On A Peace Corps "Up"

This is all about ups and downs, and I know the downs will come again but this has been quite an 'Up'. The Ups always seem longer, more drawn out, more intense and beautiful and amazing than the Downs ever are. And this was no exception: A busy weekend entailing a successful trip over hundreds of miles, reading an entire Murakami novel DANCE DANCE DANCE along the way and half of a Graham Greene one, happy that the Murakami novel had an uplifting ending that mirrored my emotions even while the dramatic parts mirrored my fears. Uplifting, not quite the same as a happy ending. Happiness shouldn't always be the goal, correct? Do we come here to be happy? Is happy just an abundant by-product of being here? Tough questions to answer, but happy ones to ask.

Last Saturday, nearly every minute of sunlight was dedicated to traveling the distance from my town to Taroudant. According to the guide books, that is the town where every traveler should go, leaving the tourists behind in Marrakesh. And I agree. But as a Peace Corps volunteer, there's the added benefit that this is a town that is the hub for half a dozen people I know, many of them people from my staj. Which is a happy circumstance, especially considering that an even happier circumstance was that all of them except one arrived to that hub-town the same day as I. Just sitting at the cafe, they all came streaming by I arrived two hours later than expected, maybe 12 or 14 hours spent on the move, including a three hour wait. But, whatever. Now I had until Monday to enjoy myself, to sit with all of these great people while we enjoyed hot chocolate, Pommes apple soda, and pizza TWICE in the same day. Got to go in one's house and sleep on the sponge of the other (they're called ponj's, but they are giant, extremely comfortable sponges that absorb your body in a cocoon for the night while miraculously not making you too hot).

Did I mention I had pizza twice in the same day? Once the American way, the other I had rolled up and squeezed into a sandwich like the Italiani do.

Other good things : spent the night in a town called Tata, which is the town I told Peace Corps staff that I wanted to live there. Literally, the time when the staff came to ask us where we wanted to live, and also what we were willing to live with and to live with out ("how much is electricity important to you?"). And Tata was his example town, talking about the options available to us. "This is one that we're trying, it's one of the most remote in the desert towns we have available, but with strong Berber culture... etc. etc." Not only did I want it, but Sam wanted it too, I learned later.

So finally I got to visit two PCVs that were there, eating lentils, Moroccan tomato, raw onion and cucumber salad, and sleeping on a different sponge that night. I left the next morning a few hours before the Ourzazate bus in order to eat lunch with Courtney before completing the journey.

You send text messages, you try different things and you have to adjust plans. But this was the most hastle-free trip, full of good people, safe travel, tasty food. Just something that you have to join Peace Corps to get. And to top things, today was even better: somehow I walked from one bus to a taxi, to another taxi and didn't have to wait. Record amount of time for the trip. Comfortable the whole time,instead of cramped. Each man seemed to be playing the best music I ever heard on their radios (not best music ever, but best of THEIR music ever... a difference. One guy played the White stripes!). Then enjoying the sunset with my Moroccan family, the most intense colors I'd ever seen. Walking through the streets relaxed. Visiting the Gendarmes while I carried my new violin that I bought.

Monday morning came and with it I found myself in Agadir, a huge university town that boasts the greatest tourism infrastructure in all of Morocco. I was afraid I'd become lost here and my bank account would dwindle so I only come for the bare necessary time. Two people were expecting me there, both students at Universite Ibn

To cap this off, we had the most gorgeous sunset ever in my town. Normally I sit outside my Dar Chebab, two kilometers towards the mountains where I have a clear view of the nightly fireworks that burst across the sky. But tonite was different: I sat at the Palmerie with my host sister and her 12-year old friends, then walked to the cyber with this gorgeous sunset overhanging all us mortals here below.

Answering questions about my trip after arriving, knowing that it was a dental trip and that Peace Corps would pay for much of my expenses going to there and back. But also glad to have had ways to economize during the trip, so that I wasn't racking up the bill for Peace Corps, either. Glad to hear about the upcoming free Al Green/ Ben Harper concert next month in Fez, definitely planning to see my hometown Soul hero singing here. Glad to buy a 50 dirham phone card and then discovering that it is now doublee, double weekend. So instead of 50, I had 100 dirhams credit. Calling people with that. My family asking where the violin came from, explaining that I bought it for less than half price from a Korean volunteer. I stayed at her house in Oz last night, along with 7 others from her organization and 2 Americans that are here visiting my friend Nicole.

Visiting Tata, and seeing my favorite modern British author (besides Ian McEwan) Graham

Greene sitting on the table, just in time as I finished my Murakami book. Happy to have these while knowing that all 7 Harry Potter books em portugues were awaiting me at home, along with the first 4 books in French of Proust.

Sitting with my new Korean friends, talking together in a mash-up of English, French and Arabic, learning a couple of Korean words while I was at it, about places that we alll knew.

Not only all of these great things, but a good hour long Skype chat with Cristina, a good soul-to-soul with a happy and slightly weary Serena. Going to try to contact my family in Tennessee, see how they handled the bad flooding there.

If I bliss out too much, this post will become boring for you. The bottom will fall out, it always does. But not yet, not for the moment. And when it does, I'll be ready and I'll wait until I climb back on top, or till the tide raises me higher up.

Goodnite! I love you all