Greetings and Salutations!

{big happy sigh}

So I've just gotten back from my week in [Mountain Village]. It was fabulous. :D

I've mastered the bit l-ma (hashek), learned how to gracefully turn down extra helpings of food, and successfully used the past tense in conversation with Host Country Nationals (aka Moroccans, in Peace-Corps-Speak).

I've also gotten to know and love my host family. There are a few members I haven't met, because they live in other cities, but here are the family members I know: Mma (47), my sister-in-law Z (22), her husband Big Bro S (28 and almost never around, since he works in Marrakesh), Teen Bro M (15), Middle Bro N (13), Little Sis K (10), Little Bro (7), and Baby A (9 months). They're fabulous. All of the siblings (except the littlest ones) know some French, which has been very helpful. I keep meaning to write a long thank-you letter to all of my French teachers. While I was in Houston, I kept wishing I'd learned Spanish, but now that I'm here, I'm sooooooo grateful to have not-fluent-but-definitely-functional French at my disposal. :)

Mma tends to be overprotective, which is sweet, and the kids are all tons of fun. They all love helping me with my tmrin (homework), and the baby is good for hours of language-free playtime. One or more of them usually walked me to or from madrasa (school, aka sessions with the rest of the Peace Corps group and our Language & Culture Facilitator), and the two littler ones both held my hands when doing so. :) I don't think they're a hug-friendly culture, but I remain hopeful. :)

I've got lots of fun stories to share, but there's a growing line here at the Cyber, so I'll save them for later. Suffice to say that I'm safe, sound, happy, and so grateful to be here! :D