Tuesday, June 24, 2008

House

I had a fabulous moment at my site this weekend….which really brought a smile to my face.  On Friday, my host mom and I went to visit a couple of douars (communities) further into the mountains, including Ait Boumzou where she was born and raised.  It was really nice, meeting her aunt, a little lady with no teeth and a big smile, as well as the extended family still living there.  It took about an hour to get there, and we stayed in the area until evening.  Then on Saturday, my host sister, Najma, and I went to souk, or the town center, to do laundry since there is running water there.  For lunch we stopped by some relatives of my host family.  One of the daughters, Fadma, said she heard there was going to be a wedding in Ait Boumzou this summer.  I replied that yes there was, Amina, who is living in Tiznit, will be home to be married.  And Fadma said, “Really?  I didn’t know that.  Very neat!”  And I couldn’t help but smile!  Our main goal for the first six months of service is community integration, and here I am sharing family news with people in the community.  It made me very happy!  One step in the right direction.

 

In other news, I may have a house to live in!  I will be moving out of my host family’s house on August 1st.  It has just been brought to my attention that there is a little pink house available for rent in my douar/community.  It is 5k away from the main road, so transportation would not be too fun, but it is in the same area as all of the people I know from my site.  The only problem is the lack of electricity.  Hopefully I will meet with the house owner this week to see if we can work something out!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Goats in trees, flies in ears, and a one dollar bill

My new henna...this is the traditional Berber way of doing henna...I feel like a kid with fingerpaints and I love it! :)
The bookshelf in my room....my host family was taken aback by the number of books.  I love books!
On our mountain hike last week


For the first time since arriving in site, I feel as if there are no major events, or incidents to report.  Maybe it is a good sign!  Perhaps I am finding a sense of normalcy in my life here.  I am getting into a routine that granted, can often be interrupted, but that is what keeps life interesting!  This has been an exciting weekend, and although I was not home for it, I think it was still exciting!  Saturday was Mom and Dad’s 28th wedding anniversary!  And then Sunday was Father’s Day.  All weekend I liked to think that my parents were having a fabulous time in Cincinnati at the Brooks and Dunn concert! 

 

Since my daily events are beginning to resemble a routine, I figure I can relate that routine.  One of the things PCV’s told us during training is that we will have a lot of time to sleep when we first arrive at our sites, since our current work is to improve our TashelHit and to integrate into the community.  I, unfortunately, do not agree with the sleep thing.  I often get 6 or 7 hours of sleep in a night, which, as many people know, does not make me happy.  I need 8 hours! 

 

So on Mon, Wed, and Thurs, I head to the sbitar (health clinic) in the morning.  Since it is 5km away, it takes me an hour to get there and an hour to get back.  So each time, I spend about 3 hours there.  At the sbitar, I stay with the nurse/midwife, Saadia, in the consultation room.  Most women in the community prefer to see her over the male nurse and male doctor.  My community is truly blessed with a female member of the health staff.  Women come in for various medical issues, and often to bring their children.  Wednesday is vaccination day, so the morning is filled with BCG, Measles, Polio, DTC and Hep B shots.  I have never spent so much time with such little babies!  Stephanie would go nuts! 

 

Quite often the morning also consists of informal health education to new mothers.  There are many birthing traditions here, including putting a form of make-up on a new baby’s eyes, and henna on the umbilical cord.  Some of the traditions present considerable health risks, so Saadia is able to try and address the issues while the babies are being vaccinated. 

 

I usually head back at around lunch time, and then spend the afternoon working on creating health lessons to use in the future, and spending time with the women and girls in the community. 

 

Sometimes in the evenings I try to watch an episode of House, which my parents graciously sent me, because dinner is not until 10 or 10:30.  And then I sleep….of course, doing a thorough check for creepy crawlies before bed. 

 

On Tuesdays I go to Tafraoute for the day, where I can find internet, a sandwich, some coffee, and chocolate.  Once I live on my own, I will also be going to Tafraoute for food shopping, since their souk day is Tuesdays. 


Fridays are a bit up in the air.  I would like it to be an “in the community” day, where I will spend the day with various families, but I also need to start TashelHit tutoring, so I may do that.  We shall see! 


And of course weekends are weekends.  Time to relax, get some reading done, or go on a weekend trip out of my site. 

Re: The title of this entry

Goats in trees:  Who knew goats could jump?  Let alone jump into trees?  Well they can!  It is the funniest thing to see a herd of goats, half of which are up in trees eating the fruits.  Hehe!

Flies in ears: Yeah a fly just flew into my ear.  SERIOUSLY?  Why me?  Trying to get it out just encouraged it to take up refuge in my ear...but then it finally left.  But yuck!

One dollar bill:  Since the closest store to my community is an hour away, my little host brother (14) has become an entrepreneur.  He started selling candy, gum, and other misc items to the community in the evenings.  Yesterday I bought 2 bags of “Kurrachitos” from him, the closest thing I have found to Cheetos.  J  Together they costed 2 Dirham….which translates to about $.20.  Since I didn’t have change, I brought him a $1 bill instead, and asked if he would accept it as payment.  To see this kid’s eyes light up was priceless.  Something as simple as a dollar bill just absolutely intrigued him.  Now 24 hours later, I am quite sure the whole community has seen Omar’s one dollar bill.   

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Bugs, rabbits and more!

Whether or not I tolerate them, we all know about, or have experienced my ridiculous fear.  So the other night, I was heading to bed, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I saw something strange out of the corner of my eye.  I looked at the black thing on the wall, initially thinking it was a fly.  And when I looked from across the room, I thought, there is no way.  But as I got closer……oh yes way.  There was a black scorpion staring at me.  So I shuddered, grabbed my pink plastic shower sandal, and smooshed it.  I was slightly shaken, but then relaxed, thinking that the chances of me finding another such bug were unlikely.  So I sat on my bed, looked up, and on the wall next to my books was a rather large spider with 8 longggggg legs.  I almost screamed.  Now, this guy was pretty big, and spiders are my weakness, but after 3 or 4 tries (and chickening out), I grabbed my hiking boot and smooshed the spider.  After a few hits, I confirmed that he was dead.  So then I was way freaked.  Like very very very very freaked out.  But I didn’t have a choice.  It was almost 12 and I needed to sleep.  So I reached for one of my bags to grab my toothbrush………….and out comes running an oversized black beetle looking thing.  That time I did scream, and never even got to kill it, it ran away so fast.  Away, and under my bed, never to be seen again.  To make a long story of pain and stress a little shorter, I ended up sleeping in my sleeping bag, tied all up so that only my mouth and nose were exposed.  Granted, I slept on average in 20 minute increments…………….talk about scary!

 

So then the next day, I did my best to express my horror to my host family.  Instead of understanding, they were laughing their heads off!  To them, being afraid of bugs is a ridiculous notion- as ridiculous as being afraid of, I don’t know, a shoe, or a book.  Nonetheless, I convinced them that I will never be able to sleep again if we do not do something.  So, that evening, we all cleaned out my entire room, moving the ponjes (the sponge-y bench things lining the walls of my room), and picking up the carpets.  All in all, I believe we found 3 giant spiders, and about 10 scary big black beetle things.  It was quite a relief for me to see them die, and even better, I now sleep on a cot in the middle of the room….so that the bxoy (bugs) cannot climb up to me.  I was so excited, that night, I thought I would sleep like a baby………except that my bxoy-free room happened to coincide with the worst gastro-intestinal issues I have experienced since arriving in country.  So I didn’t sleep well…in face I woke up 5 times during the night……and proceeded to be incredibly sick for the following 48 hours.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some. 

 

On a positive note, the day of the bxoy-cleaning, in the afternoon the I accompanied 17 girls and women from the community on a 5-hour hike/picnic to the top of one of the mountains nearby and back.  It was spectacular.  Peace Corps emphasizes the importance of community building to its volunteers, and the need to acknowledge that without strong community ties and a desire to work together, sustainable development just is not realistic.  So for me, to see my community want to be together, to “skr ryada” (do sport) and make an afternoon of it, is beyond my wildest dreams.  Not to mention, the view from the top of the mountain was indescribable. 

 

Just on a side note, I would like to mention a little something about laundry and the progression of laundry in my life.  J

 

In USA: Laundry is something that can be done at a moments notice….it takes little time and effort, just moving clothes from the washer to the dryer.  You can even leave the house to get something done while the laundry is being done.  Takes very little time out of the day, and leaves clothes feeling soft and fluffy.

 

In my training site:  Laundry is a bit more obtrusive as an activity.  Takes maybe an hour plus drying time, next to the tap with a constant supply of water.  Includes physical effort, but again, not too bad.  However, it is a bit of a surprise to feel how stiff the clothes are after drying.  I remember thinking, yikes, will my clothes be this stiff for the next two years?

 

At my site: It is called laundry DAY for a reason.  It fills up an entire morning or afternoon….and takes a few hours.  Much more physical, as there is often no water coming from the tap (ur gis waman!) so it is all about conservation.  Rinsing standards are lowered (there are just a few soapy bubbles!) and I now begin to question my previous statement about soft clothes…..these clothes feel fine…I don’t even recall what “softened” clothes are like……….

 

In other news…….I have come to the conclusion that there is something liberating about being elbow deep in cow dung.  Let me explain.

 

I often enjoy accompanying various women to the fields for a bit of work and conversation.  Today, I went with my host mom to one of her gardens down the road.  We brought the mule, and on its back was a very large container full of cow dung.  We arrived, and I realized she would be using this as fertilizer, to mix with the water in her garden.  At first I watched as she scooped up big handfuls of dung, and smooshed it into the dirt, and although I usually participate in the field work, I thought, no way, there are lines, and this is one of them.  There is nothing wrong with me not getting myself full of cow dung.  I will only go so far to participate in community activities.  Lines, there are lines!  And then, I thought, well, what the heck…..forget the lines.  And I rolled up my sleeves, hiked up my skirt, and dug in to the dung.  And instead of being horribly disgusted, I felt good….liberated!  To experience a moment wear I had thrown all inhibition to the wind, and decided there are no lines……….it was nice. J

 

Needless to say, I got back to the house, washed my hands 5 times, changed my clothes, and I still smell cow dung.  Or maybe I am just imagining it.

 

Ps I ate rabbit heart and liver.  Yikes!  They didn’t tell me it was rabbit til later!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

The past week.....

29/5/08

So I will be heading in for dinner in just a moment, but there are a couple of little moments from the past 2 days I want to write down before I forget!

  1. Yesterday I slept in for the first time since arriving to Morocco.  It was great!  9am!  Then I spent the morning organizing my room, since I just got my luggage from Tiznit on Tuesday.  So I am there, enjoying my music, lost in my own little world, when I hear a car pull up.  Interesting…who could that be.  And then, there is a knock on my door, and open in, and who is standing there but the Chief Gendarme!!!!! !?!?  I about had a heart attack, wondering what the heck I did to warrant the chief gendarme driving 30 miles from his station to my site, then another 3 miles of unpaved road to my house!  Well, after I started breathing again, I realized there couldn’t be anything wrong since he and the other gendarme (they are the rural police) were smiling.  Turns out they wanted to get started on my carte de sejour process, and instead of waiting for the 5 volunteers in their precinct to come to them, they came to us, also wanting to see how we were doing with our families. Still though…..very crazy!  Many people in rural communities are a bit hesitant about the gendarmes, so my host mom and sister wouldn’t even come out to greet them; instead, they made tea which I gave to the gendarmes.  Honestly, they are very nice, I feel lucky to be in a region with such nice gendarmes, but really!  It was the news of the douar, and all day after that I had neighbors asking me what I did wrong that the gendarmes had to come for me.  Ha!
  2. Yesterday aftenoon, I was on a bit of a high: I went to see my Khalifa, who answered a million of my questions regarding the community.  There, I found out there were 5 letters, 3 Newsweek magazines, and my monthly mandat waiting for me at the post office!  So I was slowly walking up the hill/mountain to my house, reading my letters one by one, and as I was reading my letter from Nana, the wind picked up a bit, and in the distance, the afternoon prayer call began.  What a peaceful moment.  Now, it may sound a bit corny, but it felt corny!  What a perfect little snapshot of my life.
  3. Today I finally did laundry for the first time since arriving in site…..so there I was in the bit l’ma (bathroom), my ipod blasting, scrubbing away, and one of the neighbor girls came in, and started dancing to my music.  Before long, many of the neighborhood women were over, all dancing to my music, laughing, talking, coming over to greet me…..and all the while I have soap all over me, scrubbing my underwear in a bucket. Hehe
  4. While I was organizing yesterday, I discovered the Frisbee I brought.  So this evening, on my daily walk around the douar with the girls, I brought it along, and boy was it a hit!  First, my host sister and I were playing with it, and then we ran into the neighborhood schoolboys playing soccer.  Well they just about thought my Frisbee was they coolest thing they had ever seen, and we left them playing with it as we kept on walking.  On the way back to our houses, we picked it up and started playing.  There were about 8 girls, who have never seen a Frisbee before, throwing it like pros.  Before we eventually made it back home, the neighborhood little kids (the too young for school kids) also got a lesson on the Frisbee.  Too cute, watching little 3-year old Habiba toss a Frisbee.  At one point we even had Abullah, my host sisters’ father-in-law, tossing it with us.  Whoever suggested putting a Frisbee on the Peace Corps Morocco packing list is a genius.  

 

30/5/08

Today’s too cute to forget moment:  tonight I branched out and spent the evening with the women of the village (again, which just means they are married, anywhere from 17 on up).  It was a nice change from usually staying solely with the girls.  We had some nice conversations, and then one of the little old ladies of the village came up to me and started talking.  Now, you have got to be able to picture this lady.  She is short, about half my size, has very thick glasses, uses a wooden stick as a cane, has more wrinkles than you could possibly imagine, and is absolutely too cute for words.  She smiles a lot, but definitely had trouble seeing me and noticing how different I look.  After the typical introductions, she asked me something I couldn’t quite make out.  One of the women explained that she wanted to know if I have any grandmothers.  So I told her, yes I do.  She then proceeded to say that I should bring them here to Morocco, and she will make my grandmothers good Moroccan food.  I said thank you, and as she was leaving, she reminded me not to forget to say hello to my grandmothers for her, and to tell them to come visit.  J

PS tonight for dinner I ate cow knee.