Right now I am close to being in country for nearly a month
and can’t believe I have waited this long for blog 2. Indeed much has happened
since I last notified everyone of what has been going on with everything here
in PST. Everything still feels timeless in the sense that I know we are getting
our permanent site placements sometime soon and have an increasing amount of
tasks to accomplish before our next hub.
The last couple of weeks in site have been very intense
because we had been leading a Winter Camp while also undergoing language and
culture training. While although fun, every single member of our CBT group got
sick so often that we each have been more than one type of sick. I am very
thankful for Brandy in particular who saved my stomach from exploding (possibly
imploding from what it felt like) with some much needed medicine. This week’s
lesson was to definitely always bring the medical kit with you when you travel
out of site.
Despite the high amount of busyness, I would say one of my
favorite activities in this last period was when Yousef (a current PCV) had
each of us in our CBT group take turns saying nice things about each other. I
know it appears rather elementary (I specifically remember doing it in 4th
grade), but it was definitely the right amount of encouragement I needed given
the circumstances. To my recollection, I said that Nora was a very genuine
friend, Brandy was inspirational in how successful she is at such a young age,
Paul is an amazing listener for someone who is so funny and that Kelsey has a
very high emotional intelligence (Kemal, our LCF, is just “the man”). In an
English lesson I taught last week, I was able to effectively teach prepositions,
the verb “to want” and then put everything together for some Peace Corps PACA
to learn about what the children wanted in their community and where they would
put it.
The context behind the aforementioned salvation of my
stomach was that this past weekend was our first free travel day before we
stayed in Meknes (Monday-Wednesday) for hub. I chose to travel to Meknes early
on my free day so that I could attend Mass and visit my friends Issam and Mahdi.
Mass was beautiful to participate in, although I was sick, because it was the
first time I was able to receive the Eucharist since I have been in country.
Later that day I met up with Mahdi who was an amazing host given the
circumstances of my tummy. Some good ol’homecookin’ at his home and laughter
with him and some new Moroccan friends truly healed me. Mahdi showed me some of
the kindest hospitality I have ever seen and I am very appreciative of him for
it. In addition to a fun D.C. reunion, I was able to visit the Old Medina in
Meknes, which is truly incredible. Later in the evening I was happy to be
reunited with my good friend Issam briefly and we are hoping to enjoy a longer
visit next time I come into town. He was kind enough to cook dinner Monday
evening with the intention I would be able to come and visit, but our training
ran long and a 9pm curfew doesn’t give you much to work with in terms of social
functions with Moroccans in a large city.
Monday evening was still great fun however as I had the
opportunity to dine with fellow PCV’s to be’s (insh’allah) Alexander and
Dominic and we really had some nice conversations together over various forms
of shwarma.
On Tuesday evening I went out to dinner with Gelatto (my roommate
for every hotel stay and an incredibly wise volunteer who is retired), Kemal
and Ismail (another LCF who is a very intelligent guy who enjoys asking really
deep questions) for some more shwarma that was freaking amazing. Later that
evening I got together with PCV’s Will and Erin (great married couple), Alice
and Rachelle (who loves Brother’s
Karamazov!) and we all had a really meaningful conversation that topped off
the night incredibly.
Unfortunately as I am writing this I have realized that I
left my toiletries in Meknes so tomorrow will involve a very important Hanut
trip. So travel lesson two in this post for PCV’s is to always check the
bathroom before leaving a place you are staying.
Paul mentioned that we may as a CBT group travel together to
Volubilis in a couple of weeks, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one
of the most well-preserved Ancient Roman sights in the world. The picture I
will have taken of myself there will be one of many submissions on my part to
make it to the travel page of the San
Jose Mercury News or the APU alumni
magazine.
