ChristiesAdventure

I am catching up on my travel blog and writing both Tuesday and Wednesday in one sitting so I apologize if I overlap! As I said on my previous blog I have been suffering with some stomach problems so I did not go to placement this morning. I skipped lunch & breakfast and hoped for the best with an outing to the Chellah ruins this afternoon. What are the Chellah ruins? Here is a little stock background info: Abandoned, crumbling and overgrown, the ancient Roman city of Sala Colonia and the Merenid necropolis of Chellah is an amazing site! The Phoenicians were the first to settle but the town really grew when the Romans took control in about 40 AD. The city was abandoned by the Romans in 1154 in favor of the new city Sale, ... read more

We got up at 5:45 so we could meet in the courtyard for a coffee and tea before heading out. The Riad manager called two taxis’s for 6:40 so we could be at the bus station on time for our 7 AM hell bus ride back to Rabat. We all decided this time to let the bus ‘check’ our backpacks to have more foot room. When we arrived at the bus station we took out our expensive things and lined up to check our bags in the bus station office. Ina was first in line and I could see there was some kind of problem. The CTM guy kept shaking his head ‘no’ at her and her bag. Finally he pointed to the date and explained in broken English/French. Our bus tickets were issued for Saturday ... read more

Salam Alaikum I can’t believe it is Thursday already and after placement tomorrow I am off on a journey to Chefchaouen. The end of the week has really come up fast! I started my morning again with the babies but it was a bit crowded today. Apparently there normally not any other volunteers this time of year but several days this week the Orphanage has been full of nursing students. I did feed 2 babies and then I went over to the yellow nest (6-12 months). Many of the kids were a bit feverish and had snotty heads/noses so they weren’t feeling the best. After their bath and changing process they put them in the big playpen. I hopped in with several others…Jean, Christine, Lori and Jamie. We were soon joined by 2 nursing students as ... read more

Another long day coming to a close! Too forever to get to sleep as some sat out in the garden with the hookah and were a bit loud --- close to 1 AM before sleep. I hope it is quieter tonight! We headed off to the Orphanage this morning at 7:40 and I went in with the babies again. It was quite hot today and even hotter in the Orphanage. When we arrive all the babies were just rising. They sleep/live in the nursery beds that you see in the hospital nurseries. They are all swaddled in and they have them dressed in not only onesies but long sleeve/long plant sleepers. I was melting!! When they bathe the babies they close all the windows. They go through and strip the babies one baby at a time ... read more

Well, I have made it....after months of planning I am in Morocco!! I had a 10 PM flight on Friday evening and flew overnight to Paris. Charles de Gaulle airport is so huge! It took a 20 minute bus ride around the terminal to get to my gate. By the time I arrived the bus was boarding to get to my plane. Talk about close! When I boarded the bus I saw the smiling face of my friend Ina! Ina I met in the CCS Ayacucho program and she was a trip! I was so looking forward to seeing her again. (Ina actually missed her flight the day before because of the time it took to get around the terminal and ended up having the airline put her up one night in a crappy Paris hotel ... read more