Hey there.

I have a lot to write and a lot to talk about, but almost always never get time to be on the internet! Lately I've been writing a lot at night, with the intention of posting them on the blog when internet happens. Today I am in our "Hub" site, where we train with the other groups of Tamazight speakers. My computer is working fine, and the cyber's internet is decently quick! So here we go!

Culture Shock
3/11/2009

I have been two days at my CBT site now. It is probably one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been. My douar is spread out over about a kilometer but the side of a massive lake. The lake is formed by a dam that gives Morocco 25% of it’s electricity. With the mountains, frogs, and the gentle rain we had our first night, I feel like I’m in Newhalem again!

As I mentioned before, Morocco has experienced an unusually large amount of rain this winter. Springtime in my douar is absolutely lovely. There are a lot of flowers blooming everywhere. Poppies, wild lavender, some sort of calendula, and vetch are the few I have been able to identify. There are also a lot of wild herbs- spicy Atlas oregano, dill, and mint (of course!) I have been battling a cold and some other ailments, as can be expected of someone living in a new country, but I still made sure that I got out on a walk today. My host sister, who is six, and I walked down the creek and soaked our feet for a while. The red stone dyed the bottoms of my feet and my sister kept saying it was like henna for l’3aid.

Speaking of it, today was my first Moroccan 3aid. We celebrated the birth of the prophet Muhammad with a big breakfast of some sort of puffy pancakes and olive oil (yummy!) We also had couscous for the first time at dinner tonight, which was a surprise because dinner is usually pretty simple- just rice cooked in buttermilk, with the herbed oil on top (also yummy!) Because I have not been feeling well, I haven’t been eating much, which I think has them concerned. And yet, I go to bed completely stuffed full every night. I worry about gaining a lot of weight here, but then I remember that to get to l-madrassa I have to walk 20 minutes up and down a lot of hills, and it seems like everyone’s favorite thing to do here is just to walk around and chat.

Okay, about culture shock. For the first five days of training, we were staying in an absolutely zweena (cool) hotel. I complained about a few things, namely the high walls with broken glass on the tops, the gendarmes who waiting outside and called each other on their radios whenever a group of us left, and the fact that for some reason everyone wanted to go out in huge groups of up to 20 people. Other than that, it was great. WiFi in the reception, hot water between 7pm and 7am, manicured grounds, and frequent tea breaks. The streets of our town were wide and clean. Much of the town had a new feeling to it, even in the medina (old city.) A lot of the people spoke French and sometimes even English.

My room here at CBT is long and narrow, with two windows and a small cot. I have a coat rack for my clothes and no other furniture. My family seems to be one of the less well off families in the community, although my father has a zweena motorbike and everyone has a cell phone. They have their basic needs met and the salon is pretty comfortable, with a TV and DVD player. Yesterday, when I observed all these things, I totally freaked out and nearly quit the Peace Corps then and there. Especially when I realized that sleeping on the rocky ground outside would be more comfortable then this cot.

Today we ate some Theo chocolate from Seattle in lieu of tea during class, and I got to thinking about how different my life is now from what it was even just three weeks ago- shopping at whole foods, having easy access to everything I need, wearing whatever I want, and sleeping on a super comfy futon in my own huge room, in a house where everyone speaks the same language! It would have been easy to stay there. Even if I had made some sort of big change, like going back to school or moving out of Seattle, it would have still been the easy route. Part of me already misses the comforts of home. However, the more I learn and the more people I meet, the more confident I am that this is the right place to be.

My host mother and host sister are wonderful about helping me with my Tamazight. We laugh a lot. The food is wonderful. Just stepping outside in the morning to see the creek, the lake, and the groves of almond trees around my house lifts my heart up to the sky. And if that wasn’t enough, every time I tell someone that I am learning Tamazight, imiq simiq, they are so happy!! Tamiricanit! Tamazight! Muzien!! Tbarkallah!

I’m pretty sure Tamazight is one of the hardest languages in the world, but I’m so glad that I’m learning it and I feel blessed to be here.

Walking to Lmadrassa
3/17/2009

Every morning my host mother and I get up at about the same time. She rolls out of bed and heads to the kitchen to put on the kettle. I roll out of bed and get dressed, brush my hair, and get my books ready for the day. Then we have tea and bread with butter (zbd) or oil (zit.) Usually for breakfast, it’s just my host mother and I. Her husband goes before I get up, and her daughter gets to sleep in a little.

After breakfast, I quickly brush my teeth and make sure I have everything, then head off to school.

The dog, Cobees, follows me to the bridge. Here I meet the first of the children going to the school. For the past two mornings, it has been Ali, the son of our LCF’s landlord. He is a handsome boy of about ten. We exchange cheerful greetings in passing. But he is the ONLY child I pass who feels comfortable enough just shouting a greeting to me. From here on out, every child I greet offers me a hand to shake, if they are a boy, or they reach up to grab my shoulders and turn their cheeks up to be kissed if they are a girl. There are 84 families in this village. Most of them have several children. I wager I shake the hands or kiss around 25 children a day, counting my host sister. Some of them I meet coming back from madrassa and we go through the whole greeting again.

Salaam. May t3nit? Labas? Kulshi bixir!! Mzzien! L3awn!

Again and again and again.

I really like this greeting ritual.

At least until I get sick again.

Update:
Things are going really well! I am no longer sick, lHamdullah! I spoke with the country director briefly last Thursday and was told that if I could make it through week one of CBT with a bad cold (fever, chills, body aches), then I would be fine for the next two years. It was pretty rough, but now I feel GREAT!

The language is still difficult, but I am pulling through. I can make my needs known with a combination of Tam and frantic gesturing. Instead of saying “ur sing” or “ur fmhg” all the time, I now say “nk sing imiq!” Any usually the other person says, “imiq simiq!” Today I even joined in the dinner table conversation a bit.

It’s sort of strange only being able to say disjointed, uncomfortable sentences in a language. I know how to say “peel an egg” in Tam, but not “What do you do for work?” Mostly I just stay quiet instead of saying anything. The other day my host mother’s sister, who is the kindergarten teacher here in town, came for lunch. She was here on my first day, pointing out words in Tam and using a bit of French to help me understand. This time around we played the vocab game again and I did pretty well, but I’m still unable to really converse. She was criticizing me for this to my host mother, and my host mother told her to shut up, because I can understand most of what they are saying (which is true) and because I’d only been here for a week and learning a new language takes time! Did I mention that I love my host mother? I really do.

Today my friend and I were talking about saying goodbye to our families, and when I told my host mom that it made me sad to say goodbye to my family for such a long time, she was very understanding. I think she was a bit relieved, too. It is an incredibly strange thing for a young, unmarried woman to leave her family to travel and work like I am. I think she likes knowing that I think about my family at home a lot and that I have a sense of duty. Now, if only my language skills could catch up so I could tell her how proud they are of me!

I also got to go on my first hike in Morocco! Our LCF is from nearby and has spent a long time in the mountains working as a teacher. He loves hiking and being up in the mountains, and I could tell that he has been itching to get out of the main part of town and get up into the hills. So on Sunday three of us joined him and headed up the creek. We thought we might try to find the spring that is the source of our water here in town, but it became so much more. We found the spring, but by then we didn’t care. We were having too much fun!

There is a very pretty narrow canyon with lots of little pools. One of the boys had been running and was still wearing his shorts so he jumped in. The rest of us splashed around. Then we climbed up a bit more, until we spotted the ruins of some old houses above us, so up we went. We ate green almonds (sour!) and looked at the plant life. There is a cactus that grows everywhere here which apparently sprays when it is broken and the sap causes blindness. Eek! Oh, we also found a lot of carob trees! They were way over ripe, but I chewed on the bean pods anyway. They were rough and crunchy, but very tasty! It was kind of like chocolate with a lot of vanilla mixed in. The tree itself is very pretty, with knarly bark and really pretty waxy leaves. We have a whole day free from classes tomorrow, and I am hoping to fill some of it with a hike up the hill to explore the beautiful castle up there!

Cooking With My Host Mother: Tajine win Maria
3/23/2009

Meat, enough for every person who will be eating. I’ve had this dish with beef both times, but I think it would be wonderful with chicken. Or you can skip it and add chickpeas or something like that.
Olive oil
2 onions (we use red, but I don’t think it matters), diced
1 tomato, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1/2c. diced cilantro
About 1 tsp each:
Cinnamon
Ground ginger
Paprika
Pepper
Saffron (here we use a cheap imitation powder… if you choose to use real, use only a few threads)
1.5 tsp salt

4-5 prunes
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp sugar

2-3 eggs, hard boiled (optional)

Soft bread

Cover the bottom of a pressure cooker in enough oil to coat. Add meat and spices. Stir until meat is covered in spices, then add diced onion, tomato, garlic, and cilantro. Let simmer over med-high heat about five minutes. While this is simmering, put prunes in a sauce pan and just barely cover in water. Add cinnamon stick and sugar, then simmer. Add 2 cups water to the meat/veggie mixture, cover and tighten the lid of the pressure cooker. Simmer 30-45 minutes, until onions and tomatoes have cooked down into a thick sauce. Add prunes and their water, then simmer an additional 20 minutes. Turn the entire dish out onto a single plate and place sliced eggs on top.

Eat using soft bread (or couscous or rice, if you choose).

Table Manners

Almost everything we eat here is served with bread. Most of the women here make bread every day. Bread is usually also the only utensil on the table. Your host will break the bread and pass everyone a large chunk. Say “bismillaH” (to your health) and then break a small piece of bread off and dig into the communal dish in front of you.

You should only eat from the area that is closest to you. Under no circumstances should you reach across the tajine to grab a tasty morsel. Use your thumb and first two fingers of your right hand only. Use your left hand when breaking bread or tearing meat, but do not use it to put food to your mouth or to reach into the tajine. Do not lick the fingers of your left hand. This is because eating with the left hand is seen as eating with the devil, but also because most people use their left hands to clean themselves after a visit to the bathroom. Even if you are not adventurous enough to try this way of maintaining your personal hygiene, you should always wash your hands with soap before and after your meal.

When most of the vegetables and sauce contained in the tajine have been eaten, your host will separate out the meat to be consumed. Do not touch the meat until your host has done this. When you have your serving of meat, you may tear it into small pieces using both hands, either on a small plate provided, in the tajine, or on the table itself. Eat the meat using bread.

You will have to assert yourself if you are full before all the food in front of you is consumed. Moroccans may be concerned that you are sick if you do not consume the entire thing. However, if you politely maintain your ground, they will leave you alone… at least until dessert is served.

Dessert is usually fruit. Eat only fruit that can be peeled. Avoid the apples- they aren’t very good. Don’t avoid the oranges- they’re the best I’ve ever tasted. Then ask if you can help clean up. Don’t expect that they will let you. You are a guest, after all. If they do, enjoy the quiet time in the kitchen with your host mother, and then go watch Egyptian soap operas that no one understands on the TV.

Also, most families are very forgiving of people who speak with food in their mouths, who belch, or who eat audibly. Please avoid farting at the table. If you must, blame it on the little kid next to you. You can impress your friends by belching and saying “LHamdullah” all at the same time. Juuuuust kidding.

Useful words:
- ts: eat! Pronounced: t-s-cha
- Su: drink
- Djwng: I am full. Pronounced: da-jee-oo-n-gch (aspirate the last syllable)
- Shbet: I am full.
- Yadfud: good food
- Tabarkallah: well done (literally, God Bless It)
- Safi: all done
- Agroum: bread. Pronounced: ah-rughm.
- Motisha: tomato
- Azalim: onion
- Tajine: the dish you are eating.
- Shukkran or saHa: Thank you
- Bla jmiL: you’re welcome

Best thing EVER: Moroccan Dinner Parties
3/25/2009

Tonight we had dinner at my CBT-mate’s house all together. His mother is a spunky lady of about 60. He also has two host brothers in their early 20s, one host sister, two host sisters in law, one host nephew, and his host father. It’s a full house!

I headed over a bit early to study a bit with my friend, but the only place where it is not hashuma (shameful) for a man and a woman to study together is the salon, where everyone was watching their favorite Egyptian (or Turkish, maybe?) soap opera. So we didn’t get much work done! Then the whole rest of the group trouped in at 8pm and we were served mint tea. Two of the other girls in the group brought their host sisters, so we had a whole crew of girls who are about 10 years old. First we played Tamazight telephone with the whole crew. For those of you who do not remember, or for those who never were 10-year-old girls, telephone is played by passing a whispered phrase from person to person until it comes full circle. The last person then speaks the phrase out loud and it is compared to the original phrase. It’s pretty fun in English, but in Tamazight, with several non-native speakers, it’s ridiculous! At one point we realized that one of the host sisters was changing what we were saying into things that were vaguely Hashuma. We tried something in English, which was fun as well. Then we played cards for a long, long time, until finally tajine was served at about 9:15.

When a dinner party such as this happens, two (or more) tajines are served, in separate spaces. Sometimes it’s the men who are served first, then the woman eat later. In this case, we were served our tajine, which we ate as a group with our LCF and one of the host sisters (this one is 30 and has been a very helpful person to get to know.) Eight people can make pretty short work of a tajine and a couple loaves of flat bread! After that we at shfet, or small, thin pasta with sugar, nuts, and cinnamon. It’s pretty tasty! Then we had oranges and made our escape!

I just quickly want to touch on the ten-year-old girl crew and my feelings about Moroccan children in general. I know I mentioned before that I’d had some harassement from kids on our second day in Morocco. I had been out walking in the city with a friend who speaks excellent French. We passed a group of boys who were about 9 or 10. They cut in between my friend and I, and said “Bonjour, Madame!” My friend answered them, “Bonjour!” Then followed us for a short time, asking for us to buy them cokes, and when we ignored them, one of them pinched my butt and then ran away.

At the time, I laughed it off as just a strange cultural experience, but when we came to our CBT site, I realized that it had affected me more than I thought. On our first visit to our Hub site (where we train with the other Tam-speaking health groups), I was afraid to go out into the town alone, or even at all. This was not because I was afraid of getting lost or afraid of the language barrier, but because I was afraid of the kids. For those of you who know me well, you will understand that this was an incredibly upsetting thing for me. I have always been good at making connections with kids pretty quickly, but that is in America. In America, I have no language barrier, I generally look something like the kids in question, and kids are taught not to stare or harass people on the street. Those are challenges that I have to face here walking through the streets.

Some kids here demand presents. Some kids here surround you. Some kids here make fun of you. Some kids here throw rocks.

But of course, not all of them do. Most of them will be curious about you but not hostile. Most of them will be interested in positive interactions. Most of them will be surprised and happy when you start speaking Tamazight to them.

Here in Ait Halouane, I have a lot of interactions with kids, one of which I explained below. Other than my host sister, I spend the most time with the host siblings of my fellow trainees. It seems like the majority of these girls are about 10 years old. They’re all really pretty and spunky. They all laugh a lot, and cuddle, and play games. They are the BEST Tamazight teachers! Getting to know these girls (and a few boys) has been really helpful for me, because they have helped me remember that kids are not my enemies, and they can be extremely helpful in integrating into the community!

We talked a lot about unwanted attention in our class session today, and one of the things that people say is that you can very easily divert unwanted attention by using humor. I’m working on cultivating that skill!

Here I am

S-salaam alekum!

It’s been a very busy two days here in Morocco! I guess I should go back to the beginning. We took off from New York in the evening on Tuesday and arrive in Casa the next morning. After clearing customs and collecting our luggage, we got in the buses and headed out across the plains towards our training town. It was unbelievably green! Morocco has had a lot more rain this winter than is normal. There were mudslides and flooding, but in general the rain has been a good thing, as it brought a two-year drought to an end. We were mostly in rural areas, but it was still very interesting. Finally, we started to go up a bit. It was very nice, and I was excited by the view of the distant mountains, but unfortunately, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, we were pulling into the hotel. We unloaded ourselves and our stuff, found rooms, and then had lunch. We had an afternoon session, but finished earlier than we have any other night so we could go for a walk around the town with the LCF’s (Language and Culture Facilitators.) It was fantastic! We walked to a supermarket, but I wasn’t so into that, so I headed back out with a different LCF and some friends. This particular LCF happens to be native to this particular town, so he was a very helpful guide! We wandered up the main street in town and through to souk (market). As the sun was setting, we heard our first call to prayer, which inspired what was almost my first “Oh my god I’m in another country” moment.

We headed back to the hotel as the sunset and slept! The rest of our days have been busy, as I mentioned before. We begin every day at 8:30 am and are generally in class from then until after five or so. We have several short breaks, two coffee/tea breaks, and one for lunch. After dinner we have free time, and the majority of us use that time to head out into the town for supplies or sight seeing, to study, hang out, play games, or use the internet. Today we had a bit of a different day because we had the US Ambassador here. He was slated to talk for well over an hour, but only talked for about half that time, so we had a surprise hour of free time. I used that time to lounge around the pool under the jasmine and get thoroughly freaked out by reading the Safety manual.

A lot of our time has been spent on “Survival language” practice. Which means Moroccan Arabic, which is called Darija. Standard Arabic is called Fusha. Most of us are going to be placed in Berber speaking areas, so we are only learning a small foundation to build upon later. We will probably only need it for travel. We’ve learned numbers, basic greetings, how to say that we aren’t tourists and work for the Peace Corps, and how to purchase things at the hanut (store.) My stajjmates are all pretty gungho about practicing and heading out into the town to use their Darija, which is just totally awesome. I love these people.

Aside from Darija practice and the ambassador’s visit, we had a special event. Several current Peace Corps Volunteers spoke to us in a panel about their training experiences and what had happened since then. That was pretty fantastic. I bought a beautiful hand crocheted bracelet and a little purse from the collective that one of the volunteers works with. Then I headed out with another trainee and one of the PCVs to visit the medina. It was fun! We stayed for only about half an hour and only bought some socks, but it was a good experience! It is always fun seeing how people react to crazy Americans speaking Darija!

Now I’m back at the hotel and feeling pretty tired. It’s been tricky getting the internet to work and all my pictures to upload, but, inshallah, it will work out!

A hot date with the internets

Hey ya'll.

Well, after several thousands of miles of traveling, I am in Philly and ready for the next step- the step that I have been waiting for for ever so long! A good night's sleep, a short bus ride to JFK, then the almost eight hour flight to Morocco!!!!

Things are going well here despite all the madness. The weather has been foul and many many volunteers got stuck somewhere and came late or they are meeting us in JFK tomorrow. I made it to Philly just as the bad weather was coming in, only to lose my wallet somewhere in transition. It had a lot of money in it that would have been very useful, as well as my ID, etc. However, people were incredibly helpful and nice about it, and although it really sucked, I am feeling better now.

My aunt says that in a rite of passage, it is typical to lose one's possessions and experience some humiliation. As a result, they are freed and better prepared for the learning that will come their way. I hope that turns out to be true!

I had a request for more photos- well, I haven't been taking many lately, but I did take this fantastic photo of my nephew and the son of a good friend.