Donkeys and chickens and goats oh my!

This is kind of a belated update, but about a week and a half ago, I spent a week in a rural Moroccan village. Here are the basics:

There were no cars (thought there were donkeys), no beds, no running water (and therefore no showers, no normal toilets, etc (Have I told you about the Turkish toilet? It’s a square of ceramic with two foot spots and a hole in the middle. They’re fairly common here.) The bathroom was located outside the house, and the guard dogs made nighttime bathroom trips slightly nerve-wracking. For the most part, though, it wasn’t too hard. I’ve spent plenty of time out in the woods.

Moreover, I loved being outside all the time. The neighborhood boys (I lived next to three other families, who we think were all various forms of cousins and second cousins, but knowledge is always questionable when communicating in Darija) loved to take the students up the surrounding hills. What a backyard!

There was definitely poverty, but not ugly poverty, mostly just simple. It’s definitely a problem that they don’t necessarily have money for medical help when it is needed, and that if they have a drought, they will starve, but day-to day life seemed like hard work, but also wholesome. It game a new perspective on stuff. We have so much STUFF! And it’s so unnecessary! I loved going to sleep early and waking up at sunrise, and I will totally take the forest over the internet. Stones and grass seemed to serve just fine as toys. Call me a crazy hippy.

My host family was wonderful. It included a mom, who would rattle on in Darija (I was actually able to communicate way better than I anticipated), a man who might have been a father and might have been an uncle (mom said he was her brother, but one of the neighbors said he was her husband, so I was confused), a 14 year old sister, a 10 year old brother, and a four year old walking hurricane. He became my best friend. We would have conversations as cats and play shop by taking cans from the trash (ie the yard) and filling them with dirt. The family also included two cows, two dogs, a cat, and a slew of chickens, turkeys, pheasants, goats and sheep. I learned lots of animals in darija.

My family fed me lots of delicious food. Sure, I had bread 4-6 times a day, but it was delicious and fresh. They usually made tajine (stewed veggitables (minimal, in this case), potatoes, onions and chicken) for lunch—with bread, of course. My favorite part was the coffee—it didn’t actually contain much coffee, more like a delicious explosion of cinnamon, cardamom and ginger with a little coffee in fresh goat’s milk.

45 SIT students trecking across the countryside (in a giant mob--how else would we do things?)

We also painted the wall at the school. My tree is the one on the right.

I decided to make a debut at the hammam (the bathhouse) to celebrate. My host fam has a shower, so I hadn’t been yet, but lots of Moroccans go to the hammam about once a week. In the hammam there are various rooms ranging from hot and steamy to room temp. there is a basin full of scalding hot water and a cold faucet, from which you fill buckets to create the desired temperature. Then, you sit on a stool and pour water over yourself and scrub—and I mean scrub. Moroccan style means you’re not doing it right unless your skin is turning red. Oh, and I forgot to mention that everyone is topless. (Don’t worry—hammams are NOT co-ed.)