Saturday, July 31, 2010

Summertime Blues

This summer has been a whirlwind of boredom and adventure.

My parents and my amazing brother came to visit in June, then I went to Spain with them for a few days. The visit was awesome and I was so happy to introduce them to people in my village. Everyone is still talking about it, even people who didn't meet them but saw them from far away. My parents liked it to, they liked seeing how much everyone cares about me here. The visit had the added bonus of being a vacation for me, I got to go to Spain with them for a few days. I think my favorite part of Madrid was the museums I went to. Went to one huge art museum and it was so cool to see a bunch of the paintings I learned about in all the art history classes I took. I even got to impress my dad with my knowledge of the backgrounds of the paintings and painters. Best of all it was great to see them in person, skype is just not the same. Unfortunately my brother got Typhoid fever while in Spain so we didn't get to go clubbing like we planned, guess he's got to come back now :)

Summer here is pretty boring otherwise, way too much free time to kill since the Dar Chebab I work at is closed. I spend a lot of time visiting people and working on Goal 2 of Peace Corps (cultural exchange), so technically still working. I'm working summer camp next week so at least that will get me out of my site, even if I am bringing four kids from my site with me. They are sweet kids though and I'm hoping they will like it so I can encourage them to come regularly to my English classes when school starts again.

There has been a few things going on in Mejjat. I helped plan the first ever Watermelon Festival in Mejjat (July 8-10) which was fun. It was supposed to be 3 days but was only 2 and a half because of ANOTHER power outage. The first day was a parade, then an evening show (folk music, watermelon cutting contest, drama-I was in charge of music for, and some gift presentations). The morning of the second day there was a race, then that night Fantasia came. Fantasia are a group of men who ride horses back and fourth and shoot of guns. That was followed by more music. The third day there was a soccer tournament in the morning, then more Fantasia, then the power went out (typical).

I've been to 7 weddings so far this summer, went to 3 last week. It's the only thing to really do around here. They start at 8 or 9 at night and last until 4 in the morning. They are fun, lots of music and dancing. Also a lot of food. The typical wedding food here is fried chicken followed by a dish with beef and prunes, then a tray of watermelon and honeydew. After everyone is fed (shifts which can take forever depending on the amount of tables) they serve mint tea and cookies. Weddings are a 3 day event. One day at the women's house, one at the man's house. I usually go to the husband's wedding (day 3) but I got the chance to go to the women's wedding (day 2) and found out that that is a lot more fun. So, at the women's wedding there is a lot more dancing. The bride changes outfits a bunch of times, it's interesting. Although this wedding was of a 16 year old girl to a 35 year old man. It's something I can't get used to, the marrying of much much older men to younger girls.

Also been using my job skills from the UMW Help desk and removing viruses from computer's and USBs all around Mejjat. Most of all been working to stay cool. With the temperature over 100 and no AC...it's tough.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

What I’ve been doing

It’s getting to be the end of the school year here. I spent many Friday and Saturday afternoons in May going to the local high school, middle school, and Dar Talib (Student House-dorms for kids who live out of town but attend the middle school). For the end of the year the school puts on a program to give out awards and the kids put on a show. Although I didn't understand half of it, (singing, comedy sketches, and short skits) it was still good. Last Friday I went to the program at the middle school, and as they were announcing the awards they called my host sister’s name. She had won a drawing contest for her non-smoking poster. I’m so proud of her.

At the high school, I finally convinced some new people to come to the Dar Chebab. At first, a bunch of the guys came and we had a ping pong tournament. Right now the high school kids are cramming for their BAC (kind of like the SAT) but they have to pass it in order to get their diploma. I've been helping out a group of boys with studying for their English exam. It's been a lot of fun, hopefully they will pass. Their test is a week away so I'll be working hard until then.

So, I don’t usually give out my phone number but kids get it one way or another. Most times I get text messages when I have been gone for a while asking me where I am. But once in a while I get text messages like this: “You already know how you plan for you I see only a few days your eyes are shadowed what happens is that in your life your silence will respect me I m –insert name here.” If you can make sense of it, then you are better than me. But for now I’ll remember that sometimes they probably think my Arabic makes as much sense as that text message.

Also, the mosquitoes are back! I'm thinking I may actually break out the mosquito net, my windows have screens but apparently aren't helping.

I finally have started to get things for my house, couches and a refrigerator in particular. I was finally motivated, since my parents are coming for a visit in two weeks!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Overdue Post

Okay. Okay. I’ve been slacking on my blog posts. The end of February and beginning of March brought a lot of rain and with it came a ton of power outages. I was lucky enough that my water worked the entire time.

One of the associations that works with my dar chebab has been busy hosting all kinds of events since my last blog. There was a huge party for International Women’s Day (March 12…only a few days late). Some of the older youth I know helped my director plan it and it was a huge success. All the women from the Arabic class came and brought cake (there was a lot of cake). My director borrowed a tent so we could hold the event outside, they set up a stage and the older youth preformed skits about women and women's roles and how it was important for women to study. Then the music group preformed.

The association brought doctors from Fes to the Dar Chebab March 25 and 26 to check eyesight, blood pressure, and blood sugar. A lot of the villagers in my town showed up and were checked free of charge. About 150 people showed up each day. Town officials also came including the caid (one of the highest government appointed officials). I along with the doctors and association members were invited to lunch with the caid at the Dar Talib (student dorms).

The next day I left for Spring Camp in Marrakech. Spring Camp was a weeklong English Immersion Camp in over 22 cities. Our camp had 76 kids, 6 PCVs and Moroccan staff. I taught English for 2 hours every morning, then was in charge of Dance Club for 2 hours in the afternoon. It was hard work but a lot of fun. There was 2 talent shows during the week and during each a group did something I taught them. In the first, 3 girls from my beginner English class sang Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes and in the second 3 girls (with me) danced Cotton-Eye Joe.

After Spring Camp, we met up with other volunteers in El Jadida for a night then went down to Essaouira for Sunday and Monday. Standing at the taxi stand in El Jadida I ran into my Dar Chebab Director, who was thrilled at the chance to meet a bunch of other volunteers. He helped us negotiate with the taxi drivers who were giving us a hard time. Essaouira was a beautiful city, we played soccer on the beach (some swam), ate ice-cream, and watched the sunset over the ocean. Sunday we even had a little Easter celebration. Donnielle bought 28 eggs, boiled them, then hid them around our enormous beach house. Half of us took part in the first egg hunt, then re-hid them for the next group (the prize…a bed to yourself). Then of course we ate the eggs for breakfast the next morning, Donnielle made awesome egg salad sandwiches. It was a relaxing end to the week.

Last Saturday I went to buy bread and ran into a French tourist at my bread stand. My bread guy looks at me, wanting me to help translate, the guy knew no Arabic and took bread from the “display not for eating.” My lack of French abilities stunned the tourist who was confused when I also started speaking Arabic. In the end, the guy got his bread and the bread guy and I shared a laugh over it. I actually felt successful, not being the one doing something wrong and able to share a laugh with a local over someone else’s mistake.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

New House and PPST

Since my last blog post a lot has happened. January 28, the day that I will always remember. It is the day I finally moved into my house. My program manager came to visit me and made my day. First, he cleared everything up with my house and even took me to the nearby town to buy a mattress so I could move in that day. Not only did he settle everything with my house he also brought me 11 reams of paper, 2 Snicker’s bars, and my own Peace Corps bicycle (helmet included). As he was driving me back to my town he asked me who my best friend in Peace Corps was, I immediately answered it was him (he had made my day after all) and he laughed. It wasn’t until a few days later that I figured out what an impact that statement would make.

Two days later, I left for Post Pre-Service Training (PPST) up in the mountains. It was a long day taking a grand taxi, city bus, petit taxi, train, another petit taxi, and another grand taxi to finally arrive at the Auberge. I was so happy to finally get there and see everyone again. The first person I saw was our Country Director. He first greeted me and then asked me about my visit from my programming manager, telling me that I made his day by calling him my best friend. Yes, the story did go around the Peace Corps office.

Despite returning to a rigorous schedule again for two weeks, I can’t say that I didn’t have fun at PPST. Waking up to be at sessions at 8:30am was rough but it didn’t stop us from staying up all night playing various games. Ever seen 2 boys try to eat 21 eggs each-it happened at PPST. Ever watch the Super bowl in Italian with no commercials-it happened at PPST. Also included were dance parties, movie nights, singing camp songs, lots of icebreakers and swapping hard drives. We did a bunch of Peace Corps stuff too starting the week with an LPI (Language Proficiency Interview-which I improved my score from the last time I took it), setting goals, planning projects, tutoring, and learning about spring and summer camps.

After returning from PPST, I went to my Gendarms (like county sheriffs) just to check in and tell them I made it back to town safely. Guess what was waiting for me, my Moroccan identity card! I am now officially a resident of Morocco (well I was before but now I have the official card to prove it). After making a photocopy of my card and bringing it back to the Gendarms, I walked through town and realized how much I missed it. It really does feel like home. I went to my host families house to tell them I was back and was greeted with hugs and “I missed you’s”. Then I ran into some of my students on the street who were all glad to see me. It’s nice to be home.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

"Crash" strikes again

My New Years Resolution is to keep my blog updated inspired by all the e-mails, Facebook messages and wall posts urging me to update it. So, I am trying to be better.

Last week I was playing a game of keep-away with a few of the kids at the Dar Chebab, which turned into boys vs. girls and realized that I am really out of shape. I lived up to my nickname (Crash) when I managed to bruise my foot and jam my finger but I had a lot of fun doing it. I kinda was wishing they had some ice though.

Things at the Dar Chebab are constantly up and down. I have some students that come on a regular basis and others who just show up when they have a dire question or the power is out and there is nothing else to do. Since most days both classrooms at the Dar Chebab are occupied I am often left sitting in the office with kids crowding my desk, which is not an ideal teaching situation. Last Tuesday I though I would try something different, Tic-Tac-Toe! I had 3 separate games, one to review past tense irregular verbs, one for irregular plurals, and one for opposites. In order to put an X or an O they had to give the correct past tense, plural form, or opposite. It was also a good review of vocabulary. Hicham (one of my students) wanted to take my Tic-Tac-Toe boards to play with his friends. Overall I think it was a very successful activity and I actually found something that I could use while sitting at a desk that doesn't involve me being a walking dictionary! I was very excited and actually felt accomplished! I used it again the next day with a group of beginner students using numbers, I taught them the numbers as we played and it was a lot of fun.

A few days ago, I was talking to my parents on Skype and my neighbor Zuhir came in. He is a very sweet eight-year-old boy who is also the cousin of my host family. After admiring my computer, he noticed that he could see himself in my Skype screen. At first I think he just liked seeing his face on the screen and made some faces but then my dad started making funny faces back at him and that continued for about 10 minutes while my mom and I were talking. It was really cute. When I was leaving the cyber, I ran into him again and he made me play hopscotch with him.

Monday, January 18, 2010

A Blog Entry for the New Year

I am still a Peace Corps Volunteer and I am still in Morocco. I’m terrible at updating my blog. So what am I doing? I work Tuesday thru Saturday at the Dar Chebab from 2:30-6pm. Some days I teach English, other days I play ping-pong, soccer, or volleyball with the kids. I like tutoring at the Dar Chebab although lately with most of the girls it feels like I'm a walking dictionary. I tried teaching English classes but with the school schedules and my limited access to a classroom with a whiteboard it is hard to set up a schedule.

At the end of December I was walking the post office and I see all the gendarmes (police) in front of it. I didn’t really think anything of it but then the post office was closed for a week and I began to wonder because I was hoping for some packages: two from Peace Corps (one with books and the other with the always important prescriptions) and one from my mom (was really craving some gum from the US it just isn’t the same here). I started to ask questions and found out the postmaster had gotten arrested for stealing over 4 million dirhams. After a few more questions I found out that all the mail was stopping a few towns over, a town that by public transportation is not all that easy to get to. So don’t worry, I still get mail so please don’t stop sending it. I love getting mail and it makes the trip to the post office worthwhile.

In the beginning of January, an association (Youth for Youth) from a nearby city came with the Delege of Youth and Sports and put on a program at the Dar Chebab. The great thing is they were all in their early 20s and although we spoke a mix of broken English and Darija I actually felt like an adult. In my site, I'm usually with a group of old women or groups of 13 year olds. At the end of the day when they were handing out the prizes I got to be one of the "adults" handing to the kids and congratulating them (the others were my acting mudir, the presidents of the associations present, and the delege) I felt important until they wanted me to say a few words and I completely froze. I finally had gotten better at public speaking in the states but here being unprepared in a different language I was not ready for it. It all worked out and the delege talked for me.

I am hoping to move into my own house soon. It’s a small apartment above an internet cafĂ© with two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. I’m excited but now I’m just waiting for the landlord to fix the roof before I can officially start moving stuff in. I can’t believe that the first time I will be living on my own I am in a different country.

I have a small notebook that I write down new words or phrases I learn. I was reviewing my notebook with one of my counterparts at the Dar Chebab when she pointed out that my notebook was a compilation of 5 different languages if you include English. Most of the words were in Darija (Moroccan Arabic), then French, then Tashelhit (the local Berber dialect of Arabic) and finally Modern Standard Arabic. It’s times like these I really wish I could find a tutor to help work all of this out, so I’m not mixing languages every time I talk.

And that's it!