Monday, May 7, 2012

Give me your ___ (insert furniture/candy/pen/clothes item here)


As I write this blog post I am sitting at the airport in Germany- going back to America.  My two years have come and gone.  Now it’s time to go home.  But really- where is home?  I just spent 2 years in Morocco- I had a house, dog, friends and family in Morocco.  In America have friends, family and a doggie in route, but no house (yet).  But I don’t know if it’s going to feel like home for a while- which is weird because this last month I’ve been dreaming about going back to America.  I guess I’m just in some sort of limbo.

To be honest, the last month I spent in site SUCKED.  It’s such a shame, because I loved the people in my site and I loved my site but I was still an outsider.  An outsider that had a lot of furniture the community knew I needed to get rid of.  So that last month meant I couldn’t sit inside or go outside my house without someone coming over to ask for something- a bed, my fridge, clothes, pens, candy-you name it.  I ended up selling half my things to my landlords family and selling the other half to Jamilas.  Obviously, this was fine with the two of them, but everyone else wanted to know why they weren’t getting anything.  That got old fast- trust me.  And it really doesn't help people don't ASK for things in Morocco- their way of asking literally translates to:  Give me ____.  And every time I would translate that in my bed I cringe.  Whatever though- I’m not going to let that last annoying month ruin my memories of my two years of service.

I said most of my goodbyes last week, before I went to Rabat to check out.  There were a lot of tears and reminiscing.  Everyone agreed the 2 years went by very fast and we had some good laughs about how terrible my language was at the beginning.  A lot of people in America have asked me how I feel about leaving- I’ve thought about it a lot but it’s still such a hard question to answer.  So forgive my future random ramblings while I try to put it into words.

One of the hardest things for me is that I know I’ll be moving onto new and bigger things.  I’m so blessed that I have a job, friends and family in Colorado.  I have a future ahead of me and lots of other adventures- inchallah.  But these families I just spent 2 years with don’t.  They will be talking about the crazy foreigner with a dog for years to come.  And when I make it back in a few years most of those people will still be there, doing the same ol’ thing.  I’ve told a lot of people that I’m ready for the next chapter in my life- and I am.  But I just wish the people in my community had another chapter to look forward to, also. 

This experience has been everything I could have ever wished for and more- so I see it only fitting my wrap up get a few blog entrees.  Next time: What Morocco/PC taught me.  Oh man, that one should be good.