Movin' on up!

I've officially moved, world.

After four months of exclusive homestay, I'm finally living on my own, in a little apartment on the main drag of my town.

I get to eat, sleep and bathe when I want, and I get to wear what I want (I chose to stay covered up when host dads/brothers were around). It's glorious and freeing and overwhelming and scary and has me questioning whether or not I remember how to live on my own.

But, I must admit: I've been walking around the house with a big, dopey grin on my face due to the sheer freedom that I feel.

NOT THAT HOMESTAY WAS BAD.
It was very educational, and I appreciated the warmth and generosity of my families very much.

It's just exciting to get to stretch my wings again. :)

My apartment, of which I will eventually post pictures, is on the second level of my building. There are three other big families that live there with me, and between the three of them, it's essentially like a kindergarten classroom 24/7.

But, it's home!

The front door opens up to a salon, with the bathroom and shower room on the immediate right. There are two doors opening off of the salon: one goes to my sitting room, and the other leads to the second salon.

In the second salon there's a Moroccan-style sink and mirror for hand-washing, and four doors which open up to my closet, my bedroom, the office/workspace, and the kitchen.

The house was painted a variety of pinks and purples by the last volunteer, so it's got a very girl-y, light-hearted feel. Each salon has a skylight, filling the house with the light and warmth that only natural sunlight can provide. This is not necessary when the air in my house is hovering around body-temperature (as it's been since I moved in), but it's better than living in a dark, dank first-story house, as I've seen some PCVs choose to do.

The pride and joy of my house is the monstrous double-sized bed and accompanying wooden frame. I paid a pretty penny for it (though the price I paid was more reasonable than what the previous volunteer paid for it when it was brand new), but it's my baby and I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning because it's so glorious. I'm smiling right now, just typing about it!

The last volunteer left me (read: I purchased from her) everything I need, save a fridge. All I need to purchase is that big-ticket item, and a few storage units for my bedroom, kitchen and first salon. Otherwise, I'm completely set-up and am ready to hit the ground running.

Unfortunately, while I am hyper-motivated right now, Morocco is not. As the heat has become stifling as of late, the activity in town has slowed considerably. People seem to only go out when they need to, and even that will slow down further as we get farther and farther into July and August, before Ramadan.

So, I'm left with a summer to decorate, organize and study language during the day, and socialize at night. I'll be traveling at the end of July for our post-training training, but other than that, life will be slow until things cool down.