Yesterday, tragedy struck at Virginia Tech. I can not begin to imagine how horrible the situation must be with such an enormous loss of life. When I called the Peace Corps office to officially accept my invitation to Morocco, the placement officer thought that I was a student at Virginia Tech. He said, "I'm sorry to hear about the shootings at your school." I was so shocked, but then I clarified that I am not a student there.
The sadness and loss that pours out of situations like the one at Virginia Tech are indescribable by people who have not been there. Maybe even the people who were there cannot find the words to describe the events during this time of mourning. This reminded me that I need to write a disclaimer for my blog even before I go to Morocco.
As the author of this blog, I will bring you my experiences. I will bring you my perceptions as a Westerner going into Morocco. Even though I have studied about intercultural communication and I have made a friend from Morocco, my understanding of what it truly means to be Moroccan will never be fully and 100% accurately portrayed with my words. I will do my best, but I am an outsider. I can only bring you my observations. My point in bringing this up is that some of you may never see Morocco or meet a Moroccan, and therefore you are looking to experience this beautiful country vicariously through me. I want you to be aware that when you read the words in my blog, they are words coming from someone who was born in the Midwest of the United States. I have so many things shaping my ideas and perceptions. So please, enjoy my blog. But remember that I am not trying to take away from Moroccan voices even while I work to be a conduit between their culture and ours.
September 8th will be my start date for training in the Peace Corps. I am hoping to bring you many more stories and shining moments from the land of the Sahara. So please don't forget about my little blog, because I would love to share these things with you. Masalama (see you later)!
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