Words and images from my service in Morocco

Disclaimer: the contents of this site are mine personally and don't reflect any position of the US Government and of the Peace Corps 

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"If he (the average citizen) were allowed to contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what he has been told about them is lies. The sealed world in which he lives would be broken, and the fear, hatred, and self-righteousness on which his morale depends might evaporate"  from 1984 by George Orwell

Thus, exactly a month ago, I finished my Peace Corps service and I’m now proud to call myself a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

عندي ألمغرب في قلبي 

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So today I made sure to stop by Youssef's coffee shop - himself a die hard Real Madrid fan- to make fun of him because of Madrid's last-minute defeat last night. Of course, after putting up with my rant for a few minutes, he insisted that I seat down and drink mint tea with him and his friends...

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Nothing better than making Zinab, my host mom, laugh by threatening to call the police on her for not cooking couscous on Friday.

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Ramadan

The crescent moon has been spotted! Thus, the holy month of Ramadan (the month of fasting) will start tomorrow here in Morocco. Fasting during Ramadan has been among the most compelling and thought provoking experiences I have had while serving in the Peace Corps. It helped me realize that I have been fortunate enough to take food and water for granted every single day of my life. I am now able to appreciate a glass of water as never before. رمضان سعيد

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Spring Break

Last week my students had their spring break. So, we decided to take advantage of their free time and went on a hike. We woke up early and started walking around 6 am, right before dawn, and made it back to town around three in the afternoon. We made it to the Migeren gorge, my favorite spot in the region. As we were walking back into town, we ran into small heard of camels.

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Cooking

Yesterday, I reached a milestone in my service. For the first time in more than two years, I cooked tajin, one of the most typical dishes in Morocco, for myself. It’s named after the clay pot in which it is cooked. It is possible to cook pretty much anything – chicken, beef, fish or just vegetables -- in the tajin. This morning I went to the market and bought vegetables, a mix of spices and a one-person tajine for 23 dirhams (approximately $2.) Previously, I had two cooking sessions with my host mom who patiently taught me how to prepare it. It turned out to be quite simple. These are the ingredients: ground beef, carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, coriander, olives, a mix of spices, a bit of salt and cooking oil.

To make it, you simply: - add cooking oil and the meat - add sliced vegetables (carrots, onions, tomatoes, etc.) on top of the meat -add the spices and salt -add chopped coriander and a bit of water -let it simmer for about forty minutes and sometime halfway through add the olives

I also ate it the right way, using bread instead of utensils. Afterwards, I had oranges for dessert, which is normal here in Morocco. Dessert usually consists of fruit (apples, oranges, bananas or whatever fruit is in season.)

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Hospitality in Morocco

Volunteer Matthew Rogers shares the tradition of tea in Morocco as key to hospitality. This video was submitted in the 2017 Peace Corps Week Video Challenge.

This is a short video by a fellow volunteer about tea and hospitality in Morocco. It is simply impossible to overemphasize the importance of tea on daily life here. Check out similar videos on hospitality from other Peace Corps countries: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM0oh3lEA63HASpphcwVbsr1XvMi374Qb

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While I have a schedule and I try to keep busy and spend time with people in my community, I do have a considerable amount of free time. So, I read. Since I arrived in Morocco slightly more than two years ago, I have actually read forty books. Currently, I am reading Guests of the Ayatollah by Mark Bowden, which narrates the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.

This except really stroke me: “The captive diplomat had first visited Iran in 1962 as a young man stirred by the rhetoric of President Kennedy. A recent Harvard graduate, he had wanted to help less fortunate people and he wanted to travel, explore, and learn... How unprepared he had been to teach children in a culture and language entirely foreign to him! But if it had been difficult for him, then what must it have been like for his students? How patient they had been with him! If Kennedy had expected the Peace Corps experience would build political and cultural bridges to the Third World, he had underestimated the complexity of such task" (p.236-37)

I do agree with the idea that Peace Cops service requires patience and perseverance, a lot of both. This is especially true if you don’t speak any of the language(s) of your country or service and don’t have any prior experience with the culture.  Learning Darija (Moroccan Arabic) and Tamazight has required a consistent effort. Developing an understanding of my community has also taken time. Thus, it is important for volunteers to keep in mind that grassroots development does not happen overnight especially because we start our service practically from scratch. Now, I can’t even imagine how patient people have had to be with me – my host family, my counterparts, my language tutor, and my students.

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In Morocco, we drink tea!

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No Fallow Land I took this picture on my first year of service during the Peace Hike, a joint project between Moroccan health professionals and Peace Corps volunteers. Morocco would be the country where you would see a boy working the land with a camel. To me, it was such a surreal image that I had to capture it

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Great news!   The day before yesterday I checked the website of the Maryland Board of Elections and found out that they received my absentee ballot for the general election. VOTE!

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I remember reading on the Peace Corps website a while back that volunteers get to see the most beautiful sunsets around the world. Well, they weren’t lying.  I took this picture of the sunset yesterday through the window in my kitchen.

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You know you are in Morocco when: after watching a football game at a coffee shop, you get up from your seat to leave and pay for your sandwich to find out that the guy who was sitting next to you and whom you had befriended had  paid for it. Not only that, he had already shared half of his tray of fruit with you.

Hospitality is taken seriously here in Morocco!

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Fantasia

Fantasia is a traditional horsemanship show that is common in regional and local festivals throughout Morocco. Teams consist of approximately 10 riders. The goal is to charge together at the same speed and, towards the end, simultaneously fire their muskets.  The crux is to coordinate the speed of their horses and the shots.  

Fantasia is immensely popular in the country. Performances can easily draw several hundreds of people and the atmosphere turns very festive because people sing and play instruments as the show unfolds. A performance can last up to two or three hours.

Seeing the horses approach at full speed is frightening and exhilarating!

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Ahawash

Every year, in early May, Kelaa M’Guna holds a festival to celebrate the rose harvest. The roses are distilled in order to make rosewater, perfume and other products.  Last year, I worked with other fellow volunteers running a blood pressure screening booth. While this year we did not work, I showed up so I could see the Ahawash performances.  Besides folk music, there are carnival rides, a parade, and booths selling regional products and handicrafts.

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Msemrir: a small town in the High Atlas