Through the Tichka

One thing to keep in mind is that this is NOT a journal. Too much is happening too fast for me to record it all. And while it is endlessly fascinating to me, it would likely – quickly – become endlessly boring to you. I’ll pick and choose and hope that it gives both an adequate reporting of what I’m doing and what’s happening and an accurate description of how it feels to me.

Yesterday, we left our training site in Marrakesh to head for Ouarzazate, a town in the pre-Sahara, which will be the “hub” for the rest of our PST (pre-service training).Our two buses left about 2:15 and drove through Marrakesh, right to the edge of the medina (the walled old city), where we had been the previous evening, taking in the Jemaa l-Fna, a huge square, surrounded by markets. It’s an amazing place with street theater, food stalls, and shops selling every imaginable thing (fabrics, lamps, leather goods, poultry, and, yes, tourist junk). When we left the city we drove through a flat plain directly toward the imposing Atlas mountains between groves of olive and other fruit trees. About 3:00 we began our climb, heading for Tichka, one of only a few passes through the mountains.

About half way into the trip, not quite at the top of the top of pass, we stopped in the town of Taddart (“house” in Berber) to take a bathroom break. We streamed into several cafes to use the bathrooms and I got my first taste (well, not taste, really – experience) of a Turkish toilet (the use of which may be the subject of a whole post sometime). The owner was upset – especially with the women it seemed – because no one was paying. When a Peace Corps staff member slipped him a bill he became more cooperative.

After the pit stop, we continued the climb for a short time, then began our descent. The colors changed, first to gray, then back to red as we got closer to the desert floor. By then a nearly full, translucent moon had floated above the plateau in front of us. About 15 km outside Ouarzazate, we spotted the city, a lush green patch in a shallow bowl of red. 10 km outside the city we passed a film studio (Ouarzazate is the center of Morocco’s film industry – films like, The Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, and Babel were shot here), and from then on it was rolling through suburbs into the city as streetlights were beginning to switch on.

The training has been of very high quality and very intense. We have another three days here in Ouarzazate. Sunday is a big day for us. That's when we learn what language (Moroccan Arabic or one of two dialects we'll be learning) and what our CBT (Community Based Training) training village will be. Monday morning we'll be fanning out for our villages with our four or five other CBT mates and our LCF (Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitator).

We pulled up to our hotel as twilight really settled on the city, just in time to stay within the Peace Corps rules. It was a great end to a thrilling ride and a comforting end to another thrilling day.

Michigan to Morocco in 48 Hours

“We have a saying here,” said Fatima, a Peace Corps staff member who greeted us, “that the visitor who arrives in the rain brings good luck. You have brought us lots of good luck.”

We touched down at Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca in a light rain at about 6:40 a.m. on Wednesday, March 16, almost exactly two days after left Michigan. We moved through customs and baggage claim quickly. By 8:30 the 60 volunteers in our group were on buses and were on the autoroute headed for Marrakesh through intermittent rain and sunshine. At first it looked a little like Indiana, flat, green. It stayed green – there’s been a lot of rain this spring they say – but gradually the contours changed and the earth turned red. First slightly rolling hills dusted with an orange flower, then oddly pointed hills, walled compounds and villages, paths line with prickly pear cactus hedges, and eventually sharper hills with stone outcroppings. We pulled into our hotel where we’ll spend the next two days at about 12:30. It was raining again, harder now, so we got pretty damp as we unloaded and were taken to our bungalows. It’s a lovely place made up of a hotel and bungalows, all a rosy pink.

We had a full day of meetings yesterday. At about 9:30 we all crashed, after about 40 hours straight of travel and work. More meetings and medical checks today, then a promised visit to Marrakesh’s medina tonight. Tomorrow, we head for our next city, which will be the hub for all of our training groups. I promise pictures and more details as soon as I have a little more time. For now, just know that I’m doing well and I’m happy. This is an amazing group of (mostly young) people. This is going to be great.

Finally!

I had every intention of doing a post before I left Michigan, but the last week filled so full that I didn’t have time until tonight. And I'm in Philadelphia now, having just finished my first day of Peace Corps training.

I sold my car on Friday to a very patient friend who’d agreed to buy it last fall when I thought I was going to Lesotho. On Saturday, my older son Robin picked me up and brought me and my luggage to Grand Rapids, where I spent the last two wonderful days with him and his family. It was a weekend of many farewells – to my car, the cottage, my dog Jack, but most importantly, of course, to family and friends.

Then this morning, I boarded a plane and made my way to Philadelphia, where I met with the other approximately 60 members of the Morocco group and officially made the transition from “invitee” to “trainee.” Tomorrow, we board a plane for Morocco.

It has finally begun. Next post from Morocco!

One Foot In…

March 1 was the 50^th Anniversary of the Peace Corps, commemorated widely in the broadcast news and press, with the inevitable (and still inspiring to me) clip of Kennedy saying in his inaugural address, “Ask not what America can do for you…”

I began this journey 14 months ago. Next Monday, I board a plane for “staging,” but I’m already feeling as if I have one foot in, even while the other is still firmly planted outside.

• Last week I was invited to recruiting meeting in Muskegon much like the one I went to nearly four years ago that kindled my interest in serving. How different it was for me this time. My status as invitee, with an imminent departure, was a point of interest for many people – why did I apply, what was involved, etc., so even though I haven’t yet served, I have Peace Corps experience that was interesting and perhaps valuable to those considering the step.
• Last Saturday I was invited to a Potluck organized by the Grand Rapids chapter of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. There were about 40 people present. Most brought excellent dishes from the countries they had served in. I made an apple pie – so American – but that's my experience so far. There was another pre-service volunteer, a young woman about to graduate from Grand Valley State University, my alma mater, and several recently returned volunteers. It was great to be welcomed in even before I’ve begun!
• For the past four months, I’ve been part of a Facebook Group for those of us in this Moroccan group. I must say it has been a wonderful experience getting to know each other a little in advance, sharing concerns, questions, advice. And getting a head start on the bonding!
• And yesterday I found a “bridge” document to PST (Pre-Service Training) in my email. It was a detailed overview of what to expect for the next ten days or so. Boy was it full of surprises! For one, we won’t be going to Rabat (the capital) as I had expected. Instead we’re headed to a more remote place. Think of the initial gladiatorial scene in Gladiator. I’ll send you pictures when I get there. I'm reminded nearly every day that Peace Corps asks us to be flexible.

So, one foot already in…and I’m about to lift the other.

World Wise Schools Teaches Me a Lesson

As part of my Peace Corps application, I volunteered for World Wise Schools, a program that matches a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer – might as well start using the jargon), with a school back here in the States. The object is to further understanding of the foreign country by Americans and vice versa.

My former wife teaches seventh grade social studies here in West Michigan and was enthusiastic about participating in the program, so we became a match. I live only an hour from the school, so we decided it would be good to for me to do a pre-departure school visit rather than waiting till I was already in Morocco to start the contact.

Last Friday was the day of my visit. It went well, though it was exhausting. I talked to five classes of 7^th graders and by the end of the day I was whipped. Not that they were bad. On the contrary, they were very good – not only in their behavior, but in their preparation. They knew where Morocco was. Some knew about the unrest in North Africa. They’d studied Islam a few weeks ago and astonished me by volunteering all kinds of information about it, including the Five Pillars of Islam. They were curious and smart and active and all so different. Engaging with them for a whole day was…intense. I must say, teachers really earn their keep.

The objective of my visit was not so much to talk about the Peace Corps and Morocco, but to let them get to know me as a flesh and blood person. They asked terrific questions, like why did I join the Peace Corps, what did I think I would miss the most, what did I think was the most important thing I was taking with me, and of course lots of personal questions about my age, family, etc.

To help objectify what I was doing I took all of my packed bags with me and wore the clothes I plan to wear on the plane when I leave. Basically, I took with me all of, and only, the things I plan to take with me to Morocco. The kids were interested not so much in what I was taking but how heavy the bags were. Several offered that I could put them in my bags and still meet the 80 pound weight limit, which prompted all kinds of smart remarks.

They really liked seeing Arabic written, which I discovered by accident during the third class, when we finished early. The teacher had stepped out of the room temporarily. In desperation to fill the time, I wrote شكراً (shukran – thank you) on the whiteboard. A kid asked me if I could write his name in Arabic. Then the word spread, so that in the remaining two classes, kids asked early on if I would write their names in Arabic.

I also played a short mix of “travelin’ music” as class was beginning. And I made my first-ever video, “The Further Adventures of the Earl of Luggage,” as part of my presentation, and I’ve attached the video here for your entertainment. Haven't figured out how to attach music to this blog yet, so I've listed the tunes here: "Movin' Right Along" (The Muppet Movie); "America"(Simon & Garfunkel);"On the Road Again" (Willie Nelson); "Ramblin' Man" (The Allman Brothers); "Everybody's Talkin'"(Harry Nillson); "Like a Rollin' Stone" (Bob Dylan); and, of course, "The Marrakesh Express" (Crosby, Stills and Nash). I'd be curious to know what tunes other people would add to the list.

The school visit was a great learning experience for me in many ways, but the really BIG LESSON came out of my packing early. As the video shows, even though I pared back the items I wanted to take with me in order to meet weight, I still was unable to fit them all in my bags. If I had followed my usual behavior, I would have been packing on Sunday, March 13. And what would I have done then? At least now I have some time to make adjustments, though not a clue yet to what they will be.

Staging!

I didn’t realize that it had been so long since I last posted to this blog. A lot has happened in those two weeks.

The Great Blizzard of 2011

First, there was the Great Blizzard of 2011. I went to bed late the night of February 1, it was snowing but there was only an inch or so on the ground. When I got up six hours later, at 6:00 a.m., there was over a foot! The plows got the road cleared by the end of the day. Then the winds (30 mph) started, and by the next morning there were a couple of six-foot high drifts blocking the road. But storms like this are exciting, especially when you’re in a warm house. I remember only two others of comparable intensity in my lifetime, in back-to-back years, ’78 and ’79.

Then I spent a couple of days helping my younger son Joe clean up his apartment in Kalamazoo and move back to Grand Haven. He plans to work through next fall at the blueberry farm where he’s worked the past two summers, then hopes to go WWOOFing (?? – I didn’t know what it meant either when he first mentioned it to me).

The next day the winds began

And I’ve been taking care of some of the details of departure. I found a buyer for my car. We’re going to close the deal on March 10. He’s then going to drive me to Grand Rapids to my older son Robin’s home, where I’ll be staying the last few days before departure.

And this week there’s been a buildup in preparations from the Peace Corps. We’ve had several emails with questionnaires relating to language learning, personal information for host families, and program developments. That culminated today with “Staging” instructions. I just got off the phone making my plane reservations. I’m still scheduled to leave in mid-March.

I’m excited. But I won’t let myself get too excited. I’m not on that plane yet.

The Countdown Begins

On Friday, I received an email from Peace Corps informing me that I should receive a call from their travel office this week to make my plane reservations. I’m being intentionally vague at the Peace Corps’ request. No specific dates or flights or locations. No names of others in my group, etc. Suffice it to say, I’m still scheduled to depart in mid-March.

The countdown begins, and I’m pleased. Emotionally, I’m ready right now. In practical terms, I’m in good shape, too, though I still have a few things to do. And I could always use more time for language study and reading. I’m not using exclamation marks this time, because I know things can change, even at the last minute. Last fall, my assignment to Lesotho was cancelled 16 days before departure.

The unrest in other parts of North Africa and the Middle East are a concern, of course. Will Morocco also be affected? As a monarchy, Morocco’s government has more legitimacy than those in the other countries, ruled by strongmen who seized power sometime after independence and created authoritarian regimes to hold onto power. Morocco’s king, Mohammed VI, is well-loved. He took over in 1999 and introduced a number of liberalizing measures. Still, there are considerable similarities among the countries.

I’m sure the Peace Corps is monitoring the situation closely and will act appropriately to the situation. A friend of mine, who’s in the Peace Corps in Peru, emailed me the other day and quoted a Quaker proverb. I’ve adopted is as my motto: Proceed as the way opens.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The postal code in my Morocco address has changed. The correct code is 10080.