she's mo-rockin' now

it's the final countdown (to be sung like the song)

2008-05-18T09:07:00.002-04:00

i will be completing my service on may 30. i thought i'd post a final blog to tie up all the work during my service in morocco. i recently had a submit a description of service that puts into one document all the work that i've done. is it bad that i'm just going to copy and paste that? okay, well i am: (to note: it was written in third person and i'll replace my name with "the volunteer," as this is an "anonymous" blog,.)

this volunteer's main responsibilities during service included:

*working with the ministry of health and peace corps to install a medical waste incinerator in the local health clinic. the volunteer was responsible for educating the clinic staff on the impact on community health especially in the transmission of hiv, hepatitis, and other communicable diseases. she was responsible for monitoring use and trouble shooting issues that arose over the next two years of her service.

*initiating and writing a plan to create a solid waste management system for the village center. the plan included specific details relating to landfill type, placement, a continued funding plan, and community education activities. the plan was translated into arabic for local commune use.

*providing formal and informal educational sessions in the fifty-five village region of her village reaching approximately 102 people. the lessons focused on maternal and child health, family planning, safe water sources, trash management, nutrition, and hygiene.

*providing educational sessions in local elementary schools reaching approximately 382 students. the lessons were focused on dental hygiene, hand washing, nutrition, and in-home water treatment.

*planning and leading two young women’s health groups for girls ages 10-20. meeting for four days, one and a half hours a day, the 29 young women participated in health education sessions and activities covering topics such as dental hygiene, nutrition, waste management, and fitness.

*participating in an educational booth at the 2007 kelaa m’gouna rose festival. 15 peace corps volunteers spoke with 526 people about hiv/aids awareness and prevention.

*leading training sessions about how to teach effective health lessons to rural population for 10 women in a women's association. the women then participated in a week-long women’s health conference.

*overseeing a week-long women’s health conference put on the by the women’s association. the 10 women visited 8 villages and spoke with 587 women regarding family planning, hiv/aids prevention, nutrition, and dental hygiene.

*participating as a camp counselor at a six-day spring camp in oujda in April 2008. the volunteer was responsible for co-running an advanced english class, coordinating and teaching a daily health club, and working with the other counselors to organize nightly activities.

*running a health club at oujda spring camp for 25 students ages 14-18 for four days. the volunteer planned and taught lessons and organized activities covering general hygiene, fitness, and hiv/aids awareness and prevention.

*organizing a HIV/AIDS awareness theme day at oujda spring camp. 102 students
participating by wearing a red ribbon, learning about hiv/aids/sti prevention, and helping to complete an hiv/aids awareness mural.

*writing a grant proposal and securing funding through peace corps small project assistance (for $1008) to complete a piped irrigation system in a rural high atlas village. the system increased available water supply by 15%, thereby increasing crop output. this helped to strengthen the community’s overall economic self-sufficiency and stability. to encourage capacity building, the volunteer provided the association with french instructions on how to write proposals and complete projects, as well as several ngo addresses. this association now has the capacity and information to write proposal and find funding on their own.

*collaborating with a local teacher to request and collect english, french, and arabic materials from various organizations to create an elementary school library.
attending, with a local association member, a two-day workshop focusing on creating an effective association, and funding, planning, and completing projects.

every three months, i am required to submit a report to the ministry of health outline and quantifying the work that i did in those past months. in total, during my service i gave 4173 health lessons to an estimated 1420 individual people in a variety of settings and covering numerous health/environment related topics. yea for me! ;)

i was with one of the program managers this week to check out the progress on the irrigation system. while we were at the president's house for lunch, he brought out the traveling sink (just a basin to wash your hands in) as well as soap. he told the program manager "nadia always makes us use soap before eating." i asked him to explain to me the purpose of the soap. he responded, without skipping a beat, "because the soap helps remove microbes." awh, i couldn't have been more proud. and even better that it happened in front of my boss J. i have always felt that my most important role as a volunteer is to make sure people have the proper health information and then work toward positive health changes. so even, if that family only uses soap in front of me, at least they know they should be and the know that it would improve their health if the did.

i recently met my replacement. i'm really excited that there will be another peace corps volunteer in my village. hopefully, he'll enjoy it there as much as i did.

after i post this, i'll be going back to enjoy the last week in my site. i've been eating lunch on my "terrace" trying to enjoy my last glances at the mountains and my beautiful view. i'm so pleased to have seen the development that has happened since i've been there. in the past two years, they've gotten cell phone reception, a new paved road, and now there's talk of building a secondary school and brining internet to the village. it's an exciting time there. i've had a wonderful time working and living in my site. the people have been wonderful, the view is die for, the water is fresh and cold straight from the spring, and i'll never have the chance to live in a mud house again. that village in the high atlas mountains will always have a special place in my heart and i will never forget it.

goodbye to my house. goodbye to laundry in the irrigation ditches. goodbye the mountains. goodbye to the neighbors. goodbye to those crazy taxi rides and winding roads. goodbye to the cows who walk next to me to market (only one of us is walking back). goodbye to the call to prayers. goodbye to street food of beans and kebabs. goodbye the writing reports in internet cafes. goodbye to a great peace corps staff. goodbye to the friends i've made. goodbye to morocco.

tie it up in a little bow

2008-02-22T05:24:00.001-05:00

this past week, i went to “close of service” conference in rabat. this is where they prepare us for finishing service and returning to america. they encouraged us to think about our peace corps service, what it meant to us, and what we’ve learned. i have just over three months left in peace corps. my 27 month commitment is nearly completed. it’s been quite a ride. this will probably be one of my last entries on my peace corps blog. the following entry will tie together the personal journey that i’ve made over the past two years. it’s one of my more personal entries including the reasons that i joined, what i’ve learned, and what i’ll take back with me. i’m warning you before you’re too committed - this is a long entry. this is not required reading and there won’t be a quiz. consider yourself warned.

why i joined peace corps:

before i left, a lot of people asked me why i was joining peace corps. i gave a lot of different answers because there were a lot of different answers. in short, i joined peace corps to learn about another culture, public health in practice, and more about myself. i thought it was an excellent opportunity to live in a foreign country while gaining experience in public health. i wanted to learn another language and live in a challenging situation. i wanted to volunteer and spend some time living poor. i wanted to push myself to change everything about my life, where i was living, the job i had, the language i spoke, and prove to myself that i could adapt. i wanted to become less materialistic and force myself to reassess my priorities. i wanted a chance to work autonomously, doing the work that i was good at and that i wanted to do. i wanted to have some free time to travel, read, think, and learn new things. i wanted a chance to see public health in action, working (or not working) on a grassroots level. i wanted to see if it was a field that i could commit to; if it was a field that met my needs and held my interest. i also felt that peace corps would offer me the experience and the type of job that i could never have in america. it was the perfect time for me to take a risk, make a change, and try something that i might not have had the chance to do later. two years later, it was one of the best decisions that i have ever made. it’s certainly not for everyone, but i think it was a good fit for me. i accomplished the goals that i set out to, and i had a marvelous time.

what i’ve learned about myself:

*i can adjust to almost any situation. that said, i was surprised the things that were the hardest for me to adjust to: lack of communication (lack of cell phone reception for the first six months, and lack of internet), writing things by hand, and the monotony of the food for the first six months during training and living with a host family. the easiest things for me to adjust to surprised me too: dealing with a lot of free time (i thought i’d be bored), long waits for public transportation (it usually took me at least 3 hours to get to the closest city, which was only 55 miles away), turkish toilets, severed goat heads hanging up in market -- the cow heads took a little more getting used to.
*i can almost survive on $350 a month. well, at least in morocco... it helped that rent was only $60, i had no car, and vegetables are really cheap.
*i’ve realized that i’m very judgmental of people, situations, and circumstances. i have started to actively acknowledge this, and work on being less judgmental, but it’s a long road, so give me a break.
*i can relate to people that i seemingly have very little in common with.
*i am capable of learning another language. surprisingly, it’s not as difficult as i thought. and i’d definitely like a learn another one. probably spanish.
*i think i will really love public health. i’m excited to go back to school and eventually pursue a career in the field.
*teenagers are my favorite age group to work with. i’d like to continue to work with them, either as part of my job or in my volunteer work.
*i really love to travel.
*i really like living alone.
*i can live without running water. i hate it, but i can do it.
*i can’t live without electricity. those two days were devastating.
*i never want to live in a rural area again. i’m a city girl. maybe i could live in a town, but i’m not sure about that. as appalling as it sounds, fresh air and sunshine make me nauseous after a while. but the starry nights are to die for. oh well, that’s what camping is for.
*i never want to live without internet or a computer again. i can barely function. it’s always been my preferred mode of communication, research, information, organization, and pretty much everything else. it’s just something i’ve accepted.
*i can’t live without music. thankfully, i didn’t have to.
*i really hate doing laundry, especially by hand.
*i don’t mind doing the dishes as much as i thought.
*i really love cooking, and having the time to do so.
*i discovered that i really like onions, black pepper, turmeric, black coffee and i really hate cilantro, cumin, and rural moroccan couscous (it’s terribly bland).
*i will never like organ meat. just say no. i can’t wait to be a vegetarian again.
*i prefer the metric system.
*i don’t really like blogging ;)
*i am a really terrible speller.
*i (obviously) really like making lists.
*i use the word really too much.

ways that i’d like to think i’ve grown:

*i am much more grateful for the opportunities that i’ve had. basic things like having the chance to go school, learning english, having a lot of control over my own life, and being able to read
*i think i’m less angry now.
*i’m a little more patient and a little less judgmental. not a lot, but again, long road.
*i understand and appreciate islam a lot more. i’ve learned to love the five-times-daily call to prayer, the holidays, and ramadan (well, at least the part that we break fast)
*i’ve learned how similar all people are. the consistencies across borders: importance of family, socializing over food and drinks (although, in morocco it’s tea, not beer/wine), finding ways to laugh, celebrating holidays, births, weddings, and important live changes, and just trying to make the best with what you have.
*accepting that things don’t always (or even usually) go as planned.
*i’m a lot more patriotic than i used to be. for the first time in my life, being american became one of my main identifying characteristic. although, i’ve become much more pleased to be american than i used to be, i’m not as ethnocentric anymore. i’ve learned to appreciate other cultures and ways of doing things.
*i am generally more realistic in my expectations of others and situations
*i am more apt to try new things and put myself in uncomfortable/challenging situations.

things i promise never to complain about or take for granted again:

*i promise to never complain about taking out the trash. i never got used to burning or burying my own trash.
*i promise to never complain about washing my clothes in a machine. but i still hate laundry.
*i promise to never complain waiting five minutes for a late bus or train.
*i promise to never complain when a restaurant is out of a dish that i want (most of the time in morocco, you ask for at least two menu items before you find something that they have).
*i promise never to complain about waiting in lines. i didn’t encounter a lot of lines in morocco. even when there’s an attempt to make a line like the post office or supermarket, it really just involves a lot of pushing. although, i did have a positive line experience once in rabat.
*i promise never to take for granted having toilet paper provided in bathroom stalls.
*i promise never to take western toilets for granted.
*i promise never to take pilot lights for granted.
*i promise never to take for granted english as a first language.
*i promise never to take sliced bread for granted. who knew that many places in the world don’t have sliced bread. i’m still not over the shock. and what good is the “best thing since sliced bread” phrase in places that don’t have sliced bread?
*i promise never to take appliances and machines (toaster over, dryers, lawn mowers, microwaves, dishwashers, etc.) for granted.
*i promise never to take bookstores, libraries, and books in english for granted again.
*i promise never to take free refills for granted.
*i promise never to take anonymity for granted. i imagine that in america people won’t scream “foreigner/white person” everywhere i go.
*i promise never to take for granted the american breakfast (pancakes, waffles, eggs, hash browns, home fries, cold cereal, oatmeal, toast... i’m going to faint). this another thing that never really caught on in the rest of the world... morocco, it’s always bread for breakfast.. even france doesn’t do this one right.

the third goal:

peace corps has three goals. the first is offering the host country qualified volunteers and technical assistance. the second is sharing american culture with the host country. the third is sharing the host countries culture with americans. mostly, the thrid goal is completed after service. it involves sharing what i’ve learned about the host country (in this case, morocco) with people back home. i have started to work on this goal by sharing my experience through this blog, emails, phone conversations, letters (don’t be mad if you didn’t get one, i didn’t send all that many... stamps are expensive). i also participated in a world wise classroom, by sending this class some information about morocco and creating a powerpoint with pictures. when i get home, i hope to continue to share my experience, showing pictures, making food, playing music (although probably not too much of this... i’m not that biggest fan of moroccan music), answering questions, and dispelling myths. if you or someone you know is interested in having me participate in an event, or talk to a class or group about morocco or peace corps, i’d be more than happy to. also, if you are interested in joining peace corps, feel free to contact me if you have questions. okay, that’s my spiel. enough about that.

you’ve reached the end. assuming you didn’t just scroll to the end, you are a brave solider. i’m looking forward to seeing everyone. i should be back home in mid-june. my last day of service is may 30... and then i’ll spent a few weeks traveling...and then back to my country of allegiance. miss you all and see you soon.

winding down

2008-01-27T06:01:00.000-05:00

so the countdown begins. just over four months until my service is completed. it’s been quite a ride. as much as i’m looking forward to going home, i know there will be a lot of things that i miss about morocco. for now, i’m focusing on finishing up the rest of my projects and work, waiting to hear from grad schools, and planning my final trip.

i will be at cos (close of service) conference the first week of february. i’ll get a chance to see everyone again in rabat for a few days. peace corps will explain the logistics of closing service – information from peace corps, health insurance, what to expect on our return to america, preparation for adjustment, etc. i’m not looking so forward to the information (except about how they plan to pay me my readjustment allowance), but it will be nice to see everyone again.

this week, i have been working on a grant for my final project. as i’m sure i’ve mentioned before, i am working with a teacher that lives here. we are writing a grant to fund a community resource center (that’s really just a euphemism for a school library... and who doesn’t love euphemisms.) we have collected over 100 french and arabic books from various organizations. i’m hoping that with this grant we can expand the library another 100 books or so. i will also donate some art and writing supplies that i have, as well as a full 2 years of newsweeks (aren’t they lucky). with the grant, i’m hoping that the teacher will be able to choose books that are useful in his classroom, instead of just whatever organizations choose to send. right now, it’s looking like the library will be located in an extra room in the mosque next to my house. it would be a good location that people of all ages could have access to most times during the day. we will also (hopefully) add book club for older students and a reading hour for the younger ones. it’s so wonderful to see a teacher as enthusiastic as he is. we are looking forward to finishing the grant and getting it approved. if it does, it will be posted on the peace corps website and anyone can donate directly to the project.

the other project that i took over from another volunteer is just about off the ground. the irrigation project grant was funded and the association has the check. i’ve asked them to cash it and purchase the material by the end of january. i’m hoping that they will finish construction by the end of march or mid april and i can finish the final paper work. they were also really excited to begin construction and complete that portion of the project.

in november, two volunteers (from the small business development sector) moved close by me. now i have two people within two hours travel! they both came to visit me a few weeks ago, and we had a lot of fun discussing their adjustment, language, culture, etc. it reminded me of when i just got to my site and it helped me see how far i had come. they are almost finishing living with their host families, and will soon move to their own houses. both of them are planning to get internet in their homes and said that i could come and use it anytime!

it’s exciting to think that i will be back in america so soon. but before i head back, i’d really like to take a final trip. i’m deciding between two trips, 18 days each. one would cover the middle east – egypt, israel, jordan, turkey, and greece. the other would be in europe – czech republic, poland, hungry, slovinia, italy. both really appeal to me for very different reasons. i’m having a lot of trouble making up my mind. i’m thankful for the opportunities to travel, see, and live in this part of the world. it’s certainly helped me mature and see things differently. before i complete my service, i’ll blog about the most important things that i’ve learned here, and the skills, ideas, and ideals that i hope to bring back to america with me.

anyway, that’s all for now. if anyone would be interested in taking either trip with me or meeting me for part of it, let me know. or if you have been to any of the places mentioned and have travel advice... please do advise.

tr

one day soon i will wake up and it won't be pomegranate season anymore and that makes me sad.

2007-11-06T08:58:00.000-05:00

here we are again. i’ll try to keep this short. updates will live, weather, progress, work, etc.

we are half way through our week-long women’s conference. we ran a training of trainers a few weekends ago to teach educated women how to give health lessons to rural women. then, for the women’s conference we are bringing them to various rural villages and having them do these lessons. they include pre- and post- natal care, maternal health, nutrition, hygiene, HIV/AIDS prevention, and moudawana jdida (the new women’s law giving moroccan women more rights with divorce and child custody). we are handing out goodie bags to the women that come, a toothbrush, bar of soap, health pamphlets, a pen, and a notebook. so far we’ve visited three areas and have had about 150 women show up. overall, it’s going really well. there have been a few snags with transportation (various associations promised vehicles and didn’t follow through), language (the women that are trained only speak arabic, and many of the rural women only speak a local dialect), and monetary compensation (the women doing the lessons have expressed a need for payment, even though from the begining it was clear that this was volunteer work and regardless the grant can not cover labor costs)... but it’s still working out suprsingly well. women are showing up for the lessons, listening, and, i hope, learning something. best of all, it’s the local women doing this... therefore building local capacity. oh, the upside of sustainable development... peace corps would be so proud.

the library is coming along. we just got a shipment of 100 books or so from an american organization. i’m also in the process of writing the grant for some additional books. the teacher is still devoted to the project, and he’s really excited to get it off the ground.

the funding for the piped irrigation project should come through in a few more weeks. i had to send some additional information before peace corps can process the check, but hopefully it will all work out and that association can start construction by the end of the year.

the teacher responsible for the library is also in the process of translating the trash management proposal (god bless him). i don’t think anything will happen with it, but at least the commune will have a step by step plan to implement the project if they are ever willing to. that’s the other side of development work, it’s important to know when to give up and know that everything that could be done at the time was.

winter is coming fast. so so cold. i miss central heating already. but, knowing that it’s my last winter here certainly provides some relief.

still no running water in my house. it’s been 3 months... i need to schedule a meeting or something... but i don’t really know what to tell them, i’m just hoping having them talk about it might encourage some action.

alright, i think that’s all. i’ll post some pictures at some point of the women’s conference and irrigation project. happy almost-holidays and i hope that everyone is well.

p.s. random note of morocco in action: i just thought i heard a street cleaner. i looked out the window only to find that it was a van with a half-ton of reinforcement bars (they're about 20 feet long and terribly heavy) hanging from the open back dragging along the street making a whole lot of noise. oh morocco, i will miss you.

p.p.s. update from one day later: so, i heard the street cleaner again this morning. this time i looked and it was a poor sap on his bike dragging reinforcement bars behind him. honest to god. the van probably broke.

spain, planes and road pavings. (that almost rhymes, right?)

2007-10-04T10:48:00.000-04:00

summer is ending and apple season is in full swing. mmm.. apples. sadly, this week has been a reminder of how absolutely bone-chilling cold it was last winter, something i had managed to conveniently forget. i do love fall though, and i hope the autumn weather lasts at least a few weeks. i have been busy these past few months with works, meetings, vacation, ramadan, and applying to grad schools.

oh, and on an exciting note (well, probably more for me than you), they are almost finished paving the road to my site. they started last year and made very little progress before the rain and snow fall. now it's actually getting done. this has cut a lot of time off the commute to ouarzazate and the trips are a lot less dusty :).

ramadan started september 14th, so we still have a week or two left. this year i am not fasting (to everyone’s dismay, apparently), but i am participating in l’fdor (the breaking of fast). last year, when i was fasting, the last thing i wanted to eat for dinner was porridge, dates, and bread. but this year, i am more than happy to. i have been going to a different family’s house in my village each day to break fast (well, more accurately, watch them break fast and i just eat dinner). it’s been really nice to spend time with many different families, most of whom i haven’t sat down to a meal with before. the holiday ending ramadan will be mid-month, and i’m looking forward to spending the time with my host family. i can’t really remember what they do for this holiday, but i’m certain it involves slaughtering something.

right near the beginning of ramadan, fabiola and i took a trip to spain. it was such a pleasure to finally visit europe and return to the first world. fabiola speaks spanish, so i didn’t even try to remember my rusty high-school spanish. we flew from marrakech to madrid. we visited zaragoza, barcelona, and madrid. i got to see some basic tourist attractions, famous art work, and eat lots and lots of pork (oh my blessed past as a vegetarian). unfortunately, my time in morocco almost made me forget about the glory of real grocery stores, beer on tap, starbucks, and metro rails. fabiola and i had a wonderful time, and i hope to return to spain again someday. and as fantastic as spain was, i was really pleased to get back to morocco. the trip gave me a renewed perspective and excitement for the rest of my time as a volunteer.

a few weeks ago, i held another young women’s health education program. it was very similar to the last one. the turn out was good with about 15 girls coming each day. i am aiming to hold one in a different village every one-two months until i leave.

at the beginning of august, the pump or motor or something broke in my village. we haven’t had tap water since then. when i ask them about it, i usually get some vague answer about it being fixed. they don’t really complain about it… i do, usually only to myself.  i would have thought tap water is one of those things like power locks in a car… once you have it you can’t live without it. but seriously, this is a really important exercise in sustainable development. the previous volunteer wrote a grant to install tap water into the houses in this village about 3 years ago. usually, they are able to fix any problem within two or three days. this time i think that they need to purchase equipment which involves finding a way for them to pay for it. if they are able to find a way to pay for the equipment and fix the problem, it will show that the project was a long term success. now that doesn’t sound so selfish at all, does it?

the irrigation system i am working on in the village up the mountain is still in progress. i submitted a grant to fund the remaining portion a few weeks ago. hopefully it will get funded within the next month or two and the village can start construction.

the school library is also going really well. we just received a shipment of 50 or so donated english and french books. after ramadan, the teacher and i will get together to organize the books and create a check-out system. i am also considering writing a grant (for a few hundred dollars or so) to pay for purchasing additional books. that way, the teacher could have more control over choosing the books, books he would like to have multiple copies of, etc. and because most books that are age and language appropriate are available in morocco, it would make the most sense to purchase them here. i will keep everyone updated.

this month i will participate in a training of trainers for a women’s health conference that will be held early november. i hope to accompany a woman from my village to this training, so she can use the information to hold a similar (or smaller scale) conference. the conference will be in two other volunteer’s villages and will last a week. the women and volunteers that were trained at the training will be traveling to several rural villages to give health lessons and provide health information. while i can’t responsibility for the planning of this project, i’m excited to be involved, as this conference was the idea of a moroccan youth center director. he planned a large portion of it and was able to get local donations to fund a larger part.

this month is the month. i am trying to get my applications completed and submitted for the master’s programs that i am applying to. the application process is significantly more difficult without the internet access or a computer. i am going to apply to five schools, and hopefully i’ll get accepted to a few of them. i’m pleased to have found a program that i am interested, but it’s a lot of stress to complete all the necessary paperwork, get recommendations, write essays, etc. and i’ll be relieved once the applications are out of the way.

less than seven weeks until my trip to see my parents. my plane tickets have been purchased and i can’t wait! i have a nice layover in paris at the beginning and then i’ll be meeting my parents in munich. let the countdown begin.

alright, if you are still reading this, bless you. but that’s about all for now. as always, i hope everyone is well, and a reminded that i love getting emails and letters (hint hint). if anyone still needs it, my mailing address is:

write my name here (you should probably know this part)
B.P. 512
Ouarzazate, 45000
Morocco

summer update

2007-07-28T06:31:00.000-04:00

ok, i know that it’s been three months from the last update… oops. i even wrote this one down on paper (the “joys” of not having a computer). so, it’s summer again… and hot and sleeping is impossible (because Morocco isn’t on daylight savings it starts to get light at 4am). i’m in ouarzazate now, the thermometer reads 45 degrees (113 Fahrenheit)… but it’s probably not quite that bad. we spent a lot of time handing around the air conditioned places (cellphone stores, the post office, supermarkets) until we get kicked out for loitering… fortunately, my house in the mountains is much cooler. so here goes (please excuse the writing, my english and writing skills are suffering... )

general
my friend joanna (whom i know from blockbuster) came to visit at the beginning of june. We visited Casablanca, fes, meknes, chefchouan, and marrakech. it was great to see her, and it was a lot of fun to see new places in morocco. even better, she brought me starbucks coffee and magazines. so, if you’re reading this, thanks for coming jo… i really appreciated it, hope you had fun, and it’s always a pleasure.

after that, i had to go to rabat for mid-service medicals. i love rabat, it’s very european and reminds me of home. it was really nice to see all of my friends in peace corps. we ate lots of good food (i.e. mcdonalds) and went to this mexican restaurant with great sangria and a congalese bar with great dancing. i had lots of health tests and a dental cleaning. i’m supposedly healthy, but i’m still convinced i have a cavity... there's no way an entire year of moroccan tea could have left me without any.

someone’s paving the road to my house! i’m pretty impressed with the amount of development that tidili has managed in three years…. first electricity, then water, then cellphone reception, now paved roads… before i know it, they’ll all have wireless internet and blackberries… well, soon enough anyway.

it’s been a rough couple of months for me. i’ve been experiencing bouts of homesickness and frustration regarding work. i still love living here, but working here has proved to be challenging. it’s slowly getting better, and the homesickness has been subsiding. everything goes in cycles here, and summers have generally been rough on me.

right now, i’m trying to plan a few trips. i’m hoping to take a short trip to spain in october, and my parents and I are meeting in eastern europe for thanksgiving. i haven’t left the country since i’ve gotten here, and i’m getting antsy to travel abroad.

ok, now onto that stuff about the work I’m doing here, because I know that you’re all dying to know:

solid waste management project
sigh, it’s been disastorous. i’ve been coming up against a lot of obstacles with this project. i have done all of the background work that i could have, including interviewing store owners about trash disposal and willingness to adopt a new system, selection of landfill site, write up project proposal. i have met with the commune (local government) technician numberous times trying to work out how to go about implementing this project. from what i can understand, there’s a lot of political issues/tension/corruption within the commune. cecause of this, the commune has been reluctant to commit to this project. the other problem that i have been encountering, is that the people that i need to discuss this project with, and the people with authority to commit to the project aren’t usually at the commune. the president and vice president usually have other addresses in cities, and visit the commune only once every couple of months. after talking to my programming staff about how to deal with the set backs, we have decided that if the commune doesn’t commit by the fall, i will provide them with a translated copy of my suggested proposal with a detailed outline of how to complete the project, and move on to other work.

library project
i am pleased to say that the school library project is going very well. i am working with am enthusiastic teacher who’s excited about the project. we have collected about 100 arabic and french books for the library, and we are sending out request letters to various organizations this week to ask for more donations. if all goes well, this summer we will organize the books, create a checkout system, and (hopefully) arrange a reading hour or reading club for the students to participate in the next school year.

irrigation project
i took over an unfinished irrigation project from a volunteer that finished his service. the village further up my mountain about 30km is trying to complete a project to pipe their irrigation system. the previous volunteer wrote a grant to provide them with piping for a quarter of the full project. as part of this grant, the government division responsible for environmental preservation committed to donate 10 tons of cement and 350 kilograms of reinforcement bar. unfortunately, they were unable to follow through with this donation because of “budgetary issues.” peace corps suggested that i write another grant to cover the additional costs (about $1000). i visited them this week to clarify some discrepancies in the first grant and to update them on the status of the project. they were really nice about it, and even agreed to pay for transporation of the materials. i wrote up the grant and plan to submit it by the end of july. hopefully, there’s enough money left in the SPA (small project assistance) fund to pay for it and the community can start to work on installing the piping.

girls health program
at the beginning of july, i held a girls health program. it was basically an two hour/day four day after-school program (well, without school…. it’s summer) with an activity and a health lesson every day. the first day we had a nature hike, and did a lesson on safe water sources and trash disposal. the second day we had an art day, and the girls colored in health related pictures and i had them explain what the healthy habit was and how to do it. the third day we played Frisbee and talked about the importance of exercise and health. the last day, i had the girls write stories about healthy people and healthy habits and read them out loud to the other girls (it was my feeble attempt at introducing the concept of public speaking and self-confidence)

all together, about 15 girls came each day (mostly the same girls). i felt like it was a great success, the girls seemed to be genuinely interested in the activities and lessons. i catered the program to girls 10-20 years old, and i had a helper (Fatima) who helped me write and deliver the health lessons. some of the younger girls wanted to participate, but the activities were too advanced for them. i want to continue doing some more of these (maybe one every two months) in different villages. i might also try to do a younger girls program with activities more for ages 6-10. altogether, it was a lot of fun and seemed pretty effective.

other than that, i’ve been enjoying my time here (for the most part). there’s something to be said about appreciating where you live when you live there, so, i’m trying to focus on that. i have been doing more yoga, reading, cooking (a lot), and i’ve started to paint again. i am trying to hike more and enjoy the company of my neighbors.

speaking of, i finally understand berber humor.. it took me about a year to get. it basically just involves mocking their friends. i’m trying to get them to appreciate plays on words and puns, but the effort is usually in vain.

i am in the process of reasearching grad school for public health, and i’m going to try to apply by October. i miss my friends, family, and America (well, mostly target stores and free refills). please feel free to email me, as i always love emails and i’ll respond as soon as i can.

after a year

2007-05-22T10:20:00.000-04:00

oh, sorry guys. it's been a long time since i've updated anyone. my sincerest appologies. anyway, lots of exciting things have been happening.

first, i just passed my year anniversary as a volunteer. congradulations to me. one more year to go, and i have a feeling that this coming year will be even better than the last.

second, i've had some great visitors lately. my brother came to visit for three weeks. we had the chance to travel around a bit, essouaria, marrakech, and my site for about a week. then we went down to the sahara dessert and the sand dunes and took an overnight camel trek. we rode camels out for two hours, then we had the chance to sandboard and sled in the dunes (very similar to snowboarding, but well, with sand).. then we had dinner in tents in the desert, slept under the stars, and returned in the morning. it was one of my favorite trips ever.

one of my good friend, joanna is coming to visit the first week in june. i'm looking really forward to it. we're planning a trip up to the north, fez, meknes, and casablanca. i've never seen that area in moroccan, and i am excited to experiance a new part of morocco.

as far as projects, i'm currently focusing most of my energy on the solid waste managment program and the school library. i have been working closly with the technician in the local commune to plan out a trash collection system, work out a budget, and create a lasting system. i suggested a landfill system with trash collected once a week. we would put several trash receptacles in the village and promote them with various educational activities and signs. he is more interested in doing an incinarator/compost combination. while i think a landfill would be easier and more sustainable, i want this to be the communes project. although, i did try to talk him out of an incinarator, because at this point you still have to bury the ashes, and the smoke can cause a lot of health problems. so, at this point, we're looking at a compost/landfill combination. this does rely on people seperating the trash before they dispose of it, and i'm not sure how relistic it is. but the system, if it worked, would be better. when over half of the trash in compostable material, it seems like a shame to simply throw it away when compost could be used as excellent fertilizer. i'd love to see them develop this system future and sell the composted dirt generating a profit. but again, i'm not sure how plausible this is. hopefully, we'll have put together a project proposal in the next month or two and get something off the ground.

my library project is also going fairly well. i've gotten several book donations from peace corps (mostly arabic and french). while some of them are good, some are a little above the students level. i am working with the teacher to create an organization system, check-out logs, and some sort of reading promotion (book club, reading hour, etc).

that's about all for now. next month i will go up to rabat and have my mid-service medical exam. i get to find out how many parasites i have (!)... i promise i'll write another update soon.

projects

2007-01-21T06:19:00.000-05:00

ok, i'm ready to talk about it... what you've all been waiting for... info about my projects, (pauses while croud cheers). p.s. in case you care, there is a differentition in arabic and tashelheit with the word "project" (which implies that it costs money) and "activity" (which doesn't)... so i will split my project/activity ideas up the same way in this post

ACTIVITIES

teaching:
last week, i got together with a few other volunteers, and we did a health education lesson in the local middle school about nutrition, hand washing, and teeth brushing. since i haven't gotten my ministry approval to teach in schools yet, this was a nice first step. doing the lesson with other volunteers also gave me a lot more confidence to start doing them on my own. i have written up lessons for basic hand washing and teeth brushing in my local language, and i'm just waiting for approval to start teaching in my own schools. because there are only primary schools in my site, i have written very basic lesson plans that would suit 5-10 year olds. i explain microbes as tiny bugs that you can't see, but they make you sick, and have various volunteer driven demonstrations. i'd like to also write a very basic nutrition lesson about food groups and the healthy foods to eat.

murals:
something that's also very popular in this country are murals on the school walls. i'd like to do a handwashing mural and a teethbrushing mural. also waiting for approval from the ministry for this too.

school library:

i have requested from the peace corps librarian any donated arabic and/or french books in order to start a school library. i am going to try to stick primarily to french and arabic books, as most students have little to no exposure to english. so, if anyone knows of any organizations that have french/arabic books to donate, or you have them (for some odd reason) lying around you house, let me know.

site map:
this is one that i've been meaning to do, and really should have done it by now... (shame). but i want to make a colourful acurate site map of all the villages that are under my health clinic's authority (that's so the wrong word, but i'm at a lost...). i have a topographic map of my area which shows where all the villages are... it's just a matter of sitting down and doing it. next week, i swear.

water resource guide:
another project that ideally would have been done now, but i'm waiting for my bike to get delivered so i can reach the futher out villages. this, when it's completed will be a resource guide that i will hopefully provide to each association and commune in my village. it will include all the information about the current water supply (where the spring/well/water tower is), how many homes are supplied by the current system, etc., as well as information about the school in the village, the assocation's name, and any other applicable information. ideally this will be translated into arabic or french, you know, so they can read it.

rural health lessons:
as part of the health clinic's responsibility, there is a land rover that goes to the more rural villages (up to 30km away) four times a year to vaccinate children, dispense birth control, and give medical advice. at least once or twice in the next year, i'd like to join them and give some basic health lessons (probably family planning, nutrition, and/or handwashing with soap).

PROJECTS

so, to be perfectly honest, both of my project ideas are entirely overwhelming to me, mostly because of the vast scope and sheer number of steps to complete each. but i will do my best on both of them, and hope that they work out.

solid waste management:
i have done some of the preliminary work on this project. i have talked to the commune president about this project and my ideas, and he seemed supportive of it. basically, this project would invovle making a landfill (i'm still working on finding the land that would be ideal for this - obviously away from the road and any water sources...), fencing it in, providing trash barrels around the center of town, and arranging a person to pick up the trash weekly and bring it to the landfill. i would also like to do a trash pickup in the center of town with the local children. i have started to write this proposal (i'm hoping to get it funded by peace corps small project assistance grant), but i want to get the association in tidili involved more in the process. one of the challenges of this project is also ensuring that it will be funded after an initial grant. peace corps can pay for the landfill and the trash bins, but ensuring that a person could be paid every week to keep up the landfill is essential. i plan to arrange a meeting with the commune president and the association president to work on finding a place as well as talking about possibly a garbage tax to pay the worker. this project would only be in the center or town (getting a trash system going for all of tidili is a little to overwhelming at this point... and i think it would prove ineffective if we tried to do it all at once), and hopefully, if it works out, other villages can use the center system as a model to do their own solid waste managment system.

potable water access project:

this project would be based on the previous volunteer's project. he basically provided an electric pump, connecting pipes, faucets, and bathroom building material to make sure each house in my village (about 30 houses total) had clean running water in their house, as well as bathroom. i like this idea, because it nicely combines the sanitation and hygiene elements of our project framework goals. this project would both be relatively expensive (maybe $5000) and a lot of leg work (in order to figure out who has bathrooms, pricing material, etc), but i think it'd be a great and effective completed project. this is the project i'm hoping to get funded by peace corps project grants (basically people like you can go onto the internet and donate money directly to my project... just keep it in mind... you may get an email in a few months...) although, right now, i'm still in the preliminary stages of this, looking over the grant, talking to different associations to find a good canidate for a project like this, etc. hopefully within the next three or four months, an association can help get this project off the ground.

association training:

this is a project i'd like to have minimal involvment in (as are the goals in development work). but one of the associations in another volunteer's village is putting together an association training. basically, they are inviting associations to train them on types of project and how to manage and fund a project successfully. i have invited one of my associations to attend (they have already done a very successful project that was self-funded), and hopefully they would be interested in doing their own training for the associations in my area.

ok, that's all for now. this is a fairly ambitious list, and i don't think i will get the chance to complete all of the projects i'd like to do.. but what's most important to me is to work with the community and do one or two that they are intested in and commited to. i'd love any comments, suggestions, etc. so feel free to email me and let me know what you think..

projects, training, and whatnot

2006-12-26T08:45:00.000-05:00

happy holidays. a lot has been happening lately. in addition to my parents visit (which was wonderful), i've been at a week of training and working on getting some of my funded projects off the ground.

my parents visited at the end of november. it was great to see them, and i've missed them a lot. among other things, we visited the hassen mosque in casablanca, jama fna in marrakesh, my site (!), and essouaria. it was great for them to see where i live and the work that i hope to do.

right after they left i attended my inservice training in agadir (on the coast). we stayed in a beautiful hotel with hot showers and HEAT! best of all, i was able to meet up with all of the other volunteers from my training, some who i haven't seen since swearing in. i enjoyed the training, much of it was sharing out project ideas with other volunteers and the moroccan public health sector (SIAAP), and exchanging stories and challenges we have faced in the past six months at our sites. we spent time learning about the new project framework. my health sector was previously focused on hygiene and sanitiation and we are moving toward community health education. therefore, much of the program criteria and our requirements have changed accordingly. as volunteers, as part of our work, we are asked to include teaching in schools, running or co-facilitate techniqual trainings and training of trainers for health care professionals and interested community members. this, ideally, will make our work more sustainable once we have left, by working with community assests and building on their knowledge. we also had a presentation on results-based planning and how to plan and execute projects by focusing on desired outcomes and impact. as part of that week, we had to take a mid-term language evaulation... luckily, i improved by one level... sadly, not more (im not considered intermediate high on the LPI - language proficiancy interview - criteria).. no worries, we didn't spend evey minute in training though, we all had a lot of fun in agadir.. i enjoyed mcdonalds and pizza hut... our group even had a burger-off, the winner consuming ten cheeseburgers... heart attack reports will come later. sadly, i did not have the chance to pick up any argan oil (which the area is known for)... but i guess i'll just have to return again soon.

this week is a huge holiday in morocco (surprisingly, it's not christmas)... laid el kabir (literally, holiday the big) where each family slaughters their sheep (which they have been raising and fattening for months) and eats for days. i'm excited to celebrate it with my community (ok, not so much the slaughtering animal part).

now i must get back to work... more will come as my projects get more developed, right now, as far as funded projects, i'm trying to work on a solid waste mangement system and a potable water access project. i will do my best to post mid-january with updates on these. happy new year and best wishes to you all.

'tis a shame

2006-12-05T05:57:00.000-05:00

i sincererly apologize to all of my loyal readers for not providing an update in a shamefully long time. while excuses aren't worth much, i will provide one anyone: you see, i think that it's very difficult to write a quality post in an internet cafe with limited time, so all of my posts tend to say the same thing and are boring... but i will make a deal... i have inservice training next week... i will write out posts before hand (long hand on paper, can you believe people still do that?!) and post at least a few next week. i will provide updates on my projects, traveling that i have done in morocco, plans i have for my time here and the future... thank you for your patience and loyality.

so, today's almost my nine month anniversiry with morocco... exciting huh? it's been a good time.. my parents just left after their trip to visit me in morocco. we had a wonderful time, we visited casablanca (and the huge mosque devoted to the late king hassan II), marrakech, my site, and essouaria. it was wonderful to see them. they both were able to visit my site and see how i live and meet the people that i live with. coupled with the excitement of seeing my parents, eating good food, buying some fun stuff, and sleeping in real hotels, i showered almost every day(!!!) ...so now i'm very clean!

my inservice training is next week in agadir (on the coast south of essouaria). i'm looking forward to it, i get to see all of my good peace corps friends in one place at one time. additionally we get exciting (i use this term loosely) updates on saftey and security. also, we finally are going to recieve information on how to submit project proposals and apply for funding. before this we could only do funding free projects, but mostly we were focusing on getting to know our community and getting better at the language. we also have another language test this week, hopefully i'll do better than the first one i took.

ok, i'm going to update books read (i'm up to 36 or so... but i haven't read a new one in a while)... and next week, i promise to give a full update over several posts. thanks again for all of your support, the emails, letters, messages through my parents are really appreicated and makes a huge difference to my sanity. have a fantastic holiday season and enjoy some fruit cake for me!

6 months

2006-09-06T09:02:00.001-04:00

i can't believe that i have been here 6 months (tomorrow)... i've had a great time. some parts have been difficult, but all and all, i'm enjoying it. my bosses came to my site last week for our site visit (where they talk to you about the site, ideas for projects, etc). hopefully, with the help of other volunteers in the area, i am going to be able to put a medical incinerator in the health clinic so that biohazardous waste can be burned and properly delt with. i talked to them about the possiblility of doing a water project (installing a pump and pipping so people can have potable water directly into the houses, most villages already have these, but a few in my area don't have the funding for a pump), and possibly working with the schools and teaching children about handwashing and brushing their teeth. projects and activities take a long time, so i'm happy that they have started to get off the ground, but i still have a lot of downtime. i've still be reading a lot, and have had the chance to visit other voulnteers and they have come and visited me. i'm really looking forward to my next 20 months here, i think there's a lot of potential for project, and people seem open (realativly) to making healthy changes.

still alive and well

2006-08-27T09:34:00.000-04:00

sorry that it's been so long. i have finally moved into my own house. enjoying it quite a bit... it's been fun learning to cook in a buddagaz (the propane they use here) stove, albeit challenged (burned quite a few cookies before i found the right temperature... there's no temp gauge). i've been mostly reading, starting to do some site assesment work and talking to the people living near me. i went to a wedding this week and the women did henna on my hands. then they start banging on drums from 11pm to 2am... people have been very welcoming and nice to me in my site. my camera broke so i am unable to post pictures, but at some point i hope to post some new ones. i will update my reading list and let you all know what else i have been doing on my next internet day... man it's hot here.

things that you might be surprised that i do in morocco

2006-07-19T08:39:00.000-04:00

*i so watch abc world news every morning (got to get my american weather report) and oprah most afternoons. it's amazing how many families have satalies...

*i eat oreos, pringles, and snickers (but only when i'm in big cities)

*mcdonalds in marrakech has been my salvation. so much for vegetarianism... but i swear, i only eat meat when i'm there.

*i sew. that's right. so far only sheets, but soon curtains and who knows what craziness that will bring.

*i read. i actually finish books now. but often i but the classics down out of boredom before finishing. oh well, somethings never change

to be continued at a later date....

just an update

2006-07-19T08:36:00.000-04:00

i know i haven't written a real message in a while (although i did update the books that i've read..). things are going well. i'll be moving into my house in a little under two weeks. very excited about that. the language is definatly improving. i think i'll be very comfortorable in conversation after 6 months at my site (leaving four more months of "what did you say" and guessing at context, but, such is life). not that much more to say, just trying to meet people and adapt. fortunatly the weather has been nice (nothing like ouarzazate, where i am now, which is 105 degrees.. now i remember why i hate the desert). ok well, i'll get going. signing off.

books i have read

2006-06-25T09:43:00.000-04:00

one of the joys of the peace corps is ample AMPLE reading time (something about waiting hours for taxis to leave, traveling, not having actual structured work times, no nine to fives here). so in case any one is interested, here are a list of books that i have read since i have been here, and what i thought of them. i'll keep this updated as i continue to read...

on a four star system, i was thinking of an arbitrary number like eight, but i thought that it might get confusing.

year of magical thinking - joan didion ****
touching and honest account of the grieving process author after she lost her husband

angels and demons - dan brown **1/2
not well written, but very interesting and entertaining

the notebook - nicholas sparks **
not as good as the movie

the davinchi code - dan brown **1/2
again, like his others, not well written, but interesting and entertaining

nickel and dimed, getting by (or not) in america - barbra ehrenreich ***
the author takes you through her experiances at three miniumum wage jobs, funny and cynical

the things they carried - tim o'brien ****
phenemonal. fantastic ficitional war book, probably on of the best ever written.

she's come undone - wally lamb ***1/2
slightly depressing, but great (on a side note, one of the volunteers had wally lamb as here high school freshman english teacher)

me talk pretty one day - david sedarias ****
funny short stories from sedarias, good stuff

genie - ? **1/2
about a girl who was locked up for thirteen years, and her struggle to learn language and communication after she was found. not exactly what i expected the book to be.

slaughterhouse five - kurt vonnegut ****
i love kurt vonneget, he will probably be my salvation in the peace corps. if you haven't, you should read this book. i'd like to think i share kurt vonnegut's sense of humor, but alas, no one can ever match his genius.

the dharma bums - jack kerouac ****
this is the first of kerouac i have read all the way through, but it was amazing. i enjoyed the way it was written and it's buddhist undertones (or overtones, i don't really know which word is right... oh english)

paradise lost - j.a. jance **
not the famous one... one of two "entertainment" (i.e. fluff) books i read this week. not so bad, read it in a day, keep me interested. wouldn't really suggest it though

a bend in the road - nicholas sparks **
i'm embarassed that he's shown up twice on this list (and soon to be a third, i still have an unread book of his). again, like the last book, fluff, but it kept me interested and i read it in a day. no recommendations. from the two of sparks i've read, i haven't been overly impressed.

the callan's of winona blvd - james b. callan ****
it's hard not to look a book about my family, especially one that i was in all of the pictures

can't hold back the spring - james b. callan ****
read the whole set of my uncle's books... only took me ten years...

the student baker corporation - james b. callan ****
i really enjoyed this book, maybe someday it will be a movie!

naked - david sedarias ****
probably my favorite of the sedarias books that i have read. really funny with really dark humor.

where the heart is - billy letts ***
enjoyable ready, but kind of forgetable, heard the movie was better.

the kite runner - khaled hosseini ****
hands down, one of the best books i've read in a long time. touching and beautifully written.

barrel fever - david sedaris ***1/2
my least favortie from this author, but his essay: 'santaland diaries' rightfully made him famous.

the guardian - nicholas sparks **1/2
how does he keep getting on here?! just a fine fluff book.

devil's claw - j.a. jance *1/2
another fluff place holder book (the lighter books that i read in between really good ones), not particulary good, although i do enjoy this author.

the dive from clausen's peir - ann packer *
i really didn't like this book, probably the first that i've read here that i didn't like (one some level, even for entertainment purposes), the plot had potential, but then it just got annoying.

the glass menagerie - tennessee williams ***
classic play. i liked it, but i think i might enjoy some of his other writing more.

three weeks with my brother: a memoir - nicholas sparks ****
another book by him, whoops.. this was a nonficion book about a trip around the world with his brother. i really loved this book, (although secretly, i love all of the sparks books because they make me smile) but i thought it was very well put together an i was really touched by it. i would recommend it.

memoirs of a geisha - arthur golden ****
i thought it certianly lived up to the hype. a beautifully told story. although, the movie wasn't nearly as good.

timequake - kurt vonnegut ****
i'm a sucker for kurt vonnegut, i don't think i could not love anything he's written, although of the books i've read of his, this was probably my least favorite.

the shop on blossom street - debbie macomber ***
a feel good book, i'm glad that i read it.

skeleton canyon - j.a. jance **
another placeholder book, but not bad.

death du jour - kathy reiches **1/2
i really shouldn't read semi-scary books when i live by myself practically in the middle of nowhere...

deja death - kathy reiches **1/2
oops, i did it again.

breakfast of champions ****
dear mr. vonnegut, you are my hero.

the gazebo - emily grayson ***
feel good read, very sweet.

a walk in the words - bill bryson ***
hysterical account of the authors hike on the appalacian trail. i plan to read more from this author.

you shall know our velocity - david rogers ***
interesting.

choke - chuck palahniuk ***1/2
for the most part, with the exception of fight club, i have really liked this authors books. but they are very odd.

rockin' the moroccan life

2006-06-11T10:25:00.000-04:00

i recognize that moroccan puns are no longer funny, but you can't hold me down.

this has been a very good week, i am getting used to living with my host family (who is very nice to me), and i'm getting used to the huge amounts of children running around. this week i spent a lot of time reading (both for work and pleasure), especially a peace corps book about capacity building in the community. it's very interesting. i also met with my doctor for several hours, and we dicussed what some of my hopes are... amazingly, i find it easier to communicate with him than anyone else in the community even though we have no language in common (he speaks arabic and french, and i speak, obviously english and a little tashelheit). so he would just speak french to me and i would respond in tashelheit. it worked out pretty well though.

i'm finally starting to enjoy moroccan food, i really like my family's tagines (the main dish, it's basically cooked vegetables, usually potatoes, carrots, tomotoes, etc, with meat underneath cooked together in a type of pot that we don't have an equivalant of in the states). i haven't really been eating much meat, which greatly concerns my family, and they think i may die of this. i'm still really looking forward to cooking for myself again, though.

this week i also hiked my first mountain, i hope to hike all of the mountains around my site, i started with the smaller ones. it was a nice hike up, and i met a shepard right near the top, who of course, knew my name, where i lived, the family who i live with, etc. it's a little frightening that almost everyone knows me and watches me, but i guess that comes with the territory of being a foriegner in their community.

next week i am going with the doctor and nurses on the equipemobile (it's a land rover that they drive to the further off villages that don't have easy access to the health clinic, and vacinate all the children in those villages). i'm looking forward to seeing some of the more remote parts of my site and meeting people.

i will start spending every tuesday and thursday at the health clinic, talking to women, practicing my tashelheit, and trying to get a fell for the community. i'm looking forward to starting some projects, the easiest would be to start with some health-related murals on the schools (they love murals) like children washing their hands or brushing their teeth, because this doesn't involve any language and it's a postive health message. so, i'm starting to get a feel for community a little at a time. and for now, i just have to get used to the same questions, and people trying to force me to harvest barley (i'm asked a minumum of thirteen times a day).

signing off from a very hot internet cafe.

and so it goes

2006-05-28T07:31:00.000-04:00

this week was my first official week as a peace corps volunteer, after swear-in, i left for my site. i am replacing a volunteer, he helped me out a lot teaching me the ropes and about the people. and i understand much more of his tashelheit (the language i speak) than anyone elses, so it's great for me to listen to him have conversations and ask for any clarification that i need.

i've decided to move into the last volunteer's old house. it's an awesome (or it will be.. once i'm done with it) house. the kitchen only has three walls and the third is arches so you can look out and see the sunrise and the mountains. i posted pictures which i will send an email link to (let me know if you don't get it an want it) i posted pictures of his house from our field trip. now i just have to make it through two months of host family then i can be off on my own. i am really looking forward to the freedom and independence. it's kind of nice to have as much self-direction in my job as i do. so far i found that i have been much more motivated to do things, and i've started reading up on some potential projects.

people have been very nice. i find that i get along best with the 17 or 18 year old girls. they usually have some schooling so i can get them to slow down when the speak and most of the girls my age are already married with several children.

but you know, i'm really excited about all of this, i think it's going to be a great two years. it'll be rough at times, but i think this is where i belong right now. i'm glad i did it.

and for the record. i have now seen a camel. there were four running through the street this morning in ouarzazate. they don't belong here. so a current count: one monkey, four camels, sixteen thousand june bugs, eighteen cockroaches, millions of ants, and four geckos.

she's a rolling stone

2006-05-23T09:37:00.000-04:00

yesterday i offically became a peace corps volunteer at the swearing in ceremony. now today i am leaving for my site to start my new life. i will be living with a host family for the next two months. they have 11 children, and a huge house on top of a mountain (the mountain that i fell down).

swearing in was bittersweet, on one hand, i'm getting to do what i came here today, but on the other i am leaving all of the friends that i made in training. the governer and peace corps country director gave speaches, as did three trainees. after our language training we have a language proficiancy interview where they rank your language ability. i was in the highest class of the group - intermediate mid (three people got the same score as me), and of the highest class, they pick (or force) on person from each language to do a speech at swearing in. so yesterday, i very nervously gave a speech (only about 5 minutes) in tashleheit (the language i will be speaking for the next two years). i am pretty comfortable in it, but still don't understand everything said to me. hopefully it will all come with time and a good tutor.

but the taxi is leaving in a minute or two, i just wanted to give an update because i know a lot of you want to know what's going on. it'd be great to get letters, if you don't have my address send me an email and i'll respond when i can. from now on, i should have internet access only about twice a month, but i'd love to hear from you anyway.

so now it begins. i full of a lot of different emotions, but i'm definatly excited to see what the next two years have in store for me.

the high atlas

2006-05-08T14:27:00.000-04:00

i'm sorry that it's been so long, i have gotten some concerned emails.... everything is good. we got our final site announcements last week, and this week was spent visiting the site that we will live in for two years.

i am off the main road between marrakech and ouazazarte in the high (and cold) atlas mountains. i know everyone made fun of me for bringing a winter jacket and a sweatshirt and a hat, but it's a good thing i did, because it's a cold site (in fact, i really wish i had brought more sweatshirts, one defintely wasn't enough). it's beautiful there with lots of hiking and great stars and fields of green. it's the site that i went on my field trip two, so i had already had a feel for the site. the winters are quite cold (usually below freezing, and people don't really have heat), and it's pretty nice in the summers. it doesn't rain or snow too much (maybe once or twice a month) because it's in between the mountains, but there is lots of fields because of a irragation system run by mountain springs. people are very friendly in this area, and when i spent the week there, i walked around and introduced myself to people. since i am replacing a volunteer, people had an idea of what i am there for and what i would do. unforutnatly, i will also be learning a different langauge, because the langauge spoken in my site is a totally different dialect than what i learned in class (this was to be expected), and i absolutly need to start learning french... and quick.

my first experiance with the site was falling down the hill (more like a mountain) in front of my host family's house with all 11(!) children watching. i think that falling down mountains will become part of my daily life... hopefully it will build my humility. i also learned the verb "to fall" this week. it will be a challenge to live with a family that i don't know, but hopefully it will help me integrate into the community better. then, i can't wait to have my own house, and finally cook for myself again.

the site seemed great, in that there is a lot of oppuruntiy for health projects (including school health murals, medical incinartors, finishing a pump to bring water to a village, etc) as well as several non-health projects like a french school library and assocation (equivilant to a townhall pretty much) training and organization. the people seem eager to get involved and somewhat organized.

i also gained a pet this week, since i am replacing a volunteer, he said that i could have his cat. i'm very excited. her name is mushkeil (it's a semi-tashielheit pun... mush (well, amush) means cat, and mushkeil means problem...)) it's a pretty common peace corps cat name, americans think it's hystarical, moroccans don't think it's funny at all.

i also have a final mailing address now. please email for it (if you don't already get it) and feel FREE to sent packages/letters/etc (hint hint).

anyway, i'm back in azilal now finishing up training. three more weeks until swearing in... one more week in my community based training site... then to ouazazarte for a week... then to my site for the next two years.

community based training

2006-04-10T14:21:00.000-04:00

last week we spent the first of four weeks at our community based training site. we have one language culture faciliator and five other trainees. i love my group and am getting close to some of the other trainees. i went to a semi-rural village a little over an hour outside of azilal. we had intensive language/culture training for eight hours a day and then we would go home to our host families at night. i love my family. i live with my host mother and father, their son, their sons wife and two children, and their other daughter. the son and daughter (my host brother and sister) both speak a little english, and the daughter is a french teacher in a nearby town. it was an adventure. i learned to properely do my laundry (they got a kick out of the way i was doing it before). my host nephew wanted to play straje all the time (which is pretty much like checkers until your piece gets kinged, then it basically does whatever it wants, it took me a few games to catch on, then i won every time). i learned to cook soup and tagine (the main moroccan dish) pretty well. my langugage skills got much better last week (unfortuantly, i haven't been studying much this week.. hopefully i haven't lost too much). we did numbers, time, family, food, and the major verbs. i'm having a lot of trouble pronouncing one of the letters, which unfortuantly is used in every "i" conjegation of the verb. hopefully i'll get the hang of it. i still have trouble listening and responding to people's questions, but that should come with time. my host sister and sister-in-law understand me pretty well. i was able to go through all of my pictures and explain them in tashelheit. i was also able to compare some things in morocco to things in the states. this town that i'm in has close to twenty hanuts (like cornerstores) that they can get everything from. and i explained that we only have things in grocery stores and no real corner stores. i also explained that everyone has to have cars because things are so far away and we don't have a taxi system. i also explained my fear in riding in taxies (on the way back to azilal our taxi driver was going almost 130 kmph on winding roads and driving on the wrong side... it's pretty typical). during my trip i visited a nearby waterfall with my family, and my class and i went to the suk (market). my family told me that next time i come i can cook american food, which i look forward to.

we returned to azilal last thursday for more technical training. since then i have been learning about latrines and water sanitiation systems. i'm really looking forward to getting to my site and being able to get working on projects. i also had my first henna done in country. one of our staff members did a great design on my hands.

tomorrow is the Prophet's birthday, so it's a big celebration in morocco, and we get a special breakfast of traditional food. it will be lots of fun. then, on wednesday, we leave again for our CBT site for another week of intensive language.

a week in the bled

2006-03-27T12:43:00.000-05:00

we got back from the vacation on saturday. it was quite an experience. last sunday we left via taxi with several other people and went through marakesh and spent the night in ourzazarte. we spent time with a few of the current volunteers and with some of the enviornment trainees (who we split up from after leaving rabat). it was great to see some of my friends again. the next day we left with peter (our volunteer/host for the week). we took a taxi/bus back to his site after checking in with the gendarmes (police) and letting them know we were here. eli (the other trainee that i took my field trip with) and i stayed at peter's house the first night. it was a long drive in a van with 18 or so other people in it (way more than really should fit) through a long and winding road. you really have to put a lot of confidence in the driver for a ride like that, any second you can fall over the edge of a mountain. but, we figured that the driver wanted to keep his van and stay alive as much as we did. the first night at peter's site was really windy. he lived in a douar (village) about a 15 minute walk from the main douar. it was a beautiful site high in the atlas mountains. there was a ton of water and greenary everywhere. one of the main sources of income in this area is agriculture, so a lot of time is spent with irigation and controlling the water (aka flooding everything in sight). we got to peter's house (which is an old grainery that he transformed into a livable area). there was a courtyard with stairs going up to an opened kitchen (not quite outdoors, but pretty much) and one bedroom/all purpose room. i really liked it, it had a very peace corps vibe to it. we spent 3 hours in the windy kitchen making dinner. peace corps volunteers tend to be amazing cooks because they can spend hours making meals, because, frankly, there isn't usually much else to do. we had some sort of seasoned beef, cheese cauliflower soup, and seasoned rice. it was amazing. most of the food we ate with peter came from the peace corps recipe book, which i'm told is a fantastic collection of good recipies. over the next few days we spent time traveling to a view different douars and seeing what they were like and shadowing him as he worked on finishing up some projects. we taught at a school in the area and taught them about brushing their teeth and washing their hands, the younger kids got to color some healthbased sheets. we visited the sbitar (the local clinic) and met with the doctor and watched vacinations being given. it was really interesting, because when i am in site i will be spending a lot of time in the sbitar. unfortunatly, this was a day the doctor was on strike (which is a legal strike that happens once a month or so) so they were only giving vacinations and treating emergancies. we stopped by the netti (which is a place that the women in the area get together and usually make rugs, but it tends to be place for female volunteers to get to know the women and connect with them. we also saw some of the work that peter had done at his site including bringing running water to his village. they had already had a resevior and a well and just needed a pump and pipes to finish the project. he was able to get funding and put running water and bathrooms into 50 houses in his area. it was great to see a volunteer who really had made a difference in his site and i found it very inspirational. voulunteers always aim to leave a tangible project behind that makes a lasting difference, but aren't always able to, so to see someone who was so successful was great. the second and third nights eli and i spent in seperate host families. basically we were thrown into a very uncomfortable situation of having two hours of tashelheit language training and barely knowing any words and sitting with a family that only knows tashelheit, and trying to figure out what to do. pretty much it involved me pointing to this, asking what it's name was, writing it down, and smiling... then silience. there were 6 children, a mother, a father, a grand father, and a grandmother (at least from what i could figure out) in the family. the father told peter that my name was too difficult (even though all of the sounds in my name are also in tashlehet, but whatever), so they renamed me hena.. they were very nice to me, and kept telling me to eat (one of the few phrases i recognized)... it's no wonder peace corps volunteers gain weight. even with all the walking. a basic day of eating in morocco involves no less then bread five times (with breakfast, with each of two snacks, with lunch, and with dinner) and tea no less then three times (with well over 5 teaspones in a small little cup)... i love sugar, but i have never had moroccan tea this sweet. it's funny to watch.. they dump sugar in the pot of tea, taste it, pour it back, dump a ton more in... then serve it. i really think i'm going to focus a lot of my time on dental hygiene. at the host family, i slept on the floor in the main room (where they eat and watch tv and sleep) with the older girls and the grandmother of the house. it's surprisngly comfortorble... although moroccan pillows are very hard. we spent the last day on a walking up the river and seeing the mountains. it's a breathtaking area. i am really trying to get a site in the mountains. while it's horribly cold in the winter (since most people don't have heat) and you never really get warm for three months a year... it's way better than the 110 degree summers in the desert. i know i can handle cold way better than heat. and i love the mountains and the hiking possiblities. additionally, the stars are amazing out in the bled (the country side, that's what all the rural areas are refered to, i think it's an arabic word, but i'm not sure...) you can see thousands. i really wish i had brought an astronomy book or a star map, i will have to see if i can find some constellations and star names on the internet. on the way home eli and i met up with several other trainees in marakesh for the night. i got to spend time in the marakesh medina (market). i only bought a hat for 12 dirham (about $1.10) which is awesome and made by the berbers. mostly i was checking the place out for future purchuses once i know the language and can properly barter... hopefully, a bongo drum, somegreat lamps, and a few wonderful pieces of jewelery... interestingly, berber languages are much more respected in the area then is english, french, or arabic, so once i can speak berber, i'll be able to get the best prices possible. marakesh was an intense place, it's nice to have a place where not everyone stares at you because your no longer the only white person, but you trade that off for everyone trying to rip you off and harass you for your buisness. regardless, i will spending ample time in marakesh these next couple of years. now we're back in azilal... i've spent all this past sunday learning nouns in the lanuage... it was kind of scary to realize how much i have to learn in the next two months, so i'm studying as much as possible (this is totally not like me)...

reflections on the field trip: it was wonderful to get a feel for what the actual site could be like. it was so beautiful and definetly rural. the people were fantastic and really inviting. i'm actually getting used to the squatting floor toliets, but it's still a relief to see a western sitdown toilet once and a while. most volunteers have a ton of free time, i think it will be nice to have time to read, reflect, look at the stars, cook, and just take time to do what i've wanted to. but i do anticipate some lonliness. fortunatly, there's always the bbc. the trip helped to confirm that the peace corps was the right desicion for me, and it was nice to see a volunteer who has successfully made it through his two years.

cbt: now starts community based training (cbt). every other week starting this coming thursday, we will live with a host family at night and have classes during the day. the classes are a mix between language training, technical training, and cross cultural training. my family has 8 people in it grandparents, two parents, their sister, two children, and some sheep, chickens, and a cat. while here, we will eat breakfast and dinner with the family and eat lunch with the other trainees between classes. i will have my own room (which in a family of 8 is hard to believe). i'm looking forward to the the stays with the family, but i'm disappointed that i don't get more language training before (and my more, we don't have any language classes before we leave for cbt). i have been spending as much of my own time as possible learning, and we have some opporuntity for tutoring at night (which i will be taking full advantage of). the most difficult thing for me about tashelheit is that one, there are completely different words for every singular and every plural (for instance flower is ajdig and flower is ijdigin) and they don't follow a consistant pattern, so pretty much i will have to learn double the nouns. the second problem is there are five or six words for one thing (like rug) and i don't know which people will use. oh well, let's hope i get through. anyway, i will try to update again after the community based training. thanks for all the support, well wishes, and prayers from back home. they really mean the world.

market, new language, and field trip

2006-03-18T08:25:00.000-05:00

so much has happen since the last time that i've posted.

thursday was suk (market) day. pretty much the entire area closes down and everyone goes to the market. you can find almost anything there... watches, jeans, scarfs, popcorn, spices, etc. there were hundreds of people there, a little overwhelming, but very interesting. we were taught how to barter and purchuse items in arabic. fortunatly, we still had the help of our LCF (language culture facilitaor)if we forgot how to say certian words. i really need to learn my numbers, it's holding me back a lot. i looked at scarfs, but i didn't find any that i really loved. instead i bought a pair of sweatpants, because i forgot to bring all of mine.

yesterday we also found out what language we are going to be learning. (this is the one that we will be speaking at our site... learning arabic was more of an assigned side project). i will be learning tasheheit (a berber language mostly spoken in central to southern morocco). tasheheit is not a written language on it's own, they use arabic script (which is why we were learning arabic script). we started learning basic words and pharses today. i think it's a bit harder than arabic, but tasheheit uses a lot of arabic words for many things.

tomorrow is our first field trip. i will be traveling to sour, morocco (pronounced sore). i will be at a site with one other trainee and we are assigned to stay with a volunteer. we will stay with the volunteer for two nights and our first host family for two nights. hopefully it will give us a good perspective on how life as a volunteer would be, it's also meant to get us excited about learning the language (once we discover that it's impossible to function in the community without knowledge of the langage). anyway, there's much more for me to do today. by the way, i'm loving handwashing my laundry. i hate doing laundry in the states, but there's something calming about handwashing.

signing off from the land of the cold sun (again without access to spell check... sorry).

peace corps training photos

2006-03-14T14:12:00.000-05:00

sunrise from the plane over morocco

rabat at night

rabat during the day

azilal - training site

azilal - training site

this was a difficult process, don't expect to see too many pictures, but i'll do what i can. anyway, enjoy.

red sand and blue skies

2006-03-14T13:33:00.000-05:00

i have been in azilal for four days now. the first day was my birthday. the trainers gave me a wonderful birthday cake to share and sang me happy birthday in both english and arabic (they started to in spanish, but by then it was getting kind of ridiculous..) azilal is a beautiful area, 4000 ft elevation in the middle of the atlas mountains. you can see snow covered mountains contrasted by the bright red sand on the ground. there have been completly blue skies every day and wonderfully clear skies at night.

yesterday we had eight hours of arabic script. that was tough, even worse that i don't remember it. i have been walking (sometimes jogging if we get ambitious) every morning at 6:30am, it makes the day much better.

last night we started a game of soccer with the moroccan kids in the area. it was great to be able to share one game that we all knew. we struggled with picking teams (some people in our group are fluent in french, which has helped), but once we started playing it was a lot of fun. i learned the arabic words for "hurry up" and "go go go" as well as the french words for "where's my defense?!" (everyone likes to play offense and no one will stay on the defense side).

i can't believe we have only been in morocco a week, it seems like it's been a month. as americans, we still get laughed at while walking down the street, but i think i've been used to that.

next week is our first field trip, we get to visit current peace corps volunteers at their sites. i think it will be a great learning experiance and a chance to get a feel for what my life will be like when i actually get to my assigned site.

anyway, i will post pictures as soon as i can (i think i have to download a program to do it, so patience patience). i really appreciate all the emails of support from the states that i've recieved, it's meant a lot to me during the transition.

p.s. my computers in french, and i can't find the spell check. my apologies.

so much has happened

2006-03-09T13:27:00.000-05:00

five days since i've left... man, a lot has changed. i'm sitting in a cyber cafe in rabat, morocco (very close to the ocean) - it's only about 6 dh (about 56 cents) for an hour of usage. we started out in philly, pa for the first few days of training (called staging). this was basically just a basic introduction to the peace corps and the people that i would be working with during training. then we got on a bus and drove to jfk airport and took air maroc (partnered with delta) for the 7 hour flight to casablanca, another bus ride to rabat, and we've been in the hotel since. it's beautiful here. what an amazing and rich culture. after only 4 days, i am in love with this country. pretty much everyone in the city speaks a least moroccan arabic and french, many also speak english. i managed to order myself a croissant and cheese in french yesterday, amazingly, of the 100 words of french i know, cheese, croissant (obviously) and please, are all in my vocab. we walked around the city last night and checked out the scene. there are several mosques around the city (in morocco, only muslims may enter mosques), but we do hear the prayers five times a day over the loud speaker (one of which is going off now). i can see the ocean from the hotel, and the sunsets are beautiful. it's around 50-60 degrees most of the day, pretty mild, but still nice. i've warn a skirt more days in a row then i ever remember. there's been a lot to take in with all of the training, but i'm finding it all very interesting. tomorrow, our health group leaves rabat and travels to azilal, morocco (in south central morocco). we'll say goodbye to american toilets and the environmental volunteers, and be on our way to 11 weeks on intensive training. thank you all for your support, and i will update as often as i can.