Officially a PCV

Okay, it has been requested so I am updating my blog-Jeff and Sarah’s mom.

I was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and moved to my permanent site November 13th.

My new town is relatively close to Marrakech. The main stretch of town is about a mile long (not much bigger than Mary Wash) and there is one main street running in and out of the town. The buildings on the side of town with the Dar Chebab were all built after 1998. They are beautiful buildings. The Dar Chebab is smaller than the one at my CBT (Community Based Training) site but has a much nicer soccer field and it is much newer. I have a fairly active Dar Chebab, there is a woman who teaches a class for women every day to teach literacy in Arabic. The languages here are spoken languages (Moroccan Arabic and the Berber dialects) but anything written is in modern Standard Arabic. So in addition to not knowing the script these women are also learning a different language. There is also a music club. Every afternoon there is a large group of boys who come the Dar Chebab to play soccer. I have been tutoring English to random groups that come in and this week I am starting to officially teach classes at the Dar Chebab. I am very nervous.

My new host family is wonderful. There are three girls 13, 15, and 17 who all speak English pretty well which helps a lot. Our house is a lot like an ancient Roman Villa. It has an open courtyard in the middle with 2 olive trees and an orange tree. I have made friends with a women who lives across the street from my host family-in part because she is a great cook! Not really but she has made me pizza and she makes the best cookies.

A Thanksgiving without turkey, mashed potatoes, my grandfather’s famous salad, green bean casserole, or family, which really reminded me where I am and made me miss home. Now it’s December and it is weird, I haven't seen a single commercial or seen Christmas lights, or heard Christmas music anywhere.

I experienced my first Moroccan L3id Kabir. The holiday began the Saturday after Thanksgiving and lasted 5 days. The holiday remembers the act of Abraham when he offers Isaac for a sacrifice but at the last second God switches Isaac with a sheep. Here every family gets a sheep and it is sacrificed on the roof of their home. The day before I saw a man riding with a sheep on his motorbike, I really wish I had my camera then because it was quite a site.

I still can't belive I'm in Morocco!