Q and A

I’ve been busy with work and travel lately. I want to finish things before Ramadan begins this Sunday, a period when I perceive everything will slow to a crawl. I’ll try to post something longer next week, but will open it up for a Q and A. I reason that many things that might be foreign to others are now normal for me. I also have an inquisitive extended family (ie Anna & Co.). Just post a question in the comments section and I’ll try to answer it a timely basis. This can be a continuing conversation; no need for a deadline.

Congratulations is due to my mother. Earlier this year she was selected as the Master Teacher from USD 417 and she’s recently been selected as 1 of 8 finalists for Kansas Teacher of the Year, to be announced in November. Mom, I’m happy for you. It’s a well deserved honor.

I’ve also updated “my photos.”

After another storm

After I a storm last week, I walked upon these two men digging a well a short distance from my house. There was a man probably 15 feet down; he had not reached water yet.

Police silhouette

A police office at a government building in Oujda. Photos of law enforcement and the military are discouraged; I’ve heard they’ll take your film. I find it more interesting that we’re not allowed to take a photo of the U.S. Embassy in Rabat, although you can go up to the gate and talk with the marines on duty.

In our region, we’re not governed by the police, but by the gendarms (ie county cops). We report when leaving or returning to the area to the chief officer. During the recent Israeli-Lebanon crisis, he called everyday to find our location and called ahead if we were traveling somewhere. Tensions have since subsided following the ceasefire. His main concern that he vocalizes to us now is European Moroccans, those natives that work in Spain, France, and the Netherlands for 10 months and then return home. Many send money back to their families, thus providing a much needed income, particularly in the north. Some also return for two months of carousing, which is something the country has not assimilated yet.

Outside my cyber cafe

The down and out

“I remember the first time I saw someone lying on the cold street,
I thought, I can’t walk past here, this can’t just be true.
But I learned by example to just keep moving my feet,
it’s amazing the things that we all learn to do.”
-from Ani DiFranco’s song “Subdivision.”

Beggars are common here, particularly in larger cities. Homelessness exists too, although it seems less public than in the states. No one pushes shopping carts or sleeps in the public parks. There are small Hoovervilles, but they exist on the periphery and in cracks of the ‘imperial cities’. I also believe less of the population per capita is homeless than in the U.S., perhaps because households are larger and housing is cheaper. However, these unfortunate souls don’t receive any government assistance. There is no help, where there might be a soup kitchen and a shelter stateside.

As an example, as Graham and I were returning late one weekend night to a hotel in Fes two months ago, we saw in front of us in the corner a mother sleeping with her three children, none older than ten. Her youngest, probably less than a year, was sandwiched between her and the others.

Hmm.. in this situation, what do you do? No stores were open to buy them any food. Do you wake her up and give her money? In John Steinbeck’s depression era novel “The Grapes of Wrath,” one hapless character, in response to a lack of government or outside aid, tells his son “the poor take care of themselves.” This is unacceptable and is the injustice that Steinbeck was trying to give voice to.

Later, Steinbeck says “the poor will always be with us.” True, but how does one ease their burden? Like that night when I walked past that young family on the street, we have the answers, but lack the will (..or something) to act.

Fantasia

The eight day wedding that I wrote about in one of my last posts concluded last week with Fantasia, pictured above. In this event, horsemen line up at one end of an open field, wait for a period, then they get the horses to rise up on their back legs in unison. Next, they charge down the field and fire their rifles together. This is often done in several waves which follow each other. To his chagrin, if a rider misfires noticeably late or early, they tease him by making him dismount and walk his horse back. In all, this is repeated for several hours.