Oh, where to begin. It's been such a long time since I last had internet! The town I live in doesn't have a working Cyber Cafe, so I have to live with internet once every two weeks or so. That being said, I don't miss the internet too much.
Let me start with my host family. They are wonderful people, always offering me more food to eat, more tea to drink, and more darija to speak. The mother (Fatima) is a little bit... loud, and somewhat difficult to understand. She says something to me in her screechy fast speech and I look helplessly to someone else in the room to translate into slower darija what she just said. The father (Mohammed) speaks slowly and clearly, but with the knowledge I have, I only understand him about half the time. He and his wife work most mornings out in their fields harvesting grass to keep their animals fed and crops to sell at the souk in Oaurzazat. The other weekend I helped them pick some large beans (fool) that are basically like a mix between lima beans and peas. He also grows matisha (tomatoes), onions, zit-toon (olives), wheat, and watermellon, among other things. They have four sons that I know of. Moustafa 35, who is often in Oaurzazat working, Hamid 34, who is designing a house for himself to move into, Yousef (20), Mohammed jr. 32 who has a wife (Saida) that lives with them all. Mohammed Jr. and Saida have two children Anas (6), who is a cute shy little boy and very polite, and fatim zhara (1.5) who is super super cute, and has the makings of an afro.
Next my site... we are in a very dry area, and the only green in the area comes from irrigation from the river. This water is pumped to the top of the hill next to the river and from there pumped into cement aquaducts which run about a kilometer past town and provide all the water for the crops. The method for growing crops is flood irrigation, and I have been told that the farmers only get 2 hours per 25 days to flood their land with the water they will need for their various crops. Given the heat I have been experiencing, this doesn't seem like nearly enough. Outside of town and the irrigation system we basically have desert. Not quite the sahara, but rocky scrubland with the occasional spiky or stunted plant. The town is split in about two by the highway.
I have 4 site mates and a language facilitator. I am getting along with them all well, and I think we mesh well as a group. I consider myself lucky, because a few of the other groups I have talked to have at least one or two people that make their lives less than perfect, and don't really get along with the group dynamic. There are two other guys, Steve and Collin, and two girls, Socorra, and Tina (whose name we have changed to Mina because tina seems to be the word for a less than appropriate body part).
The language is progressing, but I need to study more often. Sometimes it seems like I am not progressing as fast as I'd like to, or as fast as some of the other students. Part of this is because I don't feel I speak enough Darija at my host family's house. They either don't engage me, or try to speak in english or spanish when they can't get their point across. It would be better I just told them to help me struggle through the language, but it is easy to use languages I am more fluent in as crutches.
More experiences to come!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
From Southern Morocco onward!
We are currently doing training in Southern Morocco in the midst of the mountain ranges. I have been learning a lot, including language, cultural norms, security, peace corps policies on everything, and tons more. Today I found out that I will be learning Darija, which is the standard Moroccan Arabic that is spoken in most of the country and especially the big cities. The other two berber dialects in Morocco are Tashelhit and Tamazight (Tam and Tash as we call them), and several other groups will be learning one of those two languages.
I went to the Souk today (a little bit like a farmer's market, but better). I wound up sitting down with a shop owner and talking over a cup of mint tea, as is the custom here. He sold me a pretty cool necklace which I haggled him down a little bit using some of the basic Arabic I have learned so far. Bezzef! (That's too expensive). I got a picture, but it's been hard to put things up because the internet speed isn't great especially with 20 people trying to access it at once.
We are splitting up into groups tomorrow and I will finally be able to meet my host family. For the last few days we have been living in hotels and undertaking group training until all the details are ironed out. As I may have said before, there are about 70 of us, and tomorrow we will be split into groups of 5-7 and shipped off to our CBT sites (community based training sites). If I have learned one thing so far, it is that government agencies LOVE acronyms. I'm excited for the change of pace, because it means I will be one step closer to integrating into Moroccan culture and learning more about the environmental training aspect of service. So far it has not been very specialized... but there are a lot of basics to cover when living in a new country!
The food is great, the tea is wonderful, and the staff we have are spectacular, Lhamdulla (thanks be to god). It's funny saying that... being an agnostic and living in a country where religion has seeped its way into everyday language... everything is related to god... lhamdulla, Enshallah (God willing). For example, in the US one would say "hopefully I will get an A on my test tomorrow" But here you would say, I will get an A on my test Enshallah. I don't really mind saying these phrases, as they are part of the everyday speech, but it still seems funny when I think back on it. Don't worry... I'm not thinking about doing something radical and converting to Islam or anything.
Here's wishing you a great weekend from sunny Morocco! Oh, and if you have any questions, just post a response, and I'll try to get back to you. Not sure if I'll have any internet for the next few days, so be patient people!
P.S. in response to the comment about interesting fauna... I saw a hawk in a pet store the other day... maybe a small eagle. In any case, it was quite large and quite expensive... Before haggling he said it was 6000 Dh (about $650). Holy cow!
I went to the Souk today (a little bit like a farmer's market, but better). I wound up sitting down with a shop owner and talking over a cup of mint tea, as is the custom here. He sold me a pretty cool necklace which I haggled him down a little bit using some of the basic Arabic I have learned so far. Bezzef! (That's too expensive). I got a picture, but it's been hard to put things up because the internet speed isn't great especially with 20 people trying to access it at once.
We are splitting up into groups tomorrow and I will finally be able to meet my host family. For the last few days we have been living in hotels and undertaking group training until all the details are ironed out. As I may have said before, there are about 70 of us, and tomorrow we will be split into groups of 5-7 and shipped off to our CBT sites (community based training sites). If I have learned one thing so far, it is that government agencies LOVE acronyms. I'm excited for the change of pace, because it means I will be one step closer to integrating into Moroccan culture and learning more about the environmental training aspect of service. So far it has not been very specialized... but there are a lot of basics to cover when living in a new country!
The food is great, the tea is wonderful, and the staff we have are spectacular, Lhamdulla (thanks be to god). It's funny saying that... being an agnostic and living in a country where religion has seeped its way into everyday language... everything is related to god... lhamdulla, Enshallah (God willing). For example, in the US one would say "hopefully I will get an A on my test tomorrow" But here you would say, I will get an A on my test Enshallah. I don't really mind saying these phrases, as they are part of the everyday speech, but it still seems funny when I think back on it. Don't worry... I'm not thinking about doing something radical and converting to Islam or anything.
Here's wishing you a great weekend from sunny Morocco! Oh, and if you have any questions, just post a response, and I'll try to get back to you. Not sure if I'll have any internet for the next few days, so be patient people!
P.S. in response to the comment about interesting fauna... I saw a hawk in a pet store the other day... maybe a small eagle. In any case, it was quite large and quite expensive... Before haggling he said it was 6000 Dh (about $650). Holy cow!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Traveling to Philly, Staging, and the First day
Hey everyone! Things are going great over here. Let me catch you up to what has happened so far.
I was told that the Peace Corps would be an emotional roller coaster, and I expected that, but I wasn't expecting to have this multitude of feelings all before the first week! Taking off to Philly was great, got to see the East coast side of the family, I was feeling excited, and ready to meet all my fellow volunteers. I met a girl on the airplane I took out who was flying out of Seattle who was doing the Peace Corps as well... she had the tell tale blue folder that we were all carrying around. Uncle Mark picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel I had no idea how many would be there, but I was guessing about 30 or so. Arriving at staging the next morning, it turned out to be more like 70 volunteers in all, split about 60/40 health and environment respectively. We split into groups by last name, filled out paperwork, did some exercises to get us ready for being in a different country, and went out on the town for our last american dinner.
A bunch of the group and I went out for Sushi at this fairly classy place. I think I would up spending about $40 among the glass of plum wine, the appetizers, the delicious sushi, and the mango mochi for dessert. I didn't mind too much though... had to go out with a little style.
The next morning we went out to JFK by bus, and along the way we saw the amazing skyline of New York, which was immense. The wait at the terminal was long, and I was able to take care of some last minute details like canceling out my phone, getting some last minute New York style cheesecake, doing some phase 10, anything to kill the time. By this time some of the initial excitement had worn off, and I was feeling a bit down and had a headache. I was just trying too hard to meet everyone, remember all their names, and make witty conversation. Witty conversation is surprisingly draining when you are doing it for several hours a day straight, in case you wanted to know. With 70 people, another thing reared its ugly head. People who I had just met were reminding me of the personalities of people at home, and I was starting to feel a little sad for all the people I was leaving behind. The plane ride itself was about 7 hours long, and I don't think I slept more than a half hour. I just can't seem to fall asleep on planes.
By the time the plane had reached the shoreline of Morocco all of my anxiety and sad thoughts had left and were replaced with ecstatic energy and excitement to be seeing the place I would call home for the next couple years. First thing that surprised me was how green it is here! There are tons of palms, fields, fallow pastures, lots of sheep, cattle and goat herding. The drive from the Airport (Casablanca) almost reminded me of the ride I took from the airport in Costa Rica. (I'll put up some pictures as soon as viably possible). We took a couple of charter busses to Marrakesh... what a beautiful ride! I spotted some olive trees from the bus, and when we got to our bungalos (the group quarters hotel we are staying at tonight) I found a couple more plants I knew... Citrus trees, hibiscus bushes, some sweet pea plant, and a purple version of a morning glory. Some of my knowledge might transfer after all!
We went through more peace corps protocol, a lot more paperwork, some basic arabic, and then we were off for the day (apparently today is our recovery day), and I needed it. I haven't really slept since yesterday morning... I'll be ready to crash tonight! There is more to tell, but I have dinner to go to now, so I'm going to go. Until next time... Salam! (Peace)
I was told that the Peace Corps would be an emotional roller coaster, and I expected that, but I wasn't expecting to have this multitude of feelings all before the first week! Taking off to Philly was great, got to see the East coast side of the family, I was feeling excited, and ready to meet all my fellow volunteers. I met a girl on the airplane I took out who was flying out of Seattle who was doing the Peace Corps as well... she had the tell tale blue folder that we were all carrying around. Uncle Mark picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel I had no idea how many would be there, but I was guessing about 30 or so. Arriving at staging the next morning, it turned out to be more like 70 volunteers in all, split about 60/40 health and environment respectively. We split into groups by last name, filled out paperwork, did some exercises to get us ready for being in a different country, and went out on the town for our last american dinner.
A bunch of the group and I went out for Sushi at this fairly classy place. I think I would up spending about $40 among the glass of plum wine, the appetizers, the delicious sushi, and the mango mochi for dessert. I didn't mind too much though... had to go out with a little style.
The next morning we went out to JFK by bus, and along the way we saw the amazing skyline of New York, which was immense. The wait at the terminal was long, and I was able to take care of some last minute details like canceling out my phone, getting some last minute New York style cheesecake, doing some phase 10, anything to kill the time. By this time some of the initial excitement had worn off, and I was feeling a bit down and had a headache. I was just trying too hard to meet everyone, remember all their names, and make witty conversation. Witty conversation is surprisingly draining when you are doing it for several hours a day straight, in case you wanted to know. With 70 people, another thing reared its ugly head. People who I had just met were reminding me of the personalities of people at home, and I was starting to feel a little sad for all the people I was leaving behind. The plane ride itself was about 7 hours long, and I don't think I slept more than a half hour. I just can't seem to fall asleep on planes.
By the time the plane had reached the shoreline of Morocco all of my anxiety and sad thoughts had left and were replaced with ecstatic energy and excitement to be seeing the place I would call home for the next couple years. First thing that surprised me was how green it is here! There are tons of palms, fields, fallow pastures, lots of sheep, cattle and goat herding. The drive from the Airport (Casablanca) almost reminded me of the ride I took from the airport in Costa Rica. (I'll put up some pictures as soon as viably possible). We took a couple of charter busses to Marrakesh... what a beautiful ride! I spotted some olive trees from the bus, and when we got to our bungalos (the group quarters hotel we are staying at tonight) I found a couple more plants I knew... Citrus trees, hibiscus bushes, some sweet pea plant, and a purple version of a morning glory. Some of my knowledge might transfer after all!
We went through more peace corps protocol, a lot more paperwork, some basic arabic, and then we were off for the day (apparently today is our recovery day), and I needed it. I haven't really slept since yesterday morning... I'll be ready to crash tonight! There is more to tell, but I have dinner to go to now, so I'm going to go. Until next time... Salam! (Peace)
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