Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 has been a unique celebration for me. For the first time in 23 years, I had to spend Christmas away from my family. Maybe I like living abroad, maybe I don't mind spending birthdays away, but CHRISTMAS is supposed to be spent at home with Mom and Dad and Steph!!!! I was worried that I would be miserable all of Christmas, and let me tell you, I was miserable for a good chunk of Christmas Eve morning. However, thanks to the friendships I have in Morocco, the love I have in Egypt, the wonderfulness of my family, and my inability to stay depressed, I had a great Christmas.

Last week three of my very close Peace Corps friends and I celebrated Christmas together at my house. Since this is the second year in a row, perhaps I can say it is tradition! Here are a couple of our attempts to get a Santa hat on Chandler's head.

All of our moms sent some kind of fun Christmas surprise that we thoroughly enjoyed. Here we are opening our stockings from Mom!!

Now I am in Egypt, and I feel so lucky to be in such great company. Wael knew that it would be hard for me to spend Christmas away from my family, so he got a Christmas tree and lots of decorations that we put up the day I arrived.

Wael decorating his first Christmas tree.

Wearing one of the lovely sweater sets Mom and Dad sent me for Christmas! That night we went to a jazz club and enjoyed some live music.

I don't look at all awkward here...... :)

On Christmas Eve, Wael accompanied me to mass. We went early for Caroling, and by the time mass began, the church was packed. We are talking maybe 50-60 people outside listening because there was no more room in the church. It was a nice mass (in English) and it meant so much to me that Wael wanted to come with. After church, we went to the Nile Hilton to see The Rebound. It was a cute movie, and I was happy to go to a movie theater for the first time in 2 years!

On Christmas morning, Wael, his mom and I had a very pleasant gift exchange. Here is the Azza Fahmy ring that Wael gave me. She is a very famous Middle Eastern jewelry designer. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but it is a white gold band with yellow gold arabic calligraphy. I love arabic calligraphy and I love my ring!

In the afternoon, Wael and i met some of his cousins for coffee. We enjoyed the great weather and hung out at this outdoor mall area all afternoon. Wael's cousins are all incredibly nice, and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with them! Santa Claus even made an appearance!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Women's Center Update

Since it has been a while, I think I will update everyone on the women's center! Things are moving along very nicely, albeit slowly, and construction is just around the corner. (Inshallah!) After a couple of weeks trying to choose a contractor, which were interrupted by Eid festivities, we have a contractor, a contract, a pile of rocks, and a down payment!

This past Wednesday my association president, the contractor and I signed a contract, which included the stipulation that the center must be completed by March 10, 2010. I hope we are able to stay within that timeframe!

It is raining today, but as soon as the sun comes out, construction will begin. Unfortunately, I won't be here to see the first stage of construction because I will be on vacation in Egypt. Thank goodness for my association president, who is going to take pictures and email them to me periodically!

Right now our women's center consists of a pile of rocks. Here is the pile of rocks (where the center will be). In the background is a pickup truck with the contractor and the association president. This was just after I handed over 35,600 dirhams as a down payment to get the project started. I left them and ran up my stairs onto my roof so I could take a picture before they drove away! I don't think they saw me! :)

Toothbrushes!

Last year, I received word from my dear mother that a great group at my elementary School, called the Make a Difference Club, wanted to choose my community in which to help make a difference!

Over the course of the summer, I received box after box of first aid supplies and toothbrushes. I have been saving them to use with the neddi (women's center) girls and the school children. Over the past 2 weeks I have had the opportunity to put the toothbrushes to good use.

First, at a neddi meeting, I gave a short toothbrushing lesson to the girls, and gave each of them a toothbrush and toothpaste. Some of them have old toothbrushes at home, but no one has toothpaste, and few of them have the motivation to brush!

We talked about the short and long term effects of brushing teeth, and the optimal way to brush teeth. "Snat twal kraygat as!" (Two times a day). They are very excited about their new toothbrushes, and wanted to send a letter to my Elementary School, thanking the students for sending such a useful gift.

The next week, I began my dental unit at the middle school. The first week we discussed the importance of toothbrushing. The local nurse came to give a talk to the students about dental hygiene. The next week, we did an experiment with Tums and vinegar to demonstrate the long-term effects of not brushing teeth. Each student also received a toothbrush and toothpaste thanks to my elementary school!

Here is one class with their new toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Ode to Fabric Softener

So my mom just rocks. So much. She sends me some great packages with some great things in them! Recently, she sent me a package that had individual-sized fabric softener.

I haven't used it for some reason......not really sure what the reason is anymore, because I decided yesterday that I want fresh-smelling clothes, and I had an AWESOME fabric softener experience.

Now, I don't think my clothes here usually smell baaad necessarily. Perhaps the write adjective to describe the smell of my clothes is nuetral. But Hanneke just took a trip back to America, and washed all her clothes in a machine. And I spent too long smelling her clothes, wishing mine smelled the same.

So yes. Yesterday I put a little bit of fabric softener in my rinse water, and VOILA my clothes smell SO FRESH and WONDERFUL. It is truly incredible. I keep smelling them over and over and over again.

So YAY for my awesome mom, and YAY for fresh-smelling clothes!

The magical elixir also known as Downy.

Can you just SEE the freshness permeating the air?

Art Exchange Part 1

A while back I received an email from a program called "OneWorld Classrooms" regarding an art exchange they host every year. Basically they collect art projects from kids around the world, and send that art out to other kids around the world. For example, a classroom in America might send in 25 pieces of artwork, which will end up in 25 different participating classrooms around the world. Those 25 classrooms will have sent artwork from their students which will end up in other classrooms etc etc.

I thought, COOL. I LOVE cultural exchange. SO much. So I signed up all 5 of my middle school classes to participate in the exchange. We spent 3 weeks creating rough drafts and making art! The kids were able to use crayons (thanks to my mom!), glitter, paint, yarn, and fun do-dads to decorate their artwork. I had the support of some great fellow volunteers who came to my site to help supervise art days.

The theme was really open, so my kids drew everything from mosques to mountains to flags to Moroccan food and animals. The idea is to let kids of other cultures catch a glimpse of Moroccan culture. Here are some of their designs!

Starting top left, a letter from the Berber alphabet called Tifinaghe, a Moroccan carpet, a Berber henna design, a mosque, a piece of Berber jewelry called "tazerzit," and a Moroccan woman.

A mosque, the Berber alphabet, a Moroccan tajine, a rural town, different rural symbols (tazerzit, jug of water, carpet), and a kasbah (old-fashioned castle)

A Moroccan town, a tazerzit, a page on cultural exchange (see below. This student did 2), a Moroccan road, more cultural exchange, and the mountains in our region (although the school principal thought they looked like the pyramids of Egypt...)

A forest, a flying horse (?????), women in Moroccan caftans, and a plate of couscous with "agho" or buttermilk.

A Moroccan girl with the flag (this student said she is proud to be a girl and proud to be Moroccan), a Moroccan village, a henna design, a village, a woman milking a cow, and another mountain scene.

This student drew and wrote about how women and men are equal, and different countries are equal to each other even if they are different, and how people in different countries have different religions and that is okay.

This is one of my favorites. The student was very creative in coloring and painting different parts of the hand.

I sent all 125 pieces of art to the US on Friday, and will receive our exchange artwork (inshallah) sometime in January or February. To be continued.....

Comments

So I recently sent an email to my immediate family, in a fit of rage (ok so maybe not a fit of rage, but with a tinge of sadness).

It said, "If people don't start commenting on my blog I will stop updating. Yes I will."

Now, I don't want to be so arrogant that I assume the entire world hangs on my every word on this blog, but a couple comments would be nice! Thanks to those of you who DO comment sometimes, but if you read my updates and don't comment....pppllleeeeaaassseee comment. It makes this lonely girl all the way out in the Anti-Atlas mountains of Morocco SO happy.

And here is a picture of my lonely mountain to remind of you how how LONELY I can get and how HAPPY comments make me!

Ode to a Starbucks Travel Mug

How did I live for almost 2 years in Morocco without my super-awesome-spill proof-amazing-Starbucks travel mug?

I truly do not know.

Mom sent it in the mail last month, and since then, it has changed my life.

My long, cold, walks to souk in the morning are just a little bit nicer when I am sipping a nice hot mug of coffee.

My 9am class on Wednesday mornings, 7th graders with a lot of energy, is just a little less trying after a finishing a Starbucks travel mug full of coffee.

Many people here don't quite get it. What is that? Some sort of machine? Does it hold pencils? Is there whiskey in there?

They will learn, and I will continue to bring my wonderful Starbucks travel mug everywhere I go this winter.