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Published: March 22nd 2013
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3/20/2013
Depending upon one’s perspective, the location where one might live and work for the next two years in a country, thousands of miles away from home, might be considered pretty important information. So, on March 18, 2013, we returned to Fes (yet again) to finally discover our new hometown!!! Naturally, we considered this reunion with all 96 trainees imperative to attend, as well as another exciting milestone in our adventure. We arrived at the dar chebab in Fes just before 9 a.m (luckily) ------ after a wonderful breakfast at the Dar Anebar and an adventurous taxi ride where our driver got lost, and oddly enough, we now know Fes well enough to realize we were going the wrong way! Seems that the taxi driver “misheard” our destination. Yea, ok. So we got him reoriented and we were delivered just in the nick of time.
When we arrived, we saw people we had not seen since our initial time in Rabat. Can you believe that was about two months ago!?!? So, it was a reunion filled with excitement and anticipation for all. The tension was palpable but due to the tremendous amount wonderful energy, the overall feel was just
awesome! However, Clay was a bit on edge, not due to the tension or the unknown… it was the sounds!!! The dar chebab sounded a bit like the auditorium at our daughter’s cheerleading competitions so many years ago (if you haven’t been to one, just imagine a bunch of excited, nervous and giggling teenage girls). Of course, the PC administration folks had to have some fun with prolonging the big announcements and we were made to sing songs (old McDonald in Arabic, several verses) and hear a brief speech about how some prior volunteers were not happy when they learned the identity of their final sites. No drumroll happened, but there might as well have been… we were given envelopes which we were required to put on our heads (literally) until we were told to open them. There was an actual count down and when it hit zero, it looked like 96 kids on Christmas morning, tearing into the envelopes as if their very lives depended on them! Once opened, the envelopes did not immediately reveal any secrets.
Just to drag the pain out, the Peace Corps had placed teeny, tiny rolled up pieces of paper with inside of
the envelopes. These little rolled up pieces of paper were taped closed and almost impossible to open in one piece. So here we are, two grown adults, strike that, 96 adults, all trying to unrolled these tiny taped up pieces of paper and not doing a very good job!!! As we (Ann and I) tried to open them, they were tearing and becoming impossible to read. Panic started to set in until… I was able to save one end and Ann was able to save the other… between the two of them, we were able to discover, at long last, our final destination! Once pieced together, the paper contained the region in which we would be placed. There are eight Peace Corps regions. We had our hopes tied to one in particular, but discussed that morning, with one another, that whatever it turned out to be would be just fine. So when we were able to read the region… YES!!!!! We were in the region of our choice! We will live in northern Morocco, about 35 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and about an hour and a half by train away from a ferry ride to Spain. We will be
in a land rich with fresh veggies, fruit and seafood. According to the little bit of information we were able to get, the city has about 100,000 people and not much else. We can find almost NOTHING about it on the internet except that it (and wonderfully so) has a train station that connects us to all of the big cities. It is not a tourist town and thus, we could not find one hotel or blog entry online about it. Lonely Planet doesn’t even have an entry for it!!! Luckily, our new regional PC person (who we have heard wonderful things about) provided us with some information and photos. The town has a daily food market, several banks, a post office and lots of options for transportation. The dar chebab, where we will work, appears very nice from the outside photos. There has not been a PC person there since 2002, so it will be starting fresh to some extent. Since that scenario is actually what we prefer… so jackpot again!
So just to recap the day’s events… we got the region we wanted, it is very close to a beautiful beach (35 mins), there is an abundance
of local fruit and vegetables AND it is only 2 hours to get to Spain!!! (1.5 hr train ride and 35 min ferry!) Not bad for a new home!
New and exciting information, wouldn’t you say?
However, sadly, we will have to say goodbye to our most wonderful host family in Ain Cheggag, but we know we will see them again, whether they come to us or we come to them or both. Since January 17, we have been told these wise words over and over again - - In Morocco, (1) expect the unexpected and then expect that to change also and (2) have no expectations and never stress when (not if) you must grossly deviate from your hoped for schedule. Clay likes to say that the Marine Corps has been preaching about “adapt and overcome” for years. Whatever you call it and from whatever source it originated, we will go with the flow and ride with the tide (rolling us northbound!). During the next week, we will be getting our language proficiency tests and our final training. Then, on March 27
th, swearing in!!! It is the beginning of Spring and the Smiths are about to be
let loose on Morocco!!!!! The ride is about to switch into high gear. So buckle up and hold on!
Oh yeah… you probably want to know the name of the town, huh? LOL!!! The town is - - - KSAR EL KEBIR!!!!! (the large castle).
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Craig Tomlinson
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Congrats!
Looking forward to pictures from the new digs and location.