Agdz!

Agdz, Morocco will be my home for the next two years. I found out about two weeks ago. My friends asked if I was excited and I said I wasn't sure, it was all so overwhelming, it was hard to know what to think. Two years, wow...


Now, having returned from Agdz, I could not be more happy. I'm quite positive I received the best site assignment in all of Morocco! (Might be biased a bit, but...)

Agdz is a small town in the Southeast region of Zagora, 1.5 hours Southeast of Ourzazete, the "Hollywood of Morocco"! It is the most exotic place I've visited in my entire life. The trip two days travel via bus and grande taxi (old Mercedes car, one of 7 passengers standard). The last leg of the trip I was cramped in a taxi with six strange men, winding our way through moon-scape mountains, screeching around every bend (interestingly enough, life here is extremely slow paced... until you get behind the wheel of a car, then it is a mad race risking life and car parts, donkeys and human body extremities), wondering how okay I was with the idea of plunging down the precipices as my last memory and thinking I would rather at least see where I was supposed to live for the next two years before dying. The closer I got, the farther from all life forms I felt.

Finally we rounded a bend and looked down to a valley filled with palms. The basin was surrounded with rippling mountain ranges with one fantastically bizarre peak looming over the town center. I squealed internally.

A great arch with Moroccan flags welcomed all passing through the main road (Agdz is en route to Zagora and the great Saraha Desert so turist sightings are common). A great Kasbah (ancient mud-walled city or fortress rising from the desert floor) and Palm trees lined the way. When we reached the town centre a turban-clad "nomad" greeted me and led me into his exotic carpet store for a cup of tea. I wandered around looking at the glorious rugs and doing secret little dances in the dark corners.. hee hee, I get to live here! He led me to my home a few blocks away and introduced me to my host father.

My host family is wonderful. Six sisters! Aged 12-25, two at home, several away at college, the eldest is married and just had a baby 40 days ago. They are all the most precious sweet people. I was quite impressed with my language skills compared to meeting host family #1: I blabbed away most of the day about my background, work in Morocco, etc. Thankfully, several of the daughters also speak a good deal of English and could translate when I couldn't find Arabic words. They have a comfortable home, beautiful salon, courtyard, rooftop, even a hot shower! (Very much a luxury for PC volunteers).

I stayed several days, walking about town introducing myself and exploring. My sitemate, a Youth Development volunteer named Antoine showed up on day two. Our two training groups had traveled and trained together for a few days in Rabat, so I knew him slightly and was very pleased to learn he was going to be my site mate. Number one, most of my group don't even get a site mate, number two, having a male site mate liberates me in a community where it is inappropriate for women to wander about after dark unaccompanied. Number three, he is a gentleman and lots of fun.

We met other volunteers that live in the area: Jessica and Jeff, and one that lives in Agdz (Maureen) but is COSing (PC jargon for finishing her service and heading back to the states) in a week (Antoine is replacing her). Jessica actually brought pink stillettos to Morocco and they decided that the two of us meeting was equivalent to Cinderella finding her slipper. Stylin' in the middle of the desert of Africa, aah yeeah. I think there's a chance we just might have some good times down there ...;)