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Published: October 31st 2010
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The CCS (Cross Cultural Solutions) home base in Rabat is located in an upscale suburb. You can tell by the gated two story bungalows, clean roads and frequent Mercedes passing by here. Also, within walking distance are two malls, one of which is a high end with designer boutiques and a hypermarket. There is a spa, a hair cut place, few restaurants and cafes nearby. The drive into the city takes about 20 minutes and costs about $3 each way. Visiting the spa, I observed women dressed in fashionable western attire and had a status around them. Perhaps these were wives of diplomats or expats. The spa offered everything from aerobics, fat reduction, electro treatments to standard massages and hammam treatment that were sold in packages of 10.
Our house is surrounded by a garden and a patio in the backyard. It reminds me of the houses in India where the construction is mainly of bricks and mortar, there are high ceilings and plenty of green spaces. There are 4 bedrooms and 2 baths upstairs for the women, 2 downstairs and the basement for the men. There are bunk beds in every room, some sleep 4, others can hold upto
8 people. The main road can be heard from my bedroom which seems to be busy all the time. My ear plugs have come in handy! I am not particularly fond of the bathrooms as they are well used with so many volunteers staying here at a time. The house rules call for not flushing any toilet paper which makes me feel gross.
The living/ dining area is perhaps the only space that is traditionally decorated. It has round tables, cushion seats and stools so that we eat communal style. We hold our talks and orientation in this room as well. Their is also a resource room that offers books, stationary, lesson plans, etc. that help us plan the work we do here with children and adults. There is no TV, music or entertainment at the home base. I would suggest to them keeping some board games so we can have fun in the evenings.
The cooks, the guard and the home manager stay here in the annex behind. Every meal is served buffet style and is Moroccan. There is a soup (beans or vegetables), fresh bread, a meat dish (tagine, kebab) with a variety of salads and
vegetables. We have couscous on Fridays. Dessert is fruit such as pomegranates and oranges. Breakfast is juice, coffee, tea served with bread, butter, cheese and yogurt. The cook makes a different kind of pastry each day which I have also seen people eating on the streets at breakfast time. We take turns to wash the dishes, except on weekends when each one is responsible for our own.
We have a van that takes us to our volunteer placement locations each morning and brings us back in the afternoons. The staff is very friendly. All of them are ex-Peace Corps employees in their early 30’s. They speak English fluently and are accommodating to our every need.
Generally, the house starts bustling around 6:30am for showers, morning walks, etc. followed by breakfast. People start leaving at 8am for their daily work and return at lunch which is served at 1:15pm. Tea time is 4pm when we have traditional mint green tea and a snack. Dinner is at 7pm, after which we sometimes go out for a walk or a gelato. Weeknights curfew is 12pm, weekends is later as people travel to neighboring cities for sightseeing.
For being a volunteer,
the home is quite comfortable and serves the basic needs. Don't come with the mindset of having a holiday or being in a nice hotel and you will be fine.
I am off to bed now…
~Sucheta
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