Mini Update...More to Come!

Hello Everyone!

I have returned from Spring Camp! What a whirlwind of a week, that's for sure. The day Sara left, I woke up at 2:50 am to get to the airport for Sara's flight home...returned to the hotel alone (sad) and slept until 8:00, got up, and started my journey to Spring Camp. Of course, transportation was horrible and it seemed like the never-ending day of travel. I finally arrived at the camp center around 8:00 pm. Exhausted.

This year, I coordinated the camp in El Jadida. It was my first time coordinating, and I was really pleased with how well things went. There were five other Peace Corps volunteers under my guidance, and a Moroccan staff of eight, plus our camp director. I only have good things to say about the camp, except for one thing. The director. He was awful. His one job was to get us supplies for our English classes and clubs, and he had a difficult time managing that. Also, at the end of camp he required us to write a report for him, and ended up censoring every negative comment we mentioned. Don't worry, I intend on sending a follow up report to my programming staff in Rabat.

Anyway, camp was awesome. I had a great group of PCVs who were really excited to be there and eager to work with the kids. There is a tendency for PCVs to slack off and only work when forced to, but this was not the case in El Jadida. Also, I was blown away by the Moroccan staff. I have worked at three camps during my time in Morocco, and this staff was by far the best group I have ever worked with. The reason why: they were all young people. All of us, PCVs and Moroccans, were under the age of 30. It makes a huge difference. We all bonded and quite a bit of fun working together. I hope to get the chance to work with some of them again in the future!

After camp, I met my friend Rebecca in Casablanca for a night of rest and relaxation. We dined at only the finest of establishments...the KFC. Dis-ap-point-ment. We had heard a TGIFridays was open in Casa, but when we got there, we found it still under construction. Big bummer. So, we settled for what we thought would be the next best thing: chicken. Wrong. This was probably the worst experience I've ever had in any restaurant ever. Incompetence. We entered the restaurant and found a crowd of people corralling into a big blob around the counter. We noticed a few posts trying to force people to form lines, but that didn't seem to help much. We then waited in line for 45 minutes...as each minute ticked by, we grew closer to the point of leaving, but never did. So, we ordered our meal, elbowed our way out of the crowd with our tray and fountain drinks, and found outdoor seating with a view of the ocean. Also, a view of the "children's play land" or grassy area with one small plastic playhouse. I think the kids happy meal must have included a toy horn because all the kids had one and were breaking in their new toy ceremoniously. There was no line between where children's play land ended and the regular seating began. Balls flying everywhere, horns blowing, and crying everywhere. As we ate, we had prime seats for watching the custodial help "clean up." This involved scooping up trash into a dustpan and smashing it into an already overflowing trash can. After we finished eating, we had instant stomachaches and went back to the hotel to rest. (I think we're not accustomed to American fast food anymore)

We each took a long hot bath in the hotel and read the People magazines that my grandparents had sent me in the mail. Then we ordered Pizza Hut delivery. When asked on the phone if I wanted a side of potatoes with the pizza, I specifically said, in arabic, "No Batata" but alas, we were charged for and delivered one order of potatoes. Oh, well.

The next day we stayed in bed absorbing as much tv time as we could before we had to check-out at noon. At noon, exactly, we checked out, boarded a train and traveled to Marrakech. I spent the night at Rebecca's house and yesterday made my way back to my town. I arrived last night, tired, and found my house a disaster!

The outside door is broken. Somebody (probably the dentist) broke the lock (again). I heard while I was gone there were five men living and smoking a lot next door, but now they are apparently moving out. Humdullah. I talked to one guy who I had never seen before about the door. He didn't seem concerned or interested in fixing it. I will talk to the dentist today. I would prefer if the MulDar (landlord) would buy an entirely new door, but I'll settle for a new lock. Also, I forgot a bunch of bananas in my kitchen and over the week at least 50 fruit flies spawned and took over my kitchen. One dead cockroach. Lots of dust. All posters had fallen off walls And near-death plants. Must have been hot and dusty here.

Today I will do laundry, clean house, try to get rid of gross banana smell, and go to Dar Chebab. Take a look at the new pictures I posted on Flickr! Take care and write me!