Finally! I am back at my friend's house again and able to blog. Don't know what the deal is with the cybers outside of Marrakech, but have been unable to get on to blog there, although emailing has worked fine. Here's a couple of photos from my roof. My landlord has kind of a little hardware store and also makes bricks. This guy works for him. He probably weighs 100 pounds soaking wet, which he is a lot, as he works very hard making gravel, and making concrete bricks. The other photo is just one of my most excellent views.

What's new? Cuckoo birds! Hear them while walking in the morning, loud and clear. This morning saw bright pink geraniums and purple iris along the road. Weather has really been transitionary...few days it was rather warm, nice at night, then it got much cooler. Need rain desperately, the gorgeous wheat fields are rapidly yellowing. Still wearing layers and fleece, but coolness is bearable. Flannel sheets and/or electric blanket certainly a must for next winter, now that I know better!

Have been doing some baking, with little success. Made peanut butter cookies an choc.chip cookes (made w/Hershey kisses sent to me for Valentine's day) and they were ok but not good like at home. Their margarine is different...more lardy, and difficult to cream w/sugar in the cool kitchen. Also made banana bread, but it was a low fat recipe I had in a P. C. cookbook, and again, not as good. So I think my Moroccan friends think I'm a pretty poor cook! Or that American food is not so great. Oh well...

I mentioned before how cheap produce was at the souqs, and of course when you have little income, it is pretty important if you can buy a kilo of something for a few cents cheaper at one vendor from another. But meat/poultry/dairy products as well as coffee are not cheap. So little of it is used/eaten. Most of the protein comes from beans/lentils, etc. I believe.

I do enjoy popcorn on a regular basis, (can woman live on popcorn alone?!)along w/diet coke, while I read no-brainer novels in the evenings. Have had tried to use my short wave radio, but since it mostly news, don't listen often. I do find that not being too entrenched in news is not all that bad. I have developed a new appreciation for world awareness through the Newsweek International magazine. Lots more on world politics, leadership etc than I focused on in America.

Have had a real downer of a week, but try to read motivational/inspirational things to get past the little incidents that get me depressed, and to continue to see the big picture. Sure will be happy when it's four months from now and I'll be home for a couple of weeks. Also, I will be in another site next week helping with a youth camp and that will be a great diversion and challenge! Look forward to that. It's quite far from where I live so will have a chance to see an entire different area of this country.

I just learned a dear friend in Billings died, and am glad I have a few friends here who I can find comfort from. It is so important to be able to connect with other volunteers!

Here's my Alchemist quote today: "The future belongs to God, and it is only He who reveals it, under extraordinary circumstances. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And if you improve upon the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity."