Bus Ride To Ouarzazate

The Small Business Development (SBD) group left Rabat on Friday and headed to Ouarzazate. This was the first time I have really seen Morocco outside downtown Rabat. Even though I slept for 7 of the 9 hour bus ride, the sights of the other two hours were interesting to say the least. Here are some songs that came over the radio:

-LoveStoned by Justin Timberlake
-Irreplacable by Beyonce
-a couple of Madonna classics
-Over My Head by The Fray
-Don’t Lie by Black Eyed Peas
-Fantasy by Mariah Carey

When the first American song came on, everyone just kind of looked at each other with strange looks. It is 4 hours from Rabat to Marrakesh and 5 hours from Marrakesh to Ouarzazate. The road to Marrakesh is flat but after Marrakesh, it is all mountain terrain. The High Atlas Mountains are very pretty and resemble the red rocks in Arizona. Another thing, everything is brown. Seriously. Look at the pictures below if you do not believe me.

I have lots more to say but time is so limited during training. My emails and blog entries are typed beforehand, put on a flash drive, and uploaded at the cyber café. Tomorrow is our first day with nothing scheduled. Hopefully, the cyber will be open and I can spend some time getting US news and updating.

Rabat in Pictures

A rare empty street in the medina…usually very crowded but it was noon prayer


Hello Florida!


Ambassador Thomas Riley spoke to us on Wednesday. It was exciting to meet him. He is a very impressive diplomat and genuinely interested/involved in the work Peace Corps does in Morocco.


We found WIFI in a small corner of the hotel…This was our version of a cyber

On To Morocco

Tomorrow we are off to Morocco! Staging went well. The group of 67 is incredibly diverse. I still haven’t met everyone but so far, I think I am the only person from the Deep South. A couple of people are from North Carolina, and South Florida but none from the Panhandle, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi.

We are spending a few days in Rabat but won’t actually be allowed out of our hotel until Day 3. We haven’t been told why; we haven’t been told much of anything. We were finally given our training city—Ouarzazate (pronounced where is at very fast). It is located in the mountains of southern Morocco about 8 hours from Rabat and a couple of hours from Marrakech. Nicknamed “Oz,” it is the Hollywood of Africa. Lawrence of Arabia, Babel, and the new movie Rendition were all filmed there.

In Oz, I will be living with a host family, learning with my community-based training (CBT) group of 5-6 people, and see as much of Oz as possible. Hopefully upon arrival in Rabat, I will learn more about training and the exact work I will be doing for the next 2 years.

Looking forward to being in-country!

Bags Are Packed. I Must Be Going Somewhere.

Well, the bags are packed. Now it is time for sleep so I can catch my 6AM flight in the morning.

Here are my bags:



They are stuffed and a few pounds overweight but that is okay. It took some work to get close to the Peace Corps limit of 80 pounds. Lots of stuff will need to be shipped to me.

Another picture:
My last sunset in Panama City

New York Encounters

Look who I bumped into...literally

APPALACHIAN ADVENTURES

On Friday, I embarked on a kind-of spur-of-the-moment road trip to the southern Appalachians.

On Saturday, I arrived in Asheville for Bele Chere 2007. With all downtown streets becoming pedestrian for the festival, it was easy to explore leisurely. After buying a pint of organic IPA, I listened to reggae, shopped (yay for fantastic finds at vintage boutique), and enjoyed the Burt’s Bees mini spa.

After Bele Chere, Jimmy Buffett’s Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant was the next destination.

Memo to general manager: You are a theme restaurant. You do not compete on food; you compete on atmosphere. You failed. The mood was somber; funeral parlors have better atmospheres. Also, you were wearing a suit. IT IS A BEACH RESTAURANT. Wear at least a Hawaiian shirt! The number of Buffett songs I heard during my hour-long meal: ONE. It wasn’t even “Cheeseburger in Paradise” or “Margaritaville.” You could have least played those instead of “5 O’clock Somewhere” which isn’t even on one of Buffett’s CDs. Any self-respecting Parrothead would be thoroughly disappointed. You let me down. You really did and as a die-hard Parrothead, I did not think this was possible.

Somehow I was able to find the Blue Ridge Parkway from downtown Asheville without getting on the interstate (it was all luck). Replacing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the CD player with Songs You Know By Heart, it took only a few verses of “Cheeseburger in Paradise” before all was well again in Margaritaville. Cruising down the Blue Ridge Parkway listening to Buffett and later Prairie Home Companion, I thought to myself: “This is the good life.”

PS. Gatlinburg, TN should carry a warning sign: “If you have ever been anywhere in this world, you will be disappointed with our low-life version of hell.”

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini is the author of one of my favorite books, The Kite Runner and my newest favorite, A Thousand Splendid Suns. This novel is the story of 2 women growing up in Afghanistan; the country lived under the rule of a monarch, communists, warlords, and the Taliban.

The following is Hosseini's description of the Taliban's rules:
(this is not the exact wording from the novel--it's paraphrased)

All citizens must pray 5 times a day. If it is prayer time and you are caught doing something other, you will be beaten.
All men will grow their beards. If you do not abide by this, you will be beaten.
All boys will wear turbans. They will be color-coded by age.
Singing is forbidden.
Dancing is forbidden.
Playing cards, chess, gambling, and kite flying are forbidden.
Writing books, watching films, and painting pictures are forbidden.
If you steal, your hand will be cut off at the wrist. Steal again , your foot will be cut off.
If you are not Muslim, do not worship where you can be seen by Muslims.
Attention women:
You will stay inside your homes at all times. It is not proper for women to wander aimlessly about the street. If you go outside, you must be accompanied by a male relative.
You will not show your face.
Cosmetics are forbidden.
Jewelry is forbidden.
You will not wear charming clothes.
You will not speak unless spoken to.
You will not make eye contact with men.
You will not laugh in public.
You will not paint your nails. If you do, you will lose a finger.
Girls are forbidden from attending school.
Women are forbidden from working.
If you commit adultery, you will be stoned to death.

I want to cry...