We are wrapping up our initial training here at the hostel in Azrou, and Friday afternoon will leave in groups of six for a community based training in smaller communities in the outlying areas. We will be staying with families (separately) and going to a house our language and culture facilitator has rented for our lessons all day long. Ramadan will start with Sunday or Monday, which will be quite interesting to observe. Muslims MUST refrain from food, beverages, anything that passes the lips (this includes smoking) and sex from dawn to dusk. Then they eat all night long, sleep in in the morning. We don't have to observe it, but cannot eat or drink in front of them...except we can eat breakfast in our hosts home with the children. We'll do lunch at the LCF house. We've been extensively drilled on culture so as to not make mistakes in our actions while their guests. We won't know until Friday morning where we will be going. Some places are as far away as two hours. We'll be there for ten days, then back to Azrou for several and back and forth until Nov. 20th, when we go near Fez for swearing in as a P. C. volunteer on Nov. 24th, then Thanksgiving dinner together before we go to our permanent sites.

A couple of things. We do our our laundry here at the hostel, and at our communities. This means we go to the roof, use a tub, washboard, and scrub away. I am not making this up. Then rinsey rinsey and on the clothes line. It's something to see these young guys have a go at it! I'll bet the first thing they do when they get to their permanent site is hire someone to do their laundry.

There are cafes here that the men hang out in all day, drinking expresso, which means very strong coffee. Native women generally do not go there, and of course there are no lattes available. Glad I had more than my share before I left! I do have good coffee au lait every morning here. And, I have been able to shower daily. But that will change next week. We are to bath only every other day at the most, and it likely will be with a pail of water in the wonderful toilet that is a hole in the floor.

We've had numerous current volunteers come and talk to us. The first six months is all about learning the language and the culture, and the next six months is just being a member of the community and being accepted and trying to build a foundation for the project work to do the second year, when you can finally really get to work. But lots of time just visiting people, drinking tea with them.

Will be gone for about 10 days, so will write more when I return. Am fortunate tonight to use a friend's laptop, so not so many typos as usually have at the Cyber.