One Year in Country!

September 12 marks the day I first arrived in Morocco! I can hardly believe that a year has passed by so quickly! Time passes in funny increments here. Long moments, long days, and long nights, followed by quick weeks, quick months, and quick travels. Summer as a whole, just flew by. I spent a month at the summer youth camp, returned to my town for a few days, and then spent the next two weeks traveling with my sister Megan.

The trip with Megan was a blast. There were many times when I was reminded of my first impressions of Morocco a year ago. Megan helped me remember how quickly things happen in the United States. Here, time is a minor detail. An invitation for lunch may mean sitting around for three or four hours. Getting people organized to do something can take an entire week. Going to the “chicken man” may mean waiting for him to butcher the chicken, clean it, and chop it up for you. Running errands can take hours if you stop to talk to everyone you meet on the street. Washing laundry is an entire day of work. Cooking everything from scratch is the evening’s meal and entertainment.

Being here for a year now, it really is the amount of free time I enjoy the most. Because cannot leave my house past sundown (for cultural reasons only) every night is my special time to do whatever I feel like. I have a crafts corner in my house now. I try new recipes. I read books for fun. I clean my house for fun. I sit and think about my life here. I sit and think about my future and where my life will lead me next. I daydream stories, travel plans, work ideas. I think when I return to the United States, it will be these moments of complete solitude I will miss most. Of course, the quantity of complete solitude is one of the most challenging things to deal with as a Peace Corps volunteer.

These contradicting blessings and burdens are the most important lessons being a Peace Corps volunteer has taught me. The things I find the most difficult are usually the very same things that reward me most. Learning Darija (Moroccan Arabic) has been probably the most challenging thing I have ever done in my 24 years of life. But, at the same time, the most rewarding thing I have ever accomplished. The greatest compliment I can receive here in Morocco, is when a Moroccan congratulates me on learning Darija. Understanding and finding my place in my community has also been testing, but those moments when my hard work brings forth rewards, I couldn’t be happier. One day as I walked past the taxi stand in my town I overheard a Moroccan man say to another, “Who is that?” To which the other guy replied, almost bored, “Oh, her? She’s one of us.” I walked with a smile on my face that day. Finding work in my community continues to be both easy and tough at the same time. Teaching myself how to cook by trial and error has been both tiring and satisfying. I have grown so much this past year and still have so much growing ahead of me – fifteen more months of service to complete.

Of course, Megan brought with her a little bit of a reality check! She was never slow to remind me of how my living alone has made me a lot more chill. And let’s face it, probably more weird! But, still the same Jenny. Our trip together was one of those times you will never forget as long as you live. Showing Megan my world here almost verified it for me as, indeed, my life. She met the everyday people in my life: the chicken man, the taxi man, the garden man, the people at the Dar Chebab (youth center), my host family, my friends. She experienced the routine details of my life: She ate the food I eat, she heard the language I speak, she suffered through the heat, she ate with her hands, and yes, she squatted on my Turkish toilet.

Megan has promised to write a guest entry on my blog recapping our adventures together from her perspective, so I won’t go into much detail about our trip in this letter. She took most of the pictures on her camera, so you all might have to wait a while to see them posted online. Maybe I can convince her to post them for me, as my internet is much slower than the DSL you all are used to!

As I reflect back on my first year in Morocco, I am happy with what I have accomplished and eager to do even more work this coming year. I understand now why Peace Corps is a 27-month commitment. There is no way a person could learn the language, cultural norms, and do development work in their community within a year’s limit. The first year really is about settling in, learning the language, and learning your place in the community. This next year I feel finally equipped with the knowledge necessary to begin my real work here: youth development.

Thanks to all of you for your support. Thanks for the emails, the cards, the care packages, and prayers. Just to reassure you all, I am doing great here. I have a nice house, I cook good meals, and I have friends and people who look out for me in my community. Also, for those of you who want to visit, I urge you to start making your travel plans! You only have one year left to come to Morocco in order to experience something totally unique! Marhaba bikum f Dar 3ndi! (You are all welcome at my house!)

Also, if you haven’t heard from my parents, I am planning on coming home for Christmas this year. I should be around for two weeks, but don’t know the exact dates yet. So, definitely plan on treating me to an iced frappacino or burrito!

Peace to you all,

Jenny