Disclaimer

The views, opinions, and observations expressed in this journal are my own and in no way reflect the views, opinions, or policy of the Peace Corps, Peace Corps Morocco, nor any other governmental or non-governmental organization.

Nor is anything written here necessarily drawn from my own views, opinions, and observations. Please consider all postings and pictures complete fabrications with absolutely no bearing on reality. For legal purposes, please additionally regard the author as utterly imaginary.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

So It Begins

Rabat.

There are 113 volunteers, approximately 4 times as many as I expected, and 112 more than I actually considered before arriving in Philadelphia.  Overwhelming- however, everything began with a very good omen- the first woman I met was wearing pac-man earrings.  This is very good.  Other characters include a guy who's a southern california lifeguard, and looks like he's a southern california lifeguard.  I just met another guy who's an orphan from Sao Paolo and grew up on the streets there until he was 8 and moved to Arkansas.  Another is a man in about his 50s who records every single thing that happens with complex and heavy sound equipment.  Another young woman in my group is an ex-catholic Iraqi lesbian who's been dis-owned by a significant part of her family.  There are also a number of married couples.

I have about 5 more minutes before I lose the internet, so I have to keep things short.

We're all running the gauntlet right now, everything is scheduled- all sorts of training and language training, and assembly-line shot-giving, it's been nuts.  Among other things, the ambassador to Morocco spoke with us today and was quite ambassadorial.  He warned us that Moroccans like to put a single stair in the middle of their rooms for no particular reason.  We had the regional security officer tell us the best way to get in a knife-fight (cut the forehead, the skin is tight there and the assailant won't be able to see because of the blood).  And we did a little language stuff.  I also went for a run to the beach and played some soccer with a group of shabab.  That means 'young people'.  That's it for now.

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Disclaimer

The views, opinions, and observations expressed in this journal are my own and in no way reflect the views, opinions, or policy of the Peace Corps, Peace Corps Morocco, governmental or non-governmental organizations.

Nor is anything written here necessarily my own views, opinions, or observations. Please consider all pictures and texts here to be complete fabrications with absolutely no bearing on reality, this one or any other. For legal purposes, please additionally consider the author to be utterly imaginary.