An update

I hate being away from my blog for so long. Last week my computer was giving me some trouble that made blogging, and many other common computer tasks impossible. So far this week it is acting like a normal computer again.

I'll just give  you a quick update on me for now. I just got back from a regional meeting for Peace Corps that I had in the coastal town of El Jadida. I'm starting up a new yoga class for women tonight and also one for younger girls starting tomorrow. I don't have much time left but in that short time I hope I can get a few more Moroccan's hooked on yoga. I really enjoy teaching it and showing people the many things it can do for you.

This coming weekend I am going on a little trip to the town that I lived in when I had my Peace Corps training. I want to have the opportunity to spend a little bit more time with my host mother there, as she is a woman that I will never forget.

After that the next couple of weeks are going to just be normal around here, plus a little packing and emptying of my apartment. I have lots of things to go through to separate into my take home piles, give away piles, and toss piles.

I'm going to be participating in a Peace Corps training of the new trainees that have just joined us here a few weeks ago. I am going be administering training on how to teach English to Moroccan students.

After that it's just smooth sailing. I'll be spending lots of time with my family here and preparing myself to go home. I know six weeks is going to fly by so I'm just trying to take in all the good moments and let them fill me up with good feelings of Morocco.

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Tip Tuesday

After dinner drowsiness 
1. If you find yourself getting drowsy after dinner it's best for a good night's sleep to try and fight it. Helpguide.org suggests doing something to keep yourself awake like doing dishes, getting ready for tomorrow, or taking a light walk. If you fall asleep to early you may wake up and have trouble going back to sleep at bedtime.

Streak free mirrors
2.From tipsaboutanything.com mix one part white vinegar with four parts water and wipe windows and mirrors with the mix using a dry cloth for a streak free clean.

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COS fears

With now less than two months to go in my Peace Corps service I'm entering a very interesting time and its worth blogging about.

According to the Peace Corps cycle of vulnerability and adjustment (pictured below) I am vulnerable.

 

This chart has been quite accurate during all of my service. I was a little bit skeptical to believe that there would actually be close of service fears. I thought I would feel nothing but excitement when it was time to head home. But here I am about seven weeks from going home and I do have a few fears on my mind. 

What exactly am I afraid of? Well getting a job is one thing. I keep hearing nothing but bad things about the U.S. job market and how its still a horrible climate to come back to, that's not encouraging. I've applied for a few jobs already. There isn't really a shortage of jobs in journalism, I have found. But while I was off getting world experience I wasn't getting journalism experience. So I'm a little bit behind in job experience and I will have to find someone willing to take a chance on me without enough of it.

I'm also nervous about fitting back into American culture. I'm expecting a little reverse culture shock. Just as I had to adjust to life in Morocco, I will have to readjust to life back home.

Also fitting back in with my friends. The truth is I've changed. The changes may not reflect on the outside of me and one may not see them as they are buried inside. I want to fit back in as the new me. The old Alex, just wiser, more experienced, more assertive, unstoppable. 

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The celebration dinner dance

As I said before since all the member of my group will not be completing their service on the same day we were given a celebration dinner by Peace Corps.

It took place at the hotel were were staying at in the room where we ate our free breakfast each day. It was catered by the hotel and was one of the nicer meals I had ever had in Morocco. We started off with a salad and then a small first course followed by plate with beef (the closest thing I had ever had to a steak in Morocco), and side dished. We finished with a plate of fruit for dessert.

A tradition among volunteers who are going to be leaving soon is to write superlatives for each member of the group. Most likely to...(some kind of witty thing about this person usually in relation to Morocco) I was given most likely to ride home in the planes cargo hold in order to save money. Yes they are right I'm very frugal.

Some other superlatives were: Most likely to give a presentation on a Turkish toilet wearing a 3-piece-suit and most likely to stab a child before service is over.

The dinner included a DJ. During dinner the music wasn't far off from that of a dentist's office and it made me doubt the DJs ability to select good tunes.

But when the dessert came out so did the dancers. Cara and Ben that is. The two of them struck up a salsa partnership and all of us watched.

My doubt in the DJ was wrong. Pretty soon he was playing tunes that got everyone on their feet. We had a nice mix of salsa, swing, Moroccan, and the ever present techno music.

Dancing with fellow Peace Corps volunteers is always a good time. Some people are so fun to watch. Most of us don't care what we look like on the floor because there are no judgments given.

 I was pleased that Peace Corps gave us this final celebration with our friends it was a fun way to relax with everyone and spend time together.

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The COS conference

Last week in Rabat my group had our COS conference which stands for close of service. It always takes place two months before we actually leave because it contains information that will get us ready to go home.

Information that a lot of us were most excited about hearing. We talked about plane tickets or money for plane tickets. Ways to say goodbye to community members. And had a panel of returned Peace Corps volunteers who were there to talk to us about some of the readjustment issues we may face upon returning home.

For the first time the entire group will not be finishing their service on the same day. Usually the entire group who first came to Morocco together travels to Rabat on the same day to have their swear-out ceremony. This way we all get to end together just the way we started. But due to the changes that Peace Corps Morocco is making, namely the one of bring in groups of 100 trainees two times per year, they are starting to make changes now. The staff won't be able to handle processing 100 volunteers on their way out so they must be broken into small groups.

This upset many members of my group as we were planning on getting to be together one last time before we head home. Now instead the 44ish of us that are left are broken into four different end dates. Our original date of departure was to be November 16th, 2011. However now the dates are changed to the 10th, 14th, 15th, and 16th.

It maybe wasn't the most organized way of choosing departure dates but the staff decided to just post a sign up sheet with ten spaces for each departure date. Word on the street was that everyone wanted the 10th. When the sign up sheet went up we were in the middle of a session so no one could get up to sign it. But when the word was given to go to it, it because a mad dash like people were fighting for the last popular Christmas toy.

My friend Sarah and I both wanted to have the 10th so we struck a deal agreeing that whoever saw the list first would then put the others name in addition to their own. Sarah was one of the first to the list in the mad dash. She successfully got both our names up thankfully without loss of any limbs.

When I looked at the list it looked like a three-year-olds had written it. With all the pushing and shoving good penmanship was not an easy task. But I was glad to know I got the date I wanted. Also excited that I will be able to say that I began my Peace Corps journey on 9-9-09 and ended it on 11-11-11. Pretty cool, right?

While in Rabat we all had a lot of fun together. We stayed in a nice hotel called Hotel Balima and all ate nice food that is available in Rabat. The tramway that has been being built our entire service was finally available for use.

When trainings like these end we usually say goodbye to each other knowing that we will see one another again in weeks or months. This time when we said goodbye we could have been saying goodbye for good. We are going home to the same country but to a much bigger one and without any other trainings or work obligations to bring us together.

But what we will need to get together for is support. To talk about our experiences with the only people who will completely understand. I definitely won't forget my fellow Peace Corps volunteers.

Our former country director David Lillie was spliced in by Ben Pennington

 

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Rachael's Wedding part II

On the day of Rachael's wedding we got picked up at her house by cars as part of the wedding parade that would drive the couple miles to Hassan's house where the wedding would be held.

Before getting picked up we all got Rachael ready by doing her makeup, hair, and getting her dressed in her keftan, that was made for her, the dress she would wear all day until the wedding started.

Putting on mascara with the window that also acts as a mirror

Aunt Karen doing Rachael's hair

A mother-daughter moment

A pretty bride in white

We got in the cars and the drivers honked their horns the whole way. There was a pickup truck with probably 20 women in the parade all banging drums and chanting songs.

Once we arrived at Hassan's house we were taken to a room where we were able to hang around all day. We called it the VIP American room. We hung out there until lunch when we were given a large plate of sheep meat (with all the strange and exotic innards that go along with it). It wasn't anything that ticked my fancy however this is the best of the best to offer guests.

We hung out for the rest of the day until about five p.m. when Rachael got dressed again and we all came out of our cave into the open air. This was followed by a lot more hanging out until we ate dinner at 10 p.m.

All this hanging out was so doable because there were 15 Americans to spend time with. When a volunteer gets stuck at a Moroccan wedding as the only American there,  hours can seem like days.

America's corner

Playing cards to stay busy

 After we ate dinner the real wedding began. The music started and Rachael donned her first dress. She would wear five that night spending only about 20-30 minutes in each.

Rachael lifted high in the air, a little nerve wracking

It was a long night, not ending until about four a.m. We were all so happy to be there with Rachael's family and to be there supporting her at her Moroccan wedding. Rachael didn't have much say in what went on during the whole event. She was just pretty much a pretty doll for all to see. I'm happy knowing that she will get to have her own American wedding which is scheduled for next September where she will be calling all the shots. We tried to infuse some American traditions into Rachael's wedding. She was wearing a blue garter, but that was not ceremoniously taken off.

The bride and groom with all the volunteers that came out for the wedding

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Tip Tuesday

1. When faced with a buffet style dinner and not wanting to stuff yourself beyond belief take this tip from tipsonhealthyeating.com. Visit the buffet line first without your plate and take notice of what you really want. In the time it takes you to get the plate think about what few dishes really appeal to you.

2. A tip for reusing newspaper. Associatedcontent.com says it can be great to clean windows and mirrors.

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Rachael's wedding part I

As always after a long time away from this blog it feels good to be back!

Rachael is a member of my volunteer group who came in with me and 61 others in September 2009. Rachael was also a member of my 5 person community based training group in El Kbab, so the two of us spent a lot of time together during our beginnings in Morocco.

David, Rachael, myself, Yorda, and Chris in September 2009

Some volunteers during service happen to find the love of their life in the country they are serving. Sometimes in another Peace Corps volunteers or sometimes in a local member of their town.

Rachael found Hassan in her small town of Mejjat.

Having made one of the biggest transformations of our group Rachael decided to take the plunge with Hassan and she invited a few of us to her wedding to share in the celebration with her.

Five of us girls came in the day before the wedding. Rachael was getting her henna done that day. A tradition for Moroccan brides.

Rachael's family had just arrived from America that day as well. Her parents, brother, and aunt came to celebrate her Moroccan wedding with her.

That night was our American night to let loose and pay homage to some of our American traditions. Namely taking shots and playing trashy bachelorette party games!

The catch was Rachael's bachlorette night also included her mother, father, brother and aunt. What really should have been an awkward situation turned out to be one of the most funny and memorable nights in Morocco for me.

Rachael's family had picked up some bottles of alcohol at the duty free store in the Newark airport so we were well stocked and ready for shots. Once all the Moroccan family members left Rachael's house the bottles came out. Rachael's brother, Steven, who is 21, had a bottle of Finlandia vodka which he so generously shared with everyone.We decided to take a few shots (yes all Rachael's family included) as we went around the room giving our best wishes to Rachael. When it was my turn I told her how much she had grown from when I first met her and how honored and happy I was to be there to support her.

Hassan's family was so graciously bringing us dinner that night and our drinking took place both before and after our dinner came. Since drinking is illegal in Islam and frowned upon by many Moroccans we didn't want any of them to see us drink. We were right in the middle of toasting Rachael, shots in hand when we heard the doorbell ring. All 10 of us inhaled our shots like we were 16-year-olds not wanting to get caught by our parents. Hilarious.

Donnielle and Yorda had prepared some games earlier before they came. The first one was a variation on the game Balderdash where all players hear a word and they have to write down what they believe the definition of the word is. Instead of words Yorda and Donnielle looked up various sex acts on the urban dictionary and upon hearing each one we all had to write down our own description of it. So listening to the various descriptions of the "Mexican Avalanche" or the "Bulgarian Swan Dive" provided over an hour of entertainment.

Like I said before this could have been one of the most awkward situations ever, and in reality it kind of was, but the couple shots of vodka in all of us and the fact that we are in Morocco (where nothing can be awkward anymore) acted as buffers to ease the awkwardness. Rachael's family was awesome. It was her mom Susan encouraging the shots, and it was her father Rich who won the game!

That was the night before the wedding. Tune on on Wednesday to read about the day of the wedding.

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I will not be posting for just over a week now. I am headed to a wedding of a fellow volunteer of mine then on to my final Peace Corps conference. When I return I will surely have some stories for you!

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