it's saturday afternoon and i'm lounging on my balcony enjoying the sunshine of the beautiful afternoon. i'm sitting on my gorgeous world market patio furniture. writing this on my sweet new work laptop. "stealing" the internet of an unknown stranger who hasn't secured his network.
my, how life has changed. this blog was created to share my experiences of life as a PC volunteer, but in an attempt to do more writing i'm thinking of transitioning it to a blog of all purposes. i don't know if anyone out there is still reading this, but let's give it a whirl!
my last post was way back in february and i was in the midst of a tumultuous job search. i was also still struggling with the transition back to life in america and i'm happy to report good news on both fronts. I accepted a job in Madison, Wisconsin and have been there for two months already. i'm going to save myself the trouble of mentioning the name of my new employer so that i can be free to speak candidly in the future.
For now i'm happy with the job and am looking forward to completing training and getting out there with a real project. keeping my fingers crossed to be assigned a client in a warm, sunny location as i will be traveling back and forth for the next year or so.
Madison is a very nice city. a medium sized college town with lots of restaurant diversity and constant things to do. i live next to the biggest park in town! with the weather growing nicer each day, i'm looking forward to getting out for some real exploration. any visitors are more than welcome!
i still miss the simplicity and routine of life in morocco. in the beginning it seemed boring, but i learned to entertain myself and quickly came to love and be comforted by the daily routine.
get up around 10
eat breakfast, clean, listen to the tv as i got ready for my day
an hour at the internet cafe
visit the home of one of my favorite women, help her finish lunch and eat with the family
teach women's english class
home for an hour to relax and prepare for my youth classes
go to the dar chebab to teach and hang out with my students
make dinner
watch tv
20 minutes of reading and off to sleep
ok, so that was just my wednesday/friday routine, but i think you get the idea. i was so relaxed, so non-stressed. nothing was too pressing, everything could be missed if need be. i didn't need to tell anyone i was coming for lunch, just to show up. it was glorious and now that it's over, i feel badly for not appreciating it more at the time.
i miss couscous on fridays. i miss wearing my glasses everyday because i had no one to impress. i miss sugary mint tea, lemon cookies and gossip with my best friends. i miss looking forward to a night with an american in the big city.
but america certainly has its perks. i no longer feel eyes all over me as i walk down the street. here i get to eat raisin bran crunch every morning and can eat salsa without having spent 30 minutes to make it. i can go out for a beer at any time, with any one. my friends and family are within a much shorter reach. target. i really love target.
my focus right now is on setting new routines for this new working woman life.
each life with it's own pros and cons, but honestly i'm still undecided as to which i prefer. am i meant to live out my days leisurely on the moroccan coast? or to rise to the top of the american workforce and use my frequent flyer miles to travel the world?
either way for today i'm happy to be enjoying the sunshine on my very own balcony in my very own apartment. stay tuned!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Limbo
My life since leaving PC has, to say the least, lacked excitement.
When I got back from Turkey I was exhausted and travel worn. In less than a week i suffered four flights (two of them international), a night in the Philadelphia International airport, and precious little sleep. I had nothing but dirty clothes and am proud to say that I actually threw away a pair of jeans in the bathroom of a thai restaurant in NYC. I had 11 pairs of underwear for 20 days of travel.
It was awful and thrilling. I couldn't wait for it to be over, but I thrived on the excitement and secretly didn't want it to end. I was tough. I was cool. life was exciting.
Then I went to Texas. Many people wondered why and to answer this question once and for all, I went to visit my mom, stepdad and brother who moved there a year into my Peace Corps service. My sister and her boyfriend went as well, and we spent a glorious week baking, sleeping and gorging ourselves on delicious foods. I felt more gluttonous than i had in years, literally.
Once my sister left, life slowed down to a snail's pace. I slept late and went to bed early. I watched the entire 2nd and 3rd seasons of lost, as well as hours and hours of Project Runway. I left the house only when I had to. Eventually i started jogging everday and was happy to be doing at least one thing each day.
oh, and the job search began. Once I finally forced myself to start this miserable process, i went at it like a feind. Within a week and a half I submitted 30+ resumes and thought I was on a roll. But the calls didn't come. In fact, I was quite shocked at the lack of response. Come on, aren't I a great candidate for a good job? Don't I have skills? and ambition?
Apparently not.
During this period of laziness, I did manage to spend a great New Years in San Antonio, as well as a fabulous night out in Austin. This was good for me because for a while I was actually scared that I would never be interested in things like 'going out' and 'leaving the house.' I was afraid that the person I was during that period was the new me.
Then I hopped back on the airplane and returned to Michigan. As frigid as it is here, i'm happy to report that I am greatly enjoying the snow. I've missed it. I also returned feeling much more like my old self.
I have energy, I desire to leave the house and hang out with real people, I crave for life to start again.
But I have nothing to do! no where to go! No place to unload this new found joie de vivre!
I've been back for three weeks, and the boredom has set in. I've gotten four calls and three interviews out of all the time I spent applying for jobs in Texas. I have no money, no job, and no friends left in the Mason area. I have no car.
For 10 weeks i've been unemployed, sleeping in, and wasting away the hours. 10 weeks is too long. I feel as though i've finally come to the breaking point, and that if i don't get some kind of direction soon, i may just snap. Or move back to Morocco.
Last week I was flown to Madison for an interview. This week I will find out the result of that voyage, and i'm hoping with every ounce of my being that I receive some good news. If I don't, well.....it's back to square one.
And I hate square one.
I miss my my moroccan life. While in my own eyes it was boring at times, in the eyes of the world I was living an exotic life. I spoke in a second language, ate incredible foods and was a world traveler. I made my own wine and had a hidden, exciting relationship. There was always somewhere to go, someone to see. I had little money, yet it was plenty and finances were nothing to stress over.
Now i'm a bum. a freeloader. In a country where i can do anything and be anyone, I can afford to do nothing, and to go nowhere.
My life contains absolutely no excitment.
When I got back from Turkey I was exhausted and travel worn. In less than a week i suffered four flights (two of them international), a night in the Philadelphia International airport, and precious little sleep. I had nothing but dirty clothes and am proud to say that I actually threw away a pair of jeans in the bathroom of a thai restaurant in NYC. I had 11 pairs of underwear for 20 days of travel.
It was awful and thrilling. I couldn't wait for it to be over, but I thrived on the excitement and secretly didn't want it to end. I was tough. I was cool. life was exciting.
Then I went to Texas. Many people wondered why and to answer this question once and for all, I went to visit my mom, stepdad and brother who moved there a year into my Peace Corps service. My sister and her boyfriend went as well, and we spent a glorious week baking, sleeping and gorging ourselves on delicious foods. I felt more gluttonous than i had in years, literally.
Once my sister left, life slowed down to a snail's pace. I slept late and went to bed early. I watched the entire 2nd and 3rd seasons of lost, as well as hours and hours of Project Runway. I left the house only when I had to. Eventually i started jogging everday and was happy to be doing at least one thing each day.
oh, and the job search began. Once I finally forced myself to start this miserable process, i went at it like a feind. Within a week and a half I submitted 30+ resumes and thought I was on a roll. But the calls didn't come. In fact, I was quite shocked at the lack of response. Come on, aren't I a great candidate for a good job? Don't I have skills? and ambition?
Apparently not.
During this period of laziness, I did manage to spend a great New Years in San Antonio, as well as a fabulous night out in Austin. This was good for me because for a while I was actually scared that I would never be interested in things like 'going out' and 'leaving the house.' I was afraid that the person I was during that period was the new me.
Then I hopped back on the airplane and returned to Michigan. As frigid as it is here, i'm happy to report that I am greatly enjoying the snow. I've missed it. I also returned feeling much more like my old self.
I have energy, I desire to leave the house and hang out with real people, I crave for life to start again.
But I have nothing to do! no where to go! No place to unload this new found joie de vivre!
I've been back for three weeks, and the boredom has set in. I've gotten four calls and three interviews out of all the time I spent applying for jobs in Texas. I have no money, no job, and no friends left in the Mason area. I have no car.
For 10 weeks i've been unemployed, sleeping in, and wasting away the hours. 10 weeks is too long. I feel as though i've finally come to the breaking point, and that if i don't get some kind of direction soon, i may just snap. Or move back to Morocco.
Last week I was flown to Madison for an interview. This week I will find out the result of that voyage, and i'm hoping with every ounce of my being that I receive some good news. If I don't, well.....it's back to square one.
And I hate square one.
I miss my my moroccan life. While in my own eyes it was boring at times, in the eyes of the world I was living an exotic life. I spoke in a second language, ate incredible foods and was a world traveler. I made my own wine and had a hidden, exciting relationship. There was always somewhere to go, someone to see. I had little money, yet it was plenty and finances were nothing to stress over.
Now i'm a bum. a freeloader. In a country where i can do anything and be anyone, I can afford to do nothing, and to go nowhere.
My life contains absolutely no excitment.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
travels in turkey
After finally and officially leaving Morocco after 27 months of service, you could say it was time for a vacation. I needed some time to adjust to the departure, to miss morocco like crazy, and to really feel ready to come back to the States.
My friend Mandy and I thought that Turkey would be a great place to end our Peace Corps chapter, and begin our new one.
Turkey is a pretty incredible country. It's 99 percent Muslim, but it's secular government creates an entirely different atmosphere. I always thought Morocco was pretty liberal, and in a way it is, but it has nothing on Turkey. In Istanbul especially, you could have convinced me were in in the Middle of Western Europe.
This is me at the Topkapi Palace overlooking the Bosphorus River. Istanbul is located on 3 different banks, and is the bridge between Europe and Asia. It's no wonder this land was so highly sought after throughout history. And you can see remnents from just about every empire somewhere in Istanbul or throughout the country.
In the Grand Bazaar i found the most similarities to Morocco. Merchants yelling for us to buy things and trying to pull us in to their shops. And of course the bargaining. I'd like to thank Morocco for my great skill at this and for the good prices I received here!
This is the front of the Aya Sofia. It was built a Church by the Emporer Justinian (i think) and later converted to a mosque by a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Now it is a museum and the inside is just as incredible as the outside!
Wow! I've always wanted a Genuine Fake Watch!!
This is a shot of the Blue Mosaue, another incredibly famous building in Istanbul.
Inside the Blue Mosque. This mosque is actually still open for prayer. Tourists wait until after the time of prayer to go in and look around. so beautiful!
This is probably the best meal i ate in Turkey. It was incredibly good! I know what you're thinking, it looks so simple! This was eaten upon our arrival to the beautiful Selcuk in southwest Turkey.
In Selcuk you can find the tomb of St. John located in the ruins of his Basilica. The story goes that after the death of Jesus, St. John and Mary came to the ancient city of Ephesus to spread the gospel. We're pretty convinced that this dog (nicknamed Dudley) is actually the spirit of St. John still around to stand gaurd at the tomb.
These are the ancient ruins of Ephesus. A once thriving city during the Roman and many other empires. It was pretty incredible.
These are the toilets of the ancient city. Apparently they weren't very shy.
My friend Mandy and I thought that Turkey would be a great place to end our Peace Corps chapter, and begin our new one.
Turkey is a pretty incredible country. It's 99 percent Muslim, but it's secular government creates an entirely different atmosphere. I always thought Morocco was pretty liberal, and in a way it is, but it has nothing on Turkey. In Istanbul especially, you could have convinced me were in in the Middle of Western Europe.
This is me at the Topkapi Palace overlooking the Bosphorus River. Istanbul is located on 3 different banks, and is the bridge between Europe and Asia. It's no wonder this land was so highly sought after throughout history. And you can see remnents from just about every empire somewhere in Istanbul or throughout the country.
In the Grand Bazaar i found the most similarities to Morocco. Merchants yelling for us to buy things and trying to pull us in to their shops. And of course the bargaining. I'd like to thank Morocco for my great skill at this and for the good prices I received here!This is the front of the Aya Sofia. It was built a Church by the Emporer Justinian (i think) and later converted to a mosque by a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Now it is a museum and the inside is just as incredible as the outside!
Wow! I've always wanted a Genuine Fake Watch!!
This is a shot of the Blue Mosaue, another incredibly famous building in Istanbul.
Inside the Blue Mosque. This mosque is actually still open for prayer. Tourists wait until after the time of prayer to go in and look around. so beautiful!
This is probably the best meal i ate in Turkey. It was incredibly good! I know what you're thinking, it looks so simple! This was eaten upon our arrival to the beautiful Selcuk in southwest Turkey.
In Selcuk you can find the tomb of St. John located in the ruins of his Basilica. The story goes that after the death of Jesus, St. John and Mary came to the ancient city of Ephesus to spread the gospel. We're pretty convinced that this dog (nicknamed Dudley) is actually the spirit of St. John still around to stand gaurd at the tomb.
These are the ancient ruins of Ephesus. A once thriving city during the Roman and many other empires. It was pretty incredible.
These are the toilets of the ancient city. Apparently they weren't very shy.
This is the incredible well preserved facade of the Library. It's absolutely huge and once held 10,000 scrolls. We took shelter here when it started to downpour.
After the rain we walked to the remains of Mary's church. I have never seen such an incredibly brilliant rainbow in my life.
This is the alter of Mary's church.
This region is called Kapadokya and is located in the center of Turkey. Due to volcanic eruptions, the entire region looks like it could be the moon and people once lived inside the rocks. Our hotel room was a cave built into the side of one.
This structure was once a Monestary. Complete with kitchen, church, and tons of other rooms.
Here we saw the Whirling Dervishes, and some traditional turkish dance.
During my two weeks in Turkey I took over 500 pictures, so obviously this post doesnt do it justice! But I hope you enjoyed a small taste of the incredible things I was lucky to see.
As for now, I'm back in America and ready to enjoy the Holidays with friends and family after missing two during my service. Then the job search really begins and where i'll end up....who knows.
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