Happy Birthday, Sara!

I have been at my site for over a week now! Last Sunday was one of the craziest days here! It was my “day off” but really there is never a day off here because every day that I have to think and speak Darija is a day of hard work! Anyway, I slept in and ate a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs and bread. Always bread. Right after breakfast my host mom (who’s more like a sister because she is only 20 years old!) and I went to a village in the countryside to visit her aunt. We were dropped off on some dusty road where we met about ten other women. We joined them to walk to the aunt’s house. It was a really hot day and most of the women were really fat (and some of them really old) so it took us a long time to walk to the house. We would walk a little ways, and the women would stop for a rest, then we would walk some more.

When we got to the house there were probably a total of thirty women there and all of their children. Where the men were is a mystery to me. Social events are usual segregated, so even if men and women attend, they eat and socialize in separate areas of the house. We sat on the floor in one room and drank mint tea and ate roasted almonds. After a while, it was time for lunch so we all crammed around a table close to the ground. We were served a delicious chicken flavored with something sweet. The way you eat a chicken here is simple. You just take your hand and tear the meat off a bone and put it in your mouth! I have eaten a few chickens here before, so I was accustomed to that. After I ate my fair share of chicken, I thought the meal was over. But, just at that moment, another dish was brought out that was filled with roast beef! So, not to be rude, I had to eat the roast beef, too. After that, I was really full. But as is the custom here, last came the fruit. A huge dish was brought out piled high with apples, bananas, oranges, and grapes. I ate half a banana and half an orange and called it quits. Finally, after we had cleared the table of all the bread crumbs and discarded meat bones, everybody curled up with a pillow and the lights were turned off. Some of the women took a nap.

I was whisked out of the room and taken to another room where a woman was doing henna. Henna is that herb that you can mix with water and with it dye the skin. I think the woman was a professional because the designs she gave me on both my hands and feet were amazing. I will take a picture to show you. During the henna ordeal, we drank more mint tea and were served a snack! Can you guess what we ate? That’s right – more meat. We each had a shish kabob. I was offered a second kabob but I had to say no. After the henna dried and was taken off, it was time to say goodbye. By this point, it was nearing six o’clock and my mom and I had ANOTHER dinner invitation to attend to.

I was exhausted as we drove to our second destination: another farm in the countryside. We got there around 7:30 or so and the festivities started all over again. Mint tea followed by dinner. This time we were served a roast beef dish first and afterwards couscous. I was getting major stomach cramps from all that food! I didn’t eat anything more than a few nibbles, but it was all too much for one day. We left around 10:30 and returned home around 11pm. I went straight to bed, after brushing my teeth of course. All that mint tea makes my teeth feel gross.

Anyway, on Monday I felt entitled to a day without Darija and forced-feeding. So, I took a taxi to Inezgane and met up with a fellow volunteer. He and I walked around the market, ate a light lunch and talked a lot! It is nice to feel like a normally functioning adult, if only for a few hours! Sometimes I feel a little like a lost child here. Because I can only communicate basic things, I don’t really feel like the people here know me, the real me. It is really difficult to be funny or to make a joke when you don’t know the language! Anyways, it is nice to be with an American for a while because you can just be yourself.

The other night, I was telling my host family about Christmas and they seem to think it is a beautiful holiday. They say they think Christmas trees are wonderful and maybe they will get one for me. I was embarrassed and told them I didn’t need one. I think they will probably get one anyway, but I hope not.

Today has been a very good day so far. I went to the Dar Chebab in the morning and talked with the Moudir. He told me some very good news! He is going to the Delegation today to meet with the Delegue (the people who oversee the work of the Dar Chebab) to ask them for both a phone line and internet at the Dar Chebab. He is almost certain he will get what he is asking for. Wouldn’t that be awesome? He said if we get it, I will have my own office with a phone and internet! I doubt there is any other volunteer with those amenities. So, basically, I have the best site and Dar Chebab ever.

I also met with the Moudira of the Dar Taliba. This literally means the House of Female Students. These girls come to town to study at the high school and because they come from villages or farms in the countryside, they live in the Dar Taliba during the week. The Moudir wants me to teach her girls English. This is good news, but a bit overwhelming! I think every person in this town wants me to teach them English!

I will be teaching a class of adults at the Dar Chebab. They are teachers in the schools who do not know English. On Friday, I am giving a test to any youth interested in English classes and depending on how many show up, I could have a very busy schedule. Also, I met with the Moudira of the Neddy Niswi. The Neddy Niswi is an organization that serves women. These women work on handicrafts, like knitting, crocheting, embroidery, sewing, etc. They are interested in learning English as well, so that is another place I will be working at. And I am excited to learn some new skills like embroidery! Also, I have met one woman who is the aunt of my host mom and she is very interested in learning English, but she is not allowed to leave her house, so I think I will plan to visit her weekly.

So, as you can see, I have a full plate here! I am excited to get to work, but a little worried, because I was not trained as a teacher and do not have a lot of the skills a teacher needs. I am worried I will run out of ideas after a month of teaching! I really want to start planning activities, but maybe I can incorporate them into my English lessons.

I am asking everyone I meet if they know of a place to live. I think my host dad might own a house that he would rent to me. I cannot wait to move into my own house! I am so sick of not having any control over my life! I want to cook the food I like to eat and that means NO MORE BREAD! I want to exercise, I want to relax, I want to walk around in a T-shirt and shorts when it’s hot, and I want to decorate it so it will be a comfortable little refuge for myself. I love my host family, but they eat so much food! And as a woman, I don’t really have the freedom to just go for a walk. It’s weird. My host mom worries a lot about my safety, even though I think this is the safest town ever. So, once I am on my own, I won’t have that feeling of guilt whenever I live the house to do things in my free time. And I can’t wait to have the other volunteers and my family (that means you guys!) come visit me!