Back Home (in Sefrou)

---

Oct. 8
Sefrou
This was the first day I really fasted like you’re supposed to. The past few days I have been cheating with water and a small lunch. Ramadan started on Wednesday, but this Saturday is the first day I really fasted.
I didn’t feel pressured to fast, but everybody is so happy that I tried it. It’s not as hard as I thought it would be, probably because I get to sleep in and have a nap in the afternoon. Schedules are definitely different during Ramadan. We used to start class (Peace Corps language class, learning Darija) at 8:00, but now we start at 9:30. We also have more time to study and I actually have time to get to the internet café because we’re not eating lunch. Afternoon class time has become nap or study time.
We have activity time in the Dar Shebab from 4-5 and everybody is invited. We play Frisbee, card games, chess and generally hang out with the kids who show up. Today Nada and I tutored a woman who speaks quite good English but wants to improve her pronunciation and work on listening to native speakers. I think that’s what most people come to our classes for.
We go home at 5:00 during Ramadan because most people go home an hour or so before sunset to get everything ready for Lftor. Lftor means breakfast and during the rest of the year is the name of the morning meal. During Ramadan we break the fast at sunset, so we have breakfast instead of calling it dinner. It’s an odd play on words in English but it doesn’t work as well in Darija.
Lftor is a huge meal and we usually start (at 6:10, depending on sunset) with a date or dried fig and a glass of milk. After not eating or drinking all day you can’t just dive right in. We watch prayers on the TV while we eat the date. Every night they show the sun setting over a mosque, sometimes in Rabat, sometimes in Casablanca or another city. The words of the prayer scroll across the bottom of the screen, but I’m no where near good enough to be able to read them as fast as they go across.
After the milk and date we start in with bread and cheese and meats and olives and all kinds of pastries and sweets. It’s always decadent. Hedirda (my closest spelling to what they say) is a traditional soup that accompanies every Ramadan Lftor and we usually have it at the end of the meal. Malika makes the best hedirda and I have asked her repeatedly to teach me how to make it. I’ve had it at several other places, and hers really is the best. Of course, I’ve been so busy we haven’t really had time for me to help her cook. Hopefully this Sunday, which is supposed to be my day off, I’ll have time to learn more about Moroccan cooking and perhaps even how to shop/ bargain in the suq (market).
After Lftor I usually go back to the Dar Shebab to teach since now is the time people come out and have some energy. Class during Ramadan is from 8:15 to 9:15. Prayers at the mosque end at 8, so we tried to give people time to eat and go to the mosque before class. I’m always amazed at how many people show up for the classes, but I’ve been told the numbers go down over time since at first most of the people come just to see the new foreigners in town and watch the show. Eventually only the ones who actually want to learn English keep coming.
Tonight class was cancelled because of the big soccer game between Morocco and Tunisia. The mudir (director of the Dar Shebab closed it for the game). I had no idea that Assma was such a hug soccer/ football fan and tried to tell her so. After using the words for a hand held “fan” and a big air conditioner “fan”, and lots of laughing, I finally just told them that it’s the same word in French and we settled on using the word fan in English to describe her love of soccer. I didn’t feel like explaining fanaticism and everything. I’m still trying to learn basic verbs in Darija and that has priority now.
After classes at the Dar Shebab I walk home and help (a bit) to prepare the night meal, which we don’t eat until almost midnight. It’s much smaller than Lftor and has less sweets. Tonight we had marinated skewers of turkey, a beet and potato salad with parsley and onions, boiled sweet potatoes with oil and cinnamon and plums and apples for dessert. We also drank Orangina which I was very happy to find in the store today. It’s great to be back in a country that has Orangina readily available.
The morning meal has to be eaten before it’s light enough to tell the difference between a white and a black thread outside (Surah 2, verse 187 in the Koran). Malika woke me up at 3am this morning and we had flan and figs and dates before going back to bed. It’s a very different schedule, but not as difficult as I thought it would be.
Ramadan is not practiced the same in all countries. In Morocco fasting is obligatory and it is actually illegal for a Muslim to eat in public during this month. On the other hand, often nothing stops during the day when people hear the call to prayer. I’ve been told that in some countries fasting is not as important, but everybody actually stops what they’re doing and prays when they hear the call. FYI, in Morocco the call is never taped, five times a day a real person gets on the loudspeakers in the mosque tower and sings out the call, which can also differ from country to country. In Morocco the call is sung in a manner similar to the one in Mecca, but I’ve heard recordings of other countries’ calls and most have very different styles of singing.
This is definitely an educational time to be in Morocco and I’ve been trying to pick up as much as I can. I’m also trying to read the Koran, but it’s so long I think it might take me all three of the Ramadans I get in Morocco to make it all the way through.
On a side note, my reasons for fasting are not exactly the same as the reasons of most people here. It is a large part of the culture, and I want to do it partly out of cultural sensitivity. One reason is for solidarity of all people, and I definitely feel that here. Everybody knows that everybody else is fasting and they are more tolerant of people moving slower or making mistakes. I was playing chess with some guys the other day and we were all laughing at the stupid mistakes we were making, putting ourselves into check and such. We all were feeling a bit weak and had headaches from dehydration since it was almost 5pm. Another reason I like is to feel empathy for the poor who have to choice but to fast much of the time. I really appreciate all the food we have in the evening when I haven’t had anything all day.
Ramadan has just started and I’m sure I’ll learn a lot more as the month goes on. I’ll try to keep you posted, but if you have questions use the message function, not the comment function on travelblog. The comments are things that I can approve to have posted at the end of my blog. The messages actually get sent to me email.

---

Photos

Lftor
My first Lftor with my host family, the day we got back from Immouzzer. From left, me, Sara, Amina and Malika. My friends are always welcome in Malika's house for meals or spending the night.

from my window
The colors were better in real life, the yellow buildings and the dark purple clouds. You'll just have to use your imagination. Nada & Michael's house is the white one on the left. Amina's door is green and has kids gathered in front of it. It's nice to have them so close.