So its been quite a while since my last blog post. I am still alive. And now 23! Woo Hoo.

Today was a good day. Ive realized that the next two years will be a roller coaster emotionally. But, today I love Morocco.

By contrast, last Monday and Tuesday I began to question why I am here. Sunday night I experienced an onset of food posioning (or maybe a parasite) which then lasted until Tuesday evening. I must say, my positive outlook on life was flipped upside down when I had it coming out both ends. Gross. Sorry. It is quite unpleasant getting super sick in a foreign country all by yourself. But I am alive and well. And as a new friend of mine put it "you are now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer." Yay for me.

I also occasionally have dreams that occur in America, then I wake up and wonder where I am..it sucks. I'll be the first to admit I am homesick. I would give anything to wake up in the morning and sit with my mom drinking coffee and talking, or spend a weekend in North Carolina, New York, Athens, and even Fredrock with my friends and family. Buttt that time will be here faster than I now realize. I've heard that the first 6 months is the hardest.

As much as I have enjoyed living with two different host families, I am now going on month four of homestay. I can not wait to have a place of my own. It will be wonderfully amazing! I will be able to cook for myself, go to bed when I am tired, read, exercise, and unpack! It will be a glorious day when I move into my own apartment (which I have yet to find.)

But let me start at the beginning. I live in a small town in the Middle Atlas region. The population is 3000. All the homes here have electricity and running water. There is a weekly souk (market,) a few small cafes where the men socialize, a post office, health clinic, commune building, a school, and several small hanuts (small stores with random items.) I am definately more set up than I had envisioned. And while I live in the center of town there are several outer duars that are not quite as developed. These villages are still considered part of "my site." The people living there travel to the center for weekly market, the health clinic, and the post office.

I have a sitemate. A sitemate is another PCV that lives here. She is an environment volunteer and has been here for a year. She is the first PCV in this site and I am the first health volunteer here. It is nice having a volunteer so close and I can tell we will be good friends. We are both really excited to work on different projects together. we've talked about exercise classes for the women, teaching health and environment lessons in the schools, building latrines, and starting a weekly girls club.

My language skills are coming along little by little.. but I can tell this will be an ongoing process.

In the past four weeks here I have met a lot of people, visitied the schools, talked with a few teachers, hung out at the health clinic, and started looking for a place to live.

So today. Today I went to visit a new friend of mine who just had a baby. My sitemate and I went to her house to see how she and the baby were doing. There were several other women there visiting and we all had tea and ate some delicious moroccan treats. And while we are sitting there drinking our tea along comes a tall thin man wearing white sneakers, white jeans, a white shirt and a white cowboy hat.. complete with a ponytail. What a character! He then proceeded to greet everyone in their perspective language. Im sitting there thinking, "who is this guy?"

Come to find out, he was born in Morocco but grew up in Canada. He is a doctor and now works for a Canadian association traveling the world. He has some extended family here that he has not seen in years. It just so happens that he was in own when Naima was going into labor. He delievered the baby in her home! I really enjoyed meeting and talking with him. He has lead such an interesting life as a traveling doctor. I don't envision myself as a doctor but I would love to work in a health related capacity and continue to travel the world.

Today was also the first time I have ever held a 5 day old baby in my arms. Wow. I am completely fascinated by life's blessings.

Overall life is good. I am alive, somewhat well, and continuing to adjust to my Moroccan life. I still cannot believe I am here.

I will try and write again soon. And eventually post some more pics to FB so you can see what my town looks like.

FYI: I have an address and a phone number. And if anyone feels so inclined to send me a package I have discovered that if it is not in an American postage box then it is more likely to be opened and things taken. When I recieved a flat rate postage box from America.. it was fully intact and unopened.

Disclaimer: Im typing on a french keyboard. dont mind any mistakes. this goes for any and all blog entries.

I realized I forgot to explain "cold country with a hotttt sun." most of the homes.. atleast in the middle and high atlas area are concrete. as a result he inside of your home is often 20 degrees colder than right out in the sun. In the southern regions of Morocco.. there are homes made out of mud. Im hoping I end up somewhere warm but I have no expectations.

So now I will type the blog entry I put together last week:

My Moroccan name is Nadya. Baba first gave it to me when I arrived. All of our families have given us Moroccan names and that is how we are known in our communites. My name roughly translates to mean the first breath of fresh air one takes in the morning. I also want to add that in small communities everyone knows everyone and all of their business. The entire community knew when I was sick. I found this out when I went to a hanut a few days later and was asked how i was feeling. News certainly does travel fast! Its nice to know how caring and concerned the community is.

Last week we had the opportunity to meet several current PCVs with only a few months left of service. We accompanied them to schools in the area to deleiver a presentation on oral hygiene and pass out toothebrushes. I visited my sister's school and met a lot of her friends. When I returned home later that night, I walked in the house to see my 3 sisters brushing their teeth! Hurray!

I have come to realize that I take many things for granted in the States. One of them being dental care. The current PCVs told us that many dentists here are not certified doctors. At some offices you may walk in and see a table of teeth---so that one can create their own dentures.

In regards to tea consumtion- the current PCVs told us never to turn down tea. Tea time is sooo much more. Its an invitation to get to know each other. It is often served when contracts are signed and important matters are discussed. I took a hike with my sisters the other day and we stopped by a neighbors house. Within 30 seconds we were invited in for tea and bread. The PCVs told us that we will be invited to tea everyday and maybe more than once a day. This will be a great way to integrate into our communities. The relationships we create as well as our reputation will play a large role in our work here. The cultural exchange and friendships formed will determine our success.

The language is coming along shiywa b shwiya -little by little. Beacause berber is not a written language we are learning phonetically. The words are written with our american alphabet.. and some additional symbols which illicit a certain sound. Butttt.. there are rarely any vowels used.So words look like a bunch of constanants put together. At first it appeared overwhelming-seeing words without vowels, and wondering where to place the emphasis. But shwiya b shwiya I am learning. Let me give you an example. Skr- to cook. xxdgm- work etc, etc. It really does not sound like any other language I have heard before. Butttt I do get very excited when I hear people talking and I can pick up a few words here and there. I continue to practice at home and try not to get to frusterated. My oldest sister understands me best. Berber with an american accent must sound interesting. Often Ill say something only she understands and she then repeats it to her family. Its funny when I can understand what another trainee is saying in berber but her family may not. Ahhh language learning. It is so interesting. I know this will be on on going process for the next two years. One of the volunteers I met said even after a year she will often be in a room and still have no idea what people are saying. As we would say in America.. smile and nod. smile and nod.

I can not believe I have already been in Morocco for a month. At this point time is flying! In 3 weeks I will be meeting my 2nd host family at my permanent site. I will live with them for two months while I look for a place of my own and get to know my site. I recently had my site placement interview and I have noooo idea where I will end up. I am so anxious!

ohh yea--- the animals. At my house we have goats, chickens, roosters, dogs, and cats. These animals are not domesticated and some are "sick"..rabid. So far no dog bites.. but it often happens to volunteers in Morocco. At one of our medical sessions we discussed how to take care of a dog bite. But back to the other animals- I have started to sleep through the night but I wake every morning to the cock-a-doodle-do of the roosters. And at night it sounds like the dogs and donkeys are getting into some type of brawl-at least that is the picture I conjure up in my head- When I live on my own I hope to have a garden and maybe own some chickens. I cannnnnnt wait to really settle in and LIVE in Morocco. Right now I still feel like I am studying abroad.

Moroccans are friendly and extremely hospitable. We spent our first week in class discussing and practicing greetings. sllm-to greet. It goes something like this: Hey how are you? Im good, how are you? Im good, everything is good. Are things well with you? Is everything well? Whats up? All good? Thanks be to God.Thanks be to God. In America its more along the lines of: "Hey, how are you?" without expecting a response. People here really take the time to get to know each other. I love it.

Ah there is so much else I want to write. I am fascinated with Moroccan culture. I will leave ya'll with this-- I discovered it my first week here and think it is wonderful. . . .

So we were having dinner and I notice my family members are burping. No one says excuse me or bats an eye. I aksed my sister about it after dinner. I told her in American when someone burps we say Samhi-excuse me, Im sorry- because it is considered bad manners. She then proceeded to tell me.. In Maroc, it is good to burp! A burp is always followed by L-Hamdullah! L-Hamdullah- Thanks be to God! I was pretty excited to hear this. I hope i still fit in upon my return to America. Sometimes I will burp just because I can. My sisters will look at me smiling.. waiting for L-Hamdullah! I asked my training group memebers about it. we all agreed it was something we could not wait to wrote home about and tell our mothers. All of our mothers who told us burping was not allowed at the dinner table.

Till next time,

Nadya

ok so here i am in morocco. im going to have to make this quick cause i have to walk back home and get there before dark.

this time 2 weeks ago i met the rest of my stage (Peace Corps Group) in Philadelphia. there are a total of 61 of us. although it was hard saying goodbye, it was nice to be in a room surrounded by 60 other people who have all gone through the same emotions as i have these past couple months.. and will continue to for the next two years. on tuesday we took a bus to new york and flew to morocco that night. for the first four days we stayed in a hotel. here we recieved some training and survival arabic. at the end of the four days we all found out which language we would be learning. i am learning tamazight, a berber dialect. it is not a written language and is not taught. it is spoken in the bled(country side) of morocco. my permanent site will most likely be somewhere in the middle or high atlas mountains.

after four days of training i moved in with my host family. mama and baba are wonderful. baba is retired from the moroccan army. and mama and i have gotten very close. i have three sisters. 21, 14, and 11. they are my best teachers. it is surprising how much we can communicate without speaking the same language. my middle sister is engaged to be married at the age of 16. in the more conservative areas of morocco men and women do not date, and many marriages are arranged. my family has already half joked about me marrying their oldest son.. he is currently serving in the army in the Sahara. i just say la! (which means no.) it is unusual for a woman my age to be single... they want me to get married. i told them i was married to my work right now. the gender segregation is interesting and definately something to get used to.. but it is hilarious when it is just the women together. we have a lot of fun joking around. and dancing. and talking. and using body language to descibe funny things. i have certainly found that humor is the international language.

ive been doing laundry by hand, making bread, cous cous and other moroccan meals. i have drank gallons of mint tea. yumm.

the food is delicious, everything is very fresh and there are lots of fruts and vegetables. the oranges are the best i have ever had.

morocco is the most beautiful place i have ever seen. currently i am in the high atlas mountains. i am in the mountains! in them! i look out and see a huge river cutting through the mountains. the dirt is bright red, and the grass is flouresent green. the pictures i am taking do not do it any justice. (i need to upload some pics!)

there is so much i want to say and write about. next time ill put together some notes before i get to the internet cafe. but overall everything is going well. i am limited to what i can write in a blog so i was thinking i may just do a mass email every once in a while. so email me your email address if you would like to be added.

i miss you all!

bslama

-t

Ok. So here I am the Sunday night before I leave for staging. AHHHHH!

This last week here in Fredneck has been nothing short of amazing. Actually the last couple months have been awesome. I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with my friends and family. My mo-rockin farewell party was great. It was wonderful to have so many friends all in one place at the same time. My girls from Georgia and New York even came for the weekend. I truly feel blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. These strong bonds make it hard to leave, but I know these same bonds are what will keep me going. I am reallllllllly excited for my next chapter of life. I am not sure what the hardest part will be... but I am thinking it may be the fact that I won't be able to communicate as much as I would like to (in whatever language I may be learning.) In speaking with other volunteers I have been told that upon arrival you are lucky to find someone to speak English to for ten minutes.

I am almost done packing. I think I may have exceeded the 80 pound limit. The funny thing is I have so many more things than I do clothes. I packed a slinky, a nerf football, cards, jump rope, camp shower,a photo album, quick dry towel, sleeping bag,instant coffee, disc man, adapter (although I may not have electricity,) sheets, old bay seasoning, beef jerky, gum, radio, camera, backpack, books, journals, coloring pencils, sketch pads (which by the way I have never been able to draw anything more elaborate than stick figures and flowers.) And I was all geared up to update the ipod.. and I cant find it. I may have you followers send me some burned cds! Buttt.. I can't have packages sent until after training (2 months.)

Which brings me to my next subject. Training. What was 3 months is now 2 months because of budget cuts. I heard training was pretty intense.. it will be interesting to see how 3 months of intensity are condensed into 2.

I do not think I will be able to sleep tonight.

I also want everyone to know how much I love them. I have so much love and gratitude for life and all the people in it I cannot contain myself. And knowing that I am leaving.. I just can't say it enough!

I feel like there was something else I needed to say...

Ohh yea. I brought a really old dictaphone and 3 cassette tapes. I figured I could use it to practice the language... and..... send voice recordings home!! I also set my mom up on facebook so she can update, communicate with other parents/volunteers/friends, and become addicted to what I like to call "stalkerbook."

Alright I think I am done rambling. Good night. Good night. And to all a good night. Next time I write I'll be in Ahhhfrika.

ps. if anyone wants a Moroccan experience I suggest Marrakesh restaurant on New York Ave. in D.C. I went the other weekend on a hottttt date and it was funnn. Be prepared to eat a lot of goood food, see some belly dancing, meet nice people, and stay for almost 4 hours.

Yesterday I received an email with my travel itinerary. On March 2nd I have to report to staging in Philadelphia. The day will be spent getting to know the other volunteers,attending several information sessions and shots! (inoculations, not alcohol.) We then wake up the next morning, which would be exactly this time next month, and get on a bus to JFK airport in New York. From there we depart on the almost 8 hour flight to Morocco.

How am I feeling? Well.. a mix of emotions would be an understatement. Recently I have been enjoying sleeping in and loving my comfortable bed. And my showers have become a little longer. I usually try to be conscious of how much water I use, but the past couple days I have enjoyed the hot water and long showers that I may not experience for a few years. I emailed a current Peace Corps volunteer and she advised me to indulge my last few weeks in the US. I think I can handle that. For me that would be sleeping in, going to the movies (I love movies!) and long, guilt-free showerrrrss.

Despite the range of emotions I am experiencing, I would have to say the most prominent is excitement. I have wanted to join the Peace Corps since high school. For me, every step along the way has helped to get me to this point. Time has certainly flown by and what once seemed so far away is finally right around the corner. I know I will miss my friends and family but it is part of life. I assume that I will have internet access at least once a month and may be able to call home on occasion. But what I am really looking forward to is letter writing and journal keeping. I would love to receive letters from my friends and fam. I feel like letter writing has become a lost art with all of our technological advances. But there is just something about a handwritten note...

My address for the first three months is:

Taryn Weil, Trainee

s/c Corps de la Paix

2, rue Abou Marouane Essaadi

Agdal, Rabat 10100, MOROCCO

Some people have said to me "I wonder what you will be like when you get back?" Im not quite sure what I think about that. I am sure that I will be changed, but aren't most of us year to year? or even month to month? Whatever changes do occur, they will be positive and I know I will always be Taryn. One of my favorite quotes is " we don't change as we grow older, we just more clearly become ourselves." I think that sums it up right there!

I am looking forward to my going away shin-dig this weekend. I am a lucky lady to have such wonderful friends and I am excited to have them all in the same room to eat drink and be merry!

Till next time..

T

alright well looks like this is my blog. never done this before, but i am looking forward to using it to keep in touch with my friends and lovers while i am in morocco. please feel free to comment, write your life story, send me letters, care packages, or just send some energy out into the universe for me!

woo hooo!!