Sedonamiz... or something like that.

So, I made it! I officially swore in, with the help of the US Ambassador among others, at Peace Corps headquarters on Thursday morning. Welcome to the life of a full-fledged PCV ya'll. I've got lots to say (and by that I mean lots to complain slash boast about) so let's get to it.

Swearing in was delightful and all that jazz. Great atmosphere, speeches, canapes post-ceremony, yet there was definitley one thing lacking... a cocktail. I'm pretty sure our program manager wasn't stuttering in Mehdia when he said there would be one provided at the reception, yet, alas, we got kiwi and rasberry juice instead. Which, hey, I'm not complaining, I am alllll about the kiwi folks, just maybe with a splash of some bubbly in order to fully congratulate our accomplishments? No? So maybe my priorities are slightly skewed, I did meet the Ambassador didn't I?

After the ceremony and reception we headed over to headquarters for an aweomely delicious and massive couscous luncheon just before heading to our rumoured swanky hotel. So we petit-taxi it over to this seriously beautiful hotel, marbled floors, framed mirrors, sauna and full bar restaurant on the roof, I mean it definitely had a few stars under its belt. So we are like, woah, Peace Corps has really gone all out in comparison to the expected standard of living we were expecting... can you say youth hostel? So as we begin to check-in, the front-desk staff seem a little apprehensive... a little worried... beads of sweat gathering above the brow. As it turns out, a karate convention of over 4,000 people had taken over the city (exaggeration... Rabat is the capital as it were) and thus, had taken over our hotel reservation. The life of luxery - real matress, hot running water, pillows stuffed with something other than clothes and animal scraps - was slowly slipping between our fingers. With what rooms PC could salvage, instead of two people, our room had eight. Good thing we are all such good friends cuz things got cozy real quick like. Erika, Allie, and I cuddled on a mattress on the floor while another three shared the actual bed, one was even pretzled on the somewhat cushy chair in the corner. We drew the line at sleeping on the coffee table, but that room was all kind of funky in the morning. Most of you are well aware of the digestional issues all of us have been having throughout our stay thus far, and Rabat wasn't an exception. We may have, you know, showered, and looked pretty for Swearing-In, but we sank right back into PCV tendencies that night. Welcome to the next two years of hygiene. Or lack there of.

Around 9 the next morning we booked it from the hotel to the Rabat train station and headed down to Marrakech. There are about a million of us down south, so it was packed with PC people. Leigh, Mari, and I decided to splurge slightly and ride first class since we were exhausted and had shit loads of luggage in tow. We had what seemed to be our own room with 6 seats -sweet!- until we reached Casa, when a Libyan couple on their honeymoon decided to join us. They also decided to makeout for the next 3 hours, completely oblivious to our jaws on the floor and our eyebrow contortion. Oh well, congrats to them, it was entertaining to some small degree.

After arriving in Kech we were greeted by Ami, the lovely volunteer I am replacing, and Colleen, the volunteer that Sarah is replacing down the road from me. We had some lunch then seperated to head to our own sites. Ami and I decided to take a taxi back since I had, again, shit loads of luggage, and we chatted like crazy all the way there. Here I begin my side-note: Okay, so firstly I knew Ami was from California, vaguely the same height, and blonde, so thus, in Moroccan eyes, we were most likely the same person. But after some getting-to-know-each-other chat, we kind of, well, are... Middle names? Both Elisabeth. Omas? Well yeah we both have them firstly, but they were both in the war on the German side. Oh and you know, immigrated to and lived in the same city in California - Huntington Beach, with their husbands. What's her mom's name? The same as my dad's - Terry. There's more, but I think that suffices before I tell you our social security numbers are nearly the same too... Anyway, bizarre, but totally makes me feel some sense of comfort oddly!

And now onto the town itself, we'll call it... Sedonamiz... from here on out. Can't say the real town name for one reason or another in Peace Corps protocal, but boy does this place remind me of Arizona. Firstly, it's bloody hot. It's freaking mid-november and its almost 90 degrees, or at least feels like it. Definitely at least 80 right now. Secondly, I am pushed up right against the foothills of the biggest mountain range south of Marrakech, so the greenery is absolutely stunning. The view from my host-family's house is to die for, and hopefully I will post some pictures soon. One of the note-worthy mountains resembles the 'Lost' mountain - pointed out by the lovely Ami, and another is known to the town as the sleeping woman, as it resembles a a woman, in-profile, laying on her back on a slope. This most significantly parallels Arizona for me in that while growing up my family took many trips to Sedona and Flagstaff, where my Dad was born and raised. This idea of moutain ranges or rock formations resembling other tangible objects is a common community tradition in both locations. Any of you that have been through Sedona must be familar with 'Snoopy and Woodstock' and 'the Mittens' at the very least. It may seem silly, but this small similarity has brought a sense of familiarity for me and connecting to the surroundings is definitely calming my expectedly awake nerves.

Tomorrow a few community members, my host-sister, Nathaniel, Ami, and I are planning a mini-hike through the area to get a bird's eye view of the town and, well, bond with the environment surrounding. Super stoked. Playing some soccer in the morning with the local girls team and the little girls teams their coaching, so should be a great day overall! Glad to have gotten the Gendarme and Mudir meetings out of the way today so I can start settling in to the more enjoyable side of my work here, integration and relationship building. Really excited for the week to come and will keep ya'll posted on how the first week of teaching goes :).

Miss you all and really would love to hear from you, even if it's just a short hello!

xx