Marrakesh!!!  I’m heading to Marrakesh!   Actually, a tiny village of 5,000 people just north of Marrakesh.  It’s not on the coast, but is supposed to be one of the most awesome cities in Morocco!  It is a city of approximately 1,000,000 with a rich cultural history.  I’m totally excited about being close to ‘Kesh, although it looks like it may be pretty damn hot in the summer months (which is coming fast).

Living and working in a small town will have both positive and negative aspects.  Basically, I will meet and know pretty much everyone in the town by the end of my first week.  A “white guy” from America will probably be the biggest gossip to hit that village in six years (which was the last time a Peace Corps Volunteer was placed in this particular village).  There will be absolutely no anonymity there. I will have to behave myself 24/7, which means going to ‘Kesh whenever I want a beer or just to get away from prying eyes.

I will be the only PCV at my site, but will have other Volunteers within probably 30 minutes or so.  One plus is that my two best buds, Ryan and Lee, were, against all odds, placed in the same region as me.  That means they will be about two hours away instead of 10 or 20 hours away (which can be the case).  We were stoked by the fact that we’re close to each other.  There are (I think) 8 regions and so for all three of us to be placed in the same region wasn’t likely.

Also, I have the opportunity to integrate in a major way into the community, getting to know the people and working closely with the village as a whole to teach, work on community projects, etc.  The community leaders are anxious to have an English teacher present to help their “Bac” students (students preparing for their baccalaureate exam, which is the entrance exam for university).

On balance, I’m getting my arms around the site.  I pictured being in a larger city (and hopefully, one on the coast), but I think this site has huge opportunity and gives me a balance between working closely with a small community and having a large city nearby to “decompress” when necessary.

We’re in Rabat now, and having fun just being together before we all go off to our individual sites.  We went to the beach yesterday.  There’s a not-so-nice beach within walking distance, but we wanted an adventure, so we took a taxi to the train station, bought a ticket to a town two stations to the south, and then took a taxi to the beach from the train station.  The beach was nice and there was a super-nice resort next door.  We went in to have a beverage, and I ended up spending more for one beverage than I did the entire previous week on everything.  80D for a Corona (which is $10).  Crazy even by American standards, but it gives you an idea of how nice the resort was!

We also went to a bar the night before to watch the finals of the Champions League game.  Of course, we didn’t drink (or drank responsibly, or drank a lot, depending upon what the official Peace Corps rule is on drinking while we’re in Rabat, of which I’m not sure), but had a great time!

Today is Ryan’s (Buckley, not Becker) birthday, so we’re going out once again, to celebrate.  ….it is sooooo nice to be in Rabat with my sahabi!

There is also an internationally acclaimed concert going on here in Rabat over the entire week called (something like) Mauzine, which has international names galore (Mariah Carey, Pit Bull, Evanescence, etc., plus some awesome African bands).  Its also free!  Of course, I haven’t bothered to go because there has been so much going on, but most of the PCT’s have gone and tons of PCV’s have traveled from their sites to attend.

So its off to Marrakesh on Thursday morning!  Amazing!!!  More to follow…