1.  Watch The (Unofficial) Peace Corps Theme Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koUWaAr-itY

2. Get An External Harddrive.  I didn’t think about this one before I left.  I vividly remember looking at my hard-drive and putting it in the “do not pack” pile.  What a horrible decision.  Externals are the life-blood of volunteers.  It allows us to trade illegally downloaded TV shows, movies, and books whenever we get together.  You will also get a rather large collection of workout videos—a necessity to stay sane since it usually feels awkward to exercise in public.  I would recommend getting a Terabyte hard drive.

3. Talk to a few volunteers who are in-country.  Most of you will find this blog when I post it in the Peace Corps Morocco Facebook group.  That Facebook group is your most valuable resource when preparing to come to Morocco.  While reading through all the material Peace Corps gives you to “prepare,” you will be plagued with many questions.  The best people to answer these questions (most of them) are actual volunteers.  I love talking with newbies and getting to know you guys before you come into country.  Get to know a few of us and get a few perspectives on some of your questions.  Different volunteers will have different answers.

4. Watch “So You Want to Join The Peace Corps”

5. Ask yourself if Peace Corps is right for you.  This one sounds strange, I know.  But it is important.  You spend so much time convincing the Peace Corps that you are the right candidate that you may gloss over this important question.  That is what happened to me.  I spent the first several months in country coming to terms with a simple question, “What am I doing here?”  If you can start asking those questions now, you will be doing yourself a great service (pun intended).

6. Prepare yourself for Boot Camp.  I just said goodbye to a volunteer who had to leave because his wife was being medically separated.  When I asked him if he would come back, his answer was simple: “Yes.  So long as I don’t have to do CBT again.”  CBT is Community Based Training.  It is the boot camp of the Peace Corps.  After your introductory week in Rabat, you will be divided up into small groups (5 or 6) and sent out to different cities for 10 weeks.  Your mind will be flooded with language 6-10 hours a day, six days a week.  When you aren’t studying, you’ll be with a family that expects you to practice your language with them.  Meanwhile, your stomach will be adjusting to the food and water.  You will be getting used to pooping in the hole in the ground.  Oh, and it’ll be the middle of winter—which brings us to number seven.

7. Think Alaska, Not Africa.  This is one motto of Peace Corps Morocco that I stand by.  Your training is in the middle of winter.  The temperature will always fall to the 40s at night and sometimes fall to the 30s.  It’ll will be slightly colder inside than it is outside.  We had two days in my training where we actually had freezes.  I’m from Colorado.  When I took off 9 months ago, the temperature was -10 degrees Fahrenheit.  I thought I would be fine with the cold.  The truth is, no one is ready for this.  The simple fact is Indoor Heating does not exist here.  You will not warm up for months at a time.  If you are lucky, you will placed in front of a propane heater for a short while.  You will love hot lunches.  You will sleep under 3 or 4 blankets while wearing three layers…scared that you can see your own breath.  Lesson: Pack appropriately…but also:

8. Think Africa.  I live in one of the coldest sites in Morocco.  This past summer it still got to 108 degrees Fahrenheit.  Down south, it is common for there to be days or weeks at a time where the high is above 120 degrees.  In short, the reality is that you need to find a way to pack for warm and cold.  Cold is the priority since that is what you will be experiencing first.  By the time you hit your first summer, you will have the language skills to buy clothes.  Still, be prepared.

9. Start Following these two Tumblr accounts HOW A PCV PUTS IT GENTLY and KULLYUM.  These tumblrs are run by anonymous PCVs.  I am pretty sure the Peace Corps administration will hate that I am directing you guys to these, but they are fantastic sites.  They show the life of a PCV—without holding anything back.  If you don’t understand one of the memes, there are 180 volunteers in Peace Corps Morocco who would be glad to explain.  Find one of us.

10. Make a list of all your favorite foods and restaurants.  Eat. This was one of the most important things I did prior to leaving The States.  Although there are some places in Morocco where you can get western food (mainly Rabat and Casablanca), you will largely have to convert to the local diet.  Have your last Frappuccino.  Get some hot wings.  Enjoy Chipotle.  It doesn’t really matter if you put on some weight.  You’ll lose most of it turning the two and a half months of training anyway.

11. Stop stressing out about the language.  In my final two months in The States, I memorized the Arabic Script and learned a few choice phrases.  It was irrelevant.  The Peace Corps teaches you from the ground up.  You are not expected to know anything when you get into country.  Those who already know a bit of Arabic will be in a different training group entirely.  So, put the script away.  Stop stressing.  There is enough language stress coming your way.  Now is the time to spend with family and friends.

12. Make friends in your staj.  The last I heard, you will incoming group (staj) will be over 100 volunteers.  This is the group you will get really close to.  The 100 of you will experience things at the same time and rely on each other as your support network.  What’s the harm in meeting a few before you leave?  Remember:  Everyone is in the same boat.  We all want to talk—young, old, married, single.

13. Internalize this.

14. Put Morocco on your news feed.  There are a lot of interesting news events in Morocco.  Some volunteers decide not to read the news.  Others follow it closely.  I follow it closely and recommend you do too.  You will be asked questions.  Even if you decide you shouldn’t give your opinion, it is best to know what is being asked.  For example, I had a group of kids ask me if I heard about “Danielle” a few months ago.  After a few questions, I realized they were talking about the child rapist the King accidently pardoned the week prior.  They wanted to talk about it.  I let them and faked limited language skills  to stay out of the conversation.

15.  Pack a computer.  Not a Tablet.  This is where laws and reality collide.  Peace Corps does not require you to bring a computer.  But you need a computer.  The reason Peace Corps doesn’t REQUIRE it is a legal one.  If they required it, they would have legal responsibility if (and when) it breaks.  So, make sure to bring a good computer.  Tablets are generally not a good idea for two reasons.  First, you need to be able to access stuff on a USB.  Also, you are required to fill out forms to explain what you are doing in your site.  The program is difficult or impossible to get onto a tablet

16. If you are vegetarian, be prepared.  Moroccans do not understand the idea of vegetarianism.  If you go to a restaurant and ask for the vegetarian option, you will almost certainly get something that has fish and/or the Moroccan equivalent to Spam in it.  But that is something you can figure out.  The hardest part will be during homestay.  Even if you are vegetarian, your family will almost certainly serve you meals with meat.  You’ll be able to eat around the meat, but not the meaty juices and whatnot.  It’s a difficult endeavor during training.  But afterwards, when you live on your own, you can easily live without meat.  But be prepared for 3id.

17. No matter where you stand on the digital versus physical debate, BUY A KINDLE.  In the years prior to Peace Corps, I refused to buy a kindle.  I had my own small little library instead.  Unfortunately, that is not realistic.  We do have a librarian who lends out plenty of good books, but it’s still incredibly annoying compared to a Kindle.  You can download almost any book in the world for free and you won’t have to worry about returning the book to the Peace Corps Headquarters.

18. Spend some time thinking about who you are and how deal with that in a new culture.  We all come in with identifiers attached to ourselves.  Old.  Young.  Atheist.  Protestant.  Jew.  Muslim.  Gay.  Straight.  Asexual.  Married.  Divorced  Single.  In a relationship.  For each identifier you, have, there is a Peace Corps support system (there is a Facebook group for Peace Corps Volunteers over 50, there is a PRIDE group, etc.).  If you want to talk to someone about “What is it like to be _____ in Morocco” you will get the opportunity once you are in Rabat.  If you want to talk to someone now, post on the Facebook group.  If you want a more private setting, message me (or anyone else) and we will direct you to the right people (I am a Volunteer Support Network Representative and am good at not repeating sensitive information).

19.  You will hear people reference a 20/20 report about the Peace Corps.  Just watch it now and get it over with.

20.  Talk with someone who hasn’t mastered the English Language.  This is something a friend of mine did before she left on a semester abroad.  If you come across anybody who obviously hasn’t mastered the English Language, try talking with them for a few minutes.  Be patient and let them try to get out what they need to say.  Take note in how they talk around words they don’t know and guess at grammar half the time.  That is how you will sound to Moroccans.  Most will not be patient.  The rest will expect you to know French.  Enjoy the ride.

21.  Take a step back from politics.  This is something you can start now or when you get to country.  I left just after the 2012 Presidential Election and the Sandy Hook shooting—so this break from politics has been good for my soul.  You will still hear and read about what is going on, but it won’t be the same.  Without a basic hookup to the annoying cable news channels, you will get a new perspective on politics and world news.  It is a great feeling.

22.  If you are a gamer, here’s the rundown.  Computers tend to break here.  Make sure you have a computer rated for extreme heat and extreme cold.  I would even recommend bringing an extra battery altogether.  You are about 75% likely to be in a final site where you can get wifi in your house (it is affordable on the stipend provided).  It is sometimes fast enough to run Steam.  Either way, be careful.  It’s easy to fall in the trap of never leaving your house.  Try not to get too addicted to a game….and I would stay away from MMOs entirely.

23.  Get to know the country you are about to live in for 27 months.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgN-HBTsxRQ

24.  Get on the Plane.  If you have any doubts about whether or not you should get on the plane in January, get on it.  When I left for the Peace Corps, I was about 90% I would Early Terminate.  I decided to give it a try anyway.  Now it’s been 9 months and I am only getting more dedicated to my service.  If you end up leaving, you’ll know that the Peace Corps wasn’t for you and you can start on your next journey.

25. Be okay with the fact that you will be rather unprepared for the work you are expected to do.

26. Buy a Journal.  The best gift I got prior to leaving was a leather-bound journal.  I dedicated myself to writing in it every day.  Living alone leaves us with a depleted amount of resources to cope.  Having a journal has allowed me to work out daily struggles.  When I’m doing well, I like looking back at past entries and seeing how far I’ve come.  Plus, when service is over, it’s going to be one of those trophies of service.

27. Know in your heart that nothing that I tell you can prepare you for what you are about to experience.  This experience is yours alone.  Your experience will be unique and a result of what you make of it.  Have fun with it.

28. Get Excited