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 …