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!