Holy Fudge

I gotta pack cause I am heading home tomorrow!!!

See you all soon!

Back to the begining

I am back in Morocco once again. It seems this country and my budget are compatible with each other. It's been good to be back also. Saturday I got to hang out with Khadija in the medina and Tuesday I have company coming to stay with me for a few days. I met a really nice girl in Tarifa Spain right before I came back. Morocco is a place she always wanted to come and it worked out for her to come and stay with me and travel a bit.

This weekend I have been enjoying the weather in El Jadida. I took a bit of a detour to get here and drove through some really beautiful countryside. All of the farmers are out harvesting their wheat. So, the roads were packed with tractors and donkeys. This morning I went to the Cite Portuguese. Evidently, the old medina here was once held by the Portuguese so it was really fun to walk around and appreciate the Portuguese influence. Much the same appreciation I had in Portugal for the Moroccan influence. One thing I learned tonight at dinner is that the Arabic word for potato is the same as in Portuguese. I knew the Portuguese word from Ana saying batata and potatoe. But, the arabic word for potatoe I learned when I got fries to eat. It is easy to think that now the world is a small place, but I think it has been for some time.

I come home soon and I can't believe it!!

Photos I like

These are photos I´ve taken and just like.

Ana Margarida Costa Gomes Leite

Yes, this tiny Portuguese girl has five names and needs them all, because her personality is that big. The truth be known though, it is really all Sam´s fault. See, since Sam and I met up in Portugal at the begining of the month my blood alcohol levels have been elevated. So, when I met Ana in the train depot and suspected she was a bit crazy, it turned out I was right. But, she´s crazy in a good fun loving way. So, when she suggested that we meet in the bar car after catching our train at 00:30, I thought why not, my last drink was with lunch, I haven´t eaten dinner, and I´ve been up since 06:00.

Ana´s english is pretty good and so are my charades. Between us we managed to entertain and maintain conversations with the train stewards until who knows what hour. One of the funniest moments was her renacting a birth, until I said ¨born¨ because one of the stewards was trying to tell me where he was from in Portugal. And of course that area has the best wine in all of Portugal! It just so happened that I had been through that town two days earlier. Even though I cannot say I had the wine there, it really is a beautiful place along the Rio Duoro.

To explain the picture. Ana must have a small bladder, because on my way to the bar car I saw her outside the WC doing a potty dance, talking, and laughing to one of the guys we ended up hanging out with later. As the night wore on it became too irresistable to not repeat the performance. With the Portuguese people being as kind as they are one of the stewards stepped up and offered to catch it for her so she wouldn´t have to wait. It was pretty funny.

The rain in Spain is mainly in the plain

I am thinking that is not true at all. Of course I don't really know where the plain is, but I'm in Granada and spent all morning touring the Alhambra in the rain. And it wasn't a mist or dampness, it was a downpour with about 5 minutes of sunshine. Of course it is the Alhambra and I was overwhelmed and the rain didn't matter. I came here on the advice of a person in Porto and am so glad. I believe this is the most beautiful place I have seen on my trip so far. I am staying in a hostel across the valley from it and my room overlooks the Nazrid Palaces. Look it up online and come here.

Girl Time

I can't believe Sam has already come and gone a week ago. I am losing track of time so terribly!! Well, I had a great time with her in Lisbon. We walked, ate, and drank to our hearts content. And when Sam left she lent me some clothes!!! I am the proud borrower of a skirt and several cute shirts, a change of outfits was much needed for my mental health. Actually girl time was the most important for my mental health. We had our nails done and got to have lots of girl talk and shopping. I had a great time touring around Lisbon and Albufeira with her. We had a bus tour of the city with this older woman who spoke like, five languages. At every interesting point she'd rattle off the same thing in one language after another. They all went by so fast, she'd be halfway through the english before I recognized the words. It was crazy, but very fun. My favorite parts were the carriage museum and seeing Vasco de Gamas tomb. I'm sure I didn't spell that correctly, but bear with me, it's really hard to keep track of the days anymore. So, spelling is far down on the list of priorities. What is funny to me right now is that as I write, I am realizing how bad my grammar is. Why is that funny you wonder? Well, I'm contemplating moving overseas and teaching English. Imagine me grading papers and being like, looks good to me. I may single handedly fill the world with slang speaking, bad grammared foreigners.

I also got to meet and spend time with Sam's grandma, uncle, aunt, and nephew. They are all very fun people and generously let me in on their family vacation. The bittersweet thing about my time with them is that we ate the best calamari I will probably ever have in my life. Now calamari is something I have to remove from my diet because for the rest of my life I will compare it with our meal at the beach.

I know this is a jail

That's not exactly true. I left Budapest and was going to make a southern route through Europe to Lisboa. I meet Sam in Lisboa tomorrow!!! We're having a girl vacation in Portugal. Ok, back to my story. I left Budapest and headed toward Venezia on the train, but before I got there I decided to spend the night in Treviso. Only I said it wrong and got off the train in Travisio. At every other train station I have been to, you get off and there is a hotel right there. It might be junky, but it's a place to stay. Not in Travisio. Travisio is right on the border with Austria and it is gorgeous with giant mountains and trees. I mean really stunning and very cold. I use my best one word question which is "Hotel?" and get pointed down the road. I'm walking and walking and begining to get worried when I see a police station. I figure it can't hurt to go in and ask "Hotel?" again. The Italian Polizia think they are hilarious and use their english and hand signs to tell me this isn't a hotel, it's a jail. But, if I would like a room they could give me one. It was pretty funny. I said no thank you and they told me which direction I needed to go. I ended up at a great place and had yummy pasta with wine out of an unlabeled bottle. It was really good wine. Another good nights sleep for Angie.

Budapest

Now, Budapest is the place to be!!! It's got Flagstaff's attitude in a big city. When I was there, I stayed at the Budapest Bubble, which is a hostel that just opened a few months ago. It was really fun and run by this great Hungarian lady named Olga. She loves her city and knows it inside and out. The location of the hostel was so convenient to everything it was amazing. The first night I walked along the Danube to see the castle lights on the river, it was so beautiful. I took some great photos, which I'll try to post soon. I was there for four days and didn't come close to seeing everything there is to offer. I did get to enjoy the Gehlert Bath, which is fed by natural thermal springs. I slept really well that night.

Poland continued...

The train stations in Poland are not so good after Belgium and Holland!! One thing I learned is that in Poland they put the arriving trains (on the left) posted next to the departing trains ( on the right). In short, if you plan to depart on a train that's arriving, you're not going anywhere. So, no Boleslawiec for me, but I can now say the name of the town. I can also say Wroclaw and Katowice correctly. All in all I had a nice day in Poland, I met an old lady on the train who couldn't understand why I wanted to go to Boleslawiec in the first place, because it was only pottery factories. When we got off the train in Wroclaw she waited for me with her daughter who speaks really good English. She was tremendously helpful to me and pointed me to the city center, which was really nice. I was pleasantly surprised by the whole place and would go back again, but with a phrase book.

Poland

I left Holland yesterday and had two extra days before my hotel reservation in Budapest, so I decided to visit a pottery place in Poland. It's the Boleslawiec pottery that is really beautiful with the blue dots and patterns on the cream background. It's becoming very popular now and sells in several shops in Flagstaff. Right now I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Poznan, Poland thinking maybe this wasn't such a good idea. See once you get off the tourist track, it's a lot harder to get around. It'll be interesting to see how this day goes. I'll let you know.

Hengstenstation Van Uitert

I found a little hostel to stay in The Netherlands out in the countryside. What a little treasure this place has turned out to be. A short bike ride away is the Hengstenstation Van Uitert where several of the top Dutch Warmblood Stallions stand. In fact Anky van Grunsvens horse Krack C stands here in the summers for breeding. In the dressage world it doesn't get much better. Yesterday I got to tour the facility, which is like most things in Holland. There isn't necesserily a large quantity of animals, they are just the best. In particular I saw a young stallion named Zhivago who moves like a dream. Tomorrow they ride and collect from the stallions again and they offered for me to come back then, when it is busier.

I've also been to the Mauritshuis museum. It is also small, but has the most important paintings by the dutch masters. I really enjoyed myself there. I saw the girl with the pearl earring by Vermeer, the old lady with the young boy by Rembrandt, and a huge mural by Potter of two cows in a field with sheep and a farmer. Very incredible to see paintings in real life. Adriean Coorte also had a special exhibition which was so beautiful. He painted lots of still lifes of fruits and vegetables that are extraordinary in their simplicity.

With Beth in Hasselt

I got to spend a few days with my sister, Beth, in Hasselt Belgium this last week. Beth always seems to be going someplace where I want to go too. Over the last few years we've met up in Las Vegas, Chicago, and now Belgium. We don't get to spend lots of time together because she's working, but it's always nice to see a friendly face and catch up. Sometimes if it weren't for these impromptu sightings we might not see each other for way too long.

Belgium was a real treat for me, because the air is clean, the trains are so convenient and orderly, and the chocolate is incredible. There are also lots of Moroccans in Belgium and I have the remains of my last bit of henna which attracted some attention. I also found a great little bakery in Hasselt where the lady made rolls out of brioche which dripped with cream cheese and golden raisins. They were delicious. She also made an apricot stuffed pastry which was really nice. You can tell I am eating well!! My clothes still fit, which is somewhat miraculous. I think it is only trying to stay warm which is my main exercise. I thought Belgium was cold, but Holland is freezing and that is where I am right now.

Amartya Sen

I am reading this book called Pathologies of Power that was written by Paul Farmer: It,s very interesting because it discusses the institutionalization of intense poverty and epidemiology in Haiti; Peru; and Russia: The subject is really engaging; but the author is beautiful with language: When I was in Paris I stepped into a bookstore which just happened to be English; there I found a book by Amartya Sen; the author of the foreward to Dr: Farmer,s work: I bought it because I have been wondering since I left Morocco about the division between Christians and Muslims: The focus of the Sen book is on large groups of people; but it discusses ways we identify ourselves as groups; which often has the effect of bringing about violence to those not identified in the same way: What is significant about his theory is that it;s not how we identify ourselves that is important ; what is important is the prioritization we give those identities: I, m not doing the subject justice so I would advise reading the book: Its called Violence and the illusion of Destiny:

Belgium

Right now, I am enjoying Belgium with my sister: I tried to take her photo as she came into the lobby of the airport in Brussels; but she pleaded exhaustion. I on the other hand was completely excited to see her and shouted her name out loud so that she wouldn,t miss me: The town where Beth is working is called Hasselt: It,s very nice: I like Belgium very much so far; but it,s hard to have the dollars go very far here: For example; in Morocco the internet cost 1 US dollar per hour: In France it cost 10 dollars per hour and in Belgium it costs 15-20 per hour: The good news is that there are many Moroccans in Belgium; And I managed to find a local Moroccan bar with free internet where I can use my limited arabic: A few words in Arabic go a long way, In fact I,ve never met so many people who get excited that you know a few phrases even if they are pronounced badly:

No good news about medical school

I wasn,t accepted into medical school at UofA this year: I am really disappointed and feeling much like a looser because I don,t like floating around like this in life; But, when I start beating myself up too badly, I remember that George Washington was denied being an officer into the British Army three times, yet he found his place as a General in a different army. Not that I,m expecting anything glamorous, but there is a place for me to contribute: So everyone say a prayer for God to whap me upside the head with where that place may be because I have some decisions to make:

Wow, what happened to this week!!!

Last few days have been a complete whirlwind. I´m not sure I´ll remember all that happened, but I wrote a great blog about it on Saturday at a cyber cafe in the medina and then it got lost. Essentially, I was feeling displaced because I was out of my comfort zone and moving around on my own. Blah blah blah of a pity party I suppose. I knew it would take me a few days to stop feeling so vulnerable and change mentality. I was right. Today it´s Tuesday and I am in Algeciras, Spain. My sister, Beth is going to Belgium on business this weekend. So, I am headed up for a rendezvous with her. I haven´t done everything I want in Morocco´, but a change of scenery is happy and sad.

My last couple of days in Morocco I spent in Rabat and Kenitra. I´ve made some good friends in Morocco and they have taken care of me and taken me in the last couple of days. This morning I got company on the train ride to Tangier and my taxi ride to the airport bargained out for me. That was a huge relief because I was quite nervous about the whole deal and today was one of those days where traveling went just right.

My immediate plans are that tomorrow Morning I leave for Paris by train and I arrive there, on Friday; I think. I have tickets, a place to stay including breakfast, and know to be at the station at 8:00 and right now that´s enough.

suave

i am on a french keyboard: so there is no grammar today: yipee: i thought earlier that this key board is arabic; but its not its french: the following is an arabic keyboard demo: حقثففغ ؤخخم اعلاI now know the difference which is why i am suave: i really wanted to be savy but couldn,t remember how to spell it correctly and didn:t want everyone to think i was savey or something crazy like that:




I suppose I didn,t say anything that great, but thanks Matt for giving me the tip to check my posts; PS glad you;re home:

Typical Day

I thought I'd give you a moment by moment account of my day. I get up at 6:30 and help Aicha set the table for breakfast; unless I get up at 7:30 and in that case I just eat. For breakfast we usually have French bread, cereal, yogurt, cheese, and sometimes these thin pancake things (not like a crepe, but still delicious with nutella). I leave for my placement at 8:45. Typically, despite being the first one up, I am the last one in the van. This works for me because then I get to sit up front and talk to Ismail. Last week, I learned how to ask what someone's opinion is. I tried my new phrase on Ismail one morning and he missed the fact that I was merely telling him my new phrase and not really asking his opinion, because it got very confusing. He got me back this week by teaching me a phrase that means not my problem. I thought he was telling me it wasn't his problem and thought it was rude of him. Then I caught on.

From 9 to 12 I'm with the infants, unless they make me cross eyed by 11:30 and then I pack up early and go sit outside and wait for Ismail to pick me up. That happened twice this week. Sometimes after placement I put my basket of stuff in the van and my roommate Susan and I walk home. The Foret du Hilton is near the hospital and it has a great walking path through a eucalyptus forrest so it's very relaxing and a nice way to get in some exercise. From the Foret we take Lala Merryiam past King Mohammed V's in laws home to where we live in Hay Riad. The whole walk takes about an hour and we make it home just in time to eat lunch. Our neighborhood is very affluent. The minimum size is 5000 sq feet and the house I'm in used to be for the Ambassador of Malaysia. In fact there are a lot of Ambassador's residences around us.

After lunch we will have a lecture, cultural activity, or free time. Today we had an impromptu stop at a chocolate shop in Agdal as a cultural activity on our way home from the laundry. Then we went to the Marjane, which is like a WalMart and did some shopping for the house. This afternoon Mohammed gave a lecture on Islam. I opted out since I participated previously and sat outside and painted. On Tuesday afternoons I go to Mohammed V University and work with students in the Masters Chemistry program on translating scientific papers. The one we are working on right now is about corrosion. I like working with the university students, because they are very enthusiastic. Translating the papers from French to English is tricky because if you do a direct translation the meaning gets lost. So, I think mostly this is about having them learn to trust how they are explaining it to me and writing that down, rather than going for a literal translation. Also, there are some funny phrases or word choices they use which aren't the most appropriate for scientific papers. What is hard about helping them is that their grammar is better than mine will ever be and so when they ask me something technical like the past perfect tense of who knows what, I am no use.

Five o'clock is tea time. Mint tea is a cultural icon in Morocco. I find this very fortunate for me since I love mint tea, the tea is also very sweet which is another bonus for me. I have managed to miss the tea preparation lessons twice now. For this I am very disappointed, because the tea is prepared very specifically with some glasses being poured off and disposed and another glass being poured off and kept. I don't understand the ritual and it's something that I really want to see. Serving the tea has its own set of rituals. For example, the tea is served hot in small glasses. When pouring the tea the more foam created by distancing the pot from the glass the better. We have all spent a significant amount of time working on the perfect pour.

Dinner is served at seven and it is a lighter meal. In Morocco lunch is the big meal of the day and the one where you have meat. Dinner is generally soup, leftovers, and salads, it's all very yummy and fresh. Then I have a couple of hours until bedtime. Sometimes we all hang out and talk or play games. Lately it's been pretty quiet because everyone has colds. That's my average day here in Morocco.

Love Hate Relationships

I survived my week of little boys!! By the time Friday rolled around I was contemplating spitting back up the words I had just eaten. Dien, is one of the boys I have had this week. Unfortunately, he has an awful temper which Salah manages to whip into a greater frenzy. Needless to say our Uno game took a walk on the dark side. Fortunately, one of the moms with good english and pity for me helped referee the situation. But, when the next day rolled around I was better prepared and it's now understood that fighting means you leave the table. Furthermore, you are not welcome back that day. I find that this threat works well because Salah is essentially a ham who needs an audience. I've got him on video doing all sorts of little boy goofy things. I can't wait to show you guys, because he is a cutie.

Anwar is another boy who was at the hospital this week. He's eleven a phenomonal artist, very bright, and understands english. I'm partial to him and Salah because they have good hearts and are gentle with the other kids. For instance, there is this little two year old girl who laughs and just looks for trouble. I like her too. One day she ran up behind Salah and whapped him on the back and then turned and ran away laughing to her room as fast as she could. Salah just rolled his eyes. But, back to Anwar. On Friday he gave Barbara and I each one of his books, which I thought was really sweet. Then it came about that the jacks were missing and Anwar had all these tears coming down. He had evidently taken the jacks and given us the books in exchange. It was an interesting situation and I'm not really sure what all happened, but he's a good kid.

The rest of my weekend I spent in Marakesh. Of the medinas that I have been to it is the cleanest and most touristy. I also liked it the least. It's not that I didn't like it, it was just sort of disnified Morocco and I'm a Morocco afficianado now.

Eating my words

I've had tablefulls of little boys this week, and I need to change my previously stated opinion. Little boys can be very sweet and I like them a lot. They like to do very different stuff, but they are great fun too. For instance, I now know two magic tricks. (They are tricks when I do them since I'm not a pro). One is a card trick and I'll admit I'm pretty good at it. The other one involves a slight of hand. Apparently I have lots of enthusiasm for this one, but little finesse because it's a lot harder. Little boys also like the rattle snake eggs that I brought from home. You know those touristy packets with the paper clip and rubber band that rattle when you open it, making you feel like the eggs have hatched. Khadija wrote on the packet in Arabic so that I could produce the desired suspicious effect before the victim opens the packet. In short fear of snakes is pretty universal!! I've even done it to some of the moms and they will laugh pretty hard at each other.

This past week Barbara has been in the asthma ward with me. She's 85 and wonderful. The first day we observed a lot of the physical therapy, which I described earlier. She said the technique that they use to bring up the mucous is called cupping. It's nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of during the morning, because she knows a lot about asthma. I enjoy her company a great deal and it's also fun to see how the children interact with her. The older ones like her a lot and she gets to work with them on math and reading and then they write her name in Arabic. It's pretty sweet. I did have to tell her this morning though, as I was late for the bus that she needed to move slower so that we could blame our late departures on her age and not my tardiness. We'll see what happens on Monday.

Placement has been really good this week, everyone who works at the hospital is getting to know me and so they all come around to say hi. The kids look for us in the morning and it's fun to walk by their rooms and say hello. I get so attached to some of them, I don't want them to go home, but you've got to be happy for them too. The amount of phone numbers I have been given from moms is tremendous, it's a good feeling.

Other things that I've been up to this week are the hammam and hanna. The hammam is a public bath, where you can pay someone to scrub you down like nobodies business. I haven't felt so clean in a long time. Hammams are social activities like going to hang out at the beauty parlor, but their is a lot more too it than that. I would rank it up there with Fes as far as must experience personally, because words don't exist to describe the ritual. Because I was sqeaky clean after the hammam, Khadija put hanna on my hands. I've long felt that hanna wasn't for me. Turns out that's just not true, I just had my feet done last night and they are zwina bzaaf (very beautiful). It helps that Khadija is an incredible hanna artist, because I have beautiful flowers around my ankles and vines down the tops of my feet, with fronds and all.

angie.bt@gmail.com

This is my new email address. Hopefully, I'll be able to send individual communications now. Sam hope you're doing well with all the snow. Unfortunately, the blower in the barn doesn't work. What a shame!! And please don't curse me either, I'm PMSing and will just cry. You should have yourself a nice bottle of wine on me!! And take a hot bath.

This weekend the rest of the volunteers which came with my group left. It was very sad, because I had grown fond of all of them. The bright side is that Elena and Hilary, who were here when I arrived have one more week left before they leave, so it's not as if the house has changed over completely. The new group which arrived this weekend consists of six people. Teal, Erin, Barbra, Caroll, Susan, and Dan. Barbra ran a children's hospital in Oregon for many years. I'll be asking her lots of questions this week. It's nice to have that resource fall into place. Everyone is very interesting and brings a new dimension to the house.

This is kind of a flat blog, so sorry. My excuse again is PMS and house changeover. I expect a complete recovery after some chocolate bars.

The blind leading the blind

Seen it.

email

Hi everyone. I am getting emails, but none are going out from my email address. I am working on getting a new email at gmail, I just haven't done it yet. I'll post it as soon as I do. All is well here, we're off to Tex Mex for dinner. Besilamma

Warmth

This last weekend was really good for me, because I figured out that I am able to navigate successfully on my own.

Perhaps more importantly though, I figured out that I have plenty of time to do that once I am finished here in Rabat. So, I kind of doubt I'll head out for big weekend trips over the next couple of weeks. Instead I'm settling into Rabat and my placement at the hospital. My roommate, Maria, has kindly shown me how to add pictures to my blogspot. (She is the one in the green shirt in the Volubilis photos). Be sure to check out some of my earlier posts because it's gotten a little livelier. Unfortunately though, my spelling and grammar remain poor so you're stuck with extremely short or runon sentences.

Part of what Cross Cultural Solutions offers its volunteers are cultural activities in the afternoons. On Mondays we have arabic lessons and Wednesdays it's generally a lecture about the government, economy, or other current issues. This past week we had a handicapped gentleman come and speak to us about disabled persons in Morocco. Hakeem is part of an advocacy group which raises awareness about handicap issues such as curbs which provide better access to sidewalks. The general impression I received is that it's a frustrating process, because there are no accepted zoning codes. But, their group has received recognition from the government, because new construction in public areas like the promenade along the waterfront are now accessible. To me it seems like a lot of Morocco is getting ready to become much more prominant as a tourist destination. The new King is putting a lot into infrastructure, tourism, and safety. When I was in Ifrane there was a lot of new construction happening.

The lunch bell rang. Be back Later!!!

The food is good here at the house. The first two weeks the regular cook, Aicha, was on vacation and the meals were all right, but they all tasted the same. Now, Aicha is back and things have greatly improved. She is from Meknes and evidently Meknes is known for its good cooks. I would agree because the best meal that I have had dining out was in Meknes. Also, the best wine I have had here was from Meknes. On a scale of 1 to 10 of all the best wines I have tasted, I would rate the Meknes wine a solid 9. Very tastey.

Other things I've done this past week are tour the archeology museum, hence the photo of the marble head. That head in particular came from Chellah, one of the first Roman ruins I visited in Morocco. The entire museum though is full of spectacular artifacts from Chellah and Volubilis. One ruin at Volubilis was called the house of the dog, after a bronze dog which was found at the site. I imagined a little 2" figurine. To my surprise the dog is at the museum and is actually about 2'x2' and was a spout for water into a fountain. I was humbled at the quality and number of artifacts.

The other pictures are of Ismail and a little boy who danced for us this week. Ismail greets us warmly in the mornings and drives us to our placements, but for the music and dance this week he turned into an enthusiastic drummer. Danielle and I are in front of the lighthouse on the beach in Rabat. I guess it makes sense that there is a lighthouse here, but it did catch me by surprise. Fatima is the little girl in the other photo. I would take her home in a minute, but she has this really great mom who wouldn't appreciate that much. Fatima is the reason I titled this post warmth. Because as I sit here on the cold tile I am missing the heat she puts off when she sits plastered next to me at the hospital. As a general warning to everyone, the amount of personal space I require is gone. So, when I get home and sit right next to you please be understanding. Fatima is the one that I am thinking may be a good penpal for Jay. You'll have to let me know Jill, if Jay would mind corresponding with a little girl. Her languages are French and Arabic, but she'll be learning English in school soon. Plus it can be fun trying to translate letters.

arabic keyboards

None of the letters on arabic keyboards are in the same place. I don't know why; it's just that way.

This will be short.
Sam, thanks for taking care of the pipes, you are the bomb. I would kick an ape in the head for you anyday!!

Karen I am alive and having fun. It's hard to check email because of the windows mac thing.

Sara and Harley, thanks for the birthday wishes. I was happy to hear from you. How are the parents?

Catherine, I wish you could come here for lunch. The food is really good!

Matt, I'd also kick an ape for you. Say hi to Meg, Brant, and Forest.

This has been a good week so far. I am managing to have conversations using both the moroccan arabic to english and french to english phrase books. So far I know that Hadija's mom is not her mom. Sara is her sister, they live in Khenitra and have been at the hospital for 21 days. They have 6 sisters for sure. I am not sure about brothers, because we didn't get that far. Sara is 19 and weaves rugs for a living. She's a blast and way keen on trying to talk to me. I think what she really wants to know is why I don't cover my hair. I just don't have any of those words. Yesterday she wrote me something on paper, which I took to the home base for Mohammed to translate. It said, don't drink dirty water without boiling it first. Words to live by.

Fatima is eleven and so smart. She and Bessima line everyone else out when we play games. I was doing math problems with Fatima today and kept making them harder and harder because she was so good. We got to a point where Bob, my fellow volunteer had to tell me what number she was saying. Bob speaks french.

Readers choice

This blog is called readers choice, because I couldn't pick a title. So, your choices are Le Lego, Uno, Snowboarding, or Kicking a Barbary Ape in the head. Some of these topics are related and some are not. I think the easiest thing to do is write short stories for each. Here I go.

Le Lego
Earlier this week I took Lego's to the hospital, because kids like Lego's. I had another cute little ornry child who proceeded to chuck a lego out the window into this little playground between the hospital hallways. It's a similar playground to the tantrariums and bacteria incubators in US malls, only I never see any kids in this area. So, like all ideas, which seem so good at the time I placed le enfante out the window to retrieve le Lego. Immediately le enfante becomes possessed and rips around the playground. Suddenly I am realizing I made a bad decision. To make a long story short, two Arab mothers discussing my situation took pity on me and showed me the door to the play area. Meanwhile, the child realizing I wasn't paying attention to him came running back and wanted back in the window. Giant sigh of relief from me.

Uno
I'm not sure how it happened, but on Friday I managed to have a successful game of Uno with about four other kids. I know this sounds simple, but some of the kids only speak French, some only speak Arabic, and I speak neither. In truth, the actual Uno portion of the game was too hard to convey, but the rest of the game went well. Fatima, was particularly proud of herself, since she won something like four hands in a row. The director of the ward, was kind of surprised that I pulled this one off, but it really only takes one smart child paying attention to line everyone else out.

I must admit that the question I asked myself this week was, how did it become preferential to educate boys over girls. My first thought is that person who came up with this idea, simply desired an extreme amount of agony in their life. Not that boys are not intelligent, it just seems to me they are not as methodical as girls. This thought led me to think that perhaps the preference to educate boys came out of the sheer necessity to curb their unruliness and prevent lawlessness in society. Just an idea.

Snowboarding
This weekend was my birthday and I somehow got bumped off the camel trek in the desert of Ourzuga. I was bummed about that but, I still wanted to do something fun and decided to visit Ifrane,the home of Morocco's only ski resort. I stayed in the Hotel Chamonix and had a great trout dinner, with a yummy chocolate dessert. The next morning, I cruise around town a bit before going to the slopes. I ended up in this shop and negotiate for them to drop me off at Mischifflen and pick me up in a few hours, when I am finished for the day. Turns out there wasn't really snow at Mischifflen and neither of the lifts were running. All the rentals were run out of roadside stands in the parking lot and there was one snowboard available. I, however, did not feel like treking up the hill for several hours and decided to pass. Tarek, the gentleman driving me there, felt bad and asked if I wanted to see some apes. I'm not really a fan of apes, but when in Morocco....

Kicking a Barbary Ape in the Head
The forests around Ifrane are ancient cedar forests, which are gorgeous. This area is considered the Middle Atlas and the air is so clear and beautiful, it was a huge change from Rabat. At one time the forests of Ifrane had lions roaming wild, now there are only the apes. When we saw the first one on the side of the road we pulled over. There were other people around who had also stopped to look. I was pretty leary and left the car door open in case I needed to run back fast. Well, after you saw the first one there were lots of them. After a bit I felt more comfortable and so I shut the car door. I went over to take some pictures and turned around to walk back to the car when a middle sized one came running at me. I stuck out my foot and kicked it right in the head. It screamed, I probably screamed and then a big one started coming for me. At this point, I know I'm loud and running for the car. Visions of rabies shots are flashing through my mind, while it's gaining on me. I knew I wouldn't make it to the car fast enough so, I stopped and turned to face it real quick and that scared it away. Thank God.

I think Tarek must have felt really bad about that, because he proceeded to turn the rest of the morning into a sightseeing trek. We went through Azrou to a fantastic overlook of the Middle Atlas and then onto the Cedre Gourou, which is an 800 year old cedar tree. It's no longer alive, but it's still standing and is huge. Not what I expected from my trip, but a really pleasant surprise. When I leave my volunteering here in Rabat, I'll head that way again for a longer stay

Si Mohammed andu firma hiya, hiya, hoo

Yes, they have Old McDonald had a farm here in Morocco too! But, dogs here say how how not woof woof. Minor details I suppose.

There are twelve volunteers here in the house this month. Two of them have been here for several weeks they are Elena and Hillary. The group which started with me has ten people. There are three Canadians, Danielle, Karen, and Bob; One Australian named Jono; and the rest are from the US. Their names are Louie (she's from San Francisco), Caroline (New York), Maria (Miami), and Tiffany (San Francisco). All in all it's a great group of people with diverse skills, interests, and backgrounds.

This weekend we were off and went to Meknes, Volubilis, Moulay Idriss, and Fes. Everything is a constant overwhelming of the senses, in a positive way. Caroline and Danielle have lots of french words so we were able to navigate well. But, the places we went were touristy and so you could probably get by with English too. I suppose my skin is getting thicker, because the constant stares that we get are less daunting. It seems to me that if you look a male in the eye it's not such a big deal, but if you look at one who is trying to get your attention, you've invited trouble. I would say it's more annoying than anything. I imagine that there are a separate set of rules for tourists than there are for Moroccan women. Essentially, I would say that it is understood that I am a tourist and don't know the rules. I'm getting those customs figured out, but really everyone is welcoming and kind.

I mentioned earlier that my placement is at a children's hospital, in fact it's the largest one in Morocco. There are sixty children in the asthma ward. I know this because the director of the ward introduced himself to me on Friday. He's a really kind man and said it would be all right for me to watch some of the teaching sessions for the respiratory therapy. He was happy to hear that I work in a hospital at home and want to learn more about the procedures. I have observed a bit so far, but I really wish I knew more about asthma. The director told me that asthma is really common in third world countries and a lot of children come in through the emergency department. I was wondering if they use asthma as a general term for respiratory illness, but the director said it is asthma. Overall the kids have runny noses, but it's clear and not gross mucousy colored stuff. ( Sorry, that was for my hospital friends). And they don't seem to run fevers. I just need to learn more.

This hospital is run more like the ones I have heard about in Europe, meaning that the patients bring their own sheets, blankets, and food. There is a minimal lunch of broth and bread served around noon. I don't know if anything is done for breakfast and dinner, because I'm not around. The hospital in general probably holds about 300 children and there is also an emergency department. The sharps containers are used water bottles strapped to the carts with some disinfectant in the bottom, but the use of gloves doesn't exist. The other day the kids were expressing their dislike of the phlebotomy procedure to each other. I knew this because they were all sticking out their arms, pointing at their AC, and making disgusted faces. The respiratory therapy is interesting because the children lie flat on their backs, while the therapist places one hand on the sternum and the other on the xyphoid then compresses and rubs the chest until his hands meet in the middle. At first the kids cry and cry. But, then they get into a groove with the therapist and mucous starts coming up and they relax. Sometimes they rub the neck also. I know it sounds odd, but it works. I just don't know if this is normal.

My inner tourista got some satisfaction this weekend on our outing. I can't say much about Meknes, because it was just a stop on the way for us. But, I did have a wonderful dinner there and stayed at the Hotel Majestic. Despite the uncomfortable beds, the feel of the hotel and the incredible staff would make me recommend it to anyone. I don't think we could have asked for more on our first night out. The next day was Volubilis and Moulay Idriss, then onto Fes for the evening. Volubilis is a Roman ruin of shocking magnificence. It is acres and acres of arches and pillars and foundations and complete tiled floors and bathes and ......I was completely ignorant of Roman civilization until I saw this place and it's not even begining to be excavated. Moulay Idriss is right across the road from Volubilis and only opened up to non Muslims within the past 70 years, we didn't do much there but drive through, which was still amazing.

Fes is going to try to get its own paragraph. But, the chaos and complete disbelief of the medina's souk still has me speechless. You would have to be there to understand. I have never seen anything else like it on earth. For those at Sage Brush, it's like compressing the garment district into hallways about 2-3 feet wide, add several more stories, not removing any people, and adding burros. John would love it and find lots of people with which to do business. We hired a guide to take us around or else I'm pretty certain we would still be lost. I have great photos to share.

ghadi ngoulha L mamak

That's Moroccan Arabic for I'm going to tell your Mama! I am particularly proud of this phrase, I just learned it a few minutes ago. Hopefully, I won't need it again for a while, but it would have come in handy yesterday! I also know la, which is no and bswiya for slow down. Kids are kids all over the world it seems.

What to say, what to say. Yesterday was our tour of Rabat and at some point our driver hit the car ahead of him in the cities largest round about, causing a huge traffic jam of exhaust and honking. The funny thing is that none of us felt anything happen and only a couple of us noticed the driver of the car we rearended come and yell at Ismail. In fact, if it weren't for the cracked radiator which prevented us for going more than a kilometer at a time we wouldn't have known we had been in an accident. About halfway home, smoke started coming out of the van, so we abandoned ship and got taxi's. This is all after getting scammed by one of my kids in the morning ( which is why I learned my handy new words) and a great afternoon of sightseeing.

The morning started out a bummer, because Ayeman wasn't there and Bessima another cutie was too ill to play. So, I had a whole new crew of little ones. Despite one of my sweet ill children trying to pull one over on me by taking my book; I retrieved the item, much to his dismay, on my way out of the ward. I think I won even though I lacked the appropriate words. But, now I am fully ready! Today, still no Ayeman, but Bessima is feeling better and back to her bossy self correcting my pronunciation of colors.

The sightseeing yesterday afternoon was fantastic. We toured Rabat (pre-accident) and the ruins of Chellah. Chellah is a Roman and Arabic ruin and probably one of the most relaxing places on earth. We also visited the tomb of Mohammed V and got dizzy from the intensity of tilework on every surface. I found it very beautiful. I've got lots of little paintings ahead of me.

s salamu ealaykum

Greetings to you all in Moroccan Arabic. I'm sure there are keys in the font section to correctly spell the words, but I am a humble beginner and not an expert. I had my first language lesson today after volunteering and I'm not sure which was more overwhelming. Not so surprisingly I now know more Arabic than French. My pronunciation of each language, however, is equally poor, but I remain undaunted and am having a lot of fun.

My volunteer assignment is at a children's hospital working in the asthma ward. I was pretty intimidated by this at first because I'm not around them much. So Kadija left me wide eyed there this morning to sort it out. And after a bit the kids started coming out of their rooms to hang out. I have a table with benches in the hallway where I can lay out my things and we did a lot of coloring and drawing. Kadija taught me how to say what's your name, how old are you, nice to meet you, and come sit down. Ayeman is my first friend and best buddy so far. I don't know how old he is, because even though I can ask the question, I didn't understand the response until this afternoon. My guess is he's about 4 and completely cool because he can write his name in Arabic and Francais. I was impressive in return, because I had brought my name in Arabic on a piece of paper and happened to randomly learn the word for apricot which is mismash. So began our journey into knocking down the language barrier of fruit, while striking up friendship.

There is so much to say I could blab for hours, but the essentials are my assignment is great, the other volunteers are so fun, and the food is yummy. In fact I had the best eggplant ever last night. Which always amazes me when someone can do something to food I didn't know was possible. If anyone wants to give me feedback about what you want to hear about that would be cool, I feel like there is so much to tell. For example, today I used a toilet which had no toilet. Imagine my surprise at that one, but I did get it figured out. And on that I will say Nt lagau ghdda.