Hello From Morocco!

Hi all! We got here last week. We spent about 4 days with Aziz's family in Kzar El Kebir which is about 2 hours south of where we live. It was really nice to meet all of his family. They were very warm and inviting. They also insisted on feeding us until we were sufficiently full at all times. Amira and I did get the travelers icky stomach... but we made it through. I won't go into any detail, but using a turkish toilet and having an icky stomach don't go well together. Thank goodness Amira is still in a diaper or we'd really be in trouble.

Our apartment is very nice. Its really big and filled with all of the furniture we need. But, we're still not sure if we are staying here on campus or if they are going to find us an off campus apartment. I'd be happy either way. Its nice here because we have a swimming pool and playground in our backyard. We also have a walled and guarded campus so we can walk around at night and let Amira play outside. But, the drawback is that I live where I work. I'd prefer to live a bit more privately and not having all of my coworkers see my life. So... either way there will be good and bad things about where we live. One big surprise is that we have a maid who comes in to clean our house (floors, beds, dishes, bathroom) twice a week, and free laundry service. That is quite nice. I've certainly never had anything like that (and probably never will again) so I'm enjoying it :)

The school is nice. But.... its like a flashback to 1970. I have really old textbooks. Noone does reading groups, or centers, or any really authentic teaching. The kids sit in straight rows and quietly do there work. I'm going to do my best to teach reading, writing, and math using hands on learning, and reading and writing workshop but its so hard when you don't have the supplies to do it or a room set up for it.

Lots of pics to follow soon, I promise.
Miss you all :)