About Amezmiz (aka Amizmiz)...
At the end of the High Atlas Mountains, just southwest from Marrakech, is the simple town of Amizmiz (pop. 16,000) which has been famed as the home town for their pottery and in ancient times for their acrobats since medieval times (That fact has yet to be validated). But, like many rural settlements, it has a saintly founder, one Sidi Ahmed. As far as sights go, there is a semi-ruined kasbah and an important Tuesday morning souk. Otherwise, it’s a stopping place on the round-the-mountains route to Ouirgane – or a starting point for some short walks into the Atlas. The post office, bank and cybercafé are handily located in a new district on the main road as you arrive from Marrakech.

About my (new) Host Family...
I live (fortunately) with my Moroccan counterpart, Mohamed Boumlik. He himself is an artist and is the President of my town's artist association. He has (just one) wife named Klaulija, 3 beautiful girls ranging from 22-28, and two boys 19 and 27. I've yet to meet the older boy Adelrahim (27) due to the fact that he is (from what my limited language can obtain) a parachutist in the Moroccan Armed Forces. The youngest boy of Hamid (19) is a simple minded kid, that works as an apprectice for his father. The three girls; Hasna (22), Nezha (26), and Leila (28) all live in Marrekesh and work there also. Mostly, they all work in some sort of adminstrative role. The youngest girl, Hasna, will move back home just around the time that I arrive on site. We've already discussed that she will be my Arabic tutor to begin with. She's very patient and so I believe this will work out just nicely. I just have to teach her how to teach me, which might be a hurdle. (But then again, what hasn't been a hurdle thus far).

In and around Amizmiz...
Due North about 40 minutes is Marrakesh (pop. 980,000, which I'm sure you can find information on over the web). Other than that, there is the resort town of Oukaimeden, which is about an hour away from my site at the most. Oukaimeden is North Africa's largest ski resort and has the continent's highest lift at alittle over 10,000ft. It is a relatively short and easy drive from Marrakech, where you can stay in relative luxury. Oukaimeden was initially developed by the French and when conditions are good there are up to 20 km (13 miles) of runs, the longest one 3 km (nearly 2 miles) in length. You can take a donkey ride up to access terrain not served by lifts, opening up some impressive steeps and chutes. So all in all as a summary of my site, and when conditions are good, you may choose to mix your sking with a game of golf at one of their three courses; The Royal Golf Club, Golf Palmeraie, or Club Amelkis which range in price from $43-71 US. In addition to that you might also do some mountain biking, camel riding, rock climbing or check out the first rate surfing on the coast (which is only about 3 hours away) there in Agadir. And last, but certainly not least, I can take a 3-4 hour rapid train ride into the famed city of Casablanca.

My assignment...
My particular site assignment has yet to be fully realized and/or determined, but for now I believe I will be helping out with the new Co-Operative building that the Government of Marrekesh is donating to the town of Amizmiz. Another possible side project might be working with an American Christian organization and helping to map out the locate villages throughout my area. Another side project might be to design a Regional Brochure (The ones you usually find at hotels) and provide that to the Governor of Ouarzazate. I've already created a smaller one already, and he was impressed with it. As far as mediums for my particular site, so far I've seen pottery, retail clothing for women, and some carpentry. Stay tuned on these topics.