And Joe Biden was totally in Watertown the other day.

The ‘09-’11 Environment and Health stages are in Marrakech this week for a training session.  Guess who else is there right now?

(CNN) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday praised as “one of the best” the oldest Peace Corps volunteer in the world, an 85-year old Florida woman serving in Morocco. full story

Three things.

First: Hooray Muriel!

Second: Hillary is chillin’ in Kech! The new Sex and the City movie is also filming scenes in a few Moroccan cities right now.  We’re so chic.

Third: The first thing that popped into my head upon seeing this pic (after ‘HillaryMarrakechPeaceCorpswoooooooo!’) was, ‘Hey! Joey got a haircut!’

Somebody bought shoes.

And that somebody was me.

A Note From Our Sponsor

My Letter From the Editor in the latest issue of the PC Morocco newsletter:

Dear Readers,

Acronyms are tricky things.  They can be time saving wonders, allowing you to blow through an explanation of last month’s mishap at IST where a few PCVs and an HCN decided to start some PCRs that before you knew it ended in a conflagration of heretofore unknown proportions.  They can also act as a sort of secret handshake; who but us would even know what that sentence means?  Like watching Noor and hating on Daylight Savings, it’s shorthand for, “yeah, we’re cool”.

Of course, acronyms can also be ominous, haunting specters, chimeric apparitions that emerge from the ether to feast on your most secret hopes and dreams, reducing them to a puddle of turgid goo, your apostasy complete.

This past weekend I had the chance to experience both extremes.  I took the GRE.

Das Wandern

I went to Germany?

I went to Germany! Two PC friends and I escaped the late summer heat and headed north to Allemania, where we enjoyed the land of Angela Merkel, giant pretzels, nougat, and odd fixations with Native American culture.

It was easily the most vacation-like vacation I’ve ever had. It’s easy to forget how stressful our lives here are compared to things back home. In Morocco we’re always ‘on point’, constantly aware of our intonations, mannerisms, and dress. We’re also constantly gawked at. In Germany we could simply be for awhile, which was more wonderful than you can imagine.

After a week and a half getting settled back in the village I’m already getting ready to leave again – this time for Rabat, where I will be taking the GRE (guh), and afterwords I’ll stick around a few extra days to help edit the PC Morocco newsletter.

And then it’s Halloween, which pleases me greatly.  It may still be 110º, but I’ll be damned if there won’t be pumpkin bread.

Drums are loud.

This is Mohammad Boota.  The NYTimes ran this story today about his avocation as a Ramadan drummer, waking people at 4am to eat sohor before the sun rises and the day’s fast begins. Brooklynites: none too pleased!

Souss American Life: Butagaz

My butagaz tank ran out this morning. As I was making pancakes at the time, I was rather put out. What does this mean, exactly? Behold!

Not at all out of place.

This mini carnival appeared out of nowhere early in the summer. It’s still here, and deeply creepy.

The ferris wheel is run by a man with a wooden crank and a really exhausting job.

Hey! I Know That Trick!

This base has a refrigerated container where marines can swap out some of their allocation every day for cool water. But for marines standing post or stationed at a handful of even more austere outposts arrayed outside Khan Neshin there is only one option: sock water.

This, along with hanging damp sheets from my windows (works on the same principle), was how I made it through homestay last summer.

It’s a simple contraption: A sock is hung on rope or string in the shade. A water bottle is placed inside. The sock is then soaked with water from another bottle.

As the water evaporates and the sock dries, the bottle inside cools down as much as thirty degrees, said Lance Corporal Cory Bennett, 20, from Baton Rouge, La., who distributes water to the marines here.

Though I object to the term ’sock water’. Even if I did use a sock.

Ramadan Mubarak!

President Obama released a Ramadan message yesterday afternoon. To say people here are excited about it would be a massive understatement.

Ramadan begins today in Morocco. I’ll be doing my best to fast along with my neighbors. I did the same last year out of respect (it’s generally considered poor form to nosh on muffins while the rest of your community hasn’t eaten in 18 hours), but this year will be more difficult. Based on the lunar calendar, Ramadan begins about 11 days earlier each year – this year beginning smack in the middle of August when daytime temperatures are easily over 110. Next year will be a real nightmare.

On the plus side, while Ramadan may mean long uncomfortable days, it also means evenings filled with shebekia.

I don’t like where you are going with this.

Climate Central just released their analysis of projections for average August temperatures in both 2025 and 2050. Soon enough, the US is going to feel an awful lot like Morocco.

via Grist