April 7, 2021

Wednesday

I had a slow morning on Wednesday. I made breakfast and watched the news. I took time to finish my last baby blanket before my 2:45 meeting with Nawel. The weather was super windy and gross so I didn’t bother going out for walk.

Nawel met me down at the little park with her two daughters at 2:45. I presented the girls with the blanket that I made, my set of paints and brushes, as well as a pad of paper to paint with. They were so sweet and gave me a little bouquet of flowers they picked. We drove across town to her house for our lesson. The girls proudly showed me all the books they got from the library that morning. Nawel and I spoke to them in English so they could practice too. I was impressed because they both seemed to understand.

During the course of our conversation, Nawel and I started talking about Algeria’s relationship to France. Algeria was a French colony for 132 years. The colonial period has stripped Algeria of much of its resources and has crippled the country economically. I asked Nawel if the Algeria people are resentful towards France and she replied that they were. She felt angry because France has not done enough to rectify the wrongs of the colonial period. She told me that Macron was the first French president to apologize for French actions during the Algerian war of independence, which was notoriously bloody and bitter. She told me that France should be doing more to increase economic opportunities for Algerians through trade deals and that they should be doing more to make sure that Algerians are vaccinated during COVID.

At the end of the lesson, we agreed to keep in touch through email and snail mail. I was really touched when she gave me a beautiful gift called a sand rose or a “rose de sable.” I am excited to bring it back with me.

Throughout the afternoon I read and crocheted. In the evening, I started rewatching Arrested Development.

For dinner, I went over and ate with the Bodet family. Before dinner we had a glass of port and watched the news. We had some delicious lasagne for dinner and had vanilla ice cream for dessert.