An Apricot of Topics

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Today's blog is a mishmash of topics, but mishmash means'apricot' in Darija.

"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time; add up to big differences that we often cannot forsee."
- Marian Wright Edelman

I am back in Immouzzer for a week of training with the rest of the Youth Development trainees, and this quote really sums up a lot of what we're told in training. Our trainers are the LCFs, Moroccans who work for Peace Corps and are our "Language and Culture Facilitators." Beurocratic lingo is very Peace Corps since it technically is part of the US government. There are also quite a few current Volunteers who help with the training. While in Immouzzer we attend meetings about what we're supposed to be doing over the next couple years and how to get started. There are lots of sessions covering basic living skills for surviving in Morocco.
When I'm in Sefrou I'm only with four other people: Brian, Bart, Nada and Michael. The LCF who lives there with us is Mina (Amina). We have language and culture classes in the morning with Amina teaching, then in the afternoon we prepare lessons and in the evening teach at the Dar Shebab.
I've had some questions about what is different between what I do in Sefrou and what I do in Immouzzer, so I thought I should clear that up.
The training in Sefrou is very practical, and is great preparation for integrating into the site I will be assigned to in Novelber. The sessions in Immouzzer are fun and inspirational. I love hearing about the experiences of the current PCVs and especially thier success stories. Some of them have been here only one year, and some have been here for two already and will be leaving in December. My group will be replacing them in their communities.

One thing we have been learning in training this time is how to start and run clubs in Morocco. They don't function much like clubs in the US, but there are some similarities. The current volunteers are great at telling us about what they've done and helping us to figure out how to make our ideas work within the perameters of the Moroccan system and the Peace Corps restrictions. Of course, we have to keep our non-partisan, non-political status, so discussing things like current events and religion with our Moroccan students are almost impossible. But here ar so many other things I want to do, I don't think I will miss the political discussions too much. Theater is very popular in many Dar Shebabs, and I hope to be able to get together a group in my future town. No matter what the club is, many volunteers use it to talk to their community about issues like hygiene, the environment, gender issues, AIDS et cetera. Some of the workshops I've attended, especially the literacy and gender issues ones, are so inspirational I just want to get out there right now and get to work. It's a good thing they won't let me yet though, my Darija just isn't good enough to do it yet. We are expected to be professionals here, and professionals don't speak the way I do now.

Last Sunday I went on a hike with several other trainees. it is beautiful in the hills around Immouzzer, and it reminds me of the Owyhee mountains in southern Idaho. The vegetation is a bit different, but the land and hills look very similar. It felt very good to be outside, moving around. We are so busy with classes and such that we never have time during the day to get outside. In the evenings we can escape to town a bit, but only for a couple hours. Sunday is our only day off, and I actually spent quite a bit of it doing homework (studying Darija). The weather has turned and it is definately fall here. The trees are turning and most of the past week has been cloudy and even rainy. I really didn't believe it could rain here, even though I was told to bring a rain jacket. I thought of the stereotypical saharan climate and figured the jacket would be for wind, rather than rain. It turns out, the weather the past week has reminded me much more of Portland, Oregon than anywhere else. This country has a lot of surprises.
So, when we had a crisp, but warm and sunny day on Sunday we took full advantage of our day off.

Some other random information: we started with 25 Youth Development Volunteers in Rabat, and are down to 23 already. One left a while ago, mostly because Peace Corps just wasn't for him. The other left because of a family issue back home in the US. It's hard to see people go, but everybody says it's normal. Peace Corps isn't easy and it's definately not for everybody. I would be surprised if there had ever been a training group who all made it to the end of the full two years. It just doesn't happen. It's scary to think about the statistics. There are a lot of reasons for being sent home, from breaking PC policies to breaking a leg. It's not uncommon to be sent home for medical reasons. If you have to go back to the US for a medical reason you have only 45 days to get "perfect" again to come back, otherwise you can't come back to service.

So, after that depressing thought, I have to say that things really are going great here. Today the PCVs taught the trainees the Moroccan national anthem, and I loved it. I can't wait to get back to Sefrou and sing it with Aisha and Assema. I'm loving it here and am very excited by how fast I'm progressing in the language.

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Photos

At the Park in Immouzzer
Immouzzer is a tourist town in the summer and has lots of places that really don't look like Morocco.

View of Immouzzer
On the hike we had a great view of town. This is Bart, with his short walking stick.

Lena and The Rocks
It's a rocky country. I've seen goats reaching up to eat from trees here since there's so little ground vegetation.

Home
Out on the hike we found an abandoned building that reminded me of the ruins Dad and I visited in New Mexico. Bart, with Scott in the background.

Hiking
From left Mark Leblanc, Bart, Matt, Lena and Scott and I below.

Immouzzer
Teresa and I in town, by the patriotic flag and bunch grass roundabout. Landscaping here is a lot like in Boise, lots of bunch grass.

Comments

[Laura]

You rock
Heathercita, I love living vicariously through you. You put sparkle in my day.