Yes, you, MAY! (The month that was...)

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In the month of May, our experiences fell generally into: (1) our house and furnishings, (2) trying to obtain our legal residence card, (3) dealing with ants, (4) some training which resulted in visiting three cities, (5) warmth shown to us by people in Ksar, (6) dar chebab activity and (7) a little illness.

Here are some short videos to entertain you. 😊

Wedding Parade Outside of our Window -

Typical Conversation in a Key Shop -

Our Furniture Being Made -

Our House Key Being Made -

So, we realized that we had a serious ant problem when they started opening the frig to help themselves! LOL! Fortunately, they are just the very annoying little black ants and not the bitey kind that really make life miserable. Regardless of the type, they love meat and honey! It is extremely difficult to find ant bait here and the bug spray smell was plain awful (and doesn’t get to the root of the problem anyway). We have lots of holes in our old house, even some tiles with holes made on purpose by prior residents, and by “some” we actually mean a bazillion! One time we left a meat bone out because Ann was going to give it to a stray dog and in the morning, all we saw on the counter was a huge black moving mass… the bone was COMPLETELY covered. Those who know Ann’s allergy to some ants know that her skin has been crawling since we first saw these critters. After trying everything available, it does appear that ants will die from the “degreaser” spray that we bought to clean the kitchen. We are not sure if this fact bodes well for us, since we spray it on our counters to clean... meh, will find out eventually. J We are still looking for a solution that does not involve products available in the US, since they are not available here, so if there any suggestions out there, let us know. We are poised to try cinnamon, Borax (if we can find it), salt and cornmeal, all given to us as possible remedies by the locals. Wish us luck!

Which, leads us to food. Let us just say that it is cheap to eat here, and eat organically without trying. In-season fruits and vegetables are everywhere. A kilo of tomatoes, that’s 2.2 pounds, costs about 30 to 50 cents, but we hear they get up to about a buck at some point. Right now, in season are carrots, peas, beets, small green beans, artichokes, cabbage, potatoes and zucchini (which this last word, you can’t say here because it means penis). You should see the looks when we forget this simple fact and one or the other of us calls out from across a stall, “Hey! Do you want some zucchini, it looks pretty good?” Oh yea, not good. There is fresh cilantro, parsley and thyme for about 8 cents per bunch. Fruits currently in season include watermelon, cantaloupe, peaches, apricots, lemons, bananas and apples. We did pass on the apples the other day because they were a little expensive at $1 for 2.2 lbs. It is all about the bargaining, anyway… if you don’t question the price, you are either 1) rich, or 2) rude. We make quite a sport of the bargaining process. Clay enjoys the game more than most and will walk away from a deal over a few cents, but especially when we see someone getting a better price before us. We have a go-to butcher now for meat, which is the most expensive thing to eat here. He is quite the nice fellow and loves us because we speak to him in Darija! He makes wonderful kefta (ground beef with spices, parsley, garlic and onion) taking great care to ask how much onion, parsley, salt and fat (yes, fat added for flavor and moisture) we would like and he brings out his finest meat for us to choose from. He is always trying to outdo himself and takes great pride in cutting the nicest pieces of meat for us (all the meat costs the same). The other day, we walked up and he showed us a very nice piece of meat (think huge slabs of beef and giant chunks) and low and behold, there in the center of a chunk was tenderloin!!! We had him cut a kilo out for us and it was 70 dirhams, which is about $8.50. So, we ended up with over two pounds of fresh that day tenderloin (think filet mignon) for under $10… not too shabby and most people wouldn’t even know the difference. Of course, fresh chicken is available live or dead, your preference, which we really like because you know it is seriously fresh! However, Ann is not a big fan of the plucking machine… if you have ever seen it, you know why (it makes a noise that just seems painful). We also have fresh fish available every morning but we are not venturing there yet because the fish are super small and bony. Of note are the exceptional plums that are divine and melt in your mouth and we cooked fresh shelled fava beans for the first time and are really big fans.

Continuing on with the food theme, let us just say that we are BIG fans of butter… but, the butter here is something else entirely. We have never had butter churned within hours of eating it. Additionally, we have never seen it made on the street in old water bottles, but it is the most delicious butter we have ever had… hands down! Add this fact to the freshly made soft cheese and bread baked fresh every day and we could have a serious problem brewing! YUMMO! Luckily (or not) for us, there is no wine to have with it. So, what is the downside? The bread is often carried around in someone’s trunk or on the back of a 3 wheeled motorcycle (not covered or otherwise kept clean) to be delivered to the individual souks (stores) and dropping it on the ground and picking it up and putting it back on the sale table is okay. The butter and cheese are sold by people sitting on the ground with their blankets (the blankets do appears clean) and the cheese is often wrapped in palm leaves and the butter is just scooped out (or cut off the mother log) and put into a plastic bag. What a change from the U.S.! One last comment about food - - In the U.S., we never bought organic food because of the price (and Clay didn’t care anyway, something about “tree hugging hippies” I think), but here, we are buying it now because there is nothing else and it is cheap, does that say anything about “developed countries?” Let’s see you find meat killed that day, fruit picked hours before or butter made while you watch, in the U.S. Good luck!

One of our main duties in May was to get our Carte de Sejour (residence card), which, happily, we finally paid and received a “receipt” for two days ago. After taking countless trips to the police, providing endless types of documents, filling out papers in a language we don’t understand and answering VERY personal questions, including the probing, “why don’t your kids have the same last name,” we felt EXTREMELY relieved to at least have a receipt that says we have completed everything and are just waiting on our physical card to arrive. Ssshhhh! We were illegal for a while, but problem solved! It will take up to 7 months to receive the actual card with our photograph, at which time we will have to begin the process again for the 2^nd year… OMG! LOL!

In May, we travelled to a city called Sidi Kacem for Volunteer Support Network training. VSN training is to prepare and qualify us to listen to other PCV’s who have problems. Yes, Clay is a part of the support network and has learned to be a great listener who just wants to hear people talk and never give his true opinion. Bahhhh haaaa haaaa!!! Do you want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge while we are at it? J Anyway, it was a 2 day training and we stayed overnight in Meknes, a large city towards the middle of the country. It is very touristy, so although we would have loved it if we were just visiting Morocco on vacation, it didn’t hold that much excitement for us. In fact, Sidi Kacem is a typical small city with little interest for tourists.

We also travelled to Fes for several days for our “Region 8” meeting (we are located in region 8 according to the Peace Corps). We saw some PCV friends and had some free food and a decent hotel room was provided (nice change for the Peace Corps!). We did make a trip to the Marjone there (Moroccan Wal-Mart) so that we could purchase a few items not available in our city, such as, bathmats, a real emersion blender, soy and Worcestershire sauce… stuff like that. It may be funny to hear, but we really are tired of going off to other parts of the country and would like to stay still long enough to get our house in order.

Speaking of our house, we have made some progress on that front. However, it is one thing after another. We now have a functional kitchen except the floor is still disgusting and we are working on that. We have 2 functioning toilets and showers (although one shower is in a room by its lonesome). These things, alone, have been quite the feat, but as soon as we can get some furniture, we will be ready for guests, we hope. For our master bedroom, we ordered a bed to be made by a carpenter, which turns out to be way cheaper than a ready-made bed. Yes, indeed, hand-crafted, real wood furniture is the way to go, and we aren’t sad about it, but patience is not only suggested, seeing as this is Morocco, it is required. For example, the man we engaged to make our bed, three tables and a coat rack (Yea … Ann wanted it.) told us it would be 2 weeks to get it, and it has been almost 4, and it is STILL not finished. We also ordered ponge bases, basically the base for the traditional Moroccan low couch. These couches/benches are also being hand-crafted. But unlike the man making our bed, the carpenter we hired to make the TV room furniture set a more realistic timeframe of 2 months. Yes, this is a long time to wait for furniture, but the finished product should be amazing! It will be completely worth the wait, and we will probably have that furniture forever! See photos of them being made….shivers down our spines at the human craftsmanship, time and pride taken in what we will one day own, inshallah.

Don’t laugh but we have become true Peace Corps people due to some of our inventions: the paper towel holder made of PVC, parachute cord and a carabineer, the toilet paper holder made of string and hanging on a nail on the back of the bathroom door, using the screws that former residents screwed into the tile to hang our kitchen utensils, and the best one of all, washers (for plumbing) made out of plastic from old bags. We will be putting in some silicone this week with a “pistole” (they call the gun for the tube of silicone here) to work on sealing ant holes and various other issues, such as a leaking cistern. On most days we were in town, we scraped a little more paint off the beautiful skylight that the previous resident painted red so no light would come in. After we finished the great paint removal quest, the skylight started leaking… go figure! So, we will have to silicone that too. J At least the light shines brightly in the house now!

We have finally made it into the dar chebab (youth center), which is the primary place we are supposed to work in Morocco. In April, the mudir (head guy) placed an announcement outside the DC about us (which we did not see nor approve of in advance of its posting). So, on our first day, we were given a list of 105 students who had signed up (in Arabic) for “English classes.” We had previously told the mudir that our first day in the dar chebab, that we would only observe the center. In fact, we explicitly stated that for the entire month of May, we would only be observing the activity in the dar chebab so that we could create a baseline against which to measure our progress in the future. Additionally, we stated to him that we would use that information to make a schedule of activities and classes. Well, on the first scheduled day at the dar chebab, approximately 45 students came ready to start learning English! Apparently, the announcement that was posted, stated that classes would begin immediately… what?!?!? No problem, we just used the time to introduce ourselves and outline our plans and goals for the dar chebab and our new students. On the second day, we took information from approximately the same number of people, about interests, ages and genders (a mix of males and females, primarily between 15-20). On the third day, we had students, one at a time, write his or her name on the whiteboard and stand beside it. We then took photos of our them, with their first names written next to them, which generated much excitement and showed a lot of group dynamics. We did this activity for two reasons, 1) we would have a picture of the students with his or her name in it, these pictures would allow us to study name and faces at home (thank goodness for smart ideas!!!), 2) we got to engage the students beyond the teacher/student relationship and probe their personalities a little. It was a raging success and generally speaking, Moroccans LOVE pictures!!!

Moving forward, we have created a schedule for the summer. We have no idea who, if any, of our students will come, as the summer is especially challenging because Ramadan starts July 9th this year and continues through to August 8^th. We hear of Ramadan in the States, but here, it is part of who the Moroccans are as a people and is extremely important. It is a time of great sacrifice, but also one of amazing warmth and sharing. People here fast (no food, water, sex, gum, cigarettes) from sunup to sundown and stay up most of the night socializing and eating. Many have told us that they want to be here, in Ksar, no matter what! In any event, we are also going too fast. Why, you may ask? It is very simple. There is an old saying in many countries and most languages which goes something like this, to truly know someone, you must walk a mile in his/her shoes. We love the people here and during their time of hardship, we want to experience both the pains and the joys associated with this very important holiday. Plus… we want to be able to say that we did it too!

Moroccans love to sing! This month, Clay had a wonderful woman, whom we know well, beautifully sing a passage out of the Quoran to us about “Kareem,” Clay’s Moroccan name. It was both touching and humbling to hear. At the dar chebab, Ann had some kids sing a song to her that they made up about “Miriam,” her Moroccan name. Pretty cool stuff.

Last thing to report is that, it is not fun to have a stomach virus in surroundings which have not become comfortable yet. All we can say is, thank goodness this did not happen in our prior home (remember the under the stairs Turkish toilet?) Although our brief stomach bug was horrible, it could have been much worse… just say’n.

June will be the first really hot month in Morocco. We will also be traveling to Marrakech, the most travelled-to location in Morocco, for more training. Yay and an 8 hour train ride to boot. We will take many photos for the next blog, we promise!!! During this extremely hot (we are, after all in AFRICA!!!) month, we will most certainly miss our old home and pool and the beach. For all of you at home, Happy belated Memorial Day and enjoy your month! To our daughter, we will celebrate your birthday in this coming month, wishing you were here.

This last paragraph is food for thought. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, defined a developed country as follows. "A developed country is one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment." In 2013, Morocco is still a “developing country.” Now having lived here, albeit just for a short time, we are trying to figure out, why it is called “developing.” More specifically, what is Morocco developing from and to? Our observations of Morocco are based upon our limited and personal experiences, but also from the perspective of foreigners, living in a strange land, who are from the “developed” country, known as the most influential country on earth. We observe the following to be the priorities of most Moroccans, ranked beginning with the most important: (1) family (including eating meals together), (2) religion (which includes treating others as you would like to be treated and charity), (3) saving face and honor, (4) school or apprenticeship, (5) socializing, (6) humor and fun, (7) the art of bargaining and money. And finally, just a few observations: There is available in Morocco an abundance of cheap food, mostly organic, including fresh fruits and vegetables and daily slaughtered chicken and meat. Islam is the religion of Morocco, but people are free to practice religious freedom and Moroccans will tell you that they are very tolerant of other religions. Alcohol is prohibited by Islam, but people still find it if they really want it. Children play outside and they are loud and have fun, all without a Nintendo or an Xbox. They play games with marbles and string and are conten. Satellite TV is free (you just buy the dish). There is a merit based system to get into college (which is free if you make it) and it is very competitive (although cheating is a reported problem). Goal 3 of Peace Corps - - share what we learn about Morocco with folks back home. Thanks for helping out!!! 😊

Well gang, that’s it for today… stay tuned for more exciting news from Africa!

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