Oktoberfest, ovens, and overall successes

Where to begin?!

Forgive me for being missing in action for so long. There is no excuse! I’ll do better

Starting at the beginning is usually the best place to start. After my last entry, I conducted a VSN training. For those of you who don’t know, I’m one of the two VSN reps for my PCV group. VSN is the volunteer support network and it’s awesome. I think the skills learned at these trainings are really helpful in being a great volunteer, friend, fellow PCV and help you to be good to yourself. Yay VSN. So myself and the amazing and intuitive Wes Ogburn did a three day training for some of the newer PCVs.

We then had a regional meeting with our regional supervisor and Rosemary from Rabat. We talked about projects going on within our region. It was a great opportunity to talk about our sites, projects, potential projects and to offer our help to others who might need it. We also got our Peace Corps 50th Anniversary t-shirts. I’m always excited about getting Peace Corps swag.

Then it was time to celebrate my birthday!! This was my second birthday in Morocco. I thought that nothing in the world could top my 25th birthday.

This birthday did come pretty close We first met up with some other PCVS in Marrakech and stayed at the beautiful riad known as Dar Atta. Hot showers,a washing machine, and comfortable beds for everyone! The next day myself an 4 of my other friends flew into Frankfurt, Germany. We rented a car and drove to watch the sun rise at a castle. Then we made it into Munich in time to check into our apartment we had rented for the next 4 days.

The whole purpose in going to Munich was to attend Oktoberfest. It. was. amazing. Seriously. So clean, organized, so much beer, pretzels, beer, english speaking people, beer, food, tall people, liederhosen, dirndels, BEER! Ugh. It was a great time. We all wore whatever we wanted, talked to boys, drank in public, and showered every single day. After just having finished up Ramadan, Oktoberfest was especially interesting because it was SO opposite of that.

(Beers were so big and heavy that on the space in between your index finger and thumb we all had matching bruises. Worth it!)

(This was on our first day. Check out my awesome berber necklace I bought myself for my birthday. It was made especially for me:)

(The Hofbrauhous is the oldest beer hall in the world. Both the food and beer were delicious. I had a 1/2 dark beer and 1/2 lemonade mixture)(Glockenschpiel!)

We came home, I dropped by to see my host family. They have a new volunteer living with them. It was very exciting for me to meet her and the rest of the PCTs in Ras Lma. They are very lucky to have such a great site and families.

I’m back in The Christmas Village now, my Dar Chebab is definitely worse for wear than when I left. All the windows are broken, supplies are missing, ping pong table and balls are all destroyed, even the front door handle is broken in half! I can’t even get into the front door without the help from the teenage boys who are inevitably playing soccer there.
I took pictures of the damages and made myself a meeting with our provinces governor. We talked about all the problems, and he has assured me that he is on it. It was a very long list so I anticipate some follow up meetings. But I am feeling hopeful.

I’ve been trying to keep busy in site, even if my usual haunts aren’t up and running I can still do some goal 2 and 3 activities. I gave all my little sisters pedicures the other night, with clear nail polish (nail polish is not usually allowed in Morocco). Even my baby sisters wanted a clear coat. It was fun They really enjoyed themselves, I thought.

Another recent development is that my dear friend, Katy gave me her oven!!! I now can actually bake things. The possibilities are endless. Thank you Katy!

(this was my first creation! I used veggies I had sitting around, potatoes, spicy peppers, green beans, onion, garlic, zucchini and added soy sauce, ginger, salt, pepper. Then made a sauce with butter, flour and almonds, then before putting it in the oven I added bread crumbs and more toasted almonds. It was awesome!)

I think that’s enough blogging for today. I’ve gotta go visit my newest host nephew!