Friday, May 23, 2008

Teacher teaching

My appologies for not updating anyone in quite awhile. What I thought was going to be a quiet two years, tucked away in a sleepy Moroccan village has turned out to be action packed days filled with travel, work and lots of friends. Just recently my mom and Patrick came and we had a most enjoyable time speed vacationing through Morocco followed by a lazy week on spanish beaches. Just what I needed! When not vacationing, I am working here in my town teaching English. I have just started teaching the primary school children which has been a joy, to my surprise. They are so eager and excited! Nothing is cuter than a room full of 7 year olds screaming the ABCs with the innocent enthusiasm that only kids can produce. There are two orphanages in town here: one for girls and one for boys. I have started classes at both. Again, such a joy to work with students who are so eager to chat with me about anything, in any language. My other big project is a resource center at the local high school. It was started five or ten years ago when the previous volunteer was here and closed promptly after his departure. I convinced them to blow the dust off the keys and open it. Now I am working on conniving a way to ensure it will stay open once I leave. I'm thinking of duplicating the keys fifty times and spreading it throughout Ben Ahmed (kidding...maybe.) This is where I elicit your help. If you have any fashion/automobile/gossip/etc magazines or select pages from magazines that would be nice eye candy for the walls or potential topics of conversation, I would much appreciate them. I want to excite the kids about learning english, so think high school girls and guys. I need "hip American" stuff: posters, advertisements, etc etc. Even funny cards or postcards can be great wall paper. THANK YOU in advance!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Really just a semblance

Where haaave I been?! I ask myself the same question from time to time. Or, rather, where am I.

I have been traveling about for work and otherwise. I find it more and more difficult to give a proper sociological report on life here as the strangeness has normalized. Freshly slaughtered chickens and horse draw carriages are a part of my daily life. I couldn’t picture it any other way at this point. Work at the Dar Chabab has been slow mainly because I haven’t been here. Last week I was working in a beach town called Azemour at a language immersion camp. I learned a lot about my own capacities as well as the dimensions of Moroccan youth. My students were from a beach city and were both extremely progressive and highly motivated. It was a great experience but didn’t always feel like proper Peace Corps work. Nonetheless, I spent some time on the beach with a few PCVs so all’s well that ends well.

The big news, I suppose, is of romance. ‘Tis true. They say it happens when you least expect it. In this case I was completely blind-sided. He showed up in my class at the dar chabab and began challenging my philosophical interpretations of “Hotel California.” Caught off-guard by both his English and his insight, I insisted on further conversations. Eh, voila. He cooks, cleans and is full of fun and interesting ideas. What more could a girl want! It has been a bit of a challenge in my town. Apparently there is a lot of jealousy so we go about justifying ourselves and trying not to act excited about each other in public. I must say, I appreciate American freedom more than ever!

Vanessa and her friend are coming on Saturday and my mom and Pat are coming Tuesday. I am so very very excited to have a little piece of home near. Not to mention the traveling about and visit to Spain!

Friday, February 08, 2008

This is how it goes

Just an idea of how my days pass:

(However, the only constant seems to be the surprises: I wake up without water, I am last minute invited to any number of celebrations, the police are requesting my presence to assure my safety, classes are canceled because there is a football game, there is a meeting of the messenger pigeon association at my Dar Chebab, etc, etc.)

8-10: wake up, stretch/yoga, prepare breakfast and listen to podcast.
10-1: run errands. i.e. drink tea with various people, go to the market, ongoing problem solving- electricity, internet, etc., check email
1-2:30: Lunch - usually I see someone during my morning errands who invites me for lunch.
3-4:30: prepare lesson plans, study Arabic
4:30-8: teach at the Dar Chebab
8-10ish: cook dinner, watch a movie, read, write. Anything at home because it is dark out and it is not a good idea for me to be out and about.
11ish: Heat water on the stove to wash up for bed, read under the covers to keep warm