Announcement!!!

My Amazing Brother Josh has set me up a new website, and I like it!! I will be posting from there from now on, apologies for a while until I work out the kinks. The site is: skyecares.planetfrome.com

Musings on Veils

12MAR2006 Today was our "Self-Directed Training Day". That means we didn't have any scheduled classes, and we were free to do our "own learning" and it isn't a "Day Off". There are no days off in the Peace Corps. It's officially written that way. They are "working" and "non-working" days if you go to a health center like me, but none of them are days off. We're always on. I like that. I am such a workaholic. Today I did my laundry. By hand. It was kind of fun. It was relaxing, but I like doing repetative, monotonous things to relax myself. I'm not sure if I'll find it fun by the end of two years. Although, I might just decide that its the best way EVER. I do miss fabric softener, though. I went to lunch at a cafe and ordered food in French and survived. I bought postcards in French. Almost everyone here speaks French, they start learning it about third grade, so that has been a HUGE lifesaver. My Arabic isn't anything more than a few words right now. Tomorrow we start learning Arabic Script. That will be cool. I did a little studying in the afternoon and then I had a litte Church time. I have some Mormon Tabernacle Choir on my iPod, and I just sat and read my scriptures and listened to my music. It was great. The afternoon call to prayer was in the middle of it all, and it was interesting to sit and watch the townsfolk head to the mosque (I was on the roof of our place) and think about all the ways people recognize God. The more I learn about Islam, the more I really like it. It is so similar to the Gospel. No orginal sin. There will be a Judgement Day, and Christ will return, but He isn't recognized as diety, He'll be with some other person, I forget who right now. Daily prayer, five set times every day, actually. Fasting is important-Ramadan! Regularly giving a portion of your income to the poor. I had a long conversation with one of my teachers about veils the other day. It is really neat. The idea behind it is modesty, and the way you wear it is a reflection of your faith. You don't just put it on one day and that's it. Most women sort of work their way up to wearing a full veil, with neck and ears and hair completely covered. Some places women wear even a cover over their faces, with mesh over their eyes. I asked if there was something for men to do to show their modesty and respect for bodies and intimacy, and there is, but it is slightly different. The men are taught to dress loosely as far as external appearance, but the main focus with them is a behavioral one. They are not supposed to leer at women, or talk about how beautiful each part of a woman is. It is considered disrespectful to look at a woman for too long. In dating relationships there is no touching, no kissing. I thought it was all really cool. Men are so visual, I think it makes sense to have more guidelines about behavior than appearance. So, if you see a woman in a veil, don't think she's ashamed or oppressed. She is proud to be showing her faithfulness to Allah. She is proud to keep her most sacred blessings intact. There is tremendous strength in it.

Blogging Guidelines

Because of security concerns, I am not supposed to talk about certain things on the blog, and I'd like to ask anyone who comments to please respect that. I cannot comment on the politics of Morocco, it's government, and I would also like to keep any disrespectful comments about Muslims in general off my blog. I wouldn't want anyone to read this and feel offended. I also cannot give any more specifics about where I am. This is for PC safety. PC Morocco was evacuated in 2003 after because of security concerns due to the political world. When we were brought back, the King himself guaranteed PCV's would be watched over. We are. Everywhere we go, the local police watch us like hawks. They pretty much know where we are and what we're doing at all times. Some people think it's a little much, but I actually really like it. Anyone who is concerned about my safety has no reason to fear. The local police have personal written instruction from the King himself to keep us safe, and we've got plenty of guidelines to follow on our end. Please respect that on my blog. If there is a problem from blogging, it could get me sent home. Anyhow... Life is good otherwise. During training I'll have pretty reliable internet access, but I don't know about after. Do not be concerned if there is a sudden drop in communication. The police will always know where I am, and so will the PC. Unless I lose my mind completely and run off into a cave in the mountains. Then, I bet the goats will know where I am. hee hee...

Pictures!!

This is an official Length of My Hair Update. This is in my room at training. Short hair is great when showering is limited. This is on the road to Azilal. The fields are just covered in blooming flowers right now, all the orange beneath the olive trees is little orange flowers. It is gorgeous here!! I'm trying to figure out a good system for posting stuff, gotta go.

The Green Green Grass of Home

11MAR2006 We're here!!! We had about a 6 hour bus ride through the countryside and up into the mountains a ways to get here. Apparently there was a really heavy winter and so everything is GREEEEEN. It is amazing. The terrain is a lot like California to me, but greener, and then it reminds me of Utah in the mountains. I guess those are my main reference points in my life, but still, I feel so at home here. It was great to get out of Rabat. The big city combined with an ENTIRELY new world was a bit overwhelming. I feel so much more comfortable out here. It makes me wonder what the immigrants thought about Ellis Island and New York when they got off their boats. I bet they crapped their pants. We are also getting more into the specifics of our training and that is great because its all about healthcare, and I LOVE HEALTHCARE! There were originally two focuses in PC Morocco Health, Hygiene/Sanitation, and Maternal/Child. Next group they will combine them because anywhere there is a need for one, there is a need for the other, so it is making more sense to combine the training I guess. We're the last group with the old focus, but they said that our training will involve a lot of both. That makes sense to me. Part of telling someone to wash their hands and have sterilized birthing kits available for childbirth is having a potable water source to do that cleaning with, and proper latrines so as not to perpetuate the problem. I'm really loving this, and now that we get to talk about healthcare, I'm loving it even more. The people here are so great. Our main guy in charge of training is HILARIOUS. He reminds me a lot of Josh, in sense of humor, physically, and just little habits of speech. The food is made by local women for us. The PC has us in one main group until we go to our host families. I can't get specific for security reasons, but it is really nice. When we got in we had this lunch of lentils, peas, fresh bread, fresh veggies, beets (Mom, you'd love it.), and then a tangine (I think that's what it was) of couscous, veggies, and lamb. IT WAS THE BEST MEAL SINCE WE'VE GOTTEN HERE. The hotel food was good. I didn't eat any street food in Rabat. I was so tired today when I woke up, but the thought of having another meal was what got me out of bed. That reminds me, it's lunchtime. I think there will be more couscous. I'd better go. Life is good, and it keeps getting better.

More From Rabat

10MAR2006 It's Friday morning, we're about to load up for our training sites. The Health volunteers are headed to Azilal, it's about a 4 hour bus ride. Rabat has been cool. We've been in training sessions all day, but there are usually a few hours in the evening to go out and do stuff. We have a curfew, otherwise it would be like herding cats to keep all fifty or so of us in line. Sometimes it feels like herding cats anyway. I went out through the medina to the seawall two days ago, it was really cool. I love how there is so much detail in all the architecture. America has very boring architecture. Orange juice will be forever ruined for me. I will never be able to drink anything but fresh squeezed Moroccan OJ. It's like nothing I've ever tasted. Mint tea is pretty good, too, but the OJ is indescribable. We've been getting a European spread for breakfast every morning, and I'm seeing what people mean about the yogurt. Mmmm..... Croissants.... Croissants with chocolate in them.... We've had some harira at dinner, but I think it's just generic buffet table stuff. Mom's is better. I think harira is the kind of thing that someone's mom has to make to make it taste right. I'm using my French a lot, and it comes back surprisingly well. We try to use the little Arabic we know, and that's going alright, too. When we get to our training site we will begin the real intense language training. Depending on what area I end up in I will learn Moroccan Arabic, or one of two Berber dialects. Even if I learn a dialect, I think I'll try to learn as much Arabic as I can. It looks like there will be a lot of down time while we assess our sites and figure out a project. I will be working with a health center every day, and I'm excited to see what nurses do in Morocco. I am not officially allowed to do any nursing stuff because even though I am licensed, I am not authorized to practice in this country. But, I am allowed to do all the teaching I want. I hope I can learn the language fast so I can start getting to know the nurses at my site. I bet we could swap some stories. I think I've adjusted to the time change, but I can tell I'm stressed. I sleep, but I have been wide awake at about 4am for the last couple of days. It's ok, though. I know how to live with stress. When we get to Azilal we still won't be situated with a host family for a few days. We'll be in another hotel, but we also get to go for about a week to stay with a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) in the health program and shadow them. I'm excited for that. I'm really excited to meet my host family. It will give me a chance to become really immersed in the language, and I think that will quell the anxiety if I'm just forced to do it. We had a little lesson on Islam yesterday, and I think I will be very comfortable in this society. There seem to be a lot of similarities in Islam and the Gospel. They're really drilling us on being respectful and appropriately dressed. I think there are some people who just don't get the idea of modesty as an issue of reverence and respect instead of oppression. I think it is such an issue with PCVs because we are there in a position of semi-authority. Or at least, we are there in the hopes that people will respect what we have to say and listen to us. I don't usually wear long skirts and long sleeved shirts, but I realized that to show up in tight jeans and a t-shirt at some function might be like wearing a bikini to sacrament meeting. I think it's hard for some of the other volunteers, though. We've got a lot of fresh out of college kids who think they know everything. I feel so old saying that, but that's the way I feel. Anyhow... time to go sit on a bus for a few hours. I'll try to get some time and post the rest of the pictures I've got from Rabat.

Picassa Is Great!!!

The seawall outside the medina at sunset. Tidepools!! Ocean breeze! Waves! Also, my first trip outside the hotel. It was really cool. Plan: Do not sleep entire plane ride. Arrive in Morocco as zombie. Promote world peace and friendship before stench of decaying flesh interferes. The airport in Casablanca!!!!!! Hopefully the beginning of many beautiful friendships. Most of the signage is in Arabic and French, whew! 

Travel....

07MAR2006 We are here!!! Didn't get to bed last night, all the way the paper bag was on my knee, man I had a dreadful flight, I'm back in the USSR...WAIT A MINUTE. What's with all the Arabic and French everywhere? Riiigghht... Skye was just singing a song about air travel. She didn't really have a dreadful flight. It was as good as can be expected from air travel. Last night we were on a plane all night, and we lost five hours, and I didn't sleep on the plane. I'm really tired. I only slept for about 10 min on the bus from the airport. Thoughts not very coherent on paper. Food on flight was GOOD!! Chicken Curry!! Lots of Peace Corps buddy fun stuff. Morocco is eeirly like So. California. Eucalyptus trees, cacti, green fields of stuff growing, geraniums, aloe plants, the weather feels like a chilly winter morning in Port Hueneme. It's bright and sunny, but you can see your breath against the blue sky. There are rows and rows of run-down apartments and every one has about fifty satellite dishes on the roof. And laundry hanging from the windows. It's great! I was just riding along and forgot for a while that I was in Morocco, it just looked like driving through the agricultural parts of Oxnard. Then, I saw a herd of cows and goats crossing above us on an overpass. MOROCCO!! It smells so different here. That is what first got me. It smells like food. A million spices mixed up, cooking fire, animals, with earthiness in the middle of it all. We're confined to the hotel all day, we won't be let out until we have a security lecture. That's fine with me. It's all pretty overwhelming. I now have not only a passport, but an actual STAMP in it from somewhere. And I'm making tons of new friends. It is still terrifying at times, but I just keep reminding myself that it's only one day at a time. The toilet is a western one in the hotel. Prayers are answered. Ok, that sounds a little sacrilegious. But, one of the things I was looking for in this experience was the chance to challenge myself spiritually. When you feel so alone in a part of yourself, its amazing how the spirit can be so welcome. The other volunteers are so great. A new friend of mine and I were talking on the plane and it was cool to find someone else who liked to just go help other people when he felt bad himself. It is a great distraction from your own thoughts, and it usually feels really good to be able to see other people feel so happy from something you like doing anyway. Perhaps that's part of the "lose yourself in service to find yourself" idea. When you are so distracted with figuring out how to comfort someone else, you forget to be nervous about the exact same thing. And then, everyone feels better. When your nerves come back, you've already talked someone else through it, and it's a little easier to deal with yourself. And usually the people you've reached out to will come back to help. It's amazing what a little good will can do in the world.

Fun With My Little Bro

Last night Dan came up from Baltimore to see me. It was great! We went out to this really cool restaurant called The White Dog. They serve only local seasonal produce and it was great. I tasted scallops for the first time. They are yummy! I meant to post a picture of my room, but it is turned upside down, and I don't really know how to fix it right now. Anyhow, this was a nice place. I know I ought to be getting excited for this bare-bones existence that could be my future, but I really like the luxuries of home. I am just practicing being thankful, yeah, that's it! I got a very good night's sleep last night, and I'm ready for the plane today.

The Night Before Christmas

3/5/06 Today was very long, and I guess the anxiety in me is beginning to show. I didn't sleep well last night, and I felt it today. At least I'll get some good sleep tonight. I must apologize to my Constitution Boot Camp mom, I haven't had time to go out and do any tourist things. I thought I would tomorrow, but the schedule is pretty tight. Most things aren't open even if I did wake up extra early. Someday I'll cram it in to my life. Today was more policy and PC procedures. It is very helpful with all the anxieties and questions that have been milling around in my head. This is great, but it seems to have opened up a can of worms in my mind. I have been compartmentalizing things so much about PC that each new step seems like it is far away, that I'll get to it at some point, so don't stress right now. Well, now is that "some point" for a lot of things. As we get to know each other and the Peace Corps, I realize its time to actually deal with those situations that were previously only a fascinating adventure somewhere in the future. When that adventure starts, it blows the mind a little. I will have little to no language skills. I will learn Arabic at first, and then mainly I'll focus on one of two Berber dialects. Which one I won't know until I get there. I don't know the customs, as much as I've studied them. I don't know if I am appearing as the "slobby American" or if I'll be a good example. I will, with regularity, get to squat over a pit in the floor, feet in the foot-places, and bid farewell to the snow peas I ate tonight at dinner. I will experience first hand the "left hand" phenomenon. What if I offend someone with my blog? What if I DO burn down the village? What if the world blows up? My mind is overwhelmed, and I am very tired. All that said, I am at the same time very excited. I wish I was there NOW. I want to meet my host family. I want to get off the plane and gaze in wonder at my new home. What is really great about all this is that there are fifty other people who are feeling the feelings I am. I am not alone. I CAN do this. I will do it one step at a time. Time to put all the worms back into the can now, because I won't get any sleep any other way. This is like the night before Christmas for grown-ups. Only, more terrifying.

Philly is Dilly

I'm not sure what that title means, either. But, I'm doing well. I made it, I found wireless internet access, and I have ordered room service! Actually, that was for breakfast. I made it in pretty late last night, and I was tired, but I was just too excited to sleep. And, perhaps jetlag was a factor. Anyhow, I fell asleep around 3am, and then woke up at 7am and had My Favorite Breakfast, french toast. It was alright. I like the french toast at Village Inn the best, I think. I also had a boyfriend who made it really well. Those are my two favorite kinds of french toast. After breakfast, I was a little sore and tired again, so I took a bath and went back to sleep for a couple of more hours. (sore from the carrying bags all through airports, not from eating the french toast) I know, I know, I am not taking advantage of Our Nation's History here in the City of Brotherly Love, but I was tired. Then, I went downstairs in my version of "business casual" attire (hiking boots and no belt on the slacks) to start the official Peace Corps Staging. It was a lot of talking to new people and listening to stuff about What We're All About. It is not country-specific, so there are a lot of words like "paradigm" and "stakeholders" and such. Lots of acronyms, too. I am a PCT- Peace Corps Trainee. I will become a PCV- PC Volunteer. I have a CD- country director. Something called VSSS, Volunteer Safety, Security, Blah blah blah. Rules so that we don't die or burn down any villages. I found out that even though I know how, I am officially NOT allowed to deliver babies. That makes sense to me. If I were to do nursing things, I would be practicing medicine without a license. I am no Dr. Nick! We got a nice amount of running about money. Some of the guys I went to dinner with suggested we get sweatpants on, drink some raw eggs, and go running up the steps of Independence Hall and pump our fists in the air. (I think it was Indepedence Hall-that building with the stairs in "Rocky".) This is going to be a fun time. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow, but it's just your basic hotel. I'm sitting in the lobby by the gas fireplace. They're just teasing us with all these comforts. A funny story: At the front desk, the guy said, "Miss Frome, there's a problem with your reservation, I'll be right back." Crud. Well, not so crud. I was actually booked by mistake in with a high school wrestling team, and had two wrestlers for roomies. They changed it and now I've got the only private room in our group! Yaaay!! Besides, I don't know how to wrestle. :-) Interesting Things I Learned Today: -there is another RN in the health group, she is newly retired and comes from Orem, UT! ha!! -we actually will use our bare left hands to wipe, then wash them well -I will be learning a bit of Arabic, but then most of my language training will be focused on one of two Berber dialects -I did not overpack, compared to some...