One-week anniversary / Happy Mother's Day

First of all, happy Mother's Day, mom!

Secondly, it's been a week and two days since I've gotten to my site. People are starting to recognize me, and I even have a few legitimate friends! Everything is going slowly, however, which is to be expected.

I'm back to living with another host family, as I did during training. My second family is just as warm as my first, although they're quite different. My host sister is 8, and my host brother is 5... so you can imagine how the music videos and constant Z Aflam Hindi movies have changed over to American cartoons dubbed (or subtitled) into Arabic. I watched Finding Nemo in Arabic the other evening, for example, and was graced with an episode of Barney this morning. The Disney Channel is big here, and my host sister is a big fan of Kim Possible, Hanana Montana and That's So Raven. Who'd've thunk?

My family, however, is really pretty close to my own back in the States. My brother and sister are three years apart in age, just like me and my brother. My host dad even resembles my real dad! He also plays guitar and has a band that he jams with, so that helps with the comparisons...

My mom is the president of an Argan Oil Cooperative-y kind of deal, though their paperwork is still being processed before they can become an official Cooperative. The details of that are a bit foggy, so I'll update that chapter later. She's a feisty lady though, and I think that having me around -- someone with whom she can engage in some girl-talk, even if I can't really respond -- is a relief for her from the cartoons and tantrums that come along with being five and eight years old. I can't wait to really get to talk to her once my language skills improve, inshaAllah.

On the technical side of things, everything's been relatively painless so far. My paperwork is being filed, so I won't get kicked out of the country (is it too soon to make that reference?), and I have a new mailing address, and will have a Tashlheet and French tutor this week, iA. All I need to do now is adjust to the heat and the altitude (it's actually been really rough on my body), and I should be all set. One week down, 103 weeks left. :)