The Biggest Dagger I Have Seen!

Here is the BIGGEST dagger I have ever seen! It is taller than my site-mate April and I just barely pass it! AWESOME.

Painting at the Dar Chabab!

I finally got to do some sort of art today at my Dar Chabab! It has been difficult due to the construction that is STILL going on  (since January) and the lack of supplies is hard to, but the kids and my moudir got together and found some paint and paint-brushes and went to town making a mural of the city of Skoura on one of the walls outside the Dar Chabab. The kids had a blast and I was over the moon about being able to do something art related! Also this week I am starting my Art Club! along with other clubs like Youth Cafe, Journalism Club, and Activity Time (biking, sport, games, anything active) on top of my 6 hours a week of English. I have almost 16 hours a week of work! It is great, but i am getting so busy that having time to sleep and to even relax is becoming hard, BUT soon (June 2-6) the kids will have their exams and things will slow down for me and i will be able to get totally bored over the summer and I will be wanting to be busy again. I think the summer will be fine though, I have 3 months to get my lesson plans together for October, I will be working on the Art Resource Manual along with my PCV pal Lisa, and I will also be doing 4 weeks total of Summer Camps on the coast :) That should be fun! 

The issue I was having at my site are still somewhat present, but the issue is being controlled by people who are in a higher power of government position and have been helping me be able to do my job better here. We shall see how these next 6 weeks go. I think no matter what I will be in Skoura over the summer and after Ramadan. When October begins, we shall see how the issue is then and if it is still not the best situation for me, PC will just site change me to another city, but things at the moment seem to be playing out okay. Only time will tell, but I am not worried about it. 

Last weekend i went to Kalaa M'gouna with my site-mate April to meet up with the 5 other PCV's that live in this huge city just 55 Km. from my site. We hung out with another PCV who works with dagger makers in Kalaa. It was amazing to get a tour of where these men work and how they make such detailed dagger work. The history behind the daggers has a huge Jewish background here. When the Jewish people came to live in Kalaa they brought their dagger-making skills to the Moroccans of this site and from there the people of Kalaa have made it more Islamic in style and design. The patterning is more detailed and the dagger case is  curved instead of straight case shape.  April purchased a beautiful dagger for her boyfriend back home and both her and myself got a photo taken of the two of us hold the BIGGEST dagger i have ever seen. Two men from the Co-Op made that dagger together! awesome !

painting at the local high school in Skoura

I had so much fun drawing and painting with the local Skoura kids at the high school in town! Fun day! and yes it does look like my painted boy is touching my butt, hence the odd face I am making.

This was tons of fun to go off and paint with the kids in Skoura at their local high school :) 

Almost Forgot!

GO RED WINGS! 

they are already kicking some major butt in the playoffs.. just wait until they take back The Cup to its rightful place... The Joe. Everyday there is a wings game, i am wearing my red wings hat in support since i can not grow a beard and even if i tried to wear a fake one.. i do not think that Skoura would really understand it other than them saying "Poor American single female has gone crazy.. muskina (poor girl). She needs a husband."

GO WINGS! you have international support coming all the way from Morocco :) 

life's little ups and downs

in a nutshell, things are not 100% but when joining PC you are told about and "prepared" for the ups and downs... wish me luck:) inchallah things will work out just fine in time. I am super excited about the planning of a Art CLub like resource manual for PC! with my trusty friend and fellow PCV Lisa! in May i will be meeting up with her to start the foundation to hopefully one awesome resource book for PCVs who are interested in starting an art club at their Dar Chabab's or Nedi Neswi's. It will also be used for those who are wanting to use art in their everyday activities in their community. Again we are trying to define our resource manual little by little. Hopefully by the end of May we will have something going :) 

well it has been one LONG week, but soon i will give new updates. Life has been so busy that sadly i only have time for this short blog.. but i am thinking of u all and missing every last one of you :) keep in touch and snail mail me sometime;0P

hugs!

MaRcH: Greece, Birthday, and Spring Camp

March was one LONG and Crazy month for me:) I loved it! In early March I set off to Athens, Greece to meet up with some old College friends who were on a week long Class Spring Break trip through Greece. It was amazing to see all the history, architecture, eating all that Greek food, and drinking my vodka-tonics in public again! god I missed Western culture at times. The most fun out of the whole trip was being able to see my friend and fellow art history major Amber O. I have been missing her like crazy and it was great to catch up in Athens! The only annoying part of the whole trip was waiting for my flights (yes i did connecting flights).. like 12 hours waits. I do not think I will be waiting that long again. Once I returned from Athens, I went straight to Essouaria to meet up with a few PCV's and enjoyed the coast:) Once my vacation days were up I went back to my site and did my teaching. By leaving I realized how much I liked being in Morocco and doing this job. Do not get me wrong, it is really stressful, but there is something about this place that i can not put into words. Morocco has this draw that I can not explain and I have yet to be board of it :) After getting back to site, it felt like I had to pack up and leave again for a whole other adventure... English SPring Camp in Zagora, a city about 4 hours south of Skoura. For 8 very LONG yet rewarding days me along with 7 other PCV's and Moroccan staff had a great camp with a fun group of 80 kids! We went on field trips, taught 3 different levels of English, and put together 3 days worth of Clubs for the kids to partake in. I did second level English and the GGLOW club (GGLOW means Girls Guys Leading Our World). It was called a Leadership Club and I had a decent amount of kids show up and participate in the club. 

Now it is April and things are starting to clam down a little bit for me, humdullah! I also want to take this time to thank everyone who sent me, called me, or emailed me a happy birthday this past month! I spent my birthday in Marrakech eating Chinese food for the 1st time in 6 months, buying DVDs of films still in theaters in America:), and actually went out dancing. It was enjoyable, but it would of been better with my bar crew from GR there with me along with my pals back home in Marshall and Battle Creek (miss u all). Thanks mom and dad for the love, support, and also having some ice cream in my honor back at home for my birthday. 

April will be a slow month for me, but when May hits  i will back on the road for PC meetings in Rabat (2 day trip for me to get there from my site) and meeting up with other PCV's to get my Art Club Resource Manual started! I am super excited about this project. I will talk more once i have my meeting with my friend and fellow PCV Lisa who is collaborating with me on this project. 

My site is slowly getting hotter and hotter! it is already hot enough here for me and it is not even summer yet. It has to be at least in the 70's here right now. By the time July and August hit  I hear it will get up to 120! holy crap that is hot! 

Well that is all for now. I will write again soon with more updates on life, work, and all the things in between. 

MISS YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!