Mountain Life

Lied Kibar

These are just some pictures of my town and fam, shit is going good you stop noticing the hard stuff after a while. I'll probably look back and think how the hell did I survive that but right now life is pretty interesting and fun for me. The last picture is of the dude I work with after Leid look it up pretty important Islam holiday that I never heard of before I got here. Look at facebook for other bs.

My Mountains

Some of my fam

Souq (Market)

More Fam

My counterpart

My president is black, my echo is gold

and I am staying in my same site in the mountains for the next two years. Sorry to my three loyal followers for not updating but that shouldn't be a surprise. I am pretty pumped for the next two years right now since I think I can make somewhat of a difference. Otherwise I'll put pictures on facebook or when I have internet cause the connection is super slow everywhere I go.

No NBA JAMS for 2 years

Sorry for not keeping this up to date. I learned something really cool from just the month of being here. You get used to everything. I mean if you are flexible you get used to everything.  It does stink not being able to watch football on Sunday but other than that being here is pretty nice.  I walk around a lot and take hikes. I go online probably every other day but I spend most of that time reading the news and downloading podcasts, the main reason I haven’t been really keeping this blog updated.  This lifestyle is pretty much the opposite of how I usually live in America if you know me so maybe I will live past 35. I am actually paying attention during class and learning Moroccan Arabic or Diraja the local language way faster than I thought I was capable of.  The people of my town are super friendly and helpful. When I or the other volunteers can’t really say something correctly they don’t ignore us but instead try to help us understand. Have any questions leave a comment or e-mail me. Also, I will try to have pictures with my next post which I will hopefully do next week and keep up with that frequency of posting. 

Yea a little tougher then I thought

My host family is really cool there is 7 of them from a little girl to also twins. I am pretty sure I won't be able to take a hot shower again for a really really long time. The public bath is closed for a couple of days too so basically I don't mind but people around me are going to start getting angry. I am in town called itzer and the view around it is beautiful but water only comes around 3-4 hours a day. But I am learning the language way faster then I thought I would which is awesome. Training is for 3 months and after I finally find out what my site is. The real reason this is tough is mainly for the people that know me and understand how much I like chill/hang around and I don't really have time for that. This is most likely going to make me a way better person when I come back. Send me e-mails at sanyog@comcast.net since facebook is looking a little tough to get to from my site or just post comments here.

Orientation

Orientation went by quick I was sick the whole time but still had fun. They say picture speaks more then a thousand words so look at the beach we had next to our orientation hotel. Also, I will be leaving for my training site so I don't know about the internet connection plus I want to get to know my host family.

1 week...of football

Yes theres only one week left or less now before I and some other trainee's leave for Morocco. I am trying to keep expectation low and just stay focused on the task at hand. Nevertheless, of the 2010 NFL Season I will only get to see week 1, and I am already missing football before the season even starts. Maybe I will finally get into soccer or fut ball? Packing is going slow but it is going if any of the other trainee's see this lets have a good 27 months.

Getting Ready for 2 years of my life

The best tool to get ready seems to be reading other volunteers' blogs. It's really helping me make my packing list. So since this is so helpful for me I think I should make one to help others too. Well if anyone reads this. 

Heres my packing List hopefully I can fit everything and this list helps other

Equipment:
laptop

laptop fan
converter and surge protector
alarm clock with Ipod connection
camera
pocketknife and compass
first aid kit
Steripen

Sleeping bag

Ziplock bags
Map of Morocco
Calander

folders
cross stitch kits

Tooth Brush

Flash Light

Shoes:
sneakers, one
flip flops, one
dress shoes, one

Pants:
nice khakis, three
cargo pants, two
jeans, three
shorts, two

Shirts:
collared dress shirts, five
collared polo shirts, three
sweatshirts, four
undershirts, eight

t-shirts, Five

Miscellaneous clothing:
hat
gloves
handkerchief
socks
underwear
thermals
belt
ties

Miscellaneous:
books
blanket
memory cards
memory sticks
binoculars
journal/pens

Lotion

Zantac and Excedrin

Soap
Q-tips
Shaving equipment

Note Books

Movies and music