It is a truth universally acknowledged that … tourists love goats (and camels)! This is no less true of the editors of L’Éphémère Review, who are reprinting a short piece called “Friends With Goats” in their issue on the theme “lithe.”

I don’t know how it was for the other Trainees, but as we went from one question to the next, sid Muna’s answers seemed perfectly calibrated to put me at ease. I knew her people, had grown up with sprawling extended farm families. Back home, they raised cows and farmed corn. In my new community, they raised goats and grew olives, but I felt reassured that I would find commonalities there, touchpoints for mutual understanding.

Part of the litheness I’ve learned as a teacher is about bending to find a connection with each student, striking that note that makes us simpatico. Sometimes it’s quick but sometimes, as was the case with my neighbor’s son Osama, it takes a long time and a little luck … and tiny, knock-kneed newborn goats.

Editor-in-Chief Kanika Lawson calls “Friends with Goats”

one of the most poignant, sentimental and well-crafted nonfiction pieces I’ve read this year

and will feature it in the magazine’s Best of 2018 blog. Read it here in L’Éphémère Review.

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This story was previously published online and in print by The Amsterdam Review.