Sachel and Kari just came to visit for a week and the trip could not have gone better. They arrive on a Wednesday where I picked them up from the airport, where Sachel was sporting as much BSU gear that can be worn at one time and they had matching old school back packing packs. We then took the bus to Marrakesh center where I introduced them to the chaos and they got to meet Doug for the first time. We started the night by eating at my favorite pizza place.
Our second day was spent in the market bartering and buying so much stuff. Doug helped me bargain and become friends with all of the shopkeepers. Marrakesh is a really busy city with lots of markets and lots of people going in every direction besides with the crowd. Sachel and Kari did great and really seemed to enjoy this madness. That evening I took them to a restaurant that I claimed was similar to Alice in Wonderland, but no one agrees with me on this. I will take their word for it because I am the only who has not seen the movie. It was a great meal and to my surprise it was insanely expensive. Sachel will never let me live this down, but when I am rich I owe him and Kari a really expensive meal that actually has an Alice and Wonderland theme.
The next day we were off to Essaouira, which Doug and I were excited about because we were totally worn out from Marrakesh. Essa is a laid-back beach town with a lot less tourists and less scooters darting at you from all different directions. Once we got settled into our apartment, that I had rented, Sachel and Kari took a long nap. They claimed that Marrakesh was great and easy to handle but this nap proved them wrong. We spent the evening playing games and I lost at a ruthless game of Jenga. Grandma you would be happy, after our Jenga game we played a traditional game of Scrabble, which Kari won. There was a wedding right outside of our window; Sachel and Kari got to see what that is like from the distance of our window.
It was back to the shops the second day. After we bought some paintings Doug got us stuck in a jewelry shop where we proceeded to sit down and have tea. At this point I knew we were done for and would be forced to buy something. But I went with it and the man continued to show us horrible jewelry and we continued to tell him how great his shit was. Then the time came to leave and he asked us what we wanted and we fished for something to buy so we could get the hell out of there. Kari and I found a pair of earrings that the man tried to sell to us for an outrageous price. We talked him down to a price we were willing to pay and ran. It was a really interesting monumental experience in Kari and Sachel’s trip.
We walked around in the wind some more where Sachel found a great Indian Chief ring and Kari found a great pink stone ring, and then finished the day with a nice Italian dinner. That night we stayed up late talking about life and Morocco. Kari started not feeling well this night and went to bed early and then started the next day feeling like someone was hammering on her joints. We tried to take it easy this day. We saw all of the fish markets and sat at the beach for a while. Then it was off to Imi N Tlit (my village).
In my village we made great meals and tried to regain some strength in our tired bodies. The first full day Kari and Sachel were in my site Kari was really sick but she was a trooper and went to my host families for lunch. After the first extremely awkward half hour my host sisters then warmed up to Kari and my host brother Hussein was a terror and started hitting people like he always does. We had a great tajine (a traditional Moroccan dish). While we were eating lunch my host mom scolded my host dad, her son that he did not fix us tea, so after lunch we had to stay for tea. The room was filled with my neighbors because they wanted to check out Kari and Sachel. With curious eyes burning into them Sachel and Kari did great and got along well with everyone. After tea we had to take a group photo, which became a ridiculous event because everyone had to change their clothes and they couldn’t decide where to have this picture. Naturally, they decided to take it by the cow in the back yard. We were really confused by this but followed.
After lunch with the host family we went to the neddy. This was great because all my neddy girls attacked me like they always do with hundreds of questions about Kari mostly. It was so happy to get to share this time with Sachel, Kari, and Doug because they got to truly see what I do when I am in my site.
We had one last morning in my site and we had planned on going to the clinic but found that it was closed because my nurse decided not to show up to work. That is life here in Morocco. We accepted this and moved on to the argan cooperative. Sachel and Kari and I got the opportunity to break open argan shells. Sachel was not a natural at this but as we know he never gives up. Kari was a natural after she figured it out. The women love it when I bring people there so they really enjoyed this. We got to see the oil processing room that my host sister runs and we learned that it takes two kilos of argan nuts to make a liter and a half of oil. I have no idea what that means but my guess is that it is a lot of nuts for not very much oil.
We then proceeded to make our way back to Marrakesh so Sachel and Kari could make it to the airport the next day. We returned to our same hotel tired and ragged, me especially. Sachel and Kari have already mastered the skill of sleeping on the bus, which I can’t do because I am so worried about missing something.
We spent the evening in the market to look at everything one last time. We also got a birds eye view of the market for some great pictures. We had our final meal together at my favorite pizza place where we had our first meal. By this point in the trip Kari was so tired of pizza she decided to eat McDonalds! The next morning I woke up with Sachel and Kari and took them to the airport where they headed off to London.
Sachel and Kari’s trip really helped me realize that no matter how many blogs I write, or pictures I show you, or videos I send home no one will ever really understand my life here until they see it in person. I am so grateful for someone from my family to see what I do here and what my life is truly like. This will help when I get home and you all have questions, Sachel and Kari can help you understand from their perspective. I had such a great time with them and I hope you get to see all of their pictures.
I love you both so much and thank you for everything. Doug thought you both were great and funny.
Until Next Time
Love
Emmy
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
My Last Two Weeks
It has been a long time since I have updated you on my life, so I am going to take this time to tell you about my last two weeks of life because it has been a great one with lots of adventures. On February 14th I spent my Valentines Day in Imsuane, a cute beach town about 40 kilometers from my house. It was raining and the weather was not nice but I went swimming in the rain anyways. It had been a year since I had put my swimsuit and I have decided that it is a requirement as a human to put on your swimsuit at least once a year. After being in Morocco for two years now I have realized how great an adrenaline rush is. In the land of rollercoaster’s, ski hills, and wake boards to ride we don’t realize how lucky we are to stop thinking for a moment and just focus on trying not to die. It is so fun to ride down a ski hill and not think and just let your soul soar. When I was in the ocean all I could concentrate on was not getting knocked out by a huge wave or a surfer and it was so fun and gave me such a rush.
On Monday I took the journey to Marrakesh where I spent the night before heading up to Rabat for my closing of service conference. On Tuesday I finally got to see all of my Peace Corps friends, I love to see everyone so much!!!! I will tell you a little about some of my Peace Corps buddies because they are all so interesting. Starting with my friend Moira she is my best friend here, Miora’s dad is from Scotland and she is from Minnesota too. Chris Schallaci is an Italian Mexican American and yes he knows like six languages. Adam Campbell is from New Hampshire and is the sweetest asshole I have ever met. Casey Coes is also from New Hampshire and went to American University and is addicted to adrenaline, he reminds me a lot of my brother B.J. Natalie Cameron is a Mexican from California and she is the most laid back girl I have ever met. Audrey Huse is from Colorado and is the most independent hard-core women I have ever met, she reminds me a lot of my mom. Evan is from California and his parents are from Jamaica and Guyana, he is getting married in August to another Peace Corps volunteer. Then of course there is Doug, he is a total Midwest boy from Michigan and he loves music and is the most considerate person I know. These are my main crew of friends but of course there are more but I will get on with telling you about my life.
We started the conference on Wednesday and of course the night before we stayed up way too late, so getting to the conference at 8:30 was a struggle but we made it! The first day was centered around people talking about their feelings on Peace Corps. For the most part people were happy with their experience thus far but of course there are always those negative people that stayed but should have gone home months ago. I had a great time and really enjoyed the day, but most of the guys hated it because they are not down with talking about how they feel.
That evening a group of us went out dancing and my friend Erin got so into it she broke her ankle. It was a great time but once again we went to bed far too late. Thursday’s sessions were based on career development and thinking about life after Peace Corps. We had some Peace Corps graduates come speak to us and they all were so interesting and had such fun jobs. All of them live in Morocco working for Foreign Service, USAID or the FBI. We also had someone come talk to us about working at USAID and he was so great because he was so honest with us about the pluses and minuses of working for the government and living abroad.
On this day I decided what I am going to do with my life and that is such a relief. I have decided that I am going to get my masters in Education and hopefully teach while I am getting this degree. After I get my masters and teach for two years I want to get a teaching job in the Middle East so I can learn Arabic and teach at the same time. Once I know Arabic I will try to get a job working at USAID or some kind of development organization so I can work on education policy in Afghanistan or Iraq or somewhere? Of course, those of you who know me well know that my plans change and who knows what I will actually do but I have a plan!!!!
After a good night of rest we had our final day of the conference ahead of us. This is the day we learned about what we need to get done before we leave. Nothing notable happened but I am sure it was a good day. That evening I went to dinner with my good friends and then had a great conversation with my friend Evan about what it was like to be a black man. I learned I will never understand how it is different and that I can’t pretend like I do.
Once again I went to bed way way way too late and with only two hours of sleep Doug forced me to go to the train station to make our way to Azilal. I was a mess in the morning and could barely tie my own shoes. After waiting for a two hour delayed train I pulled it together and had one of my best days while in Peace Corps. I shared a car with Dan Driscol one of the most interesting people on the planet. He is the only person I know that is most likely to win a gold medal, become the president all while being modest. Dan just got back from Yemen where he spent 42 days learning Arabic. Dan is one of those people you have to meet to truly understand how great he is, but I am a fan!
When Dan, Doug, my friend Michelle and I were waiting for a taxi to go to Azilal we had the most interesting thing happen. From nowhere this crazy women started sweeping up trash around our feet with her bare hands. I was totally freaking out because I just had no idea what she was going to do next. I tried to relax and ignore her but I couldn’t. She sat next to Doug at the taxi stand and started throwing trash on him and grabbing him. This kept happening and she kept trying to touch all of us. In order to try to control this woman one of the taxi dudes went and got a rabid dog to sick it on her. I couldn’t take it anymore so I ran with my friend Michelle. The dog was not interested in biting the lady but she did eventually run off. It was the weirdest thing that is so hard to explain but I will tell you this would never happen in America. Morocco is such an adventure.
Doug and I spent three days in Azilal recuperating from the week of fun and intensity. We also spent this time to solidify our Italy plans. Then it was off to Ait Bouli, Doug’s village. I love this place so much and always get so sucked in when I arrive I always stayed longer than planned. Doug lives with his host family still and they are the greatest people ever. I have really formed a relationship with his host sister, Fatiha who is in middle school. We always crochet together and she is the sweetest girl ever. While in Bouli I spent my days watching movies, hiking, and starring at the snow capped mountains. It was a really great time.
My last day in BouIi was a really tough day because I was really feeling homesick. Three or four weeks had gone by since I have talked to my parents last and I really missed them. My dad did call but for some reason it wasn’t working and I was so upset about this. I was feeling like I was not apart of a family anymore because it had been so long since I have participated in mine. Thanks to Doug he brought everything back into perspective and was really great. I went to bed feeling a lot better.
After six days in Bouli it was time to start making the journey home. I took a detour to get some books from Dan, Ghost Wars and Horse Soldiers! I am really excited to read these books, if you know nothing about them you should go out and buy them now, every American should be required to read these books, they are about Afghanistan. Last week was spring break here because of Mohamed’s Birthday. This is why Fatiha was home from school, she goes to school in Bougamez, in the city Dan lives because there is only a primary school in Bouli. I got to sit up front with Fatiha and she put her arm around me and she made me love my life here in Morocco and made me feel apart of something when I was feeling so lonely. Fatiha got to show me off to all of her school friends and I felt like a trophy, it was great!!
After 12 hours of vans, taxis, and buses I finally made it back to Essaouira where I spent last night getting prepared to come back to site. I know I have said this before but it is always so hard to come back after being gone for two weeks. Now I am in my house and it is freezing and raining but I am so happy and content. Something interesting that happened to me today, because it has been raining so much here the streets of Essaouira were flooded and I got to forge a river in a wagon. I paid a guy ten cents to pull me across the flooded streets in a big wagon, it was a site to see and unforgettably funny.
I am done now.
Love Emmy
PS Sachel and Kari are coming to visit me next week and I couldn’t be more excited!!!
On Monday I took the journey to Marrakesh where I spent the night before heading up to Rabat for my closing of service conference. On Tuesday I finally got to see all of my Peace Corps friends, I love to see everyone so much!!!! I will tell you a little about some of my Peace Corps buddies because they are all so interesting. Starting with my friend Moira she is my best friend here, Miora’s dad is from Scotland and she is from Minnesota too. Chris Schallaci is an Italian Mexican American and yes he knows like six languages. Adam Campbell is from New Hampshire and is the sweetest asshole I have ever met. Casey Coes is also from New Hampshire and went to American University and is addicted to adrenaline, he reminds me a lot of my brother B.J. Natalie Cameron is a Mexican from California and she is the most laid back girl I have ever met. Audrey Huse is from Colorado and is the most independent hard-core women I have ever met, she reminds me a lot of my mom. Evan is from California and his parents are from Jamaica and Guyana, he is getting married in August to another Peace Corps volunteer. Then of course there is Doug, he is a total Midwest boy from Michigan and he loves music and is the most considerate person I know. These are my main crew of friends but of course there are more but I will get on with telling you about my life.
We started the conference on Wednesday and of course the night before we stayed up way too late, so getting to the conference at 8:30 was a struggle but we made it! The first day was centered around people talking about their feelings on Peace Corps. For the most part people were happy with their experience thus far but of course there are always those negative people that stayed but should have gone home months ago. I had a great time and really enjoyed the day, but most of the guys hated it because they are not down with talking about how they feel.
That evening a group of us went out dancing and my friend Erin got so into it she broke her ankle. It was a great time but once again we went to bed far too late. Thursday’s sessions were based on career development and thinking about life after Peace Corps. We had some Peace Corps graduates come speak to us and they all were so interesting and had such fun jobs. All of them live in Morocco working for Foreign Service, USAID or the FBI. We also had someone come talk to us about working at USAID and he was so great because he was so honest with us about the pluses and minuses of working for the government and living abroad.
On this day I decided what I am going to do with my life and that is such a relief. I have decided that I am going to get my masters in Education and hopefully teach while I am getting this degree. After I get my masters and teach for two years I want to get a teaching job in the Middle East so I can learn Arabic and teach at the same time. Once I know Arabic I will try to get a job working at USAID or some kind of development organization so I can work on education policy in Afghanistan or Iraq or somewhere? Of course, those of you who know me well know that my plans change and who knows what I will actually do but I have a plan!!!!
After a good night of rest we had our final day of the conference ahead of us. This is the day we learned about what we need to get done before we leave. Nothing notable happened but I am sure it was a good day. That evening I went to dinner with my good friends and then had a great conversation with my friend Evan about what it was like to be a black man. I learned I will never understand how it is different and that I can’t pretend like I do.
Once again I went to bed way way way too late and with only two hours of sleep Doug forced me to go to the train station to make our way to Azilal. I was a mess in the morning and could barely tie my own shoes. After waiting for a two hour delayed train I pulled it together and had one of my best days while in Peace Corps. I shared a car with Dan Driscol one of the most interesting people on the planet. He is the only person I know that is most likely to win a gold medal, become the president all while being modest. Dan just got back from Yemen where he spent 42 days learning Arabic. Dan is one of those people you have to meet to truly understand how great he is, but I am a fan!
When Dan, Doug, my friend Michelle and I were waiting for a taxi to go to Azilal we had the most interesting thing happen. From nowhere this crazy women started sweeping up trash around our feet with her bare hands. I was totally freaking out because I just had no idea what she was going to do next. I tried to relax and ignore her but I couldn’t. She sat next to Doug at the taxi stand and started throwing trash on him and grabbing him. This kept happening and she kept trying to touch all of us. In order to try to control this woman one of the taxi dudes went and got a rabid dog to sick it on her. I couldn’t take it anymore so I ran with my friend Michelle. The dog was not interested in biting the lady but she did eventually run off. It was the weirdest thing that is so hard to explain but I will tell you this would never happen in America. Morocco is such an adventure.
Doug and I spent three days in Azilal recuperating from the week of fun and intensity. We also spent this time to solidify our Italy plans. Then it was off to Ait Bouli, Doug’s village. I love this place so much and always get so sucked in when I arrive I always stayed longer than planned. Doug lives with his host family still and they are the greatest people ever. I have really formed a relationship with his host sister, Fatiha who is in middle school. We always crochet together and she is the sweetest girl ever. While in Bouli I spent my days watching movies, hiking, and starring at the snow capped mountains. It was a really great time.
My last day in BouIi was a really tough day because I was really feeling homesick. Three or four weeks had gone by since I have talked to my parents last and I really missed them. My dad did call but for some reason it wasn’t working and I was so upset about this. I was feeling like I was not apart of a family anymore because it had been so long since I have participated in mine. Thanks to Doug he brought everything back into perspective and was really great. I went to bed feeling a lot better.
After six days in Bouli it was time to start making the journey home. I took a detour to get some books from Dan, Ghost Wars and Horse Soldiers! I am really excited to read these books, if you know nothing about them you should go out and buy them now, every American should be required to read these books, they are about Afghanistan. Last week was spring break here because of Mohamed’s Birthday. This is why Fatiha was home from school, she goes to school in Bougamez, in the city Dan lives because there is only a primary school in Bouli. I got to sit up front with Fatiha and she put her arm around me and she made me love my life here in Morocco and made me feel apart of something when I was feeling so lonely. Fatiha got to show me off to all of her school friends and I felt like a trophy, it was great!!
After 12 hours of vans, taxis, and buses I finally made it back to Essaouira where I spent last night getting prepared to come back to site. I know I have said this before but it is always so hard to come back after being gone for two weeks. Now I am in my house and it is freezing and raining but I am so happy and content. Something interesting that happened to me today, because it has been raining so much here the streets of Essaouira were flooded and I got to forge a river in a wagon. I paid a guy ten cents to pull me across the flooded streets in a big wagon, it was a site to see and unforgettably funny.
I am done now.
Love Emmy
PS Sachel and Kari are coming to visit me next week and I couldn’t be more excited!!!
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