This week is a big week.

The past few weeks have been filled with the same old, same old. Language training in the morning, culture in the afternoon and some family time in the evenings before hitting the sack exhausted from the day. After weeks of the same routine, finally some change is coming.

This week is the week we come back to our hub site and finally get to find out where our post will be for the next two years. I am hoping for the best and expecting the worst :) This is pretty much the only way to avoid some level of disappointment so in a few short weeks I will be able to provide you a summary of what my life will look like for the next two years!!!! I know you are so excited! I on the other hand, am freaking out! In only a matter of days my fate will be determined and I will be an a Tashlheet only village with my extremely limited Tashlheet! Start praying for my beach cottage now!

Other than that, I cooked my first meal for my host family this week. In memory of my used to be favorite meal of the week, sunday breakfast cooked by my dad, I cooked my family homemade hash-browns and eggs with green peppers and tomatoes. It was heavenly. I think it would have been better with some bacon and possibly some biscuits and gravy, but unfortunately that is not an option around here.

I also wanted to do a short summary of my (hopefully) only henna experience. About 2 weeks ago, I was taken to a new member of the "hen" clubs house and asked if I wanted henna, silly me said yes. I will explain the process to you. They mix this smelly green powder with water, and it forms a paste. They then put this paste on your hands and feet in all sorts of designs. At first I was like, wow this is so cool and pretty. Four hours later, I was still sitting with this drying smelly paste on my hands. When I finally thought that it was time to eat dinner and i could wash this stuff off, they dabbed a ginger/ garlic/ sugar liquid all over the henna so my smelly and dry hands were not covered with sugar, which the flys just loved. This made dinner eating quite difficult, as you can imagine. After dinner I was sure I would get to take this stuff off, but no. My mother said "good night" and off to bed I went. I couldn't handle sleeping with the thought of this sticky paste all over me in the morning and no shower, so i covered my hands and feet in socks and went to sleep. At 6 am, I woke up was was like, I have to get this stuff off of my body now. My mom gave me a teapot full of water and I sat in the bathroom for nearly 35 minutes scraping this stuff off my hands and feet. All in all it turned out quite pretty and while most of it has worn off now, my fingernails are still this cool orange color that looks like a sunset, which I appreciate. Needless to say if this happens next time, I will be more clear with my desires and wants but all in all, not the greatest experience ever! Mashie mushkil (no worries)!

The last thing I wanted to comment on is one particular cultural concept I am having a difficult time understanding and accepting. It is the concept of InShalla (meaning "God willing"). Basically, I hear this phrase about 100 + times on any given day. It is essentially the same thing as saying "hopefully" or knocking on wood to prevent getting jinxed. In Islam, muslims believe that God has a plan for everyone and everything and they are saying Inshalla, meaning if God wills it, it will happen. This phrase is super useful for questions like "will you take me to america" and "do you want to go work in the fields later". Inshalla is the prefect response to questions like that but harder for things like "Lets meet tomorow and develop a plan" or "come to dinner at my house tonight". Basically it is just another obstacle I have to overcome in the process of learning to slow my life down A LOT. Soon I will learn to embrace the concept of InShalla (inshalla) and all will be right in the world again. Until then, I will continue to be thrown off by the concept!

Life is going great here and we are finishing up our 24 hours of hiatus from the intensity of village life in a bigger city. Last night we borrowed the PC projector and watched "Couples Retreat" on the wall of our hotel room, it was quite awesome. Today we grabbed some breakfast at a local bakery and headed to a pretty sweet store that has fixed prices (yes!) on some pretty nice pants/ shirts and scarves. I have a feeling some of you will be getting gifts from this store :)

Also, this week i found a cold coke in the local shop and it literally made my week! In other news its starting to get really warm here, and my body is not adjusting well, the long pants and long sleeves make think I am going to spontaneously combust at any time but yesterday we found a pool! Yes the hotel the health volunteers are staying at have a hotel pool. Of course we went there thinking it would be free, and the guy told us it was 20dh but we were like, its hot, we will pay it. So we swam in some freezing cold water, free from the constraints of pants and long sleeves and turns out we didn't have to pay after all :) That guy was super nice.

Also, I got a little lesson in English this week. Turns out what I had always assumed was a "wheel barrel" is actually a "wheelbarrow". Thanks Dad for leading me wrong all of these years. Here is the proof
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheelbarrow
This is a little sad for me since I think of it as a barrel with wheels, but I guess I proven wrong once again (thanks Martin, NOT).


Miss you all.