Here's a couple of recommendations for my bookworm friends. The Montana connection with Ivan Doig's, "The Whistling Season." Thanks, Rita, a great book! And a Peace Corps library one, "Ten Little Indians," wonderful short stories written by Sherman Alexie, a Spokane Indian now living in Seattle.

This blog is about my day in a very small village about a 45 minute walk from me...(that is Moroccan walk speed, which is a fairly slow pace) I went with one of the women from the neddy who teaches illiterate women and children around the area. My purpose in going was to see the pottery that various men make there. Several of them came to a meeting at the neddy, as I believe they were interested in learning how I might help them market their products.

Here is are two women who are making bread in a pan on an open fire. (Many do not have ovens in their homes, so use fire, or take them to the public oven to bake, as I think it may be cheaper in the long run that using propane at home) We had tajine, primarily consisting of potatoes, summer squash, and a bit of chicken. The eating utensil, of course, was the bread.

Here is the classroom where my friend teaches, and a picture of her teaching as well. She was teaching classical (standard) Arabic, and called on me to answer questions, along with the dozen or so students, ranging in age from likely 8 to 60. She also did some basic arithmetic teaching. As usual, I got quite a bit of attention.



Here are the potters. First is one of the potters, putting the painting touches on a water jug, which keeps water cool in the hot summer weather. The men have dug holes where their legs fit, and their feet pedal to make the wheel spin to create their pots. Then they fire them in the kiln, which is very old, and branches/wood from the nearby forest is used, which of course creates a problem as they don't have all that much and erosion is a big issue here...but I guess it's better than tires, which are used at other locations.

Four of the potters from the village. (Surprisingly enough, none of the four is named Mohammed!) One of them gave me an unglazed glass made of same clay material, which I think, when glazed, might be an appealing product for French tourists as wine glasses. I will explore the possibility of sale of them at a possible boutique at the neddy. A photo of Idder's inventory, which will be distributed to souqs in the area for sale to locals.

It is becoming more and more evident why every action in the future is subject to "inshaallah." (God willing) as one has so little control over what can happen, especially considering the culture of the Moroccan, the governments at every level, etc. etc. The wheels of progress on my project, language capability notwithstanding, grind exceedingly slow!!

Here are photos of a walk I took on June 24. The one on the left is of two women sweeping the dirt path to their house. I always ask people if I can take their picture, especially if I am sure they will say yes. Women generally are reluctant, so I snuck this photo. People are generally very clean about their homes, inside and just outside, but then just throw trash anywhere otherwise. Part of problem is local trash collection and all that goes with it. The one on the right is of a hanut (pr. hanoot) on my way. notice Tide sign and Coca Cola is written in Arabic, and the owner is pouring out something for the young boy...not sure. At the hanut where I buy olive oil, I take an empty plastic soda bottle for them to fill. These little stores are EVERY where, even in little tiny villages. They don't mix produce hanuts with those that carry dry goods. And the ones in my region don't allow you to enter, so sometimes it is hard/impossible for you to see what they have for sale, and if they have what you want/need. But in other areas of the country, they are like "regular" stores where you go in and select what you want.
The picture on the left is of
another house, a more modest
dwelling. The older mud houses
are reputed for the capability
of being cooler in the summer
and warmer in the winter. But
most of the new houses are made of brick. I was trying to find the "calico" lamb I spotted a month ago. I did find a black and white ewe with a couple of older lambs, and as I was trying to get some pictures, a young boy nearby came running over, clearing wanting to be in the photo.

When I first saw some huge nests on top of towers, etc., I thought, "Gee, they have osprey here, too!" But they are stork nests, and here is one on top of the mosque in near my cyber. This will be a flora and fauna blog today. When I last wrote about monster ants, I had seen one of this and one of that, and was hopefully that trend would continue. But last night I walked into my kitchen and there about 10 of these big ants on my wall, all kind of in one spot, so I took off my sandal and got them, but sure can't figure out where they came from. And the really hot season isn't even here yet! There are lots of birds here, and as I walked yesterday morning, the air was filled with the sounds of birds. My birding friends would love finding some different species, or some of the same? that they see at home. The air is filled with the sound of donkeys and traffic by my house, and at night, often filled with the sound of dog fights.)

Also, during yesterday's walk I encountered an old shepherd I hadn't seen before, with about a dozen sheep which were grazing alongside the road. I greeted him, and he returned the greeting and extended his hand, so I crossed the road to shake his hand. Greetings here aren't just "hi"; they're quite elaborate, so we parted and me, with a tear in my eye. That is really what it's all about, the exchange of warm greetings with each other like we had was so big.

Ah, back to nature now. I mentioned about how they plant wheat in every little piece of available ground, however rocky. Well, didn't tell you that they plant year after year, with no rotation, so you can imagine how the soil becomes eventually. The wildflowers are still aplenty, and are beautiful. Guess it's because I'm near the mountains and we're nearer the equator, but it is pretty dark here now by 8:30, and not bright daylight until 6 a.m. I know that darkness in the evening will be a blessing when the heat hits, but do miss the long days of summer, as I've become more of a "light" person.

Have posted a few new pictures in some other recent blogs. Enough for today!

Now it's monster ants! They sure grow 'em big here! Killed a few in my house yesterday. When I returned from my week absence from our In-Service Training in Agadir, I opened the door and saw "my" gecko scurry up the stairs to the roof. Hope he keeps hanging around...maybe I'll issue a special invitation to him to eat dinner at my house every day. :)

The training session/week was interesting. MANY power point presentations, of all types of "quality", length, etc. As a former trainer, it's good that my Moroccan lifestyle has been a lesson in patience and tolerance, as I needed to apply those skills on occasion the past week.

For those of you who write/send things...this would be the last week to do so, as I'll be coming back to U. S. for a couple of weeks vacation a month from today. (hurray!) I do get letters sometimes w/in two weeks of mailing, but it's commonly three weeks, especially for packages, or longer.

I'll be posting more pictures on previous posts this weekend. Having a problem downloading from my computer at home to my flash drive and then uploading onto my blog at the cyber. High-tech never was my forte.

AGADIR by day and at night, with the hillside "God, Country, King" lighted at night.
Here's a view of the beach looking the opposite direction from the hill above. As you can see, it's very pretty. Look forward to a return visit later when I can get in some good ocean time, and not just a quick dip. I need my friend Linda Spartz with me here for water time!

Cooler place…in a little town in a valley not far from my town, but awkward to get to via public transportation. A teacher friend (a Moroccan woman who teaches geography in the jr. high, speaks just a little English) and I went for a Sunday get-away, and here are couple of pictures. One photo shows some washed clothes on the rocks of the river, and in the background are the women under the trees enjoying a tea break. The other shows lots of boys swimming/playing in the river. NO girls enjoying that activity, of course.

Many of the people who go there are from the big city…Marrakech. The water is allegedly special. Numerous people were spreading the mud over their bodies. I think it is supposed to help teenage acne, as well as whatever else you need your skin to be fixed of. I didn’t partake of the available elixir. Am waiting to get the argan oil next week when I go to a PC training session.

More company! My volunteer friend Hannah and her visiting sister from America stopped by recently for an overnight stay. We went for a little walk in the nearby hills, and here is a pix of Hannah and yours truly, with my little town down below. Both young women are about six feet tall and blond, and they created quite a stir as we walked around town, and at the weekly souq (which few local women go to).One note about first impressions. You'd swear that because of her Scandinavian appearance, that Hannah would be from the mid-West, when in fact she's from the east coast. So it goes here. What does a Moroccan look like? Every shade of brown/black you can imagine...

Goodbye cold, hello bugs! Several weeks ago, I saw a piece of black yarn about three inches long on the mat in my bedroom. I was puzzled where it came from. Then it began to move. It was a caterpillar type of thing. About a week ago, it got quite warm in my house, 90 F during the day, and that evening I left my front room window open. As I was reading in bed, there were numerous small insects flying around the light bulb, which hangs from the ceiling. There appeared to be a miller/moth among them; suddenly a very large insect landed on the sheet next to me. I grabbed a page of my Newsweek magazine and squished it quickly. I got a screen put over that window the next day!

The other day when Hannah and her sister were here, I spotted a large black object on the floor in the hall. Hannah identified it a cockroach. It was huge! I understand they crawl out of toilets/drain holes, which I then plugged with empty bottles So have had one of each “thing”; perhaps I will be lucky and not have many more, as Friday morning I spotted a gecko on my stairs. It is welcome to visit anytime; hopefully it will help eliminate the other “pets” that have entered my domain.

Understand, we in Morocco are accused of being in the “posh” corps because of our “deluxe” accommodations, at least compared to a lot of countries. If so, I will be happy to live here if it is much worse “bug-wise” in other places. But, I do not like critters like that inhabiting my living space, anyway.

HAIR. Lots of it...black (or with a red henna tint) and usually long, on girls and women. Men...for some reason, seem to seldom be bald. Once in awhile I see a bald Moroccan male, but rarely. There are barbers everywhere, and cheap, so most men all have haircuts pretty often. Although most women wear scarves in the rural areas, in the cities you see more Moroccan women without scarves. Being "scarved" is a personal religious choice. Most Muslim women wear scarves on their heads, and only a few wear veils. Sometimes they are old, but also occassionally they are young. I've been told that wearing scarves is also somewhat of a fashion thing now, as well. As is the case worldwide, there is no statement that is true across the board...the scarf issue varies from region, but at this point, it is pretty much a general rule that those who live in rural areas tend to be the more conservative.