Back in Ouarzazate for a couple more days. It’s always nice to come back here. We just returned from 4 days in Hdida which was actually really good. Saturday, the 13^th was the L3id, a big celebration for the end of Ramadan. We all got dressed up… my family adorned me in a giant dress with a wonderful 80’s style print… the shoulder pads were the best part. Then a huge piece of black lace fabric went on over the dress. To top it off I had to wear a lovely neon yellow scarf in my hair. We all looked pretty ridiculous as our families dressed each of us in a similar fashion. Oh, and the big news is that my 13 year old host sister decided I was cool enough to hang out with. I guess she finally decided I wasn’t such a threat after all. I currently don’t have any pics because my camera has been out of service but I will eventually get them from some of my friends and post them. Anyway, for the big celebration we got dressed up, I got henna done again (which I am obsessed with, by the way) and walked through town, going to each house and greeting everyone. I think I kissed more people’s hands that day than I ever have (as is the tradition… it’s a little more friendly than just shaking hands). Anyway, we ate lots of rice with buttermilk, cookies and tea. That evening I had my first tagine with my family, by 2am my stomach was in hell- enough said.

The following day we had a free day to integrate with our community (this was also the first time since I‘ve have been in Morocco that I have had 2 days off in a row). I went to the Hammam in a near by town with a couple other trainees and their host sisters. A Hammam is a public bathhouse which includes 3 steam rooms of varying temperature. I was a little worried about going but it was actually a really good experience… and my skin still feels amazing. The only problem was that the one we went to was a little on the dirty side… with that said I would definitely do it again but in a cleaner place. I must say there is something absolutely wonderful about being in the hottest steam room and pouring a bucket of cold water over you… it feels soooo good.

So, in a couple days I leave for Hdida again, this time for 12 days which is our longest time period we will spend there. It’s a little weird to pack and unpack your life every couple of days. When I return from my 12 days in Hdida I will find out my official site for the next 2 years. I will then go to this site the next day and live with my future host family for 9 days. It’s crazy to think that I will know my location for the next two years in exactly 2 weeks. Once we return from our site visit we come back to Ouarzazate and then return to Hdida for the last time for 4 days or so. We will then presumably being traveling up north to Fez for our official swearing in, and thanksgivingJ. So, there’s the crazy schedule. My class/lecture days are significantly longer now that Ramadan is finished, we start at 8am and go until 6pm. We do have breaks but it’s still a long day. Sometimes I feel like there’s so much information being shoved in my head I just cant think anymore. But really it’s ok, I mean it’s good and the language is getting better. At least now I have basic communication down and I can generally understand what my family members are trying to say to me.

And perhaps as my final point I should add that after being here for a little over 5 weeks I now feel like it’s all so much more comfortable. What I mean to say is that I have been having a great time here since the beginning (for the majority of the time)… but now it all just feels a lot more comfortable, like I can actually see myself here for 2 years.

<--The view from my roof in Hdida

-->My house in Hdida. Trust me... looks are

<-- The girl closest to me is my host sister... and a bunch of her friends and cousins (everyone is related in the town)

--> The ladies in the village painted our hands as a welcoming into out new community... here I'm letting the henna dry, it now looks pale orange.

And here's the details:

Just got back to Ouarzazate after my 9 days in the very small town of Hdida (about 200 people). Coming back to Ouarzazate is wonderful to say the least… a few of the good things: western toilet, food, hot showers, and laundry facilities. Hdida put a lot of things into perspective which is only made more extreme by the fact that it’s Ramadan still. I feel like I’ve been starving for the past week just because no one eats during the day and the stores are generally always closed during Ramadan. I can only imagine what these places that I’ve been living in will actually be like in a couple weeks when Ramadan is over.

Some notes about Hdida…I live with a husband and wife who are significantly older. The man is called the Haj, which means he is the most respected older man, and probably the richest too. The only problem is that he doesn’t really move around, he is basically tied to sitting in one room all day. His wife spins wool for most of the day. So one of their sister’s lives with them, she too is older but manages to run the house. She has become my go to person but the language barrier is still huge. The sister has a daughter of 13 and she too helps run the house. Together they take care of the husband and wife and prepares the meals. The daughter is well, how do I say?... a little cold towards me most days of the week. In fact, the family seems difficult to read in general just because there is no communication there. Of course I am trying to communicate what I learn in my language classes but more often than not they have no idea what I am saying… and let’s be honest no one can learn a language in 6 days. So yes, there have been a lot of difficulties in the past week.

I thought I’d share some other details on what life here is like, through my perspective at least. I wanted to mention that Ouarzazate and the area around here does in fact look exactly like the Morocco seen in the movie Babel. It’s unbelievably dry here, I really have never experienced anything like it… and the sandy dust accumulates everywhere within about 5 minutes. I guess I should be honest and say that it is more of a third world country than I thought it would be. Oh, and having running water and electricity doesn’t mean that much, Morocco is still pretty much in it’s own world. There’s a sense of dirtiness in the streets that I love in the cities but somehow dislike strongly in the villages. The women in my village are tougher than any that I’ve seen. Their hands are about twice the size of mine and their feet look like they could tell the stories of a thousand lives.

Anyway, I am currently covered in about 40 bug bites… they’re definitely not mosquito bites so who knows what they actually are. In all honesty it’s not that bad… it’s just a lot of adjustments that happen in really quick spurts. I’ve been in Morocco for exactly 3 weeks and it really feels like I’ve been here for about 6 months. Time moves slowly here, slower than I’ve ever known before… sometimes I love it (and well, other times… you get the idea).

Off to a small mountain village tomorrow called Hdida, dont bother looking for it on a map becuase the chances of finding it are slim to none. If you do want to know where I'll be... look up Kalaa Mgouna... Hdida is about 6 km up the mountain from there. Anyway, it's supposed to be a beautiful mountain village with lots of greenery and it's supposed to be cold (a very welcome releif from the heat of Ouarzazate). So, tomorrow I finally get to meet my first host family the family I will be staying with on and off for the next 3 months. All I know is that the father is retired, the mother is a housewife(of course), they have a 13 year old daughter and the grandmother of 56 lives with them too. Can't wait to meet them! So i will be in this town for the next 9 days, then back in Ouarzazate for a few ,then back with them, and so forth for the next 3 months. I will have running water and electricity there but I do not think there will be internet since there is only one store in town... and it's ramadam which means hours for everything is a little screwy. The good news is that I will be there with 4 other trainee volunteers plus a volunteer who has been living there for a year and of course my teacher. In addition to this I do have a cell phone here now. It's ridiculous for me to call anyone living on what I have because it's so expensive but if you want my number I'll be happy to give it to you, just send me an email.
and now onto Hdida... here comes the real test... sounds good to me.

pictures f ouarzazate... i have no idea how to make these look better because i am using a french and arabic computer that does not say anything in english.

anyway, just wanted to give everyone an idea of what it looks like from the view of my hotel here. on saturday i will leave this beautiful place to live with a family in a village somewhere nearby. and then we do a back and forth routine between the hotel and our families for 11 weeks. anyway... i am very exited to meet my family even though i can only say about 5 things in arabic. i guess i will be adding to that this week with more classess. so, yes all is well and good and nothing else to really report other than this keyboard is really hard to type on. more details when i can figure out how to connect my computer.

here!
well, almost here... still in rabat doing more training details. it has been good, but it's a lot of information each day and i feel ridiculously tired all the time.
i'm not really sure how to describe anything right now, it just feels right. from the moment the plane landed i knew this is where i am supposed to be and as we walked through the madness of the medina (huge outdoor shopping market) i felt it even more. let me tell you how good that feels after months of not really know that this was the right decision.
and then i think, wow... i'm in africa.
well, i move to ouarzazate on friday... i'm of course really excited to see how that turns out. we will be living in a hotel and with a family in the surrounding area on and off for the next three months of language training. which is a slightly different picture than i had imagined but it's still good.
ok, that's all for now, i must get sleep... oh, and is anyone hooked up with skype? i'm still figuring this out but apparently i can call people for free and talk to them online using my built in mic. anyway let me know if anyone is using that or would like to?

I leave for Morocco tomorrow...

We fly into Casablanca and then take a bus to Rabat. When we get to Rabat we get to sleep, eat and relax for three days (sigh).

The exciting news is that I found out where I will be doing my training for the next 3 months! I'll be in Ouarzazate which is described as the Hollywood of Morocco... not so much because of the size of the town but because it is the center for films which are shot in Morocco. If anyone saw Babel, it was filmed in the area of Ouarzazate. Although this area looks bleak in the film, the actual town is an oasis.

The down side of all this... I will not be learning Arabic but rather, a Berber dialect. Although, if I want to learn Arabic the Peace Corps will pay for a personal tutor. (I guess it's a good thing I didn't get a chance to learn Arabic before I left?)

Anyway, all is well- the people going to Morocco all seem cool and interesting- and with the exception of a maybe 5 people, everyone is in their mid-twenties.

Oh, and if you want to know how to say Ouarzazate, it sounds a lot like "where's it at" with some "z" infections in there. It's become a dumb joke that we laugh at relentlessly between me and a couple of other people here.

Ok, well I'm off to have my 'last supper' here in the US... & maybe my last martini for a very long while too.

Ok, here we go... as many of you know I'm a little hesitant about this blog thing, I mean do people actually want to know what I'm doing? Well, whether or not you do... I'm putting it out there.
I leave for Philadelphia tomorrow morning at 6am for 3 days of "staging" as the Peace Corps calls it. Then, I leave for Morocco on Monday the 10th.
At this point I have no idea what to expect... I'm assigned to do Small Business Development for Artists (whatever that means, right?).
Anyway, the packing is all done... I guess this means I'm ready?!?...