It all started last September when I wanted to learn more about Islam and was thinking about reading the Quran. The more I thought about it the guiltier I felt that I had never read the Bible cover to cover. So I decided I would start, when would there be a better time?

I am very proud to say after 10 months I have finished! It was a wonderful experience. It had many of it's own ups and downs and I most likely would have finished sooner if I had taken it with me when I traveled, but I'm so glad I did it.

Right now I think my favorite chapter is Romans 14.

Funny thing, though, I picked up the Quran this morning and I really have no desire to read it.... maybe it will come back to me.

However, I would like to leave you with what as always been, and will always be, my favorite verse

"Do not caste thy Pearls before thy swine." Mathew 7:6

This last week I walked out of the Darchebab for the last time! (Well until September.)It was pretty exciting! Here is a month by month recap of our year.

September

Ramadan

Soccer Tournaments

Music club

October

Culture Club

French Club

Leadership Club

English Club

Wed morning English classes with 3 girls

Friendship Art Exchange

English at Association IBBDA

Women’s Aerobics Class

Morning Walking Group

November

Women’s Aerobics Class

Morning Walking Group

English Classes at the Darchebab

Writing Club Produced a Brochure about Temsia in English

Ultimate Frisbee game with Aerobics Class and Association IBDA

Scrabble Tournaments

Eid Kabir

December

Women’s Aerobics Class

Morning Walking Group

English Classes at the Darchebab

Embassy Access Teachers Retreat

Diabetes Event

Argon sales

January

Women’s Aerobics Class

Morning Walking Group

English Classes at the Darchebab

Creative Writing Week

Write to music

Decipher codes

Send a secret message

Lesson in Pig Lation

Began Planning Women’s Wellness TOT (SPA Grant Project)

February

Women’s Aerobics Class

Morning Walking Group

English Classes at the Darchebab

American Culture morning with ACCESS students in Ait Melloul

Learn to crochet workshop

Healthy Cooking Classes at Aerobics Participants houses

March

Women’s Aerobics Class

Morning Walking Group

English Classes at the Darchebab

Celebrating Strong Women for Women’s Day

Women’s Rights/Freedom in Morocco Debate

Meetings with the President of the commune about new Darchebab

April

Spring Camp

Women’s Aerobics Class

Morning Walking Group

BAC Prep Classes at the Darchebab

Women’s Wellness TOT in Agadir

Attempt at organizing a Festival

Site Visit

May

English Prep Classes at the Darchebab

Native American Culture Day

Mothers Day Card Making

Argon Co-op Brainstorming about expanding product line

Educational Theater at Lycee

Origami Art Night

Uno Night

HAPPY SUMMER VACATION EVERYONE!

Before makeing Mother's Day cards and bracelets at the Darchebab, I asked my kids what they thought of their mothers.

*Gave Birth To Me

*Makes Me Tagine

*Takes Care of Me

*Serious

*Sacrifices

*Funny

*Washes My Clothes

*She would do anything for me

*Loves Me

*Faithful to my father

*Faithful to our family

*Good Cook

*Understands me

*Gives me Money

*I can't surive without her

*Makes me a good person

Jessica Simpson has this new show called "The Price of Beauty" where she travels all over the world criticizing what other cultures see has beautiful. Recently she came to Morocco.... with no understanding of Islam or real idea of the culture on her search for beauty she becomes the Ugly American.

Next Time Jess

1. Don't straddle a camel in a caftan.

2. Go for the tagine instead of the sheep brains. They only eat them once a year, if that.

3. If you are going to veil try walking around some place other than the largest tourist destination in the country. (Jamal El Fna in Marakesh) Half the things you did are solely there to entertain the tourists.

4. Leave your booty shorts at home.

5. Don't walk into someone's house and criticize them, that's rude in any culture.

If you were just a tourist, whatever,do and wear what you like.

However, you came to not only learn but educate others (with this ridiculous TV show of yours) about beauty in Morocco.

Never did you ask them what beauty means to them.

Never did you ask where their ideas come from.

Never did you try to understand where these women come from.

Jess - I really hope things go better for you in other countries so that not everyone you meet sees you as the Ugly American. Thanks again for being one big disaster.

PS. I'll let you know the next time I see 1/2 naked belly dancers at a traditional Moroccan party.

This is not a movie I would have watched with out prompting or I movie I recomend,except for the first 5 mins. Just because one of the 3 wise-men is dressed in Amazight Wedding jewels that are incredible. For sure the best dressed wise-man I have ever seen.

It has been one of those weeks that makes a volunteer think they should may be just pack up and go home.....

For starters I really didn't want to tell you all this, but the Women's Walk for International Women's Day... yes the walk that my sports class helped me make ribbons for and plan, no one showed up .... I stood waiting by myself for an hour outside the Darchebab until I gave in to the realization that no one was coming. I don't really have the heart to tell you all and I really thought that it would work out, so I may send out an email with a lie in it... I'm not sure yet.

Speaking of my sports class, I have been unawear that a 1-2 months ago a new organization started to claim that they are running the sports class and have been telling the members all sorts of things and made them pay 10DH extra (which is kind of a lot) because they had to join the organization in order to come to sports class. (What??) When the president informed me today I was not so happy. It's not about the credit, it's about being honest and respectful. If they would like to run the sports class I will not only let them but help them. At the same time they need to have an actual memeber of the organization participating with us. This means that I will have several meetings next week when the mudir comes back.

(The mudir is in Rabat for training right now, I am hoping he comes back with a bunch of new ideas for the darchebab. We could really use them.)

It was a rough couple of days getting some of my kids to understand that just because the mudir left does not mean that their manners can leave too.

Although tonight was wonderful... we had a really fun class, everyone participated, and was respectful... God knew just what I needed. (other than a vacation)

That giving up facebook for lent means I come up with a status update every 15 mins.

Never open pictures that Brenda sends you.

My Grandparents love me enough to send me chocolates!

My neighbor has breast cancer.

To pierce your ears follow these 3 steps:

1) Buy/Borrow nice earing

2) Find a friend or two.

3) Have your friend put perfume on your ears and then shove the earing through.

When the mudir leaves the Darchebab he takes my kids manners with him.

I could never work from home, because then I always feel like I should be doing work.

I need to stop going to my veggetable man, because he will never understand that I am not going to marry him. (and because my time is getting shorter, he is trying harder)

Black mold in your house will make you sick.

Learn the art of Henna

Finish writing my first book

Read the Bible from cover to cover

Read the Quran

Learn the Arabic alphabet

Read Culture Shock America

Write my Peace Corps Kitchen cookbook

Learn the Tashleight alphabet

Learn to surf

Workout three 3-5 times a week.

Clean out my email

Clean up my music collection

Eat Chelsea's Birthday Cake

Day after Christmas Shopping and Lunch

Go to America --- Maybe :)

This may be the most common questions I hear, and going on 19 months…. Yes I can say that I am used to things.

My answer is usually “Of course I’m used to things… I’m now only half American and half Moroccan, just like a coffee.” Coffee in Morocco comes two ways small black espresso and half a glass of milk and half a glass of espresso. Recently my neighbors had friends staying with them because their house had flooded (thigh high, in case your wondering!) Anyway, when I met them, they asked if I was used to things, yet. So I told them and my neighbor looks at me and says “Ok but we get to be the milk!”

I think this is way I stopped blogging, I feel like I have nothing to blog about. Things feel normal. Well that or the fact that the world around me feels like its moving at warp speed and it’s all I can do to hang on. There are also the day where I get up and think I don’t need coffee, but then don’t move much until 11! New realization, I need coffee.

My main point being; The Things I Have Gotten Used Too:

∞ Arabic – Some things are just better when said in Darija and even though I have no goal of learning Classical Arabic, I am getting pretty good at writing Darija.

∞ French- but that doesn’t mean that I like it.

∞ Public Transport – I don’t have to worry about driving, gas, knowing the roads, or maintenance. I have new worries like will there be a strike, will they try to raise the price, will the driver or another in the taxi try to hit on me, and will the taxi take off with my stuff still in the trunk.

∞ Buckets – I’m not really sure how I lived with out them in America.

∞ My House -A kitchen sink that doesn’t really drain, ants in my house, waking up to no water, cleaning means throwing buckets of water on the floor, not really having windows and when it rains we lose power.

∞ My Bed – It’s very mobile these days. Just a pillow and a blanket throw on one of my three cushions. Note cushion is long enough to accommodate Zach (maybe not Zeb) comfortable.

∞ Carrying my life on my Back- The one things that no one tells you is when you sign up for Peace Corps you really sign up to carry your life on your back for the next two years. Everything from bedding to snacks, and please do that in a backpack small enough to still be a carry on.

∞ Tide – I’m not really sure there is any other soap out there.

∞ Market – Anything you need, don’t worry, I’ll find.

∞ Bucket Baths – If I am honest, in the winter, they ensure that I workout. If I am already sweaty and gross it makes it much easier to shower in a bucket with little to no hot water.

∞ Cold water - Because the only way to get it hot is to boil it.

I never really liked plain tomatoes in The States but we always had plenty of them. My grandfather grows them in move able 5 gallon buckets and every summer the patio table is full of tomatoes. I many not have know what to do with them then but in Morocco I have learned that the tomato is invaluable. After returning from all of my summer traveling I was looking forward to getting back into the kitchen, but I returned to a tomato less souk. The tomatoes of Morocco were deathly ill making them very expensive and hard to find.

So out the window went my ideas of pizza, spaghetti, tomato soup, hot and cold tomato sandwiches, salsa, and every day salads. I was so used to having unlimited tomatoes for about 15 cents a pound that I started to take them for granted. Now that they have started to make a comeback I plan on filling my kitchen with them and giving the tomato a special place in my heart.

Yesterday marks the day where I only had 399 days left in country. I started with 826, so it was kind of a big deal. Today means 398 and its almost over. Not that I'm counting.

Recently a puppy has moved into the abandoned house* across the street. At first glance this small black puppy looks harmless, it doesn't look flea covered, mud encrusted, or rabies infested, it looks relatively safe. It's also relatively sweet, it really just wants someone or something to play with. Although, after living next to this puppy for a while I have realized that she uses her looks to her advantage.

Last week things started to go missing around the neighborhood. Not big things, but a shoe, or a rag, or little things like that. We were talking about it, but no one was overly concerned.

Last week was also the week that I had to wash three loads of clothes. I had been putting off doing all my laundry from my summer travels, but now I had no clothes, towels, or bedding. So I woke up early one morning and had all the clothes on the line by 7:30, just in time for the sun. (My clothes line is on the side of my house.) Normally I just close the door and go back inside for awhile, and very thing is fine. Although, last week when I came back outside I caught the puppy sunny herself playing with the sleeve of my white (now very muddy) shirt. During the time I went inside (with the door open) rewashed the shirt and came back out she had stolen my favorite black shirt off the line and ate the clothes pin.

We were at war! It took me about 5 Min's to find that puppy who was very comfortable laying on my shirt.

Since then I keep the door open and the puppy has learned "if you go next to the clothes line, you will get hit with a rock" (not a big rock and not very hard, but enough to get the point across.)

*The neighbors say the house belongs to someone who lives in Agadir and they come sometimes in the winter. I say it's abandoned. The house has no roof, no floor and trees growing inside. Who is right? We may never know.

So the picture of the trip are on facebook and yes I know there are no pictures of me... I did not realize this until the end of the trip. Sorry! :) The trip itself was wonderful! I loved sitting outside enjoying all things that are shameful in Morocco. :) (aka, wine and ham)

The first city we went to was Granada and it was by far my favorite. Not only do you get free tapas with just about every drink you order, the city itself is beautiful.

Places we went in Granda

- Church of San Ildefonso

This was the first church I had been too since leaving the states and it was a little overwhelming.

- Monastery of San Jeronimo

I lit two candles and then thought about Grandpa Woiak. :)

- The Cathedral

It was whitewashed and marble. By far the most breath taking place we went.

- The Royal Chapel

The ceilings were so detailed. They were my favorite part.

- The Archaeological and Ethnological Museum

- Church of Santa Ana

I would go back to Granada, I really enjoyed it.

Cordoba this was the city of fountains. There were fountains everywhere you looked. :)

What we did...

- The Supermarket

We enjoyed all the food that we missed from home. :)

- The Roman Ruins

- The Mosque Cathedral

What was at one time a Mosque is now a still functioning Cathedral. Although there is a mix of Muslim and Christan artifact on the inside. Later we attended services there.

- The Roman Bridge, The Bridge Gateway, and The Calahorra Tower

They were all kinda of the same thing. In the tower there is this crazy Museum, it tries to combine everything in to something, but really we were just confused the whole time.

- The Christian Kings Fortress

The building wasn't much, but the miles of gardens was worth it. They were so beautiful.

- The Synagogue

It was an old Synagogue, with some ancient artifacts.

- The Museum of Leather Art

I am not a fan of leather, but there were several pieces that I liked in this showcase. All of the work was done by Ramon Garcia Romero

- The Courtyards of the Viana Palace

- We also found a very odd Art Gallery tucked around a corner.

The main issue we had with Corboda was several things were shut down for construction.

Sevilla

This was our last city and at this point we kinda thought screw culture, we want department stores and supermarkets. We did go and see the sites that looked interesting and we treated ourselves to Flamenco dancing.

The Cultured Moments

- An art Gallery

This gallery had several pictures of God in the paintings. They were also very centered around Saint Jerome

- Alcazar

This is a huge Muslim places, complete with baths that the princess asked were built for her private use.

- The Cathedral

The 3rd Largest Cathedral in the world. The builders said they wanted people to look at the Cathedral and think whoever built this must have been crazy! It has 44 Chapels and a 35 story tower that you could walk up and look over the city.

- Tablao El Arenal

This is where we celebrated a year in country early and watched dancing!

- Mc Donalds

Where not only do they have a bacon BBQ burger, but you can get a beer instead of a coke for the same price.

That was kind of the trip! It was wonderful and a great break from Morocco. I mean don't get me wrong, Morocco is great in its own ways but Spain is too. :)

I came back to my site to find that my kids have left the darchebab, formed an association, and organized a soccer league that teams are paying 200DHs to play in. I am so proud of them! This has caused a small dilemma for me. By "my kids" I mean "the men" and by teams I mean all male teams. It also seems that those who have not signed up to play come to watch. By those I mean all the other men in town.

The guys invited me to come and watch, and they have always been good about keeping things culturally kosher, so I went. Walking into a field full of men (picture Saturday morning soccer, but only males) is when I realized this. It is also when I needed to decide if it was ok for me (the only girl) to come or not. At first I thought no, this is not really kosher, and then my second thought was, Ya know I can get away with it because I don't have a older brother here to tell me to go home, or a dad to forbid me like most of the other girls in town. So I have been going, not because I like soccer, but to support the guys and to make a small stand for girls, but tonight was a whole different story.

I knew most of the kids on one of the teams today, and so I got kinda into the game. I didn't realize how much I knew about soccer or that I could spit out Arabic that fast without thinking, but before long I sounded like my mom at one of Zeb's basketball games.

All the men in town were looking at me like I had gone and lost my mind. I mean they clap from time to time, but that's about it. There is no yelling that the ball is coming, or saying that's ok there's next time, or great job guys, ok lets do it again. I guess somethings are genetic.

I have been back in my site for a few days now and it has it's ups and downs. Its Ramadan right now so everyone is fasting from sunrise to sunset. Which means my favorite part of the day (cooking lunch) is on hold until the 27th. I have been out of my site for a month and a half and after being in Spain I knew that it would be a little hard to go back to the south.

Yesterday this familiar feeling (that I didn't really miss) came back when the guys from the darchebab asked me to come and watch the soccer matches they have put together. I am used to being one of very few women on the street and one of about 10 in my town with out their hair covered, but yesterday walking past the market on the way to the soccer field I realized that right now I am the only women outside. That's when the familiar chest tightening panic came back and I remembered, I'm back in site now.

As I kept walking and got to the soccer field I saw two little girls sitting by the door of their house, so that's where I sat. On the upside the soccer league is really cool and I am very proud of my kids.

After spending two week in El Jadida at summer camp I went to the city where I did my training and spent two weeks there. Originally I went to work at different summer camps, so my daily routine wound up being camp in the morning and my host family's til after dark.

The moment I walked into my host family's house I felt like I was coming home from college for Christmas vacation. It was so wonderful to see them and hear about what they have been up to. The first time around I was lucky if I could ask them for bread. This time we could have wonderful conversations and I learned so much more about them and what they do in town. It was great to be able to do things with them, not just because I understand the language, but because I understand the culture now. Like going to the market, I knew which day was market day so that morning I showed up with my market bag and said lets go. They though it was great and it eased their mind watching me pick out and bargain for my veggies. They now believe that I cook at my house.

I cannot say enough about how wonderful they are. Ramadan was coming up so they let me help make the special food that you eat when you break fast. They is this sweet called shebekia, it is made from mostly from ground up nuts and flour, you twist it in to this crazy shape, fry it and cover it in honey. We made 4 kilos and it took 2 days!

The trip was worth the two days travel, not just because when I am standing in their kitchen I feel like I could be at Grandma Linzmeiers right after Thanksgiving, but because they also sent me home with all sorts of goodies just like Grandma Woiak after Christmas.

In the begining of August I co-coordinated a English Immersion Summer Camp. I was given four scholarships to bring youth from my community. I sent three little girls and one boy. I was really worried at first because they met the age requirements, but they knew no English. I was also worried about the transportation for my kids and making sure they had everything they needed. I left for camp before my kids and I was very afraid that they would suffer from the "why plan ahead when you can just run around on the day of"' mentality. Thankfully all of my kids showed up on the first day of camp with big smiles on their faces. It was great to see them try new things and make new friends. I think that everyone had a great time at camp!

Giving to charity becomes especially taxing when finances get tight, but the following are easy ways to help out.

Start a Giving Circle - a group of people that pick a cause and donate (in some way, shape, or form) each month

For Example-

Invite your 10 closest friends, relatives neighbors over for a potluck and for every person there donate $7 dollars (or the price of a dinner out) to www.diningforwomen.org.

To start your own giving circle go to www.givingforum.org

Donate Your Hours

Check out www.volunteermatch.org to see what charities in your area could use a little more man or woman power.

Get Healthy and Give

Walk Run, Roll in to Giving at www.active.com

Tech Support

Old Cell Phones can be donated to www.shelteralliance.net

Old Computers to www.techsoup.org.

Celebrate for Two

If you have a big party coming up or getting married, register for gift certificates for your favorite charity at www.justgive.org

These are just some ideas that I came across. If one of them looks interesting check it out, because "No one every became poor by giving." -Anne Frank

Dear Unwelcome Guests, (ie. Cockroaches, Ants, and Mouse)

This is your official eviction notice. I realized that you have assimilated to your new habitat, but unfortunately you are unwelcome in the neighborhood. The main resident of the house is losing mass amounts of sleep due to your nocturnal activities. Her statement of complaint read that during the day when she is busy and there is light you do not bother her. The issue she has with you is at night when she can no longer see, but just has she is falling asleep she can hear your little feet on her plastic mats.

The current tenant used to be able to sleep through the night and is now reduced to a few hours every night, if she is lucky. Now has the person who handles complains written in English I plan to take this very seriously. This is your one and only formal notice to leave the property. Has of now (5:00am), we are at war and I stop short of nothing to rid you of the dwelling, in order for the current tenant to fall in to a regular sleeping pattern.

There is no appeal process, this is the final decision. If you feel this is unfair in anyway, no one cares. Please be sure to take all of your possessions with you and vacate the property as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

The Management

Morocco is doing a shorten version of daylight savings and it started about a month ago. This cause major concern in my town because people were deciding if they would follow new time or old time. It took a little bit to get used too, but I thought I had figured out who was on new time and who was on old time.

For example, The Darchebab runs on new time along with the Post Office, the Police Station, and the Town Hall. The stores, market, cyber cafe, and all of the families run on old time. Then there are other places that I'm not really sure what time they run on, I just have to walk by to see if they are open or not.

I thought I had this all figured out until this week, because it's now summer. That means that the Darchebab is closed until October and I have a little vacation. So I have started doing product development with a seamstress. It's really great and exciting. When I was walking by the other day we set our first meeting for the next day at 10:00 in the morning. So I got up early and washed clothes so they could dry on the line while I was out and about. Only when I got to the seamstresses shop it was closed. Only then did I remember that she runs on old time.

That was just the first of may similar happenings this week. It is going to be a long old time/new time summer, fall and the time change can't come soon enough.

I found this website www.peacecorpsjournals.com. If you like reading about the crazy adventures that happen when someone lives overseas you might like the website. It compiles blogs of Peace Corps volunteers from all over the world. You can pick what country you read from or you can read what ever was updated last.

I recently started reading it and realized all of the things that I am thankful for in my Peace Corps Country. Yes I battle cockroaches, ants, and lizards, but it could be much much worse.

Anyway if you are interested you have sometime and want new reading material you might want to check it out.

Talking is something that I have always been good at and telling random stories about past memories is a good way to pass time. It’s also one of my favorite ways to spend time in Morocco.

I love going for walks, or having tea, or taking the bus somewhere with a friend and talking. Talking really about nothing, sharing old stories and trying to find way to explain to one another some of the different things that are done in either country.

It’s during that time when I usually end up laughing and enjoying myself the most.

I have learned some of the most fascinating things along these walks, such as, what fruit not to eat in the morning because you will be constipated, or which Jins live where, or two different stories about where my town got it’s name.

For example:

Story one “There was this middle aged French women who had no family and friends. She some how got lost and found herself on the land that is now my little town. She decided that this would be the place she would live and she started my little town.” (Doesn’t tell us where the name comes from, but it tells us how we started.)

Story two “There was a flower that used to grow here and the town in named after that.”

Take your pick or combine the two, I’m not really it matters which one is right, but everyone does agree that the neighboring town’s name means “the naughty little boys, who were sent away” which is usually followed by “watch out or we will send you there”. (It’s a really nice touristy town now, so I don’t think the threat instills much fear anymore.)

Whether it’s the English words I never expected to hear, the endings that I just didn’t see coming, or all the energy put in trying to explain one little word. These talks have been the real bond builders within my time in Morocco and they are what I am truly thankful for.

Yesterday I went for a walk with one of the women from my town. She is 46, a mother of 3 and she only speaks Darija. That is one of the best things about her, even from day one she had been able to understand me and I her.

She wanted to take me to a part of town that I have never seen before. So at dusk when it was finally cool we walked across the main road, down this little alley to a place full of dirt paths that had never seen before. It was a part of town where all houses where made of mud and there were bushes with flowers on them. I was shocked really because the only thing that grows next to my house is cactus.

We were walking towards a group of 8 girls no older than 6. When they saw us they stopped playing and almost fell over themselves trying to hide behind one another. We were going to walk past and then I told my friend hold on a mintue. I went over to the little girls, who were staring at me like I was the boogie man, and I said "Hello" It took a few minutes for them to feel comfortable enough to say or do anything but I just kept talking. They were really young so I didn't know what they spoke, I said everything in Darija first and Tashlieght second. I asked how they were, what their names were, how old they were and they finally decided that I could be their friend.

My friend was laughing this whole time. I said goodbye to the girls after about 5 minutes and my friend and I continued our walk. Not more than two minutes after we turned the corner the little girls came running after us. You would have thought they were watching a parade. They were singing, clapping and dancing down the road. They has decided that this crazy lady from America could be their friend. They followed us yelling like a bunch of highschool kids at the homecoming football game, until one man stopped them and shooed them home.

I looked at my friend and we just laughed, and she said kids are crazy!

When we got to the end of the road we realized that we had to turn around and yes you had better believe that those little girls were standing right where we left them waiting for us. Screaming like crazies.

It just goes to show that the age of your friends doesn't matter, it's how you feel when your with them.

Year one in the Darchebab

It’s summer time and at the end of this week the Darchebab will be closed till September. So I thought this would be a good time to reflect on everything that we accomplished in my site this year.

January

I started by teaching English classes at the Darchebab. I taught Tuesday through Friday from 6-9pm, usually one hour of homework help and two hours of class.

Also in January I moved out of a home stay and into my apartment. I had to buy everything. It took several trips to the market with my host mom. J

February

I was asked by a local association if I could start teaching two day a week with them. So I taught one class on Tuesday from 7-8:30pm and two classes on Saturday from 3:00-5:00 and 5:00-6:00pm. I also taught at the Darchebab Wednesday through Friday from 6-9pm and then on Saturday I started a Music class from 7:30-9:00pm. A little later into February youth from the neighboring town asked if I would hold a class for them on Sunday mornings from 10:00-12:00. Unfortunately this class was only held 4 times due to some administrative issues.

Also in February my region held an International Women’s Day workshop. I helped run the workshop and brought two women from my town. After we returned, we worked with an association to put on a three day Women’s Work Expo which ended with a concert and fashion show advertising for the newest seamstress in town. (Yes, I was a model and the one they picked to give out awards.)

Peace Corps wise I was traveling all over. The embassy had a women speak to us about ESL teaching ideas and games to apply to the classroom. I was, also, being trained to be a member of the volunteer support network.

March

After I dropped my Sunday morning class, I started to coordinate an English language spring camp. This kept me very busy. I got to take my first trip to Rabat and spend time at the Peace Corps Head Quarters.

Spring Camp was the last week in March and it was great. We had 98 kids 77 boys and 21 girls. We also had 10 Peace Corps Volunteers (3 Youth Development, 1 Environment, 3 Health, 3 Small Business), 2 Moroccan Directors, a Videographer and yours truly. The kids were wonderful. They had English classes and Sports in the morning and in the afternoon they had English clubs (Journalism, theater, art, music, and dance) and an Educational Activity. Then at night we had different all camp activities including a talent show. All in all it was a good time.

April

Spring Camp Ended on April 5th which was a week before Mom and Brenda were going to land in Morocco. So I spent that week cleaning and finishing travel plans. It was great to have Mom and Brenda here. They got to put faces to the names that I talk about, meet my host family, and see where I live and work. You’ll have to ask them if they liked it or not, but I loved being able to share my life, over here, with them and have them take parts home to share with others. During their stay they got to enjoy a few of my classes at the darchebab where we played Uno and had my kids write letters to kids in a class back in The States. The Darchebab also through a party for Mom and Brenda with theater, music, cookies and tea.

After Mom and Brenda went back to the states my region in Morocco did a little collaboration work. I went to a neighboring site and had a beach day with the kids from another volunteer’s darchebab. It was great the kids planned the whole day!

My Darchebab had several more administrative issues so my classes were changed to Tuesday –Friday at the Darchebab from 5-9pm. 5-7pm we played Uno or other simple games (i.e. Mancala, matching, checkers, and old maid) then from 7:30-9pm we held English class.

May

Around the first of May I was asked if I would like to put in an AIDS candlelight memorial. The international day of the memorial was the 17th but my darchebab tried for the 16th. To start we made a Health club that met every Tuesday. So on Tuesday instead of class I had health club. It took us 3 weeks of planning and problem solving but in the end we held a 2 hour AIDS event. For the first hour and a half we took questions and talked about some of the myths about AIDS. Then for the last half an hour the kids got to come up and write on a piece of paper any thoughts that they had on AIDS. At the very end we lit candles on a red ribbon and had a moment of silence for those who have passed away from the illness.

*My region of Morocco has the highest AIDS rate in the country.

Other than the AIDS activity one of the most important things that we did was a Mother’s Day activity. We made wreaths using cut outs of our hands and then wrote on them things that we wanted to thank our mothers for. Then the kids took them home as a present for their moms.

We also tried to put together a journalism club that would do a web blog. We held one meeting, but we ran out of time to accomplish anything.

At the end of May all of my kids were preparing for their tests. (Morocco’s schools are run like our universities. They have homework but really one big test at the end is what counts the most.) I held tutoring sessions for the older kids and Uno tournaments for the younger kids.

I was also doing more traveling for Peace Corps, I went to head quarters for my second time to attend a few meetings.

June

That brings us to June. This year Morocco held an election. They hold elections every six years. So June was really laid back I stopped teaching English because school is out and no one was coming to Darchebab. Also in the summer Darchebab is closed and Peace Corps holds English language summer camps. I had four scholarships to give out to my best English kids between the ages of 13-16. At first it was hard to find four kids because all of my kids were either older or younger, but after searching I found them.

My classes for June were Beginners English for the kids going to camp from 7:30-9pm Tues, Thurs and just for fun classes Wed and Friday. Some of the just for fun classes were German, English Games and Art. It was a good way to round out the year.

Some new websites to check out incase you need to buy something creative for that hard to shop for person in your life. :)

http://www.globalmamas.org/

http://www.fairtradeperu.com/

http://www.mangotreeimports.com/

http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/

http://www.silverchilli.com/

http://www.newconsumer.org/

http://www.ganesha.co.uk/

http://www.fairwindonline.com/

http://www.gofair.co.uk/

http://www.hug.co.uk/

http://www.peopletree.co.uk/

http://www.traidcraft.co.uk/

http://www.ethicalwares.com/

http://www.ethicalshopper.co.uk/

Things I was not ready for:

1. Creative Cooking – See next blog.

2. Living with Bugs. – I was ready for a lot of things when I started this journey. I was ready to dig my own latrine, go without Internet for weeks at a time, and ready to be alone for long periods of time. What I was not ready for was living with bugs. I hate them. I don’t think that hate really gets the point across; I mean I really hate them.

3. Being sick and living by yourself. – Usually you have crackers and a can of soup hanging out in the kitchen for those times when you might get sick, and if not you have the supermarket close enough.

4. Management of all this free time. – I knew there would be a lot of free time, but I didn’t know I was this good at wasting it.

5. Balancing two very different worlds. – There is the world of being an American in other countries which is unique on its own. That is the world that you live in when you go on vacation or to a town that doesn’t have a PCV. (You live in it whether you like it or not because people no that your not Moroccan and most of the time think you’re a tourist.) Then there is the PCV world, where you live in this little town and try to fit in. You want to act like a local but are still trying to figure out which parts of the American you should show. Its strange, not in a bad way, just makes you a little crazy sometimes because you have this set of lenses that see something one way (from your culture) and the people in your community has a set of lenses that sees things from their culture.

6. Forgetting my English – I knew that I would be learning another language and I knew that that would be one of the biggest challenges I would have, but what I didn’t see coming was forgetting my English. You can ask Mom and Brenda if you like, I speak English like one would speak Darija and sometimes I can’t even remember the word at all. It’s very odd going from a Comm. major who spend the last four year perfecting how to communicate messages (mainly in English) to get the result you desire to someone who has a problem remembering how you talk about someone who is sitting in the room with you.

I have always loved to cook and I thought I could cook when I was state side, but what I have uncovered over the past few months is that I can put pre-made things together but cooking is another story. I have no idea how to use spices, make sauces, or mix flavors. So yet another part of the Peace Corps journey that I was unprepared for starts.

Of course this isn’t something that I had time to realize in college, because then I was lucky enough if I had time to eat. Also I have so many fresh fruits and veggie all year round. Things like eggplant, turnips and beets which are not so easy to come by in Wisconsin and they are normal everyday food here.

So now I am first trying to figure out what I need with the help of online recipes and then having to figure out how to find them in the little shops on the corner or the open aired market, no easy task mind you. It’s not like at Piggly Wiggly where everything is nicely labeled, here you either need to know the name (in Arabic or Chillha) or what it looks like. At this point, 4 months into living on my own, I feel like I have an adequate kitchen. If could be that Mom and Brenda where just here and they brought me a garlic press, veggie peeler, and potholders. :)

So I have started down this new journey of trying to figure out how to make some of my favorite foods. I have master Spaghetti Sauce, Alfredo Sauce, Honey Mustard Sauce, Lemon Bars, Sugar Cookies, Stir Fry, Zucchini Carrot Burgers, and plenty of other things that one would think were easy to make.

Of course now being out of the states for 9 months I am starting to have those cravings for the things that you don’t eat all the time but those things that once and a while are really great to have, such as; cheesecake, sweet and sour sauce, egg rolls, potatoes au gratin, corn bread and most other things that until this point I have eaten at a restaurant or made from a box.

I recently tried to make sweet and sour sauce and it was ok. I think if I work a little harder I could perfect the recipe. I also made cheesecake which would have turned out better if I had an electric oven, but such is life and it still tasted good. I am on to bigger things like stuffed eggplant and au gratin sauces next week, inshallah (hopefully). Wish me luck! :)

Before I even got to Morocco I knew that language learning would be one of the hardest parts of the whole program. One of the things that I didn’t see coming was my language learning being the focus of so many conversations. In training it wasn’t so bad because they knew that we didn’t know anything. Although once I got to my site everyone wanted to know how my language learning was going and if I knew Arabic yet and if I was going to learn Chillha. I always say I know a little Arabic, because my luck would be that they would use a word that I didn’t know and then I would look like liar. So I have been working really hard to try and learn this language and finally with the help of a few other American’s it has paid off.

In my site we have a small hospital. I don’t really know much about it except for where it is and then last week I went in it for the first time. Last week we had a group of about 20 medical interns (from a America) and 5 doctors (3 from Morocco and 2 from America) at our little hospiltal giving out free medical care. I had was at a training in another city so I had no idea that this was going on until I got off the bus and was stopped and told that there were lots of Americans at the hospital. My first thought was “Oh Dear Lord” my second thought was “Why?” I figure out that every year this university partners with these Moroccan doctors and pick different cities to visit and give free heath care. This way the interns can travel for spring break and get some of their hours in.

I went and had lunch with the group the next day and that is when I realized that the things I do everyday here are very different from the things that I would do everyday in the states. The interns didn’t know any Arabic so every year they hired translators from the university to travel with them. At first it was really awkward for me because I didn’t know who was American and who was Moroccan or who was a translator and who was an intern. (they took their white jackets off because it was lunch time) Americans look like everything under the sun and the last thing I wanted to do was offend someone. Final one of the translators asked “Do you speak Arabic” and with out thinking I started talking to her in Arabic because that is just about all I speak in my little town. It was then that I found out who was an intern and who was Moroccan, because all the heads of the interns turned to look at me and then Moroccans turned to look at each other. Then next thing anyone said was “You speak Arabic!” It was funny!

Now long after the interns are back in The States I still hear about how “They didn’t know any Arabic” and “You speak Arabic really well.” I feel like I need to apologize or thank those interns because every time I have that conversation I make sure to stress (in Arabic of Course) how they didn’t know any Arabic. Now I hear more and more how I speak Arabic very well.

In the words of Grandma Woiak I am one semester down three to go.

I realized that I have now been in Morocco for half a year. It still feels like I just got here. I have been in my own house for about a month and I am finally starting to have places for things and have things in a working order. I have some what of a routine and I even have an idea of when we will have water and when we don't, so it's not such a surprise any more. I was thinking back at all the things I have learned so far and trying to come up with a list of accomplishments, which is kind of hard to do. The things I would put on there are completely different than things that I would put on there if I was in the states and some of them are very odd. Although I think that I can sum it up by saying that I have learned how to live outside of my comfort zone. Way outside of my comfort zone. I have learned that almost everything that I have done up to this point has been helpful. Knowing how to sew and crochet has given me an in with the women in one of my associations, knowing theatre and music makes the darchebab kids want to hang out with me, knowing about world knowledge and politics has kept me in conversations with other volunteers, knowing how to clean an animal helps me realize what I am eating, and knowing how to cook keeps my host family wondering what I am going to bring over next. The funny thing on this that on this list there isn't much on it that I learned in college. I think that those skills are needed in the second semester of Peace Corps. When I have to start figuring out what things I want to leave behind and what I my kids get out of my being here. I'm not really sure where second semester will take me, but I am so excited for it to start! :)

So I am not only trying to read but I am learning to think about letters in a completely different way. I have to think about what sound the letters make and memorize the letters according to their sound. I’m sure that I learned how to read the first time like that, but it was so long ago that it’s something that I now do unconsciously. I haven’t really thought about the sounds that letters make for a long time. Any way So I asked my tutor to teach me how to read... that was humbling, exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.

There are two Alphabets that are used in the part of Morocco that I live standard Arabic and Tashelight. Tashelight is not used as much but it is really cool, and I can’t resist that chance to learn it with native speakers. The Arabic alphabet is a little different, it’s really cool too but, very overwhelming. Written Arabic is standard Arabic or Fus-Ha. Darjia is only used for talking and therefore hardly ever written down. Fus-Ha is not really anything like Darija, sometimes when I ask a question in class my kids will answer me in Fus-Ha and I have no idea what they just said. So not only will I have to learn the Alphabet and the Phonics, but I will have to learn a whole other language. I think that I am up to the challenge ... I am I have great teachers all around me that are more than willing to help, and I’m a teacher... I can’t walk around being illiterate for two years....what kind of example does that set.

When I first got my invitation for Peace Corps and read that I would be an English teacher I thought that’s cool, I can do that. Now I am realizing that English verb conjugations might be easy, but explaining the tenses is not. I teach 4 classes a week for advanced students and they come to class with questions. Questions like when do I use Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous or if the actions are both in the past when do I use Past Perfect and Present Perfect. It is about that time that I wish I was teaching colors, numbers, or anything that doesn’t have to do with grammar.

I can give you the rule for the Perfect Tenses ( have + past participle) or the rule for Perfect Continuous (have + been + (verb)ing). I can even give you examples for all six tenses but what is really hard to explain is when you say

Tom has already eaten. (Present Perfect)

Tom had already eaten when his friends arrived. (Past Perfect)

Tom will have already eaten when his friends arrive. (Future Prefect)

Why wouldn’t you just say - Tom ate lunch before his friends arrived. (Simple Past)

Another question I got was when do you use

Tom has been studying for two hours. (Present Perfect Continuous)

Tom had been studying for two hours before his friends came. (Past Perfect Continuous)

Tom will have been studying for two hours by the time his friend arrives. (Future Perfect Continuous)

Why not say - Tom studied for two hours before his friend came over. (Simple Past)

My students know how to make the sentences and they can even give me great examples, but what they need to know is if they are writing a paper in English when do they use one form and not the other. Explaining this in English, because the Darija that I know cannot explain that yet, is one of the hardest and yet most rewarding parts of my day. If I can get them to understand that one minute was worth all of the frustration it took to explain it.

You see for my advanced classes they are learning English in school so they tell me what they don’t understand or want extra help with and I re-teach the material with more practice and some fun activities to show them how to use the idea in everyday English. Each of my classes comes with its own set of challenges, but there is always that moment either at the end of the class or then next day when I hear one of my students using something that they learned and it’s all worth it.

A word that I never thought would apply to me know does... I am illiterate. Which is crazy because I love reading, I always have. Yet within the society that I live I am illiterate. To be specific I am functionally illiterate. This is something that was talked about in great depth in many of my sociology classes. Yet I could never quite grasp the concept. I never understood how that would be possible. I now understand. I understand so much more than I did when I sat in on those discussion and I wish I could go back and have them again with this new out look. I think that it would make a world of difference in every comment that I would make. At first it was really hard to not know what everything you looked at said, or to be able to understand what the piece of paper in front of you said. Now I have gotten used to it and I hardly notice or give a second though to the fact that I can't understand what is going on around me. I have started to be able to notice letters and make out a few words in script, but I have a long way to go before I could read a sentence.

I was at lunch with a few other volunteers and one of them said "I can't believe that I am functionally illiterate, it makes everything like a guessing game." That’s when it dawned on me, and they were right it does make everything like a guessing game. We were ordering at a restaurant and if you strayed from the burgers and fries menu you never really knew what you were getting. Another example is traveling you better look at a map before hand and if you can talk to someone who has been there before or take a similar route. Otherwise you never know where you are going to end up and you can only understand the road signs that are arrow shaped with the name in Roman Letters (for the French).

The other crazy thing about this is that I am a teacher. That would be almost impossible to happen in the States, ok I know that there may have been some exception along the way, but for the most part you need to have the language skills to teach in the US, and you for sure need to understand the Roman Alphabet. I think that it is really amazing that some one can function relatively easily, once they have a routine, even if they are illiterate. After you figure out the patterns for everyday activities and know who to have all of your needs met it is all about forming a habit.

Anyway, I thought that this would be something that is interesting to think about or talk about over lunch. It has definitely given me a new perspective on illiteracy.

Tide.... it is like windex... it cleans everything.

Side Note: Always Powder Tide and Cold Water

How to wash you clothes:

You will need:

Two buckets

About a handful of Tide

Water

Dirty Clothes

Wait for a sunny day. Fill up one bucket with water and mix in Tide. Then separate your clothes by how dirty they are. All of the really dirty clothes go in one pile and those not so dirty go in another pile. Always wash the not so dirty clothes first then you can still use the water for the dirty clothes. Put your clothes in the water and let them soak for at least 15mins... but sometimes an hour or over night. Fill the other bucket with just water. Scrub your clothes and ring them out then put them in the only water bucket. Repeat. After you have washed all of you clothes put them on the clothes line and hope that it does not rain.

How to wash your dishes:

You will need:

A small bowl

Rag

A Medium sized bucket

About a handful of Tide

Water

Dirty Dishes

Mix Tide with water in the small bowl. Dip the rag into the tide water and start scrubbing each dish. When you have several scrubbed then dip them in the medium sized bucket to rinse them and then put them on the drying rack. Repeat until all the dishes are done.

How to wash your floor:

You will need:

A big bucket

Broom

About a handful of Tide

Water

A dirty floor

Fill the bucket with water and mix in the Tide. Make sure that it is nice and bubbly. Throw it on the dirty floor. Sweep it around with the broom and when the floor is scrubbed sweep the water out the door. Then refill the bucket with just water. Throw it on the floor to rinse and then sweep the water out the door. (This is my favorite use of Tide)

I started testing future students for English class last night. That is where they come and I ask questions is English until they can’t answer any more and then determin their level. Anyway I had one gentleman walk up to me and in his introduction he said “Good Night” It really through my for a loop, but I ignored it at the time and went on with the conversation.

Last night has I was getting ready for bed I thought about it some more. I realize that we use Good Morning and Good Afternoon has introductions, but not Good Night. Which is why to my student it made perfect senese to use Good Night. Also thought about what we would use Good Evening and how I would explain the difference between Good Night and Good Evening.

It’s the simple things that you don’t think about that catch you off gaurd, they sound wrong, but you don’t know the rule. Such as when do you put a s after a verb when you are talking in present tense. Another question that I knew the answer too but I did not know how to explain it.

I sit

You sit

She sits

He sits

We sit

They sit

You (pl.) sit

Right before I went to bed I smiled, I think that, wait no I know that this is not going to be easy, but when it is over I will understand the English language better than I ever had before.

I started testing future students for English class last night. That is where they come and I ask questions is English until they can’t answer any more and then determin their level. Anyway I had one gentleman walk up to me and in his introduction he said “Good Night” It really through my for a loop, but I ignored it at the time and went on with the conversation.

Last night has I was getting ready for bed I thought about it some more. I realize that we use Good Morning and Good Afternoon has introductions, but not Good Night. Which is why to my student it made perfect senese to use Good Night. Also thought about what we would use Good Evening and how I would explain the difference between Good Night and Good Evening.

It’s the simple things that you don’t think about that catch you off gaurd, they sound wrong, but you don’t know the rule. Such as when do you put a s after a verb when you are talking in present tense. Another question that I knew the answer too but I did not know how to explain it.

I sit

You sit

She sits

He sits

We sit

They sit

You (pl.) sit

Right before I went to bed I smiled, I think that, wait no I know that this is not going to be easy, but when it is over I will understand the English language better than I ever had before.

Wow! I have been going I little crazy and just went I think that my feet have touched the ground it starts again! That’s ok because that’s how I like it. I have been in site for three weeks now and we have done a lot. My Darchebab is really nice. It’s three stories with a roof. We have a small library, music room, large theater, and several classrooms were English, French, Mathematics, and Arabic Classes are held. There is also a rather large association within my Darchebab that is very active. They have held an International Children’s Rights Day where we had over three hundred children at the Darchebab. They participated in all sorts of activities such as drawing, theater, watching films, songs, games, all with the same theme. It was a great success.

We also had an environmental activity for Eid Kabir. The Darchebab made a Have a safe and Happy Eid sign and we wrote on One Hundred plastic bags

“Please remember the environment this Eid and put your trash in here.”

English testing is going to happen this week and then next week I start teaching classes. So far I have a lot of interested students. :) I have started compiling a English Teaching Manul to leave at my Darchebab, but it involves a ton of retyping documents. I have also started compiling a list of cool websites, I hope to have an internet literary course, get the library up and running, hold a spelling bee, have an English movie night at the Darchebab, and start a singing group. Wish me luck!!

Right now I have a pretty solid group of youth that attend the darchebab. I also have several friends in the community at large that have helped me do things such as get my kinda like green card, find an apartment, advertise for classes, find a tutor, and most importantly find out which hanut sells popcorn and Diet Coke (Between popcorn, brains, and Diet Coke can you tell whose child I am?). We also just founded another association with a really great group of guys. They want to concentrate on practicing theater, at least two of them are studying theater at the University.

*Cultural fact- Moroccan’s love Theater.*

Has a result I end up watching a lot of funny original theater with some really good acting. Sometimes they slip a little German in their just for me. Just one of the really cool things about my job.

The goals of the Darchebab for this year are to work with other associations with in the community and surrounding areas and to hold an event that reaches 1000 children. I really hope that we can make this happen.

Wow! I have been going I little crazy and just went I think that my feet have touched the ground it starts again! That’s ok because that’s how I like it. I have been in site for three weeks now and we have done a lot. My Darchebab is really nice. It’s three stories with a roof. We have a small library, music room, large theater, and several classrooms were English, French, Mathematics, and Arabic Classes are held. There is also a rather large association within my Darchebab that is very active. They have held an International Children’s Rights Day where we had over three hundred children at the Darchebab. They participated in all sorts of activities such as drawing, theater, watching films, songs, games, all with the same theme. It was a great success.

We also had an environmental activity for Eid Kabir. The Darchebab made a Have a safe and Happy Eid sign and we wrote on One Hundred plastic bags

“Please remember the environment this Eid and put your trash in here.”

English testing is going to happen this week and then next week I start teaching classes. So far I have a lot of interested students. :) I have started compiling a English Teaching Manul to leave at my Darchebab, but it involves a ton of retyping documents. I have also started compiling a list of cool websites, I hope to have an internet literary course, get the library up and running, hold a spelling bee, have an English movie night at the Darchebab, and start a singing group. Wish me luck!!

Right now I have a pretty solid group of youth that attend the darchebab. I also have several friends in the community at large that have helped me do things such as get my kinda like green card, find an apartment, advertise for classes, find a tutor, and most importantly find out which hanut sells popcorn and Diet Coke (Between popcorn, brains, and Diet Coke can you tell whose child I am?). We also just founded another association with a really great group of guys. They want to concentrate on practicing theater, at least two of them are studying theater at the University.

*Cultural fact- Moroccan’s love Theater.*

Has a result I end up watching a lot of funny original theater with some really good acting. Sometimes they slip a little German in their just for me. Just one of the really cool things about my job.

The goals of the Darchebab for this year are to work with other associations with in the community and surrounding areas and to hold an event that reaches 1000 children. I really hope that we can make this happen.

Only a few lucky people in Morocco know what a Bu-ja-lou-da is and of course I happen to be one of them. Before Eid Kabir everyone in my little town was telling me that during Eid there is a man who dresses up like a sheep and runs through out town hitting people until they give him money. If the door of your house is open he will come inside and hit you.

What I did not understand was that first of all this is only in my region of the country and that is my little town alone there were 100 registered Bu-ja-lou-das. 100 is a lot different than 1. The morning of butchering the sheep my host cousins came over and started bring the skin of the sheep that was just killed on to our roof. When they had a pile of about 10, my little sister looked at my and said that is the Bu-ja-lou-da. I don’t know why ( I should have known better) but I thought the Bu-ja-lou-da was a costume, because I also thought that there was only one, I didn’t think that it he wore the skin from the just killed sheep. I thought sweet I know him, he won’t hit me! Then my little sister said all the boys are going to be Bu-ja-lou-das. That is when my other host sister said, “There are 100 this year.” WHAT?!?!

I am already like a walking attention target.... This was not good. The Bu-ja-lou-das didn’t come out that first night until dark and by that time I had forgotten about them, and I was walking home from visiting a few houses. I was just about home and I saw my first one, I stopped in my tracks and stared... I knew I was going to get hit and I didn’t have any money on me. He walked right up to me and inches away started chanting something scary and said what are you looking at. I said nothing and ran into the house. A Bu-ja-lou-da kind of resembles gorilla costume with a dreadlock wig and either your face painted white with tribal symbols or black with glitter. The Bu-ja-lou-da hits people with old bike tires or the hooves of the recently slaughtered sheep.

Of course after I saw my first one I saw several. All of the boys from the Darchebab were Bu-ja-lou-das and they came to visit more than once. Every Bu-ja-lou-da in town thought it was very funny to scary me and hangout outside of my house. I only got hit 7 times, but they were all not hard and out of fun. Some say that the Bu-ja-lou-da needs to hit you for good luck, if that’s true then this should be a good year. :)

My worst nightmare happened during one of the biggest holidays of the year. I chipped my teeth. Now it is true that dental care is different all around the world and that it is a lujouris most people through out the world do not have. That is the case in Morocco. It is expensive and the majority cannot afford to go to the dentist. If a tooth hurts you pull it, that’s most of the dental care. So when I chipped my teeth during one of the biggest holidays of the year at part of the extended families house I was on the verge of a melt down.

What happened was, we were eating dinner and there were bone chips in the meat that I was unaware of. I happen to bite down and hit one perfectly to chip two teeth on top and niche one on the bottom. At first I didn’t realize what happened... though no you have to be kidding me. I didn’t really know what to do, I was sitting on the floor around a circular coffee table that had a lot of food on it eating with about 20 other people. So I leaned over to my host sister and said “ I need to use the mirror in the bathroom, can you tell me where it is?” Well I was talking and that is usually when the conversation stops and all attention is turned to me, this time was no different. My host sister says, “The bathroom doesn’t have a mirror.” Of course the bathroom doesn’t have a mirror... and of course at this point we have to tell everyone else who is staring at me.

Once I found a mirror, checked out my teeth, I realized that I will be going to the dentist in Morocco. I was scared out of my mind and ready to cry. I love my host family, extended and all, but when one aunt kept saying, “ It hurts ... pull it out, not a problem.” I wanted to run far and fast.

I called the Peace Corps Doctor and in the morning she found a really great dentist for me to go to in Agadir. It took me forever to find the dentist, because of corse the paper I had everything written on fell out of my pocket in the taxi! Although after everything was all said and done, my teeth are now fine and life is back to normal.

Eid Kabir

If you know anything about how things happen you know that nothing worth anything will come easy. I knew that but it doesn’t mean I believe it... It also doesn’t mean that I like that quote. I think it causes some people, maybe people like me, to go looking for a fight.

This whole past week was a big holiday, the Darchebab was closed, the kids didn’t go to school, family came from all over the country, and I had a sheep living on my roof for about a week. The holiday is called Eid Kabir. I think it has a fancier name, but I call it Eid Kabir and everyone seemed to know what the crazy American was talking about. I really enjoyed that this holiday is right next to Christmas because it made me feel like I wasn’t missing anything at all. All of the women in town have been cooking and baking for days, everyone has anew outfit to wear, the girls all have hena done, and everyone has their sheep.

Oh I should tell you that on the first morning of Eid every family in Morocco wakes up, goes to Mosque and comes home to kill a sheep. The idea is that they are sacrificing a sheep for God. With that being said that means that you have to know how to butcher the animal in a special way to make sure that the meat stays pure. My whole host family gathered on the roof and everyone loved watching has the sheep passed away and became what I have now been eating at every meal for the past week and a half. :)

Everyone had been asking me if I was ready to see the sheep killing and if I thought I could handle eating all that meat. I said of course I’m ready for this, I mean really it is Deer Season in Wisconsin, so something very similar is going on all around my house....that may have been the biggest lie I have ever told. I was ready for the American version of butchering and the American version of eating all that meat, not the Moroccan. The butchering wasn’t bad until I saw them take out the “guts” and start to clean out the stomach with water. I remembered some really rancid gut shot deer and how that smelled and just about lost it. I could not believe that my Haja was cleaning that out like it was a plastic bag.

*My Haja - My host fathers sister who lives with us. We call her Haja out of respect because she has been to Mecca.*

I also thought hey I really like chicken and could never get sick of it, but this could be a good change, plus there were good cuts of meat on that thing. The first part that we ate was the lungs, heart, liver and all other intestinal organs. They cubed it up and put it on kebabs. It wasn’t really that bad. We eat every part of this animal. Right now there is some part hanging on the clothes line wrapped in small intestine. It will hang there for three weeks and then we eat it. Yesterday for breakfast I ate brains and eggs followed by the face for lunch. The nose is very chewy... some call it Moroccan gum. :)

*Cultural Fact - Cuts of meat vary from country to country... a good cut of meat in Morocco is any cut of meat with bones.*

Things that would be great in a care package:

Crystal Lite

Sparks Juice Powder - it’s like crystal lite and in the same section :)

Garnier Fructis Style; Curl Scrunch Gel

Mary Kay Concealer in Ivory

Scrap booking Paper

Construction Paper

Stickers

Index Cards

Good Books

Last Months Magazines - Not the hunting and fishing ones.

Pictures of you!

Candy

Chocolate

Brownies Mix

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

Mac & Cheese

An Average Day... if there is such a thing.

8:00 - Wake up

9:00 - Breakfast

10:00 - Post Office, Cyber, Hanut, or Lesson Planning

12:00- My family comes home for lunch

1:00- lunch

2:00- My family leaves after lunch

3:00- Run Errands, Meet with associations, tutor in Arabic

5:00 Castcrut - the afternoon snack that is very important

5:30-9 Darchebab

Other things may come up at anytime such as:

Family coming to visit

A Surprise meeting at the Darchebab

A event at the schools or Darchebab

An association needing assistance

A Holiday you didn’t know existed.

You never really know, after all this Morocco!!

I have often heard that America has no culture or at least not a rich one, and I disagree strongly. I think that if you have ever really live abroad you will find out that America does have a strong rich culture. It is just harder to see unless you are from the outside looking in. (It’s kinda like being Greek. :)) so far I’ve had several good converstions with Moroccans about the differences in our cultures and found that it is really hard to explain the US. For example we arrived during Ramadan and it is the largest religous activities for mulisms, which was great for me to learn more about the relgion, but not great for explianing the US. My questions started many different conversations about the US and the idea of a country having more than one religion. It is really important when expliaing US holidays to make sure that you explain that there are commercial holidays and there are religous holidays. Thats when I realized that the US has a very complex culture that is based around the idea of being able to express yourself and your beliefs however you see fit.

When tring to explain the US is it realy hard to make sure that you are explaining everything and not just concenrating on your little part of it.

One of the hardest things for me to get over in Morocco or actually in a lot of different places outside the US is the idea of dogs. Several countries don't have the idea of man's best friend, for every good reasons, but it still gets to me. There is one dog in the market who has this huge wound in his snout and it looks like it is healing (from far away) but it also looks so painful. It is also very common to throw rocks at dogs. Kids do it just because or people do it when dogs are getting to close or following them. I feel bad for the dogs which I know crazy, but I was talking to one of the other volunteers and they agree. These dogs really miss out on the idea of being mans best friend, it is a very American idea.

Hair Spray

Today I had a major culture shock, or something like that. Ok the whole time I have been in country I have had no make up on and very little hair supplies. This was a huge step for me, and I kept telling myself that I don’t need to be so materialitic or vain. It doesn’t matter what I look like because there are bigger problems in the world. Today I totally snapped, and it became my sole mission to find hairspray and gel. This mission would have been a lot easier if I knew the words for hairspray and gel.

I walked in and out of every hanut on my block and even one salon, but it was ovious that I was not wanted in that salon. So far I had found gel but it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, so I kept looking. I walked in to a salon that had hairspray and gel in the window thinking that even if I didn’t know the words I could point to them. Go figure it was one of the girls who went to the Darchab and she knew a little English. Not only did she tell me where to find hairspray and gel she shut down her shop and went with me to find it. Which was great because we had to go to three different hanuts and when we did find it the hanut owner wanted to charge me about 100DH!! She talked him down to 50! :) She was so wonderful I couldn't thank her enough. So of course I went right home and did my hair. Classic, I know. :)

Coffee in Morocco is drank with a quarter cup coffee 2 tablespoons sugar and the rest milk. Anyone who knows me knows that I drink coffee black. My family thinks that this is crazy! It's a cultural thing and in Morocco they think that drinking an expresso mug of coffee black is bad for you and in the US (or at least in Trina world) Two travel mugs of black coffee a day is average. Maybe Morocco is right or at least has a good point. ;) Believe it or not I may replace my coffee adiction with a mint tea addiction. I think that it might have something to do with the sugar. One of the things that I can do with my family is make the tea for snack or dinner. A good recipe for Moroccan Sweet Mint Tea is

Heat one pot of water (Do not heat the teapot directly)

In the actual teapot put 4 tsp of Green Tea

One cup sugar

A handful of fresh mint tea leaves.

Then add the water over it and let it for 5 mins

You may need to mix the ingredients with the water and to do this you pour one cup of tea and then open the tea pot and pour that cup back in to it. You may want to do this two or three times. Also to allow steam to be released pour from a high point above the cup. (Don’t worry I plan on being an expert by the time I get home. :))

There are things that even if you don’t speak the same language you can understand and somethings you can’t. I’m not sure about all of them, but I do know that being a woman you can communicate with other women around the world pretty easy, even without words. I spend a good amount of time with my sisters and Mom. They are wonderful and very fun. They have been great at teaching me about Moroccan woman and what is Shuma and what is ok.

I have one sister that is my age and one night we were in the living room and girl talk started. It was so fun, we talked about boys and our past and relationships and life in general. It was somewhere between Darija and English, but the meaning was there. I felt like it was such a bonding moment, even though we are two very different women from different worlds, cultures, realities and everything else.

It helped that she then told a story that I could totally relate too. We sat there laughing because halfway across the world where the male and female stories are still the same. It just goes to show that the grass is never really greener on the otherside.

One of the other things that can easliy cross cultural boundries is a baby. My host aunt and uncle live across town from us and I have spent a lot of time at their house. One of their daughters has a young little girl who is addorable. Her name is Heba and she must be about a year old. Even when I can’t say anything to anyone else in the room Heba and I can play and there is something that is understood about that between all the women in the room. Even though I’m pretty sure Heba is like are you kidding me, who is this crazy!! :)

One of my other favorite memories of my host cousins is hanging out at their house and trying in every wedding Jalapa they had. It was like a major fashion show, and a lot of fun!

Brothers are the same every where you go. Tonight my family went to a wedding when I got home but I chose to stay home because I needed to do other things so I stayed home and packed. At about a 11 pm someone was knocking on my door, that leads to the outside, I was a little afraid to answer it. After I yelled Who is it? and Shu smitku? My host brother yelled his name back. So I went to the door hoping that I could talk to him because and answer his questions because I didn’t think that he spoke English. Up to that point I had never heard him say a word of English or say more than Hi to me even in Darija. I knew that he was 15, and just like any other boy who wants nothing to do with anything that resembles a sister in public. He is really shy. (Expescailly a crazy new one from America.) After I went to the door he started talking to me in English. I was like WHAT! You know English?! He smiles and goes yeah. This blew my mind. He is so funny and just like Zeb and Zach. I just sat there laughed thinking that wow brothers really are the same every where you go.

The family that I am living with constist of three older sisters, two older brothers that live in different cities, a 15 year old brother, a brother-in-law, a stay at home mom and retired dad. I can’t say that I have never had sisters because thats a lie, but these sisters where just like Nikki, Kunde, and Ginny, and in that equation I was the Emma.... believe it or not!! (I am the crazy American who came to Morocco to teach English for 2 years, and I do things compelety different. Love you Lou! :) ) My host family had a hard time understanding that my family would let their daughter come to Morocco for two years. :) They have been great even though it takes a lot of energy for me to try and communicate with them. They are even trying too help me learn the language even though most of the time it’s more like charades and laughter.

I really do enjoy my family they are very similar (in personality) to my family at home. That makes it so much easier and I don’t feel like some crazy outsider that is living in their home, I feel like one of their children. They gave me a Moroccan name, Tulia, which means brillant light and my host mom said that I am her seventh child. Even though I can’t speak much Darija with her she has been great helping me with everything from laundry to food to meeting the neighbors and learning things about the community.

I would say close your eyes and listen to this story but well thats not going to work. So read with great imagination. Imagine that you are living in a small Moroccan town about 20,000 people. You live with a family where it is hard for you to communicate because you have only had a week of language classes and they are native speakers. Oh and it's Ramadan, so everyone is fasting during the day and the celbrating at the Mosque or with family every night. You are not really sure about what happens during Ramadan, but are open to whatever comes your way. Then there is one special night where everyone goes to the Mosque all night to pray and then the next day the family spends the whole day baking, and getting ready for something, but your not sure what. Later after the fast is broken, they give you the tradition dress to wear well they bring out these sringe looking things and this gray paste ... Henna. I have never had Henna done before or knew what all went into Henna. My host sister Nole, does Henna so she had me sit down and she starts to draw these wonderful shapes all over my hands and feet. It took about three hours. In the middle of it at about 11pm dinner was served and they had no idea how I was going to eat. After about 5 mins they brought out a plate and fork, which for the US is normal but in Morocco you eat with bread and your hands. They even had to cut up the meal so that I could eat it. They were so thoughtful. We laugh a lot. Then at about 1am I wen to bed with socks and gloves on and in the morning I scrubbed the henna off. The finished product was amazing! I strongly reconmend that your first Henna experince be in a Moroccan living room, wearing a caftan, with four Moroccan woman around you talking in a language you can't understand and yet some how still laughing together. Oh and if you are drinking Moroccan mint tea and eating homemade jelly cookies it makes it even better. I fully plan on renacting this in Grandma's living room before christmas when I get back!

Hello!

Wow, so I have been to a couple places in Morocco. This is such a beautiful country with very welcoming people. The landscape is very dry and it’s not green it’s more brown. The buildings in Casablanca and Rabat are white and as you go more south in the country the buildings get red to blend in with the dirt. Several of the sidewalks are titled it’s really interesting because you will be walking along and then find a loose one and lose your balance. :) Everything is made of stone or concrete. Also the windows all have bars on them (fun decorative ones), but not screens.

Everything is like a new adventure. We are here during Ramadan, but most of us are not Muslim so we are learning so much about being Muslim. It’s very interesting. During Ramadan you are not to eat during the day light hours so the meals are

Skor- which is right before sunrise, you eat it and then go back to bed.

Liftor - which happens right after sunset, it is the same food everyday, but they are special dishes that are only made during Ramadan

Dinner (I forgot the word in Arabic) - which happens at about 10:00pm.

Some of the main foods that we eat are oil and vinegar tomatoes with red onions, oil and vinegar cucumbers, tuna, bread, this soft spreadable cheese, melon that is like honeydue melon, but much much better, and olives. :) Today they had made French Fries and even brought out ketup. It was a really nice surprise.

One thing that I have gotten more accustom too is buying everything from an open air market. It’s a little different because you have to bargin for things and walk to several different vendors to find all the things that you need. It takes a lot more time then shopping in the US does. Although I have been exploring the souk (market) several times and found some pretty great stuff, I got some really cute nail polish the other day. They also have a lot of makeup, but I have decided that I am not going to wear it for the next few years. :)

Along those lines I have adopted a new phrase that I really love. “It’s time to put on my big girl pants.” I use it for those times when I have to or I should do something that I don’t really like to do, but it won’t kill me. For example I don’t really like hard boiled eggs or banana, but those are two really easy things to safely prepare and they are cheap, so I need to start to like them. :) (That’s one of my goals. :))

I feel like I have really made some awesome friends who will be a great support network for me when times are a little tougher. Also when we put our heads together and brainstorm ideas, we come up with some really great stuff! We all come from such different backgrounds that our conversations are very interesting. They will be great people to look for inspiration from.

I also have learned a lot about the United States relationship with Morocco. I never knew that Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States has a country. That is one of the coolest things that I have learned. It says a lot about what can happen when governments work together.

All in all I feel like I am getting my feet underneath me.

So I think I have been given a tree in the form of paper. We have alot of handbooks that have been passed out, and I have a lot of homework to do. They do give homework to Peace Corps volunteers. :) Anyway so far I have explored the city a little bit, enought to go and buy some chocolate and some water and see several different things. I went in to a lighting and furniture store and the lights were amazing!! (They were all shiny :) ) Anyway so far I have yet to cook anything for myself we have mainly eating at the hotel. It has all been very good, lots of olives, fresh veggies, fish, chicken, potatoes, beef, mushrooms, and rice. We also have amazing melon and desserts. I am learning alot of cultural things, it is a very interesting culture. I have also done alot of packing, unpacking, and repacking... it's kinda stressful. Well I have lots to do!! Later!