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!!!

So, it has been almost a week since PPST. Not going to lie, the two weeks spent at PPST were pretty long and it didn't help that I was sick for pretty much the second week. There were some fun moments in there though. One the highlights was the dance party that was thrown the first night we were all there. To help everyone visualize it, think back to your middle school dances. Everyone crowded into the cafeteria or the gym, the 90's best hits playing on the stereo, and no booze. haha It was like being back in middle school. It was fun being silly and dancing and you half expected your parents to line up their cars out front to pick you up at the end!!
Another highlight, to me probably the best, was my 24th bday. Morocco kinda limits the different possibilities to celebrating ones bday, but we made it happen. There was a nice bar in town (by nice i mean hole-in-the-wall) that we found to through a small gathering at. I had a blast. Almost all the volunteers in the town came to my bday and we all spent the night laughing and having fun. Of course, the bar did close at about 1130 or so, something that would never happen in the states, but i still had a blast.
I also took a trip back to my first host family and spent a few hours visiting with them. I surprised my host mom at her sewing shop and she was so happy to see me. I have improved my Arabic skills a little since i left them so we were able to hold better conversations, better not great!! When we got to the house the kids jumped all over me with huge smiles on their faces and my host dad even jumped off the couch an shook my hand and asked how I was, of course then he went right back to watching soccer!! The family had just gotten a computer so i sat with the kids playing on that for a bit and had lunch, where they definitely tried to over feed me like usual!! I only spent a few hours there but it was fun.
Super Bowl Sunday also happened to fall during the time at PPST. We had some guys in our group that worked it out with one of the cafes in town to let us watch the game there and they said they would have it. The Sunday night came and there were some issues finding the channel and such but we eventually got to the cafe and watched the game half way through the second quarter. The funniest part of the whole thing was that even though we were in a Arabic speaking country watching an American game, the broadcast that we got was commentated in Italian!! It was fun trying to figure out what was being said, but it didn't matter. In Morocco the game started at about 11:30 and ended just after 3am. It was a long night for us!!!
The next day was even better for me. I woke up the next morning and was sick. It turns out I had food poisoning. I have no idea from what, but i think i could have been either the fish or the sheep hooves I ate at my host families!!
The rest of the week i spent mostly in bed trying to feel better. the last night we were there some of us went to the other hotel that the other group of pcv were staying at. There was traditional dancers and musicians and they had ice cream and cake. It was a fun two weeks, but I am glad to be back in my site.
It was a long bus ride home, but when i finally stepped off the bus in my town I felt a sense of relief. I felt like I was home. It was nice to get into my house and put my stuff down in my room and just sit and relax. I am slowly getting back into the routine of daily life here. Dar Chebab every morning, souq on Tuesdays for some fresh veggies, and having to cook for myself.
As I sit in my bedroom and type this, the weather outside is crazy. It is raining and cold and the wind is going nuts. It like there is a hurricane outside my window, a Moroccan Hurricane!! I hope non of my windows break!! But, I'm glad that I have my own bed to cuddle up in and as long as the power stays on I have my internet. What more could a girl want!!!

So today might be one of my happiest days in Morocco. i traveled the whole 45 mins by bus into Marrakech this morning and met with Donniell, Kate, and Rachel. After an hour and a half of talking over tea and coffee and misinmon (thin grilled bread) about our dar chebabs and future projects it was time to go to the marjane. The marjane is a big store. It is a mix between a Super Walmart and a Target. Its the best place ever!!! And today we found the "gold star" of the marjane. We had heard rumors of this "gold stars" existence but had not seen it yet. When we found it, we discovered that we had walked by it ever time we had visited the marjane. Connected at the very end of the store is a big gray building with pink lettering. We have now discovered that that place is .... a SUSHI restaurant. AAAHHHHH!!! I have been dreaming about sushi since the day i stepped off that plane in Casablanca.
We decided to shop first and then go eat. Another part of my awesome day was the fact that i found a monopoly, MAROC edition, on sale in the marjane. I bought it. Every saturday at my dar chebab i bring games for the kids to play and this is a perfect addition. We also bought the regular stuff, like cereal, cheese, OREOS (my fav) and wine. Then it was time to explore our new found "gold star"!! We went in and went to the top floor and easily found a table since the place was pretty much empty. They had a pretty big menu and the prices turned out not to be to bad. So we all ordered some sort of california roll and a stir fry. Not going to lie, i almost cried when i took a bite of the cali roll dipped in soy sauce, garnished with pickled ginger and wasabi. I did, a tear developed in my eye!! It was heaven!! We took our time and enjoyed every bite. It was AMAZING!!
Then it was time to go. It was getting late and we all had to get home. So i took the menu as a souvenir and we paid and left!! We will return, no worries. It is now my favorite place and i plan to go there about every other week!!

So its Friday, and this is official the end of my second week in my own apartment. So far i love it!! I live just a building over and three floors up from my host family and when i miss them all i have to do is stand on my balcony and wave at them as they stand on their roof. My host sister Fatima has had a little bit of a hard time with me moving out. She takes care of me more like a daughter and waited on me more then even my own mother did. Still love ya mom. She made every meal for me and did my laundry and even folded my underwear!! So when i moved into my own apartment it think she was a little said. But, I see her almost ever day!! She came and did my laundry for me in my apartment and she has even prepared meals and brought them to me. She is my family here and i think she is my best friend.
Like i said today is Friday. Usually i go to the dar chebab, or youth house, but today my mudir, or director, just wanted me to distribute some flyers to the high schools and the techinical school in the town about a play that the theatre group is putting on Saturday. Two of my students offered to put the flyers up in the highschools and so that left me with just the technical school. So I allowed myself to sleep in and just relax in the morning. I then went down and had the traditional Friday lunch of Cous Cous at Fatima's house and then we watched some tv. While she stayed at her house waiting for the plumber I took my bike and rode to the technical school to drop off the flyer and maybe a quick stop at the post office, or Bosta.
Its about a 8 minute ride to the school and when i got there i went in and found one of the directors and handed him the flyer and he said he would put it up. I had to pass the post office on my way out so I stopped to see if I had any mail. I went in and checked my box, but nothing, it was empty. As I turned to leave the guys that work there said to wait and came back with two packages. I was so excited. One package i had been waiting for and the other was a total surprise. Getting mail makes me feel like a little kid. I get all giddy and happy. Its so much fun to get mail!! So the packages were from my Aunt Tracey and the volunteer that I replaced in Tahannaoute, Colleen. I walked back out to my bike and tried to figure out how to get them home now. I didnt bring my backpack and did not want to walk the 25 minutes home pushing my bike, so i decided i would attempt to ride. People watching me must have thought I was nuts. One I am probably one of the only girls they have ever seen ridding a bike, two I wear a helmet and i have never seen anyone else wear a helmet, and three i was carrying to packages in my left arm and trying to stir with only one hand. It is harder then you think. I had to avoid potholes, parked cars and trucks, and stalled donkeys. I was breathing so heavily as I tried to ride home, but i made it. I finally got back to Fatima's house and parked my bike in the courtyard where i store it since I don't really want to carry it up 3 flights of stairs to my house!! I then made a b-line to the salon to open the packages. Fatima helped me to open them. First was Colleen's. She had packed a bucket full of candy and burt's bees. The second was from my Aunt Tracey, Uncle Joe, and Cousin Chloe. Inside i found a Christmas card that Chloe and Tracey made and a dried flower and watercolor book mark and Chloe's school picture. There was also some starbucks coffee packets, jelly bellys, chirardelli chocolates and twizzllers. There was also a book. Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I love to get books. I have done more reading in the past 5 months then i did in the past two years living at home!! I am very excited to start it!!
Now I am back in the apartment and from my balcony I can watch the sun set over the hills. I am really starting to enjoy my daily routine and the simplicity of life that is enjoyed in my small town. There are still many things that I miss from the states, but I am learning to live without. Yet, books, music, and Oreos are just a few things that I could never give up!!

This is a blog entry that i wrote for my friend and previous boss, George Aquino. I think it is pretty good and thought i would put it up on my blog too!! Enjoy!!

Hello, my name is Sarah and I am currently living in Morocco serving with the Peace Corps. Since arriving to this beautiful country in September I have been very lucky to visit many ancient cities and to explore an amazing culture. The city I was living in for a few months was just outside of one of Moroccos’ oldest cities, Fes. I traveled there a few times and on one of those occations I was able to explore inside its old medina with my host mother. She grew up in Fes and the maze of streets and alleys that make up the old medina was well known to her.
The medina is very old, but as you enter you are greeted with the sounds of construction and the modern equipment to go with it. Most of Morocco is like this. Everything is deeply rooted in tradition and history, but the modern age is slowly creeping in, trying to change it


My host mom and I spent a few hours exploring the narrow streets and the deep allys. She is a seamstress so we spent most of our time in the fabric and textile areas of the medina. The quality of fabrics and hemming and clothing and shoes that one can find in the medina is just amazing. The colors are very bright and beautiful and stand out against the stark grays and browns of the medina walls.














Set into the walls are the little niches that are the shops. They are not large rooms but ample space for the seller to display his goods. There are many different products to be sold, some focused on the artisan and the local Moroccan resident, but as time has past, more and more of the shops focus on goods for the tourist and at exaggerated prices. One must be well prepared to bargain and haggle to receive and honest and fare prize.


Deep inside to medina there is one of Fes’ oldest mosques. It is open to tourists now, but I am told that it is still a working mosque.






The medina has seen many changes over time. The items and the people inside have changed with the years. But, as people walk by with their tour groups and their backpacks taking pictures of everything and buying over priced souvenirs one may all of sudden be reminded that this is still a developing country and have to quickly jump out of the way as a large horse parades through the already cramped streets carrying good for its owner. It is a weird thing to see. I laughed the when I first saw a horse walking through the shops and people. To me it seemed so strange, but my host mom told me it was very normal.




I had a great time exploring the insides of the old medina in Fes with my host mother. It has so much history and holds so much to be explored. I was only able to spend a short amount of time there, but hope one day to be able to go back and see more of it.