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.