A real post, inshaAllah.

Im on my way to conquering the French keyboard, so Ive decided to try posting something of substance. Kindly ignore any typos.

Morocco has been very very good to me so far, hamdullah. After our first few days in a European hotel, were now out in the countryside where the keyboards are in French (oh wait, thats all of Morocco), the land is green and the people are kind.

I live in the High Atlas Mountains right now with four other trainees for our CBT, or community-based training. The weather hovers around 80 degrees each day and weve had a few rumbles of thunder, but no rain or bad weather to speak of. All the warm weather clothes I packed have stayed tucked away in my big suitcase, while Im being told that this weather IS cold and that Im not wearing enough layers. Anyhow, the landscape here is this unbelieveable dichotomy of either vivid green or terra cotta red. The speed of the connections at the cybers here makes posting pictures a real chore, but ill do my best to post the ones I have in the next few weeks.

My host family has been fantastic so far, thankfully. I live with a farmer and a housewife, two sisters and a brother, and a set of grandparents, whether maternal or paternal, Im not quite sure. One sister goes to boarding school and only sleeps at the house on Saturday nights, but the other sister is a permanent resident and is helpful, even though she speaks no English. Our house is very typical of those in our area, consisting of two courtyards, a room for the grandparents, a kitchen and three rooms that are used for storage, dining, satellite TV and sleeping. Oh, and did I mention the donkey stable (hashek*)? Yeah, its right next to the stable.

*Hashek, or hashem, is a word used when mentioning things that are considered a bit naughty. Donkeys are on this list (even though every family has one and they typically live in the house), as is the bit lma, or bathroom (even though every family has one and each member has to use it).

Im learning a language called Tashlheit, if I didnt already mention that, and its going... slowly. I mean, I DO still have seven more weeks to work on this, but its frustrating to live with a family, and in a community, where you speak none of their languages (Tash, Darija or French) sufficiently enough to get by without gestures and copious amounts of social faux pas. I feel that Im to the point where I can distinguish words and sounds, but I dont yet know what they mean. Imik simik, I suppose. Little by little.

Communications with the motherland are a double-edged sword, as I told Habibi earlier today. I love and appreciate emails, phone calls and the like, but Im left feeling very homesick afterward. I think that will fade with time, but please keep writing and calling! I have a cell and have pretty decent rizzo (reception) wherever I am.

Lets see... surprises? The things Ive been most surprised about are all related to America. For example, Ive heard and seen more Akon, Chris Brown, Miley Cirus and Beyonce here than I did in the States. Also - and this is super embarrassing - I was called out by my host sisters for not shaving my legs! I mean, really, why shave my legs if my boyfriend is in America and the culture of the village is to shower once a week? Safi, thats enough personal information for now.

My fellow teammates (on Tarabout Hussein, or Team Hussein) are great and Im so lucky to have been placed here, with them. Ill give you the lowdown, using our Moroccan names, given to us by the village kids:

3mr and Khadija are a married couple from all over, but graduated from Arizona State University a few years ago. When walking down our little road, their house comes up first. Their host sister happens to be our cook at school*, and shes fabulous at what she does.

*Speaking of school, our schedule looks like this: school Monday through Friday, 8a-5p GMT. Saturday is a half day, with school from 8a-2p. Sunday is a free day, mercifully. As you might be able to envision, our weeks are long and I am frequently tired, brain-dead from trying to speak Tash, Arabic and French, and full from EATING ALL THE TIME. More on the food in a later post.

About thirty feet from their house is Hotel Hinde, which is equipped with a washing machine, a sink, a mirror and liquid hand soap (the rest of us use a bucket, a water spigot, the reflection in a cabinet door and soap we brought from home, FYI)! Hinde graduated from UNC a few years back and is a fellow survivor of fus-ha classes.

Then, ten feet from her house, is my house!

Another thirty feet down the road brings you to Fadmas house, which is the end of the line. Shes a graduate of Elon U, and she and I both graduated about a year ago.

And that, friends, is that. Safi, baraka, Im done with this silly keyboard for now. InshaAllah everyones doing well back home, and that youre all saving your pennies to come visit me!