Yesterday I went home for a break from class, since there is no lunch break during Ramadan, just a very long afternoon. I was hoping to take a nap but I hadn't been there for five minutes when a small white pick-up drove up outside and Malika's husband appeared. So, I have finally met the whole family. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about the possability of him showing up. Not only do I not know enough Darija to really ask much about him, but I also got the impression that Malika didn't know when he might come home. Also, I had really gotten used to the relaxed atmosphere of an all female house. Things aren't too different now, but there is a more formal feeling in the house now. I have to ... read more

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 ... read more

Sefrou is a wonderful town, and my host family is even better! While I’m in Sefrou I’ll be staying with Malika (which means Queen) and her daughters Assma and Aisha. Malika’s husband is a farmer and works out in the country. I haven’t met him and I wouldn’t be surprised if I never do. It’s a women’s house and it’s a lot of fun. During training we got a lot of information about how gender relations are different here, but we didn’t get any prepping on how different relations are intra-gender. The women here are very close and I joke with the other Volunteers that I’m living in a harem. Our first day here we arrived late morning and went to the Dar Shebab (Youth Center) where our host families picked us up. Both my sisters ... read more

I wish I could show all of you how pretty the script is. Perhaps I'll just have to take a picture of some of my homework to show off. I can't remember the last time I had fun with homework, or was so proud of it. We worked on numbers today and I have to say some of the words make us all laugh because of the similarities with random English words. For example, "elf" is a thousand. "Dweeb" is doctor and "dork" means your turn. Besides Dareeja (moroccan arabic) classes we have lots of sessions about basic things like preparing food and water safely, health stuff, teaching methods and cross cultural issues. Today I thought it would be okay for me to wear a tank top around in the hostel / training center as long ... read more

Rabat is an amazing city, I only wish I had more time to visit it. The Peace Corps is keeping us busy all day with training and such. We have to go through safety and PC policies and learn countless acronyms and names which sound very unpronouncable at first. I wish I had more exciting news, but for now it's mostly meetings in a windowless room just like in Philadelphia. They're interesting, but they're still meetings. Instead I'd like to leave you with some of my favorite parts of what we've been talking about. The cover of the PC Morocco Pre-Service Training Handbook has a very appropriate poem by Lao-Tsu (6th century BC). Go to the people Live with the people Start with the people Work with what the people know Learn by doing Teach by ... read more