I can’t believe how fast my first month of training has gone by. Sorry it has taken so long to get my first blog post. I am going to try to post most consistently for the rest of my service, so hopefully the rest of my blog posts won’t be quite a novel. I apologize in advance for how long this is and certainly do not expect anyone to read it all the way though. This blog will act more as an online record for me, so don't feel obliged to read every word, especially if it becomes boring.

Starting from the beginning; after a short stay in Asheville, I left for staging in Philadelphia from Charlotte on Saturday morning, March 1st. All three Juliana’s were there to see me off, my grandmother, mom and sister. They each stayed with me to the last moment possible and said they were going to send me a letter that day, two of which I have received already. I arrived in Philly early afternoon and figured out transportation to the hotel. I kept looking around for other Peace Corps “types” particularly anyone with a huge expedition size backpack and ended up meeting two on the van ride to the hotel, Ben of environment and his wife in health. Arriving at the hotel was exciting; I was finally got to meet the people that I was going to be spending the next two years of my life with. Everyone was in business casual, which for me meant khakis, button down shirt and hiking boots because I was even going to try to pack dress shoes, on that note I was very happy with how little I brought overall, one expedition backpack and one regular school backpack.

Staging started pretty quickly and consisted of registration, meet and greets, Peace Corps philosophy, safety, anxieties/aspirations and drawing. Apparently every volunteer remembers from staging the drawing activities we did, then again it is probably a self fulfilling prophecy because that’s what staging director said we would remember. The staging director actually was a previous Morocco volunteer so was able to talk about her own experiences, but was quick to admit that the country has probably changed a lot since she had been there. Sunday was a full day of discussions as well, during lunch I was able to go out and get a famous Philly cheese steak. I decided to put being a vegetarian on hiatus for the Mexico trip with Andrew and Vic (see blog: http://southbound-horizons.blogspot.com) and my two year service in Morocco, both with eating meat being an important part of the culture. That night a lot of us went out to an Irish bar that did karaoke music (I’m not joking) it was a fun way to end staging and get to know the other volunteers better. The following Monday morning, both the environment sector (26 of us) and the health sector (34 of them) took a bus from Philly to JFK and got aboard the plane headed for Morocco. I was told that less than a third that start the application process make it all the way through to boarding the plane, something to celebrate.

The flight was overnight and my group arrived in Casablanca on March 4th, Tuesday morning, about five hours ahead of EST. Getting through baggage claim and customs was a slow process but some of the steps were expedited for us, such as not having all our bags searched and having a guard escort through the airport thanks to King Mohammed VI’s appreciation of PC. I tried very hard not to have any expectations on anything about Morocco before my arrival so I wouldn’t be expecting anything that was actually true, so nothing seemed to catch me off guard on the van ride, I did notice the vast number of satellite dishes on top of ever house though, pretty much one for ever family.

The life of a trainee is busy, extremely busy. Our group was immediately driven to Rabat from the airport to meet with the Country Director and PC staff at the headquarters. After a brief welcoming and cookies with mint tea (aka Moroccan Whiskey) we got to explore around for thirty minutes before boarding the bus again. Looking in some of the offices we saw some full maps of Morocco in the offices with tons of different color coded pins (, representing all the volunteers spread out around the country, from the coast to mountains to the desert… and thus began the game all trainees play – trying to figure out where our final site will be. That day would also be the first of many many cups of mint tea. Drinking tea is about the equivalent to breathing for Moroccans. I think the most cups I have had in one day has been around 11, since it is considered rude to decline. It is also the most sugar laced drink imaginable, huge giant sugar cubes and then more giant sugar cubes, it is tasty though.

From the headquarters we went directly to the hotel, which was a really nice hotel that apparently PC was able to get a great deal on since it is booked by them every six months. Driving through Rabat to the hotel was quite interesting too. On the way we saw a protest from a group people unemployed complete with police enforcement which provided future discussions with the staff. The hotel had an open roof terrace that overlooked the city, just like the drive from the airport satellite dishes could be seen every where, but there were also green stars with a red background flying everywhere, the Moroccan flag. A short ways away was the main mosque for the city and I heard my first of many calls to prayer coming from the tower. There are five calls a day (dawn, noon, 4pm, dusk and night). Overlooking the city on the roof and hearing the call echoed across the city at sunset was one of those moments that will always be ingrained in my memory. It was also one of the first times I had a “wow… I am really in Morocco right now and this is going to be my home for the next two years” moments. It was pretty amazing.

Staging in Rabat consisted primarily of official business. A typical day went from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, with two breaks and one lunch break. The different sessions ranged from hearing from the Country Director, getting photos taken, medical interviews and shots, security briefings, more safety and security briefings, hearing from the Ambassador, and lots of intros to everything imaginable. It was a ton of information and just the tip of the iceberg as far as pre-service training (PST) is concerned. Meeting the staff was great though, everyone was extremely friendly, and of a staff of over 30, only four or not Moroccan citizens, so there was a lot of insight into Morocco culture given. One of the highlights of orientation in Rabat was getting to explore the city (after safety briefings of course). I walked through the souk (large market area). The area was huge, everything and anything is sold in the area and bargaining is expected. Bargaining in itself is an art, one that I will get plenty of practice to perfect while here. The group I was with walked through the souk to the ocean and I was able to watch my first sunset over the Atlantic from this side of the ocean. There was also a cemetery right next to the ocean that was pretty incredible. I did not have time to visit Rabat's Kasbah but definitely have plans to my next visit, it sounded beautiful from the trainees that went.

While in Rabat there were still close to 70 environment and health trainees all in one big group so it was difficult to learn everyone's name and get to know the fellow volunteers. After three days in Rabat the two groups both went to Ouarzazate (pronounced like war-za-zate and just called Oz. for short) but in separate buses and were going to stay in different hotels. While it seemed quick to divide up the groups, I was looking forward to having a smaller group of all environment trainees to get to know better. Traveling to Oz. was incredible! We had to travel over a mountain pass through the High Atlas mountains, it was completely gorgeous and I finally got to see more of the blad (Arabic for country). Of course the road was extremely curvy and I would soon discover later that many Moroccans are not used to riding and especially not used to curvy roads and get quite car sick)

In Oz. the focus would shifted to the environment sector program, learning about the skills/knowledge/attitudes/etc. needed to be successful, what current volunteers are doing and getting to know our program manager Mo and assistant manager Aicha better. The hotel in Oz. has so far been my favorite, it overlooks the open plaza and each night on the front steps to the main building in the plaza a large group of men gather and play drums while singing/chanting Berber songs, it is amazing and happens every night without out fail. Actually while I am typing this right now I can still hear the music from a wedding reception that is happening in the main building across the plaza, it is 11:25 pm right now and the party will continue late into the night.

Training here has been quite similar to training in Rabat. There are four two hour sessions a day, typically two languages, and then two on a wide range of different topics, everything from health, cooking, cross cultural exchange, policies/regulations, safety/security, transportation, site/environmental assessments, diversity, Islam, biodiversity, Ministry of Water and Forests (who I will be working for), and much more. There is little free time but it is utilized for studying the language, preparing presentations, exploring Oz. or getting the chance to check and send some emails. Oz is a great city, it is much more rural then other areas and quite beautiful. There are a few film studios just outside the city and several movies have been filmed here, such as Gladiator, Mummy I and II, Kingdom of Heaven, The Last Temptation of Christ, etc.

There are many different languages spoken in Morocco, the official language is Arabic (of which there are 3 different types), 3 different Berber languages, French, and Spanish are all spoken, often combined and meshed together in the same sentence. The languages are also regional as well, for instance the different mountain regions, whether the Rif Mountains, Middle Atlas, High Atlas or Anti Atlas, each have one of the three Berber languages spoken or a combination. Spanish is spoken often in the very far north and French is still spoken among the elite/educated. As for Arabic, there are three types, classical Arabic which is used in the Quran, Modern Standard Arabic (a simplified version of classical) which is used in speeches, newspapers, magazines etc, and colloquial Arabic, which Morocco has its own version called Darija. The different colloquial languages can very a lot from country to country, as much as the Romance languages, such as Italian to French to Spanish can differ.

I went into that language education lesson because knowing what language you are going to learn goes a long way in figuring out which region of Morocco your final site will be, back to the game trainees all play. The environment sector was divided into small groups of 5 or 6 people in each group to focus on a certain language. One group of five people is Moroccan Arabic (Darija), there are three groups of the Berber language Tamazight and one group for the Berber language Tashelhit. The groups also leave Oz. to go on community based training trips (CBT) which are basically about a total of a month and a half of home stays in different areas with intensive language, culture and technical training in your small groups. You have one native speaker as a teacher called a language and cross culture facilitator (LCF's) to help with the learning of the languages. By the way, PC is huge on the acronyms, in that regard and perhaps only in that regard it is quite similar to the military. Everyone was of course anxious to learn what language they would be learning and speaking for the next two years and to start figuring out where they were going to be placed. The Darija group was probably the most desired one since it can be spoken though out most of the country and is a little be transferable to other Arabic languages. I had no expectations at all about which language I would be learning and was actually very surprised when I saw it would be Darija, This means that I will probably be further north in Morocco but also means that I will not be placed in the mountains, or least very unlikely.

There are four other trainees in my group and one LCF and my group is amazing. All our personalities are very similar and we get along great. Probably some of the funniest moments I have had in training so far have been with my CBT group. So speaking of Darija though, it's definitely not easy… there are about 6 sounds that are not even present in the English language. Some of the letters in particular are quite challenging and tongue twisting, the 'ayn is similar to a glottal stop where the muscles at the back of the throat are gagged more forcefully, I've heard it described as the sound of someone being strangled, there is the rolling r, a H sound that is like air being blown out . I even read that some of the sounds can take decades to master if you did not grow up hearing it One day hopefully I will have it mastered, inshallah (God willing). I am really excited about learning the language though, nervous but still excited. Since my counterpart in the Ministry of Water and Forestry or NGO will probably be speaking French and Darija I hope to shift my language focus to French after a year, maybe even Spanish if I am far north enough and enough of my community speaks it. I will have a tutoring option available for the first year which I am very happy about as well.

So the first half of March was spent in either Rabat or Ouarzazate training and learning the language, but on Sunday March 16th, all the CBT groups finally got to go to their site and meet their home stay families. My group got in a grand taxi, which basically will to another town but only after all 6 seats have been filled and headed about 45 minutes East of Ouarzazate to a really small community based on agriculture. My family is amazing! I couldn't have asked for a more friendly or generous host family. There are the parents, a grandmother, two aunts, one uncle, and four children, for a total of ten. The children range in age from 10 to 16 and one of the uncles speaks a tiny bit of English which makes it a little easier, very little though. When the father was walking me to the house before even getting inside he had already discarded my American name and given me a Moroccan name – Halid (except it sounds kind of like a xalid, or a brief gargle in the back of the throat for the H). There was a lot of laughter especially with the children as I struggled to pronounce my own name. I couldn't be more happy about my host family though and was sad to leave after the first home stay visit was over (there are four total).

While at home stay I felt kind of like a preschool, I had to relearn pretty much everything I have ever known, it's been quite fun and interesting. First thing that is completely different are greetings. Here greetings are everything, they are not anything like the "hey, how are you, okay, see you later" all in one breathe greetings in America. Rather they are quite extensive and cover everything. For example:

A: s-salamu عalaykum

B: wa عalaykum s-salam

A: labas?

B: labas l-Hamdullah

A: bixir?

B bixir l-Hamdullah

A: kif dayr?

B: kulši mzyan, l-Hamdullah, u nta?

A: kulši bixir, l-Hamdullah ...and so on, it can last quite a while and still is just covering the basics, it can be done slowly or rapid fire.

I have to relearn how to eat as well. Tangine is everything in Morocco and it tastes amazing. There is always a community bowl and you only eat from your section or triangle and never ever use your left hand to reach for food, quite rude. Typically try to limit use of your left hand as much as possible. Bread is served with every meal except when there is couscous. Bread is perhaps my most favorite food so of course I am happy. Fruit is almost always served for dessert, typically oranges or bananas, and yes Morocco does have the best oranges I have ever tasted, the fresh squeezed orange juice here is a taste of heaven.

There are of course certain phrases you say whenever starting, finishing, or well, lots of things, during meals. I will never ever have to worry about not eating enough. In Morocco it is the responsibility of the host to make sure that the guest eats enough. The first night at my host family's house I kept hearing "kul, kul, kul!" and had no idea what was going on. Someone else from my CBT group thought his host family was practicing their English and saying cool, rather it was Eat! Eat! Eat! In your family's eyes, you can never eat enough thus learning the right phrases to say you're finished are crucial (šbعt, safi, l-Hamdullah, lla y-عtik şşHHa, in that order of course). As my host family got to know me better and viewed me less as a guest the pressure to binge eat has worn off, l-Hamduallah!

Even going to the bathroom is, well, completely different, if you are not familiar with a Turkish toilet, it is quite interesting and worthy of a short description before familiarizing yourself. And of course, the language makes you feel the most like a preschool, as of now I feel comfortable with the regular process such as what to say when meeting people, eating, super basic questions and answers and am learning more, inshallah. The process is definitely swiya-b-swiya (little by little) which has become my motto for training. Don't get me wrong though, I love every minute I am here and am incredibly optimistic and positive about pretty much everything, especially what the future holds for me.

Overall, not too much time was spent with my host family during CBT, really only 6pm to the morning each day. The rest of the time was filled with language lessons, oh and script lessons! My group started learning the Arabic alphabet and swiya-b-swiya have started reading and writing. I have a goal of being able to read Arabic before my two years are finished. We have other tasks such as creating community maps, seasonal calendars, and interviewing different community members, such as the Sheik (community leader), Iman (religious leader), the farmers and craftsmen, etc. The interviews were incredibly informative into the daily lives and structure of the community members. My group was also able to start assessing environmental concerns and problems within the community.

I finished the first week of CBT on Sunday March 23rd and traveled back to Ouarzazate with my group. We did some presentations and debriefings and had a few more sessions before leaving again for our field trip. The field trip consists of going in small groups, typically 3 people each to visit an actual environment volunteer at their site. The field trip was perhaps the biggest confidence builder yet while in Morocco. My group had to get to our site on our own, speaking Darija and using the bus/taxi systems. We headed up to visit a volunteer that lived outside a small city near Khenifa. The total trip time was about 13 hours. Getting there without any problems was rewarding and finally getting to see what actual volunteers do was very exciting. The trip did of course start to make people a little bit anxious about when we would finally be able to find out our actual final sites, because several of the sites visited are also being replaced. So if you spoke the same language of the site, you were asking yourself will this be my future home? The volunteers were extremely helpful and friendly, also everyone was still very positive and seemed very happy, and these were volunteer's at all different stages of service, 6 months in, a year in, and close to close of service (COS'ing). Instead of making the mistake of doing the trip back in one day, my group spent the night in Marrakech, which was pretty cool but in a touristy sort of way. Either way the field trip was a blast and perhaps my favorite part of pre-service training so far. Granted, PST isn't over until May 19th which is when my group swears in. So I am not even quite halfway though, there will be plenty more amazing experiences ahead.

As of right now, I am back in Ouarzazate and will be leaving for my second CBT in a few days. This time my group should be there for slightly longer, about nine days. While in CBT, I have no internet access so won't be able to check emails. If you actually read this whole thing, I am actually amazed and very impressed, I apologize for all the grammar mistakes, repetitiveness, and boring you. I promise that I will never have another post close to this length, not even half this length. I would love to hear from you so feel free to email me or mail me a letter. Post here if you have any questions at all, and check out my flickr site at http://flickr.com/photos/schmitter5 to see all places I have mentioned in this blog.

Mailing address: (no packages please, at least not till pre-service training is over)

Anthony Schmitt

s/c Corps de la Paix

2, Rue Abou Marouane Essaadi, Agdal

Rabat 10100, Morocco

P.S. I was having trouble choosing a name for this site and had the Avett Brothers playing, I heard the song "The Traveling Song" and immediately stole it for my blog title, in case anyone was wondering.