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!!