Back in Business

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Do first what only you can do. -Daisy Hepburn

This was a long sabbatical from my blog, and not entirely a voluntary one - though I suppose I could have found a way to make it work if I really had had the motivation to do so. Actually, this past month I have been busy enough establishing myself here in Kelaa and I really haven’t felt pressed to post much since I have so much time here. I figured the more time I spent getting to know the place first the more accurate and in depth the future blogs would be. Of course, that does take away some of the initial excitement, first discoveries and first impressions - but not all. Kelaa is big enough and life and culture here are complicated enough that I am confident that I will still have some first discoveries and impressions well into my second year here.
That said, I will give you a quick run down of everything that has happened in the past month or so, well, at least a speedy trip through the high lights.
After my birthday in Marrakech with about twelve trainees from my Youth Development group, I went back up north with them to Immouzzer-Kandar for the very end of training and swearing in. We had our swearing in ceremony in Fès on November 25 and I finally became a Peace Corps Volunteer. It was held in a beautiful hotel overlooking the town but the best part was that Asmae and Aisha surprised me by coming from Sefrou. It was wonderful to be able to share that ceremony with them and especially to see them again, though we didn’t have much time to chat. I was also happy to finally be a ‘real’ volunteer. Training is long, but it was really good. I was stressed out and overly busy the whole time, but that’s what it’s about. At least it’s not boot camp. I did get Sundays off. And I got to live with a wonderful family in Sefrou, I do miss them and we have already been writing letters.
I suppose more important than swearing in, in some people’s eyes, was Thanksgiving, the day before swearing in. The day started out with a power outage, but by midafternoon it came back on so I ran into town to send off a couple quick Thanksgiving emails before rushing back to the aubèrge to help with Thanksgiving dinner. The day before we had started the desserts and stuffing. I had helped rip up bread and grate carrots for the carrot cake. Thanksgiving day as the lone Idahoan I was left in charge of the mashed potatoes and I have to say I think they turned out very well. There were well over a hundred people there, but we definitely had enough food. I ate until I was actually in pain, then LeMarc brought me pumpkin pie and chocolate chip cookies. Just when I thought I would never be able to walk again and wasn’t sure I could sit up much longer my parents called. I jumped up and ran outside and walked around in the freezing cold, too excited to notice that I had forgotten my sweater until after we hung up. It was a good family call and I got to talk to everybody who had already assembled at the Shue house. The time difference makes things difficult, but it was so nice to hear everybody’s voices that I didn’t care.
The day after swearing in we were all sent off to out sites. I wanted to do the whole trip in one day so I could spend more time with Daniele, the PCV I replaced. I knew she wanted to introduce me to some people around town and teach me some of the things she learned about Kelaa over the past two years. So, I didn’t get to spend the night in Marrakech on this trip, or take the train, but after some complicated haggling Rich and I found a grand taxi that would take us and all of our stuff as far as Beni Mellal. From there the taxi driver helped me find a bus to Kelaa and I left Rich with his piles of luggage and musical instruments. I swear he had twice as much stuff as I did.
In Kelaa I went back to the host family that I stayed with during my site visit a couple weeks before. Habib, the husband was away working in another town, but Khadija and her children Zineb and Omar were happy to see me. I actually only spent a week with them before Peace Corps switched me to a different family a bit closer to the Dar Chebab. Since Khadija worked all the time I was often home alone and didn’t really have any interaction with people outside the Dar Chebab. Khadija is a pioneer in Morocco’s working woman sphere. There are still relatively few woman who have full time work outside the house, especially in an official position like hers at the Ministry of Youth and Sports (the ministry I work under). But it turns out I am better off in a more ‘traditional’ Moroccan home for now. I moved in with Maryam and Hichem who are a young couple (about 30) and though Maryam teaches English two mornings a week, she has a lot of time to show me the ins and outs of living in Morocco. An incredible stroke of luck for me, she also used to work for Peace Corps and understands Americans enough to be able to phrase the answers most of my cultural questions in a way that I can really understand. I don’t think I have ever heard her say “don’t ask why” or “that’s just how it is.” I have learned that asking why can be a very American thing to do, but always she is very patient with me.
So, here I am, making a home for myself in Kelaat Sraghna. I think this town will be a very good home for me and I remind myself often how lucky I am to be here.
As a side note, Maryam and Hichem have satellite TV, as do all Moroccans who can afford it. Many more people have satellite than a car, which seems like a good order of priorities to me. The result is that I occasionally see European news or even BBC World. I also see lots of Arabic news, but still don’t understand much beyond the images. As I watch the gulf between the Arab and Western worlds widen, (though some are trying to build bridges), I am even more thankful to be here. Politicians can make all the laws and decisions they want, but I still believe that we also need people to have direct contact between the two cultures. I don’t feel impacted by anti-Americanism here, but people do talk to me about their feelings towards the American government. All I’ll say is that it’s not all positive, though thankfully it’s not all negative either. From the people I have talked to, most make a distinction between the American people and the government. All of this reminds me that I have an amazing opportunity before me. Though Morocco might be more developed than many countries that Peace Corps works in, I still think there is a need for us here. I may have electricity, running water, internet (miracle of miracles) and lots of other things that Peace Corps volunteers the world over don’t have. Nevertheless, there is work here for me and I see a need for Peace Corps even in as large and developed a town as Kelaa. Most importantly, people say they want me here. As long as we are welcome, I think Peace Corps should have a volunteer here.

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