My Last Few Days in Morocco

           Really hard to believe that that’s a title, but my Peace Corps service is coming to a close. I don’t really have that much to write about, but I feel almost compelled, since it is the end of my service, to leave a little note about how things closed up.

            To start off this post will talk about food for the first time in ages. After writing (but before posting) my last post I finally had the wonder known as rfisa. Rfisa is many volunteers’ favorite Moroccan food, but I’d never been lucky enough to have it until now. It is now one of my favorite foods. It is made from torn up milwi (a Moroccan wrap akin to a thick tortilla) mixed with lentils and baked chicken. The particular version I had also had a ton of oregano. It was incredible, and I’m glad I finally got to sample this traditional, though time and labor consumptive, dish.

            The next day some students threw a “surprise” party for me. I say “surprise” because one of the volunteers at the Dar Chabab told me there would be a “surprise” party, but refused to tell me whom the “surprise” was for. It wasn’t hard for me to work it out. The party ranged from the funny (a sketch some kids put on poking fun at my Darija and how I’ll mix up close sounding words for hilarious effect), to the sweet (when a friend talked about how we’d first met), to the Fellini-esque (when the “break dancing” started). It was pretty much the Platonic Ideal of a Moroccan party, and I really enjoyed it.

            The rest of my last week passed in a blur of goodbyes and classes, with another goodbye party on Thursday, this time at the Dar Taliba. The kids managed to prank me pretty well, someone brought in alcohol free beer to the party, but didn’t tell me what it was, so when I drank what I expected to be a coke-like thing I almost spit it out in shock. I had to check the percent alcohol (0.0) just to be sure it wasn’t a test.

            The next day, my last day in site, was really hard, saying goodbye to friends and students. For our last English class I tried to teach my freshmen and sophomores “The Times they are a’Changin’” (I know, weird goodbye song, but it wrapped up the topics we’ve worked on nicely), but we were all a little too emotional to really do it well. Afterwards I went to Fes to wish my original host family goodbye. It was my first time in Fes since September, and lots has changed. One host brother is in University, my youngest host sister can now speak in full English sentences, another host sister (whose wedding I sadly missed because they gave me a day’s warning, while I was in America!) is pregnant. Lots has also stayed the same, and I was glad I had the chance to wish them goodbye. Now I’m in the capitol signing out, so this will be last post from Morocco. I intend to make one more, a final wrap-up, sometime after I get back home, so until then bslama 3likum!