No Thanks, I'll Pass on the Sheep's Head...

So I spent the last week in what will soon be my home for two years. And I'm still having trouble finding the right words to describe this community. It is a small village nestled into the mountains (and when I say mountains I mean dirt mountains) that seems to run on it's own time. Everyone there is super nice and welcoming, but at the same time I can't help but think- shizer I'm gonna be all alone up here in one month.

So the biggest issue: no running water.

That's right, hug your Brita's and savor your fridge's that dispense water, because I have to walk across town to fill up on well water; to which I have to either bleach or boil just to use. So enjoy that ice cold glass of water that you're sipping on right now.

But in all seriousness, it won't be too bad when I get a routine and am able to figure something out. I hope. 

I am convinced that because I was probably the only person in our entire stage (around 35) that said I didn't mind the cold, they shipped me off to the mountains. Never mind the fact that the only thing I DID ask for was running water. Oh well, it's a challenge to overcome.

My second host family, that I will be staying with for the first month, are super sweet people. I have 5 sisters, ranging from 1-17 years old. A brother, Aunt, and my parents are helpful and anxious. It's their first time hosting a volunteer so everything I do is fascinating. And every sentence I say is hilarious- especially when I don't know what I'm saying. They find daily amusement in asking me questions and me not know the answer, or just not know what they said in general. But overall, they are very genuinely nice and helpful. They've also told me that whenever I don't want to eat something, just to let them know & they'll cook me eggs. This came in handy when sheep's head was served for lunch one day and then intestines the following night for dinner.

I got to hang out with the PCV that had spent her two years there, Mina. She was incredibly helpful and encouraging. She even let me confiscate A LOT of clothing, house amenities, food, etc. She introduced me to a lot of community members, helped me get familiar with the area, took me to get all my paperwork done and let me pick her brain about everything. Bless her soul, because without her, I probably would have had a mental breakdown.

There are some PCVs around me, so I'm not totally exiled in the mountains. All within a reasonable 30-45 minutes taxi ride away. Myself and the current volunteer I'm replacing did take a nice transit (which is a van taxi where they fit as many people as possible in it) ride up the mountain to the bigger town. Dad, now don't get  mad- but when the whole inside of the van is full on the inside, where's a girl to sit?? That's right, on the roof. Nice and spacious and with a great view, one can climb on up and sit on the roof for a chilly ride. Just make sure to hold on when going around the bends.

Before going up to my site I did meet some other PCVs that will be living around me, all of whom are very fun and more than willing to help us newbies figure things out and/or be a shoulder to complain to. It was nice to finally meet people who are out in the field actually doing something. Makes me feel like all this training might actually be put to use. That or I'll just have a sweet two year vacation.

Now I'm back at hub, exchanging stories with all my fellow trainees. Everyone seems to have enjoyed their site and is very excited to go out and start living. Which I agree. 

I'm sorry for no pictures, I actually didn't take any of my site. Figures. But I will be there for two years, so I'll get some up for you guys.

Oh yeah, PS. it snowed at my site after I left. Awesome.

Behavioral Patterns

The other day I found an Arabic proverb that I’ve decided I’m gonna try and live by while I’m here- thought I’d share it, however, don’t ask me to recite it just yet. It says, “kul yawm min Hayaatuk SafHa min tarriikhuk”... every day of your life is a page of your history. Broken down even further; you only live one life, so you should enjoy every single day. And at the end, each day’s experiences are what make up your history. I just really like this quote and the whole significance behind it.

This week is coming to an end and I am not complaining. It’s been tiring, challenging and over all mentally exhausting. The constant language lessons are finally starting to catch up and it can be a bit overwhelming at times. It’s funny though, I become so overwhelmed with learning the new language and frustrated with homework that I give up and go hang out with my family. I think there may be some irony thrown in that, but it is what it is. They bring me back to why I’m here.

I’ve come to find different outlets to redirect my frustration. Whether it be doing an hour of yoga (CaitRy, I got some sweet abdominal moves for us), spending time taking pictures, writing, watching a movie, or talking to someone who brings me back to the bigger picture.  Which ever one it seems to be at the time, it’s definitely a necessity here. Back at home I’d make sure I got some serious Caitlin time at least once a week; here I need it once a day. And I’m not embarrassed about that at all.

This Saturday our final sites are announced. I think that when I put this up, it’ll be Saturday, so... today our final site are being announced! This is the place I’ll be living the next two years, N’Shallah (God willing). After we’re told, the following Monday we’re off to visit the site for a week. During this time we’ll get to see what the community looks like, get to meet our new host family, check out the local clinic; basically get a vibe from the community we’ll be working in. So in the next couple of days, I need to learn to be fluent in Tamazight because I’m off on my own. Awesome. Actually, I’m kinda psyched.. this will be my first time out by myself. If I can do this, the rest is easy.

I had a big picture moment a couple minutes ago. After dinner, while I was washing dishes (yes Mom, I do that here), Mohammed came up and gave me the motion for brushing his teeth. So now, we have a nightly routine of brushing our teeth together. Behavior patterns at their best; aka monkey see, monkey do. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside thinking that, even if he did brush his teeth before, he’s now doing it on a regular [nightly] basis with me. And yes, if you hang out with us, we don’t just brush, we act like zombies with foam coming out of our mouths, but that’s not the point. The point is that he’s  brushing his teeth with me. And the goal is, to get him to do it regularly without me.

 (Mohammed, "our" cousin Mariam, and myself)

Home Cooking

So the past couple of days at Hub were, relaxing and a tad exhilarating. I got to see the people I didn’t even realized I missed and then further other relationships as well. I think we’re all starting realizing there are people here who we still don’t know all that well and we really want to; especially that person who seems to be embodied sunshine, who just opens your mind to so many different reasons for being here and to live every minute of it- which I can’t help but love and try to do my best to live by.

Now I’m back with my host family. Back to no internet, no toilets, and no hot water. Yet, walking in yesterday, to my mom and sister washing clothes and collecting corn kernels was so comforting. Do I have any clue as to what my mom’s going to do with a pound of corn kernels... no, (and I have not seen any popcorn), but for some reason it seemed completely normal to me. And twenty minutes later, I sat around 6 women, helping my mom slice some sort of bean that goes in cous cous, and as they talked and talked (gossiped is more like it, I just know it), in this language I still don’t know, I was strangely quite comfortable.

I sometimes find myself thinking how they would feel if they were in my situation- miles away from home and with no idea what is going on- what they would do. How would we treat them? It boggles my mind. So much to the point, I give up and just decide to make faces at Mohamed.

Today after sleeping in- which is getting up at 9 o’clock- I got up and started helping out around the house. I de-podded about 80ish peas, played with my neighbor Mariam (below, she is SO cute!), and then attempted to study in the blazing hot sun. Then, myself and my CBT mates decided to go on a hike. And then after telling my mom, my sister, my aunt, and then our school cook, they all thought I was crazy because it was so hot out, but we went anyway.

    This was a hike which Uncle Danny would be proud of. We did about a 3ish hour hike across the river, up ‘mountains’ to some make-shift caves. Then we went all the way around through fields and the two communities after ours. I apologize, but the pictures I will post have nothing on the actual places and things which was saw. We really have been blessed with our CBT site placement, it is so beautiful and around every corner there’s something amazing to see. Plus, the people here are so incredibly nice and welcoming it’s hard not to fall in love with a community such as this.

    After this walk, we all went our separate ways because we were all on dinner duty at our houses tonight. My dinner goal: Pizza. So I started the cooking process around 7:15-7:30ish, by having my mom make the bread and soon after I started cutting up my peppers, onions, tomatoes, etc. Now, back in the states I know exactly what to do when making homemade pizza, so I tried to follow that idea. As I cooked I had about 5 pairs of eyes watching me, along with my Uncle’s wife writing down what I was doing. Long story short, I got it all together, threw it in the oven and hoped for the best. Low and behold, it did look like it came out really good when we finally took it out (check out the pictures) and I was very happy with myself. The one downer, and if you know my you’ll know this is one of my pet-peeves, so the pizza didn’t take that long. I’d say it was finished and ready to go once we took it out of the oven. But we didn’t eat for another hour. Um.. hello, pizza should be eaten nice and piping hot. But, by the time we dove into it, it was luke warm. I can’t get upset, I should have taken into account that we eat at 10:30 at night and shouldn’t have started my cooking process so early on in the night, but it is what it is. All in all, out of about the 15 pieces that there were, 2 and a half were left over. I guess I can call that a success. My favorite part was, mid meal, my Uncle asks me if this was American pizza or Italian pizza; I thought about it for a second, and answered, “it’s Zahara pizza.” They all loved that. I apologize, I was going to post a picture of the pizza, but I forgot to upload those pictures from my  camera. So next time!!

Next time, due to Mohamed wanting to use an egg for some reason when we were cooking, it’s breakfast pizza. I’ll keep you posted.

Weekend Away

So this past weekend was a “free weekend” for us trainees. My CBT group, along with another group and some other stragglers headed up to Tinerhir (said most closely to tan-rear, and involving some annoying throat hacking). It was definitely nice to get away from the whole studying every minute of every day lifestyle. And at the same time, we were forced to learn, which was.. oddly enjoyable.

We stayed at a cheaper hotel that was recommended by past and present volunteers, which ended up working out very well. The arabic/french/english speaking hosts were very nice, helpful, and even entertained us on the roof with some live music, (I did at one point get in on the drums, which I don’t know why I never went professional, I was pretty awesome). So the night was just a relaxing, hanging out with everyone, talking about our experiences and getting some food type of ordeal.

The next day we got out to check out the gorges that we were told were spectacular. I can only assume the word got out, because though the gorges themselves were beautiful, they were very commercialized. Which put a damper on the whole walk through. There was a hotel and restaurant in the middle, next to a paved road that ran through the entire length of the gorge. But, all in all, they were beautiful and it was really cool to go see.

So afterwards we headed back to the hotel, and then towards the bus station to head back to our CBT sites. I wish I could insert a funny or interesting story right about now, but it wasn’t too lively of an adventure. Although, when I finally did get home- I was talking to my mom and brother and the word “baby” was brought up. And when my brother told me to come with him, I’m following thinking their neighbor had a baby. My mistake, we went into our make-shift barn and I was introduced to the family’s new baby calf! And then I was laughed at when I asked what it’s name was. Come on, I’d name it- I don’t get why that’s so strange! Unless they plan on eating it and don’t want to get too attached...

Tomorrow we head back to civilization. This means internet, a bed, a hot shower, a most importantly, a toilet. Okay, I take that back, a hot shower definitely beats out a Western toilet these days. My theory is as long as there’s some TP, I’m golden. But no hot water or shower, ugh!!

HOLY CANNOLI I forgot about my LHmmam experience!! Okay. I won’t go into details, because, I honestly don’t think it’s necessary. I can only describe what is the public bath house as, a hardcore girls locker room. And when they say “You get my back, I’ll get yours,” they literally mean it. It was definitely an experience; I would totally do it again (I got the best exfoliation I have ever had- and yes I did it myself, don’t worry), but I am now aware of what goes on and will have a better routine when I head there the next time.

With that being said, I’m off to go socialize. My Grandma just got back from the sbitar (clinic) and there’s a bunch of people here welcoming her home. And I’m being all emo in my room writing a blog, so I’m outtie!

Allies

After having a bit of a frustrating day yesterday, I decided to take today head on. The first half of the day was very good, we did the usual mass amounts of language learning. Today we did seasons, time, and the days of the week. And if you’re thinking it’s elementary stuff, yeah it is, but we need to learn it.

So after a great lunch (cous cous with vegetables and chicken, mmm!!!) the younger lads and lassies took a nap. Come on, the work’s hard here, we nee our rest! However, when we woke up, we were told some unfortunate news. Our group’s married couple, Aisha and LeHcen, announced to us that they were going to be returning home. Now, while all of us are very supportive and hate to see them leave, it brings up our own issues as well. Though we may have just met a few weeks ago, but everyone here (yes, all 60 of us) came together and got pretty close. We’re all going through these changes together and to see someone leave, well, just sucks. Especially when it’s a married couple, because we lose two [which brings our total toll of 3 people going home].

Now, unlike our married friends, when it comes down to it, we don’t have someone to turn to at the end of the day. So, after talking a bit, the four of us who remain in our CBT group have made a pact. If at any time any of us feel the tiny bit of desire to go home or anything of the sort, we turn to each other; we talk about it. No one gets left behind. Allies until the end.

So what do four twenty year old’s do when they’re feeling down- I know what you’re thinking, but we don’t have any booze- we watch stand up comedy. So after watching an hour of comedy, we call it a night, and for me- I head home to help with dinner and relax.

On a positive side, today I feel like I actually communicated more with my Mom and Aunt than I ever had. Explaining to my Mom what I was doing tomorrow and for the weekend (we have a free weekend and a few of us are going away). And then, while trying to peel a tomato, telling my Aunt how I’m not married, but hopefully one day I will be (God willing). Even MoHammed and I seem to be talking without all the hand gestures. So I’m definitely getting there.

End of the day thoughts: I’m not coming home any time soon (sorry!). This may be tough and challenging, but as I’ve been reassured a few times lately by a friend here, I can do this, (I know Dad, you’re so proud haha).

(My CBT Group: Fatima, Jawed, Myself, and Bassu)

Community Mapping

Today we met with some local men and women to discuss basically what they do on a daily basis. Then, using their daily schedule, what their seasonal calendar would look like. The main idea that we, as volunteers, are trying to understand is when would the best time of day/year be to plan events, discussions, meetings, etc. And then we discussed where in the community men and women usually “hung out” and that helps us figure out where they’ll be during a specific time a day. Just in case we’re looking for a group to interview, talk to, or just understand what they’re doing.

The basic theory behind it all is to get a basic feel for the community we’ll be living in. And to use these tools to help in our own projects and goals. And in using these practice exercises we’ll be better prepared when we’re by ourselves trying to figure it all out.

Now, what I’m sure you’re wondering is if it worked. And the answer is yes. I was completely surprised at how many women showed up for our “meeting.” I’d say about 10-15 women showed up; and I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but trust me, it is. These women were more than happy to cooperate, answer, and discuss all the questions we had for them. I think this get together even let them all vent, just for a minute about their work and hard life they live on a daily basis. The discussion then took a turn towards us American women, when we were asked what we do for work, if we care for animals, work in fields, etc. We did acknowledge that we have some things that make life easier (dishwasher, lawnmower, washing machine) but we also have our own stress’s and hardships. I did defend the LI farmers, not that I am one, but I know they’re out there.. or at least they’re out there hiring Mexicans to do it with them. Then the big question came: Why are you here? Why are you in Morocco? And we all just paused, not ready for that one. Aisha quickly recovered and answered, we’re here to learn from Moroccans; teach them about America; and integrate both cultures together and help each other. They loved it. Jeeze louise, these women are incredible. [One is actually pregnant and we learned she won’t stop her daily chores until she’s about to give birth. This means carrying pounds of sticks/alfalfa/laundry on her back to and from the fields or river].

The men were just as helpful in their daily routines, but obviously not as chatty as the women. Because of course, men are men (it’s true). We were able to get the information we needed, learned that they too are very hard workers and will find work year round just to provide for their family. These people are such hard workers and community oriented. It’s amazing to hear that they will, when needed, pull together and wo

rk together as a team [for example, if a member of a family passes here, the men will go door to door collecting money for the family]. It’s comforting to realize that communities worldwide will stick together. And though everyone in this community knows each other, it makes me feel a little better to know that even if you don’t know everyone in your town, people still come together when needed.

That’s my feel good entry for the moment. On a different note, I’ve just about mastered the bun-styled scarf (I don’t think I’m describing this right, I’m sure I’ll put a picture up); which is always a plus! It looks cute and means I don’t have to wash my hair everyday, which obviously will not be happening. Tomorrow, I follow my host mom around and she what she does for the day! I wonder if I’ll get to milk our cow...

Tea Please!

So I don’t have internet for 10 days, so I’m improvising and just writing as the days go. Which means I’ll most likely have a couple blogs going up around the same time.

Today was filled with a lot of interesting and fun things. Actually, before I get into that, I have to say- Moroccans eat, A LOT. I start off with breakfast, which these days tends to be a thick, yellow soup (which I actually found chunks of chicken in this morning); followed by bread with marmalade and olive oil for dipping. A few hours after this, during our first “break” of class, we have more coffee (in shot glasses), and more bread/cookies/chips. Then, not even two hours later, it’s lunch. And today we actually had some pasta, with a pepper concoction of a sauce, a bowl of beans, and oh yeah- more bread. And if you know me, I have never complained of a solid piece of bread, and all this homemade bread is absolutely fantastic, but I’m not able to handle it at every meal. And at every meal there’s someone watching you, making sure you eat that bread.

Any-who, I could rant a bit about how much food is eaten and while I rant, I secretly love it all. Okay, so back to my day. It started off with class (on a Saturday, yeah I know), but we did convince our LCF (language and culture facilitator) to have our second half outside. Which, at the time seemed like a good plan, but we were all sweating by lunch time. After class, myself and three other of the trainees, Basu, Fatima, and Jawad (for their own privacy I’m just gonna use their Berber names) decided to go on a walk and check out our community.

The walk was absolutely beautiful. Not just the sights, but I don’t think we passed one person you did not say hello; and this is tricky because after the 20 different ways of saying hello, they go off and we have no idea what they’re saying, but they love it none the less. The children of the community were especially curious about the 3 white and 1 black kids walking through, as they followed us (asking for money of course, but that’s beside the point) and watched our every move. We managed to find a hill right on the outskirts of town that gave us a spectacular view of the valley and community. At this point I do not have any pictures, being I grabbed my case of DVDs instead of my camera case, but I will be here for a few more months so I’m sure I’ll be able to get some sweet pictures for you all.

So after hanging there for a bit, we decided to go on a quest to have a moment of America and try to watch a movie. This ended abruptly as everyone we passed invited us in for tea. We finally gave in and went to have tea with a local businessman who runs a hotel and a Rose Water business. We all felt very proud of ourselves for interacting and socializing on our own without our advisor, so even though we couldn’t convey much, it worked out very well. Plus this guy has a shower and a toilet, so we were sucking up to him in every way possible.

After that we headed back to Bassu’s house, where his host father insisted that we sit down for tea, discussed more vocabulary- was corrected a lot in our attempts. I think for a good 5 minutes I spoke with the trainee’s Grandma going back and forth on the same phrase until I got it just right. lHamdullah (thanks God). After more tea, we headed out yet again, to another household, where more tea was offered. Man, do these Moroccans love their tea!!

Finally, I gave up and figured my host mom would be worrying about me, so I headed home, escorted by a fellow trainee, who was, of course, invited in for tea. So he came in, and we taught my brother a game (a variation of ms. mary mac with numbers), which he loved. After Bassu (fellow trainee) left, I helped with dinner and got to know my Aunt and Mom a bit better, and then was questioned if I liked Bassu, which I had to explain that I liked him, but didn’t like him like him. Try doing that in a foreign language that you don’t really know. I’m really hoping they understood me, or I feel a wedding may be in the making. I guess I’ll find out.

Side note, dinner tonight was pretty damn good. I’d say it was a very creamy rice a roni thing. And it was delightful! And I’m definitely getting more comfortable with my family. Though I still haven’t met my sisters and only shared one meal with my host dad. But I do have three months...

(my village)

Some things I’ve discovered: I have a cow, some sheep and I know there’s a donkey somewhere (Mom- I have yet to find this thing!). Kids are insanely helpful and patient when learning new things, especially language. I don’t care anymore about making a fool of myself (as Mohammed and I were dancing and jumping around the courtyard dying in laughter). I know more of this language right now than I give myself credit for. And trying to watch what I can only describe a Moroccan American Idol, while a seven year old boy is shaking his booty and dancing in front of you, is INCREDIBLY hard, especially when you cannot stop laughing and then that makes him break down laughing.

Imik s imik, little by little. This has been and will continue to be our motto. And now everyday when that moment comes when I think, “what the hell am I doing here?” pops into my head- I’m just gonna think of Mohammed breaking it down in the living room, and I think that’ll set me straight.