end of the semester

Hey everyone. Sorry for taking such a long time. The connection has not been too great and there has just not been that much to write about, until this past week.
We'll this will be my last post from Morocco. I leave on Saturday on an epic train and ferry ride to catch my flight out of Spain Sunday morning. I'm not a fan of long train and ferry rides, but as this is the last I will be taking in what I can only imagine will be a very very long time, I think I can muster through.
This next week is full of exams and final meetings, very busy. I have got my two part Arabic exam on Monday and Tuesday so please keep me in your prayers as I attempt to remember all that I have (briefly) covered in my classes. The other exams for my Gender Studies and Art courses will just be short answer reactions, which I can handle.
Well the events of the past week have been pretty intense. On Wednesday we arrived on campus and there was a large banner, perhaps 4x5 ft, professionally done and hung on a wall. It had some images that depicted America in a pretty harsh way, the Statue with skull face, soldiers, and a footprint stamped on the globe. In red, gory font was "America: terrorism throughout the world" written in both English and Arabic. Those of us who saw this were shaken up, but remembering the sorts of people that we have interacted with throughout our stay on campus and in Morocco at large we understood that this mindset was the extremist one, and that it was not the view of most. One of our students, who is involved in the military back home, lost his self-control and got really angered by this picture, and went around campus ranting in a way that I'm sure whoever put the poster up wanted. We had to get him back to our classroom so he could regain his temper and his control. It was a very emotionally and mentally exhausting few days that the poster remained up. But we did get many students coming up and apologizing to us, and I have to say that I am proud of the way that most of us handled this.
While this was up there were posters in other places against the Jewish population in Morocco, which is significant and many Jewish students also attend the university. Based on the event at the cultural fair - my march 20th post- we knew that there were a few fundamentalist students on campus who believe in the separation of the Islamic community, they do not like the interaction with other cultures that Moulay Ismail University encourages. But because of these events I was encouraged that what path I am pursuing, in my studies and in my faith, is the right one. Without interaction and communication there is no way to break down the stereotypes and barriers that create such beliefs as the fundamentalists and that seperate our cultures.
Before this event happened we were planning a forum between Moroccan and American students, and had already decided on a topic of Stereotypes. But I was extremely encouraged by this forum, which happened just this Friday in the wake of these protests. Though there were some students- on both sides- who did not want to let go of there stereotypes, and who saw the forum as a place to make their opinion known, the majority of the discussion dealt with how we need to confront these stereotypes and break them down to move past and to really understand another. It was just a comfort to me, that even though the semester was not what I expected or what I hoped there was a reason I came, if only to renew my conviction and my purpose.
I will admit that this semester has been a tough one. I had been looking forward to my semester abroad for so long and I experienced so much trouble getting here that I thought my trip must have God's hand on it, but it was hard. I constantly felt off, and I wondered why it couldn't have just been amazing through and through. I missed home and my friends constantly, and my experience here perhaps has not been one of the best times. But I do feel now at the end I have taken something, even if it is just a renewed purpose and a new appreciation for what I do have at home. I can't wait to get back and see everyone again!

* also for my gender Studies class I have to write a paper and I am writing it about cultural competency in light of the past events. when that is done I will post it for you!