So last Sunday I arrived to my temporary home of Meknes and this past week has been nothing less of extraordinary. Jamie and I moved into our homestay where we were welcomed with open arms by Fouzia and her two sons Omar and Soufiane. My experience in this homestay has surpassed every expectation I could have ever imagined. Fouzia is by far one of the loveliest ladies I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Not only does she take care of Jamie and I like we are her own children, but she teaches us so much daily about the beautiful Moroccan culture. Every night after dinner Jamie and I spend about 45 minutes listening to Fouzia talk about her religion and views on the world. She says that what is happening in the Middle East with ISIS is not true Islam and that they are using this beautiful religion as a political agenda. I couldn’t agree with her more. It breaks my heart completely knowing that the way most Americans view the religion of Islam is in such a negative way because of how a group of greedy people have portrayed it. Living in Morocco for the past two weeks I have seen nothing but beauty from the Islamic religion. I think as humans we are always afraid of differences and things we cannot understand. But I challenge you to view it in a different way. See the beauty in our differences. It is not a fight of who is wrong or right but a fight of learning to respect one another’s beliefs. WE DO NOT HAVE TO BE THE SAME TO LIVE TOGETHER. This brings me back to my brilliant professor Dr. Nalleys words of “our differences are huge but our similarities are greater.” Do I have differences from my host family? Of course. But do we all laugh together and share so much MORE in common? You bet. I’ve only known them a week but it feels like forever. I know these friendships I’ve made will be life long. Now when people talk negatively about the Muslim culture it will affect me personally because it will be against people who I deeply care about. My goal is to educate people on the misconception of the Islamic faith and remind them that the most important thing we do in this life is passionately love others the way our God loves us. I challenge you all to open your mind to the beautiful differences of this world so that way you will be able to open your heart to love all kinds of people. I’ll be writing soon about my classes and more about my first week soon!!! From Morocco to you I send my love, Jess
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AuthorHi I'm Jess!!! I have a soul for traveling and loving people. All kinds of people from all conners of the world from all walks of life. I've left pieces of my heart all over the world. This is my safe space to write all the things on my heart. I hope you find some comfort and encouragement in the words on these pages. Thanks for reading friends (: Archives
July 2016
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