Movin' On Down

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. For the past seven weeks, Sean and I and three other volunteers have been living with host families in a village of about 13,000 in the foothills of the High Atlas mountains. Every day except Sunday we go to madrasa (school) from 8am to approximately 5:30pm and learn language and a little bit of culture from our Moroccan teacher. The instruction has been pretty good overall, although we definitely experienced some really rough spots with our teacher. Fortunately, Peace Corps staff has been excellent in handling everything and we have made it through successfully. We all met the language requirements to move on to our final sites! More on those in a bit.

Firstly, a bit about my training group. Other than Sean and I, we have Marjorie, Nicole, and Jess. Marj (Moroccan name Hinde) is from North Carolina and is an absurdly and loveably dedicated Carolina basketball and football fan. She is really interested in international politics and studied classical Arabic for three years before coming to Morocco, which has been really helpful for the rest of us. Nicole (Moroccan name Hssna) also studied classical Arabic as well as linguistics and Islamic studies. She is from Detroit and is super nice. Another interesting thing about Nicole is that she is looking into converting to Islam and wears the hijab (head scarf). She also drove a 40 ft bus in the States. The final member of the group is Jess (Moroccan name Fadma, which is hilarious because Fadma is an old woman’s name). Jess is from Indianapolis originally but went to school in North Carolina and lives there now. She’s really funny and uses a lot of white-out. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Sean and I have Moroccan names, too, which the kids in our neighborhood gave us when we were playing cards in the first week. Mine is Khadija and Sean’s is Omar. Everyone loves that Sean is named Omar, and after the afirmli (male nurse) gave him his Moroccan hat, everyone calls him “Hajj Omar” (Hajj is a title of respect given to someone who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca). Our group is really close, which has been invaluable in making up some of the language we missed in class. We often go to each other’s houses for tea, studying, and hanging out with each other and our host families.

Speaking of host families, ours has been great. I have been amazed at how quickly and easily I became comfortable cuddling in a big pile with the women in my family and neighborhood. Our whole family really looks out for us, and Fadma especially tries to help us learn about Moroccan culture. Whenever she buys something, she shows it to us and tells us how much she paid for it and how she bargained. She tells us whatever information she can think of that may be useful for us. We planned a big party before we left for our families and community members, and she helped us figure out what we needed and how to get it. She’s been great.

The family dynamic relating to gender roles in Morocco have been really interesting. Our particular neighborhood seems to be mostly women and children, or at least that’s who we interact with the most because the men are usually out in the fields or socializing in cafés. The usual scene consists of the women sitting or walking around talking and with their sing-song voices, gesturing enthusiastically and laughing a lot. If there are men around, they usually sit in the corner and watch while the women make fun of them affectionately. It appears that the women are in control of everything, but if there is something important to be decided--for example, whether or not a daughter will attend school or anything to do with money--the men make unopposed decisions. Our family has hosted four other volunteers before us, all women, but this time they requested a married couple. For a while, they didn’t understand why we did certain things, but they watched everything we did and began to make some pretty enlightening observations. For example, for the first few weeks, whenever we went to souq or to another city, they would ask Sean why he didn’t buy me anything. This really bothered Sean for a while, but after having a discussion with Fadma, we managed to get across with our limited language skills that in America, we both work and that we share our money and buy things together. She mentioned that because she does not have a husband, she has to make her own money and buy her own things, so she understands. After that, she didn’t bother Sean anymore. Later on, during a discussion with Peace Corps Staff and our host families, Fadma mentioned that she liked that we shared our money, and that she loved that when we were eating or drinking tea, Sean never ate anything until after I sat down. We weren’t even aware that we were doing it, but by simply being ourselves and showing respect for each other, we were able to communicate our values to our families.

I am now back at the hotel where we spent the first few days in country preparing for the official swearing-in ceremony. Returning to the same place after having such an intense period of growth has made obvious the changes that have taken place in my perception of Morocco and of people in general. The little bit of language that I have gives me great confidence and power, and many of the things I found to be strange at first are now relatively normal (for example, there are donkeys everywhere and when you enter a group of people, you automatically shake their hand and then put it to your heart). Tomorrow, we will travel on our own to our permanent work site, which is in a completely different part of the country. This is going to be challenging of course, but at least I have a taste for things now.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention where I’m going! Sean and I are going to be spending the next two years in the Ouarzazate province. Our site is on the southern edge of the High Atlas mountains where they meet the Sahara desert. Our town is relatively large and has 11,000 people and 30 douars (sort of like neighborhoods). For those of you who have seen the movie Gladiator, most of it was filmed about an hour away. After our 10+ hour journey tomorrow, I’ll have more to say about that. For now, I'm going to rest and spend the last few hours of my time with my fellow volunteers. I think I'm going to head into town now to get an avocado/apple/banana smoothie--they're to die for!