Frozen laundry

I’ve been receiving photos of snow in the midwest; sorry, none of that nasty stuff here, just a few days of frosts. These clothes were left overnight. On laundry days, I like to take a water basin to my terrace in the morning and allow the sun to warm the water during the day. In late afternoon, I handscrub and then hang clothes overnight. Everything is normally dry by the following morning.

Mhmm... hamburgers

Houman after 8 hamburgers at Mickey’s Burger (Disney theme) in Agadir in December at inservice training for 45 PCVs. Too cheap, too disorganized, or too assimilated to dine out or go to the clubs, this was our main activity on the 4th night at training. 6 contestants, all you can eat hamburger contest. The winner ate 10, my roommate Houman was runner-up. I know he would have won if the stakes had been doubled. He suggested a post-competition foot-race back to the hotel for medalists. In fact, he was passed out in the room 45 mins later, a victim of a drunken hamburger stupor. (Note, Houman, a Chicago native, has been my roommate at every training session: stateside in Philadelphia, in Rabat, and Agadir. We have 2 left. It’s too bad I can’t see him more often. He’s on the western coast in the Essouaira region).

Quote of the Week

"So hard at best is the lot of man, and so great is the beauty he can apprehend, that only a religious conception of things can take in the extremes and meet the case. Our lifetimes have seen the opening of abysses before which the mind quails. But it seems to me there are a few things everyone can humbly try to hold onto: love and mercy (and humor) in day-to-day living; the quest for exact truth in language and affairs of the intellect; self-recollection or prayer; and the peace, the composed energy of art,"
-poet Robert Fitzgerald


-I've tried to post more photos, but blogger is being difficult. Or maybe it's the fact that its noon here and America is finally waking up for the day, checking the market in New York, tuning into YouTube in suburbia, and slowing down my connection. I don't know if there's any correlation, but internet is always faster here when the U.S. is sleeping.

The Larger Audience, Part I

On Dec. 31, we celebrated Eid Kbear (or Eid al-Adha in classical arabic). The following week was spent gorging on slaughtered sheep in such excess that I’ve grudging gained the winter weight (‘eskimo fat’ for Suzy)- that 10 lbs that makes the cold a little more comfortable. Fortunately, I had the same problem following Ramadan and lost the weight soon after. Also like Ramadan, Eid was an excellent time to visit neighbors and friends. These were good visits, but uncomfortable at times following the execution of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. In general, the execution of a former Arab leader on the holiest of days in the Muslim world (In Iraq, Eid al-Adha was celebrated on Sat., Dec 30th for Shiites, on Sun. for Sunnis) makes for interesting conversation.

Executed on Sat. at dawn, Al Jazeera and other Arab networks followed with continuous video of the pre-hanging that was recorded via mobile phone and the outrage amongst the Islamic community afterwords. Sat. night I watched Al Jazeera coverage with my family, who were sad, not angry. My mother cried while watching the video and I asked her what she thought. I told her he had killed more than half a million of their own people, fellow Muslims. She responded, “this might be true, but he’s still human. This is L’Eid. This is hram (forbidden). Mskin (poor guy).” I thought that was as poignant as Nietzsche's words, "he who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.”

Approached by many people in my community who wanted to talk about the news event, this was the general sentiment. And that’s where I think any political good that could have come out of the execution was lost.

I heard a pundit on a podcast days weeks ago state “what is the story? Is it that Hussein was made to appear dignified in death while the executioners, interim govt and foreign govts were disrespectful? I don’t understand, what is the story?” A roundtable of pundits then responded with conforming or contrasting views, but all missing the major point.

The bitter story is that it was done on Islam’s holiest day and served vengeance more than justice. The executions timetable showed wide disrespect to a religion and culture that the western world needs desperately to understand better. Furthermore, although later reports confirmed that the Iraqi govt ignored U.S. officials strong attempts to postpone the hanging, I’ve heard many times “America is responsible for this. If they wanted to stop it, they could of.” The same sentiments were expressed during the most recent Israeli-Lebanon conflict. Although not the criminal, we’re seen as accomplices.

The crux of my argument is that in haste to fight terrorism, the U.S. and its allies risk alienating the larger Islamic community and at worst, forcing some into the arms of extremists. Members of the current Muslim majority that is ambivalent or benevolent to the Western world, like most all Moroccans, could turn against the West if they feel slighted or threatened. This is a matter that gets little press. Knowing the diversity (-divisions) within Islam is the sine qua non to understanding the future of Islamic-West relations.

To be continued...

Quote of the Week

'There are no hard distinctions between what is real and what is unreal, nor between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false.' -nobel laureate Harold Pinter

Reason #9 The Sahara

Southeast Morocco is the doorway to the world’s largest desert, the formidable Sahara. The desert town of Merzouga and its surrounding landscape (pictured here) are some of the country’s only sand dunes. I’m planning on taking a trip down there with some friends next month.

(Photos courtesy of Vincent)

Suchmuch things

-The dogs in my site have been quite for a couple months now; not chasing me in the fields or getting the farm animals all excited midnight with their barking. I asked my neighbor about it two weeks week and he turned red with anger. Apparently, a neighbor down the street, a Moroccan emigrant to Spain who was back on vacation, had laid out poisoned meat, killing off nearly a half dozen dogs, including his own. Well, that’s too bad I thought.

-I grew out a mustache this last month in anticipation of a disco trip, later canceled. It was dismal and fortuna will save you from viewing any photos of it.

-I’ve received a new Trek bike from Peace Corps. It really helps with the job. Also, I’ve been riding it along the thousands of footpaths that crisscross throughout Gafait.

-With the cold, I’ve been drinking a lot of tea at home. My concoction: tea milk or honey milk. The previous makes me nostalgic for the free bar at Starbucks.

-Superbowl prediction: Colts 21, Bears 17. With no favorite, I think both teams and cities are deserving victors. My poor Chiefs, I feel they’re destined for mediocrity +1 for several years to come.

-While currently trying to juggle several development projects, I’ve learned the double meaning of inshallah, which translated as “god willing” can also mean “don’t count on it.”

-Three weeks ago, about 200 people (mostly young men) from my site protested an attempted raise of 3 dhms in taxi fare (from 7 to 10 dhms) for the Gafait-Jerada transit by marching to Jerada, a distance of 24 km. I heard from several people that they walked most of the route before being stopped and turned around by police. Upon his return, my host brother was referring to himself as Che Guevara and describing “his revolucion.” Oh yes, and I’ll be Che’s white reporter, Pan Blanco (the name “white bread” was given to a French reporter that followed Che around in S. America like Sancho Panza).

5-6 Gafait men from Gafait serve as taxi drivers, shuttling around 50 locals back and forth to the souk town. This increases in the Summer tourist season, but these men make little- 42 dirhams a trip. At the end of the day, their take home is probably 100 dhms. Taxis are supplied by the government, but they service them.

No thanks Shell, I prefer Algeria

A short note about petroleum on the Algerian border. From the closed border to probably 100 miles in, one sees scenes like that pictured above on the highway and side-roads; men selling gasoline and diesel smuggled from Algeria. Most are diesel sales going to taxi drivers in their 1985 280SL Mercedes Benz. (Ahh.. I’ll forever have a sweet spot for that model, never forgetting the interior decor or that hog under the hood).

Smugglers bring petro across the border in 20 gallon tanks, often packed 30-50 deep in the back of a van. They then distribute the tanks in some fashion to middlemen on the eastern front. It then sells for anywhere between 5-7 dhms a litter. At Shell stations, it sellss for 10 dhms a litter.

A volunteer before us had a funny story of hitching a ride with smugglers. He was unable to get a ride by other means to a nearby town, so flagged down two men in a van and got up front with them, greeting the smell of liquid explosive that was in the rear. He said the men were in good spirits and it was an eventful trip with them singing, dancing, and smoking.

Mountain Man in Lalla Shafia

A month ago Graham and I hiked a small mountain with the parks dept. in SIBE Lalla Shafia for observation. As they knew and we were introduced to, a hermit lived in a cave near the top. The elderly man lives by himself back into the cave, and has arranged a nice place for himself with rooms, kitchen, and toilet. It’s image would make a 10 year old jealous, while an adult might think “nice camping.” I thought about bats and rabies. I read a report earlier that bats spread the virus silently; painlessly and without visible detection. And after 72 hours of going undetected, it’s terminal. With this, I tightened my scarf and encouraged Graham to take his jacket off.

I would have liked to take pictures of his abode, but thought better of it after a technician was yelled at when he brought out his camera lens. The photos were taking at an elevation of 1500 meters.

Quote of the Week

“Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.” -Emily Post

Reason #8 Marrakech

Ahh..Marrakech. A city that for me is best in small doses. Some tourists go and say, "now, this is what I think about when I think of Morocco." They romanticize the country, and Marrakech represents those perceived images better than any other place in the country. It is a nice place though and probably a must stop when making the loop.

Quote of the Week

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time."
-Leo Tolstoy

Mabrouk El Eid!

L’eid Kbear concluded on Sunday, but the family gatherings and sheep eating continue. On Sunday morning, there was prayer from 8-9 AM, then the slaughtering of the rams. The families in the area always follow the Imam, who is first to perform the ritual sacrifice. After the animals neck is slit, he is hung and stripped of his hair, organs, head, and hooves. Then, the carcass hangs for a day to allow the blood to collect.

It was a new experience for me; seeing surrounding families slaughtering animals simultaneously. We rarely are as intimate with the killing of our meals in the west; its closed off in large, windowless processing plants and has just become another manufacturing process.

We ate throughout the day on Sunday; meals of liver and heart wrapped in fat, along with the hooves, intestines, testicles, and head. Everything tasted fine, but its probably better to do the blind taste test with somethings. In addition to eating, most spent the day gathering with family and dressing up and visiting friends and neighbors.

Got to go..will post more about the holiday next week. Happy New Years!