Longest entry ever.

Well, I apologize for the lack of updates recently….my goal was to update my blog once a week, but something happened that hasn’t since in a long time….it is called being busy. I’m quite sure everyone back home is familiar with that concept….however I, personally, was taken aback. And as a disclaimer, this has turned into an extremely long blog entry, so feel free to skim and read what you like!

HOUSE

It all started last week, when I got my house APPROVED by Peace Corps! So exciting! This is the same house I originally looked at…..located in the douar, or community, where I currently live with a host family. Consequently, it is 5 km from the main road, where I can find the sbitar, or health clinic, as well as transportation, the post office and a store. After a heated negotiation with the butigmi, or landlord, we came to a compromise. Well, I guess you could say butigmi got what he wanted, and I gave it because I really want to live there. Ironically, we have a case of mutual distrust. He seems to believe I will refuse to leave his house after two years, and that I am in some way connected with the CIA. I, on the other hand, am suspicious of him keeping his end of our bargains. So he is installing lights and outlets, fixing the drain, and putting in a kitchen counter with a sink (no tap, but I really wanted a somewhat “normal” kitchen). I must buy the electricity meter and the thing, what’s it called? With the electricity switches? Whatever that is. And I have to paint the house myself….hehe that should be fun.

So my little house has a little courtyard out front, where the toilet and bread room (yes, there is a room for making bread the old-fashioned way) are located. In the house, there is a room that will be my bedroom, a “living room,” and a kitchen. Upstairs is the roof, with a room attached. There is one tap in the house, and the man who turns on the water earllllllyyyy in the morning will knock on my door to wake me up when the water is on. Right now, it is only on a few minutes each morning, but once summer is over, water will not be as scarce.

My little house

The courtyard, where the toilet and "bread and couscous" room are located

My one and only tap (water 20 minutes each morning at 5am)

The view toward my host family's house from my roof

ADVENTURES IN MOROCCO

On Friday of last week, I embarked on my cross-Morocco adventure. Friday morning, my boss met me in Tiznit (60k away) to drop off my bike (finally!) which I left with another volunteer in Tiznit. Saturday morning, Meredith and I left on our mini-trip with the final destination of Rabat. We spent Saturday in Marrakech, where we met up with 2 volunteers from our training group. It was great! This was really the first opportunity we have had to enjoy Marrakech. Place Jma Fna is the main market area, and like Megan said when she visited Marrakech last year, it is like a scene out of Aladin. There is everything from snake charmers to people with their monkeys (Abu, anyone?) to woman doing henna on tourists, to rows and rows of fresh orange juice sellers, to infinite windy streets where vendors sell everything from carpets to lamps, to spices, to iguanas. And at night food booths are set up, selling traditional Moroccan food. The festivities last well into the night. I can safely say there are perhaps almost as many tourists as Moroccans in certain parts of Marrakech, so when Meredith and I greeted the vendors in Tashlhit, they were often surprised, and delighted; consequently, we got some fabulous prices in the market.

In Peace Corps Morocco tradition, we stayed at the Sindi Sur, where PCVs can sleep on the roof with a shower included for 30 Dirhams ($4). We also ate “dinner” at Hagen Daz….and had some amazing ice cream. As we squealed with delight walking into Hagen Daz, the Moroccans around us probably thought we were nuts, getting so excited over something we have readily available in the US. Little do they know…..

Marrakech is also a hub of bootleg movies. So instead of being depressed as pop culture slips out of our awareness here, we stocked up on movies like Indiana Jones, Sex and the City and more…..doing our best to stay in touch.

On Sunday we headed to Rabat, where we were able to enjoy the city for the first time. Our first 4 days in Morocco were in Rabat, but we were limited by an 8pm curfew, and scared shitless by the Peace Corps staff. They made it sound like you will walk outside, get mugged, and taken advantage of. Well, we managed to make it through Rabat without any mishaps.

Monday morning was our vaccination at the Peace Corps office, the reason for the entire trip. We thoroughly enjoyed spending the day at the office, chatting with the staff, spending hours in the library, finding books to have the fabulous librarian send to us. For security reasons, the office was recently moved, and the new area is gorgeous! Nice green lawn with tables and chairs, palm trees, just wonderful! On Sunday evening, I experienced Heaven. We went to T.G.I. Fridays. OH YES. FRIDAYS. And although they do not have a liquor license, we still enjoyed every moment. We were greeted by the manager, an American from Virginia, who opened Fridays here about a year ago. Fridays happens to be the ONLY place in the ENTIRE country of Morocco that offers free refills. So we each drank 5 or 6 glasses of Diet Pepsi. Apparently when Jeff, the manager, called up Pepsi and explained free refills, they responded, “you want to do WHAT?!?!? People will drink 10 or 15 glasses of Pepsi!!!” Hehe….Jeff had to assure them that no one can or will drink that much. Too funny. So after a pleasant dinner, 3 trips to the bathroom, a brownie sundae, and an iced coffee (my first in Morocco!) we went back to our hotel full and content.

Tuesday we left to head back home, with another stopover in Marrakech. This time Meredith and I were by ourselves, without Brian and Doug to control our spending desires. We each left with a lamp our houses, Meredith bought a purse, and I bought a pink ponj covering. Wednesday we headed back down south and back to site. I was exhausted from the traveling, but went to the sbitar Thursday morning anyway. Around lunch time a woman came in to give birth. After a bit, it was discovered that the baby’s head was twisted in a strange way, so right as the baby is about to pop out, we had to call the ambulance, drug her, and take her on the hour ride to the hospital in Tiznit. Can you even imagine? Now I know I have never given birth, but for those who have…….you have been in so much pain for so long, pushing, thinking this is about to be over, then the midwife and doctor tell you never mind, there are problems, give you a sedative, and transport you in a hot ambulance on a windy road that is not paved very well….for an HOUR. Then YOU have to get up and into a wheel chair, get into the hospital, and eventually get a C-section. Plus, giving birth in the sbitar is free, but the hospital in Tiznit is not. So this poor couple, who had no idea there could be complications, will go home in a few days with a new baby and significant debt.

MORE BUGS

Oh, and I got to see an interesting insect today…..the midwife found it in her house yesterday. Not sure what it is called in English, never seen such a thing, but the important facts are that it is fairly large, and kills you if it bites you. Good times. Way to help me in my quest to get over the bug thing.

And I guess this makes up for not writing in a while! I hope to paint my house this week, and move in at the end of next. So exciting!!

WEDDING

Currently it is 4:14am…Monday morning. Now, I feel as if this is a perfect opportunity for me to go to bed, but I also feel compelled to record the details of this past evening before they slip away. I went to my first real Moroccan wedding yesterday….and let me tell you, it was quite the spectacle! So you know how when you go to a wedding, well at least females, basically devote the entire day to doing hair, making last minute dress decisions (Stephanie), and whatnot? Well, it was too cute; the same applies here! We all got up Sunday morning full of “timghriwin,” or wedding spirit. First we did henna, and then went back to sleep as it dried. Then, my host sister and I visited some neighbors, in from Rabat, to talk about the wedding. After lunch, we got all ready, and I literally wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between American girls getting ready for a wedding and Moroccans, except for the obvious difference in clothing. Skirts flying, make-up out, hair getting done and re-done….it was great! I felt so at home. And of course, it ends in our ride to the wedding waiting out front honking the horn because the girls are late. Sound familiar anyone? As we got in the car, I started giggling, just thinking how absurd it would be if I showed up at an American wedding looking like a did. My first layers of clothing were a long black skirt, and a tank top, and a long sleeved top. Then, a “Qaftan,” similar to a djellaba….like a really long dress I guess that tends to be sparkly (these ladies LOVE sequins and sparkles). On top of that, the token black skirt with colorful pom-poms all over that women here wear every day. The difference is the wedding pom-pom skirts happen to have more pom-poms. And then of course to top it off, the large white sheet/scarf thing, that can cover your head and hang down, or be wrapped up so that only your eyes are showing (whenever there are men around). Last but not least, jewelry. I was not wearing much, but tons and tons of heavy sparkly jewelry is the custom.

So yes…..I could barely walk in all of the clothes, and had much trouble trying to maneuver the white scarf. It just didn’t want to stay on my head! But we got to the wedding, and although there were many people in from Casablanca and Rabat, I knew a fair amount of the women from either my douar or the sbitar. This particular wedding was hosted by some rich folk who live in Rabat, so it was EXTREMELY nice, with tables and chairs and everything! There were even waiters! Now none of this is typical of a rural wedding, so I was a bit in shock, trying to reconcile the nice atmosphere that reminded me of home with the fact that we still had to share glasses of water and eat with our hands.

We saw the bride twice the entire night, and by night I mean from 4pm when we arrived until 4am when we left. My friend Hanneke, about 75km away, was at a wedding as well. Knowing that we would be participating in wedding activities waaaay past bedtime, we kept up a text message conversation throughout the night, commenting on the various funny, strange, interesting, and cool things we observed.

Of course in between meals, there is lots of “Ahawaj,” which is Berber dancing and music. Women are completely separated from men at weddings, so the rooms of women can dance and sing and really enjoy themselves. If a man walks in for some reason, those white sheets fly and in 1 second every single woman has nothing but eyes showing. We enjoyed our lamb tajine meals, without ever seeing the bride. Finally, after dinner, at about 2am, we headed outside where the rich family had brought in a men’s Ahawaj group. So all of the women spent the rest of the evening wrapped up like mummies in those white sheets since men were around. Although I really wanted to do everything just like the women for the entire wedding, I just couldn’t handle having my nose and mouth covered with the sheet. I couldn’t breathe! So I cheated and only covered my nose. The men’s Ahawaj group was truly amazing; their singing was quite impressive, and I never thought men could move the way they danced. I have been trying to think of what their dancing looks like, and I have had a bit of trouble. Think about a jelly bean. So, if a jelly bean could jump, imagine what that jump would look like. Kind of a boingy bouncy jump, right? So then imagine that jump, and fast forward. So its not just like boing-bounce, it is a very rapid succession of boing boing boing boing. All the while they are in a long line, clapping their hands and singing as they boing-bounce. At 3am, I was exhausted and my etiquette was flying out the window as I started giggling at the boingy men. Fortunately the white sheet covered my mouth, so I hope too many people didn’t notice. Somewhere around 3:30am the bride was brought in to see and I guess just listen, because she is completely covered from head to toe for most of the wedding. At 4am I was blessed by my host mother, wanting to go home.

Very very interesting night.