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.