Staging in Philadelphia

Today marks the end of staging: our pre-service training before leaving for Morocco. These last two days went by fast. It was mostly a lot of fun meeting the other trainees: a great cross section of idealistic Americans. Much of the information during sessions was a repetition of information included in documents that we had recieved previously, but staging is a useful stepping stone to ease tension and get comfortable with the adjustments to come. We are both feeling good about tomorrow: the plane ride to Casablanca. Of importance, we have realized that we will need to be selective in what we include in the blog. Specifically, locations where we and other volunteers are stationed cannot be listed. Furthermore, we have to be careful not to write unfairly negative comments out of frustration and anger. At all times, we will be describing Morocco and our experiences with cultural sensitivity. Not that it would be possible to have a negative experience in Morocco or anything. Tonight, we plan on spending some time in Philly with some of the other trainees, and checking out the Triumph Brewery restaurant because they have good burgers. We may also decide to make this blog a private one, so if it dissappears or requires a password, email us at hutchbt2@yahoo.com.