What a few days it’s been!

Went to the schools on Friday, and did two presentations yesterday at the Tuzzy Library.

Wasn’t expecting any sort of crowd, it being Easter weekend and all… for goodness sakes I was competing with an Easter egg hunt!

And yet I’d say there were close to 35 or 40 people in the audience enjoying a taste of Persian and Arabian stories.

My host librarian said she went into the other room saw some of the middle school kids and told them I was there, and when they heard it was me, the one who’d presented the day before, they came running in and sat down, saying to each other, “O yeah, she was good.”

Or something like that.

But the sweetest gesture came from the only Pakistani Muslim family currently living here.

They took me back to their house and we had a lovely time together in between my presentations.

They ordered pizza from the best place in town and the lady was so kind to fry up some fish, it felt a little embarrassing that she was going to so much trouble.

There was a bit of a language barrier because the ladies of the house couldn’t speak much English and my Urdu is shot to hell!

The father is a resident at the hospital, very nice fellow, he did some translating for his wife and mother, but I tried my best to speak in Urdu.

In a week they’re planning to go back to Pakistan for a vacation.

Can’t imagine handling that heat after this cold.

Lovely lovely family, but I did feel sorry for the mother. She hates it here. No friends, no family, I urged her to get involved with the community, volunteer at the library stuff like that.

They’re thinking of moving to New York where they have more family.

I wish them all the best.

Muslims don’t stay up here very long, and that’s too bad.

When I was doing one of the later presentations to a nice audience of adults I forgot to mention that the Quran is our holy book, they were adults, I thought they would know that. It was a mistake. One native woman asked.

They have so little exposure to Muslims up here.

And yet…the kids absolutely identified with Jameela in Wanting Mor.

It boggles my mind!

And now it’s on to Sitka.

Hope the flight’s on time. Hope everything works out. Hope I don’t lose my luggage!

Ak, ak, ak…traveling!!!