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!