Not really too much exciting to report, I'm afraid. The craft fair was held in the gymnasium of the Rabat American School, which is a surreal little bubble of high school Americana, like someone air-lifted a campus right out of the U.S. and deposited it smack-dab in the middle of the capital of Morocco. The idea of the fair itself is that it provides artisans from across the country an opportunity to display and sell their wares as well as make contacts, take orders, etc. I took over the organizational aspects from another volunteer who ended up not being able to attend. Most of my duties ended once we had all arrived and set up; I spend the rest of the day avoiding the delicious bake sale happening in the cafeteria. Imagine a bunch of moms in Santa hats and kitschy Christmas sweaters smiling at you from behind long folding tables loaded with delicious homemade cookies and cakes and pies and so forth-- that's exactly what it was.
The next week was spent traversing between my hotel room, PC Headquarters, various medical-type offices, and spending more money on single meals than I do for a week's worth of vegetables in my site. I'm happy to report that I have no cavities or parasites! Apparently I've lost sixteen pounds since coming to country as well. As there was a lot of down time, I explored the city, revisited the ancient Chellah ruins, took several trips to the beach at night, and caught up with my stage-mates. Oh, the US Ambassador to Morocco, who lives in Rabat, invited us all over to his house for dinner one evening. Very fancy.
It was good to see everyone again-- the last scheduled meeting (as far as I know) for us as a group until our COS (Completion Of Service) interviews and medicals next year. I only have eleven months left. *jaw drops*
Sooooo-- what else? It's gotten chilly here now, to the point where I keep my long johns on pretty much 24/7 and have connected a continuous intravenous drip of hot tea to myself. I have a Christmas tree in my living room. It even has blinking lights. And tomorrow I'm going to the Marrakech airport to pick up a visitor I've been waiting for for what seems like a looooong time...
