Mamma Mia!

"Anyone can be a mother but it takes someone special to be a mommy".  My mom has a shirt with this on it.  It's true that any woman can become a mother.  It's even truer that it does take someone special to be a mommy.  Lucky for me, I have a mommy.

So today on Mother's Day, even though I cannot be with her, I want her to know that I'm thinking about her.  It's not just today though.  I think about her everyday.  Here's some of the reasons why:

• Coffee.  We are a big coffee drinking family.  On mornings when she didn't work, we would sit at home sharing a pot of coffee or go out to breakfast and enjoy coffee together.  Sometimes she would forget her travel mug at home when she left for work early in the morning and I would have to bring it to her.
• Popcorn.  When she would come from work, we would share a bowl of popcorn and some diet pepsi.  I can't get the diet pepsi here, but I do make popcorn on a daily basis.
• My hair.  It's incredibly long now and I could use someone to french braid it.  Mom's the best french braider around.
• Clothes.  Not only are several of the important pieces of clothing I have here in Morocco made by Mom, others have had to be patched up several times which always makes me wish Mom was around to do it for me.
• My soap.  My aunt sent me a care package with Cotton Blossom shower gel from Bath and Body Works which makes me think of Mom because its her favorite scent.
• Mamma Mia!  Not only is it one of my many nicknames for her, we also saw the musical in Toronto and went to go see the sing-a-long version of the movie.  There was one other person in the theater with us and I'm sure he's still sorry for staying while we belted out the tunes.  I still watch the movie frequently and sing the songs of Abba almost daily.
• Little children.  Don't get me wrong most of them are adorable.  Every once in awhile though they get me to that point when I think in my head "you're on my last nerve buddy".  Just like when my brother and I were little causing trouble after Mom had worked all night and she would say that to us.  Like mother like daughter :)  Also, since she works with the little babies I think about all the little kids here who should be a lot bigger but they are not because of malnutrition and poor health.  
• Sickness.  Morocco and my health system apparently are not good friends.  It seems that every week I have some sort of sickness going on which just makes me want my mommy.  Or I need her to confirm that I am not dying from cancer or a brain tumor.
• Cleaning.  It seems that everything where I am is destined to be covered in dirt.  Every time I have to clean I think of my Mom always cleaning her glasses.  Every time she would clean them, put them on and say "that's better".  Just like how I feel after I've swept up the new inches of dirt covering my floors.
• Flowers.  There are a few flowers that just make me think of her.  Sometimes it will be the smell of lilacs or it will be the colors that remind me of the flowers she used to buy every week to put on the dining room table.  
• Pancakes.  My mom used to love making pancakes for dinner and so do I.
• The song 'Mama' by Il Divo.  a) it's a beautiful song and b) it talks about love for their mother which I also have a lot of
• Technology.  Not many people in Morocco can type very fast which yes, makes me think of my own mother slowly typing out the letters.
• Women.  Not every women but the ones that I know who are strong, confident and loving mothers themselves.  
• Blue and red.  The color most likely to be seen being worn by my mother.
• Scrub pants.  She's a nurse and sent me some old scrubs.  They save my life in the heat of summer and make me think of her.
• Wine.  Yes my mother is enjoying good quality wine while I'm stuck with the freshly squeezed bottles but I think about how I tease her for being an alcoholic when she might enjoy a glass of wine from time to time.
• Books.  Mom's an avid reader and enjoys the benefits of working a few days at Barnes and Noble.  She was always a pro- let's buy a book instead of a toy kinda mom.
• T.V. shows like 'House' and 'Revenge'.  She's the one who told me to start watching them and I'm hooked!
• Germany, Italy, Albania and Canada.  Just a few of the places that Mom and I have traveled to together.

These are just a few of the things that always make me think about my Mom.  It's been hard to be away from her and the rest of my family these past years but her support was one of the reasons why I've been able to do this.  I look forward though to being able to go to breakfast with her again or have a spa day together.  I'm happy that soon I'll be able to talk to her everyday or at least way more often than now.  Soon I'll be able to spend holidays with her again.  It will be good to be home.  With that said, happy Mother's day Mom!  I love you.

Mom and Me at my brothers wedding in 2008

Concept of Time

In America, when you say "Let's meet at 10", you show up a few minutes before 10.  If you show up at 10, you're late.  Here in Morocco, time is a much more obscure concept. Here you're more likely to hear, "let's meet after lunch" which could mean anything from 3 onward.   Several institutions are more likely to keep business hours such as the post office, banks and the dar chabab.  However, that means every time you have to go to the store to buy bread or try to get a taxi to go to another town or try to visit a friend, you never know if the store will be open, there will be taxis running or if you'll interrupt that friends meal and/or nap.

Most places in my town close for about two hours for lunch.  This means if its lunch time and you need something, you're out of luck until later in the afternoon.  It's happened to me several times where I needed just one thing to make lunch and I forgot to go get it before things closed.  I also had to learn the hard way about traveling out of my site during lunch time.  When I first got to site and tried to leave anytime between 12 and 2, I ended up waiting for at least an hour to actually get on the road.  Lesson learned.

Just when you think you have time all figured out in Morocco, they throw you a curve ball.  Daylight savings time.  Not everyone observes daylight savings time here.  Farmers work by the sun, not an actual time.  The only people who you know for sure follow it are those people who work in the post office and banks.  Not even all dar chababs are on new time which is confusing since the schools are.  This has now turned the conversation into something like this:
friend: Let's meet at 4.
me: ok, old time or new time?
friend: old time.
me: ok, so we're going to meet at 3.
friend: no, I said 4.
me: yes, but I am on new time.
friend: ok, well I'll see you at 4.
me: yes, 4 old time.
friend: inshallah.
me: inshallah.

Did you follow that?  So you can see the confusion this causes.  Most stores are still on old time.  The workers work with the sun and accordingly the call to prayer.  This means that now when I think it's lunch break, I still have an hour to go out and buy anything I need.  This also means that most things are still closed for lunch break when I am walking up to the dar chabab at four.  The best part about all this is that during Ramadan, everyone will go back to old time for the month and then spring forward again after Ramadan ends.  Are you confused yet??

Luckily, this concept of new time and old time is not new to me.  Even in Albania when there was daylight savings time, some people stayed on old time.  It's just like old leke and new leke or dirhams and ryals.  Not everyone uses the same unit of currency but after awhile you just know.  You learn who uses old time and who is on new time.  You plan accordingly.  If all else fails, you just blame it on old time.  "I'm an hour late?  No that can't be.  I'm on old time."

So you see, the concept of time in Morocco is quite different from America.  You get there when you get there.  An appointed time to meet is more of a time frame to meet.  Time is money in America.  In Morocco, time is uhm, well....... time is not going anywhere so don't worry about it!

Moroccan Tile

There are so many colors found throughout Morocco.  The best example of this is through the tiles you find around the country.  There are so many different colors, patterns and designs.  They use them on everything from walls, to fountains, to gates.  I always love looking at the tile when I travel.  Here are a few different examples of Moroccan tile from around the country.  

Tile on a fountain in Agadir

Tile at a train station in Meknes

Tile in a house in Fez

Tile inside a hotel in Azrou

Tile inside a hotel in Azrou

Tile inside a hotel in Azrou

Tile outside a house in Azrou

Tile at a train station in Meknes

Tile outside the big mosque in Casablanca

Tile outside a park in Tiznit

Tile on the gate leading to the old city in Meknes

Tile in an outdoor fountain in Rabat

Which one is your favorite???

An Important Visit

It's not everyday that you see a wedding tent put up in the courtyard at a dar chabab.  When a wedding tent goes up, you know something important is happening.  Something very important happened at my dar chabab about two weeks ago when a delegation from the Ministry of Youth and Sports came to Massa.

We had known for about a month that a delegation would be coming to Massa.  It took weeks of planning and organizing all the youth to prepare for their arrival.  It didn't help matters any that they were coming on the first day of spring camp and I would have to leave spring camp for half a day to attend.  The students all had assigned tasks.  Some were told to clean others were to make new decorations and a few were preparing songs and dances.  The kids were excited and so was I.

The main reason for the visit was to see the activities we were doing on AIDS education.  The delegation spend two weeks in the Souss visiting dar chababs in Taourdant, Ikhourbane, Tiznit, Temsia, Kolea and Houara.  Through my mudir, they had heard about the AIDS skit that my Acting Out Awareness group had been traveling around the Souss area presenting.  Their play would be the grand finale of the event.

On the day of the visit, I rushed back to site after finishing English class in the morning at spring camp.  I arrived back in Massa right before lunch time and ran up to the dar chabab just before my mudir arrived to drop off some posters that needed to be hung.  We hung the posters and then my mudir invited me to his house for lunch with him and the delegation.  This was the first time he had invited me to his house and it was even more intimidating since the delegation would be there.  We arrived and after a short walk around his neighborhood we sat back to enjoy meat and prune tajine, fish couscous (a local speciality), dessert, tea and cookies.  It was so delicious and filling that we all had a hard time making it back to the dar chabab!

The welcoming committee

Already about an hour late, we arrived to the sound of drums, singing and traditional Tashalheet dancing.  There were two students outside the gate waiting to greet us and a table set up with traditional Tashalheet food and youth dressed up in traditional Tashalheet clothes.  After we shook hands, kissed everyone on the cheek and received our red ribbons we proceeded to walk through the dar chabab.  The ministry was impressed by all the English books I've managed to procure over the past few months and the new studio that the hip hop group built.  After the tour, youth and parents were invited to sit down for a short discussion with the delegation on the direction the new minister is taking.  There were well over 100 people crammed into our upstairs meeting room but I've never seen so many parents taking an interest in what was happening at the dar chabab!

The youth also created this banner for the Health Club

Next, the youth were divided into four groups to participate in Ministry led workshops about how to be ambassadors to their peers on AIDS education.  Each workshop focused on a different way of educating their peers.  One group watched a video and had a discussion, another made posters, another did games and the final one talked about creating health clubs.  It was very interesting to see the ministry's take on peer education.  I learned a few things myself.

Creating a poster on AIDS education

As the event was coming to a close, we all gathered again outside under the big tent.  Each group did a short presentation on what they had done during their workshop.  Next a group of youth from one of the associations that's active at the dar chabab did a short play on stereotypes about Berber people.  I didn't understand most of it but it was funny to watch.  Then it was finally time for the Acting Out Awareness group to take the stage.

It was perfect timing.  The sun was beginning to set and the shadows cast on our makeshift stage of tables only added to the drama.  The audience was silent and the actors were amazing in front of the 250 strong audience.  I couldn't have been more proud of their performance and all the hard work they had put into organizing the event.  I could tell by their faces during the standing ovation that they too were proud of their accomplishment.

I think doing the play outside as the sun was setting only made the play better

Before the delegation left, we had a small reception for them with the youth who are most active in the dar chabab.  I had to leave early to get back to camp but my mudir told me the delegation had nothing but good things to say about their visit.  I thought that that was the end of it but I was wrong.

When I returned from spring camp my mudir told me that delegation was so impressed by the Acting Out Awareness group that we have been invited to participate in an AIDS forum in Fez!  The kids couldn't be more excited.  For almost all of them, it will be their first time in Fez and their first time to be that far north.  We still do not know the dates of the forum but it will be in the next two months.  Right now we are working out logistics with the ministry.  It's just another thing that these kids can be proud about.

Acting Out Awareness Group receiving a standing ovation

Just another day in Peace Corps :)

It's Hot! To the Beach!

Spring Camp Agadir 2012 in Pictures

My English Class the first week

Morning Aerobics!!
Looking good PCV's!

Halloween Night!
Contestants for the 'scariest' costume category 

Beach Olympics!

All the campers from Massa with me on the beach

Earth Day Activities
Planting flower crew

Moroccan Wedding Night!
Bjai representing as the Tashalheet mother of the groom

Human Knot!
Good way to keep the kids entertained for awhile

Tug-of-war!
My team did not win this one....

Crazy Sport Relay Races

Crab walk relay races

Talent Show at the end of Week 1

Some of the campers and I at the end of week 1

RIP Beth and Leslie
So tired after 2nd week of camp ended

Overall, camp was a huge success.  The kids had a great time and we had some great activities.  We were able to celebrate Earth Day, we put on a scary haunted house for 'Halloween' night, we had a ton of talented kids wow us during two talent shows and we went to the beach everyday.  Another two weeks of camp under my belt here in Morocco.  Good times as always :)

Morocco How To #5: Turk Toilet

The turk toilet or squatty potty is the normal way of relieving oneself here in Morocco.  At first it might seem intimidating or awkward but you will grow to love it.  Here are the easy steps of how to use the Turk successfully.

Step 1: Pre-bathroom ritual.  Roll pants up and empty pockets.  You don't want to have to fish your phone out of the turk!

Step 2: Enter the bathroom and take in the surroundings.  In many places, there may be something blocking the hole of the turk.  You will want to remove that before squatting.  Also, take note of whether there is a tap or if there is a water reserve.  If there is a tap, you will want to fill a bucket up.

Step 3: Assume the position.  Sometimes ladies like to face the wall when urinating but try both ways and see what works for you.  Note, you do not have to have your feet on ridged blocks.  You can take a wider stance if it is easier for you to aim.  Also, there is no shame in holding on to the wall, door or water tap.  Do what you gotta do!

Step 4: Do your business.  I don't think you need help with this one (or if you do, seek medical help).

Step 5: If there is no toilet paper, pour some water into your left hand and reach on back there and take care of that business.  Pat it dry.  If there is toilet paper, take care of that business and discard said TP into a wastebasket.  Sometimes it is next to the turk and other times you will need to step outside to find a trash bin. Putting TP down the turk is not recommended as it can cause a clog.  You don't want to be the one to cause that!

Step 6: Flush!  Pour that water down the drain.

Step 7: Wash your hands!  Doctors recommend singing 'happy birthday' two times to achieve maximum cleanness.

That's it!  That's all there is to it.  See, not so scary is it??  The following video was created to show to the new trainees that arrived in Morocco this past month.  Enjoy and next time you see a turk, walk in with confidence!

The next Morocco how to will be heading your way soon so stay tuned!

So What Do You Do?

Many PCV's get asked the question "So what do you do?" all the time.  It's tough to describe a PCV's job.  It's not as easy as a job description in America.  A PCV's role is defined by the needs of the community.  For Youth Development (YD) PCV's, our job includes many things.  In order for you the reader to understand what it means to be a YD PCV let's define a few things first.

What does youth mean?  Many will probably say someone between the ages of 8 to 21.  Here in Morocco youth is defined by your marital status.  If you're not married, you fall into this category.  Another way that we describe youth is young at heart.  Many PCV's work with married members of their community who are looking to better themselves in some capacity.  Whether that be learning English, learning how to knit, learning about healthy lifestyle choices or learning how to write a grant.  This is one of the challenges of being a YD PCV.  It's up to the discretion of the PCV to determine the needs of their community and then find the best way to meet the goals and objectives of PC as it applies to their community.

Many people think that YD means teaching English but that is not the case.  We're not TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) volunteers.  Many of us teach English as a way to meet people in our community and to have a 'job' in the eyes of the community.  When people ask us what we do and we say we're a volunteer they become very confused.  "Volunteer isn't a job.  I asked you what you do!"  When we respond with "I am a teacher" then they understand why we're here.  It also gives us an amount of respect within the community.  So what does YD mean?

YD means that we are working with youth to prepare them for the world of work, teach them about healthy lifestyle choices and working with community members to present youth with the best opportunities for their future.  This includes many different types of activities; teaching English, creating sports clubs, art clubs, theater clubs, journalism clubs, health clubs, environment clubs, working at camps, helping at Special Olympics, SOS Villages, organizing workshops etc.  It's hard to create a job description so that friends and family back home understand why we left our home and traveled to a foreign land for two years.

A new group of trainees just arrived in Morocco this past Wednesday.  In order to give them an idea of what their job will be like for the next two years, I was asked to gather pictures from current PCV's and create a short video about the current work being done in Morocco by YD PCV's.  You can find the finalized video here.  Hopefully this will help explain exactly what it is YD PCV's do.

So what does YD mean?  Well it means that we do what we can within our communities to help youth and community partners to prepare youth to be successful, contributing members of society.  That might still be too vague a description for most people but how do you explain that you sit at your dar chabab and talk to your kids about stereotypes and opportunities to learn outside of Morocco?  How do you tell people that your job includes sitting at your students house for tea or for couscous and talking with their parents about letting their child attend camp over spring break?  There's no job description that can fully explain a YD PCV's job.  That's just another reason why PC is the toughest job you'll ever love.