I love the U.S.A.!

سلام خوتي. انا عرف بلي شفتو النتائج ديال الانتخابات ف الولايات المتحدة. انا معكم -- كن خاف من الرئاسة ديال دونالد ترومب. انا ماتصويتش ليه و بغيت نشرح شي حواج على الأميركيين معكم.

بعد 11 سبتمبرجاء واحد خوف ديال الإسلام و مسلمون ف العقليات ديال بزّاف ديال ناس. هَداك خوف ولى عنصرية غير منطقية. الأغلبية ديال ناس لي اتصويتو ل ترومب ماعرفومش مسلمون. كيشوفو هجمات إرهابية ف تلفزة و هَديك الصورة النمطية كتكبر.
ف هيئه السلام عندنا ثلاثة أهداف: ١. كنديرو تطوير المجتمع ٢. كنشركو الثقافة الأمريكية مع المغاربة و ٣. كنشركو الثقافة المغربية مع الأميركيين

. فعش انا درت مقابلة العمل ديالي مع هيئه السلام، كانت عندي إمكانية نخدم ف بزّاف ديال دول. انا قلت ليهم بلي انا بغيت نخدم ف شي دولة الإسلامية حيت بغيت ندمر هَدي العنصرية. باقي ماكملناش بمهمتنا.

خسكم تعكلو بلي الأميركيين هم ناس مزينيين و بلي انا و جميع المتطوعين تعلمنا القيمة ديال السيلم من آبائنا و أمهاتنا.

Crazy Northern Adventures with Casey and Ramadan

Well, this past month has certainly been filled with a great amount of exciting things ranging from catching up with and old friend up north in Casablanca, Tangier and Chefchaouen to experiencing my second consecutive Ramadan here in Morocco!

To begin with, I had just the most wonderful vacation with Casey, my good friend from APU who is currently finishing up his Fulbright Grant in Turkey. Given the long distance between Casablanca and Istanbul, I decided to greet my friend at the airport, which meant that I had to leave site a day early in order to be in Casa by the time his flight landed. Accordingly, I made arrangements with my fellow volunteers Tysen and Amber, a lovely married couple in my staj, to spend the night with them in their historic site in the Fez-Meknes region. I arrived from down south fairly exhausted, but my two friends really took good care of me by showing me around their town a little bit as well as cooking me some good ol' 'merikan food! We spent a large amount of time visiting one another and I really got to learn a lot about who they are as people and thoroughly enjoyed their company. I hope to do so again in my town next time!

The following day, I made my way from Meknes to Casablanca via train and one quick transfer from within Casa got me to the airport there. I remember nervously waiting for Casey to arrive for over an hour and got a little bit worried as I had no laptop/smartphone and hoped there hadn't been an issue in the airport until I saw my friend walking straight at me with bags in hand and a big smile on his face.

Once we got settled into our youth hostel for that evening, the both of us decided to head over to a recently opened Chili's Restaurant in Casablanca. I know it probably sounds strange to you all to read that we chose to eat at Chili's of all places (seeing as I never eat there in America, anyways), but you have to remember that two Americans who have been living abroad for long periods of time will take what they can get in terms of a taste of home. We enjoyed just a wonderful dinner involving Americanized versions of Chinese and Mexican food and then walked around Casa for a bit after (we even walked onto the rocky coast to take in an epic view of the Atlantic).

The following morning, we boarded the train for a long ride over to Tangier. Seeing as our train compartment was almost entirely empty, we actually enjoyed just sitting together and catching up with what's been going on in our lives for most of the time. Once we finally arrived in Tangier, we caught a taxi to the old medina, where our hostel was located. After arriving in that part of the city, more rain pounded on us than I had seen all year and by the time we finally found the place and got checked into our rooms, we were both drenched.

A nice picture of me with the medina in the backdrop that Casey snapped atop the roof of a cool antique home decor/furniture store

We spent a great deal of our time that day, exploring the alleys and streets of the old medina and some of the more well known local sights. We also walked quite a bit around the kasbah area and took in a lot of the local architecture. In particular, we had a wonderful time sitting at cafe with a movie-theatre styled seating arrangement that overlooked the Straight of Gilbratar and the southern coast of Spain.

The following day in Tangier was spent visiting the city's historic Anglican Church, Jewish cemetery and attending Catholic Mass. We filled up the afternoon with a trip to the beach where we took in the "Cave of Hercules," which I was skeptical of until I experienced (a must see in Tangier! Looks like something straight from Pirates of the Caribbean) and played in the ocean a little bit. Once we returned to the city, we ate a very fancy and class-A dinner at Restaurante Populaire.

A cool picture of the entrance to the 'Cave of Hercules' that Casey captured.

Day three in Tangier was spent sleeping in, enjoying a nice large breakfast in our hostel and then catching a noon bus to Chefchaouen, the "blue city." That first day was spent exploring the medina a bit in the late afternoon/evening, which proved to be quite a fun little adventure as we discovered a medieval castle while the sun was still shinning and then later a music festival in the evening.

Unique and beautiful home that Casey photographed. As you can see, he is quite a gifted photographer.

The following day, the two of us decided to do a bit of exploring up in the mountains overlooking the city where we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit in the forest and catching in some amazing sites of one of the most beautiful places either of us has ever seen.

A nice picture of us on our hike!

We headed back to Casablanca the following day to prepare for departure to our new homes and had not much of an idea of what to do when we arrived there. Initially, I found that I had no cash and needed to withdraw from the ATM machine and discovered that my card was being rejected by every one we stopped at in the city. The two of us then found a branch of El-Barid Bank and so Casey got to see the more personal nature of Moroccan bureaucracy in that I walked in with a problem, was immediately escorted to talk with the manager and was assured that the issue was most likely technical and that my card would function after the passing hour (and it did!) After this brief scare, we walked around a bit downtown and grew a bit bored of it and so about-faced and headed for the Starbucks in the local train station because I, now a small-town guy, had an urge for some globalization in the form of a frappuccino. For the evening, Casey decided that we should try Turkish food so that he could share a little bit of his new country's culture with me as I had done with him. By coincidence, when he suggested the idea that morning, we happened to bump right into the best Turkish restaurant in town (actually owned by a Turkish man). We returned to that same street and I found the food to be delicious and quite similar to something I would eat in the U.S. when going out for a bite.

The following day, Casey headed off to Turkey and I returned down south. The ride took a bit out of me with the intense heat and I was very grateful that I had arranged to spend the night at the home of my good friend Nina, a fellow PCV. The following days passed quickly and Ramadan arrived before I knew it.

These past few weeks have been crazy as can be and Islam's holiest month is set to end next week. Due to the intense heat down here in the south, there is not much happening in my town in the morning and afternoon, but things really get popping in the evening after the l-ftur (breakfast). My youth center doesn't even open until 10 in the evening now and so I have been working really late at night this month (honestly not my favorite schedule...very much looking forward to returning to 'normal' time). I did not choose to fast this Ramadan because I wanted to try and be an example to the local community of the majority of the world's population who do not observe Ramadan. There are no sizable religious minorities left in Morocco (the Jews are immeasurably small due to emigration and Christians and Atheists, if not foreign, are usually very low-key about their faith). For me, it was important to do this because part of Peace Corps is exchanging cultures and I'm not really representing American culture if I leave it at the door of my house so to speak. The community actually responded really well to me not fasting (of course, I did not eat in public in front of fasters) and it provided a lot of great opportunities for me to explain what the season of Lent is in Christianity, which many people found very interesting and respected. There were a very small number of community members (mostly small children or adults who were uneducated) who were shocked to learn I am not fasting because I am not Muslim, but it is for their sakes that I fasted because it's important for them to have open-friendships with people of other religions.

The cool thing was that I have always been invited to eat l-ftur with families and friends in the community. I love that tradition of Ramadan as it provides a good opportunity to spend time with loved ones as well as eat a great deal of sweets and drink fresh juices. I am very excited for Ramadan to end next week because people celebrate with Aid l-ftur and eat a lot the following day! Last year, I really enjoyed going from house to house and celebrating with people.

Work during Ramadan has been much more active than I expected. Some friends of mine in the community and myself put on an American culture week in the Dar Chebab where we learned about American history, the idea of citizenship, played basketball and ate guacamole with hallal fruit cocktails (thanks for the recipe help, Nina!) In particular, I should thank my friends Mustapha and Youssef, who helped me translate American history plays I had written in Darija into correct standard Arabic, Manar for helping lead the basketball session, Mustapha once more for teaching the session of citizenship and Moulay Said for helping me prepare the meal. Later today, I'll start with a week-long program at a local association where a team of local volunteers and myself will do a number of activities that will hopefully give the neighborhood kids something fun to do in the evening as well as promote our new library.

After this program, I have no idea of what I will do in July. Participation in community activities dies down in summer and so there are a couple of side projects I would like to work on. I will also begin working on some applications for post-Peace Corps life, which should keep me busy. Late July, I will head off to Marrakech on vacation to meet up with Andrew, Nick and Vu (three of my best friends from high school) where we will enjoy our time together greatly over there and in Essaouira. I can't wait to see them again! Following their visit, my parents will come and we will also visit Marrakech, train up to Tangier and then boat over to Spain. I am beyond excited to spend time with them as well! Following this trip, I will be volunteering at an English immersion camp in El Jadida, which was a really rewarding experience last year that I am excited to repeat one last time. By the time I return to Goulmima, it will be about a month to the day that I left to go on vacation.

Consequently, I am not sure if I will find the time to blog or not due to my being on the road for quite some time. I'll try and do my best to keep you all updated and if I can't, I'll make sure and continue blogging in the fall.

Peace friends!

Tata, back home, Fez, Jamie's mdina, Rabat, Paul's mdina and back home again!

Well, I last left you all off on the day before I travelled to Tata with my counterpart Youssef for Ability Camp. I left one desert city for another in the same desert in the same country...and it took me over 12 hours to get there. Things started normally that day as we headed west towards Ouarzazate and stopped there for lunch. We boarded the bus from our town early in the morning and arrived in Oz at about lunch time. Youssef and I immediately bought our tickets to Tata and sat down and destroyed a couple of tajines at a comfortable pace...it was a nice meal. On our way back toward the bus station to catch our 2:30 ride south, we bumped into fellow PCV Emma, also headed to Tata for Ability Camp. We all waited in the bus station together, passing the time comfortably and laughing as we conversed in two languages (all making mistakes in the other's language)...until our bus never came. The gentleman who worked in the bus station told us that we could either wait for a 2AM bus (an 11 hour wait in the bus station) or take a local bus to a small town only an hour away, but at least in the right direction in which case we could hope only God could help us get there. We chose the inch'allah option and hence our 'moghamara' (مغامرة) or adventure (a word you don't learn in a foreign language until you experience it) began. An hour later, we arrived in a town I've never heard of and felt very out of place in the more desert-like region than my own. We ended up taking a 1960's hippie van filled with about 15 people two hours further south. It was an interesting experience as a drunk man boarded and verbally harassed me in English for several minutes while Youssef eventually persuaded him I'm friendly and then he departed with a kind 'good-bye' and many apologies. The three of us then made two friends in the van and we took turns singing songs in our native languages until we arrived in our destination. The van abruptly arrived in the middle of nowhere, from which point we got a taxi to take us to the nearest town. From there, we took a pretty fancy taxi (with a small screen t.v. inside playing Moroccan music videos) to another town from which the three of us bought out a taxi to take us to Tata. Forgive the latter part of this story appearing rushed...all three of us took turns dozing off as transportation here is always an exhaustive experience. Fortunately, after an entire days travel in the same desert, we arrived in Tata and everyone passed out quite quickly thereafter.

The actual camp itself was a really powerful experience. I had never spent that much time with individuals with special needs in my life and I learned about how to create inclusive programming for this population. It was definitely an exhaustive program and I gave every ounce of energy I had toward serving those youth. I was truly inspired also by the efforts of my fellow volunteers (American and Moroccan) who really gave 110% to that camp. A special shout-out needs to be saved just for Abbey and her inspiring leadership and effort

A great picture taken by fellow PCV Jeff of Paul, Ryan and myself exploring the oasis in Tata.

By God's grace, the trip home was completely normal and I spent that Sunday in bed sleeping (actually watching The Force Awakens in bed). That evening, I met with my good friend Mustapha and my site-mate Larissa to touch base about the second camp I would be doing in two weeks--a special needs inclusion camp in my site to commemorate the construction of a new basketball court built in town. That week was rushed as can be and passed successfully, with much improvisation on our parts. Every activity was designed to teach our youth about the importance of inclusion of special needs individuals in our society. We touched on this theme through sessions in the arts, sports and even directly speaking with the kids about what an inclusive society looks like. The culmination of the camp was supposed to be a field trip for kids from a special needs youth association from Errachidia to our town. Everything was designed with this in mind; however, after delivering a very long lecture to the youth, the president of the association notified us that they would be unable to bring any participants due to financial constraints. This put all of the volunteers at the camp in a bit of a bind. Larissa and I were trying to process the news on Wednesday evening as we thought about what we would do that Friday. The idea then hit me that we both wanted to install a wheel-chair ramp at the youth center and had a bag of cement ready for the job. So we took a very small building project and turned it into a volunteerism opportunity for the Dar Chebab crowd. We worked with Association Reemal, a local art group, and they helped the kids both build the ramp and paint two 'inclusion'-themed murals. It was an amazing conclusion to all of the lessons we had been learning from at camp and it was so cool to see the community come together in that way so quickly for such a great cause.

Great picture of our Dar Chebab family being awesome! Pictured here is Youssef watering the cement on our ramp.

After two camps back-to-back, I was dead tired that following week. I continued with my evening classes at the youth center, but spent a lot of time at home recovering from those two crazy weeks. The focus of that week was mainly housecleaning (a very important mission that I had neglected for longer than I'd like to admit) and reading.

The last week of April was when I travelled up to Fez with two of my friends/counterparts Mustapha and Majid. Peace Corps organized a workshop for Project, Design and Management and so we all went up to develop some new programming for our town. While up there, we went to the Old Medina of Fez multiple times and had a great time exploring medieval history as well as artwork and decor of a priceless quality in many of the shops. A couple of other trip highlights were fellow-PCV Nora joining the three of us for McDonald's (the first time for our Moroccan friends) and a group outing to Cafe Clock to hear Moroccan storytelling in Darija and English.

I had one gap day between the PDM workshop and decided to spend it with Jamie, who's site is closely located to Fez. We had a wonderful time exploring some of the local farmland and villages outside of her city center. In addition to our little adventures, we had a wonderful dinner with our friend/counterpart Mohamed's family that evening and the two of us made a killer Mexican-American themed brunch that following morning before boarding the bus to Rabat that Sunday afternoon.

Mohamed snapped a great picture of Jamie and myself petting this adorable goat in the countryside!

We arrived in Rabat for our Mid-Service training and medical check-ups. Our MST was only two days and they truly went by in a breeze. I stayed on a third day for medical, which was nice because it afforded me a little extra time in the big city. Some highlights from MST are that I'm healthy, proud to say my Darija is now at an advanced level and learned about a few cool stuff to look forward to this fall (which I'll blog about if they come to fruition). What is really special about these trainings is that they provide us volunteers with the few opportunities that we have to all be together in the same place at the same time (and we never touch 100% attendance now that we're all in the field). I remember having a delicious Italian dinner at a West African restaurant one evening for my friend Sarah's birthday, having another delicious Italian dinner the following evening with some of the crew from the English conference in Errachidia (thanks to Joseph for the treat), enjoying a delicious suchi lunch with Santiago (who I hope does well in Spain), Emma (from the 'moghamara' in Tata) and Paul (my friend from training in Sidi Kacem) and enjoying a couple of delicious sandwiches with Noa (who is basically my neighbor in site...just living in the next town over) while sitting upon the roof-terrace of our hotel that overlooked the entire downtown. My local priest here in country actually lives in Rabat during the week and so I was also able to take him out to dinner one night to a really trendy area of Rabat with affordable food and a kind of European-like restaurant/cafe atmosphere. Before heading back south, I made it a priority to also pick up a new pair of running shoes (you wouldn't believe what the terrain here can do to your shoes), which is actually something I'd looked forward to doing since January (didn't think I'd be waiting until May before returning to a large city).

To break up the trip down south, I decided to make a pitstop to the site of my friend Paul, who lives just outside of Meknes. We had spent a lot of time together this past month as we were both in Tata and PDM, but I really wanted to make the most of my opportunity to spend some free time with my good friend. Before Tata, I don't think I'd seem him in about six months, which is crazy because I saw the brother every day for those first three months in country. We passed a great time there in his town with our good friend/counterpart Bouhoute (who makes a great tajine!). I also was really amazed/inspired by how Paul decorated his apartment. It may be the most zwin or lovely PC apartment I've seen here in Morocco yet.

Now I have been nestled back in site for a good minute, but I'll leave in about a week and a half for Tangier and Chefchaouen to spend some good time with Casey, a good friend of mine from APU who is now doing the Fulbright program in Turkey. I'm really excited to catch up with him again! Ramadan should be beginning once I return so I'll try and write a post about our adventures together up north before tackling the subject of Islam's holiest month next time.

Until then, bslama friends!

Reflection on My First Year of Service!

Whew! I cannot believe that as I am writing this, I have spent one year in Morocco officially as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Without question, this has been one of longest, most difficult and yet rewarding years of my life. It is hard to fathom how slowly time flies when an American is plucked out of his native society and placed in a country where almost everything is almost the exact opposite as the ol'balad (San Jose for me!). Yet I sit here and type these words having accomplished something very few people I know have done.

I do not know what the perceptions are of volunteer service back home, but judging from information shared on facebook and blogs, it may be easy to view Peace Corps Morocco as an adventurous type of job with abundant vacation opportunities to nearby European destinations. And no one is to blame more than we volunteers who cannot resist sharing photos such as this:

Myself and some friends enjoying a Camel Trek in Merzuga!

Indeed, speaking on the phone whilst riding upon a camel on a short weekend get-away is something I did this past Winter (Yes, this was February!) And while these fun and unique experiences are readily available, my experience with PC Morocco would not appear to you as genuine if all I communicated about my life here is the high points and successes. In actuality, much of this past year has been spent undergoing many challenges, persevering through adversity and finding new ways to conquer obstacles all while receiving some of the world's greatest hospitality, working on some of the most fulfilling and impactful projects of my life and seeing things in the world I have never seen before.

Looking back on this last year, I definitely know I have blogged about successful projects in site such as Peace Camp and the Library-building project. Those both are two things I did which I think had a really positive impact on my community and me as a person. Over this last month, adding new activities to the youth center by supporting counterparts such as Mustapha and Majid through their passions in theater and leadership has been something I think the youth have really benefited from.

Reflecting on my first year of service has taught me that while English teaching is something that a lot of youth can benefit from, other types of programming in Arabic offer them skills that they more so desire. Moving forward into my second year, one lesson I am trying to bear in mind is that "One does not have to speak English to be a good person." I am, of course, happy to teach it to students to who wish to learn it, but have discovered a large group of youth who are interested in benefitting from other types of social activities and have no particular interest in learning English. Now that I am more comfortable in my Darija (or my youth have gotten used to a funky accent and way of speaking), I think that my service will continue to go in this direction.

One of the largest work-related challenges from this last year has been trying to find productive ways to use my time. Our project in Morocco is youth development and our work assignment is after-school youth centers. Due to the school schedule, youth do not come to the youth center until around seven in the evening, which makes programming challenging because the institution closes at eight. Also difficult is the challenge of geography--the youth center is located in the center of town and a large number of youth live in rural villages and take the school bus to and fro center. So I have been challenged for exploring how I can have a larger impact on the youth I work with in terms of time spent with them every day and the numbers of youth who benefit from Peace Corps programming. The past fall, planning for Peace Camp and managing the grant were more than enough to keep me way too busy in addition to the classes I was teaching at the youth center and local associations. However, now that I am in the post-camp part of my service, I am looking for a new project or commitment to work on in addition to classes at the youth center and associations, which are not enough of work for my liking by themselves. Right now, the idea on my mind in inserting myself into the high school library for a few hours every week as a sit-in tutor for any student who comes in looking for help with English. Mustapha also voluntarily teaches martial arts to disabled youth at an association in Errachidia two times a week in the mornings and so I will now assist him with facilitating his lesson and then returning to my town in the afternoon to work in the youth center. Both of these would increase the amount of time I spend with all types of youth substantially and also allow my service to reach a wider audience.

One large personal struggle I have experienced here is trying to be myself and bring myself into a very different society than the one I am used to. As a person from San Jose, I grew up with a lot of people who didn't look like me, talk like me, worship like me, think like me or grow up like I did. However, I felt that we all figured out how to make that work and be something really beautiful. I was blessed to grow up in a place where, in the majority of cases, I actually was judged on "the content of my character," as MLK would have put it, and that was a good enough foundation for me to develop meaningful relationships with people different than myself, but who also have similar intentions of living good lives. What is most challenging for me in Morocco is that I do feel that in many cases (or at least enough to bother me) I am looked at through a lens and judged by a different standard than than another 23-year old male here might be. I feel that there have been a lot of painful experiences where my status as someone of another nationality and religion than many people here has unnecessarily resulted in barriers and walls being cast around me that I myself did not build. Multiple relationships that I thought were built on trust and mutual respect have hurt me more than I thought they could because of the way an individual chose to categorize me and the effect of that on my interactions with that person.

Two good friends of mine: Mustapha and Majid

Welakin, l'humdullah, I know so many great and loving people here in my town and all over the country who love me just as I am and care not to change me. A certain risk of moving to any new place in the world is building up a new network of family and friends and there are certain to be hits and misses along the way. After this first year of service, I do have a large amount of friends and family in my town who I know I can spend time with if I just want to relax and have fun. With all seriousness, if I am under any stress or upset, I know exactly to call if I want to hang out, enjoy a nice meal and laugh, and it is not always necessarily the same person. This is a really incredible blessing to have in a work-site where everything is 100% field-based. These relationships are what have really allowed me to develop a deep love and passion for Morocco and its culture. A more forceful approach about differences usually results in mere apathy about the subject at hand, but I have developed a real strong interest and love for Morocco from people who understand that my culture is not the same, are patient with me speaking Darija as a foreign language, respect that I am Catholic and do not try and convert me and love me with all of the strange foreign attitudes and mannerisms that I bring to their lives. This is so special because that embracing attitude invites passionate interest about Morocco from me. It is because of these people that I think I have made a massive improvement in Darija since CBT and have read multiple books about Moroccan society. I do not think I would know half the language and knowledge I do about the country now had it been for the great friends I do have here. If there is a valuable lesson in my experience as a minority in this country for those of you back in the states to take away it is that celebrating the differences that exist between you and foreigners is the best way you can share your American heritage with them. Your kindness and openness will invite an appreciation for American culture and give you an opportunity for you to share that with them and help them become accustomed to a new life in a new land.

My good friend Youssef and myself

This last Easter was a true blessing. It marked one-full liturgical year that I have spent worshipping at my new parish. After mass, some of the local international students cooked up a delicious meal of origins unknown to me (definitely not from the U.S. or Morocco) and we had a nice lunch together as a community. I then went to the home of a local family from the Philippines who live in Morocco. Being able to relax in their home and eat some of their native foods really reminded me of what spending Easter in the U.S. feels like. If my calculations serve correct, I should be able to spend one last Easter here in Morocco before heading home.

Something that I am really excited about in April and May is that multiple counterparts of mine will participate in programming that will give them new skills to benefit from, which I think is some of the more sustainable work we do as volunteers. Tomorrow, Youssef, a friend of mine who is an active local volunteer, and myself will go to Tata (طاطا) to volunteer with Peace Corps and Moroccan volunteers at Ability Camp-a weeklong overnight camp that brings together youth who are disabled and not disabled together for activities centered around the theme of 'Inclusion.' After that, we will return to my town and work with volunteers here to put on a camp for participants at an inaugural basketball tournament at a new court (congratulations to my site-mate Larissa!) to teach them about special needs inclusion. Before the day of their big tournament, the participants will spend one day volunteering with youth from a special needs association in Errachidia and participating in activities also centered around 'Inclusion' with them. Our hope is that this will bring awareness to the ballers about issues involving the inclusion of disabled individuals in Moroccan society. Later in April, I will travel to Fez with two friends and fellow volunteers, Mustapha and Majid, for the Project, Design and Management workshop where they will work on how to lead projects they themselves will design. I love it when there are opportunities for PCVs to travel to trainings and programming far away with local volunteers from our sites because I think the counterparts themselves benefit immensely from experiences that take place in new places and with new people. It is also amazing for our relationships because such a large amount of travel time together can really help strengthen the bonds that we share.

After all of this action in April, I will spend the first week of May in Rabat for our Mid-Service training and the only time of this past year when all PCVs in my Staj (which I guess now number about 80?) will be together at the same place and the same time. It should be really good for developing our relationships and finding new ways to collaborate with one another.

My hope is to have my next blog post up reviewing all of these exciting things to come and more!

It's been a crazy awesome first year and I can't wait to see what the second one holds!

Response to questions from students at Lake Forest High School in Illinois

For this post, I will actually respond to a series of letters sent to me from students in a high school in the United States that I correspond with. I have decided to include my responses to their questions on my blog here because I figured this is an opportunity for those of you back in the States to learn some new information about Morocco based on the wide diversity of questions asked of me by these students.

--
Dear Modern Issues Students at Lake Forest High School,

I hope 2016 is off to a wonderful start for all of you. Your letters brought more joy to me than you all ever could have imagined. This is one the most considerate Christmas gifts I have ever received, even though I read through them on February 16. I do apologize for the late response. Another Peace Corps Volunteer and I share a post office box here in our town and so I did not get your present until a couple of weeks ago and there were a few tasks that stood in the way of me reading your letters and taking the necessary time to respond to them. I have tried my very best here to respond to every question I found (sometimes lumping similar ones together into a single response), please forgive me for any accidental omissions.

Without further to do, let's get to it!

Students Daniel, Samantha and Brandon have asked me what my daily life is like in Morocco.

I hesitate to say this, but I don't think I have one. Generally, I wake up at seven and do the morning routine with breakfast and all until eight. From eight until ten, I usually study Darija or Moroccan Arabic through a variety of means such as through formal lessons or meeting with kind friends in the cafe. From ten until eleven, I will usually go through my email and task orient for the day. I exercise around eleven every day and eat lunch after that (with a shower, of course). In the afternoon, I usually take care of administrative tasks for Peace Corps (I'm always behind on at least one of them), plan for larger projects and plan my lessons for the youth center. I teach Monday-Saturday from 6:30-8:00pm at the youth center and then usually either return home to Skype family and friends or sit in the cafe with friends after for a while and visit.

Tatum asked me what the relationship is like between Morocco and Spain.

Actually, Tatum, as you probably can imagine, very complicated. When Spain was ruled by Muslims, every successive dynasty used Morocco as a launching point for their entry into Europe. Two of those ruling Islamic dynasties, the Almoravids and the Almohads, were actually Moroccan in origin and based in Marrakech, Morocco. In the early 20th century, Spain colonized the northern region of Morocco and what is referred to now as the Moroccan/Western Sahara. The current Sahara dispute can be attributed to Spanish governance of that region. Another very interesting remnant of the colonial period is a geographical anomaly. There are actually two cities inside Morocco, Ceuta and Melilla, which are not apart of Morocco. They are sovereign Spanish territory and governed by the Spanish government. Tatum, I also have been told that the Darija in northern Morocco is more Spanish-influenced than the Darija in the former French protectorate, where I live. Off the top of my head, I can tell you that the Darija words simana, cozina and lavabo all have very obvious Spanish origins (ask your Spanish teacher if you don’t know). I like your question very much--quite thoughtful!

Mary and Cami both asked me about the ways in which Morocco is different than America.

Qtira (many)--I remember being in small state of culture shock when I arrived in Sidi Kacem with my host family for our language and culture training. At the onset, things like Turkish toilets and eating with your hands can be a big adjustment to make. Also, the Moroccan conception of time really values time spent in groups over time spent alone. In addition to that, is not followed as strictly when it comes to meetings for work. In the beginning, this made getting through the day a grand adventure. After a year, Ana wlft (I got used to) life here and now I see the same things I see in America--the majority of Moroccans I know are kind people who work hard to provide for their families. The differences have faded away and it is much easier to focus on the commonalities now.

Harman, Rachel, Colson, Charlotte, Ryan, Katie, Grace, Joe and Mia are all the foodies at your school as they asked me about my favorite types of foods here.

Alright, so I named all of you because I think perhaps y'all should get together and dine at your closest Moroccan restaurant. The food here is delicious and very unique. Morocco is a very collectivist culture and so most meals are on one giant plate in the center of the table that everyone shares (the same goes for the drinking cup). The most popular Moroccan dish is couscous, which I am sure some of you have had. It's absolutely delicious and also very difficult to make. It's most commonly eaten on Fridays after the main Islamic prayer of the week (I suppose you could equate it to a traditional American Sunday brunch). Traditionally, it is eaten with your right hand (a manner of politeness) and you are supposed to be able to grasp the couscous and roll it up into an egg-shaped ball and then eat it (Most people I know, American and Moroccan, have "sold out" and just eat it with a spoon).  Another classic is the Moroccan Tajine, which is like a crock pot (I'm struggling to find the right words for this one) that can be cooked directly over a natural fire or stove. Most commonly, it is filled with vegetables, mixed spices and some form of meat. It is not eaten with utensils, but rather with bread (unless you are unable to eat bread). The spices leave behind a lot of delicious juice and so you can use the bread to both grab items and absorb the juice for maximum flavor! I also am a fan of Milwi--the Moroccan version of the tortilla, Khubz-lharr (which is Milwi stuffed with spices and also referred to as Berber pizza) and Rifisa (milwi prepared as a main dish and served as something similar to lasagna).

Joseph asked me generally about my impression of Morocco.

I would say that in my interactions with people, I find it much like America actually. I think there are good people and bad people wherever you go. I am very social and so have many opportunities to meet new friends and also discover people I would very much like to avoid (as I do in America). Good question!

Eric, Cailey, Asma and Colin asked me about the weather in Morocco.

Morocco, without the Sahara, is about the same size as California and with the Sahara is quite a bit larger. The weather really depends on the region. Costal areas have mild weather and the further one goes inland, the more extreme the weather becomes. I live in the Pre-Sahara, almost as far away from the ocean as one can go (I'm closer to Algeria) and so my region gets the most extreme of any weather current. The winters are usually as cold as they get and last summer was so hot that I tried my best to work in other regions of the country just to cool off.

Gwen, the teacher's assistant, asked me what conflict in the world interests me the most.

I really like this question although I did not expect to see it in a Christmas card! I really enjoyed studying the Arab Spring when I was in college (because that's when it began) and especially the situation in Egypt. Unfortunately, Egypt has yet to know peace since its deposition of Hosni Mubarak and I find it very interesting to study all of the forces that have polarized that country. 

Christophe asked me what the main religion in Morocco is.

It is officially 99% Sunni Muslim. I have met Moroccans with other religious views, but, as the percentage suggests, the overwhelming majority of people here are Sunni. There was once a very strong Jewish population here, but not a few political factors resulted in their emigration to Europe or Israel in the early to mid 20th century. What I also find very interesting is the diversity of views that exist within Islam here because the expression of faith definitely varies from person to person. There is also a big culture of Sufism here that I would like to learn more about.

Sean asked me if things in Morocco are getting better.

Sean, I think your question pertains to the quality of life here in general. I would say there is no shortage of challenges that Morocco must face in order to improve the quality of life for its citizens, but I think that there is a perception in the air that life is getting better. The King of Morocco is very well respected internationally and so I think that helps with foreign investment and commerce a great deal.

Katie asked me what my favorite place is that I have visited in Morocco.

Very touch question, Katie. There are a lot of amazing sites to see here. The place I love visiting the most is actually Rabat, the capital city. That is where Peace Corps' office is and I love being able to walk the streets of that city and do things like visit big bookstores, explore museums and eat in really nice restaurants. It is very clean and beautiful and so I feel more relaxed there than I do in some of the other big cities. There are many places I have yet to see though so we'll see if this answer changes over time!

Charles asked me if there are any changes in Morocco I have seen since I have been here.

I am sure change is happening all around me, Charles. However, I am a foreigner who has been here for only a year and so I am not in a good position to notice them. However, one thing I have noticed is that the government has started investing quite heavily in improving the infrastructure of our region and so I have noticed a lot of new construction projects, which is good for the economy.

John, Will and Michael asked me what the living conditions are like in Morocco.

Hey guys! Morocco is by no means a developing country, but also is not necessarily a developed country. It's definitely lodged in the middle and has characteristics of both. I have a nice apartment with electricity and Internet if that helps give you a good picture of my situation.

Pierce asked me about the kinds of conflict I resolve.

Generally speaking, I think Peace Corps tries to help correct the misunderstandings that Americans have with regards to other cultures as well as the stereotypes that citizens in countries around the world have about Americans. The development work is crucial, but so is the part of our program that tries to build better understanding between different peoples. This is where our work as volunteers helps plant seeds of peace in America and abroad.

Trevor asked me what the most fun thing I have ever done in Morocco is.

Peace Corps works with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to organize an English summer camp in El Jadida, a beach resort town, that I volunteered at last August. I remember teaching English every morning and then immediately going to play on the beach and in the ocean when my classes were over.

Amiya and Hope asked me about the activities I am involved with here.

Hi Amiya and Hope! I am not sure if you mean activities I do in the youth center or personal hobbies that I have here. I think maybe you mean the latter and so I'll tell you that I love learning and speaking in Darija with my friends and host family here. I have never spoken a foreign language to this extent before and sometimes it's a really cool feeling at the end of the day when you realized you managed to survive those 24 hours without English.

Carson, Jack, Ainsley and Rainan asked me to compare the USA and Morocco?

Great question guys! 

The thing I love about the U.S. that Morocco does not have as much of is the cultural diversity. I love that most of my friends come from different races and religions that I do and that many of them speak other languages at home with their families. I also like that even those of us who were born and raised in the U.S. have different heritages and that we have those to share with one another. Speaking from my own upbringing in San Jose, I really love that aspect of the U.S. and really miss it sometimes in Morocco because this society is much more homogeneous than America.

The thing I love about Morocco that I have not seen much of America is the spirit of fraternity and sisterhood that floods the streets. No matter where I go here, there is always someone who treats me like a member of their family and wants to befriend me. There have been times where I have been far away from my home here in different cities and there are always gracious people to help me more than necessary in a spirit of love. The hospitality of strangers here blows my mind because I've never seen anything like it. More times than I can count, I've been invited into a family's home for tea or lunch and had that be the first time I met them. Once it was even the mayor of a major city!

Ryan asked me if I like LA or Morocco better.

Ryan, I firmly believe that Disneyland truly is the happiest place on earth. If they built a Disneyland Morocco, then I would more seriously explore this question.

Scott asked me where I live in Morocco.

For security reasons, I am unable to name the specific town on the internet. However, Mrs. McKee knows all about my town. I live in Errachidia region, which is just south of the Atlas Mountains and also the beginning of the Sahara Desert.

Ashley and Alex asked me what I like to do for fun in Morocco.

It really depends on where I’m at, guys. In my town, I like exercising, reading and visiting with family and friends. When I am not here, I really just love exploring the new places I get to experience here. This is really an opportunity for me to get to know Morocco in a way that not many other foreigners have and so I love making the most of it!

Emma asked me about some of my hobbies.

Learning Arabic is challenging, but also very intellectually stimulating and fun. It’s really amazing what learning other languages does for your view of the world. Charlemagne said that knowing a second language is like having a second soul and there are no better words to describe how I feel about the new relationships I have because of learning a new language.

Madelyn asked me how Spain is different than the U.S.

I will actually go to Spain twice this year, I hope, and look forward to exploring those differences myself. I have some initial impressions, but I’ll wait to see what I find when I get there.

Wren asked me about what I find most interesting about Morocco.

I love studying the history of Judaism in Morocco because its story is one of cohabitation of peace with Muslims. Judaism actually arrived in Morocco before Islam and has been here since Morocco was an Ancient Roman colony. In 1492, when Spain expelled its Jewish population, many Jewish refugees chose to settle in Morocco. In today’s world, I think these are the types of examples that need to be magnified.

Eshan, George and Fernando asked me what Morocco is like.

Awesome, dudes! You guys should come.

Danny asked me what the nightlife is like in Morocco.

Definitely depends on where you are, Danny. I know when I’ve been in bigger cities like Marrakech and El Jadida I find it fun to hang around large markets and public squares where they sell food and go browsing with friends. Here in my town, a fun evening activity can be going to a local café and watching Champions League soccer. During Ramadan, when people are fasting, the whole town is bumpin’ at night, which is fun for a little while, although I find it a bit noisy for my taste.

Lawra asked me why I decided to go to Morocco in the first place.

When I interviewed with Peace Corps, I told them I wanted to live in a Muslim country because I wanted to learn more about Islam. I am interested in interfaith dialogue because I think it is so desperately needed in our world. I think Islam is grossly misunderstood in the U.S. and wanted to be able to help educate Americans on the awesomeness of Muslims. I also knew living in a Muslim country as homogeneous as Morocco would allow me to be the first “different” person many of my youth have met which would give them a rare opportunity to forge an intercultural friendship, something we take for granted in America. My final choice was between Thailand and Morocco (two incredible countries) and I am happy with the choice I made. 

Emma and Becker asked about the number of languages there are in Morocco.

The two national languages are Standard Arabic and Tamazight. French is recognized as an official language and is the primarily taught foreign language here, but English will probably replace it very soon. On the streets, it is most common to hear Darija and various dialects of Tamazight (depending on the region).

Noland and Philip asked me if there are cartels in Morocco.

Yes, they operate in the northern portion of the country in the Rif Mountains. Cannabis is grown there and exported to Europe. Morocco’s northern cost is also the transit point of drugs from South America making their way into the European market. It is too dangerous for Peace Corps to send volunteers to live in those communities.

Abby asked me if Morocco has Starbucks.

Yes, Abby! However, they are only located in large cities that see lots of tourists. I have drunken Stabucks in a train station in Casablanca, the Morocco Mall (also in Casablanca) and also near the mall in Marrakech. They write your name in Arabic when you order a cup of coffee—I think that’s just great!

Garrett asked me if I have seen any tourists in the town I live in.

We have tourists come here sometimes because they come to our region to go camel trekking in Merzouga. 

Matthew asked me what my favorite color is.

Green, Matthew!

Austin asked what I do when I’m not helping people.

Receiving help from other people, Austin. There is no shortage of things I need help with from community members every day.

Zachary asked me if there are any separatists in Morocco.

Yes, Zachary. In the Sahara region, there is the Polisario Front, sponsored by the Algerian government, fighting for a Western Sahara that is independent of Morocco. Morocco considers the Sahara to be part of their country and governs it as such.

Cathal asked me what my involvement is with Peace Corps’ work in Morocco.

Great question, Cathal! I am a youth development worker assigned to work in the youth center in my town. I also do work with an association in a nearby village and facilitate activities at the high school. My two biggest projects of this year have been a week-long “Peace Camp” that we organized at the high school (see my previous blog post for a blerb about that) and working with a local association to start an Arabic-language children’s library at this rural village. Day to day, I teach classes in the youth center and this association. Currently, I teach four English classes and help facilitate a Peace Club and Theatre Club with Moroccan counterparts. Does that give you a good idea? If not, I am sure I can talk with your class more about my work here.

Patrick asked me if sports are popular in Morocco.

Very much so, Patrick! In my town, people enjoy aerobics, basketball, bike-riding, hiking, running, soccer, weightlifting and I am sure much more. I have noticed that the people of my current town are much more physically active then in Sidi Kacem, my training site. A major challenge facing Morocco is increasing opportunities for women to participate in sports. The obesity rate amongst women is much higher than that of men. I usually see men involved in the aforementioned activities much more than women.

Delaney asked me what the biggest conflict in Morocco is.

This disagreement with Polisario and the Algerian government over governance of the Saharan territory is without question the biggest conflict here.

Kissel asked me what it is like being an American in Morocco.

Morocco and the U.S. have been allies for all of our country’s history. Morocco was the first country to recognize American independence after the Revolutionary War. The U.S. also aids this kingdom much in its counterterrorism efforts, which are the best in the region. Also, the U.S. is very active in development work here (obviously, Peace Corps’ presence here gives testament to that). Moroccans know the American government is very friendly to their country and so are actually very loving of Americans and the U.S. in general.

2016 is Off and Running!

Hello dear world!

Since I shared my last blog post with you all, I celebrated the holiday season with my family back in San Jose and completed the biggest project of my first year of service shortly after returning back here to Morocco. December-February has been a truly busy and yet blessed time.

To begin with, the holiday season home with family and friends was wonderful. I went eleven months without seeing my parents and made the most of my two weeks back in the states spending quality time at home with them. I also had the opportunity to catch up with some of my best friends from high school who are all doing awesome things in grad school and the world of work. Shortly before New Year’s, our family held an open house for our extended family and close friends and it was a wonderful opportunity for me to enjoy their company and answer all of their very interesting questions about my new life. 

Something unique I had an opportunity to do while back in the good ol’ USA that many of my colleagues in Peace Corps unfortunately did not have was watch Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (twice!) with my parents, who had actually given me the original trilogy for Christmas when I was in kindergarden. My favorite memory from my time back home was being able to discuss fan theories about the film with my parents and best friends (at the same time!). We're all in on the Rey is Luke's daughter theory. I think Kylo Ren will return to the light side and defeat (or at least contribute to defeating) Darth Plagueis. Lastly, the ewoks will return in the form of a massive, furry and light-saber wielding army to the likes the galaxy has never seen (ok, forgive me for this last one).

When the time came for me to return to Morocco, I felt much stronger emotionally than I had when I left to go home. As some of you remember, I was going through a bit of a difficult time last November-December for personal reasons having nothing to do with my Peace Corps service. Having the opportunity to be surrounded by the people who love me most in life was the best medicine I could have asked for. I do remember feeling a bit sentimental, which I think is healthy, while sitting at the San Francisco Airport on January 2nd and focusing my eyes back and forth between a college football bowl game and the beautiful hills that lay aside the 87 freeway.

Upon setting foot in Morocco, my mind was focused on one thing and one thing only: Peace Camp. This is a project that had been my main priority for months and that demanded much attention due to a few factors such as there being a grant involved (which I was responsible for managing—something I never thought I'd do at such a young age) and me having to communicate the majority of my logistical information in Darija with institutions in my town that had not partnered with Peace Corps in development work before. Thanks to one great volunteer team and committed participants who really wanted to benefit from the program we offered during their school break, the camp was a resounding success. As the manager of the project, the fact that it logistically worked out has left me with so much joy giving these students an opportunity that I didn’t even have in high school. This was, without question, one of the busiest weeks of my life.

Now what was Peace Camp?

We organized a weeklong camp for high school students in my town to be held at their high school (an incredible venue) centered on the themes of peace and development. Their sessions focused on the Model United Nations program, conflict resolution, leadership, a painting project of the world, team-building through sports, idea sharing and human rights. They all had so much fun that many of them would actually show up early for camp sessions, which meant everything was nearly always on-schedule!

Left: Brahim, a local youth, leading the participants in one of many selfies.

Left: Students watching a Ted Talks session at the Idea Sharing Session!

Left: My friend Awatif delivering her speech about the value of a university education for young women at the idea sharing session. She killed it!

Left: Volunteers Anooj, Majid and Mustapha with some of our awesome participants!

Left: Brahim taking another selfie with Mustapha, Wafa, Youssef, Simo and Souad. They all helped lead the Model UN simulation of the General Assembly.

Left: Volunteer Painters Nadia and Youssef "peacing" out with the campers at their mural!

There are indeed many more pictures to share, but I think y'all get the gist of it. This was a fun experience!

Once Peace Camp ended, I immediately went to Errachidia to pick up the second shipment of books for the Arabic children's library project my counterpart and I are doing in a small village outside my town. The work that association has done to have a bookshelf built and promote the library to youth has been extremely impressive.

Above: The beginning to our new Arabic children's library project!

After this, I have just been busy continuing my program at the youth center and also updating it a little bit based on a better understanding on my part of how things run in my town. I have been in communication with multiple volunteers about working with them on some very big projects each of them are planning and so my schedule for the spring is actually extremely packed and intense when factoring these in addition to my work at the youth center. I am really excited for what lies ahead though and I think that I will look back on my first year of service with a great deal of pride in my own work at our Mid-Service training in May if I can keep up the good work.

Until next time—bslama!

Happy Holidays!

Hello friends! Please excuse me for the absence of new blog posts for these last three months. Below, I have pasted a holiday email I sent to my close family and friends to keep you all updated until I can hopefully get back into the swing of things with blogging in the new year.

“The hardest job you’ll ever love” are the words that were continually repeated to me before I began my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer here in Morocco. For the life of me, I had no idea how true they would be. The challenges I am facing given my work situation and status as a foreigner in a society much more homogeneous than that of the United States have made 2015 the fastest and most unorthodox year of my young life. Every single day here is a new experience unlike anything life from 1992-2014 had ever introduced to me. The important thing for all of you to know is that I am really happy with my service in Morocco and have a host family here in my town who loves me like their own son.

The haste with which I introduced this message may perhaps give you all a small glimpse into the chaotic system of life I have gotten use to (which is to say I have gotten used to not getting used to things). However, my true intention with this email is to wish you all a Blessed Christmas and Holiday season. This is truly a very sacred time of year and my focus is on getting the most of this Advent season and having a wonderful Christmas with my family when the day arrives.

Yes! You did read correct; I will be home for Christmas this year. It will be a two-week visit where I will spend the majority of my time with my parents (whom I haven’t seen in eleven months) and some close friends in San Jose. I have not had a vacation for quite some time and am very excited to have this opportunity to go home and rest with some dear loved ones.

I know I last emailed all of you a ‘life update’ this past Easter and so there is certainly much news to fill you in on. As you can read from my introduction, I am certainly living life to the fullest here and am happy to share with you some highlights from these last several months.

Where have I traveled?

Work slows down quite heavily in the field of youth development during the hot summer months in my town. Consequently, much of the travel I have done in country has been when the youth center and local associations in my site were closed during that season. This last summer I was able to visit Casablanca, Kenitra, El Jadida, Fes, Marrakech and Ouarzazate all for the first time since I have been here in Morocco. Each city has its charm and unique memories. I would say that I was most impressed with Fes because it is an incredibly well preserved medieval city with lots of history and incredible architecture all wrapped together in labyrinth-like Old Medina. However, my favorite experience of the summer was actually working at an English immersion camp in El Jadida. I spent eleven days teaching English right next to the beach and then playing in the ocean once my classes were over. I also had the opportunity to attend a top-tier Moroccan soccer match with friends once the campers went home.

 Friends at I at the local match!

What has my work been like?

As soon as Eid l-Kebir ended, work has been non-stop until this current vacation I am preparing to take for Christmas. I have been teaching about four different English classes (four at a high school advanced level and one beginning class) and really have benefited from learning how to use English teaching to communicate ideas about subjects such as multiculturalism and human rights to my students. I attended a library-training workshop with a counterpart from a local association and, with a large book donation from Peace Corps, the association is opening up an Arabic-language children’s library in a village where the first language is Tamazight. I also attended a training of trainers for the Model United Nations program in Morocco with another counterpart of mine who I have been working with on a “Peace Club.” As part of this same club, I also wrote for a grant that has been approved for our club to operate a Peace Camp in our site during the school vacation in January. I am very proud to say that my old Arabic tutor Mustafa has been accepted as an English teacher with the Moroccan Ministry of Education and left our town to participate in a one-year preparatory program. My new tutor, Houda, is an incredible person and a very gifted linguist who has been doing a terrific job tutoring me since she took over this responsibility.



My friend Ali and I at the library opening at his association!

How am I doing emotionally?

There are a lot of challenges for me living in a new country with a very different culture than my own. I have experienced a lot of emotional highs and lows while in Morocco. The honest answer to this question is that I have truly never been more alive than I have been now. I am growing a lot as a person and learning so much about love, friendship and the meaning of family. Living alone here has its benefits because I can take periods of time to myself when I am feeling sad that I wouldn’t have in America. There are times when I can go “off the map” so to speak and take a day or two to myself for peace and quiet. I have the two most amazing host families (the one in my training site of Sidi Kacem and the one in my current town) and I have relied on them heavily when I have gone through difficult emotional times. I have cried with them, laughed with them and gone to them seeking advice and I have always been loved like a real member of the family.

How am I doing spiritually?

I have a close relationship with the priest at my local parish and he has become a confessor and mentor who is extremely accessible for help to his parishioners. Most recently, he allowed me to spend the night in the rectory in order to take me up to Meknes so that I could visit my host family in Sidi Kacem on the way to the airport in Casablanca. He has always been there for me through the emotional highs and lows of this experience and having a confessor I regularly frequent has been good for me spiritually. Sometimes being so isolated can have an unquestionably strange affect on a person spiritually so I do ask for prayer in feeling the providence of God in my life.

What thoughts are rolling around in my head?

A brewing passion of mine for some time now has been working in interfaith dialogue and cooperation between Christians and Muslims.

There have been times in Morocco where my feelings have been hurt by the actions and words of others very dear and close to me just because they do not have a very developed understanding of my religion. However, there are signs of progress such as a recent news story of Moroccan security protecting Pope Francis during his visit to the Central African Republic. Also, love is really a universal value that can easily cross religious boundaries. I have experienced immeasurable acts of love from Moroccans and I know that philosophizing and theologizing on such relationships from Moroccans themselves will result in new approaches to relationships with people from minority religions here in the kingdom.

The Catholic Church has been very vocal in criticizing the return of Islamophobic language in the public sphere since the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris and has undergone many brave efforts to participate in healthy interfaith dialogue with the Muslim community. Nevertheless, the use of Islamophobic language by many of our co-religionists (of all traditions and denominations) merits increased attention to be placed on this issue. Indeed, I am greatly troubled at the language that is being used by politicians and pundits alike in America.

Looking beyond just the U.S. and Morocco as individual countries proves that dedicated Christians and Muslims pursuing peace together is a necessary step in ending the conflicts taking place in now in Iraq, Syria, Central African Republic, Nigeria and so many countless other nations where these two religions struggle to coexist. Furthermore, many shared values provide opportunities for Christian-Muslim cooperation in a number of different areas in the international sphere.

My response to all of this is a desire to work for any organization or institution that values peace building through love between these two religions. I am interested in looking for teaching opportunities where I can incorporate such themes into the classroom with student populations from the relevant religious backgrounds. I am also interested in working with an organization involved in peace building efforts between the followers of these two faiths. If anyone reading this message is aware of any opportunities for me to pursue such a passion, please let me know.

What does Christmas mean to me this year?

I am happy that the liturgical year has us experience the Gospel every go-around as if we are witnessing such a transformation of history take place for the first time. Given the challenges and difficulties I have recently gone through, thinking of Christ coming to Earth to save the world gives me indeed great motivation to both meditate and celebrate during this Christmas Season.

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Happy Holidays!