From day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute how I feel about my life is very different. I have only been living with my family for a week which amazes me I was positive it had been atleast four months but no it has only been seven days. I have been told that the first month is the hardest so here I go taking this month as scared as I have every been. I started this week, meaning seven days ago, I was maybe a little too confident that this experience would be really easy and fun; only to be slapped in the face by reality. My second day in site I called my dad at work crying my eyes out because I was so lonely and homesick and wondering what the hell have I gotten myself into. The next twenty four hours after that were a struggle; I was faced with my first goat head experiene to top it all off. I ate the smallest bite of brain which wasnt that bad but what got me was all the children in the family were devouring the scalp and eyes and jaw bones. I thanked God at this moment for my impaired peripherial vision because it was a nasty site to behold. Then my spirits rose again. Probably because I got to leave for Essaouira which is always so much fun. While I was in Essaouira I got to eat grill cheese, pizza, donuts, and drink diet coke; all while staring at the beach. I also talked to my parents that day and my brother and my grandma; needless to say Sunday was a great day. Now I am back at site and every moment is a rollercoaster but I know that I am going to be ok. My guitar is getting me through this host family experience. I might not be good at it but I need all the distractions I can get.
Yesterday I taught an English class to the teachers at the middle school which was interesting because I am not a teacher. I have friends who are and there is a reason you go to school for four years to teach because it is hard. I am teaching English with my sitemate Amy and she used to be a science teacher and she knows what she is doing and I just help her. We are hoping to start teaching another English class at the neddi; which is a place for girls to do crafts. I have also been going to the Sbitar (clinic). I am actually really lucky because I have things to do to occupy my time like going to the neddi; Sbitar; or argan cooperative (a place where they make argan oil). I had tutoring today and it was great because my tutor has money so we got to sit in comfortable couches and eat lots of good food; even if he isnt a good tutor atleast we get a break from our lives at site. Ahmed is a good tutor, I think, today was our first day.
The kids at my host family are sick and constantly have snot running down there faces; which can curb your appetite at the table. Andrew the volunteer I am replacing survived his homestay experience, with the same family, so I am sure I will; sometimes I question this.
I love you all and keep me in your prayers because this is not easy. I guess that is why I am here.
I love you
Emmy
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The time has come....
Tomorrow I will swear in and become an official Peace Corps Volunteer. This is very exciting because now I get to finally do what I have come here to do, help people. Granted I wont be doing anything besides learning the language and my community for the first six months but someday I have hopes of doing something to change atleast one persons life. I have turned a new leaf and left my fear of going to my new site behind me. I forgot my mantra of taking one day at a time and that today prepares me for tomorrow. I need to stop looking at my service as two years as a whole. Dont get me wrong I am still scared but I will survive this.
I love you all and will keep you all informed, it is time for me to go and hang out with all of my new pals for one last night. I will be arriving in my site on the 21st if the workers strike doesnt shut down transportation, inshallah.
Love Emmy
I love you all and will keep you all informed, it is time for me to go and hang out with all of my new pals for one last night. I will be arriving in my site on the 21st if the workers strike doesnt shut down transportation, inshallah.
Love Emmy
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Iwirig (I have returned in Tashleheet)
No Dad I did not get attacked by the Taliban but the power did go out yesterday in Ouarzazate and my blog went bye bye.
So here we go again: Last week I was in my language town; which must not be named because the US government does not allow me to mention my exact where abouts because terrorists are always looking for Americans, we as Americans are never safe :) This is a joke to me because when I was studying in Spain all of my professors told not to go to Morocco because it is soooo dangerous and now I am here. I never dont feel safe. Anyways last week draged it seemed like I was there for three months and it was only six days. I just didnt want to integrate into a community that I wouldnt be living in. If I am going to be living with a host family I want it to be with one that I am going to know for two years, not four weeks. My family also kept asking me about my new site and my new family which as you can imagine was kind of wierd. When I was there I was remembering my first day sitting in the living room with my family for the first time and I was scared shitless. At that moment I was wondering what in the hell have I got myself into I cant live here for two years. Now after four weeks I became comfortable in that room with my neighbors and family staring at me like I was from planet Zargon.
I went to a naming ceramony while I was There. The women are separated from the men. The men sing from the Koran to figure out what the new babies name should be. The women cook all of the food all day long but of course the men get to eat first. The next day the women dance, sing, and play the drums. Moroccoan women know how to shake their hips like Beyonce, they just have a lot more clothes on. I of course was forced to dance and was of course laughed at. I got sick from the cous cous but other than that I had a great time.
Finally the week came to an end and everyone besides me got extremely emotional. My host sister was crying for about twenty-four hours. When our taxi left our women friends were crying so hard it was like they were saying good-bye to their brothers who were going off to war. We are the only fun in these womens lives. Especially now because it is harvest and they are in the fields all day long in the hot hot hot sun harvesting wheat and barley. I am so grateful everyday that I was given a life of choice. These girls have no hope of living a life any different from what their mothers have done. And if you are a pretty girl in Morocco it is a curse because then you will get married at 18 and start bearing children nine months after your wedding day. Most marriages are arranged so the girl has no choice of who she marries and the man is usually atleast ten years older. My host mom in my new site is 22 and has three children already, she has basically been pregnant since the day she got married. I can maybe help her with some family planning lessons.
I am leaving for my site in four days and scared shitless, but we all are. All the current volunteers have told us the first month is the hardest because I will have little language and I will be living with a host family. But I didnt join the Peace Corps to sit in a conference room for two years so I am as ready as I can be to dive into this experience.
Sending you all love from the desert of Morocco,
Emmy
By the way I passed my language test if anyone was concerned, I was.
So here we go again: Last week I was in my language town; which must not be named because the US government does not allow me to mention my exact where abouts because terrorists are always looking for Americans, we as Americans are never safe :) This is a joke to me because when I was studying in Spain all of my professors told not to go to Morocco because it is soooo dangerous and now I am here. I never dont feel safe. Anyways last week draged it seemed like I was there for three months and it was only six days. I just didnt want to integrate into a community that I wouldnt be living in. If I am going to be living with a host family I want it to be with one that I am going to know for two years, not four weeks. My family also kept asking me about my new site and my new family which as you can imagine was kind of wierd. When I was there I was remembering my first day sitting in the living room with my family for the first time and I was scared shitless. At that moment I was wondering what in the hell have I got myself into I cant live here for two years. Now after four weeks I became comfortable in that room with my neighbors and family staring at me like I was from planet Zargon.
I went to a naming ceramony while I was There. The women are separated from the men. The men sing from the Koran to figure out what the new babies name should be. The women cook all of the food all day long but of course the men get to eat first. The next day the women dance, sing, and play the drums. Moroccoan women know how to shake their hips like Beyonce, they just have a lot more clothes on. I of course was forced to dance and was of course laughed at. I got sick from the cous cous but other than that I had a great time.
Finally the week came to an end and everyone besides me got extremely emotional. My host sister was crying for about twenty-four hours. When our taxi left our women friends were crying so hard it was like they were saying good-bye to their brothers who were going off to war. We are the only fun in these womens lives. Especially now because it is harvest and they are in the fields all day long in the hot hot hot sun harvesting wheat and barley. I am so grateful everyday that I was given a life of choice. These girls have no hope of living a life any different from what their mothers have done. And if you are a pretty girl in Morocco it is a curse because then you will get married at 18 and start bearing children nine months after your wedding day. Most marriages are arranged so the girl has no choice of who she marries and the man is usually atleast ten years older. My host mom in my new site is 22 and has three children already, she has basically been pregnant since the day she got married. I can maybe help her with some family planning lessons.
I am leaving for my site in four days and scared shitless, but we all are. All the current volunteers have told us the first month is the hardest because I will have little language and I will be living with a host family. But I didnt join the Peace Corps to sit in a conference room for two years so I am as ready as I can be to dive into this experience.
Sending you all love from the desert of Morocco,
Emmy
By the way I passed my language test if anyone was concerned, I was.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Bon Voyage Again...
I am leaving again tomorrow for CBT which is my first host families house where we have language. I am not excited about this because I want to stay with all of my friends and not be with a host family. I like my site host family so much better. But this is the last time. I will return next Monday.
My life here in Ouarzate consists of sitting in a conference room sweating my armpits off. I did have a day off yesterday which was amazing. I just hung out at the pool all day long. Life will not be like this for much longer. I swear in on May 19th which is the day I become an official volunteer and not a trainee anymore. Then life in Morocco really begins and I go to my site. I am terrified of this day but it is why I came here.
I love you all,
Emmy
Thank you for all the letters, they truely make my day.
My life here in Ouarzate consists of sitting in a conference room sweating my armpits off. I did have a day off yesterday which was amazing. I just hung out at the pool all day long. Life will not be like this for much longer. I swear in on May 19th which is the day I become an official volunteer and not a trainee anymore. Then life in Morocco really begins and I go to my site. I am terrified of this day but it is why I came here.
I love you all,
Emmy
Thank you for all the letters, they truely make my day.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
I have Returned from the Beach!!!
Hello everyone,
I have returned from my site and I am so pleasantly surprised. I will start from the beginning I took an eight hour bus ride through the mountains to Essouira. Essa is so cool it has pizza and french fries and a beach and beer! Our first night we hung out on the beach next to the castle in the sand where Jimi and Bob Marley used to hang out.
Then it was off to my site which is nessled between Argan trees and mountains. There are not mud huts but not houses either something in between. My host family has a 1, 2, and 3 year olds living there and my host mom is younger than me. She cant be any older than 22 and has three young children. I guess my first family planning lesson will begin at home. I also have a host dad and his sister, mom, and grandma live with us. It is a full household but for the most part I really like them. The kids are a blessing and an annoyance. The 2 year old reminds me of what Nikki looked like when she was little. When ever her crying gets to me I just pretend it is my little Nikki crying and I need to be patient.
My nurse at the Sbitar (hospital) told me that I would be catching a baby within my first month of service. By this he meant I would be helping with the births. I will admit this made me a little nervous but I am up for the challenge. I went to the Sbitar on Wednesday for vaccination day and got to give a 15 day old baby polio medicine and vitamin D stuff. My nurse is very willing to let me have a hands on experience.
I went on a six hour hike with a medicinal plant cooperative. This means a bunch of women who hike up to the mountains to collect thyme and wild oregano. During this hike we hiked up to a cell phone tower to have lunch with the man that lives in this tower to make sure we always have service. The hike was intense and amazing the only thing I could think of was that I wanted to bring all my friends to this beautiful place. I would download pictures but it takes hours and I dont know how to do it. I promise I will figure it out within the next couple of days.
I have a new address: Emmy Josefson
BP 54
Smimou, 44050
Morocco
Essouira Province
The only bad thing about my site is that I have flees in my bed and they have done a great job at attacking me. I need to figure out how to defeat this problem the only ideas i have so far is having someone send me a flee collar? If any of you out there are experts on this issue please inform me because I hate trying to sleep while I can feel bugs bouncing all over my skin.
I love my new site and I am so happy the people are nice.
I love you all and will be in contact soon.
Love
Emmy
I have returned from my site and I am so pleasantly surprised. I will start from the beginning I took an eight hour bus ride through the mountains to Essouira. Essa is so cool it has pizza and french fries and a beach and beer! Our first night we hung out on the beach next to the castle in the sand where Jimi and Bob Marley used to hang out.
Then it was off to my site which is nessled between Argan trees and mountains. There are not mud huts but not houses either something in between. My host family has a 1, 2, and 3 year olds living there and my host mom is younger than me. She cant be any older than 22 and has three young children. I guess my first family planning lesson will begin at home. I also have a host dad and his sister, mom, and grandma live with us. It is a full household but for the most part I really like them. The kids are a blessing and an annoyance. The 2 year old reminds me of what Nikki looked like when she was little. When ever her crying gets to me I just pretend it is my little Nikki crying and I need to be patient.
My nurse at the Sbitar (hospital) told me that I would be catching a baby within my first month of service. By this he meant I would be helping with the births. I will admit this made me a little nervous but I am up for the challenge. I went to the Sbitar on Wednesday for vaccination day and got to give a 15 day old baby polio medicine and vitamin D stuff. My nurse is very willing to let me have a hands on experience.
I went on a six hour hike with a medicinal plant cooperative. This means a bunch of women who hike up to the mountains to collect thyme and wild oregano. During this hike we hiked up to a cell phone tower to have lunch with the man that lives in this tower to make sure we always have service. The hike was intense and amazing the only thing I could think of was that I wanted to bring all my friends to this beautiful place. I would download pictures but it takes hours and I dont know how to do it. I promise I will figure it out within the next couple of days.
I have a new address: Emmy Josefson
BP 54
Smimou, 44050
Morocco
Essouira Province
The only bad thing about my site is that I have flees in my bed and they have done a great job at attacking me. I need to figure out how to defeat this problem the only ideas i have so far is having someone send me a flee collar? If any of you out there are experts on this issue please inform me because I hate trying to sleep while I can feel bugs bouncing all over my skin.
I love my new site and I am so happy the people are nice.
I love you all and will be in contact soon.
Love
Emmy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)