I imagine most people who had been following this blog have surely given up by now. And I can't blame a one of them. If anybody is still following, here's a brief update and information about the future of this blog.
First I want to say that a little over a month ago I was working on a major blog update. I had put in about 5 hours of work on it, and was about half-way done, when my computer caught a virus and went completely kaput. Shortly after that I travelled to visit friends and then my dad came for a 2 week visit, so I gave up on trying to re-do the blog entry. And now, since I don't particularly want to spend 10s of hours in an internet cafe catching my blog up, I have decided to drop a few lines now and then giving basic info, and then worry about filling in the juicy details when I get back. I know that's not the purpose of a blog, but for one, I'm not big on technology, and two, I don't want to use more time than I have to while I'm in Morocco to sit in internet cafe's. I'll be home soon enough and do all the catching up that's necessary and desired!
So, here's a small recap of what I've been up to in the last three months: I indeed started teaching at the orphanage that a local Rotary club connected me with back in January. I began by teaching English, but this didn't last long. I recruited a handful of my friends, both Moroccan and international, and so there was a squadron of us to teach English, science and math. Two was all that was necessary for English, and two of my Moroccan friends decided to teach science, so I decided to just teach math. It has been a terrific, rewarding experience teaching the kids at the orphanage. I have to teach them in Derija (Moroccan Arabic), which is very difficult for me with my level in the language, but it has posed no problem to learning. This is due almost completely to the kids endless energy, desire to learn, leadership (helping each other), and patience with my Arabic. We have a blast for about an hour and a half twice a week, working on math problems and trying to not get side-tracked with curiosities the kids have about life in the United States and my personal endeavors. We start every day with typical, endless Moroccan greetings and beat-boxing, something the kids love to do and tell me to rap in English. Yeah, I've got it pretty good at this orphanage, and I'd like to think the kids are getting something out of it as well.
I have travelled a bit to visit friends of mine, and mydad also came for two weeks, during which we travelled around the Pyrenees and got to know every part of Morocco we could in the allotted time. Now I am back to studying and intend to learn all the Arabic I can before I leave.
My computer wasn't the only gadget to fall victim to bad technology luck - the memory card of my camera also stopped working recently. I lost all the pictures on it, many of which I hadn't yet transfered to my computer. Therefore, I don't have a visual representation of my recent activities, but I plan to get a replacement card so as to be able to show you guys what I've been up to.
Again, my apologies, but such is life and technology. Please feel free to contact me by email with any questions, comments, or further interests (jacoboperry@gmail.com)
First I want to say that a little over a month ago I was working on a major blog update. I had put in about 5 hours of work on it, and was about half-way done, when my computer caught a virus and went completely kaput. Shortly after that I travelled to visit friends and then my dad came for a 2 week visit, so I gave up on trying to re-do the blog entry. And now, since I don't particularly want to spend 10s of hours in an internet cafe catching my blog up, I have decided to drop a few lines now and then giving basic info, and then worry about filling in the juicy details when I get back. I know that's not the purpose of a blog, but for one, I'm not big on technology, and two, I don't want to use more time than I have to while I'm in Morocco to sit in internet cafe's. I'll be home soon enough and do all the catching up that's necessary and desired!
So, here's a small recap of what I've been up to in the last three months: I indeed started teaching at the orphanage that a local Rotary club connected me with back in January. I began by teaching English, but this didn't last long. I recruited a handful of my friends, both Moroccan and international, and so there was a squadron of us to teach English, science and math. Two was all that was necessary for English, and two of my Moroccan friends decided to teach science, so I decided to just teach math. It has been a terrific, rewarding experience teaching the kids at the orphanage. I have to teach them in Derija (Moroccan Arabic), which is very difficult for me with my level in the language, but it has posed no problem to learning. This is due almost completely to the kids endless energy, desire to learn, leadership (helping each other), and patience with my Arabic. We have a blast for about an hour and a half twice a week, working on math problems and trying to not get side-tracked with curiosities the kids have about life in the United States and my personal endeavors. We start every day with typical, endless Moroccan greetings and beat-boxing, something the kids love to do and tell me to rap in English. Yeah, I've got it pretty good at this orphanage, and I'd like to think the kids are getting something out of it as well.
I have travelled a bit to visit friends of mine, and mydad also came for two weeks, during which we travelled around the Pyrenees and got to know every part of Morocco we could in the allotted time. Now I am back to studying and intend to learn all the Arabic I can before I leave.
My computer wasn't the only gadget to fall victim to bad technology luck - the memory card of my camera also stopped working recently. I lost all the pictures on it, many of which I hadn't yet transfered to my computer. Therefore, I don't have a visual representation of my recent activities, but I plan to get a replacement card so as to be able to show you guys what I've been up to.
Again, my apologies, but such is life and technology. Please feel free to contact me by email with any questions, comments, or further interests (jacoboperry@gmail.com)
pah! the internet is a waste of time when you're out experiencing life. :)
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