Some thoughts...

Evening walk



Throngs of people came out for the firework show at midnight on the beach last week... it was CRAZINESS!


Bri got baptized in the exclusive "1000 paper" group



"Moroccan Gothic" - we were digging a septic tank. It seemed appropriate to go with a somber demeanor...



The new chicken barns I saw under construction




The old chicken coops in Morocco - smelled ALMOST the same as home, but, of course, our farm has it's own individual smell... but I still took massive whiffs as we drove by while everyone else plugged their noses... :-)


Bubby, Nate, and Bri watch "Lost" in the main salon at the country house




Hello All,

It's Friday afternoon and in a short while Bri and I will be leaving to head up to mainland Spain for a week at camp. We're looking forward to the change, even though it has been wonderful to have "summer" break here the past couple days. I've read 3 books since Sunday - what luxury!

Hard to believe that I only have a month until I'll be home, and less than that until I leave. I'm starting to get excited about stopping in Scotland on my way home - I think the change of environment and slightly slower readjustment to Western culture might be nice. Although, to be honest, the city here is perfectly Western. It's just weird to think of being back in an environment where I can listen in on everyone's conversation and actually understand what they're saying. And having stores be open from 8AM to 6 or 8PM non-stop? Weird! That's actually one of the things I love about Spain - the idea that jobs do not rule our lives. Spanish people are notorious partiers, and I'm not sure if I completely agree with that, but one of the lessons I've been learning this summer is that when there is work to do, it's good to work. When there isn't work to do, it's OK to NOT work. Like, I don't mean to be lazy, but I tend to have the habit of FINDING work to do when I don't have any sitting in my lap. Not that that is ALWAYS bad, afterall there are some things that are just waiting on the back burner to get done, but if you think about it - if something has been on the "back burner" for months or years, does it hurt it to sit there a little longer? I think that some kind of balance is important - not being a workaholic but also not being lazy. Sometimes I need to let my mind PROCESS what I'm doing, rather than running full speed ahead into the next big project.

I'm not exactly sure that makes any sense, but I'm working it through in my brain! :-) Sorry for subjecting you to the raw content of my head!

Bri and I drove out to the country last week - totally fun! :-) It took a long time to get through the boarder, but I was pretty proud of us - just two young American girls escorting an American lady who had just landed the day before, through the boarder, and then driving out to the country house. We even managed to stop at a cafe and ask for their "toilette" (it turned out to be a squatty-pottie... we're getting used to them. If I ever build a house, I might just save myself the trouble of indoor plumbing!)

I got sick again over the weekend, which was a bummer because some of the young adults from the country had come into the town to hang out with us. Bri managed to host them excellently - no surprise there! - and I was on the mend by Sunday afternoon. It's been a pain trying to get strength back, though. Our morning runs have been a bit slow!

Speaking of them, we've taken to a quick dip in the Mediterranean before we head back to our apartment after the runs. It's lovely! A great, refreshing way to start the day. I love living on the sea - another thing I'll miss terribly when I go home. Although it will be nice to see evergreen trees and REAL creeks. :-)

We've laid out on the beach twice this week - the first time we got sandblasted terribly because it was a windy day, but then Wednesday was a gorgeous day to be out. Of course, I got burned, and it hurts, but I think it's starting to mend. A couple sleepless nights (seriously, EVERY side of me was burned - front, back, and both sides. How do you lay down when it's like that???), painful days, but I just keep pouring on the aloe lotion!

I should finish packing - maybe crank out a couple post cards... We have a family of 5 here now, and another family of three is coming in shortly. Bri and I changed our sheets and cleaned our room because we're leaving so between the two families they're going to take over our room tonight also. They'll be following us up to Spain tomorrow, so they'll only have to manage on their own for one night, which should be fine. In the mean time, we're once again not breaking our record of a week sleeping in any one place... :-) I'm starting to get sick of packing my suitcase! Actually, it's my Grandmother's suitcase, and I never dreamed it would get this many miles on it when I asked to borrow it... Good thing it's a Rick Steve's one that is built to last!

For those of you who are praying for my student visa, I mailed the original paperwork to my Mom the other day, and she faxed in everything to the 3rd party agency we're working with yesterday... Hopefully it will be a smooth, timely process! I think I'll have to get the application notartized over here and mail it home to Mom which adds at least 2 weeks to the process - a week for the notary and a week for the mail, and that's beginning to cut it all close, as it needs to be in by July 20th... *sigh* So many details! Unfortunately, every phone call home seems to be stressful because we're dealing with this issue! Such is life, though!

June 18 - Fez, work, and recovering

Hi Everyone!

It's been another crazy week! Sorry for the delay getting new pictures up - we got home from the country on Saturday, but unfortunately a little African bug caught us and Bri and I have spent two days sleeping and staying near the bathrooms. It's not as bad as it sounds, mostly just a touch of fever, nausea, headache, and fatigue, and in all truth, we've been very blessed to not get it before this! So we're trying to keep an optimistic attitude and it has been a good way to get some assigned reading done and plenty of sleep.

I've got pictures up from last week (starting on Sunday) that kind of give a photo documentation of what we got to do. Enjoy!

Hugs,
Dani



On Sunday Bri and I got to go for a hike with some friends after an invigorating soccer (futbol) game. In this particular area, we were literally a couple hundred feet from the Moroccan boarder, standing in Spain, and the mountains of Algeria were in the distance with the Mediterranean spread out below us... It still blows my mind that I get to be here!!! :-)



We got to see a lovely, man-made waterfall. Boys take turns jumping from the road into the pool halfway down the waterfall. It has an adventurous appeal!



I contemplated cliff diving into the water...



Bri admired the view as we climbed up from the seaside.



At the end of the hike.



Early Tuesday morning we got taken to a main taxi stand along the coast, put into the front seat of an old, beaten up Mercedes-Benz taxi, and thereafter endured 5 hours of Moroccan driving. By the time we got to Fez not only did we have a whole new understanding of taxi-driver's unwritten language on the road, Moroccan driving courtesy (or lack thereof), a brand new perspective on the reading of the Koran from the warrrrrrbeling tape deck, but also incredibly soar backsides!



Bri and I attempt to recover from the day - namely the taxi ride - by sipping fresh squeezed orange juice.



My main course, Prune Tagine, which was AMAZINGLY good!



Me, Liz, Bri, and Amy - stuffed full of good food and ready to head back to the hotel. We watched a movie on Nate's laptop (he had to hide while we went in and out of his room so that nobody would realize he we in there while we were in there too) and then got a wonderful, air-conditioned night of sleep.



In the morning we went to the medina. Once you go through these gates into the old city, it's like walking back in time 500 years... almost! :-)



One of the first things you notice is all the pack animals - ie: donkeys - hauling goods through the streets since motorized vehicles aren't allowed.



At the rug house they invite you in, tell you that you are welcome - "If you buy something, we will smile. If you do not buy anything, we will still smile. You are always welcome here!" they tell you - and serve you hot, sweet mint tea.



Then they roll out tons of beautiful rugs and invite you to sit on them, feel them, and (hopefully) buy them! :-)



The Berber rugs are in piles all over the place in this beautiful, old home.



Going upstairs to explore.



Looking down into the courtyard of the rug house from the second story. The house was built as a residential home in the 14th century. The downstairs is all tile - floor and walls - to keep it cool in the summer. The courtyard is usually open to the sky allowing air movement. The family would move upstairs in the winter to take advantage of the non-tile decor, and thus warmer walls and floors.



With the medina spread out below us on the roof of the rug warehouse, we talked Nate into doing an quick photo shoot.



Living life on the edge... I was standing on the corner post of the roof, which is about four stories up. I only had one direction to fall - forwards - if I was going to. I didn't though! :-)




Bri, Liz, me, and Amy



Going for the "model" face



Bri lookin' pretty



Trying to go for the "natural" look... :-)


Then Nate needed to rest!



We also stopped by the tannery. The guys who work here put in 10 hour days, 6 days a week. I don't think I can even begin to describe the smell... Completely different than most things you'll ever smell in the states! But they hand you mint leaves as you enter to hold onto, so you can sniff them if the tanning process becomes overwhelming for sensative people... :-)



This was the same guy who helped us 4 years ago when Dad, Meg, Heath, and I were in Fez. He remembered us and wanted to have a picture taken with me.


And this is the coat I bought from him. Can't you just see it coming in handy about November in Rome this fall??? :-)



A pretty blue door somewhere in Fez - we were walking by and I said, "Bri! I HAVE to have a picture of that cute little door!" So she took one :-)



Nate and me SO excited to hop into the taxi for 5 hours...



Bri, Liz, and me in the back of the taxi. The windows are the only form of air circulation control, and at 4PM when we left Fez it was pretty hot! Liz was from the team of American workers who went through our house twice, and we worked with out in the country.



Some of the dry, arid scenery on the way North. This picture was taken through the back of the taxi, and it does nothing to show the exotic beauty of the land as the sun was setting... but take my word for it, it was GORGEOUS! :-)



Rockin' out in the back seat of the taxi... about four hours into the trip.



Thursday I was ready to stop being a tourist and start working again! This is a shirt I found in the work clothes pile at the house in the country. I added an "i" to the end of the name on the back :-).



Mid-morning tea is served. Typically we had mint tea, fried eggs served in a pool of olive oil, and bread to dip in the eggs and olive oil. Moroccan olive oil is stronger than many of the other olive oils I've had, but it is SO good with warm, fresh baked, round flat loaves sitting in the dirt next to a cactus with mint tea in hand...



We had to haul a lot of water up from the river in order to accomplish the task for the day. This is the water crew beside the "river" (I'd call it more of a trickle). I was more than happy to volunteer for a water run once it started getting hot. We have big barrels in the back of the trucks, and most of the people wade out into a pool in the river, dip a bucket full of water, hand it to a person in the back of the truck (who gets splashed a fair amount), that person dumps it into the barrel, and then hands the bucket back to the river person so the process can repeat.


This is Tom in the water, waiting for a bucket to be tossed back to him.


This is Caitlyn back at the construction site, reversing the process and dipping water out of the barrels in the back of the truck, and dumping them into barrels on the ground near the work.



The roofing operation in full progress - the concrete was mixed from piles of rock, sand, and bags of cement on the ground, then hoisted up to the roof via buckets and pulleys. Once on the roof, the concrete was dumped into wheelbarrows which transported it to wherever it was supposed to go.




On Friday we worked on digging a foundation for a house. It was in a new village, and the people were so excited to have us there. While the guys measured out the foundation the little kids came over and shook our hands and smiled shyly at us... SO precious! Because it was a new village, we had to wear long sleeves again, which was warm!



Showing off my blister from all that work.



Bri and I hiking with Nate to where lunch was going to be served after working all morning on the foundation. It was about 95 degrees out, mid day, and a really steep climb up for about a mile... we'd finally reached the top in this photo and were feeling awfully tough...



A lady came to the house in the country and did henna for any of us that wanted it. The black color is the paste that gets put on, and after it dries - anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple hours - the black stuff is peeled off and leaves a reddish/brown stain. The lady had never put it on anyone's face, so she thought I was a little strange for asking! When the henna is put on, it burns a bit as it is soaking in, and the worst spot for me was on my face - I don't think I'll do that again. :-)



Taxi ride on the way home with Amy, one of the gals that we hit it off with from the latest team through our little casa.



The henna is beginning to fade, so I wanted a picture of it. This was just before I went to the beach for awhile to continue my tanning efforts.