on may 23rd of 2007, andrew quincy spees became an official member of the PeaceCorps. the ceremony was held in fes at a very nice western hotel, a two hour bus ride from azrou, our training site. we were joined by our fellow upcoming health trainees in a lovely, albeit hasty ceremony. we were graced by the american step deputy to the vice ambassador (or something) who was supposed to make the induction more prestigious i guess. after a short spiel from the country director, we heard speeches from fellow trainees who had scored highest in a fluency test in their new, respected languages. we then signed away our lives to protect the queen mother and fight for peace (i wasnt exactly listening during that part). after the ceremony we had a lunch buffet with our host families, im not sure that our families were accustomed to the idea of all-you-can-eat, as i noticed some of the guests shoveling peanuts and condiments into purses. after lunch and another tough round of goodbyes we were corraled back onto the bus for azrou, all in a span of three hours, now thats american efficiency. i have noticed since becoming a PCV that colors are more vibrant and the birds are singing sweeter, oh the joys of saving the world!!
the next day we shipped out to our respected final sites as PCV. i however took a small side trip to rabat for an mri on my back, which has been increasingly painful in the recent months. luckily for better or worse nothing was found to be abnormal yet im still uncomfortable sitting for long stretches on hard surfaces, which unfortunately is an everyday thing here.
another small aside: after our 3 month language training, we were tested the determine our proficiency. the scale ranges are novice, intermidiate, high, to superior. yours truly, ever the studiuos pupil, required them to establish another level to the scale. i think we decided on "infant handicapped" oh well im good at other things like darts!!!
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