Thursday, October 28, 2010

The King is Coming!



Rumors abound. The king is coming to our community this week! The sudden flurry of construction activity adds weight to the rumors. Gravel is being laid on the muddy walkways, the park is being spiffed up with new plantings and retaining walls, holes in the road are filled in, strings of lights adorn the lamp posts, banners are hanging from all the government buildings, there is a visible increase in gendarmes and military officers, and the red and green flag of Morocco has sprouted from every building and along the streets. He may come Thursday or Friday or ?. Unfortunately we leave on Friday for a week so I hope he comes before then. It would be exciting to have the chance to see the king.

Last week I cooked an America dinner for our host family. I decided on fried chicken, roasted vegetables, and applesauce because it’s easy and I could get all the ingredients here. It took about three times longer than it would at home. First I had to have a chicken killed. Luckily there are places that do this for you. Then I had to peel the apples and vegetables with a dull knife. I couldn’t find fresh rosemary at the market but I saw some growing in the flower garden in front of the military complex, so when I walked by I surreptitiously picked some. My host mother was horrified when I told her where I got it although I’m not sure she understood my gun shooting gestures. The meal turned out great and they ate everything, so I call it a successful cultural exchange
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We have made some new discoveries, the most important of which is a pizzeria and patisserie all in one. The French pastries are cream filled and look delicious. We visited again tonight and had a mushroom pizza which is called by the off-putting name of fungus. It wouldn’t stand up to our favorite pizzas at home, but it’s a welcome break from the usual fare. The owner speaks some English, so when we speak darija (to sounds of laughter from the kitchen) he helps us out.

On Friday we go to Azrou again and will get together with the other four SDB groups for more training and to exchange stories and experiences. The highpoint of the meeting will be when they tell us where our sites will be for the next two years. We are trying to stay open to all possibilities and not have any expectations but it’s difficult not to speculate. We are trying to stay focused on going where our knowledge and skills will be most useful.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Settling In


Shopping here is an exercise in math. Prices are often quoted in ryals which don’t exist. The money used is the dirham which is 1/20th of a ryal. To complicate matters further, the sellers see our foreign faces and give us the price in French numbers, so we have to translate the number into darija and divide by 20, then try to bargain. I’m terrible at bargaining so if a price sounds fair to me, I just accept it. As I was concentrating on the money part of the transaction, I managed to buy a pair of orange fuzzy slippers without noticing that the large applique design on the toe was a marijuana leaf. I hope our host family doesn’t notice either as I wear them around the house.

We’ve encountered some really nice people lately. A little girl found a book that Doug had lost and chased us down the street the next day to give it back. A couple of young men in a hardware hanut didn’t have any oil that Doug wanted for a squeaky hinge so they gave him the oil they use and just asked him to return it the next day. It’s nice to know people are so honest and trusting. I don’t know how the little girl knew the book was Doug’s, but most everyone in this part of town knows who we are. Having done my share of rooftop surveillance, I can guarantee that there’s always someone watching what’s going on.

I guess I am acclimating to life in Morocco as I no longer hear the barking of the roaming dog packs in the night or the early call to prayer. I like waking up to the cooing of doves and clucking of chickens. It makes me think I’m on a farm. Two buckets showers a week seem normal. I’ve also discovered the many advantages of wearing a headscarf. I now walk in the streets like everyone else because even if there is a sidewalk, it usually ends abruptly in a mud hole or a steep drop-off. My host sister or host mom and I sometimes walk hand in hand as is the custom with both men and women. The language remains a big challenge because there are few vowels in darija and the pronunciation is difficult. There is only a matter of emphasis between saying “spend the night” and “armpit”. .

Our weekend get-away last Sunday was to a nearby lake. There was not a tree in sight, the shoreline was rocky, and the wind blew constantly but the water was a startling blue and the setting had a harsh beauty. When we arrived, the guards would not let us drive down the paved road to the lake so we lugged all our stuff including the “portable” butane stove and cooking pots over the rocks to a suitably level place. Shortly after we set up the cooking apparatus, one of the guards came climbing over the rocks to our spot. I thought he was going to tell us to move or something, but it turns out he was just there to bask on the rocks in the sun and wait for the food to cook. He hung out with us for at least two hours and shared our lunch, but mashi mushkil as there was nothing to guard against-- only one other car showed up as we were leaving. On the way back we stopped at a posh hotel on the edge of town and had cokes in the lounge just to see how the tourists live

A PCV who’s nearly done with her service came to visit us this week. Her stories and advice had us all enthralled for the entire morning. One of the many things she learned was how many donkey loads of wood it took to heat her house for a month. I found her inspiring because she successfully dealt with a challenging site and was, to our ears, fluent in darija. I like knowing it’s possible to go from here to there.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Days Go By

The days go by with little change in routine. Every day except Sunday, we go to class where we study language and cross-culture. On Sundays we go to the souk which is always interesting. Last week we met with the artisan co-op that we will be working with during our training. It was a very interesting session, conducted through our LCF as interpreter. We saw some of their products which were beautifully crafted, and heard about some of the problems they are facing. Their embroidery work is exquisite, showing no difference between the back and the front. Our task is to come up with recommendations for them at the end of the training period. We have many good ideas but who knows if they are practical? We hope to meet with the again this week.

The first rains of the winter have started and we are all bundling up for the classroom since there is no heat source in the building. Ceiling plaster occasionally sifts down on our heads, and the broken window panes alternately let in flies or cold wind. The landlord brought new glass for the windows but it was too big, so we taped plastic over the holes until the right size glass can be found. Luckily we have a great cook and a large delicious lunch to sustain us.

Last Friday we traveled to Azrou to meet with the other 22 small business developers for further training and to report on the first phase of our meeting with the artisans. It was fun to swap stories with the other trainees about our host families and our experiences. One trainee told of his taxi ride between towns where a passenger actually got in and sat to the left of the driver so that here were four in front. Another trainee lives in a house without a bathroom door and has a host mom who tries to tuck her in at night. Then there are a fortunate few who have their own bathrooms and hot showers (not us).

Our environment here has taken some getting used to, for example, new odors, no fixed prices or schedules, one glass of water passed around the table, herds of sheep crossing the street, heating water on the stove for bucket showers, call to prayer five times a day, people riding donkeys, and red dust forever blowing. But the light can be extraordinarily beautiful, the stars are bright, and the people are amazingly friendly and helpful when we try to speak our limited darija.