A Little Bit Lost

Can you feel homesick for a place you've only been for two weeks?

 

At nine o'clock this morning, I felt like I should be collecting my basket of craft items and tuning up my pipes for a round of "The Wheels on the Bus." The memories of this trip are still very vivid, as are the faces of the little ones that we worked with.

 

Being back home and the distance has given me time to think. And there is information that I'd like to share. One of the things that I've been thinking about is the Educational System in Morocco. Public school is free but each level operates on a two-strikes and you are out principle. Grades one through six--if you fail two times you may no longer attend. Uppper-grades the same. Fail twice and you are out. At the University too. It made me think about what might happen to the child in primary school that for one reason or another fails both first and second grade. What happens to that child? And how does this practice affect the literacy rates. (Literacy rates for adults are about 56% and for youth from 15-24 are approaching 80%). Is our system so much better when some children stay in school, but still leave unable to read? Sometimes you come back with more questions than answers.

 

I was lost yesterday so I looked on the Internet and found a recipe for Moroccan Bread (not exactly the same but close) and tried the Chicken Tagine recipe that Khadisha, our house manager, demonstrated. I went overboard on the fresh parsley and cilantro, but it was very reminisent of Morocco. I also am trying to pickle some lemons (ask me in a month how that goes!).