Time Flies

Sorry it has been so long since my last update. Things have been so crazy for me. I spent last weekend celebrating Thanksgiving with a few others near Oarzazate. We had amazing food and it was great to catch up and meet a new fellow or two. Then I return to my site that Sunday and spent the next day visiting with my family, locating a coop member's home as well as the home of my counterpart. The week before was spent working on Carte de Sejour, I have to go in yet again once I return to sign something. Very frustrating process.

Sorry this entry will be short as I have limited time to express the vastness of my last week. Tuesday I went into Errachidia and bought fabric to have a tailer make me an awesome new jallaba, :). It is a darker pink and very pretty with gold lines through it. I can't wait to see the finished product tomorrow, inch a'llah. Then I had lunch with a fellow pcv and her host family before returning home. During this day I heard back from Peace Corps about my ear and was told to come to Rabat the next day, so crazy. So I took an 8am bus from Errachidia to Rabat, a very long 11 hours. The roads around the middle atlas were snowy, so travel took an extra hour or two. I managed to find the hotel I was to stay at with the help of a volunteer intown for medical servcices. It was a very nice hotel compared to what I was expecting, haha. I had a single room with a shower/western toilet in my room, :). I then went out to eat and met a bunch of now 2nd year pcvs. Then Thursday I woke up and wandered to the old medina to shop a bit. I found a beautiful gold silk headscarf to match my new jallaba for l'3id, no shoes yet. Also bought some shampoo/conditioner and a toiletry bag for hammam. I like hammam, lots of warm water in a warm area. It is getting very cold down south, it's much warmer here in Rabat to be honest. Errachidia is warm during the day, but once the sun goes down it's freezing.

So yeah, I also bought a gift to send my parents for Christmas, made it Morocco, ;). I then with several calls to the medical doctor found my way to PC HQ where I had one medical appointment and then went downtown to find the other place for my ear. I've been having ear issues, hence the sudden trip to Rabat. You know how when you cup your ear you have limited hearing, it's like that plus a ringing and dull ache. So I got slightly lost trying to find the place and none of the police knew where the street was, haha. I managed to wander in the right direction and found it and met with the specialist. Wow he had some high tech gadgets. So the diagnosis suggested I needed a hearing test as well to access the extent of the issue. Basically there is something wrong with my ear drum, like when your ear pops due to elevation changes. At the end of the examination I was given 5 different medication to take over the next week. If my ear has not improved in 3 weeks, I am to come back to Rabat for possible ear surgery. Eep! Hoping the meds work.

So I have been at site for 2 weeks and 1/2 of one of those was spent in Rabat for medical reasons. I'm getting the crash course pcv education, haha. Managed to find my way to Rabat and now as I had to get reimbursed (about 1800dh), I missed the 7am suq back, so stopping to stay the night with a pcv on the way back and taking a train partway. Pretty excited for that, :). I'm just traveling everywhere it seems, haha.

I'll post more photos once I have the chance, perhaps after l'3id kbir. For the necxt week or two my family will be celebrating with final supper by slaughtering a sheep and celebrating over the next week or two. I'm excited because I will get to visit a few more nearby villages and family in the process, :). Morocco has been great so far. Still in disbelief it's December already and I have two more years ahead of me. At least I have an awesome community and great pcvs around me and all-throughout Morocco. I will definitely travel as much as I am able and very excited to be doing something so perfect for me and so worthwhile, :).

Mbrukum!