Independence and Sbitarin' it up

Today was a crazy day, on Wednesdays I go to my sbitar (clinic), because it is vaccination day. Normally, the morning is busy but we only vaccinate twenty babies, today we vaccinated fifty-five babies! I got there this morning and my nurse had me unlock to sbitar for him because he had to drink tea first at his local cafe. The women and babies started pouring in as I was unlocking the door and they just kept coming. There is absolutely no order to who goes when so the women all crowd into one small room and just start throwing me their little notebooks. These notebooks are for them to keep track of what vaccinations their baby has received. It is my job to document this information for them in these little books. I also take the babies weight, which is really inaccurate because the babies still have all of their clothes on and diapers on, and no one is to know how many pounds the babies are carrying in those diapers. Fights usually break out because some women got there right at eight and someone that got there at nine got to go before them. It is the biggest frenzy I have ever been apart of. I also get to give the babies vitamin A and D, which comes in a liquid vial. Newborns get the Vitamin D and their mouths are so small it is tricky. My nurse does the shots. Hamed, my nurse, is supposed to have a doctor at the sbitar but he is still waiting for one to appear. I am really lucky that I get to help at the sbitar because most of my friends don't get to do anything, they just wait in the lobby.
I got to move into my place last week and freedom is amazing. It has been over a year that I have not been either living with my parents or a host family. Living with my parents was nice but as we all know there is a reason we move out when we turn eighteen. My host family is also great but my sound track is crying babies. One of the children is always crying. We also ate dinner at 11:30, which drove me nuts because I was so tired and when Emmy gets tired she is not nice. My first couple of nights in my place I didn't eat dinner at all just because I didn't feel like it and it was a liberating thing. Since then I have made mashed potatoes, pasta, and fruit salad. I am learning how to cook! My place also has great acoustics so I have been singing and playing my guitar as loud as I want. Free at last free at last!!!
My house has a bed, like a real bed. It has a kitchen, a room with the toilet, and another room with the sink and the shower. Sometimes I forget to wash my hands because the sink is not in the toilet room. There is a salon are where I host my guests for tea. It is one really long room and I hate this room because I dont know what to do with it. I did have my family over for tea and they gave me some suggestions. They also criticized my tea pot and the sugar I used to make tea with and the fact that I didnt have a special table for the tea glasses. Moroccans like to criticize a lot and like to tell me I know nothing. They are not being mean in their eyes but it is just what they do, it happens to all of my peace corps collegues so we are are just growing thicker skins. My house also has a kitchen with counters and a built in stove which is rare. The top floor is all balcony. This house is nicer than any house I will be living when I get back to the states, which is ironic. The only plus to moving back to the states is that I will hopefully have a sink in my bathroom. Now that I live alone everyone is coming up to me and saying Eawn Ribbi which means God help you. The people of my village feel really sorry for me and I am cheering every second.
It is still really hot here and nobody does anything during the day so life is a little boring still but it will get better after Ramadan, so I am told. I read a lot and stare at the wall thinking of you all and politics :) I have read a lot of books since I have been here but the best book so far is Shantaram, I highly recommend you all get a copy. It is long but entertaining from beginning to end. I also read Newsweek, which is provided by the Peace Corps until September 22nd, then because of budget cuts I will no longer be up to date on current events. What is going on in the campaign right now?
This is my life.
I love you
Emmy

A Day in the Life of a Moroccan Women

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.

It's Been Awhile

I have attempted two times to post a blog and not had successful experiences so here I go, finally. Since the last time we have chatted I went to Rabat to meet up with Achraf and his wife. Achraf is a Moroccoan who happens to live in Bemidji, Minnesota, and worked with my brother Sachel at Home Depot. Before I left for Morocco Achraf gave me Arabic lessons; which I have since forgotten but appreciate. When I was in Rabat I stayed with Achraf and Heather at his uncle's place which was amazing. It turns out that Achraf's uncle just retired from the ministry of justice in Morocco. The house we stayed in had marble floors, a shower with lots of pressure, two kitchens and a yard with real grass!!! It was amazing. Achraf and his cousin, Yasser, took us around Rabat it was fun to be a tourist and we ate great food. I had a great time and they were all extremely hospitible. Thank you for everything.

I spent last weekend in Essa because some of my friends from the Peace Corps came and visited and it was a blast to see all of them again, it has been two months. One of my Peace Corpers went home, it was sad to see her go, but it was time she was extremely negative before she finally made the decision to go back to America. It is hard to know someone has given up because it gives you the opportunity to welcome those kinds of thoughts. I am not coming home but I do know my life would be a lot easier if I did. But this is why I joined the Peace Corps. I have to keep reminding myself that I asked to be challenged, now it is hard.

But I am at Carrie and Ben's site right now and we are going to get an egg sandwich and a pop. I just looked at facebook and saw all the fun everyone is having and it depressed me, so I went out and bought a broom something that will make my life easier. Life is all about the small things. Whenever I am bummed about missing a music festival or a camping trip I will just go out and buy a household item, then get over it.

I love you all and I am still truckin'.

Love
Emmy

McDonald's, McDonald's, KFC, and a Pizza Hut

I spent the weekend in Agadir and it was amazing. The trip didnt start out too amazing though I had my first breakdown on Saturday. I was waiting for a taxi to go and I had been waiting for about an hour because the taxis here dont leave until they are full not when one person is ready but six, it takes a real long time. I was waiting and a bus came by so I jumped out of the taxi and started running for the bus and this man runs past me to tell the bus driver that he cant take me because I have already committed to a cab. I didnt realize once you put your bag in a taxi you cant change your mind. I was a little tiffed by this but I was going to be patient and then my taxi finally fills up and I go to put my bag back in the taxi and they wont let me because I dissed the taxi driver by trying to get the bus. Then I lost it and started screaming English profanities at the taxi driver as he drove away. There is a guy that organizes all of the taxis who is not the driver and so I turn to him and start screaming at him. By this point people are coming out of their shops to see what the American girls is screaming about. Twenty minutes later I got in a different taxi and life was good but I definitely put on a little F word show.

Once I finally got to Agadir it was great I sat on the beach with my pals and then we went to McDonalds. I also went to a dance club and then the next day I went to Pizza Hut. It was a really eventful weekend. I got to get a little break from the bled and dance my problems away.

I am now back in the bled and wishing that time didnt tick by so slowly. Living with a host family is hard and I yearn for the day when I live alone. I only have 24 days left.

I love you
Emmy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

Feelin Hot Hot Hot

The music festival was amazing the music might not have been that great but the fact that I got to dance and sing to Bob Marley songs was a very invigorating experience. I had a really fun weekend doing what I love to do most and that is going to music festivals. Who would have thought that I would find one in Morocco. The music we normally listen to sucks. It sounds like women or men scream into synthesizers. But this past weekend the music was great and sounded African.

My life at site these past couple of weeks has been good for the most part. I have started forming relationships in my site. They are still shallow but there is something. I have been teaching this English class and afterwards I go and have tea with one of the girls and speak Tashlheet. I pull a name out of my glasses case and drink tea with a different girl each Monday and Tuesday. This helps me learn the language and I get to meet their families. The girls really enjoy it and I get to learn language.

I have been sweating my ass off. It has been well over 100 degrees, I heard it was 120 the other day. But there is no such thing as airconditioning here. Whoever invented AC deserves a nobel peace prize because hot people are not happy people. I think when I get done with the Peace Corps I will bring solar powered AC to the Middle East and this will become my lifes work. But until then I will just be sweating. I can smell myself and flies have become fond of me. Showers are another thing that only come once a week, which is a long time in the heat. Everyone take a cold shower or go swimming in the lakes of Minnesota for me.

I love you
Emmy

Democratic Price

This is my favorite line that I hear when I go to Essaouira. Men will sit outside there shops or restaraunts ans try to get you to come inside using the slogan I will give you a democratic price, good democratic price. What does that mean that we will sit down at the table and then take a vote on what the price should be? The waiter will always lose unless you eat alone then you will tie and then what happens to the democratic price? As a political science major I love this because it makes absolutely no sense. Moroccan men also like to call me a chicken, it is one of there pick up lines but not quit sure what to think of someone saying hey chicken how are you doing. If anything it does always bring a smile to my face.

I have been battling sicknesses of all sorts this past week. On Saturday I was supposed to go to Essaouira for the night but couldnt make it because I was hanging out in the bit l ma - bathroom. My family was really nice to me though they made me food that was easy to digest, which I ate even though that is the last thing I felt like doing. I just wanted to be left alone but my family just didnt understand, for the most part they were understanding. Now today I feel like I am getting a cold. I know my Dad would tell me to buck up and deal with it and for the most part I am. I am just worried because my entire family has this cold that when they cough I am sure that they have the black plague. But if Airbourne is all it is cracked up to be it can ward off the plague, I dont know if they tested this drug for such illnesses.

On Friday I am going to a music Festival in Essaouira and it should be a really good time. My next blog will tell you all about it. I am really excited!!!

It is hot here. Everyone go out and enjoy the lakes for me. I miss them incredibly but I am here saving the world :]

Love you
Emmy

Livin

So I ate rabbit again last night, because I keep going to my friend Amys and her family only eats rabbit. It tastes so bad, exactly like burnt hair. I am working really hard on eating vegetables because I know that it is important atleast that is what everyone has been telling me my entire life. My goal is to eat a salad at the end of two years and maybe enjoy these salad things. I have decided I will never love goat brains or rabbit.

I went and looked at my new apartment and it is amazing. There is a western toilet, a shower, and the kitchen has a stove. These amenities may all seem like an expected for you but they are a luxury here in Morocco and all of my friends want to kill me. I have a really nice roof area too. I have decided that I am one of the most lucky peace corps volunteers in my group because I was given the best province by the beach and I will be living in style. I might even make it on Cribs Morocco. When my host dad showed me the place it kept telling him I am so happy and he responded with the phrase boom chicka wow wow. There is this comercial on NBC 2 which is an english movie channel and they say boom chicka wow wow and he has no idea what it means and I dont have the tashlheet to explain to him that it is a sexual slang, which is totally nerdy, nobody actually says that; it was funny.

So now that I have a light at the end of the tunnel knowing that I have a place to stay I am feeling a lot better about this peace corps thing. I taught my first english class at the neddy yesterday and it went really well. I felt like Laura Engles because I was teaching in a small room and everyone was packed into this room and all the girls were really excited about learning english. It was a successful lesson, which I was really nervous about.

Another interesting fact about my life that I have been meaning to discuss with you all is I have a problem with dead puppies in my village. Every week on my walk home a new puppy has taken the plunge to doggie heaven. A couple of them were killed by their mom I think and the others have been run over. Today I saw one of the puppies was walking around with a bloody stump for a leg, who knows how that happened.

Life is good here in Morocco, for the most part. This is the hardest adventure I have ever participated in and I know if I survive these next two years I will be a better person for it. bled Morocco is completely different from America.

I love you all and keep me in your prayers,
Emmy