Isn't environmental ed lovely

My mother requested a photo of Graham, my site mate for the next 2 yrs. "I want to put a face to a name; you know how I worry and it would make me feel better." Empathetic to my mothers concern, heres a photo taken after we had completed an environmental ed session in a local school at our CBT site. We will be 24 km apart, seperated by a 7 dhm taxi ride on a flat road. We get along well, and he reminds me of many of my old friends.

Also, I wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to my 4 yr old niece Elizabeth. I hope its a great day and I expect the family (grandmothers especially) to take proper care of you.

Snails and orange juice

Here’s a photo taken of Marrakesh’s main tourist square, which is empty during the day but is occupied by vendors at night. Most sell a fish meal, but you can also get other things like tajin, couscous, and other things. Two other things that I’ve heard are mainstays in this area are snail vendors, who sell this snail soup that I’d probably never try, and secondly, orange juice stands that sell you oj shots. These guys will call you out from 50 yards, tell you their price (3 Dhms), and then if you choose, you can keep your distance and try to haggle them down.

Heading to site

Donkeys are better than dogs. Safi.

Ahh.. my equivalent of finals is over and I just have a couple days before going to site. It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but not much as happened outside of the normal routine. It’s too rigid in fact and I can’t wait to get to site where I’ll have the ability to dictate my own day. Also, I’ve been living out of my backpacks for the last 3 months and it will be nice to be more sedentary. And the spanish beaches on the Mediterranean (just 3 hours away) are calling.

I leave for site on Tues morning by bus, will probably stay in Marrekesh that night, then will travel by train and stay in Fez the following night before heading to site. I’m not a fan of Marrekesh; its all touristed-out with flying monkeys and snake charmers and it becomes an old routine fast. Also, like Ouarazate, it reaches temperatures of 140 F deg in the summer. My largest cities that I’ll spend considerable time in over the next two years are Fez and Oujda, which is something I’m pleased with. From what I’ve seen, Oujda is rather utilitarian; has all the amenities you need without being fancy and minus the tourists. This is nice. Population is 1/2 million and its known for being a major blackmarket capital for technology, etc from Algeria, Spain, and elsewhere. Fez is Morocco’s major college town, although its also a UNESCO site and is popular with tourist. It also has great leather products, and has an old casbah thats world famous.

My next post will probably be from my site, enshalla (”God willing”).

Hard work never goes unrewarded

A photo from a friend of Moroccans building a well. In my opinion, Moroccans are some of the hardest workers around. Many work early to late, seven days a week. Then its common to eat dinner at 10 or later. That's a long day.

Be patient if you've checked my blog over the last couple wks and haven't seen anything. Things have been winding down in training, and I will have the next 2 yrs on my own schedule in 3 days..can't wait. Also, the internet is a little slooow over here.

Soccer

This is a photo of my sites swimming hole in the summer that I have received from another volunteer. I’ve been told that a few hundred come every day during the summer.

Site visit in East Morocco

This last week I visited my field site; the place where I’ll be permanently for the next 2 yrs. It’s a community of around 500 people in Eastern Morocco. It’s a beautiful community with a large water reserve, a large river outlining the community (approx 20 ft wide and 6 ft deep at its greatest points), and two springs which are used for irrigation.

Agriculture is the primary staple of the community, with wheat being the primary crop. They also have fruit trees and wild herbs that grow amongst their crops. I’ve included some photos. In addition to agriculture, the community maintains itself by residents commuting and working in a town 20k away and by Moroccans from the surrounding area coming in the summer to swim. In the summer, the temperature can get above 100 F, and I’ve been told that as many as 200 tourists will come daily to swim in the river. In response to this, locals set up bamboo cafes that sell food, drink, etc. After the tourist season is over, the bamboo will be taken down and burned.

The infrastructure of the community includes 4 mosques, 10 general stores, a water tower (important), a school (through junior high; those wishing to attend high school have to travel to Jerada), a womens center, a youth center, and the kied’s office. The kied is comparable to a mayor, but often of a larger area that includes several villages. The community does have more features which I will divulge later, but that was my consensus in the quick survey that I conducted.

My host family that I will be living with for two months starting May 25 was very welcoming and accommodating. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer situation. My family includes brothers Yassine (2), Mohamed (11), Youssef (19), Hachim (22) and Nasrdine (25); sisters Safa (7) and Fatim (15); and mother Halima and Hammada. My host father is a farmer, and from what I know he drives a tractor around in surrounding communities helping with the harvest. They also have their own fields that they care for, along with assisting in the care of an extensive family network of farm land that includes uncles, aunts, cousins, and grandparents.

One of my main roles in the community will include working with the local mens association, which is very active and already has several projects that they want me to implement. In the beginning, they want me to teach english twice a week along with swimming lessons once it warms up. During that time, hopefully my language will progress steadily and I can begin working on other projects: establishing funding to help build and maintain a git (hotel), getting funding for a toilet facility for tourists down by the river, planting trees, teaching environmental education, surveying the local wildlife, and managing projects along with the Eaux de Forest (forest dept) in a protected ecological area next to my site. I also work closely with Graham, another volunteer who will be located nearby, and I’m sure he will do vice versa. We’ve become good friends, we work well together, and I believe they put us close together because of this. He has a construction management background, so will be able to be put that to good use. In all, I know that many of the projects I try or hope to implement will fall through. Maybe the best I can hope for is a 50% success rate (and that might be pushing it), but I’m motivated to get to work.

These next two weeks are like my finals weeks, very busy. It should correspond with finals in the states. Anyways, I'll try to keep it updated and send out emails, but fair warning. Salam.

Here's a photo of my youngest host brother, Yassine.