new time, old time and packages

listening to "stand by me" by john lennon

Daylight Savings Time stresses me out. It stressed me out in America, where people heed it, and it stresses me out in Morocco, where people heed it if it suits them. Here I feel like going by "new time" or "old time" depends on how late you are. Or maybe it depends on which hour will be less convenient for me at any given moment.

For example, on Saturday I threw a party for the kids that participated in the Reading Race. It was set at 4:30. I showed up at 3:30 to make sure the venue was all arranged, and found that about five kids were there waiting to be let in. It seemed really weird because I was actually expecting everyone to start showing up around 4:45 or 5:00...but just figured it was some new aspect of Moroccan culture I don't understand.

I greeted everyone and remarked that they must be excited to have shown up an hour early, and they all gave me these "oh, you" looks then informed me they were going by "new time."

Great, no that's cool. Just hang out and be obnoxious for an hour while I try and set up THIS PARTY I WORKED SO HARD TO ORGANIZE FOR YOU. No you CAN'T HAVE A COOKIE YET.

Of course, Daylight Savings wasn't supposed to start until Sunday morning at midnight, but whatever.

The next day (when daylight savings actually went into effect) I woke up nervous. I had changed all my clocks before going to bed, but upon awakening I couldn't remember FOR SURE if I had changed them or not. It LOOKED like 8:00 am, but how could I be sure? The street was still quiet...then again it was Sunday.

When I showed up to Dar Chabab, things went about as I expected them to. One kid was there at 10:00 and the rest trickled in after 11, shocked I was using "new time." Their chess club leader never showed up at all, even though I had seen him the day before (his wife and I had tea) and asked him TO HIS FACE if he'd be there Sunday. I'm assuming the stress of changing all his clocks led to some sort of breakdown and he needed "me-time" (he-time?).

My question is this: if you are going to bother to implement Daylight Savings Time, and everyone seems to know it exists (everyone always asks if you are going by "new time" or "old time") then WHY DOESN'T EVERYONE JUST USE NEW TIME. Or do away with DST and always use old time. Whatever, I don't care. Just pick one and send me an SMS. I'll be at home, pantsless, watching episodes of Glee.

Haha...I just got a mental image of important people having a huge round table meeting and just going back and forth about "what are we going to do with this new-fangled time business?" "well I think it's trouble. it doesn't make sense." "actually it kind of does...Benjamin Franklin--" "--I DON'T KNOW WHO THAT IS." and so forth.

And now: Mondays just got better.

I've had a care package stuck in customs in Rabat for awhile, and I decided that since I have Monday off, I would go out there Monday morning and see what's what. Maybe crack some skulls, if needed.

I wasn't super-psyched to go to Rabat on Monday, because, to be honest, I wasn't sure I'd still be able to get in a ton of doing nothing with no pants* on in my house. However, I am a responsible adult and I said to myself I said "Hey you! Roll up those shirt sleeves, eat your nutritious breakfast (four bowls of Wheaties and 12 egg yolks) and ease on down the road!"

If I had time right now I would link you to a youtube video of Diana Ross and Michael Jackson singing "Ease on Down the Road," but I don't. I do urge you to research this on your own time because it's the stuff jive dreams are made of.

My goodness am I glad I did (go to Rabat...I'm also glad I youtubed "Ease on Down the Road", though). Sure I had to pay an obscene amount of money at customs, an amount that forced me to leave, go to the atm, and come back. But my mom sent me nail polish! And a really cute dress! And new jeans! And saline solution! And Earl Grey tea for those days where I feel too classy for my instant coffee (rare, but treasured, days are these). Plus, by some lucky twist of fate I didn't have to wait for a really long time and ended up being out the door, package in hand, by 11 am, conveniently in front of one of my favorite spots in Rabat. There is a big swanky hotel across from Parliament and it has an outdoor cafe perfect for sitting around, drinking over-priced coffee and not being bothered by anyone. Then you can pop over to the art supply store around the corner and drool over all kinds of cool markers and pens. This is my life.

I made a really delicious salad for lunch today. It came from my handy Peace Corps cookbook and I am going to post the recipe here:

You need:
4 T olive oil
3 med apples, cored and quartered
2 green peppers, seeded and diced
salt and pepper
2 T parsley
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 med onion, finely sliced
4 med tomatoes, quartered
juice of 1 lemon
2 T mint, finely chopped

Heat oil in large frying pan and add garlic, apples, onion and peppers. Fry until lightly browned. Add tomatoes and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper; then pour into serving bowl. Arrange neatly and leave cool. Sprinkle with lemon juice and fresh herbs; serve.

Um, party in my mouth.

*The No-Pants Policy is still in effect, but at the moment it is no longer mandatory. Reasons include:

1. I may have over-reacted because
2. it's actually not that hot out
3. I think I was just having trouble adapting.
4. It's like my first semester of college when Emma and I experienced "fall" for the first time and it reduced us to whiny, crying brats rolling around on her dorm bed wearing seventy layers of clothing.