Training: Week 1

We have spent the last 8 days in a hotel in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, doing a portion of our pre-service training. This consisted of meetings, vaccinations, trainings, classes, and orientation workshops from 8:30-6:30+ every day with one Sunday off. It was exhaustive, and it was exhausting while coping with the jet lag, time change, and minor stomach sickness. It was also very helpful. We were oriented on cultural do's and dont's, health, safety and security, and admin policy. It was a crash course in what to expect and prepare for during the two year service. The in-country staff are great. The amount of planning and coordination this all takes is hugely intimidating, and they made it a smooth, pleasant process. What was really impressive to us was how they did it all. They were genuinely caring, enthusiastic, and patient with us throughout the week. It is no doubt that this factor contributes to the organizational health of Peace Corps - Morocco.

A few highlights:
-On Sunday, we had a day off. It was our only day to get out of out hotel. We went to church in the morning with another couple and had lunch with a family from church who works in the embassy here. We then explored the Medina and Kasbah here. By "we," I mean "I"; as soon as we got to the oceans edge, Zach ran to the end of a jettison to watch the surfers. With the beautiful carpets, leather goods, patterns and textiles, I can tell I'm going to need an extra bag or five come Mar. 2015.
-The U.S. ambassador and his wife visited the hotel to address the group. They have been hugely supportive of the Peace Corps and will finish their service in May.
-Part of our weeks training was starting language lessons, where we are learning Darija, or Moroccan Arabic. We were split into groups of 5-6 and given a language and cultural facilitator to teach us and stay with us for the remainder of our 10 week pre-service training. Our teacher (ustad) rocks. After 4 lessons, our group can now say basic greetings, our name, our age, our marital status, that we are not tourists, and that we are volunteers for the Peace Corps.

The good news is - with that extensive knowledge of the language, we are now on a bus to Fez to meet the host family we will be living with for the next two and a half months. They speak no English, and we are excited(?) to be thrown in the deep end. Let the charades begin. This next portion of our time here is called community-based training. We will live with a family, have daily language lessons, and get our feet wet teaching and working in the Dar Chebab (youth center). After completion, we will take a language test, receive our final site assignment, and officially swear in. Inshallah (God willing).

View outside the training room window. We didn't get out much.