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 …