I meant sheep... No donkey

Ok, so that donkey thing… I was just kidding. I just do not feel like I have the energy or the time for compositions. It takes too much thinking. So I’m sorry for setting false hopes, but I promise to try and do something like that once I am settled in a bit better and my head has stopped spinning. For now I will just stick to personal updates, since they tend to be much quicker to write. And if they do not entertain you, try another blog. I hear there are millions of them.
So, as of now, I am at my FINAL site with my host family. I will remain here for the next 2 months. Then I will move to my own house for the remainder of the two years. I cannot tell you how relieved I feel to know that I am at a stationary point and will not be temporarily relocating again to yet another place. As much as I love to travel around Morocco, the frequent travel in the past three months has been exhausting. It feels refreshing to be able to start working out some sort of a daily schedule and routine. As a part of it, I’ve started taking aerobic classes with my host-mom and doing yoga classes on my own. L-hamdullah!
I am also happy to announce that I (I mean my counterpart) have started looking for apartments and I (I mean he) found out that there are plenty available, although slightly over the price range given to me by the PC. There has been many budget cuts for PC, as in many other sectors of the government because of our ongoing involvement in the “you know what”, therefore our housing allowance is now half of what the volunteers in the previous years received. I am staying positive and hoping that I will be able to receive sufficient compensation since I am at a larger site. Right now I am seriously considering a nice one bedroom apartment with potential wireless internet (for which I will split the bill). It’s slightly over budget, but I have not been able to find any houses for less then that within the “safe” area. I will also probably be getting a cat! After a huge moral struggle, I’ve decided that my mental stability is more important then the unknown future of the cat after the completion of my service. A tad selfish, I know, but honestly… Bite me! Yesterday was a huge Moroccan holiday called l-AEid l-Kbir (The Big Feast). The magnitude of this holiday in the Moroccan calendar is pretty much that of Christmas in the U.S. This holiday is celebrated in the remembrance of Abraham almost sacrificing his son to God. In honor of Abraham, everyone who is able to, slaughters a sheep at their home. Now, I know all you non-Muslims are picturing a crazy murdering scene with the dad attacking the sheep with a carving knife, where the sheep is a live oversize Thanksgiving turkey, but in actuality, only trained butchers do the killing. The butcher must kill the sheep with one slice at the neck. After the sheep is bled, it is skinned and gutted. If you have never seen this performed, I highly recommend it. This is where you can discover whether you really do like meat (I do). Once the butcher is finished, the family is free to barbeque, usually starting with the liver, heart and lungs. This day is the busiest day for butchers out of the whole year. From early morning they go from home to home (starting with their own) butchering sheep after sheep and probably don’t return till after lunchtime. Did I mention that all of the sheep are free range and grass fed? And just for reading through this to the very end, here’s a picture of the bleeding out.