I'm alive, and Peace Corps Morocco rocks!

Hey y’all, just droppin a line to let you all know I’m alive, and for now, quite well! Its all been such a crazy blurr I don’t even want to try to explain it all. Staging in Philly was cool, lots of long meetings on safety and security, tra la la. But the best part of course is all my fellow PCTs! (Peace Corps Trainees) There’s 67 of us, he biggest group ever for Morocco. A little over half are in SBD (Small Business Development) like me, and the rest are in YD (Youth Development) . eek, and very few guys. No offense girls, but after 3 years of Fiber with 99% females, I’m pretty tired of estrogen. But thus far, everyone seems awesome. After much travel, delays, waiting, blah balh blah, well I’m here, actually I’ve been here two days now. I’m in Morocco, but I don’t even know what time zone I’m supposed to feel like I’m in so tiredness just comes in odd waves. This post will be crazy sporadic by the way, for I have 64% battery left and have to be at the end of the hall in the hotel to get wireless- which is quite lucky!

Still haven’t quite realized I’m in Africa. Arriving off the bus from the airport in Casablanca to the Peace Corps headquarters in Rabat- completely exhausted (sleeping on a plane is a joke) I had one of my first wonderful moments with the Peace Corps. The staff quickly introduced themselves, and then our country director, who is awesome by the way, spoke. He talked about the mission of the Peace Corps: “to promote world peace and friendship” and I felt the full intensity of what I was doing. I felt it again today, as the US Ambassador for Morocco came to speak to us.

I am talking about the steps, these small steps, small villages, this small person that I am and the few people I will come to know and work with over the next 27 months and how it is such an important and meaningful course in my life and the world as a whole. All politics aside, the Peace Corps offers an opportunity. We all need a lot of help in doing the work we want to see done in this world, and the PC offers such a great ground to grow on. With the complexities of our world and all the inner workings, I am so amazed such an opportunity exists. After art school I feel I became so cynical and afraid of passion, like being full heartedly excited was only a naïve idea. It’s a complicated subject I will always wrestle with, but I now see how silly it is to try so hard to not believe in more of the good in things out of some kind of fear. I am so excited for whatever is going to happen in the next 27 months, and beyond! I thought about all of this so much more eloquently earlier when I of course had no pen or paper, oh well.

Anyhow, tomorrow is our last day in Rabat, Friday morning YD leaves for Fes, and SBD leaves for Ouarzazate, which I hear is about an 8 hour bus ride- sweet. I cannot wait to meet my host family and begin learning the language, ah! I haven’t gotten sick yet, but I certainly expect to soon.

“Life is calling, how far will you go?” (that’s the PC slogan) Well I am here, in Morocco, and will take that as far as it will go. I love you all, keep writing, and don’t worry too much. I'll probably get internet again tomorrow, but then wont for quite awhile.

bslama