Presidential Plates

My week here in Rabat has been a memorable one. Being able to eat non-Moroccan food, hanging out with other PCVs that I have not seen since summer camp, and getting my teeth cleaned for the first time in 16 months has been amazing, but what happened last night topped all of this. Last night all the PCVs in my staj got as dressed up as a PCV could get and had dinner at the American Ambassador to Morocco's house in Rabat for some delicious soup and open bar : ) We got to eat off of Presidential seal plates and ate REAL cheese and Christmas tree shaped sugar cookies! It was wonderful. Once most of us were done stuffing our faces in free yummy food, a group of us went to the Rabat Theatre where we got to watch the Rabat Symphony do Beethoven's 1st through 5th symphony. I was moved by hearing those movements. It was almost overwhelming being in that theatre and listening to the master works of Beethoven's genius. To add to the music the ticket only cost 50 Dirham, which equal about 7.00 USD. Not a bad deal, right:)

It has been a wonderful past 6 days here and hearing such support from my programing staff , and the kind words the Ambassador said to us last night has given me even more positive energy to go back to my site and keep working with my kids and my community in any way I can. I can not put into words what I have experienced here these past 15 months so you all will truly understand what I have done and have been through; it is something that I hope everyone can experience in their own way, OR through joining Peace Corps. This has really become the hardest job that I will ever love.

Water From Sand

I just returned from a meeting with my programing manager and assistant manager to talk about the progress of my work these past 15 months and all the drama and hard events that I have had to deal with at my site that involve my moudir and my programing manager told me "Hillary, you have made water from sand." That was a HUGE compliment! He said that all the personal issues that I have been through at my site with my moudir and all the negative energy that was coming from that man towards me never stopped me from giving up and ultimately I motivated my kids enough that they took control of their Dar Chabab and stood up for themselves against the moudir who was not being very kind towards them as well. The kids finally have their building back and have more of a say in what happens there, and the teachers are allowed in to help me and the kids now. Hearing all of this from my programing staff hit me out of nowhere. They told me that I have only been here 15 months and I have already hit my objective and I still have so much more time to grow from that into other things.

I was not expecting such a pat on the back; it still has not settled in yet all of this, but I left that meeting with the biggest smile on my face. I feel like I am doing something beyond what I ever thought I could of done for my kids and my community in Skoura just by helping them find their voice, and I still have 11 more months to go! I can not wait to see what else I can do and what my kids will do. Today I realized how much I love my job here. Thanks A-Team for making me realize how strong of a person I am and how much I have done and am going to be doing while I am here.

This is SOO Morocco :)

found this link the other day and thought I would share it with you all. After reading this article you can experience what I go through everyday in Morocco whenever I leave my site and travel. Just copy and paste the link below. ENJOY :)

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/99459