Algae
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Dar Chebab Activities
Youth Center Activities, YAY!
Playing Chess
"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!
Monday, October 11, 2010
La France
September 30, 2010 – October 7, 2010
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 4th 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 9th 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.
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