Two Years In.

Yesterday marked my two-year anniversary in Morocco. Yes, two-whole-years.

On March 3rd, 2010, 70-ish of us Americans arrived in Morocco, naive and unsure of what the adventure had in store for us. I was a scared mess. Crying and shaking, the man next to me on my flight to Philadelphia moved.

Now, two years later, I am confident and capable of my skills in Morocco but I am scared to start the transition back.

It has been a long and difficult but extremely rewarding two years. I have learned a lot, experienced a lot and been through some of the most challenging times in my life. I am grateful to have had the chance to do that.

With my Close-of-Service date only one month away (April 4th), I am beginning to feel the tangible realization that this journey is finally coming to a close. After years of "going home" being an abstract concept, it is finally a real thing. I have a date and a time where I will land back in the country I love, to the food I enjoy and the people I want to be around. I couldn't be more excited, or be freaking out more!

See you all April 5th at 2:10pm.

Wrap-Up Celebration! (I couldn't be more proud)

This post is a little delayed, sorry for that. I thought I had published it, but I guess this new Blogger set-up had me confused... again.

On Thursday, February 2nd the local commune and myself, paired with a grant from the Mid-Missouri Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association hosted a wrap-up/ celebration/ sustainability meeting for the five communities and four associations who have constructed water towers in the last year.

I cried four times during the event. I was so proud of the commune, the associations and the communities that have worked so hard in the last year to get running water. 

We held the event at a room in the local commune building, which was decorated and set up just for us. The commune staff even put together a really professional video showing all of the pictures of the communities constructing their water towers. I really got a big kick out of the video, and anyone who comes to my welcome back party on April 13th will get to see it.

After summaries were given, local leaders spoke and we watched the movie, we started giving out certificates. Sarah-Kate and I gave certificates to all of the associations as well as local leaders and Lahcen, our counterpart. The commune gave certificates to myself, Sarah-Kate as well as the associations to congratulate them on a job well done.

The event was a smashing success. We ate delicious cookies, mingled and discussed ideas for future projects. I really am proud of all of the communities and their hard work over the past year. Their success is inspiring.

My counterpart Lahcen, giving me my certificate!

Me giving the certificate to the President of the Association we worked with.

All of us who came to the event!

Lot's of snacks, cookies, tea and juice!

The gift they gave us, these awesome VERY locally popular shoes.

The men who got us the gifts, my site-mate and myself. 

Lahcen was so excited about his certificate!

This is the really nice certificate they gave us for completing the projects!

My Journey.

I have been internally debating for some time whether or not I wanted to post something so personal on such a public forum, but after reading A LOT of other weight-loss blogs and seeing the benefits they got from the accountability, I decided to do it.

As of today, I have officially lost 50lbs.

It has been a tough journey, with a lot of hiccups along the way, but it has been worth it.

I have needed to do this for a REALLY long time.

For a long time I feared the scale. I feared mirrors and cameras. I was afraid to see just how much I had lost control. In September 2011, after realizing how much food dictated my entire day, I decided to commit myself fully to loosing the weight for good. Since then, I have lost 35lbs, bringing my total loss up to 50lbs.

I feel better, eat better, exercise more and am much happier with myself now that I have begun the steps to end my toxic relationship with food.

          January 2012 at 160lbs!

Spring 2009 at 210+ lbs

I wanted to take time to thank everyone for thier support and continued encouragement while I try to knock off these last 10lbs. 

For all of you out there embarking on the same journey, best of luck!

Thanks for supporting me through this, and through everything. I love you all.

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane

My flight is booked to America.

I will be leaving Casablanca, Morocco at 12:55am on April 5th. I have two layovers (Germany and Chicago), and will finally land in St. Louis at 1:50pm on April 5th.

I couldn't be more excited.

Less-than-two-months!

A Celebration for a Job Well Done!

On Sunday, my site-mate and I made the two hour trek to our counterpart's house to celebrate the Prophet Mohammed's Birthday. With lots of delicious cakes and tajines, it was a firm reminder of how much I love celebrations here. We ate lots of cakes, cookies and delicious food and then we got a ride to the village where I recently finished the water tower project.

The people of the town were having a HUGE party, with lots of "out-of-town" residents coming in for the event. The women were dressed to impress in their jewelry, skirts and big white scarves. I felt sort of sad looking in my black jacket and kahkis compared to how dressed up the women were.

We danced, ate, and sang. I had a blast.

The women, nearly sixty of them, were so kind and funny. They even clapped for me when I came into the room. Overall, I am so proud of them and all of their hard work to get this project complete! They are the ones who benefit most from not having to haul water up the mountain, so I am happy for them that the project is done and that we could have a party.

I love Morocco. I love the food, the hospitality and the good times. The people of the village of IGanouin were so kind and helpful to me, treating me as one of their own. This party was a firm reminder of all of the wonderful things I will miss when I leave Morocco in just two short months.

Below are a few of the photos from the event. I forgot my real camera, so my bad Iphone photos will just have to do.

The ladies wanted to dress me up in their elaborate and very heavy jewelry.  I had on six rings and that giant neck piece. It is all made locally and is quite beautiful.

The ladies and their mostly matching skirts. They are unique to this area and yes, those are puff balls. 

It's sort of hard to see, but as a gift the women/men gave us three liter bottles of Argan Oil and three giant pieces of homemade bread. Delicious.