Reflections and Experiences in Al Maghreb al Aqsa

Ikml

2010-06-07T19:22:00.001-07:00

So I thought I would write a final blog post for my Morocco blog. I have been home now for almost a month, after a week and a half in Egypt. It is hard to believe I left Morocco so long ago. Sometimes I have pangs of sadness, missing the people, the beauty, the life, the smells, the food...everything, but at the same time, I am thrilled to be home. I am enjoying every moment with my mom and dad, my sister, my soon to be brother-in-law, my friends, my favorite city in the world...Chi-town!

Thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to learn a little about a culture so different from our own over the past two years, and thank you for all the support for the women's center! I am blessed to have so many supportive people in my life!

One of the last pictures I took in Morocco, on the drive from my site to Tiznit.

Lfushta n Neddi!

2010-04-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the neddi opening! We had a great time, and leaving my site was incredibly difficult. While I am currently in Rabat running around like a chicken with my head cut off (what a horrible idiom....) trying to accomplish many tasks in my last few days here, I promise a good run of nice long descriptive updates upon my departure from Morocco.

Enjoy!

Me and my girls! These three girls were with me through the good times, the bad times, the scary times, the ugly times, the funny times...all the times! They all came to the women's center opening because they are amazing.

After a long, fancy lunch of tagine, fruit, tea, and cookies, we were asked to take a picture with the local important people. Turns out there were a lot of us, and yet everyone insisted on making one line. The gendarmes (local police), the Caid (local government official), the commune president, the association president, the Ministry of Health representative, the doctor, the nurse, my association president....everyone was there!

Some of the local kids were charged with the ribbo cutting and led a ceremony. They did a great job, and knowing that the center is complete felt amazing.

We all insisted that the local association president should cut the ribbon. He is a wonderful influence on the town.

All of the village women and girls shower up. This tent was packed with over 60 women! The event was clearly for them.

The schoolteacher prepared a few skits with the students in honor of Earth Day and the Women's Center. They were adorable and pleasant to watch.

Their Earth Day skit.

The men sat in the other tent. My Peace Corps boss stayed with the men and handled everything very well. Can you spot the American???

The women's center!!!!!

The two tents, set up in the schoolyard.

My host dad and another local man. I just love this picture because they look so regal.

Much to my surprise, I was presented with some lovely gifts. The community members all chipped in to give me a set of local clothes and local jewelry. They are absolutely beautiful.

My boss received Berber shoes!

The women's center girls all chipped in for a pair of shoes, which meant so much to me.

After all the festivities, the women and girls did their traditional song and dance, called "ahwash."

For the first time in over two years, I participated in "ahwash" with the girls. It was a TON of fun!!

Sorry for the delay on the updates!

My internet is broken so sorry!

2010-04-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

So 3 weeks before i complete my service in Morocco, my internet modem broke! Unfortunately I don't have time to write an update, but you can make up your own story with the pictures! :)

Oh, and Health Room equipment is being delivered on Monday, and the opening party is on Thursday!

Women's Center Wednesdays

2010-03-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it is Tuesday, yes. And I missed last Wednesday, yes. But give me a break, I only have a month and a half left in Morocco and there is a lot to do.

I have often been in Tiznit over the past few weeks, organizing and planning the 2nd Annual AIDS Skit Competition in Tiznit. We had a great event last year, and the students involved learned a lot. This year we are hoping to have six different groups participating. It should be a fun event. I'm spending this week working with the group of students from my site, helping them to prepare their skit. The event is on Sunday.

I also received 125 pieces of artwork from eight different countries in the mail last week. This is the second half of the art exchange program my middle school participated in. In my classes this week, the students are learning about the countries where the artwork originated. Next week each student will receive a piece of artwork from another student somewhere in the world!

In Women's Center news, my association president and I handed over another 30% of the total project cost to our contractor yesterday. While construction has been delayed due to chronic bath weather, we are hoping to see the center completed sometime within the next three weeks. At that point we will hold the official opening, just in time for my departure from Morocco!

We are still getting paperwork in order for the delivery of supplies to the literacy and handicraft rooms. While the sewing machines won't arrive before the summer, we are hoping to have the literacy room equipped for the opening. Keep your fingers crossed! Fortunately, we are working with the Ministry of Social Development on this, and their representative in Tiznit is wonderful and easy to work with.

The Ministry of Health has equipment ready to deliver upon the completion of construction. While I won't be around to witness health lessons, vaccination drives, sewing seminars, and literacy classes taking place in the center, I look forward to being in contact with both the girls of my community, and the volunteer who is replacing me in May. And of course, coming back to visit Morocco!

The roof! It looks a lot more like a building these days....

The front entrance to the center. This is on the main road passing through my village.

While not a picture of the center, when Maggie came to visit last week, we went on a hike in my site and found this lovely stream! 4 months ago there was no water, and definitely no green!

5km for Haiti

2010-03-04T04:03:00.000-08:00

On February 20, 18 volunteers, 2 Peace Corps staff members, 1 wife, and 1 baby participated in a 5km to help raise money for disaster relief through Partners in Health in Haiti.

We had a great time. I don't have all of the pictures from the event, but I will post more if I can get a hold of them!

Women's Center Wednesdays

2010-03-03T04:20:00.000-08:00

And the roof is being worked on!

Women's Center Wednesdays

2010-02-22T05:04:00.001-08:00

Only a couple of pictures from the past two weeks. I spent last week in Rabat for my Close of Service Conference.

More to come this Weds!

5km for Haiti

2010-02-09T03:23:00.000-08:00

If you are still paying attention to the situation in Haiti, you will see that many aid workers have a particular concern. As with any devastating natural disaster, a lot of money comes rushing in right after the event. While this is great, sustained financial support is critical. In order to successfully bring relief to the earthquake victims, the flow of money cannot stop.

A close volunteer friend of mine, Hanneke, recognized this and decided that although we, as Peace Corps Volunteers, cannot help financially, we should do something. For this reason, my fellow '08-'10 Health Volunteers and I will participate in a 5km for Haiti on February 20.

We will be in Rabat the week prior for a Close of Service Conference, and will participate in the 5km at the end of our conference. We will be running/walking at a park in Rabat, next to the Sofitel hotel at 9am. Both Volunteers and Peace Corps staff will be involved, and we are looking for support from family and friends.

I understand that I've been asking for a lot over the past year........lots and lots of requests for women's center donations, so now I only ask for $5 to support my fellow volunteers and I running to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. You can donate at the Partners in Health (I blogged about this wonderful organization here) website, here, under our group's donation page.

Just in case you just missed the link, here it is again:

Peace Corps Volunteers in Morocco Haiti Earthquake Relief 5km

Thank you!

1 Corinthians 13:13

2010-02-04T11:06:00.001-08:00

"There are three things that last: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love" 1 Corinthians 13:13

This past week Wael received some very difficult news. His mom, Nagwa, was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. This came as a shock for a woman who seems healthy and full of life. While Wael and his family are showing a lot of strength and support for Nagwa, the waiting and not knowing is hard to deal with. As you say your prayers today and over the next while, please remember to say a special prayer for Wael's mom.

Trying to deal with such news alone here in Morocco has been a challenge. I traveled to Agadir on Sunday to go to mass, hoping that praying in a church would help me reach some semblance of peace. The first reading was from 1 Corinthians 13:13.

Faith, Hope, and Love.

As I listened, it struck me. Faith, hope and love are what I'm going to need to get through this time.

Faith. Every moment, every time I hear more bad news and want to just collapse with depression, I have to remember to have faith. Whatever happens is not in my hands. Its not in Waels hands, and it isn't in the doctor's hands. It is in God's hands, and He alone knows what will happen. I will pray, and pray, and pray, but ultimately, I am not in control. While I don't understand why this is happening, God does, and faith will help me to accept that.

Hope. While I can't change anything by my own efforts, I can hope. I can hope that Wael's mom will be ok, that she will heal and be here with her loving family for a long time, full of love and life. Instead of letting myself get frustrated and always thinking of the negative, I must be full of hope. Hope breeds positivity, and positivity will help me to be strong for Wael and his mom.

Love. As 1 Corinthians 13:13 expresses, the greatest of all is love. So I will love. I will continue to be full of love for Wael, his mom, and his whole family. I will love them with everything I have, because what else can I give?

So as you pray before bed, before dinner, or just in a passing glance toward the sky, please say an extra few words for Nagwa and her family.

Women's Center Wednesdays

2010-02-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

Here's the women's center this week. I've had two of my close volunteer friends visiting, so Felisa and Michelle are featured in this week's Women's Center Wednesdays!

Michelle and Felisa!

And last but not least....per Lissa's request...Chandler and Erin in the literacy room! :)

Women's Center Wednesdays

2010-01-28T10:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I know it is Thursday. But cut me some slack! :)

Last week the cement was poured for the floor of the women's center, and since then the workers have started laying the cement bricks for the walls. Anyone who knows how we build houses in the US might be interested in all the differences!

Today I accompanied the local association president to Tiznit to run a few errands. We picked up the next 30% installment of women's center funds to pass along to the contractor. We also had a meeting with the Ministry of Social Development representative. We are hoping to pass along our equipment request next week. While the sewing machines may arrive after I finish my service here, the representative said we can try to make sure the literacy room is fully equipped by May.

On a completely random note, 35 degrees and raining is annoying. I think, and this is just the opinion of one girl, that I would MUCH rather deal with 30 degrees and snow than 35 degrees and rain. But really, who am I to say??

Mixing cement and pouring it to make the floor.

Wall constructing

More wall constructing

Inside the women's center

More inside the center

Women's Center Wednesdays

2010-01-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

After a lovely week of sunshine, I am happy to report significant progress on the women's center. I enjoy waking up every morning and sneaking a look at the center before I make breakfast. Now that the workers know who I am, I don't feel as bad traipsing all over the construction site to take pictures.

While the association president and I decided to wait until next week for a meeting in Tiznit with the Ministry of Social Development and for a trip to the bank for the next monetary installment, we did have a chance to meet with the commune's technician last night. He had some great feedback for the workers, including ways to make the structure more stable.

Everywhere I go these days, someone mentions the women's center. People are always quick to share their awe at such generosity on the part of Americans. Thank you again to everyone who helped make this happen!

2010-01-15T12:10:00.000-08:00

Another plea to those who want to help the thousands of Haitians in need!

Petition to President Obama: Let Haitian Refugees Stay- Catholics United

**update. As of January 15, the decision was made by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to allow undocumented Haitians to live and work in the US for the next 18 months, as recovery efforts are underway in their homeland. This decision will affect up to 200,000 Haitians currently residing in the US.

Here is more info on the decision

Taking things for granted.

2010-01-15T03:10:00.001-08:00

As I'm sure everyone is aware, Haiti experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday, affecting most significantly the capital, Port-au-Prince, and its surrounding areas. If the magnitude of this disaster isn't enough to cause us to pause, even more foreboding is the infrastructure and systems that were lost on Tuesday. While an earthquake of this size is not unheard of, it occurred in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti has a history of political instability and harsh living conditions. Currently, Haitians in the capital have no access to electricity, cellphone coverage, and limited access to clean drinking water.

While it is difficult for us to do anything but reflect on this tragedy, it is important to remember than monetary donations to the relief efforts can go a long way. Roads need clearing, doctors need supplies, and organizations need a means to transport aid. Many organizations are accepting donations for relief efforts in Haiti, including the Red Cross.

I also urge you to consider checking out Partners in Health, a medical NGO with many hospitals in Haiti that are still functioning. Partners in Health was founded by someone for whom I have infinite respect, and whose work played a significant role in my decision to join Peace Corps. Paul Farmer has worked to improve healthcare in Haiti since 1983.

Donating to Partners in Health will allow these local functioning hospitals to provide immediate support to the thousands of victims stranded in Port-au-Prince. Like my friend Hanneke said in a recent email to her friends and family about the earthquake, if you can just give up your Starbucks or your trip to Panera for the day, every $5 or $10 will help.

Partners in Health

And a random fact. If you are a fan of Roald Dahl's works, including James and the Giant Peach, you should be even more excited to donate, since Dahl's daughter, Ophelia Dahl is Partners in Health's President and Executive Director. She and Paul Farmer founded PIH in 1987.

Another random fact. Many in the Catholic Church (including Liberation Theologians) have made an effort in the past half a century to promote the idea of a preferential option for the poor, based on Jesus' teachings, and more specifically, The Beatitudes. While PIH is not a religiously affiliated organization, their mission is "to provide a preferential option for the poor in healthcare."

Women's Center Wednesdays

2010-01-13T02:27:00.000-08:00

So, in order to keep myself on the ball with women's center updates, I decided to initiate Women's Center Wednesdays. Every Wednesday, I will post new pictures of the Women's Center. This also gives people the opportunity to just read about the center's progress if they don't feel like knowing what I thank God for.

After a lovely vacation in Egypt, I arrived back to Morocco on Thursday. I called my association president the minute I stepped off the plane to hear any women's center news. He said, "Shoof, lmushkil iga is illa anzar bzzaf. Ur bahara xdmn." Which is roughly translated as "Look, the problem is there is a lot of rain. They aren't working too much." Now, hearing that scared me just a wee bit. Would I arrive home to see the same pile of rocks as when I left?

Thank goodness he was erring on the side of caution. I am VERY impressed with construction so far! It actually looks like a building. Also, I can hear the workers laying cement and stacking bricks from inside my house. This is a very pleasant sound to wake up to in the morning. Progress!!!

We are still waiting to hear from the Ministry of Social Development on exactly how many sewing machines and other equipment they will be donating. However, the Ministry of Health has confirmed that they will deliver their equipment as soon as the center is complete!

Now let's pray to the sun gods that we have more sunny days than rainy days over the next month and a half!

Thanks

2010-01-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

I thank God.....

....for having such a wonderful family who supports me in my crazy decisions and adventures and who loves me in spite of my wanderlust tendencies.

.....for Wael, who knows exactly what to do to make me smile, and who is truly the most thoughtful person I know.

.....for my host sister Khadija, who greeted me back to my site yesterday with a squeal of joy and a big hug that was much needed.

.....for my Peace Corps friends who knew it would be hard for me to come back to Morocco and who have been awesome since my plane landed in Agadir.

.....for Lissa and Tara and Amy for talking to me on Skype for hours yesterday!

.....for the Beckers and the Vitos and the Rudds and my mom who sent such wonderful packages that I opened upon my arrival back in site. Turned a really bad day into a good one!

.....for everyone who sent me Christmas cards. Your kind words brightened up my day and have left a smile on my face ever since! I especially love the cards with pictures! Richie and Christian are getting so big!

.....for my friend Najma's mom, who moved all of the furniture in my house while I was gone so that it wouldn't get ruined as rain leaked (and is still leaking) into every room of my house.

.....for my buta gas, that heats up lots of ice cold tap water for me.

.....for Cairo, a city that treated me very well, and gave me wonderful people, hot showers, Starbucks, and delicious food every day I was there.

.....for Chandler, who acted so incredibly happy to see me he wrapped his paws around my leg and wouldn't let go. What would i do without him?

.....for the workers who worked hard on the women's center in spite of the miserable weather. Pictures to come!

and I thank God for a lot of other things too, but I think this is enough for now. :)

Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T01:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2009 has been a unique celebration for me. For the first time in 23 years, I had to spend Christmas away from my family. Maybe I like living abroad, maybe I don't mind spending birthdays away, but CHRISTMAS is supposed to be spent at home with Mom and Dad and Steph!!!! I was worried that I would be miserable all of Christmas, and let me tell you, I was miserable for a good chunk of Christmas Eve morning. However, thanks to the friendships I have in Morocco, the love I have in Egypt, the wonderfulness of my family, and my inability to stay depressed, I had a great Christmas.

Last week three of my very close Peace Corps friends and I celebrated Christmas together at my house. Since this is the second year in a row, perhaps I can say it is tradition! Here are a couple of our attempts to get a Santa hat on Chandler's head.

All of our moms sent some kind of fun Christmas surprise that we thoroughly enjoyed. Here we are opening our stockings from Mom!!

Now I am in Egypt, and I feel so lucky to be in such great company. Wael knew that it would be hard for me to spend Christmas away from my family, so he got a Christmas tree and lots of decorations that we put up the day I arrived.

Wael decorating his first Christmas tree.

Wearing one of the lovely sweater sets Mom and Dad sent me for Christmas! That night we went to a jazz club and enjoyed some live music.

I don't look at all awkward here...... :)

On Christmas Eve, Wael accompanied me to mass. We went early for Caroling, and by the time mass began, the church was packed. We are talking maybe 50-60 people outside listening because there was no more room in the church. It was a nice mass (in English) and it meant so much to me that Wael wanted to come with. After church, we went to the Nile Hilton to see The Rebound. It was a cute movie, and I was happy to go to a movie theater for the first time in 2 years!

On Christmas morning, Wael, his mom and I had a very pleasant gift exchange. Here is the Azza Fahmy ring that Wael gave me. She is a very famous Middle Eastern jewelry designer. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but it is a white gold band with yellow gold arabic calligraphy. I love arabic calligraphy and I love my ring!

In the afternoon, Wael and i met some of his cousins for coffee. We enjoyed the great weather and hung out at this outdoor mall area all afternoon. Wael's cousins are all incredibly nice, and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with them! Santa Claus even made an appearance!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Women's Center Update

2009-12-21T08:31:00.000-08:00

Since it has been a while, I think I will update everyone on the women's center! Things are moving along very nicely, albeit slowly, and construction is just around the corner. (Inshallah!) After a couple of weeks trying to choose a contractor, which were interrupted by Eid festivities, we have a contractor, a contract, a pile of rocks, and a down payment!

This past Wednesday my association president, the contractor and I signed a contract, which included the stipulation that the center must be completed by March 10, 2010. I hope we are able to stay within that timeframe!

It is raining today, but as soon as the sun comes out, construction will begin. Unfortunately, I won't be here to see the first stage of construction because I will be on vacation in Egypt. Thank goodness for my association president, who is going to take pictures and email them to me periodically!

Right now our women's center consists of a pile of rocks. Here is the pile of rocks (where the center will be). In the background is a pickup truck with the contractor and the association president. This was just after I handed over 35,600 dirhams as a down payment to get the project started. I left them and ran up my stairs onto my roof so I could take a picture before they drove away! I don't think they saw me! :)

Toothbrushes!

2009-12-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Last year, I received word from my dear mother that a great group at my elementary School, called the Make a Difference Club, wanted to choose my community in which to help make a difference!

Over the course of the summer, I received box after box of first aid supplies and toothbrushes. I have been saving them to use with the neddi (women's center) girls and the school children. Over the past 2 weeks I have had the opportunity to put the toothbrushes to good use.

First, at a neddi meeting, I gave a short toothbrushing lesson to the girls, and gave each of them a toothbrush and toothpaste. Some of them have old toothbrushes at home, but no one has toothpaste, and few of them have the motivation to brush!

We talked about the short and long term effects of brushing teeth, and the optimal way to brush teeth. "Snat twal kraygat as!" (Two times a day). They are very excited about their new toothbrushes, and wanted to send a letter to my Elementary School, thanking the students for sending such a useful gift.

The next week, I began my dental unit at the middle school. The first week we discussed the importance of toothbrushing. The local nurse came to give a talk to the students about dental hygiene. The next week, we did an experiment with Tums and vinegar to demonstrate the long-term effects of not brushing teeth. Each student also received a toothbrush and toothpaste thanks to my elementary school!

Here is one class with their new toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Ode to Fabric Softener

2009-12-13T02:51:00.000-08:00

So my mom just rocks. So much. She sends me some great packages with some great things in them! Recently, she sent me a package that had individual-sized fabric softener.

I haven't used it for some reason......not really sure what the reason is anymore, because I decided yesterday that I want fresh-smelling clothes, and I had an AWESOME fabric softener experience.

Now, I don't think my clothes here usually smell baaad necessarily. Perhaps the write adjective to describe the smell of my clothes is nuetral. But Hanneke just took a trip back to America, and washed all her clothes in a machine. And I spent too long smelling her clothes, wishing mine smelled the same.

So yes. Yesterday I put a little bit of fabric softener in my rinse water, and VOILA my clothes smell SO FRESH and WONDERFUL. It is truly incredible. I keep smelling them over and over and over again.

So YAY for my awesome mom, and YAY for fresh-smelling clothes!

The magical elixir also known as Downy.

Can you just SEE the freshness permeating the air?

Art Exchange Part 1

2009-12-06T08:16:00.000-08:00

A while back I received an email from a program called "OneWorld Classrooms" regarding an art exchange they host every year. Basically they collect art projects from kids around the world, and send that art out to other kids around the world. For example, a classroom in America might send in 25 pieces of artwork, which will end up in 25 different participating classrooms around the world. Those 25 classrooms will have sent artwork from their students which will end up in other classrooms etc etc.

I thought, COOL. I LOVE cultural exchange. SO much. So I signed up all 5 of my middle school classes to participate in the exchange. We spent 3 weeks creating rough drafts and making art! The kids were able to use crayons (thanks to my mom!), glitter, paint, yarn, and fun do-dads to decorate their artwork. I had the support of some great fellow volunteers who came to my site to help supervise art days.

The theme was really open, so my kids drew everything from mosques to mountains to flags to Moroccan food and animals. The idea is to let kids of other cultures catch a glimpse of Moroccan culture. Here are some of their designs!

Starting top left, a letter from the Berber alphabet called Tifinaghe, a Moroccan carpet, a Berber henna design, a mosque, a piece of Berber jewelry called "tazerzit," and a Moroccan woman.

A mosque, the Berber alphabet, a Moroccan tajine, a rural town, different rural symbols (tazerzit, jug of water, carpet), and a kasbah (old-fashioned castle)

A Moroccan town, a tazerzit, a page on cultural exchange (see below. This student did 2), a Moroccan road, more cultural exchange, and the mountains in our region (although the school principal thought they looked like the pyramids of Egypt...)

A forest, a flying horse (?????), women in Moroccan caftans, and a plate of couscous with "agho" or buttermilk.

A Moroccan girl with the flag (this student said she is proud to be a girl and proud to be Moroccan), a Moroccan village, a henna design, a village, a woman milking a cow, and another mountain scene.

This student drew and wrote about how women and men are equal, and different countries are equal to each other even if they are different, and how people in different countries have different religions and that is okay.

This is one of my favorites. The student was very creative in coloring and painting different parts of the hand.

I sent all 125 pieces of art to the US on Friday, and will receive our exchange artwork (inshallah) sometime in January or February. To be continued.....

Comments

2009-12-04T06:18:00.000-08:00

So I recently sent an email to my immediate family, in a fit of rage (ok so maybe not a fit of rage, but with a tinge of sadness).

It said, "If people don't start commenting on my blog I will stop updating. Yes I will."

Now, I don't want to be so arrogant that I assume the entire world hangs on my every word on this blog, but a couple comments would be nice! Thanks to those of you who DO comment sometimes, but if you read my updates and don't comment....pppllleeeeaaassseee comment. It makes this lonely girl all the way out in the Anti-Atlas mountains of Morocco SO happy.

And here is a picture of my lonely mountain to remind of you how how LONELY I can get and how HAPPY comments make me!

Ode to a Starbucks Travel Mug

2009-12-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

How did I live for almost 2 years in Morocco without my super-awesome-spill proof-amazing-Starbucks travel mug?

I truly do not know.

Mom sent it in the mail last month, and since then, it has changed my life.

My long, cold, walks to souk in the morning are just a little bit nicer when I am sipping a nice hot mug of coffee.

My 9am class on Wednesday mornings, 7th graders with a lot of energy, is just a little less trying after a finishing a Starbucks travel mug full of coffee.

Many people here don't quite get it. What is that? Some sort of machine? Does it hold pencils? Is there whiskey in there?

They will learn, and I will continue to bring my wonderful Starbucks travel mug everywhere I go this winter.

Women's Center Update

2009-11-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest on the progress of the women's center.

Eid happened, and the world basically stopped. And the world will stay stopped for just a few more days. At that point we (association president and I) hope to sign with a contractor, and start building.

However, before Eid, we were lucky enough to make some great progress!

1. The "neddi girls" and I met about a week and a half ago to discuss women's center funds. While more money will go to the actual construction than we originally thought (blame it on the bad USD exchange rate!), thanks to the extra donations from wonderful people at home, we have an additional $2,000 for the girls to spend. Everyone agreed that we will use some of this money to buy crochet needles, yarn, fabric and thread for the handicraft room. The girls had the opportunity to throw out any ideas regarding the use of the funds, and we will make decisions as the completion of the center draws near.

2. 2 members of my local association and I met to discuss the contract we will need for the center. We are looking locally (in my site) for a contractor, and my association president is currently taking bids. While the contractor will be employed to make the construction happen, the association president and I will make all purchases and handle the finances ourselves. I hope to have a more thorough update on the contractor later this week.

3. I spent a morning in Tiznit, meeting with the Ministry of Social Development delegue, and the Ministry of Health. Both are pleased to hear that construction is to begin on the women's center. Sometime in the next 2 weeks I will bring an official request from the association to the Ministry of Social Development for equipment and machines. At that point, the delegue will schedule a meeting to discuss exactly what their donation will be. The Ministry of Health is sending equipment to my local health clinic to be stored for use in the health room of the women's center.

More to come!

Holiday Weekend

2009-11-29T07:58:00.000-08:00

What a holiday filled weekend this was!

It all started, of course, with Thanksgiving on Thursday. Because Eid Al-Adha was on Saturday, Peace Corps put a travel restriction in place for all volunteers from Wednesday to Wednesday (which means I am still under house arrest). During Eid, people are traveling all over the country to go home for the holiday. Consequently, traffic is bad and there are many car accidents. Peace Corps (rightly so) seems to think it is better if volunteers stay home for the week. This travel restriction meant no chance of spending Thanksgiving with other volunteer friends. So, I celebrated Thanksgiving with my wonderful host family. Tuesday and Wednesday I went shopping in Tiznit and my souk for all the Thanksgiving ingredients I could find.

Thursday morning Najma came to my house, arms full of pots, pans, utensils, plates, and casserole dishes. My 2 saucepans and 4 plates were not going to cut it for our Thanksgiving feast. My wonderful host sister stayed in my kitchen with me from 9:30 until 2:30, chopping, peeling, cutting, mashing, cooking, frying, sauteing, and baking.

We started by making an apple pie. Then, we prepared the 5lbs of turkey I found in Tiznit, the green bean casserole, the stuffing, and last but not least, the mashed potatoes. I was a little nervous about everything being ready by 2:30 when my guests were expected; however, with Najma's expert ability to work incredibly efficiently in the kitchen, we had all the food ready a few minutes early.

While I forgot to take pictures of the finished products, here is the stuffing and turkey cooking!

My recipes and cooking schedule, posted in the kitchen.

My 8 guests and I thoroughly enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal, and I honestly believe they really liked the food.

Friday, after sleeping in to recover from Thursday's cooking extravaganza, I spent 5 hours baking Eid bread with Ijjou, Najma, and a few of my neighbors. My host family has this awesome outdoor oven used to make mass amounts of bread. The oven (heated by fire and clay) holds about 8-9 rounds of bread at a time, which is very convenient when each family makes 20 or more rounds of bread for Eid. I had a really nice time with them (as usual), even though I was told that no one will want to marry me if I don't learn to make bread faster. :)

As we finished up the last batch of bread, we made tea and bsis*, which we ate with hot fresh bread. It is hard to believe that this was the last Eid I will spend with my host family. I am definitely going to miss making bread with them!

*bsis. Anyone trying to gain wait? Yes? If so, make bsis. Bsis consists of flour, butter, a little salt, and eggs. It is DELICIOUS, and probably the best weight-gaining food out there.

Saturday morning, my host family slaughtered a sheep and 2 goats for the Eid celebration. This is done in honor of Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his son for God, before God told him to sacrifice a sheep instead. Although Muslim families all over the world practice this tradition, people celebrate in very different ways. Some families give all the meat to those in need, while some (like my host family) eat every last organ, and have enough meat to last them for 2 or more months.

Here's the poor guy a few minutes before sacrificing time. He had no idea what was coming.

And here are his intestines. Yummy!

While the animals were being gutted and all that jazz, Najma and I started making liver and fat kebabs. Mmmm good.

I had a very enjoyable day with my host family; however, I can safely say I will not mind if that was the last sheep stomach I ever eat again in my life.

Now that Thanksgiving and Eid are over, Advent begins! Last week I decided it would be nice to have an Advent wreath this year. Unfortunately those aren't exactly readily available in rural Morocco. So I decided to make one! It isn't so much an Advent wreath as it is an Advent row...but I think it gets the point across. Plus I did my Christmas decorating! Too bad there was no eggnog and homemade Mom cookies.

Not an REI Girl

2009-11-22T05:25:00.000-08:00

So. I am a Peace Corps Volunteer. I bathe with buckets of water. I use a turkish toilet. I sleep wherever....floor, ponj, bed, anywhere. I wash all my clothes by hand. I don't wear make-up.

But I am NOT an REI girl.

It has taken me almost a year and a half to realize this. When I was packing for Peace Corps almost 2 years ago, I felt the need to leave all my cute clothes and jewelry and everything at home...and go shopping at REI. Since I've been here, I've felt bad painting my nails and blow drying my hair from time to time. REI girls don't paint their nails and blow dry their hair after pouring buckets of water over their heads to bathe. They suck it up and leave the girly stuff behind.

But, I am not an REI girl.

So I've decided to stop feeling bad. Now I paint my nails with no shame, I wear jewelry all the time, I trim my bangs, I blow dry my hair, I wear mascara when I teach, I always put lotion on my hands so they stay soft, I wear perfume once in a blue moon, and I try to look cute sometimes.
Is that so bad?????

Today, I even bought a purse!

I was on a hunt for Q-tips, and what did I find instead? A store with an honest to God purse display! Like a real purse wall. Stuffed with tissue to look nice and all. Now, I would say this store owner did a LOT with what he has to work with, which is knock off brand purses. I was just shocked. Absolutely blown away. This is the first time I have seen such a display in anything but a fancy rich-people boutique since arriving in Morocco.

I just showered the store owner with compliments, explaining to him that i worked for a "tahanut lli iznza lsac irghlan" (a store that sells expensive purses ie Coach) in America and that I am extremely impressed by his marketing and visuals.

I looked about about 50 purses, and I swear, if I still worked at Coach, I would hire this guy on the spot. He kept bringing out similar purses in new colors and styles for me to look at, and led me to a, get this, FULL LENGTH MIRROR so I could check them out. He even tried to "add-on" by showing me small luggage. I mean, we are talking all out phenomenal salesmanship. Almost brought a tear to my eye!

My purse ended up costing 100 dirhams (Like $13). And it is just SO cute.

Did I mention, I am not an REI girl?

Buta Saga

2009-11-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

And here is what happened last week. (Besides fully funding the women's center!)

In order to appreciate this story, it necessary to understand how money works here. Basically, credit cards are useless. Even in a big city like Agadir, I can't use my credit card....well, anywhere. So when I need money I need to use my Peace Corps bank card in Tiznit, and make sure to take out enough to last me until my next trip to Tiznit.

So I took out 400 dirhams about 2 1/2 weeks ago (approx. $50), thinking that this would definitely last me until my next trip to Tiznit. Well, then I ended up spending a bunch on art supplies for my middle schoolers, buying a lot of food to host some Peace Corps friends at my house, and paying for my water bill etc. Then, last Weds, i realized I had just 25 dirhams (enough for my taxi ride to Tiznit), and 10 dirhams to last me until I make that trip. We are talking about $1.25 to last me oohhhhh, about a week and a half.

Now, I had some vegetables and milk and dry grains in my house, so I wasn't too worried about food. But then I was heating water to bathe, and 'lo and behold my buta gas ran out. And it was cold-ish and almost dark. That meant no hope of getting my host dad to bring a new buta up from souk that evening.

So I went to my host family's house and they, being the kind folk they are, gave me a mini-buta gas to use that night until my host dad could bring a new buta up from souk the next day.

The only problem is, buta gas tanks cost 40 dirhams, and I had only 10!!!! So the next morning, I went to my fav. store guy, who also happens to be my buta gas guy. And I was like, "OK, so here's the deal....." and basically told him I have no buta and no money to pay for a new one.

And that ultra nice guy told me, "No problem, pay whenever you can."

Isn't that tooooo nice!?!?!?

So I got my buta gas. Yay! And I'm going to Tiznit tomorrow and will be able to pay him back. Later I was in another store looking at hand cream, but it was too expensive for my 10 dirham budget. The store guy immediately told me to take it, and pay for it whenever I can.

Can you even IMAGINE that in Chicago or Schaumburg? I walk into a Walgreens, and um, I'd like this lotion, but I don't have any money.............the clerk would laugh in my face!!!

It is times like this that I appreciate being in rural Morocco SO much.

Loss

2009-11-18T05:48:00.001-08:00

It is with great sadness that I write this post. And I don't mean to bring everyone down; to the contrary, I believe that all of your thoughts and prayers can benefit the many people going through such a difficult time right now.

On Monday, Peace Corps Morocco lost a cherished volunteer. Soyoun was a Youth Development Volunteer in the Zagora region of southern Morocco. She had been serving in Morocco since September 2008, and was loved by her fellow volunteers and Moroccan friends.

While I didn't know Soyoun personally, she was a member of our Peace Corps community, and left a family mourning at home, and a country mourning in Morocco.

Please, add Soyoun's family and friends to your prayers today, and keep them on your mind.

FULLY FUNDED and then some!

2009-11-14T02:18:00.000-08:00

FULLY FUNDED

You know what that means? FULLY FUNDED? It means that some amazing people, some family, some friends, some acquaintances, some colleagues, some former professors, some friends of friends, some great organizations, and some people I don't even know saw the value of constructing a women's community center for my village, and donated over $7000 in ONE WEEK.

That brings the total donations to $16,902! It is ABSOLUTELY incredible.

On Saturday, one AMAZING woman from church and her family hosted a great fundraiser for the women's center, collecting even more by providing henna tattoos, hand massages, and manicures! My host sister and host aunt and I had the opportunity to talk to folks at the fundraiser, and it sounded like everyone had a great time!

Sandy, my mom, and Sister-Steph cooked some great Moroccan food to share at the fundraiser. I'm so impressed, and so were my host aunt and host sister!!!! Pictures to follow.

In addition to all this, we have $3,500 from USAID to make the women's center even BETTER.

So, BASICALLY, what I'm trying to say is that PEOPLE ARE AMAZING.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE WOMEN'S CENTER IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER! You leave me and the girls of my community absolutely speechless. Or maybe not quite speechless, because clearly I have a lot to say. :)

Tea, Tea with Jam, Jam and Bread!

2009-11-13T00:17:00.000-08:00

Well I'm just happy as can be this morning. I woke up at 6am this morning singing "tea, tea with jam, jam and bread. dun dun. tea, tea with jam, jam and bread...." Who can identify where THAT is from???

So I made myself some tea, tea with jam, jam and bread, and continued on my merry way. Earl Grey tea from home, apricot jam, and great homemade wheat bread from my host aunt!

Ok, so maybe I didn't drink my tea out of a china tea cup, and have berries sprinkled around me...but you get the idea!

So in my happy state, I thought I would take a second to thank everyone who is making this women's center a reality. The women in my community and I appreciate your generosity more than you can possible imagine.

Just think. Close your eyes and think that you are a 40-something year old woman. You have 4 kids.....2 of which never got to go to school because they had to help shepherd the sheep as they grew up. The other 2 are in school now, but you can't help them with their homework because, unfortunately, YOU never had the opportunity to learn to read and write. So you watch them struggle, helpless to relieve their frustrations.

You watch TV, but don't understand the language of the newscasters....you want to read the Bible (or in this case the Quran), but you don't know how to read. And you want more than anything to help sustain your family economically, but how?

Maybe you have a baby who needs to go to the doctor for vaccinations. But maybe you hurt your back from 40 years of labor in the fields, so it is too hard for you to walk the 3 miles to the doctor. And you don't have a car. And your husband is off in a big city trying to earn a living for you and your children. So the vaccination will just have to wait.

But thanks to the immense generosity of my wonderful family, friends, collegues, acquaintances, and people I don't even know, this will all change.

10 days!!!!

2009-11-05T04:06:00.000-08:00

This morning, I received word from Peace Corps that USAID has approved my grant request for $3,500. This means we are $3,500 closer to being ready to build the Women's Center. This also means we have $4,300 left to raise. And 10 days to do it!!!

After 10 days, the project will be taken off the Peace Corps website, and will be considered closed for funding. We have decided to take whatever funds we have when these 10 days are up. This is to ensure project completion before I finish my service here in May.

HOWEVER, if we don't raise the $4,300 over the next week and a half, we will have to reduce some of the services we are planning on offering to the girls when the Women's Center is built.

For example, $4,300 could be the amount that funds the construction of the literacy room. Or the health room. If we don't raise these funds, one of the services of the Women's Center will have to go.

Please, share this need with friends and family and co workers and anyone who might want to donate in the next 10 days. Also, a wonderful family from CHS is hosting a Henna Party next Saturday (the 14th) to help raise some last minute funds. Contact my mom or sister for details!

Here it is, one more time, the link to Donate to the Women's Center.

The website will not reflect the $3,500 grant that was just approved. This is because it is a grant through USAID and not Peace Corps. Remember, $4,300 is the magic number to have a complete Women's Center!

Here are the girls standing on the land that will soon be the Talbrjte Women's Center!

Blueprint for the Women's Center

Random

2009-11-04T05:32:00.000-08:00

A few random things today.

#1 Our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is in Morocco. She is here for a peace conference ending a week-long trip in the Middle East. Yesterday, the new group of Health Volunteers had the opportunity to meet her during their In-Service Training in Marrakech. I clearly left for Peace Corps a year too early. I could have met her!!

While she was meeting the volunteers, she acknowledged Muriel, the oldest volunteer serving in Peace Corps. Read about it at CNN.com!

#2. I miss Pumpkin Spice Lattes. This is my second year missing Pumpkin Spice Latte season and I just cannot believe it. FORTUNATELY, I can recreate other Starbucks lattes in my house. A certain guy named Wael sent me these Starbucks syrups.

The folks at Starbucks made sure to tell him that I have a month to finish the bottle of syrup after it is opened. Clearly, this is not an issue for me. I took this picture 2 weeks after opening the caramel syrup!!!

#3 I really enjoy trouble maker students. I can say this now that I'm done teaching for the day. Perhaps when this certain boy was acting up I wasn't as appreciative as I am now. But really. This certain boy brought a rubber bloody hand to class and tried to shake my hand with it. How clever! I mean, I had to confiscate the thing, but really I was impressed with this certain boy. In fact, that may be something I would have done in middle school........

#4 Chandler is getting very good at playing fetch. In fact, that is about all he ever wants to do these days. Recently I've been waking up at 6:30am to Chandler throwing his favorite fetch toy (one of my scrunchies!) at my face over and over again. I will make a video and post it soon! My cat thinks he is a dog!!!!

The Donkey Saga

2009-10-29T03:46:00.000-07:00

So I teach at the middle school every Wednesday at 9am. Therefore, I leave my house at 8 in order to have enough time to walk the 5km. Sometimes I walk with one of my neighbor kids, who is on his way to the middle school, sometimes I run into some women and walk with them. Sometimes I walk alone. Today I walked with a donkey.

Well, kind of.

As I made my way down to the road from my house, I ran into some ladies and as we greeted each other, a donkey ran in front of us! Not a donkey with the bu-donkey (donkey owner).......just a donkey. And really, although he was alone, he seemed to know where he was going. One of the ladies ran out trying to grab him, but the donkey would have none of it. He just started trotting along the road to souk. I mean, we are talking a donkey walking down the road, as if it is the most normal thing in the world. As if he was tired of living on the mountain and wanted to go shopping in souk. He clearly knew what he wanted, and that was to get to souk. He didn't deviate from the road once. The ladies and I just laughed and laughed as we walked behind the donkey making his way along the road.

I wish I had a picture! We were really wondering if the runaway donkey had a plan for once he got to souk.

Finally when we were just about a kilometer from souk, a car trapped the donkey and caught a hold of him. We turned around and the poor bu-donkey was running toward us. Apparently his donkey was not satisfied with his life on the mountain and wanted to look for a new home. Ah well. His escape attempt was foiled.

But it provided me with an entertaining morning!!

The thing I was tagged in.....

2009-10-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

So my SisterSteph tagged me in a photo memory blog dealio and I think that is just too fun! You have to open your first photo folder, and choose the 10th picture and post it. And tell about it. Stephanie's was too funny: her and her college friends in their tanning phase. I have to admit I adopted the tanning thing for a while too. I mean, what Sophomore in High School doesn't want to be like her cool college-aged sister?? Thank God that's over!

So here is my photo memory picture.....

Senior Prom!!! It was May 2004, right before we graduated from High School. Cathy and Keiko, two of my best high school friends (who are still important to me today!) and I went in a group together to the Prom. I miss dressing up like that. :)

Sufism

2009-10-21T05:15:00.000-07:00

So I am reading a book, called "No god but God," by Reza Aslan. It is about the "origins, evolution, and future of Islam." My friend Meredith read it in one of her Islamic Studies classes in college and she passed it along to me here in Morocco.

I DEFINITELY recommend this book for anyone who wants to know more about Islam. But I have to warn, it can be pretty dense at times. Right now, I'm reading about Sufism, a sect of Islam practiced mostly in South Asia

This passage from the book is supposed to be an explanation of Sufism, but I think it is something nice for people of all religions to read and keep in mind.

A Persion, a Turk, an Arab, and a Greek were traveling to a distant land when they began arguing over how to spend the single coin they possessed among themselves. All four craved food, but the Persian wanted to spend the coin on "angur;" the Turk, on "uzum;" the Arab, on "inab;" and the Greek, on "stafil." THe argument became heated as each man insisted on having what he desired.

A linguist passing by overheard their quarrel. "Give the coin to me," he said. "I undertake to satisfy the desires of all of you."

Taking the coin, the linguist went to a nearby shop and bought four small bunches of grapes. He then returned to the men and gave them each a bunch.

"This is my "angur!!" cried the Persian.

"But this is what I call "uzum," replied the Turk.

"You have brought me my "inab," the Arab said.

"No! This iin my language is "stafil."

All of a sudden, the men realized that what each of them had desired was in fact the same thing, only they did not know how to express themselves to each other.

- Jalal ad-Din Rumi

Weddings Weddings Weddings

2009-10-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Over the past 2 weeks, I have attended 3 weddings here. The first was my friend, and women's center participant, Fadma. She had a traditional Berber wedding, as do all of the girls in my site. The night of the wedding party, all of the guests eat and sing and dance (of course separated by gender), but the bride sits alone in a room. The next morning everyone accompanies the bride to her husband's home, where people from his village throw another party.

The first night, the groom's family brings a sack full of shoes, candy, henna, dates, etc to the bride's family

The second day. The women from the bride's side are bringing the bride to the groom's family's house.

Last Saturday, my boss' daughter got married in Rabat. Traveling up to Rabat for less than 24 hours was quite a hassle and very tiring, but DEFINITELY worth it to attend such a lovely wedding. We had a great time dancing and spending time with various Peace Corps staff....such a great time that we left the wedding at 4:30am. Just in time for me to meet my 5:00am train in order to travel back down to my site for Najma's wedding.

Emmy and I getting ready for the wedding at the Peace Corps office. Meredith was nice enough to lend me her beautiful takshita for the occasion.

The bride is brought in on this throne carried by 4 men.

She also changes her dress a lot. Every hour at some Moroccan weddings!

The bride and groom with the volunteers, the brides father, Mostafa, and our other boss, Rachid. Note the dress change.

Our first course. AMAZING seafood pastilla. It may be the best food I've ever had in Morocco.

Second course. Lots and lots of amazingly flavored chicken. Most tables put chicken on their plates and ate it with knives an forks. As volunteers who live out in the country, we used the communal dish.
Another dress change! Layla's husband looked more than a little overwhelmed.

Last dress of the evening. This is the one she wore for their wedding in France.

So after rushing from the train to the bus to a taxi to another taxi, I made it back to my site in one day. Just in time to celebrate my best friend in site, Najma's, wedding. Same type of wedding as Fadma's, but I was very sad to see my best friend leave!

"Ahwach" or singing and music at Najma's wedding

Same deal as before. Sack full of shoes and things. Oh, and I forgot there are always cones of sugar as well!

The next day I had to teach....but I tell you after one heck of a weekend, I slept 13 hours Monday night.

Visit!

2009-10-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

After Ramadan, I was lucky enough have Wael visit. Egypt is close enough to Morocco, but most Egyptians have never been out here. However, Moroccans watch Egyptian TV and listen to Egyptian music, so almost everyone understands and can speak Egyptian Arabic (even though it is completely different than Moroccan Arabic!).

We got a huge charge out of various people's reactions to us. Wael looks Moroccan, like he should speak Moroccan Arabic. And I look pretty foreign, like I shouldn't. On MANY occasions people spoke to Wael in Moroccan Arabic and when he turned to me confused, I answered. And then we would move on, leaving that person scratching his head.

In Essaouira

Essaouira

Lunch with everyone in Essaouira

We rented a car to be more comfortable and save money. Neither of which happened!

The Marina in Agadir

Because we had the car we got to do cool things like go to Agadir Oufalla at night!
The road from my house to Tiznit. The first time I've been able to take pictures along the way!

Wael and Chandler bonding at my house for lunch.

Just Kidding!

2009-10-17T11:26:00.001-07:00

So remember how I said it was cold? Well its not. I mean, it was then, but now it is hot again. Very hot. In fact, it got up to 110 degrees this week. 90 overnight. I have mixed feelings about this because the cold is pretty unpleasant, but at the same time the heat means bugs. And I thought bug season was over.

I wanted a picture to go along with this post. But I couldn't find one of the sun. So here is a picture of the drive from my site to Tiznit.

It's Cold!

2009-09-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

So I called up Mom yesterday to tell her how cold I am. She didn't have too much sympathy for me. The high yesterday was 80! I was so chilly I had to wear a sweatshirt. And then it got down to 60 at night and that was just too much.

I guess winter is making its way here.

Ramadan is now coming to an end, with Eid (End of Ramadan holiday) falling on either Saturday or Sunday of next week. We all get to go out and watch the moon to find out.

I thought I would post a couple of pictures of some ftar meals I've made recently.

Starting with the teapot, we've got milk with a little tinsy bit of coffee, cinnamon and a lot of sugar. Traditionally people break fast with dates and milk. Harira is the soup, then chebekia, dates, tomato-basil biscuits, slou and bread!

This is a ftar I made for just me. Still got the dates and chebekia and slou, but this time with skillet biscuits and anis rolls. Oh, and the soup is a traditional breakfast soup made from couscous.

Week 1 of Ramadan

2009-08-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

Amazingly, Ramadan is already 1/4 of the way over. And a great week it has been! Since Ramadan began, I've:

....had Najma-host sister and Mostafa over to break fast. I cooked them Moroccan food which scared the bajeebies out of me, but they claim they liked it! They did, however, make fun of me for using rotini noodles in the soup instead of vermicelli noodles. Oops.

....helped 3 different girls in my community make chebekia (special Ramadan pastry). It takes all day to make, and quite labor intensive!

....spent the night with my host sister Najma at her aunt's house in souk. Her aunt is French/Moroccan and we had a blast together cooking, and after fasting, eating! The next day my host brother and I taught their aunt, this little old Berber lady, the words to "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas. Too cute!

....spent 3 lovely days with Meredith, watching Ellen and Friends in the morning, cooking in the afternoon, and eating in the evening!

....made my own chebekia! Meredith and I were fortunate enough to have Najma-friend, Najma-host sister, and Aicha-neighbor come help out. It turned out delicious!

....broken fast 2 times at my host family's house. I made cinnamon rolls which went over very well. I was lucky enough to be escorted back to my house both times by 3 host siblings. Quite the entourage!

....spent a few mornings teaching French to the women's center girls in my community. I've been focusing on the girls who don't know any French. We are currently working on the alphabet. Especially vowels! a, e, i, o, u!

....had Najma-friend and her mom over to break fast....another attempt at Moroccan food, but this time I made soft pretzels as well! Najma's mom loves Chandler, and definitely paid more attention to my cat than to my cooking. :)

And here are some chebekia pictures.....

Making the dough was pretty intense, but rolling it out and shaping the chebekia was fun!

Then you fry it, and dunk the fried chebekia in honey.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds, and enjoy! Or rather, wait until it's time to break fast. Then enjoy! :)

Festival at Sidi Ahmed ou Moussa (aka Tazerwalt)

2009-08-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Now, I don’t know too much about blogging etiquette, but I must warn you that my next few posts will be out of order. Tara came to visit a month ago, and I will post that after I post this, which occurred before Ramadan began. Sorry for any confusion.

Last week was al-muggar (saint festival) at Sidi Ahmed ou Moussa, aka Tazerwalt. Tazerwalt is a town 12km from Meredith’s site, and each year they host a huge festival in honor of Sidi Ahmed ou Moussa……a saint from a long long time ago. He was a good person. Allah blesses him. And that is all I know. I tried to get specifics on this guy to no avail.

Anyway, Tazerwalt has a shrine to the saint, and each year thousands and thousands of people come from all over Morocco to visit the shrine and enjoy the festival. Two years ago, there was a volunteer in Tazerwalt, and she set up a health booth at the festival to disseminate basic health information to the thousands of visitors. This year, Meredith decided to do the same.

Meredith spent the week leading up to the festival in communication with the local government of Tazerwalt as well as their health staff. We were fortunate to receive support from both entities, which made setting up a booth much easier.

Over a three-day period, we had 11 volunteers working at our health booth. We spent our afternoons and evenings talking about dental health, sanitation, hygiene, and washing kid’s hands for candy. Generally we had a good time and felt like we were getting our point across. We also enjoyed walking around the festival after dark, eating camel tagine and sugar-coated chickpeas. Delicious!

11 volunteers working the health booth meant 11 volunteers staying at Meredith’s house. It was quite the experience. When we cooked I felt like I was in the movie Yours, Mine, and Ours, making food for that many people! And sleeping…there were volunteers sleeping everywhere! On the ponjs, on the bed, on the floor, on the roof. It was also ridiculously hot, so I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I returned to my much more temperate mountain on Thursday. But it was a great week, and we all loved having a chance to get some work done in summer!

Pictures to come!!

Ramadan!

2009-08-22T14:44:00.001-07:00

Well here we are again, almost a year since my first encounter with Ramadan. And it’s back. In some Arab countries, the start date of Ramadan is fixed; people know ahead of time when to begin fasting. In Morocco, the beginning of Ramadan is decided the traditional way, by the moon. We knew that Ramadan would start today (Saturday) or tomorrow. So last night people all over Morocco went outside at dusk to see if they could spot the moon. If the slightest crescent can be seen, Ramadan begins. If not, one more day.

Najma (host sister) and I went outside and spent a good 45 minutes looking for the moon, and nothing. So, I went home, assuming Ramadan would not start until Sunday. However, a couple of hours later, I received texts from 3 different people letting me know that the important people did in fact see the moon. So Ramadan began today.

Fortunately I was prepared. When Meredith and I were in my souk yesterday I stocked up on dates, chebekia (delicious Ramadan pastry), and the makings of harira (Ramadan soup). So I made myself a few snacks in anticipation of my early morning meal and went to sleep. At 4:00am this morning I had sahoor, the meal people eat before fasting begins for the day.

You may ask, why in the world is Catholic Erin fasting again this year? There are so many reasons!!!!

I LOVE Ramadan. The food is phenomenal. I could seriously eat Ramadan food every day of my life.
I appreciate food and water so much more. For anyone who has never fasted before, I recommend it, even just for a day. The feeling you get after fasting is indescribable. After basically being deprived of food and water all day, to be able to eat and drink whatever you want is just unbelievably amazing. It shows how much we take easy access to food and water for granted. I’ve never enjoyed food as much as I do after fasting.
Did you know that 900 million people in the world do not have access to clean drinking water? Fasting gives those of use who have access to whatever we want a chance to be in solidarity with the less fortunate. It helps us to begin to understand their pain, instead of just feeling bad for them.
Living in a Muslim country, fasting lets the people in my community know that I respect them, their culture and their religion. Every day people ask if I am fasting, and when I answer affirmatively, they get so excited! I feel honored that they always include me in Ramadan activities, even though they know I am not Muslim.
It is fun! I especially like breaking fast at my host family’s house. We get all of our ftar (breakfast) meal ready a few minutes before the dusk prayer call, and sit quietly waiting for the sound of the prayer call. And then we all smile, sit back, and enjoy the exquisite food before us.
I just need to reiterate the delicious food we make for Ramadan. Today, I helped Najma make slou, an almondy-buttery-spicy-flour thing that is just so delicious! Tomorrow morning I am going over to make chebekia. And the dates, OH the dates! It is date season so they are fresh off the trees of Zagora (a southern province).

Last year my first day of Ramadan was spent carrying a cat on 5 hours of public transportation and I was miserable. I made a much better decision today, and stayed at home for most of the day. I made an apple cinnamon cake to take to my host family, and started reading parts of the Quran (how can we respect a religion if we don’t understand it?).

Two hours before breaking fast, Ijjou (host mom) and I went outside to pick prickly pears and figs off the trees. We both just wanted to keep busy until we could eat. I had a great ftar with my lovely host family, and now I am back home, thoroughly enjoying liter after liter of water.

Ramadan Mubarak Said!

Coffee Drinkers Are Lazy?

2009-08-16T00:27:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking about this for a while. In America, most coffee drinkers use a drip coffee machine, right? Well, here in Morocco, I have a French Press. I absolutely love it. It makes great coffee, and is easy to use. Or so I thought. All I need to do is scoop 2 spoons full of ground coffee into the press, pour in boiling, wait 5 minutes, and voila! Delicious coffee. Even Starbucks personnel claim that French Press coffee is the best. So why then had I never heard of, let alone seen anyone use a French Press before i came here?

So then I started thinking about tea drinkers. As far as I am aware, tea drinkers don't generally use some sort of drip tea machine. They boil water, and wait for their tea to steep. Sounds like the same process as my French Press to me. Why not coffee drinkers? The only thing I can possibly think of is that coffee drinkers are lazier than tea drinkers. Or maybe they are just more rushed.

Anyway, I woke up with these thoughts this morning. Now I will finish my French Press coffee and make the trek down to souk before it gets too hot.

Summer Summer Summer

2009-08-13T07:14:00.001-07:00

Summer in Southern Morocco means a lot of things. Not one of those things, however, is work. It means long boring days, it means talking about the heat with the neighborhood women, it means trying to stay cool by wearing soaking wet clothes, it means an overflowing toilet……….ok maybe I am getting a head of myself here.

The highlight of summer in Morocco this year for me was a visit by my dear friend Tara. It was such a highlight, that I will blog about it separately.

Some summer events and happenings:

Going to bathe, and discovering that my tap water is almost boiling. Not bathing. Going back at try again after dark, when the water has cooled off.
Unsuccessfully trying to fall asleep in the heat. Soaking my clothes in cold water and hoping I fall asleep before they dry.
Going to souk at 6:30am in order to beat the heat. Getting caught up in running errands, delaying my return. Walking back up my mountain in the 10am heat, soaked in sweat.
Excitedly checking my email to get updates from Steph, Megan, and Lissa on their weddin preparations!
Walking slowly to my host family’s in the afternoon, trying not to break a sweat. Drinking tea and watching Arabic music videos with my host sister.
Staying up WAY too late, trying to take advantage of the cool weather after 10pm.
Teaching French to the Women’s Center girls starting at 6pm when the sun starts to think about maybe going down. My house smelling a lot like sweat after they leave.
Perfecting the art of iced coffee.
Drinking the perfect iced coffee in the morning as I check email and see if Steph or Kristin have updated their blogs. I love pictures of little Layla!
Heading home the second I hear the Maghrib prayer call (indicating the sun is going down). Don’t want to be caught outside when all the bugs and dogs and wild boars are around!

Last week, however, I had an event a little out of the ordinary. As my most recent visitors can tell you, my toilet has not been, lets say functioning, as it should. Having heard horror stories from other volunteers about toilet pits being drained in town, I was avoiding calling my landlord until it became absolutely necessary.

Finally on Thursday, I called and told my landlord, that “illa lmushkil d bitlma. Ur i3dl. Ur sngh ma tiyagn.” (There is a problem with my toilet. It doesn’t work. I don’t know what is ailing it). He told me he would come check it out the next day.

So Friday afternoon he did some tinkering (smelly tinkering!) and told me that the pit is full. Now, these pits last around 7 years, so I felt VERY unlucky to be here for the 7^th and final year of this pit’s capacity. So, he told me, he would return the next day with a worker and they would dig a new pit. Oh, and by the way, he told me I would have to provide tea and lunch for them. And none of that crazy American food I eat. Real Moroccan food.

Now, after my landlord left I was very concerned. And really, I’m not sure if I was more concerned about the whole digging of pits process, or the fact that I had absolutely no food in my house, and no time to get food to make a Moroccan meal. Literally, I had 2 carrots and half a cucumber. So I headed to my host family’s to ask what to do. My host mom offered vegetables, but didn’t have any meat. She suggested I get up super early to go to souk the next morning and come back with food to make a Moroccan meal. And they would even come over and help me if I couldn’t.

So Saturday morning I went to souk at 6:30am, and bought lots of vegetables and chicken for this Moroccan tagine. Oh, and sugar, because Moroccans generally like LOTS of sugar in their tea, and I was worried I didn’t have enough. By the time I got back to my house, the worker and my landlord were chilling in the shade. Apparently the pit WASN’T full. (HAMDULLILAH). It was just clogged. When I travel for weeks at a time, and no water goes down the toilet, it becomes a problem. BUT, a problem I can fix. So I happily made them some sweet Moroccan tea, and they left on their merry ways. But then I had all this chicken. So I brought the chicken to my host family’s and we had a good laugh over my toilet story.

Needless to say, I now have a fully-functioning toilet, without the public embarrassment!

Baby Party

2009-07-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

So I don’t know if I blogged about my new host-niece yet, but my host sister Fadma gave birth to the tiniest sweetest little girl a few weeks ago. I am so proud of her so far for various reasons. She gave birth in a clinic (instead of at home), she already took Maria for vaccinations, and she is only breast-feeding her.

So this past Sunday was the Baby Party! I’m not exactly sure if the party is for the naming of the baby, or a religious event, or just to celebrate that the baby was born. Anyway, I got all dressed up like the girls here, and celebrated with my village! Although I am still not a fan of parties here that last past 4am, this one wasn’t too bad. The actual celebration was the same (as far as I could tell) as a wedding celebration. Fadma came onto the roof to say hello to the guests once, but no one ever saw the baby.

At 4am, as I was nodding off and dreaming of my house (only like 100 meters away!), my host mom, Ijjou, asked if I wanted to go home. I was planning on staying until the end, since it was a party thrown by my host family, but sleep sounded like a great idea. Right away, Ijjou called down to Omar and Mustafa (2 of my host brothers) asking them to walk me home. And as I started to leave my host sister, Najma told me the same thing. Make sure Omar or Mustafa walks you home. Both host brothers offered to leave the party and walk me home without complaint.

Really, that simple act of kindness meant a lot to me. No matter how long I live in my village, I will never truly be a member of my host family. But they treat me as one anyway. And living so many thousands of miles from my family really stinks sometimes, so knowing that I have a loving family here makes life a lot easier.

Congratulations Fadma!

Independence Day/Birthday

2009-07-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

This year for Independence Day/my birthday, my friends and I decided to do our best to recreate what an American 4th of July celebration. So my region-mates and 2 close friends from other regions came down to celebrate.

Friday night we stayed at Hanneke’s and made raspberry vinaigrette goat cheese salad and pizza rolls (from scratch…even the wrapper).

The next morning we headed out to the road to wait for transportation to Mirleft, a beachtown in our region. We spent the day at the beach...

some of us building sandcastles....

some of us digging holes in the sand....

and some of us swimming fully clothed.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the beach; we are truly blessed in this region to be near water. Once the sun got too hot, we returned to Hanneke’s for our 4^th of July barbeque.

We made (well Hanneke did most of the cooking) potato salad, pasta salad, guacamole, burgers on the grill, and wine spritzers.

Meredith and I spent quite some time decorating the wonderful cookie cake she made for me. Pink frosting with pink icing roses!!!! She did a great job teaching me how to make the roses, but I don’t think I quite have it yet.

We had a great time and I had a fabulous birthday!

Phone Saga

2009-07-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

So last week Meredith and I realized that our Moroccan ID Cards (carte de sejours) were going to expire. Being such law-abiding girls, we headed to Anezi (near Meredith’s site) to stop by the gendarmes and apply for new ones. Usually visiting the gendarmes means a full day of waiting; therefore, when we were in and out in 30 minutes, Meredith and I were extremely impressed. In fact, I believe we decided it was the single most efficient bureaucratic moment we’ve had in Morocco so far.

So we found a car to take us back to Meredith’s house where we were going to make lunch. And then I left my phone in the car. Ooops. After lunch I went to Meredith’s souk to find transportation to my site, and put the word out that I’d lost my phone. So Ali at the post office knew, and one of the butahanoots (store owners) knew, and an Anezi taxi driver knew. All three said they would keep calling my phone to see if someone answered as well as hunt down the driver.

I went back to my site hopeful that the wonderful people of Meredith’s site would pull through with this phone business. But everyone I talked to seem to think that my phone was long gone. So I prepared to buy a new phone and number that weekend.

2 days later, I went to my post office, and Hassan, my postman, told me that although I didn’t have any mail, my phone was waiting for me in Meredith’s site!!!! Hamdullilah!

So after I left my phone in a random car, and three days passed, I got it back! It is a true testament to the kind of life I’m living here in Morocco. I mean, first of all, if that happened in a city, I probably wouldn’t even TRY to find it. But people here know Meredith and me, and made a conscious effort to find my phone. I’m just tickled pink by the kindness of people!!!!

As a side-note, my phone broke two days later and I had to get a new one anyway. I think the phone gods were trying to tell me something.

Summer!

2009-07-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

Since it is July, I believe I can safely say summer is in full swing here in Morocco. Today, the temperature is 110 degrees in the shade; I have been moving as little as possible since I woke up this morning. I’ve had frozen yogurt, iced crystal lite, iced karkaday (Egyptian hibiscus tea), and iced coffee (Raspberry chocolate! Thanks to Aunt Judy). Needless to say my friends down here in Tiznit and I are handling the situation pretty well. Two weeks ago we went to Sidi Ifni, a beach town south of Tiznit. This weekend we will go to Mirleft, another beach town in our region. Although we still have to dress like nuns on the beach, the breeze is great!

Our weekend in Sidi Ifni was wonderful. We went with 2 of the new health volunteers in our region, who are still living with host families. So the 5 of us (Meredith, Hanneke, Jess, Marjorie, me) rented an apartment on the beach. Here is our view.

Since we were still in our region, we dressed as we normally would in our sites….just rolled up the pants a little. J And went to the beach!

A few days later, our Peace Corps Program Assistant, Rachid, came to Tiznt to visit the new volunteers. In the morning, he picked up Meredith and drove her to my house, and while he was off visiting one of the new volunteers, Nicole, Meredith and I proceeded to cook a relatively Chinese lunch for him.

Chicken egg rolls (we even made the wrappers), Vegetable stir-fry, and Egg Drop Soup. We diverged from the theme a bit with Egyptian tea to drink and apple pie for dessert. Meredith and I had a lot of fun cooking and overall the meal was a success!

Oh, and Mer brought her kitten, Toni Almeida (she’s a girl, hence the “i”) over for a play date with Chandler while we cooked. They didn’t exactly love each other, but Toni had fun in my fridge.

I was going to continue with the beach-on-the-weekends theme this past weekend by going to Agadir, until I was recruited to help my host family on Sunday. I was told to show up at their house Sunday morning, to help prepare food for a bunch of men. Well, it turns out “a bunch of men” means 40 men and later, 50 women. We were cooking tajine and couscous like mad-people! And making tea until it was coming out of our ears. It was crazy. Still not clear on why this all happened, but I believe it is something related to the mosque, since the men were reciting the Quran in between meals. Anyway, I had fun-ish. I mean, hanging out with some of my favorite women is always fun, but cooking and cleaning for 90 is not how I will choose to spend every Sunday. I have renewed respect for those in the catering business!!

Back in Site

2009-06-17T05:40:00.001-07:00

Back in site, I have directed my attention toward the women’s center once again. When I arrived back from Egypt, the total collections had reach about $3,000 (so exciting! It takes some volunteers months to raise that much). The girls in my site were happy to hear how much had been collected, but understood that $3,000 is a far cry from almost $17,000.

Last weekend, my parents and sister over doubled the donations to the women’s center by devoting their weekend to speaking about it a church. At 4 different masses, Steph and my mom (how did Dad get out of it?) spoke to the congregation about this project and its merits for the women of my community. Stephanie had the added bonus of being able to talk about the community and the girls involved from first-hand experience. The night before they spoke, I had a horrible dream that not a single person at mass wanted to donate, so I wasn’t expecting much. But, as you will soon be able to see on the Peace Corps donation website, they raised over $4,000! In 1 weekend! So ALF SHUKRA (1,000 thank yous) to my wonderful family and the people of Church of the Holy Spirit, who saw the value of this project to the women of Morocco. You check out details and pictures of the weekend at church on Stephanie’s blog, callitaclan.blogspot.com

That means under $10,000 to go, to make this women’s center a reality, so PLEASE keep spreading the word to friends and co-workers. If everyone donates a few dollars, this can totally happen soon!

While we are waiting for the construction of the women’s center, the girls of my community and I have decided to keep meeting weekly for women’s center related activities. The girls are still so motivated, they don’t want to sit around and wait for the center to be built. Each week of the month will be centered around a different activity. The first week of the month the local midwife comes to talk to the girls about women’s health issues. The second week, I give the girls French lessons. The third week, the girl who will eventually be the handicraft teacher at the women’s center gives basic sewing and embroidery lessons in her house, and the fourth week, we do a women’s leadership activity. So far our meetings have been sporadic (the girls had to work the wheat harvest, and I was in Egypt), but we are looking forward to starting the activities on a regular basis.

In other news, last Friday was the commune elections for local government. Interestingly, these elections receive a lot more attention from the community than do the national parliamentary elections. After living in Morocco for a year, I often feel like there is very little that surprises me or makes me stop and think. These elections did just that. The entire week before Election Day, people throughout the community were talking about the election and the election only. Women included! The night before, the men hosted an event for the women, explaining to them how to vote (you place an “x” over the picture of the party you want…..the “Wheat Party,” the “Tractor Party,” or the “Berber Dagger Party” in my site’s case), and telling them who the candidates were for each party. Out of 200 potential voters in my douar, 130 of them came to vote, including a high percentage of women. Very exciting!!

Oh, and as a side note, Happy 29^th Wedding Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Back in Morocco

2009-06-17T05:35:00.000-07:00

My return to Morocco on May 28 coincided with the beginning of our week-long “Mid-service Medical Exams.” After some relatively invasive exams, I came out with a clean bill of health. No parasites, no cavities. Hamdullilah! In fact, the dentist complimented me on my dental hygiene. Yay! J Mid-service meds also gave my stage of volunteers a chance to meet up and hang out, for the first time since November. We had a lot of fun spending time together, including going bowling at the Rabat Mega Mall, having dinner at the American Club (the only place in Morocco to find Root Beer, Dr Pepper and Guinness), and dancing in a Western African dance club.

While I was off gallivanting throughout Egypt and Morocco, the people of my community were dedicated to the wheat harvest. The harvest happens once a year and lasts about 2 weeks. Last year, I was able to help out, and let me tell you, it was the hardest work I’ve ever done. This year, I was in Egypt for the entirety of the harvest (I swear I didn’t plan it that way!), so I just heard stories when I returned. Everyone I talked to had the same answer when I asked about the harvest. “Ishqa bzzaf assugassad” (which means very difficult this year). Apparently the amount of rain we received throughout winter made for some very hard harvesting conditions. The condition that concerns me the most is the amount of dangerous bugs and reptiles (are snakes a reptile?) present. Everyone I talked to saw at least a handful of camel spiders and countless scorpions. My closest friend in site, Najma, was bit TWICE by camel spiders while I was gone. Her leg went numb for a while and she could no longer work the harvest (losing her family a lot of money), but she has thankfully fully recovered. Another girl in souk (who I didn’t know) did not meet the same fate. Her family had so much to harvest, they were working into the night one day when she was bit by a snake. Unfortunately it was a weekend, so there was no one at the health clinic. The family tried to drive her to Tiznit for treatment, but she died before reaching the hospital. Although my site is relatively advanced in terms of health care compared to other places in Morocco and the world, this incident just renewed my frustration with the lack of accessible emergency care.

Amanda in Morocco and Erin in Egypt

2009-06-17T04:26:00.000-07:00

On May 4 I received another visitor from America! My high school friend Amanda and I hadn’t seen each other since high school (she went to college in Pennsylvania), but facebook brought us together once again. J A few months back, she expressed an interest in stopping by Morocco on her way to Egypt (she is Egyptian-American) for the summer, and I expressed an interest in accompanying her to Egypt after Morocco. So we spent a week together in Morocco, seeing some of the typical sites in my area (Marrakech, Agadir, Tiznit), and also making a trip to Tafroaute, where Brooke (a Youth Development Volunteer) escorted us to the painted rocks of Tafraoute.

My host family LOVED Amanda, especially since she knows Arabic and is Muslim. Having her visit just renewed their thought that I too should be Muslim. I think they’ve given up again….for now at least.

On May 12, Amanda and I made the trek from Agadir to Casablanca in order to catch our flight to Cairo. Here is a bit of a picture story of my trip to Egypt.

Old Cairo, where we visited my first night in Egypt. There are some pretty cool mosques.

Starbucks in Egypt. I went 6 times!!!

The gardens in our hotel compound.

Our hotel-usually reserved for military families. We had connections.

Delicious Turkish coffee.

Another trip to Starbucks :)

On our private boat trip on the Nile.

Us with our wonderful hosts.

The boat!

The next day, at a desert resort near Cairo

We got to ride dune buggies!

The Nile

Hanging out at a cafe on the Nile.

The Citadel

Inside the Mohammed Ali mosque in The Citadel

Amanda and her lovely mother at The Citadel

Al Aharamat! (The pyramids)

They were way cool. And way old.

After trying to figure out how to do this on our own, we had a vendor take the pictures for us.

The Sphynx!

At the Egyptian Museum. Because we were with military officers, we were escorted to a room not open to the public that has Hatchepsut's mummy. How cool is that?
Cairo Tower

View of Cairo from the Cairo Tower

And I got to drive! Some people in Egypt actually have automatic cars. It had been so long, driving made me SO happy.
We got to have an amazing seafood dinner with some of Amanda's family

Some of Amanda's wonderful family

Amanda and I got all dressed up to see a belly-dancer..I haven't been this dressed up in a LONG time. Guess there's not too much of an opportunity in Peace Corps!

Dinner at the Belly-dancer show

Bdour, the Raqasa (belly-dancer)

Bdour!

A big market in Cairo, Khan al Khalili, with some friends of Amanda's family

We went to the Red Sea (the town is Ain alSoukhna) and stayed at a beachside resort.

My feet in the Red Sea.

The next day we went to Alexandria, on the Mediterranean. Way cool.

At our delicious seafood dinner in Alexandria

MMMMMM crabs. I impressed everyone with my crab-eating skills. Thanks to Maryland!

Another trip to Starbucks. :)

While we were in Alex, we watched the European Soccer Championship. People got WAY into it.

At the beach in Alex

Amanda eating some delicious Egyptian food

Half-way through my time in Cairo, I received word from my family in America that my sister is engaged!!!! It was so exciting to talk to Steph and Adam about the engagement, and start talking about the wedding right away. And can I just say I did a darn good job of keeping the secret since March! Yes, when Steph and Adam visited, Adam told me the approximate date of his proposal. And I didn’t even tell anyone! Whew, that was a hard secret to keep! So July 10, 2010 look out, Erin is getting a brother-in-law!

End of the School Year

2009-06-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

Well apparently it has been a while since I updated this blog of mine. It amazes me how time flies here in Morocco. I have been in country now for over 15 ½ months, with only 11 ½ months until I finish my service. Yikes!

After the taxi strike in April I returned to my site to finish up the semester at the middle school. Thanks to a generous donation from the Church of the Holy Spirit Vacation Bible School program, I supplied the physical education department (and by physical education department, I mean the one part-time PE teacher) of the middle school with a dozen new soccer balls. For kids who don’t often see new supplies and equipment come their way, it was a very exciting event. Here are pictures of the kids playing with the balls.

My last lessons of the year revolved around trash education. Although my community is very lucky to have a trash collection system in souk (a man in an open back pick-up comes around every Friday to collect trash from the old oil barrels placed throughout the community), trash awareness leaves much to be desired. Before I decided to dedicate my last two weeks at the schools to trash, I consulted the commune, who is in charge of trash collection. In doing so, I met a member of the commune who, 3 years ago, arranged a community-wide trash collection day to inaugurate the trash collection system. He provided me with large trash bags and a place for the students to dispose of trash collected during my lessons. The students were slightly horrified that I made them walk around town collecting trash, but had an overall good time, especially while learning how long it takes for different types of trash to decompose (or as I like to explain in tashelhit, how long it takes for the earth to eat the trash).

The end of the school year coincided with the arrival of a new group of health volunteers to Peace Corps Morocco. My region, Tiznit, is blessed with 3 new health volunteers, and 1 new environment volunteer. Although it was very sad to say good-bye to some of my close friends who have now completed their service, meeting the new volunteers is so exciting!! This weekend we are taking them to the beach at Sidi Ifni to enjoy a relaxing break away from their host families.

The 1^st of May and 2^nd of May became two very important days for us girls down in Tiznit, Primero de Mayo, and Kentucky Derby! I hosted a weekend at my house filled with margaritas, Mexican food, mint juleps and Derby Pie. We sure know how to have fun out here in the country!

Women's Center Donations

2009-04-21T08:29:00.003-07:00

The location where the Women's Center will be built.

The 14 girls who have worked extremely hard to plan the Women's Center

Last June, when I first arrived to my site as a Health Peace Corps Volunteer, I did a "needs assessment" with the women of my community, Talbrjte, to see where I could fit in as a new volunteer.

The 30 women I interviewed overwhelmingly expressed a desire to have a women's community center. After six months of discussing the idea with various community members, I came to the conclusion that building a women's center is a worthwhile, sustainable project. Since then, I have met weekly with 14 girls from the community who are assisting in the design and implementation of this project.

Fortunately, the women immediately received support from local associations and the local government. After much discussion as to how to best meet the community's needs, the objectives of the women's center were identified.

None of the women, and few of the girls in this community were allowed to attend school. Consequently, the Talbrjte Women's Center will include a literacy classroom, staffed by the local schoolteacher, where the women can learn to read and write in a safe environment.

In addition, the women expressed a strong desire to learn a handicraft that will one day enable them to bring in an income. The local government is donating the necessary materials and expertise to teach these women skills such as embroidery and weaving.

As a health volunteer, I am acutely aware of the health situation in the community. Because there is no transportation available to the local health clinic, many women in the community are unable to take their children to the doctor for vaccinations and illnesses. The same applies for the women themselves. For this reason, the Ministry of Health has agreed to donate the time and equipment necessary to have a functioning health room in the Talbrjte Women's Center.

Finally, this women's center will go beyond helping these women to read, write, and be more healthy. The women's center will empower them to take control of their lives and their socioeconomic situations.

The local association and local government are contributing both financially and in-kind. Their contributions make up 43% of the total project cost. However, this project still needs $16,902.06 in order to be built.

I hope you will consider making a contribution; even the smallest contribution will help make the Talbrjte Women's Center a reality.

In order to donate you can click on this link:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=378-110

Or go to:

www.peacecorps.gov -> Donate Now -> Donate to a Volunteer Project -> search by my last name, Atwell, or by country, Morocco.

On the project page, you will be able to see how much has been donated and how much is still necessary to fully fund this project.

If you know any individuals or group who may be interested in seeing this project completed, please forward him/her the link.

I cannot express into words the impact the successful completion of this project will have on the lives of the women in my community.

Thank you, in advance, for your generosity.

Video of My House

2009-04-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

from Stephanie & Adam's Visit

2009-04-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

The last night of Spring Camp. We tried to take a picture of just the American and Moroccan counselors, but the kids loved being photgraphed

On our field trip to the Valley of the Birds in Agadir

On our last night we had a dance party during the variety show. It was great!

Strike is over!

2009-04-16T17:11:00.001-07:00

Last night, as Doug and I were walking back to the hotel in Azilal after dinner, we received text messages from Houda, a PC staff member, telling us that the strike was over! We ran back to the hotel, and had a little celebration with Houda, who was just as excited as us.

After spending 3 weeks out of my site, I was finally able to travel back toward Tiznit today. I got as far as Tiznit, where I am spending the night. I hope to run a few errands tomorrow morning and be back in the arms of my poor cat by lunchtime.

As frustrating as it was to be stuck out of my site for so long, I had a great time working at Spring Camp, meeting the new health trainees, and visiting Azilal. I thought I would post a few highlights of my time out of site.

-The students at Spring Camp chanting and yelling right before every meal. There were students from various towns throughout the Agadir region, and they competed at lunch to see who could be louder and represent his/her town better. Although the noise was obnoxious, I loved to see these students have such pride in where they are from.

-Quality time with the Moroccan Volunteers at Spring Camp. After the kids went to sleep we had the opportunity to hang out, get to know one another, and really bond. Since I live in such a conservative part of the country, I loved hanging out with such modern Moroccans.

-Co-teaching intermediate English with Doug. We had themed days, and one was music. We played different types of music and taught the kids the different genres. When we asked them what they liked and dislikes, Nourdin, one of our students, answered, “I like rap because it tells the truth. I dislike folk because it is boring.” We were extremely impressed by his insightful expression of the English language.

-Spending time in Azilal preparing for the Health Education Workshop. Rachid, my boss, had 3 Volunteers (including myself) facilitate the Workshop. We spent the day before preparing and having a great time. I don’t get to see the other volunteers very often and we thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.

-Meeting the trainees! They are so enthusiastic; it is very inspirational. After a year or more in site, volunteers tend to get cynical, so being around the trainees helped to rejuvenate the rest of us.

-Exploring Azilal during the extra week and a half I spent there. The “Kefta Brothers” make the best ground beef/egg sandwhich I have ever had. And harira (Moroccan soup) every night for 3 dirhams! I saved money AND ate well. Azilal also has what I feel safe labeling the best pastry shop I’ve seen in Morocco. We are talking QUALITY pastries (Strawberry and chocolate cookie sandwiches, chocolate covered crème-filled croissants!).

-Spending 4 days in my friend Brian’s site. We went to the fields with his host family, and enjoyed tea together afterward. His host dad is blind, so communication is based solely on words. It makes things a lot more difficult for both him and the volunteers. Normally we rely on gestures to get a lot of things across, so talking to him was a new challenge (and one that Brian deals with every day).

-Buying my ticket to Egypt! My high school friend Amanda (who is Egyptian-American) is coming to visit in May, and then we are heading to Cairo to spend a few weeks with her family. I can’t wait!

On a side note, I was looking through old blog posts, and noticed that I mentioned the AIDS Skit Competition for the first time in September, thinking it would be held in November. In reality, it was held in March, Even after being here a year, I am still adjusting to the relatively different concept of time,

11 days and counting...

2009-04-15T11:40:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update. :) It is Wednesday and the strike is still not over. I went with my friend Doug to another friend's house from Saturday until Tuesday. Now I am back in Azilal hoping the strike will be over tomorrow....we shall see!

Azilal House Arrest

2009-04-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

As of writing this entry, I have been in Azilal, a small, sleepy town, for one week. And I can’t get out. Every morning, I wake up and go downstairs in my hotel to ask if the “idraab” (strike) is over yet……and every day it is. Which means another day of few food options, and literally nothing to do. This was slightly entertaining for the first two days, but now being in Azilal House Arrest is just getting old! I want to go home and see my cat! Also, I have now been out of my site for over two weeks.

Looking back about three weeks ago, Steph and Adam came to visit! It was a phenomenal trip, and I was just so happy to see them. They arrived in Marrakech on the 22 of March after two full days of traveling. Chicago to Nashville to Miami to Madrid to Marrakech! I am honored they went through all that to come visit me in Morocco. Since we only had a few days together, we were always moving and active seeing the sights of Morocco.

Sunday we hung out in Marrakech, and they were amazed/overwhelmed by the exotic atmosphere: monkeys, snake charmers, and infinite leather slipper and carpet shops. I really think they were in a bit of a dream on the first day, and I could barely understand that I was getting to see my sister and Adam in Morocco!

Monday we spent most of the day in Marrakech, taking in the many interesting aspects of the city. In the afternoon we took a bus to Essaouira, my favorite beach town, and then got to ride camels there the next morning. It was a very entertaining experience, and very cool. It just hurt our legs. A lot. Tuesday afternoon we took various transportation to Tiznit, stopping over in Agadir for some ice cream. Apparently I didn’t prepare either Stephanie or Adam for the experience that is riding in a taxi with 4 people in the backseat for three hours. However, they handled it very well. After that trip we decided to buy out the fourth seat in the back of our taxis for a little more room.

We spent Tuesday night in Tiznit, hanging out with my friend Hanneke, who was happy to meet Steph and Adam. We spend so much time talking about our families back home, it is nice when we have the opportunity to put faces to names. Wednesday morning we did some shopping in Tiznit, including stopping at the silver souk, for which Tiznit is famous. Steph and Adam both got nice silver rings made in my region. For lunch we met up with Meredith to eat at the beach. There is a small beach town 5 miles from Tiznit, and I swear we didn’t see a single other person while we were there. It was just us, enjoying our beachfront tajines.

Wednesday afternoon we went to my site! We had tea with my host brother Omar, my host dad Abd, and his brother. Then we drove up to my douar to get settled in my house and meet Chandler. The next day we hung out in my house and then lunch with my host mother, Ijjou, and my host sister, Najma. They dressed Steph and Adam up in traditional Berber clothes, which I found VERY entertaining. Usually I am the one who is dressed up like a doll in people’s houses. By the last night, Stephanie was really embracing my lifestyle, using the Turkish toilet, bucket bathing, and everything! I am thoroughly impressed.
Friday we went to souk (after a mishap with my host dad’s car. We were hoping he would take us since we had all the luggage, but his car broke down and we had to walk half of the 3 miles before a pick-up full of men going to souk stopped and let us ride the rest of the way), and started our trek back to Marrakech. We were able to stop in Agadir at my favorite Lebanese place for lunch, and then completed our trip. In Marrakech we did some shopping and enjoyed a nice dinner on the terrace of a restaurant overlooking Jma lFna, the famous Marrakchi square. The next day I was so incredibly sad to say good-bye to them, after spending a great week together. Fortunately I was distracted from thinking about missing them because I had to travel back to Agadir for a week of English Immersion Spring Camp.

The Ministry of Youth and Sports sponsors Spring Camps throughout the country to Moroccan youth to attend. There are Moroccan volunteers (mostly teachers, some college students), who run certain activities and handle the logistics of the camp, and there are Peace Corps Volunteers who teach English and various other activities. Our camp in Agadir had 96 participants, between 13-17 years old. It was truly amazing to spend a week with city kids, since I am so used to kids from my rural area. We had an absolutely phenomenal time. The Moroccan volunteers made our camp what it was. It was inspirational to see them get the kids so excited, sing songs with them, while at the same time keeping them under control. And of course, our camp was in Agadir, so the climate was perfect. We were able to take the kids to the beach for games on day, and spent a lot of time outside.

After the camp was over on Sunday, I spent 8 hours traveling to Azilal, where the new group of Peace Corps Health trainees are spending there training time. My boss had called me up a few weeks prior to see if I could come speak to the trainees about the health education work I have done thus far in my site. I was very lucky to arrive on Sunday night, because by Monday morning the strike had begun.

For some reason, the local taxis were not striking on Tuesday, so the trainees were able to get to Azilal from their CBT host families. The Health Education Workshop went well, and the trainees had a lot of questions for us. It was definitely surreal to be back at training after a year. I really feel like that was me like last month!

On Wednesday I was planning to go visit my friend Doug’s site in the region, but the strike was back on. Today is Saturday, and there is no transportation going in or out of Azilal. Some of the local restaurants are even closing because they can’t get food delivered from Marrakech. Rumor has it the strike might be over on Monday, but we’ll see.....

Rabat

2009-03-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

So, word to the wise. If you live in Morocco, and your sister is coming to visit, and you want to clean your cat, DO NOT try to blow-dry him too. Last week, I successfully bathed Chandler. Although he didn’t exactly love it, he put up with the water and being shampooed and everything. But then I thought, he might get cold with wet fur. So I turned on my hairdryer. Not the best idea ever. Actually, probably one of the worst ideas ever. Chandler became very afraid and tried to get away. I tried to restrain him, so he responded by biting my arm, and then my hand. Needless to say, he did not get blow-dried.

I didn’t think this was at all a big deal…I mean Chandler was vaccinated against everything in December. SO I went about my business until that night when I noticed that my hand had swollen to twice its normal size. The next morning, I called my PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer), thinking that he might suggest I get antibiotics or something. Instead, he told me to come to Rabat! Rabat!??! Being 13-15ish hours away, that’s not exactly an easy trip to make. So I told him no. I said I could go to Tiznit or Agadir for medical attention, but Rabat???

Well I lost the argument. I promptly left for Rabat. 30 hours later, I arrived in Rabat. Now, I need to make it clear that I love Rabat. It is a great, modern city that offers a blend of much-appreciated luxuries, and traditional Moroccan culture. However, this was not the most convenient time to go.

Since there is a 48 hour gap between the 2 post-exposure prophylaxis injections, I had almost 3 days to spend in Rabat. Turns out one of my other Peace Corps friends was bitten by her cat too, so we spent the time together. The highlight of my time was St. Patrick’s Day. When packing I didn’t realize I would be in Rabat for St. Patrick’s Day, so I didn’t have anything green, but we were able to celebrate nonetheless.

The US Embassy has a restaurant called the American Club, where Americans can go and enjoy food and drinks not found elsewhere in Morocco. We called the restaurant on St. Patrick’s Day, and it turned out they were having a party! So I got to spend this St. Patrick’s Day eating corned beef, drinking green beer, and hanging out with about 50 Americans, 1 Irish family, and a British couple. It was a great time, complete with “Kiss me, I’m Irish” necklaces and St. Patrick’s Day napkins. We ended the night by singing Irish folk songs led by the Irish family.

This morning I was lucky enough to finally get in touch with my Tashelhit language instructor from training, Doha. She is currently working in Rabat, so we had lunch together today. Who would have thought my surprise trip to Rabat would go so well!

Now, I am heading back down to site, and should arrive tomorrow. I am counting down the days until Steph and Adam’s visit…….4 days!!!!

One Year

2009-03-07T05:57:00.000-08:00

Happy one year in country to me! ☺ March 4, 2008, I arrived in Morocco. This week, 60 new trainees arrived, beginning the journey I began a year ago. It is crazy how fast time flies! I haven’t had much time to celebrate, but I hope to do so this weekend with my PCV friends in the region. In fact, we are planning a 24 Season 2 marathon, complete with salsa and nacho cheese from America. ☺ I know everyone back home was hooked on 24, so I thought I might as well give it a shot. Dad sent me Seasons 1 and 2. This week when the weather was too awful for me to walk to the town center, I stayed at home, watching hours upon hours of Season 1. It literally stole my life from me for 3 days. As much as I tried to convince Chandler to make me stop watching, he just wasn’t very persuasive.

With regard to the Women’s Center, I am waiting approval from my office in Rabat. According to my programming staff, it has been approved by one of the two people whose approval I need. As soon as I have PC Rabat approval, it will be sent to Washington, where it will be posted on the Peace Corps website. At that point anyone back home can go online and donate. The girls in my village are extremely excited that things are moving along, and we can’t wait to start construction!

This past Sunday was our region’s AIDS Skit Competition. Brooke, a Youth Development volunteer had been organizing the event since November, but unfortunately it kept being postponed. Finally, we decided to have the event on Sunday March 1st. On Thursday, my local nurse came to “play practice” with my students, and helped them make their skit more accurate and informative. On Friday, I confirmed travel arrangements with the teacher and guardian who would accompany the students to Tiznit. There is a mailman who travels between Tiznit and Tafraoute every day delivering mail to the post offices along the way. Brooke sent travel money for my students with the mailman, to drop off at my site on the way to Tiznit. So Friday I went to the post office early in the morning to wait for Ahmed. Unfortunately, he passed right by me and kept on going. I had to get up and run down the street chasing him and calling to him before he stopped and remembered to give me the money. I must have been quite the sight, running down the street.

Saturday, Brooke, Brian (a volunteer from another province who helped out), and I met in Tiznit to confirm arrangements with the people there. Things were looking good until Saturday night at 7pm, when we got a call from the doctor who was supposed to judge the competition. Apparently he wasn’t going to be able to make it. And then at 9pm the principal of Brooke’s youth center called to say that the students from her site weren’t coming. As we went to bed Saturday night, none of us was expecting a successful event. In fact, there was talk of just not showing up and going to the beach instead.

Well, Sunday morning I got a call from the doctor who bailed. Apparently he felt bad and had called another doctor to take his place. Thank goodness! So, although we didn’t have Brooke’s students, we still had a phenomenal event. I was so proud of my students I thought I would burst!!! These kids rarely get the chance to leave the mountains and spend time in the city. They also don’t usually have the opportunity to hang out with kids from Tiznit. Overall, the day was extremely successful, with plays by students from my site and Tiznit, dance numbers, an AIDS talk by the doctor, AIDS discussions, AIDS activities, and an awards ceremony.

Here is the stage with our banner advertising the event

Brooke leading a true/false activity about AIDS

Me, the teachers, and the students from my site who attended. I may get in trouble with PC for posting this picture.....but we'll see :)

And then we went to Agadir and celebrated our success, American style. :)

English Mass

2009-02-22T01:42:00.000-08:00

You know how you never really appreciate something until it is gone? I had such a moment today in Rabat. I knew there was a church in Rabat, and I decided to attend mass this weekend. Yesterday, I went to the church to check out mass times, and I was interested in the asterisk next to Saturday mass times. It said, “Messe en anglais un samedi sur deux.” Mass in English? What? When? So I called the church and sure enough there is mass in English every other Saturday! Today I arrived at the church a little early, and a nice gentleman escorted me to the sacristy, where the priest was speaking with a parishioner. In English. In American English. Now, to fully understand the profundity of this, you need to know that Morocco is full of foreigners. But French foreigners. Or even British foreigners. But Americans? Not so much. Turns out the priest is from Philadelphia, and has worked in Morocco for 17 years now.

Mass was incredible. There were about 15 people in the congregation, and about half were American. One woman is married to a US diplomat, and comes to church each week with her son and daughter. One family is passing on business. 2 other American men work for the govt. in some capacity. The other members of the congregation were African, from Christian English speaking countries. What a great group, and what a lovely mass.

It is hard to describe how meaningful it is not only to attend mass in a country where Christianity is illegal for nationals, but to attend it in English. I could barely hold myself together. I just wish Rabat was closer than 13-15 hours from my site!

On top of having the opportunity to go to church, today was a celebratory day of taking the GRE. This morning I took the GRE with about 10 Peace Corps Volunteers, 1 Peace Corps admin lady, and 15-20 Moroccans. Now the GRE sucks for Americans, but can you even IMAGINE trying to take the GRE when English is not your first language?? YIKES. Every time that I got stressed out during the exam, I thought of how lucky I am to naturally understand at least a portion of what’s on the exam, just from speaking English my whole life. But to be a Moroccan student and have to decipher the GRE? WOW is all I can say.

We celebrated this afternoon by going to TGI Fridays for lunch, where we can enjoy free refills and an American atmosphere.

And now, I have to make the long trek back to site. But it was a good stay in Rabat. Like always.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-19T04:19:00.000-08:00

Although this year's Valentine's Day was slightly different than last year's (no flowers, nice dinner, chocolates, and of course, boyfriend), I STILL had a very enjoyable day.

It started on Friday night when I made heart shaped cookies with frosting and pink sprinkles.

then, on Saturday I met up with the local girls to spend the day hiking, hanging out, and having a picnic on top of one of the mountains near our village. We had a lot of fun, and naturally, since it was Valentine's Day, we talked about boys. :)

Unfortunately, I have a train to catch, so I can't write much...time to head up to Rabat for the GRE. How fun. :)

Steph and Adam are coming to visit!

2009-02-11T02:16:00.000-08:00

Well, in a surprising and very ecxiting phone call I received from Steph Sunday night, I discovered they were on the search for tickets to Morocco. And on Monday morning I learned that they will visit March 22-28. I CAN'T WAIT. For REAL.

I also thoguht I would post some of my most recent cooking adventures.

A Moroccan food, mismin, that we eat with tea in the afternoon sometimes. My host sister's mismin looks a lot nicer than mine. :)

Homemade tortilla chips. A lot of work, and very fried, but very good! (I made them for the Superbowl

2009-02-06T03:47:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot to put up this picture from Christmas. Look how happy Christian is to be near his Great-Grandfather!

Rain

2009-02-06T03:46:00.000-08:00

02-05-09

It is wet and cold and muddy and I miss that sun from last week! It has officially been rainy and cold for a week now. And now the water doesn’t just leak in a few places slowly, it leaks at a constant rate all over my house! Every morning I wake up and hope that today will be the day that the rain stops.

It all started this past weekend on my way to Taroudant, a region 4 hours north of me, where I went to attend a Superbowl party. I arrived a little wet, but it was a great time! We made buffalo chicken wings, homemade tortilla chips, and chili cheese dip. And even better, we actually got to watch the game. The commentary was in German, so there was a lot of ‘das linedrive Pittsburgh Steelers ein draie’ or whatever, but at least we got to see it! And because of loyalty to my dear Poppop, I was very excited in those last couple of minutes when the Steelers won!

Since getting back to my site, I have been very busy with work. This upcoming Sunday was supposed to be an AIDS Skit Competition, in Tiznit, that a Youth Development Volunteer and I were organizing. I met with the director of my middle school on Tuesday and Wednesday to finalize which students were attending and who would be chaperoning them. Everything seemed to be falling into place until this morning when I got word that the students coming from Tafraoute are flooded in and there is no clear road for them to take to Tiznit. Darn that rain! Soooo the other volunteer and I talked, and it looks like we will inshallah have the competition next Saturday. This means the kids will get taken out of school to participate, so I am pretty sure they are not too heartbroken about the delay. ☺

I also taught at the middle school this week, and it was business as usual. The second year students could almost be called angels, the third year students behaved with a couple of warnings, and DO NOT get me started on the first years students. Crazy I tell you. More and more teachers are telling me just to hit the kids, and I know, ‘when in Rome,’ but I just can’t! As I sat there hopelessly giving up on them, I thought, I work for free……I don’t have to teach these monsters if I don’t want to! And that helped me to get through.

And then there is the women’s center and I am about ready, hamdullah, to submit the grant proposal to Peace Corps. It is very exciting to be at this point, and the girls are thrilled! The local community partners are also looking forward to beginning the project.

And that is about it. Like I said, the rain and cold stinks, and my once black gym shoes are now completely coated with mud, since getting to town center includes about a mile of unpaved road. Its amazing how far your foot will sink into the mud when it rains this much. ☺

02-06-09

Now it is Friday morning, and I woke up nice and early (6:30am) to get a ride with my host dad to the town center. It turns out it started raining really hard at around 3am, and everything is flooded! I went to my host family’s for breakfast, and my host dad said that with this much rain, the roads to Tiznit will be completely flooded and impassable. I figured he was exaggerating, that is until our ride to souk. On the 3 mile trip, I saw that places which were completely dry a week ago have now turned into rushing rivers. Like wide, fast rivers. Fortunately, they’ve had winters like this before (not for the past 10 years), so people built bridges where the rain flooded years ago. I even remember thinking over the summer that it was so silly to have these bridges since it is always dry. Ha. Looks like the joke’s on me. So, now a couple of hours later, I really wonder why I even got out of bed this morning. I may try to get to Meredith’s site for some internet connection, but that’s a big inshallah.

Fire, Rain, Sun, Plants, Bangs, and More!

2009-01-29T09:57:00.001-08:00

Chandler all curled up in the quilt Nana made for me. Isn't it gorgeous!

My attempt to cut my own bangs

My potted petunias!

Rain Rain Rain

1-24-09

Well, in an exciting moment (exciting as not in a good way….bad exciting), I started an electrical fire in my house last week! Apparently, you are not supposed to plug a heater with a thick cord into a wimpy extension cord. It causes a bit of an explosion, no flames (thank God my electricity shut itself off), but a LOT of smoke. Like a LOT. And it smelled like plastic because I have a plastic extension cord. Chandler and I ran out of the house after I unplugged everything…and hunching down in the only corner of my courtyard with cellphone reception, we proceeded to call Dad. One of those, umm dad, I’m fine, but……moments. I am sure my parents are used to those moments by now, but still. ☺

This little fire coincided with a very cold and rainy time. In fact, it was so rainy for so many days in a row, that my roof leaked consistently for 4 days. There was a lot of “drip drip drip drip” as I tried to fall asleep at night. Fortunately, only one of the leaky spots was over my bed, so I could still sleep.

THEN, this past Thursday, I woke up, and didn’t hear rain….and didn’t hear wind, and I stepped outside to see the sun shining! As of my writing this (Saturday), I haven’t seen a cloud in 3 days. Chandler and I are thoroughly enjoying having breakfast in the sun while watching Ellen episodes. Today my host sister and I are going to another douar (little neighborhood), about a mile away, to talk to one of the girls about potentially teaching at the women’s center. I am looking forward to this walk in the sun.

My petunia plants are also enjoying the sun. While in Agadir last weekend, I purchased petunia seeds, 2 flower pots, and potting soil. I am so excited to hopefully have plants this summer! I think the last time I grew something from a seed was perhaps in 1st grade…but I have a feeling this will go well. A little concerned about them surviving the extreme summer heat…..I may have to consult our resident plant expert, Amy, for some tips.

Last but not least, today is January 24, which means one month has passed since my hair cut in America. At that appointment, my fabulous stylist taught me how to cut my own bangs, and suggested I do it every month. So, this morning, after a lovely bucket bath, I cut my own bangs. I think it turned out well…..see for yourself with the attached picture. My only concerns were the lack of mirror (I have a 2”x2” mirror), and Chandler, who had fun pouncing on me while I attempted to cut. Now, this is the first time I have ever brought scissors to my own head of hair, so I was very freaked out! It is now something I am very proud of being able to do.

My personal deadline for turning in my women’s center grant proposal is in about a week, so I am stepping up hassling the right people for follow up.

1-29-09

So here I am, taking a deep breath after an interesting women’s center meeting with the girls. I am hoping to incorporate the women and girls from both my douar (Talbrjt) and the neighboring douar (Agn Yaseen), but I have never had the Agn Yaseen girls come to one of the meetings. On Sunday I visited Agn Yaseen to talk to the girl who will be teaching handicrafts at the neddi (She used to live in Casablanca and learned a lot at a women’s center there). I thought it would be a good idea for the girls in my douar to meet her, so I invited her to today’s meeting and said she could bring some of the other girls if they wanted. Consequently, there were 20 girls in attendance at the meeting today. Now, I know Dad posted a map of my house, and you can probably tell that it is not very big. 20 girls is a lot to fit in my one little room. Plus, I was expecting about 14, so I made a pancake breakfast…..but only enough for 14. It was pretty entertaining, and I ended up cutting the pancakes into quarters. The girls did enjoy maple syrup, which they have never tried before.

Other than the crowdedness, it was a good meeting, and we visited the land where the women’s center will be built, inshallah. Currently we are just waiting for the technician to come up with an estimate on the cost of the center. I had a meeting with the president of the local association, my host dad (the secretary of the assoc.), the technician, my host dad’s brother (I think he just wanted to be there) and the Caid. So after we finished discussing the women’s center, they just started chatting. So there I was, among 5 men, and it turned into guys hanging out time. It was quite the sight, me sitting there while they sat around and discussed whatever men discuss when they get together. I think they think of me as genderless, so maybe it wasn’t weird for them, but I just didn’t know what to do! Do I get up and excuse myself, even though the reason they were all there was because of me? Or do I pretend to be one of them. After a couple of awkward minutes, I used my host brother as an out and went to tutor him in French. Problem solved. ☺

In other news, it has been warm and sunny for 5 out of the last 7 days! Like we are talking light shirt and maybe a sweater weather. My guess is that it is in the 60’s temperature-wise.

ps I apologize for the lack of photos. I will get them up....blogger is fighting with me :)

Happy Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T03:40:00.001-08:00

I hear the weather in Chicago has been, lets say, a bit cold (?) recently? I have complained that living through a winter without any form of heating is difficult but after hearing about the subzero temperatures in Chi-town, I retract any complaints. Yes, my site can get very cold, windy, and rainy, but for the equivalent of $4, I can get to Agadir, where I spent this past weekend. It was about 80 degrees the whole weekend…..I even got sunburned. Not that I am gloating or anything. Just saying. ☺

I was in Agadir for my friend Michelle’s birthday, and we had a great time lying by the beach and catching up with PCV friends who live in other regions.

I had to go late to this get-togethr, due to idurnan, the holiday we celebrated in my site on Friday. Apparently this was neither a national holiday or a regional holiday. It was an Erin’s site holiday. So I spent the day with my host family, cooking, making bghrid and shfinj, a pancake like thing with a million holes, and fried donuts, respectively. Talk about goooood food. We also did henna, so I have a new design on my hands.

Currently I am in Tiznit for inauguration day. We are planning a themed party, with Kenyan food, Chicago-style pizza, and Hawaiian pizza. I also have to make a stop by the Ministry of Education. Last week a couple of the women in my village as well as the local teacher came to me asking if I can use my relative influence to get a teacher sent to my village. Since the beginning of the school year, there has only been one teacher at the school-a French teacher. Therefore, the students are not learning any Arabic and are falling way behind. The idea is that being a foreigner, I will be able to go into the Ministry and talk directly with the delegue. We shall see how this goes.

I wish I could take credit for the pictures of my house, but unfortunately I am not that technologically capable. So kudos to Dad for it! Very cool!

My House

2009-01-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

This is the layout of my house. You can click on a thumbnail to see a full size image of that room

My Neighborhood

2009-01-13T17:46:00.000-08:00

Here is a 360 degree panorama of my site taken from the roof of my house. Move your mouse below the arrow at the top to pan around.

Click here to view a larger version of "My Neighborhood"

Sun and chocolate chip cookies

2009-01-13T04:14:00.000-08:00

After a very very cold weekend (now, Chicago folk no complaining that yours was worse-I have no heating!), I am thrilled to be in Tafraoute where the sun is shining and de-thawing my frozen bones.

I spent an enjoyable weekend with some of my close Peace Corps Volunteer friends, catching up after our varied holiday activities. Although the cold made doing anything a chore, we still enjoyed using a lot of the supplies I brought from home to cook some delicious meals. Taco Bell packets, Grillmates, M&Ms!

Yesterday I made chocolate chip cookies...real Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies! A couple of my local girls stopped by and were fascinated by the interesting ingredients. Vanilla extract, brown sugar, chocolate chips- all new to them. Thanks to my dear mother, it looks like I have enough supplies to make many batches of cookies in the near future. A little taste of home.

In the evening I took a very pleasant bucket bath (think literally buckets, water heated on the stove, over a drain) using the new shampoo, conditioner, facewash, and B&BW body wash I brought from America. Thanks to Stephanie I smell like Midnight Pomegranate today. :)

Tomorrow I have a meeting with the girls who are participating in the development of the women's center. Let's hope they completed the various tasks I "assigned" them to do while I was in America. It is amazing how dedicated they are to getting this accomplished, so I am sure they went above and beyond my suggestions. And of course, chocolate chip cookies are in order as a snack for the meeting.

Later this week there is some sort of festival- I am not quite clear on what we are celebrating, but according to my friends in the village, Friday will not be a day to miss. Food, singing, dancing, what more could I ask for?

Oh, and in a glorious moment today I discovered the road from Ait Oafka to my site is complete, and instead of taking 2 1/2 hours to get to Tafraoute by bus, it only took 1! Yay!

turning over a new leaf

2009-01-09T03:31:00.000-08:00

So I just arrived back in Morocco after a glorious 2 week vacation in Chicago. After i stepped off the plane and got hugs from my dear family, and before any catching up began, my lovely sister told me she had a problem. Apparently she is offended (and not the only one) that I do not update my blog more often. So here we go. I am ready to turn over a new leaf.

I have spent 3 nights in country so far. One in Agadir at my favorite hotel (with my 150lbs of luggage. Two hours at Target can do that to you). Fortunately a nice lady in the Paris airport waived the 300Euro ($500!!!!) fee I should have paid for all of the extra weight.

My second night was my reunion with Chandler, who was more than thrilled to see me. Usually he sleeps on my neck, on my side. That night he literally slept on my head. :) It was a tough night, jet lag and missing home. Finally at 3:30am I decided to get up, make macaroni and cheese, eat Oreos, and watch Friends.

I decided the next day not to be lonely anymore so I went to visit my friend Meredith. This weekend will be spent with my close volunteer friends in the region in order to help with the transition back.

ps My host family was thrilled by the gifts from America. Who knew a little nail polish and some perfume could bring so much joy to their lives!

Happy December, Happy Thanksgiving, and Mbruk L’Eid Kbir!

2008-12-15T03:15:00.000-08:00

It is quite the festive time for me here in Morocco, for I’ve found I get to celebrate both Moroccan and American holidays. How fun!

Regarding Thanksgiving-

How can I even begin to express how thankful I am for so many blessings in my life. I am thankful that I woke up Thanksgiving morning to see snow falling in my village. It didn’t stick, but it was nice to see. I am thankful for Rachid, my Program Assistant, who was passing through the area for site development, and stopped by, picking up not only me, but my next door neighbor and her baby, and taking them to the clinic for a vaccination before we headed off. I am thankful for the students at the middle school where I taught on Thanksgiving, but even MORE thankful for the principal who came in to make sure the students were behaving themselves.

I am thankful that after my electricity went out Thanksgiving evening, it came on again. J And I am so very thankful for my family who called on Thanksgiving, and recorded me a message on Facebook (although they all seemed to be a bit unsure of the video?). I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family who takes care of me and thinks of me, even when I am a million miles away. I am thankful for those letters and packages that always brighten up my day, even if it is just a short note saying hello.

I am thankful to live so close to such wonderful Peace Corps Volunteers. On Friday I headed to Tiznit for a meeting with all of the volunteers in the area, and our new Country Director, David Lillie. David arrived in September, and has made numerous positive impressions on us already.

We had a very productive and enjoyable meeting on Friday in Tiznit, and then a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday. At 7am Saturday morning, Meredith, Hanneke, and I woke up to start cooking our portion of the meal. At 2pm we brought green bean casserole, sweet potato somosas, fresh oat rolls, persimmon pudding, roasted chestnuts, and baked camembert, to Amelia’s. Thanks to one of the American PC staff members, we had pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Thanks to a friendly butcher, we had a nice big turkey, and thanks to Amelia’s neighbor, we had an oven to cook it in. We had 12 volunteers, 3 Moroccans, 1 American ex-pat, and 1 Canadian ex-pat present for an unforgettable celebration. We ended the evening with an enjoyable musical session, listening and singing along to the various guitar players and singers in the group.

I am also thankful for the many people here in my community and in my region that are in the process of working with me to build a women’s center for the girls and women in my village. It all started when I did a “needs assessment” with the women and girls in June. They unanimously said they wanted a neddi (women’s center) in the community. Recently, with the support of Peace Corps staff, I have been able to get the ball rolling.

For the past month, I have been meeting weekly with the girls from my community. There are 14 girls (not in school, unmarried) participating. Their ages range from 14-26, and education levels range from 0 years of schooling to 6 years of schooling. And I love them! They are ready to put forth a lot of work and effort to make this neddi happen.

Fortunately, we have gotten a commitment from the local association to donate the land for the neddi, and an architect and technician to design. Recently I got a commitment from the Ministry of Social Development to donate various sewing machines, tables, chairs, and blackboards once the neddi construction has begun. In addition, I am working with the Ministry of Health to include a Health Room in the neddi, where women could take their children to see the doctor a few times a month. A lot is still in the air on this, but I am very excited to be working on a project about which the women care so deeply.

….a week later…..

So here I am, Monday evening, listening to Christmas music, heating up water for a bath, waiting for the dough of the cinnamon rolls I am making to finish rising, and getting ready to head over to my host family’s house for some Eid lKbir bread-making. Eid lKbir is tomorrow! This is the most important holiday in Islam. Each Muslim family slaughters a sheep, like Abrahim did instead of sacrificing his son, Isaac. Families get together and celebrate by eating the sheep (organs first!) over a period of 3 or more days. Overall, the festivities remind me a lot of Christmas preparation. In souk (town center), the past 2 days have been busier than I’ve EVER seen! Family in from Casablanca, Rabat, France, all making their final holiday purchases. The only difference (well, one of the differences) is that there is no gift giving. The holiday (like most Muslim holidays) has a complete lack of materialism (except for dressing up), and focuses on family and the religious implications of the holiday.

I am guessing tonight’s bread-making will be reminiscent of the Eid after Ramadan. Hopefully this time we won’t be up until 3am! Today I gave in to something I have been avoiding a long time as well, in preparation for Eid. I bought a pom-pom skirt and pom-pom shoes! This is the traditional dress of the women from my village, and I usually borrow a skirt for special occasions, but I decided it is about time I buy one myself. The skirt honestly makes me laugh out loud. To the women here, it is absolutely normal to wear a black skirt decorated with colorful pom-poms. The shoes are quite comfortable, and decorated with those same pom-poms. I have been resisting because they are quite expensive. However, thinking about it in USD, the shoes and skirt together come out to about $35, so I can’t complain too much.

Today’s shopping trip came after a lovely weekend with 3 of my fellow Volunteer friends. We spent the weekend together, baking Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music, and watching Christmas movies! We even found a garland-like thing to hang in my house. And glitter to decorate homemade ornaments. It was a great time, getting us all into the holiday spirit.

The past week went well, with successful health lessons in the middle school. December 1 is World AIDS Day, so I taught about AIDS in each of the middle school classes, and each student got an AIDS ribbon. The days I wasn’t teaching I spent meeting with various people concerning the neddi (women’s center) project. It turns out the Ministry of Social Development will be very helpful in supplying equipment. I spent a good few hours at the Ministry one day, enjoying the company of like-minded Moroccan professionals.

The rest of this week will be spent enjoying the holiday festivities, and then taking my poor kitten to get fixed. Poor little Chandler. He has no idea what is coming!

….3 days later…..

Well, Eid is over, and all I can say is that I have, in the past 3 days, eaten organ kebabs, stomach tagine, and sheep head couscous. And I am still alive. J

Fall in Morocco

2008-11-15T04:32:00.000-08:00

11/14/08

This afternoon, as I was hiking around with two of the girls from my douar, laughing and joking around, talking about the potential community center/neddi we want to build in the douar, I had a moment, the type of moment that are increasingly few and far between, where I could take myself out of the reality of the present and assume a birds-eye view. I started laughing, and could barely stop. It just AMAZES me that this little rural Moroccan village, with its covered women, traditional food, donkeys, sheep, dirt roads, and mud houses, THIS village is my temporary home! I no longer think twice about sitting on the floor to eat, eating with my hands, shooting out the rapid-fire greetings that are used every time I see someone, walking around like a sore thumb among girls wearing matching black skirts and white veils. It just seems so normal now, when I remember how ludicrous this situation is, I burst into a fit of giggles.

It is also refreshing to have those moments, because along with being integrated into a completely different lifestyle comes the necessity to deal with that lifestyle’s problems. Their problems are my problems. Like the 26 year old girl who hasn’t found a husband and is close to the “too old to marry” age, like the neighbor’s cow that is about to give birth, like the fact that the tomatoes available in souk are getting more and more pathetic looking, like the wedding that will take place in a neighboring douar next week. Who will attend? What will everyone wear? Is the bride really 20 years younger than the groom?

And then there’s the newest biiiiig problem. My disclaimer is that this is probably a bigger problem for me than any other person in my douar. Last week (while I was at in-service training), it rained for 5 days, and someone forgot to close the lid to the community well. Consequently, a muddy river formed and flowed right into our drinking water. So now there is murky brown water coming out of my tap. Now, some people can just take their donkeys half a mile down the way to the nearest clean well, but unfortunately I do not have a donkey. I asked a couple of women what to do, and they suggested buying my water (and dragging it 3 miles up the mountain to my house?!?) So……I’m on this no bathing, no laundry, cooking little kick. I am hoping someone will take pity on my and share some of that donkey water. Some people estimate it will take a week for the “water people” to fix this. Others estimate a month or more. Hm.

Who could forget that yes I have not updated my blog in about 30 million years, and I apologize. Some of it is the feeling too normal here, nothing seems worth writing about. Also, I have spent a lot of time working on the beginnings of some of the projects I plan on organizing.

As a short recap, in October, I stayed in my site for the majority of the month, leaving one weekend for an HIV/AIDS training of trainers in Essaouira (look it up, on the coast, GORGEOUS town that I fell in love with). In my time in my site, I successfully obtained official Ministry permission to work in the local schools, so I taught health lessons at each of three schools in October. All but one went very well (10 lessons total). The kids were very participatory and seemed to have fun. The primary school kids learned about dental health, and the middle school kids learned about disease transmission. The one that didn’t go well? Well, let me just say I have never been so close to hitting someone! Middle school kids can be a bit of a handful, and this was a class of 30 boys. Yikes.

The first week of November began our sixth month in site, and a week-long in-service training in Azrou (up in the mountains, between Fes and Meknes). On the way to Azrou a couple of my friends and I stopped in Rabat for the night, where we ate at TGI Fridays (oh, it is so good, a reall American hamburger! But no bacon allowed) and ended up chatting with a former NFL player, Rusty Russell, who now owns part of TGI Fridays Morocco. Any FREE REFILLS!!! Fridays is the only venue in the ENTIRE COUNTRY where there are free refills. Ahhhhhhh.

Training went very well, and was very informational. We received a lot of site-specific help, and preparation for our pending projects. It was also great to see all 54 volunteers from our stage once again. And MOST importantly, I experienced the happiest moment of my life thus far (no joke) on Weds morning around 4 am (Morocco time), when our room of 54 volunteers, and a few American staff members saw Wolf Blitzer in all his glory, come on with a CNN Projection, stating that Barack Obama was elected the next president of the United States of America. It still gives me chills to think about that moment. I could barely participate in the excitement around me, as I tried, unsuccessfully, to fight back large quantities of tears of joy. From that point on, all week, anywhere we went, we would hear “American? Yah? OBAMA! YEAH!” It is the greatest feeling, to be in a foreign country, and to be sought out as an American for a positive reason. Even my barely literate host sister sent me a text message, just saying “OBAMA.”

After training was over, a bunch of volunteers and I went to Fes, where we spent 2 days enjoying each other’s company and exploring the ancient city of Fes. Along with trying many foods unique to Fes, I ate a camel burger for the first time since arriving to Morocco. We also saw the tanneries of Fes, which smell absolutely rancid, but are very interesting to watch. It is amazing that in this day in age, when so much is done by machines, there are still tanneries hand-working animal skin to make leather, and dying that leather with crushed plants and berries. Very interesting indeed.

After being gone for 12 days, it was wonderful to be back in site. I think Chandler (my cat) missed me, but he seemed to have a good time with my neighbor/friend, Najma, who came over to feed him and play with him every day. Now, I am focused on keeping up with the various events/projects/lessons I am working on before Weds when I have to go to Rabat for a vaccination at the Peace Corps Office.

The first of December is World AIDS Day, so I had Peace Corps send me a World AIDS Day kit, consisting of information in Arabic, solidarity ribbons, and various other resources. My plan is to have World AIDS Day themed lessons in my middle school the first week of December. This is still a maybe, because it is generally unacceptable to discuss HIV/AIDS in co-ed classrooms. We shall see.

This week I am meeting with the “girls” in my village, defined as not in school and un-married, to talk about the community center/neddi they want. First, I will hunt down the local association. Without their buy-in, this won’t be possible. Any grants obtained through Peace Corps must have the partnership of a local organization, and at least 25% contribution (monetary or in-kind). Unfortunately, my local girls do not have the power to help sponsor a grant, so a lot of this rests on some local men who don’ particularly care if the girls have a neddi. We shall see. J

More long term, my region is looking into sponsoring a HIV/AIDS candlelight vigil in May, and organizing a GGLOW (Guys and Girls Leading Our World) Camp over the summer for the youth of the area.

Even more exciting is that I recently found out my elementary school from home is going to do a fundraiser to potentially send over First Aid Kits for the families in my community. I hope to organize a field day in the spring, where the students will learn about First Aid and safety, and have First Aid Kits to take home to their families.

Needless to say, I am being kept busy, and happy!

EID!

2008-10-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Eid Mubarak Saaid! Happy Eid. So it is 10:15am, on Eid lftr day. I would like to still be sleeping now, due to circumstances I will explain in a bit; however, I just woke up to someone banging on my door, yelling “IMANEEEEE NKRRRR!!!” (Erin, wake up!). It was Hajja, my host dad’s brother’s wife, who came to our douar early this morning to celebrate Leid. What I learned from this is that different holiday rules in apply in the US versus here. At least in our family, waking people up Christmas morning was perfectly acceptable until Stephanie and I reached a certain age. Now it is quite forbidden; one must wait until the whole family has naturally woken up. Well here it isn’t quite like that. Yesterday when I was leaving (at 3am), I said I will sleep in tomorrow, and my host mom said I couldn’t because it is Leid. Hmm. Interesting.

It really is fun celebrating a holiday in another country, a holiday I have never celebrated before. This is the end of Ramadan holiday, and it depends on the presence of the new moon, so the date is not set ahead of time. Yesterday afternoon I went over to my host family’s and we broke fast and watched the news to see if today would be the end of Ramadan. We found out at about 9pm, and I figured that meant, oh, fun, and let’s go to bed soon. Oh no, not for the women at least. It meant, pull out the 30kilos of flour, giant box of yeast, and make some Eid bread! Yikes! So my host sister Fadma and I spent a couple hours kneading this giant mass of soon-to-be bread. We literally had to stand up and keep punching it it was so big. Then, at about 11pm, we went with Ijjoi (host mom) to the neighbor’s house, where they have an oven made for this very occasion. It is a giant mud oven, and the loaves of bread cook in just 3 or 4 minutes on hot coals covered with clay pieces. The oven holds about 10 loaves at once, and that giant mass of bread of ours made about 30 loaves of bread. The problem is, the whole surrounding area of houses had to use this one oven, so there was a very long line of bread mass when we arrived. Needless to say, everyone helps everyone when her bread, and all of us had finished at about 3am.

Meanwhile, we kept running the finished loaves back to the house, and at one point we heard a car. Fadma’s brother, Brahim, was driving in from Rabat (13 hours) for Laid, so we went to go say hello to him. Earlier in the day, her other brother, Saaid arrived from Casablanca. So we went into the house, and what did we see? Well, Brahim, but also Arquia, Khadija, and Arquia’s two children, Sana and Omar. They all live up north and although they told their mom they couldn’t make it down for Laid, they surprised her!!! How sweet!! It is funny, it isn’t even my family, and I was so excited for the surprise.

Rain, VSN, Work

2008-09-23T03:04:00.000-07:00

9/18/08

So today is a good day. We had our first big rain since I arrived in site; it has been raining all day long! (Apparently it hasn't rained like this in 3 years!) The best part is….I only have 2 leaks in my whole house! I had pictured buckets everywhere, catching the rain coming into my house….but so far so good. There is a leak under my front door, and then one in the hall ceiling. But we are talking slow drips…nothing a little bucket can’t take care of! So that’s good.

This morning was actually my first time back at my site in an entire week! This past week I had VSN (Volunteer Support Network) training about 12 hours away, near Taznakht. VSN is a volunteer-based peer support group for Morocco PCVs. We had a great time, 6 of us being trained in basic counseling skills. We had 3 great trainers, and had a lot of fun altogether. The training was at a Small Business Development Volunteer’s house, a sprawling traditional house that made a great training site. Her women’s association weaves carpets…..absolutely gorgeous! I plan on saving for one to buy before I finish my service here. It is sad though, because the women do not get a lot of foot traffic through their association, so like in many places in Morocco, they give these incredible carpets to store owners who sell them in Marrakech for absurd amounts of money. In exchange, the women receive goods like flour or sugar….but NOTHING compared to the price the store owners get in ‘Kech.

Pardon my digression…..so yes, we had a great week, with some great food. Turns out our hosting volunteer is an amazing cook so we had Penne a la Vodka, Lasagna, Coconut curry, and stir fry as dinners. DELICIOUS. Of course I, along with 3 other volunteers, had to miss out on some delicious lunches (Ramadan is half way over!), but the dinners were phenomenal.

So on my way back to site yesterday I stopped in Tiznit to meet with some Ministry people, and had a very successful day. After meeting with the Ministry of Health rep, and the Ministry of Education Health Education rep, I am officially approved to begin teaching in the schools here. I will be working in 5 schools, 4 primary schools of about 25-30 kids each, and a junior high with 150 kids (only 22 girls L ). It took some badgering, but I got the Ministry of Education rep to send out my authorization this week so I can meet the kids in the next 2 weeks and begin teaching in October. I will be doing lessons ranging from dental hygiene, to nutrition, to first aid, to reproductive health.

In addition, a Youth Development Volunteer in my region and I have been discussing the plans for an HIV/AIDS awareness event with the youth of the region. There will be an AIDS skit competition, which will be videotaped and compiled to make a video for PCVs to use throughout the country. The YD Volunteer has secured the venue and met with the local AIDS organization in Tiznit, and I got a commitment from the Ministry of Health to participate in the event. We are shooting for 2 days in November…..we’ll see…inshallah all will work out.

2008-09-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

Me and little Chandler watching Friends during Ramadan :) Guess who his favorite character is?

Chandler!

2008-09-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

Blog 9/4/08

Well here I am, sitting in my house typing up a long overdue blog entry, listening to my stomach growling, with little Chandler Tamast Bing lying in my lap. My hunger is due to today being Day 3 of Ramadan. Although as a foreigner and Christian, I am not required by any means to fast for Ramadan, many of my fellow PCVs and I decided to fast with the people of our communities. I am fasting in solidarity with my Moroccan counterparts; however, I also support the concept of forcing oneself to take a small glimpse into the lives of those who do not have food and water easily accessible to them. It has been interesting so far!

This past weekend I accompanied the midwife from my health clinic to visit her family in Taroudant (5-6 hours away). We spent a couple of days with her family, where I obtained a new family member, a 12 week old kitten. Ever since Chandler was born, I have been waiting for him to be old enough to bring home with me. Regarding his name, he acts a lot like Chandler Bing, from Friends, but he was born in a douar named Tamast, hence Chandler Tamast Bing. Seriously, I cannot even describe how cute this kitten is! He is very cuddly, and our favorite game is what I like to call “lovefest,” where he curls up on me purring while I pet him for infinite periods of time. Makes both of us happy! I am proud of how he has held up over the traumatizing experiences the past few days. First, I separated the poor guy from his mom, brought him in this big scary plastic cat carrier, squished him in multiple taxis in the scorching heat to my site. We spent the first night at my site at my midwife’s house, so little Chandler was getting settled when I uprooted him again yesterday to take him to my house. And then I tortured him a bit more by giving him a bath and picking off lots of icky fleas. Needless to say, I think he has forgiven me, although he gets nervous at loud sounds. And he picked up the litter box thing in less than a day! My smart little kitty!

I feel like a parent bragging about her child! J So back to Ramadan. Day 1 was the travel day from Taroudant to my site, and wow, that was tough! Fasting means nothing can pass your lips from the morning prayer (4:30am) until the 2^nd to last prayer (7pm). This includes food, water, even brushing your teeth. So my first waterless day was horrible, but it has gotten progressively easier. You break fast as soon as you hear the evening prayer call. Traditionally here, people break fast with dates and a glass of water. Then they eat harira (a light soup), figs, bread, and shebekia (a DELICIOUS pastry made especially during Ramadan). After 15 hours, all I wanted to do is drink 20 liters of water, but I was warned that I could get very sick very easily that way.

A little later in the evening, people make dinner (10pm-ish), usually a filling tajine. Then its off to bed! 4am is wakeup time, to eat before another day of fasting begins. I think most people eat tajine or couscous in the morning, but so far I’ve avoided too much heavy food. Its hard to force meat and vegetables at 4am! And then its back to bed and fasting begins. And people are so generous and welcoming during Ramadan. I mean, Morocco is generally a very hospitable country, but during Ramadan, families and friends come together to break fast together. I broke fast the first day with my midwife, I will today at my host family’s house, and tomorrow at some extended family’s in souk. It truly is a great experience.

It is just so interesting, because the whole country changes for Ramadan. Work hours change to 9-3, since there is no lunch break, cafes are closed, and people are just a little calmer and move a little slower. And stores stock up on dates, figs, and shebekia. It makes me think of my muslim friends back home who fast. It is hard enough to fast when everyone around you is doing the same thing, but if the person next to you is chowing down on Taco Bell while you are fasting? Can’t even imagine!

In other news, I am sure word has gotten around, my wristlet was stolen a few weeks ago in Agadir. Of course, it happened to not only have all of my money and my credit cards, but my passport too. Now, I welcome any lectures regarding the wisdom of my friend and I walking to our hotel at 5am instead of taking a taxi. Fortunately, she was able to lend me some money, and my parents were able to wire me some more, so the following week I headed up to Casablanca (its far!!) to apply for a new passport. Ironically, a friend who accompanied me to Casa and I had to spend an extra night since the US Consulate took longer than we expected, and we ended up in a hotel with TVs in room. Which meant I got to see the first night of the Democratic National Convention. We stayed up until 4:00am in order to watch Michelle Obama give her fabulous speech. There was so little drama surrounding the DNC, and it seems I can’t say the same about the RNC……..

Well I am off to do some lesson planning, since I will be starting health lessons in the local primary schools and junior high in October. And hey, only 6 ½ hours until I can break fast!

New pictures added to last post on 13-Aug.

2008-08-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Added some more of my house.

Happy Living on my own!!

2008-08-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

After 5 months (exactly) of living out of a suitcase…I am here, in my own house, and although my clothes may still be in a suitcase….I’m here to stay!

Moving in and renovating...

Pre-construction mess

It took 8 kilos of plaster to close up the cracks so the scary scorpions
and spiders wont enter my house

Courtyard

My bathing/water area where I fill water every morning

My finished kitchen!

Me with the stove and the buta. Buta gas tanks are kind of scary to workwith!

Dinner in the Kitchen

Pictures in the Living Room

Living Room with the only seating in the house-a Ponj

Living Room

My bedroom with the amazing mosquito net

Lessons I learned riding my bike to souk on Friday:

Don’t ride your bike to souk.

Walking 5km up a mountain is very different than riding a bike up those same 5km.

If you just moved into a house and need to bring up a lot of groceries, biking may not be the wisest form of transportation.

It actually takes longer to go up the mountain with all of the groceries, biking 2 meters, stopping, biking 2 meters, stopping, getting off to walk the bike, than if you just walk.

It is also much more tiring this way, on and off the bike, walking the bike.

If you absolutely positively HAVE to take the bike to souk, arrange the timing so you will be back home before 10am, so you are not “biking” up the mountain in 120 degree weather.

In other news….while I was vegetable shopping, I spotted this red apple that looked suspiciously American. I ask bulxdert (veggie man), “mnkshk iga tfahad?” (How much is this apple). He responded, “Gwad?! Gwad iga winm! Win tamazirtnm. Iga delicieuse! Azzgag delicieuse!” (This? This is yours! It is from your country! Delicious. Red Delicious!). And I about passed out and paid 6 times more for this apple than the others. Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the fruits and vegetables here……apples, oranges, figs, peaches, pears, plums, EVERYTHING….but it was nice to have a little piece of home!

1 week later……

Well here I am…5pm on a Thursday, trying to move as little as possible to avoid sweating too much in the heat. But I could not care less about the heat. I am in my house! I can walk around dressed however I would like! I can make peanut butter (thanks to Tara and Doris) and jelly sandwiches! I can eat dinner at 7pm and go to bed at 10pm (whereas at homestay, dinner was at 11pm)!

As usual, today I woke up at 5:15am to wait for the water to come on. Fortunately I did not have to wait long, filled up the 100L jug I have, and went back to sleep. When I woke up again, I headed to the sbitar for the morning, where we were quite busy! Lots of discussions about post-natal diets for mommy and baby. The cycle of information that affects the people here is fascinating. For example, people are often in a difficult socioeconomic circumstance; therefore, breast-feeding would be an easier and less expensive option. However, people received information over the years that formula was better; consequently, many women opt to feed their babies’ cow’s milk and soup since formula is expensive and breast-feeding is “bad.” So when mom comes in with a baby who is not growing, it takes a complete realignment of the mother’s post-natal diet understanding.

The same applies for the mother’s diet. Somewhere along the line, people were told that a woman cannot eat regular food after giving birth. This lack of nutrition often causes sickness in the new mother and consequently the breast-feeding baby. Since most women are illiterate, all of this information is passed by word of mouth and occasionally a visual aid. I am lucky to work with a trusted midwife at the sbitar. Women come to her with a variety of questions. However, she has been here 10 years and was just given the opportunity to work in Taroudant, where her family lives, so she will be leaving in a month! L

So after my 5km hike back home in the heat around noon, I made my token PP&J sandwich, and went for a visit to my host family’s house. At around 3, when they were about to have lunch, I headed back home to get lost in some fabulous writing by Barack Obama.

And time to post!