Abbie graduated from Lewis-Clark State College in the spring of 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a minor in Spanish. She grew up in a small Idaho town (see awesome sunset above), and to her dismay, has never lived elsewhere. While in college, she worked as a science tutor, as a lifeguard, and as a genetics research assistant, where she essentially played the role of matchmaker for some frisky fruit flies. She volunteered at her town’s free clinic, where she prepared medications, shadowed physicians, and gave health presentations to patients. After Peace Corps, she hopes to pursue a Master’s of Public Health with an emphasis on global health.
Currently, Abbie is working at a youth center in Morocco, where she shares her love of learning with a gaggle of eager students. In her free time, you can find her jogging (slowly), reading in excess, wasting entire days in quaint cafes, taking naps at parties, and admiring craft beers ad nauseam. She also considers herself a tea aficionado, was once described as having a “gangly elegance,” and apparently likes talking about herself in third person.
My nephew Jonathan is also in the Peace Corps, in Ghana. He is helping almond farmers.
My husband Andy and I visited Lewiston/Clarkston a few years ago when we traveled the Lewis & Clark trail. We took the jet boat ride up the river and also drove the winding road up the steep hill across the river from town. We also toured Morocco (for only four days) ten years ago and went to Tangier, Rabat, Meknes, Fes, and Chefchaouen. It is a fascinating country and I wish we had spent more time there, but it was only a bus trip from Spain, where we were spending the winter in a small RV. I loved the exotic markets and medinas.
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I’m glad you enjoyed my hometown, Dinata! Feel free to reach out if you ever return to Morocco!
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Hi
Great story and so nice to see someone your age that’s educated but not just running away from life to “earn online income”. Helping others is a lost art and with the crap going on in the homeland these days it’s awesome to see you act as a model citizen for young people. Thanks for finding our blog. I look forward to perusing through yours and wish you all the best
Cheers
Rob and Diane
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Thanks so much! That means a lot to me. Enjoy your own expat adventures, and I can’t wait to read more of your posts, too. 🙂
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I almost want to do a post on you and your story and they to share it in the USA. My friend is a Pulitzer Prize winning ex journalist that coveted the financial desk and many other things for NBC and others . He could probably get the story some publicity from his network. I think it’s so important to show the angry nation a really positive story about your generation. Let me know if you have any interest and if so I will email him and I quote
Cheers
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Oh, wow! That’s so thoughtful of you! I would absolutely love that. It means so much that you would think of me like that. You can send me your email in the comment box on my “Contact Me” page! Thanks again! Really!
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Cool. Wills end our email and I’ll ask my friend if there’s some way to spread word about a positive story from your generation
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Fantastic! Thanks. 🙂
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So, I am looking forward to many more Morocco reports.
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Hi Abbie! Thanks for dropping by. I’m looking forward to browsing through your blog. Pleased to meet you, Marina
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Hi, Marina! Thank you for taking a look at my blog, too! 🙂
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Thank you for the blog ‘like’, Abbie! Your time in Morocco sounds absolutely amazing and good luck in achieving all of your goals while you’re there! : )
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Thank you, Justine! 🙂
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I’m so very much looking forward to reading more of your blog posts.!! Good luck in your new adventure.!! Also, thank you for the blog follow 🙂
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Thanks so much! I can’t wait to read more of your posts, too. 🙂
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🙂
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Pleased to meet you.
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You, too!
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Hi Abbie! Thanks for the follow. I’m going to look around your blog too. Living in Morocco? Wow, I’m intrigued 🙂 Nice to meet you!!
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Thank you! I’m glad you’re intrigued! Nice to meet you, too. 🙂
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maybe I’ll learn to like Morocco? I lived in Madrid eons ago as a junior in college and was always too afraid to go to Morocco. there’s a story behind why….LOVE the photos so far!! reminds me of similar looking structures en España……
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Yes! The Moors influenced Spain’s architecture a lot. I hope I can turn you into a Morocco fan!
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Hey Abbie! Just wanted to say a quick thank you for following me. I honestly never expected anyone to read what I wrote and I have somehow made it to 100 followers today (not much in comparison to your blog, but I’m excited nonetheless)! Anyways, thank you again. Happy travelling! – Alex
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Congrats, Alex! You have a great blog! Thank you so much for taking the time to look at mine, too. 🙂
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thanks for liking my post!
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Very interesting. I have, however, no clue about the Peace Corps
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Thank you for following my blog, Abbie. It will be interesting to see how your experience in the Peace Corp goes. You should be congratulated for taking on such a challenge. Keep writing!
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Of course! Thank you for the well-wishes, John.
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🙂
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Great job Abbie! The good thing about volunteering is that you get more than you give. What I mean is that the experience and the extraordinary people you meet while volunteering are really priceless; so consider yourself rich because this is the new way to measure people’s wealth – by the amount of love they are willing to give! 🙂
I met another young American woman who spent two years of her life volunteering in the Philippines. Someone else in your comments mentioned that you should share your story to motivate other people to do the same. Yes, I totally agree, I’m really impressed by the number of highly motivated and compassionate young people in Western countries. The world is changing for the better and you are giving us your precious contribute: thank you and keep it up!
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Thank you so much. I can’t tell you what that means to me.❤️
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Dear Abbie, thank you very much for following my blog. You can find there also several posts about Agadir, Marrakesh and Essaouira. Might be an inspiration for your own travels.
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Thanks! I’ll make sure to take a look!
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You’re deep into this Morocco culture and US progressive culture and the inherent conflicts, no? It ain’t easy on that road, is it? Your ‘about me’ tells it all. Best of luck! 🙂
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Thank you!!
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What a wonderful blog Abbie! I wish you all the best in Morocco. I know first hand what it’s like to work on aid projects abroad. You have such a positive approach to what you do. I’m sure you’ll go far.
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Thank you so much! What kind of aid work have you done? ☺️
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I worked in the field of international law in Belgium then switched over to non-profit humanitarian aid. I was a program advisor for projects in Central America, South America, the Balkans, and Haiti. Later I was a Director for a non profit in Melanesia. 🙂
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Wow! What an amazing resume! I was originally assigned to Ecuador, but our cohort was canceled after an earthquake. I’d still love to visit Ecuador someday, though. International development is actually something I’m thinking of pursuing after Peace Corps. 🙂
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I’m thrilled to see how far you have come on your journey. Reading your posts about Morocco brings back such warm memories of our all too brief time there. I wish you all the very best and look forward to following along on your adventures 🙂
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Thank you so much!
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Thanks for the Like on my blog.
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Thank you for looking at my Blog. I look forward to reading more about your adventures, and wow I am so impressed with all you have done and are doing, good luck to you. Please do take care of yourself, best wishes from me.
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Thank you so much! That means a lot.
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Sounds like fun being abroad for a while. I look forward to checking out your posts. Thanks for visiting and liking Munich Magnified.
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