Here is Day Ten of The 50-Day Memory Challenge. I will have more time to update tomorrow.
Tag Archives: Peace Corps
A Month at The Orphanage
Tomorrow is my last day at the orphanage. It’s strange how attached I’ve gotten to these kids over the last 28 days. I’m so glad I was among the five who got to spend time here. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing and frustrating this month has been. But it has been entirely worth it. Now I set my sights back to my town–Bhalil. I hope I can make as big of a difference there as I have in this village. Over the course of the school year, I will have plenty of opportunities. I just need to be myself and grab them. I want to work my ass off so I can deserve next summer. I’m crossing my fingers.
I am still trucking along with the 50-Day Memory Challenge. Remember, if you want to attempt it, just send me a link and I will set you up with my 200 subscribers.
Spending Time on Yourself
One of the best things about the Peace Corps is that it forces you to confront yourself. The quote that comes to mind is, “You can never avoid yourself because–no matter where you go–there you are.” The solitude that comes with service amplifies that. You get to figure out who you are alone–and in an environment you don’t understand. You go through endless existential crisis and emotional collapses. But the most amazing thing blossoms out. You become a better you. Spending so much time thinking and realizing the truth about your life forces you to confront your problems head-on.
I am loving this opportunity. I am finding a way to be a better me while simultaneously being a better friend to the people that I care about. It’s hard to remold yourself after adulthood, but it is quite nice to see the changes inside me.
Her is day five from the 50-Day Memory Challenge:
Day Five: How She Lost Her Mother Twice
This Feels Like Posh Corps
So I attended The First Annual El Jadida Grand Prix today. We found a good spot at a corner and watched rally cars take the 300-degree turn at speeds that would make my car back home flip. It was fascinating to see. I’ve never been to anything like that–even in The States. I suddenly realized what Posh Corps means. While most of the people in the Peace Corps experience poverty and constrained diets, I am living in a metropolitan city…and a three minute walk from a large super market. For the most part, I am in the Posh Corps. Though Posh Corps does have it’s downsides….namely harassment.
Anyway, today is Day Four of The 50-Day Memory Challenge. This one is a strange one from 2010.
The Weekend at Last
It hasn’t been an especially long week, but I found myself excessively tired this morning. After doing our morning with the young kids, I was glad to be on weekend. Now I get a day and a half off before doing the intense last week of work here at the orphanage. It’s been a great month for me–full of reflection and work and writing. I have come up with several ideas for how to utilize my time in the Peace Corps. Most of it requires wifi for faster internet. So September is going to be an interesting month for me–looking for a new house and setting up the internet while I start working with the kids.
Today is the third day of The 50-Day Memory Challenge. I wrote about last summer–reflecting on the massive fire that burned the mountains just outside my town.
Getting Back to Writing with a Memory Challenge
Now that this blog is back to being a writing blog rather than a Peace Corp Writer’s blog, it is time to embark on a new project. After much contemplation, I decided to restart the 50-Day Memory challenge. I tried to do this last year, but broke a lot of the rules and stopped far short of the goal. If all goes well, I should be done with this project in early October. I hope you enjoy.
Change the clocks, again…this time for Ramadan
Here’s the thing about Morocco. It has two Daylight Savings Times. The first one is like most other countries have. The thing is, it is interrupted by a 30-day second daylight savings time. This second change is due to the biggest holiday on the Muslim Calendar–Ramadan. During the 30 days of Ramadan, all Muslims are suppose to fast during daylight hours. That means no water or food between 5:30am and 7:45pm. I consider this level of fasting to be a bit dangerous and excessive so I will not be partaking. But there are several cultural changes I will experience in the days ahead.
- First and foremost, I must maintain the appearance that I am fasting. Eating or drinking during daylight hours is considered very inappropriate whether you are Muslim or not. Imagine not drinking water for 12 hours and seeing a person walk through the street drinking out of his water bottle. So, for the next thirty day I will be hiding my water bottle and eating my meals inside
- Breaking Fast is the new cultural integration. I have been told that most Peace Corps Volunteers will be invited to break fast with several families over the course of Ramadan. I’ve already been invited by one man in this town and my tutor back in Sefrou. I am excited to eat more Moroccan food over the next month. It’ll be a good replacement for my own meals.
- Daylight hours means ghost town. Since people need to save energy during the daylight hours, many will stay inside or sleep. Several towns turn into nocturnal villages–with many people staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning and not waking up until noonish. This will be an interesting experience. Since it’s 100 degrees or more every day, this is probably a good thing.
- A third clock change at the end of Ramadan. I feel like I’m never going to know what time it is if they switch the clock four times a year.
I am excited and kind of antsy to experience this holiday. The thing is, Morocco is 99% Muslim. By comparison, the US is only about 70% Christian. In Morocco, this is something that everyone in the country does together. It is a very community-based event. I’ll keep you updated as I continue collecting the experiences.
Individual Struggles
In the time that I’ve been in Peace Corps, I’ve come to solidify I thought process that has been growing on me over the past couple years: “Do not judge someone by their actions (or inactions). Wait until you have the full story.” This idea grew out of my father who told me this story (which I think is from the book, “7 Habits of a Highly Effective Person):
A man working in NYC just finished an 80 hour work-week. He gets on the subway, exhausted, and tries to rest his mind as he goes home. At the next stop, a middle-aged woman enters the subway car with a 2 year old and a 4 year old. She sits down close to the man. When the subway starts moving, the two kids start chasing each other around and screaming when they catch each other. This annoys the man who just wanted a nice trip back home. He notices that the mother is just staring out the window–not paying attention. Then one of the boys knocks over the man’s briefcase and keeps running. This annoys the man so much that he calls out to the woman and tells her to control her kids. She snaps out of her daze and says, “I’m sorry. Their father passed away this evening and…”
Ever since I heard that story, I’ve come to realize that there is little value in first impressions. We all are experiencing our individual struggles. That is how I am getting through today. I am one of four volunteers helping run a camp in Eastern Morocco right now. Tomorrow we will say goodbye to one of the four because his own personal struggle has grown in recent days. It’ll be hard without him, but I know I cannot judge him for it. On the same cord, I woke up feeling rather ill today. In order to be prepared for when there are only three of us, I decided to use this morning to rest and get better. I hope I won’t be too harshly judge for missing a day (though I’ve come to care less and less about what others think about me).
Then I logged onto Facebook this morning. I started talking to a very close friend of mine. She is going through a struggle with her family (the fighting itself sounds like it has a lot to do with judging others when we have no right to judge them). I did my best to listen because that’s really all we can do. When someone is struggling, we can listen. From time to time, you may need to tell someone to snap out of it, but most struggles need little more than a listening ear. Although, I wish I could be there in person to offer better support.
Thank you Dad for teaching me this valuable life lesson.
Getting into Summer Camp
Today is the fifth day of a ten day Summer camp which me and there other volunteers are working at. We’ve done lots of songs. We’ve taught the kids about eating healthy and exercising. We’ve done art. We even did a couple hours on environmentalism. Now, halfway through the camp, I am really into the swing of things. Today we are going to the swimming pool with more than 60 kids. It is going to be crazy.
Today is a special day for me. It has been since 2006. It’s a day where I spend a lot of time thinking. It’s strange how quickly time goes by at times. Then again, considering how much has changed in the past seven years, it’s incredible how slow time is simultaneously. Here is the piece I prepared for today. I hope you like it.
A Bittersweet Fourth of July
This Fourth of July is bittersweet. On one hand, I get to spend it with three other Americans who I am doing camp with. We plan on making American food and watching Team America. On the other hand, The Staj of Love (Morocco 2013-2015) lost its first member. He will be leaving tonight on a medical separation. It’s sad to say goodbye to someone who shared in the struggles of being in a strange new environment. He will be missed.
Our group of 95 is now 94. Over the next 21 months, that number will gradually go down. People get sick. Family members die. Peoples’ lives change in dramatic and unexpected ways. It’s going to be hard to watch any of us leave. But we know it’s going to happen. I’m still in awe of my Staj. We are approaching six months and still no one has left by choice. It seems we all want to put our best effort forward. Many of us will succeed. Many of us will (and have) hit walls. But it appears that we are ready to find ways around those walls. No one here wants to give up easily.
As we celebrate Independence Day in our own way—whether it be eating watermelon or gathering with other volunteers—we are endlessly reminded of America. I’m starting to realize how strange it will be to experience American Holidays in a place that lets the day pass without a second glance. The Fourth. Thanksgiving Day. Christmas. I’ll be lucky enough to have my parents here for Thanksgiving. And Christmas will be a strange opportunity to gather with other volunteers and exchange stories.
On the other end of this equation, we are about to experience the biggest Holiday in the Muslim World. Ramadan starts on July 8th. For 30 days, every person will go without food and water during daylight hours. Breaking fast will families will become the new form of integration for most of us. I’m starting to get excited. However hard it will be to go without American holidays for a couple years, I believe it is more than enough to experience another culture’s holidays in its place.
I’m starting to realize how long 27 months is. It’s hard to believe that we are already 22% done with our service. The time is flying by. I’m doing everything possible to throw myself into my work. There are plenty of difficulties, but they are always worth it in the end. I just hope I can keep this positive attitude through the heat of the summer.
Until next time.
Richard T. Reilly 