Back in the Bled

The cats go after the bird, chicken for dinner

Me, my sister, and extended family

Posing

Sagia

My Grandfather

In the bled, at my grandparents house, a kid took this photo

A visit from a woman and her daughters

Cleaning in the kitchen

Msnmn bread and Moroccan pancakes with tea

Making henna

Mom helps me to crush the plant leaves

Henna then gets applied by my host sister

Paper beads necklaces and braclets

I often look outside my window and daydream

The bled is also known as the village or douar. I am getting back in the swing of things here. A lot of my community is gone for Ramadan as it starts next week. Not too much new as everyone is preparing for the holidays, Ramadan and many locals are gone visiting family in other parts of Morocco. School won't get started again until September and really won't pick up until after L3id Kbir, which is after October. I have been spending a lot of time visiting in my village, as I won't be here for much of Ramadan as I have decided to go to Spain and Portugal with friends instead. The weather has been sunny and up until recently minus a few really hot spells pretty decent. Now, it's just oppressive and too hot to do anything productive. Between early morning workouts and updating my blog, I sit around with my family, creating art, spending time sleeping, eating and having tea and doing henna. It's hard to believe I've been here over a year and I find myself reflecting over the past year here. It's that time where locals are asking me when I will return back to the states. I have been thinking more about my future as the weeks roll by. I still loose track of days where the weeks go by fast and the days are long. I patiently wait for cooler evenings and then enjoy sleeping on the roof where I can star gaze after the long hot days.