Almost Forgot!

I forgot to mention that during our time in Tinghir, I slipped off to Hdida for a a couple days.

While in Hdida, Marisa and I hiked into the mountains to visit a family of nomads as she had heard they were living in caves, above her village. I wish I could have taken pictures, but they were very shy and not used to visitors and so I didn't want to impose any more than we already were. The men of the family were out at the time, but the women and children were home. From what I could tell, there seemed to be two main caves. We sat in the first, which contained bags of clothes and blankets and a home made loom, which the mother weaved on the whole time we were there. There were three small girls who didn't take their eyes off of us throughout the entire visit, too.

We drank mint tea and watched the mother weave, while making small talk for an hour or so. Afterwards, we moved into the next cave, which was the kitchen. It had an open fire stove, with a cauldron hanging over it, which must have contained dinner. Chickens ran freely in and out of the cave, across the walls of the stove, and sometimes hopping up in and out of a small window! We sat with two women and ate fresh warm flat bread with olive oil and drank more mint tea. The caves were not very big (I couldn't stand up in either of them) and it was crazy to think that about ten people slept in the one cave, especially in the heat of summer. There were dogs surrounding the premises, which were good at their job of scaring people off, we had to keep rocks in our hands as we approached and left the area.

I can't tell you how amazing it was to see their way of life. When I went to Spain last August, I got to crawl through an entire community of caves from when the Muslims were being forced out of Spain. It was amazing to me then to think that people used to live in the caves, but to actually see people living in these caves, words just can't describe.

The main reason I went back to Hdida, was for Marisa's host sisters' wedding. Some of Marisa's neighbors loaned us some very fancy Kaftan's to wear for the occasion, which was fun. Gifts consisted of heaps and heaps of blankets, which you can see in the pictures below. They were stacked so high the bride couldn't see over the table in front of her. In the picture below, the bride is hidden under silk scarves, which is the tradition in southern Morocco.

I attended what can be compared to the bridal shower, only it took place the day before the wedding. As you can tell from the pictures, it was women only, aside from small children and very close male family members. Everyone gathered on the roof of Marisa's host family's place and after a couple hours of aheydus (traditional berber drumming and singing/chanting, with some yelping mixed in), we all gathered around low tables to eat.

The first course was sheria, which is basically chopped up angel hair pasta topped with powdered sugar, raisins and nuts. Very sweet and strange. The main course was large platters of meat and olives with bread. Dessert was a variety of fresh fruit in baskets. The bride remained under the silk scarves and after all the guests finished eating she and her mom and grandmother ate. The food was slipped under the scarves though, so not even a glimpse of her was seen.

While in Hdida, I also helped to paint Marisa's Cooperative building. Marisa was put in contact with a 'trek/adventure' tour company based in London, which had a group of 15, sixteen-year old girls who were signed up to come to Morocco for a week. Before they came, they met regularly in East London to learn about camping/survival techniques and all the other stuff adventure camps teach you. The tour included a community outreach project, followed by a three day trek through the Dades Gorges. Marisa and Stacey developed their project, which consisted of painting the inside of the Cooperative building and building display cases for their products.

The girls were all really lovely, but it was entertaining to hear their side talk about not being able to shower and all the differences from their lives in London. I felt like I was in London with all the accents! It made me think back to when I first came into country, all most a year ago, and all the comparing and contrasting I did then. I can't believe that in two weeks, I will have been here a year!

Miriam x

Craft Fairs and the Like

After an enjoyable July 4th weekend, it was back to work and back to craft fairs...

The first fair was Peace Corps sponsored, Marche Maroc Essaouira, which took place July 7th-10th, 2011. In preparation for this fair, I created business cards, product tags and a brochure for the Cooperative. Keeping sustainability of these new marketing items top priority, I took Rebha two hours away to the nearest professional printer and we spent quality time there making sure she knew what was what on the USB and how to request copies printed, etc... Eventually, I will teach her how to change the informational content too, but we have to start with basic computer skills later this year.

As for the craft fair, it was the same story as all the other Peace Corps sponsored Marche Maroc's; guaranteed sales to other Peace Corps volunteers, their families and staff, but this time next to the beach. We did okay financially at the fair, but it just simply isn't sustainable sales outlet. We did have our second ever non-Peace Corps related sale at the fair, which was a small relief.

On a side note, I really enjoyed returning to Essaouira, it is a fantastic old city. However, I wouldn't recommend going for the beach alone, unless you enjoy wind sports as it's known as Morocco's 'Windy City' and it's a bit of a sandstorm.

On the 14-hour bus ride to Essaouira, I gave Rebha a nicely bound notebook I'd brought with me from the USA and explained that it was for the Cooperatives money records. Up until that fair, there were absolutely no sales or financial records for the co-op, beside from the ones in Rebha's head. The Cooperative pays for Rebha's travel to and from the fairs and her meals each day, and so I explained that to prevent any confusion about finances with the women, there should be a record that the women can look at and see whenever they want.

The book came in as a handy visual aid at the end of the next craft fair, which was in Tinghir. This was a Ministry sponsored craft fair (the one Rebha networked and found out about at the Rose Festival), which took place July 19th-29th, 2010. This was a loooong craft fair, in both hours and days. It was open from 9am until 11pm each day. To make it even longer, the Ministry failed to advertise the craft fair, at all. So until the weekend, when the locals got word of the event, no one came and I mean not a single person. Over the ten days, we ended up selling two carpets for half price. The meals and transport ended up being more money than the Cooperative actually has, and now we are operating at a loss. Brilliant.

Rebha realizes the situation, but she doesn't seem to be grasping the big picture, as I'm currently trying to play devil's advocate with her, as she tries to persuade me that we should go to Zagora next month, for another Ministry sponsored craft fair...I'm still focused on getting them exporting. Rebha has also come up with two new ideas to expand their product line; shoes and bags. She made friends with a man called Murad, who makes shoes, while we were at the fair in Tinghir. They discussed the possibility of incorporating small samples of carpets into his sandals. As he works with leather, they also discussed the possibility of leather messenger bags with a carpet sample incorporated into the from flap. I had suggested this to Rebha when I first came into site, but she didn't think much of the idea then. I'm glad she has come around though, as I believe the bags will sell very well if they are made to hold a laptop.

Not much progress elsewhere with the Cooperative, thanks to the slow times of Ramadan...which I'll fill you in on soon!

Miriam x

Essaouira

Rebha at the beach (she is terrified of the water)

Cooperative Chorouk's Booth

Working on a sale

Moroccan Horse Trailer going over the Tizi-n-Tishka from Marrakech to Ourzazette

Our booth at the Tinghir Craft Fair

Look who's back, back again...

It's almost September, which makes me a bad blogger, as now I will take you back in time to July...where we last left off!


So, it's the beginning of July and for obvious reasons, my Moroccan friends and family had no plans to celebrate July 4th, but American holidays are something to be shared here. Especially, according to Peace Corps 2nd Goal, 'Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served'. I take that goal and stretch it even wider than America and share all the British holidays too. As I explained to my fellow PCV Falisha, who just before the 4th jokingly asked me, "but, Annemarie, don't you feel so torn on the 4th, being a nus-nus (half-half)?" To those of you reading who know me, you know that my response was, "you know me, any reason to celebrate!" Dual citizenship=Double the fun  


And so, celebrate we did...4th of July, Moroccan style (which means minus all the coolers of ice cold...yeah, you get it). We made it into a double hefla (party) as my host sister Yassmine, also turned two that weekend and Hayat (my host Mom) had asked me if we could have an American birthday party for her. Birthday's are another cultural exchange as they are not celebrated here. Not surprisingly, most people don't even know how old they are. 


Knowing that Mamaksu (my host grandmother), has a Moroccan BBQ, I went out Saturday morning and bought steak, peppers, onions and courgette, to make shish-kebabs with. While everything was marinating in a tasty garlic-citrus marinade (my own creation), I made some sauteed potatoes as a side dish and also baked a chocolate chip pound cake for Yassmine's birthday cake, along with some Jell-o. 


In the afternoon, I took everything over to Mamaksu's, where we all helped to cook the shish-kebabs. My new site mate Emma, and Hessna, the pharmacist also joined in for the festivities. After getting Yassmine cleaned up from the mess she becomes when she eats, Hayat dolled her all up (and I mean All Up, as you can see fro the pics!) for a photo shoot and cake presentation. Hayat also made her a cake, so she had 2 cakes for her 2nd birthday...going to have to do some baking ahead of time next year! 


While we were eating we talked about what the 4th of July means and I know that my family understood what I was explaining to them, because they too asked how I choose what side I am on. I told them I don't have to choose, drew an imaginary line down my middle and said half is British and the other American. Not missing a beat, Mamaksu said, "La La La Miriam (No No No, Annemarie)." Then she drew two imaginary lines, dividing me into thirds, and said, "tgit nus Tamirikanit, nus Niglasia, awd nus Tamagribit" (you are half American, half English and half Moroccan).  Pride. 

Shish Kebab Madness

My Baking Skills

Before...

Before...

Getting all Dolled up

Blowing Kisses

Birthday Girl

Two Cakes for Two Years

Stylin' & Profilin'

Mmmm Candy & Cake...

Blowing out the Candles

Birthday Smooches

Me-Hessna-Emma-Mamaksu & Yassmine

Hayat-Me-Emma-Mamaksu & Yasmine...with her eye on the prize!

I'm Back!

No, I did not fall off the face of the Earth!

Since my last entry I’ve been here, there and everywhere in Morocco…and now where to begin telling you all about it?! I’m aiming to put a post up every other day or so over the next week to catch everyone up!

SIDA/VAST Training

In the beginning of June, I went to Rabat for training on how to put together and get funding for an HIV/AIDS awareness project (it’s called SIDA over here, as the French call it). We were able to take Moroccan counterparts to the training and so I invited Hessna, the pharmacist in Tounfite. Unfortunately, at the last minute she ended up not being able to attend due to her work at the pharmacy and so I went solo. I still plan to work with her and put together some kind of ‘AIDS Awareness Community Day’ in Tounfite either later this year, or next Spring, enshalla.

It was a real shame that she couldn’t come with me, as it would have been a pretty 'big deal'. Funding for the training allowed us to stay in a 3-star hotel and meals were included...heck, it was a big deal for me! Also, there is a small beach in Rabat (nothing special as it’s in such a big city), but one evening after training, Marisa and I took two Moroccan counterparts to it as they had never seen the ocean before. It was fun to watch them walk in sand for the first time and walk in the water.

On the third day of the training, we took a field trip to Casablanca, which was a treat in itself as we took a private CTM bus (posh coach), which had air conditioning, which is something I haven’t had in a while! The field trip was to an NGO called Asssocition du Jour, the only
organization in Morocco that works directly with HIV positive people.. The NGO was created by Moroccans, in order to provide assistance to people who are HIV/AIDS positive and need to come to Casablanca for doctor’s appointments, etc…It was quite a powerful experience as we got to hear firsthand stories of how their lives are affected, how they became infected, etc...The NGO secured funding for an apartment in Casablanca and so when patients need to come into the city for doctor’s appointments, they are able to stay with their accompanying family members in the apartment at no charge. The focus of the training was reducing the stigma around the disease. Since it is a hshuma (taboo/shameful) topic, a large majority of Moroccan's (especially in small rural villages) are ignorant on the subject, hence a massive stigma on the topic. The field trip was powerful as our Moroccan counterparts got to meet people living with the disease and saw for themselves that they are normal people, trying to live a normal life, which was a the first small step in reducing the stigma and educating people. The NGO and its members were so welcoming to us, they even put on a cous cous lunch. It was delicious and most certainly the biggest dish of cous cous I’ve seen in my life-picture below!

I also got to see Rabat’s reaction when Morocco won against Algeria in a ‘big deal’ soccer match. The streets were absolutely flooded with thousands of people. The entire city’s traffic came to an almost standstill after the game as people poured into the streets. It was insane, there were people standing/surfing on top of vehicles, flags everywhere and endless chanting! Quite the atmosphere!

After the training I headed straight to Mehdia for a week long training called ‘In-Service Training (IST)’…but I’ll save that for the next post!

Be Back Soon!  X

Spring has finally Sprung!

Here are just a few pictures I took while on my morning walk...Hooray for Sunshine!

Also, a couple pics of the fab Henna I had done before I went to England. Such a quick trip, but so happy to see everyone-Thank you all for spoiling me xXx

Also, I have created an album on FaceBook showcasing my Cooperatives carpets.

Please view the album here: Cooperative Charouk

I would really really appreciate any and all feedback you may have regarding the carpets. 

The Rose Festival

Rebha, Me and the Ladies of Hdida's Association
View from the Association building

On Thursday, Rebha and I headed down South to Kelaat Mgouna for the Rose Festival. It was a 10 hour bus ride from Tounfite and another hour up into the mountains to Hdida, which is Marisa's site and where we stayed. I stayed with Marisa and Rebha stayed with Marisa's host family. Hdida is absolutely gorgeous, I kid you not when I say Marisa hit the jackpot with her site placement. She is one lucky girl...

The village itself is situated in the red sandy/rocky mountains and overlooks a small lush green valley and river. The lush green valley is actually fields where the women work everyday. It was like stepping into a fairytale walking through those fields. As you walk through the narrow winding paths of the fields, all you can do is gawk at the sights, smells and noise around you. Wheat grows in each of the small fields and rose bushes (hundreds and hundreds of them) make the borders between the different family's fields. Along with fig, pomegranate, almond and walnut trees over your head, oh and grapes everywhere too. All you can hear is the babble of the brooks as they flow into the river, song birds singing and frogs croaking. It's such an amazing place, words don't do it justice, neither do the pictures for that matter. 

Most of the homes in the village are family compounds, so one door opens into a courtyard and family and extended family all live in the same compound. Every home smells of roses as the women go into the fields to pick roses twice a day, leaving them out in the courtyard to dry. They make rose water, lotion, and perfume along with potpourri from the roses. 

Unlike my co-op, the association Marisa works with have a physical building. It's practical for them to have one as they are on a tourist road so on occasion tourists make there way into the association and buy the Rose products and carpets/bags that the women weave. The day Rebha and I visited the association there were about ten french tourists having a look around. Rebha, business lady that she is, pulled out some of our older products that she happened to have on her (coin purses) and ended up selling one to them. 

Each day, we made our way down the mountain and into Kelaat Mgouna to the festival. We were given a large tent to display our carpets, so each morning we set our display up. We sold three of our smaller carpets and one large carpet, which was about half of our normal sales. This was not a Peace Corps sponsored event though, so we were happy with the results. There was a Peace Corps sponsored Marche Maroc Craft Fair in Rabat that weekend too, but we intentionally went to the Rose Festival for sustainability purposes. That being said, Rebha made me so proud the second day-she is a pretty timid person and doesn't talk to many strangers, but with a little encouragement, she networked with the president's of a few different co-op's and ended up with an invitation to another non-Peace Corps sponsored fair in Tinghir in July. Yeah! Go Rebha!! I couldn't have been happier!

Sustainability is my main focus with the Co-op, seeing as the Small Business Development program in Morocco has been cancelled for the future. Knowing they will be all on their own after I leave, I want to get them up and selling, and enshalla, exporting all on their own before I finish my service. 

We enjoyed Hdida so much that we ended up staying an extra day, which was nice after a hectic craft fair filled weekend. Rebha has made friends with the women of Hdida and can't wait to return...hopefully we will go back in July for Marisa's host sisters wedding. The weddings in Hdida are pretty famous around Morocco, and so Kabira, Marisa's host mom, dressed Rebha up in a wedding outfit and we took pictures (as they do for the real weddings) amongst the rose bushes and around Hdida. You couldn't have wiped the ear to ear grin off of Rebha's face! After the photo session, one of the lady's from the association Henna'd Rebha and Marisa's hands. I really wanted to have Henna as well, but forced myself not to as I want fresh Henna for London :) 

The women wouldn't let us leave empty handed and gave us two bags stuffed with rose water, potpouri, fresh almonds, dried figs and spices all from the fields. I'm telling you, it was an amazing trip! 

After and exhausting eleven hour bus ride yesterday, we arrived back in site where it was drizzling with rain and has continued to do so all day today! Seriously, it must be monsoon season here. 

I'm off to London for a verrry quick visit in few days and am very very excited about it :) 

There are a few pictures from the Rose Festival on here, but for the full ShaBang head to my FaceBook page!

Much Love xXx

Oh Hdida!

Fig/Pomegranate/Almond/Walnut Trees
Rose Bushes and Wheat

Field & Mountains of Hdida

Kabira (Marisa's mom) and Rebha (in traditional wedding attire) 

Quick Update

Hi there!

Just a few quick updates...

Khenifra
Rebha (my counterpart) and I traveled to Khenifra recently for a double meeting. The first meeting was with the Delegate from the Ministry of Artisana to discuss the financial matters of the Co-op. I'd heard of other new Co-op's getting money from the Ministry and wondered what this was all about..So with some translation, I was able to find out we can write a grant proposal to the Delegate requesting some initial start-up funds. So that's on the 'to-do' list...The second meeting was with Marcia's artisans who are officially an Association and are looking into becoming a Cooperative, so Rebha went to talk to them about the Pro's of becoming a Cooperative. It was a good experience for her, acting as a leader and giving a little speech.

While in Khenifra (the same town I was in for Spring Camp), I stayed with some friends of Rebha's. Turns out they are her new friends that she made a couple months ago, when she began being a distributor for Forever Living Products (an American initiated Pyramid Scheme of a company selling Vitamin C and Aloe Vera products along with various other bath and beauty products). I am not such a big fan of her involvement with FLP and wasn't ecstatic to spend 36 hours with 6 of the higher up's in the Company. I not only had to sample the products (which are overpriced and marketed as medicine, even though they are far from it-in fact they even try to claim that the Vitamin C products cure cancer!) but I also had to do a lot of polite smiling and declining as they continuously tried to get me to convert to Islam again and again and again. Rebha was actually really cute when she chimed into the attempted converions, she sweetly let me know that 'not all Muslims are terrorists, they don't all blow themselves up'...ah bless. I was also verbally harassed about why I wasn't married yet and they tried to get me to marry one of the Moroccan men in the room...sigh, all in a days work.


Goodbye's & Hello's
Dan and Eric both completed their service on April 27th, so I'm all by myself here in site for the next month. It's kind of quiet without them around...

Only Dan is getting replaced, so on the 28th of this month Emma, the new health volunteer, will arrive. Yay! She came for a site visit last week so I've already met her. She is 23 and from Long Island, NY. Hopefully we will get along well as we will be spending the next 18 months together!

Royal Wedding Celebration
Oh my Goodness!!! :) How beautiful was the Royal Wedding??!! I had a little celebration here at my house for the occasion.

We watched the Wedding and I made all kinds of British food:
Bubble & Squeak, Steak and Gravy
Raisin and Orange Scones
Cucumber & Cheese Sandwiches
Honey Dew Melon Fruit Salad
Pumpkin Cake
Shepherd's Pie
Lemon Bars

I pretty much spent the whole day in the kitchen, but there was a computer set up in there with the Wedding on...

It was so funny when Moses showed up on the day with two British guys he'd met in his village. Moses' site is further up into the mountain, very small and never has tourists. These two (father and son) were from Bristol, England, but living in Spain and were traveling around Morocco. They just happened to stop in Moses' site to take their bicycles out the back of their truck and go for a ride. They ended up with an entourage of children whom they let some of ride their bikes. Well, the kids took off with the bikes, but luckily the people in the village knocked on Moses door to translate and the bikes were found. Moses brought them down the mountain for the Royal Wedding celebration and they had scones and a cuppa tea and went on their merry way.

Marrakesh Bombing and Osamas' Death
We have all been told not to comment on our blogs or FaceBook about Osama's death, so I'm not going to say anything here...

The bombing in Marrakesh was awful and is unnerving for all of us here, nobody wants to be evacuated and sent home...

As for security, we are constantly receiving updates from our Country Director, Peggy and are mainly being told to keep a low profile, not to gather in large groups, or go to bigger cities, etc...

Work
Rebha and I are heading down to Kelaat Mgouna this weekend for the Rose Festival. Enshalla, we will sell some carpets while there! I'm staying with Marisa and Rebha is staying with Marisa's counterpart, should be a good time had by all.

and Rain...
Two weeks ago, I was getting lots of nice sun while reading on my roof...but that didn't last long and apparently it's monsoon season here! One day last week it was raining and snowing at the same time for 3 hours.

It's been raining for 5 days straight now and my site is an absolute mud chute!! I couldn't take being in the house any longer and went for my power walk in the rain today...ah well, at least it will be nice hot summer weather while I'm down South this weekend!

That's it for now xXx

Raining & Snowing 

Stepping out of my front door...into a muddy river!