Voyage to home.... suggestions welcome. Its going to be something like this-- and magically, its the same money as it'd be flying from Casa to Memphis direct... so, explain that to me!

Sep 10
2 year anniversary in Morocco--- party!

Oct 10 - le debut du fin
'' 11- Going towards Lausanne, maybe see some PCVs along the way

'' 21-Go to Paris, Sara and Beth will come in the morning!
22,23,24 morning in Paris.
'' 24- Go to Lausanne again for the night
'' 25- 5 Terre for two nights
27- Rome
28, 29 - full days in Rome

Oct 30 - Fly to Morocco
'' 30, 31- Marrakesh and Ourzazate
Nov 1,2 - Nkob with the family
'' 3,4 - Desert and then back to Kesh
'' 5- B&S fly home

Nov 6- Layoune, Dhakla and the Sahara

Nov 14- Meet Dad in Marrakesh
Nov 20 - Dad leaves for home
Nov 21- Go with Sam to Portugal and Spain for one week

Nov 28- Fly to Shanghai from Paris, visit my teacher in Wuhan
10 (?)- Korea, visit KUECA volunteer Joo-hee in Seoul
15 (?)- Japan, visit my old friend Mai in Nagoya
19th (?)- California, SF and LA

Jackson!
http://www.tennesseetreasures.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204



OCt 28 - Murakami epic new book comes out, I've pre-ordered it just five minutes ago so it'll be waiting for me when I get back home. The money is on him winning the Nobel this year, easy--you heard it here first!

Makes my heart all aflutter --I was there. The same square This is actually a pretty good capsule summary of all the things I've done in Morocco in my time here : tea, dates, schbekiya, watching a Barça match, hanging out and talking to the retailers, endless exuberance and reptitions of Waka Waka, seemingly never getting tired of it, both me and them. But I don't see any henna-action** !

It's really cool to see the name Yanet -- the Caribbean way in Spanish to write 'Janet', just like I saw a woman earlier who spelled her name Jhoana, the way in Bolivia that they do to write Joanna, since otherwise it'd be Hoana if you pronounce the word as we write it normally.




**I like the Spanish version better, but asi es.**




And the big Moroccan pop act :



But the act most dear to their hearts was Cat Stevens -- and in that jilaba, he knows how to score brownie points from his audience.
''This is maybe one you learned in school''. Yep, they teach it and everyone gets a dose of it here.



**In the first ten seconds of the clip, you can see the remains of the Argana cafe, where it exploded earlier this year (now its behind a big construction sheet, but I saw it before they hid it away). Two weeks after the explosion, I was staying at a hotel on the same block! My thought was, it's the safest place in Morocco right now is right here.

Two Italian tourists were here, seated next to me as I ate, and they asked ''non c'e polizia?'' ''Non, c'e! Ma non hanno i vestiti usuali''. There's no police? No, there is, but they're not wearing the usual uniforms. You don't see them until something happens and then you realize how many there are, all over the plaza at all times.

Favorite moments at camp so far

--painting the Indian flag's wheel on Mari's nose

--LOTS OF MUSIC: singing Unchained Melody and my best songs at the Advanced 2 class, before practicing Lean on Me together with them all. And working up a version of NO ONE by Alicia Keys with a 13-year-old that's got a 35-year old voice, and enough sass to share, expecting good things from this so long as I'm able to get her to stop rushing the lines.

--Sang an original song to Sara's and Katey's Beginner's 1 class... ''the months of the year''

: )

--able to show my impressed state at the fashion show's girls' clothes by the Moroccan hand gesture, flicking all your fingers out at them.

--Ilhem, Ilhem: her birthday here, on the first full day and going with her to the beach for the first time in her life to swim. Happy to see her willing to wear just a tshirt in the water, and so be able to enjoy the experience a lot more.

--Reading JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH during my down time.

--Watching the singer-girl discover a baby's shoe in the pile of trash during our found art activity for Environment club... pouring a pile of trash on each student's desk and giving them glue and paper. Then the baby girl's shoe turned up in the pile and the biggest, most natural laugh I've seen in a long time, the laugh of a 13-year old that's not yet turned self-conscious or guardedly inward.

--Sitting next to Jack while he played the Ahedous in the Celtic style, backing up a record by the Chieftans, Live at Mag Molly's... '''fulfilled whatever need THAT was, alright!'' he says going out the door, sitting the drum down.

--Discovering the White chocolate MAGNUM bar.

--Sharing summer camp with the Zagora camp

--Few counselors wanted to go on the Azzemour field trip, but it turned out to be one of the great highlights so far, with the great art murals scattered across the ancient medina, the Portuguese stronghold followed by a few minutes overlooking the river (next to a synagogue, first one I've seen here) and finally an hour of Moroccan call-and-response chanting on the bus ride back, everyone including me at full FULL volume the whole way, something that made me so pumped up that I had trouble sleeping the rest of the night. Yes, it's true, as another PCV said, these songs kick our Americans' kids' songs' asses. Twinkle twinkle is nothing compared to ''Atoura... something-something ATOURA.... ATOURA... ATOURA.....''

--Also on that trip, Christine let me wear her blue-turquoise scarf, just bought, and I got people stunned at how perfectly it resembled the color of my eyes. ''Ok, this is going to be the dust cover for your first album'' Doug said, snapping photos.

--it's COLD at night here

--feels good to be waking up early, 730, reading some and then a full day, going nonstop until 11 pm or later.

--