Here’s the dry version: We split our time between two communities, a large city we refer to as our Seminar-Based
Training (SBT) site, and a tiny town we refer to as our Community-Based Training (CBT) site. The vast majority of our time is spent at CBT, where a group of six of us spend mornings learning language, and afternoons interviewing our artisan and formulating action plans. Right now I'm working on a product development project, to help our artisan make picture frames that are more appealing to Western tourists (see left). At night we go home to individual host families in order to practice our language further and get a bit of sleep. At SBT all thirty-eight of us live in one place, and attend seminars on health, security and technical training for ten hours a day.Here’s the fun version!: Imagine everything I described above with a lot of crazy tangents thrown in! We eat candy for breakfast! I'm not kidding! Our current passion is learning the Michael Jackson Thriller dance. I’m not kidding. We’re pretty good. Beat It is next. We also spend a lot of time killing flies, avoiding wasps, recounting dreams, eating candy bars, and listening to Christmas music (Mariah Carey’s cover of All I Want for Christmas is You in particular).
Right now I’m also a little worried about my family. Due to the catastrophic fires in Southern California my aunt and uncle were evacuated from San Elijo Hills, which is near Carlsbad in northern San Diego. They are safe and sound at their best friends’ house in Orange County, but I didn’t find out until a couple days ago. My mom and grandma are safe and sound because they’re nearer to the coast and closer to the city proper. My cousins east of L.A. are also safe, according to the last news I received. But there are also hundreds of thousands of people who are scared and displaced, and many who have lost so much. My heart goes out to my hometown. Thanks to everyone who inquired about my family. I’m so isolated here that I actually wouldn’t have known about the fires if you all hadn’t shown your concern. Shukran bzzaf! And lots of love, too.
1 comment:
Hey "Little Girl" - It's going to be harder and harder to call you that now that you're the sophisticated world traveler. I mean MJ's "Thriller" dance is the absolute height of sophistication -is it not? (hahahaha);rivaled only by Beat It, so it seems like you have all bases covered.
I'm so happy to "hear" that YOU'RE safe and sound and that you're enjoying the experience. We miss you, though. I wrote a note to your gmail address about a couple of things post-fire trauma...we came back home last Friday, after a week at Linda's, which was actually nearly threatened from fires at Camp Pendleton. The fires are nearly almost all out now, and the weather has been cloudy and less windy, so that's helping. It will no doubt take San Diego a long time to recover - maybe THIS will finally be the impetus needed for the county to have its own fire dept.! Can you believe it? San Diego STILL doesn't have its own fire dept. - even after that 2003 horror which was a precursor to the recent events.
Anyway, check your gmail because I also left you some interesting tidbits about music and a crazy story about Ann Coulter...
Your uncle and I are working on collaborating on another partnership that will help get VBO out to a wider public, so I'll keep you posted on that. I have a very good feeling about it…
On the Morocco side, what are you reading to pass the time? It doesn't sound like there's much free time, but I know you're an avid reader, so I though I would ask. Loved your comments about the food - and that you eat candy for breakfast. It's a good thing you get good dental care from the PC, huh? And are there any traditional Moroccan holidays that are coming up as we approach our own on the U.S. side? What do you wear most of the time? I know you said it's pretty Westernized, so maybe it's a moot point, but I bet there must be some type of cultural apparel that appeals to your keen fashion eye.
By the way, I gave Linda your email address and the blog address because she really wants to connect with you, so you should be hearing from her soon.
Also - Val got your message the other day, when our phones were still acting funky. And I will call you again on Friday, Nov. 2 - probably mid-morning our time, to see if I can hear your sweet voice.
Ciao for now, Little One. We love you more than you know.
Aunt Lisa
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