Hello everyone
I have gotten tired of talking about myself so I thought I would tell
you about what it is like to be a women here in Morocco.
A day in the life of a Moroccan women: my host mom has three children
which stay at home with her all day while my host dad goes to work,
which is a small area he owns where he makes pots, because he is a potter.
My host mother, Fadima gets up and starts her day with making bread for
breakfast. So every morning I get to eat homemade bread for breakfast, which
a lot of my collegues complain about because "it has too many carbs..." blah blah blah
I love it but I was also raised on bread and potatoes. After we all eat breakfast
Fadima starts washing dishes from the day before. Then she spends a good part of the
morning and afternoon washing clothes by hand. I wash my own clothes by hand here
and it is so much work, especially with a limited supply of water. All you mothers
out there know how much laundry three children produce and without a machine it takes
Fadima hours to do all of the laundry. I understand why kids run around with such
dirty clothes all the time. I myself hate doing laundry so I wait until the last possible
second to do laundry. After a morning full of chores Fadima starts making lunch which
is usually Tajine. All while this is going on all three of the children are hanging on
her and crying because they want something. I bet she wonders why mother's in America
beg to stay at home with their children, Fadima would love to go to work everyday and
get out of the house. Everyday it is just her and her three children, who cry a lot because
they dont have any toys. My mom sent them some toys but they can't play with them because
they are on a shelf and can only be stared at. I tried to get them to play with the toys
but Fadima thinks they are collectibles or something. In the evenings all of the mothers
Moroccan women get a break and meet up on the mountain and talk about stuff. I am not sure
what they talk about because my language isn't that good yet. They all talk really fast
my guess it is about the donkey shit they found on Mohamed's pants today while doing laundry.
I don't know what else they would talk about because all they do all day is chores. I will
figure it out and get back to you. Fadima is not allowed to go to souk (market) because that
is where the men hang out. Men and women are always separated here in Morocco. Gender
is a big deal here. Men and women are not friends with each other. The only man friend
Fadima will ever have is her husband Said. I am allowed to talk to the men because I am
a foreigner and they know that we are different. Since Fadima is not allowed to go to souk
her life is lived in about two city block area, and she is not allowed to venture out of these
two city blocks, unless she is escorted by Said. Fadima life is very typical Moroccan women
who lives in the countryside.
Love you
Emmy
I am thankful for my independence.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I was amazed by the limited existence of your host mother. I did a little, very little, research and learned that there is a woman's liberation movement in Morocco, however, it is a long uphill fight as most of the descrimination is rooted in religion.
Describe your apartment. I suspect a window air conditioner is not included. What have you got for furniture, decorations, pots and pans? What is going on for projects? Are you going to start rabble rousing at the taxi stand, telling the women to stand up and fight or maybe go on strike and quit doing all the work while their men enjoy life, such as it is in Morocco.
Post a Comment