Back from the Dead:)

Just thought for those of you without facebook, I would post a thing or two from time to time!! I am living in Portland Oregon now, and really enjoying it. I am working as a teller at Bank of America, and as of two days ago, am also officially an intern of US House of Representatives Congressman Earl Blumenauer. I am very excited to finally be part of the local political scene and hope to learn alot! This is short as I am catching up on my politics in order to be prepared in the office tomorrow..its good to sound like I know what I am doing:) cheers!!

Monica

Rabat continuing and Deaf Childrens Home

These are pics of inside the old castle in Rabat. Note the stork nests! they were literally EVERYwhere! The tower in the pictures was beautiful and we climbed up the staircase to the top..although it hadn't been stepped into in years! And of course we were not supposed to and the guards yelled at us. Oh well!! The ruins were amazing, as were the walls surrounding it....
















These pics are of us helping out a group of college students from North Carolina at a deaf children's home in Ifrane. We made paper airplanes, crafts, and practiced flying frizbees and generally played with the kids. We also bought some beautiful crafts the kids make themselves to help fund the school. The pictures above that are of that afternoon, when we went with the college group to homes outside of Azrou for orphans. Couples commit to 20 years, and then take on about 10-12 kids for that amount of time. Its hard work and obviously requires a huge heart and lots of caring. We picked cherries on the grounds and then relaxed, interacted with the kids, and were served roast lamb and bread for dinner. Dessert was this melon that casts honeydew melon in the shade! Michele has many more great pictures!

Rabat, the Capital!

Our trip to Rabat was somewhat chaotic but we managed to do some great sightseeing our first day, after a 4hour bus ride! Our friend Abdel came with us, but it was hard since he spoke no english at all! So michele spoke a little spanish with him and I spoke a little french but it was a rather useless effort! So there was mainly confusion and lots of laughing and smiling. Starting at the bottom and going up: some pics of us first arriving!

Next:These pictures are of us walking inside towards the tomb. we walked past huge walls, with guards on horses standing outside (in the burning sun!) and then in towards the tomb, which also had guards outside, and inside.


Next: Here are some pictures of inside. We were up on the second level looking down at the three caskets. There were guards in every corner, and a holy person of some sort who was reading scripture down below. The walls and ceilings were indescribly ornate...very different from the sort of opulence and design of European architecture!

Next: standing outside looking out from the tomb towards the ocean..and also a pic of us with one of the outside guards!

Trip to Fes Morocco with Omar

Here are a few pics of our trip to Fez...realize that Michele has MANY more pictures on her camera that I will evenually post..she just has no way of getting her pictures on mom's computer, so I am waiting to post hers until she gets back to the states! We visited a beautiful museum and learned more about Moroccan history, and we also went to the Medina, which is the biggest in Morocco. It was really neat, and having Omar along (he's the son of a teacher that works with mom) was great, because he could explain everything to us! Omar just got back to Morocco after going to school in Spain, and spending 8 years there. He speaks Arabic, Spanish, French, and English! He also took us to the leather tannery, which is over 700years old, and the oldest working tannery in the world. We went up high to overlook it and it was like going back in time. The stench coming up was pretty overpowering, so we held mint up to our nose. I will put pictures up of it as soon as I can! After we did the touring, we thought it would be time to leave and get a taxi back to Ifrane. However Omar asked if we wanted to visit the tennis club (his younger brother is a very good tennis player and just had won some key matches) and meet his dad and brother. So we went over there, had a drink, and talked some. It was so nice going inside out of the heat! After that, his dad drove us out to a swimming pool/club. We sat inside, looking out at the palm trees and water. We were surprised to see mostly European dress, including swimsuits! After all those activities, Omar's parents drove us home since they had to go to Ifrane anyway. It was about 9 when we finally got home, but it had been a GREAT day of new and priceless experiences!

Yoga and a Bonfire!

We had a yoga session and bonfire (complete with crawdads!) at a beautiful spot a few minutes from Ifrane. Michele has some gorgeous sunset pics from the top of the hill you can see in the pics..a couple of the older guys also flew a kite for a bit! the two young people in the picture are brother and sister, Wafa and Abdel. Abdel is the one who went to Rabat with me and Michele, as you will see in later pics. Wafa cooks and cleans sometimes for my mom! This was the first saturday in Ifrane...so I think it was the 21st or 22nd of June.

The Market in the Desert

Here are a few pics from last week, visiting the local suk, or flea market. I will find the correct spelling! basically tons of food, clothes, and anything else you could want. Pretty huge! The pics are of us buying some food, and looking through the clothes..we actually found a few cute things, believe it or not, and a scarf or two. Mom's two friends, Monica Sturgess and Julia came with us. It was hot and dirty and dusty...things we are very used to now! We particularly are enjoying buying local food directly from the people who farm it.....