So, here’s the skinny: as many of you knew, I was “evicted” from my house sometime in November because my landlord sold his house to someone else, but the landlord was giving me until February 1 to move out. I went on a huge house-hunt, found a house in an olive orchard that needed considerable work […]
Category: Peace Corps
Collection of posts formerly titled under the blog I ran called “My Moroccan World” that detailed my time in Morocco as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Waves of Change
They say that Peace Corps Volunteers need one skill more than any other: the ability to adapt. Something tells me there’s a resounding “duh” on the other side of the computer screen with regard to that sentence. I mean, okay, we signed up for two years in a new culture with a new language, and I […]
A Full Picture, or the time a Moroccan tried to bomb the U.S. Capitol but was in no way representative of Morocco
One of the major goals of the Peace Corps, if not also one of the sole reasons for its existence, is simply to educate folks back home about the countries we live and work in during our two-year tenure. If I had ended up in Peace Corps Eastern Caribbean like I was supposed to, I […]
Number Crunching, or How the Glasses Project Quadrupled.
This morning, this email was sent to those who donated to the glasses project and included their email address: “Dear Friends, If you’re receiving this email, it’s because you recently gave to the United States Peace Corps Partnership Program Grant to support my “glasses project,” titled “Eyewear for Moroccan Youth,” and I wanted to write […]
The Problem of the Prophets
On multiple occasions now, I’ve had volunteers say to me that they are amazed as they come to the end of their Peace Corps service at how good they are at reading people. Or, I’ll be standing around with a female volunteer, and some guy starts talking to us, and she just gives me this […]
Reverse, Reverse Culture Shock, or Just Another January in the Desert
My life has been turned upside down lately trying to figure out where I’m going to live. I’ve never liked house-hunting or the stress that comes with knowing you have an eviction date. But if that’s bad in America, it’s ten times the stress in Morocco, navigating everything in a different language and never guaranteed […]
Culture Shock Delight
(Reverse) culture shock is a whole different animal from what you might expect. It can actually be really funny. I mean, for me, it was most apparent looking for a lighter to light the stove. Or how I just exclaimed, “America” over and over after using Glad Press’n Seal Multi-Purpose wrap. Isn’t that stuff wonderful? […]
Worrying and Stuff, or the Glasses Project is Back!
If it hasn’t been obvious, life in Morocco has been somewhat worrisome lately. I’ve had a few days where I thought to myself that vacation in America couldn’t get here soon enough and a few other days where the idea of going home to America scared me to death, too. Some worries I’ve shared. […]
Everything is Perception (except what’s not)
I know a lot of Americans (family members included) who sometimes say that if you’re not from America, you don’t really have a right to criticize or speak badly of America. Of immigrants who aren’t American citizens, I hear it said, “If you don’t like it here, then go home, but don’t stay here and […]
On Thanksgiving
In one of my English classes this week, I took some time before beginning the lesson to describe Thanksgiving. I talked about the pilgrimage from Europe and the struggle to yield enough food for the winter; I talked about the friendships made with the local natives and how sharing was essentially what kept everyone alive. […]
