One Year in Morocco
365 days ago I arrived on the plane from New York in Casablanca. I didn't speak a word of Arabic and had no idea where I would be posted for the coming two years.
Everybody says that the Peace Corps experience is a series of highs and lows. Incredible sights and once-in-a-lifetime experiences, followed by boredom and despair. Training was hard, and homestay was so full of new experiences and cultural learning I didn’t have much time to be homesick. Moving into my own house was exhilarating, and I soon started to feel I belonged in my community. I had a bad case of the blues after about six months of service after swearing in. Most people have some sort of low point around that time, but it hit me pretty hard. But I survived until camp and am now happy to be back in my site again.
After being away for over a month I realized I missed my friends here in Kelaa. I missed eating my own food and the privacy of my own home. I missed my work at the Dar Chebab and even the town itself. After all that time with other volunteers I am ready to be spend all week with Moroccans, speaking Arabic all day and hopefully improving my language skills even more. I have a lot more to learn.
I feel like I am finally ready to get some real work done. Last spring I laid the foundations for what have become my two main projects: the Dar Chebab library and the Environmental Club. After talking with other volunteers during camp about our ideas and projects I am so much more motivated to get started on things again this fall. I knew nothing would happen all summer. Dar Chebabs close down and the heat smothers enthusiasm for even the best projects. It’s like hibernation when ever day is over 40˚C (100˚F) and sandstorms rule the streets.
But the weather is cooling, last night we had the first rain of the fall. I talked to my parents yesterday. I have seen my friend Maryam every day since I got back from camp and her baby is five months and four days old today and cuter than ever. The burn on my arm doesn’t hurt that much anymore. I get to go back and visit my host family from training in Sefrou this weekend. Next week is an AIDS education training in Fès, which means I get to spend another few days with other volunteers and learn more to motivate me to teach AIDS education in my site. Who wouldn't be happy with all that?
I was walking to the hospital this morning for another bandage change on the burn on my arm when I ran into one of my best students from last year. He accompanied me to the hospital, telling me about his summer travels and how he had been accepted at the university in Marrakech. I congratulated him, knowing that this really was a big step for him. High school hadn't been easy to finish and he was quite surprised to have graduated. I'm proud that he stuck with it and is determined to succeed in the university system also.
I am feeling so optimistic about this next year of service and am now realizing all the things I want to accomplish in this next year. It’s going to fly past. Ramadan is less than two weeks away, then my parents are visiting, then I have some time to get a lot of work done in the Dar Chebab before I take a couple weeks vacation for New Years. And I have so much planned for spring too I know it will be gone before I know it.
This year’s group of Youth Development and Small Business trainees have arrived in country. The group who arrived the year before me leaves in a couple months when this new group completes training and swears in as volunteers. Talking with my friends who are leaving in November really drove home how short this next year will be. I’m sure some days will be interminable, and I will have more low points, but right now it all looks pretty good again.
