Ahhh, Fall

I love fall. Gone is the oppressiveness of summer, Ramadan, and nights full of noisy celebrations. In style, currently: sunny days with a slight chill in the air, busy days and leisurely nights, and my favorite fruit season—pomegranates and apples.

Walking around town is such a pleasure these days. I see stacks of wood and say “lhamdullah” to myself, because I will do not have to endure another Middle Atlas winter. But on the chillier nights, I see smoke rising from forno pipes, smell the roasting wood and think about how much I will miss the simplicity of this place.

The time has come for me to sit down and try to put the last 2 years in perspective. So a couple hours a day, I sit on a park bench here,


going through my old journals, from the first page of journal #1 to the last page of journal #4 (currently writing in #5); developing site journals for the new volunteer and future volunteers, and reading.

Occasionally, I pause to stare at the hills and wonder if snow will fall before I leave—in just 36 days. My thoughts go from excitement regarding my COS travel plans to anxious about the re-adjustment process. Of course, since it is college football season, the fact that Alabama is now ranked #2 is never far away. Roll Tide!