WHAT'S TO DO? Some have asked just what kind of things are yet to get done before the little store can be opened in the women's association building. Here's what I've been trying to get done for months and am going to kick in my old pushy personality to actually have it happen in the next two weeks. Inshallah, of course.

• Get new door handles/locks on the exterior inside doors installed. There are two set of doors...iron decorative ones and regular wooden ones. Since I know a welder, we were successful in getting new iron door handles/locks. I guess I will need to make the acquaintance of a carpenter who will come and take care of it.
• Have the carpenter assemble the large storage cupboard and TV cart that I bought in Marrakech. It's like Home Depot kind of furniture that you assemble yourself, but not many guys here have tools and/or skills and the pieces are too heavy for me to handle. The government furnished the neddy with a TV and DVD player in order for the members to be able to watch education things, but they are kept in the office and have to be carted out by hand (the few times so far when they have had viewings), so used some project money for a cart with wheels.
• Get the panels of material for the backside of the partitions sewn together and hemmed.
• Get the one shelf that doesn't work right replaced, and the four additional ones (already paid for) on the premises from the guy in Kech for made the partitions.
• Get light covers replaced in the office and the Western toilet cleaned for public use.
• Get the signs made (welder makes, another paints and puts on the lettering)
• Clean the entire building
• Inventory all items by creating spreadsheets for every artisan. Price all product.
• GET PRODUCT! This is a difficult thing. For many reasons, we do not have a lot of product to put on the shelves. I think that once the boutique is open and word gets out that women are not only having their things sold, but are actually getting money for them, that we will be swamped with merchandise. Likely, much of it will be quickly/poorly made, but we can deal with that. I just need to be okay with the fact that we could be open and have very little to sell for awhile.

This is all so new to many girls and women of the area. They come to the neddy and learn to embroider and knit and crochet etc. but just so they can make pretty things for their houses or gifts. I've been trying to have them learn/understand they can use some of those same skill sets to make things that tourists will like and buy, and then they will have more money in which to buy things to improve their lives.

One neat thing happened about a month ago when I was gone. A couple of doctors came from another town and did breast exams on perhaps 60 women. They were able to drape the purchased material over the extra (non shelved) partitions in order to create a private space for the exams. So already the "classroom" idea I had for the extra partitions has been put to use. That made me feel good.

Of course right now,it is VERY hot, and August is also a big wedding month, which means lots of family/travel/parties, etc. Patience, Patience!!! I keep telling myself.

104 in the shade. Oh yeah,

summertime has hit. Like AZ, NV etc. but without airconditioning anywhere, at least not in houses or transportation that I must use. These are photos from my roof of the same view; one was taken in March and the other today. There is so much dirt in the air from sandstorms around the country…we get some bad winds here, but nothing like they have in the south.

When walking this morning I met one of the girls from the neddy, and after the kiss-kiss thing, she asked me if I had on argan oil. They just have different thermostats and she didn’t realize it was my sweat, walking up hill at 8:30 in the morning!

Various insects are also starting to appear, but not too bad in my house. I was reading in bed and felt something in my hair and brushed madly, thinking it was a roach. A metal hair clip I had put there to keep hair back from my face went flying through the air. I had to laugh at myself. A few minutes later I felt something on my arm and again brushed madly…it was a bug and I demolished it all over my forearm. Ick. My friend told me last weekend that she walked into her kitchen recently and there was a scorpion and large roach…she wasn’t sure which was dead carrying the other…she ended their life too fast to find out. I am lucky that we don’t seem to have scorpions here, and I really have had a few roaches. They are fairly large, and am told that when you see them in a public place and they are big, it isn’t so bad. It is when they are small that it is an indication of unsanitary conditions. Am also told that it is not a good idea to step on them, because if they are pregnant, the eggs will go all over and could survive and then you will have lots of roaches. I saw a little lizard by my front door recently, so maybe that little guy is keeping my bug level down. I gotta keep thinking, at least I'm not wearing three layers of fleece and freezing to death!

My counterpart has been ill/away for two days so I have been unable to go to the neddy. One of the door handles is falling off and I have a difficult time using the skeleton key necessary to get in to do any work. We will get the door handle replaced in the next week, inshallah.

ESSAOURIA. Last visit to this oceanside town. On beaches, one sees everything, and Morocco is no exception. Here are some beachers from France on the left, and "locals" on the right. Some women remain scarved and fully dressed; other Moroccan women who may wear scarves and jellabas in their village, will don swimming suits when they get away from home and on the beach. The photo on the lower left is of a castle ruins. The story is that it is the basis of Jimmy Hendrix's song "Castles in the Sand;" however, it is also reported that he did not visit Morocco until a year after the song came out. In case one doesn't get all their exercise walking the beach, you can go to the place of "musculation" as show on the sign.

FULL SPEED AHEAD. I wish! Pretty slow week, still trying to get things done on the "to do" list that have been there for months. A big part of the problem is that the president of the neddy (my counterpart) is gone a good deal of the time and there is a lot I can't do without her help. There needs to be more women on the board who are willing and authorized to participate. Several good board members have left town and not been replaced, but the president does like to be in charge, anyway. I learned via the treasurer that there is a festival type deal planned for July 30 and there is an expectation the boutique will be open. I had just told the manager I was hoping all things would be done by end of August so we could open. Of course, they don't know how much they don't know about running a business; I guess they'll find out if they try to start selling stuff without really understanding how things work. My main concern is that lots of women make product to sell and that they get paid fairly for what they make. So I am taking a long weekend to meet two friends in Essaouria where it is cooler, relax, and come back to my village and try to hit it hard for a couple of weeks before leaving again for meetings in Rabat and my last week of vacation. The "hard" heat of summer is hitting now...not pleasant...

SEGOVIA. This morning we were treated to another great meal, then set off for a town about an hour north of Madrid, which is famous for its huge aquaduct, as well as other ancient buildings.

The Cathedral. Original one was across from Alcazar but was destroyed by war in 1521, Rebuilt and finished in 1868, defined by style and chronology as the last Gothic one, but much about it tends to be of Renaissance persuasion. There are many small chapels within,
with magnificent works of art, including
many renditions of the crucified Christ.

Alcazar was constructed upon the remains
of an old Roman fortress. Castilian monarchs lived there during Medieval times,it was a prison between the 17th and 18th century, converted into an artillery school. Ruined by fire in 1862, it was rebuilt 20 years later. Here Margaret is taking a brief rest with Inger and Braulio.

MADRID on the 4th of July. Traveled to Madrid this fine day and went to the home of a woman who is President of the Women's World Bank in Spain. She is of Swedish origin but has lived in Spain for 20 years. She prepared a great meal for us...salmon, herring, potatoes, onion and cheese pie, tossed salad, elk...then homemade ice cream dessert for finishers! Supper was at 9:30, which is a bit early for many Spaniards. She does great work with the women of Spain, providing micro credit as well as trade houses for them to show their products at no cost. She also has a trade house in Marrakech, and that is how I met her. Her companion is quite knowledgeable about Spain and kept us quite entertained. He is from Cuba, but lived in the U. S. for many years, working for AT&T, and also has been in Spain many years. A delightful couple and superb hosts!

RAINY DAY AT THE BEACH. Our trip to the beautiful city of San Sebastian was wet and rainy, so a bit disappointed not to be able to roll up my pant legs and dip my toe in the ocean, but I did take a nice walk along the boardwalk and discovered a neat old mansion that has been converted into a Basque University and place of music. The beach area was very deserted, but I could see that on a nice day it would likely be very crowded. As Morocco is Muslim, Spain is Catholic, as is evidenced by many cathedrals, and on a nearby hill top is this large statue of Christ.

Enjoyed a lunch of pinchos (tapas) that were very tasty and got a

feel of the place, which makes me want to return some day and

spend a few days there. ..maybe if/when I come back to walk

the Camino de Santiago.

The next day was a lazing around day as well, going up the funicular, then taking the metro to the port

town of Neguri, you can see many fishing boats that are anchored and done for the day. We had our best restaurant meal here, of fresh salad and sea bass. Yumm! It was a very local type of restaurant so extra fun to experience the life here. Here is a large home we passed on our walk from the metro to the port. Rather nice!

Other impressions...smokers!!! Europeans seem to be able 30 years behind on the stop smoking campaign we have enjoyed seeing transpire in the U.S.