Two Years In The Making

I sit down and order my usual, half milk, half espresso. The smell of burning coffee grounds tickles my nostrils. The heat of the patisserie and the sound of people chattering comfort me, a reminder of coffee shops back home. There is a ten-human pileup at the counter fighting for round disks of bread, cookies, croissants and baguettes. The waiter squeezes through a crowd of people to deliver my coffee. It is almost the holiday and the shop is packed. I hear Darija spoken around me and pick up small bits of conversations. My mind refuses to absorb the words on the pages of my book as I re-read them for the third time. I set down the book and I sip my coffee; feelings of excitement, joy and motivation fill me. A high pulses through me as I realize what seems like madness fits together like a puzzle, making perfect sense. I can't say whether the high is caffeine-induced or just that sheer excitement of understanding.

The moment I arrived in town I walked towards a brown awning, the word 'Patisserie' printed across it. I passed a cart full of squawking chickens, cow heads with their tongues hanging out, stomachs and intestines in piles next to the heads. Honking and buzzing motor bikes overwhelmed my senses as I dodged the stream of pedestrians walking towards me in a certain free-for-all. As I reached the patisserie I was welcomed by four Americans sitting around a small round table. They all looked rough, wearing bandanas, tattered clothes, and worn Chaco sandals. They told me to order a sandwich but I wasn't sure how. I tried to figure out what the shop had, how to order, whether or not to pay right away and if I should wait or go sit back down. I didn't know if I should try my minimal Moroccan Arabic or revert to my safety net, French.

After eating lunch, one of the Americans and I walked to the family's home at which I would be staying. I didn't know where to place my belongings, how long to sit, how much to eat, what to talk about. I tried to remember all they had crammed into our brains over the previous two months of training. I shyly introduced myself with what little Darija I had and sipped the overly sweetened mint tea with my new family.

I swallow the last bit of bitter coffee, ask for some eggs, butter and yogurt to take with me, flip my sun glasses down and walk out. People recognize me and say “Asalamu3likum.” I say hello to shop keepers as I pass. I feel confident as I walk back to my apartment.

My cell phone reads 6pm. I walk out the door and across the dirt path to the youth center. I greet each person with a handshake and ask about the success of the activity we did two days earlier. Everyone agrees it went well. I joke about my cultural missteps and joke about quite possibly having forgotten to shake the Delegate's hand in front of a large group of people. Everyone laughs and says, “mashi mushkil,” no problem!

As I crawl into bed with memories of the day, the high returns. This time it's not caffeine-induced. Sharing a sense of humor in another language and cultural context must be a sure sign of truly understanding. I think about my recent commitment to stay in Morocco for a third year, about all that I have learned in the past two years, more importantly the things I have yet to learn. I wonder what it really means to understand something.

Halloween Activity at the Youth Center

Halloween!

Happy Halloween to everyone! This year for Halloween I invited volunteers from around the area to help out with aHalloween activity at the youth center. I didn't go into the details about what Halloween really is or how it works but rather set up a small carnival like experience. We had bobbing for apples, pin the nose on the pumpkin, potato sack races, face painting, mask making, we taught the electric slide andto top it all off we had a haunted house. There is no way I could have done it without the other PCVs so a huge thanks goes out to them!

In the afternoon the PCVs got together and made decorations. We peeled grapes to serves as eyeballs, made spaghetti noodles to serve as worms and put uncooked rice in boxes to represent ants. These are all fond memories I have of Halloween activities during elementary school.

We strung string across the youth center and made a divider by hanging sheets over the string. Tables were set up that kids would climb under (and PCVs would hide on), people hid behind boards, and in doorways. String was hung at the entrance to feel like spider webs as children entered the haunted house. By the end of the evening even the moms wanted to go through the haunted house, their one requirement, that they didn't have to climb under the table.

I was lucky to have the help of so many PCVs, as there would have been no way to accomplish such a great event by myself. Youmay wonder what this had to dowith youth development. It was really more of a focus on the cultural exchange goal of Peace Corps. It also gave the kids a chance to experience something they hadn't before from art and dance to face painting and American games.

It was a blast and I hope to do it again next year!

10 Tips For A Successful Homestay Experience Abroad

With over two years of homestays under my belt ranging from studying in France and Senegal to working in Morocco there are certain things I try to keep in mind to ensure building a relationship with my host family and to get the most out of the experience as a whole. Whether the duration is ten days or over one year, living with a host family is the best way to experience a new culture and learn the language of the country in which you are living. Here are ten tips to make that experience the best it can be.

Before you arrive

1. Do Research

Before you arrive in your host country research the cultural norms. Having an idea of what is typically accepted and not accepted will better prepare you for your homestay. Knowing, for example, if you should leave the tank-tops at home, take your shoes off before entering a room, eat only with your right hand or how to greet people will allow you to more quickly adapt, integrate and be welcomed into the host family. While you will still make mistakes, this will help with first impressions and give you a good base to start from in becoming part of the family.

2. Pack Souvenirs From Home

Before you leave your home country, buy a few souvenirs representative of where you are from. Examples include key chains, post cards, a calender with pictures of your hometown, state or country, or small LED flashlights. These things make great gifts whether at the beginning of your stay or at the end. They will be a good introduction or reminder of you to the host family and give them an idea of where you are from. You can write notes to the family, neighbors or friends on the post cards, pictures from calenders can be used for future decoration in your host family's house and kids can't get enough of the flashlights!

During your homestay

3. Have No Expectations

Approach the experience with as few expectations as possible. The higher the expectations are the harder you will fall. If you keep in mind the mantra, It's not good, It's not bad, It's just different, throughout the experience, it will help keep things in perspective.

4. Lock Up Your Valuables

Keep spare cash and other valuables locked in your suitcase and if your host family gives you a room with a lock and key, keep your room locked when you are not in it. This not only protects your stuff but it protects the family as well. The first thought always seems to be, I don't want to offend my host family. But some families will directly tell you to lock your things up and in the end it is much less stressful to lock up your valuables in the beginning, with the slight fear that you might offend someone than to have to confront the family were something to go missing later on.

5. Develop Coping Strategies

A coping strategy is any technique used to help you relax when stressed, to help you get through challenging situations or to help you reboot when you have become exhausted. It can be any number of activities from reading, going for a walk, doing laundry by hand, or keeping a journal, to listening to music, doing artwork, taking a nap or just taking some personal time when you need it. Develop these strategies and develop them early. A good way to do this is to establish “you” time at the beginning. This will help create a pattern and help your host family understand that you wanting space has nothing to do with them. The most important thing is that you establish these techniques at the beginning, before you need them, so that they are there when you do need them.

6. Eat At Least One Meal A Day With Your Host Family

Whether meal time is at 5pm or 11pm, do your best to adapt to your host's schedule. The time you spend directly engaging with your host family, practicing language skills and learning more about them, is some of the most important and rewarding and meal time is the best time to do this. While school or work may prevent you from enjoying every meal with your host family, having at least one meal with them a day will help you build a relationship. In certain cases they may try and feed you by yourself out of respect or other cultural reasons. If this is the case talk to them about it. If it can't be changed, find another family to eat with on occasion.

7. Contribute To Household Chores

While you may be considered a guest for the first few days to a week, contributing to the household chores will help you become part of the family. Choosing a simple but consistent chore is a great way to contribute and will not only make you feel useful but make the family feel like you are doing your part as well. Setting the table every evening, doing the dishes after dinner, hauling water every morning, or sweeping are examples of great chores that you are entirely capable of and your host family should feel comfortable letting you do. In certain cultures it will be unacceptable or unheard of for a man to help with these chores. In that case you may insist that you want to help, or find other ways to contribute, perhaps taking time to play with the kids, helping your host dad figure out his new piece of technology, or chopping fire wood.

8. Cook Your Host Family a Meal From Home

Go out and find ingredients available to you and cook your host family a meal you enjoyed back at home. This allows you to contribute something to your host family, share your culture, and allows them to try something new. They also get to learn more about you. There is no guarantee that they will like the food but there is a guarantee that they will appreciate the experience as a whole! Who knew the foreigner knows how to cook!?

9. Communicate

Taking the time to communicate as best you can with your host family is essential to having a good experience. It is difficult to communicate with someone who speaks your own language let alone someone who speaks a different language but the most rewarding experiences will come from trying to communicate. Use your communication skills to get to know each other, solve problems, learn about the culture, get around, express the challenges you face and the gratitude you have for the family and the country you are living in. The whole point of the experience after all is to learn a new language and get to know about a new culture and the only way to do this will be through communicating with that culture and its peoples.

After your homestay

10. Keep In Touch

Do not let the end of your homestay experience be the end of your relationship with your host family. They have given and taught you so much over the time you spent with them. Show them your appreciation through monthly phone calls or a visit down the line. Most of the time they just want to hear your voice, hear that everything is going well and to tell you that they are doing well too. It doesn't take much time or effort. Nothing makes less sense to a host family than having their visitor leave, never to be heard from again.

There's nothing like having a second or even third family abroad. Take the time to develop a relationship with your host family and you will be pleasantly rewarded.

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Publications in which I'm interested in seeing my byline

1. Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like / http://stuffexpataidworkerslike.com/

Guest Post Submissions policy

-Must be an expat Aid Worker
-Post must be the or issues-focused
-Should be humorous/ ironic
-Submit by emailing stuffexpataidworkerslike [at] gmail [dot] com.

2. Matador Network / http://matadornetwork.com

Editor: Julie Schwietert

Contributor submission policy
-Be familiar with the blog you want your story published in
- Avoid covering topics others have covered
- No Pseudonyms

-A submission should be 2000 words or less
-Don't send an article that has already been published
-Check spelling, grammar etc.
-If you don't hear back within a month or two submit something else

3. Transitions Abroad / http://www.transitionsabroad.com 



Submission guidelines:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/information/writers/writers.shtml

Editor: Gregory Hubbs 
Contact: webeditorial@transitionsabroad.com

4.Abroad View / http://www.abroadview.org/webzine/index.htm

Contributor submissions:
Send submissions to abroadview.editorial@gmail.com.
Editors: Various editors

5. Travelgirl / http://www.travelgirlinc.com/



Submission guidelines: Query by emailing soswald@travelgirlinc.com

Editor: Stephanie Oswald

Extension of Service

For those of you that haven't heard, I'm extending my stay in Morocco by one year! Yay! The thought of leaving one month from now was unbearable and there is still so much to do here and so many opportunities to be taken advantage of!

With the next year I hope to do more health education, teach about volunteerism and leadership, work on career development, be present for the opening of the new Dar Chebab and help Peace Corps Morocco with the transition to an all youth development based program.

I'll be going home for a month starting in mid November to celebrate the holidays and both of my parents' birthdays before returning to Morocco for my next year. While home I'll visit Washington, DC, Chicago, Michigan, Albuquerque and of course wonderful Colorado. I'm looking forward to seeing friends and family, drinking lattes, eating chipotle, snow and central heating. Five weeks at home should be just enough time for me to still love everyone at home but be thoroughly ready to go back to Morocco. I look forward to returning with fresh eyes and perspective.

In the mean time, I've started taking a travel writing class online. This will (Inchallah) increase my blog posts! They may seem random but will hopefully be interesting and if I'm lucky improve over time.

If you ever have questions or would like me to elaborate on certain topics or parts of my experience, don't hesitate to ask. It will help me be better about writing and will make this a more interactive experience, which blogging is all about!

Taking a walk with one of my students

River Dades

Bridge crossing

Almond Blossoms

Algae

Dar Chebab Activities

Youth Center Activities, YAY!

Playing Chess

Ping Pong!

Art/ Green March Activity

Drawing interpretations of the Green March

"My Arabic Library"- Donated by the State Department. We have lots of English books in our library but for students that don't speak English they are useless. This was quite a treat and many students benefited from having access to educational children's books in Arabic

"My Arabic Library"

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ceremony marking the beginning of the building of the new Dar Chebab (scheduled to be done at the beginning of 2012)

Hanging out at the ceremony- in my Moroccan Garb

November Festivities

It's hard to believe I haven't written since October. I guess not that hard to believe for those that follow my blog and know how inconsistent I am about updates. Today I want to take the time to update you on what has been going on for the last seven months.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words so for the month of November I will share several photos of the festivities I attended from the Big Holiday to Thanksgiving and mid-service medicals. To be reminded of exactly what the Big Holiday is, I recommend you look back on my entry L'3id Al Adha from December 2009.

Our friendly sheep

On his way out

Tea, Bread, Grilled Meet...mmmmm

We ate everything, including the head

Thanksgiving: We bought, cooked and ate a previously slaughtered Turkey- Not much different than the Big Holiday, Yak?

Candlelit Thanksgiving dinner- How romantic :) I'm thankful for my friends and family and all the support they give me, the opportunities available to me, my experience in Morocco, Marjorie, my health, really just about everything in my life!

La France

September 30, 2010 – October 7, 2010

Marjorie and I just had a wonderful little vacation in France. We went to Toulouse to visit friends I studied with in high school and to take a little break from Morocco. I was expecting to see two friends and two others came down to surprise me! I couldn’t believe it. It had been 5 years since I had seen them and we picked up right where we left off. They also invited some friends over that added to all the fun. We spent the evening enjoying “grape juice,” cheese, foie gras, and other snacks and catching up on everything we’d missed over the years. Everyone knew a little English and Marjorie knows a little French so everyone felt included and had a good time. It was all I could have asked for and more. After seeing my friends for just a few short days Marjorie and I went to Marseille to continue our lovely vacation.

In Marseille we stayed near the old port. We enjoyed all of my must have meals each time I go to France: Mussels, Frites and a cold brew, Crepes and cider, steak and “grape juice,” and lots and lots of cheese and more “grape juice.”

We visited the Basilica Notre-Dame de la Gard and the Cathedral de la Major. Both are beautiful buildings with an interesting pattern of lighter stone and darker stone. They both had tiled floors and the Cathedral de la Major had different colored marble swirling through the building at different points. The Basilica had a large gold plated statue of Mary holding Baby Jesus posed at the top. It was nice to be in a familiar, religious setting again, even if just familiar from all of the churches I’ve visited in past trips to Europe. I’m always inclined to light a candle for loved ones and think about what a wonderful life I’ve been blessed with.

Another wonderful part of our stay in Marseille was a boat trip to the Calanques. These are cliffs that border the Mediterranean Sea and are really quite stunning. It was nice to relax on a boat and still be able to explore.

We ended our trip sitting in the airport in front of a wall size photo of a field of lavender eating pork sausage, cheese, crackers and chocolate. The trip felt like it lasted a couple weeks (in a good way) despite the fact that it was only seven days. We came back feeling rested and I was even excited to be back in Morocco a feeling I was slightly worried may be absent upon our return. The trip also reminded me once again how much I love France and that I hope to spend another period of my life there at some point.

Marj and me hanging out in Marseille

Basilica Notre Dame de la Gard

Cathedral de la Major

A few of the Calanques

Me staring out at the Mediterranean Sea

The folks come to visit and Mount Toubkal!

Immediately after Ramadan I had the pleasure of showing my dad and stepmom around Morocco. It was absolutely wonderful to see them, share with them the experience I’ve had in Morocco, introduce them to my community (and Marj J) and climb the tallest mountain in North Africa with them!

Marj and I picked them up at the airport in Marrakech where we spent the night and part of the next day. We enjoyed snails and a nice tajine dinner, wandered around Jamm Elfna, admired the Ktoubia and of course shopped the souks.

The next day we headed to Imlil where we would start our journey up the tallest mountain in North Africa, Mount Toubkal. They didn’t have a whole lot of time to rest but the kept it together. The hike itself was long and grueling. The first day we hiked about 7 hours. We spent the night in a dirty and crowded hostel, passing up the nicer one, without realizing our mistake. We were just too tired. The next day we continued hiking for about 5 hours to the summit. It was slow and I think everyone questioned their ability to make it to the top at least once…but shwiya b shwiya we scaled that mountain and showed it who was boss. After that we made our way back down to Imlil. I want to say that part of the hike was about 9 hours or so(from peak to Imlil.) We were all very grateful to be back down, sore but not broken and we were maybe less grateful to see another Tajine meal (our 4^th in about 4 days.)

The next morning we headed back to Marrakech and all the way back to Rosevalley. That was another 8.5 hours of traveling most of which was on a bus going down a miserable, twisting, mountain road. We finally made it back to RoseValley around 10pm and a nice gentleman helped us carry (in his cart) all of our baggage back to my house.

Once in RoseValley we rested for a full 24hours. It was definitely needed after the long, nonstop travel we had been doing for the first few days. After recovering, we had a nice lunch with other PCVs in the area and from there I dragged them from one neighbors house to another. We visited four families in just an afternoon. If you know anything about visiting Moroccan families this is quite a feat! People were so welcoming, providing us with tea, cookies, fried bread, coffee, soda and other treats. I was thankful to be able to introduce them to my host family, the people I work with, my host uncle and aunt and the neighbors that took such good care of me throughout Ramadan. It was also nice for all of my neighbors to have faces to go with the American family I’m always talking about.

After a couple days in RoseValley we headed to Ouarzazate from where they would fly out the next morning at 5am. We had a nice evening, enjoying some “grape juice” and sitting out by the pool to enjoy the evening. While sitting there a somewhat obnoxious guide (more than likely a faux guide –fake guide,) began to talk at us, ask where we were from, if we wanted his services, if I’d take his card for future visitors etc. This left a bit of a sour taste in my dad’s mouth but for me I didn’t even think twice. It is such common place for strangers to talk at me, harass me, and enquire about whom I am or the organization I work for. Some days it rubs me the wrong way to the same extent it bothered my father but for the most part you just get used to it and learn how to deal with. It is also a very real part of my experience in Morocco as a female PCV and I think it was good for them to see that side of the experience too, even if it was an abrasive part of it all.

All in all it was a wonderful time and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to show them my life here. I think they would say it was an enriching experience for them as well. Alhamdulilah!

Enjoying snails in Marrakech

Getting ready to take off on our hike up Jebel Toubkal

A view of some of the trail on the way up

Us at the peak! We Made It! Alhamdulilah!

Ramadan

Ramadan

Islamic year 1431

Sunset Wednesday August 11, 2010- Sunset Thursday September 9, 2010

I touched on Ramadan briefly last year as I caught the tail end of it. This year I was able to fully immerse myself in the holy month, fasting from food and water sunup to sundown, breaking fast with families in the neighborhood and thinking about how blessed I am to have all that I do in my life.

Ramadan is the 9^th month in the Islamic calendar and is a Holy month in which Muslims fast, pray and read the Qur’an, give charity, break fast, refrain from sexual activity during the daylight hours and maintain a state of purity throughout the month. For more information check out good ol’ Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan.

Every morning for 30 days I woke up at 3am. I would eat the pre-dawn meal of suhoor. I started out eating lentils and rice with a piece of fruit and maybe some nuts. I quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to keep that up the whole month despite the fact that it kept me full most of the day. I would also drink as much water as possible, usually aiming for 2-3 liters. I’d go back to bed around 4-4:30 depending on the time of the call to prayer, the Ahdan.

During the day Muslims generally stick to their same work schedules and live a normal life. For most of Ramadan I spent the time inside my house, taking it easy, trying to stay cool, napping, and generally distracting myself from the idea of food.

Not eating wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I did feel hungry but not TOO hungry and it was certainly doable. I didn’t even get mean after not eating for a whole day alhamdulilah! The hard part was that I couldn’t go about my normal routine: waking up, making coffee and eggs, working on my computer while drinking coffee, filling hours of boredom with snacks…who am I kidding, it was just hard not being able to have coffee whenever I wanted!

Why would I fast if I’m not Muslim and I’m not becoming Muslim? One of my dear friends was accused by an American friend of just satisfying her desire for a little religious tourism, perhaps to make herself feel open-minded and experienced? I would say that this is rather insulting and quite far from the reality. There are several reasons I chose to fast. In the beginning it was in solidarity with my community, to know what they experience throughout the month and to feel comfortable breaking fast with families in my neighborhood. Something is not quite right about stuffing one’s face all day and then going to the neighbors’ house who have not eaten from 4 in the morning to about 7:15 at night where I live and then ceremoniously breaking the fast with them. The whole experience of breaking fast is much more fulfilling when you haven’t eaten all day and the sense of community and support that is created as you gather with friends, all of whom have been hungry all day is quite enriching.

As the month went on I wouldn’t say it necessarily got harder or easier. Some days were just hard and others were easier. It is amazing though to feel your minds abilities decrease rapidly and your energy level plummet more and more as the month goes on and the days build up. As I learned about why Muslims fast my reasons for fasting transformed to be more inline with theirs. As I felt the sensation of hunger day after day I started to think about what people who don’t ever have food feel like. Do you ever get used to this sensation? I can’t imagine. While I was never starving by any means, while I got to break fast at the end of everyday in good company, my privilege of having access to food and clean water day after day became very apparent to me…even if only from sundown to sunup, I could take something away from these feelings of hunger throughout the day. Muslims fast for many reasons one of which, is to feel empathy for those less fortunate than them. For me this became one of the meanings of Ramadan and what I would consider an enriching experience.

A second meaning of Ramadan for me was community. Both my host family and Mudir (boss) were out of town for the month of Ramadan. I didn’t really have anywhere to go but I couldn’t very well break fast by myself everyday. My neighbors however took me in completely. The invited me over every evening to break fast with them. I was also able to go to my host uncle and aunts house and visit my host family in Casablanca to share the experience of fasting and breaking fast with them. When we broke fast every night we’d start with a small glass of milk. As much as you’d like to chug water after not drinking the entire day, that is NOT the way its done. After a small glass of milk we would eat olives and dates. I love dates and would have to refrain from overindulging in the soft, sweet goodness that they are. We’d follow that in no specific order by tea, fat bread (a kind of Moroccan fried pizza,) msmn (fried bread,) hard-boiled eggs, shbekia (fried dough, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds,) and we’d finish everything with Harira (a tomato based soup with chick peas, cilantro, lentils, a noodle or two and perhaps some chicken liver.) After we broke fast we would go sit out side and enjoy the warm evenings. I played hide and seek, jumped rope and played Frisbee with the kids, which was a lot of fun.

30 days of not drinking water and not eating food during the day sounds really intimidating but I think it has been one of my most beneficial experiences in Morocco to date. I do have to note that there is no way I could have made it through the whole month without my dear Marjorie. We would get up together at 3am (her in Tiznit and me in Rose Valley,) skype together while we ate suhoor and give each other words of encouragement to get through the day. With out knowing that part of my fasting was in solidarity with her and that I couldn’t let her down I could make sure not to let myself down either.

This picture is of me, another PCV and a group of Moroccan youth breaking fast at a youth conference, at which I spent a week during Ramadan. The theme was "from an idea to a project)

Summer Camp!

*Summer*Camp*! July 15-26, 2010

In July I went up to El Jadida, a beach town, equipped with cafés, ice cream, beignets, Beach spiced coffee, sand, waves kites… It was the perfect place to start my summer and spend two weeks getting to know more Moroccan youth, catch up with some PCVs I hadn’t seen in a while and relax a bit. The camp is an English Emersion camp. PCVs work as counselors, Teach English and run country clubs. For Country clubs we choose Anglophone countries and teach students about them, cooking food, playing games and doing dances from those countries.

The morning is dedicated to English and beach time. After that students come back, eat lunch, have library time, go to country clubs and then finish by Moroccan clubs. They have a little break after that and then in the evening there is a theme night and a dance party.

My club was Club India. I can’t say I know a whole lot about India though I think it’s a place I’d like to visit on my way home from Peace Corps. The other PCV working with me and I cut up a map of India to make it into a puzzle. Students colored it in, glued famous landmarks where they belonged and put the puzzle together. The next day we learned some facts about India and played a game called KoKo. It was a fun game of tag that all of the kids enjoyed despite the hot sun. Other activities included watching videos about India, making chai, doing Yoga, having a cultural discussion with some visiting American students that happened to be from India and learning the Slumdog Millionaire Dance (refrain from comments about the cultural accuracy of the Sumdog Millionaire Dance J ) It was a great week and students seemed to have a good time.

It was a long but good week. Despite some drama between Moroccan staff and American staff things seemed to run relatively smoothly. I have to give props to our American Coordinator and her ability to negotiate, intermediate and communicate with the Moroccan Coordinators. It certainly wasn’t an easy job.

Rose Festival

Rose Festival, May 5, 2010

This is quite outdated but since it was a success I want to share it with you. At the beginning of May the Annual, three day, RoseValley Rose Festival took place. This is often a great venue for Peace Corps Volunteers to do health related/community projects. Moroccan tourists come to town from across the country. Main highlights include a parade, the crowning of Miss Rose, and nightly concerts. For us PCVs in the region it would become the stage for an AIDS awareness/ testing campaign.

We started planning “the Rose Festival Project” in January after a regional meeting. Our goals were to dispel myths related to SIDA (the French acronym for AIDS,) to discuss modes of transmission and methods of prevention. We were lucky to work closely with a Moroccan organization to ensure community interest and participation and in hopes of some sort of sustainability.

Some of the main parts of planning included coming up with talking points, training our Moroccan volunteers and medical professionals on up to date information on SIDA, attaining a tent from which to work, and getting in contact with ALCS an organization that does testing for SIDA as well as awareness campaigns.

We worked for days upon days on this project but it was well worth the work we put in. Several days before the festival we gathered our entire team of Moroccan medical professional and a doctor from one of the surrounding hospitals came in to give a training on SIDA. We prepared in advance “difficult questions/statements,” that our volunteers could expect to receive and it was followed by discussion. Questions /statements included, I’m Muslim, Allah (God) will protect me. SIDA is a foreigner’s disease. My only partner is my husband, can I still get SIDA? Etc… We felt it was important to prepare volunteers for questions they could face. Despite some arguing the training went well.

The first day of the Rose Festival we got up early, marched over to the field that would be hosting tents, and set up our large, wedding tent. It had a divider down the middle so that we could have two sides, a men’s side and a women’s side. This would help us reach more people since we could man the men’s tent with men and the women’s tent with women, providing a more comfortable and culturally appropriate atmosphere. We had two Peace Corps volunteers, two Moroccan youth volunteers and a medical professional on each side of the tent at all times.

The youth volunteers were really what made the whole experience. Without them we could not have reached nearly as many people and the project would not have been a success the way that it was. The students were excited and motivated. Many of them were proactive in calling people into the tents, going through different brochures and answering questions related to SIDA. We spent 3 days form 9am-to between 6-8pm reaching out to people in the community and trying to educate them on SIDA.

All the while, next to our tent ALCS was providing free SIDA testing. Anyone was allowed to go get tested and afterwards they were provided with condoms. We were also handing out condoms, despite some controversy. We felt it was important if people wanted them, we should provide them. There was of course the age old argument, “if you are handing out condoms, you are encouraging people to have sex,” to which we replied with the age old response, “People will have sex whether or not we give them condoms. They may as well be educated and have a way to protect themselves.”

People were far more receptive to the information we were handing out than I expected. We originally expect to reach about 250 people. Ambitious, right!? In the end we reached 2560 people! We talked to 1250 men, 476 boys (15 and under) 681 Women and 153 girls. It’s hard for us to measure how much information people retained and if there was an increase in condom usage but as far how many people we shared information with, we are very proud of the outcome.

It might be time for an update

It has been far too long since I’ve written as usual. The problem is, well, it’s just been too long since I’ve written! There is so much that has happened and as I think back over all of it and how much I haven’t written about it makes it that much harder to start. Something about today though has me motivated. It’s nice out, there is a cool breeze, it feels like fall! The town is full again as people have returned from their summer retreats. Mostly people go visit their families in other parts of the country especially during the month of Ramadan. Now that school has started back up though, “play time is over! It’s time to work.”

I am very excited to start work again after a long relaxing summer of summer camps, weekend getaways, Ramadan, family visits, mountain climbing and a lovely trip to France. However, the children seem far more intimidating this year than they did last year, if that is possible. They are everywhere. Most of them are polite enough. They say hi, shake my hand or kiss me on the cheek and then giggle a little as I go by. There are a couple children that without fail, the second they see me, run up and greet me. Those are my favorites! I imagine once I get reacquainted with them I’ll feel better, Inchallah!

So I guess now I’ll break this down into some things that I’ve done over the summer and post them as separate posts:

Rose Festival

Summer Camp

Ramadan

Parents Visit

Toubkal

France

Lazy Sunday

I had a great day yesterday. I started teaching an English class to teachers from the area. I wasn’t looking forward to it because my first session with them did not go smoothly. I expected them to have a higher English level than they did and we clumsily stumbled through the hour and a half in frustration.

This time I went about teaching in a different way. I had originally tried bringing in an article to read and discuss. This time I brought in a list of vocabulary. I chose the topic, primary education, because they are all primary school teachers. I figured that way, while in their own classrooms; they could glance around the room and remind themselves of the different words we went over.

After class I went to my Moudir’s house for lunch. He wasn’t there but I sat for hours with his wife and daughters, dozing in and out, while watching the Moroccan equivalent of American Idol. When I felt rested I ventured into town and stumbled across a couple of trainees. I sat with them for a little while, doing my best not to corrupt, scare, or mislead them in anyway. They were good company and I appreciated sitting with them for a little while.

On my way home I started to feel kind of weary. I think it stemmed from the fact that I had been around PCVs for the last few weeks straight and in good PCV company at that. As much as I love my own little, sacred, apartment I wasn’t too sure I wanted to go sit by myself there contemplating what to do with myself.

When I walked up to my door, my Moudir was sitting out front. He was polishing a pair of shiny, silver, suede (?) shoes. I sat down next to him and he started telling me about this pair of shoes. They were a pricy pair of shoes ($32), from Ouarzazate. They were a worthy investment however, because he has had them for three years and has taken good care of them.

That same morning he took the back pockets off of a pair of his daughter’s pants. He sewed them back on to the side of the pants. I squirmed as I watched, thinking…if you do it that way you are going to sew up the whole pant leg and she wont be to put them on. Silly me. This guy knows how to do absolutely everything. He sewed those pants right up, good as new.

After he finished polishing his shoes he brought out some grapefruit syrup he had made. You mix it with water…a nice touch of flavor. He explained how I could do it with lemon as well.

Next he got his guitar and started playing. Some days he takes apart computers and puts them back together. When my power goes out he shows me how to fix it. When the kids get rambunctious he whips them into shape. He went to school to be the director of a youth center with an emphasis on sports. So, I asked him, “Where on earth did you learn how to do Everything?” He explained that after he finished his studies, he was unemployed for two years. He likes learning and he held many different jobs during that time. A friend invited him to work for his company in France as a Mr. Fix It but he said he had everything he needed right here in Morocco.

As he played his guitar, a neighbor woman came out and joined us. And then another and then another. It began to get dark and bats started to circle around head. As the sound of the women’s gossip grew louder my Moudir slipped away into his house.

After he disappeared out came the kiddos. Little girls that wanted to draw surrounded me. I gave them each small, flash card, size paper and a pen. They copied the titles of the books they were writing on, to the paper. M_O_R_O_C_C_O. P_H_R_A_S_E_B_O_O_K. It was quite an achievement, writing the French alphabet, left to right. I tried to get them to sound out the words they were writing. MO RO SSO. I explained the difference between C and S but I don’t think it stuck. I’ll try again today. When they got bored with that…mostly because there was no light to see what they were writing, I brought down a coloring book, crayons and a flashlight.

One of the older girls brought over a candle. We melted some of the wax on the slab of cement in front of my house and stuck the candle in it. How many times that coloring book almost went up in flames, I can’t say. Soon boys surrounded the coloring book too. I was grateful to have one of my young English students deciding who got to color when and with what. I jus sat back and watched. They each wrote their names at the bottom of the page they colored. Some of the kids were so diligent about staying in the lines, other were just excited about the colors and didn’t particularly care where they ended up on the page.

Finally Mom’s began to corral their children. I promised the coloring book would still be there tomorrow. I went up to my house, not feeling so alone after all. Actually, feeling really excited for the lengthening days, warm breezy evenings, and a summer full of sitting on my slab of cement, hanging out with the ladies and children, chatting with my Moudir and listening to the strumming of a guitar. I never thought I would crave hanging out with Moroccan’s and my community as a whole. Alhamdulillah.

Camp Fun

Fauve and baby host siter Aya

Bike Ride with the Kids

The River

The Inspiration

There was one 13-year-old boy who took a liking to us volunteers. I remember the first day sitting at a table and having him ask me questions that were being fed to him by another camper. His enthusiasm, friendliness and good attitude were a blessing. He could just go and go and go and nothing seemed to get him down.

Towards the end of camp he got this great idea that he should make a video of different campers, PCVs, and staff all speaking different languages and talking about their experience at camp. He worked with a PCV who did the recording to produce this little movie but it was his idea, he did all of the interviews, picked out the people to be interviewed and got the ball rolling himself. You don’t see motivation like that among youth here in general. He was an inspiration to all of us and gave us all hope that there are motivated, Moroccan, youth that can change the future of this country.

We hope that we had an equally positive impact on him and that he will start going to the Dar Chebab in his town, where there is a PCV that can maybe help cultivate his talent. He is certainly worth the time.

Clubs

Afternoons were spent in clubs. The students were split up into three groups and they switched clubs everyday. This made it easier on us volunteers because we only needed one lesson plan and could just improve that lesson as went through the week.

I helped out a couple other volunteers to lead a health club. The leader of the club talked about general health and the importance of eating balanced meals and not putting a quarter pound of sugar in your tea every time you make it. That part lasted about 20 minutes and then we brought out different fruits and veggies: Green Peppers, carrots, cucumbers, oranges, bananas, raisons, peanuts and toothpicks and we put the students to work building different sculptures. They did a great job and were more creative than I ever imagined them being. It was rewarding to see them getting into it and building things from little people/faces, to boats and cars to beach scenes etc.

Actually, the creativity and ability of the kids to entertain themselves for hours on end was amazing. They had drums with them at all times and were never short of a song or chant to keep things moving. From breakfast until bed time there seemed to be some sort of “camp sound track” being played. We went on a field trip one day to a place called Ait Benhaddou, where we had to hike around and they still had their drums and were singing the whole time. Other tourists stopped and stared, trying to figure out whom this musically inclined, group of youth was. That was probably one of my favorite parts of the experience, the ability of the children to break into song at any moment.