So within the past couple of week a new law has gone into effect here in Morocco: seatbelts!

Did I tell you that I once almost got thrown out of a taxi for trying to wear my seatbelt? Well, I did, and I hope I find that taxi driver now!! I’ve asked lots of people here what their feelings about the seatbelts are. The general consensus is ‘fine, but why do we have to wear them in the city. we’re only going 30 or 40kms anyways.’ In general people aren’t too happy about it, but it’s better to fasten the belt and make it really loose than paying the 100dh fine. In the US when seatbelt …

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that you can now begin making a difference in the world! The GAD Conference: Engendering Development in Rural Moroccan Leaders is now accepting donations!

So, you must have known that it was only a matter of time before your favorite Peace Corps volunteer (that would be me in case you are wondering) hit you up for money. I must remind you, however, that I’ve been in Morocco for a year and a half and this is the first time I’ve asked!

Read the Synopsis or Contribute!

Your contribution, be it $5 to as generous as you can muster, will be greatly appreciated! We only have a short time to raise the $3,617 we …

Some of the munchkins wondering what the heck I’m doing.

The two-year olds: Wisal, Mohasine, Anis, Mirawa

Mohasine trying to give Wisal a peck on the cheek.

I can’t tell you the last time I felt this busy. Wow. It’s great, but it’s also tiring and something that I’m not really used to anymore. The Moroccans think I’m crazy for not being able to have just a “spot” of tea. Besides continually working on the same project mentioned in a previous post, I’ve found a great project to keep me even busier?

Remember my friend Faisal? Well, Faisal lives in an orphanage, Dar Tadamun, about a block away (yes I’ve lived her for 9 months and never knew of the orphanage; people are very conservative with their information). There are 21 children between the age of 2 weeks and 11 …

This is Faisal, I’ll tell you a lot more about him and his friends soon.

So it’s about 7pm and I haven’t left my house yet. For some reason, it’s just one of those days where I don’t feel like going out, drinking tea, and listening to sermons on religion and politics. It’s okay to have one of those days; I’m sure all volunteers have them.

These last couple of weeks have been busy! I got back to Guelmim earlier this week and have been working non-stop on the GAD Committee newsletter, GAD. Everyday. and typing up the Peace Corps Morocco Tašlнit language book. Because the newsletter hasn’t been published yet, here’s a pdf link to the last edition, if you so please.

What’s Tašlнit you ask? Tašlнit, or Tashelheet, is …

So I’ve been in Rabat since Sunday working on putting together an upcoming leadership conference for rural leaders, incompassing gender and development, and am happily surprised, once again, at the difference between this city and our volunteer sites. There are amazing organizations who are active, passionate and making changes in the Moroccan society. It’s always a great boost to come to Rabat (or any other major city, for that matter) to feel the vibe of the possibilities of change. Regarding the conference, I’ll be soon hitting you all up for 5 or 10 or 4000 $, €, £, ¥ or ¤, so keep in touch.
Saturday I will begin my treq to Guelmim and begin working …

If you’ll take your eyes and move them to the little combination of letters that say “Gallery", you’ll have a splendid opportunity to click that link. Once there, you’ll notice that I’ve posted pictures from Boston, Guelmim, Essaouira and Marrakech. Most importantly, I finally have posted all the pictures I had of Melissa, as well as her memorial service. These are located in the Melissa folder under Ourzazate.

I was staring at one of my many maps this morning and I realized something very interesting: living in Guelmim, I am closer to Mali (and Algeria, and Mauritania, of course, and Spain–the Canary Islands) than I am to Rabat. Hmm…

Oh, and if anyone out there wants a Gmail …

Host family relations are back to normal. Actually, only for that span of about two minutes were they strained. That’s just the way it is here. Bill remembers that feeling of being ‘frozen out’ over at his site, and as he mentions, you quickly have to forget because of all the time you are included. The days after l3id were full of meat and family. I met almost all the male members of the extended family, most of whom I didn’t even know exisited.

When Jennifer came to Guelmim last week to work on a Gender and Development Conference we’re planning for the summer, my host family insisted that I bring her over to eat lunch. …

3id l’kabir (the 3 is the Arabic letter عwhich isn’t present in any other language that I know of). The big feast. 3id l’ađħa. The feast of the sacrifice. The most important feast in the Muslim calendar. The feast that was

My eldest host brother comes to my house two days before the feast and we agree that I should mozy on up to their house around 9:30/10:00. Knowing MST (Moroccan [un]Standard Time), I iterate that I will leave my house at 9:30 to arrive for the glory and the gore at 10 am. Upon leaving, he addends that if I arrive and no one is there, just wait because they will be at the mosque …

Today was interesting, like most. Every person I encountered forcifully asked if I had bought a sheep for tomorrow’s slaughtering festivities. With some I joked and said I only had enough money to slaughter a carrot, but for those pushier people, I said that I don’t take part in slaughterings. That was a lie, but I find it interesting that to most people, the aïd al-adha is as much cultural as religious. Do people forget to quickly the reason why every family is required to slaughter an animal, as an offering to God? This info tidbit, brought to us by socialstudiesforkids.com will help us understand why the baaaaaahs must end:

“Eid-Al-Adha is one of …

I’ve been back in Guelmim for a few days and have gotten used to life again, how quickly did I forget that if I have a meeting two blocks away, I should leave two hours early to make it on time because I’ll have to stop in every store on the way to say my greetings and be stopped by every person on the way and asked how my health, family and overall being are being. And while it may be cold and snowy in Boston right now, it’s nice and dusty here in Guelmim. Even though my windows were shut during my vacation, I encountered a dust-infested house upon my arrival. Yuck.

L’3id l’kabir (the big holiday, …

Isn’t it amazing how you have something one day and the next it is gone? Well, I realized yesterday that my old host had shut his site and that joshuahaynes.com was gone! It’ll be back eventually, but until I get back to Morocco and work on retrieving everything that’s been lost, I’ll just have to continue using this format. I’ll make it pretty someday soon because I have to start allll over again…oh well…c’est la vie!

–For some of you that were wondering about culinary specialties in Morocco, let me assure you that Moroccans do not eat grubs, bugs, weevils nor other sorts of such delicacies. Only poor Peace Corps Volunteers do (see September 21, 2004 entry). In Ecuador they eat gerbils. In Malawi, jerked mouse is a treat. If you want to know the ‘what Westerners consider strange’ foods of Morocco, email me and I’ll send you some special pictures.–So I talked to my dear mother this evening. She never ceases to make me laugh with her matter-of-fact humor. She’s an inspiration and a comedian all in one. I’m trying to get her to write her life story, which would definitely be a best-seller… Here’s …

I decided to make myself a lovely pasta dinner last night, it had been a while since I had prepared the quick carbfest. I decided to treat myself and make a cheesy cumin tomato sauce with garlic and olives. Yum!I boiled the pasta, prepared the sauce and sat down to feast on my exciting meal. Before I took a bite I noticed something. A few, maybe twenty, weevil were stuck to the cooked pasta. The boiling water had killed them, but I was still at a crossroad: do I eat them, or throw everything out because the sauce had already mixed with the pasta?Well, a little extra protein never hurt and by the time the sauce was well-mixed with the …

This weekend was spent in the picturesque town of Tafraout, a real-life example of the Flinstone’s Bedrock. This area of the Anti-Atlas mountains is, like most of Morocco, breathtakingly beautiful. There are literally hundreds of villages neatly perched throughout the mountainsides and valleys. The only bad part is actually getting there: the path up the single-lane cliff hugging road is very scary, especially to people like me who have had defeating bouts with falling off of high places before. [Think of me, falling, Ecuador, a volcano and a mean horse and make up your own story.]While trying to figure out the silver industry and its woes here in Guelmim, I heard a lot about a silver mine in …

I’ve recently added a few new features to my site. If you scroll down all the way to the bottom of this page, you’ll see a Kerry/Bush electorial counter provided by electoral-vote.com. Secondly, I’ve added a page called ‘morocco news’ so that you can keep abreast on news articles from around the world related to Morocco.

Hi! New camel pics have just been updated to the fotos —> Guelmim page. Enjoy!

Yesterday was my one-year anniversary of being in Morocco, so I had a little party by myself last night. I froze apple-flavored milk and ate it like ice cream and watched “Something’s Gotta Give” with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson. I know, I know. It was the only movie I had that hadn’t been seen yet and it wasn’t all that bad. So after I had partied out, I went to sleep.I woke up at four in the morning not feeling so great with stomach pains. I took some pepto and went back to sleep. Upon awaking, I was definitely sick. I called the nice Medical staff in Rabat and they told me what to do. It just really sucks …

Walking on the beach this morning, a wave of emotions came over me. After wading for a while in the chilly Atlantic, I walked alone on the beach. It was eerily deserted and a thick, gray fog had blanketed everything. Peering 10 meters to the left, not a soul was to been seen. Behind and right were also empty of presence. Only ocean, to my right, torrent waves, crashing breaks and salty sprays were to be smelled, seen and felt. It was cool and tranquil. Being in this place at this time on this day was like being inside your mind, only it was outside your realm.This day, three years ago, I crouched before CNN en español for hours in …

From henceforth, September 4th shall ever be International Camel Day.A male camel in Arabic is jamil (a derivation of the arabic word for beautiful, jameel) and a female camel is a naqqa (or nagga as they say here.) Ibil is the generic name for the camel, as bovine for the cow.At least for me it will be camel day: camel souq, camel milk and camel tajine. In the morning I attended the camel souq on the outskirts of Guelmim. Although I had expected a camel-filled field as far as the eye could see, I was happy with the thirty or so camel that were present. I had an in-depth discussion with one of the came herders – is that what …

I had forgotten what it feels like to wear real, toe-hiding shoes until yesterday. Because of the heat of the summer, I’ve been relinquished to wear sandals while trodding through the melt asphalt and torrid dirt streets of Guelmim. Yesterday, however, was a beautiful, cool, 35C (95F) day, so I decided to lace up the real shoes. The only thing I learned from the whole awakening was that traction really lets you go faster!In other news, I have a new email address. I’ve had my Y! account for quite a while now, and, being an early adopter and having friends like NCL, I must switch to Gmail. The new address is:joshuahaynes @ gmail . com (without spaces, of course).August is …

And then a solemn tear fell from my face. During the Olympic bronze-medal soccer match between Iraq and Italy, a tremendous moment of solidarity emerged. The Italians wore black arm-bands as a visual elegy for the then-recent execution of Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni. As a symbolic suggestion of their sincerest condolences, the Iraqis presented the Italians a bouquet of white flowers.And then that solemn tear was joined by many, many others.I haven’t cried in quite a long time. Am I becoming soft, or maybe emotional? What’s happening? This morning, as I read that two French Journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, are currently being held captive in Iraq in return for the French government’s nullification of the headscarf …

Embattlementby Joshua HaynesStriving daring caring sharingSo much to give aFleeting moment passes usQuickly onto the next,The next will have a turn.Sit down and think of aTime when time matter notTo those who cannot matter. So much to give toThose who want, have not.Secret dealings on the cuspTry to fade into the dreary duskOf time when time will spill only little.Fail to come, pose and conquerLife will carry onSiege once and life will carry on Red flower enveloped by black orBlue, sun or orange or whiteAppears unhealthy far from the stemAs a child remembers his futureThrough sullen, sunken hopes.Rejoice: tomorrow comes at onceTo carry those of spectrumed trialsFlying through the remnant.

Changes in the Great White Dessert have left it not so white. Work all day so that you can work all day. Try to prevent children from eating peas at a growing rate. The allegations of the past century have been historically unfounded. Red is a color I never want to see my water turn. Drawing from past experiences, John petted the cat torpidly. We never take the time to thank our donkeys enough. …

It rained yesterday. It might rain again today, insha’allah.I had forgotten about rain. The spring-like smell that permeates the atmosphere while the rain takes a break had been shoved to the back of my mind because I now live in a desert. The most expansive desert in the entire world, to be exact. But, as I’ve mentioned before, I reside just an hour’s journey over the mountains from the beach, so I don’t have to endure the sultry sun too much.Have you ever had mint camel burgers? Come to my house and I’ll cook you up a batch! Made some today and they turned out quite delicioso!

One thing to avoid doing in Morocco:I went to buy milk from the hanoot (the small general store located on every corner of every block) across the street today, just like everyday. Instead of finding Abdullah, I found his father manning the store. Abdullah is taking a well-deserved break and went to visit some family in some city some place. Now, I know Abdullah’s father, a spry gentleman in his late 60’s, pretty well. We’ve had conversations about the weather and about the Amzaigh in this region (and about Bush, of course). We’ve joked about the cultural earthquake that would occur if bread suddenly ceased to exist. We have history.Today sitting with Abdullah’s father was a boy named Hussein. Hussein, …

Update: For all of those who actually check this site (thank you, JSL!), I have figured out my problem of using Arabic in Photoshop or Fireworks: just use the character map! You can check out the logo I designed here to see what I was ranting and raving about…Back in Morocco, last week I had the great opportunity to visit my host dad’s village. Last Saturday he mentioned that he was going to Termaguist and asked if I wanted to come along. Of course I said yes because I had yet to be in a village-village in this part of the country.Termaguist is about 12 kms east of Guelmim and has about 30 families. It’s a very small oasis village …

Okay, time to complain a little bit.I’ve just spent the last FIVE hours trying to figure out how to write text in Arabic in either Fireworks or Photoshop. I’ve tried to import the text from Word but the letters don’t connect. I tried to take a pictures of that what I want to say using print screen, but that makes the picture static and not vector-based. That doesn’t work because you can’t produce a high-quality item. I’ve searched the entire internet both here on Earth and on Mars (that’s another adventure worth telling later) trying to find a simple, easy and free solution. You can produce a beautiful Word document in Arabic, Hebrew, Tifinagh, Punjabi, Thai, Georgian and even dead …

Check out this article. This makes you wonder how much influence over the current Iraqi Government the US Government actually has. Additionally, I want to know who Saaid al-Burini is and where he’s from. I googled him, but nothing came up. He seems very interesting.Aljazeera.Net - Aljazeera vows to cover Iraq despite closure: “ReactionsMuhammad Bashar al-Faidhi, a spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), has criticised the closure saying Iraqis are disappointed to learn they are not experiencing freedom of speech yet."It is a disappointing move. Aljazeera is the sincerest channel, although it does not report the whole truth."There are a lot of tragedies that have gone unreported. We used to wonder why Aljazeera had …

A week and I’ve had internet at home… You really forget all the wonderful information that’s out there. I think I’ve spent the last week just reading tons of other people’s web journals (blogs – duh), as well as getting ideas for mine. As you see, I’m completely rehauling my site so that it’s simpler, yet more stylish. It’s taking me a bit because as I’m doing it, I’m having to learn about CSS and Javascript and lots of other crazy stuff.I was thinking about content the other day and I’ve been pretty lax on a few areas. In the future, I will attempt to diplomatically convey my thoughts more effectively.For those of you …

Oh boy, it is hot in the Sahara. But it is sometimes cool at night so I get to sleep. And I only live an hour away from the coast, so I can go and drown myself if need be.Moroccans drink the hot tea. Oh nelly, I am not kidding. The tea in the south is much different than the tea in the north. The northerners drink transparent tea in small glasses. The southerners drink amazingly strong and dark, yet oddly refreshing tea in shot glasses. It’s their whiskey: burly and dark in shot-style intervals, tout sans alcohol. So why am I mentioning hot tea in the hot sun? Because here, they go hand in hand.I have yet to become …

The Sahara Desert is great! Yes folks, I now live in the most expansive desert in the world. Is it hot? I am very lucky. My new city is considerably cooler than most of Morocco right now because of the ocean winds that are somehow fighting off the desert winds in an epic battle for control over Guelmim.However; I am currently in Rabat for a meeting, where there is good internet so I can post. As I’ve said often I the past, I am going to try to be better about blogging, as I am soon getting internet in my house! Now I will go the American Club for a LONG overdue beer and …

Things are happening! The biggest thing that’s happening right now is my upcoming move. I am moving to Goulmim, which is in southern Morocco, about an hour in from the coast. I’m both excited and anxious to be beginning a new life here in Morocco, again, but I know that all in all, it will be very good. As soon as I get my new address, I will post it on the site. Wish me all luck!

I think this is website version 52.3. Hopefully everything now will be nice, neat and condensed. Enough about the website already, I’m sure you want to know what I’ve been up to lately.In late March I traveled to Ourzazate (Oz), which is just on the other side of the mountains from me. The only problem is these particular mountains, the Middle Atlas Mountains, are quite large and not very well ‘paved’ yet. I got to travel via Marrakech, so that was a plus. The ~4 hour trip to Oz is absolutely breathtaking. You wind up and through the majestic mountains, passing through tiny Amaziġ villages whose houses blend into the mountainside ever so perfectly. The contrast in colors was also …

I don’t like capitalism because they can’t do it right. I was doing some mindless research recently and found some astonishing facts. Do you know how small Kuwait is? United Arab Emirates? The information I found was upsetting, at least. Kuwait has 24 and the UAE has 27. My initial thought was that it only existed in very well developed nations, but no. The Philippines has both it and the Peace Corps. But not Morocco, of course not. Just my luck. Why can’t they just build a test version in Casablanca? Starbucks has entered into many markets, but do not have plans on entering into mine any time soon. I’m livid. If you’re going to embark on the paths of …

It’s been a while, huh? I know, I’m sorry and you should all punish me by sending me lovely packages filled with wondrous items just to make me feel worse.So, what’s been happening? Well, I’ve almost finished acquiring things for my lovely house. Although I still don’t have a table or any chairs (a taxable donation can be made to me, inquire at joshua_haynes@yahoo.com), I can say I feel comfortable. Hopefully in the next year I’ll be able to take some pictures of my house and make it interactive so that you feel like you’re actually here!One of the most exciting things that has happened in the last couple of weeks has been my procurement of …

Greetings! I hope you had a great New Year. If you’ve already broken your new year’s resolution, you shouldn’t be hard on yourself. You should be thankful, instead, that you had something to resolve because if you were perfect you’d be boring.So what’s life like in Morocco after having been here for four months? Good question, I knew you were wondering that. Well, I’ve yet to see sand, camels and monkeys sporting fezzes. However, I have seen lots of sheep, goats, donkeys, mules and horses. This time of year is especially popular for sheep sightings, as Eid al Kabir is just around the corner. Eid al Kabir (the big feast) is one …

December 24, 2003Rudolph was alive when I bought him.When coming to Morocco, I really didn’t think about spending Christmas here. It was clear that because this is a Muslim country, Christmas isn’t readily celebrated. But as the days inched their way to Santa Claus’ departure from the North Pole, it never really dawned on me that it was the ‘holiday season’: Christmas trees were non-existent, the city hadn’t been transformed into a red, green, blue, gold and silver shopping machine and there were no reports on the nightly news about whether consumer spending was up or down this year. In addition, the weather in my city wasn’t ripe for snow – albeit snow was visible on …

Check out the Holiday Greeting & Photo Links!!

I found a house! Peace Corps has approved it and the lease has been signed! But don’t worry, it wasn’t a simple process. I’ll spare you the details because I know that you have other things to do this week than read about my house hunting, but don’t worry, the experience has raised my patience level yet another notch.It is in a nice part of town, centrally located near the main post office, the bank and a few ‘supermarkets’. It is kind of like a row house, built out of concrete and has three stories. But not three stories like we are accustomed to. Upon entering the front door, you are immediately faced with …

Dear Friends, the time has finally arrived when you (if you’re so inclined) can start sending me letters, cards and packages en masse. The new address is:Joshua HaynesBP 648, Sidi AbdelhalimBéni Mellal, Morocco

It’s almost been a week and things are good. The main task of this week has been trying to get my residence card. And boy what a fun task it has been!! So on Monday, I walked about two miles to the Gendarme Office (something like the royal police), where I was told to apply for this residence card. I got there and a very brute man unhappily told me to go to the police station. I thought this a little odd because all of the other volunteers were going to the Gendarm’s. Maybe it was because I lived in a larger city. So I asked some friends and they told me to wait …

So, I’m now an official Peace Corps Volunteer and am officially living in Beni Mellal, Ramadan has come to an end, and it’s cold in Morocco. Yesterday was the swearing-in ceremony in a really nice hotel in Fez. I took the oath of office and now I realize it’s too late to turn back. The day before Thanksgiving was L’AAid, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. I spent the entire day going around to families and eating cookies. In an ideal world, this isn’t a bad day, especially since the entire country has been fasting for 30 days; however, once you’ve eaten about 302,4872,54.83 coconut almond cookies…..And it’s cold. Everything’s made out …

In about a week, we’ll be completing our 10-week training and will all be travelling to our sites to begin our two-year peace proliferation. I’m excited about beginning all over, and the first few months will be indicative of what I can get done. I’ve already been able to ascertain from having worked on a smaller scale with the artisans, that things are going to be very very very slow. And if I’m going to be able to work efficiently in this culture, I’m going to have to learn how to handle and mature my frustrations quite quickly. In no way do I intend to suggest that the Moroccan culture is better or worse than any …

In the last week, I’ve been in been in Beni Mellal, Rabat, Fez and now Meknes; travelling is great fun. So, back to Beni Mellal. It is the regional center of the area, including two universities. Don’t worry, I’ll have both electricity and running water. I’ll be moving there at the end of November and will spend the month of December looking for my own place. I’ve met my big boss and he seems excited to work with me. This reminds me of something: there are so many ideas, cocepts and traditions that are pivotal to the Moroccan culture and I would like to impart you with them all. This is why eventually …

Beni Mellal is the greenest city I’ve seen so far. I must say that I am both happy and excited to have been placed here. I have 6 host siblings, with four of them still living at the house. My time is about to run out here, but I will write more soon.

will be spent in Beni Mellal! I’m very excited for numerous reasons. First of all, Beni Mellal is a city of approximately 140,000. It is located conveniently between Fez and Marrakech and sits at the gate to the western side of the Middle Atlas Mountains. It is supposedly quite lush and green and has some amazing look-out points. I will find all of this out on Saturday when I visit my site for a few days. We are currently all in Fez and some people will literally have to travel for 2 days before they have to get to their sites; I have to travel for 4.5 hours. Hamdullah!

Today is the BIG DAY! We’re back in Fez from our training site in Meknes and tonight in a special meeting, we will be finding out where we will be spending the next two years of our lives. It’s exciting, yet scary. Don’t worry, we’ve been assured that all of the sites can be found on the map. I’ll make sure to bring my magnifying glasses to the meeting.

Folks, it’s that time of year again. The time when we all come together, fast during the day and eat copious amounts of food at night, it’s Ramadan! Ramadan began in Morocco on Monday and I must say it is a very exciting time for many reasons. First of all, I’ll let you all know that yes, I am fasting. Even though Ramadan is a month long, people don’t fast for the entire month. If they did that, a huge group of people would die every year. People fast only during the day and this means no food, no water, nada. So, here’s the schedule: you fast until the futr, the breakfast, …

I’m sure that all of you know that the Moroccan currency is the Dirham, right? And luckily for all people on the US-Dollar economy, the conversion rate is just about 10 Dirham to 1 US-Dollar. Coming to Morocco, I thought, ‘whew I’m glad I’m not going someplace like Turkey where the currency rate is about 1,302,498,580909835,2.3 Turkish Lira to the dollar.’ BUT NO! I swear the Moroccans knew I had that thought; I’m convinced that there was a convention and that all 30 million decided to switch the system on me: the actual hard currency is in dirham. This is to say that a 20-dirham note has the number 20 on it, etc. However, …

Greetings. I’ve learned many things in the month that I have been in the Peace Corps, and most recently, I have learned that pommegranites here in Morocco are absolutely great!! When you eat too many pommegranites (excuse the spelling, as I have never written this word before), however, your fingers turn yellow. I won’t stop eating them, though, as this merely gives into the system.I generally like the food here very much. I always have bread with apricot preserves for breakfast and the coffee is absolutely piping hot. I have this feeling that the coffee is something similar to the chicoré (sp?) coffee one would receive in New Orleans. I eat breakfast around 7am, and …

Hello! I know it’s been a while since I’ve written; getting to a computer that has somewhat good connection here in Meknes has proven a little difficult. No worries. Things are going well, I’m in my second homestay and I really like the family: I have a brother (29), two sisters (20 and 30), a cousin (6), and a mom and a dad. Their appartment is far from my taining site, so I have to take two grand taxis. Grand taxis are great!! They are these 1970’s / 1980’s Mercedes Benz taxis that stuff 4 people in the back and 2 people in the front, plus the driver. They usually have specific routes, so …

It’s been a rough week. I began feeling ill last Tuesday and by last Thursday, I had a 102° fever. I cannot remember ever being so sick in my life. On Saturday, we left Rabat for Fez and tomorrow I will be going to Meknes for my Community-Based-Training. I can’t really say that I saw much of Fez because I was either in the bathroom or lying down on my bed. I feel almost 100% and very glad that I am eating again and that I’m able to walk around a little bit.I will be spending the next eight weeks between Meknes and Fez. In Meknes I will be doing smaller-scaled projects with the …

Through my estute observation, I have come to the realization that there are two different types of pigeons in Morocco (or at least Rabat). The first is the thick-necked poop machine that is common to Europe and the USA. The other is a smaller and more delicate thin-necked flying bird (and not rodent with wings). I’ve also notice that they don’t like each other and that they try to stay away from each other.In other news, I went to my first real artisanal shop yesterday called Oujda in Sale (across the river from Rabat). It was beautiful! There were showrooms in the front and smaller, item-specific and factory shops in the back. We talked …

Hello! Just a quick update that I finally got a cell phone. A cell phone in the Peace Corps?!? Well, we are in the 21st century and I plan on mainly using it for my work.

Of course it’s hard to realize that I’ve only been in Morocco for one week. One can defenitely see it in my Darija, but other than that, things feel quite normal here. This, in my opinion, is because of the amazingly warm and open culture. Case in point: because of the ‘world events’, you have to be careful when you’re walking around the streets; it is not a good idea to bring more attention to yourself than already possible. Two days ago, I was walking with three other PCT’s (Peace Corps Trainees) through the medina (city in Darija, but more like the market). We passed by a door that was only half-way open and one …

Hello! So it’s been a true whirlwind since I’ve landed. I do apologize for having written so little upon my arrival, but it was not until yesterday that I figured out how to switch the French keyboard to an English keyboard. I am still in Rabat, going through eight hours of training, six days a week. For the first few days, we stayed in a hotel at the training site, which is right across the street from the parliament building. Yesterday we went to the first of our three homestays. I will be with this family until next Saturday, September 27th, when I will be doing my community-based training for about nine weeks in Fez …

Hi I’m here and I had written a very long entry, but because this is a French keyboard, I pushed the wrong button. My time is almost up, so know this: I’m here, I’m safe and everything is wonderful!!!

When I ordered my new laptop, I preferred one without a wireless LAN card (internet card). Because this is the year 2003 in the land of the United States, I didn’t have too much choice, so once it arrived, I merely disabled the wireless capabilities. Last night, before the screening of my first viewing of “Casablanca”, my laptop was not connected to the internet, as my roommates and I were sitting in the living room. I was fooling around, and much to my surprise, my wireless connection worked. Although I didn’t know where the connection hub was, I didn’t care: I was connected without being connected. So today, two days before I leave for my …

Four days and counting….

I finally set up a website I actually like….Now if I could only get my archives to work. ARG. One week left to go; reality is slowly sinking in.

Wow. Things are happening quite quickly. Today is my last day at work. I’m going to miss most of the people at CIEE. It’s an organization with a great mission; I’ve had fun over the past 13 months.I have less than eight days left. There’s a lot to do. In reality, it’s probably more in my mind that I have so much to do rather than in actuality. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve gotten my Moroccan Arabic (Darija) - English dictionary and two grammar books. The Peace Corps Morocco also sent me a very good introduction guide to the language. There’s actually a chance that I won’t be learning Darija, but …

Here’s something that I had posted earlier, but I’ve just now found it…oh well: يوشعJuly 27, 2003 17:15Marhaba! You’ve portaled into the precarious wonderings of Joshua Haynes. I’m you’re guide, Joshua, and will be whisking you away on a fanciful ride via magic carpets and two-humped camels through the varied terrains of Morocco. Whether it is the Sahara desert to the east, the snow-capped mountains of the Atlas and Rif Mountains, or the coastal beaches of the Mediterranean or Atlantic Oceans, I’ll try to provide you an insight into my two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I will use this forum as a communication tool to keep in contact with all of my friends and families, and insha’allah (God …

Twelve days left? Wow, this is too much fun. My mother is now visiting, which I appreciate tremendously. I’ve begun getting everything ready to pack, filling out forms and sending them off to the Peace Corps. blah blah. I’ve returned from my whirlwind tour of Newark and San Francisco and only have one more day at work…Good luck.

Freitag 11. Juli 2003, 16:48 Uhrde.news.yahoo.comVor Bushs Ankunft reißen Bulldozer illegale Häuser in Abuja ab(AFP) Vor der Ankunft von US-Präsident George W. Bush in der nigerianischen Hauptstadt Abuja haben die Ordnungskräfte zu rabiaten Methoden der Stadtverschönerung gegriffen. Begleitet von bewaffneten Polizisten rückten am Freitag Bulldozer an, um illegal gebaute Häuser und Geschäfte niederzuwalzen. In einem Wohngebiet wurden rund 60 Behausungen von der einfachen Holzhütte bis zum Backsteingebäude abgerissen, wie ein Reporter der Nachrichtenagentur AFP berichtete. Hunderte Einwohner standen fassunglos vor den Trümmern ihrer Häuser. “Wir sind überhaupt nicht gewarnt worden", klagte der Schneider John Emeka, dem es noch gelang, seine Nähmaschine zu retten. In den Trümmern eines Elektronikgeschäfts waren beschädigte Computer zu sehen.English Translation: Before Bush’s arrival, Bulldozer rip illegal …

Marhaba! After finally setting up this site, I hope everything is ready to go for my journalesque depictions of my Peace Corps Service in Morocco.