Hold on to your hijabs!

And we finally made contact with our new Moroccan daughter!  I think I am going to have to call her "Miriam", (M for Morocco), and go with "Parveen" (P for Pakistan) or we'll all be confused.  Also, after speaking with our Pakistani daughter, I'm afraid something as calm as "Salma" is not going to work for her.

I received many many pictures via email from Miriam yesterday, but here is the one I like best:

Self-photographers will recognize this as the "outstretched arm pointing the camera at my own face" pose.  I so love that despite her hijab, she sent pictures of her adorable little sisters (okay, I need to post their picture too ... they are way too cute).

And she sent pictures of herself with her non-hijab-wearing cousin/best friend and of herself playing the guitar.  She has about 1000 friends on facebook and is obviously very committed to her faith, by the passion she displays not just for muslim culture, but also for true faith.

It sounds like she is truly intending to wear her hijab (in public) for her time in the U.S., and I admit this is going to be a stretch for me.  When people look at Nasreen right now, I think they assume she is Indian and probably 2nd generation American.  A girl walking around in a hijab is definitely going to draw stares and will need to clearly know that we love her no matter what she is wearing.  (my bra-revealing Ukrainian drew some stares too ...)

So ... hold on tight! 3 and a half  months for this adventure to really start.  I'm also glad that both these girls can ask Nasreen questions about how life will be for them as a Muslim living in a Christian family in the US.