saying goodbye, travel plans and updates

Unless I can find the words to describe all the emotions and feelings running rampant at this moment, this will be the last blog post from Morocco. There is just too much going on right now to write but if the Internet cooperates, the Flickr page will be updated today. I have every intention to continue blogging after my return to the good ole USA. So in a month, look for more posts featuring more reflection, more wrap-up, and possibly my COS travels.

In a week, I leave site. How do I say goodbye to a village that has fed me, cared for me, and taught me what a textbook cannot? For so long, I have considered myself “ready” to leave. And I am ready to leave Peace Corps and to move on from Morocco. But actually packing to leave and saying goodbye is another story. This is painful.

November 20th is the day I “stamp out” and become a RPCV—stands for Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. On the 21st, I am on a plane to London where I will spend a week with Ellen and Katherine. This will be the first time my sisters and I have been together since September 2007 when I embarked on this adventure.

Just how will I get to Amerikah? I will be sailing the ocean blue, like Columbus, sharing the voyage with 19 other RPCVs!. Instead of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, the ship is named the Norwegian Gem—part of the Norwegian Cruise Line. I will arrive in the “New World”, after sailing past the Statue of Liberty, on December 12th and fly home on the 13th. For those of you in Panama City and surrounding areas, let’s set up some coffee dates or chats at Hofbrau. Please.

Moving forward, my vision for this blog is to continue to write and post updates about the re-adjustment process and future (and as yet unplanned) travel adventures—why I gave the blog a more general title than a Moroccan-themed title. Re-adjustment is going to be difficult. With each word I write about re-adjusting, the more scared I get. I have trouble with English—what words need to be used when, pronunciation, not slipping in random God phrases and Arabic words, etc. I am not used to being around Americans. I have forgotten how to act in social situations.

This year, Thanksgiving falls in the middle of the hectic COS travel period for my stage and is the same day as Leid Kbir for all those PCVs with time left in their service. Well, Halloween just happened to fall on a Saturday. So, Anna, a PCV close to me, decided to celebrate Thanksgiving at Halloween. Best. Idea. Ever. It was wonderful to talk about COS’ing with my fellow stagemates, share experiences with other PCVs, eat delightful food, and attend my last PCV party.

A friend of mine from UA came to visit last weekend and I used the opportunity to see Marrakech and Casablanca for the last time and Imlil for the first time. Adam is currently a Mitchell scholar in Belfast, Ireland studying rural development. (For the record, he can attest to my lack of social skills, pitiful knowledge of pop culture, and vocabulary/pronunciation issues.) We had a great visit seeing the sites of Marrakech; getting hushed because we screamed “Roll Tide” several times during the Bama-LSU game; discussing rural issues as we hiked around Imlil; talking politics, grad school, and law school; and just how do we get to where we want to go.