Significant Work progress-or lack thereof

So what have I been doing since my last blog post in July:

August:
-Summer Camp: 2 weeks in a beach town and brought 4 of my students from my town. My students had a blast at camp, 1 had never seen the ocean before. It was also a good experience for them to meet kids from all over Morocco.
-The screen of my computer broke (got it fixed while I was in the states). I borrowed a screen to use for a few months.

September

-Fought, successfully this time, for the Dar Chebab to stay open after six, in order to accommodate BAC students who don't finish school until 6pm!
-Started English classes four days a week for Seniors at the high school (referred to as BAC students)
-Created an art club that meets on Saturday afternoons of youth from 6-20. At first it began with all girls but many boys have joined the group.

November

-Went to Mid-Service Medicals in Rabat. Completely healthy!

December

-English classes stopped. Various reasons including no space to hold it, loss of interest by certain students, demanding school schedules and tests.
-Went home to America for a two week vacation! I had an amazing time visiting with my family and friends in the states. Went with my mom, aunt, and grandmother to see Wicked in NYC and visit the tree in Rockefeller Center. It was great to be in a country that observed Christmas. Went to my brother's house for Christmas and got to meet his girlfriend that he started dating while I had been in Morocco. My original flight back to Morocco was cancelled due to all the snow in NJ so I got to spend an extra few days with my family while the snow melted.

February

- BAC English classes began again but with a different group of students.
- Started an Exercise/ Dance club with girls at my Dar Chebab (no boys allowed). While two of these girls attended Summer camp where boys and girls could dance in Morocco, in our town it is not appropriate for girls to dance when boys can see them.

Upcoming projects:
-With the first week of April brings the spring break for students and English Spring Camps all over Morocco. I will be coordinating the Spring Camp in Marrakech this year.
-April 22: Earth Day

It's Raining!

I'm very excited about the rain! The "winter" in my town this year was warm and with only one day of rain. Last year it was raining all the time and by this time I could look out my window where the once dusty landscape was covered with greenery. Now it's been raining for over a week, it's cold, my roof is leaking, and I can see my breath indoors and it makes me happy. It gives me an extra excuse to put off my laundry, stay snuggled under my covers and read, and bake in order to warm up my kitchen. It also means the "river" will return to my town if only for a few days.

Some Moroccan Humor:
A man wants to commit suicide but rethinks it, decides that he wants to attempt suicide and not die so that people in town will think of him as strong and unable to die. From the roof he wants to jump from is 10 meters high so he goes to the hanut and asks for 9 meters of rope. The shopkeeper gives him the rope and the man goes to the top of the building ties the rope around his waist and jumps. Seconds later he is dead on the ground, as the police are investigating they go to the shopkeeper and ask him about the rope. The shopkeeper says, the man asked for 9 meters of rope but I gave him 12 because I know his father. (told to me in Darija by a Moroccan man and then translated into English)

The reason I share this joke, despite its grave outcome is to highlight Moroccan shopkeepers. While you bargain for almost everything, things like meat, vegetables, and most food items are a set price. When you bargain the starting price and even the final price depend on who you are and how the shopkeeper knows you. For example a foreigner will almost always pay more than a local, and a local will always pay more than a friend. However for things with set prices, if the shopkeeper knows you he will throw in the extra meat he cut that puts the scale over the edge by a few grams, the veggie guy will throw in an extra veggie to make the scale balance instead of shorting you a few grams. It's all in who you know.

On Running in Morocco

This past month my counterpart and I started an exercise club on Saturday mornings. After a rocky start: problems with bureaucracy, constantly finding the Dar Chebab closed at the scheduled time, and certain objections from the male "in charge, we finally got the club off the ground. The first 3 weekends we taught all the dances I've known since middle school including: The Electric Slide, The Macarana, Cotten Eye Joe, The Chicken Dance, Boot Scootin' Boogie, and Achy Breaky Heart. The fourth weekend we found the Dar Chebab closed, again, and this time everyone with keys was out of town so there was no chance of getting into the Dar Chebab anytime soon. Although my spirit was broken my counterpart had a more positive attitude. She suggested we run to one of the douars (a small neighborhood) about 3 kilometers away although we have no where to put our bags down and many of the girls had just finished morning classes. Well we ran (mostly), did deep lunges for a while and speed walked (something my girls had never seen before). Once we made it to the douar we were all thirsty. Since we are in Morocco, what do we do? We go knock on a random door and ask for water. The nice woman who appeared brought us water and chatted with us for a few minutes before we were back on our way to town.