Clementine. Yes, like the oranges.

Things I've noticed about Morocco
#2 The transport system is not so much a system; rather it is an organised form of chaos.

The roof where I am currently sitting. Imagine it in daylight hours..

As I sit here in the sun on the roof, contemplating how behind I am on my blog, I begin to put things in perspective. I am happy, healthy, and feel like this is now home, which is no easy feat in a country where your language is third and you are stared at much the same as a man might stare at the tv. I have already had so many adventures made many new friends, and become more independent than my hermit days (the first week or so I was too cold to venture outside the house-weak, I know). I'll use this blog post to catch you up on the week just left, and then a separate post for the weekends shenanigans.

Lexy and John pre-kayaking.

A typical week for me starts on Monday with placement from 9(ish-Moroccan time rocks) until 1-1:30 when I go home for lunch. I chill out during the afternoon, blogging, catching up on emails from uni, or on special occasions I meet my new Moroccan friends for lunch in the Medina and a spot of shopping. Lexy gets home between 5-6 and then sometimes we go out to play pool or for coffee or ice-cream. Yes, I see the irony that I am always cold (I've become known as a frog) and yet eat ice-cream.

Within placement I have a number of roles. Care-giver, baby-sitter, friend, mentor and sometimes when I say no to something, the 'bad guy'. I am currently googling how to say "No, don't use me as a human climbing frame", "please don't hit each other", and "no, you can do it yourself" (the kids love making me make them stuff when they're completely capable). We play games, attempt to play music (music is a stretch-cacophony of noise is more correct), do drawing or painting, make jewellery and then at certain times teach. The children are all sick in some way-whether that be cancer of the lungs or blood, or waiting on equipment for operations (a boy has been waiting for a heart valve for over a year now as the price is prohibitively high) so it is mostly letting them try to forget that they are sick whilst poviding a constructive environment and caring relationships.

Rabat Beach at night. The light made it look like a film set.

I am not supposed to have favourites, but I totally have favourites. At the moment it is Fatima and Hajaa, two sweet little girls that have just discovered and become confident enough to use me as a human climbing frame.If one of them isn't trying to have me pick them up or climb on my shoulders, then the other is dragging me to a piece of play equipment. They also have their quirks,; Fatima won't allow me to wear my hair in my face, and so any time that I wear a cute little bun on the side of my head, she is on my lap with the bobby pins smoothing my hair behind my ears. I look slightly windswept and messy afterwards, but the she enjoys it. They also enjoy my scarf-tightening it and re-tieing it so that a different colour shows every time. There are moments where I'm reminded why I can't see myself having children, and there are moments that make me go "awwww" and fuss over them like a mother hen.

As with any placement with children there are challenges, and it is never far under the surface that these children are sick. I was taken on a tour of the cancer wards last Wednesday by two of my friends, Sofia and Fatima, and it was heart wrenching. Children who are too sick to move and just look at you with eyes that say "help me". I was lost for words. Where do you start when you meet a 2 year old who has never known a healthy life as he has blood cancer?

A typical Moroccan evening snack. Sweet pastries and sweet coffee.

I have also in this past week felt incredibly blessed, as I met new people and forged new friendships. I had a lovely afternoon on Wednesday with my friends Sofia and Fatima, as we walked around the medina and did some shopping (I bought said scarf with their help and guidance on colours) and then had lunch at Bami's, a patisserie which serves the best (if only) fish pastry I have ever eaten. It was such a highlight of my week, and I was so thankful and felt so blessed for meeting the girls. Sofia even helped me buy medicine for my cold, which was a Godsend.

In our time off, we had a few interesting activies-on Thursday Lexy and John decided to go kayaking before a beach BBQ with Iris and her Moroccan friend Hamsa. Watching Lexy and John kayak was hilarious (I was still too sick with my cold to participate), and the beach BBQ (more of a cake tin size grill with legs) when we finally got it going after a hour and a half in the cold wind, was very yummy and fun. We had our get together on Wednesday night, and much fun was had playing Chinese (or whatever language we started in) whispers around the table and teasing Yousef for his intense concentration on the football (that's soccer to you) match on television. We also had amazing banana-chocolate (nutella) pancakes and hazelnut milkshakes with way too much cream.

It wasn't a particularly exciting week-there were no protests that got out of hand and no brushes with royalty (read up on my other posts for the details on those two); rather it was a week where I settled in, found my feet and really started to realise why I am here.  Those moments when you look at the sky and whisper "thankyou" after a day where you couldn't see the twist coming, but it enriched your life and added something very special to your story.

A week of special moments.

Until next time,

Love Love!

Clem xx

PS: Sorry for the rather random pictures. I'm not allowed to take photos of the kids (privacy policy in the hospital) and I feel that taking a photo of the association would be frowned upon. Therefore, pictures of Rabat it is!