Bringing the World Home (the Peace Corps Third Goal)

"The logic of the Peace Corps is that 

someday we are going to bring it home to America." 

President John F. Kennedy, 1961 

What makes Peace Corps service unusual (amongst many other things), is that service continues long after volunteers leave their host countries! I have written in previous posts about the goals of the Peace Corps that volunteers are expected to work towards - Here's a quick reminder:

1. Helping the people of the host country with technical skills.

2. Helping to promote to the host country a better understanding of Americans.

3. Helping to promote to Americans a better understanding of the host country.

Goals 1 and 2 were very much a part of my time in Morocco. I was able to take small steps towards Goal 3 during my service: through this blog, through time spent with visitors, through a pen pal program with a home school in Connecticut, and a few guest blog posts here and there. But the real work on Goal 3 started when I came back to the US.

A lot of Goal 3 seems to happen informally as we catch back up with friends and family, but I am also on the lookout for chances to speak about our experiences in larger settings, and Justin and I were recently fortunate to have our first opportunity to speak formally about Morocco; in this case, to the 8th grade class of The Emery/Weiner School from Houston, Texas! 

How did I manage to connect with 8th graders from Houston you might ask? Through my lovely friend Nishta, a high school classmate and teacher at The Emery/Weiner School. Nishta and I have been able to stay in touch through the wonders of Facebook and I even wrote a guest post for her fantastic blog while in Morocco. When I got back stateside, Nishta and I reconnected and set up a time to speak to her students when they came to visit Washington, DC on a class trip. So earlier this month, Justin and I put on our coworker hats once again and collaborated on a powerpoint presentation to deliver about our experiences - ranging from why we joined the Peace Corps, to the type of projects that we did, to some of the key lessons we would want Americans to learn about Morocco. We weren't sure how our presentation would go over, but to the credit of these mature, respectful, and talented students, we spoke to an excited and engaged crowd of 60 with tons of interest and lots of questions!

Huge thanks to Nishta and the wonderful folks at The Emery/Weiner School for the work that they do with these great students. We were really impressed by their interest in Morocco and the Peace Corps and questions that showed real thoughtfulness, but beyond that, when having a dialogue with the students about volunteerism and service, we were also incredibly impressed by the volunteer activities that these students were already doing back in their own communities.

Incredibly thoughtful thank-you notes from Nishta and her students.

It was truly a fantastic Goal 3 experience and we're looking for lots more of them! If you're interested or know of opportunities, please let me know. And if you're interested in seeing the presentation that we gave to Nishta's students, you can download it from here.

What I Wish You Knew about Morocco (Peace Corps Week special)

In honor of Peace Corps Week, current and returned volunteers worldwide have been asked to share messages on the theme of "What I wish Americans knew about my host country." It's been over half a year since I returned to the US (cannot believe how quickly the time has flown!) and hardly a day goes by where I don't reflect about my life in Morocco, compare cultural differences, or think about some of the lessons that I gained over my two years. So in honor of Peace Corps Week, I thought I might share some of the key things I learned.

Let's start with some basic ones:

1. Morocco was the FIRST (yes, first!) country to recognize American independence, and has signed the longest unbroken peace treaty with the United States in American history. Moroccans are very proud of this relationship; it's something that I heard from friends and strangers almost every day.

Moroccan children hanging with Mrs. Clinton at the Embassy.

2. It's not just deserts! From rolling hills to snow-covered mountains, massive forests covered in cork trees to oceanside resorts, rocky plains to yes, the Sahara desert, the country has some of the most diverse landscapes that I have ever seen.

From Tangier, to the Sahara desert, to the snow-capped Atlas mountains.

A few that dig a bit deeper:

3. Moroccans are literally the most hospitable people that I have ever met. There's a reason that Moroccans all call each other "brother" and "sister" within just a few minutes of meeting. It is so common to meet someone on the street, ask for directions, and all of the sudden a few minutes later you find yourself on the way to their house for tea and then dinner and you are meeting the full extended family. During my Peace Corps training, I was warned not to compliment someone too heavily on an item, because they would surely try to give it to me - this happened several times when I forgot! This isn't to say that people don't have arguments or issues amongst each other, but there is something deeply inherent in the culture and religion to be open, generous, and hospitable towards others.

Justin and I with our Moroccan family.

4. As the US is an incredibly diverse country, so is Morocco. Morocco is primarily a Muslim country (about 99% identify as Muslim) but I observed an incredible diversity in people's perspectives and views - some are what we might call more conservative, some more progressive. I saw many women dressing in a western style, many others fully covered, and pretty much everything in between. The Moroccan Arabic language is most commonly spoken but the accents and vocabulary change between every community and region in the country. And that's not to mention the parts of the country heavily influenced by the Spanish and French, and an incredibly rich history - Morocco has some of the most beautiful Roman ruins in the African continent.

Roman ruins in Volubilis.

5. The word "inshallah" is a defining aspect of Moroccan life. It means "If Allah wills it" and comes into play when thinking about everything from plans for a meal, to an upcoming trip, to meeting a future husband or wife, even about death. It means accepting that God works in mysterious ways and is in control of plans. But interestingly enough, there is a line in the Koran that says that while God is in control of plans, people must still put in a strong effort and work hard and will be rewarded. 

A group of students in our job skills training class.

And one last one that's kind of fun:

6. Maybe you have heard of argan oil? It has now become famous in the US and is included in all sorts of cosmetics, and pure argan oil is extremely expensive. You might not know about the traditional method of extracting argan oil, and here's where it gets fun. Goats in Morocco climb the argan trees. The goats then eat the argan nut. The nut passes through the goats, the waste matter is gathered and the argan oil is then extracted from it. So this expensive, famous, extravagant cosmetic... is derived from goat poo. I can't make this up.

Goats in trees! Where argan oil begins :)

Please Do Not Take Pictures of the Children [Guest Post]

GUEST POSTER: Justin
We had just sat down at one of the tables outside of a restaurant for lunch. This was in Essaouira, and the restaurant was one where we had eaten a year prior and we were happy to see that it was still open (we heard a rumor back in December that it would be closing) because it had great burgers and desserts. Another foreign couple, older than us, was also sitting outside. I noticed the gent of the couple videotaping the neighborhood fountain across the plaza, then sat down with my back to him.

It is summer, so there are even more kids hanging out on the streets with unstructured time (which is not necessarily a bad thing) than usual. A group of maybe eight boys, ranging from probably about seven to twelve, was sitting on some stairs about three yards away. 

A few minutes later, I looked up from my menu and saw the woman of the older couple standing by the boys. She had her camera out. I did not see her taking any pictures, but it seems safe to assume she had, because a few of the boys started getting agitated and it looked like one of them tried to grab her camera or hit it away.

Any worthwhile Morocco guidebook will tell you not to take pictures of people without first asking their permission. And if you think about it, that's really common sense and not just in Morocco. I am not talking about a crowd scene or a photo of a landscape or something where someone happens to be walking across in the distance, but one wouldn't, or at least typically shouldn't, walk up to some stranger in the US and start taking portraits of him or her (or his or her kids). The same holds true here, the people aren't animals in the zoo, so we shouldn't photograph them without asking.

So the woman returned to her table and the situation seemed to be quieting down. Then another patron of the restaurant, whom I had not previously noticed, started talking. He began telling the woman that it's rude to take pictures of people without asking, but somehow or other within 90 seconds he was shouting, cursing, and storming out of the restaurant.We thought he was disturbed but later learned from the restaurant staff that the guy is an American who has lived in Essaouira for years and visits the restaurant from time to time (though I guess this does not preclude his being disturbed). 

You can use your imagination about what the guy said, suffice to say it involved abundant use of the letter F accompanied by corresponding finger-raising. He seemed unaware of the irony of going on a profanity filled tirade about a point of etiquette. He also set a rather poor example for the kids, because as soon as his fingers started flying they picked it up and began cursing too. Now I'm not so naïve as to think that they had never heard foul language or seen raised fingers before, but they were not doing anything until he did.

The woman seemed pretty upset and shaken up. She and her companion even asked the restaurant staff for directions to the nearest police station, though what they thought the police could or would do is beyond me. I felt bad for the woman; what she did was inappropriate but seemed more based on ignorance than malevolence. The other patron's response was completely out of line (at one point it looked like he was actually about to get hit by a Moroccan bystander) and precipitated the boys' bad behavior. As for the boys, one might be tempted to pigeonhole them as looking for trouble or up to no good, but an interesting conclusion to this whole thing, which you can interpret however you will, was that a few minutes after the kids were following the vulgar example of the other patron, they actually came up to Lauren and me to apologize to us.

Moral of the story: Don't take pictures of people without asking for permission.

Climbing Mountains

Justin and I returned this week from our final round of travels in Morocco, passing through Agadir, Essaouira, Oualidia, Casablanca, and the (literal) culmination, climbing up Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa! 

I had a lot of time to think while slowly making my way up to 13,671 feet. And I spent a lot of that time reflecting on my experience in the Peace Corps and living in Morocco more generally. I started seeing parallels between my mountain climb and my two year experience living abroad.

Justin and I smiling the night before our big climb.

Be patient and deliberate

Climbing up the steepest summit to the peak of the mountain was one of the hardest physical experiences of my life. The summit was filled with tiny pebbles and very few places to get a firm foothold. I found success in patience - surveying my surroundings slowly and patiently, planning my next step very deliberately, then doing the same for each new step. And the same with my experiences living in Morocco. Sometimes projects, goals, even day-to-day duties can move at a much slower pace than I may have wanted, but I have learned to be patient and deliberate, and in time I've been able to achieve my goals and experience success.

Lots of rocks, pebbles, and snow - in June!

Be aware of and respectful of surroundings

I guess this might be an obvious one. Being respectful to nature, to other people, to the culture in which I'm living - it all goes together.

And what beautiful surroundings they are!

Keep one eye on the ground and one eye towards the sky

The mountain climb was filled with steep twists and turns, sharp rocks, slippery pebbles, and all sorts of other impediments, and I realized after climbing a short time that I hadn't taken my eyes off of the ground! Then I looked up and saw the first rays of the morning sun shining through the mountains:

I realized how incredibly important it is to continue to watch steps and be aware of my path, but at the same time, I can't forget to take in the beautiful world around me! The same goes for my Peace Corps experience. So much time focused on getting the language right, understanding where to go and what to do... but at the same time, I've tried to keep an eye on the bigger picture - why I'm here and what kind of legacy I can leave behind.


Celebrate all victories, small and large

It was a long, long climb. At times I got frustrated, nervous, scared, and overwhelmed at the obstacles ahead of me. Not sure whether I am talking about the mountain or about my Peace Corps experience right now :) But whether it was as small as celebrating making it to the next tree or learning a new vocabulary word, I found that in a long journey, making sure to celebrate the small things is just as important.

A quick photo break on the way up.

Celebrating at the top - we did it!

Things I Wish I Knew

I just spent 3 days with a group of 96 excited, apprehensive, eager, and motivated Peace Corps trainees! They just arrived last Wednesday and have been thrown into the grind with 2 months of intense training to learn everything from Moroccan culture and language to figuring out how to assess community needs and develop an action plan to lectures on Peace Corps policies and procedures. My time in Rabat was spent in sessions talking about gender-specific programming, volunteer diversity, and harassment, and out of sessions talking about everything and anything on these trainees' minds - how to manage language learning, volunteer experiences, the kinds of programming we do, what the food is like, you name it.

Sharing some of my experiences with them was really exciting, and in return I soaked up so much of their energy and motivation. Watching a group of individuals who are about to embark on this amazing adventure, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about those first few months when everything was so scary and overwhelming, but at the same time incredibly new and exciting. I have now been living in this country for over 16 months (scary!) and while I’m no expert, I certainly feel I’ve come a long way from those scary initial months. So I thought it might be fun to make a quick list of some of the things that I wish I knew (or wish I understood) about this experience at the very beginning, for better or for worse!

1.   My job might will be ambiguous

My official title is a Youth Development Volunteer. What that means in Morocco can vary from being an English teacher to running sports teams to doing job skills trainings to developing health activities to cleaning up neighborhoods to teaching about citizenship to training teachers to supporting cooperatives and artisan groups to promoting cultural exchange to working with people with disabilities… and pretty much everything in between. What’s awesome about this is that Volunteers truly have the opportunity to match their skills to the work that they feel is both important and needed in the community – but what makes it difficult is actually determining what those are.

2.   Making mistakes is okay

I very distinctly remember on day 2 of our training, my Moroccan Arabic language teacher sent me out of the classroom and into the street to have my first “conversation” with a Moroccan. He picked out a girl near our training center, asked if she wouldn’t mind speaking with me at a 1st grade level, and then pushed me towards her. I consider myself an outgoing and friendly person but I remember feeling more scared of this encounter than anything I could remember… mainly because I wasn’t confident in my language skills (pretty reasonable after only 1 day!) and I was practically paralyzed with fear about making mistakes. But I sucked it up and went into that conversation, and laughed with her as we worked together to construct a very broken conversation. And this spills over into so many experiences that I’ve had – I can only improve from learning and I can only learn from doing and if doing involves making some mistakes, then it’s an important part of the process. 

3.   Morocco gets COLD!

Yes, I know that Morocco is on the edge of the Sahara Desert. But there are mountains and forests and large bodies of water and did I mention ski resorts or that homes are generally not heated? And I’m fortunate to be in an area that’s not even the coldest part of the Morocco by far.

4.   Everyone’s experience is different

Peace Corps staff teach that we shouldn’t compare our experience to any other Peace Corps Volunteer’s, because every person’s situation is so different – varying communities, backgrounds, attitudes and perspectives contribute to totally different experiences. But it’s certainly hard when we’re all trying to figure out our ways at the same time.

5.   Relationships take time to build

Just like making a good couscous here, relationships take time to develop, build, and nurture. It has taken me until just a few months ago to develop strong relationships with young women in my community. Part of this comes from cultural restrictions – these women just don’t spend as much time out of the home, so there’s less opportunity to create relationships – and part of this comes from me being with Justin and spending less time on my own developing individual relationships. Regardless, I have been patient and I am so happy that I have done so, as I’m now being rewarded with some wonderful friends and potential partners.

6.   I am stronger than I think

I am truly proud of what I have been able to do here – not just in terms of programs or classes or partnerships but for the personal leaps that I have been able to make: living in an unknown place separated at an enormous distance from friends and family and the comforts of the U.S. that we are used to; learning a spoken language for the first time (other than English) in my life (regretting that choice to study Latin in high school); figuring out how to understand, appreciate and respect a new culture, religion, and way of life; dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity (see #1); and taking new experiences and adventures head on and with drive and positivity!

7.   Time will fly.

Cliché but very, very, very true.

What time is it??

One of the toughest adjustments to living in Morocco has been getting used to cultural differences regarding the concept of time. During our first two months of training, we learned that Morocco tends to have a "polychronic" culture, compared to America's "monochronic" culture. In polychronic cultures, people are not as ruled by precise calendars and schedules; human interaction is valued over time and material things, leading to a lesser concern for "getting things done" - they do get things done, but more in their own time (sometimes quick, sometimes not so much). Additionally, a polychronic system has a much more fluid approach in scheduling time, and many things are done simultaneously, in a way that Americans might consider less efficient.

Interesting stuff huh? Well, it's very interesting to read about but waaaay harder to live it! A few examples of how this has affected us - We might speak with a friend about meeting at a cafe in the afternoon and we set up an exact time to meet. As you can imagine, we arrive at the cafe right on time (because that's how we monochrons roll, right?) and the Moroccan strolls in an hour late. Are we upset? Maybe a little, but if we take off our American cap we realize that this is due to cultural differences in the approach towards time. 

Another example is with lines at the post office. Well, I can't really call them lines, it's more like mass huddles of people around the service window. The postal employee does not help people one by one; rather, she tries to help five people at the same time and whoever gets their letters nearest to her are the ones who are helped next. What works here to my benefit is that she often sees me (because as you can imagine, I stick out here a bit!) and will gesture to me to come up to the front of the "line." In America this would be unheard of, but here, with a more fluid approach to time, it's the norm.

And just when you think you have it all figured out, Moroccans throw you a curveball - daylight savings time! Which started a few weeks ago, changes back during Ramadan, and then changes back again afterwards. But what gets confusing is that not everyone changes their clocks. Government-run offices (i.e. banks, post offices) seem to run on new time, and our Youth Center runs on new time, and schools run on the new time, except for Fridays when schools run on new time in the morning and old time in the afternoon (that's because prayer time at the mosques runs on old time and Friday afternoon is the most important time for prayer). Local stores and the markets seem to run on old time, so whereas we used to get groceries around 4 PM, now we have to remember not to go until at least 5 PM. Individuals are totally mixed; we have some students and friends who automatically made the switch, but many who stroll in at the end of our classes and then realize that our classes run on new, not old time. And many times when we make plans with people, we have to confirm with them if our plans are based on new or old time (but they'll be late anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter too much!).

Confused yet? On a positive note, it's a really great way to shed the impatient-New-Yorker mentality :)  I spent an hour on the phone today, booking plane tickets due to a delightful quirk in Iberia Airlines' website. In New York I would have been fuming. Here, no big deal. Where are we going??? In true polychronic style... I'll post it when the time is right!

Volunteerism

Before Justin and I came to Morocco and during our training period in country, we were told by many people that the concept of "volunteerism" is very much rooted in American culture and that volunteering is not something that people in many other countries (Morocco included) either do or understand.

After about 7 months of living in Morocco, I am here to tell you that this statement (at least related to Moroccans) is totally false. The youth of Morocco not only say that volunteering is important, but they back up their words with actions. In only 5 months of living in Tiflet, we have witnessed some absolutely amazing volunteer activities, all planned by youth and for the betterment of the community:

• Providing free eye exams at our youth center for the entire community - along with free glasses
• Planning and running a 3-day Arabic poetry festival, bringing in poets from Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and all over Morocco
• Doing ongoing educational activities for children - puppet shows, clowns, music, videos - about things such as the environment or the importance of studying
• Running sports tournaments for children
• Developing workshops to educate the community on issues such as AIDS and women’s rights

And that's not all. Justin and I recently worked with the U.S. Department of State in Morocco on a program called "Youth and Volunteerism." Last week, we met with 35 students from high schools and universities around Rabat and led a presentation and open discussion about volunteerism. After hearing about some of the work that they have been doing, we thought that they could have given the presentation! Here are a few highlights:
• Helping single mothers and sexually-abused women
• Running clothing drives in schools
• Helping released prisoners re-enter the community and find jobs
• Developing girls' leadership and empowerment programs

• Visiting orphanages, elderly homes, and hospitals

Justin and I ended our presentation in Rabat with the below quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the last sermon that he delivered (at Ebenezer Baptist Church, exactly 2 months before his assassination):

I left our volunteerism meeting feeling inspired and in awe of the youth of Morocco. We're just finishing the month of April, which was National Volunteer Month in the U.S. Hopefully some of this inspired you, too.

P.S. If you are interested in seeing our presentation about volunteerism (the history, what it's like in the U.S. and what we've seen in Morocco), you can view and download it here. And below are a few photos from the event!

My first event!

A few weeks ago, I held my first program in the community! (outside of activities related to English classes)

The invitation to the event

I wanted to do an activity specific to women, because so many boys come to our Youth Center on a daily basis, and not nearly as many girls. Plus, there are so many things that a man can do in the community (go to a cafe, soccer games, etc) that a woman just does not do here - so I wanted to give girls a chance to have an activity of their own in a comfortable and open environment. And selfishly, I wanted to spend more time with the girls and learn about their interests for potential future activities.

Soda and cookies, wrapped in cute individual packages for each girl

I planned the event along with my host sister and mother, and I was so pleased with the end result! Over 75 girls showed up, and we started with a discussion on being a woman. The conversation centered around questions like, Is it important to have children? Or to have a husband? We had a panel of 3 high school girls and an open microphone in which any girl could speak or ask questions. A lot of discussion, and some debate, but generally a good chance for girls to voice their opinions. 

We adjourned the discussion to a much lighter activity, a Moroccan/American dance party, in which I taught - and learned - lots of moves. Following an hour or so of dancing, we took a break for soda and cookies, which my host mom made. Then, we had 3 volunteers painting henna on girls' hands, something that is done often in celebrations and parties. 

For a first event, I was really excited about the result, and it was a great chance to get to know the girls of Tiflet better. And I even learned some valuable lessons along the way: First off, I think it definitely helped my language skills, because I had to talk about things that are not in the realm of my day-to-day activities. Second, I learned the importance of informal interactions in Moroccan culture - As opposed to formal meetings in the US as a way to get things done, here, it seems as if informal interactions, whether seeing someone on the street, before a meal, or in a cafe, often leads to getting more things accomplished. Next, I learned the importance of flexibility - when the inevitable changes occurred, due to scheduling (a Moroccan view of being on time is very different from my view!) or perhaps language misunderstandings, I recognized that it's a part of getting the job done, and while still stressful, I learned to grin and bear it. And lastly, I learned the importance of leaning on others (particularly Moroccans) to help me. My host sister helped me to understand what would be culturally appropriate for the event and the process needed to plan it out, some of the boys in the Youth Center helped me to set up speakers and chairs in the room, my host mother helped to make cookies and accompanied me to the market to find henna materials, and a group of willing girls helped me through the event itself, speaking about being a woman and doing the henna.

A lot of important lessons that I'm glad I've learned early on! Out of respect for the girls and for the safe space that we created, I have not posted any photos with specific faces, but if anyone is interested in seeing more photos from the event, please email me and I can share a private password-protected album.

In other news....

After 4 months in a cast, hobbling around on crutches, and doing physical therapy (remember those posts??) I have officially started running again!! Only about 30 minutes around town so far, but it's nice to be back. I have received a few funny looks from people as I run by, but it's another good way to show people about my life back in the US of A. 

And speaking of the US of A - the Bernsteins and friends have entered the country!! Coming next week, a post with lots of photos about adventures with our first American visitors :)

Boundaries (and children)

It's my first blog post of 2012! I hope everyone is off to a great start in the new year.

The inspiration for this blog post came from one of my daily trips last week to and from Rabat for physical therapy (if you read my last triumphant post, my cast is now off and the doctor has recommended a month of physical therapy – so far, so good!).

In order to get from our site to Rabat and back, we take what is called a “grand taxi” - essentially an old Mercedes Benz that would be fairly spacious, except that 6 passengers (along with the driver) are packed into the car – 4 in the back, 2 in the front, plus the driver. This is a fairly common way that I've seen in Morocco of transporting people from place to place. So there I am, in the back of a grand taxi, waiting for 2 final passengers before the taxi would leave, when an older woman gets in the backseat along with a young child, maybe 2 years old. I make pleasant conversation with the woman for a few minutes as we begin riding back to Tiflet, and then she proceeds to hand me the child (without my asking), who sits and plays on my lap for the rest of the trip. The child was adorable and I enjoyed the distraction which made the 45 minute ride go by much quicker, but it also highlighted two cultural observations that I wanted to share: 

1. Moroccans love children 

I mean, everyone loves a cute kid here and there, but I have never seen such a love for children that this country seems to share. People coo and smile when a small child enters a room and kids are passed around from person to person (whether they know them or not) to coddle them endlessly. Which leads me to... 

2. Thin boundaries, no barriers 

I knew before coming to Morocco to expect less physical boundaries. The grand taxi experience is one of many in which spatial relationships are very different than in the U.S. Here, many families sleep together in small rooms, greetings always involve handshakes and more often than not hugs and kisses (even amongst strangers), boys think nothing of sitting on each others' laps or walking arm-in-arm. And then there's the passing around of children. I laughed to myself trying to compare my situation to the U.S. - what would happen if I were sitting on a subway train in New York and a total stranger sitting next to me struck up a conversation and handed me their child to play with?

While I expected there to be fewer physical barriers, I have been surprised that there are fewer emotional barriers between people as well. Greetings involve hugs and kisses; that's because you almost instantly become close friends, even family. And what I found most interesting about my experience in the grand taxi was not necessarily that of our spatial closeness, but rather our emotional closeness. That this woman seemed to feel as comfortable with me after 5 minutes as someone might feel after 5 years.

One of our friends from the Youth Center invited us over for lunch today, and this was the first time we met the rest of his family. They fed us a huge lunch (rfisa – recipe forthcoming, as I am determined to learn how to cook because it is amazing!), and then immediately after which they asked us to stay for kaskrot (the next meal following lunch, several hours away). When we said we needed to prepare for upcoming English classes, they sent us away with a bag of lemons, a massive jug of olives freshly brined, and a full bottle of fresh zeit bldya (traditional olive oil) . All this after 1 hour spent with the family - which of course, involved lots of time spent playing with the children.

In other news, we traveled to Ifrane on New Year's Day with friends from our Youth Center. En route, we made a few new friends (photo below). And the apartment is coming together. We cooked our first meal this week - a little taste of home. Enjoy the pictures! 

In a shop in Azrou, on the way to Ifrane

One of our new friends

My Italian in-laws should be proud!!

Tiflet and bum foot update

For those who have been following updates on my Facebook page, you may already know the news of my latest adventure in Morocco; for those unaware yet, I have had the unfortunate luck of learning firsthand about the Moroccan medical system:

Yes, that is my foot. Last Wednesday - on our last day of training in Fes before leaving for Rabat the following morning - I bounded down the stairs into the breakfast area and managed to skip the very last stair and land with my left foot twisted underneath me. I heard a crack at the time and while I tried to convince myself that it was a sprain, I was pretty sure it was worse than that.

Fortunately, our medical staff was walking into the building at the same time as my little fall and they were put right to work. Within 2 hours, I was taken to a medical clinic, where x-rays indicated that I had fractured a small part of the tibia in my left leg (a bone just above the ankle), and I was immediately put into a cast and given crutches. It was a FAR quicker process than I have ever dealt with in the U.S. (and completely free), so I was pleased about that! But as you can imagine, it has caused a lot of challenges in dealing with day-to-day life (as it would in the U.S. too, but I would know a lot more about my surroundings back home).

Justin and I were taken to Rabat a day early with our medical staff and I met with a specialist there who confirmed the fracture and gave me some medicine. The following day (last Thursday), we were sworn in as official Peace Corps volunteers! We met the U.S. Ambassador to Morocco and his wife; he asked me where I was living before joining the Peace Corps and I told him Brooklyn – he looked down at my cast and said that if I’m a New Yorker I shouldn’t have any problems dealing with a broken leg :) I took that as a compliment!

Our full training group and staff at Peace Corps Headquarters in Rabat

The U.S. Ambassador to Morocco and his wife at our ceremony

We all tried to wear traditional dress; photos of me coming soon I promise!

On Friday, Justin and I left Rabat for our new home, Tiflet. We are only a 45 minute taxi ride from Rabat, so fortunately the travel was fairly easy. We met our new host family and they welcomed us into our home where we will live until the end of the year while we look for a place to live permanently. And I breathed a sigh of relief that our bedroom is on the first floor of the house!

Since then, we have been moving pretty slowly given my casted leg. Fortunately, the expectations for us between now and early next year are not too major - mainly to get to know the community and the Youth Center where we will work, to look for a place to live permanently, and to find a language tutor. Even so, it’s been really frustrating for me to not be able to fully explore my new community. I am excited to be in a new place and it’s hard to not just be able to walk around and see as much as I can. I’m trying to remind myself that we’ll be living here for 2 years and I will have plenty of time to see and learn everything.

And Justin has been a saint in the last week, amazingly patient and understanding and willing to walk slowly next to me as I hobble along in the crutches. I hope that in the coming weeks I will be able to put some more weight on my foot which will allow me to walk further, and based on the current calculations, my cast should be off by December 30th (fingers crossed!!). So I hope to enter the new year healthy and excited to fully learn about my new home. I imagine that the next month or so will be both physically and emotionally difficult for me, but like I said I’m trying to remain as positive as possible. More to come soon!