"No human, nor any living thing, survives long under the eternal sky. The most beautiful women, the most learned men, even Mohammed, who heard Allah's voice, all did wither and die. All is temporary. The sky outlives everything. Even suffering." - Bowa Johar, Balti poet.

Some Photos From The Roman Ruins In Volubilis, Morocco

A Little Moroccan Vacation with Michaela!

Last week was one wild Moroccan ride when my German pal, Michaela, came to visit and we traveled all of Morocco visiting 7 different cities in her very short time here! We went to Meknes, Fez, Essaoura, Agadir, Ouarzazte, Marrakech, and my home town-site Skoura. Let us just say that we were in a new city almost everyday. It was so much fun seeing her and traveling throughout Morocco with my first visitor and good friend from high school. It was interesting how different we saw Morocco. One perspective is from the eyes of the tourist: Michalea, and the other is from a local point of view: Me. She saw a lot of nice boys who wanted to talk to her in French and I saw a lot of rude boys trying to get our attention in cat calling and saying "cava gazelle" us... aka harassment.

We saw many popular sites in Marrakech, Fez, Agadir, and Meknes. Chilled on the beach during the Genoua Festival in Essoura, and we hung out and had dinner with my host family in Skoura. I was happy that Michaela got to see both sides of Morocco; what the tourist see and what I see everyday. There were moments of stress due to the constant traveling and the intense heat which did not bring out the best in me or her at moments, but just being able to hang out with an old friend, travel, and even argue was refreshing :) I was sad when she had to leave to go back to Germany, but I know that we shall see each other again soon as we always do.

Now I am back in Skoura getting ready for some fun 4th of July activities. pool...sun...the very American game of beer pong.. and hanging out with other Americans. I hope everyone back home has a safe and enjoyable holiday!

After the 4th of July I will be staying in my site for a week or two then from 19th of July until the 5th of August I will be doing two summer camps! crazy busy, but that is my life here. can not complain about anything BUT the heat! It is already 100 degrees and it is not even the hottest month of the year, that belongs to the month of August, which Ramadan will begin. Let's just say I am not looking forward to that 40 day holiday where all Moroccans fast from sunrise to sunset. They prob. will not be the nicest of people when I will be out and about in the dead 120 degree heat of summer and they have not drank any water since 4am. It's going to be a LONG August so I will be enjoying as much of July as I can :)

After IST there was some pretty good flooding in Skoura as you can see. To give you a good idea that road is a a couple feet high so the rain coming down from the mountain really messed up the roads. This weather is not very common for this area.

Culture Shock, IST, and Flooding

I got one of my first culture shock moment since coming to Morocco. I was in Marrakech for IST (In Service Training) and for the first time since working here I walked into an Acima store, which is a Walmart-like store in Morocco. When the sliding glass doors opened up for me and I heard horrible background music being played, sample cheeses being given, and a huge selection of cereals, I almost cried. No lie. I had to hold back a tear. I just stood in the middle of the produce section with my mouth open in awe on how they had so many options to pick from. They had all these different kinds of cheeses ( BLUE CHEESE! I have missed that so much) to meats (I do not eat meat really anymore, but it still wowed me). Even the badly lit atmosphere brought a smile to my face. I mean I could buy cereal, REAL cheese, and a blender all in one place along with vodka and the mixer of my choice! I really thought I was dreaming this. At my site they do not have cereal so I have to travel over a half an hour to buy some, they only have the fake kind of cheese in Skoura, and blenders can only be found for a decent price on souq day which are Mondays. It was nice to just remember that places like Acima really do exists in this country.

IST was a good break from my site. It was nice to take some time away and be around some friends, share ideas, and just have some time to think about my site and the choices that I have to make. My moudir came up and I had meeting number 6 with him and PC staff about certain issues that are still not resolved, but I feel that now my moudir and I are on the same page and if something happens again, Peace Corps and myself will have to make some changes. No worries. I got to swim in a pool for the first time in months and wear shorts and a tan top in public! that was huge! Back at my site I would of totally gotten Hsuma ( same on me) for wearing such things. If i wear anything higher than my calf and any lower than my collar-bone, it is too much skin here, so it has been limiting.

I had to stay in Marrakech a day or so longer after IST since I had a tooth issue. Last week a section of my back left molar broke off so during IST I got it taken care of. It took 3 trips to see 2 different dentist when each time I went in for an appointment I was attacked by those huge needles I have a fear of to the point where I act like a 5 year old. It is really scary to be in a dentist chair with a huge and very painful needle about to bit stuck in you and the dentist is talking to you in another language other than your mother tongue trying to tell you what the next step is in getting the tooth fixed. Lets just say that it was not the highlight of my week.

I had enough time in between PC sessions and doctors appointments to go out in Marrakech and buy some summer clothes, eat some good food, and enjoy the city. I also got to see some of my good Moroccan friends like Atika. After spending 8 days in Marrakech I was ready to head back home to Skoura. The ride through the Tishka was LONG but not as boring since another PCV and myself found eachother on the same bus which was fun. The only issue I came across on my journey back to my site were major thunder storms that were going on down south. I have been living in Skoura for over 7 months and I have never seen it rain as much as been these past few days. On Monday when I returned home to Skoura, I was stuck in a 3.5 hour traffic jam because of a washed out road on the way from Ozt to Skoura. I will post photos up later. It is so strange to see so much water in an area that never really gets water. It kind of reminded me of Michigan for a moment. The intense heat before the rain began, the feeling of rain on the skin, and watching the storm roll in slowly from afar was beautiful experience.

This next week will be one great week because I am having my first friend come and visit me in Morocco!!! Michaela who was an exchange student from Germany my Jr. year of high school is coming down to Skoura and traveling the coast with me for a few days. I can not wait!

me and my host sister Nadia in Imouzzer on my first visit since November. It was great seeing her and my old fmaily :)

Hitting the road

Well starting this Sunday I will be hitting the road in Morocco for a while. On Sunday I will be heading to Immouzzer to see my 1st host family for a day or two. Then I am off to Azrou to meet up with my fellow Art Resource Manual partner and cool gal, Lisa to start work on that book. After a day or two of work on  the book we are both heading to Rabat to go to our annual Warden meeting where hopefully the hotel we are staying at has a shower! 1st non-bucket bath in 3 months! woohoo. After that meeting I will be heading back to site where I will stick around for a week or so then I am off to Marrakech for IST which I am not looking forward to. I am not a fan of forced bonding and getting tested on my not so new and improved language skills, but I will enjoy as much as I can. I am happy that my friends will be there so it will take all those LONG hours of "fun activities" PC has planned, tolerable. Once I return from IST I will be working for 5 days then off yet again but with my good friend Michaela from Germany, who is coming to Morocco to see me. My first friend to visit my new home:) Once the fun times are over with Michaela I will be back in Skoura for 3 days then off to the coast for summer camps until July 14th. That date might change, but as you have read, this is going to be one LONG couple of months. I am totally excited about it, but now I am catching myself day-dreaming about doing nothing once I am done with all this running around. I hope once things calm down for me, to go on that awesome two day hike from my site in Skoura through the High Atlas Mountains to another PCVs place. It is suppose to be an awesome hike! we will see. 

Salsa Prom 2009!

Now that is what I call a party :) good to see everyone, catch up, and have a drink or two. I won the raffle of one free bottle of my choosing :) and I was voted most likely to bust of a move at any time if there is music on. The Rose Festival which was going on the same day was beautiful and very hot. I am finally getting tan  and it only took 8 months! The PCV's who came to the party were also working hard that day with their local artist and the work they brought from their site to sell and advertise their sites product. There was some really good products that they all brought from hand made wallets to purses and daggers! cool stuff! We named a Salsa Prom King, Tim and Queen who I think was Evan. Not many men can wear a skirt and work it like he did, he totally earned his crown that night :) On this day I also got to meet my new site-mates (26 km away but still site-mates) a really awesome married couple, Sean and Amber. They are Health Volunteers and I can not wait to bike out to their place to see their site and also do some Cross- Sec. work with them involving Health related issues!  Moroccan life is not too bad right now :) humdullah.