Eid Kabir

Yesterday was Eid Kabir, which should be called meat fest 2008. Eid began at eight in the morning with a huge breakfast. I went to my host families for breakfast and then stayed for the entire day and ate all day long. After a breakfast we slaughtered the ram. I have never seen an animal being slaughtered before and it was intense. My host dad, Said, slit the rams throat and then it started making these awful noises because it was gasping for its last breathes, blood was everywhere. After the ram was slaughtered we took an insane amount of pictures and the ram was hung upside down. I guess this is the Muslim was of slaughtering because all the blood has to be drained out of it. They also blew up the insides so it was easier to skin; it reminded me of siphoning gas. Once all of the skin is off they begin to take out the organs. Let me remind you that none of the ram parts are wasted.
After the slaughtering and skinning was over we had a little snack of liver wrapped in stomach, which as it turns out liver is not my favorite food. For lunch we had the head and once again as it turns out is not my favorite thing either. I still have the tastes stuck in my head and have to go to a wedding today where all of the above will be on the menu. I went to someone's house last night and we ate the exact same things but I am doing a good job and keeping my composure. Everyone in my village thinks it is funny to watch me eat these body parts especially my host dad because one of the first questions he asked me was if I ate stomach or head. In saying all of this it has been an interesting experience but I am integrating! I also feel really tough because I have been eating all of these random body parts.
Today my landlord’s brother is getting married and I get to go pick up the bride who lives in a nearby village. I am excited to have a true understanding of a Moroccan wedding. Before when I would go to weddings the bride was already there and this time I get to help her get ready for the big day. If I were her I would be scared out of my mind because people here rarely get married for love. The man's family finds a girl from a family that they find suitable and then they go and ask the family for permission, the girl has no say in the matter. But, people rarely get divorced here so maybe America should reconsider our marriage standards. Even though I am saying this, Dad don't you dare try to go and find me a husband today, I am not ready for the commitment. This week there are four weddings in my site because after Laid they have a lot of meat anyways so why not have a wedding. This way the families don't have to buy two rams in one year.
I will be home in a little more than a week and I am so pumped to see everyone. I am also really excited to eat some meat that is not stomach or head. I especially can't wait for ham and fruit salad and Taco Bell!!!!!
I love you
Emmy

Its my Birfday

Just wanted to tell you all that I am about to turn 25 and celebrate my quarter century in Tangier. I am so excited! Then it is back to work... I love you all and wanted to give a shout out to my mother, Nikki Josefson, who 25 years ago gave birth to me. She has been a great mother and I appreciate everything she has done for me in the past 25 years, all starting with being in labor for 36 hours.
Love
Emmy

Reinvigorated...Again

I just had training in Azrou last week and it was great. I don't know if I learned that much but I definitely got inspired. It was also great to be back with all of my friends again. Training was a great time to bounce ideas off of each other and learn about each others sites. This week I have started working on my training of birth attendents project. I will be working with my friend Carrie setting up a training for birth attendants. Most women living in small villages, like ours, give birth in their homes and most of the time the women give birth in very unsterile rooms. There are also lots of urban myths the women believe in like pushing on the belly with extreme force will make the birth faster, which maybe it does but is very dangerous for the mother and baby. So Carrie and my job is to set up a training of women who are interested in being present at these births to make sure it is sanitary and safe. After training I have a new found motivation and have lots of project ideas. I am planning on doing a bathroom project in my market area so the men stop going to the bathroom beside my house. I also want to do a eye glasses project to get the people in my village glasses, but this project wont happen for awhile. The project I am most excited about is health lesson vidoes. The girls at my neddy will help me make the videos and in doing so they will learn about health stuff. Then we will show the videos to classes and the girls will become the teachers as well, which makes the project more sustainable.

After training I went to Fes and it was amazing. The street food was amazing and I found out that is where Algebra was invented, which is cool but I hate Algebra. Now I am back home for about a week and then I am off to Rabat for a shot. Then I am going to Tangier for my birthday; which is going to be a blast.

I love you all and hope that people are still reading this. I am trying to keep up with it but not doing a great job at it.

Love
Emmy

Life is good here right now.

Teaching and Learning

Enjoying Peace Corps friends and doing my best to enjoy the small things.  This past week was a good week.  I started the week with my boss coming to my site to review my progress and to assess my site.  My boss, Rachid, told me that he was impressed with my progress thus far and was impressed that I have started teaching already.  It was good to hear that I am on track and doing better than what was expected of me.  I also got some ideas for projects in the future.  Just this past weekend I had a HIV/Aids training at my house, which was interesting.  Morocco does not, currently, have the same problems with Aids as the rest of Africa, yet.  However, the U.N. predicts that they are headed for an epidemic because of the culture here does not allow them to discuss such issues and they are unwilling to recognize that Aids even exists in Morocco.  This past week I asked my nurse if there was Aids in my village and he scoffed and told me that Morocco does not have these kinds of problems, Aids only exists in the West because our morals are all wrong.  I followed this response with asking if men in my site sleep with prostitutes and he said of course their are prostitutes in every village in Morocco, and most men sleep with them.  After sleeping with prostitutes these men will go home and sleep with their wives; most of these encounters are unprotected.  This is why Peace Corps is here to break through the stereo types and teach men and women about Aids and STDs.  

I am getting really excited to come home in December and cannot wait to see everyone.  Being so far away reminds me of how much I appreciate you all.

Love 

Emmy

Update

This past weekend I had a group of eight Peace Corps friends come to visit me and it was so great. We got to be American and dance the night away until four in the morning everynight. One night we even watched the sunrise over the beach, which ended up not being as beautiful as we hoped because the sunrises to the East, not over the ocean. It was great to see everyone, some of them I hadn't seen since training in Ouarzazate. Then I had four girls come to my house and that was a blast we watched the sex in the City movie, and realized how our lives are so different. While Sarah Jessica Parker is buying 800 dollar bags we are trying to figure out how often we need to shower to be presentable to the world. I have found that even after a week I only shower because in my past life it would have been unheard of to go this long without a shower.
This past week was a good one. The sbitar was really busy and I am starting to feel more comfortable there. I read my journal this week and realized how far I have come in the past nine months. The first week of homestay in my site I was pleading to God to help me get through the day and I needed pep talks just to leave my room. Now I leave my house without fear. I still am not as busy as I would like to be but that will come with time and toothbrushes. I want to do a toothbrush project with the primary school kids where I brush my teeth with one class everyday for three weeks. Then the kids can bring their toothbrushes home with the knowledge of how to use them. Sachel is doing a toothbrush drive at his wedding to make this possible.
Life gets better here everyday.
I love you all and miss you all
Emmy

Ramadan comes to an End

Now that Ramadan is coming to an end I am going to take a little time to explain to you what Ramadan is. Ramadan is the celebration of the Koran being revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. To celebrate this Muslims fast during the day light hours for an entire month. Just before the sun goes down everyone enters a state of complete chaos, everyone starts running to their houses and taxi drivers start driving like mad men. I have been in taxis many times when all of a sudden the taxi drivers realize that the sun is starting to set and begin to drive like nascar drivers. Once the sun sets everyone breaks fast; this consists of eating dates, cookies, and soup. Whenever I have broken fast with people they never drink water and that is all I want after a day of living in eighty degree weather. Fasting means no food or water all day long. The no food thing is not that hard but the no water thing drives people to insanity, me especially. I fasted the first day then got really sick and decided that I couldn't do it. But, then once I got better I decided to start fasting again, and it was hard. Yesterday was Laid which is the celebration of the ending of Ramadan. I was so happy that Ramadan has ended because now I can start carrying around a water bottle with me again. I also don't like getting up at four in the morning to eat real quick and then go back to bed.
I admire the devotion that Moroccoan's have for God, their devotion is part of their everyday lives not just a Sunday morning after thought. Once the sun goes down and people can eat again Ramadan is a very peaceful time of day. I really enjoyed standing on my balcony looking out at my town and watching everyone rush to the store to get last minute things, and then once the imam called out and it was time to break fast silence filled my entire town, it was very peaceful.
Life here in Morocco is getting a lot better I am starting to get used to the culture. I am no longer in a state of confusion all of the time. I know how to get around for the most part and understand when things don't work out as planned. My language is coming along slowly but surely. The loneliness and the lack of work has been the hardest things to get used to. I am getting more comfortable being alone most of the time. The work part is starting to pick up but will never be the same as life in America. I have started to force myself to enjoy this experience because I feel like it is one that will help guide me in the future so I want to learn as much as possible from it instead of wishing it away.
I love you all
Emmy
Mbark Laid (Happy Laid)

Hello

This is going to be a quick post but thought I would update you and then next time I will send a thoughtful post in the next week. I am currently trying to survive Ramadan and it is surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be. I had a lot of anxiety about Ramadan before it came because I was told there would be a lot of people trying to get me to become a Muslim. But, this is not the case and it is actually a spiritual experience. Two different times I have found myself getting stuck in Smimou because it is time to break fast and so there are not any taxis at this time. Anyways, twice I have broken fast with my favorite store owner and he gives me soup and dates and a pop all for free. Breaking fast with this guy has given me some of my favorite times here in Morocco.

I need to go but I will be back soon. I love you all. I am doing good though and starting to appreciate this experience.

Love Emmy

Six Month Synopsis

I just need to start this blog by bragging at my skills to conserve water. I just got done making lunch and first I had to wash dishes to have the ability to boil my noodles. I used my rinse water as the boiling water for my noodles, then I saved that water for rinse water again, and then I took that rinse water and put it in the back of my toilet for flushing later, that one liter of water got used four different times. In America this would never happen, and honestly the only reason I am so efficient with my water is because I have to haul it myself, and it sucks.
My agenda for this blog is that I wanted to do a six month recap on my time here in Morocco. Can you believe I have already been here for six months. Time is weird here the days go by so slow but then when I look back on it I don't feel like I have been here this long. I am hoping that the days start going by a little faster because I have to entertain myself for most of the day. In America my life was planned for me I woke up and went to school, then went to work, and anytime leftover was spent with my friends. I dreamed to have days where nothing was going on and I could just watch CSI all day long. Now my dream has been granted and I now yearn for a job that forces me to work seventy hours a week. It is a burden to have so much time on your hands. I have been studying for the foreign service exam, playing my guitar, reading lots of books, and watching movies. I am going to start working on my resume next week, so right when I am done with the Peace Corps I can get myself that seventy hour a week job.
Back to the agenda, I left Bemidji, MN on February 29th, it was leap day. I think that was officially the scariest day of my life, I cried a lot. I had three days of training in Philly which was so intimidating. The only thing I really remember is learning that two-thirds of the Peace Corps goals is cultural exchange. This bummed me out because who cares about culture exchange but now looking back I remember that part of the reason that I wanted to live in another country for two years is to truly understand another culture. All I can remember from Philly is eating a lot of cheese steaks and I kept thinking what the hell have I got myself into?!?!
Then I started training in Ouarzazate where I spent a whole bunch of time sitting in a classroom and doing skits. I hate skits because not very many people are good at them. I did enjoy this time making some of the greatest friends I will ever have. Training was the time I call “waiting...anticipating...” Actually, all of Peace Corps so far has been a process of patience and flexibility. I waited months for my application to go through, then I waited for my country and departure time all while living with my parents and working at a gas station. Then I got to training and everyday was a waiting day. First we waited to know which language we would be speaking, of course everyone wanted Arabic and most of us did not get that. Then we waited for months to find out where was our site going to be? I still can't believe that I was lucky enough to be placed in Essaouira, you sill all understand why when you come and visit me. Then we got to our sites and we were waiting to get out of home stay, which couldn't have gone any slower. Now I live in my own place and I still wait for the next fun weekend with my friends to come or the next time I actually have work to do. I have heard that life in site is pretty slow until March then projects begin to take off.
In these past six months in country I have learned a lot. I have learned how to get around this country where transportation is not reliable. I have learned how to use a Turkish toilet and when necessary, yes I do use my hand to wipe, it really isn't that bad. I have learned the true art of taking deep breaths and just being patient for hours on end. I have never really been forced to be patient, in America everything is given to you when you want it. I wait for hours for taxi's, food, and sleep. I have learned how to live with things that I would not tolerate in America, such as unwashed sheets in hotel rooms and bedbugs. My host family had bedbugs that I could not get rid of and now live with me at my new house, but I have moved on and try not to itch.
When you don't know the language very well you have a lot of time to observe. Through my observations I have found that Moroccan culture is very different from American culture. Women here do all of the hard labor and men do a lot of sitting. I haul my water and never has a man offered to help me carry my water, but I have had girls help me. One day I tipped over my wheel barrow that was full all my water jugs went flying, all the men sat and yelled at the women to help me, I am now better at maneuvering a wheel barrow. Moroccans also really like to say you know nothing “or tsint walloo” this is the most evil saying on the planet. It happens to all of us volunteers and is a saying that we would never say, not even to an Indian telemarketer. But, I am growing a thicker skin. Moroccan people are great people and I am appreciative that they are allowing me into their lives for two years. I am especially appreciative of my host family, because they allow me an intimate view and understand what a Moroccan household is like. They are real around me and don't hide who they are.
There are days that I hate it here and there are days that I love it here. I am on a roller coaster of emotions constantly. Within a day I can feel completely different but I know that I am here for a reason. If anything I will be a more patient person when I get home. I have been to seventeen countries and Morocco has challenged me more than any of the other sixteen. But, there is something to be said for toughing it out and seeing what you are made of. I can do this for two years but not a day longer. My goal for the rest of my time spent here in Morocco is to be as good at guitar as Eric Clapton, travel all over this country, survive, and most of all learn everything there is to know about Moroccan people.
I love you all
Emmy

Independence and Sbitarin' it up

Today was a crazy day, on Wednesdays I go to my sbitar (clinic), because it is vaccination day. Normally, the morning is busy but we only vaccinate twenty babies, today we vaccinated fifty-five babies! I got there this morning and my nurse had me unlock to sbitar for him because he had to drink tea first at his local cafe. The women and babies started pouring in as I was unlocking the door and they just kept coming. There is absolutely no order to who goes when so the women all crowd into one small room and just start throwing me their little notebooks. These notebooks are for them to keep track of what vaccinations their baby has received. It is my job to document this information for them in these little books. I also take the babies weight, which is really inaccurate because the babies still have all of their clothes on and diapers on, and no one is to know how many pounds the babies are carrying in those diapers. Fights usually break out because some women got there right at eight and someone that got there at nine got to go before them. It is the biggest frenzy I have ever been apart of. I also get to give the babies vitamin A and D, which comes in a liquid vial. Newborns get the Vitamin D and their mouths are so small it is tricky. My nurse does the shots. Hamed, my nurse, is supposed to have a doctor at the sbitar but he is still waiting for one to appear. I am really lucky that I get to help at the sbitar because most of my friends don't get to do anything, they just wait in the lobby.
I got to move into my place last week and freedom is amazing. It has been over a year that I have not been either living with my parents or a host family. Living with my parents was nice but as we all know there is a reason we move out when we turn eighteen. My host family is also great but my sound track is crying babies. One of the children is always crying. We also ate dinner at 11:30, which drove me nuts because I was so tired and when Emmy gets tired she is not nice. My first couple of nights in my place I didn't eat dinner at all just because I didn't feel like it and it was a liberating thing. Since then I have made mashed potatoes, pasta, and fruit salad. I am learning how to cook! My place also has great acoustics so I have been singing and playing my guitar as loud as I want. Free at last free at last!!!
My house has a bed, like a real bed. It has a kitchen, a room with the toilet, and another room with the sink and the shower. Sometimes I forget to wash my hands because the sink is not in the toilet room. There is a salon are where I host my guests for tea. It is one really long room and I hate this room because I dont know what to do with it. I did have my family over for tea and they gave me some suggestions. They also criticized my tea pot and the sugar I used to make tea with and the fact that I didnt have a special table for the tea glasses. Moroccans like to criticize a lot and like to tell me I know nothing. They are not being mean in their eyes but it is just what they do, it happens to all of my peace corps collegues so we are are just growing thicker skins. My house also has a kitchen with counters and a built in stove which is rare. The top floor is all balcony. This house is nicer than any house I will be living when I get back to the states, which is ironic. The only plus to moving back to the states is that I will hopefully have a sink in my bathroom. Now that I live alone everyone is coming up to me and saying Eawn Ribbi which means God help you. The people of my village feel really sorry for me and I am cheering every second.
It is still really hot here and nobody does anything during the day so life is a little boring still but it will get better after Ramadan, so I am told. I read a lot and stare at the wall thinking of you all and politics :) I have read a lot of books since I have been here but the best book so far is Shantaram, I highly recommend you all get a copy. It is long but entertaining from beginning to end. I also read Newsweek, which is provided by the Peace Corps until September 22nd, then because of budget cuts I will no longer be up to date on current events. What is going on in the campaign right now?
This is my life.
I love you
Emmy

A Day in the Life of a Moroccan Women

Hello everyone

I have gotten tired of talking about myself so I thought I would tell

you about what it is like to be a women here in Morocco.

A day in the life of a Moroccan women: my host mom has three children

which stay at home with her all day while my host dad goes to work,

which is a small area he owns where he makes pots, because he is a potter.

My host mother, Fadima gets up and starts her day with making bread for

breakfast. So every morning I get to eat homemade bread for breakfast, which

a lot of my collegues complain about because "it has too many carbs..." blah blah blah

I love it but I was also raised on bread and potatoes. After we all eat breakfast

Fadima starts washing dishes from the day before. Then she spends a good part of the

morning and afternoon washing clothes by hand. I wash my own clothes by hand here

and it is so much work, especially with a limited supply of water. All you mothers

out there know how much laundry three children produce and without a machine it takes

Fadima hours to do all of the laundry. I understand why kids run around with such

dirty clothes all the time. I myself hate doing laundry so I wait until the last possible

second to do laundry. After a morning full of chores Fadima starts making lunch which

is usually Tajine. All while this is going on all three of the children are hanging on

her and crying because they want something. I bet she wonders why mother's in America

beg to stay at home with their children, Fadima would love to go to work everyday and

get out of the house. Everyday it is just her and her three children, who cry a lot because

they dont have any toys. My mom sent them some toys but they can't play with them because

they are on a shelf and can only be stared at. I tried to get them to play with the toys

but Fadima thinks they are collectibles or something. In the evenings all of the mothers

Moroccan women get a break and meet up on the mountain and talk about stuff. I am not sure

what they talk about because my language isn't that good yet. They all talk really fast

my guess it is about the donkey shit they found on Mohamed's pants today while doing laundry.

I don't know what else they would talk about because all they do all day is chores. I will

figure it out and get back to you. Fadima is not allowed to go to souk (market) because that

is where the men hang out. Men and women are always separated here in Morocco. Gender

is a big deal here. Men and women are not friends with each other. The only man friend

Fadima will ever have is her husband Said. I am allowed to talk to the men because I am

a foreigner and they know that we are different. Since Fadima is not allowed to go to souk

her life is lived in about two city block area, and she is not allowed to venture out of these

two city blocks, unless she is escorted by Said. Fadima life is very typical Moroccan women

who lives in the countryside.



Love you

Emmy



I am thankful for my independence.

It's Been Awhile

I have attempted two times to post a blog and not had successful experiences so here I go, finally. Since the last time we have chatted I went to Rabat to meet up with Achraf and his wife. Achraf is a Moroccoan who happens to live in Bemidji, Minnesota, and worked with my brother Sachel at Home Depot. Before I left for Morocco Achraf gave me Arabic lessons; which I have since forgotten but appreciate. When I was in Rabat I stayed with Achraf and Heather at his uncle's place which was amazing. It turns out that Achraf's uncle just retired from the ministry of justice in Morocco. The house we stayed in had marble floors, a shower with lots of pressure, two kitchens and a yard with real grass!!! It was amazing. Achraf and his cousin, Yasser, took us around Rabat it was fun to be a tourist and we ate great food. I had a great time and they were all extremely hospitible. Thank you for everything.

I spent last weekend in Essa because some of my friends from the Peace Corps came and visited and it was a blast to see all of them again, it has been two months. One of my Peace Corpers went home, it was sad to see her go, but it was time she was extremely negative before she finally made the decision to go back to America. It is hard to know someone has given up because it gives you the opportunity to welcome those kinds of thoughts. I am not coming home but I do know my life would be a lot easier if I did. But this is why I joined the Peace Corps. I have to keep reminding myself that I asked to be challenged, now it is hard.

But I am at Carrie and Ben's site right now and we are going to get an egg sandwich and a pop. I just looked at facebook and saw all the fun everyone is having and it depressed me, so I went out and bought a broom something that will make my life easier. Life is all about the small things. Whenever I am bummed about missing a music festival or a camping trip I will just go out and buy a household item, then get over it.

I love you all and I am still truckin'.

Love
Emmy

McDonald's, McDonald's, KFC, and a Pizza Hut

I spent the weekend in Agadir and it was amazing. The trip didnt start out too amazing though I had my first breakdown on Saturday. I was waiting for a taxi to go and I had been waiting for about an hour because the taxis here dont leave until they are full not when one person is ready but six, it takes a real long time. I was waiting and a bus came by so I jumped out of the taxi and started running for the bus and this man runs past me to tell the bus driver that he cant take me because I have already committed to a cab. I didnt realize once you put your bag in a taxi you cant change your mind. I was a little tiffed by this but I was going to be patient and then my taxi finally fills up and I go to put my bag back in the taxi and they wont let me because I dissed the taxi driver by trying to get the bus. Then I lost it and started screaming English profanities at the taxi driver as he drove away. There is a guy that organizes all of the taxis who is not the driver and so I turn to him and start screaming at him. By this point people are coming out of their shops to see what the American girls is screaming about. Twenty minutes later I got in a different taxi and life was good but I definitely put on a little F word show.

Once I finally got to Agadir it was great I sat on the beach with my pals and then we went to McDonalds. I also went to a dance club and then the next day I went to Pizza Hut. It was a really eventful weekend. I got to get a little break from the bled and dance my problems away.

I am now back in the bled and wishing that time didnt tick by so slowly. Living with a host family is hard and I yearn for the day when I live alone. I only have 24 days left.

I love you
Emmy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

Feelin Hot Hot Hot

The music festival was amazing the music might not have been that great but the fact that I got to dance and sing to Bob Marley songs was a very invigorating experience. I had a really fun weekend doing what I love to do most and that is going to music festivals. Who would have thought that I would find one in Morocco. The music we normally listen to sucks. It sounds like women or men scream into synthesizers. But this past weekend the music was great and sounded African.

My life at site these past couple of weeks has been good for the most part. I have started forming relationships in my site. They are still shallow but there is something. I have been teaching this English class and afterwards I go and have tea with one of the girls and speak Tashlheet. I pull a name out of my glasses case and drink tea with a different girl each Monday and Tuesday. This helps me learn the language and I get to meet their families. The girls really enjoy it and I get to learn language.

I have been sweating my ass off. It has been well over 100 degrees, I heard it was 120 the other day. But there is no such thing as airconditioning here. Whoever invented AC deserves a nobel peace prize because hot people are not happy people. I think when I get done with the Peace Corps I will bring solar powered AC to the Middle East and this will become my lifes work. But until then I will just be sweating. I can smell myself and flies have become fond of me. Showers are another thing that only come once a week, which is a long time in the heat. Everyone take a cold shower or go swimming in the lakes of Minnesota for me.

I love you
Emmy

Democratic Price

This is my favorite line that I hear when I go to Essaouira. Men will sit outside there shops or restaraunts ans try to get you to come inside using the slogan I will give you a democratic price, good democratic price. What does that mean that we will sit down at the table and then take a vote on what the price should be? The waiter will always lose unless you eat alone then you will tie and then what happens to the democratic price? As a political science major I love this because it makes absolutely no sense. Moroccan men also like to call me a chicken, it is one of there pick up lines but not quit sure what to think of someone saying hey chicken how are you doing. If anything it does always bring a smile to my face.

I have been battling sicknesses of all sorts this past week. On Saturday I was supposed to go to Essaouira for the night but couldnt make it because I was hanging out in the bit l ma - bathroom. My family was really nice to me though they made me food that was easy to digest, which I ate even though that is the last thing I felt like doing. I just wanted to be left alone but my family just didnt understand, for the most part they were understanding. Now today I feel like I am getting a cold. I know my Dad would tell me to buck up and deal with it and for the most part I am. I am just worried because my entire family has this cold that when they cough I am sure that they have the black plague. But if Airbourne is all it is cracked up to be it can ward off the plague, I dont know if they tested this drug for such illnesses.

On Friday I am going to a music Festival in Essaouira and it should be a really good time. My next blog will tell you all about it. I am really excited!!!

It is hot here. Everyone go out and enjoy the lakes for me. I miss them incredibly but I am here saving the world :]

Love you
Emmy

Livin

So I ate rabbit again last night, because I keep going to my friend Amys and her family only eats rabbit. It tastes so bad, exactly like burnt hair. I am working really hard on eating vegetables because I know that it is important atleast that is what everyone has been telling me my entire life. My goal is to eat a salad at the end of two years and maybe enjoy these salad things. I have decided I will never love goat brains or rabbit.

I went and looked at my new apartment and it is amazing. There is a western toilet, a shower, and the kitchen has a stove. These amenities may all seem like an expected for you but they are a luxury here in Morocco and all of my friends want to kill me. I have a really nice roof area too. I have decided that I am one of the most lucky peace corps volunteers in my group because I was given the best province by the beach and I will be living in style. I might even make it on Cribs Morocco. When my host dad showed me the place it kept telling him I am so happy and he responded with the phrase boom chicka wow wow. There is this comercial on NBC 2 which is an english movie channel and they say boom chicka wow wow and he has no idea what it means and I dont have the tashlheet to explain to him that it is a sexual slang, which is totally nerdy, nobody actually says that; it was funny.

So now that I have a light at the end of the tunnel knowing that I have a place to stay I am feeling a lot better about this peace corps thing. I taught my first english class at the neddy yesterday and it went really well. I felt like Laura Engles because I was teaching in a small room and everyone was packed into this room and all the girls were really excited about learning english. It was a successful lesson, which I was really nervous about.

Another interesting fact about my life that I have been meaning to discuss with you all is I have a problem with dead puppies in my village. Every week on my walk home a new puppy has taken the plunge to doggie heaven. A couple of them were killed by their mom I think and the others have been run over. Today I saw one of the puppies was walking around with a bloody stump for a leg, who knows how that happened.

Life is good here in Morocco, for the most part. This is the hardest adventure I have ever participated in and I know if I survive these next two years I will be a better person for it. bled Morocco is completely different from America.

I love you all and keep me in your prayers,
Emmy

Keepin on

I have noticed a drop in comments on my wall which means you are all getting as bored of me as I am. So I will try to spice things up a little and tell you about the culture here instead of my drab life.

Have you heard that Moroccans have found the cure to cancer in ants. If you eat ants and have cancer you it will go away. Also if you eat watermelon seeds and have a head ach you will be cured. Or if you rub olive oil on an aching back your achs and pains will deminish. All of these home remedies I have been told by Moroccans. It is worth a try. Mom you can start an ant colony over the summer and cure cancer!

There are many cultural differences here in Morocco to start with today on my way into Essaouira I road in a cab with sixteen other people and no we were in a car not a mini van. These cab rides are always interesting because four people will be sitting up front and one person will control the pedals; another controls the gears and the taxi driver has the steering wheel. I am surprisingly getting used to it and have come to expect having a limbs wrapped all around me when I enter these cabs. And Moroccans from the bled are not known for smelling like roses.

Yesterday I ate rabbit which tasted like burnt hair. It was horrible I am still shaking the taste from my memory.

Everyday is still a struggle and an accomplishment. For example I started yesterday totally bummed for no particular reason but I always battle the question of what have I gotten myself into. But then I taught my English class at the middle school to the teachers and had three successful conversations and ended the day on a great note. Today I am in Essaouira and enjoying every second. I will return to my house tonight and start the battle of survival again. I know I came here to become tougher and that is being done. I always forget that growing does not mean you can sit in your house and watch tv to get there. I guess you have to live life and struggle in order to grow. CSI Miami sitting on the couch just doesnt create that change I am looking for as much as I hate to admit that. I am in the process of becomming comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Homestay is going ok I have 49 more days to go and definitely counting every second. My host family is great but it is like living with any family without the love you receive from your real family. Oh yeah and a common language. But everyday gets better we are learning how to understand each other because I am sure that I am just as annoying and weird to them as they are to me.

I have been drinking my share of mint tea and at the end of everyday I have cakes of sugar hanging out on my teeth. If you think Moutain Dew contains a lot of sugar here it would be considered a diet beverage.

Keep on Keepin on
Lifes a garden
dig it

That is what I am doing keepin on, the best way I know how.

I love you all,
Emmy
Enjoy the Summer for me!

I am teaching three english classes a week, two at the neddy and

Manic Moments in Morocco

From day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute how I feel about my life is very different. I have only been living with my family for a week which amazes me I was positive it had been atleast four months but no it has only been seven days. I have been told that the first month is the hardest so here I go taking this month as scared as I have every been. I started this week, meaning seven days ago, I was maybe a little too confident that this experience would be really easy and fun; only to be slapped in the face by reality. My second day in site I called my dad at work crying my eyes out because I was so lonely and homesick and wondering what the hell have I gotten myself into. The next twenty four hours after that were a struggle; I was faced with my first goat head experiene to top it all off. I ate the smallest bite of brain which wasnt that bad but what got me was all the children in the family were devouring the scalp and eyes and jaw bones. I thanked God at this moment for my impaired peripherial vision because it was a nasty site to behold. Then my spirits rose again. Probably because I got to leave for Essaouira which is always so much fun. While I was in Essaouira I got to eat grill cheese, pizza, donuts, and drink diet coke; all while staring at the beach. I also talked to my parents that day and my brother and my grandma; needless to say Sunday was a great day. Now I am back at site and every moment is a rollercoaster but I know that I am going to be ok. My guitar is getting me through this host family experience. I might not be good at it but I need all the distractions I can get.

Yesterday I taught an English class to the teachers at the middle school which was interesting because I am not a teacher. I have friends who are and there is a reason you go to school for four years to teach because it is hard. I am teaching English with my sitemate Amy and she used to be a science teacher and she knows what she is doing and I just help her. We are hoping to start teaching another English class at the neddi; which is a place for girls to do crafts. I have also been going to the Sbitar (clinic). I am actually really lucky because I have things to do to occupy my time like going to the neddi; Sbitar; or argan cooperative (a place where they make argan oil). I had tutoring today and it was great because my tutor has money so we got to sit in comfortable couches and eat lots of good food; even if he isnt a good tutor atleast we get a break from our lives at site. Ahmed is a good tutor, I think, today was our first day.

The kids at my host family are sick and constantly have snot running down there faces; which can curb your appetite at the table. Andrew the volunteer I am replacing survived his homestay experience, with the same family, so I am sure I will; sometimes I question this.

I love you all and keep me in your prayers because this is not easy. I guess that is why I am here.

I love you
Emmy

The time has come....

Tomorrow I will swear in and become an official Peace Corps Volunteer. This is very exciting because now I get to finally do what I have come here to do, help people. Granted I wont be doing anything besides learning the language and my community for the first six months but someday I have hopes of doing something to change atleast one persons life. I have turned a new leaf and left my fear of going to my new site behind me. I forgot my mantra of taking one day at a time and that today prepares me for tomorrow. I need to stop looking at my service as two years as a whole. Dont get me wrong I am still scared but I will survive this.

I love you all and will keep you all informed, it is time for me to go and hang out with all of my new pals for one last night. I will be arriving in my site on the 21st if the workers strike doesnt shut down transportation, inshallah.

Love Emmy

Iwirig (I have returned in Tashleheet)

No Dad I did not get attacked by the Taliban but the power did go out yesterday in Ouarzazate and my blog went bye bye.

So here we go again: Last week I was in my language town; which must not be named because the US government does not allow me to mention my exact where abouts because terrorists are always looking for Americans, we as Americans are never safe :) This is a joke to me because when I was studying in Spain all of my professors told not to go to Morocco because it is soooo dangerous and now I am here. I never dont feel safe. Anyways last week draged it seemed like I was there for three months and it was only six days. I just didnt want to integrate into a community that I wouldnt be living in. If I am going to be living with a host family I want it to be with one that I am going to know for two years, not four weeks. My family also kept asking me about my new site and my new family which as you can imagine was kind of wierd. When I was there I was remembering my first day sitting in the living room with my family for the first time and I was scared shitless. At that moment I was wondering what in the hell have I got myself into I cant live here for two years. Now after four weeks I became comfortable in that room with my neighbors and family staring at me like I was from planet Zargon.

I went to a naming ceramony while I was There. The women are separated from the men. The men sing from the Koran to figure out what the new babies name should be. The women cook all of the food all day long but of course the men get to eat first. The next day the women dance, sing, and play the drums. Moroccoan women know how to shake their hips like Beyonce, they just have a lot more clothes on. I of course was forced to dance and was of course laughed at. I got sick from the cous cous but other than that I had a great time.

Finally the week came to an end and everyone besides me got extremely emotional. My host sister was crying for about twenty-four hours. When our taxi left our women friends were crying so hard it was like they were saying good-bye to their brothers who were going off to war. We are the only fun in these womens lives. Especially now because it is harvest and they are in the fields all day long in the hot hot hot sun harvesting wheat and barley. I am so grateful everyday that I was given a life of choice. These girls have no hope of living a life any different from what their mothers have done. And if you are a pretty girl in Morocco it is a curse because then you will get married at 18 and start bearing children nine months after your wedding day. Most marriages are arranged so the girl has no choice of who she marries and the man is usually atleast ten years older. My host mom in my new site is 22 and has three children already, she has basically been pregnant since the day she got married. I can maybe help her with some family planning lessons.

I am leaving for my site in four days and scared shitless, but we all are. All the current volunteers have told us the first month is the hardest because I will have little language and I will be living with a host family. But I didnt join the Peace Corps to sit in a conference room for two years so I am as ready as I can be to dive into this experience.

Sending you all love from the desert of Morocco,
Emmy

By the way I passed my language test if anyone was concerned, I was.

Bon Voyage Again...

I am leaving again tomorrow for CBT which is my first host families house where we have language. I am not excited about this because I want to stay with all of my friends and not be with a host family. I like my site host family so much better. But this is the last time. I will return next Monday.

My life here in Ouarzate consists of sitting in a conference room sweating my armpits off. I did have a day off yesterday which was amazing. I just hung out at the pool all day long. Life will not be like this for much longer. I swear in on May 19th which is the day I become an official volunteer and not a trainee anymore. Then life in Morocco really begins and I go to my site. I am terrified of this day but it is why I came here.

I love you all,
Emmy

Thank you for all the letters, they truely make my day.

I have Returned from the Beach!!!

Hello everyone,
I have returned from my site and I am so pleasantly surprised. I will start from the beginning I took an eight hour bus ride through the mountains to Essouira. Essa is so cool it has pizza and french fries and a beach and beer! Our first night we hung out on the beach next to the castle in the sand where Jimi and Bob Marley used to hang out.

Then it was off to my site which is nessled between Argan trees and mountains. There are not mud huts but not houses either something in between. My host family has a 1, 2, and 3 year olds living there and my host mom is younger than me. She cant be any older than 22 and has three young children. I guess my first family planning lesson will begin at home. I also have a host dad and his sister, mom, and grandma live with us. It is a full household but for the most part I really like them. The kids are a blessing and an annoyance. The 2 year old reminds me of what Nikki looked like when she was little. When ever her crying gets to me I just pretend it is my little Nikki crying and I need to be patient.

My nurse at the Sbitar (hospital) told me that I would be catching a baby within my first month of service. By this he meant I would be helping with the births. I will admit this made me a little nervous but I am up for the challenge. I went to the Sbitar on Wednesday for vaccination day and got to give a 15 day old baby polio medicine and vitamin D stuff. My nurse is very willing to let me have a hands on experience.

I went on a six hour hike with a medicinal plant cooperative. This means a bunch of women who hike up to the mountains to collect thyme and wild oregano. During this hike we hiked up to a cell phone tower to have lunch with the man that lives in this tower to make sure we always have service. The hike was intense and amazing the only thing I could think of was that I wanted to bring all my friends to this beautiful place. I would download pictures but it takes hours and I dont know how to do it. I promise I will figure it out within the next couple of days.

I have a new address: Emmy Josefson
BP 54
Smimou, 44050
Morocco
Essouira Province

The only bad thing about my site is that I have flees in my bed and they have done a great job at attacking me. I need to figure out how to defeat this problem the only ideas i have so far is having someone send me a flee collar? If any of you out there are experts on this issue please inform me because I hate trying to sleep while I can feel bugs bouncing all over my skin.

I love my new site and I am so happy the people are nice.

I love you all and will be in contact soon.
Love
Emmy

Hamdulah -Thanks be to God

Pack your swim suits because your coming to visit me on the beach. I got my site last night and found out that I will be in the Essaouira Province 25km from the beach which is like 16 miles!!!!! I am so bumped, I cant tell you my exact site but ask my dad if you want to know. I am so ELATED!!! Dad I am not going to the desert! My site has similar weather to San Diego I think. I am leaving tomorrow to go to my site we spend the night in Essa and then we will be at our sites on Sunday. I will be meeting and staying with my new host family until Thursday night. My host family has two daughters one 15 and one 21, I have a mom and a dad that is a potter, and I have a grandma. Running water and electricity! I am replacing a current enviroment volunteer. I will be trying to work with maternal health!! I am really excited to be so close to Essa because they sit on the beach playing guitars and painting. There is also a music festival in Essa every June. Everyone start saving your nickels and dimes because you have to come visit me. Dad start doing some research.

I love you all and will have more to say when I return from this adventure.

Love you,
Emmy
I am so happy with where I am going to be for the next two years! This has been a very nerve racking experience. There are some people in my group that are totally bummed about their sites, huh.

Back from the Bled

The bled is what we all call the country it is similiar to those reservation towns we drive through to get to Duluth. I had a better time this time around and my family was a little better.

Nikki called me one of the nights at 3:30 AM and it was wonderful because I know my family was wondering what was happening through my mud hut ways at this hour.

I had a funny moment with my family on our day off when they asked me what my parents names were and when I got to my moms name which is Nikki they were so confused because Nikki in arabic and in Tashleheet means me or I and they were so confused when I kept saying I know I understand what you are asking but my moms real name is Nikki.

I also got to witness a Moroccan love affair which is real wierd when you arent allowed to talk to boys. On my day off I went for a walk in the fields with my host sisters and we got to this point in the walk where we just sat for a real long time. Then my host sister Suad disappeared to meet her igran (field) boyfriend. My Peace Corps friend Anneka and I were told not to say anything because Suad would get into big trouble for talking to a boy. I think I had a relationship like this when I was in third grade; Suad is 26. I asked if they kiss when they visit each other but my sister Hafida told me Moroccan girls dont do that. Oh how Americans are so different.

I find out my site on Friday morning. This is the site that I will be living in for the next two years of my life. I will keep you all informed; I know you probably are just as anxious as I am :) I will be seeing that site for the first time on Saturday.

No Sachel I have not got my donkey yet but there are a plethera to choose from here. If I get one I will definetely send you all a picture. I dont know if I will call him skipper though.

Life is good.

I love you all;
Emmy

Reinvigorated

Thank you everyone for your post they made me smile and laugh out loud in this Moroccan cyber cafe I am currently sitting in.

I make myself laugh because after I wrote my previous blog I returned to my hotel and no one was there and most of you think I would have been elated to finally get that alone time I claimed to be yearning for. Well the opposite thing happened I sat down and started to text all of my friends asking them where they were and didnt know what in the world to do with myself. I am doing great and disregard all that was said in that post.

On Sunday I had a day off and went to a Hamam which is a bathing house it is hard to explain but is was pretty cool until a couple of globs of hair passed me by and we all know how much I hate hair. But as with everything I told myself to suck it up and pretend it doesnt exist.

I have been training for the past couple of days on water stuff and today we talked about toilets or the lack there of. For part of it we had a squatty potty carnival with games and I won the game called drop the durham in the whole. I will explain I had to put a durham which is like a quarter between my butt cheeks and drop the durham in the little hole in the squatty potty - everyone cheered, I love that this is the highlight of my life right now.

I am leaving for my language town tomorrow and will return on next Wednesday. I will update you all about my life. I finally find out my site on the 25th which is all I think about these days.

I love you all and I am in great spirits these days.
Love
Emmy
Nikki I need your address again

Worn out

I have officially become very worn out from this process of training and learning a language I feel like I will never grasp. I miss all of my friends and family and hope I will not be forgotten. I am doing good though; I know this is what I signed up for and life is good but I need you all to know that I have become tired.

With that said I will explain. I just spent seven days with my host family who has become frustrated with me because I am not fluent in Tashleheet after ten days of training. They laugh at me like I am an idiot and I just want to remind them that I have a college degree and they are the ones who are illiterate. Everyday for the last week I spend nine hours in a classroom learning Tash and then I go home to speak these words that in my head become a cluster of phrases and all I can rememeber is Mnshk alkiman which means what time is it. You can only ask that so many times before they start to question your sanity.

Another one of my current frustrations is I have not spent one moment alone for the past six weeks. I spent the past seven days in a group which I love for the most part except there are some personalities that feel the need to control everything and I dont like to be controlled.

I know this is what I signed up for and being uncomfortable is part of it. I am in the Peace Corps to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. I can officially say I am not there yet after one month of training.

I just wanted to let you know the truths of my life.

I will conclude in saying that I am grateful to be given this experience so I can realize the simple things in life are what matter. I am also grateful that American where I can sit on a toilet and sleep in a bed. I am officially learning the discomforts of being in the Peace Corps. Dad I know as you read this you are smiling because you know this is exactly what I need in my life. I know this is what I need in my life.

I love you all and keep in touch,
Emmy
Dont worry about me all of my discomforts are the reason I decided to join the Peace Corps. What doesnt kill you makes you stronger; right.

Q and A

Sachel has commented on my blog and brought to my attention that I have failed to tell you all what Morocco is really like. So here it goes the people are very nice but dont really know how to treat Americans. Meaning that when I go to the bled (countryside) they stare and watch every move that you make. I have been told by other volunteers you become a celebrity in your community and the surrounding communities. I have spent most of you time here in a conference room training but from my little contact with the people they are extremely nice and will take great care of me.The people in the city are different they whistle and holler at us and say bon jour because they assume we are french.

Moroccans are very conservative and dont show any skin and being a Muslim is their number one priority. It is kind of admirable the devotion they have for God here. I am very interested in learning more about the Muslim culture.
The food is ok there are a lot of vegetables because meat is expensive for the poor. I am doing good though and eating one tomatoe a day and I have dabbled with some peppers and onions and cucumbers too. I dont think I will ever get to the point of craving a salad.

I dont know exactly what my job is going to be yet but I have ideas it will range from teaching kids in schools to brush their teeth and wash their hands or I could be doing prenatal care or water projects or TB stuff. From what I gather it is up to me to decide what I am interested in, I dont know what that is yet. I am hoping to work in a weavng community and to start an association to help them sell their rugs; this is considered a secondary project.

Language I will be speaking Tashlheit which is an ancient berber language. I am working on it and no Sachel I dont sit in the corner and freak out when they speak to me. I bought a cell phone the other day in Arabic; if that proves anything.

My phone number 01121252964454 Call me anytime.

Sachel I hope I answered all of your questions.

I love you all
Emmy

I am doing good besides the fact that I am battling a cold. Back to training and sitting in that conference room; today prepares me for tomorrow.

Back in Oz

Hello everyone we have returned from our feild trip of staying with a real peace corps volunteer, I cant believe they really exist. I stayed with Fabiola a tough Mexican girl from LA. Fabi is located in the mountains, I cant tell you my exact location because the peace corps doesnt allow that kind of information onto our blogs because terrorists might come and attack us Americans if you want to know my exact location contact my parents. Anyways, the terrain was very difficult and in my Merrell G2000 I was still twisting my ankel while three year olds were passing me up in rubber sandals. The view was amazing with palm trees and in the distance the mountains still had snow on them.

I got to go to a Sbitar (hospital) where we observed Fabi doing health lessons to sick women waiting to see the nurse. This Sbitar was shocking to say the least but it is all they have and atleast it was something, mom you would have been horrified. We then proceeded to incinerate bio medical waste which was a less than sanitary breathing in all of those chemicals so if I have cancer in the future we wont wonder why; or aids for that matter. But dont worry about me :) My town is lucky to have an incinerator most tozns just throw needles in a whole behind the hospital and then the kids play cops and robbers using the syringes as pretend guns; no biggy. I definetely leaned about why Morocco needs health volunteers.

We also observed a toilet project that Fabi is working on she is trying to get 21 homes squaty potties for there houses and half of them currently have there two meter holes dug. That is a good stat for Moroccans; they are slow people, which is understandable it is hard to get anything done when you have to pray to Allah five times a day.

I am so pumped about my experiences to come. I am also scared but I am trying to live by the moto that today prepares me for tomorrow. Dont worry about me I am doing great and I love you all. Thanks to those who have been commenting. Nikki I am so excited that I got to be in Oregon with you and Al and Zach.

I love you all
Emmy

I am off for a field trip

Hello everyone I am leaving for a four day field trip to shadow a current volunteer to see what I will be doing. I will inform you all about it when I return. I have just been training about nutrition for the last two days so I dont have anything interesting to report today. Nikki you would be happy to know I have started eating one raw tomato a day and somedays some cucumbers.
I love you all
Emmy
I am grateful for this experience.
Thanks Heidi and Aunt Jean for sending me letters I got them today, I was elated!!!
I will be talking to you all again on Sunday.

My Life

Hello everyone
I have just returned from spending one week with a host family learing tashelheet and learning how real Moroccans live. It has been a shocking experience to say the least. My host family consists of four daughters and three sons living in a house smaller than Sachels. They all sleep on the floor together and then I go my own room; thank God. My family is so nice they even make sure that I get the good piece of meet out of the community bowl that we eat out of with our hands. My fa,ily weaves rugs which is really cool. Dad I found our connection.

Walking around my village you would think that I was Juliq Roberts because everyone stops everything in order to stare. All the neighbors come over to my house to meet me I have no idea what they are saying but I just go with it.

The hardest thing to get used to is the Turkish toilets or the lack of toilet.

for the week while I was at my host families I would normally have languqge class for nine hours a day. We did have one day off to spend with our host families, which was more like wokring overtime than really having a day off. it was the prophet Mohammeds birthday and we ate all day long. I also went out to the Almond feilds with two of my sisters and it was so beatiful. We practiced vocab, it was one of the longest days of my life.

We have the day off today thank God. We have been working for the last forteen days without a break. Since it is Easter I went to church which was really cool even though it was in French and I didnt understand a thing. I have been homesick the last couple of days and would love everyone to send me letters. i am missing the mashed potatoes and gravy and ham. There is a lack of ham here in Morocco; I guess Muslims dont eat that stuff.

Tomorrow we start training again which means ten hours of information classes. This weekend I am going on a field trip to visit a current volunteer so we can get more of an idea of what we do.

I love you all and would really enjoy some letters in the mail and if you are feeling extra friendly you could burn me some cds.

Peace from the East
Emmy

Happy Easter. Stuff yourselves for me because I am getting sick of Paprika already and I have only been here for three weeks.

Once again I love you all so much.

The Journey Continues

The Pease Corps is a funny thing right when you start feeling comfortable with your surroundings they uproot you and send you somewhere new. The moto I have been hearing about from the beginnning of this process is be flexible and patient; easier said then done. This week we finally found out our Community traing groups; these are the people that will be staying in the same village with me learning the same language. I will b learning Tashlheet which is as useful as learning Navajo when people still spoke Navajo. 60 percent of Moroccans are Berber which is like indian. The Berbers didnt get whipped out like our Indians did; I think it is because they are so maliable, in the last 100 years th Berbers have prqcticed three different religions but still speak there own languge.

Dad to answer your questions I am about to go to my host families house for the first time, where I will be eating with ,y hands out of a dish with a chunk of goat. To prepare myself I have been taking deep breathes. I know I will be ok but I will admit I am terrified of the food situation here.

I will be able to get a tutor for Arabic so all is not lost.

I am growing strength and confidence everyday.

I love you all
Emmy

Today prepares me for tomorrow

Hello everyone that is if anyone reads this blog.
I am going to take the time to explain what my past week has been like. I started in Philly sleeping in a nice bed and all the American things I love - pizza; beer; and new friends. Then I flew to Rabat for training still having my new friends but leaving the pizza and beer behind. Rabat is a crazy city and very chaotic but on the Atlantic and the coast is amazing. Now I a, living in Ouarzazate where Kingdom of Heaven and Babel were filmed. I love it here it is not as chaotic as Rabat.
Training and vaccines are a large componenet of my life right now; which I am enjoying because as I said today is preparing ,e for tomorrow. When I start thinking about what ,y life will be like in the future I start to freak out and become overwhelmed. The Peace Corps does a great job at training you for what is to come.
The food is not that bad and the peopel are great; not as scary as the world make Muslims out to be. It is hot here I know you are all jealous; those of you who live in MN, but I will miss the MN summers.
I love you all and would love to hear from you. Please print this out for Grandma Josefson; give her a hug for me too.

Love
Emmy

i made it

Hello, I am safe and sound in a crazy new world with wierd keyboards, oh the things we take for granted. Love you all and when I hqve time I will tell you all about it.

Disclaimer

Hello all my friends and family,
I have been asked by the United States government to inform you all that every word, picture, and opinion posted on this blog is my opinion and your opinion, not the opinions of the American government. So when posting comments keep in mind that the CIA is going to read this and probably put you on one of those lists.

Moroccan Address

Emmy Josefson, Trainee
s/c Corps de la Paix
2, rue Abou Marouane Essaadi
Agdal, Rabat 10100, Morocco

Feel free to send me a letter now because it will take a couple of weeks to get to me.

Before the journey begins...

I am leaving for Morocco on February 29th and I am planning on returning on May 14th 2010, after two years in the Peace Corps. This is the blog where you can read up on my adventures. Please call me before I leave 218-209-8298 or send me an email emmy.josefson@gmail.com or I think you can add comments on these blog things, if you can figure that out go for it. I am hoping that I will hear from you all while I am gone. I will miss you and I love you.
Best,
Emmy

Changing the world one day at a time.