December Adventures.

The weeks in Morocco just seem to get better and better. What a welcome relief.

Here is an update of a few things that have happened recently.

- I have learned how to make Chai tea. Yes I was a HUGE Chai fan in the states but once I got over here, I realized I have no idea how to make it. Thankfully Nicole, my savior, taught me and supplied me with some key ingredients to make it. Now my life is complete. I have been drinking delicious homemade Chai tea and even found an ingredient supplier in Tiznit. After wandering around the souk area (which I regularly avoid) I found my "spice guy". Morocco is known for its spice vendors (despite the lack of spice in most Moroccan dishes) and I feel like one of the last volunteers without a spice guy. The good news is that my spice guy is very nice, patient with my broken Tashlheet and doesn't speak French to me, three key things in a good Hanut guy. Today I bought some key ingredients for my Chai tea and even some cinnamon sticks for the apple cider I am hoping to make this week. Towards the end of our encounter I asked him to get me some cardamom pods. He told me that since he had to import them from India they were expensive. I told him it was fine and he poured me some. Turns out "expensive" means 5 dh, so not expensive. I am feeling good about this new relationship and my new supply of lots of "hard to get" ingredients.

-My electricity has been pretty reliable compared to most other volunteers/ villages in Morocco. I have only lost electricity once or twice compared to some volunteers loosing it daily. Recently the winds have started picking up and my electricity has started to flicker so I figured it was only a matter of time before it went out. As it turns out my breaker box made a loud noise and all the electricity went off. A little fearful of reseting the box when it was so windy outside I just left the electricity off and studied for the LSAT by candle light. The next morning I woke up, reset the box and headed to Tafroute to celebrate Dave's birthday. What I failed to remember was that my oven, which was sitting on top of my ponges (couch) was never unplugged from when the electricity went off. I left for the weekend and when I returned a few days later I smelled something, unsure of what it was I started checking the fridge, heater and even the Buta gas container but all of them were off. A few hours later I went to sit on my ponges and read when I noticed the oven was plugged in. Damn. I had left my oven, on top of my ponge, on full heat for a few days.

I am lucky nothing caught on fire (not that there is a lot of flamable things in my house) and instead it just burned the ponge cover. I am actually grateful for the ponge cover burning and here's why.

-Moving into any home is stressful. Moving into a rock home without running water in the middle of a remodel in a small Moroccan village is beyond stressful. Its downright hard. Due to these stresses and the overwhelming feeling of needing a space of my own, I made some mistakes early on. Of course heinsight is always 20/20 but one major mistake was the covers for my ponges. My co-op and counterpart donated some stuff on my behalf for my new home. One of those things was a large rug. Its green, black and red in a crazy design and has seen better days but I was happy to have it. Initially thinking I was going to use the rug in my bedroom, I bought custom ponge covers from a shop in Tiznit. When I picked out the fabric, I thought it would be awesome. It was sort of a Moroccan version of Vera Bradly. As it turns out, the fabric was ugly, expensive and makes my living room look terrible. Moroccans even comment on the terrible clash of patterns and colors which says a lot since my villagers don't exactly have "matching" and "coordinating" down. I have been wanting to replace them for quite some time but felt like it was a frivolous use of money. Then something awesome happened. My oven burnt my cover and now I have to replace them since one is burnt, right? This time I ventured into Tiznit without a Moroccan and vowed to pick a fabric I liked and get something that matches. I did exactly that.

After checking out quite a few shops on the street of fabrics, I found a guy. A really nice, non-creepy guy. He was patient with my broken Tashlheet and new vocab words. Best of all, he gave me a GREAT price. Instead of 150 per ponge for the covers he is only charging me 200dh total, for 3 ponge covers and two pillow cases, all in black. Awesome.

I knew the day would come when my confidence with the language and culture, my knowledge of "good" prices and my abaility to ignore harassment would make my shopping experiences fun and the day has come. I had fun shopping for ponge covers today and am hoping that they will greatly improve the look of my living room, actually I am confident of it.

-This week I witnessed my first Moroccan funeral. I have celebrated most other Moroccan cultural events including holidays, weddings and births but had yet to experience a funeral. After heading into souk to pick up some eggs and check my mailbox I saw the Moroccan equalivent of a funeral procession. A station wagon cab with the seats removed holding a wooden platform/ coffin carrying a deceased man with a train of his (male) family and friends following along singing. Once they reached the end of the souk they continued to processional on foot to the mosque where the prayers happened. It was interesting to see the processional and how much respect everyone in the village gave as the processional passed by.

-I finally cleaned my computer after about 10 months of dirt and dust. I broke out my magic eraser from America and gave my computer its much needed bath. It looks so much better, new even.

-Thanks to some fellow volunteers I have recently been able to catch up on some much needed movie time by watching Shrek Ever After, Toy Story 3 and the Christmas Glee. I enjoy my small glimpses of America.

-I have been listening to as much Christmas music as possible, fondly remembering snow, Christmas lights and the holiday prep!

-Finally, my sister comes in just 6 days. I am finalizing plans, cleaning up my house, buying supplies and getting my money situation figured out. My vacation forms are submitted to Peace Corps for our post- Morocco Madrid adventure. I can hardly sleep most nights because of how excited I am for her to arrive! I cannot wait to see her in Marrakech! It should be a fun month and you can check out her blog (and mine) for pictures and post from her travels. (www.clairestuckel.blogspot.com)

Happy Holidays to all!