Currently I am sitting on the pullout couch in the hotel room in Washington D.C. with my two roommates repacking my bags to be ready to go for tomorrow's flight to Morocco. Yesterday I woke up at five o'clock so I would be able to have a good American breakfast before my departure. The flight was standard but by the time I arrived in D.C. I was ready to go to the hotel. You could imagine my frustration then when I realized that I would be waiting for several more people to arrive for several more hours. To my surprise however, being stuck in the airport for several hours with a few of the people that I will be spending my summer with was extremely rewarding. The experience allowed me to create initial bonds with about four people before being inundated with new faces and information when I arrived at the hotel. Today was our first official day of the PDO (PreDeparture Orientation) which included many lectures about culture and in-country adjustments, a short visit to the Moroccan embassy(picture below), and even more lectures after that. After some down-time at the hotel we split up into two groups; one went to the White House for pictures, and my group went to Shake Shack for some last minute American cuisine. I probably shouldn't have called it cuisine because I had a caramel malt and they sell hamburgers, but calling it any less would not have done my caramel malt justice.
I still cannot believe that I will be on a flight to Morocco tomorrow, the reality of the situation has not sunk in yet. At this point the whole experience is so surreal that I am not sure that the magnitude and coolness factor of this will ever sink in.
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