Back in time for Ramadan

After some work-related traveling, I'm back in my site with two more weeks of Ramadan to go! I tried fasting and lasted about five days. It's hard! No food or water from 5 am until 6:30 pm! It was a good experience because I learned what it must be like to go hungry all day and also understand better how the Moroccans must feel during this month. I wish I could have stuck it out longer, but I couldn't.

The first day of Ramadan I spent fasting with my extended host family. I rode my bike out to their douar (village) the night before Ramadan began. We ate spaghetti for dinner and went to bed around 11:30 pm because we would be waking up very early the next day. Around 3:30 am a siren went off to wake everyone. The women got up and started preparing the last meal before the official fasting began. Everyone else, including myself, woke up around 4:00 am to eat a tajine. It was very strange eating a heavy meal at 4 in the morning. I drank as much water as I could and brushed my teeth before crawling back into bed. At 5:00 am we heard the first call to prayer (there are five each day) and the first day of Ramadan began. While my family prayed together, I was trying to fall asleep, but found it hard with the full tummy and all the thoughts spinning through my mind: would I be able to last all day? What was I getting myself into?

I finally fell asleep and slept in until 10:30 am. Usually the first thing I do in the morning as part of my daily routine is drink a big glass of water, but not that day! I basically spent my day lazily counting down until breakfast at 6:30 pm. I watched arabic television, tried reading Harry Potter, took a two hour nap, played with my two host twin cousins, and helped prepare the breakfast. Around 5:00 I couldn't even stand anymore without feeling light-headed, so I sat and waited. At that point, I felt no hunger or thirst, mainly just emptiness.

At the call to prayer signifying the end of fasting, I ran into the salon where my host cousin stood smiling and handed me a date. It is tradition to break the fast with dates, so I ate three. Then I chugged a ton of water. My host grandma yelled at me and said I shouldn't drink too much water because it would fill me up and leave no room for food. Ha! The first thing I ate/drank was hirara. Hirara is my favorite soup in Morocco! It is only served during Ramadan and is so delicious. Its a tomato-based soup with lentils, chickpeas, cilantro, lemon, and pieces of meat. I had one and half bowls. Then I ate a hard-boiled egg, which I seasoned with salt and cumin. After that, shebekia. Shebekia is another Ramadan special, and another favorite of mine. It is a cookie that is very very sweet and made with tons of honey and sprinkled with sesame seeds. After all this wonderful food, I was feeling full, but that was not the end of our meal. Next, they brought out a giant platter of baked and fried fish. I tried to eat as much as I could, but I was so full! After being scolded by my host grandma for not eating enough fish, they brought a heavy yellow cake. Then, we all drank a coffee.

While everyone was munching happily on Ramadan goodness, we watched the Moroccan tv channel. Besides the food, this is another favorite Ramadan past-time of mine! During Ramadan this channel shows special Moroccan shows that I can actually understand because they are speaking Moroccan arabic. Normally, most shows are in French or Standard Arabic, so this as a language-learner, this is an exciting time to see if all those tutoring hours are paying off! Last year, my favorite show was "Multaxi." The word Multaxi means taxi driver, so the show featured a Moroccan taxi driver and all his crazy adventures. Unfortunately, this show was canceled this year. Probably the best show this year is one called "L3awni" which means God help me. It is a show about a man whose name is "God help me" and his family and each episode they cook up some scheme that ultimately fails or surprisingly succeeds. There is another show about a woman police officer who specializes in forensics, its kind of like CSI, and probably the only Moroccan show that somewhat resembles an American sitcom. They talk fast and use a forensics-themed vocabulary, so that show is harder to follow.

Once everyone was good and full, almost everyone went to the mosque to pray. They were probably gone for two hours and when they returned I went home. I was exhausted and wanted to get back to my house because the next morning I would be leaving early for Fes. Around 10:30, 11 or midnight, depending on the family, dinner is eaten and then everyone goes to sleep and the whole process is continued! Talk about a total change in your sleeping/eating/working pattern! My first day of Ramadan, I didn't eat dinner because I was still too full from breakfast.

The next morning I began my two-day journey to Fes, where I gave a presentation for the newly arrived group of volunteers. They had only been in country for one week and still seemed to be adjusting to the shock of being in Morocco. (Which I still am, to this day!) After my presentation I had a meeting in Rabat. I'm the representative for my training group in the Volunteer Support Network, so I sat in on a few meetings and now find myself back in my town, looking forward to getting back to work with my kids at the Dar Chebab!

Guest Post from Megan

Safely back in Minnesota after an incredible 2 1/2 week vacation with her in Morocco, I'm writing this guest post for Jenny. The purpose of the post is to let you all know what we did on our adventure and to give you my impression I got of Jenny's life over there. After arriving in Agadir, I walked across the tarmac to enter the airport and go through immigration. I passed onto the baggage claim, where I needed to collect my backpack and the suitcase of presents for Jenny, before I could dash out to hug Jenny. My backpack showed up quickly and then I waited anxiously for the suitcase. All I wanted to do was run out to where Jenny was waiting to greet her but I needed the luggage first. It then became apparent that there were no more suitcases coming. I should say that I know NO French or Arabic, the languages that makes things go in Morocco. Someone pointed me towards an office where I was ignored as everyone else with the appropriate language skills were helped first. My first lesson about Morocco began here: there is no concept of a line. Whoever is the pushiest (elbows are allowed) and most assertive will be served first, according to Jenny. After everyone cleared out, it was me and one man remaining. He knew a very little bit of English so I wrote down my address in the US and gave him the baggage ticket. I kept trying to tell him that my sister was just a few feet away and could speak Arabic, but he did not understand. Frustrated, I took a piece of paper from him and hurried out to FINALLY greet Jenny. After a good hug, I told her what happened. My second lesson about Morocco followed: Jenny knows an amazing amount of Arabic and this helps make things happen. She marched up to the security guard and before I knew it we went the wrong way through customs and security back to the little office and the man who helped me. Jenny and him talked and she got the whole story. Lesson two continued when Jenny translated for me and said that before he explained things, she first had to have "the conversation." Even though I know no Arabic, throughout the trip I began to recognize this conversation that Jenny had with, oh, maybe, 8,000 people. The Moroccan would be shocked and amazed at Jenny's Arabic and ask any combination of the following questions: "Where did you learn arabic?" "Do you live here?" "Where do you live? Then followed by a name-nearby-Moroccan-cities game. "What's your name?" "Who's that? She doesn't know any Arabic? (pointing at me) "What are you doing here?" And the occasional, "I have a relative in 'insert US state here' comment." When this conversation happened at various market stalls or hotels, Jenny was frequently told she was getting a better price because she spoke Arabic so well. So I was able to tell my dad that we were really saving a lot of money on the trip :) Jenny and I spent the first few days on our trip at her site. This was probably my favorite part of the trip because I got to see Jenny's apartment, where she works, where she buys her chicken, meet her host family, and the people in her life there. Her town was actually a little bigger than I expected, even though it is still very small. There is a large road that goes through it directly to an airport so there is a lot of traffic and that makes it seem busier and bigger than it really is. Her apartment is really nice and she's made it very homey. She made me a neat welcome sign that made me feel at home right away. Even though Jenny told me she's a bit of a celebrity in her town, I only truly believed her upon arrival. So many people approached her on the street to greet her and I quickly learned lesson number three. Lesson number three: Jenny is well taken care of in Morocco. She has many host family members, Peace Corps friends and Moroccan friends that were constantly checking up on her. One time the police in her town even called her because they didn't know for sure where we went. Even though we had told them a day or two before that we were leaving to travel around. It was very reassuring to see so many people caring about Jenny. I was able to help my mom relax when I came home and told her all of that. After time in Jenny's site, we began our travels through Morocco. We hit the following cities: Agadir, Marrakech, Essaouira, Marrakech again to get to Rabat, Tangier, and finally Chefchouen. My favorite cites, and I think Jenny's too, were Essaouira and Chefchouen, in case anyone is still hoping to visit Jenny. I liked Essaouira a lot because it was on the ocean and was a smaller city that was really laid back. There is a type of music called Ganoua music that comes out of Essaouira that is a fusion of jazz, reggae, and Moroccan, that attracts a lot of hippies. There was a mini Ganouwa festival there while we were there that we got to see and hear. Chefchouen is way in the north of Morocco in the Rif Mountians. This city was also a really laid back small city that didn't attract a lot of tourist, but a lot of travelers. Jenny and I talked about the difference between a tourist and a traveler. Tourists tend to come in large groups, wear stickers with their tour company name on it, talk loudly in a foreign language not spoken in Morocco, and they don't go off the beaten track or try anything that's not in the Lonely Planet book. Travelers however are generally younger people who don't stay in one city during their vacation but rather travel to see unique places in a country that are maybe lesser known. Anyhow, both Essaouira and Chefchouen had awesome shopping opportunities, another reason I liked them so much. A lot of buildings and sidewalks are painted this bright blue color in Chefchouen that gives it a clean, fun look. I could go on forever about our trip as I have two and a half weeks of great memories to share. If anyone would like to hear more, just ask because I'd love an audience to share everything with. I will also try and post some photos from the trip to help Jenny out.

One Year in Country!

September 12 marks the day I first arrived in Morocco! I can hardly believe that a year has passed by so quickly! Time passes in funny increments here. Long moments, long days, and long nights, followed by quick weeks, quick months, and quick travels. Summer as a whole, just flew by. I spent a month at the summer youth camp, returned to my town for a few days, and then spent the next two weeks traveling with my sister Megan.

The trip with Megan was a blast. There were many times when I was reminded of my first impressions of Morocco a year ago. Megan helped me remember how quickly things happen in the United States. Here, time is a minor detail. An invitation for lunch may mean sitting around for three or four hours. Getting people organized to do something can take an entire week. Going to the “chicken man” may mean waiting for him to butcher the chicken, clean it, and chop it up for you. Running errands can take hours if you stop to talk to everyone you meet on the street. Washing laundry is an entire day of work. Cooking everything from scratch is the evening’s meal and entertainment.

Being here for a year now, it really is the amount of free time I enjoy the most. Because cannot leave my house past sundown (for cultural reasons only) every night is my special time to do whatever I feel like. I have a crafts corner in my house now. I try new recipes. I read books for fun. I clean my house for fun. I sit and think about my life here. I sit and think about my future and where my life will lead me next. I daydream stories, travel plans, work ideas. I think when I return to the United States, it will be these moments of complete solitude I will miss most. Of course, the quantity of complete solitude is one of the most challenging things to deal with as a Peace Corps volunteer.

These contradicting blessings and burdens are the most important lessons being a Peace Corps volunteer has taught me. The things I find the most difficult are usually the very same things that reward me most. Learning Darija (Moroccan Arabic) has been probably the most challenging thing I have ever done in my 24 years of life. But, at the same time, the most rewarding thing I have ever accomplished. The greatest compliment I can receive here in Morocco, is when a Moroccan congratulates me on learning Darija. Understanding and finding my place in my community has also been testing, but those moments when my hard work brings forth rewards, I couldn’t be happier. One day as I walked past the taxi stand in my town I overheard a Moroccan man say to another, “Who is that?” To which the other guy replied, almost bored, “Oh, her? She’s one of us.” I walked with a smile on my face that day. Finding work in my community continues to be both easy and tough at the same time. Teaching myself how to cook by trial and error has been both tiring and satisfying. I have grown so much this past year and still have so much growing ahead of me – fifteen more months of service to complete.

Of course, Megan brought with her a little bit of a reality check! She was never slow to remind me of how my living alone has made me a lot more chill. And let’s face it, probably more weird! But, still the same Jenny. Our trip together was one of those times you will never forget as long as you live. Showing Megan my world here almost verified it for me as, indeed, my life. She met the everyday people in my life: the chicken man, the taxi man, the garden man, the people at the Dar Chebab (youth center), my host family, my friends. She experienced the routine details of my life: She ate the food I eat, she heard the language I speak, she suffered through the heat, she ate with her hands, and yes, she squatted on my Turkish toilet.

Megan has promised to write a guest entry on my blog recapping our adventures together from her perspective, so I won’t go into much detail about our trip in this letter. She took most of the pictures on her camera, so you all might have to wait a while to see them posted online. Maybe I can convince her to post them for me, as my internet is much slower than the DSL you all are used to!

As I reflect back on my first year in Morocco, I am happy with what I have accomplished and eager to do even more work this coming year. I understand now why Peace Corps is a 27-month commitment. There is no way a person could learn the language, cultural norms, and do development work in their community within a year’s limit. The first year really is about settling in, learning the language, and learning your place in the community. This next year I feel finally equipped with the knowledge necessary to begin my real work here: youth development.

Thanks to all of you for your support. Thanks for the emails, the cards, the care packages, and prayers. Just to reassure you all, I am doing great here. I have a nice house, I cook good meals, and I have friends and people who look out for me in my community. Also, for those of you who want to visit, I urge you to start making your travel plans! You only have one year left to come to Morocco in order to experience something totally unique! Marhaba bikum f Dar 3ndi! (You are all welcome at my house!)

Also, if you haven’t heard from my parents, I am planning on coming home for Christmas this year. I should be around for two weeks, but don’t know the exact dates yet. So, definitely plan on treating me to an iced frappacino or burrito!

Peace to you all,

Jenny