Chandler!

Blog 9/4/08

 

Well here I am, sitting in my house typing up a long overdue blog entry, listening to my stomach growling, with little Chandler Tamast Bing lying in my lap.  My hunger is due to today being Day 3 of Ramadan.  Although as a foreigner and Christian, I am not required by any means to fast for Ramadan, many of my fellow PCVs and I decided to fast with the people of our communities.  I am fasting in solidarity with my Moroccan counterparts; however, I also support the concept of forcing oneself to take a small glimpse into the lives of those who do not have food and water easily accessible to them.  It has been interesting so far! 

 

This past weekend I accompanied the midwife from my health clinic to visit her family in Taroudant (5-6 hours away).  We spent a couple of days with her family, where I obtained a new family member, a 12 week old kitten.  Ever since Chandler was born, I have been waiting for him to be old enough to bring home with me.  Regarding his name, he acts a lot like Chandler Bing, from Friends, but he was born in a douar named Tamast, hence Chandler Tamast Bing.  Seriously, I cannot even describe how cute this kitten is!  He is very cuddly, and our favorite game is what I like to call “lovefest,” where he curls up on me purring while I pet him for infinite periods of time.  Makes both of us happy!  I am proud of how he has held up over the traumatizing experiences the past few days.  First, I separated the poor guy from his mom, brought him in this big scary plastic cat carrier, squished him in multiple taxis in the scorching heat to my site.  We spent the first night at my site at my midwife’s house, so little Chandler was getting settled when I uprooted him again yesterday to take him to my house.  And then I tortured him a bit more by giving him a bath and picking off lots of icky fleas.  Needless to say, I think he has forgiven me, although he gets nervous at loud sounds.  And he picked up the litter box thing in less than a day!  My smart little kitty!

 

I feel like a parent bragging about her child!  J So back to Ramadan.  Day 1 was the travel day from Taroudant to my site, and wow, that was tough!  Fasting means nothing can pass your lips from the morning prayer (4:30am) until the 2^nd to last prayer (7pm).  This includes food, water, even brushing your teeth.  So my first waterless day was horrible, but it has gotten progressively easier.  You break fast as soon as you hear the evening prayer call.  Traditionally here, people break fast with dates and a glass of water.  Then they eat harira (a light soup), figs, bread, and shebekia (a DELICIOUS pastry made especially during Ramadan).  After 15 hours, all I wanted to do is drink 20 liters of water, but I was warned that I could get very sick very easily that way. 

 

A little later in the evening, people make dinner (10pm-ish), usually a filling tajine.  Then its off to bed!  4am is wakeup time, to eat before another day of fasting begins.  I think most people eat tajine or couscous in the morning, but so far I’ve avoided too much heavy food.  Its hard to force meat and vegetables at 4am!  And then its back to bed and fasting begins.  And people are so generous and welcoming during Ramadan.  I mean, Morocco is generally a very hospitable country, but during Ramadan, families and friends come together to break fast together.  I broke fast the first day with my midwife, I will today at my host family’s house, and tomorrow at some extended family’s in souk.  It truly is a great experience.  

 

It is just so interesting, because the whole country changes for Ramadan.  Work hours change to 9-3, since there is no lunch break, cafes are closed, and people are just a little calmer and move a little slower.  And stores stock up on dates, figs, and shebekia.  It makes me think of my muslim friends back home who fast.  It is hard enough to fast when everyone around you is doing the same thing, but if the person next to you is chowing down on Taco Bell while you are fasting?  Can’t even imagine!

 

In other news, I am sure word has gotten around, my wristlet was stolen a few weeks ago in Agadir.  Of course, it happened to not only have all of my money and my credit cards, but my passport too.  Now, I welcome any lectures regarding the wisdom of my friend and I walking to our hotel at 5am instead of taking a taxi.  Fortunately, she was able to lend me some money, and my parents were able to wire me some more, so the following week I headed up to Casablanca (its far!!) to apply for a new passport.  Ironically, a friend who accompanied me to Casa and I had to spend an extra night since the US Consulate took longer than we expected, and we ended up in a hotel with TVs in room.  Which meant I got to see the first night of the Democratic National Convention.  We stayed up until 4:00am in order to watch Michelle Obama give her fabulous speech.  There was so little drama surrounding the DNC, and it seems I can’t say the same about the RNC……..

 

Well I am off to do some lesson planning, since I will be starting health lessons in the local primary schools and junior high in October.  And hey, only 6 ½ hours until I can break fast!