That old adage about pictures being worth words?  In that spirit I will keep written words brief and share pictures of what I’ve done since my last post:

A hotel cat, relaxing.

The hotel where IST was held had many, many cats. The wee ones were rather adorable.

Beach near the place we stayed during IST.

I am back in town after a very fruitful week of In-Service Training (IST) with other Peace Corps Volunteers in Rabat.  Lots and lots of good information was shared by both Peace Corps staff and 2^nd year volunteers about how to start different projects in our communities, and I feel inspired by much of what I learned.

Thomas, Mandy and Alexander having some meaningful conversation.

In addition to the formal training we received at IST, I greatly enjoyed talking with other PCVs during the week.  There were many moments of quite meaningful connection with fellow volunteers, including two evening gatherings that involved sharing art, poetry and music.  Another rich experience from the week was attending ‘IST Prom’.  Since I did not have a high school prom, this evening allowed me the chance to experience what American Prom culture might be like—and I got down with my bad self!

Here I am at prom instructing the younger PCVs on how to ‘dance old’.

Amber and I getting groovy.

This was taken at the point that I had completely given up caring how I looked as I danced. But I look good, right?

Thomas and I reliving our youth.

I returned to Tinejdad on Saturday and yesterday was day one of an art camp I am hosting for local children.  Although only seven kids attended and I did not have another adult to help facilitate because of Ramadan, the camp project (making name tags and personal collages) went well.  Today I will have a young Moroccan woman to help facilitate the activity, which I hope will allow for somewhat easier communication with the kids who attend.

Art Camp: Making name tags.

Art Camp Day One!

So there’s a summary of life in Morocco in sHar sbba (July).  We have been told that the pace of life becomes much slower in August as it is the month when most Moroccan families take vacation.  Thomas and I may travel to the coast of Morocco to assist with a summer camp in early August, and there is another Peace Corps sponsored event at the end of July that we are going to attend.  For now, however, it is nice to be home.

Love,

Erika