Monday, October 25, 2010

This is. My life. Right now.

We started teaching English classes at the Dar Chebab (Darija for "youth center") here in town last week. I've been enjoying it. It feels great to be sharing with Moroccans. I say Moroccans, and not Moroccan youth, because although the vast majority of the people we teach are youths aged 6 to 18, anyone can come to the Dar Chebab for English lessons. Some of the kids have already started learning English in school, whereas others don't know any English when they come to the Dar Chebab. So, I've taught lessons on counting in English, as well as on the passive voice.

So this is my life right now. It feels good, and I'm glad that I'm here helping people right now. I'm trying to focus on right now. At some point in the last few weeks, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of living here, in a new and foreign land, where I don't know many people, for the next two years. I was feeling challenged by the reality that I'm only going to see family and friends back in the USA a few times over the next couple of years. Then I began to apply myself simply to today, the day in which I am living at any particular moment. Suddenly my life in the Peace Corps became not only much more manageable, but also much more enjoyable.

And by not worrying about tomorrow, I'm also integrating into Moroccan society. Moroccans are more concerned with building a relationship with someone than they are with timetables. So, in effect, by relaxing, and not worrying about tomorrow, I'm implicitly embracing, and learning about Moroccan culture. Now viewing and approaching my own life differently, less concerned about time than I was before I came here, with the insight I am gaining while living in Morocco, I better understand Moroccans, one of the reasons I came here. By not worrying about time, much as Moroccans are unconcerned with it, I FEEL a different approach to life. Since I am being transformed, I will more easily help citizens of the USA understand Moroccans, one of the reasons why the Peace Corps sent me and other Peace Corps trainees here to Morocco.

No comments:

Post a Comment