Camping

I just went on the most amazing camping trip, me and four other Peace Corps volunteers hiked from my house to the beach.  We left around two on Sunday and hiked the entire day until sunset.  It was so beautiful because all of the mountains are now covered in wheat fields, red poppies, and argon trees.  At some points we were even hiking in sand even though we were miles away from the beach and up in the mountains.  Once we were at camp we made macaroni and cheese from scratch over a campfire; it has been over a year since I have sat next to a fire.  After dinner we laid out our sleeping bags and stared at the stars for hours.                               The next day we hiked all day long and it was hot but nice. Two of the people that went with me camping are environment volunteers, Amy and Ben, and they both know a lot about nature.  Like Ben for example would stop to take pictures of every plant or dung beetle he saw.  I guess dung beetles get their name because they climb into cow pies and roll balls out of the poop and then lay their larvae in the dung.  We observed a lot of dung beetle rolling action.  I also learned a lot about animal tracks from my friend Amy.                                                             We ended up taking a taxi to the beach because it was just too far to hike to, so once we got to the road we went to town and had a Coke break and hauled ourselves a cab to a small town called Tadfna, which is a small beach town not found in guide books.  It is one of the most remote beautiful beaches that I have ever been to, and we camped there that night.  In Tadfna we met this Australian couple that was living out of a VW van and has traveled all over the world.  I was so excited because I’ve never met anyone who really lived in a VW van; I have only heard stories of these kinds of people.  I was so inspired by them because they were following their dreams.  We even got to ride in the VW van back to Smimou, so for fifteen minutes I got to live out one of my dreams too.                                                                                                          The camping trip was so much fun because all of the people I went with were laid back and we could take breaks whenever we wanted to. The sun became our clock and we woke up when we felt like it and stopped when the sun was about to set.  For three days we totally lost track of time.                                                                                                                                                             I have been home for a day and tomorrow morning I am going to go and stay at my friend Ben and Carrie’s house, which are also Peace Corps volunteers.  There is a festival going on in their site this week and we are going to do HIV/Aids education.  I am super excited because I will be working! And at this festival Moroccans ride around on horses and shoot guns in the air.  I have never been to a Moussem before so I don’t have the details yet but horses and guns are both a rarity in Morocco, so it should be interesting.                                                                   My friend Nicolet is coming to visit me next week, my first visitor!  I am super excited for someone to see my life.  I hope that Nicolet has a good time and isn’t too shocked by my life.  I love it here so I am sure she will too.                                                                                                    Life is GREAT!!!

Love

Emmy