The beginning.

Marhaba!

Welcome! This blog will soon become a place for me to update about my experiences as an invitee (currently), a trainee (from 3.3.07-5.07), and a Volunteer (5.07-5.09) with the United States Peace Corps in the Health Extension sector of Morocco.

I will not update again until I've made it in-country, but I wanted to go ahead and get a blog started that I will be able to give the link now to people who are interested. I don't know for sure if I'll be able to keep a blog or how often I will be able to update, but hopefully if I'm able, this will be the place!

Why "shwiyabshwiya"? I kept a blog while studying abroad in China and would like to do the same while in Morocco, but I did not know what to call it. I don't know where I will be in Morocco. I don't know what languages I will be learning (most likely Darija: Moroccan Arabic, and either Atlas Tamazight or Tachelhit which are Amazigh languages). I don't know what kind of projects my community will want me to assist with. I have very little to work from as far as what kind of expectations to have, but I do know this much: I expect to be sick often, I expect to have problems communicating with people, I expect to struggle with languages, I expect to struggle with issues related to gender, I expect to be very lonely at times, I expect to make an absolute fool out of myself and laugh at myself often, and I expect to have the time of my life.

The more I thought of a journal title, the more "Shwiya b shwiya" made sense to me. I learned that phrase from reading current PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) blogs. It means "Little by little." To me, I think that is the most realistic expectation to have... to expect to do everything little by little. Baby steps. Enshallah.

So there you have it. The Peace Corps has been a dream for me since I was fifteen. Eight years later, I wait anxiously, getting rid of superfluous stuff, saying goodbyes, trying unsuccessfully to learn Darija, and of course, the typical dilemma of not knowing what to pack. I know in the long run, it doesn't matter if I pack three skirts or two, or if I have a solar charger or not, but it is much easier to fixate on those questions than what it will be like to possibly live in the desert for two years in a place where all I can say right now is "ana mirikaniya, lebas, l-Hamdullah, bgrit n-ness, ana xaddama maa hayat s-salaam."

I'm embarking full of questions and full of excitement; and for the time being, (until after orientation and I learn about PC's official policy on blogging), I leave you with links!

www.peacecorps.gov
www.friendsofmorocco.org
http://french.about.com/library/travel/bl-ma-index.htm
http://www.mincom.gov.ma/
http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/mo.html