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Published: December 11th 2013
Halloween came to Ksar el Kebir, Morocco... and it was BOOtiful!!!!
A local teacher, who started out as our student but now has become a friend, told us the other day, over tea and sweets at his family’s home, that in Morocco, you must have patience or you will lose your mind. Truer words may never have been spoken. We have learned this lesson time and time again during our ongoing journey in Morocco. This attribute is tested daily, in almost everything we do; from setting a simple meeting, to hiring a plumber, to communicating an idea which has never been considered before. One of the great challenges of transitioning from a busy, calendar dependent lawyer in the United States to a newcomer in this starkly different land, complete with a new language and culture, is learning that spending an inordinate amount of time to complete all things work related is not particularly meaningful part of our host culture. On the other side of the coin, time is extremely meaningful when it comes to spending it with family and fostering friendships. Simple greetings take five minutes. Just saying “Hi” is more of an art form than it is a word
of greeting. Seeing a friend on the street and quickly shouting “Hello” would be unheard of and considered rude.
As mature adults, parents, attorneys and teachers, we know the value of patience, as we were often forced to practice this value constantly in our daily lives… much too many of our clients’ and children’s dismay and chagrin. However, as well honed and time tested as we thought our patience to be, nothing could possibly prepare us for Morocco… not even the process of joining the Peace Corps!!! We have raised this attribute to heights we previously never dreamed possible.
One may think that getting classes started in a youth center would be a simple task. You create some classes that may interest the youth, post a schedule and wait for the fun to begin… simple. However, nothing could be more far from the truth. The simple task of getting our classes up and running in the dar chebab (literally, “House of Youth”) was thwarted at every turn. All of our efforts to create and implement this simple plan were made almost impossible by our lack of experience in this foreign culture. Where we saw a simple plan to
hold a few classes, the people of Ksar el Kebir saw two Americans wanting to make a change within their society. Patience testing, rethinking our strategy and hilarity quickly ensued. However, for most of the summer, it was as if we were running knee deep in quicksand and never moving forward. Let us explain. Just to remind everyone reading this post, we live in AFRICA!!! That fact being said, it tends to be rather warm here during the summer… by warm, we mean 110 degrees or more, most days. Our town is land-locked and there is not a breeze to be had. This uncomfortable heat causes many lifestyle changes for the summer season and most people, who are able, leave our city for the whole season and head to the coast (or anyplace that is cooler!) The days in Ksar are sweltering and AC (clima) is rare here. With the weather and the exodus that accompanies it, we already had two strikes against us and our efforts to establish a regular class schedule. And then there was Ramadan. Ramadan, while a wonderful and very educational experience, did not help in any form or fashion with our plans and the fact
that people did not eat or drink during the day, only compounded our inability to get anyone interested or to get anything going. Quicksand!!! The experience was extremely frustrating, but it should be noted that we used some of the aforementioned patience and we used some of this time to travel to Belgium and Portugal. When life gives you lemons… we did indeed make lemonade!!! In September, school started, people returned to Ksar and our city awoke from its heat-induced coma; it once again became the vibrant and alive city that we have come to love so much. The sounds of the youth in the streets, the vendors hawking their wares, the men (old and young alike) having animated discussions in the cafes once again invigorated us. But despite our enthusiasm and the removal of the blockades of summertime, working out a schedule, getting meetings to happen, communicating our agenda and getting approvals took inordinate time, to us anyway. Whenever we would inquire as to when we may expect an answer, and approval or a key to open our dar chebab, we were inevitably met with then phrase, “Inshallah.” This phrase, while it seems to simply say, “If God wills
it,” means soooo much more here in Morocco. In fact, it is used for many, many things… sometimes it means yes. Sometimes it means, no. Sometimes it means maybe. While we were dealing with the “inshallahs” and preparing ourselves to move on to our new AND approved schedule, our city had a few more holidays and celebrations to enjoy before it would join us, the usual Friday shut-downs and time with friends and family took priority over these Americans and their classes. It is really a different world for us and it is amazing the patience that we have developed while living here. Having both chosen and accepted this wonderful journey, we have no intention of losing our minds or our patience now, inshallah.
Having braved and survived all the above, October 31 arrived, Halloween for America and it was the first day we were able to connect with the youth in our dar chebab. We decided to do it up well with lots of candy, Halloween paraphernalia, scary music, a mask-making activity and just plain fun. Probably the most successful, fun and well received activity was bobbing for apples. We used Ann’s pink shower bucket… but nobody thought
anything of the fact that a bathroom wash bucket was used to hold water into which we placed apples and the youth submerged their open mouths into in hopes of retrieving and apple!!! As we prepared this activity, we could hear the mothers of America screaming words such as “UNLCEAN,” “GERMS,” and “the PLAGUE!!!” Oh my… if only they truly knew. If nothing else, we enjoyed our laugh! After all, this is Morocco and things such as teenage boys routinely wearing their mother’s plastic shower slippers, which happen to ALWAYS be sizes too small, are common place. Why would sharing a mother’s water bucket be an issue? J Not one person thought, “ewwww, why would you put your mouth in a bucket of water where other people had their spit!” (Or worse.) Of course, Moroccans regularly share plates of food, eat without utensils and have one common glass of water to share with the whole table. Ironically, we have yet to see a person here (including ourselves), get sick and shed this mortal coil because we drank from another’s glass. The whole thing was a hoot and it was a good ice breaker to have younger kids with older kids,
as well as girls and boys together, join in the traditionally American game. We enjoyed the experience as much as everyone else. (Please view the short videos and accompanying pictures.)
We took the opportunity that Halloween presented to us to make a vocabulary lesson, teaching about witches, cauldrons, ghosts, pumpkins (which here are called “gra” (squash)), “boo!” and more. The younger kids really enjoyed making and coloring masks. For the girls, the mask making activity really worked out because they generally do not want their photos taken, but the masks provided the opportunity to fully participate without compromising their fears. The older kids, some of whom are extremely talented, brought their guitars and started playing music. Singing, dancing and good old fun ensued. We learned that we have some amazing musicians and break dancers in our midst. It was loud and a little bit crazy, but completely controlled. At some point, the dar chebab “gate-keeper” came in and told us we should be quiet. We simply looked at him and used our newly acquired Darija and said, with straight faces, “Inshallah!” Bwwaaaa Haaaa Haaaa! American team, one, “gate-keeper,” ZERO!!! After all, this was the day we had waited for
and was a long time in the coming! Interacting with the youth, doing our jobs, and doing them successfully!!! HAMDULLAH!!! (Thanks be to God!) However, in the end, we piped it down a bit to maintain goodwill with the person upon whom we must depend to open our doors, quite literally, to future opportunities with the youth of Ksar.
The night was small but magical, we all had an amazing time and we shared our cultures. We brought candy, spooky sounds, scary tales and, of course, apples (in a wash bucket!). But we were treated to eager participants, smiling faces and laughing from the inside out. The boundaries between Americans and Moroccans, in Ksar el Kebir, were completely erased on Halloween night, 2013. We were simply new friends enjoying each other’s company and it was AWSOME!!!
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