Training Site

Hello readers,

I finally made it to my training site, which is a medium sized city in Morocco, near Azrou.  The city is nice, but much different from the cities in the United States.  The people are also nice and tolerate foreigners well.  The weather here is warm and dry, although it rains sometimes, and the climate is arid.  The geography is comparable to Eastern Washington.

My host family is incredibly nice.  The family consists of a married couple with an 11 year old boy, a 17 year old boy, and a 5 year old girl.  The mother and 17 year old boy speak Modern Standard Arabic, so I am able to stumble my way through conversations.  However, the 5 year old girl continually speaks to me in French. I just nod my head and smile continuously.  The children enjoy playing my guitar, which makes it difficult for me to practice.  In all, the family is great and very hospitable.

I am adjusting well to daily life here in Morocco.  I jog with my host family's 17 year old son in the mornings.  We have to carry rocks when we jog because there are wild dogs or coyote outside of the town limits.  I took a Tea Kwon Dow class with the 17 year old son, which was pretty intensive.  The Tea kwon Dow school is going to give my group and I classes three days a week during our 10 week training.  Also, the Dojo has showers, which was nice, since my host-family heats up water for me to take bucket showers in the morning.  Lastly, the Turkish toilets are pretty interesting.  I won't go into any details, but they are pretty intimidating.  

The food is great in Morocco.  There are about 5 meals a day with lots of mint tea and coffee.  Being a lefty has been an uphill battle for me, since it is culturally unacceptable to use your left hand to eat.  However, I am getting the hang of it and my host-family is very supportive or very humorously intrigued.  Also, my host-family expects me to eat lots of food, so I am constantly having to say I am full during meals.  Luckily, the food is not processed and unhealthy.

Training is pretty intense.  The first half of the day consists of language training.  I am now getting the hang of Moroccan Arabic, but it is still very different from Modern Standard Arabic.  The second half of the day consists of cross cultural studies, although this will change to small business development technical training later on.  Some days we go out to the streets and practice our Arabic lessons during the first half of the day.  Training begins at 8 AM and ends at 6 PM, Monday through Saturday.  On Sundays, we get a full day to spend with our host family and group members.  My group consists of 7 people, including the trainer and myself.  The days seem to go incredibly slow; but, like basic training, I am sure things will pick up.

In summary, I am having a great time.  I have not gotten sick yet (inshallah).  I am adjusting well to the cultural differences and the absence of western amenities.  Lastly, the following are some answers to questions that you might have:

1. Is toilet paper used?  No, the left hand is commonly used, but I use toilet paper.
2. Are food dishes and cups communal?  Yes, although my host-family provides a spoon for me.
3. The primary form of transportation is by foot.
4. Living conditions are very modest compared to most parts of Seattle and the United States.
5. The locals in my city speak mostly French, Moroccan Arabic, and Modern Standard Arabic.

Thank you,

Orientation

Hello readers,

I am now located in a small beach-side town north of Rabat.  My group and I will be receiving orientation briefings, and meeting PC staff and officials for the next couple of days.  The town is small and quaint, and has a nice draw or awe to it.  After daily briefings, we are able to venture out to the beaches and enjoy the scenery.  Moreover, in the mornings, groups of us are able to jog and enjoy cooler weather.  Currently, the weather during the day is humid, although not extremely hot, just messy.

We are just a few days away from moving in with our host-families, so this can be considered a sort of "silence before the storm" period.  The room and board is pretty nice.  It is not as convenient as what you have in the states, but we are able to manage pretty well.  I also want to add that The food and mint tea has been excellent.

We had just started learning some Moroccan Arabic terms; and, unfortunately, Moroccan Arabic or Darija has many nuances compared to Modern Standard Arabic of which I have studied.  I do not think I will have any problems transitioning between the two, however I will have a small learning curve, albeit not as large as my counterparts.

In all, things are going well and I have not run into any shell-shockers yet, although I have only been in country for two days.  The volunteers are a great group of people and everyone, from the locals to the staff, have been real nice.

Thank you,

Getting Closer

Hello readers,

I finally left for Morocco,  and today I am in Philadelphia where I will begin the staging process.  From Philadelphia, I travel to Casablanca and spend a few days in a beach side town near Rabat.  My three month training, however, will be near the Atlas mountains.  After that, in November, I will be sent to a region of Morocco where I will spend two years performing my services.

I haven't yet met any other Peace Corps volunteers, but I heard there were a lot of arrivals at my hotel, although I am a day early.  I did meet a well versed and avid traveller from Israel during my plane flight to Philadelphia who really inspired me to enjoy my surroundings.  If you are reading this blog, I wanted to say thank you and keep in touch.

Other than that, I am still just preparing I guess.  I will have pictures and possibly videos very soon, so stay tuned.

Thank you,