In Morocco

I am finally in Morocco. I spent a week for an orientation with all 63 people in my training group. It consisted of a few shots and lots of paperwork. I am now at my CBT (Community Based Training) site in the mountains of Morocco. It is such a beautiful view. The 4 other people in my CBT group are a lot of fun and it should be a good 2 months here. I have learned a lot of Arabic in the past two weeks. It is very intense with Arabic classes for at least 5 hours a day. My host family is awesome. The two daughters teach English and have been a great help in learning Arabic. The first day with the family was overwhelming with a lot of Arabic spoken to me at once. I am finally starting to understand what they are saying to me--hand motions help a lot along with pointing to things. Learning to use a Turkish toliet was definitely an experience. Now I'm off to dinner with my host family.

Staging in Philly

I am sitting here at the Staging hotel for Peace Corps Morocco, feeling much better about my decision to join the Peace Corps. There are 63 in my training class of Youth Development and Business Development Volunteers, and everyone is excited and nervous. After hearing everyone here had the same concerns/anxieties it definitely helped. Knowing that we are all going in knowing very little Arabic and having no idea if we will be able to wear the clothes we packed. Tomorrow will be a busy day of shuttles and the plane ride to Morocco. It is amazing that I will be in Morocco in a little under 30 hours.