Tag Archives: Morocco
Beautiful Rabat
Today has been a good turn around for me. Yesterday got a bit stressful. I was extremely tired and lost a vital plug. Plus the language training was bogging me down. Today was much better. I realized I was doing great on the language (for having only three days of training, that is). Then I went out with a few friends. We went to a Café, practiced our language skills, and generally enjoyed ourselves. I also bought a new vital plug. It doesn’t work….but that doesn’t matter. It only cost 5 Dirham—which is about 75 cents. So I’ll try again tomorrow. I may even shell out 10 or 15 dirham.
Tomorrow is our free day. Plans include going to the Madid (the walled downtown that was the whole of Rabat before European Colonialization). Then it sounds like we are off to the beach (Atlantic Ocean). That sounds like a great way to spend the day. A few people are even talking about going to an Internet café in the evening—Which sounds great considering how broken the connection is at the hotel. I would love to check up on the news, work on the blog, talk to a few people, and so forth.
At this point, I must say I am seeing very little that makes me want to go home. Language and overall anxiety were my biggest fears. I have gotten past both. Anxiety seems to fade with every day and every lesson. With my amazing language instructor and lots of practicing, I do not fear the language. My only major problem is being away from my girl. We now have about four days until we go off to our training sites (mine is in the Atlas Mountains off of Fes). I can’t wait to get there and meet my host family. I will be there until March 26th with four other volunteers.
Bislama!
Day Four
I just practiced my Arabic for a good hour or two. I can now count from one to ten, introduce myself, go through the basic greeting and say goodbye in the dialect of Arabic that works in Northwest Africa. I feel like I need to as much or more language practice compared to the other people here. I have always had a difficult time learning languages. I just don’t enjoy memorizing. But I am—slowly—getting it down. I am going to have to do this every day to keep up with the lesson. If all goes well, I won’t be kicked out when training ends because I just can’t get by with the language.
I have continued journaling on a daily basis. This will be my main form of writing while I am here. During my training, I doubt I will get by fiction writing done. Once I get into my two year service that may change. That isn’t until late March. I still need to master the language to the best of my ability.
Today is my girl’s 21st birthday. It has been especially hard today being away from here. Part of me wants to be where she is. Part of me wants her to be here. In the end, it honestly does not matter where we are. I just want to be with her and celebrate with her. As I complete my fourth day of 800, I can’t help but imagine what the next 796 days will be like without her.
This is going to be hard. But amazing.
Day Three
I am officially wrapping up Day 3 of 800 on my Peace Corps adventure. I am starting a new method of blogging. In this method, I write my updates in a word document…and upload them whenever the internet decides to work. Sound like a plan? Good. Anyway, this will be the first night since Saturday that I have been able to get a true full night’s sleep. I think I may just faint right now. Sleep sounds so glorious.
The flight and bus rides went smoothly. I converted my money over just a few hours ago at 8.17 Dirham per American dollar. To put that in perspective, we went to a café a little bit later. I got a pastry for 5 Dirham and my friend got a coffee for 5 Dirham. The exchange rate is going to heavily favor us. It’s kinda nice not to worry about buying little things like food. I can afford it. At least for now.
We have one week left in Rabat before we break apart into small language groups. This is going to be a crazy week full of meeting a bunch of people, getting a bunch of shots, learning basic Arabic, and survival skills. Emotionally I have been all over the place—from wondering why I decided to do this one moment to sitting back and relaxing the next. This week in Rabat will be a good way to test the waters.
Live from Philly
The plane ride went smoothly. When I got to Philadelphia International Airport, I met up with the four others from Colorado. We split a fun ride into the heart of Philly. I immediately dropped off my bags and went to orientation. Fives hours of orientations while hungry and tired…At least I got to meet a lot of new people. This has been a great start. Although I still feel like the anti-social one. That is kind of how I work though.
We leave the hotel at 9:00am tomorrow morning. We immediatly get on a bus for JFK airport. The 8 hour flight will bring us into Casablanca overnight. Then, it’s straight to Rabat–the capital of Morocco. It is going to be a long day of traveling. But all I know is: 1 Day Down. 799 to go.
30 Minutes until takeoff
I’m at Denver International Airport now. I’ve spent a good deal of the past week saying goodbyes. Now all I have left is the experience. My plane just started boarding. Got to go!
66 Hours Out
I have entered my last weekend in America. Come very early Monday morning (as in 3:30am), I will wake up at drive down to Denver International Airport with my parents. These final few hours in town are now a fun mixture of final preparations and goodbyes. I’ve already said goodbye to all my friends. I’m hoping to watch a couple movies with my parents this weekend. “The Impossible” and “Zero Dark Thirty.” Other than that, I am working my way through the final ten items on my to-do list. I hope to finish with time to spare so I can relax a little on Sunday and get to bed early.
I am going to continue uploading a mixture of old writing and new writing in the months to come. By the end of 2013, this website should be a good archieve of all my writing. For today, I have one of the first prose pieces I ever wrote. I was fourteen years old. I knew I was experiencing weird changes, but I still thought I was unique and–to be honest–superior. This piece is fascinating for me to read, but it’s tone is strange to me. Let me know what you think.
Seven Days Out
This is the first in a series I hope to start. I like the idea of vlogging simply because it is so personal. This one feels really rough. Bear with me as I learn how to make the videos better.
8 Days Out
The list of things to do until I leave for 27 months of Peace Corps duty is dwindling. I already accomplished four things this morning. This afternoon is full of shopping to finish off my packing list. I’m getting so close to being fully ready to leave for Morocco. Wish me luck. It still feels like I have so much more to do. At least that is helping me not focus on the stress of leaving so many people behind.
Today comes the final batch of poems from 2004. These are some of the best poems I wrote during my teenage years. I hope you enjoy. Make sure to read Darkened Eyes. My poetry finally stopped being sappy and became angry. It’s worth it.
The Culture of Rape
I hope you can excuse my week-long absence. After updating last, I got a text from my quasi-girlfriend in Houston, Texas. What followed was a bunch of running about. About 15 hours after the first text, I was on the road. I spent New Years with her. I got to meet her family. I got to meet her adopted grandfather. I got to decipher Spanish when the family talked to each other. It was a great way to spend the first few days of 2013 with her. Now, back in Colorado, I am preparing to leave for Morocco. Today is my Goodbye party. I also have only 20 items on my To-Do list. It will be a crazy week, but I should be ready in time.
Today’s update is important to me. I spent the past two or three weeks trying to perfect this article. After a long late-night discussion with one of my closest friends, I had to write it. The article revolves around rape and Slutwalk. I didn’t realize until recently how strongly I feel about this. The news out of India only makes me realize how severe the problem is. Still, my article is only focused on America because this is the only culture I have spent a significant amount of time in. I hope to get some feedback.
Thank you,
Richard
Richard T. Reilly 