NOTE: The views expressed herein are solely mine and do not represent the views or opinions of the U.S. Government, Peace Corps, or the Kingdom of Morocco.
Posted by shiite on Monday, March 25, 2013,
In :
peace corps
Beholden
to no one, the fearless mika (plastic bag) soars majestically, tossed
every which way, possibly the cheapest barometer known to man.
Its
flighty escapade comes to a halt as it intertwines with the branches of a
fallow apple tree.
Across
the field, a hand grabs the top edge of the transit’s side window and
pulls upward. Ali, the driver, wedges a screwdriver forcefully into the crevice
between the door and window - a simple yet sure fix to the woes of a 20-year
old tumobil.
Posted by shiite on Tuesday, January 1, 2013,
In :
peace corps
With a sharp intake of breath, I
muster up the superhuman courage reserved deep within to vacate the wholly
awesome (and awesomely holy) refuge of my -40°F rated North Face Dark Star
sleeping bag and two blankets.
I lumber to my feet, the cold air
greeting me with unsolicited rawness and familiarity. Despite burning firewood
with the furnace idgam (last night), the temperature has climbed back
down to an unfriendly 42°F.
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, November 7, 2012,
In :
peace corps
The tiflout [door] closes shut
behind me.
Promptly and without fail, a piercing
chorus of “Bassou! Bassou!” from neighbors rings out, reverberating
through the air.
I smile, wish them peace, and embark
on my tawada [walk]. As I stride
along the dirt road, not just the proverbial one, but five (yes, five) chickens
cross the road.
A grand symphony of nature
erupts: a donkey brays, a cow moos, and a rooster…cock-a-doodle-doos.
I walk further along the lgudron
[main road] and stare a... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Monday, September 24, 2012,
In :
morocco
I suppose I could say a lot of things here.
Like how my rural isolation makes it
difficult to get to a cyber café (if you like rickety old-fashioned
rollercoasters, you’ll love the “transit” van that travels 130km to the nearest
city to the east).
Or how I’ve been “busy” travelling – both back
home to the good ol’ US of A, to Europe, and within Morocco – and haven’t had
the time to sit down and write.
Or how I was
occupied/exhausted/asleep/hibernating for Ramadan.
Posted by shiite on Thursday, March 22, 2012,
In :
morocco
I’m
not sure if I’m being brave for doing this, but I’m afraid that I haven’t
necessarily been telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth
(so help me God) here in my blog.
I’ve
been avoiding some unpleasant truths, sidestepping some harsh realities of life
here: I’ve been doing some editing, if you will – perhaps to paint a more
genteel, simplified, and inspiring picture of life as a Peace Corps volunteer,
or to prevent any pointed ugliness from spilling out ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, February 25, 2012,
In :
morocco
For
now, suffice it to say I will let the video below do all the talking. And a few
pictures for good measure.
I
have a few more videos up my sleeve, and a post about the immense struggles (coupled
with the redeeming joys) of being a PCV (i.e. an attempt to capture the simultaneously ugly and beautiful aspects of Peace Corps service) is bubbling and brewing in the upper
register.
Ar mnb3d, enshallah… (Later, Allah/God willing).
That's all folks. Thanks for reading/listening/watching.
Posted by shiite on Monday, January 9, 2012,
In :
morocco
Whoever
first muttered, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, has my full-fledged and
undying gratitude and support.
Seeing
as how I’m not in the “writing mood” at the moment [i.e. the night before
heading to the cyber café for internet access, three hours away], let it
suffice to say that I hope the excess pictures in this post make up for the
lack of words.
Christmas was passed in the company of five
other PCVs, in a village about an hour outside Marrakesh. Afterwards, my frie... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Monday, December 19, 2011,
In :
peace corps
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Time
marches right along, ever so precise in her movements – an infinite and
immeasurable precision that only the quickest of quartz oscillators can even
dream of emulating.
My
vacillating sensitivities notwithstanding, I hail from an electrical
engineering background (you can’t spell geek without “double-E”), where the
academia evil-powers-that-be forced us tuition-paying minions to constant
renditions and reiterations of SPICE simulations and MATLAB an...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, August 11, 2011,
In :
peace corps
(Prescript: if you're an incoming Peace Corps Trainee to Morocco this coming September, and don't want to wade through all the rambling and want to get to the "good stuff", a.k.a. an updated packing list for Peace Corps Morocco, skip to the bottom. My heart will not be dismayed.) 'Tis been 'bout 149 days now in lmghrib (Morocco), if I have my rryadiat (math) correct.
[Considering that I spent the better majority of my college years closely snuggled up with The Calculus, hopefully my math has... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Friday, July 15, 2011,
In :
peace corps
After swearing in as an official PCV (oh the memories) and being sent to my final site (oh the anxiety), I was forced to ask around for housing for rent.
After asking possibly a baker's dozen of mddn [people] (and by that, I of course mean men) if there was housing available, I was able to look at rb3a n taddart i kru (four houses for rent).
House #1: an old, somewhat run-down house that belonged to the brother of the person who showed me the house (he is a professor/teacher in a city). Somet... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, June 11, 2011,
In :
morocco
About 15 days have I now stared down and conquered.
...Not that I am on a gluttonous conquest or anything (or am I), but it's nice (should I say gratifying?) to feel a sense of accomplishment, particularly when headed and bucked with a notably immense task of integrating into a new community to whom "Peace Corps" ("hay'at salaam") rings as hollow as a dollar-store recorder.
Nonetheless, let the "integration" begin.
And happily so, for my first dozen or so days in my final site has gone by ... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, April 16, 2011,
In :
morocco
Here we go.
I know I said that last time, when we left for CBT, but this time, I'm like, for real.
Today afternoon during training all of us lovely PCT's (if you don't know what all these acronyms mean, you need to reference previous posts, samHi [sorry]) discovered what our "permanent sites" are.
The place where we will stay for two years, enshalleh [God willing]. The place where we will all xdm [work] and l3b [play].
The place where we will all develop meaningful and hopefully lasting projects,... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, March 24, 2011,
In :
morocco
Not up to a full-on post, but here are some more pictures, which as the maxim goes, are worth a thousand words. As we say here in Morocco, this should be "safi" (enough).
(About the title: all of us PCTs have been given "Moroccan" names that are easier to pronounce. In my group, we have Jamal, Zizi, Najat, Amal...and Brahim, my Moroccan name. Aren't you jealous.)
Everything is pretty happenin'. Not just my mo-rockin' name, but my host family experience thus far. My host father is a dagger mak... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Thursday, March 17, 2011,
In :
morocco
Quickly, here's some pictures I've downsized to really low quality: The "bungalow" of the hotel that I stay at just one more night (incredible):
Yes, it's beautiful. Yes, it's very "Posh Corps". I'm wondering when things will start to get a bit more "real" and I'll have my first cold shower or bucket shower and when I'll be using the Turkish toilet...
You know you're in a foreign country, when water bottles are kind of...in a different language?
Posted by shiite on Thursday, March 10, 2011,
In :
peace corps
The goods are packed; final packing list in Excel format here for those interested.
Library books and DVDs have been returned.
Gave my banks the "Oh hey, I'm going to be in Morocco for the next 27 months..." '411' rundown.
Said good-byes to family and some friends still in town.
Only three days remain to frolic about in the barren corn fields of Indiana!
After my last frolic, I will board a plane to Philly, where I will join 60+ other Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) on the byzantine journey to... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Sunday, March 6, 2011,
In :
peace corps
After today, there will only be SEVEN days left remaining to gambol wistfully in the fields of the United States... I still don't feel very nervous at all. Just excited.
I take it this means one of two things:
1) My indomitable steely reserve and unflinching equanimity cannot be touched or... 2) The acuteness of this whole reality has not quite yet reached me, but once it does, it will hit me a brunt force to be reckoned with...terror (and perhaps some peeing of the bed) shall surely ensue... I ha... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Monday, February 21, 2011,
In :
morocco
Yesterday, February 20th, protests were planned and held all throughout Morocco. Largely organized via Facebook, it is estimated by one source that nearly 40,000 Moroccans took to the streets in 57 towns and cities. The biggest demonstrations were held in the capital, Rabat, and Morocco's biggest city, Casablanca.
EPA: About 5,000 protesters march on parliament in Rabat. Turnout estimates in these cities widely vary among sources - in Rabat, for example, the Associated Press estimates the tur... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, February 9, 2011,
In :
morocco
Things are looking good.
Or as comedian Larry David would say, "Pretty...pretty....*pretty* good."
My fellow Peace Corps compatriots and I have now received two emails from our Peace Corps Morocco "parental unit" - the first a general welcome email, the other having language and home stay questionnaires to fill out.
Any day now, we should receive word that all systems are a go and plane ticket reservations shall commence.
Despite the uncertainty and unrest revolving around Egypt and Tunisia, I ... Continue reading ...
The so-called Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia caught everyone by surprise - its former ruler France, the U.S., and the world at large. Is it true that diplomats and intelligence agencies often (or only) tell ministers what they want to hear?
What role has the controversial WikiLeaks had on the current Arab revolution?
What effect will the Tunisian experience have on Morocco? Is Morocco an exception to the rule? What country will be the next domino to fall?
Posted by shiite on Tuesday, February 1, 2011,
In :
random
Some people have a way with words; others... ... ... ...not...have way, I guess. - Steve Martin
Hokay, I will do my darndest to make this post short (though my parenthetical remarks may make this difficult).
In but forty days I begin Staging for the Peace Corps (!) and in 42 days, I will be in Morocco, inshallah.
I did some research on the fatality of scorpion stings in Morocco (research papers here, here, and here). The journal articles say: "Stings were mainly observed between May and Sep...
Posted by shiite on Saturday, January 1, 2011,
In :
information
"Unlike most resources that become depleted when used, information and knowledge can be shared, and actually grow through application."
Save for possibly Jessica Alba and/or Natalie Portman, there's nothing more beautiful in this world than informationand the empowerment to make better and more informed decisions that it engenders.
Information technology like the internet has not only broken down geographical barriers - helping diffuse knowledge to potential users all across the world, at th... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, December 1, 2010,
In :
morocco
"I don't want to be an armchair patriot who has never had to commit, to give, to sacrifice anything and who sits back complaining about the world without making an attempt to help it."
Morocco and I are getting along quite swimmingly as of late.
More and more am I realizing that the two of use could probably make quite the team...
The disappointment has been tempered and softened with the passed time, but it still makes me a tad (or tid...your choice) bit sad to think that I could be in Lesotho at this very moment.
Applying to Peace Corps, for me, has been something akin to this: telling the most beautiful woman of you... Continue reading ...
Posted by shiite on Wednesday, October 27, 2010,
In :
peace corps
"Hope had been his enemy, a frailty that he must at all costs master, for so long now that it was a moment before he was willing to concede that he had let it back into his heart." -'A Confederacy of Dunces'
Oh it hurts.
It's like having your newly-made friend (whom you had just begun to trust and accept) carelessly and callously push you down the jagged and wayward mountain that you had worked so hard to climb (spending over a year doing so, with many stumbles along the way)...
Llah y3awn, salaam 3laykum! I am serving as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Eastern High Atlas region of Morocco from March 2011 - May 2013, inshallah...
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Llah y3awn, salaam 3laykum! I am serving as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Eastern High Atlas region of Morocco from March 2011 - May 2013, inshallah...
Please subscribe by email below if you would like to follow along on the whirlwind of adventure, challenge and humor that awaits!
