Summertime Blues

This summer has been a whirlwind of boredom and adventure.

My parents and my amazing brother came to visit in June, then I went to Spain with them for a few days. The visit was awesome and I was so happy to introduce them to people in my village. Everyone is still talking about it, even people who didn't meet them but saw them from far away. My parents liked it to, they liked seeing how much everyone cares about me here. The visit had the added bonus of being a vacation for me, I got to go to Spain with them for a few days. I think my favorite part of Madrid was the museums I went to. Went to one huge art museum and it was so cool to see a bunch of the paintings I learned about in all the art history classes I took. I even got to impress my dad with my knowledge of the backgrounds of the paintings and painters. Best of all it was great to see them in person, skype is just not the same. Unfortunately my brother got Typhoid fever while in Spain so we didn't get to go clubbing like we planned, guess he's got to come back now :)

Summer here is pretty boring otherwise, way too much free time to kill since the Dar Chebab I work at is closed. I spend a lot of time visiting people and working on Goal 2 of Peace Corps (cultural exchange), so technically still working. I'm working summer camp next week so at least that will get me out of my site, even if I am bringing four kids from my site with me. They are sweet kids though and I'm hoping they will like it so I can encourage them to come regularly to my English classes when school starts again.

There has been a few things going on in Mejjat. I helped plan the first ever Watermelon Festival in Mejjat (July 8-10) which was fun. It was supposed to be 3 days but was only 2 and a half because of ANOTHER power outage. The first day was a parade, then an evening show (folk music, watermelon cutting contest, drama-I was in charge of music for, and some gift presentations). The morning of the second day there was a race, then that night Fantasia came. Fantasia are a group of men who ride horses back and fourth and shoot of guns. That was followed by more music. The third day there was a soccer tournament in the morning, then more Fantasia, then the power went out (typical).

I've been to 7 weddings so far this summer, went to 3 last week. It's the only thing to really do around here. They start at 8 or 9 at night and last until 4 in the morning. They are fun, lots of music and dancing. Also a lot of food. The typical wedding food here is fried chicken followed by a dish with beef and prunes, then a tray of watermelon and honeydew. After everyone is fed (shifts which can take forever depending on the amount of tables) they serve mint tea and cookies. Weddings are a 3 day event. One day at the women's house, one at the man's house. I usually go to the husband's wedding (day 3) but I got the chance to go to the women's wedding (day 2) and found out that that is a lot more fun. So, at the women's wedding there is a lot more dancing. The bride changes outfits a bunch of times, it's interesting. Although this wedding was of a 16 year old girl to a 35 year old man. It's something I can't get used to, the marrying of much much older men to younger girls.

Also been using my job skills from the UMW Help desk and removing viruses from computer's and USBs all around Mejjat. Most of all been working to stay cool. With the temperature over 100 and no AC...it's tough.