Gearing Up: Pre Departure Orientation
I've known for a few months now that our PDO would be held in New York City, but it didn't feel quite real to be going until I was heaving my suitcase into the airport shuttle into the city.
Earlier that day, I had met Molly, another student within my program who also comes from Seattle. She's an avid runner (can't relate there) who's involved in MUN (luckily I can relate there). She actually said she recognized me from a previous MUN conference in Seattle, and we're both headed to the same one this year, as well! She's chairing a committee that two of my friends are in, how crazy is that?!
The PDO's primary purpose is to teach you about the culture you will be emerging yourself in for the next few months, as well as introduce you to the group of students you'll be traveling and learning with. This includes safety, customs, as well as the culture of your group. I had a great time meeting the other 16 students in my group. Molly and I were the only two from the great PNW, followed by four Californians, one Texan, two Ohio-ans (?), two North Carolinians, one Kentuckian, one Connecticut-an, one Pennsylvanian in addition to Kelly, our implementing organizer from Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Here's all of us, so I can make sure I got everyone:
Photo is curtesy of Jack, a volunteer NSLI-Y alum who came to help the implementing organization and give some great advice on NSLI-Y and living in Morocco. He's third from the left. Not pictured: Eric, another alum who came to do the same.
Saw some bootleg Shakespeare in the Park, after eating takeout Thai food with Molly and Nick.
While the dorms we stayed in were hot and run down, Columbia University is such a beautiful campus and it was lovely getting to see if for a more extended period of time. We didn't take a tour, but I went for a pretty long morning stroll around the campus and was able to see a lot of it. It sounds silly, but every time I go to the east coast I'm struck by how old the buildings are, because of how recent the architecture is in the west.
The Pacific Northwest is a very new area, in terms of its architecture and Western Civilization history - the oldest institution I can think of is my school, and even that was only founded in the 1890s. Being at Columbia was interesting not only because I was looking at all of these structures designed and built in the early days of the US, but also because I was able to imagine the ancient ruins and palaces we'd be seeing in Morocco.
As we got to hear all the advice (and the warnings) our implementing organization had for us, we all started to get truly revved up for the trip over the Atlantic. We've talked a lot about the things we're nervous for, and the things we're excited for. I, for one, am ready to meet my host family and start exploring Rabat!