Life is Good! Kulshe bikheer...elhumdullilah!!

Most of you know that I am generally a very happy person. Even during my "bad weeks" I tend to out-smile most people during their "best weeks." But the last two weeks have been especially great...khsnee ngul elhumdullilah!! (I have to say thanks to god!!)

I will abide by my "no personal stuff" on the blog rule and stick to the professional side of my happiness. First, I participated this week in the 17th Annual Maghrebi Studies Forum which was organized by the Fulbright commission here in Morocco for the current Fulbright grantees to present their research projects. It was a great experience and I was interviewed on both of the major Moroccan Television channels about my research. For three or four days after the presentation, everywhere I went people would say "Hey I saw you in television!". It was an interesting glimpse into stardom :)

I was also asked to speak at the official celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Fulbright Commission (MACECE) in Morocco about my experience here. I am used to speaking in front of large groups, but I have to say that this was a rather intimidating crowd (US ambassador and all the embassy staff, head of two major Moroccan universities, and lots of Moroccan business and political leaders.) I am happy to say I pulled off the speech without embarrasing myself too much. I even managed to give part of my speech in Moroccan Arabic, although I did make one little mistake..instead of saying "Drop by drop the river rises", I switched two letters and said "Drop by drop the river dreams" You say kayhml, I say kayhlm but since its an old moroccan proverb everyone understand and I quickly corrected myself. aiwa...dakshi li kayn :)

Lastly, I was able to participate this week in AIESEC's MENA Leadership Development Seminar which took place in Bouznika, just a little ways outside of Rabat. I spent Monday with 250 students from over 20 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas facilitating sessions about the perceived divide between the East and the West. It was a very rewarding experience and I think I learned more from talking to these bright young students than I could have possibly taught them.

So, the last two weeks have been CRAZY (hence the lack of blogging) but life is GOOD, very GOOD....elhumdullilah!!!