Fall, Minus the Changing Leaves

I’m constantly reminded that our time in Morocco, though long, will feel short-lived. The “oldest” group of PCVs in Morocco is in the midst of their Close of Service, many of them already back in America. As we have become close with some over the past 6 months, it’s a very odd feeling knowing they have left town like high school seniors after graduation. As newbies, Nick and I are still freshmen. We have 18 months until we drive cars again, eat true Mexican food again, become anonymous faces in the crowd again. And yet, if these past 6 ½ months are an indication, the next phases of our service will fly by without leaving much time to even process all that’s happening.

The hottest summer of my life has passed, though not without fanfare. We’ve just returned from almost a month straight of travels and trainings, and we’re ready to ring in the change of season. In fact, our city’s feeling more like fall everyday, even though the temperatures don’t necessarily have anything to do with it. It has been raining a lot, and there’s a change in the wind that just feels like autumn to me. Some days I desperately wish to go to the nearest coffee shop, order a pumpkin coffee drink, get in my car, and drive into the mountains listening to music with my windows open. And though that is an impossibility, I do enjoy the time Nick and I can go downtown, sit in a coffee shop for hours, and people watch from the porch.

In Morocco, the return of fall means the return of productivity (for the most part). Our classes have begun full swing in the Dar Chabab. We are teaching two beginner English classes, two intermediate, two advanced, a film and writing class, a business class, games club, homework club, and American flag football club. Beyond classes, we’ve been asked to help with a women’s co-op about 10 miles from our city because the current volunteer is returning to America. The women make jewelry, rugs, clothes, and blankets, and we hope to be able to help them market their products and sell them in more commercial areas, like our downtown market and local festivals. We are also in the middle of coordinating an English teacher training workshop, which will take place at the first of December. This is the first project that we’ve done in our PC service, and it is a very large one. We hope to invite around 150 English teachers in the region with the goal of inspiring them to utilize new and more innovative techniques in the language classroom. With such a large project (planned in another language) comes the potential for a lot of stress, so I hope to find a way to successfully plan the workshop and have a fun and semi relaxing time doing it.

So, for those who’ve been commenting on our relaxed, summer lifestyle, fear no more! We are beyond busy and happy to be able to feel more a part of our community and work places. Please keep us updated with your lives, too, as nothing makes us feel more at home than hearing all about home.

– Brit

I’m finally posting a photo of our site for you to see. What’s missing in the photo is the insane amount of date palms we have, which aren’t pictured here for some reason. Also, it’s really not as green as it looks here. I hope to be able to discreetly take some in the near future, but people tend to not appreciate having their photo taken.

American Flag Football Camp

One of the camps that I did this summer was our American Flag Football Camp held in the Azrou-Ifrane area. We took about 30 kids (both boys & girls) from the desert regions of southeast and southern Morocco and took them north to the Middle Atlas mountains near Azrou. Combining those 30 kids with another 30 boys and girls from the Azrou area led to a great camp offering a new sport for the Moroccan youth that taught leadership, hard work, and team work.

The week consisted of intense morning runs, football skills practices, team practices, scrimmages, live games, and a final tournament day. The kids were also taken on field trips to Ifrane and Azrou to see the wild monkeys in the nearby forest and to go swimming. On the last full day, everyone played in an elimination tournament on a grassy, green field at the prestigious Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane. I mention a grassy field since most of the kids we brought from the desert only play on either dirt, sand, or cement. Playing flag football on actual grass was a big hit. Right when we stepped off the bus, many of the kids threw their shoes off and ran with total joy to the grassy field. Some kids even jumped to the ground and rolled around in what looked like some sort of “snow angel” performance in the grass. Needless to say, they were ecstatic to be there that day.

My Team

All week long, each counselor ran their own team, and I liked my guys a lot. If camp was a classic football movie, we would’ve been the underdog story. On tournament day, we played hard against a team with the biggest and best player at camp. It was a high scoring game, and we took the eventual champions of the whole camp to overtime after a 7 TD to 7 TD tie. Unfortunately we lost the game, but we gained a lot more that day in confidence, leadership, and teamwork. Not to mention pure fun.

Championship Game – Ifrane

Once good-byes needed to be said, the kids were quite upset to be leaving. In the ten-day camp, the kids formed close bonds and friendships with each other and with us. Thinking towards the future, we want to organize more American flag football teams/games in new towns and create another camp next summer.

After camp was over, Brittany (who was managing her own summer day camp) met me in Azrou, and we were off to El Jadida to take part in a wonderful English immersion camp just off the beach of the Atlantic Ocean.

P.S.   Now I am definitely ready for college football and the NFL to start!

Until next time,

Nick