PPST

That stands for Post-Pre Service Training for all of you non-peacecorps types.  Sounds a little oxymoronical, doesn't it?  That's the way things go here though, and I'm not going to try and give them a new acronym to add to the billion that I already have to remember.  We have been learning everything from successful past projects to grant writing and fund procurement, so there's lots to think about and bring back to the site.  Hopefully I can jump right into it as soon as I get back, but I'm slightly afraid that my language will have suffered from the two weeks of speaking almost exclusively English.

For our weekend a couple of us went through Meknes and up to Volubilis, an area of pretty extensive Roman ruins and a major archeological center.  There were some pretty amazing mosaics, massive arches, and pillars all over the place.  As of right now, most of the archeological finds are in Rabat, but a new beautiful museum is being built at the site for showcasing what has been excavated so far.   After exploring for a bit, the sun did us in and we decided to head back to Moulay Idriss for lunch.  Moulay Idriss is one of the holiest cities in Morocco, and it is said that five trips to the Mausoleum there is equal to one trip to Mecca.  A pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam, and Mecca is a very long and expensive trip for the average Moroccan, so this city is very important to them.  I believe it was named after Moulay Idriss I, who was a decedent of the prophet Mohammed, and the founder of Fez.

The next day a group of volunteers and I wandered up trails into the mountains around Azrou, following the streams to their sources and enjoying the glory of trees that were more than 40 feet tall (that's nothing in the PNW, I know, but here it is significant).  We saw some large oaks as well as Atlas cedars, and even some plants that looked like they were in the Rhody/ Mountain Laurel group of plants.  I'll have to sit down and try to ID them from a nature guide someday soon.

I'm feeling anxious to get back to site... there is a lot of work to be done, and I'm missing my community already, despite the crazy and backwards nature of the bled from time to time.  I have just been told that card playing is about to commence, so I'm going to cut this a bit short, but more to come in the near future, I promise.