Preamble

Well, here it is guys. The place where all of my moments abroad are to be recorded. Impressive no? haha. Usually I'm not very good at these things, but I have had many requests to keep them updated on what adventures I will be having while I am in Morocco for approximately 5 months, so instead of emailing each and every one of you individually, I thought writing a blog might be more efficient for me, time wise. Can't take too much of my time or else I'll miss out on things, ya know? And you all would be thoroughly disappointed because I can't tell you about the trip through the Sahara, getting lost in Casablanca, or having pretty epic camel rides in Southern Morocco. Or the trips in Europe I hope to take visiting Willamette kids or traveling around for three weeks after the semester is over before heading back to the states. Blogging is sounding like a better and better idea the more I think about it ;)

In exactly one week I will be flying over the Atlantic ocean towards Ifrane, the town I will be making my home until summer comes around. It's crunch time: getting communication and financial things taken care of, packing the right things and crossing off those things that I will not need. Taking a step back and looking at what needs to get done in the next 7 days while also seeing friends for one final shebang before I take off. Crazy and hectic? Oh yes. Scared shitless? Honestly, a little. No matter how excited I am to go, traveling by myself for the first time is nerve racking. What will happen during my 15 hour lay over in Casablanca? Am I going to be able to get through customs okay? How will a 21 year old female be seen traveling alone in a place where she doesn't speak the local language and has no connections? And coming from a family where we have experienced a world where bad things have happened to women my age, no matter how small of a town I grew up in, it's hard not to be a little scared. But once I'm up in that plane, I'm sure that all the nerves will be calmed and the excitement will start to override every other emotion :)

I was talking to my dad tonight about all this. He gave me a hug, and told me to think about how I came to be going to Morocco. What was it that brought me to where I am going? If you know the real story, Morocco wasn't on the list I had of places I really wanted to go. It had never entered my mind that I would end up there. Back in the beginning of the semester, I had been accepted to the University of Iceland, and was getting excited to go to the northernmost capital of the world. But ten weeks before my arrival date I was informed that in order to enter the country I would need a FBI background check for the visa application. The FBI background check takes 10-12 weeks to be processed. Without the FBI background check, my visa would not be approved and I would not be able to enter the country, thus leading to the cancellation of my exchange to the University.  Freaking out a bit, I filled out the applications and added urgency notes to try and make the process go faster. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I met with my ISEP coordinator to talk about the possibilities of going to Iceland or studying abroad in general with all the mishaps occurring with the paperwork. She brought up the possibility that other programs' application deadlines had not passed yet and I could apply to them if I was interested. By that time I was so frustrated with the Iceland situation that I was happy to apply anywhere. She told me she would look up programs and get back to me. I left her office and when I went back to check my email, she had sent me links to two possible programs: one in South Korea and one in Morocco. For the Morocco program I did not have to apply for a visa since I register with the government when I get to the country, so as it was the most time efficient for me to fill out due to finals coming up around the corner and projects to get done, I filled it out and turned it in on November 29, 2011. Two days later, a Tuesday morning, I received an email from the university in Ifrane saying they had received all my application information and that I could sign up for classes that night. By 8pm I was signed up and officially going to Morocco.

Thinking about the processes of both programs, it taking weeks to figure out if I was going to Iceland and the two days it took to be accepted to Morocco, it makes me realize that Morocco is where I was supposed to end up. Some of you may not believe in destiny, fate, whatever you want to call it, but as my father said, "Kendra, the universe is opening doorways for you. It knew that you didn't really want to go to Iceland. You had doubts about Iceland the entire time you were going through this process. Going to Morocco is the universe's way of showing where you need to go on your life path." Okay, so maybe these weren't his exact words (sorry Dad if I have misquoted you) but the jist is the same. Iceland wasn't meant to be. Morocco is where I am supposed to go. I may be having misgivings about going, but that's just about getting there and feeling that you all will live your lives and be at another fork in the road while when I return I'll still be in the same position I was at when I left. That's not completely true. Yes, you will all live and experience life without me for 5 months. Yes, you'll all change and grow and come to terms with life that may change you as a person. But so will I. Just because we won't be experiencing life together for a time does not mean that we will be moving on without one another. It just means that when we are reunited that will have so much more to share with each other and so many stories to tell. Me being me, I'm sad to be leaving you all because I want to experience those things I will miss out on with you. But this is where I'm supposed to go and where I'm supposed to be. I need to do this. For me.

Starting next week I will be in Africa. Across a country and an ocean from you, 8 hours ahead in life. I will try my hardest to keep you updated on all the exciting and wonderful happenings that will be going on while I am in Ifrane. My grandmother has asked me to write everything down too, so if adventures do not end up here they will be in hard copy when I get back in June. I hope you all follow and read- living vicariously through me is not a crime and with an audience I feel that I'll actually have a reason to blog, which means more exciting adventures for you!!

Take care. Whether you go to school with me or not, are friends with me or not (though I doubt any of you are the latter), have an amazing time this coming spring. Have your own adventures, no matter how small. And be ready to fill me in when I get back, I'm going to want to know EVERYTHING.

Until next time <3