21 October 2006
Last night was the best time I’ve had in Morocco yet! I went to the Ramadan Spectacular at the Dar Chebab which was a celebration of the month of Ramadan. As you can see from my pictures, I got the opportunity to dress up in traditional Moroccan clothes. The Friendship Club we started at the Dar Chebab organized a fashion show for the Spectacular and so the Americans got to dress in Moroccan clothes and the Moroccans got to dress in American clothes. I felt bad because the only clothes I had to offer the Moroccans weren’t very “cool” because all the clothes I brought to Morocco are pretty conservative. But, the kids were really creative and wore hooded sweatshirts, backward baseball caps and baggy jeans. They wanted to look “hip hop.”
The day before the Spectacular I had told Mama that I would be dressing up Moroccan and what I thought she had said was that she would give me a head scarf to wear. I guess I totally misunderstood her because that night as I was getting ready to leave, she pulled out this bag filled with beautiful clothes. My family is Amazig (the politically correct term for Berber) and she had the most amazing tkshita (two-piece dress) that she dressed me in. I also wore this really fancy gold belt and another black sparkly belt that they tied around my arms. Chase, another volunteer, came over to my house and did my make-up to look like the kohl that the Moroccan women put around their eyes. When I finally looked in the mirror, I did not recognize myself!
When Chase and I arrived at the Dar Chebab there were already so many people there! We changed back into our plain clothes so it would be more of a surprise for the fashion show. Then, we sat down in the makeshift theater and waited for the show to begin. And we waited. The thing about Moroccan is, that time doesn’t really matter here. So, we waited a long time and then maybe an hour later the show began. There were a lot of singing performances by young children dressed traditionally. There was one group of young kids that marched around while pretending to shoot guns and I’m not sure what that was about, but whatever. Chase and I sat next to the door, which turned out to be a huge mistake. For some reason, there was this wall of fifty kids pushing against the door trying to get in while two or three people held the door closed. The kids were banging on the door, throwing rocks, and yelling really loudly. At one point the doormen let a rush of kids in and it got really crowded, like fire-hazard crowded.
The fashion show went really well and afterward everyone treated us Americans like celebrities! I had a lot of young girls take my picture and made a few new friends. My new friends were two sisters who both sat on my lap for like an hour during the show. Personal space is pretty much nonexistent here in Morocco, so I was sharing half a plastic chair with this older woman and on my lap was an 18 year old girl and her 10 year old sister both on a knee! The younger one was really cute, but she she kind of went a little overboard with petting my face and hair and giving me a lot of neck hugs. Oh, well...
Sunday, October 22, 2006
The Night of Power
18 October 2006
Tonight is laylatu l-qadr, which means the Night of Power. It is said that on this night, the Koran was sent down and revealed to the Prophet. From sundown to daybreak, the imam (the prayer leader) reads the Koran and I definitely can hear him right now at one a.m. Tonight everyone stays awake praying because it is believed that their wishes will ascend directly to Allah and be granted. I think it’s kind of cool. I’m not sure if everyone in my family will stay awake the entire night, but I do know my host dad is at the mosque. I plan on going to bed as soon as I finish typing this. Some of us have Darija class in the morning!
Next week is the end of Ramadan and the big festival called l-عid. On the last day of Ramadan everyone will stay up very late until they hear the announcement that the new moon has been sighted and Ramadan and fasting are over. As soon as people see the moon, they start celebrating…..for three days. I’m not entirely sure what will happen, but I’ll bet there will be tons of food.
My four-year-old host brother Walid said something really cute the other day. When I went to Fez he asked his mom if they could start eating again during the day. Because the first day I came to stay with the family was also the first day of Ramadan, he thought I had brought the fasting to his town! He said he was tired of fasting and asked if I could stay at the neighbors so they could fast for a while instead.
Tonight is laylatu l-qadr, which means the Night of Power. It is said that on this night, the Koran was sent down and revealed to the Prophet. From sundown to daybreak, the imam (the prayer leader) reads the Koran and I definitely can hear him right now at one a.m. Tonight everyone stays awake praying because it is believed that their wishes will ascend directly to Allah and be granted. I think it’s kind of cool. I’m not sure if everyone in my family will stay awake the entire night, but I do know my host dad is at the mosque. I plan on going to bed as soon as I finish typing this. Some of us have Darija class in the morning!
Next week is the end of Ramadan and the big festival called l-عid. On the last day of Ramadan everyone will stay up very late until they hear the announcement that the new moon has been sighted and Ramadan and fasting are over. As soon as people see the moon, they start celebrating…..for three days. I’m not entirely sure what will happen, but I’ll bet there will be tons of food.
My four-year-old host brother Walid said something really cute the other day. When I went to Fez he asked his mom if they could start eating again during the day. Because the first day I came to stay with the family was also the first day of Ramadan, he thought I had brought the fasting to his town! He said he was tired of fasting and asked if I could stay at the neighbors so they could fast for a while instead.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Fez
Warning: this post is really long!
16 October 2006
Fès
Yesterday and today were two of the craziest days I’ve had here in Morocco. I went to Fez yesterday, which was really cool. The city is the oldest in Morocco and if you have heard anything about the city or if you can remember the movie Aladdin, it’s everything you’ve ever imagined. I got to visit Fès el-Bali, which is the old part of the city that has the narrow streets that are crowded with people, donkeys, lots of shops, and mosques. It was a little overwhelming at times, especially when we first entered the “labyrinth” because there are these faux guides who want to show you around the medina for a fee. We had this old guy who spoke really good English start giving us this historical spiel about the medina and we just had to walk away. Later on, there were these young boys who would follow right behind you whispering in your ear about all the places they could show you. They were kind of cute and harmless, especially since they usually chose to follow my friend Heather and not me.
At one point, I really needed to use a bathroom and starting panicking about finding one in the maze. Because it’s a cultural no-no for a woman to ask a man where a restroom is, I had to have my friend Dan ask for me. This old guy pointed at the museum that we hadn’t even noticed right next to us and said we’d have to pay 20 Durham just to go inside. While we talked about how that sounded ridiculous and we’d have to ask somebody else about a bathroom, a boy nearby overheard and said he could show us to a bathroom. So, we walked through this giant warehouse where these fancy silver and gold thrones were being made for weddings (I think) and as we walked through he started talking about showing us a rooftop view of the medina. Of course, we followed him blindly and ended up at some guy’s rug shop who took us up an endless flight of the narrowest steps known to mankind. At the top was an okay view of the medina. He talked a lot about how his name was included in the last Lonely Planet guidebook and then brought us downstairs to his rug store. Inside, he insisted on showing us at least fifteen different rugs and after a while we started feeling nervous because it was a really expensive store and he was really informative and nice but none of us had any intention of buying anything. So, my friend Annie, being brave, interrupted his rug lecture and asked if he had a bathroom. It was a little embarrassing because it was pretty much five feet away from where we were standing and the door wouldn’t close, but I managed. What a hassle.
Backtracking a bit prior to the medina adventure, we went to McDonald’s for lunch and it was heaven. Since its Ramadan and taboo to eat in public, all the restaurants in Fez are closed until after l-ftur (when the fast is broken). Well, almost every restaurant… all but McDonald’s. It was so funny when we decided to go there, we got in a taxi and it turned out to be like ten blocks away. We laughed about this and then ran like a bunch of fools toward those golden arches. At first I thought maybe we shouldn’t be eating there because there were only two old American ladies binging on burgers. Well, I guess we were there kind of early at 11 am but by the time we started eating there were other people starting to filter in.
We also got a chance to check out the Walmart of Morocco, called Marjan. It was both beautiful and overwhelming at the same time. I finally got to buy a fingernail clippers (believe me, I was in need) and other stuff, including oreos. At this point, everybody was really thirsty and tired so we headed back to the hotel to chill for a while. When we got there, we found the biggest cockroach waiting for us in the room…later on, we found its life partner searching for the corpse. The really disturbing thing is that the next morning the corpse was gone…where it went, we’re not sure, but we have a few guesses. Maybe a family member carried its dead body off for proper burial, or an army of ants could have enjoyed a cockroach feast, or maybe it wasn’t really dead and dragged its broken and mangled self away. Either way, it was disturbing.
Leaving Fès:
Before I get into the craziest part of my journey from Fès, I must include our last morning there. That morning the training group visited institutions in Fès where juvenile delinquents are sent for rehabilitation. The site I visited was an all-boys facility on the outskirts of the city. Traveling to the facility was easy, but leaving proved to be much more difficult when trying to find six petit taxis in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t pan out so well for us. So, we walked down a deserted road, waiting around for a while and then walked a bit further to a dusty intersection. No taxis anywhere. Finally, we saw a bus coming down the road and all 16 of us volunteers hopped on. The driver was impatient and almost drove off with two of the volunteers on the side of the road, but we managed to grab a hold of them and away we went! The bus dropped us off only a few feet away from our hotel, so that was a bonus. With an hour for lunch break, Annie, Jen, and I hailed a petit taxi and zoomed off to the McDonald’s (yes, again). Returning to the hotel, we had a quick debriefing of our institution visits and then it was time to head back to our CBT sites.
Floyd and I got a taxi and almost lost it to a pushy little Moroccan woman, but we compromised, and the three of us all rode together. Once we got dropped off at the grand taxi stand, the fun really began. My CBT group includes Floyd, Chase, Jeff, Alicia, our facilitator Fatima and me. In the past, the six of us have traveled easily in one taxi with all of our luggage. (Don’t ask me how we’ve managed this, but cramming bodies and luggage in the trunk, on laps, and on the roof seems to work) Today was a different story. The l-Kurti (person who organizes the trips for the taxi drivers) was very stubborn and would not allow the six of us to travel together. He insisted that we had too many suitcases and would be charging us extra for the “inconvenience.” He also wanted three of us to go in one taxi with three random Moroccans also traveling to Safrou and the other three would have to wait at the taxi stand for three more random Moroccans to show up. Fatima was giving the l-Kurti a hard time and trying to convince him to let us all travel together, and at one point she had about eight angry Moroccan taxi drivers yelling and waving their arms in her face. It gets worse. After Floyd, Jeff and Chase had loaded their belongings into the trunk of one taxi and paid their fare, the driver tried to charge them 10 Durham extra for their baggage. Jeff got mad and the driver kicked the three of them out of the cab, threw their suitcases on the ground and drove off. Eventually the six of us made it to Safrou, but in separate taxis.
When we arrived in Safrou, it was nearing l-ftur (breaking of the fast) and there were no taxi drivers willing to take us to Boulmane because of the timing. Keep in mind; it is Peace Corps policy that volunteers do not travel after dark, so we basically were preparing to spend the night in Safrou. Finally, one taxi driver offered to take us to Boulmane for double the price. After a quick call to Peace Corps to see if we could get reimbursed for the extra cost, we took him up on his offer and wrapped up the final leg of our crazy journey to Boulmane. Lahumdullah! (praise allah!)
16 October 2006
Fès
Yesterday and today were two of the craziest days I’ve had here in Morocco. I went to Fez yesterday, which was really cool. The city is the oldest in Morocco and if you have heard anything about the city or if you can remember the movie Aladdin, it’s everything you’ve ever imagined. I got to visit Fès el-Bali, which is the old part of the city that has the narrow streets that are crowded with people, donkeys, lots of shops, and mosques. It was a little overwhelming at times, especially when we first entered the “labyrinth” because there are these faux guides who want to show you around the medina for a fee. We had this old guy who spoke really good English start giving us this historical spiel about the medina and we just had to walk away. Later on, there were these young boys who would follow right behind you whispering in your ear about all the places they could show you. They were kind of cute and harmless, especially since they usually chose to follow my friend Heather and not me.
At one point, I really needed to use a bathroom and starting panicking about finding one in the maze. Because it’s a cultural no-no for a woman to ask a man where a restroom is, I had to have my friend Dan ask for me. This old guy pointed at the museum that we hadn’t even noticed right next to us and said we’d have to pay 20 Durham just to go inside. While we talked about how that sounded ridiculous and we’d have to ask somebody else about a bathroom, a boy nearby overheard and said he could show us to a bathroom. So, we walked through this giant warehouse where these fancy silver and gold thrones were being made for weddings (I think) and as we walked through he started talking about showing us a rooftop view of the medina. Of course, we followed him blindly and ended up at some guy’s rug shop who took us up an endless flight of the narrowest steps known to mankind. At the top was an okay view of the medina. He talked a lot about how his name was included in the last Lonely Planet guidebook and then brought us downstairs to his rug store. Inside, he insisted on showing us at least fifteen different rugs and after a while we started feeling nervous because it was a really expensive store and he was really informative and nice but none of us had any intention of buying anything. So, my friend Annie, being brave, interrupted his rug lecture and asked if he had a bathroom. It was a little embarrassing because it was pretty much five feet away from where we were standing and the door wouldn’t close, but I managed. What a hassle.
Backtracking a bit prior to the medina adventure, we went to McDonald’s for lunch and it was heaven. Since its Ramadan and taboo to eat in public, all the restaurants in Fez are closed until after l-ftur (when the fast is broken). Well, almost every restaurant… all but McDonald’s. It was so funny when we decided to go there, we got in a taxi and it turned out to be like ten blocks away. We laughed about this and then ran like a bunch of fools toward those golden arches. At first I thought maybe we shouldn’t be eating there because there were only two old American ladies binging on burgers. Well, I guess we were there kind of early at 11 am but by the time we started eating there were other people starting to filter in.
We also got a chance to check out the Walmart of Morocco, called Marjan. It was both beautiful and overwhelming at the same time. I finally got to buy a fingernail clippers (believe me, I was in need) and other stuff, including oreos. At this point, everybody was really thirsty and tired so we headed back to the hotel to chill for a while. When we got there, we found the biggest cockroach waiting for us in the room…later on, we found its life partner searching for the corpse. The really disturbing thing is that the next morning the corpse was gone…where it went, we’re not sure, but we have a few guesses. Maybe a family member carried its dead body off for proper burial, or an army of ants could have enjoyed a cockroach feast, or maybe it wasn’t really dead and dragged its broken and mangled self away. Either way, it was disturbing.
Leaving Fès:
Before I get into the craziest part of my journey from Fès, I must include our last morning there. That morning the training group visited institutions in Fès where juvenile delinquents are sent for rehabilitation. The site I visited was an all-boys facility on the outskirts of the city. Traveling to the facility was easy, but leaving proved to be much more difficult when trying to find six petit taxis in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t pan out so well for us. So, we walked down a deserted road, waiting around for a while and then walked a bit further to a dusty intersection. No taxis anywhere. Finally, we saw a bus coming down the road and all 16 of us volunteers hopped on. The driver was impatient and almost drove off with two of the volunteers on the side of the road, but we managed to grab a hold of them and away we went! The bus dropped us off only a few feet away from our hotel, so that was a bonus. With an hour for lunch break, Annie, Jen, and I hailed a petit taxi and zoomed off to the McDonald’s (yes, again). Returning to the hotel, we had a quick debriefing of our institution visits and then it was time to head back to our CBT sites.
Floyd and I got a taxi and almost lost it to a pushy little Moroccan woman, but we compromised, and the three of us all rode together. Once we got dropped off at the grand taxi stand, the fun really began. My CBT group includes Floyd, Chase, Jeff, Alicia, our facilitator Fatima and me. In the past, the six of us have traveled easily in one taxi with all of our luggage. (Don’t ask me how we’ve managed this, but cramming bodies and luggage in the trunk, on laps, and on the roof seems to work) Today was a different story. The l-Kurti (person who organizes the trips for the taxi drivers) was very stubborn and would not allow the six of us to travel together. He insisted that we had too many suitcases and would be charging us extra for the “inconvenience.” He also wanted three of us to go in one taxi with three random Moroccans also traveling to Safrou and the other three would have to wait at the taxi stand for three more random Moroccans to show up. Fatima was giving the l-Kurti a hard time and trying to convince him to let us all travel together, and at one point she had about eight angry Moroccan taxi drivers yelling and waving their arms in her face. It gets worse. After Floyd, Jeff and Chase had loaded their belongings into the trunk of one taxi and paid their fare, the driver tried to charge them 10 Durham extra for their baggage. Jeff got mad and the driver kicked the three of them out of the cab, threw their suitcases on the ground and drove off. Eventually the six of us made it to Safrou, but in separate taxis.
When we arrived in Safrou, it was nearing l-ftur (breaking of the fast) and there were no taxi drivers willing to take us to Boulmane because of the timing. Keep in mind; it is Peace Corps policy that volunteers do not travel after dark, so we basically were preparing to spend the night in Safrou. Finally, one taxi driver offered to take us to Boulmane for double the price. After a quick call to Peace Corps to see if we could get reimbursed for the extra cost, we took him up on his offer and wrapped up the final leg of our crazy journey to Boulmane. Lahumdullah! (praise allah!)
Sunday, October 08, 2006
The Dar Chebab
8 October 2006
After spending four brief days in Immouzer catching up with the other volunteers and getting more vaccinations, I am back with my host family in Boulmane. I could not believe how happy everyone in my family was to see me. My host brother barreled down the hallway and latched on to my neck when I came into the house. It feels good to be back.
This CBT phase we have a packed schedule at the Dar Chebab. The Dar Chebab literally means the House of Youth and it is where I will be working over the next two years. During CBT, we have a chance to work at the Dar Chebab in Boulmane. So, far it has been fantastic. The Mudir (manager) is really organized and open to new ideas and the youth are never in short supply. We have formed a Friendship Club between the volunteers and the Moroccan youth. Within the club, we have formed subcommittees that have started planning future events. I am on the Spectacle Committee. At the end of Ramadan, the D.C. will host a variety show called the Spectacle that will celebrate the end of Ramadan and showcase the talents of the youth. Our Friendship Club decided to contribute to the event by planning a comedy sketch and a fashion show. One of the girls had already written a sketch that is about an American woman coming to Morocco to marry a Moroccan man and the humorous problems that arise. For the fashion show, we decided to have the Americans dress up in the Moroccan clothing, while the Moroccans model the American clothes. It should be a fun time.
Yesterday the youth planned an outdoor game and invited us volunteers to come play. The game was kind of like a scavenger hunt, but much more difficult and tiring. One of the youths had cut out tiny pieces of paper and hidden them around the perimeter of the soccer field and it was our task to find the papers. We broke off into teams and started searching. The easiest papers we found were pinned up in trees, but the more difficult papers were discovered under rocks and crammed into cracks in a stone wall. There are a lot of stray animals around town, so the game became more interesting as we had to watch our every step, as to avoid the droppings. My team named “Team Speedy,” actually tied for first place with another group.
Today is my day off and I couldn’t be happier. I have been really tired the past few days, with all the traveling, busy days of training, and the intermittent bouts of intestinal problems. I planned on doing laundry this morning, but my host sister-in-law beat me to it. There are only so many clothespins, so I will have to wait until later today after her laundry has dried. I also need a bath. I would like to walk around town and explore a little more.
Next weekend all of us Youth Development volunteers are going to Fez! I’m really excited about this. I think we are going to visit a few institutions there designed for youth. I don’t know if we’ll have much free time, but it will be fun to see a new city!
A Note to Everyone:
Please check out the link on the right titled “My Pictures.” I uploaded a lot of photos there for you to enjoy!
After spending four brief days in Immouzer catching up with the other volunteers and getting more vaccinations, I am back with my host family in Boulmane. I could not believe how happy everyone in my family was to see me. My host brother barreled down the hallway and latched on to my neck when I came into the house. It feels good to be back.
This CBT phase we have a packed schedule at the Dar Chebab. The Dar Chebab literally means the House of Youth and it is where I will be working over the next two years. During CBT, we have a chance to work at the Dar Chebab in Boulmane. So, far it has been fantastic. The Mudir (manager) is really organized and open to new ideas and the youth are never in short supply. We have formed a Friendship Club between the volunteers and the Moroccan youth. Within the club, we have formed subcommittees that have started planning future events. I am on the Spectacle Committee. At the end of Ramadan, the D.C. will host a variety show called the Spectacle that will celebrate the end of Ramadan and showcase the talents of the youth. Our Friendship Club decided to contribute to the event by planning a comedy sketch and a fashion show. One of the girls had already written a sketch that is about an American woman coming to Morocco to marry a Moroccan man and the humorous problems that arise. For the fashion show, we decided to have the Americans dress up in the Moroccan clothing, while the Moroccans model the American clothes. It should be a fun time.
Yesterday the youth planned an outdoor game and invited us volunteers to come play. The game was kind of like a scavenger hunt, but much more difficult and tiring. One of the youths had cut out tiny pieces of paper and hidden them around the perimeter of the soccer field and it was our task to find the papers. We broke off into teams and started searching. The easiest papers we found were pinned up in trees, but the more difficult papers were discovered under rocks and crammed into cracks in a stone wall. There are a lot of stray animals around town, so the game became more interesting as we had to watch our every step, as to avoid the droppings. My team named “Team Speedy,” actually tied for first place with another group.
Today is my day off and I couldn’t be happier. I have been really tired the past few days, with all the traveling, busy days of training, and the intermittent bouts of intestinal problems. I planned on doing laundry this morning, but my host sister-in-law beat me to it. There are only so many clothespins, so I will have to wait until later today after her laundry has dried. I also need a bath. I would like to walk around town and explore a little more.
Next weekend all of us Youth Development volunteers are going to Fez! I’m really excited about this. I think we are going to visit a few institutions there designed for youth. I don’t know if we’ll have much free time, but it will be fun to see a new city!
A Note to Everyone:
Please check out the link on the right titled “My Pictures.” I uploaded a lot of photos there for you to enjoy!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Farewell, Turkish Toilet!
30 September 2006
Today something miraculous happened. My day started normally; I went to class in the morning at 10:00 and returned to my host family’s house around 3:00. Normally when I come home, I greet Mama and Somiya and either go up to my room to rest or leave for the cyber or souk. Today, Mama and Somiya began talking to me excitedly about something. They were pointing a lot at the bathroom on the main floor and pointing upstairs saying “n-douche.” I had no clue. I asked them if they thought I needed a shower and they laughed. Then, they walked with me upstairs and opened the door to my bathroom.
In my bathroom, there was a man actually standing inside the Turkish toilet with a huge pile of rubble next to him. Mama and Somiya said some more things and I thought I got the point. Okay, I thought, so I can’t use the upstairs bathroom anymore. To be honest with you, I wasn’t even aware that there were two bathrooms on the main floor. I had thought it was odd that there was a sink on the wall at the bottom on the stairs and thought the small door next to it was probably a closet.
Then, I left to go to the cyber to check email and the souk to buy some food. When I returned home, I walked upstairs and there, believe it or not, was an actual flush toilet sitting where the man had been digging before! What a strange place Morocco is!
At breakfast tonight I will try to ask Mama if I can use this new household technology. I am really excited about the toilet, but I am feeling kind of spoiled. I know none of the other volunteers here in Boulmane have either a shower or a flushing toilet.
1 October 2006
The toilet situation got a little bit stranger today, if you can believe that. I entered the bathroom to find that a long hose had been hooked up to the faucet on the wall and was draped across the toilet seat. I had no idea what the purpose of this hose was, so I continued to use the downstairs Turkish toilet. After dinner tonight I asked my family about the toilet and the hose. Mama said that they had bought the toilet three years ago because her knees had been giving her trouble and they had only recently decided to install it. The purpose of the hose wasn’t as clear. I think we were supposed to use the hose to flush to toilet, but the hose has a hole in it and sprays water everywhere, so we removed the hose tonight. Now, to flush, I will fill the old bucket with water and pour it into the toilet. It’s basically like the Turkish toilet, but now I get to sit down!
Today was our first day without language instruction, so I had the whole day to spend with my host family, relax, and do whatever. It was great. I slept in late, took a bath (sitting on a teeny tiny stool on the floor next to the new toilet pouring buckets of water over my head) packed my bag, visited with other volunteers, played Frisbee with the neighbor kids, and best of all, got to talk with mom, dad, Megan and Sara!
Tomorrow we will leave Boulmane and travel back to Immouzer for more shots and technical training. I look forward to seeing my friends and sharing stories about our CBT sites and families. There are six of us, including our teacher, and I think we are taking only one grand taxi. This should be interesting. The grand taxis are just an average sized Mercedes (why they are all Mercedes, I’m not sure) with no seat belts and drivers who defy the definition of FAST. How will seven people plus luggage fit into one car? I guess tomorrow only knows.
Today something miraculous happened. My day started normally; I went to class in the morning at 10:00 and returned to my host family’s house around 3:00. Normally when I come home, I greet Mama and Somiya and either go up to my room to rest or leave for the cyber or souk. Today, Mama and Somiya began talking to me excitedly about something. They were pointing a lot at the bathroom on the main floor and pointing upstairs saying “n-douche.” I had no clue. I asked them if they thought I needed a shower and they laughed. Then, they walked with me upstairs and opened the door to my bathroom.
In my bathroom, there was a man actually standing inside the Turkish toilet with a huge pile of rubble next to him. Mama and Somiya said some more things and I thought I got the point. Okay, I thought, so I can’t use the upstairs bathroom anymore. To be honest with you, I wasn’t even aware that there were two bathrooms on the main floor. I had thought it was odd that there was a sink on the wall at the bottom on the stairs and thought the small door next to it was probably a closet.
Then, I left to go to the cyber to check email and the souk to buy some food. When I returned home, I walked upstairs and there, believe it or not, was an actual flush toilet sitting where the man had been digging before! What a strange place Morocco is!
At breakfast tonight I will try to ask Mama if I can use this new household technology. I am really excited about the toilet, but I am feeling kind of spoiled. I know none of the other volunteers here in Boulmane have either a shower or a flushing toilet.
1 October 2006
The toilet situation got a little bit stranger today, if you can believe that. I entered the bathroom to find that a long hose had been hooked up to the faucet on the wall and was draped across the toilet seat. I had no idea what the purpose of this hose was, so I continued to use the downstairs Turkish toilet. After dinner tonight I asked my family about the toilet and the hose. Mama said that they had bought the toilet three years ago because her knees had been giving her trouble and they had only recently decided to install it. The purpose of the hose wasn’t as clear. I think we were supposed to use the hose to flush to toilet, but the hose has a hole in it and sprays water everywhere, so we removed the hose tonight. Now, to flush, I will fill the old bucket with water and pour it into the toilet. It’s basically like the Turkish toilet, but now I get to sit down!
Today was our first day without language instruction, so I had the whole day to spend with my host family, relax, and do whatever. It was great. I slept in late, took a bath (sitting on a teeny tiny stool on the floor next to the new toilet pouring buckets of water over my head) packed my bag, visited with other volunteers, played Frisbee with the neighbor kids, and best of all, got to talk with mom, dad, Megan and Sara!
Tomorrow we will leave Boulmane and travel back to Immouzer for more shots and technical training. I look forward to seeing my friends and sharing stories about our CBT sites and families. There are six of us, including our teacher, and I think we are taking only one grand taxi. This should be interesting. The grand taxis are just an average sized Mercedes (why they are all Mercedes, I’m not sure) with no seat belts and drivers who defy the definition of FAST. How will seven people plus luggage fit into one car? I guess tomorrow only knows.
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