Eid Kabir

Yesterday was Eid Kabir, which should be called meat fest 2008. Eid began at eight in the morning with a huge breakfast. I went to my host families for breakfast and then stayed for the entire day and ate all day long. After a breakfast we slaughtered the ram. I have never seen an animal being slaughtered before and it was intense. My host dad, Said, slit the rams throat and then it started making these awful noises because it was gasping for its last breathes, blood was everywhere. After the ram was slaughtered we took an insane amount of pictures and the ram was hung upside down. I guess this is the Muslim was of slaughtering because all the blood has to be drained out of it. They also blew up the insides so it was easier to skin; it reminded me of siphoning gas. Once all of the skin is off they begin to take out the organs. Let me remind you that none of the ram parts are wasted.
After the slaughtering and skinning was over we had a little snack of liver wrapped in stomach, which as it turns out liver is not my favorite food. For lunch we had the head and once again as it turns out is not my favorite thing either. I still have the tastes stuck in my head and have to go to a wedding today where all of the above will be on the menu. I went to someone's house last night and we ate the exact same things but I am doing a good job and keeping my composure. Everyone in my village thinks it is funny to watch me eat these body parts especially my host dad because one of the first questions he asked me was if I ate stomach or head. In saying all of this it has been an interesting experience but I am integrating! I also feel really tough because I have been eating all of these random body parts.
Today my landlord’s brother is getting married and I get to go pick up the bride who lives in a nearby village. I am excited to have a true understanding of a Moroccan wedding. Before when I would go to weddings the bride was already there and this time I get to help her get ready for the big day. If I were her I would be scared out of my mind because people here rarely get married for love. The man's family finds a girl from a family that they find suitable and then they go and ask the family for permission, the girl has no say in the matter. But, people rarely get divorced here so maybe America should reconsider our marriage standards. Even though I am saying this, Dad don't you dare try to go and find me a husband today, I am not ready for the commitment. This week there are four weddings in my site because after Laid they have a lot of meat anyways so why not have a wedding. This way the families don't have to buy two rams in one year.
I will be home in a little more than a week and I am so pumped to see everyone. I am also really excited to eat some meat that is not stomach or head. I especially can't wait for ham and fruit salad and Taco Bell!!!!!
I love you
Emmy

Its my Birfday

Just wanted to tell you all that I am about to turn 25 and celebrate my quarter century in Tangier. I am so excited! Then it is back to work... I love you all and wanted to give a shout out to my mother, Nikki Josefson, who 25 years ago gave birth to me. She has been a great mother and I appreciate everything she has done for me in the past 25 years, all starting with being in labor for 36 hours.
Love
Emmy

Reinvigorated...Again

I just had training in Azrou last week and it was great. I don't know if I learned that much but I definitely got inspired. It was also great to be back with all of my friends again. Training was a great time to bounce ideas off of each other and learn about each others sites. This week I have started working on my training of birth attendents project. I will be working with my friend Carrie setting up a training for birth attendants. Most women living in small villages, like ours, give birth in their homes and most of the time the women give birth in very unsterile rooms. There are also lots of urban myths the women believe in like pushing on the belly with extreme force will make the birth faster, which maybe it does but is very dangerous for the mother and baby. So Carrie and my job is to set up a training of women who are interested in being present at these births to make sure it is sanitary and safe. After training I have a new found motivation and have lots of project ideas. I am planning on doing a bathroom project in my market area so the men stop going to the bathroom beside my house. I also want to do a eye glasses project to get the people in my village glasses, but this project wont happen for awhile. The project I am most excited about is health lesson vidoes. The girls at my neddy will help me make the videos and in doing so they will learn about health stuff. Then we will show the videos to classes and the girls will become the teachers as well, which makes the project more sustainable.

After training I went to Fes and it was amazing. The street food was amazing and I found out that is where Algebra was invented, which is cool but I hate Algebra. Now I am back home for about a week and then I am off to Rabat for a shot. Then I am going to Tangier for my birthday; which is going to be a blast.

I love you all and hope that people are still reading this. I am trying to keep up with it but not doing a great job at it.

Love
Emmy

Life is good here right now.

Teaching and Learning

Enjoying Peace Corps friends and doing my best to enjoy the small things.  This past week was a good week.  I started the week with my boss coming to my site to review my progress and to assess my site.  My boss, Rachid, told me that he was impressed with my progress thus far and was impressed that I have started teaching already.  It was good to hear that I am on track and doing better than what was expected of me.  I also got some ideas for projects in the future.  Just this past weekend I had a HIV/Aids training at my house, which was interesting.  Morocco does not, currently, have the same problems with Aids as the rest of Africa, yet.  However, the U.N. predicts that they are headed for an epidemic because of the culture here does not allow them to discuss such issues and they are unwilling to recognize that Aids even exists in Morocco.  This past week I asked my nurse if there was Aids in my village and he scoffed and told me that Morocco does not have these kinds of problems, Aids only exists in the West because our morals are all wrong.  I followed this response with asking if men in my site sleep with prostitutes and he said of course their are prostitutes in every village in Morocco, and most men sleep with them.  After sleeping with prostitutes these men will go home and sleep with their wives; most of these encounters are unprotected.  This is why Peace Corps is here to break through the stereo types and teach men and women about Aids and STDs.  

I am getting really excited to come home in December and cannot wait to see everyone.  Being so far away reminds me of how much I appreciate you all.

Love 

Emmy

Update

This past weekend I had a group of eight Peace Corps friends come to visit me and it was so great. We got to be American and dance the night away until four in the morning everynight. One night we even watched the sunrise over the beach, which ended up not being as beautiful as we hoped because the sunrises to the East, not over the ocean. It was great to see everyone, some of them I hadn't seen since training in Ouarzazate. Then I had four girls come to my house and that was a blast we watched the sex in the City movie, and realized how our lives are so different. While Sarah Jessica Parker is buying 800 dollar bags we are trying to figure out how often we need to shower to be presentable to the world. I have found that even after a week I only shower because in my past life it would have been unheard of to go this long without a shower.
This past week was a good one. The sbitar was really busy and I am starting to feel more comfortable there. I read my journal this week and realized how far I have come in the past nine months. The first week of homestay in my site I was pleading to God to help me get through the day and I needed pep talks just to leave my room. Now I leave my house without fear. I still am not as busy as I would like to be but that will come with time and toothbrushes. I want to do a toothbrush project with the primary school kids where I brush my teeth with one class everyday for three weeks. Then the kids can bring their toothbrushes home with the knowledge of how to use them. Sachel is doing a toothbrush drive at his wedding to make this possible.
Life gets better here everyday.
I love you all and miss you all
Emmy

Ramadan comes to an End

Now that Ramadan is coming to an end I am going to take a little time to explain to you what Ramadan is. Ramadan is the celebration of the Koran being revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. To celebrate this Muslims fast during the day light hours for an entire month. Just before the sun goes down everyone enters a state of complete chaos, everyone starts running to their houses and taxi drivers start driving like mad men. I have been in taxis many times when all of a sudden the taxi drivers realize that the sun is starting to set and begin to drive like nascar drivers. Once the sun sets everyone breaks fast; this consists of eating dates, cookies, and soup. Whenever I have broken fast with people they never drink water and that is all I want after a day of living in eighty degree weather. Fasting means no food or water all day long. The no food thing is not that hard but the no water thing drives people to insanity, me especially. I fasted the first day then got really sick and decided that I couldn't do it. But, then once I got better I decided to start fasting again, and it was hard. Yesterday was Laid which is the celebration of the ending of Ramadan. I was so happy that Ramadan has ended because now I can start carrying around a water bottle with me again. I also don't like getting up at four in the morning to eat real quick and then go back to bed.
I admire the devotion that Moroccoan's have for God, their devotion is part of their everyday lives not just a Sunday morning after thought. Once the sun goes down and people can eat again Ramadan is a very peaceful time of day. I really enjoyed standing on my balcony looking out at my town and watching everyone rush to the store to get last minute things, and then once the imam called out and it was time to break fast silence filled my entire town, it was very peaceful.
Life here in Morocco is getting a lot better I am starting to get used to the culture. I am no longer in a state of confusion all of the time. I know how to get around for the most part and understand when things don't work out as planned. My language is coming along slowly but surely. The loneliness and the lack of work has been the hardest things to get used to. I am getting more comfortable being alone most of the time. The work part is starting to pick up but will never be the same as life in America. I have started to force myself to enjoy this experience because I feel like it is one that will help guide me in the future so I want to learn as much as possible from it instead of wishing it away.
I love you all
Emmy
Mbark Laid (Happy Laid)

Hello

This is going to be a quick post but thought I would update you and then next time I will send a thoughtful post in the next week. I am currently trying to survive Ramadan and it is surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be. I had a lot of anxiety about Ramadan before it came because I was told there would be a lot of people trying to get me to become a Muslim. But, this is not the case and it is actually a spiritual experience. Two different times I have found myself getting stuck in Smimou because it is time to break fast and so there are not any taxis at this time. Anyways, twice I have broken fast with my favorite store owner and he gives me soup and dates and a pop all for free. Breaking fast with this guy has given me some of my favorite times here in Morocco.

I need to go but I will be back soon. I love you all. I am doing good though and starting to appreciate this experience.

Love Emmy