Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.: Lots of trips.

So these first few weeks at post have actually flown by, mostly because of the shear number of trips I have taken since being at post. In my defense, I am not leaving for fun vacation trips, but work related stuff.

The trips all started a few weeks ago when the women at my Co-Op I am working with asked me if I was interested in going to Sidi Ifni with them. Of course, I said yes. We were supposed to leave on Wednesday but didnt end up starting our journey until early Thursday morning. There were 3 of us in total that went, and I was really unsure of what to expect. I knew it was a "sale" of some kind, but I just wasnt sure what it was all about.

I was pleasently suprised when I go there. Sidi Ifni is like a beach town that forgot it was next to the ocean. There is very little development right on the water and for the most part (despite some trash) the beach is in pretty good shape. The town has a very laid back atmosphere and isnt nearly as bustling as some of the other cities in Morocco I have visited. The dress is still pretty conservative, with women wearing full body scarfs, but intermixed with tourists in tee shirts and shorts. It is quite an interesting combination.

Turns out that this "sale" was actually a festival of sorts put on my the Provience of Sidi Ifni (which I live in) for some of the local women's cooperatives in the area. They payed for our hotel and provided us meals, it was sort of like grown women at summer camp where everyone speaks a different language than you. We spent our days in our tent selling our products to locals who could just stop by and browse around (quite a few tourists came too). The co-op I am working with sells homemade Cous Cous, Argan oil for cooking and cosmetics, lots of natural herbs, cook books, henna and my personal favorite Amalou. Amalous is pretty unique to this region and is made on these rock presses combining either peanuts or almonds, oil and sugar. It is served with bread and is absolutely one of my favorite parts of the region. Other co-ops at the festival sold Traditional Berber clothing, cheese made from goats milk, as well as many variations of our products. It was really cool to see all of the different women's organizations working together to create these quality products as income generation. All-in-all we spent four days there (not the origional two I was told) but I did meet lots of very motivated women and spent my days beach side, which was quite nice. I have even seen some of the women around Tiznit and it is nice to start building those connections to the community.

Next started my trip to the Gendarms. I had to go to the Gendarms to get a carte de sejour which is essentially permission for me to stay in Morocco past my 3 month mark. This turned into a 4 day adventure with many many trips to both Lochkess and Tiznit. It did end with a free ride back to my site and a free lunch with the local authorities. The good news is that I did get my receipt (or reecie picie...as the Gendarms call it, haha) and all is well in that realm. Great. That trip was not without its stresses but in the end its over, for this year at least.

The final trip in this three part series was to Agadir, where I am currently. Agadir is a beautiful city with lots of amenities. We had a meeting up here and decided to spend the weekend just enjoying a hot shower and some delicious food. I am certanly taking anyone who visits me to this great beach town. Destroyed in 1961 by a terrible earthquake, the country got a lot of foregin aid money (I am currently on JFK blvd if that helps you out) and they used it to desgin a city for tourism. This means there are wide streets with parking and sidewalks. Tons of little cafes and shops as well as just about any amenity that you could possibly need. The crowing jewel (in my personal opinion) is the Marjane in town. Marjane is essentially a Target/ Walmart type place crossed with a mall. They have the normal "Wal-Mart" section but also lots of little niche shops (sort of like a strip center in the States) but inside. You can get ANYTHING here. They sell lots of name brand items that I miss from America as well as different types of cheeses, household items, electronics, ect. That is a must-do whenever we come here and its nice for just a few hours to feel a sense of shopping familiarity. At Marjane you dont have to look from behind a counter and decide what you want, you can actually shop, and thats a good feeling.

The other big thing we have done on this trip is try out new restruants in the area. While they were a little pricey for our budget we finally got to eat some variety of food that feels more like home. Friday night we went to really the only Chinease place in town (we tried to find Mexican but NONE exist) and it was awesome. The food tasted good, the atmosphere was great and it was quite worth the adventure to get there. Last night (Saturday night) we went to an italian place called Mezzo Mezzo and it was awesome. Certainly not "Hill" italian food from St. Louis but good none the less. Wow, the food really made the trip.

I have really enjoyed these crazy days but I am looking forward to my time at home with my family this next week :) Now the house/ apartment hunting begins....

I love you all.