the high atlas

i'm sorry that it's been so long, i have gotten some concerned emails.... everything is good. we got our final site announcements last week, and this week was spent visiting the site that we will live in for two years.

i am off the main road between marrakech and ouazazarte in the high (and cold) atlas mountains. i know everyone made fun of me for bringing a winter jacket and a sweatshirt and a hat, but it's a good thing i did, because it's a cold site (in fact, i really wish i had brought more sweatshirts, one defintely wasn't enough). it's beautiful there with lots of hiking and great stars and fields of green. it's the site that i went on my field trip two, so i had already had a feel for the site. the winters are quite cold (usually below freezing, and people don't really have heat), and it's pretty nice in the summers. it doesn't rain or snow too much (maybe once or twice a month) because it's in between the mountains, but there is lots of fields because of a irragation system run by mountain springs. people are very friendly in this area, and when i spent the week there, i walked around and introduced myself to people. since i am replacing a volunteer, people had an idea of what i am there for and what i would do. unforutnatly, i will also be learning a different langauge, because the langauge spoken in my site is a totally different dialect than what i learned in class (this was to be expected), and i absolutly need to start learning french... and quick.

my first experiance with the site was falling down the hill (more like a mountain) in front of my host family's house with all 11(!) children watching. i think that falling down mountains will become part of my daily life... hopefully it will build my humility. i also learned the verb "to fall" this week. it will be a challenge to live with a family that i don't know, but hopefully it will help me integrate into the community better. then, i can't wait to have my own house, and finally cook for myself again.

the site seemed great, in that there is a lot of oppuruntiy for health projects (including school health murals, medical incinartors, finishing a pump to bring water to a village, etc) as well as several non-health projects like a french school library and assocation (equivilant to a townhall pretty much) training and organization. the people seem eager to get involved and somewhat organized.

i also gained a pet this week, since i am replacing a volunteer, he said that i could have his cat. i'm very excited. her name is mushkeil (it's a semi-tashielheit pun... mush (well, amush) means cat, and mushkeil means problem...)) it's a pretty common peace corps cat name, americans think it's hystarical, moroccans don't think it's funny at all.

i also have a final mailing address now. please email for it (if you don't already get it) and feel FREE to sent packages/letters/etc (hint hint).

anyway, i'm back in azilal now finishing up training. three more weeks until swearing in... one more week in my community based training site... then to ouazazarte for a week... then to my site for the next two years.