I have only been in Morocco about two weeks but I have started thinking about poverty and luxury in different ways. In Dallas, during AmeriCorps, I got to go on "home visits" to some of the families of the kids in my program. And these were some of the poorest people in America. (Average household income of $9,000 annually). And yet, they had showers, hot water, unit a/c, bedrooms, closets, and a place to do the laundry-- even if that was a laundromat quite a walk away. The poor in America even have cars, albeit, unreliable cars.
So then you think about the family I'm living with here in Morocco, who are poor, though not nearly as poor as some. We don't have a shower (because it's too expensive when all you really need to shower is 1/2 a bucket's worth of water.) , no hot water, we don't have any kind of A/C other than the "skylight" (re: open hole) in the ceiling, no way to do laundry but by hand, no stove, just a butane tank with a grill held over it, no trash pick up, no closets or wardrobes, just a cabinet with everything they own held within it, and definitely no car. They don't have much "stuff" at all.
So I can understand the moderate poor of the world wanting to go to the U.S. in search of ways to make life a little easier. (I don't think this entry applies to the absolutely and completely impoverished.) Why wouldn't you go if you had the opportunity? But here is where the decision is tricky: would you rather be poor in a country where everyone is poor, or poor in a country where you are obviously "without" and being poor is stigmatized and something to be ashamed of? In Morocco, more than 50% of the population is considered to be living below poverty. So my family, who is poor, is happy being is just a regular part of society-- there is no stigma attached to their style of living because that's how everyone is. Sure, they know they are without things like washing machines and showers, but so is almost everyone, so it's no big deal. That's life. I'm not sure which I'd choose.
[obviously this doesn't include any aspects of choosing to immigrate like health care, education, employment, etc. because I've only been here two weeks and don't know anything about that yet.]
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
"Birthdays" or lack thereof
Before moving in with our host families, we got a little sheet of paper with the stats of our family, amenities in the household, and those kinds of things. Mine told me I had two host sisters, single, ages 20 and 17. So yesterday during Arabic lessons we learned how to say "how old are you" and "I am ____ years old." So I decied to practice this with my host sisters. I asked the younger one how old she was and she said "18." So that seemed normal, and I figured she was 17 when the mom filled it out. When I asked the older sister she said "23 or 24..." and I kept asking if it was 23 or 24 and I realized that she did not know! My reaction was "how can you not know how old you are!" But of course I didn't show this reaction. It was clear that this was not something they think about often because it obviously piqued the interest of the younger sister and she pulled out a birth record of sorts. It was handwritten, not in Arabic, in french (a language they don't speak, which is a point of contempt for me....save that for another blog) And the older sister was 26!! She had no idea! She sat there and did the math. So my impression from that was that age is obviously not something to be pinpointed and both the sisters birthdays passed this week and they didn't even know their birthdays. I guess it was naive of me to think that birthdays are so important everywhere. I knew birthdays or age were no big deal among peoples that don't keep written record, but this is a normal, low-income family, with jobs, and a little schooling, and in a large town.
So later on that night we were talking about how I don't like it cold and I was trying to say the months and I realized that they also didn't know the order of the months. They knew the seasons very well of course but aside from the month we're in, they couldn't name them. So then at our lessons earlier I asked if this was normal or exceptional for my family and my Language and Culture Faciilitator (LCF) who is Moroccan, said that it was totally normal and unless you have a job that deals with fiscal years or something and if you're lower class, you just forget about those things like birthdays and months because they are not important.
So, lesson is that you don't have to go TOO far from home (relatively) so get such a different take on what is "basic knowledge" and "important."
So later on that night we were talking about how I don't like it cold and I was trying to say the months and I realized that they also didn't know the order of the months. They knew the seasons very well of course but aside from the month we're in, they couldn't name them. So then at our lessons earlier I asked if this was normal or exceptional for my family and my Language and Culture Faciilitator (LCF) who is Moroccan, said that it was totally normal and unless you have a job that deals with fiscal years or something and if you're lower class, you just forget about those things like birthdays and months because they are not important.
So, lesson is that you don't have to go TOO far from home (relatively) so get such a different take on what is "basic knowledge" and "important."
Thursday, September 23, 2010
learning Arabic, homestay, etc.
Monday: September 20th
I have decided to blog via microsoft office, and then when I get to the Cyber cafe, I can just copy and paste my entries. So these entries begin today.
Today, Monday, was my first day of Arabic classes. Arabic is a very challenging language. Mostly because it lacks a whole lot of vowels. There are five of us students in our teacher's "stagette" as we call it. We are all having trouble with pronunciation and memorizing the words and I think it's because in romance languages the vowels provide some sort of cadence. And without the vowels it's just a group of harsh sounds that you have to remember. Well, little by little, I guess. I would say I currently have a vocabulary of about 30 words consistently. That includes knowing numbers 1 - 10. Yesterday was when I arrived at my host family in a province outside of Fes (can't say exactly where). Yesterday was just a lot of empty, meaningless words and pantomime. Today was also a lot of meaningless words and pantomime BUT also some real language happening too! This is VERY exciting. It's amazing what you are able to convey with just a few words. I am in no way functional in the language and my host family is incredibly gracious, but little by little. After all, it has only been one day.
So now that I have moved in with a host family we can talk about some of the "cultural stretches" I have been partaking in. First let me start out by saying that I have been in Morocco 6 days and am not sick! Yay!
Cultural Adjustments
So the biggest adjustment is, of course, using a Turkish Toilet (TT). The TT is a squat toilet. It is also made of porcelain. You might call it a kneeler instead of a throne though. You can google image search it but basically, it's two raised parts for your feet and then everything else is on a downward slope with the hole. So, on your left side, about a foot and a half off the ground is always a faucet. Below the faucet is a bucket. So while you are doing your business you turn the faucet on to a trickle. when you are finished, we westerns use toilet paper, but a true Moroccan uses the water from the bucket to clean themselves. Then, if that's the method you choose, you pat yourself dry. And then "flush" the toilet with the water from the bucket. The water pushes everything down. There is no mechanics involved. All of this is done with flip flops. Flip flops that are not worn anywhere else in the house.
Today I had the pleasure of taking my first bucket bath. it actually was pleasant. I hadn't bathed in three days and this worked just fine. The bucket "bath" is done over the toilet. You are still wearing your toilet shoes only this time you may balance a stool over the toilet and sit while you bathe. So, before you shower you heat up hot water in a kettle. Then you mix that water with water from the toilet tap. You are not using the same bucket as the toilet bucket. This is a bigger, cleaner, shower bucket. Then you sit on your stool, with your flip flops on, over the toilet, and kind of take a sponge bath. It wasn't difficult at all. I even washed my hair. For that there is a cup or something so you can scoop water to pour over your head. Conditioner is kind of a pain in the butt for this reason, because it'd hard to rinse out when you don't have any kind of stream of water running on it. So in Morocco, at least in the poorer parts where I am, people may shower twice a week. It is expensive to have the butane to heat up the water so people take baths about twice a week at home and once a week they go to a place called Hammam, which is a bath house that women go to for a real scrub down. It costs a few Moroccan dirhams to get in, but then people stay for hours and use all these tools to exfoliate every inch of their body. You can even pay to have other people scrub you down. The hammams are, of course, seperated men/women. I haven't been yet, but apparently it's nice. Especially in the winter when it's cold.
More on the differences next time I'm at the cyber cafe. I have a running list of things to talk about.
I have decided to blog via microsoft office, and then when I get to the Cyber cafe, I can just copy and paste my entries. So these entries begin today.
Today, Monday, was my first day of Arabic classes. Arabic is a very challenging language. Mostly because it lacks a whole lot of vowels. There are five of us students in our teacher's "stagette" as we call it. We are all having trouble with pronunciation and memorizing the words and I think it's because in romance languages the vowels provide some sort of cadence. And without the vowels it's just a group of harsh sounds that you have to remember. Well, little by little, I guess. I would say I currently have a vocabulary of about 30 words consistently. That includes knowing numbers 1 - 10. Yesterday was when I arrived at my host family in a province outside of Fes (can't say exactly where). Yesterday was just a lot of empty, meaningless words and pantomime. Today was also a lot of meaningless words and pantomime BUT also some real language happening too! This is VERY exciting. It's amazing what you are able to convey with just a few words. I am in no way functional in the language and my host family is incredibly gracious, but little by little. After all, it has only been one day.
So now that I have moved in with a host family we can talk about some of the "cultural stretches" I have been partaking in. First let me start out by saying that I have been in Morocco 6 days and am not sick! Yay!
Cultural Adjustments
So the biggest adjustment is, of course, using a Turkish Toilet (TT). The TT is a squat toilet. It is also made of porcelain. You might call it a kneeler instead of a throne though. You can google image search it but basically, it's two raised parts for your feet and then everything else is on a downward slope with the hole. So, on your left side, about a foot and a half off the ground is always a faucet. Below the faucet is a bucket. So while you are doing your business you turn the faucet on to a trickle. when you are finished, we westerns use toilet paper, but a true Moroccan uses the water from the bucket to clean themselves. Then, if that's the method you choose, you pat yourself dry. And then "flush" the toilet with the water from the bucket. The water pushes everything down. There is no mechanics involved. All of this is done with flip flops. Flip flops that are not worn anywhere else in the house.
Today I had the pleasure of taking my first bucket bath. it actually was pleasant. I hadn't bathed in three days and this worked just fine. The bucket "bath" is done over the toilet. You are still wearing your toilet shoes only this time you may balance a stool over the toilet and sit while you bathe. So, before you shower you heat up hot water in a kettle. Then you mix that water with water from the toilet tap. You are not using the same bucket as the toilet bucket. This is a bigger, cleaner, shower bucket. Then you sit on your stool, with your flip flops on, over the toilet, and kind of take a sponge bath. It wasn't difficult at all. I even washed my hair. For that there is a cup or something so you can scoop water to pour over your head. Conditioner is kind of a pain in the butt for this reason, because it'd hard to rinse out when you don't have any kind of stream of water running on it. So in Morocco, at least in the poorer parts where I am, people may shower twice a week. It is expensive to have the butane to heat up the water so people take baths about twice a week at home and once a week they go to a place called Hammam, which is a bath house that women go to for a real scrub down. It costs a few Moroccan dirhams to get in, but then people stay for hours and use all these tools to exfoliate every inch of their body. You can even pay to have other people scrub you down. The hammams are, of course, seperated men/women. I haven't been yet, but apparently it's nice. Especially in the winter when it's cold.
More on the differences next time I'm at the cyber cafe. I have a running list of things to talk about.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Staging
I have arrived at staging! That is kind of like the orientation portion of the trip. It is in Philadelphia. And we are just here for one day of orientation, one night in a hotel (where I am now) and then tomorrow we go to the airport and board for Morocco!
What's fun about staging is that this is where you kind of get to check everybody out that you'll be traveling with and training with for the first three months in the country. Here are some estimated stats, from my opinion
There are 68 of us total, split between youth development volunteers (which is what I am) and small business development volunteers.
It's probably 60% women, 40% men. Maybe even more women than that.
I would guess the average age is about 28-30 years old. There are a number who are much older, like fifties and sixties, and a lot who are younger too. We were split up into two training classes so I would say that in my class of 35, about 10 have just graduated from college and are about 22 years old. So I'm a year older-- not the youngest but far from the average!
The amounts people packed vary greatly! Many people just brought one small suitcase but many also brought as much luggage as I did, which means a maxing out of our weight limit. It's quite diverse. And the things people chose as important are just as diverse. Some brought a TON of clothes and nothing else. I brought mostly toiletries and things like toothpaste, deodorant, and underwear. Some brought only Western clothes and some brought only Morocco-appropriate clothes (which is what I did)
In terms of readiness-- we were all in the same boat with atrocious Arabic with just a few exceptions of people who had taken a class or two before. No native speakers, to my knowledge. Many had decent French
Tomorrow I will get a better feel and finally get on that plane!
The excitement is only just beginning!!
What's fun about staging is that this is where you kind of get to check everybody out that you'll be traveling with and training with for the first three months in the country. Here are some estimated stats, from my opinion
There are 68 of us total, split between youth development volunteers (which is what I am) and small business development volunteers.
It's probably 60% women, 40% men. Maybe even more women than that.
I would guess the average age is about 28-30 years old. There are a number who are much older, like fifties and sixties, and a lot who are younger too. We were split up into two training classes so I would say that in my class of 35, about 10 have just graduated from college and are about 22 years old. So I'm a year older-- not the youngest but far from the average!
The amounts people packed vary greatly! Many people just brought one small suitcase but many also brought as much luggage as I did, which means a maxing out of our weight limit. It's quite diverse. And the things people chose as important are just as diverse. Some brought a TON of clothes and nothing else. I brought mostly toiletries and things like toothpaste, deodorant, and underwear. Some brought only Western clothes and some brought only Morocco-appropriate clothes (which is what I did)
In terms of readiness-- we were all in the same boat with atrocious Arabic with just a few exceptions of people who had taken a class or two before. No native speakers, to my knowledge. Many had decent French
Tomorrow I will get a better feel and finally get on that plane!
The excitement is only just beginning!!
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