Pre-service training

What a week!

Things have been shooting by from the moment we stepped off the plane. After a drawn-out three days of informational sessions cooped up in a hotel in Rabat we were off to our Pre-service training site (PST). Now, due to security risks I am unable to list locations and names of places so you will have to make due with geographically descriptions. But, I can tell you how beautiful our surrounds are right now located in the Middle Atlas mountain range nestled next to a national forest reserve offering wonderful hiking.

Upon leaving Rabat we were separated from from everyone from the Youth Development group that contained many people whom I am grown close with and miss very much. Even though they are in the same town as us right now they are the furthest away possible and it feels like I haven't seen them for a lifetime every time our paths cross. On the first day at our PST site we were took on a city walking tour in smaller groups with our LCF's (language & cultural facilitator) to get feel for the place. Our group made our way up into the hills where the YD group is housed up and stopped by to say hi. The YD location which is without a doubt located in a better area than the inn in which the SBD (Small Business Development) group is located, the amenities are lacking by far compared to ours. Their location reminded me of an rundown college dormitory with people packed into rooms with bunk beds, drab looking walls, and only one western sit-down toilet in the whole place! The SBD lodging stands in stark contrast with the place covered wall to wall with tiles that have beautiful designs on them, couches with pillows, a roof terrace with couches, and last but definitely not least WiFi!

The time here has been grueling with our days filled with all sorts of classes covering subjects such as safety and security, cross-culture, health, and plenty of language study. A typical day is as follows:

7:30 Wake up
8:00 Breakfast
9:00-10:30 Language lessons
10:30-10:45 Tea break
11:00-12:30 Cross-culture
12:30-1:30 Lunch
1:30-3:00 Safety & Security/Health
3:00-3:15 Tea Break
3:15-5:15 Language lessons
5:15-5:45 Tea talk (about random subjects:Turkish toilets, music, etc.)
6:45 Dinner
7:45-Bedtime Free time (walk around town, study, write emails, workout, etc.)

Their is little change with this schedule and it is followed 6-days a week, quite exhausting really. Many people are showing fatigue from such a grueling schedule and falling asleep during some of these sessions. Don't let me confuse you, even though we are buried in work there is plenty of time to enjoy ourselves and everyone seems to be loving every minute of it. It is kind of hard not to being in such an interesting place and learning such cool things.

Back to the town itself. It has a population of about 40,000 people and is situated near some good hiking trails. On our first free day (Sundays, considered Self-directed learning days) a group of us trekked up to a bluff overlooking the valley and had a blast. You could see the entire town and all of the smaller villages lining the valley floor. Our intent was to search for the Barbary apes which are famous in the region but to no avail. Great hike nonetheless.

The first night spent in town was met with a surprise early in the morning. Around 4:30 I was awoken by the call to prayer emanating from every mosque in the town. "Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar" (god is great, god is great) called all of the local population to the first of their five daily prayers. These calls lasted for about a minute and was promptly followed by what it seemed like every dog in the city erupting in a barking match. It wasn't long before the roosters joined in and not wanting to be left out donkeys yee-hawed in steady chorus. This is Morocco and I love it.