seem particularly unique or valuable, because it ties me to some bigger principle or person that means a lot to me. For the record, being so sentimental makes letting go difficult. Which makes goodbyes difficult. Which has made the last few days (and I'm very sure the day to come) difficult as well.

Today being my last full day at home, my sentimentality was in full gear. Also it was my amazing little sister's birthday today. Can't believe it was 9 years ago that Bella came into our lives and made the world a more joyful place! Along with being shocked at how fast she is growing up and that time is flying, she won't always be the little girl that she is...in my subconscious I kept on thinking of how many "lasts" I was experiencing before I leave. This is the last time I will be driving along this road before I leave. This is the last Dunkin Donuts iced coffee I will have until I come home (unless the weather is too cold by then!) This is my last time seeing this person, talking to that person on the phone, seeing the sun go down across the street.

Now I--and everyone else--must keep in mind that it's not like this is the last time EVER. I'm not leaving forever, or even for a year. Really two months is not such a long time (although right now it's feeling pretty darn huge). Perspective is something I really must keep throughout this process. God is giving me precious time and an incredible opportunity, and I need not focus on what I am missing or leaving temporarily.  Jim Elliot once said "Wherever you are, be all there." This is one of my biggest prayers going into this trip. I want to be 100% engaged in where I'm at, learning and absorbing what I can in the time that I have. Because again, in the long run, two months is not such a long time, and it would be squandering to waste it.

I have been given 2 months. 8 weeks. 60 days. 1440 hours. 86400 minutes. 5184000 seconds. Praying that it will be time well spent, for God's glory.

As somewhat of an aside, I want to thank everyone so much for the outpouring of prayers and support. I cannot imagine going into this trip feeling more loved. I have had countless text messages, emails, phone calls, and conversations with people who just want to let me know they are proud of me and will be praying for me and are here for whatever I need. I don't know that everyone who studies abroad gets this much blessing going in!  I could not be more grateful, God has given me so much reassurance through the love and support of people He has put in my life. I love you all!  :)

Well, now I'm off to another "last", which is my last night sleeping at home!


Til later,

Oceans

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
That my faith would be made stronger in the presence of my Savior

The song Oceans by Hillsong United has really impressed on me this past week. Surge camp was an incredible experience, and I cherished the time I got to spend with students and fellow leaders of our youth group before I leave. One of the highlights this week was worshipping together with these 60 brothers and sisters in Christ who are being *ignited* with passion for His glory. (anyone who went to Surge will see what I did there)

Getting ready to spend two months in a country with 0.2% of the population being Christian, I soaked up this intensive time of teaching, worship, and fellowship as one of the last chances I will have for this for a while. It's truly an incredible group and I am so happy and blessed to be a part of the ministry!

So anyways, this song Oceans. I've listened to it many times (as I'm a pretty avid Hillsong fan) but for some reason during our chapel sessions this week it particularly stuck out to me. I guess it more or less describes the attitude that I have in my heart towards God right now. Not gonna lie, anxiety is really starting to kick into high gear. Although in the grand scheme of things, 8 weeks is not a very long time, to me right now it is looking like an eternity. There are so many unknowns and it is easy for me to get caught up in these details that make me question why it is that I am even going. However, I am firmly convinced that God has a purpose in all things in my life, and that His timing is perfect. I already anticipate Him teaching me a lot about myself and Himself over the next two months, and I can't wait to see what those things will be. What I want most right now is for Him to be glorified in the things that I do, including in this trip. I want to trust Him without borders, even as He takes me far out of my comfort zone. I want to rely on Him 100% as I begin this journey, because I'm pretty sure He is the only thing that can keep me anchored.

Only a little over a week now until I leave! I can hardly believe it.

Til later,