January Update

And January:

This month I began going on long bike rides with a few volunteers from around the area. Our first trek was 3 of us and we biked from Errachidia to Boudnib. 90km total. Was only 85km from my site. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed myself. There was a late start, but still made it before dark. The trek was mostly flat with some hills, then there was this great downhill. The last 15km were torture. This was the longest bike ride I have ever done and hadn’t biked very much beforehand. A great experience though. The ride got many of us motivated to do a long 3-4 day bike ride from Errachidia to Ouarzazate at the end of February.

Then the following week I went to Rabat with another volunteer for ear issues. They looked at my ear and even took cat scans but they can’t figure out what is wrong with it or what is causing the pain. So I’ll just have to deal with it for another 9 months and have it looked at again when I return back home to the states. Overall a really good trip. Was about 4 hours for me straight biking, about 6 hours with breaks. At least the pain isn't daily. I still think it is from elevation changes, who knows.

Then the Sunday after that 4 of us took a 60km bike ride to Erfoud. It was a beautiful day as well and the trek was beautiful. We passed the Ziz Gorge and stopped at the lookout there for a bit. Then we stopped in Aufouss and had an amazing lunch. One of the bikers had made yummy wheat bread that he then put turkey and cheese on with mayo and mustard. Seems normal, but abnormal here in Morocco. It took us about 3 hours straight biking, about 5 hours total with breaks. Overall lots of downhill and much easier than Boudnib.

Then the next weekend me and another volunteer rode to Tinjdad from Errachidia, me from my site. Errachidia to Tinjdad is about 80km. This trek was harder than Boudnib, lots of gradual hills. There was one that I thought would never end, haha. Took me and my friend about 4.5 hours straight biking, about 6 total with breaks. Was a bit chilly, but a nice and sunny day. Was wiped out after we arrived. So glad my Tinjdad friend had a shower, :).

And let me tell you, my butt was sore after each and every ride. Definitely need to create a seat cover for my bike, haha. Overall it's been really great exercise and loads of fun.

Otherwise my village was harvesting olives the majority of the month. I had a site visit at the beginning from my program assistant, was a good experience. Much of the month was spent reviewing for the GRE when I could which didn’t seem to be very much. We also had to have our H1N1 shot. Good to see volunteers but I really hate needles. I survived, :). Really crazy month overall with all of the traveling. I also gave my friend back her cat.

Then at the end of the month I got a new haircut. My split ends were getting pretty bad. The original plan was to just get a trip as my hair was finally just getting long enough again, but of course I decided to do something a bit new...much shorter han planned but I like it, very cute.

L'3id Kbir

I celebrated l'3id kbir with the host family again this year. Was a good time and lots of good food. Felt a bit different from last year, a bit less festive, but my host sister has also moved away and I have been very busy the last couple of months. Below are a few photos:

December Update

Here is December:

December was also a very busy month. I started the month off by going to Rabat again, only this time for an entire week. My stage had our mid-service medicals. Was a crazy week but also really good. Was so great to see everyone. The medical stuff wasn’t so fun, but I’m all healthy. Ate very well as always. Went to a great pizza place and discovered a really great place to have juice, kind of like shakes here. There is a banana chocolate coffee mixture that I get.

I also finally spliced my buta hose myself, :). Was very proud of this feat. Now I can use my stove and oven at the same time!

After meds I went home. Spent much of the month staying in site and hanging out. My host sister that got married in June came back for about 5 days and I got to see her which was really nice.

I hosted Christmas in my site. Was so much fun. Made a yummy lasagna, dinner rolls, salad and pumpkin pie for dinner. We had Cajun tuna spread and crackers, popcorn, eggnog, hershey’s kisses and sugar cookies for snacks. Stayed up chatting and then after muffins in the morning everyone went home. Me and one of the girls took a walk to Meski, the nearby village to me, after everyone left. Was really nice, a beautiful day.

The highlight of the month I would have to say was New Year’s Eve in Merzouga. It was so crazy! Went down to Erfoud where everyone going met up and then we piled into a bunch of off-roading jeeps that we then took the “scenic route” to Merzouga. Basically we were racing each other off the main road in the more desertic area. Was so much fun. We then arrived in Merzouga and hung out until dinner. Several of us walked out into the sand dunes to watch the sunset. Was very sad I didn’t have my camera. Still being fixed. We had an awesome dinner and then hung out and partied until midnight and then some more until 3am. We then had to wake up at 6:45am to get on the camels for our morning excursion into the sand dunes. Was so cold! But beautiful. I then returned to site and that was how I rung in the New Year. Was amazing and my favorite thus far.

Unfortunately there are no photos for this month as my camera broke and took until the end of January to finally be fixed. Roads were bad and so it took awhile to receive the new part.

I was also taking care of a friend's cat during the month. I renamed her Shitaana which means the devil in darija. She could be really sweet but had a few issues such as not being able to learn not to do something and climbing all over everything.

November Update

Yes it is February, but I have finally had a chance to write updates for the last 3 months. Here is November:

Let’s see…it has been a very very long time since I have updated this. I celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving in a small site with fellow volunteers. It was amazing. We had 2 turkeys, one was cooked in the oven in the traditional manner and the other was deep fried. Quite the interesting spectacle to watch. Then we had green beans with French fried onions on top, regular green beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce, biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy, and carrots. Then for dessert we had several pies. We had 2 pumpkin, one pumpkin cheesecake, an apple pie and a cake. So yummy. Totally ate myself into a food coma. I was so full I was in pain, but the food was just so good. There were about 20 of us. Almost the whole region. Good times. We also had a night of Thanksgiving Trivia that our host and hostess created. One was definitely easier than the other but also so much fun. We even got to play Cranium, love that game. The following morning we had to get up way early to catch a 5am transit that actually left at 4am. But we were able to call and get another transit and all go back to our homes.

Moroccan taking advantage of comfy flour sacs in a transit to sleep

Everyone has to have a pumpkin with berber symbols for halloween

My friends' site

My friends' house

The dessert table, yummy.

The pumpkin pie I made from scratch. Yummier than it looks, ;)

And this is my awesome pumpkin cheesecake.

All the yummy food

My beautiful plate of food

The turkey's in the broiler

About to boil the turkey

We also unfortunately had a fellow volunteer pass away quite unexpectedly. Many of us went to her memorial service in Rabat in support of each other. She will always be missed.

Workwise not much to report. Women are doing well. I had hoped to help them get a building with a SPA grant, but was unable to attain it. Looking for other options at the moment and trying to work around not having their own building.

King, Halloween and other updates

Wow, let’s see…it’s been a long time since I updated this. Hmm… not too much has happened in site after Rabat and Fes. Have been doing a lot of relaxing and reading. I went to Erfoud over the 17th and 18th for the Date Festival. I had a really good time. There were so many dates! Erfoud is very well know for its dates and holds a festival every year sometime in October. Was nice to see friends and play some Nintendo Wii. Then I went to Errachidia for flu shots. Was not looking forward to that! I absolutely detest shots. Managed to get through it, had fun seeing people in the region. I had made a successful Chocolate Cheesecake to share with everyone. Only I had ended up stepping on about 1/4th of it. I had stored it in my bedroom so my cat wouldn’t eat it as he tries to do and forgot I had set it on the floor of my bedroom and opened the door and stepped in…oops. Still tasted fabulous. Bought some really pretty pink fabric that I plan to make a skirt out of it. Was also very happy to find the seed beads I needed to finish my belly dance costume that I planned to wear for Halloween. That was my next big activity. I went down to Tinjdad to celebrate Halloween with several other volunteers. I wore my finished belly dance costume and had a lot of fun. Was sad to learn that a fellow volunteer had to go home.

Let’s see…before Halloween I hung out with my retired nomad neighbors and they had a friend henna my hands and feet. Too bad the henna didn’t stain my skin very well, but it was a fun experience. My bike tires are also both so completely flat that I’ll have to take it to a gas station to fill the tires. Hand pumps are doing absolutely nothing.

Received a much appreciated package from my mom, :). American food is always appreciated. Also had a much needed pair of jeans and wonderful knee high socks for when winter sets in. Currently 68°F in my house and steadily declining. Refusing to use more than one blanket as long as possible. I also received a bundle of letters from the Middle School in Iowa I have begun corresponding with and was very happy. Getting mail of any sort is always a happy day.

The king was in Errachidia for nearly a week. That was interesting. I had so much trouble getting transportation into town. I finally was able to get in toward the end of the week and almost got stampeded. I was checking my mail and the king had just finished a speech and was driving away and everyone decided that they wanted to run after his car. Several policemen had to actually pull people off of his car.

Another bit of work news. A coop about 10km from me came to my site and asked me to help them with basic business skills. They are a new coop and specialize in beef cattle. They just purchased a building and will be buying cattle soon. I visited them not too long ago. There are about 8 members and they are so nice. 2 of the women are also artisans who make stained glass pictures and paint on fabric, glass and mirrors. They mainly do floral patterns, very cool.

My coop supposedly had elections last weekend but are had trouble finding a location. I went on Sunday and I think they had started the process of it all but they speak so quickly I’m not sure. I love my current president and am nervous about working with a new one, but that is the coop’s choice. So far they have proved themselves capable. They have also found a building finally but it would cost them their entire bank account, about $3,125 USD. I am hoping to help them gain funding to be able to make this purchase. It would be so helpful to them and then they could finally work on a daily basis. Things seem to finally be going somewhere on obtaining their own building.

And that brings us back to the present. I am looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with friends this coming weekend even though it will be in a cold site! L’3id kbir (the big holiday) is this month as well. The one where they sacrifice a sheep. I’m looking forward to the seasoned beef kabobs, :). Also been working on my cross stitch projects a bit and hope to start making my own cheese soon. Speaking of cross stitch I plan to hold a cross stitch techniques workshop for a friend’s coop next week depending on the king. Very excited, :). I’ve had to push the workshop back several times now because he keeps post-poning his visit.

My cat has recently ran off about 4 days ago. Hoping he comes back, he is an un-fixed male. Waiting another week and if he hasn’t returned I’ll adopt a friend’s kitten. I am really hoping my returns.

Travel Adventures

Let’s see… I went started traveling to Rabat last Tuesday for another ear exam. I looked at the bus schedule, buses at 12pm, 1pm, and 1:45pm. I thought I would try to catch the 1:45pm. I left my house at 12pm, managed to get a taxi at 12:30pm and thought I would make it to Errachidia just in time for the 1pm bus. Unfortunately the taxi was stopped by Gendarmes for speeding. Grrr… So I didn’t get into Errachidia until 1:15pm missing the 1pm bus and only to arrive at the bus station to learn that there no longer was a 1:45pm bus. I really do wish they would update their bus time schedule. The next bus wasn’t until 3pm and was full and the next wouldn’t be until 5pm and unfortunately due to the inability to travel at night I was forced to take a taxi. Luck had it that I got a taxi right away, the bad luck was that I had to squish into a back seat with a very large man, a not so small woman and an average sized woman. I was not able to get a window seat either. I’ve been uncomfortable before, but this was actually painful, for 4 hours. It was such a relief to arrive in Azrou. One of the doors to the backseat of the taxi didn’t shut so well either and opened up twice on the way to Azrou. Hence to say it was an adventure. In Azrou my friend and I ate with a few others and I was able to take a very appreciated hot shower and was able to get a good night’s sleep. Travel the next day was absolutely magical in comparison. I arrived at the Azrou taxi stand and was able to get a taxi to Meknes within 10 minutes, was comfortable, arrived in Mekness by 9am and caught the 9:30am train to Rabat city center. Arrived by 12pm, had previously reserved a room and was able to set down my things by 12:30pm. The travel was so smooth. I also met two wonderful ladies on the train who do belly dancing from the states. Then in Rabat I made a nice trip to Marjane, ate McDonalds and stopped by the Peace Corps Headquarters office. It was great to be able to peruse all the books in the library and use the free internet. That night was a bit irritating as several times guys tried to follow me within a block of my hotel, but other than that I was able to pick up a few new movies in the Medina, :).

Thursday was crazy. Woke up early, found my way to the ear clinic and waited a few minutes. The doctor looked at my ears and jaws. I had a hearing test done which concluded I still have a loss of hearing in my right ear. Then they took me to an operating room and laid me down on a table and stuck wet pieces of cloth into my nose and told me to breathe. I was freaking out just a bit here because I had no idea what was going on. Found out a few minutes later the pieces of cloth were to numb my nose so they could use a microscope to see the inside of my ear drum to see if there was anything clogging the insides of it. It looked fine to them. The doctor then told me he would give a prognosis after I had all my previous test results sent to him and all my previous treatments and recommendations. He also wishes to see me again in 2 months, which I will be in Rabat anyway for mid-service medicals. I then went back to the office, got reimbursed and hung out for a bit before heading out to an amazing lunch at Pizza Hut and catching the 2pm train to Fes where I was attending a Marketing workshop/Craft Fair with my women.

The craft fair was awesome. It was so great to experience one and to hang out with fellow SBDers to share information. SBD is small business development. I also ate very well for dinner while I was there, ;). I was able to eat the most amazing sushi ever one night, well, maybe not ever, but pretty amazing. My women sold a few things and had a woman place an order for a few more things. Overall it was a really great first experience for them. It was also nice for me to see all the other artists that other volunteers work with and to get a few ideas and helpful hints. I wasn’t a fan of the hostel. It was a great location, but the management was something else. I wanted to get a receipt for one night but no one could write a receipt for me and the owner was on vacation the last two days I was there. Very irritating. There were many other issues as well. Travel back was good. I traveled with a friend and two of his artisans. Mine didn’t tell me when they were leaving and I forgot to ask. I just took a bus back and then crashed when I returned to my site. Traveling to Rabat and Fes so soon after my return to from the states was exhausting. I’m sure every tourist feels the same way.

So back in site and just relaxing for a bit. My women won’t meet again until Sunday as school is back in session. Been trying to pay my rent all week. Beginning to wonder if my land lord moved. I’ll just have to pay his aunt tomorrow. I do miss being able to just send a check through the mail or putting it in a drop off box.

Otherwise nothing too big going on this month. Hope to go somewhere for Halloween. Very excited it’s on a weekend. I’d say it is one of my favorite holidays.

August/September Update

Blog update. Been a long time I know.

Let’s see…let’s start with August. I was pretty sick the first week, didn’t leave my house for 5 whole days. The second week I visited friends and host family in site, went to the coop a few times and started preparing for my Marrakech/Tiznit trip and trip back to America shortly after. I left for Marrakech on the 15th and spent a very hot long 10 hours on a suq bus to Marrakech as the nice air conditioned CTM was full. I then did lots of shopping for gifts for friends and family. Took awhile to find a hotel with an open room, but finally found one for a good price and crashed very late after a very nice hot shower. Got up early the next day to take a CTM down to Tiznit. Was very excited to get a ticket. It was such a nice smooth air-conditioned ride. It felt like heave after the suq bus. I met a friend of mine in her site, about an hour outside of Tiznit on the 16th. It was about another 9 hours from Marrakech to her site. It was so nice to stay for two nights and meet so many awesome volunteers. The next day we went into town for a bit where I bought too much silver jewelry and then we all met up in the village that was hosting the festival. I helped the girls with French and Arabic as they are all Tamazight speakers. It was fun. As to the significance of silver jewelry, Tiznit is very well known for it’s silver jewelry selection and Silver Souq. Then I took a city bus into Tiznit on the 18th where I caught a taxi to Inzegane, a big bus stop. I had just missed the CTM by about a half hour, so I took a suq bus. I must say it was the worst one I have yet seen here in Morocco and I got to take it for the whole 9 hours to Ouarzazate. The seats were too close for me to sit normally with my long legs and the cushions had lost their cushioning, but it made it to Ouarzazate, humdullah. I stayed at a nice hotel near the medina, took another nice hot shower, and then left around 12pm the next day via CTM where I ran into a couple other volunteers. I should have stayed with the one in her site, but I thought she was still gone. Next time. Overall it was a really good trip, very long, but successful. I bought all the gifts I had wanted to and was able to see several friends along the way and even help out with a health booth even if it was for only a few hours.

I then rested up in site for about a week before my big states trip. I had lftur (breakfast) with a friend one night of shark and sardines. Her friend can cook! Though my house reeked of fish for awhile and I’m not a big fan of fish.

Then the big day came. I began traveling to Casablanca on the 31st staying with a friend that night near Rabat. That was about a 10 hour bus ride. Then early the next morning I took a train from Rabat to the Casablanca airport, about another 2 hours, and took an easy jet flight to Madrid on the 1st. Yes, it really does take me about 12 hours to get to the airport. Once in Madrid I met a friend at the Hilton Hotel there. She was using her parents’ hotel points and boy was I lucky we were flying in and out the same day. I had never experienced such luxury. It was also my first trip out of Morocco in 12 months. We were served free champagne and wine as well as many savory snacks including several pork products. It was heaven. Alcohol and pork aren’t viewed so well in Morocco, pork is near impossible to find. I was also able to take my first bath in nearly a year and it was fabulous. Then the next day we took a shuttle to the airport and parted out separate ways. My delta flight left right on time and was so nice. I had two seats to myself and excellent service and good food. The seats seemed so spacious after 12 months of Moroccan suq buses. Then I had a 7 hour layover in Atlanta which passed quickly as I was able to chat with a really nice guy who happened to be coming from Saudi Arabia, an American. My flight left on time from Atlanta and I arrived in Des Moines, IA with all my luggage, :). My parents met me and drove me home where I crashed.

The next morning I couldn’t find my car keys. Apparently my mom had given them to me the night before while I was completely out of it. Finally found them almost 2 days later clipped to my suitcase. I spent the first two days resting and roaming around my home town. Saturday I went to Ames to see a good friend of mine. Sunday I had a family picnic, was so nice to see everyone. Then I went to Des Moines and saw the new Harry Potter! Was so excited to go to a movie theater, :). Monday I met up with an old friend for lunch and then another good friend of mine for a movie and dinner. We ate at the Cheesecake factory where I had awesome food and a very tasty beverage, ;). Then we watched The Ugly Truth. Hilarious movie! Afterwards we ate amazing cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory and then slept on the floor of her new apartment as she didn’t have furniture yet. Very comfy carpet. Tuesday I stayed home. Wednesday I went to my college town and visited with several professors. I was going to go to Ames for a belly dancing class but decided to stay home and relax as I was still tired. I wish I had gone though, I could have really used the class and it would have been nice to see my friend again. Thursday I went to Iowa City and saw a sorority sister of mine. We ate amazing steak at the Texas Roadhouse and then went out for drinks at a local bar. Was great to catch up. Friday I saw my two friends who had just gotten married and we went with another to the Cheesecake Factory again. That was a late night but a good one. Saturday I saw another sorority sister in Cedar Falls. Was great to catch up with her as well and inherited many good books and a wonderful meal and mudslide at Applebees, my favorite restaurant. I also got to see my brother, new niece and 2 nephews on the way up. Sunday I met up with my Des Moines friend one final time and we watched The Time Traveler’s Wife. Good movie, but book was way better. Ate some amazing Coldstone ice cream and just wandered the mall a bit. Monday I went shopping with my mom in Des Moines. That was a very long day but good. We went to all the craft stores and a bookstore. Bought some cross stitch supplies and salivated over books. I’ve missed Barnes and Noble so much. Then we got Culvers on the way home and I just relaxed for the night. Tuesday I went back to Des Moines to finish my shopping and had dinner with one of my aunt and uncles at a place in my home town. Wednesday I went back to my college town to look at the specialty shops and see a few more professors. I went to Central College in Pella, IA. I really like Pella. Came home and packed. Had an awesome steak and baked potato that my dad has grilled. Thought my bag was fine, 48lbs. Well, it would have been fine if not for my easy jet flight. Had to take out 4lbs, :(. Stayed up very late, but managed it.

Flight back was crazy. First a 2 hour delay in Des Moines so I didn’t get my final deli sandwich, had to run to catch my international flight. Sat by a nice woman. Then my easy jet flight was delayed 1.5 hours and they made me pay an extra 22Euroes for my purse. Luckily I was flying back with another peace corps volunteer. Got in and took a train to Rabat and a taxi to my friend’s site where I crashed for the night. Was really great to see her. Then stopped in Azrou to drop off a friend’s camera and a friend’s laptop battery. Stayed the night in Midelt and left on Sunday to finish the journey to my site. Fairly smooth other than my Azrou to Midelt taxi. We had to pull over a few times due to the transmission not working so well, but I made it. Took a nice solar shower and unpacked and relaxed. Monday I rested all day, then Tuesday I visited my counter part, host family and neighbor who took care of my cat for me while I was gone.

My birthday is tomorrow. The big 25. Not planning to do anything special, maybe bake myself some brownies and just relax. Was gone for 3 weeks and just returned 3 days ago.

As you can see it’s been an exciting 2 months for me. Hard to believe it’s nearly October already. I have a trip to Fes and Rabat next week. 2 of my women will be attending a marketing workshop in Fes and I will be going to Rabat for a second opinion on why my ear clogs up every so often and has a persistent pain. Usually not too bad.