It’s been quite the whirlwind of events the past few
weeks. With classes, work in the
Dar Shabab, and spending time with my host family I didn’t have much time to
myself. Most mornings I woke up at
6:50, went for a quick run, had some breakfast, and went to class for
8:30. I would have class until
12:30 have lunch then head to the Dar Shabab to do activities for the kids
after school got our around 5:30.
We were able to put on about 6 days of activities for the kids. I taught a class on nutrition to the
girls in my community, and also had a day of soccer for just girls and a day
for just the boys. My other CBT
mates did classes on art, English, not smoking, basketball, and yoga. Overall it was definitely a success and
I just continue to understand more about what I’ll be doing the next 2 years
and how to be successful in doing this.
We always had Sundays off so I took this time to go into Fez and check
out the old medina (city). It’s
absolutely beautiful and so different from anything I’d ever seen. It’s massive, and there are no cars,
just small streets of shops and cafes.
There are 7 entrances to the medina but I only was able to see 2. It’s so easy to get lost inside and
just wonder until it’s time to leave.
That’s usually what we did.
We also got to see the tannery, which was amazing. You can look down and see people doing
each different process of making leather.
Unfortunately
our life in our little town had to come to an end and the last few days after
our LPI (language test) were spent throwing parties for the kids in the Dar
Shabab and our host families and different people in the community who were
helpful to us, including our cook, and the taxi driver who would cart all 6 of us
around. There was a heat wave before we left Fez and the temperature reached about 100 for a week so our party was outside, it was one of the greatest experiences I've had yet. It was like a backyard BBQ but with Moroccan food. It was very fun. On the last night I gave
my family a photo album with pictures I had taken of them and us during the 7
weeks I lived with them and some post cards of Boston and New Hampshire. They loved it and were so
grateful. They gave me henna and
we had a tearful goodbye.
Saturday
morning we headed to Fez than back to Rabat. Once back in Rabat and reunited
with everyone it was time to find out our final sites. So I finally know where I’ll be
spending the next 2 years of my life.
I leave here to Thursday morning and travel to Agadir, about a 7 hours
trip, and on Friday I go to Tafraoute, about a 2 hour trip. You can probably look up more
information about it than I know right now, but from what I understand it’s a
small town that is surrounded by even smaller towns. It’s the biggest one within a few hours. It is a tourist destination though
because of its’ beauty and availability of rock climbing, mountain climbing,
and mountain biking. There are
colored rocks and the buildings are pink.
This is all I know about my site for now but I’m extremely excited. It sounds amazing and just can’t wait
for Thursday. I also have a site
mate, which I am excited about. So
if you are planning on coming to visit plan on hiking and being HOT. Though I’m in the mountains it’s going
to be hot. I’m in the second most
southern site available. I thought it was hot in Fez when it was 100 but that's nothing compared to where I'm headed, exciting! Next time
you see me I’m going to be melted into the Moroccan sand.
As of right now I don’t know my new address but I know it will be changing so hold off on letters and all those packages you will be sending until I figure out my new address. I should have this figured out within the next week though. Once I get into my new site I will be living with a host family and doing my best to integrate into the new community. I’ve heard that my town is rather conservative so it will be interesting to be make sure to my dressed correctly when it’s 140 degrees, but I’m just so excited to get to know everyone and become part of a community that I can stay with and see change happen. As I mentioned I have a site mate, we are very excited to have each other since there aren’t many other volunteers within a few hours. I’m extremely excited for the different lifestyle that I’ll be entering; it will even be different from living with my host family near Fez. I hope to hear from everyone soon!!
This is a picture of the tannery. It smelled terrible but you could see them soaking the skins and dying them, it was pretty amazing.
This is my CBT group and I. We all just got ready for a wedding and decided to take some senior photo style shots!
