WHAT'S COOKIN'? Other than me, if in the sun today, it's my popcorn in the cooker. This is my stove with the butagas (butane) tank underneath, which has a dual connection to my adjacent oven. The kettle is mostly used to heat water for bucket baths, and in cooler weather, my herbal tea. The pressure cooker is a basically a mandatory household item in the Moroccan household. You might say is serves as their microwave. Mine is old and the pressure part is broken, but I use it to cook most everything, as it's the only pot which has a lid! It does make wonderful popcorn, which I have on a regular basis. I buy it bulk in the next town; it costs 9 DH a kilo. To exercise your internet skills, you can find a website that converts currency and also one that converts to the metric system!
If the oven looks like a tin box, that's because it is. I mainly use it to make banana bread every couple of months, which I usually have with Laughing Cow cheese (the only kind I can buy in my town) for breakfast. Not only am I too lazy to make Moroccan flat bread, I try to eat other, healthier carbs instead. Occasionally I will buy bread from the store; it is quite cheap. And, when I visit homes here, tea and bread is generally offered.

VIEWS/FILMS IN MOROCCO. The movie, "Babel" was filmed near Ouarzazate, and has quite a lot of footage of a douar, or settlement, which is very realistic. It is an excellent film, but has a rather negative portrayal of a Moroccan family. Another movie I recently watched was "Rendition," which includes scenes of the main square "Jemaa Fnaa" of Marrakech, and is a very interesting movie as well, with quite a different perspective of the country. Perspectives...That's what makes travel so wonderful. It sure changes how one views different cultures! Of course, that also depends on "where you are" mentally before one begins a new adventure. Enough philosophy for today.

STREET SCENES.

Awaiting the King's

arrival in Tahennoute.

A douar, on the right.

Awesome archways

in Safi


The look of Spanish

influence in Tangier.

The pink of

Marrakech.

The beautiful boulevard

of Mohammed V in Rabat.

Early morning

arrival in Touama.

Center of

Asilah.

Beautiful blues of

Chefchaouen.

HOME, HOT (AND DIRTY!) HOME. After 12 hours on various modes of public transportation and a quick stop at a large grocery store to pick up a two-week supply of 0% (fat/sugar) yogurt and other things, I arrived home to my stuffy, hot apartment in which everything was covered with a layer of dirt. Not dust...dirt. There is also erratic water availability so managed to get enough to do some laundry from my two weeks of travel (wearing only several articles of clothing repeatedly). Am laying low today after going to the post office (thanks Ed and Martha for filling up the mailbox!) and will soon see what, if anything, has transpired at the neddy on the boutique preparations in my absence. Since I read three books during my trip, it's time to watch a few movies...

ASILAH. Beautiful beach town.
Linda, where are you when I need you? My good friend since age 6 and I both love playing in the water, and how I missed her in the ocean here! There is sort of a promenade along the ocean with flags of all the countries; the American flag is further down the walk.

The shore area nearest the town is protected by
a concrete wall, as well as these huge tripod type forms. The beach shown here is just a small section near the medina; the rest of the ocean is on the other side of the pier and is quite long, and was well-filled with vacationing Moroccans and other Europeans. One aspect about beaches is the same worldwide: people laughing and having a great time body surfing and bobbing in the waves, little kids crying who don't like their parents getting them totally wet. But beach-goers here are predominantly male, some young women, both in swim suits, bikinis, scarved...the works. Most older women are just sitting under an umbrella watching the young. Margaret is not a beach person, so there was no question I was the oldest female on this huge beach in a swimming suit, but what the hey?! Who am I to let that bother me.


The first night we stayed in an upscale, small Spanish-owned hotel, but there was only one bed. We preferred two beds, so moved to a cheaper hotel the next day, and it was undoubtedly one of the worse hotels I've stayed in, so on this trip we experienced very nice accommodations (in Chefchaouen where they made a mistake on reservations so put us in a suite) to our cruddy one our last night.

TANGIER. This is a busy port city, with lots of congested traffic, but I had a chance to see these two great attractions. The Old American Legation Museum is the only U. S. National Historic Landmark on foreign soil, and houses a letter from George Washington "To the Emperor of Morocco, Great and Magnanimous Friend" dated 12/1/1789. (In case in photo
on the left). There is a room (photo on right) that is dedicated to Paul Bowles and the Beat generation. The Peace Corps was also located in this building in the 6o's. The museum also houses numerous works of art including several by Scottish painter James McBey.



Another site I visited was St. Andrews Church which was built in 1894 and continues to hold worship services. A gentlemen by the name of Mustapha allowed me in the sanctuary even though it was during his lunch hour. He has been the caretaker there for 45 years. The Lord's Prayer is written in Arabic around the chancel arch. A painting by Matisse "Window at Tangier" includes this building. It was very moving for me to have the opportunity to sit in a Christian church.

KIF AND RIF. Fertile soils make for great hash crops, and it is my understanding it is quite abundant and very available here in northern Morocco, and also the primary reason we don't place many volunteers in this region. They already have business development :) Kif is processed into small cubes of hashish, which is similar to marijuana, but more potent.

The Rif mountains are great; wish I had time and friends here to do some hiking. Here is part of the town of Chaouen, which means "peaks"; one can get lots of exercise just walking around town!

CHEFCHAOUEN CLOTHES WASHING time. I have previously shown photos of women washing in the river, but here the town has created a special structure for washing, and for children to play. It is near the entrance to the medina and the beautiful hotel where we are staying. My traveling partner is under the weather, so am catching up on my blog at the cyber.

FROM FES TO CHEFCHAOUEN. Buses commonly stop after a couple hours of travel for a rest break, as there are no bathrooms on the bus. Here is a common sight of men grilling lamb kebabs for travelers' lunches. Note the fan used to keep the charcoal briquets glowing.

It is quite a different landscape here than what I am accustomed to seeing in the region I live in Morocco. Here there are lots of large wheat fields and tractors. The land is much more fertile, and there are more trees, hills, mountains, although everything is browned out because of the heat of the summer.

FES. Home of the oldest university in the world. And one of the largest tanneries, which still process hides in the medieval ( unsafe and stinky) methods. I had visited the one in Marrakech so opted not to see (especially, smell!) this one.
The photo on the left shows one of the many water
fountains in the medina with its intricate carving in the ceramic tiles, and aptly includes one of the many ever-present cats. It is located next to an old building which houses a great museum of the carpenter's ancient craft. The photo on the right is commonly seen next to small stores in the summer. Water and cup are available for any passersby who need a drink.

We stayed in an inexpensive hotel in the medina and ate frequently at the nearby Cafe Clock which is owned and operated by a young man from England. It is so named since it is near a clock tower nearby. Here is a clever mobile made from silverware hanging from a bicyle wheel.

The photo on the right is the "Bab" (door) to the medina which was quite beautiful when lighted at night.

LUCKY ME. Joe Dorsey with USAid did a presentation about career opps with his organization, and happened to ask the married couple from my SBD group and me to join him for dinner. We went to his extremely lovely home located next to the American Embassy, where his wife works as a nurse practioner. The meal was so tasty, the hospitality, including playing with their dog, was wonderful. Here is a photo of Bob and Linda, fellow PCVS, and Carol and Jim, our hosts. The painting shown is one Carol did over 25 years ago. A special evening with special people.

WHAT DOES A PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER FROM AMERICA LOOK LIKE? Oh yes, we are a diverse lot! Here is a group filling out forms at our recent conference.

Hannah and Mona, Youth Development volunteers on the right.
Janeila, Jessica, Jong
on the left. Sherwin and Kareem below; all SBD volunteers

Harassment is quite an issue here, and as anywhere, it has many dimensions. Because of my age and conservative dress, I imagine, I seldom experience any. Those of darker skin are often taken for Moroccans, so have a tough time convincing people they are Americans. Young women are a target for unwanted attention, especially those of Asian descent, as those nationalities are seldom seen here.

RABAT. The afternoon before the Close of Service (for the group of 43 volunteers who will be done the end of November) conference began, a friend and I visited Chellah. These are ruins of an ancient Roman city and a Merenid necropolis. The Phoenicians were the first in this region before the Romans took control about 40AD, and now it is "controlled" by a large colony of storks.

This is a nice, quiet place full of beautiful flowering trees of many types, and has a great view of the river and other parts of Rabat.
The night before, our Volunteer Advisory Council group, of which I just concluded being the chair, went to the newly opened TGIFridays for dinner; we indulged in some real American food and atmosphere while we watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. It was great fun!

AND ON TUESDAY. Only the same three showed up at the neddy for the meeting. The two others I wanted there did not show. However, some progress was made; Sana’s brother had assembled the cupboard and rolling TV car, although not exactly correctly, they are functional, so we set about moving them into the office and arranging a few things. Malika kept trying to squeeze other large items in the office as well. Just the simplest task can be frustrating and it’s constant work on my part to not let it! No wonder I’m tired at the end of the day doing nothing.

I did finally, I think, convince her of the need the account for each person’s products on a separate page (on Excel) rather than several of her friends’ work all under her name. She just didn’t understand that it would be impossible for Sana to remember/track those sales at the end of the day to know, under one account, exactly what sold for who, and that it was better to make sure each person got paid what they deserved by having their own code number on each item.

Sana and I also went to a woman’s house who I had asked a few weeks ago to make a table runner. I thought she got the basic idea, and she did. It’s really not a table runner, but it is of natural wool and dyed wool, and has the traditional Berber design. It still needs a bit of improvement, but I feel confident that these will sell well at the boutique. I bought this one, and asked she make another “just to see” for the boutique. So that was a nice end to the day.

Tomorrow Sena and I will finish entering all the inventory information in Excel to make sure she can continue doing that, just in case product comes in while I am gone. Wishful thinking.

I’m unable to access blogger again from home and will be traveling for a couple of weeks, so when I return, be prepared to view lots of photos from my new adventures in northern Morocco!

IT’S A MONDAY! Went to the neddy with my laptop to work on my “knife and fork” presentation that I will be doing when I go home, and also to kill time and see if anyone showed up. My counterpart (I will refer to her from Malika from this point on) and the young woman (Sana) who will manage the store both came, each with computer parts that some governmental entity gave to them. Likely leftovers from some office: a flat screen monitor, new keyboard, and a webcam. (Of course, there is no internet at the neddy, and the other computer items really not a priority need right now). Gees, all I want are door handles with locks that work, sewing machines that work, someone to help me assemble the do-it-yourself cupboard, etc. This reminds me an incident that occurred about 40 years ago when the U.S. Government gave free electrical appliances to residents on a Montana Indian reservation who lived in homes with no electricity.

Then this afternoon my landlord knocks on my door, and there is a group of young people and an older guide with them looking for Malika. They a group of volunteers from Italy who will be working in the area for two weeks and she is a contact of some sort. I take them to her house and after about 20 minutes, they come to realize she is not the right Malika. So we had tea anyway and the leader said he knew of another group who wanted to work with women’s groups on human rights projects, so all was not lost.

Yesterday the welder stopped by to talk with me about the signs. He found a guy who hand paints the letters. He is very expensive, but I am assured it will be an excellent job, and I do have adequate monies left so here’s hoping!

I requested a meeting tomorrow afternoon with all 5 of us who are actively involved in my project so we can once again discuss what needs to be done. I am still hopeful we will be in a position to open up by the first of September.

It was 108 in the shade by my front door today…and of course much hotter in the sun, but I didn’t want to look to see just how hot it was.

MARRIAGE?! About the most exciting thing that has happened this week, besides that I just discovered I could blog from my house again, is that I think I might have received a marriage proposal.

I'm headed down from the top of the hill on my morning walk, and this old toothless shepherd shows off his French by saying (as many locals do) "ca va." So I show off my Darija with a "labas ehlik?!" (fine, and you?!) He shakes my hand, delighted that I can speak his language, asks me where I am going, which everyone always does, and I tell him I am returning to my house in Touama. He asks if I have a husband and I give him an emphatic "no!" He makes some other remarks I don't understand, and invites me to tea, which I decline. I have a devil of a time getting rid of his handshake and continuing on the path. Now you may laugh, but that is about the extend of many courtships in the settlements/towns/cities around here. If he only knew just how different a role the woman/wife plays in my country, he would be shocked. Well, my job here is not to change the culture, but I do hope that some of the positive aspects of being an American woman are being conveyed to the girls and women that I associate with.

Am making slight progress on the to-do list. Will try to update before I leave on the 7th for my two-week trip to points north.