Mary, myself, Max and Jesse outside our hotel in Ourz for a hub day.


Our beloved dog Linda, before she passed away ;(


My bed in my room in my host families home. I used to sleep on blankets on the floor, like most poor Moroccans, but Martin loaned me his sleeping pad so my situation is much improved ;) Regardless, my pillow is still made of rocks.


Jesse trimming Joe's beard. It was time.

Just another day

I could name every blog post “Every Day is an Adventure” because my life is really that insane. Every day in Africa is a new adventure and here is just one example.

I wasn’t feeling well at all yesterday, so I went to bed as soon as dinner was done at about 9:30pm. They eat very late here. Laying down was especially awesome because I traded Martin my extra towel for a sleeping pad. This was a nice alternative to the hard concrete floor I was sleeping on, I thank him immensely for the temporary trade. After a good 10+ hours of sleep and some really weird dreams, I awoke today ready for an adventure and an adventure is exactly what I got. Siad, our instructor, decided this morning to host class outside, so we got our easel and headed for the fields. We were initially looking for farmers to practice our language on, but they were on “Moroccan time” so of course they were not there. We were outside until about 10am, then it was tea time, so back to the house we went. Being outside was a nice change of pace from sitting inside all the time and I think the sunshine did us a little good.

After some more language and lunch we headed outside again to see if we could find some farmers to ask about their work in the fields. At first we couldn’t find any, so we talked to some women washing their clothes in the river. The good news is that the once chocolaty looking river has cleared up a lot and is looking much better. While I don’t necessarily like the idea of putting detergents in the river, these women have little option since we haven’t gotten water in our taps for over a week now and most families stock piles have long since depleted.

We started to walk back in defeat but we got lucky and found one lowly famer in his fields. Not only did we find a farmer to answer our questions, we found my host grandfather, one of the oldest and most enthusiastic men in the village. He is 80 years old and literally the nicest man I have ever met. He had no problem answering our silly questions and listening to our broken Tashlheet and he even sat with us in the fields for 45 minutes talking about farming and the olive and almond trees he tends too.

At 4pm, it was tea-time so we invited him back for some tea at our school which also double as Said’s house. We were glad he accepted the invitation because he shared some more information (through our translator, of course) and was a nice addition to our afternoon snack.

After snack, we had some independent study time, which is much needed, to comprehend the massive amount of information we get on any given day.

At 5:40, Martin and I headed home and that is where the read adventure began. Before I even got in my door, my host aunt and neighbor taught me how to beat open almond fruits to get the seeds. The one benefit to this labor-intensive process is the delicious snack it produces. They were quite possibly the most organic things I have ever eaten. They came from a tree, which was planted from an almond seed off another tree, the tree was never treated to pesticides or chemicals, just some water and animal manure when needed. The almond fruits were picked by hand and put in a bag then given for me to crack open. The almonds were delicious and organic, a two in one combo!

I then went inside and put my stuff down, only to give Asma and Hasna some clips I had bought them from the mini market that had been set up in our town. Asma and I then headed back outside for a walk. We didn’t get more than 20 steps from our front door when the local hen club commanded me to sit down.

The next 40 minutes were the most culturally beneficial and mentally draining I have had so far in Morocco. What started with 2 women asking me some questions in Tashlheet turned into 19 women and girls standing around me saying God only knows what and asking me questions I could only begin to comprehend. I think that for only about 2 weeks of language training, my Tashlheet is pretty good given my limited background knowledge, but today just showed me that I have so much more to learn. This is a synopsis of what I think happened during the conversation.

I was introduced to everyone.

We went over body parts and clothing in both English and Tashlheet mixed with some French.

One woman tried to trade me her ring for my beloved Presidents ring. I almost gave it to her because I don’t understand
Tashlheet.

They asked if I was married, I said no. Then they asked why not, like 50 more times.

I named everything in the kitchen I could remember.

They asked if I could stay in Asfalo, so they could go to America, like a trade of sorts.

They mentioned that America was good and Asfalo was boring, I countered saying I liked Asfalo a lot.

They tried to name me Fatima, which ironically enough is the name I would choose for myself if I had to choose an Arabic name,
but I insisted on keeping Care-um (my adopted name since Cara is difficult to say).

We went over some more nouns.

Lots of loud talking and laughing, but that is normal.

The conversation got most interesting when the town “it” girl showed up. She is a really funny (I see other people laughing so I assume she is funny), pretty and voice torus girl who I am sure knows everything about everyone. On a side note, she is the leader of the “hen club” mentioned in earlier blog posts who also wants to marry Martin. She came in talking to me about all kinds of things I didn’t understand. From what I can gather, I am getting henna on my hands tonight after dinner, but I will keep you posted on if that actually happens or I just couldn’t understand the Tashlheet. The funniest part of the entire conversation was when my housemother, Fatima, finally came and saved me, saying I needed to go with her and get water from the well. She always seems to read my mind and I appreciate that.

Before I left, the leader of the “hen club” said something along the lines of why I was not washing Martin’s clothes for him. She was concerned that I was making him wash his clothes when I should be doing it. It’s hilarious because they are convinced we are secretly married or at least dating, maybe because we walk home from school together or maybe because its just something fun to talk about. Whatever the reason, I busted into laughter and reminded them that Martin and I were not married and that he could do his own laundry.

Needless to say I learned a lot from my first wall crouching experience and I certainly picked up some language along the way. Like I said, every day in Morocco is an adventure and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I would also like to say that my youngest host sister is wearing an ‘Easter” type sweater with two bunnies on it and lots of orange and pink fringe. It reminds me that Easter is coming up and while I will not be able to celebrate it with the traditional bunnies and eggs that I am used to, I will at least see if I can get my sister to wear this orange sweater. ☺

A Day in the Life

A lot of people have been shooting me emails recently asking me what a day in my life is like. I hope this will clear it up, for all those interested.

As an FYI, my schedule changes daily and will drastically change in the beginning of May when I have finished my training and (InShallah) get sworn in as a volunteer.

Here is a general idea:

7:30am: Wake up/ Brush my teeth

7:40am: Eat breakfast (usually consists of bread and jam and ALWAYS tea).

7:55am: Leave to walk to school

8:00am- 10:00am: Tashlheet language training

10:00am- 10:15am: Tea/ Snack Break

10:15am- 12:15pm: Tashlheet language training

12:15pm- 2:00pm: Lunch break/ Study Time/ Go for a walk

2:00pm- 4:00pm: Cross Cultural Lesson

4:00pm- 4:15pm: Tea/ Snack break

4:15pm- 5:15pm: Cross Cultural Lessons/ Language Review

5:15pm- 6:00pm: Independent language study time/ tutoring

6:00pm: Back to my host family

6:05pm- 8:45pm: study, shower (when possible), wash clothes, cook dinner, meet family/ neighbors, watch TV with the family,
do homework

8:45- 9:15pm: Dinner

9:15pm- 9:30pm: Dishes and clean-up

9:30pm: Back to my room for some journaling/ brushing my teeth/ watching an episode of a favorite TV show/ more studying and finally off to bed.

As you can see, our days are quite full, lots of language and lots of culture. While I get a decent number of hours of sleep a night, I am physically exhausted most of the time. I like getting to practice my language in a home setting where they know I am learning and work hard to make sure I understand what they say.

We also have “hub” days where all of the Environment trainees head back to our hub site for a day or two of general knowledge type stuff including food safety, security, traveling, shots and technical environmental information.

My days are full of language and I do enjoy the opportunity to spend some time with the other five trainees in my village, it makes the culture and language shock process a little easier.

I hope this helps you understand a little better what my days are like here in Morocco.

FOOD FOOD AND MORE FOOD

I have to dedicate an entire blog post to Moroccan food. Before coming to Morocco, I had never eaten “Moroccan” type food and I am pretty glad I waited. The food here is delicious and I wouldn’t want an unauthentic form to have ruined my expectations. First off, we have a cook who works for our Community Based Training Group in our village and cooks us some of the most amazing food I have ever had. She is a local woman who spends 6 days a week cooking us lunch and two snacks everyday. Our snacks always consist of some sort of delicious homemade pastry as well as tea and coffee. Our lunches start with an amazing vegetable/ fruit/ rice combo plate called “salad” and then a main course of something delicious.

Here are a few Moroccan dishes I have tried so far:

Tajine: It is basically a Crock Pot roast but about 100 times more tasty. It is made by slow cooking veggies and meat in oil and some spices in a special shaped cook-ware.

Cous Cous: A Moroccan staple and one of my most favorite dishes cooked here. The veggies are boiled and cooked while the steam from the boiling pot cooks the cous cous. To top it all off, the juice from the pot covers the cous cous, making it an unbelieveable meal.

Lentils: Lentils cooked in sauces and eaten with bread, yummy.

Bean type soup: I am not sure what kinds of beans are used in this but it is cooked similar to the lentils and eaten with bread, it is delicious.

Rice Mush: Essentially rice overcooked with salt and flour, making a rice type paste. It is usually topped with sugar or buttermilk and it quite starchy but good when your in the mood for a simple meal.

Noodles: Homemade tomato/ pesto type sauce served over noodles.
Other than that, they eat a lot of bread and drink a lot of very sweet tea. Snack time is always bread and tea-time and bread is homemade and readily available. Breakfast usually consists of bread, tea and jam or Laughing Cow cheese. Snack time is quite similar.

Needless to say, carb lovers rejoice in Morocco while Atkins Dieters cringe at the thought. I happen to love bread and sugar, so the bread and tea has been working out great for me.

It is also important to mention that tea-time is a big deal around here and no one is too busy for a cup of tea. Also, people eat out of a communal plate. I have grown quite fond of this method of eating and it allows you to eat as much or as little as you want. If bread is served, the bread serves as your fork/ spoon, if bread is not served, spoons are used. I have also noticed that very few liquids other than teas are drank during dinner, water is usually available by request. Most meals are finished off with a piece of fruit, a nice way to curb the sweet tooth in all of us.

I was really apprehensive of the food situation before coming and I was afraid that I would be in another Thailand situation where lots of foods that were eaten were either too spicy or too different for my tastes, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the food. Frankly, I love it. I look forward to Cous Cous Fridays (which replaced the El Rancho Fridays I had grown to love) and I enjoy about 98% of what we eat. It has been a nice comfort in a new place to eat some yummy and while unfamiliar, delicious foods.

As a final thought, this does not represent the scope of all Moroccan food, just what I have experienced in my small village so I am sure there are many more food adventures to come.

The hatred of the dot g.

I am going to title this blog post, “the hatred of the dot g” because of my difficulty mastering this Tashlheet sound. There are 4 main languages spoken in Morocco: French, Moroccan Arabic, or Dareeja, Tashlheet and Tamazirt. I am learning one of the native Berber langauages, Tashlheet and I am having a really hard time with this one sound in particular. I am not sure why my mouth will just not make this sound, no matter how hard I try.

Alright well enough wineing already, I am loving Morocco. I have learned more in the past few weeks than I have learned from August until February.

On Friday, I came to the realization I had missed St. Patrick's Day. I CANNOT BELIEVE I MISSED IT. I have been quite a celebrator of the holiday in previous years and it passed right by, without me even knowing it. Wow.

This got me to start thinking about life and how much stuff changes over time. This time last year we had established a rooftop spot at Big 12, pretty early in the day to celebrate this great holiday with green beer and sunshine. We managed to have enough fun to last through the day and night, and this year I spent it in a small village in Morocco learning Tashlheet and eating moroccan food, booze free of course.

Life changes a lot in the years but its quite a nice change. I have made some great new friends who feel like they have been my friends for a long time and I feel very ready for learning about my sight. I am also taking reservations for visitors, so mark your calendars I am open from August 2010 until Jan 2012!

I am back in the main hub city for one night of relaxation, rest and internet before going back to site for a couple of days. Today has been some welcome relief for sure from the stresses of life!


My family and my cousin, Zarha.


My adorable family.


Our posh cab, aka there were only 3 in the backseat. Sammy, Dave and I.

Culture, even when you dont expect it.

I just had one of those life changing “cultural experiences” everyone keeps talking about. We stayed a little late from school, around 6 or so, and I walked home afterward. I was met by Hamid who told me the parents weren’t home, which was unusual but I didn’t think anything of it. I grabbed my computer and the table and headed for the living room to get in some music listening and studying Tash at the same time.

About 15 minues later, Fatima came to the house, told me to grab my stuff and follow her, we were going to meet her family. Great, I thought, some other cultural interaction. We went to this great house with outside painted doors I had seen everyday when I walk to and from school. The house inside was amazing. A huge open room and at first I thought it was some sort of a women’s club, but nope it was a house. I believe her mothers house but I am still sketchy on the details.

Needless to say there was still no furnature but a TV in one corner and a little hangout area in another. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, a reason we don’t always know. Tonight just proved that further. After I got a prime spot next to grandma, who was about 120 years old, and tried out my chit chat tash skills, I openied my book and started studying.

The reason I know this night was meant to happen was because it brought me all things I had been wanted to do. Meet more people in the town and family. See new houses. Help cook. Get uninterrupted time to just study my book, practice my langague skills and see the stars.

At first I thought they were preparing dinner but Im pretty sure there was a man only party happening in the next room and the women had the back room to themselves. We sat there for nearly 5 hours…. A lot you might say but honestly, the walk back gave me the best view of the stars I have ever seen! It was amazing how clear and bright and HOW MANY there were. Wow. So all in all I would have liked to have eaten around 9 instead of 11 but oh well and yeah I missed some sleep but I also got to see life behind the scense of a Moroccan party.

Also, my host mom rocks. Everyone was heckling me about eating and she told them that I don’t eat that much at dinner and then handed me an orange, because she knws I like oranges for dessert. Shes great, really. I couldn’t have asked for a kinder women to be my teacher. One of these days I will be able to speak to her, but as she reminds me, little by little I will get it!

Imick s mick (little by little).

Washing your clothing, harder than it sounds.

Each day in Morocco seems to get better. There are just so many new things to learn and be apart of, that I cant possibly take it all in.

Today was a half day of language since it is Saturday and we just did some language, ate lunch and then practiced on the new bike that was provided by Peace Corps. After that I came home and we washed my clothes. By we, I mean Fatima while Isma and I watched. It is SUCH labor intensive process but I honestly don’t know if my clothes have ever been so clean! I am not strong or skilled enough to do my own wash just yet, but maybe soon I can figure it out and Fatima will let me try.

I also met up with Martin and went to the café where we saw an amazing view of Alsfalo and the neighborhering areas. Sammy and Dave met us there so we got a little bit of gossip off our chests and I feel a lot better. I really do like hanging out with my family and the older brother finally came home today. He goes to high school in a neighboring village and he is quite awesome. He also speaks a little French so its slightly helpful to me. Right now I am watching, This is It, Michael Jackson’s movie that Sammy gave to me today. All in all, I am loving living such an interesting life. I know it will get old eventually but I cant wait to share some life skills with everyone back home ☺

Every day is an adventure.

We are a couple of weeks into my Moroccan adventure and I can honestly say that it is getting better. There are multiple times a day I have to force myself to realize what I am actually getting to do. While I know that this phase will not last forever, it has been great so far. Today I watched my mother, Fatima, do some of the most extradinorarily simple things. She was able to conquer difficult tasks with such ease. I never knew hand washing dishes could be such a breeze, or cooking a meal, from scratch would seem so simple. I am constantly impressed by the Moroccan women I meet, and their ability to do so many things at once with such ease. In America, loading the dishwasher seems like such a task, much less washing them all by hand with only two buckets.

Today was also my second bucket bath since I have been here. Frankly, I don’t mind it one bit. If I could convince my family to let me use up so much water and buta gas to heat it up, I would take one every day. Its actually a really simple task. Boil water, add cold water to make it the right temperature. Take your bucket with water, smaller bucket and supplies to the bathroom/ bitlama. (Basically the bathroom is a room with the turkist toilet as a drain). You then get your hair wet, soap up, rinse, and repeat for your body. It uses WAY WAY less water than in that States. Today I took a pretty good shower/ bath for about 2 gallons of water. I cannot even imagine what my brother’s 20 minute showers at home use. After your done you just leave the bitlama and get dressed, feeling fresh and clean.

I have decided that I am an every day shower kind of gal, but since that isn’t a reality, I think I am going to be an every other day shower kind of gal. Washing your body is easy and requires little hot water to freshen up between showers, but my silly hair is another thing. After about 2 and a half days it turns into a giant greesy mess, which my hairdresser tells me is good for my hair, but not so good for my classmates or self image. Therefore I resort to being an every other day shower gal.

Other than that, Morocco is a great place. The langugage is difficult but the scenery and people are beautiful. Everyone has time to greet you and meet you. No one is ever too busy for a chat or an introduction. The families get to spend a lot of time together, granted, it is in front of the TV, but time together none the less. You are never too busy for a tea and bread break and dinner is made COMPLETELY from scratch. While I am sure I will get bored of these things once I am living on my own and don’t have children to entertain me or homework to do, it is quite awesome having this time for now. I am finally getting a good amount of sleep and that is a great feeling.

One thing I haven’t talked a lto about is the food. Moroccan food is different in some ways and the same in other ways, to American food. For one, they are both full of oil, which is bad for my friend Jessie’s face but the same as the States at least. We eat cous cous, rice and we always have bread. Tea, very sweet, is always a staple and it is served at every single meal which works out great for me, since I love sugar. Its not looking like im going to be loosing a lot of weight here, I am just trying to make sure I don’t die a carbohydrate induced death. We eat a lot of bread, cous cous, rice and sugar, mostly since they are cheap and easy to store without a refridgerator.

Our cook at our langugage and cross culture facilitators house makes good salads, so I do my best to stock up on fresh veggies and fruits while I am there. One thing I really like is the fruit for desert concept. I never realized that an orange or banana could actually curb my sweet tooth just as well as chocolate, I am going to have to bring this back to the states. Also, I am super glad I have weined myself off soda. I am down to a soda every couple of days, unlike the 44 ouncers I was having once a day at home. They are a lot harder to get a hold of and they aren’t cold, so it wasn’t really a hard habit to kick actually. Hopefully I can keep it up, we will see ☺

Life is good here, really good and I am hoping to find out more about my final placemetn soon, as soon as I do I will let you know.

Bslama.


My site mates at the weekly souk.


My host sisters and I.

Living with my host family.

I really cannot even begin to explain how drastically my life has changed in the last 8 days. I am overwhelmed just thinking about it.

The real adventure began when we were assigned to our community based training site. Our site is about 35km from our hub site and since there are six of us, we get our own cab and we get straight there in about 25 minutes, which is nice since we don’t have to try and transfer luggage or anything else for that matter.

Once we got to our CBT site, we met with the host fathers of all of our families. My CBT group consists of one awesome married couple, Sammy and Dave, one returned Benin Peace Corps Volunteer, Felicie, one Texan, Isabel, one landscape architect entrepreneur Martin and myself. We are quite an awesome bunch.

I am not sure what I was expecting after the meet and greet, but the events that followed changed my world forever. We were then “set-free” to go with our host fathers back to their homes. Mind you, it was about 4pm in the afternoon and dinner isn’t usually until about 9pm. This means I experienced the single most awkward 5 hours of my entire life. What do you do in a small mud house in the middle of a village in the middle of no where Morocco with a family that doesn’t speak any language you understand, why of course, you watch Satellite TV! I am honestly not sure I wouldn’t have picked up and caught the next flight out of Casablanca, had it not been for the very small satellite TV in the corner of the Maali’s living room.
When I first go back to the house, I was in the midst of a mild panic attack asking myself questions like, why am I doing this?

Am I actually crazy for wanting to do this? Will I survive the night? Will I have the strength to get up the next morning? Turns out I did. First off, my host father introduced me to my brothers and sisters, Ahmaaderin, Hamid, Iman, and Inan and my host mother, Fatima. He then showed me my room. One of only 4 rooms in the compound, my room was covered with nice rugs and even had a locking door ☺ There wasn’t a bed, so I was little confused, but after a little help from Fatima, I made my quasi bed out of blankets and with the help of my sleeping bag, it has worked out quite nice so far! We then went into the living room, which has a small TV stand and TV in it. No couches or tables, its quite simple, filled with blankets and love! The next room is the kitchen with a cook top but no stove or refrigerator, so my dreams of cold water went out the window. The 4th room is a multi-purpose bedroom/ storage room/ ect for the family. All in all, the house is quite small but nice for the resources they have.

The bathroom is located inside the compound, but outside of the actual rooms of the house. It is really just a glorified outhouse, complete with an outlet and a Turkish toilet. Not the nicest bathroom I have ever been in, but it definitely gets the job done.
When the tour of the house was finally complete, the family gathered in the living room to sit down with their favorite past time, watching the TV. Most if not all, of the families in my village have a TV, it really seems to be their only way of entertainment, and the TV is always on! After Mohammed insisting I take the remote, I found one of two English-speaking channels, CNN! Yes, my Moroccan family watched the first gay couple in DC gets married in village in Africa. Thankfully, they could not understand what was happening, one perk of being the only one to speak English!

We then had Tea before dinner, and then dinner came. The food here is really starch and bread based but it’s quite nice actually, so far anyway. After dinner, its pretty much bedtime, which is great for me. It gives me a sold 30 minutes to decompress and come to the realization of everything I had done that day. Night one was not nearly this calm, but it turned out great. Sometimes you find strength in the strangest of places, like some pictures I happened to have in my notebook, a good country song, or the realization that you cannot give up only 5 days after trying something. Whatever it was, I spent the night and woke up the next morning with a new outlook and renewed appreciation. My host mom cooked me a chicken noodle soup of sorts for breakfast and then my host dad walked me back to school at Said’s house.

Said is our Language and Cross Cultural Facilitator who’s sole purpose is to teach us all about Moroccan language and culture. We spend our mornings learning language and afternoons exploring and meeting local big wigs in our community. We also have our own cook who cooks our delicious snacks and lunch for us everyday. She is a local girl from the community whom we pay to help us out, it’s really nice to have her!

We have already started to get a taste of Moroccan culture and all that entails, mostly Moroccan time. People just don’t seem to be in a hurry and while that can seem frustrating at first, it’s actually quite relaxing. We have had numerous scheduled meetings that just didn’t happen and the men of the town seem to be always crouching behind walls, I assume to get out of the intense dust storms we have, but I honestly cant tell you why.

The school system in Morocco is in desperate need of some reform. My town only has 4 rooms for school and only 3 teachers, so the classes are taught 2 levels at a time with only one teacher. The rooms themselves were pretty nice but lacking some of the necessary learning tools, we in the states used to learn (i.e. computers, flash cards, games, posters, ect). The teachers were great but the kindergarden/1st grade teacher only has an elementary school education. The children in my village can only go to school until the 6th grade, at which time they have to find a way to get to another city to pay to go to school. Most of the farmers cannot afford that extra expense, so they simply quit school with a 6th grade education. I give a great deal of the credit to the teachers who are spending countless paid and unpaid hours to help educate the children and the women of the community. They are amazing individuals working hard every day to make change :)

Our group also got a chance to look around at the Women’s Center and it provided some insight on what our future projects could look like. Essentially, a French company donated the money to build the building and some supplies, ect but didn’t find any sustainable way to make it happen after their money was gone. The building has no electricity since no one will pay for it. They also have a storage room full of computers, sewing machines, books and bookshelves but they lack to resources and teachers to learn to use these things. No one in the town can operate a computer, so no one can teach everyone else how too. Same thing goes for the sewing machine. This experience was just a reality check about how we need to make sure our projects are sustainable and will benefit the community after we are gone.

In general, I wake up everyday with a great appreciation for my surroundings. While my family doesn’t have a lot, they are full of love and laughter. I am learning to live on less and realize that it doesn’t take a lot to sustain me. For the time being the focus is language and studying, hopefully soon this hard work will pay off and I can start a project or two. I just still cannot believe I have been given this opportunity and frankly I don’t mind taking the good with the bad, its just all a part of the experience!

I miss you all and love you greatly.


My adorable host family.


The dust storms that blow over the Salty "aka Chocolate" river near our village.


My living room with the TV.


The awesome roofing of all of the homes in my village.


My Host Mother, brother and two sisters. There is another brother and dad not pictured.


An outside view of one of the school complexes (ie 2 rooms) of the 4 rooms total for the school.


One of our many language and culture classes at Said's house.


A view outside the hotel bab sharah


Shopping at a local hanoot to get some veggies for our trip!

SEND ME LETTERS, oh and heres some more pics.

My Cali friend Jessie modeling the stylish PC attire and the proper use of a headlamp for many situations!



We finally got Moroccan cell phones. The communication here is expensive (see below) but its nice to know in the case of an emergency I can get ahold of people!



I knew you wouldnt believe me if I told you, so here you go Mom, I am wearing the skirt and will probably be wearing it a lot :)

Also, FYI just wanted to say that shopping with Moroccan men is equally as difficult as shopping with American men :)

That is all, it will be an early morning tomorrow!!!

Bslama.

Day 6 of about 780.

Early in the morning I awake to the sounds of the call of prayer from the local mosque. While I have heard extensively (thanks Omer) about this 5 times a day ritual, it was quite an experience to hear it first hand. The song of prayer literally envelops the entire city. Yesterday, we were in one of many training sessions in our wedding style tent set up on the roof of our building, and the entire room literally filled with the sounds of the prayer. It was quite a site to see and hear.

All has really been going well and its quite reassuring to realize that everyone here (71 of us total) has the same apprehensions, anxieties and excitements regarding this new experience. Many people here are May 09 grads that followed a similar path to myself and took the last few months to work part time, move home and recollect their lives before embarking on this journey of a lifetime. We even have a few married couples in the group, who literally picked up everything and decided to come to Morocco and do some good. I am slightly envious of their companionship and the fact that they will not be going at this alone, but again there is always a flip side and there are quite a few challenges that also face married couples and all of us, really.

One of my greatest fears is committing a social taboo in regards to the role of women. I have always been an outspoken and fairly confident woman who managed to fit in quite well in American society, but Moroccan society is quite different. Women have a different role to play and I need to get started on learning that. Neither way is better than the other, but both seem to fit into their own respective society. I need to really get cracking on learning that!
The one good thing about Morocco so far has been the beauty of it all. Frankly, I have never found anything beautiful about the desert. I just didn’t see the beauty in sand and lots of brown but when I came to Morocco, I was greatly surprised. While it does have the brown “Aladdin” feel to it, it is remarkably green, lush and overall beautiful. Yesterday we made a trip south through the High Atlas Mountains and they were some of the most beautiful mountains and definitely one of the top three most beautiful trips I have ever made. While the road was curvy and one girl on our bus even got sick, it was stunning. The tall snowcapped mountains were paired with shorter mountains of rolling green trees and grasses; it was absolutely stunning (see photos below).

Other than that, they first few days have been committed to getting some basic knowledge out of the way, mostly some survival Moroccan Arabic and safety/ security issues. Today we ventured out (with the generous help of our trainers) and purchased Moroccan SIM cards for our unlocked phones, or a new phone. The phones were actually pretty reasonably priced and they work similar to the phones we had in Thailand, but considerably more expensive for minutes and texts.
Communication in Morocco is an absolutely amazing feat.

Most of the nation is rural but yet some cell phone providers have 99% coverage, better than even coverage in America. I am sure they have spent a significant amount of money on infrastructure to make this possible and I am quite appreciative. When I say expensive, I am using it relatively. In US dollars, it is actually quite cheap to make and send texts, with incoming being free, but in Dirhams and our PC salary, it seems like it may take up a decent chunk. We shall see, so I apologize now if I can’t call as much as I would like but I promise to do my best and you are always more than welcome to Skype my cell if you want.

In general, im feeling great. Scared? Yes. Nervous? Yes. Excited? Yes. This is all a part of the game and it was quite reassuring to hear from some current PCV’s and get better feel of life post training. For now, I am resting and preparing my brain for the intake of lots of language and culture over the next 8 weeks ☺

I arrived in Morocco!

Hello all, heres an update!

After hours and hours of flying/ driving/ bussing and walking we are finally in Morocco and I am in desperate need of a shower. Made some new friends and we have embarked on quite a life journey despite spending only a day or two together.

I learned today that you can send a letter to me for 98 CENTS, SO DO IT. The address is in the right hand bar, feel free to mail one out :) I would appreciate it!!!

Miss you all.

The time is here.

Here I am sitting in my hotel room in Philly, physically exhausted from the day I experienced today. Never in my life have I felt so many emotions in one day. From terrified to extremely sad to nervous to happy to in love. This day has been quite an event but Peace Corps Staging has been awesome.

We have gotten the opportunity to meet our training group, we went from invitees to trainees and we got a chance to refocus our minds on why we committed to doing this.

I am eternally grateful to the opportunity to meet these awesome individuals who are willing to give up 2 years of their lives for the betterment of others. They are a truly inspiring group.

Please shoot me an email once in a while, since i will be out of cell/ internet contact for quite some time.

Also, for those interested, official final baggage count.
- 1 large rolling duffel, 50 lbs
- 1 carryon size suitcase, 30 lbs
- 1 North Face backpack!

Yep, thats it, crazy huh :) We will see if it turns out to be enough.

Miss you all already.