Kayn brd

Me with the ambassador and his wife at our swearing in ceremony in Fes.

Sorry I haven't updated this thing in a while, I have been traveling the country for pretty much the past month. It is amazing how much I over packed-- Considering the past month I have lived out of one bag while the rest was being shipped to my final site. When you stop showering on a daily/weekly basis you can really extend the life of your clothes in between washes too. In the past few weeks I have traveled from Ouarzazate-->Marakech-->my site-->Marakech-->Ouarzazate-->Oulad L'Arbia-->Ourzazate-->Fes-->Marakech-->my site-->Safi to get the rest of my stuff (long story told later)-->my site. I am happy to finally be at my site and am looking forward to getting my own place in 2 months so I can stop living out of bags. I don't care where you are, but living out of bags for 6 months will make anybody go a little insane. I suppose I have a lot to talk about since a lot has happened in that time span, so let's start with Fes.

Fes:
It was awesome! (Even though it never stopped raining). We met up with the YD volunteers and had a great time. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast in which we actually had turkeys, mashed potatoes, cranberries, and stuffing all from the American commissary in Rabat. Thanks Peace Corps! It was also pretty hard to be so far away from all of you guys back home-- miss you all! We even did the traditional let's go around the table and all say what we're thankful for. I said I was thankful for my fellow volunteers and the wonderful E-mails from back home keeping me up to date on all things good. We even had a great talent show in which the SBD group kicked some YD butt. Ned Epps is now my coolest friend in the world after he played drums on wooden chairs. Welcome to the B squad Reed, take your seat on the bench. Fes in general is a really cool city and it is often times hard to believe you're in Morocco at all. We ate at the McDonald's and it tasted exactly the same as it would have in America. I also found myself amazed at what some of the women were wearing after being in the conservative South for so long-- I was constantly thinking in my head 'Hshuma" or shameful, it is a phrase heard often when talking of women and their lack of covering up. Who knows what I am going to be like once I get back to the US lol. The swearing in ceremony was super cool and I got to hang out with the ambassador and his wife. We're now best friends. He is a great guy and his wife a strong supporter of Peace Corps so it was nice to meet her as well. Did I mention he was George W's roommate in college? I bet he has some great stories... Hshuma.

Ok, I have to go to the Gendarmes and get my carte de sejour before they close... Oops, never enough time. I'll add more later!