From the terrace of the school, after lunch

I'm feeling so much better today. I got about 10 hours of sleep last night (although the sleeping pills didn't work so well; I kept waking up all the time, feeling nauseous), and I am drugged up with Advil Cold and Sinus and Zicam. My cold is starting to subside, and my head starting to feel less clouded. We're starting to actually learn things, which makes days better and is helping to keep me awake. When we're just having Orientation talks like "Schedule", "Policy", etc, I start to nod off. Learning Arabic and reviewing Islam makes it more exciting.

It is a beautiful day today; it's about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, with a nice breeze coming off the ocean. The weather is making me feel much better, too. It's difficult to be sick, stuffed up, and living in 90 degree heat.

Altogether, a much better day. Last night I fought off little feelings of homesickness; it's always difficult to be sick anywhere, but especially abroad. I wanted to talk to my mom, to Clay, to Marcie and Charlene---just to anyone from home---but I was also needing sleep, and didn't feel like conquering the language barrier that I would find in the Internet cafe. So, I listened to Enya, ran cold water over my wrists to cool myself, and tried to sleep.

Now I sit on the beautiful terrace next to my new friend Carly, who is kind of keeping me going at this point. We "talked" a lot on Facebook before coming to Morocco, so when I hugged her in the Rabat airport, it felt like I was seeing an old friend. We're pretty much inseparable during the day.

I'm worried about moving in with my homestay family at the end of the week. What if I share a room, or a bed? What if I can't communicate with them at all? (PLEASE let someone speak Spanish or English)! I know I'll be fine and that I'll learn to navigate the cultural divides and language barriers, but it still makes me worried. Not too worried.... just a little.

I'm going to go upload some pictures now, so that you all might get a view of Morocco!

More updates later.