Yesterday we visited the Al-Firhaan Orphanage. I emerged with marker all over my shirt and three different colors of playdoh stuffed under my finger nails, but it was a blast! We probably had more fun than the kids. At the end of our visit, a spontaneous Egyptian dance party erupted. As I watched the Muslim girls, who are my age and work at the orphanage, dance and play with the kids, I felt I fully experienced their humanity for the first time. The distance produced by our vast cultural differences broke down among the children as they shed their reservations. As corny as it sounds, I could see the "inner child" inside each of these girls, and it reminded me of my own.
