Well... Life hasn't gotten an slower!  I do more in a day than I used to do in a week!  Lots of language learning, learning about cultural differences, safety and security, food and health, etc., etc.  

But had Sunday off (did I blog this already; losing track of time?) and my roommates are surf rats, and so we went to the beach and they rented boards and suits and hit the bHr (beach).  The muja (waves) were overhead and up to 8 feet (kbira bzef is very big), and they had a ball.  I hung with a couple of female volunteers and we walked the pier and the beach.  (Really sucking it up in the Peace Corps, eh?).  Then we went to the Medina and the Casbah and walked around and had lunch.  [I'll post a few pics if I can figure out how to do it.]

We leave in 36 hours for our "10 week" sites, where we'll spend... yep; 10 weeks with a host family, and continue our training, the idea being that we'll be in groups of 5 or 6 and "on location" so we'll learn in a natural setting rather than strictly a classroom.  I'm going to  the Azrou region and staying in Ifrane, which is supposed to be off the hook.  It is one the wealthiest area in Morocco, and I guess, pretty swanky.  There is a private American University and the King's summer home is there, so it sounds pretty nice.  Of course, my permanent site (after the 10 weeks) will be some village of 25 people in the middle of nowhere :)  Actually, I have no idea where I'll end up, but we do get input on that topic.

There are towns and urban centers, close to the ocean and far away, cold, mountainous regions and hot desert regions, so I'm trying to figure out what's important to me.

One interesting thing I learned is that once I go to my permanent site, I will be working/running the "dar chabab" in my area (wherever that is).  That's the youth center in my area (and of course, every PCV is going to an area that has a dar chabab, because that's what we do :)  ...anyway...  I knew that part.  What's interesting is that I figured I showed up there and started teaching English.  The reality is that I show up and there might be absolutely nothing going on vis-a-vis any organized activities, and it is up to me to "integrate myself" into the community and start not only English classes (if that's what I determine might be helpful), but also any other activities that I feel might serve the youth of the community.  I am "the man" when it comes to deciding what my community needs, and how to service those needs.  Pretty heady stuff!

...I'm so glad I spent a bunch of time getting up to speed on my Darija (Moroccan Arabic) because it goes pretty fast, and I know I would be struggling if I was learning it for the first time (I found the PC Moroccan text book online and had learned it cover to cover before I got here).  On the other hand, I had butchered the pronunciation when I repeated the words to myself, because I had no one to talk to , and now I have as much problem as everyone else actually communicating, because of no practice.

Alright... One of the PCT's (trainees) is organizing a Chinese dinner, so I'm heading out. Last night, one of the hospitality guys at the hotel took us to a swanky restaurant in the posh area of Rabat and we had a beer (which we're not supposed to do)  Damn that was good!  Don't tell!

Catch you soon.