L-Eid and the end of Ramadan!

L-Eid is the celebration of the end of Ramadan! They weren't sure if it would be on Saturday or Sunday (it depends on whether you can see the moon at all or not), but it did end up being on the day that most predicted - Saturday. Typically, this is a big celebratory day for everyone. They dress up in new or their nicest clothes (we did dress up, but this was a different day, just for the picture!) and do henna on their hands and feet (the night before), wear special coal makeup around their eyes (women and children) and go to be with their family. They go around to their neighbors, other family members, and friends and have tea with them and socialize. They pay alms or food to the poor and eat all day :) We had meat kabobs, which I think is probably pretty special (to have extra meat at a meal) and cous cous during the day for lunch. We went to the "bled" or home village of my host mom. It is about a half hour walk back into the fields and fruit trees. It is a beautiful walk on a dirt road, passing by all kinds of fruit trees, mostly olive trees and other small gardens. 'Grandpa and Grandma's' house is really big. They have a mud/straw walls, some of which are covered by concrete. They have a garden with all kinds of fruit and vegetables and herbs - grapes, pomegranates, olives, flowers, mint, verbena, beans, onions, and more :) There was a donkey in there too! Inside the house walls, but outside the house (an open air courtyard, sort of), there is a dog, chickens, a dairy cow, goats and sheep. It was nice to visit and see some different places and people, but it was still hard. I talked to a few people a little about where I'm from and what I do, but only some of it gets through and they ask questions that I don't understand too. So, it's hard not to just be a spectator all of the time. In one of the homes of another
relative, they were really excited to see me and have me as a guest, but for the first 15 minutes, they seemed to think I was
French. They get a lot of French tourists in that area and I'm not sure they've ever come across an American. They gave me a pomegranate to take home :) My host mom had/has a terrible tooth ache. She can't even sleep it hurts so bad, so our festivities were really limited. Baheeja, the oldest daughter, took me around to the relatives houses for tea and also took me to see a nearby Kasbah and some 'ruins.'

It's interesting here because if a house is abandoned, it pretty much just decomposes quickly back into the earth because it is pretty much just made of earth. That was before plumbing and electricity though. Now they are using concrete too, so I'm sure that is changing. My host mom also has a new niece, Miriam. We visited with her at the grandparents house. I'm pretty sure her brother and wife and kids live there too. Altogether, it was a nice day with the family, but not a highly celebratory day for us. It is nice that people are eating again during the day. It was such a strange addition to the cultural adaptation to avoid eating, drinking, chewing gum, etc during the day around people. We felt like we were sort of hiding when we ate :) A couple of the people in our group tried fasting. One did for almost the entire month! They had a hard time with it, but really valued the cultural experience. One of the main reasons that Muslims fast is to know what it is like to feel poor and without food. It is also for purification. I just found out, however, that my host parents are still fasting! Apparently, you get extra deeds if you fast an additional 10 days after Ramadan! I wonder what it will be like once they start eating too!

On our way to Skoura, we stopped at a Kasbah for a minute. It is the Kasbah that is pictured on one of the old bills. Apparently, they reprint their money every time there is a new king, so now the money is all with the new king on it. We met with our artisan, Rashid, before we left Ourzazate - he happened to be there also! We asked him a lot of questions about costing and pricing so we could continue on with our project ideas. Here are a couple of pictures of him in Skoura, loading a kiln with 60 water jugs... We went to the suq again to buy vegetables and practice asking for them. We did pretty well, except the sellers were always answering us in French. That is pretty confusing. I'm not sure if I'm just not understanding them or if they are talking in French. There are some interesting sites at the suq... not mentioning the meat hooks and that whole area, it's pretty funny to see sellers lying on their product or totally surrounding by it. The spice displays are also attractive and it's great anyway to have so much fresh food!!! It's thrills me - really! You can make anything here! as long as it's not processed :) So, it's time to learn to cook! In fact, my host mom asked me today if I cook. I told her a little and she asked what I cook. I said eggs (I've been thinking about cooking them scrambled eggs!) and pasta (which turned into me saying I can cook spaghetti with vegetables). That was pleasing and she said when you come back, you will cook Spaghetti with Vegetables! I hope they like it. My friend, Brian, made guacamole and they politely didn't eat it after trying some. Well, it's back to Ourzazate for 4 days before the long stint in Skoura... and then we find out our final sites! One of the last two days in October, we'll know and then we spend over a week there checking it out and such! We are all so nervous to find out where we will be for the next 2 years! When I visit, I'll also be able to set up my P.O. Box, so I'll be able to receive mail there - I'll be officially moving to that address at the end of November after swearing in on November 26. whew... it's all coming along pretty quickly. LOVE and PEACE to you all!!

CBT Homestay!

Me and Amina

Again, I wrote this on a different day than the posting date... My homestay so far has been a challenging, yet rewarding experience. My family (which turns out to be different than the intial one I was told about) is awesome. There is a father and mother and 4 girls (ages 15, 12, 6, and 9 months). My host sisters: Baheeja, Dure, Waseema, and Omyima...

The father is a Classical Arabic teacher, so he is really patient with me and helps in learning the words, although sometimes he tells me the words in Moroccan Arabic, classical Arabic, French, and Spanish too. The kids also like practicing Dreeja (Moroccan Arabic) with me and practicing English.


Two days ago, something didn't agree with me and I had a ridiculous amount of diarrhea. I went all through the night and took a little Pepto and a little rehydration medicine, but I was throughoughly miserable, wearing down the pathway between my room and the turkish toilet every half hour. In the morning, I made it to Amina's house before school was to start and used her phone to call Peace Corps Medical. They gave me a plan for how often to take the medicines and what to eat. I'm eating on the BRATT diet that Peace Corps prescribed. Bananas, Rice, Apples, Toast, and Tea. I'm not exactly sure why this is a good diet for diarrhea, but it seems to work, so I'm sticking to it. After school, Amina went to my house and explained the food to my family. When I got home, I slept and slept. I got up only to go to the bathroom or once, they woke me up and I ate half a banana and a little bit of bread. Today, I feel a lot better, although I still have a little ways to go. A funny thing - in the Peace Corps - Gastro-intestinal problems are so common that everyone knows everything about each other. We discuss the specifics all the time. So, maybe this explains why I shared this... Prior to this, I've really been enjoying the food at my host family's. I feel like they talk me into eating more than I want to at times, but still, it's quite good. The "break fast" at sundown is also full of very sweet items. That is a little weird because it's at our dinner time, but I'm guessing that they are so depleted that they need the sugar right away to get some calories. Now, I'm still a little sick, so almost no food sounds appealing to me. A typical day in Skoura (this is about Mon-Sat) goes like this: I wake up around 8 and get ready for school then I walk myself to Amina's house. This takes about 5 minutes. The first couple of days I had escorts there and back, but once I knew the way, they let me walk on my own. Two of the others in my class always have their little brother or sister there to pick them up after classes. Once arriving, we talk briefly about our evening with the homestays and then we start language lessons. These go until lunchtime. We have an hour for lunch and then we do our technical training. For us, this has been getting in a taxi and going to a small village about 7 km down the road to talk with the potters there. We have been gathering information about their community, resources, needs, and knowledge. We are going to try to develop a project that will help them out in some way. Right now, we are thinking of developing a small marketing strategy for them, as they are only depending on passersby for clients. We get back to Amina's house around 4 or so. After school, I sometimes go to the internet cafe (which is down the road from Amina's (maybe another 5 minutes). Sometimes I buy some fruit or something on the way back, but usually I head back to the homestay at this point (I always tell them when I'll be back so they don't worry). Sometimes my host sisters want me to go out for a walk with them before L'fthur or Break Fast around 6:45 or sunset. Otherwise, I usually help in the kitchen, finishing up with the preparations. After the meal, I hang out with the family for a while watching TV (every family in Morocco seems to have satellite TV, even those that are not at all well off). I, of course, don't really understand much, but sometimes I understand some by context. During this time, I usually bring my language books into the living room and review my lesson and vocabulary. Most of the time, the family will get involved trying to work with me and help me somehow. Now, the dad has taken to asking me what I learned that day, so that is really helpful for review. Around 9:30, they serve mint tea (with lots of sugar) and some snacks or bread or something. Then there is another meal around midnight before everyone goes to bed. I don't do so well with staying up for the midnight meal. Since I've been sick, it hasn't been a problem for me to go to bed early, but other times, it's harder because they want me to stay up and they don't understand why I would go to bed, I guess (also, I can't communicate a whole lot to them besides "I'm tired" "I want to rest" "I don't feel like eating"). Really, I want to explain that I don't feel good in the morning if I eat a big meal before I go to bed, but I don't feel like they would understand this (but maybe). I think after Ramadan, it won't be so difficult. In general, Moroccans eat dinner very late, but midnight is later than usual, I'm pretty sure. **Additional note... now it's been a couple more days and the last two nights we have had a little more to eat with the tea and then went to bed! I've been on BRATT still, but I don't know if this is why. I think I'm missing something in the routine here.... hmm...

** One day, we visited the suq (the open air market that is in town once a week) and bought some fruit and vegetables. They also have all kinds of things, like second hand clothes (you know where I'll be shopping!) and miscellaneous stuff. I thought the suq seemed kind of like lots and lots of yard sales all together, where some people are selling the same things and bargaining was expected. One morning, I set up a time (7 am) for me and two other volunteers to meet a current PCV at the Dar Chebab (Youth Center) to work out (Yoga and Running), but then that was the morning that I was so sick and I missed it. :( When I get back to Ouarzazate, I'm going to try running with some others. I miss working out. I also didn't bring a yoga mat and the floors so far haven't been befitting of laying down on.

Today, in Gdarra (the small village), it got really windy and it felt like we were in a sandstorm. I don't know what qualifies as a sandstorm, but I'm going to go ahead and say this was one. There was sand going everywhere. We were inside a little shop, but the doors were open and we were all covered in dust and sand sitting in there. I kept sneezing and the sand was getting in my eyes. The shop owner poured water on the sand outside his door to stop it from sweeping in so much. They also told us that one or two trainees will probably be placed in Gdarra/Skoura. We like it ok for our CBT site, but none of us really want to be located there... After the sand storm, I really don't want to be. I don't think I will though, inshallah.






Pictured above is our group interviewing the president of the potter's association in Gdarra and one of the members. Also pictured are my CBT mates: Anna, Matt, Brain, Amelia, and my Language and Cultural Facilitator, Amina.


So, back to my homestay: their house is really nice, it seems. I think it's made of brick or stone and concrete(?) and it's 3 stories. The top level is the roof - there they have a goat, 6 sheep, and a rabbit. The goat and sheep get all the food scraps - just like a compost bin! The first floor is the only floor that is really finished and decorated. There are 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, two living rooms (one for family and a nicer one for guests), a common room (outside the kitchen - like a dining room, but no one eats there), and the entry way with a sink. On the second floor, it seems like someone sleeps up there (maybe the parents). There is also some food for the animals, and a sink and stuff like that. I think the idea is that they finish the house little by little as they get more money, but of course that is my speculation because I haven't asked them that yet. At this point, they don't really seem to need anymore space, but Moroccan families don't necessarily stop growing. When the children get married, sometimes they live at the parents too (even more than one couple) and lots of times the the grandparents are part of the home. Also, from the roof, there are open stone windows that look out over the desert. Behind the house is the vast open desert. It is beautiful. And in the distance, you can see the mountains and at night the moon and stars. I don't know if you guys all know about the turkish toilets, but that is what they have all over Morocco. There are some western toilets around here and there, but, I guess we should expect the norm, which is the Turkish toilet. I took a picture for you, since my family's bit-la-ma (bathroom) is pretty clean. You stand where the foot marks are and squat down over the hole. Their plumbing is good enough that we can use TP, but they use water and soap. You then pour the water from the bucket down the hole and this flushes it (similar to our system). I've also been fortunate to take showers in here (sometimes even with hot water!) Morrocans typically go to the hammam (bath house) once a week and get seriously scrubbed down (removing layers of dead skin) and if they need or want to, they take bucket baths with the hot water. Some of my fellow traininees don't have showers or hot water (that they know of). Just like the landscape of Morocco, the amenities can vary greatly from place to place, even house to house. The major tourist destinations in Morocco have all the luxuries of home. I'm happy to experience something in between and also to be aware of the variations. I'll keep letting you know what I find, but keep in mind that I am just observing. There is a lot more out there than what's before my eyes.

Well, we are now headed back to Ouarzazate for 4 days... We are all excited to see everyone else again and to take hot showers and share experiences. Hope you are enjoying the adventure as much as me. Please don't hesitate to send me a little message on the blog or by email. I'm enjoying hearing from everyone and writing you back :) LOVE and PEACE!!!!