The title of this blog entry is indicative of two facts. 1. I am going to Italy in a couple weeks and I'm beyond stoked. 2. The summer is here and that means a different pace and flow of things here.
Firstly, Italy. Yes I am visiting the land of pizza, large naked dudes (and dudettes), and breathtaking vistas everywhere you look. I will be there for ten days and plan to visit Florence, Pisa (be prepare for obnoxious pics with the leaning tower), Naples, Pompeii, and finally Rome. Might try to stop at some smaller locales along the way but that's the rough plan as of now. I am slowly getting some Italian phrases down. Thus far I know how to ask for the bathroom and how much is that (muy importante stuff there). I was originally thinking of visiting the UK, but Italy ultimately won out thanks to a kick ass flight to Rome from Fes (Less than 60 bucks round trip). I will be sure to take bazillions of pictures so you all can live vicariously through me (Don't say I never did anything for you). On a side note, I recently went to some roman ruins here in Morocco. It's an ancient town called Volublis that would have been the farthest west the Roman Empire stretched before it's collapse. This is partly what inspired my trip. Enjoy the scenery and mosaics.
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| Too Awesome, right? |
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| Alina (Language classmate) and I |
Now back to Peace Corps musing. Work is basically at a standstill at the point. My youth center is closed for renovations (This would normally sound awesome, but based of other volunteers experiences with renovations something that's suppose to take a month last 3; 3 months becomes 6, and so on and so forth). Inchallah (god willing), mine center will only take a month or so tops. Also Ramadan is upon us...well actually not for another couple weeks (likely to start June 17 or 18 this year). This once more means the vast majority of Moroccans/Islamic faith believers here and everywhere else in the Muslim world will be fasting from sun up to sundown for a month. It's a pretty interesting experience to behold and I am looking forward to celebrating this year with my host family once again.
One of the challenges of the summer in Morocco (partially due to Ramadan's position this year and summer travels for families) is the lack of consistent work. So to keep myself from getting to idle I will be hoping working some summer camps and generally spending some time seeing the country and hanging out with my fellow PCVs. Last year I stayed mostly in site and didn't work much at camps because I was worried about my language skills, but this year I am feeling much more prepared to engage with others (#winning).
Let's see what else....Just recently I worked at SIDA (What the french use instead of AIDS) event in the beautiful coastal city of Essaouria with about 20 other volunteers and that was awesome. Over 1000 people were provided a free AIDS test and countless more were given information about being proactive and preventative. It was a very gratify time for me. The SIDA event coincided Gnaoua World Music Festival which featured preformer from all over Africa and aborad with Afterwards I go to spent some time in Marrakech (haven't been there in nearly a year) with some cool RPCVS (returned volunteers) who served in Madagascar. Also nice to meet fellow volunteers from other countries, especially because Morocco is a popular destination for volunteers leaving their service in other parts of Africa.
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| Pics from Essaouira |
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| Pics from Essaouira |
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| Pics from Essaouira |
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| Pics from Essaouira |
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| Pics from Essaouira |
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| Pics from Essaouira |
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| Pics from Essaouira |
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| Pics from Essaouira |
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| Pics from Essaouira |
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| Hanging in Marrakech |
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| Pics from Essouira |
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| Pics from Marrakech |
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| Add caption |
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| Wifi park in Marrakech |
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| Train back to Rabat with boys |
Following my brief foray in 'kech it was train time back to Rabat (the capital) for some good 'ol fashion bonding and resource sharing with the Peace Corps administrative staff and fellow volunteers. We had a little party to celebrate the birthdays that had past over the last few months and also an awesome jam session went down. This training was call the MST (short for mid-service training). Figured it out yet??? Ding, ding. I have less than half of my service left at the point. It's kinda unreal but I'm just doing what I do and not thinking to much about it. MST was a good time for some self-reflection though. It was also both eye-opening and disheartening at the same time. I learned a lot about how some of my fellow volunteers are feeling in their service (we did a PC
post secret). It was great and sad simultaneously. So people felt like that even after a year plus they still had not made meaningful connections with their fellow volunteers :(
For those who know me well, you know I try to bring fun to everything I do and want everyone to have a great time and try to create opportunities to do that, so reading those "secrets" were hard to process. Now I know the point was for people to get things off their chests, but it doesn't mean people who read it won't have some type of response. I do truly hope that everyone in my group is able to find that connection that need to persist and finish as strongly as possible (if that's what they need). Lol. Even at 28, I'm still learning that you can't be friends with everyone and that some people are just passing through your life and very few will stay the course.
Whew! That was a lot more than I intended to share. I'm glad though, because I think it condense nicely everything that has occurred since my last post two months ago. To wrap up, I just a few final reflections/observations.
1. At this point in my service, I do not believe I will return home with any decent t-shirts, socks, underwear, or pants. (hand washing laundry does not have a gentle setting)
2. Things with PC gf are going really well. We have been together nearly 6 months at the writing of this blog and I'm happy :)
3. My DJ career in the UK is on hiatus currently. There have been some staff shakeups and they are rebuilding the radio station from scratch. I'll keep ya posted on when I'll be back! DJ X
4. As of now, my service plans are still pretty wide open, but I am definitely leaning towards working abroad for a couple more years. In the short-long term, I am starting to build my interest to pursue my Ed.d (Dr. Johnson will be here before 2021, I predict; wanna take a bet?)
As usual, Thanks for reading and sharing in my experience even if you are thousands of miles away. If you are interested in sending words of encouragement, care packages, or whatever strikes you, let me know I will get you my address.
Deuces
p.s. If you wanna see more of (mis)adventures in Morocco and Peace Corps, just check out my facebook photos. The full collections are all there.
