#1

September 17, 2017

New Peace Corps friends touring Penn's campus during Staging in Philadelphia.

I can't believe it has only been 6 days since I left Nashville and started my journey to Morocco…We've managed to fit so much into each day, that it feels like we've been here for weeks.

It began Monday when I flew to Philadelphia for staging. On Tuesday, I met my fellow volunteers (113 of us, holy moly), and we had a full day of orientation going over safety and Peace Corps values. That night at 11:30pm, we loaded buses and headed for the JFK airport. We arrived shortly after 2am (FOUR AND A HALF HOURS BEFORE OUR FLIGHT TOOK OFF). When we finally made it on the plane, the sun was beginning to rise, and the views were spectacular.

We arrived in Casablanca, Morocco about 6pm, loaded buses and drove to our hotel in Harhoura, Rabat. We settled in with a delicious moroccan meal, and headed straight to bed. When we awoke the next morning, and could see clearly in daylight, we realized that our hotel is right ON THE BEACH (Atlantic)!! I then took some snaps of our accommodations--we will stay here for the first 10 days.

Our hotel is v, other than the fact my room has no hot water…I figured this out when I jumped into a very COLD shower (my family knows that I am NOT a fan of cold water). However, Peace Corps continues to iterate that we must go with the flow, adapt, and be resilient. And that we are required to have grit, determination, and commitment. So i just kept telling myself, "I'm flexible, I can endure hardship, RESILIENCY!" I survived--and am thankful for running water.

Staj 99!

Sunrise at JFK airport.

Mid-flight

The hotel room I share with 3 other girls.

We arrived in Casablanca, Morocco, loaded buses, and drove to our hotel in Harhoura, Rabat. We settled in with a delicious Moroccan meal, and headed straight to bed. When we awoke the next morning, and could see clearly in daylight, we realized that our hotel is right ON THE BEACH (Atlantic)!! We will stay here for the first 10 days.

During our sessions, Peace Corps continues to iterate that we must go with the flow, adapt, and be resilient, and we must practice grit, determination, and commitment. I had to quickly refer to these lessons when I jumped into a very COLD shower (found out the hard way that my hotel room has no hot water!). To pump myself up, I repeated, "I'm flexible, I can endure hardship, RESILIENCY!" I survived---and then immediately felt ignorant for considering cold water a hardship...

Dining room where we eat all our meals.

Pool at the hotel.

Grassy common area.

I'm already falling in love with Morocco's texture, pattern, and design. SO MUCH BEAUTIFUL ARCHITECTURE. SO MANY BEAUTIFUL PATTERNS.

After dinner one evening, a few of us decided to take a walk to the beach, and we passed some beautiful houses along the way. The sun was beginning to set, so the reflection on the water was absolutely stunning. It was the first time I took a deep breath and tried to convince myself I was actually in Morocco.

I am enjoying every moment and attempting to meet as many people as possible. Next week we meet our host families! YAHOO!

--JAYCE--