On Friday, we drove from Rabat to Ouarazazate. The drive was long, but beautiful! We arrived in Marrakesh in time for a late lunch at a "rest stop." After a couple days of "European" food at the hotel in Rabat, we had our first taste of more authentic Moroccan cuisine. We ordered a couple tagines and after everyone raved about the meat, I gave it a try! I still don't like it, but at least I know I can eat it if offered by my host family.
The drive from Marrakesh to Ouarazazate was absolutely stunning. We drove through the mountains, on a relatively new highway. It was two lanes and at times had hairpin turns and twists reminding me of Highway 1 going through Big Sur. There were few guard rails and our bus seemed to barrel around the turns at top speed! The mountains themselves were stunning with snow-capped tops, but the villages really completed the picture. Some were rich jewel green with terraced fields and trees while others were clay red with little greenery. The villages are literally built into the sides of the mountains and almost blend in with the rocks. One of those lush green villages is a successful former PC site, which leads me to believe the sites we'll be assigned to will be less green.
Ouarzazate is a smaller town and our hotel is on the town square in walking distance to the souk, kasbah and the touristy part of town. The town has a booming film industry and they are currently filming an American film somewhere outside the city. Several well known films were made here, but at the moment I can't think of any.
We are here for a week and then we go to our host families and begin our community based training. There will be five or six of us in a village and we will go to classes all day together. Our week in Ouarzazate will be filled with language training, introductions to the environmental challenges in Morocco as well as lots of information on development and the PC process.
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