Morocco 2007 Week 1

Saturday 2007-08-04

Hi from Rabat! I arrived at the home base about an hour ago at 3:30 p.m.. Got into the airport in Casablanca on time but had a wait a few hours for some other volunteers to come in and then it was an hour drive to Rabat. It is cool and breezy - about 70 degrees and it feels like it is going to rain. The home base consists of a large house with several rooms outfitted with bunks and closet/lockers. There is a common area for eating meals and a beautiful garden area in the backyard consisting of a patio with Moroccan style chairs and many colorful plants. The majority of the trees and plants are very similar to what you would find in a Southern California garden – palms, boulganvilla, cape honeysuckle, geraniums, impatients, and hibiscus.

Met all the volunteers this afternoon as different groups arrived from the airport– they seem really young but many have already led pretty interesting lives. Most are between 18-21. It makes me feel old in a way but in a good way. I see how insecure they are and how they are already starting to compete for attention. Especially the girls. There are only 4 guys here and 22 gals.

Today is a "do nothing" day and tomorrow we have a 2 hour orientation. Monday is the first day I report to work. I will find out more about my assignment tomorrow. For now, I'm just chillin' and trying to stay awake!

It is 6:30 p.m. now. We just had some mint tea and are having a bit of leisure time before dinner. I am not at all hungry - I think I've eaten 12 meals in the last two days with all the flying time. Dinner is not until 8:30 p.m. so perhaps I will work up an appetite before then.

Laura’s father passed away today. I was quite shocked when I received the phone call from her while waiting on additional volunteers to arrive at the Casablanca airport. He had been diagnosed with cancer just 4 short weeks ago and his condition deteriorated far more rapidly than anyone expected. It is very tragic and I am very sad for her whole family. I wish that that I were there to give her a big hug.

Dinner was excellent and I managed to eat AGAIN. The kitchen staff is very friendly and they cook traditional Moroccan food. It seems to be a cross between Indian and Middle Eastern with some additional sweetness added (like apricots with the chicken). The ladies that cook only speak Arabic so I hope to learn a few words so I can at least thank them.

Time for bed. I am sharing a room with Tracie and Cilla. They are from Washington DC and Madrid, respectively, and are in their early 40s as well. We round out the “mature” section of the compound and were lucky enough to get our own room. Glad to not be in one of the rooms with 6-8 college kids!