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Morocco
"Chance encounters are what keep us going." -Murakami

Saturday, December 19, 2009

It Gets Serious Now

Note to Readers:
Up until now, I tended to blog under the umbrella of the subject "cultural points." Today this changes, to an extent. I am going to begin focusing on work, some controversial issues, and trying to be more reflective and critical.

Second Note to Readers:
My apologies for not posting as frequently as I had hoped. I am attempting to change this nasty neglectfulness regarding my blog, and my outlet to you all.

Now on with the rest.

Lakefront Village

I just returned home today after traveling all day on a combination of transits, cars, taxis, and buses. The only type of transit (available in Morocco) that I was lacking was a train. I am sitting here writing, armed with a warm cup of Lipton Green Tea, and a bowl of some sort of Red Beans and Rice that my loving parents shipped (thank you!). I give you this set up, not because it is important to the story, but because in my 3 hours back from my trip, I have not yet had enough time to reflect on my previous five days away. So I may prolong and procrastinate in the entry, as my thoughts change, and as my fingers go in and out of being numb from the cold in my house.

This past week, I spent traveling, in order to work/help out on another volunteer's project. This project was a event based around health and wellness. Specifically, an association from El Jadida offered to come to this PCV's village and give up to 500 free diabetes tests, along with free eye exams. If you needed glasses, you could get them at the cheap rate of 100 DHs (13 USDs). I must also add that while the El Jadida association was heading this up, there were 2 other outside associations that combined forces.

So in all, here are the partners for this event.
- Three Associations outside of the village
- One Association within the village
- The Department of Water and Forests (In Name only)
- Three more than willing PCVs
- One PCV organizing all of the above into a great event

So myself, and 2 other PCV's traveled to my buddy's village (4 of us in all) to assist in this wonderful event. Our initial plan was to connect on the theme of wellness and healthy living for a community that was motivated and identified this as a need and want. We would conduct tooth brushing demonstrations, and also do a sort of recommended daily guidance of sugar. We were armed with toothbrushes, ready to shoot them out into the mouths of those willing to accept. We also had plans to play a little soccer, and potentially Frisbee.

We met up on Tuesday, so we had a few days to plan the event well, get ready for it all, and relax a little. About the setting: My buddy's village lies on the shores of the second biggest lake in Morocco, in the middle of the wheat belt. It is still warm in his site (like spring or fall-like), and so this provided a break from the cold, and a new part of the country to see and experience.

It is a rural village (as most environment PCV's are in rural locations), and there are no cafes and people hang out in various spots throughout the village just "shootin' the shit." I must add here that I was in an area of the country where ONLY Darija was spoken. This meant I was unable to communicate well with townspeople. BUT, this changed, and I realized I could use my context cues and non-verbals along with the verbals I knew to get by just fine. It was great getting to learn/practice Darija, and I feel like I learned a good amount.

So during this time we hung out and relaxed, and got all our work done. The dynamic we had as a group was nice, as we were all very relaxed, and it seemed as if nothing stressed us out on the surface. This created an atmosphere allowing for success. On a personal note, it also allowed for a break from some difficult times recently, and was very fulfilling.

The event itself went phenomenally, with about 200 people being tested for diabetes, and 27 people ordering glasses to be picked up at a later date. The group of us PCV's spent the day helping out, getting things when needed, and doing a tooth brushing demonstration, along with playing soccer with some of the boys (we wanted to have a girls game, but decided to not approach that idea.)

In addition to the actual event, we tried to use this event to publicize Peace Corps within the local area. My buddy (sorry I am not mentioning names) is the first volunteer in his area, and so Peace Corps is not well known. He has made some big strides since being there, and this was another sort of jump. EVERYONE of importance in the area showed up for the day. The gendarmes were there for security and order (including the boss), the Kaid was there, the Commune President as well, and the Water and Forest counterpart of my buddy. They were great, and while seeing what Peace Corps is all about, they were able to see other Americans, and have a slightly different perspective. (Side Note: My friend has long hair, as do I... I now think everyone in the village will think all American Men in their 20's has long hair)

Seeing how motivated the association within the village and in the Dept. of Water and Forests made me happy for my fellow PCV. They love him in their village, and rightfully so, as he has already done so much for them.

As the day went on, I was able to do some networking, and hopefully this sort of testing can be done in my community. I had some wonderful conversations, and one of the doctors who was volunteering himself came over, and the two of us conversed for a bit. At one point in the conversation we were thanking each other, and when he told me, "thank you," he added that "It makes me happy and is so great of you to come and help the people of my country."

It is comments like that that make my day, and I think I almost teared up. With the recent hard times, those sorts of comments re-energize me, and get me re-focused on what I am doing here.

I leave you all with this quote, by one of my favorite authors, that I have been pondering lately:

"But who can say what's best? That's why you need to grab whatever chance you have of happiness where you find it, and not worry about other people too much. My experience tells me that we get no more than two or three such chances in a life time, and if we let them go, we regret it for the rest of our lives." -Haruki Murakami (From "Norwegian Wood")

Much Love, and Happy Holidays!

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Snow-Capped Mountains...

Winter solitude--
in a world of one color
the sound of wind.
-Matsuo Basho

Ah yes, the return of winter. I came across this poem (a haiku, really) the other day. I enjoy it immensely.

For those of my readers that are unaware, I live at an elevation of 6200 ft... or 1950 meters, whichever you prefer to use. Many people think that "Oh yeah, Morocco is that desert country." When you live at elevation, at this latitude, you still get snow. The other day we got what I will call "the first snow on the mountain."

We have generally had gorgeous weather recently. It gets down near freezing at night, and during the day up to 60F (15 C). As long as the sun is out and beating on you, you feel quite warm. The other day this all changed (just for a brief couple of days).

We had a day of strong wind, a day of changing weather. I could tell (due to the wind) that it was going to get cloudy, and I knew this meant potentially getting rain or snow. It rained off and on for the better part of two days. The clouds were low enough that I knew once they cleared that there was a good chance of snow on the nearby mountain-top, which sits about 10,500 feet. I definitely was in anticipation, because the top of this mountain is brown and lacking in any color. When I first came to my village in May, I found snow-capped mountains. Absolutely striking in color and appearance.

Sure enough, when I awoke the next morning, I went outside (after bundling up) and checked it out. White tops and sun reflecting. I dislike cold (absolutely hate cold weather), but I figure if it is cold, we should have some snow to glance at.

One thing I am not exited for is trying to stay warm. As of right now, I am still wood-stove-less. I need to get on that. It is not super cold in my house yet, probably hovers around 55 degrees. Yes, I know that seems cold, but I just layer and sleep under numerous blankets and a sleeping-bag. However, the temperature in my house will continue to drop, and become unbearable.

In terms of the wood I will be using, I will be burning a combination of cedar and oak wood. This wood is likely harvested illegally, and it tells the story of the people here in this area, and country. Wood is necessary, but the regulation of wood-harvesting is difficult. The burning of wood, in addition to the lack of re-planting, and rapid population growth in the past 10 years (doubling) has contributed to the biggest environmental issue here... deforestation. In reality, I am now a part of this problem. But I need to stay warm, and this is the cheapest and safest way to stay warm in the coming winter. It is one of the moral issues that I face dealing with the environment here (the other being personal trash disposal...more later).

But, back to the return of winter!

It is cold here now, and while very serene and nice to have a fire going (unable to do this yet), it is going to be a long couple of months. People here tend to layer up and stay inside, so work becomes slow, and sometimes my road in/out of town becomes blocked with snow. It should be super-interesting, and eventually, I will post pictures.

With all of this said, I am glad to see the picturesque snow return to my village.

Much love to my readers (and anyone who reads this!) and hope your Thanksgiving was fantastic.

-Me!