Anton Clifford Vs. the Weather

It’s so easy to get up on a sunny day.  I can hear that wind blowing and rain pouring just outside my window and I hunker down a little tighter in my blankets.  Alarms are useless… only a nuisance
 to my inevitable sleeping in.  I have the rain gear to brave it, but from my warm covers the outside world seems too cold and unforgiving.  The ten minute steep walk to the road seems daunting enough, let alone who knows how long I’ll be waiting for transportation.  On sunny days I’d bike down, but it’s too wet and windy now.

“Ten more minutes,” my brain tells me, “then we’ll get up and start the day.”  Anybody can get up on a warm sunny day.  It takes a really motivated person to welcome the world when the world isn’t exactly welcoming you back.  I remember when I had a job in America, it didn’t matter how early I had to get up.  I’d always get there, maybe 5 minutes late from time to time, but I’d get there.  Why?  Because people were counting on me, and I had a set schedule.  Here it’s not uncommon for me to hit the snooze five or six times.

Well, on another note, the 22nd Marrakesh Marathon went well.  I actually only did the half this year, but I’m glad that I did.  I wasn’t really in shape for the full, but was able to put together a performance that I was pleased with… 1:35.  That’s about 7:15 per mile for 13 miles, so not horribly shabby for being a bit out of shape.  Had fun hanging with friends… a few of them came out to cheer me on, which was great.  Hopefully with enough training, I’ll be able to do the full next year.

Back to the weather… It snowed while I was gone.  Those of you that still harbor the notion that Morocco is just desert country, think again.  That’s not what it’s like where I live. There wasn’t a whole bunch of snow, but it was enough to make a pretty impressive snowman (Please note the awesome "HUP HOLLAND" scarf he's sporting).  This guy was promptly destroyed by the local kids (those hooligans!) the second I got into my house. There is still a good bit of snow on the ground even with the relatively warm sunny days that have followed.  I hear that last year there was snow up to chest level where I live, so I’m thankful that it’s not too bad, and hoping that the winter remains mild.  It’s been cold and muddy where the snow has started to melt, but I’ve still been able to do a little gallivanting outside.  Got to do some more plant collection yesterday, so that’s a plus.  And hey… who doesn’t like blasting kids with relentless waves of snowballs?

Zombie Snowman wants BRAINS!

Almond arborculture and integrating at a “grueling pace.”

So... I've been writing, but not posting.  Thus you get two posts this week.  Lucky you!


L called me this week.  She had a truckload of almond saplings on the way and was in need of some help.  A truck, which looked like a cross between a dump truck and a flat bed came rolling by the café I was sitting at, and I could tell without even looking in the cab that this was my ride.  They stopped by the side of the road and jumped down from their seats, in search of some caffeine.  We sat in the café with her village’s association president.  He’s an interesting character, with one bulging eye, perhaps from a minor stroke, a scarf wrapped around his head, and an affinity for shooting the breeze with anyone who will listen.  As per usual, he was having a great time talking to the growing crowd in between snorts of his snuffing tobacco.  Eventually we were able to disperse and cram myself and three others into the truck up to her site.  When we got there, we distributed about 1200 almond trees to the people of her village in an attempt to increase revenue and stop soil erosion.  It felt good to be doing something I loved… digging holes, planting trees, explaining how to take care of the trees properly to the villagers.  That’s the kind of stuff I signed up for, and I’m glad I got a chance to put some of my technical skills to use.

I also spent a bit of time putting together our quarterly report, the VRF (volunteer report form).  It was a chance to talk about the projects I’ve been working on, and to evaluate what I want to do in the next few months.  It really got me thinking about the steps I needed to take to get the next couple of projects underway. On the list of upcoming projects, one I’m pretty excited about is a herbarium for the visitor center in the park.  I’ve been doing some hiking and taking lots of pictures of flowering plants, doing some sketching, and even collecting and pressing a few species.  I expect even more to start blooming  as the spring comes around.  This is one of those things that is going to keep me pretty busy, but also be interesting and enjoyable.  That’s one of the great things about the peace corps… you have the time and space to create some of your own projects and find out what you are passionate about, and what isn’t really your cup of tea.  For me, community development isn’t high on my favorites list, teaching at the school is fun from time to time, but my favorite things are to be out hiking and looking at plants or helping people with nursery type stuff.

On a separate note, integration seems to be going well.  I biked about 55 kilometers (35 miles) round trip the other day through some pretty hilly terrain just to go see a berber festival.  Long day, but actually a lot of fun.  Got to see some decent live music, got in a lot of exercise, and hung out with some people I haven’t seen in a while.  My favorite part was when the town crazy man came up in front and thought he was the dance leader.  All the little kids were laughing so hard, but the adults were pretty cool about just letting him do his thing.   Man was I tired at the end of the day… walking my bike up that last steep rocky hill to my house I must have stopped to rest at least three times.  Even so, I still somehow mustered the energy to have dinner with my village and even talk with them a bit.

That’s all for this episode. Hope all is well on the Western Front!  Miss all you guys.

Anton