When your host mom hands you wool, make yarn...

April 14, 2008

Here was my plan for the last week in CBT: learn a ton of language and learn to knit during lunch breaks. But on the day we left for our sites, there was no time to go to the hanut and get yarn. Needless to say, half my plan for the week was ruined... until the most hilarious bit of divine providence happened.


This may not seem like something I would do, ever, but a few days ago I made yarn. Like from actual wool. That came from a sheep that I see every day. It was great!


One night I was sitting in my host family's living room doing some homework, and my host mom comes in with a box of wool and begins spinning it into yarn. I was totally transfixed with this process, of course, and after watching her for a good long while decided to ask if she would show me how to do it. She did, and I proceeded to make some of the most poorly wound sufa on the spindle.


This week we had placement interviews with our Program Assistant at our CBT sites. They pretty much know where our sites will be at this point, and we find out in about two weeks's time. Then we'll go on a site visit to see where we'll live for two years.


My head is swimming with verb tenses and vocabulary right now. We had a mock LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) today to see how our language acquisition is coming along. I think I did alright, and apparently my pronunciation is good. We find out in a couple days how we did.


At the end of training we have a real LPI, and we have to get a certain score to be considered ready for service.



On a side note, I'm working on a really nice face and forearm tan right now.

April 18, 2008

Hi all!
It's been awile since I've updated you all, but language training has been intense. This afternoon is no different, but I wanted to let you all know what's going to happen in the next few days...
Last night we had our site announcements and I found out where I'll be living for the next two years. Tomorrow and Sunday all the trainess will be traveling to our sites to meet our host families and see our future homes. I'll be in Tiznit Provionce, and will send you an address soon. Tiznit is pretty easy to find on a map, just look to the West of the Canary Islands, on the coast of Morocco.
There are, of course, a lot of challenges with my site. I'm excited to have the opportunity to meet them, because I have an amazing site! Here's why:
-I have electricity!
-I have running water!
-Tighmi has paved roads!
-I am really close in proximity to several of my new PC friends, and everyone in the region seems pretty great, too.
-Agadir and the Canary Islands are great vacation spots! Visit me and maybe you'll get to see them...
-I was taught Tashelhit by an LCF from this region, so there won't be any big surprises in the language (ie, mixing a lot of Moroccan Arabic in with the Berber).
I cannot even tell you what a relief it was to get such a great site. The upcoming site visit will tell me so much about the next two years. My host family sounds nice. They're small-- it's just Mom and Dad and a daughter. More on them later, because I'll be spending a lot of time with them this week!
I have so little time and a lot to tell you! Things are intense and I'm still really excited to be here!










April 25, 2008

And a nice anecdote from CBT. One of the last ones... : (

My little sister always does her homework next to me as I do mine so I can give her mini-lessons of English. She helps me with pronunciation, too. We do this most days without comment. Anyway, one day I'm learning the parts of body and we come across the word for eyebrows (timiwa in Tash). She asks me to do that thing I always do with my eyebrows and I'm confused because I don't know what she's talking about. Then she lifts one eybrow with her finger and tells me to do "that thing."
Apparently my host family has been observing all the weird facial expressions I make, because they know my ears move too.
I spent a little while explaining that I can't teach how to do any of those things, which disappointed my host siblings a bit. Then I decided to break out the really great stupid human trick. I don't even know what to call it in English, but it's the thing where I fold my tongue into three parts. This really amused them, and it was offical: Miriam was the pre-dinner show on Tuesday.
After these interesting little discoveries, my host sister gave me the best compliment I've ever gotten. She said, "Miriam, kmmi mezian bzzaf! Bzzaf bzzaf bzzaf bzzaf..." and trailed off to indicate the bzzaf was infinitive. This means, in context, "Miriam, you're really cool!" Since the really part (bzzaf) comes after cool (mezian), she kept saying "bzzaf" so I'd know how cool I am.
Needless to say, I never got this reaction after an English lesson. Only after the eyebrow/ear wiggling lesson. I'll take what I can get.

I'm going to miss my CBT site a lot! Everyone is so nice and the mountains are beautiful! My site has a lot of prickly pears, so it'll be an adjustment!

Field Trip

March 29, 2008



This week we had a PC realistic job preview. Pairs of PCTs were sent to current volunteer sites to shadow PCVs and get a feel for how the job looks day-to-day. We were on field trip from Wednesday to Saturday, and my site was in Errachidia Province, to the east of Ouarzazate. Wed and Sat were spent in transit (using transportation that varied from taxis to buses to transits-- more on these later), and the other days we tailed our PCV and explored the site. We also stayed with her to see how she lives. It was interesting because I went to a site where Tashelheet is not spoken, and people mainly use the other Berber dialect, Tamazight. As is often the case, I was confused a good deal of the time ;)



A lot of our focus as Health Educators will be on water sanitation and treatment. So our first day there, we were exploring the site a bit and climbed the town's water tower. Which sounds like fun, right? I thought so, until I was confronted with the means of achieving this ends: two rusty, antiquated ladders separated by a catwalk the allows access to the water in the top of the tower.



This adventure followed a conversation with my fellow PCT in which I nonchalantly asserted that I'm not really afraid of anything at all. I wasn't expecting ladders when I signed on for this Peace Corps thing, let me tell you. (In case you don't know, I'm really scared of ladders. Not heights, not climbing tall things in general, but ladders. Needless to say it took some intense motivation on my part to get up those ladders.)



Although not at first convinced of my fear, everyone saw the look of extreme discomfort on my face (even my giant sunglasses couldn't hide the wide-eyed fear ;) But... I did it! I made it to the top, and back down again without event. Pictures, as always, are forthcoming.











April 1, 2008



Language training has started up again after a week free of classes. Tash does not lend itself to such a hiatus. I need to study so much! But we're learning a lot and most of it seems to be falling into place, so that's a good sign.



Tonight I was on the roof of the hotel in Ouarzazate working out with a group of PCTs after class ended. We were doing lunges across the roof as the sun set over the Atlas, listening to some music as we exercised. Then the call the prayer started, and I was struck by the extraordinary circumstances of this workout. I mean, there we were doing something so seemingly ordinary. And then it hits me: I'm in Morocco. I'm in the freakin' Peace Corps. I have little moments like this all the time, it seems. Not that I can forget that I'm in Morocco, but after such a long process to actually get here (it really started what, six years ago?) I still can't believe I'm doing this.



It's a bit easier to believe when I'm in language class struggling to contain all the verbs and grammar. Not to mention pronunciation. If I could speak with a convincing accent, I'd be set!


So that's how things are going for now. We're back in class, and leave for CBT again this Saturday.


In the meantime we have workshops all week on topics relating to our future work: maternal and child health, SIDA (HIV/AIDS), and STIs, etc.


Then it's another week of homestay and language. And I'll try to stay healthy this time!