well o best beloved it has indeed been a while. so long in fact i have forgotten who u all are, and u have forgotten who i am. which is nice as it means we have a fresh start. rather like when those devestating bushfires start but from the wasteland plants that can only be brought out of dormancy by extreme heat grow. yes. trust me.

which is exactly what many moroccans said during my visit there - that and calling me 'fatima rasta' - before running off with our cash. or actually only one of them did that, so mohammed sherkawi the robber, u sir are a bad ambassador for your country! morocco is a place of intensity, the heat alone was staggering averaging over 40 degrees. the landscape is one of contradictions and the people are more hospitable than any ive met. the amount of times i was invited in for tea or couscous by complete strangers was staggering.

as i am short on time here is a breakdown of what happened in morocco:

* i crashed 3 ATMs
*i allowed myself to be robbed (this involved robin and i handing over money and then being shocked when the guy bolted with it. quote "and we never saw him again" robin said. but o, we did, 2 days later (after we'd gone to the police) when he finds us in the marketplace and has a go at us for tarring his reputation - he was described to us as the famous evil man of the town so i dont think he had grounds to moan on - apparently the police had picked him up and already taken him to court where hed been fined 1000Dh (thats 100 euros).
*i forgot my PIN
*i fell down a mountain, in a river and walked into a wall over the course of 4 hours
*i trekked up a mountain almost to the top until fear and a broken sandal got the better of me
*i drummed with some crazy saharans near the desert
*i was groped kissed smelt and hugged by a rank carpet salesman called abraham
*i completed the journey from madrid to marrakesh in exactly 24hrs.
*i got diarrheoa
*i got constipation
*i smoked pot with moroccan artists, musicians, guides, travellers, friends and strangers
*from the top of ait benhaddou i saw the neverending desert and yearned to travel it.

it was amazing! and weve been invited back to trek the desert with some berber nomads next year for a bit. huzzah!

so the fact that im typing this im sure indicates that i am not at reading - last time i was there the computer facilities were not up to scratch - nope i am at home preparing for a trip to israel. essentially i was offered a place at reading (probably due to my sterling work at the respect festival - see last post - but my flights back from morocco clashed with the departure of the cpoach to reading so it wasnt gonna happen. instead im off to israel!

prior to morocco i was on camp which u may remember i wasnt hugely looking forward to. the universe works strangely it was of course the best camp ever. to the extent that tonight i am flying out to israel with a lovely group of leaders from it to spend a week in education and hiking and probably getting quite drunk. hence the lack of time. after that of course i have 2 weeks of work experience here (literally the day after i get back so u can imagine what kind of state ill be in. i havent even read the news for 4 weeks!) and then i get to move into the new house. rarr. but i seem to be the only one who is truly excited about it. get ur acts together people!

in other news youll be pleased to know i finally watched the princess bride. putting it in the same brackets as willow and legends but without as many quotable moments. great stuff.

i would like to also make it clear that 1) i did not buy 66 white masks but i did spend a stupid amount of money on clothes which did not help me when i forgot my PIN and the ATMs broke (see above) and 2) i am the only person i know who sets aside one day to find a house and does it. the naysayers all said 'nay! you cannot do that!' but i showed em good and proper with my superb housefinding skills.

rightyho off to pack my treking boots (for those of you who know me i appreciate this will be an anachronistic image but ur just gonna have to trust me..)

salem aleikum.
jess