so much has happened

five days since i've left... man, a lot has changed. i'm sitting in a cyber cafe in rabat, morocco (very close to the ocean) - it's only about 6 dh (about 56 cents) for an hour of usage. we started out in philly, pa for the first few days of training (called staging). this was basically just a basic introduction to the peace corps and the people that i would be working with during training. then we got on a bus and drove to jfk airport and took air maroc (partnered with delta) for the 7 hour flight to casablanca, another bus ride to rabat, and we've been in the hotel since. it's beautiful here. what an amazing and rich culture. after only 4 days, i am in love with this country. pretty much everyone in the city speaks a least moroccan arabic and french, many also speak english. i managed to order myself a croissant and cheese in french yesterday, amazingly, of the 100 words of french i know, cheese, croissant (obviously) and please, are all in my vocab. we walked around the city last night and checked out the scene. there are several mosques around the city (in morocco, only muslims may enter mosques), but we do hear the prayers five times a day over the loud speaker (one of which is going off now). i can see the ocean from the hotel, and the sunsets are beautiful. it's around 50-60 degrees most of the day, pretty mild, but still nice. i've warn a skirt more days in a row then i ever remember. there's been a lot to take in with all of the training, but i'm finding it all very interesting. tomorrow, our health group leaves rabat and travels to azilal, morocco (in south central morocco). we'll say goodbye to american toilets and the environmental volunteers, and be on our way to 11 weeks on intensive training. thank you all for your support, and i will update as often as i can.