The Coolest Thing

What’s the coolest thing you have done in Morocco?

Ummmm, how exactly does one answer this question? I have lived in this country for 750 days, give or take a day, learning the language, traveling extensively, living with the locals. My time here has been filled with experiences I could not have imagined when I applied for Peace Corps.

Some background on the question: The volunteers who will be replacing my group arrived in country a few weeks ago. Several of them are training in Azrou. On Saturday, the PCV in Azrou organized a hike for the trainees and the volunteers in the region. Close to the summit of our favorite hike in Azrou, one of the new arrivals asked me, “what’s the coolest thing you have done in Morocco?”

I was quick to say that I could not pick “the coolest thing” because I have done so many “cool things” the last two years. I ended up describing my 50-foot cliff jump into the Mediterranean Sea as the coolest thing I had done in the last 4 months.

Now that I have had a couple of days to sit on the question, I have compiled a list of my “coolest things”:

(in order of occurrence)
• Building a snowman with SiMo, complete with a Bama hat on its’ head
• Shaking the hand of a princess and exchanging small talk with her
• Seeing King Mohammed VI live and in the flesh
• Watching hard-working, illiterate women meet the king and receive a large grant
• Being asked if I “speak kayak” before being allowed to paddle in the Atlantic Ocean
• Showing my host family my election ballot
• Riding a camel through the Merzouga dunes
• Running in 2 organized 5Ks
• Watching women graduate from literacy classes
• And most recent, visiting the chill beach town of Ras La Ma near Saidia. If you want a beach town comparison, think Grayton Beach. Ras La Ma is home to the aforementioned cliffs. Jumping off the 50-footer was terrifying but morphed into exhilaration about halfway down. And surfacing, shaking my head trying to get my bearings was a thrill like none other.