Christmas Cheer

Snowy Queens neighborhood

The end of the holiday season comes with mixed emotions, as this is quite possibly the last Christmas that I'll experience at home in the United States until 2016. I do hope to be able to return for a visit at least once during my Peace Corps service, but there are no guarantees, and I prefer to prepare myself for a scenario in which I will not step foot on U.S. soil again until after my service is completed. Knowing that I won't have a traditional Christmas experience for the next few years really made me appreciate this year's festivities more than ever. 

Additionally, I made a promise to myself at the beginning of 2013 to lessen my negative impact on the world as much as possible and to be more cognizant of the effects of each of my choices. I'll talk more about this in an upcoming post marking the end of 2013, but I think people who know me well are already aware of the changes I've made - others may only see this manifested in my food choices. I often in the past was far too concerned about the materialistic aspects of Christmas, but I can say with certainty that knowing that everything you'll need for the next two years has to fit into one or two suitcases will quickly put your dependence on material items into perspective. This year I simply wanted to spend as much quality time as possible with my family and friends soaking up the true Christmas spirit. 

NYC Christmas trees
with Giovanna

After finishing work at the National Endowment for Democracy on December 6, I spent four days in New York City with one of my closest friends, Giovanna. New York is one of my favorite cities in the world of course, and it's at its most magical when it's decked out in shimmering green and red lights and "Jingle Bells" can be heard on every corner. I left New York in the midst of a snowstorm bound for sunny SoCal. It was amazing to experience Los Angeles at this time year with one of my other closest friends, Matt. Although palm trees disguised as candy canes were fascinating, I appreciate more than ever spending Christmastime in Pennsylvania, despite the freezing temperatures and being stranded inside by endless snowfall. To continue my mini USA tour, we spent three days in Las Vegas. Sin City does Christmas, like everything else, big! 

I said Venice...I mean, Vegas...
does Christmas big!

I did say that the end of the season comes with mixed emotions though. Everything was perfect, and memories of the past few weeks will undoubtedly continue to give me cheer over the next few years, but I'm also overwhelmed with sadness when I let myself think of moments that I will miss. I'm trying to focus on the present rather than worry about the future, and I still have two weeks to take advantage of before my journey begins. The next two weeks will be centered on packing and preparing. My sister already left yesterday, so the fun times with the whole family have come to an end, sparking this post. 

To end on an extremely positive note, I'd like to share a few of my favorite and most memorable Christmas moments: 

• Passing under the giant wreaths on Union Station as I said farewell to my second home 
• Walking aimlessly in the snow through the Union Square Christmas Market with Giovanna and finding her cornicello necklace
• Finding out that Mexicans are much more efficient at selling Christmas trees than Canadians
• Watching Mexican jumping beans with Matt
• Seeing a neighbor's face light up at the sight of freshly baked gluten-free cookies!
• Playing hide-and-seek in our tiny living room with my nieces and nephew 
• Asking Leanne if she'd like a piece of chocolate!
• Laughing - so much 
• And the best of all, dancing with my sister like crazy people at 10:00 a.m. while getting yelled at by our mom for being so stupid

Souqs and Spice...and everything nice

It has been almost a year since I first posted on Souqs and Spice, which was at that time just a plain blog intended for me to jot down notes during my application process. During the course of the year, I posted intermittently and updated the look of the blog. After finding out that I would be posted to Morocco, I thought long and hard about a title for the blog that would adequately capture my intentions for sharing my experiences with a public audience. "Souqs and Spice" seemed to come naturally, as these two words have deep meaning both for my life and Moroccan culture.

I imagine many of you are wondering first of all what in the world is a souq?! Souqs are traditional open-air commercial bazaars in Morocco and North Africa. They represent the center of public life, providing a place for social interactions, economic exchanges, and entertainment. In order to become a successful volunteer, I will need to integrate myself into the public life of my adopted community. Literally, I will need to be present in the souq to meet potential partners and friends. More figuratively, I need to maintain a souq mentality to avoid holing up in my living quarters to avoid embarrassment or uncertainty. Additionally, having an Arabic word as part of the title of this blog emphasizes the importance of successfully strengthening my language skills and communication abilities to effectively work with my local community.

Spice on the other hand may seem to be more self-explanatory. We all have seen photos of the gorgeous earth-toned cones of spices rising from golden pots in the souqs to be purchased and used generously in Moroccan dishes. I also will be spicing up or at least providing new tastes to my community by maintaining a vegan lifestyle in a cuisine that, like American cuisine, overemphasizes the use of animal-based products. However, I also intended the convey with this word choice that my life in general will be far from bland, and I will literally be like a spice being tossed onto my community. That addition may burn a little at first, but it will end up adding flavor and variation to the dish.

During the next two years, you can expect to read about my quotidian life experiences serving as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. I plan to detail my training, living situations, and experiences working in a dar chabab -- a government-sponsored public youth center. I hope to also explore my perceptions and share my honest opinions and emotions on topics including Moroccan and American culture, Islam and Christianity, sexual orientation, gender roles, international affairs, veganism, health, and environmentalism. The tenth core expectation of Peace Corps volunteers is to "represent responsibly the people, cultures, values, and traditions of your host country and community to people in the United States both during and following your service." I intend for this blog to do just that, so if these issues are of interest to you, I hope you'll subscribe and follow my journey for the next two years!

Homes sweet homes

Yesterday I came home for the last time before Morocco. Unfortunately, I'm going to be reliving that feeling a number of times in the next few weeks. They say home is where the heart is, and my heart is with the people who mean the most to me. Since these people are scattered around the globe, I'm lucky to have many places where I truly can say I'm at home. This week I'm saying goodbye to DC and innumerable friends, next week I'll say goodbye to New York, the following week to Los Angeles, and next month to Pittsburgh.

The most drastic of these farewells feels like it will be this week with DC. The city has shaped me more than any since my childhood hometown. I arrived with no plan almost five years ago, yet I've managed to build true friendships, a meaningful career, and a new outlook on life. The weekend before last, my friends threw the most amazing party to bid me farewell. At the end of the night when I looked around and saw all of the most special people from the past few years together in one spot, I was overcome by an intense feeling of both sadness that I will be leaving it behind and happiness that so many wonderful people have come into my life and have crossed paths with each other.

Although the thought of not being able to take a relaxing run around the Capitol building and watch the sun set over the Potomac brings tear to my eyes, I am fully confident that in two years I will have found a new home in Morocco.