Ramadan has finally come to an end. And I say “finally” not because I did not enjoy it, or am overly glad that it is over (although the hrira soup for l-ftor was beginning to get a bit repetitive), but rather because this is the impression I get from the Moroccans around me exhausted from the fast. Besides my most encountered friends though, a lot of people fast past the holy month for an extra six days to gain some extra credit with the All Knowing. They even have one word for a six day time period because of this: it is not a week, but “sttamayn”. And while I am on the one word subject, Darija is one of the most concise languages I’ve ever encountered. You get to say sentences such as “We saw her”, “There isn’t any”, or “More in mine” with just one word!
The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a holiday called L-Aaid L-Sgir, which literally translates to “The Small Feast”. A day prior to this celebration every household bakes an immense amount of cookies (I practiced my “Never have I ever…” Darija phrase while pointing to a household bucket and a couple of giant soup pots overflowing with cookies). The entire next day is dedicated to visiting as many homes as you can, while feasting on these freshly prepared sweets and drinking gallons of tea. Typically the women do henna on their hands and dress up to the max in order to show celebration and make the rounds. Since we, the volunteers, are not too familiar with the traditional Moroccan holiday gear, we were dressed by our families. My family did not do any henna to show mourning, as there was a death in the family the previous week (but Erin and I got a surprise round of henna to make up for it this week). Besides the bright glittery costumes, the constant sugar high, and the heat, I found the merry atmosphere and my detachment in it to be very much like Christmas Day in the States. It was fun, but I’m glad it’s over.
I know I haven’t yet mentioned this, and please forgive me, but while in CBT we’ve been working with a group of female rug weavers. We are working on a small-scale project to complete before departure in mid November. The women have been wonderful and their work rich and heart warming. I was actually caught off guard to find this activity a tremendous challenge not through the language, or cross-culture barriers, but because of dysfunctional dynamics within my CBT group. As I prefer to not give you a bias account on the inner workings of the group, I will just say that all of us are not complementary players in a group scheme. This stands for both technical and language learning activities. Nonetheless, progress has been made and the final project has been decided today (hamdullah). I am relieved to begin the action plans tomorrow, which should alleviate much further discussion and argument in-group meetings.
I am excessively excited for the coming week! For besides the Halloween bash entitled “Animal, Vegetable or Mineral” in Ouarzazate with all the mutatawaein, we are scheduled to obtain and GO to our final 2 year sites for a one week period!!! Since I have been learning Darija, my placement is not limited to any sections of the country, I could literally be anywhere in the country (with some minor exceptions in disputed territories)! Friends and family look out for a mass email, as we are encouraged not to post our final locations online!
The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a holiday called L-Aaid L-Sgir, which literally translates to “The Small Feast”. A day prior to this celebration every household bakes an immense amount of cookies (I practiced my “Never have I ever…” Darija phrase while pointing to a household bucket and a couple of giant soup pots overflowing with cookies). The entire next day is dedicated to visiting as many homes as you can, while feasting on these freshly prepared sweets and drinking gallons of tea. Typically the women do henna on their hands and dress up to the max in order to show celebration and make the rounds. Since we, the volunteers, are not too familiar with the traditional Moroccan holiday gear, we were dressed by our families. My family did not do any henna to show mourning, as there was a death in the family the previous week (but Erin and I got a surprise round of henna to make up for it this week). Besides the bright glittery costumes, the constant sugar high, and the heat, I found the merry atmosphere and my detachment in it to be very much like Christmas Day in the States. It was fun, but I’m glad it’s over.
I know I haven’t yet mentioned this, and please forgive me, but while in CBT we’ve been working with a group of female rug weavers. We are working on a small-scale project to complete before departure in mid November. The women have been wonderful and their work rich and heart warming. I was actually caught off guard to find this activity a tremendous challenge not through the language, or cross-culture barriers, but because of dysfunctional dynamics within my CBT group. As I prefer to not give you a bias account on the inner workings of the group, I will just say that all of us are not complementary players in a group scheme. This stands for both technical and language learning activities. Nonetheless, progress has been made and the final project has been decided today (hamdullah). I am relieved to begin the action plans tomorrow, which should alleviate much further discussion and argument in-group meetings.
I am excessively excited for the coming week! For besides the Halloween bash entitled “Animal, Vegetable or Mineral” in Ouarzazate with all the mutatawaein, we are scheduled to obtain and GO to our final 2 year sites for a one week period!!! Since I have been learning Darija, my placement is not limited to any sections of the country, I could literally be anywhere in the country (with some minor exceptions in disputed territories)! Friends and family look out for a mass email, as we are encouraged not to post our final locations online!
And while Im at it, here is yet another photo of my intergration. Please notice the babys reaction to me in the lower right;
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