Voting and Other Anecdotes

1. Yesterday I voted. The envelope I mailed with my vote for the President of the United States proudly displayed a stamp picturing the King of Morocco.

2. No one would ever expect that I would become MORE like my mother by moving to Morocco. My mom is one of the most resourceful and self-sufficient people in the world. For instance, if something was broken, she would check out do-it-yourself books from the library and try her hand at fixing or upgrading just about anything in our house. I remember this mug someone had given her that said "Ms. Fix-It." I've been learning to be more like that.

In the past week or so I have:
scrubbed down a filthy, empty apartment
unscrewed pipes and unclogged drains
knocked through a broken lock and installed a new one
bought a huge bag of synthetic fluff and stuffed couch pillows
purchased and hauled used couched and a new refrigerator
installed Butagaz so I could gas power my new stove

I don't know, I'm impressed with myself. Particularly the plumbing stuff. And the fact that I haven't severely injured myself or blown myself up with gas .

3. A friend recently created the funniest political T-Shirts. In Moroccan Arabic the word "cain" means "there is". The opposite is "macainsh", "there isn't". For example, if you were to ask me if I had a TV in my apartment you might say "Wash cain telefeeseyon f bardma dealik?" to which I would reply "La, macainsh" (no, there isn't). I haven't met a single ex-pat here who supports John McCain, and his name conveniently slips into the word "Macainsh" by adding one sound at the end. Now I can proudly display my dislike for McCain in a Morocco specific way. The shirt says "McCain'sh".

4. I used to work at Tippin's Restaurant and Pie Pantry in Overland Park, Kansas. So did a girl named Meher, but the staff was fairly large and we didn't know each other. Over a week ago I greeted a new Fulbrighter and brought her to my apartment to stay until she could find somewhere to live. After about an hour, Meher and I discovered that we were from the same place! We know the same places and people and even worked together once. Meher is wonderful and I'm so pleased to have a friend from KC here with me. It's incredible to have met her so far from home.