Back to life...back to reality

It is just too cold at night here to be updating daily as I said I was going to try.  Mashi Mushkil, no problem, I still have some stories for you all since I got back to site.  Wow, being away from site for a week, speaking nothing but English and being in “modern” society can provide quite a shock when you step back into reality!  While I was waiting for the taxi to fill up for my first ride back up the mountain, the driver, who lives in my village, was talking to other boys about how I know Tashleheit, but all I know is the word for water and bread.  He also asked me how much I paid for the stuff in my bags.  Everyone always ask how much stuff is and I always say I forget or I don’t know it was a gift. But goodness I couldn’t even get up the mountain before he started nagging me.  I just love it though because when they think I don’t know they talk more and it is entertaining sometimes.  The point of that comment was to add that my taxi broke down about 7 minutes into the ride and I just wanted to say “that’s what you get for talking about me.”  However, it was rather cold waiting for another ride because the sun had gone down by then.  Also, side note, I said Tashleheit and before I have called the language Tamazight.  Well they are both the same, just different regions have different names for it…at the end of the day it is all the Berber language, with different dialects village to village.  On Wednesday, I went back down to town for souk with 2 ladies from my association but ended up losing them because the one mumbles when she speaks and I can never understand her.  However, had I stayed with them, who knows what I would be eating this week.  Also, I found strawberries, and I don’t know if I would have seen them with the women! Yesterday, Thursday, I traveled with my neighbor girl over to one of the villages across the river and on the way we saw the natural spring…it is so beautiful!  It is definitely like stepping back in time a little over there.  She even commented about how they live like the cave people when we were walking through the streets.  I don’t know if this was before or after we passed the little boy squatting in the middle of the street.  At first I didn’t know what he was doing but then I saw a fresh pile of poo next to him…he must of thought he was done and then had to go back down for more.  I mean it is not much different than my village. When I walk through the fields I see plenty of human feces and even some older compounds do not come equipped with a “bitlama,” hole in the ground.  I am glad I went along for the trip it is beautiful over there and I can’t wait to explore some more.  Today, Friday, I had Velveeta Shells and Cheese for lunch and an egg sandwich with Peanut Butter for breakfast…Thank you Dad!  I must say I never really ate boxed mac n cheese before I came, in fact I think I threw some away when I was moving out of my apartment in Cincinnati, but I have been craving it since I got here. Today I sat there and almost ate the whole pan; I had to force myself to put it back in the kitchen, knowing I would be sick later if I didn’t.  These small comforts are needed to remind me of home and I indulged!! I let some neighbors try the peanut butter and they were all hesitant but as soon as their tongue hit the spoon their eyes lit up!  In general many Moroccans won’t eat what they are not accustomed to, so I was not surprised many were scared to try.  I think that is all for now…I am going to read for a few then lay down for the night…it is getting cold and I need to get under the covers!