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Published: October 9th 2005
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Amina
Funny how I got back together with the whole group, but when I looked on my camera afterwards, all the photos are of my Sefrou group. So, here's another picture of my cute little teacher. This town feels more like southern Europe than Africa and our seminar site is practically a resort. Except for the paperwork, meeting and tight schedules, this doesn’t feel much like Peace Corps.
It is nice to see everybody again and hear about their experiences in their homestays. There is a very wide range of families who have taken us in. Some are very modern and have washing machines and toilet paper like mine, some have over ten people in the house and only one spigot for water. Some have to boil their tap water. After talking to everybody though, it’s obvious that all the families are very nice, though can sometimes be almost too accommodating.
A big topic of discussion was Moroccan hospitality and how it can get to the point of being overwhelming. Guests and foreigners in Morocco are not to feel uncomfortable in the least. While this is wonderful in that they genuinely try to take care of our every need, it can also mean that they won’t tell us when we’re doing something wrong. As a Peace Corps Volunteer who desperately needs to learn the cultural norms here, it can be a bit frustrating. Luckily my family is
Amina and Bart
Ping pong is very popular here. Even our Dar Shebab in Sefrou has a table. I'm getting the hang of it, but still prefer frisbee. direct enough (especially the 14 year old) that they let me know when I’m making a faux pas. Other volunteers don’t have it so easy and are often left wondering.
During PC training though, not much is left up in the air. There is a tight schedule to follow and lots of books and manuals handed out for us to go through (i.e. carry around like rocks in our backpacks). We had lots of sessions about the culture and did some homestay debriefings. The PCMOs came to give us another round of shots, do check ups and give sessions on proper cooking in Morocco, dental care and HIV/ AIDS. Other volunteers, some who have been here for two years and will be leaving in December, gave sessions also.
The most intense for me was the harassment session. I got the feeling that some of the male volunteers thought the previous several sessions on harassment had been enough, but I think it’s something we need to continue to talk about. Harassment here is very different from in the US: it’s low key and constant. It’s mostly verbal little things that I have experienced everywhere I’ve been and so far it hasn’t
Arabic Mickey
I bet you didn't know Mickey speaks Arabic did you? He's saying Welcome, which is something like Maruhbabikum. Mark (from Texas) in the background. been as bad as it was for me when I was in Italy. However, what the volunteers stressed in this session is that it won’t stop for the whole two years. They warned us that it will be hard because we are already a long way from home, we stand out a lot here and we are in a very vulnerable situation. They also repeatedly told us that we are our own best support group and encouraged us to talk to each other about any problems we have during service. There is also a PC peer support network of volunteers who are trained in counseling and are willing to talk to other volunteers at any time. Another round of training is coming up soon and I think I’ll sign up.
So, yet another productive few days of Peace Corps training, though the highlights were definitely the hot showers in the bunk houses and seeing the other trainees who are staying in other towns. Catherine, our movie queen, organized movie nights and I finally saw Back to the Future I (everybody was horrified I hadn’t seen it yet). The place we’re staying is a tourist hostel in the summer and it’s very nice. The food is great too, even better than the place in Fès.
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