The overwhelming smell of wet dog

This is not about what you think...



On Wednesday to Morocco with 60 14 year olds. Can you think of anything worse? If you think it was a vacation, you have clearly never been on a trip organized by a Moroccan, or with 60 teenagers.

Don't get me wrong, the kids were great, as we stood in the middle of a street, at the top of a BIG hill after walking (I know this because my cell phone counts the steps I take) 8000 steps, no one complained. It was 8 pm, the children had no eaten since 12, and there was a 2 hour time change, so belly time was actually 10 pm. They stood in the street and chatted with thier new Moroccan friends; they seemed not to notice teachers (or teacher instructions) or the fact that they had not eaten in 8 hours. Not a small feat for teenagers. Oh and did I mention is was raining?





We all piled into an orphanage for boys, and the only thing I could smell was wet dog, on an empty stomach. Over 80 children, ours and thiers, wet, hungry and tired, in standing room only. There seemed to be nothing organized, our kids looked at thier kids, they looked at us, wonderfully akward. Then one of our students offered to sing a song, then one of the orphan children sang, then a few people sang together, then we all taught each other songs. A cold wet room turned very warm very quickly.

The students were all taken home to Moroccan families, where they got to eat with thier hands, and see how thier new friends lived, some students didn't get to eat much because the families didn't have much to give, other families made only Spanish food to try to make the students feel at home. Every student came back with a different story, so did every teacher.



This is my story. The kids, despite being royal pains in the neck, staying up till 3 in the morning, making all the other hotel guests crazy, wanding off, talking when they should be listening etc etc etc.. They were still fantastic. They accepted everything and looked at everything with wonder. They started nervous and came home confident about simple things like trading money and haggling in the market and big things like talking to and making friends with people who look very different. There are a lot of adults that still havn't learned that. It's a trip we all should take.