Just as the song “As time goes by” and Rick’s Café from the movie Casablanca remains deep-seated in my memory bank, time has passed by and it has produced some major changes in Morocco since I lived and worked there in the 1960s. Rick’s Café is in fact now in Casablanca and the interior is similar to the movie set; dinner and drink prices are too expensive compared to other good restaurants nearby. Major cities like Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh have become cosmopolitan centers with hotels and restaurants on par to Paris, New York, Los Angles or Chicago. Tangier is still an international city and remains a special place for the jet set, modern-day beatniks, panhandlers, and those seeking female escorts (prostitutes).

Even in other less well known towns in Morocco such as Ouarazazate, Meknes, Fes, and Zagora the veil is dropping and most young women wear western style clothing and adorn themselves with pierced rings inserted into every conceivable part of their visible anatomy. All of these changes were recently witness by 10 former Peace Corps Volunteers (Morocco I), their spouses, and Louis E. Adams, former Staff Member, who returned to visit their old duty stations, and to attend a Peace Corps Reunion in Rabat after 45 years.

The Peace Corps Reunion was hosted on 21 April 2008 by the current Morocco Peace Corps Director Bruce Cohen and many of the current Volunteers stationed throughout Morocco. United States Ambassador Thomas T. Riley gave the welcoming address and attended the luncheon at the Peace Corps Office, that, unlike prior to 911, was housed inside a walled, 1 acre compound with a gated and guarded entrance.

Morocco was one of the first countries to invite the Peace Corps to assist in its development needs, and Morocco I was the first group of Peace Corps Volunteers assigned to that country in January 1963. The original group consisted of 53 young, idealistic volunteers who were trained at Cal Poly as language teachers, land surveyors and water irrigation experts. They were “ready to change the world,” and they took great pride in taking on "the toughest job you'll ever love." From 1963 to today, over 4000 Volunteers have served the Kingdom.

For the student of history, Moroccan towns like Kenitra (Port Lyautey), Mohammedia, Media Beach, and Safi also remain ever etch in the minds of our troops who landed on these Moroccan beaches with Major General George Patton during “Operation Torch” and the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II on 8 November 1942.

Louis E. Adams, Professor Emeritus from the U. of Cincinnati, was the former Peace Corps Staff Member who attended the Reunion. He helped train some of these Volunteers; and, he was later an Associate Peace Corps Director in-charge of the Medical Technologist Morocco IV and VI programs in Morocco (1964-66).

Adams, who was born in Ross Co. and graduated from Southeastern High School in 1953, retired from UC, Dept. of Medicine, and Div. of Immunology in 1996 after 28 years of service.