I gotsa place to live

Typed Tuesday, October 2

Welllll a lot has been going on the past few days. Most importantly, I found out my final site! I’m hesitant to post the name of it, but I will say I’m quite pleased. There are definitely pros (close-ish to a few big cities as well as some other YD trainees that I’m good friends with) and cons (following a volunteer who is apparently awesome), but I’m excited to get started!

Some stuff that’s happened lately:

My CBT group totally has a mascot in the form of a tiny and maybe crazy little girl. She’s three (ish), we call her Weasel and she sometimes licks walls. Her mom cooks for us everyday and Weasel likes to hang out and play peek-a-boo/ stare blankly at me when I talk to her.

My Darija class was attacked by bugs last Friday morning. I was sitting there, minding my own business and drawing Pooh Bear as a little black rain cloud in my notebook (totally normal) when all of a sudden this THING was sitting next to me. It LOOKED AT ME then slowly spread its little wings in what I perceived to be a threatening manner. As we all know, harassment happens when someone is made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe by another’s actions. In other words, that bug harassed me. I’ll pause a moment to make sure the gravity of the situation sinks in fully.

Last weekend Brahim and I were in a neighboring CBT site and got to do all sorts of fun things, most notably visiting the Dar Chebab there. We made Halloween decorations for the Halloween party they are having this coming weekend then played some games. One of them was most definitely a game I used to play in the states, only with booze.

I crashed at a fellow trainee’s house and over dinner his host mom told me I knew zero Darija because I didn’t understand one of the questions she asked me. Tough crowd.

Yesterday and part of today I was at the hub, freaking out about finding out my site, then finding out my site, then freaking out about moving to my site. There was also some delicious cheese and chocolate mixed in between the freak outs, as well as an avocado smoothie. I assure you that the deliciousness of the avocado smoothie has an inverse relationship with how gross it sounds.

I spent most of the evening talking with my host-uncle in a pathetic mix of Darija, French, English and smiling-and-nodding, then dazzling the host-siblings with my ability to make origami stars (thank you Asian friends from high school).

Final thought: Last night at hub we set up a projector to watch “The Hangover” and oh my goodness did I forget how funny that movie is.

oh.em.gee.

Once again, I sat down to blog and my whole brain went fuzzy. It was just one of those days. CBT is probably the hardest thing I've ever tried to do--learning a language in a sink-or-swim situation when you are spontaneously sick, generally cold and constantly sleepy. And frustrated. And crabby. And ridiculously sensitive.

Anyyyyhoo I'll just post some quick thoughts I scribbled down in my planner over the last few days:

My baking skills are known not only in my town but the next town over. Last Saturday I baked cookies with Lubna and Jamila (and Lubna's family), then on Monday the cook at my school (who lives in the neighboring town) told me Lubna's mom told HER that I was good at baking cookies. And I think something about how spiffy I look in an apron. Soooo yeah. No big deal.

I like clementines AND peaches now.

In class yesterday, Brahim and I presented a skit to everyone that involved me playing a crazed butcher. I tried to sell Brahim people-meat.

best idea ever?

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/bb2e/

OUTBREAK

My CBT group is dying off. Okay, maybe not dying, but everyone keeps getting really sick. A few weeks ago we were all feasting everyday on tagines and today I think half of us were able tochoke down some bread and apples.

Some random things before I sum up the past week:

Moroccans don't understand "what if" questions. Someone asked my teacher a hypothetical (if you could be the sun or the moon, what would you be?) and she just kept saying she would just be herself. Pfft, fatalism.

Some kid threw a rock at me today. Thankfully, I was inside and it hit the window, but it was kind of scary.

Onward!

Last Thursday was my birthday. I got to spend it at the training hub with all the youth developers. Everyone sang to me and it was really sweet/embarrassing. A couple of the girls bought me cake and tea that night, which was also really sweet. I was a little bummed I couldn't be with everyone in the states, but all in all it was a good birthday.

Friday was day 2 at the hub. A few of us got lunch at this delicious chicken place (pre gastrointestinal mutiny). A whole chicken, rice, french fries and four salads. Headed back to my CBT site in the afternoon via grand taxi (regular-sized car that 6 passengers pile into) and got home to find that my host dad had returned from his trip to France. He bought me a fancy tiramisu chocolate bar.

Saturday was a big day. In language class we took turns teaching and Jamila and I got to teach everyone how to tell time in Darija. Quite gracefully, too, I might add. In the afternoon I got a free moment to call the momma. Chatted for a bit until boys playing football near me got increasingly rambunctious and I needed to focus all my attention on not getting kicked in the face. Saturday night was our kick-off party at the Dar Chebab...it went really well! Although, I should warn you that teaching Uno to a large group of rowdy Arabic-speaking teenagers can be hazardous to your health/sanity. I also had an opportunity to showcase my sweet moves when we played a name game that involed standing in a circle, saying your name then doing a personalized dance, then repeating everyone else's. It's funny that this is my job, considering a few months ago I was sitting behind a desk processing employee hire forms (not that I don't love the lisner family).

Sunday=souk day. I fond a really pretty scarf but didn't want to cough up 20 Dhs...we got a ton of veggies though. Did some other stuff but my patience is wearing thin and it's not really very interesting.

I jotted down some stuff concerning the past few days, but most of it is sort of gibberish I wrote when I got sick of doodling. The shopkeeper that we buy food from a lot knows my name now which is really cool, Iplayed monopoly with my host sisters and won for I think the first time in my life (one of them tried to say she had rolled a fourteen at one point, honestly) and tonight I co-taught my first English lesson. The kids were way to smart for the lesson prepared, but nonetheless enthusiastic.

I gotta bounce, I'm falling asleep at the keys.