As long as you have strong eggnog, pumpkin pie, Bing Crosby and a tree it can feel like Christmas in any country. -Anonymous PCV I had an absolutely wonderful Christmas weekend in Tazert, a small Berber village not far east of Marrakech. It was very small and very Berber, and in Darija doesn’t even merit the name of village; they call it a ‘duwar’ and as far as I can tell that means something like the French ‘hameau’. At any rate, it was very different from Kelaa. Luckily it’s not far from Kelaa though. I did have to take three [View Full Entry]

---

---

Do first what only you can do. -Daisy Hepburn This was a long sabbatical from my blog, and not entirely a voluntary one - though I suppose I could have found a way to make it work if I really had had the motivation to do so. Actually, this past month I have been busy enough establishing myself here in Kelaa and I really haven’t felt pressed to post much since I have so much time here. I figured the more time I spent getting to know the place first the more accurate and in depth the future blogs would [View Full Entry]

---

---

Opportunities correspond with almost mathematical accuracy to the ability to use them. -Lilian Whiting I changed host families after about a week in Kelaa, but hopefully this is it for the moving until I get my own place now. This new family is really only a young couple, but they are so wonderful; I couldn’t ask for anything more. I feel very lucky to be living with them. The wife, Maryam, is not much older than me and we get along great. She actually used to work for Peace Corps as an LCF, “Language and Cultural Facilitator” in Federalese. We [View Full Entry]

---

---

I got to explore the town a bit and went to see the Dar Shebab with Daniele, the PCV who will be ending her service in Morocco the day after I get back to Kelaâ. I’m only here to visit for a few days now and have to be back in Immouzzer on the 15th for the last bit of training and to swear in as a real Volunteer. I introduced myself to most of the people in town as the “new Daniele” or “Daniele’s replacement”. She is much older than I am, so some people actually called me the younger [View Full Entry]

---

---

Kelaât Sraghna I woke up early and left the hotel while the PCTs I was sharing a room with were all still asleep. I had called Khadija, the woman I’m going to be living with for the next two months, the day before and told here I’d try to get to Kelaâ by about ten in the morning. [a note on pronunciation: I think the K should be a Q, because the sound is pronounced far back in the throat, not like an English K, but somebody had transcribed the script using a K on all maps and signs, so I [View Full Entry]

---

---

Since my site is just north of Marrakech I had two options for travel from Immouzzer: I could take a series of busses and grand taxis directly south through Beni Milal, or I could go a fairly roundabout way by taking a grand taxi from Immouzzer to Fès and then the train to Marrakech. Considering that a group of about twelve trainees were going to have to spend the night in Marrakech, I chose the latter. When we got up very early that morning I almost couldn’t believe that I was going to be taking a train to Marrakech. I had [View Full Entry]

---

---

One of the things that most of the CBT groups do before they leave their site is to throw a party for the families they’ve been staying with. We were going to have it at my house, but since somebody close to the family had died it would have been Hashuma. I actually heard that the small “party” we had for Asmae was considered hashuma by several neighbors, and I hope Asmae doesn’t let them get to her. So, we had the party at Nada and Michael’s house, which was next door to mine. We ordered all sorts of food made, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Photo notice: I am going to be changing some of the photos on my blog due to a request from Peace Corps. I will not have many photos of people from now on, since getting permission from people to put their images on my site is problematic due to my still limited language skills and what Peace Corps considers permission. Plus my camera is still on vacation. . L-Eide Saghir The day after the end of Ramadan is a celebration, mostly because we can now eat whenever we want. Another tradition is for everybody to have new clothes. I got the [View Full Entry]

---

---

"You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to offer." - Eleanor Roosevelt I doubt Eleanor could have imagined some of the situations I've been meeting with my best lately, but her advice still works. My camera has decided it doesn't like computers anymore, so I can't upload photos until I figure out another way to get them off the camera. On the bright side, I got to travel to Fès on Sunday with Asmae and spent the night there with her at her aunt's house. It was [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just don't give up trying to sdo what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong. - Ella Fitzgerald Phase 3 sounds so official, but all t really means to me is that I have less than two weeks left in Sefrou with all the friends I've made here. Training is hard and busy, I'm working 12 hour days and my brain is overloaded with the language and everything else I'm learning here. So, it will be a relief for this phase of training to be over, and yet I know [View Full Entry]

---

---