Two Worlds Collide

This month has been insane, by far the busiest month I have had in over a year. It seems as soon as one thing ended, the next thing popped right up. One of the highlights of this last month has been two separate visits from three great friends.

Around the 4th of July, two friends from Mizzou (Sam and Libby) came and we did a crash-course in Southern Morocco. We covered quite some kilometers on our trip and spent a better part of the time they were here traveling. We spent a day in Marrakech, traveled to Essaouira, then got in a LONG cab riding adventure down to my site. The following day we went back up to Agadir in time for them to catch the bus to Fez. They got to experience some real village life, walking around the market, meeting locals and drinking tea with my extra-nice former counterpart. They got to see life before I moved :)

Later in the month my dear friend Tracy from my Lead America summer days detoured from her Spain trip to visit me. It was quite simply, wonderful. We relaxed, talked about life, caught up, told funny stories and even treated ourselves to 2 hour massages (which were AMAZING, FYI). She is currently dominating American right now by serving as a corps member for Teach For America in a charter school in Colorado. I learned so much about teaching 5th grade! The greatest part of her visit was the ability to share our similar (and wildly different) experiences. Both have tested our patience, endurance and strength. I might have even convinced her to give Peace Corps a try!

The reason I titled this post "Two Worlds Collide" is that in my mind I operate in two different spheres. There is "American Cara" who drinks beer with her friends, goes to museums, hangs out with her family, travels around the States and likes to study. On the other end of the spectrum is "Moroccan Karmia" who would never think about eating a piece of bacon, wouldn't touch a drink if someone paid her to, speaks Tashlheet, smiles quietly when men try and greet her and enjoys running. There is some overlap, sure, but for the most part I feel like it is the same person living in two different worlds. I think this is how it is supposed to be. I cannot truly be either person, truly, in the other place, so this is how it must be.

People who visit enter me into this weird middle ground. I am neither one nor the other completely. That being said, it was fun to translate for them, show them around this country I have grown to love and expose them to a new and more exciting Morocco than they would have gotten out of a Lonely Planet guide book. This is the Morocco I love, or have grown to love, and I love being able to share it with those who are willing to listen.

This is also an invitation, if you are reading this and thinking "I might like to visit Morocco and/or see Cara" you SHOULD. It's fun and the food is pretty good. We would have a blast.















These lovely photos are courtesy of Tracy.