Things here are going well. There are four of us trainees here in a small town in the Azilal region of Morocco. I'm learning to speak Tashelheet, a Berber dialect. My host family is great. My host father, Brahim, is a factory worker in Casablanca and will be leaving to go back to there now that the end of Ramadan is over. My host mom, Hafida, is a wonderful hostess and is always going out of her way to make sure I'm comfortable. The whole vegetarian thing is not really understood here, but my host family has been great about making sure I always have plenty to eat.

I have four host siblings. Hasna is 19 and a real sweetheart. She speaks Berber and French and is great at pantomiming things so that I understand. My other host sister Hanan is also really sweet. She is 18 and always wants to hold my hand or link arms. The two boys, Hakim 13 and Zouhir 10 really like the card game "Set" that I brought. Despite my lack of language, we usually are able to understand each other.

Besides the family, we have many pets. A pidgeon lives in the kitchen, on top of the cabinet. There are two donkeys, several sheep, chickens, turkeys, a few cats and a puppy named Booby. I have my own bedroom with a fairly big bed. The bathroom is outside and I'm getting used to using it and the Turkish toilet.

Our language training is going fairly well. I can form some basic sentences and the language teacher said my accent is okay, other than the "r" sound, which is similar to the German one. I'll work on it and will hopefully get it down. I have set a goal to get to at least the intermediate level in communication by the end of training in November.

I hope all is well at home. Please email or write when you get time.