Hello all.

This is my weekly dose of internet, but hopefully by the end of this month/beginning of the next I will have an internet modem stick and get to watch as things slowly load from the comfort of my own home!

I have moved into my own house! It’s a lot bigger then I had wanted/expected, but I feel really blessed/spoiled to have my own place I can leave my dishes out and not worry about what anyone else is going to say. I’ve settled in pretty well, got a few decorations up and I’m enjoying the music I can blast all the time and the messes I can leave without worrying about anyone else’s happiness. Having a courtyard is really great, I love having an outdoor space. Especially because inside it hasn’t gotten any warmer then 55 degrees in about a week and a half. (it’s a lot warmer in the sun outside, more like 65-70 so being able to sit outside is a really great feeling. ) At night it drops down to 45. 45 feels really cold when all you have is a sleeping bag and a blanket, this weekend another blanket is a necessity purchase. I’m trying not to cave and buy a hot water heater or space heater. We’ll see how long I hold out. So far my home is furnished sparsely, mostly out of necessity. There aren’t really that many stores in my town, and most of them carry the same things and the same goes for the weekend markets. There is literally no place in town to buy a refrigerator- so I was told to wait on that, as you read above it’s cold enough most days that I just leave my stuff out and it doesn’t spoil, I won’t need a fridge until the end of February or the beginning of march. I’ve been buying things as I need them and so far it’s worked out pretty well. These pictures are of my house unfurnished.

I had a brief stint this week where I was a cat owner, remember those two small kittens from my host families house? I decided to bring vache (the boy) back with me. He spent two days crying non stop, and using my bed as his own toilet. Seeing as I’m not a huge fan of cats to begin with, I decided that his life was better off with his sister/family/not with me so I returned him. Evidently his sister had spent those same two days crying, so it works out best for everyone. Big sigh of relief on that one. I’ve found the hideouts of the puppies that are in my town though, and if their spirits haven’t been broken by the beginning of February I might see if one of them wants to be my permanent friend. Problem is people in morocco do not like dogs, and especially don’t have them in their houses. As long as they don’t bother anyone they’re left alone to roam the street, but mistreatment of dogs (rock throwing, kicking etc) is both pretty commonplace and accepted behavior, it breaks my heart. But I also know I can’t afford the time or money to save every puppy I see. Having a dog has big old pro’s and big old con’s- so I’m weighing my options at this point.

This weekend was a very exciting time here in nkob! There was a big festival where I got to listen to traditional berber music, see tradition looms, grindstones and other sorts of good stuff. I got to go on a walking tour of a couple of the kasbah’s turned hotels in town which was very cool. Also there was a marathon and a couple of other smaller running races for the younger generations. There was music, and running and dancing and food and more or less everyone in town showed up. All of it was hosted in and around the dar chabab/youth center where I work so that was really cool too.  I felt very special being invited to all of these different events and activities. I’m pretty sure this festival is one of the most exciting things that happens for a while around here.  I’m hoping to run the marathon next year, we shall see! I started with my first ‘for exercise’ bike ride and jog around my courtyard yesterday. I am incredibly tired right now, but it was worth it.

So since my last post not much has happened. This festival was a time were I felt like I was part of what was happening here in town, people invited me places, I felt less like someone who was here and not just being invited out of pity or anything like that. It felt really nice. I felt more like a friend/member then some foreign creature people were nice to because they felt bad. Being an outsider is hard, and between language and culture it’s hard not to feel like a total outsider sometimes. It usually doesn’t bother me/ I don’t even notice, but it was cool to feel like I was part of it all. I forsee that happening more and more as I stay here longer, at least I hope so.

I’m eternally grateful for the small joys and kindnesses I find along the way here. For example on my bike ride, the way out of town I felt disheartened, out of shape, bummed out. I stopped at where I decided to turn around and listened to a few songs on my ipod while taking a sip of water then headed back. As I was changing the playlists on my ipod a kid stopped and asked if I was going to nkob, I told him yes and he asked if he wanted to bike with him. I said, no, it’s ok I’m not very good right now, but he insisted and we ended up biking back the 1.5kilometers back to nkob, and my bike ride went from a bummer to a total bright spot in my day. Had I listened to one more song or one less song I probably wouldn’t have run into this kid and my ride would not have been as rewarding. Small things like this happen all the time, that I like to think of as little nudges that I’m doing well here, I’m heading in the right direction. I’m thankful I’ve always been the type of person to find joy in the small stuff.

So there it is. This post is really picture heavy bc I’ve had such an eventful few days! Woot!

 a space i like in my house. to the side of the courtyard. 

 my non fruiting orange tree in my courtyard. birds love it. i am constantly cleaning up bird poop off of the leaves and the cement. 

my big cement salon! i have set up camp almost exclusively in this room. it's pretty great. i'll post a picture of it when i've decorated some more. 

courtyard to the kitchen. 

 my kitchen, with the brand new sink and counter. pretty snazzy. 

one of my three roofs. 

the second of two roofs, this one is above the big salon, it's probably where i will sleep come summer time.  

 a traditional nkob rug loom

 ladies in wedding garb sitting on the curb. waiting for the races to finish up. 

something i would NEVER do in america, but is totally acceptable here. socks and sandals. 

a guy in traditional garb smoking a cigarette. 

"a berber bride"

 me playing with the traditional grindstone. if you wanted flour this is how you used to do it. also this is probably my favorite outfit at the time. i wear it a lot. another totally acceptable wardrobe choice is wearing the same thing all week- a practice that was not difficult for me to adapt to. 

 the kids finishing up their race. 

 a view over nkob. i love the colors of the houses. 

 another view over nkob

 main street from above. 

 main street from above 2

 traditional music in practice. 

 a sunset over the crowd. i swear to god this is what it actually looked like. it was gorgeous. 

the sunset again. i couldn't pick what one to use, so i decided for both. this picture also shows how all the ladies carry around their babies. i love it. the just kind of bend over, place the baby on their back, and then put a blanket over their backs, tie it on the front then place a series of other fabrics (blankets towels etc) depending on the weather and the event. it's wonderful.