Monday, February 14, 2011

Daily routine of one PCV

Sorry this blog entry has been a long time coming. I keep stopping and sitting down to try and write but then I get overwhelmed with the magnitude of different topics I could tell you all about. So, this morning after a warm cup of coffee (thanks for the French press mumJ ) I decided to just start writing, because I am sure anything I write is more interesting then checking my blog and not having anything to read!

I am now sitting in my apartment which is slowwwwly coming together. I have to stop myself because I keep thinking—if I only had one Target trip with my voute 100 friends I could have this place DONE—but sadly Target doesn’t exist in Morocco and definitely not on a PCV budget. But each big souq (market day) I get a few more things. Last week I got a bedside table and a new hilariously “Moroccan” flower blanket. I also got a care package from my amazing mom which contained perfect covers for my couches so my living room is also beginning to look a little more hospitable (still pretty empty, but better!)

So besides cleaning up and furnishing my apartment what have I been doing? Well, here is what I do on a typical week in my site:

Tuesday: Wake-up, teach a yoga/pilates/exercise class with my site mate Jen at a women’s co-operative in town. Come home for lunch, plan my lesson for the night, then go teach 2 beginner classes at the youth center (each about 1.5 hrs) then I am home around 8/8:30pm.

Wednesday: Grab a cup of coffee, then head back to the women’s co-operative with Jen to teach a beginner English class. Then do some errands (go shopping, visit the post office, talk to my police (they always like to check in and see how I am doing), etc… ) Lunch and then 2 hours of English activities at the youth center at night .

Thursday: Souq in the morning, which a lot of nearby volunteers come to, then we usually all grab lunch together and catch up. Thursday nights are my advanced students so I have a 2 hour discussion/ lesson with them.

Friday: I have Arabic tutoring in the morning and then usually get asked to eat the weekly couscous meal with one of the families I know in the area. Then Friday nights are cultural nights at the youth center where we all sit and have a discussion about western/american culture and culture here in Morocco.

Saturdays: Vary here, sometimes I entertain other volunteers who are in town, go on adventures or attend events at the youth center.

Sunday/Monday: My weekend! Mostly I go food shopping, clean my house, do my laundry… all kinds of fun stuff like that!

That is about it. Each day is a new adventure and each night when I fall asleep I have to try to remember what exactly I am doing the next day and when I have to be where. But I am loving it, my students seem to be enjoying me make a fool of myself in class and even though I make them dance and sing songs they seem to be coming back and new kids arrive everyday! I am also very fortunate to live in the capital town of the region with so many willing volunteers around me. I have had at least 7 different PCVs come teach, talk and play with the kids at the youth center. I love having the company and I know the kids love meeting the new crazy Americans.

The amazing thing about Peace Corps is that this schedule is definitely not permanent. In a weeks I will be taking off for a weeklong meeting up north. I also have a kid’s spring and summer camp to help facilitate and when the youth center closes in the summer I have the freedom to search for new and exciting projects around the country.

No comments:

Post a Comment