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.