So much for October posts...

Well, we just skipped over October it seems.

Not too much is going on - I'm enjoying being with my aunt and uncle very much. I'm spending most days lazily doing research, studying or reading, but that suits me just fine. Life will return to being crazy soon, so this is a nice break. My stomach, however, is reminding me of real life by producing impressive amount of acid, so that's not all pleasant, but then again, life isn't always - so I roll with the punches and continue to enjoy the ride.

Classes continue to move along at a rapid, yet comfortable, clip. My class is full of fun people (the French guys like ranting about the ''totalitarian bastard dictatorship'' that we are living in here, due to bike laws saying you can't ride through a red light - makes my day every time it's brought up) and we enjoy the class and being around each other, though I'm the only person not working or taking classes, so their free time is in the very very middle of the night. To which I say 'see you next class!' - I'm not much of a club girl anyway ;)

We trundled across the water to Odense to celebrate my cousin Tobias's birthday, which was fun. His mother's family also showed up, so most everything was in Danish, but it's good to listen to - I can pick up on much more than I could when I first arrived, so I'll count it as a success. The next day, my aunt, uncle and I went out to their summer house at Kerteminde and cleaned up there, shut down some of the house, and took a drive out to the top of the island. Absolutely gorgeous - that day was everything a Danish autumn day should be - sunshine with a tepid breeze blowing softly from the shores up across rolling fields... Absolutely marvelous. I'm sad that I didn't think to bring my camera - it really was pricelessly beautiful.

And this past weekend, the city of Copenhagen had its 'Kulturnatten', or Culture Night, during which churches, museums, galleries, the palaces, and various other venues held special concerts or events, tours, exhibitions... basically, the city at its finest, open for the night wanderers to come and see. Everything was accessible by a single cover-charge, including trains and busses, so it was a great price for a very fun time. We went to have dinner at an old favourite of Per and his younger brother (passed away a while ago from AIDs, unfortunately), which had some magnificent curry, and then wandered off to see the palace, a church choir concert (at the best preserved church in Copenhagen - it was built in the 1400s), and to the old hard candy factory. All in all a delightful evening.

This week is a national fall break for most schools in Denmark, so my classes have been cancelled, leaving me with the responsibility of entertaining myself, working on vocab and homework, and cleaning the heck out of the house. Lovely, all in all! I'm enjoying this thoroughly, though I do miss my friends and family - my ticket home has been bought, and I shall see everyone upon that joyous day ^_^

<3

Tiddling around in Copenhagen

Well, as usual, my family is keeping me plenty busy!

After a couple of days of work we had a nice weekend, my aunt's boyfriend had his birthday which went very well. I also got to go have dinner and movie time with my other cousins Stig and Anne, which was very fun. Ridiculous Canadian and a giggly stringbean of a Dane. I love my family.

And Sunday I was brought over to Copenhagen by my aunt Jette and uncle Per, who I have seen more recently in the States. Their house is the same as it always was - nice and old and comfy and full of interesting books and old furniture. Strangely one of the only houses I've ever been in without snacks, thank the lord ^_^

I have taken a couple of walks, but haven't gone too far afield. My aunt and uncle have been working pretty full time, so lots of self-entertaining, which is just fine with me. Tons of films to watch, lots of books to read and LOTS of studying to do.

Class started this week, and hooooo boy, it's going to be hard work. Danish uses a huge amount of German and English, so the grammar and vocabulary is much much easier than other languages I've tried to learn, but the pronunciation? Holy. Moly. I've read a joke before that it's easier to speak danish with a potato in your mouth - sadly, it's almost true. I'm not sure that that many vowels are allowed in a mouth at the same time >.< Bleh

But I shall prevail! My class is full of either college students or young professionals. A Greek kid, a Hungarian girl, an Italian guy, a Finnish guy, an Iranian guy, and Icelandic girl, two German girls, one British guy, a Chinese girl, two French guys, one Dutch guy, and another American girl... yeah, we're a good mix. Everyone is very nice though, and the group I'm sitting in is (naturally) the peanut gallery of the class, so we're having a high old time. My teacher called me out on speaking German the first day because of my wonky pronunciations >.<>

Anywho, that's about all I have to report for now. I'll be buying my return-home tickets sometime in the next week or two, so that info will also be available shortly, hehe. Now, to get all of my Morocco photos online...

I freaking love Danish Tile Floors...

... and you know why? Because they're HEATED - freaking genius.

But anyway, long several days. First a goodbye to my absolutely wonderful FMBS members, who carried me from one end to the other of my journey - not literally, but you know what I mean. Then on up to Denmark!

The flight was full of white-blonde haired Danish kids who were giggling over ipads or plushies (strange folks these Danes), and then into the airport at Copenhagen. First thing to note - people not checking your passport when you land = odd. Second, train tickets are freaking expensive here - almost $60! And then, while waiting an hour for my train, I munched down on a Polser. If you're not Danish, you don't understand the delicious of a Polser (there is a different 'o' used, but my keyboard isn't fancy, so I'm not typing it) - Danish hotdogs - delicious. And yes, Anita, it was a Fransk Hotdog - you may cry, hehe.

Two hours on the train let me see a lot of the beautiful Danish countryside while heading to Odense, where I have been staying with my aunt. While on the train though, the most interesting person I saw was a girl playing her Nintendo DS. Normal you say - not while wearing a tophat and neon pink and black plaid crotchless chaps, it isn't. ^_^

Found my aunt instantly upon my arrival in Odense and met her boyfriend, who is very nice (he is, in fact, the man who is responsible for my webs. He picked me up a USB modem from work that I can use while in Denmark - yes, internet ANYWHERE - really really awesome). We drove home (saw a Dresden look-alike sulking down the street in a floor-length duster and a wide-brimmed hat... kinda weird). Coffee and Danish Pastries were had, dinner made shortly after. Jheez, Danish food is good - I forget after a long absence. And I got a phone call from my dearest parents during dinner to top off the nice day ^_^

Monday we went out to Helnaes (spelling note: blend the a and the e together to get the correct symbol) to my aunt's summer house and while she cut grass I picked blackberries and plums - yes, country excellence. It was a lovely warm (by danish standards) sunny day, so watching the clouds whip across the bay was amazing. Pictures - I will post them when I can.

Tuesday I went in to work with Tante Dorrit to bring lunch to her BF - we ended up staying around for a couple of hours working (she works for a chain of fabric/sewing stores, and her BF is in charge of stocking everything - so we're getting all of the magazines for the next several months divided up, stuffed with patterns, and shipped off to the right stores - 28 stores btw - LOTS of work). After that, we came home and had coffee with my cousin Stig (pronounced Stee), which was fun, as I haven't seen him in YEARS. And then I was dragged off to Ballstix, which is a 'sport' that was invented by my aunt's previous instructor. Basically, you take a medicine ball filled with air (rather than sand or water), put dull spikes all around it, paint it orange, and then use it to balance on and stretch on. Sort of a gymnastics of self-torture and massochism... yeah (shut up, redundance is allowed.) Incredibly painful, very good workout, and kind of fun - I'm terrible at it, and it doesn't really exist far away from Odense, so no, I won't be continuing with it, hehe. And we got home to the BF making dinner (my aunt found her a man who can cook REALLY well), which was followed by a dinner conversation in which I was speaking English to my aunt, German to her BF, and they were speaking Danish to one another. Yup, that's my family for you.

Wednesday we went out to an annual market/fair on the south half of the island - basically, take the cherry blossom festival, all of the mud you could possibly find, and make it a million times bigger. That was this. HUGE. And Danish. We had fun wandering, Tante Dorrit got me a nice rain slicker (in exchange for more slave labour at the warehouse tomorrow) and we had a great time just wandering in the mud and crowds. Good fun. Also, lunch was had in a big circus tent full of picnic tables, beer and a stage with a band singing country music... Danes have surprisingly convincing southern accents...

This evening, up to my cousin Anita's house to have dinner with her husband and daughter - excellent people, lots to say and fun was had. I really really have missed my family out here ^_^

Tomorrow, more work early early! So... since I'm back up in 6 hours, I guess sleep time should happen now... Woo! I shall check in soon, hehe.

NOTE: On the way home, my aunt pointed out an ambulance and said that ''That is the doctor's car.'' I almost died. No seriously - grabbing the wheel to follow crossed my mind... luckily for Tante Dorrit, I can't drive stick...

Transitionary Phase

Well, we're in Spain.

It was sad to see Morocco go, but I'm ready for a change in scenery. Time to get up and freeze my butt off in Denmark!

We left a couple of days early and are staying in the foundation President's house in Malaga (just in case there was issue) but that means a couple of days of rest inbetween the flurry of activity - EXCELLENT idea, by the way.

Because yesterday we had...

Chefchaouen, Morocco -> Ceuta, Spain

2 hr Car Ride (with 30min stop to drop off a kid, 1 hour border crossing, and 30mins at the bank trying to sort out money)

Ceuta, Spain -> Algeciras, Spain

2 hr Ferry Ride (1 hour waiting for the ferry initially)

Algeciras, Spain

45mins of Taxis and waiting between the ferry and bus station

Algeciras, Spain -> Malaga, Spain

2.5 hr Bus Ride

Malaga, Spain

45mins Car Ride through traffic and to the suburbs for my last housing in Spain

Tiiiired puppy. And to those of you who ask 'well what about the planes, bikes and trains?' - I'll be taking a plane and a train on Sunday, and my uncle is lending me his bike for the duration of my stay in Denmark. Don't worry - they're covered ;P

But yes - two days of rest/repacking/transitioning from Spanish to English.

To English? Why yes - among the household at the moment is the President and his Wife, their grown daughter (just graduated from ETS, where we lived/taught in Germany), their grown son, his wife, their 22-month daughter and dog (the wife is from New Jersey, so everyone speaks English very well). So lots of Spanglish in this household! Altogether a happy one though, so I'm pleased ^_^

Transition days - these are they.

Last One Standing

Well, Lola has left for Spain.

This past week Dr.Solis, Carmen and Fabiana arrived in order to take her home and drop Fabiana off here for her 'month on' in Morocco. I adore them, but jheez - messy roommates. The dishes that were left over this morning when they left were DISgusting - rivals college boys - I'm not even exaggerating. But they should be safely over the border by now and waiting for the ferry to take Lola and Carmen back to mainland Spain (a trip I shall be making in just under two weeks).

But overall, this means I'm the only short-term (relatively speaking) volunteer left here for now. The apartment is left just to me (woo, less people to clean up after), which means more peace and quiet, but night time is going to be less enjoyable - again, I don't like being in an apartment on my own at night, heh.

But, as minorly referenced before, I shall be leaving in just under two weeks for Spain (the 9th), and will stay in Malaga for two nights before flying up to Denmark. I only have two official 'shifts' at the orphanage between now and then, but will have multiple part-day shifts to entertain the kiddies, which will be fun. I confess, even though they're terrorists, I've gotten attached to one of the toddlers - as in, I'd bring her with me if I could. Yes, be glad I can't! The babes are all doing well, spoiled rotten and full of energy as ever. Because it's been so hot, we've been having to keep them cooler with more baths and water, but so far so good.

We've all done various amounts of cooking for each other during my stay, and Myrna has promised to give me some of her recipes to take home, which will be exciting! I made a non-soy sauce variation of fried rice the other day, and apparently it was a hit, as I got home from work and it was all gone, hehe. I had plenty though, and have plenty of other stuff to make, so I'm not particularly worried.

As far as my Denmark plans go, they've been shifting around a fair deal, but I believe that we're close to having the first part of my stay finalized, which will be a relief (because I like to have a solid plan). What we'll be doing is having me fly into Copenhagen and hop onto a train to Odense to stay with one of my aunts for a week, get settled, see cousins, buy warmer clothes (having Danes describe the current weather as 'chilly' scares me to death), and overall just take a bit of a breather from Morocco. At the end of that week, I'll be driven back to Copenhagen by my aunt and uncle, and will start Danish classes in the city two days after that. It's basically a two-day-a-week, 2.5 hour-a-class sort of thing that is a good intensive language program, which will hopefully let me learn a good deal of Danish before coming home. Basically, short summer program at GT, without summer or GT.

Really though, not much has happened in 11 days, and not much will probably happen before leaving, aside from packing, unpacking, REpacking, and generally being neurotic about my suitcase... but that's perfectly normal for me! Thanks for passing that down genetically Mum - real helpful!

And after my just-under-two-weeks in Morocco, I'll be driven to the border, cross it on foot, and then be picked up on the other side (all of this legally, btw), hop a ferry, then hop a taxi and then a bus back to my two-day layover in Spain. Alllllll in a day's travel!

Sometimes my life is far too interesting...

Listening to the Rain fall and Thunder roll / A Month of Giving and Peace

Well, today is the first rainy rainy day we've had since I've been in Chefchaouen, and I'm enjoying it - it got sunny and horrifically humid while I was walking up the mountain (yes, comparable to GA), but it wasn't raining, which was really a blessing. The rain has brought nice cold winds with it, with mixed sunshine and deep black clouds, which are gorgeous and I'm very much enjoying during a quiet day.

This week is the week of prayer for GT (24/7 people praying, usually 15 minute intervals each during some scheduled time of day), so I asked Myrna if it was ok for me to have just night shifts this week, and being the wonderful person she is, she let me. That means that, between 6am and 8am, instead of getting ready for work, I'm using some of my extra sleep time at the hospital to do my 4 intervals, which is nice. Four nights of work this week (since the new volunteer didn't show, we're covering her shifts), but I enjoy it, so that's fine with me.

Also, Ramadan started about a week ago, so that's brought about a lot of changes here. First of all, for those of you who aren't familiar with the holiday, Ramadan's main rule, as far as I can tell, is no eating nor drinking during daylight hours (or when the sun is over the horizon). So from about 7am to 7:30pm, none of the citizens are eating. Cafes and stores are usually closed, the town bakery hasn't opened it's doors (as far as we can tell) since the beginning of the holiday, and this trend continues for a month. Now, though we're not fasting, we're also not eating in public during daylight hours - it's rude and would probably get people ticked at us, so it's a little inconvenient, but good for self-control I guess. ^_^ Unfortunately, people tend to be more grumpy during this time, and I'm having to leave realllly early for work in the evenings, because taxis aren't running (before the sun rises and right at sunset is a huge QUICK GO HOME AND EAT time, so EVERYONE is home - not even taxis are out). BUT, along with the cons come the pros... well, kind of - the month of Ramadan has a lot of traditions, most of which concern food, and oh good lord - the pastries - there are SO many for SO cheap and SO delicious... there goes my waistline... worth it.

I picked up my two souvenirs while in old town with the girls yesterday - a lovely scarf and a satchel bag - if and when you see them, you're going to tell me that I could have found similar things anywhere, but A) I like them a lot, B) They were cheaper here than most other places, C) Even though they're not specifically Moroccan, they're still from here, and I'll enjoy that, and D) the typically Moroccan stuff - I don't have room nor desire for any of it, so I'm not bothering, hehe. But all in all, I love them and am very happy ^_^ The bag will be a bigger purse (for flying - score one on not getting another suitcase at least until Denmark) and the scarf will be very very appreciated in Denmark, I'm sure!

Now it's been a busy couple of weeks - last weekend, Marjorie left for home (she was only here for about a week, as work wouldn't let her off for longer), so that cut us down to three girls in the apartment. Sadly, Christina also came to the end of her more extended tenure here this morning while I was at work - she and Enrique headed off to get her to Tangier for her flight back home, so I won't be able to see her again before leaving Spain myself - she is a lovely woman, and I'm very pleased to have been able to have the chance to get to know her.

And with those two gone it just leaves me and Lola - we're both laptop junkies, but I'm still significantly less interactive than her (lack of hispanic blood, I think), so I'm going to try and work on that to make her more comfy and less lonely. We get along very well and have lots of interest in going to old town (of course, I prefer walking, but I'll deal with taxis) so we're going to have fun rambling around I'm sure. She's here for two more weeks, until she heads home for exams, so that'll leave me alone for my last bit of stay here - but I'll love those two weeks I have!

Having been here for two months now, I find I'm settling in fairly well - I'm used to being the strange person on the street, the obvious foreigner in the group, and the quiet person in the conversation. I can't pretend I won't enjoy getting home (or at least back into an environment where I won't stick out so much), but I think this last month will be easier. That and my parents are excellent about keeping up with me on Skype, so I'm incredibly grateful for that!

POST SCRIPT: Also, something I'd just like to point out - for the eating times here, at the end of the day, a giant siren goes off basically saying 'You can eat now' - loud, somewhat unsettling if you weren't expecting it. Not only in the evening, but to wake people up for their breakfast, the same, incredibly loud (because it has to reach the whole valley) siren goes of at 4 am... heart attacks come daily now. That or I think I'm waking up in the middle of an air raid during the Blitz... *sigh*

Moments in time, too fleeting to capture each one...

Alrighty, well, it's been a fair while since I updated, so here goes.

Work continues well, Christina and I continue to get along well.

We have our two other volunteers that will be here for some time - the first one, Lolah, is sweet and wonderful. She's from Malaga, where I arrived, so not too far away. Sort of a punk girl, short hair, lots of piercings, but very sweet - loves music and photography and is studying the Spanish language (and local Malaga dialect) to teach to foreign kids and wants to work with children with disabilities - very nice - we get along very well.

She was brought on Saturday (while I was at work) by Silvia and her husband and daughter, who stayed for a day or two and cooked up a storm (chicken and chorizo and sausage and potato salad..mmmm), and were overall very good company. Fabiana returned to Ceuta with them for some time there (she switches between here and there, to kind of keep herself sane, which sounds like a good practice to me, heh).

And on Tuesday Enrique (who picked me up at the airport and saved my life when doing the train/bus transfer) brought the new girl called Marjorie from Colombia - and yes, she's full Latina. Don't let the name fool you. She seems nice, though very latina in the fact that she's direct and to the point. Kinda meh with me, but that's ok. My only issue so far has been with the hour-long bathroom needs for showers - my poor toothbrush... held hostage...

In other news, haven't really slept well recently - but after three days of not doing more than a light doze for 20 minutes at a time and no naps, who'da thunk, I slept well last night, which was a relief. Still up at 7 every morning for my stretches and devotional, but I enjoy it. Definitely going to work that into my schedule when I get home - love it THAT much.

Funny moment of the week: Yesterday when we were walking through old town, which has a fair number of tourists this time of year, we were passing a group of tourists that was mostly comprised of boys, but had two girls among them wearing fairly short shorts and tank tops (absolutely normal summer wear in the USA) - I was *Scandalized* - I couldn't help but stare for a moment, I blushed, and my mouth even fell open a bit. My roommates almost collapsed they were laughing so hard - apparently, I've been here too long. ^_^

Work again tonight, probably with some writing, then work on Saturday... yay!

And time flows on...

So, it feels like everything yet nothing has happened since I last updated, so I might as well go ahead and write down what may or may not have happened... if that makes sense.

Anita (one of the long-term volunteers) headed off to Mexico shortly after we arrived back from Ceuta - she was close to burn-out, so it was definitely time for a break. Work is going well and I'm constantly growing easier about working where I am. My roommate remains awesome, and we enjoy going out on walks and photo taking sprees, which gets me moving some.

In the vein of food/exercise, we had a visitor this week who is an AMAZING cook - she graciously cooked lunch and dinner for us on Wednesday and holy moly - yum. She made us Spanish rice and chicken, followed by potato pancakes and plain fried green peppers for dinner. So good.

I have also been working on trying to diversify my diet a little and have conquered risotto, as well as similar methods with noodles, all of which have resulted deliciously. Yes, as Steve so astutely pointed out, I'm highly food-centric, but it's part of what is different here from home. A couple of my friends from GT have mentioned all of the fast food places opening up there, and really, I don't look forward to/envy them at all. I haven't had true fast food (ok, maybe churros) since I left the USA, and I really really love it. I feel so much better, even without moving much, and plan on keeping that as much as I can when I get home. Well, moving more, but less fried shtuff.

I've also come to the conclusion that study abroad isn't going to happen, sadly - too many specific courses to be taken, not enough general courses, so I might as well save the money and stay at GT. But that means more time with friends, so I'm all over that.

The main question at the moment is what I'll be doing about living quarters in Spring time, but that is all hinging on when I find out about my possible summer job for next summer, so I'm waiting for the results of that to come through before committing to anything yet.

And my aunt Jette in Denmark has been absolutely stunningly amazing about helping me come up with a game-plan for while I'm there. She's helped me find a language school to take an intensive Danish course to get language under control, has a possible house-keeping job for me to earn some money while I'm there, and is also asking around with her museum/tour guide friends if they need volunteers... I won't be bored. This doesn't include staying with any of my other cousins, such as my lovely Tante Dorrit, who is going to be teaching me family secrets of cooking... yes, you heard me Anita, I will be a Conradsen girl! Well, in training at least. But that all seems to be shaping up, which is good - one less thing to worry about.

I'll be leaving on September 10th and flying from Spain to Denmark on the 12th, which will be interesting, as I have to be at the airport at 6am (at the latest) - bleh. Oh well. Early flights are the easiest, so I shan't complain. And then my return date to the USA is up in the air - if I end up taking the full language course in Denmark, it'll probably be mid-November until I'll have finished that, so that'll determine when I come home. But the entire trip is for me to learn and have fun - so I plan on doing just that.

Also, it's almost fig season here - you have no conception of how excited I am ^_^

While eating this Cucumber Sandwich...

... I shall update on life in Chefchaouen!

In regards to my banking woes, my ATM card worked when I tried it at the ATM here in Morocco, so what we're hoping is that this is one of those times that a hiccup in the system will not let you take out cash for a day or two. Happened to my parents while travelling, so I'll just make sure never to get down to the wire on money - it would be a wise choice anyway I think, heh.

Anywho, work is going well, as I'm constantly getting more and more comfortable with my coworkers and with the kids. Now, one thing to note here is that my coworkers all speak the local dialect - most of them understand maybe a word or two of Spanish or English, but only one or two of them have anything close to a conversational grasp, making communication pretty difficult. That and neither one of the toddlers speak Spanish, so I'm pretty much down to the one or two commands I know in classical arabic, which aren't largely helpful - but even we are tending to get along better.

After more trips into town to pick up groceries or popping out for dinner (last night we had pizza - I like this local stuff - small pizzas, maybe the size of a dinner plate, very thin hard crust, little sauce (NOTE: a lot of people eat the slices doused in ketchup - gross!), but just stuff to die for - sooo tasty) I'm learning my way around town and am building up teensy relationships with people that I regularly purchase from (mainly the baker and one of the produce guys - but the fact that they recognize me is nice).

My new volunteer coworker/roommate is really nice - Spanish, but a fair bit of a wanderer - travels all over and speaks English, German, Italian, French and a bit of Arabic - this doesn't include her Spanish, heh - needless to say, I have goals now. Very nice though, very personable and easy to get along with. Spends most of her time at the house working on translations (whereas I'm just sitting around doing jack squat), so both of us tapping away on our keyboards reminds me a little of GT, heh.

It just hit me yesterday that I'd been gone for just over a month already! I mean, there are moments when time drags and scuffs it's feet on every pebble along the way, but really, it's been a while. 1/6 of my journey is completed. Wowsers. My dad's birthday was on Tuesday and was my 1 month 1 day marker, but I didn't even think about that - by the way, Happy Birthday again daddy! I love you!

My family is headed out on the first family vacation sans Melinda on Monday - heading down to St.Johns Island for a week away, which sounds awesome - they really need it - they work too hard. And I've been having a high old time keeping up with some people on AIM or email, even some that I don't regularly get to talk to. Thanks to everyone putting in the time ^_^ Makes being a world away not quite so lonely!

And my week hasn't been entirely unproductive - I've spent a lot of my free time researching scholarships (They don't EXIST for a middle-class white girl - just don't), study abroad (may not happen as the rest of my courses are pretty specialized), and jobs in general. One thing I'd forgotten about but was recently reminded of is the fact that Copenhagen is one of the top five most expensive cities to live in - in the WORLD. I'm going to be SO broke when I get back >.<>

But yes, most of my time these days is spent planning ahead - I'll possibly be taking a language intensive course in Danish while staying with my family in Denmark - the best way to learn is to combine class work with immersion, so I'm excited about that! Also the Royal Library offers so many books on so many subjects in tons of languages that I'll have no shortage of things to research and read about! Museums too... oh, I'm so geekily excited about this. ^_^ Two months from Monday I'll be in Denmark - kind of weird to be able to put it into that perspective already.

Anyways, I'm happy to chat and message while I'm here! Send me a wave!

There and Back Again

Well, after a nice long week, a getaway to Spain was just what I needed (the timing, it was a divine thing).

Myrna and I packed into multiple crowded taxis to get back to the border (it's completely normal to have two men in the passenger seat and up to four or five people squished into the back seat - no joke - luckily we managed to get away with only three in the back seat the whole way - excellent).

After managing two hours of taxis, we get to the border and cross on foot - this was daunting, but quite awesome, as I've never crossed a border on foot before - the Moroccan side was covered in long lines, and after waiting probably thirty minutes, we're told that we actually have to go to another window, as we're foreigners, where there was no one, so after that we buzzed on through. Anita was waiting to pick us up on the other side with Christina, our 'new' recruit (she worked here last year as well, so new for the year, but an old hand at this). We headed on over to Silvia's house and had an excellent lunch (I love the food here), followed by a long walk through town.

Now, as a disclaimer, before going through town, we went to pick stuff up at the store and I ran by the ATM to grab some money - let me tell you, ulcers couldn't even respond appropriately when every single ATM told me to go do nasty things, as they weren't going to help me. Which means, no money. None, nada, zippo. My credit card was cancelled by Bank of America after I left (I hate them), so my ATM card was the only thing connecting me to my money. BoA and I have talked minorly on their LiveChat and they've given me some advice that I'll try to test, but if that fails, I'm down to having money wired to me. *ulcer* Although the fact that I didn't panic, or really show too much outward sign of distress means I'm either losing my mind, or it's my acting getting to my brain and deceiving myself. Who knows.

Regardless, Myrna was an angel and helped me pick up some things to survive until we figure the money thing out.

After shopping, we stopped in at a Cafe to watch the rest of the Brazil/Netherlands game - let me tell you - the entire place was shouting and screaming and having a high old time - I love Europe. Also, we kicked Brazil out! I'm not much of a fan of the Netherlands, but Brazil is Goliath, and guess who got toppled? It was exciting.

After a couple of hours of walking around with Christina and Myrna, we settled down for dinner and had a nice evening. Sleep wasn't so forthcoming, as I woke up every 45 minutes or less, but there you go. A lot on my mind means I won't be sleeping well for a while, I'm pretty sure. But again, nothing I can do, so might as well just live with it.

This morning was a nice early wake-up for Christina and myself, so we decided to head down to the cafe below the foundation for breakfast nice and early - unfortunately, they weren't ready, so we took another good 25 minute walk (these things are fabulous - after essentially being in house arrest for a couple of weeks, I'm glad to have an extra person to go walking with). Breakfast was lovely, packing was quick, and finally Anita brought the car around for us - we filled it with Suitcases and Groceries, and hopped in the car for the border... or so I thought. We stopped at Silvia's house... for the supplies for the orphanage. Holey Moley. That car (an old old fashioned Range Rover Discover - TONS of room) was absolutely stuffed solid with all sorts of things. But we made it. We cross the border, I got my official stamp of exiting the country so that Denmark won't worry about me having been in the EU too long, and start on back to Chefchaouen.

Again, so I thought. We stopped at a giant walmart-esque store for groceries, which was awesome, then had lunch... at Pizza Hut (which, unlike the crap that you get in the USA, was actually not half bad). I, at this point, am back in Morocco, and have a small supply of money left, so none of this was an issue. Woo. Although I'm completely out of Euros, so going back to Europe is going to be a tricky proposition.

After a two hour drive (which usually takes 55 mins tops - damn Dutch and their lack of driving ability), we got all of the supplies into the clinic and rushed home to watch yet another excellent match - Germany freaking CREAMED Argentina, proving once again that I'm being watched over from on high, giving me something to distract me from these past couple of days.

Woo.

Language Juggling - A Sport!

Well, it's been an interesting week, including my first two days of work in a row - oooohhh boy - 24 hours of babies and toddlers within a 36-hour time period is a difficult thing to survive. But survive I did - it is possibly what helped me actually sleep through the night last night, heh - a first since leaving the USA, and a most welcome one at that. I tend to have trouble sleeping when A) I'm alone in the place, B) I'm stressed/anxious, C) I'm somewhere new/unfamiliar, and D) When I've got stuff on my mind. So go figure I haven't been sleeping well recently, heh. But last night was just under seven solid hours, so I'll take that success and be extremely happy with it. I've been moved to a different part of the building for volunteers, so back to new new environment, thus probably not great sleep tonight -_- But we shall see!

This week was nice, I got to walk down through the market area with Myrna, which was fabulous. Basically, it's called the Medina (city, in Arabic) and it's what Chefchaouen is famous for - the older part of town is full of narrow alleys, with the buildings plastered and washed down with a lovely sky blue. Incredibly beautiful - I'll do a photo-wander over there before I leave, believe me! Our walk over there was cool too - the part of the city is higher up the mountain, about level with the house I'm staying at (the city is on th side of the mountain, so everything is on a hill here). When walking past buildings as they started becoming more frequent, the alley ways inbetween them plunce four stories at a time, making for incredibly steep walking paths falling away to the right as you wander along the street, which is absolutely gorgeous.

The Medina itself is famous on Thursdays, when the fresh produce is brought in from the hills by the Berber women and market-men. The small alleys were lined with old women with vegetables and herbs lying on the pavement to buy - you duck through an archway with fish in boxes driven in from the coast on to the next round of older women. The farther in you wander, the less people there are, an occasional shop popping up here and there - and then you start getting to the touristy old-town, where souvenir shops with their colourful and odorous (in a pleasant way) wares hanging and blowing in the breeze in the tiny, steep alleys. Keep in mind, everything that is part of a building is sky blue, with doors and window bars in violent turquoise or royal blue flush. It eventually led us out to the square with restaurants and postcards in abundance (after passing through an amazing little jewelry store full of silver gorgeousness!). We eventually got down to the local commercial district and got vegetables for the children at the hospital, but it was absolutely gorgeous. Loved it.

Today was a nice visit from Dr.Solis and his wife, who came to pick up Anita and take her to Spain for the week. They shifted me to the living quarters upstairs, as we'll soon have two more volunteers coming to stay, so we'll all be staying in the same area. Meh, I like downstairs, but if they insist, I'll come upstairs.

Myrna and I were able to find the Germany vs. England game on a German TV channel that she has on her TV, and let me tell you, it was an experience. Watching and hearing commentary in German while bantering in Spanish and explaining why I'm laughing at the commentary is a brain-jam. Hurts the mind, but was totally worth watching. THAT is how you play football gentlemen - no giant falls and dramatic fouls because you almost got tripped - there were five or six instances during this game that probably would have resulted in a major foul, if not a card for any of the teams from the Americas, France or Africa, but the Germans and English played on, knowing that there was something far more interesting and worth-while than a show of their acting prowess. I was sooooo proud of them! n_n And my heart was torn in twain the whole time, as I feel a sense of loyalty to both teams, though I'll admit I was fairly firmly rooting for Germany the first half of the game. Why only the first half? Because the underdog has my heart! I really think the Lions should have been given the goal that bounced from the post - it was technically in, and would have allowed for a little less loss of pride for those fabulous Saxons. But there you go - we can't all have our way. Regardless, great game.

After the game while a bunch of commentary was going on, interviews of players and coaches and flashes of Berlin going nutters, Myrna and I were talking about random things, like family, family history, things we enjoy or things that go on while we're here. Come to find that she is from El Salvador, not Honduras as I'd originally thought, and lived there during the entire civil war, which gives me a sense of great respect for that woman, who as a young woman (14-26 years of age) lived with untold terror. I've only learned a little about the war, and it's something that breaks my heart. If you've never watched the film 'Voces Innocentes' and really want a feel for the war, I'd recommend it. Now, as Myrna pointed out, it's no where near as terrible as the real thing was, which I completely agree with - films never are. But it's still incredibly graphic, and made me weep for a good thirty minutes. It is, however, as close to a true-voice of that era as you can get - from the point of view of the children. Hearing Myrna tell me just a little about the war, living through it, and its effects on her life while there, it just breaks my heart, yet gives me a deeper understanding of what she and others went through during a conflict that tore a country in two. I started off typing 'a great understanding' - really though, there is no way to understand unless you were there. But it helped me see through her eyes a little more. If I had more material to base off of, or some paper, I'd totally not mind asking her for more details and writing them up, but I won't do that unless I have good use for it - no need to make her relive it. Although I did learn something interesting - right now, a good number of middle-aged women are unmarried, because the boys their ages were almost all killed during the war. She commented on the fact that some people ask if she's single due to faith or lack of motivation, and she pointed out that it's extremely common for women her age - there just aren't enough men to be husbands. Kind of eye-opening to me, but there you go.

Overall, a good week - today was a lovely day off, and I plan on having another lovely relaxing day tomorrow before working on Tuesday. This week is oddly planned, but I'll be working Tues/Thurs/Sun. Friday and Saturday we're all heading to Ceuta to pick up the other volunteer coming to us for a month, and shall spend a night down there. That'll give us a chance to relax for an evening in town, pick up any supplies that are hard to find here, and just have a bit of an adventure. Woo hoo!

Updating from Chefchaouen

Well, not all too much has happened since the last time I updated - I've finished off my first week of work, and am already finding it much easier - once you get into the swing of things, the job ain't so bad - I'm even learning to deal with crying kids ;) Yeah, go figure - me putting up with excessive noise.

But the kids are getting better, even the toddlers are starting to realize that I'm not so much of a pushover - they're harder to work with simply because of the language barrier, but I'm doing my best to get a handle on simple stuff.

My coworkers are all lovely, even when we have language barrier problems - there are one or two things that they just always do, like make lunch for the older babies (can't decipher the arabic dialect of what they need each day, so I just let the girls take care of that). One of the more amusing parts of each day is when we have our break midday and the girls will turn on TV. Now, I'm not the best officionado of what is great television, but the translated Turkish Soap Operas are great to watch - I don't *need* to know what they're saying - I think that'd make it too painful. My personal favourite day so far was watching a turkish soap opera (in arabic) followed by a chinese soap opera (translated to arabic), then seeing Yu-Gi-Oh pop up in Arabic right after that. Certainly an interesting grouping - there are also cooking shows on that channel and spanish news... I just don't question it. Although yesterday a bollywood movie came on with the most ridiculous closing fight scene I've ever seen. I don't know what the film was called, sadly, or I'd watch it again - it hurt that much. In a good way. One of the tamer moments of the fight scene consisted of one of the three heroes (unarmed) fighting five white-clad ninjas armed with machetes inside a power-line tower (you know, the big grids that are made of thin pieces of metal). This was the tame, more believable part - the flame-thrower in the giant factory fan, the jet-ski flip in midair over the bridge (which is in the middle of the desert, by the way), and the girl flipping through the air and stabbing the villain in the chest with a katana while he was slowly riding a bike towards them.. those were a little more... well... difficult to imagine working well in real life. But again, who am I to judge?

But yes, I'm on to my 'weekend' right now (Mon/Tues off of work) which is going to be lovely and relaxing. I've been having some tummy trouble the past two days, but I'm blaming that on traditional getting settled in to a new environment, and am hoping it'll settle down soon.

I would also like to give a minute rant about how incredibly useful and wonderful tea trays are. No really - they are used for EVERYTHING food oriented here, and they're amazing. Why don't we use them all the time in the USA? I have no idea. But I love them. And will be getting one upon my return. I guarantee you that.

Also, we went out to lunch the other day, and they asked what I wanted to drink - orange juice, apple juice, or both? I said both. What I got was fresh squeezed orange juice, mixed with freshly squeezed/pureed apple. *MMMMMM* Please sir, can I have some more?

But yeah, not really all that much going on these days aside from working - going out to lunch with Anita and Myrna sometimes, figuring out the washing machine (which is in French... *sigh*), and catching up on Dr.Who (I love all of you for sending me episodes!). Action packed my days are not, but fun they surely are.

Well Now, Time to Catch Up

Well now, it's been about 4 days since I updated last - most of the world wonders why that seems like such a long time, but I won't even lie - feels like at least a week since my transition to Morocco.

Monday we were set to leave around 10:30am for Morocco (obviously, that means we left around 11:30 - Latinos have never been well accustomed to using a clock religiously). Crossing the border took next to no time at all, and after about an hour, we got to the first city (Tetuon, I think) and stopped for lunch with some of the foundation members that live there. Lemme tell ya, I'd forgotten just how long it can take people to meet, greet, talk and eat - especially when there is catching up to be done. And holy goodness, five and a half hours later, we started to move on towards Chefchaouen.

The drive was beautiful, and gave me a good chance to look at the countryside, and how greatly it contrasted against the city. They certainly move to a different drum out there - and it was absolutely gorgeous.

The town, which took about an hour and a half to get to, Chefchaouen, is located on the edge of the Atlas mountain range, dividing the northern half of Morocco from the Sahara desert, shutting in the winds blowing down from the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, making the whole area much cooler than you'dve thought. I'd guess that we're hitting mid-80s when it's hot, mid-afternoon, but no warmer. It does, however, supposedly get much warmer later on in the summer - we shall see. But right now, it's quite normal and expected to be wandering around in jeans and a sweater (Thank the LORD I brought my fleece...).

The night we arrived, all six of us (the two organizers from Ceuta, and the three women that live/work here, and myself) went to dinner in the 'old town', which is obviously the more touristy area, full of shops and currency exchange and EXCELLENT food. We went to a place that did two courses for a set price, so I got couscous with veggies and the local traditional soup (I forget the name, but it was tasty). SO MUCH FOOD. After the excellent, extended, and very filling lunch we'd had earlier, I was only able to eat about half of my food - but it was very good. I'll be wanting to head back to old town at some point to be able to pick up postcards and the like. I refuse to be too conspicuously touristy, but I'll probably take pictures right before I leave to be able to show ya'll sometime, because it's just gorgeous.

The women I'm living with are absolutely charming - their names are Anita and Myrna. Anita is from Mexico and works directly in the house as a long term volunteer caretaker of the orphans, and Myrna is the coordinator/overseer (from Honduras, I believe). Both are kind and caring, Anita being more quiet but very in-tune with the local population, and Myrna happy and bubbly and always learning more about the people around her.

Moving on to work, I'll be working Wed/Fri/Sun (for now - the schedule is put up every two weeks) and covering for a couple of the local girls that are on holiday. Let me tell you, it's going to be interesting. My Wednesday shift if with Anita, who speaks excellent Spanish and will explain anything I need - she also drives to work, so I have a ride to and from. Fridays, I'll be working with one of the local girls, who speaks no English, no Spanish. Oooooohhhhh boy. *sigh* Sunday I'll be working with a girl who speaks a fair amount of English and really wants to improve it, so I figure I can deal with that, heh.

There are five boys and two girls, the boys all being under a year old, and the two girls being 2 and 3 years old. Oh boy, it's a handful - and we're there for the full care of the children, sending the two older ones to school, feeding all of them, keeping the place clean and tidy, etc. It's one heckuva job - hopefully I'll learn better patience when dealing with children, as I have very little at the moment.

But that brings us up to about current time. I'm home for the day off, both Myrna and Anita are at a birthday party - I elected to stay home and rest up from yesterday, clean around house, etc. It's a nice place, and I think once I settle in, I'll like the situation - I'll be walking to work tomorrow! Woo!

Frogs and Snail and Puppy Dog Tails...

Well, yesterday was a nice day with plenty of happenings.

I went over to the person who is keeping track of my paperwork's house yesterday morning and talked a little more about the situation I'm going into, some of the technical and legal aspects (there is always more to talk about apparently) and got my border-crossing-application to fill out.

After that I was invited over to lunch at the pastor's house (who, incidentally, was one of the students at the college we worked at while in Germany - small world), which was absolutely lovely. Since I'd seen him last he'd gotten married and has had two beautiful sons, Pablo and David, and has another one on the way. His lovely wife is an amazing cook, and I reaped the benefits of it, let me tell you! They also had another guest over (a frequent flier) named Alejandro, I believe, who is doing some work down at a university I think, although I'm not too sure.

After the lovely lunch, I ran on home to talk to my beloved parents on Skype and watch FOOTBALL!!! The opening game was full to bustin' with heart-stopping moments, which is awesome, yet irritating. And just because Mexico is so accustomed to winning, I was voting whole-heartedly for South Africa. That and because their opening ceremonies were just fabulous! If you didn't get a chance to see them, please find it online somewhere! Absolutely gorgeous!

And of course this started the debate between my friends and me of who is going to and who SHOULD win the UK/USA game.

Obviously it's the UK - just sayin'.

But all of this will be solved and seen tonight when we enter into the game of awesome! I'm so excited - although, disconcertingly enough, the TV isn't showing the first game of the day, so I'm hoping that it'll show the last one - I'll get peeved if I can't watch it.

And while I was wandering around this morning picking up my Sunday sustenance, I walked past a bunch of older berber women selling their wares on the street as usual, but when I looked down today, I didn't see a bag full of lemons or potatoes... no, I saw a bag full of snails! To each their own, I guess.

Oh, and I actually have tried to upload photos, but they refuse to actually be placed into the internet, so photos have no option BUT to wait - so sorry dears! I'll do what I can, but it may be a bit of a wait to be able to see what I'm seeing!

Today: Ceuta, Spain

Monday: Chefchaouen, Morocco

Lazy Afternoon

Not much to update with today.

Had a much better evening last night - I took my little linen bag that I use for laundry and put it in the crack of the door to keep it from shifting overnight and worked like a charm - it was lovely being able to sleep through most of the night.

Yesterday had a lot of Skype talking, and I ended the day by talking to Nikky for a good 35mins before heading to bed - it makes being alone a lot easier when you realize there are still people out there - you just have to find the means to speak to them.

And at sundown yesterday, the call to evening prayer was ringing out from the minarets again, but just to compound the beauty of it, seagulls were crying every once in a while, giving you that eerie feeling of 'Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more...' - it really was a beautiful sound though. A coastal town beginning to sing in the night. Gorgeous.

Dr.Solis came by and gave me the rundown of the situation that I'll be working in, and I have a much clearer idea of what to expect, and am excited about the prospect now, hehe.

I also met the pastor of the church today (the one above which I'm staying) and *drumroll* it's one of the students from EBS in Germany, where we lived for several years. Lovely to see him again, although we didn't recognize each other at first (that's what happens to a 13 year-old after 8 years - she becomes unrecognizable!). I'll probably be going over to his house to meet his wife and kids and to have dinner sometime this weekend, which will be lovely.

I ventured uphill for the first time today, and went to an ATM and got some money out of the back and then went to a bakery for lunch - DELicious, even though I was surprised that the little bits hiding inbetween the mushrooms on my slice of pizza bread were actually mussels and seafood... a bit of a shock, but lovely nonetheless.

After that I came back to the foundation where I've been loafing and catching up on news on CNN and in the NYTimes (good lord is the world economy out of whack these days!), and I got to speak with my parents via Skype again! ^_^ Ah, I love my family - miss them terribly and love them endlessly.

But the rest of the day is probably going to be spent loafing, with a possible excursion to get some food this evening (yes, I am a daring soul). Tomorrow is the day of stuff, with people coming by to get my paperwork, to give me more info, just to see the strange foreign blonde girl, etc. I think it'll be fun!

Today: Ceuta, Spain

Monday: Chefchaouen, Morocco

Quiet Day

Well, as some of you know already, some don't, I'm in Ceuta for the week. There's kind of a final resting period for me before the President of the organization and the director take me down to Chefchaouen for my long work-stay. So basically a week of me on my own.

I'm currently staying at the temp. housing/hostel that is above the little church in the city of Ceuta that can house probably around 8 to 10 people, but currently it's just me here. Frikken creepy at night, let me tell you - the wind around here is impressively strong, and almost never stops - and at night, when it's pushing the bars and outside blinds on the windows and slamming doors all night long, it's unsettling, especially when you're the only person here. There also aren't that many lights, so I confess, last night I went to bed at sundown and put on a couple of movies for company. Unfortunately, one of the other quirks of this place is that the wireless refuses to give me an IP address, so I'm stuck on their ethernet - thank the Lord I have that during the day or I'd lose my marbles! (well, more)

The President is going to swing by sometime this evening to meet me and to give me another run down of things I need to know while I'm here and down in Chefchaouen (google it if you want to know where it is, heh). But right now it's me and CCN Spain here. I'll probably explore town more tomorrow, but today I'm more in the mood to hang and write and draw.

I ran down to the supermarket when I got here yesterday after the coordinator made me lunch (bless her! I hadn't eaten all day), and found that it's within easy walking distance (maybe 15mins away downhill - 20mins back if you're only carrying a light load, more depending on how much you want to buy). There's a toasty maker here, so that is what I'll be eating while I'm here, I've determined. Yeah, so much for a balanced diet.

On a completely different note, I think that it's appropriate that I left the USA for my overseas adventures right as the daisies stopped blooming. Just sayin'.

From one end of the world to another... today was a little hop

Hello again people,

yes, today, I travelled from Malaga, Spain to Ceuta. And let me tell you, I'm shocked my ulcer isn't back.

So I found out last night that the initial travel plan of driving me straight to the harbor and then to where I was initially going had to be nixed due to one person not having their car all of a sudden, and the other one having their back go out like a matchstick bridge under a heard of elephants. My phrasing, not hers.

So the plan changed late last night into me being dropped off at the local train station, to take the train into downtown, find an ATM for teh cash, hop onto a bus at the station that is attached to the train station, hop a taxi after riding the bus, then take a ferry across the Straight and be picked up by a contact on the other end. Simple right? HAH

The train part was easy enough (during rush hour, so there were two million people in that train), and I get out at the station and head upstairs - thank the Lord, the guy who picked me up at the airport was waiting and averted major disaster. The ATMs in the terminal didn't work, so we wandered off into the city to find a bank that WOULD use my ATM card - after a while, success, FINALLY, cash. Then we go back to the train station, and walk in the direction of the bus station, according to signs. We walk outside and the road is GONE - completely gone due to construction - it was eerie. Enrique, however, knew exactly where he was going, so I just followed him around a block or two to the bus station. Excellent. Wouldn't have found THAT on my own. Get bus tickets, hang around for a bit, get on the bus. Honestly, that would have been the disasterous part of the day, but he averted it, for which I'm soooo greatful.

An hour and a half later, my bus arrives at the coast and stops in town at the bus station, where I quickly hail a cab and get a ride down to the port (for less than 5 Euros, go me).

I grab a ticket for the ferry to Ceuta, call my contact to let her know I'm alive and on my way, and make my way up to the boat. Frikken nice ferry is all I'm saying - looked like the passenger lounge on a cruise liner. We are obviously out of tourist season since the shops were all closed, but that's just as well for me - I don't want to share that space with the alloted 925 people within firecode, hehe.

I get to Ceuta, am picked up and taken to the hostel/temp. housing I'm staying at for the week. Small place, eerie only because I'm on my own, a fact I don't enjoy. I enjoy it even less because the WiFi will... not... work... GRAH

Bless Cameron for trying to help me get it set up, but jheez, it was an exercise in frustration - hopefully I'll be able to get ahold of one of the founders soon to get that fixed so I can call people on Skype after work. Luckily a couple of the spare rooms have ethernet cables set up for me to use. I can't stay in those rooms, obviously, that would be too convenient, but I am able to come over and do things like chat, and post blogs. It's exciting.

I made and excursion down to the supermarket today, probably about a mile away, and got some of the bare necessities, although another trip will need to be made.

Also heard the call to evening prayer at the Mosque for the first time tonight - beautiful.

PS: Oh, so I'm totally homesick - been bursting into tears (behind closed doors, don't worry, not THAT out of control) all the time, and I've finally remembered my prep course by the work abroad dept - traveller's depression. Especially the first time being alone alone. Knowing is half the battle, believe you me. I thought I was going crazy! And now I realize that it was a predictable crazy... so yeah...

Day of Rest

Well, seeing as God and the rest of the world were resting without me yesterday, I rested today. Also, I've been talked to about much of what to expect and stuff over in Morocco - the voice of experience and the voice of what I'd learned are similar, but a lot of tiny differences. +2 points for not having to wear a headscarf!

The meal schedule over here is something I'd forgotten about - breakfast 9-10am, lunch ~3pm, then dinner ~10pm. Ahhh... latinos and their ways... it's actually working really well with the jetlag, so I enjoy and accept this arrangement.

The people I'm staying with today are the director of the program and his wife (although the director is in Morocco atm, so just the wife technically) - very nice, incredibly hospitable, and a great chef. Everyone I've met so far has exclaimed about my Spanish being so good... I was wondering for a bit, because my understanding is pretty good, spoken is meh. THEN I realized that the last volunteers they'd had were a family from Alabama. *grins* NOW I understand. The town I'm in today, Malaga, is also very pretty - mostly a home-town with some tourist condos, but a nice feel to it. There are enough tourists for me not to look outlandish, but still mostly hispanic, which allows them to realize that I won't understand all of what is going on. Excellent balance. Now to mentally prepare to be the white sheep of an all arabic heard...

I'll be online for much of the day today (day for ya'll, afternoon and evening for me), but after that, my schedule will be very questionable - I have unsecured wireless from neighbors here, but internet connection may not be available for a while. We'll see. I've greatly enjoyed IM-ing some of you who have kept me sane so far (shout out to Marc for having the best time schedule around - yes, he's in Japan, but he still wins).

Location Now: Malaga, Spain

Location Tomorrow: Ceuta, Spain

Location Next Week: Chefchaouen, Morocco (way to overdo the vowels, Morocco)

Sunday June 6, Heathrow Airport, London, 12:40pm

Well now - I've survived so far it seems - the flight was relatively uneventful,

save for some ridiculous turbulence in the middle of the night. By the way,

for anyone who hasn't been here, Heathrow is HUGE - it took ten minutes

driving to get from one terminal to another, no traffic, no stops, no nothing.

Ridiculous. Also ridiculous is the fact that the different gates all remain closed until

RIGHT when they start boarding, meaning nowhere to park it for several hours.

Note to self, get shorter layovers.

I love the fact that this airport seems to be more culturally diverse than

Atlanta, which boggles the mind a little bit. I swear, more than 60% of the

temporary population here is either Hindi or Arabic of some variety.

Oh, and to everyone that I boasted to about being a stalwart unflinching and

un-teary girl, I cried when leaving my parents at Atlanta - I've never been this

far away from them, and definately not for this long, so it's going to be interesting.

I love them dearly and count the days until I can see them again. So there,

I've cried.

Oh, and this was the first overnight flight EVER that I didn't get sick on. I'm

chuffed with myself, hehe - now just to maintain that record for the second flight

and the ferry ride to Ceuta...

Sunday June 6, Malaga, Spain 11:21pm

Well, I survived long enough to get to my host's home for the night. Excellent. Very nice people who cook really well... I'm pleased. Powersources for the laptop are lacking, and I have a strong sense of foreboding about this, but we'll see. In general I'm pleased. And miss everyone.

Tomorrow starts the 'don't get yourself killed SLASH cultural' training. Woot.

The Prologue

Hello there Ladies and Gentlemen,

We're posting this nice and early as I'm still preparing to disappear off into the Wild Blue 'Yon. I don't really have any contact information for while I'm there, so this will have to suffice for most of you. I'll be updating it when I can, which is going to be an iffy proposition as I don't even know the internet availability... but we shall see. Anywho, these are the chronicles of my journeys.

And journeys I shall have.