Blogs from Morocco, Africa - page 243

Took my language test this morning. Haven't gotten the final results yet but I feel like it went well. All I had to do was sit in a room and talk to the tester for about 15 mintues in Moroccan Arabic, and he seemed pretty happy with my ability so I think they're going to let me stay ;) We've all been studying pretty hard in the last week to get ready for the test, but, more importantly, in less than a week we depart for our respective sites to begin work! Crazy! Last week I got to see my town for the first time, and I have to tell you all that if you don't come visit me sometime in the next 2 years you will have sorely missed out. Ouaouizeight is squarely placed in ... read more

I got to explore the town a bit and went to see the Dar Shebab with Daniele, the PCV who will be ending her service in Morocco the day after I get back to Kelaâ. I’m only here to visit for a few days now and have to be back in Immouzzer on the 15th for the last bit of training and to swear in as a real Volunteer. I introduced myself to most of the people in town as the “new Daniele” or “Daniele’s replacement”. She is much older than I am, so some people actually called me the younger or little Daniele. She speaks French as her first language, so people were delighted to learn that I also speak French. I still plan on communicating mostly in Darija, but I know the French will ... read more

Since my site is just north of Marrakech I had two options for travel from Immouzzer: I could take a series of busses and grand taxis directly south through Beni Milal, or I could go a fairly roundabout way by taking a grand taxi from Immouzzer to Fès and then the train to Marrakech. Considering that a group of about twelve trainees were going to have to spend the night in Marrakech, I chose the latter. When we got up very early that morning I almost couldn’t believe that I was going to be taking a train to Marrakech. I had to take the Crosby, Stills & Nash CD with me on the train so I could listen to “Marrakech Express.” That’s such a calming album for me, it always reminds me of lazy Sunday mornings ... read more

I have now experienced Africa! My journey began on the early morning of November 1st. We departed from Granada at 6am bound for Algeciras, a city Robert and I knew very well. There we met another bus of students from Sevilla and boarded the ferry to Cueta. A quick 45 min. ride across the straight of Gibraltar and we were in Africa, well...we were still in Spain technically, Ceuta is a spanish city on the continent of Africa. After a two hour delay at the boarder we finally could say, "Estamos en Africa". The first night we stayed in Fez. It was a definite culture shock. The sides of the roads and highways were filled with people walking and riding bikes and the roads were filled with people riding mules, horse drawn "carriages" and mercedes. The ... read more

Photo notice: I am going to be changing some of the photos on my blog due to a request from Peace Corps. I will not have many photos of people from now on, since getting permission from people to put their images on my site is problematic due to my still limited language skills and what Peace Corps considers permission. Plus my camera is still on vacation. . L-Eide Saghir The day after the end of Ramadan is a celebration, mostly because we can now eat whenever we want. Another tradition is for everybody to have new clothes. I got the impression that many people only get new clothes on L-Eide. I had my new jellaba and the shoes that Malika bought for me in Fès. In the morning Asmae dressed me up in the Pakistani ... read more