Giving Thanks

November 24 and 25 had much significance this year—Thanksgiving, Moroccan national elections, and the day that marks one year left in our Peace Corps service.

Thanksgiving day dawned sunny and crisp with fresh snow on the mountains promising a festive feeling. Things kind of went downhill from there. We had invited three other volunteers for dinner which I was going to cook. Cooking here is time consuming since everything has to be made from scratch. First, the bird has to be killed, gutted, and defeathered. Pumpkin pie starts with cooking and pureeing the pumpkin.

It was a two day process. Five minutes after the pie went into the new electric oven, the electricity went off. An hour later, the water shut off. Fortunately these both came back on again and then the buta gas tank ran out. Normally, we could run down and get a new one, but the truck hadn’t come in yet so we had to wait until two in the afternoon to replace the buta. It all had me wondering if the powers that be were intentionally sabotaging my effort, but eventually it all came together, and even with a meskina burned pie, the dinner turned out to be a success.

The next day we took a walk along the ridge trail in the bright sunshine. We saw some cute baby goats frolicking near the fence of the old military school compound. Of course we took out the camera and snapped a few photos of their antics before we looked up and saw five guards running toward us. They were pleasant but firm. You do not take photos of government property. I’d post a picture of the cute baby goats, but they were hastily deleted while the guards looked on.

Today the results of the first national election under the new constitution in Morocco were posted, and a celebration began. REK now has a representative in Parliament, one of three in the region! Each candidate has a symbol to represent them for voters who can’t read. (Wouldn’t this be fun for US candidates?) The winner for REK was the tractor.

Both of our co-op presidents worked hard for the tractor candidate. Latifa even campaigned for him on Facebook, and Fatima was the only woman on the victory truck. Time will tell if the election results satisfy the protesters.

Goodbyes and Hellos

The times, they are a-changing. We recently said goodbye to Pete, our Peace Corps site mate, as he finished his service. He was a big help and good friend to us and we will miss him. The community had a going away party for him at the town hall with traditional horn blowing, drumming, and dancing.

He's a youth development volunteer so all the high school kids came as well and put on an amazing show of skits, rap music and American music. I was impressed with the way they got up in front of an audience and performed so confidently. I fear for their futures though as there isn't much for them to do after high school--especially the girls.

On his last taxi ride out of REK, the taxi wouldn’t start and had to be pushed down the street until the driver popped the clutch and got it going.

If seemed like a fitting way to leave. Then we said hello to our new site mates, Gary and Kathy, who will replace Pete. They are retirees from Colorado so we have a lot in common.

Summer/fall is gone—almost overnight. It rained for about a week which brought a blanket of snow to the mountains and then it was winter/spring. Winter is a bit confusing here because it is cold, there is snow, it rains, but then there are sunny warm days, everything turns green, and little yellow wildflowers pop out.

Then it returns to cold and rainy. I’m reminded of spring in Montana. We have put away the sandals and dug the winter layers out of the box.

Another L3id l-kbir, the sheep sacrificing holiday, has come and gone. Since our balcony and kitchen window overlook several rooftops where the slaughters often take place, we decided to get out of town for a few days. When we returned, the only evidence was a sheep skin hanging on the roof. I didn’t see a single charred sheep head, bloody street, or have to eat any intestines or barbequed liver wrapped in stomach lining.

Apparently, the Moroccan Ministry of Education, along with USAID, has recently begun a new push to teach adult women to read and write. Illiteracy among adult women here is estimated at 65% and is higher than that in the rural areas--a reflection on one of the major gender differences. I was surprised to learn that, although most are literate, none of the women in Cooperative Adwal had finished high school. It’s surprising because there are several very bright and savvy women there.

One day, books and slates appeared at both of our co-ops along with a manual and a salary for a teacher to lead literacy classes. Co-op Adwal is having sessions every afternoon, and I am taking advantage by sitting in to learn Arabic script. I have mastered three letters so far and at this pace, may learn the whole alphabet by the time we leave.