Missing Madison before I've gone

Only 9 days left in Madison. It's quite sad, I really love this place. Things I'll miss:

- the tiny door out to my back porch

- corner patio at Genna's

- Mango Mojito at the Icon

- Jolly Bob's

- beer drinking and lake watching at the Terrace

- farmers markets on the square with spicy cheese bread

- drinking wine on the grass around the capital for concerts on the square

- biking to trader joe's and putting my groceries in my awesome basket

- Hook's melt with greens and wine tastings at Barrique's on Monroe St

- Babcock ice cream

- Ian's pizza

- Margaritas with the ladies at Pedro's

- Awesome friends

I think the moral of that list is that Madison is great for eating and drinking. Especially eating and drinking outside- I've obviously forgotten about all of the great winter activities. Since my last day of work last Friday, I've been happily unemployed and trying to enjoy all of the above listed things as much as humanly possible before I go. It's been brilliant and I know that I'll go through some kind of withdrawal.

I only regret that in order to survive here over the last 2.5 years, I've had to spend the majority of my time working and traveling for work. Why is it that we Americans have such trouble finding a good life balance? So many people have to choose between being well-rested, but bored because they have no money to spend or full of stress, but unhappy because there's no time to do anything fun with their money.

That is going to be one of my goals for my time in Morocco- to find a happy life balance. I hope to develop routines that divide my time each day among the following:

- Exercise (I just ordered some yoga/pilates videos to do in my apartment)

- Study (for the GRE and the Foreign Service Exam, Arabic, French, Spanish)

- Work (teaching English at AMIDEAST)

- Relaxation (catching up on reading, movies, hanging at Mohamed's store, chats with loved ones)

I'm not so naive as to think I'll get to each thing each and every day, but a girl's got to have goals! In PC I wasted a lot of my time on satellite television and I wince when thinking about all that could have been accomplished in that time.

The apartment is almost packed. Pictures are off the walls, books off of shelves, stacks of boxes in every corner- proof that it's really drawing to a close. Everything gets moved into storage a week from Sunday and then I'm off for some family time in Michigan. I'll post again once I get there...

travels in turkey

After finally and officially leaving Morocco after 27 months of service, you could say it was time for a vacation. I needed some time to adjust to the departure, to miss morocco like crazy, and to really feel ready to come back to the States.

My friend Mandy and I thought that Turkey would be a great place to end our Peace Corps chapter, and begin our new one.


Turkey is a pretty incredible country. It's 99 percent Muslim, but it's secular government creates an entirely different atmosphere. I always thought Morocco was pretty liberal, and in a way it is, but it has nothing on Turkey. In Istanbul especially, you could have convinced me were in in the Middle of Western Europe.


This is me at the Topkapi Palace overlooking the Bosphorus River. Istanbul is located on 3 different banks, and is the bridge between Europe and Asia. It's no wonder this land was so highly sought after throughout history. And you can see remnents from just about every empire somewhere in Istanbul or throughout the country.

In the Grand Bazaar i found the most similarities to Morocco. Merchants yelling for us to buy things and trying to pull us in to their shops. And of course the bargaining. I'd like to thank Morocco for my great skill at this and for the good prices I received here!

This is the front of the Aya Sofia. It was built a Church by the Emporer Justinian (i think) and later converted to a mosque by a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Now it is a museum and the inside is just as incredible as the outside!



Wow! I've always wanted a Genuine Fake Watch!!





This is a shot of the Blue Mosaue, another incredibly famous building in Istanbul.



Inside the Blue Mosque. This mosque is actually still open for prayer. Tourists wait until after the time of prayer to go in and look around. so beautiful!



This is probably the best meal i ate in Turkey. It was incredibly good! I know what you're thinking, it looks so simple! This was eaten upon our arrival to the beautiful Selcuk in southwest Turkey.



In Selcuk you can find the tomb of St. John located in the ruins of his Basilica. The story goes that after the death of Jesus, St. John and Mary came to the ancient city of Ephesus to spread the gospel. We're pretty convinced that this dog (nicknamed Dudley) is actually the spirit of St. John still around to stand gaurd at the tomb.



These are the ancient ruins of Ephesus. A once thriving city during the Roman and many other empires. It was pretty incredible.



These are the toilets of the ancient city. Apparently they weren't very shy.

This is the incredible well preserved facade of the Library. It's absolutely huge and once held 10,000 scrolls. We took shelter here when it started to downpour.

After the rain we walked to the remains of Mary's church. I have never seen such an incredibly brilliant rainbow in my life.

This is the alter of Mary's church.

This region is called Kapadokya and is located in the center of Turkey. Due to volcanic eruptions, the entire region looks like it could be the moon and people once lived inside the rocks. Our hotel room was a cave built into the side of one.

This structure was once a Monestary. Complete with kitchen, church, and tons of other rooms.

Here we saw the Whirling Dervishes, and some traditional turkish dance.

During my two weeks in Turkey I took over 500 pictures, so obviously this post doesnt do it justice! But I hope you enjoyed a small taste of the incredible things I was lucky to see.

As for now, I'm back in America and ready to enjoy the Holidays with friends and family after missing two during my service. Then the job search really begins and where i'll end up....who knows.

a very merry birthday to me!

well it's been a while since i've updated......to say the least. truth is, february was not the most exciting month i've had here and it was a bit of a slump month. but now it's march and by god, it's a new day!! and of course it doesnt hurt to start out a new month with a new year of life.

this is how i celebrated the joyous occasion. the birthday weekend started on friday with a trip out to the big, beach city near by. i ate pepperoni pizza at pizza hut. my mouth was watering for it the entire 4 hour journey, and by the time i ate it, well, i was in heaven!!

the rest of that day was spent bumming around town, walking along the beach and just generally enjoying myself. Then just as i was about to return to my hotel, i found the most beautiful shoes i've ever encountered. i'm talking love at first site people. i thought "what the hell! its my birthday!" so i bought them. picture below. and i got a really great deal at about 17 dollars.

the next day i traveled about an hour down the coast to a town where two of my friends live. when i arrived, two other girls were there, everyone ready for a party. we went on a beautiful walk before starting the festivities. we made mexican food, had some drinks, and topped it all off with the most delicious brownie with peanut butter frosting. thank god for mandy and her fabulous cooking skills.

then when we were feeling the drinks a bit, we headed up to the roof to watch the lunar eclipse. supposedly the best view was from africa, and it really was incredible. we layed on the roof for at least an hour watching the earths shadow completly cover the moon and turn it into a big red ball. it had extra meaning for me as it was all happening on the eve of my 24th birthday. and my last birthday on this continent. next year i will be in america, and everything will be different.





can you see the barely there red ball? yeah, its hard to photograph an eclipse.

we also fooled around on the roof a bit, doing drunken yoga poses and having 30 second ballet routine contests. it was a wonderful time.



when we got up on my actual birthday, we made strawberry pancakes and whipped cream, per my request. once again, delicious. then i made the long journey home. and it was a long journey as the 3 hour journey actually took about 6.


upon arrival i made myself a jumbalaya dinner with a mix sent by grams (thanks grams!) and watched some TV. you might think, "wow, what a nice birthday weekend!" but it's not over yet folks!

on monday the women who i hang with threw me a party. they have to be the best group of women a girl could find in this country. the dressed me up as a bride and we had a cake that i specially requested, other desserts, pop, candy and we danced it up.

if i were to marry a berber boy, this is what i would look like at my wedding. only thing missing is the henna!

notice the 22 on the cake? ha. i wish! apparently they think i'm getting younger :)

then i got home just in time for the launch of a brand new english TV station on my satellite! and guess what was the first show???? LOST!!!!! i've been waiting 17 months for this day.

Happy Birthday to me, and that is no lie.

and how about a few general life updates? ok, excellent

1- a few months ago one of my students won the YES scholorship. this means that he is going to spend the 2007-2008 school year in AMERICA! all i did was pass on the information, but this is not the kind of opportunity that generally make it to the the small villages. this is a HUGE opportunity for him and i am so proud.

2- i was given the job of coordinating one of the spring language camps that will happen over spring break. i'll be making sure everyone has what they need and being the liason between the americans and other staff. i'm generally not too excited about this, but whatever i'll make the best of what should be an interesting experience.

3- my dad and sis have purchased their plane tickets and are coming to visit! they will be my first visitors from the states and i am really excited. planning vacations is stressful, but so much fun and i look forward to showing them a fabulous time!

4- i want to wish good luck to my grandma who is having her knee replaced in april. i'll be thinking about you!!

ok, i think that's all i've got. consider yourselves officially caught up with my life. hope all is well with everyone at home and i'll talk to you soon!

despite all of our differences, we are all the same

so as i've said before, i do this thing called "women's cafe" on saturday nights. who knew that this thing would prove to be a way for me to delve inside the brains of these women.

so a few weeks ago, things were happening as usual. dancing, eating, chit chat. you know, nothing too exciting.

then we all sit down for a little breather and two of the women go to the board and grab some chalk. they are giggling like little school girls and using their bodies to cover their artwork.

next thing i know, the room abrupts in hysterical laughter. i look at the board. "are you freaking kidding me?!" is the first thing that runs through my head.

without going into a lot of detail, lets just say that these middle aged, covered up, seemingly conservative berber women have just drawn and EXTREMELY obscene image on my chalkboard and are entirely pleased with themselves.

i laughed, but i was shocked. they then erase the first image and draw another one, this time featuring a man and some sort of dog/wolf creature. no, the man was not petting the dog.

if only i had a hidden camera and could have pictures as proof. everyday is an adventure.

Ode to the Slaughter

Twas the night before l3id
and all through the city,
Thousands of sheep thought "oh what a pity!"
Their lives before had been so much fun,
but early tomorrow their hearts would be in a bun.

the people all shopped for new clothes and new shoes,
you must be very clean to avoid slaughter blues.
they made lots of cookies, and cakes and of treats,
we must have something to counteract all those meats!

with less than 12 hours, before the big feast
the children all dreamed of the passing of that big beast.
the beast who slept poorly cause he knew what was coming
no more would his life be of eating and sunning.

Happy Eid to all and to all a full stomach!


It's a work in progress people, i'm no poet! but i did have a very enjoyable feast this year. Unfortunatly it was on the same day as new year's eve, but that's life.

I'm happy to say that i stayed in my apartment until almost noon in order to avoid the action. i think one year is more than enough. When i got to my host family's house, they were finishing up the goat (two families, two animals!) and starting on the inerd kababs.

I ate them. yep, i ate kababs made of heart, lung, liver, fat and other various inerds. aren't you proud! not bad as long as you dont think about it too much. lots of spices and the bread really makes it all quite tasty!

i then put on my brand new Emelheff and went off for some visiting. I went to the homes of three different families and enjoyed lots of tea and cookies. it was so much better this year because i'm just so much more comfortable. i know people, i move around, it's great!

then i stayed the night at a friends house and we drank a little whiskey to bring in the new year. it wasnt the most fun i've ever had, but not too shabby.

This week is school vacation, so i'm taking it easy. doing a lot more visiting of families and socializing these days. it feels good. 11 months to go.

the market before the feast was huge and bursting with people!!! here they are picking out the perfect animal to sacrifice.

and of course stocking up on fruits and vegetables!!! this is how i buy my food every week. we have the market on tuesday and wednesday.

spices!! i love how this looks, but it must be a pain to pack up everyday.

this is the store of my tailor. he does great work!

you can buy anything you can imagine at the market.

me and my host brother and some neighborhood kids on the day of the feast. dont they all look great in their brand new clothes!! and yes, i even bought that shirt for the big day :)

christmas far far away 2of2

Well Merry Christmas!!!! yes, a little late. i spent christmas eve with a couple other volunteers at a friends house about 4 hours away!! there is very little christmas spirit here, but we managed to have a pretty good time. here are a few snapshots.

first project, decorations!!!! i made this little sign for our holiday archway.

Leslie made this fabulous nativity set out of clay and a box and some fabric scraps. so creative!! they arent in this picture, but the set was complete with three wise men bringing gifts to the baby jesus. awww.

Stockings!!! unfortunatly santa must have gotten lost, but at least i had this awesome stocking!

Next project, christmas cookies. we made a ton! this is leslie early in the process or rolling and cutting out.

this is lena, our hostess really getting into the flour.

and then we frost!!! so messy, so delicious.

after hours of prep work, we finally made it to the christmas dinner. i was very impressed as lena made the most delicious chicken i've had in ages! mmm.

On christmas morning i traveled back to my town, and watched some christmas movies on my satellite dish. it was peaceful, relaxing, nice. this is the christmas tree sent by my sister, after i added the magic liquid (before picture is in a previous post). it really did grow!!! it's a christmas miracle!!