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| Marisa and Me at The German Institute in Rabat |
Goodness this is so overdue. Sorry to have kept you all
waiting! I guess I procrastinated...and procrastinated, and procrastinated
because the idea of writing a ‘final closure’ to my time in Morocco made it all
seem just that much more real. Morocco was a rollercoaster of ups and downs,
good times and bad, but it was the most eye opening, life-changing experience
I’ve ever had. I have so many amazing memories and stories to share from my
time there. And sharing is what I have been doing for the past couple months.
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| Last pictures my ladies took of their wares in Tounfite |
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| Fadima Hddu in Tounfite |
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| The lost photos: Martil (Northern Morocco on the Alboran Sea) |
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| The lost photos: Assilah (Western Morocco on the Atlantic) |
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| The lost photos: Assilah (Western Morocco on the Atlantic) |
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| The lost photos: Assilah (Western Morocco on the Atlantic) |
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| Youness and Sarah in Chefchaouan |
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| Me in Chefchaouan |
Leaving Morocco was a bit more difficult than entering
Morocco was. And I mean that mostly in a physical way. Coming in the Peace Corps staff were there
waiting with a nice big bus to help us get out luggage where it needed to be…I
was on my own leaving. On my final day as a volunteer, I had all my check-ups
and signed ‘the official swearing out book’ and that was it. Wham you are no
longer a volunteer. You are on your own, safe travels home!
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| Last of the sunsets in Rabat with Marisa |
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| Swearing Out |
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| Signing and stamping 'the book' |
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| ''The Book' |
So after spending a few days at my friend, Sarah’s house in
Rabat, I loaded up my luggage and got in her elevator to head to the airport.
Wait, that’s not true, I couldn’t even make it to the elevator without Sarah’s
help. To paint a picture, I had a giant hiking backpack (23kg), a massive
wheeled suitcase (28 kg), a carry on (18 kg), a laptop bag and a handbag. Let’s
just say it was a rough trip. One taxi to the train station and two trains, I
could barely move…especially when I had to change trains. To change trains it
required getting off the first train which was about three feet higher than the
platform so I had to maneuver a ladder, then go down two flights of stairs,
back up two flights of stairs, and up a ladder onto the next train. I am
sweating just typing about it!
I flew into London Heathrow, where I spent three weeks of quality time with my family. Lots of
eating, drinking and good times were had.
I was reunited with bacon, other pork products and green vegetables,
which was almost as exciting as being reunited with my family! After three
weeks of gorging, I repacked my bags, this time knowing that there would be the
luxury of a trolley involved during all moving of the luggage. And onto NYC I
flew. I spent a long weekend there with my two best friends, Nicole and
Francesca, again, lots of eating, drinking, pork products and good times. Francesca and I took the bus from NYC to
Washington DC, where Kendall, Francesca’s husband was waiting with their car to
bring us back to Virginia.
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| Mom, Granddad and Me |
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| Nana, my Godmother Lollie and Me |
I’ve been here for three weeks now, doing the usual, eating,
drinking, enjoying pork products and sharing stories from Morocco. It’s been fantastic seeing my family
here in the States, not that it wasn’t in England, but I did get to go back and
forth between Morocco and England a few times. I hadn’t seen most of the people
here in two years! Last week was
Thanksgiving and my brothers came up from Richmond to eat some turkey. Wait,
another lie, Carl is a vegan so there was no turkey eating on his part. I did
fulfill my role as World’s Most Awesome Big Sister though; I created an
entirely vegan Thanksgiving feast (ok so there was some help in the kitchen,
some as in a lot). Okay so it wasn’t entirely vegan, there was a turkey. Let’s just say Christmas won’t be vegan…sorry
Carl! It was good, it just wasn't that good.
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| Me, Mom, Nicole, Francesca and Katie |
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| Vegan Thanksgiving |
I suppose another reason I didn’t write this sooner, is
because I wanted to be able to talk about the future, which up until yesterday
was still a bit unclear. I knew what I wanted to do, but until yesterday it
wasn’t officially happening. And so now I can happily announce that as of the
first week in January I will be an ESL teacher in Busan, South Korea…yay!
I have been interviewing via the phone and Skype for a few
weeks now and after careful consideration I accepted a position at…wait for
it…Wonderland English School in Namcheon-dong, Busan. That’s right, the
school’s name is Wonderland. Most appropriately my next blog will be
Annemariesphere in Wonderland, but more details to come on that in the near
future.
The school is located one block from Gwangalli beach, which
is the second most famous beach in South Korea. More excitingly, my new
apartment is two blocks from the beach.
Score. Don’t get me wrong, it’s
not going to be all beach time and dolphins for the next year. My hours are
long and I am about to be surrounded by small children five days a week, but
the benefits are worth it. The school pays for a round trip ticket to South
Korea, my apartment is paid for, as is medical and pension and lunch five days
a week. Teacher hat on.
For those of you who know me, you can imagine how excited I
am for my next adventure. A new culture, new food and a new challenge await me
come January.
Until next time,
Annemarie xXx
P.S. You can read more about Gwangalli beach
here.
