Fire, Rain, Sun, Plants, Bangs, and More!

Chandler all curled up in the quilt Nana made for me. Isn't it gorgeous!



My attempt to cut my own bangs



My potted petunias!



Rain Rain Rain

1-24-09

Well, in an exciting moment (exciting as not in a good way….bad exciting), I started an electrical fire in my house last week! Apparently, you are not supposed to plug a heater with a thick cord into a wimpy extension cord. It causes a bit of an explosion, no flames (thank God my electricity shut itself off), but a LOT of smoke. Like a LOT. And it smelled like plastic because I have a plastic extension cord. Chandler and I ran out of the house after I unplugged everything…and hunching down in the only corner of my courtyard with cellphone reception, we proceeded to call Dad. One of those, umm dad, I’m fine, but……moments. I am sure my parents are used to those moments by now, but still. ☺

This little fire coincided with a very cold and rainy time. In fact, it was so rainy for so many days in a row, that my roof leaked consistently for 4 days. There was a lot of “drip drip drip drip” as I tried to fall asleep at night. Fortunately, only one of the leaky spots was over my bed, so I could still sleep.

THEN, this past Thursday, I woke up, and didn’t hear rain….and didn’t hear wind, and I stepped outside to see the sun shining! As of my writing this (Saturday), I haven’t seen a cloud in 3 days. Chandler and I are thoroughly enjoying having breakfast in the sun while watching Ellen episodes. Today my host sister and I are going to another douar (little neighborhood), about a mile away, to talk to one of the girls about potentially teaching at the women’s center. I am looking forward to this walk in the sun.

My petunia plants are also enjoying the sun. While in Agadir last weekend, I purchased petunia seeds, 2 flower pots, and potting soil. I am so excited to hopefully have plants this summer! I think the last time I grew something from a seed was perhaps in 1st grade…but I have a feeling this will go well. A little concerned about them surviving the extreme summer heat…..I may have to consult our resident plant expert, Amy, for some tips.

Last but not least, today is January 24, which means one month has passed since my hair cut in America. At that appointment, my fabulous stylist taught me how to cut my own bangs, and suggested I do it every month. So, this morning, after a lovely bucket bath, I cut my own bangs. I think it turned out well…..see for yourself with the attached picture. My only concerns were the lack of mirror (I have a 2”x2” mirror), and Chandler, who had fun pouncing on me while I attempted to cut. Now, this is the first time I have ever brought scissors to my own head of hair, so I was very freaked out! It is now something I am very proud of being able to do.

My personal deadline for turning in my women’s center grant proposal is in about a week, so I am stepping up hassling the right people for follow up.

1-29-09

So here I am, taking a deep breath after an interesting women’s center meeting with the girls. I am hoping to incorporate the women and girls from both my douar (Talbrjt) and the neighboring douar (Agn Yaseen), but I have never had the Agn Yaseen girls come to one of the meetings. On Sunday I visited Agn Yaseen to talk to the girl who will be teaching handicrafts at the neddi (She used to live in Casablanca and learned a lot at a women’s center there). I thought it would be a good idea for the girls in my douar to meet her, so I invited her to today’s meeting and said she could bring some of the other girls if they wanted. Consequently, there were 20 girls in attendance at the meeting today. Now, I know Dad posted a map of my house, and you can probably tell that it is not very big. 20 girls is a lot to fit in my one little room. Plus, I was expecting about 14, so I made a pancake breakfast…..but only enough for 14. It was pretty entertaining, and I ended up cutting the pancakes into quarters. The girls did enjoy maple syrup, which they have never tried before.

Other than the crowdedness, it was a good meeting, and we visited the land where the women’s center will be built, inshallah. Currently we are just waiting for the technician to come up with an estimate on the cost of the center. I had a meeting with the president of the local association, my host dad (the secretary of the assoc.), the technician, my host dad’s brother (I think he just wanted to be there) and the Caid. So after we finished discussing the women’s center, they just started chatting. So there I was, among 5 men, and it turned into guys hanging out time. It was quite the sight, me sitting there while they sat around and discussed whatever men discuss when they get together. I think they think of me as genderless, so maybe it wasn’t weird for them, but I just didn’t know what to do! Do I get up and excuse myself, even though the reason they were all there was because of me? Or do I pretend to be one of them. After a couple of awkward minutes, I used my host brother as an out and went to tutor him in French. Problem solved. ☺

In other news, it has been warm and sunny for 5 out of the last 7 days! Like we are talking light shirt and maybe a sweater weather. My guess is that it is in the 60’s temperature-wise.


ps I apologize for the lack of photos. I will get them up....blogger is fighting with me :)