only two days...feels like two weeks

Hey! I'm sorry I don't have a lot of time, but just a quick update! This is so hard because so much has gone on! I hope that tomorrow, I will be able to go to a cyber cafe and have more time. So my training site is a small town by Ouarzazat. I am learning Tashelheet, which is one of the three berber languages. My host mom and sister are really nice. My sister is 40, so I have a more sophisticated look at moroccan life. My language and cultural trainer is awesome!! We are at school from 8 to 530 with lunch and two breaks. I am constantly stuffed with bread, oil, olives, rice, and some fruits and veggies. WHen my LCF told my host sister about my diet, I could just tell she was having a hard time accepting that. I told him to tell her that I am flexible and that we can work on this together. As far as vegan acceptance goes, people have been so kind and open to it. Our cook for lunch is so great. She cooks a variety of beans in a special dish just for me and I think she talked to my sister about it too. And yesterday at a ceremony I went to, they brought out tea for me while everyone had coffee. I got henna yesterday!! Oh it is so great. OH and for the concerned family members, I HAVE t.v (a.k.a. electricity) and a cell phone that will pretty much work anywhere I am at in Morocco. Mashi mushkill (no worries!) :)) Thats all I can think of for now. Language is intense and difficult but I'm getting it pretty well and technical training and preparation for our assignments is really good too. I forsee many good things coming from this experience (ensha-alah)!!

Blsama!!

Najart (my tashelheet name - it means secure!)

Good times so far

Woo! I am here! So the plane ride from Phili to Casablanca was long (7 hours) and I didn't sleep a whole lot, but the scenery from the airport was well worth it. The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane was how green everything was! After a 2 hour bus ride, passing farmland, sheep herders, and donkey riders, we made it to Marrakech where we spent the day going over paperwork and stayed the night. To be honest, I feel like I'm on vacation right now. We had nice, warm beds, amazing food, wonderful mint tea, beautiful sunshine and nice green grass to play on :)) I played frisbee for a little bit after orientation with some volunteers and this kid who was staying at the hotel. He spoke french really well and another volunteer was conversing with him and translating for those who didn't understand. COOL! The next day, we packed up and got on the bus again for a 3-4 hr ride through the mountains to Ouarzazat. What a road that is! We had to stop a couple of times because people were throwing up. I've never felt carsick before, but I definitely didn't feel amazing on that road. But the mountains and the land made it a beautiful trip. This City is so cool. There is so much to see! I've been able to explore a little bit and converse with vendors. I am surprised how my limited french skills are coming in handy. I went to the souk (market) with another volunteer and passed an area with a bunch of spices. The vendor showed us all that he had: fresh lavender, mint, thyme, oregano, rose buds, cumin, curry, anise, too many more to write down. After I bought some almonds, he gave us some dates and a fig. Delicious!!! Today there was a panel of current PCVs (current peace corps volunteers) so we could ask questions about our training and host-family life, etc. It was so helpful to hear first hand stories from people who were in our shoes not too long ago. There are definitely some things that I have to prepare myself for, but the training is renound here so I feel I will be pretty ready for when I am assigned and go to actually serve. CBT (community-based training) starts on Sunday!! I'm excited to meet my host family!! I hope the next update will be soon! And hope to put my pics up real soon:) Internet is not working very well now (I hope to have internet for a few weeks while I'm training so take advantage!!)

Last day in the US

Sorry, I have to run really soon, but I made it to staging just fine and am already enjoying the fellow trainees that I am with. It is nice to finally be amongst people going through the same feelings and emotions as me. We are really revving each other up. Most of the people are around my age (+/- a couple of years), but there are a couple of older couples serving too. They are from all over the U.S., but I am the only one from Kansas. Represent! I still have a lot of questions that won't be answered until I'm overseas, but that's ok. Next stop - Morocco!