How Celine Dion Changed my World

Tata city is a town that I travel to frequently to use internet, buy special groceries, have meetings with my boss, and meet up with other volunteers in the province to share a meal and maybe go to the hammam during the winter. It is by far the most enjoyable day trip for me and I go there once every week or two weeks. Without fail, every time I go to Tata I hear at least one Celine Dion song playing in some store, full out, balls to the wall, speakers cranked up as high as they will go, with a couple people hanging around who, even though dancing in public in Morocco is more or less a social taboo outside certain festivals, are fully engrossed in lyrics such as “Because you loved me….”. I will admit that Celine Dion is a very good singer and if I hadn’t lived in Morocco for as long as I have I may occasionally enjoy a flashback to Titanic, but sometimes I think: If I have to listen to Celine Dion one more time, ahhhhhhhh! I was joking and laughing about this cultural anomaly with other volunteers the other day when I received the inspiration for this blog post. It occurred to me that this, and many other aspects that are frustrating at times, are what make life here so entertaining for me, and they will probably be the same little details that I will miss the most once my service in Morocco is done.

Another cause for frustration is the way that Moroccans deal with the various money currencies. All the money in Morocco is printed in the official currency dirhams (there are about 9 dirhams to the dollar) but there are another two currencies that are used in Morocco, the royal and frank. The vast majority of the time that I bargain and buy items I am given the price in royals, and there are 20 royals to every dirham. For example, I took a taxi ride this morning from Skora to Ourzazate and when I asked the driver the price for one seat he told me, 260, which means that I counted out 13 dirhams. This fun Morocco math fact is something that I am so used to now that it hardly matters, however bargaining for larger items where the royals gets into the thousands is rather annoying, not to mention the fact that royals and franks aren’t actually printed on anything. Sometime I just want to hold dirham bills and coins in people faces and say “Look at the number, it says 5, not 100.”

It is going to be so boring when I am no longer in a place will multiple currencies, or where everyday people ask me how my health, family, house, and cats are, just in passing as a normal everyday greeting. I have seven months left in Morocco before my time is up, and even though it may sound long, after having been here for 20 months, it feels like it is just around the bend. Some of the cultural details I love, like being told to eat more instead of worrying about weight, and some I like somewhat less so, but I know that I will carry all of these with me forever. For the rest of my life when I hear a Celine Dion song I will smile to myself and remember going into Tata city and my time in Morocco.

Shebekia

This summer brought back the scorching heat, week-long wedding parties, and constant stream of visiters and toursists. I was also able to enjoy myself at weekend trip away with other volunteers at the new, small waterpark for tourists near Marrakech; a day in a bikini was fanominal. It was a good, fun season, although I would be lieing if I didn’t admit that I am tired and ready for Ramadan. Ramadan is a clam and pious time when families spend a lot of quality time together, fasting all day and then breaking fast at sundown with soup, dates and shebekia (a wonderful honey-covered pastry). It is one of my favorite times in Morocco! Even though my current laundry station project construction and health education that I have been working on will be suspended for the holiday, I am doing well and enjoying my work in my peaceful, desert community. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

Barakallah u fik
Blessings of God be Upon You

Whitney Jon

Extremes

Living in extremes, that is what this chapter of my Peace Corps experience has been like. Last summer I remember sitting on the edge of my bed directly in front of my fan, wearing wet clothing, and trying not to sweat in the dry desert sauna. I wondered if I would ever again see rain. A couple months after that, I found myself in the same exact location, perched on the edge of my bed, except instead of a fan it was a heater, and instead of wet clothing it was all my clothing, layered in a desperate attempt to stay warm. At that point I was wondering if the drain in my open courtyard would catch up with the rain and prevent my house from flooding, which it threatened to do several times. The extremes do not stop at the weather. There are days when I have no time to myself, I spend hours running here and there, teaching, meetings… and then there are times when the weather is bad or there is nothing going on and I spend the entire day reading, watching movies, and doing sodoku. This is what I have learned: When you can rest, rest because you might not be able to take another breather for quite a while. When you find work, take advantage of it, because the opportunities for improvement can be rare. Lastly, do your best to enjoy the day, because you never know what tomorrow will be like. (Wow, one of my high school professors would have scolded me for writing too much like a hallmark card, but truth is truth.)

I got a cat, her name is Milo and she loves to play with bugs. Isn't she a cutie!

Currently I have been putting together a series of projects. The first is a laundry station that will be a step toward decontaminating the oasis in my community from laundry soap. Currently I have submitted the official proposal and paperwork to Peace Corps and I am now waiting for approval before the construction starts. I will keep you all informed and updated with photos once they become available.

The other project is the one that I have been requesting help for. I am putting together a project outside of the Peace Corps framework to get medical supplies donated to clinics in Morocco. It is a large project and I could use all the help I can get. Please look at the blog I have set up about the project at http://sendmedicalsupplies2morocco.blogspot.com/ .

Until next time…. As always, thank you for all the support.