Welcome to Morocco

I’ve been in Morocco for three nights now. We landed in the overwhelmingly green and lush Casablanca Wednesday morning and immediately loaded a bus that took us to Marrakesh. Several Peace Corps Morocco staff members greeted us at the airport, as many of us tried hard to look cheerful after a sleepless (although relatively short) flight. Upon arrival in Marrakesh, we immediately checked into our hotel rooms, ate lots of food, had welcomes and introductions, and then slept.

Bussed to Ouarzazate the next day, where I currently am. The drive through the Atlas Mountains was simply beautiful and full of landscape diversity. We passed rugged snow-capped mountains, fields of green agriculture, as well as rocky desert land; I look forward to spending more time with this land. During the last few days, we’ve basically had safety, security, health, logistics, culture, language, etc. training. More of that will follow during the next two months, especially the language training. I was also told today that I’ll be learning Darija, Moroccan Arabic, which is the language I wanted to learn. The bit of Darija I’ve learned so far definitely differs from the bit of Egyptian Arabic I’ve picked up over the years, but it still feels nice to finally get to learn some form of Arabic. I’ll get to put my Arabic to good use as I’ll be living with a Moroccan family that does not speak English. I meet my PST (pre-service training) homestay family tomorrow, with whom I’ll be spending the next two months. Should be interesting, perhaps stressful, will definitely be hilarious and I’m so eager to see what else Morocco has to offer.

Currently too overwhelmed to write anything particularly interesting or funny. I’m attaching some pictures for you to enjoy instead.(Edit: I don't actually know how to upload photos. Still gotta figure that one out.)

Salaam folks!