Vacation!!!

The last few weeks have been full of traveling for me. My family flew into Morocco on July 16th (It was supposed to be the 15th, but their flight got canceled.) I met them at the Casablanca airport and we took the train to Marrakech. It was a nice change to ride first class and have a compartment full of my family. While everyone else fell asleep, my mom and I got to chat the whole way to Marrakech.

In Marrakech, we stayed at a very cute riad called Riad Nejma Lounge. It only had about 6 rooms, but was decorated in a very fun way and had a beautiful roof we had breakfast on each morning. I think the riad was a nice introduction to Morocco for my family, as it had a Moroccan "flavor" but still had air conditioning, clean towels and hot water.

Because of the travel problems, we had to make our visit to my site a daytrip instead of spending the night as we originally planned. While our time in my village was rushed, we did have time to see the weekly souk, visit the cooperative and meet a few of the women, and have a spaghetti lunch at my house. My family also got their first introduction to "real" Moroccan travel - hours smashed together in a grand taxi. For those of you that haven't experience the joy of a grand taxi ride, imagine riding with four people smashed together in the back seat of a normal sized sedan with another two sitting together in the front passenger seat.

The next day, we set out for the waterfalls at Ozoud. On the way we stopped by my host family from training. We had tea and I think both my family and my host family enjoyed the visit. Plus, my family got a real glimpse of how I lived for my first few months in Morocco. I was really lucky that I got placed with such a great host family and am really glad my real family got to meet them.

The rest of our Morocco vacation flew by, with just a few more hours spent in Marrakech and a night spent in Casablanca (where we went to Rick's Cafe.) After Casablanca, we took a plane to Rome, where we spent the night. Since only Emily and I had visited Rome before, we had to make the most of our time there. In just a few hours, we saw the Trevi fountain, the colosseum, and the Pantheon.

Our time in Egypt was great but went by too fast! Katie had found some amazing hotels for us to stay at in every city we visited. In Giza we got to see the pyramids and the sphinx. In Luxor, we got to see some amazing temples and visited the valley of the Queens and the valley of the king's (where King Tut's tomb is.) It was really cool to see all the hieroglyphics and go inside the pyramids. Plus, we had a few hours each day to relax by the pool (where I got horribly sunburned) and just hang out in the shade.

In addition to all the cool ancient relics, we took time to ride camels and take a felluca ride on the Nile. Although neither turned out to be exactly what I imagined, they were still fun. (The camel ride was through the ghettos on Luxor and the felluca had to be towed by a motor boat because there wasn't any wind.) Our last night in Egypt we stayed at the Grand Hyatt, which is on an island in the Nile in Cairo. It was AMAZING! We had great hotel rooms, a beautiful pool to swim in, and had a wonderful meal on the terrace overlooking the Nile.

It was a perfect vacation. Although it was really hard to say goodbye to my family, I'm so glad they got to come visit me. It was wonderful to share a bit of my daily life in Morocco and really cool to see all the ancient tombs and temples in Egypt. Take a look at my facebook to see more pictures of my trips.

Weddings

This week is a week of weddings in my village. While I attended a few weddings right after I arrived in the village, I haven't been to any since. I'm excited to be invited to these weddings, as I know the families of the girls getting married very well. Weddings in Morocco are very different than weddings in the US. They normally last several days and have parties that go on until the early morning. Yesterday was the beginning of the wedding for Malika, one of my host cousins. She is about 20 years old and lives next door to my host family. I was invited to the very beginning of the festivities, including where the bride gets henna done on her hands and feet. It was a lot of fun to see the wedding of a girl I know pretty well.

When I arrived at Malika's family's house, I was shown into the main salon, where I sat with about ten other women. We were served tea and cookies, then a meal of chicken (which I obviously didn't eat) and couscous. (I'm getting better at eating couscous with my hands, but am still not very tidy when I do it.) While we were eating, the bride came into the house in a large group of women who were singing and dancing. She was led to the back salon, where there was a throne for her to sit on, surrounded by beautiful embroidered tablecloths and pillow covers. (She'll take these with her to her new home.) She was wearing a white kaftan with silver designs on it. Her hair, for the first time since I met her, was not veiled, but instead was in a fancy bun and sprayed with glitter. She wore a gold crown and had a long veil attached to the bun. She wore kohl on her eyes and had lipstick and blush on (again, not anything I'd ever seen her wear before.)

After she sat down on the thrown, people took turns taking pictures with her. It was warm in the room, so her sister got a fan to put in the window and one of her friends stood next to her waving a paper fan for her. After a few minutes, a table was brought in with a bowl of milk, dates, a sugar cone and incense. Several girls walked over to the bride and helped her get situated so that the henna could start being applied. They had brought in a girl from outside the village to do the henna. She started applying a thick layer of henna to the bottom of Malika's feet. She then did intricate patterns about 8 inches up each ankle. Because of the intricacy of the designs, this took several hours. Malika had to sit quietly on her throne throughout the process. Henna was then applied to her hands and arms. I can tell you from experience, its difficult to sit still while the henna is drying on your hands and feet. It can take an hour or so dry and then has to be scraped off with a knife. Sometimes, paint thinner is added to the henna mixture so that the henna patterns last longer. Unfortunately, this really makes the henna burn when its applied. (I don't know if Malika's henna had paint thinner in it or not.)

After watching Malika get hennaed for awhile, one of my host sisters came to get me to take me to the "party." In my host families house, all of the women of the village had gathered to sing songs and dance to celebrate Malika's marriage. Most marriage celebrations in rural villages are gender segregated, with the women divided into two groups (married and un-married.) Luckily, I'm able to attend whatever parties I want, as I'm kind of in a special group of my own. Its fun to see all of the women and girls dressed up in their most fancy jellabas or dresses, talking and singing. Around 9 pm, tables were brought in and we were directed to sit in groups of ten or so around the table. (I always kind of dread this part of a party, as being a vegetarian can lead to lots of questions and strange looks.) We were served chicken, then couscous, then fruit again. After that, a prayer was said and everyone went home. Tonight is the party for the unmarried girls. I'll probably attend again, but I'll see how I feel. Tonight's party will probably end much later, as the younger girls have more energy.

Tomorrow, the sister of one of my English students is getting married. The parties will start all over again!

Traveling....

I have finally made it back to site after traveling what felt like non-stop the last two months. I helped organize two craft fairs, one in Rabat and one in Marrakech. While my artisans participated in the Marrakech craft fair, they decided that the Rabat craft fair was too far to attend. I was disappointed in their decision to not attend the fair, but hope they will be open to going to the next one. The picture above is me with two other PCVs, Joy and Adriana, modeling the new shirts that Joy's association is making. They were a big hit at the fair.

After the craft fairs, I was only back in my village for a few weeks before I had to travel back to Rabat. This time, it was for a week of training with Peace Corps. My counterpart attended the training as well and I think learned a lot about Peace Corps and what volunteers are supposed to do/ can do for their villages. It was fun to be in Rabat for a week and see all of the other PCVs, many of whom I had not seen since our last training in February. Peace Corps put us up in a nice hotel, with hot showers in the rooms, clean beds and towels provided! I really enjoyed being in a big city again, where I could get all sorts of food (my village doesn't have any restaurants) and hang out with other Americans for a few days.

After training, I went back to my village for a week or two, then started traveling again to help plan the next Marrakech craft fair, tentatively scheduled for early December. My friend Ali, a PCV in taroudant province, is the main planner for the fair and has asked for as much help as we can give her. We talked to the director of the previous fair and got a lot of great advice on what to improve, what to keep the same, and how to write the grant proposal. It will be a lot of work, but hopefully worth it in the end. Our biggest challenge is going to be language. Ali and I both speak a Berber dialect called tashelhit. All of the government officials we will be speaking with speak Moroccan Arabic or French. Ali speaks some French, which will be very helpful but we will have to recruit additional volunteers that speak Arabic to help with some of the more technical language.

Right now, I'm sitting in my salon, preparing information on another craft fair for my cooperative. I will not be able to attend with them, as I'll be traveling with my family in Egypt, but I really hope they go without me. Craft fairs are great for the women to see what other cooperatives are doing and get new ideas for products. The fairs also give them a chance to build their customer service skills and become more comfortable with traveling outside the village. Keep your fingers crossed they decide to attend!

Gestures

Since my Tashelhit (Berber) isn't perfect, I talk a lot with my hands. When I don't know how to say something, I try to express the idea with my hands. Its no surprise, then, that I've picked up some of the Moroccan/Berber gestures used in my community. They are now such an ingrained part of my way of speaking that I use them while speaking Tashelhit or English. Here are just a few of them....

1) To express something or someone is nice/beautiful/handsome/good, flick your fingers. If you are saying someone or their clothing is nice, you flick your fingers in their face. Think of how flick your pointer finger with your thumb...now do this with all your fingers. Its a little frightening the first time it is done in your face. I don't even notice it anymore and do it unconsciously anytime I am talking about something I like (like someone's dress) or someone who is good (like my student who is always on time for class.)

2) To express something is the same as something else, rub your two pointer fingers together with your hands horizontal to the floor. This can also mean someone is close to someone else (either by blood or by friendship.) This gesture is used A LOT in my village. Its very helpful, as I can use it to describe most anything - my sister is the same age as my cousin - rub my fingers together. Start using it! I want to see it catch on in the U.S.

3) To say you are going to get someone, flick your ear. This is mainly used in jest, but its pretty funny to see. We don't have a great gesture like this in the U.S....ours are much more extreme. You can express the same intent, although at a slightly more serious level, by hitting your closed fist with your hand (this one is a little more extreme.)

4) To express shame on you, pull down your lower eyelid with one finger. This one is pretty funny to use, especially with your friends. Moroccans use this one when we Americans use rubbing one pointer finger down the other. I don't use this one very often....its more used by mother's when telling a child to stop doing something bad (like picking on a sibling.)

5) To tell someone to come to you, put your hand facing down and pull your fingers towards you. This one took me awhile to get used to, since we sometimes use this gesture (or a version of it) in the U.S. to tell someone to go away. I have a hard time remembering to use this one instead of the American version (pulling your pointer finger towards you.)

6) After shaking hands, kiss your fingers or put your hand over your heart. I picked up this gesture the first week I was here. Now I do it unconsciously, whether meeting Americans or Moroccans. This will be a hard habit to break when I come back to the U.S. I do it probably 30 times a day....

7) To express something is full (like the market) or someone is wealthy, take your thumb and rub it upwards under your chin. This one still confuses me sometimes, as I am not totally sure of when to use it myself.

8) To express someone is worthless, make the A-OK sign and hold it downwards (with your fingers pointing towards the floor.) This one is slightly profane, but the previous volunteer said her host sister did it when boys were cat-calling towards her in our village.

Of course, I still use some American gestures that aren't understood here in Morocco. The most prevalent one is crossing my fingers. I didn't even realize I was doing it until one of my students asked me why I cross my fingers when I say "Inshallah." (Inshallah means "God willing" and is often used like we use "I hope" in English.) I'm trying to break myself of the habit now, but am not sure if I'll be successful. I've been crossing my fingers for too many years.

Pretty interesting, huh? I'm planning a lesson soon for my English class on American gestures and what they mean. Send me any ideas you have....

Spring Camp

The first week of April was Spring Camp. Youth Development Volunteers work with Moroccan government staff to coordinate week long English Immersion camps. I helped out at one in Khemisset, which is about an hour from Rabat. It was a lot of fun. The kids were great, although very different than the kids I work with in my village. Many of them came from affluent families. Most were very familiar with American pop culture and wore western style clothes. Most were very excited to study English and really enjoyed learning American songs, rhyming games, and anything else I could come up with.

Every morning, I taught an intermediate English class. I had about 14 students from the ages of 12 to 17. While they would sometimes get pretty rambunctious, they would quiet down when I told them to. They loved all the camp songs I taught them, including "Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie jar" and "I'm Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor." They also really enjoyed the games I came up with to reinforce my lessons. After they learned fruit, vegetables, and animals (including what they say in English), we played Pictionary. They REALLY got into it. Some even cheated so that they could win! Luckily, I had a very honest boy, Souleyman, in my class who would tell me if his team or the other team cheated. They were pretty funny kids and I'm glad I got to spend a week with them.

In the afternoon, I taught "Art Club." It was a pretty funny title, since we all know I'm not an artist. Luckily, my art club involved making friendship bracelets. All those years of making bracelets and anklets during Swim Meets really helped me out. I was able to teach all the kids how to make them and my club was very popular! Some of the girls even came up to me at 2:00 a.m. the last night to get extra string so they could make more at home!

After art club, the kids played sports and then had some sort of activity run by the Moroccan staff. We were very lucky - the staff from the Dar Chebab (youth center) was AMAZING! They took care of everything and were quick to solve any problems that came up. They were great at keeping the kids entertained and had some excellent activities planned for them each night. In addition to a talent show, they had a game night where the kids had fun games to play. I think the funniest was a game where a group of five boys pretended they were driving a bus. They had to stand up when they went up a hill, lean when going around a corner, etc. One by one, the staff put a wet rag on their chair while they were standing. Luckily, the boys all took it in good fun and the kids loved it. It was pretty funny, seeing their expressions as they sat down on the rag!

Here are some more pictures from camp.

Halloween night! Sarah really got into her costume. (Its a ninja, if you can't tell.) She was hoarse the next day from all her "battle" yells. The teenage boys didn't know how to react. I have to say, I laughed a lot.

Some of the kids waiting for their afternoon snack.

Me teaching the art club how to make friendship bracelets.

Me with Rachel and John, drawing out the schedule for the week. Luckily, one of the staff was able to add the arabic translation for us!

Todra Gorges

Morocco is a land of contrasting landscapes. It has the Sahara, a mediterranean climate up north, and several sets of mountain chains (one of which I live in.) It also has a beautiful gorge a few hours from Ouarzazate, called the Todra Gorges. It reminded me of a mini grand canyon and was very pretty. Here are a few pictures from our day trip there.

Annie, Linda, Donna, Peggy and me with our new masks that we bought in the gorges. They are from Mali and pretty cool looking.
Me in the gorge.
Me, Linda, Donna and Annie in the gorges.

Desert Oasis and Camel Trek

This weekend, I got to go on a camel trek into the Sahara and visit friends in their desert oasis home. Here are some of the pictures from my adventure.

These are our guides getting the camels ready to go on the hour and a half ride to the desert camp. It was my first time riding a camel, so I was a little nervous. Luckily, although my camel complained loudly when she was given a command to sit or stand, she didn't bite or spit. We nicknamed her "Princess Sara" because she seemed pretty high maintenance.

This is our caravan heading into the desert. I'm in the very back of the line.
This is us posing on top of our SUV. We stopped to get our first good look at the Sahara. You can see the dunes in the background.
This is our group taking a walk at Emily and Sean's site. They live in a beautiful town in the Errachidia province. Their town is an oasis in the middle of the desert. It has palm trees and amazingly clear streams and rivers running through it. It was truly a beautiful area.

Emily and Sean made their giant bed by lining up six foam ponjs. Its huge and comfortably fit five of us to sleep. They were wonderful hosts and I'm so glad I got to visit with them and see their site.