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!!

On my quest to be productive this week, I ventured into the city, Marrakech, for a little grocery shopping. Donniell, another volunteer who lives about an hour outside of the city, met me in town. Yet, gettting to and from Kech is a undertaking in its self. Buses and taxis are the main forms of transportation and a ride is pretty easy to procure. I like the bus, or not really like as much as find it more convenient and easier to tolerate. Getting a bus in my town is pretty simple. They run at semi regular intervals and the nearest stop is just minutes from my house. Its about a 45 minute ride into town and usually I just put on my headphones, turn up the volume and take in the dry, brown moroccan landscape. My ride into town today was pretty normal, but just a little on the warm side. I finally arrived in Kech and met up with Donniell. We then had to wait for another bus. This one would take us to the other side of the city to the Marjane. Marjane is like a cross between a Meijer, Super K-Mart, and Target.

Donniell had been waiting about 20 minutes when I arrived and said she still hadn't seen our bus yet. Other busses passes through the bus stop area, but not ours. About another 20 minutes later, bus #20 finally arrived. The ride lasted about 20 minutes and it was hot, but manageable. As soon as we got to the Marjane we made a B-line for the McD's inside and started our shopping trip off with tall cokes and burgers.
After enjoying the amazingly delicious fatty processed food, we got a cart and head to our first stop. We decided to hit up what PCs like to refer to as the Hashuma (shameful) section of the store, the alcohol section!! You have to remember that right now is the Holy Month of Ramadan. One of the rules is that Muslims can not partake in the consumption of alcohol. The Hashuma section is gated off and guarded like a sacred temple. As you approach its entryway a gentlemen steps forward to stop you. In order to gain passage into the hallowed section you must present him with official identification. You have to prove that you are different, not like the locals, not muslim. Looking at Donniell and I, both pale white, blond haired, and speaking fluent english, I can completely understand why identification is needed! After presenting my carte sejour, my local identification card that states I'm an American Volunteer living here, we were allowed passage. After our quick dash into the section, I was handed my carte sejour back and we were ready to start our real shopping for food and daily necessities. We shopped for about an hour or so, accumulating a cart full of items. Both of us knew we were spending way more then we had planned on but it had been about a month or more since our last trip to the Marjane and there were many things we both needed.
We finally made it to the check out lane and had to wait some more. It was like Meijers the day before christmas. Every line was long and people take forever! Then it was our turns. We tried to guess at what we had spent but were both proven wrong when the final total was tallied. Oh well, I needed it all! The one issue with buying a lot is that once you pay and walk away from the checkout line you then have to figure out how you are going to get it home. It would be nice to have a car for that reason. I miss that. Being able to push your cart out to your car, pop open the trunk and neatly stack your purchases in the back to be easily driven home. But, I live in morocco, easy is not a word here. We pushed our cart to a corner and broke out our back packs and extra bags. We were able to stuff everything in to our bags with both of us carrying a extra bag. Now all that was left was the hour or so left of bus travel.
Outside the Marjane we waited and waited and waited and waited and "is this our bus?", no and waited for #12 to arrive. Waiting is not bad except when you are sitting almost directly in the sun and it its about 110 degrees, if not more. You can feel the sweat dripping down your back and behind your knees, fun! When our bus finally arrived we rushed to it, but were beat out by the other people running faster then us. We found seats in the back and settled in for the 20 minute hot ride back to our bus stop. Normally its a smooth uneventful ride. But, today was had a element of excitement! As we were riding along, a group of young boys decided it would be funny to pelt the passing bus with semi-filled water bottles. The boys threw about five water bottles at the bus and then bolted as the bus screeched (literally!) to a halt. One of the water bottles threw through a window in the center of the bus splashing water around, but no one really moved. People looked at the bottle laying on the floor and that was it. Donniell and I just laughed and watched out the back window as the boys all ran in different directions. The driver looked mad, but there wasn't really anything he could do. So after a few moments we continued on our way.
Once back at our bus stop Donniell spotted her bus right away and said goodbye and got on. I made my way to the shade against the wall lining the bus stop and waited for mine to arrive. It came about 10 minutes later. I just stood there listening to my ipod and trying not to fall over from the heat. When my bus pulled up, like usual, there was a mad dash to the door. I have become used to this and did the same. Carrying two bags slowed me down a little more, but I got there.
Yet, that is the easy part. Getting on buses in Morocco closely resembles a rugby match. You know the part in the game when the players huddle up and push back and forth not really going anywhere, well that is what it is like trying to get on a bus. You might think that because I am a girl, a foreigner, and carrying things that I might be let threw and maybe escorted to the bus door, hahaha, NO WAY!! Grandma, might elbow you in the stomach, Grandpa will shoulder his way in front of you, and the women carrying the baby will stick her leg infront of yours to make sure you can't go anywhere. And while doing all this, watch out for pick pocketers!! I never keep money in any outside pockets and one hand always on my ipod. I don't care as much about the phone!
I got into the scramble and pushed threw the door, I'm slowly perfecting my skills!! I got on but already the bus was half full. I found a seat and sat down. It was a aisle seat. I don't really like those as much. An aisle seat leaves you vulnerable to the passing elbow in the shoulder, swinging bag in the face, and my least favorite, being the support system to the stander. The bus today was packed full and if the temperature outside was around 110 degrees then inside it was 120 degrees. When heat rises so does body temperature causing sweat, causing body odor. My bus was no exception. Daily showers in Morocco are not a normality, that means the aroma on my bus was far from pleasant. I was one of about three women on the bus. Not that men always smell worse then women, but in this case they do! So, as the bus waits to finish loading I am trying to perfect my mouth breathing and trying not to smell the air! Then as more people get on, my least favorite part of being a aisle seat sitter becomes reality. A guy decides he is going to lean his back up against my seat, but in doing so he has to lean up against me a little. I HATE THIS. I like my personal space. I DO NOT like it when strangers invade that personal space. So now i am trying to only breath through my mouth and keep my body positioned so that this guy is not touching me! aagghh TOUGH!
After sitting on the bus for about 15 minutes, as sweat soaks into my tank top, tshirt, and jeans and slowly trickles down my back and my chest, the bus starts to move. I get a little happy about the fact that all the windows are open and they are producing a strong breeze inside the bus. This is helping to cool me down and reduce the odor. Then in true unreasonable moroccan fashion the passengers shut most of the windows till there is about a nickle size opening left. WHAT!! 1) Its 120 degrees on the bus 2) It smells 3) Most passengers are wearing long sleeve shirts and pants 4) ITS HOT!!! So why would you close the windows and cut off any type of cooling system, WHY? I enjoy living in Morocco, but there are so many things I don't understand. Most you can explain by way of religious beliefs, but closing windows and turning the bus into a swelter tomb is not one of them.
About half way home the guys sitting next to me got off and I quickly overtook his window seat. My first move was to open the window as far as it would go. I didn't care if others wanted it closed. I WAS DYING!!! With the opening of the window came a quick cool breeze and I shut my eyes and enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that for a second I forgot to breath through my mouth and took in the not so sweet smell of the bus passengers! That quickly snapped me back to reality and for the rest of the ride I continued to focus on my mouth breathing.
At last, the bus pulled up to my stop and I stepped off. I was sweating so much that if felt like I had jumped in a pool and was left with that "did I pee my pants?" feeling. I slowly crossed the street and began my climb up the hill to my house. Once I reached my house I then climbed the 50 stairs and collapsed at the top. When I caught my breath I went straight to the refrigerator, pulled out a chilled water bottle and jugged. AAHHHH!! I had SURVIVED!!
I decided that a six hour shopping excursion was a productive as I was going to be today. I put on my bathing suit, stood under the shower head for a few minute, and then crashed on to the ponje in front of my fan for a nap!!

Last night was wonderful. It had been a very hot day in Tahannout. Yet, towards the end of the day it got a little cloudy. At about 6pm I decided to move on of my ponjes (couch) out onto the balcony and lay in the shade. It was sooo nice. There was a refreshing breeze as a storm was moving in over the mountains. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was jolted awake to the loud roar of thunder and the sharp flash of lightning. Then a few rain drops began to fall and I knew it was time to move inside. I slowly rose from my 2 hour nap and moved my ponje back inside. Not about 3 minutes later it started to pour. It was so nice. I stood in the rain for a sec enjoying the small chill I got from them. From inside I could watch the lightning out my window and watched a movie and listened to the rain. It was a great night!!
Today is a beautiful and cool day in Tahannouat. When i say cool I mean that it is noon and only 95 degrees, unlike the past couple of weeks when usually at this time its between 105 and 110!! Yesterday, I told myself that since I am now feeling better I have to be productive! So I am starting today. I kinda got a late start seeing I didnt wake up till 10:30 but now im off and running. I have a mental list of things i would like to get done by the end of the week. I need to clean my entire house, do lots of laundry, and update my blog to share what I have been doing since this spring. Its been a pretty crazy and enventful summer and I want to share it all with you. But that will just have to wait until tomorrow to start.
This morning I started out cleaning the kitchen. I've been fighting a bacterial bug for the last two weeks and in that time my house has gone to crap! My kitchen was my starting point for my mission of a whole house overhaul. I hate doing dishes. Anyone that has ever lived with me or visited me knows that I am not one to jump right into scrubing, but it had to be done! When I was finished the dishes were clean, the counter top was sparkling and the previous dead animal smell was gone! Still need to wash the floor, but that might have to wait till tomorrow.
While in the kitchen I decided I was hungry and thought I would make myself a nice sunday brunch. I grated a potato, chopped up an onion, and cracked some eggs. In the end I had a delicious breakfast of hash browns, sunny side up eggs, and some orange juice. The only thing missing was some ketchup, but I survived. I moved one of my ponjes (couch) out on to my balcomy and sat in the shade enjoying a cool breeze and a scrumptious meal!
I should go and wash the dishes from prepping and eating my meal, but i don't want to!!
Now for the rest of the day. I think maybe ill fold clothes, and hang some rugs and blankets over the balcony to air out. I think that is all pretty productive. Its hard to do anything when the temps are in the low 100's. I am def looking forward to when the temps start to fall and the suns not quiet as hot. I can't wait till i can bundle up in a sweat shirt and pj pants and curl up in a big blanket. That seems so far away from this moment, but hopefully by the end of september it will start to come true!
Ok, well the sun is slowly over taking the shading spot im sitting in on the balcony and I think its time i moved back inside. I will position myself in front of the fan, put on a movie, and cuddle with a frozen water bottle!

Today i woke up and decided that i need to finally get around to doing some laundry. So i started my day off with a trip down to the store that is about 2 minutes away to purchase some OMO (like Tide) and some food for the day. When i got back i set laundry to soak. I then thought why not fill up the pool i have sitting outside on my balcony. Its a hot day and it would be nice to relax in the pool. So i put the hose in the pool and let it fill up for a few hours.
Later, in the afternoon, when i was done with my laundry, I sat in the cool water and relaxed in my large plastic pool. When filled to full capacity it can fit about 5 adults. Right now i had it filled about half way and was loving how nice it was to sit in a pool agian. I spent about an hour in the pool and then went inside to get some things done on the computer.
About an hour later i started to hear a noise coming from the balcony. Not 2 seconds later as I went to stand to see what the noise was, a wave of water crashed in to my apartment from the balcony. The plastic pool had folded. Water rushed EVERYWHERE! It flooded my bedroom, entryway, living room and then made its exit down the stairs out the door. I went to the window that looks out over my lower main door and watched as the water poured out of it. All i could think of was what would my neighbors think. As i was laughing to myself I could hear one of my neighbors noticing. I leaned out the window and told he it was all ok. I explained, in arabic, that the water was from my pool. She answered back in english. She said she was worried something had happened to my pipes or what not. But she was glad it was ok.
I then returned to start cleaning up. Anything on the floor was wet. The rugs in my bedroom and living room were soaked. Books and clothes got wet. I put everything out side in the sun to dry. There wasn't to much that was effected but it still made a mess. And now I only have a few inches of water in the pool! :( Oh well!! It was pretty funny after the fact!! Only I would have a flood on a third story apartment!! haha

My morning started at 6:00 am. I do not enjoy getting up with the sun. I would rather sleep till noon and then wake. I got up, ate, packed my bag, got dressed and was out the door at 6:45. I was going to meet some of the kids from my dar chebab (youth center) and one of theirs puppy and take a taxi to a town about an hour into the mountains. All six of us piled into the taxi and started our trip to Imlil. The drive was beautiful.
When we arrived we hiked about 30 minutes further up the mountain to the beautiful cascades that are hidden away. We hiked around for about another hour or so and then find a perfect rock above the river to unload our bags and relax. We spent the day laughing, singing, chilling by the water, and laying in the sun. (I have the sun burn to go with it!) The kids I went with are a lot of fun and some of my favorites.
There were a lot of people hiking around, both locals and tourists, but where we were was kind off the path and away from the cafe/restaurant that is at the top so we had our place to ourselves.
The day flew by and soon we were packing up and finding our way back down to wait for the taxi to come back and pick us up. The taxi dropped me off just down from my house and when I walked in the door the clock showed 7 pm. It was a long day, but so much fun. We will definitely be having more trips up there.

QUOTE OF THE DAY... "ITS NOT BAD, ITS JUST WEIRD!!" thanks Loubna

Today was one of my happiest and most productive days yet!!
It all began with a quick day trip into Marrakech with Donniell. We took the bus #12 into the marjane and made a B-line for the electronics department. She was on the hunt for new headphones and I was looking for a new camera. I found it!! Its so pretty and Blue!! ahhh I am sooooo excited to finally have a camera again. Its been to long. I love to take pictures and have not been able to in a long time. The sales guys had fun talking with us in both english and arabic and even taking pictures of us to prove the camera worked. It was like Christmas again for me!!
After we finished our shopping we went to our favorite Sushi place. We had a nice lunch of stir fry, springrolls, and california rolls. It only downer of the day was that our debit cards were not working, the system was down at the store and restaurant, but we had just enough cash to get through the day!!


When i got home from my exciting day in Kech, I decided to make brownies. So I stopped at the hanut (store) below my house and picked up some eggs and ice cream. It was a hot day and it called for ice cream!!

I had yet to bake in this country and to use the little convention oven on top of my refrigerator so i was a little nervous of what the final product would look like. I melted the chocolate and mixed all the ingrediants. I even put a nice cream cheese topping on!! I was very excited when i finally got it in the oven and the pan fit perfectly. When they were all done I was pretty happy with what i had. They tasted more like cake than brownies, but i was still pleased!!





A very productive day today!! Im sooo happy i have a new camera!! (Donniell was ready to hurt me after the amount of times i said that today!!)

Today I slept in and slowly got around this morning. Then I grabbed my backpack and headed the 25 minutes to the dar chebab (youth house) to meet one of my students. I was going to his house for Friday couscous. On the way i decided to stop and pick up a package my mom had sent me. I was totally excited. I got to the post office and found a slip of paper in the post box telling me i had a package from the states and one from Rabat, the PC office. I picked up my packages and then went to meet my student. I went with him and a friend to his house and met his mom and had couscous and tea (LOTS) and cookies. Then after he walked me partially home. It was nice to go and eat a meal at someone else house, even though i really don't care to much for couscous, but ill eat it if its necessary. The walk home was very hot. The temperature continued to rise throughout the day.
Once i got home i decided to sit outside on my patio and read. Then i decided to put on my bathing suit and sit outside and read. Then I thought it would be even better if I put music on while i sat outside and read. So I did all that. It was sooooo nice. No one can see my balcony so I can get away with it. It was like being at home. Like sitting outside on the deck or next to the pool soaking in the sun and reading a good book as the stereo inside pumped the hits!!! I miss going to the beaches with friends in Michigan, but today I closed my eyes and pretended we were laying on the beach. The day dream is kinda killed but the sounds of donkeys and sheep in the background and small children yelling and playing in an undecipherable language, but still i loved it. I even think I got a little color, which is desperately needed!
Now for the rest of the day I am going to lay around in a tank top and shorts, in my house with the curtains pulled, and enjoy this amazing weather. There is a nice breeze, but the thermometer built into the clock on my beside table is reading 77.2 degrees F. LOVIN' IT!!!