I know I am horrible at blogging but do plan to improve on that in the next year. Yet, I still need to tell everyone what it is I have been doing for the past 7 months!
March...
~At the end of march i traveled over the mountains to the city of Oarzazzate. There i worked with about 9 other volunteers and and a small staff of Moroccans to put on a spring english immersion camp for about 80 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 for a week. The kids came from a number of cities across morocco ranging from the capital city to small villages. the same week there were about 25 other camps, the same as ours, going on in other cities around the country also.
Camp was a lot of fun!! There were, of course, many stressful moments and not everyone was my best friends but I had a blast teaching English, dancing, playing games, and shopping for converse shoes!!
April
~ After coming home from camp i went back to teaching at the dar chebab and hanging out with my students. The weather was getting warmer so we went on a couple different hikes and picnics.
~ the big thing for me that month was that was when i finally got the doctors attention about the fact that one of my eyebrows had almost completely disappeared. It was like I had a lopsided uni-brow!! So i spent a lot of time traveling in and out of Marrakech to visit doctors and get blood drawn. Yet, after those visits, no one still had any answers at to what could be causing my eyebrow to run away! the mystery countinued...
May
~One sunday afternoon two of my students rang my doorbell. I went down to talk with them and from behind one of their backs crawles out an adorable little puppy. I asked what its name was and they said they didnt know. I didnt understand. I asked if it was theres and they said no. I still didnt understand. Then they said they had to go and and handed me the puppy. WHAT!!! They said the puppy was for me, told me what to feed it and took off. What was i suppose to do with a puppy at the spir of the minute? I named him Sir Burton Bailey and quickly bought food for him and made him a little bed area. I had to pick fleas off of him but he was so cute i didnt care. But, two months later he was getting big and in my little apartment that wasnt going to work. At the end of June I gave him to Felicie, another volunteer not far from me. Her house is much bigger and he has more room to run around now. It was fun to have a companion for a little while and i miss him now and then!
~ May is a big month for birthdays. There were a number of volunteers who were celebrating their bdays that month so we made a weekend out of it. about 12 of us all spent the weekend in Kech, one night at a riad, apartment, and then another at a hotel. We danced, ate sushi, and explored the night festivities of kech. It was soooo much fun and i hope we do something like it again next year!!
June
~ I had IST (in service training) in Rabat with all the other volunteers that i travled to country with. We spent a week sitting in trainings and boring presentations but we did have a prom night and got to eat at a lot of good retaurants in the city. It was really nice to get away from my small town and spend time in a nice hotel (with a bathtub!) with other americans and just have fun.
~ In my english classes at the dar chebab, I have about 12 regular students. They all try to improve their english and are just fun kids to hangout with. To show my appreciation for them and to have an excuse to party I decided to have a end of the year bash at my house for them. The girls helped me to make pizza and cut up a watermellon and i made cookies. The boys brought the music and the dance moves!! The kids had a great time and were already asking when we could do it again before they even left!
~ Essauara is a city that sites on the coast and every year they host the Ganoua music festival. For a long weekend, about 100 volunteers came and went through the two riads that were rented for us. We listened to music at a three different stages, laid on the beach partied at the riads, and watched some world cup soccer. One night the USA was playing and it was fun to sit in a group of about 50 americans and all cheer together (even though i think we lost that game :().
July
~ I decided i needed to get away from Morocco for a bit. With my friend and fellow volunteer Cynthia, I took a 12 day vacation in Spain and Portugal. We spent a few days in Madrid touring the many museums and palaces and eating a lot of tapas!! Then it was on to Lisbon. There we met up with my uncle Paul and his friends Scott and Brian. They are so much fun to travel with and I had an amazing time exploring the city with them and enjoying the fantastic night life! Our last stop on the trip was Seville. Here Cynthia and I spent a lot of time relaxing. It is a very pretty city and very laid back. We took a day trip out to Italica, a ancient roman city and explored the excavated ruins of the city. That was incredible to see what life used to be like. Then the night before we were to fly home we went back to Madrid and watched the World Cup final game and SPAIN WON!! That was cool to be in Spain when they won!!
~ when i arrived home from vaca I arrived home to extreme heat. Temps were hitting around 116 degrees and with no air conditioning it was HORRIBLE! I inherited a large pool from the vol before me so i sent it up. I was unaware of how many holes there were in the inflatable top and one afternoon my pool collapsed. A tidal wave crashed into my house and flooded my bedroom and living room and turned my stairs into a waterfall. I had to tell me neighbors i was ok and the river that was flowing out my door was just from my pool and not a burst pipe! After that i only filled the pool up with a few inches of water, just enough to lay down in and feel cooled off.
August
~ The beginning of august I traveled to El Jadida. Another city on the ocean. With 15 other vols and a about 10 moroccans, I worked at a 10 day english immersion camp. We had about 75 students between the ages of 12 and 16. I taught english, headed up the USA country club, and hung out on the beach. It was nice to be in a place were the temperatures weren't ridiculous and it cooled down a little at night. Each night at camp there was an activity such as a dance party, talent show, fashion show, Halloween night and at the end a final SPECTACULAR show! I got sick toward the end, but for the most part had a fantastic time. The only down part was that Ramadan started the last few days of our camp, but we worked around it.
~ After I returned from camp I spent two weeks being sick and just laying on my couch in the heat doing nothing but watching movies.
~ It was also Ramadan. People eat breakfast at about 4 am and then they don't eat again or drink anything until after the sun sets at about 7:30. I went to my host families most nights and had Lftor (break fast) with them. Hirara (soup), figs, dates, mint tea, and shebekia (deep fried sugar treats) are the main staples of a lftor and we would eat in front of the tv and watch hidden camera shows and Moroccan sitcoms created especially for the Ramadan season.
Well that pretty much sums up what I have been doing for the past couple of months. Summer has been really slow, but soon i will start back teaching and working more and hopefully time will go a little bit faster! Pictures of all my above mentioned activities can be found on my FB page!! check them out!!
March...
~At the end of march i traveled over the mountains to the city of Oarzazzate. There i worked with about 9 other volunteers and and a small staff of Moroccans to put on a spring english immersion camp for about 80 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 for a week. The kids came from a number of cities across morocco ranging from the capital city to small villages. the same week there were about 25 other camps, the same as ours, going on in other cities around the country also.
Camp was a lot of fun!! There were, of course, many stressful moments and not everyone was my best friends but I had a blast teaching English, dancing, playing games, and shopping for converse shoes!!
April
~ After coming home from camp i went back to teaching at the dar chebab and hanging out with my students. The weather was getting warmer so we went on a couple different hikes and picnics.
~ the big thing for me that month was that was when i finally got the doctors attention about the fact that one of my eyebrows had almost completely disappeared. It was like I had a lopsided uni-brow!! So i spent a lot of time traveling in and out of Marrakech to visit doctors and get blood drawn. Yet, after those visits, no one still had any answers at to what could be causing my eyebrow to run away! the mystery countinued...
May
~One sunday afternoon two of my students rang my doorbell. I went down to talk with them and from behind one of their backs crawles out an adorable little puppy. I asked what its name was and they said they didnt know. I didnt understand. I asked if it was theres and they said no. I still didnt understand. Then they said they had to go and and handed me the puppy. WHAT!!! They said the puppy was for me, told me what to feed it and took off. What was i suppose to do with a puppy at the spir of the minute? I named him Sir Burton Bailey and quickly bought food for him and made him a little bed area. I had to pick fleas off of him but he was so cute i didnt care. But, two months later he was getting big and in my little apartment that wasnt going to work. At the end of June I gave him to Felicie, another volunteer not far from me. Her house is much bigger and he has more room to run around now. It was fun to have a companion for a little while and i miss him now and then!
~ May is a big month for birthdays. There were a number of volunteers who were celebrating their bdays that month so we made a weekend out of it. about 12 of us all spent the weekend in Kech, one night at a riad, apartment, and then another at a hotel. We danced, ate sushi, and explored the night festivities of kech. It was soooo much fun and i hope we do something like it again next year!!
June
~ I had IST (in service training) in Rabat with all the other volunteers that i travled to country with. We spent a week sitting in trainings and boring presentations but we did have a prom night and got to eat at a lot of good retaurants in the city. It was really nice to get away from my small town and spend time in a nice hotel (with a bathtub!) with other americans and just have fun.
~ In my english classes at the dar chebab, I have about 12 regular students. They all try to improve their english and are just fun kids to hangout with. To show my appreciation for them and to have an excuse to party I decided to have a end of the year bash at my house for them. The girls helped me to make pizza and cut up a watermellon and i made cookies. The boys brought the music and the dance moves!! The kids had a great time and were already asking when we could do it again before they even left!
~ Essauara is a city that sites on the coast and every year they host the Ganoua music festival. For a long weekend, about 100 volunteers came and went through the two riads that were rented for us. We listened to music at a three different stages, laid on the beach partied at the riads, and watched some world cup soccer. One night the USA was playing and it was fun to sit in a group of about 50 americans and all cheer together (even though i think we lost that game :().
July
~ I decided i needed to get away from Morocco for a bit. With my friend and fellow volunteer Cynthia, I took a 12 day vacation in Spain and Portugal. We spent a few days in Madrid touring the many museums and palaces and eating a lot of tapas!! Then it was on to Lisbon. There we met up with my uncle Paul and his friends Scott and Brian. They are so much fun to travel with and I had an amazing time exploring the city with them and enjoying the fantastic night life! Our last stop on the trip was Seville. Here Cynthia and I spent a lot of time relaxing. It is a very pretty city and very laid back. We took a day trip out to Italica, a ancient roman city and explored the excavated ruins of the city. That was incredible to see what life used to be like. Then the night before we were to fly home we went back to Madrid and watched the World Cup final game and SPAIN WON!! That was cool to be in Spain when they won!!
~ when i arrived home from vaca I arrived home to extreme heat. Temps were hitting around 116 degrees and with no air conditioning it was HORRIBLE! I inherited a large pool from the vol before me so i sent it up. I was unaware of how many holes there were in the inflatable top and one afternoon my pool collapsed. A tidal wave crashed into my house and flooded my bedroom and living room and turned my stairs into a waterfall. I had to tell me neighbors i was ok and the river that was flowing out my door was just from my pool and not a burst pipe! After that i only filled the pool up with a few inches of water, just enough to lay down in and feel cooled off.
August
~ The beginning of august I traveled to El Jadida. Another city on the ocean. With 15 other vols and a about 10 moroccans, I worked at a 10 day english immersion camp. We had about 75 students between the ages of 12 and 16. I taught english, headed up the USA country club, and hung out on the beach. It was nice to be in a place were the temperatures weren't ridiculous and it cooled down a little at night. Each night at camp there was an activity such as a dance party, talent show, fashion show, Halloween night and at the end a final SPECTACULAR show! I got sick toward the end, but for the most part had a fantastic time. The only down part was that Ramadan started the last few days of our camp, but we worked around it.
~ After I returned from camp I spent two weeks being sick and just laying on my couch in the heat doing nothing but watching movies.
~ It was also Ramadan. People eat breakfast at about 4 am and then they don't eat again or drink anything until after the sun sets at about 7:30. I went to my host families most nights and had Lftor (break fast) with them. Hirara (soup), figs, dates, mint tea, and shebekia (deep fried sugar treats) are the main staples of a lftor and we would eat in front of the tv and watch hidden camera shows and Moroccan sitcoms created especially for the Ramadan season.
Well that pretty much sums up what I have been doing for the past couple of months. Summer has been really slow, but soon i will start back teaching and working more and hopefully time will go a little bit faster! Pictures of all my above mentioned activities can be found on my FB page!! check them out!!
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