Relaxing

June 13th, 2014

Today we spent the day lounging around the house.  Sam and I did laundry on the roof.  We also emptied out the small blow up pool that had now become dirty and as we did this we began to smell a rotten smell.  It turned out to be a chicken head on the roof, just rotting away.

Later that night, we walked around Azrou, shopping a little, stopped to get ice cream, and then we sat in the town-center outdoor amphitheater where there are usually boxing matches.  Sam and I talked about her time in Morocco and how it took many years of visiting for a few months at a time to truly discover the depths of this culture.  There are so many aspects of a culture that can not be understood unless you are truly a part of it.  That’s the incredible thing about culture.  Its all ingrained so deeply and its all so vast yet detailed.

Experience at the Hamam

June 12th, 2014

Today I went to the Hamam with Sarah, Selma, and Sam.  The Hamam is a communal bathing center. It is an elaborate process of cleaning oneself while also being a social activity where women go together to talk and spend time and wash one another.  It was honestly a really fun time.  At first it is a bit weird to be completely naked with so many women that you don’t know, but with time you realize it is just the way it is.  First you are in a room where you undress.  From there, every room that you go into is more hot than the first.  It is like being in a sauna.  You choose a room and fill your buckets with water and begin to rinse yourself.  Next you take a mix of henna and olive soap and rub your entire body with it.  It is a blackish green color.  Then you rinse yourself again.  Following the soap, they take a hand cloth which is made out of very scratchy black material.  They scrub your skin for you.  I stood in front of Sarah as she scrubbed my entire body.  It is so rough that your skin turns completely red and layers of grey skin peel off of you.  After, you rinse your body again and go into the cooler room to wash your hair.  We sat in this room for at least a half hour just rinsing and re-rinsing.  It was honestly so fun.  It was like a huge bath time.  Just playing with water and washing yourself with your friends.  It’s a really friendly activity.  Honestly, my skin has never been so soft and clean! You then go back into the first room and dry off and redress in warm clothes so as not to shock your system going from the heat to a cooler temperature.  You also wrap your hair.

In Moroccan culture there is a lot of superstition about the cold.  If you sit on the floor, they will come give you a blanket or a mat to sit on because they believe that the cold of the floor will come up to your ovaries and make it so that you cant have babies.  Cold makes people sick and even kills them.  If you went outside with wet hair, even though it is so warm here, and then later you have a stomach ache, they will say it is because you were in the cold.

Later that night, it was Anass' birthday. We stayed up until 3 am because his sister Hooda was making cake for him.  Everyone fell asleep on the couch.  But at 3 we woke everyone up and we celebrated his birthday, singing happy birthday in Arabic, French, and English.  We took tons of family photos and ate tons of cake.

Perspective and the Value of Life

June 11th, 2014

This morning we woke up to go to the farm of Anass’ family.  They have recently inherited a portion of land and are therefore building a house on the land, to live on and cultivate the farm.  They are each going to have a room and even each have a bathroom.  It will be a very big home.  This is a big thing.

As Sam and I went up to the roof to take pictures of the surrounding farm, we had a very interesting conversation about social class and how it exists in America versus in Morocco.  Here every person has their place in society and that place is very important.  Every person contributes to making life work for everyone else.  Every job is significant.  Not everyone here sees each other this way.  But some do.  In the religion of Islam it is important to see others this way.  If you have some, give to those who have none.
In the U.S. we often don’t think about people that are poor as an important part of our society.  Someone who does manual labor is thought of as someone who didn’t try hard enough, didn’t have enough advantages, or didn’t educate themselves to be successful.  If you are not a success, you are a failure.  Here, doing the work you do is respected because they see each work as necessary.  If they did not respect the work done by farm hands, if this was not equally as important, how would the work get done?  Because of this, Anass, who has taken responsibility over the farm, has made sure that those working for his mother on her portion of the farm are taken care of, given a portion of the food grown, as well as that they have social security.  This is a noble thing to do, in my mind.  Some people here do not treat others with such respect.
When I talk to people about these things back home it is like those who are poorer are beneath us and not as good as us because they didn’t reach a successful level.  Even those who do not look at others as beneath them, still do not look at these jobs and say wow this is truly necessary and incredible that someone is doing this for us.  It just bothers me to think that we think of others this way.  Everyone is necessary.  Everyone has their place.  If my dad had not been a construction worker, how would those houses be built? How would those people have had someone to fix their bathrooms, install electricity into their home, build them porches…If we all thought we were better than that, we would be without those that we need in our society to keep our lives continuing.  We must respect every type of work for this reason.

Additionally, I have been thinking a lot about standards of living and how much we value things and a lifestyle that can give us more and more.  Yet, as I grow more in my life I increasingly realize the value of pure happiness and joy.  I see the value of people and how this is what life is about.  As I travel the world, or live far from my family I see that those people in my life are what makes me feel happy to wake up every morning, not the amount of Tvs that I own or the size of my bedroom.  My life was simple growing up, and I was happy.  When I got older I thought I would want more.  But really all I want more of is love, contentment, and food.  If you can have these things, if you can work to just provide these things for yourself, you will live a good life.  You will be satisfied.  Beyond that is of no importance other than to further pamper yourself.  Fun, yet not necessary.   We stress about climbing the social ladder to be successful, to work more and more, to make more money, to then be more happy.  When in reality, even below the poverty line with 7 children, my family never lacked joy or love.  My father worked hard, but when there was food on the table he stopped working to enjoy his life.  We need to stop, and just enjoy this right here.  The real beauty of living.

Later, we walked around the farm, through the apple, plum, olive, cherry, almond, and many other types of trees.  The farm is in the middle of a valley surrounded by mountains.  It began to rain as we walked and we got completely soaked, even got hit with hail.  It was fun to be muddy and soaked.   Its really cool to have seen a farm in both countries that I have traveled to.  This farm was much more structured and had been producing food for a long time.  In Ghana, the farm was just starting up.  However, the cool part about it was seeing the more rural aspects of Moroccan culture.  The owners of the farm had beautiful homes, both Moroccan and western in style.  However, the workers, and the village outside of it were small and simple.  It made me think that if I had done ProWorld Morocco, I would have been located somewhere like this, really working with the people.  We stopped at the house of the workers who tend the farm and had tea and hacha with them.  Hacha is a fried cornmeal-like bread that you eat with butter, and jam or cheese, olives, and boiled eggs (with cumin and salt on top).  C’est delicieux!  Everywhere you go it is expected that you will let them feed you.  They did not eat with us but sat and watched us eat.  Even if you have had enough and are full, it is polite, almost necessary to continue to eat to show your gratitude in return.  

Greeting people is also a large part of the culture.  When you see people you know, you stop and kiss them on each cheek, sometimes twice on the same cheek.  Even as a stranger, I kiss every person that they kiss. They do not treat me as a stranger.  Every time we come back to Anass’ family’s house, we go around the house and kiss each person to greet them as though we had not seem them for a long time.  Its really wonderful.  When we left the house of the workers, we said goodbye to them with kisses and then they followed us down the road  a ways to talk more.  We kissed goodbye again.  We turned and went the other way, they kissed us again.  Many kisses.

On the ride home from the farm, we took a taxi, always squished full with people.  Driving through the countryside on a dusty road with Moroccan music playing on the radio…I might as well have been in a movie.  Life is beautiful.

A final thing that I realized today is the concept of all cultures.  In our world today all cultures resemble one another in the same way.  This way is that each culture has its own specific way of thinking that applies to them.  However,  as the world becomes more and more globalized, people living in more largely populated areas of the country have different thoughts than those in small rural towns.  In Morocco it is traditional to marry a man and then move in with him and his family and take on his life.  This is true, however, with more money, a couple can have their own house and create their own space.  Additionally, in cities, women think more independently and there will be more options and choices because the mentality expands.  We think about countries far from our own and we think that thoughts do not vary or that their whole culture is the same in action and way.  This is why we stereotype their world.  However, just like in the United States, we have variance.  In some places we think it is necessary to take our husbands name.  That is just how it is.  It is not oppressive, just how we do things.  However, some people don’t like that idea, they want independence, they decide to keep their own name for different reasons.  There is no textbook concept of how a body of people will think.  Culture is not an imprint, but an ever changing landscape affected by various variables.   There are so many paradigms that its impossible to know one thing about any culture because the second you think you know it, something will change, especially now in this modern age where people have more influence on one another, even from across great distances.

Arabic Words

zweenah- beautiful, pretty

Mooshky mooski- its not a problem, that’s okay

Lahbess- how are you, (like ca va you reply with ca va, lahbess you reply with lahbess)

La- no

Waugh- yes

Spirituality and Beauty

June 10th, 2014

Today we drove into the city of Meknes to walk around, see sights, and go to an incredible market.  Driving into the city was an hour long taxi ride through fields and countryside. The most incredible sights to see:
Land that looks dried out, yet is speckled with yellow and purple flowers. Sheep and donkeys scattering the landscape.

I spent time enthralled in conversation with Anass about the history of Morocco and Islam on the way there and on the way back we talked about the relation between all religions and about belief and finding your own path.  It was beautiful. It was like talking to an older wise brother who knew life and could help me with life. He explained his beliefs, and why he believes.  He explained that the three main religions- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all linked and that in Islam they believe in all of the prophets from these other religions.  He talked to me about taking time to find your own beliefs in life, but that it all comes back to the incredulousness of this world, that nothing is simple enough.  Everything was created perfectly in our ecosystem because only a God could have come up with something so complex.  He let me explain how there are two ways of thought for me: either the world in which life is incredible because God created it or a world in which life is incredible because everything has evolved in the most incredible magic way called science. It's hard to know which path to take because through Anthropology I have learned that both are merely a belief system, a decision made to put your faith in something that people are discovering and experiencing and looking into.  Something that evolves with the culture and becomes a part of our communication and metaphors and ways of seeing the world.  Both hold something to be passionately inspired by.
 Both Sam and Anass are great people.  It was beautiful to talk with people who are open to the world, not closed off on one side. They love life, yet they believe and they are open to people not believing. It brought me to tears to realize how I understand why people believe in God and I understand why people don’t and that I feel stuck in the middle, able to be on both sides if I choose.

In Meknes, they took me to ancient ruins and structures, a grain and horse stable, the castle of the king, etc. Something really incredible is the detail with which everything is built and created.  Every building and room is made with hand made tiles with small intricate patterns and designs and many colors.  Every wall and door has carvings, and many things are inscribed with Arabic calligraphy.  Its seriously too gorgeous of a culture.
We walked around the area of the town where Anass was born, saw his dad and cousins and went to the market to buy things.  The market was huge.  There were moments when we could not move because you were packed in shoulder to shoulder all around.  They sell fresh spices in the market, and full corpses of meat hanging down.  I saw a camel head at a meat stand.  They have mountains of olives everywhere.  Beautiful rugs and clothing.  I bought a carpet and a house dress and spices for my new home with Jake.  Im starting to feel like Grandpa Bill, collecting objects from around the world to decorate my home.  I also bartered for a cheaper price on something in French today.  It was pretty cool.

Later Sam and I snuck peaches on to the roof and ate them.  They were so fresh and juicy.  Just like in my home growing up, if anything comes into the house, it is gone in minutes, eaten by the swarm of people.
I also tried figs today for the first time, well more so devoured them.  Prognosis: Amazing! Why don’t we have them in the U.S.? We import everything other fruit.  I don’t know how else to describe these fruits other than juicy.

Ifrane: The changing and retaining of cultural identity

June 9th, 2014

This morning I hung out on the roof with Anass, Amine, and Sam in the mini blow-up pool on the roof, drinking Poms. Its delicious.  We then left and went to Ifrane for the day.  It’s a little town that looks very European.  On the way to Ifrane we stopped at a castle built by a very rich man from the United Arab Emerits (a country in the middle east). It was beautiful. The entire surrounding land was decorated with rose bushes in full bloom.  We stopped inside a large tent encircled internally with couches and pillows. The castle and the land overlooked the surrounding mountains and valleys, such beautiful views to behold.  I can not even describe their beauty.

As we were driving to Ifrane, we road through the countryside passing through mountains and overlooking valleys.  It was seriously beautiful.  Staring out the window of the car seeing men herding sheep, while listening to the Koran being sung, playing on the cd player...It was just so surreal.  I felt pulled back into biblical times, yet I was in a vehicle instead of riding on a donkey…but don’t worry there are people riding donkeys to work too.  

Once in Ifrane, we went out to eat at a very westernized restaurant.  We walked around, seeing European style homes and gardens, with well tended, green grass.  Sam and I spoke French a lot which was really cool. I am beginning to feel so much more fluent.  When you think about what to say, it is a struggle but the more I hear it around me and just respond, the more words are just coming out randomly and I am communicating in another language.  Sometimes I go to ask something and I just ask in French and it feels as normal as ever.  

Later, we hung out around the house and went onto the roof, at night. Sam and I sat on the roof wrapped in a huge blanket-like rug and talked about the beauty of culture.  We talked about how culture is similar to the evolution of a landscape because it grows and is cultivated, yet changes based on certain variables.  It evolves and multiple things impact it.  Olive trees have been growing here for thousands of years, sheep herders have been a part of this land as well.  This culture has grown from a long time ago.  And today it rests the same, yet changed by a myriad of things.  It began with herding sheep and the Koran, and even today involves the two, but in a whole new reality. We see that there is modernity and wealth, yet we still see the patterns of Morocco from each time period being woven into this culture.

A Culture of Sharing, but can we all learn to share the world?

June 8th, 2014

Today I woke up and had my first successful poop. It was interesting. It makes me want Turkish toilets. Its so much easier to squat because everything just comes out right away.  I also realized that eating with your hands is much more amazing than with a fork. It’s similar to being barefoot in the grass.  You feel more connected.  You enjoy it more.  The food tastes better when eaten with the hand.
Food is eaten off of one big plate in the center of the table. Its really cool because it is a communal plate and everyone eats with their hands.  Everything is about sharing in a way.  Rooms are shared. No one has their own room.  There is just one big living area with a couch lining the walls and a table in the middle.  You sit on the couch and eat.  You push the table away and sleep.  At night, everyone sleeps on the couches as if it is their bed, head to toe.
The act of sharing is very central here.  Nothing is yours.  You are not as attached to your things as we would be.  Of course this must be taken loosely because people still have their own dress or something like this.  But in general, if you leave something about, it is not yours, it is everyone’s.
Another aspect of sharing is public utilities in the neighborhood.  There is a public oven where people can go if they do not have their own oven.  You bring your baked goods, pre-made, and then they bake it for you there.  Similarly, there is a public shower known as the Hamam.  It is were everyone goes to bathe.  Yes there is water and they can wash themselves at home from a bucket, but the Hamam is a group activity, a place where everyone can go and use the facility.  They go together and wash one another, men and women separate.

Arabic Words

Coolee- eat

Baraka- that is enough

Today we walked around the town of Azrou.  It’s beautiful.  It’s full of browns and tans, the streets and the buildings.  The houses climb up the mountainside and the mountains themselves tower over and around the place.  As you go down toward the center of town it becomes very chique with cafes and little boutiques yet still with its own Moroccan accents.  The view is beautiful.  Walking around in the day was incredible but in the evening as the sun was settings between the mountains all of the people came out of their houses and the town came to life.  Kids played soccer in the streets, mothers and babies were walking around, men sitting at cafes talking and drinking coffee.  The sun is hot during the day, so life, even business, can sometimes start later in the day and go all night, explaining the idea of dinner at 3 am.  More beautiful than people coming to life, a land full of green trees and tan ground slowly turning golden.  The evening prayer call sounds and you truly know youre in an incredibly beautiful place: a picturesque world.

Anass, his brother Amine, Sam, and I walked until the sun had set and then sat at a café to enjoy Poms, a Moroccan apple soda.  We talked about politics and the view that the world has on the Muslim world.  We talked about the congruity between religions and how through time it is politics that has corrupted these things.  It is believing the words of our government that has led us to make assumptions about one part of the world when we wont even take action in other areas of the world if it doesn’t benefit us politically (par exemple North Korea and Nazi Germany).  

I also realized through listening to Anass talk about politics in his third language (English) that the only thing stopping me from being fluent in French is that I have doubts that I am fluent.  In the U.S. we think that it is necessary to perfect something before trying it.  We teach language as something to be practiced after you have learned it.  Anass speaks with confidence even though he makes grammar errors.  He keeps talking.  He doesn’t stop and think.  He gets his point across and I completely understand him.  My French isn’t as expansive as his English but I know the rules of grammar and how to speak already with structure.  It doesn’t matter.  Just speak it.  So that’s what is happening, what has been happening, and what will continue to happen.  I feel comfortable and ready to speak French whenever because I know the language well.

Tonight for dinner we ate some amazing food.  It was like spaghetti noodles, chopped up with cinnamon, sugar and a ground up nut paste.  It was delicious.  Every bite I couldn’t help to continue exclaiming…mmmmmm!!!

Meeting the Family

June 7th, 2014

We traveled by train from Rabat to Meknes, taking a cab from there, an hour to Azrou.  This is where Anass’s family lives.  It is a small city surrounded by mountains where much of the merchandise sold in the market is handwoven or crafted there.  The ride to Azrou was incredibly beautiful, passing through the countryside of Morocco, seeing sheep wandering the fields filled with olive trees.  It was really mind blowing to be in a country where this actually exists rather than to just hear about it or watch a movie.  Life never stops being surreal.

We are staying in the home of Anass' mother for the week to travel back and forth to other cities.  Today we hung out around the house, danced, washed our hair, and Sam and I talked a lot about life, as we tend to do. Later in the evening, the kids were all on the roof hanging out.  The roof is an open one, where they hang their clothes, grow plants, and have the toilet.  It overlooks the city and is quite beautiful.  The girls talked and danced, and played, while Anass and his brother talked to one another.  Anass has 4 siblings.  Hooda-26, Sarah- 23, Amine- 21, Selma- 12.   He was not raised with his family, but rather by his aunt who now lives with the mother because she has Alzheimer's.  She doesn’t remember them and after dinner each night she says "thank you so much for the meal" and tries to leave.  They are so sweet with her and joke around with her and she laughs a lot. It's really nice. She is the cutest lady, always smiling and giggling.

Arabic Word

Amtee- immediate aunt