Summer is winding down and not a minute too soon. It was soooo hot the last two months that everyone, including me, moved at a glacial pace. And then Ramadan started and we all virtually ground to a halt. After the first few days, everyone just closed up shop and slept all day. Our village was like something out of a day-after-the-bomb movie with deserted streets and trash blowing in the hot dust-laden wind. It was 108 for days in a row. It hasn't rained since last May. The nights, however, come alive. The whole town goes out into the streets and men crowd the coffee shops and stream into the mosque when the call to prayer goes out. Kids run wild and shout and cry and fight. They seem to congregate on the street outside our building and make noise far into the early morning. For several nights they were beating on drums.
This seemed like a good time to take a vacation so we left Morocco for two weeks. We traveled across the North African continent through Dubai to Johannesburg to Livingston, Zambia—8000 air miles---to Victoria Falls and just beyond to Botswana, our safari destination. We couldn’t come to Africa without seeing something of the real Africa. And we did.
We saw an abundance of majestic wild animals, camped in the wilderness, traveled by river boat, safari vehicle, dugout canoes, and tiny prop airplanes. Twice we went walking with an armed guard. One of the highlights was hearing an elephant eating leaves off a tree above our tent while I was inside.
Another was camping by a hippo pool and listening to the hippos call to each other in the evening. Their four-note bassoon-like snorts sounded like an orchestra section tuning up. It was all a unique and memorable experience.
But now, Ramadan is finished, the evenings are cool enough to need a light blanket, and the hanuts are filled with school supplies. Fall is in the air even though it’s still in the 90s during the day.
The last week of August was spent at our Close of Service conference in Rabat. It was great fun to see everyone we started out with who made it through the two years. The week was filled with medical and dental tests and sessions on how to adjust to life back in the US. Thankfully, we won’t be looking for jobs or applying to graduate school like most of the young volunteers.
We followed COS conference with a weekend in Asilah, a small art town on the coast near Tangier. It was lovely and whitewashed with murals painted on several walls. The seafood was delicious and we could even have a glass of wine at a sidewalk cafe in this Spanish influenced area.
We are now back at site tying up projects and thinking about packing up. It’s hard to believe we only have six weeks left.
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