Today I cleaned a fish. Not just any fish but some small nameless fish of which there were probably 50. The girls showed me how to scale it and chop off its head. And my hands still smell of fish this evening. Not sure how I avoided doing this previously in life although it may have something to do with being married to someone who never allowed messes in the house (ok Roy, now you can comment about this :-) I violated my own rule of not allowing my food to look at me but it was fun doing it with the girls. And now we will have these little guys for lunch tomorrow.......
Saga with the passport continues. Today the police station contacted Latifa about my certificat de perd which means (for those of you not fluent in French), the official note that they have to give me which says that I lost my passport and that I should be forgiven because I don't have the official Moroccan entry number on my passport. I also learned that it is an extremely big deal to lose your passport in Morocco. Not as serious as losing your identity card, but almost. Since all official documents in the country are in French and Arabic, everything has to be translated. So the police wanted two pictures of me. Why? Perhaps they wanted to recognize me on the street, who knows? But I found a place in town that would do it and also give me the pictures that I need for my passport so I don't need to go running around Casa on Tuesday when I go into the city. Hopefully the police will have my info tomorrow when I once again walk through the town to the police station and wait around while the policeman chats with his friends. Ah, Moroccan time...I love it.
Also, I had to register with the government office here since I am a foreign national living in a boarding house. I filled out the forms. Told them that I didn't have a Moroccan entry number because I lost my passport and all seemed fine. Today the man came to the house (it is next door) and needed my parents names. So now the secret is out....they know I am a Jew. Can't hide behind Lopata any more....the Scheinbaum is out there.
Today I was in charge of the house since Latifa went into Marrakesh which is a whole day adventure. That threw a wrench into my teaching plans because I had to be pulled out of sessions constantly to deal with some incident or another. This is where all those years of being a mother helps...whether it was tending to the girl who I thought might have appendicitis but instead she probably has an ulcer or GERT, to the one with the incredible migraine.....I just went from one to the other giving water and blankets and lots of TLC until Latifa got back in the early evening.
Lastly a comment about men and women and Moroccan culture. It stinks. Yesterday I had the girls outside the house playing football (soccer of course), their favorite activity. It is so much fun to watch them interacting so spontaneously and having so much fun. The house next door is a boy's government boarding house which was built to house 80 and now houses 300 (at three to a bed) and about 50 of the boys came out and were watching and making comments to the girls. So we went in the back of the house and they followed us. There was nothing threatening about it but it is just that these girls have to be so very careful about appearing to be flirtatious etc. And they, of course are. They are so innocent that they don't realize the implications of what they are saying or doing. I brought them all inside and today we played within the walls of the house until most of the boys had gone to school. It is too bad that it is that way. They are all friends at school (all classes are co-ed)and in a different environment they could interact normally. But, particularly in the rural areas, if one of the girls gets involved with one of the boys, she will suffer incredible consequences. This is isn't Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan...no one is going to stone her but they would probably take her out of school and try and marry her off to anyone who would take her. And in Morocco, Berber women have the reputation of being "lose" anyway...not sure where that comes from but it may have something to do with the fact that the majority are poor and uneducated. It is so important for these girls to have a sense of self-respect and pride in all that they are accomplishing.
That provides a nice segway into International Women's Day. Tomorrow I am going to talk to the girls in French and English classes about women they admire and Friday we are going to have a party after I spend the day with the girls making macaroni and cheese (after they have their Friday couscous for lunch)and artichoke and then Latifa is going to talk to them about the law in Morocco which was passed in 2004 which reinforced for women their social and legal rights to property, divorce etc. We are trying to do our little bit.
Saga with the passport continues. Today the police station contacted Latifa about my certificat de perd which means (for those of you not fluent in French), the official note that they have to give me which says that I lost my passport and that I should be forgiven because I don't have the official Moroccan entry number on my passport. I also learned that it is an extremely big deal to lose your passport in Morocco. Not as serious as losing your identity card, but almost. Since all official documents in the country are in French and Arabic, everything has to be translated. So the police wanted two pictures of me. Why? Perhaps they wanted to recognize me on the street, who knows? But I found a place in town that would do it and also give me the pictures that I need for my passport so I don't need to go running around Casa on Tuesday when I go into the city. Hopefully the police will have my info tomorrow when I once again walk through the town to the police station and wait around while the policeman chats with his friends. Ah, Moroccan time...I love it.
Also, I had to register with the government office here since I am a foreign national living in a boarding house. I filled out the forms. Told them that I didn't have a Moroccan entry number because I lost my passport and all seemed fine. Today the man came to the house (it is next door) and needed my parents names. So now the secret is out....they know I am a Jew. Can't hide behind Lopata any more....the Scheinbaum is out there.
Today I was in charge of the house since Latifa went into Marrakesh which is a whole day adventure. That threw a wrench into my teaching plans because I had to be pulled out of sessions constantly to deal with some incident or another. This is where all those years of being a mother helps...whether it was tending to the girl who I thought might have appendicitis but instead she probably has an ulcer or GERT, to the one with the incredible migraine.....I just went from one to the other giving water and blankets and lots of TLC until Latifa got back in the early evening.
Lastly a comment about men and women and Moroccan culture. It stinks. Yesterday I had the girls outside the house playing football (soccer of course), their favorite activity. It is so much fun to watch them interacting so spontaneously and having so much fun. The house next door is a boy's government boarding house which was built to house 80 and now houses 300 (at three to a bed) and about 50 of the boys came out and were watching and making comments to the girls. So we went in the back of the house and they followed us. There was nothing threatening about it but it is just that these girls have to be so very careful about appearing to be flirtatious etc. And they, of course are. They are so innocent that they don't realize the implications of what they are saying or doing. I brought them all inside and today we played within the walls of the house until most of the boys had gone to school. It is too bad that it is that way. They are all friends at school (all classes are co-ed)and in a different environment they could interact normally. But, particularly in the rural areas, if one of the girls gets involved with one of the boys, she will suffer incredible consequences. This is isn't Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan...no one is going to stone her but they would probably take her out of school and try and marry her off to anyone who would take her. And in Morocco, Berber women have the reputation of being "lose" anyway...not sure where that comes from but it may have something to do with the fact that the majority are poor and uneducated. It is so important for these girls to have a sense of self-respect and pride in all that they are accomplishing.
That provides a nice segway into International Women's Day. Tomorrow I am going to talk to the girls in French and English classes about women they admire and Friday we are going to have a party after I spend the day with the girls making macaroni and cheese (after they have their Friday couscous for lunch)and artichoke and then Latifa is going to talk to them about the law in Morocco which was passed in 2004 which reinforced for women their social and legal rights to property, divorce etc. We are trying to do our little bit.
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