When I applied for PC in 2007, I expected two years of living in a small, isolated village: immersing myself in local culture, understanding myself better, and forsaking electronics and booze. PCVs now live much more comfortably compared to the pioneers in the 60s, and rightly so, as the developing world's standard of living has increased. Today, PC celebrates its 50th birthday: does this mean our work is less challenging?
Leaving my house this morning, one of my stalkers bumped into me. She's a sweet, clever high school student who loves practicing her English and is already engaged to an American Muslim. After we parted, she called my cell from her house phone to remind me that she already misses me.
I headed over to Mediha's house to drop off a photo of a beautiful crochet bracelet that she wants to copy and sell at a national, PC-planned craft fair next month. Yesterday, one of the local photo studios printed out that photo from my USB stick in less than 20 minutes. Mediha also sign-languaged to me that someone in her family passed away last week (while I was in Rabat) from drinking too much paint thinner. He was mourning a fight with his wife and overdid it. We agreed that too much drinking is terrible.
My next stop was Omar the metalworker's shop. Last summer, I loaned him one of the PC library's jewelry books, and--after photocopying all the pages--he wanted to return it to me. The month before, the Tatoua girls and I discussed how we could incorporate Omar's jewelry into their bag creations. I picked up some silver khamisas (Moroccan symbols of protection) that they ordered a couple weeks ago. After analyzing the facebook feedback about their product ideas, the girls are busy completing their handicrafts for the aforementioned craft fair.
My supervisor, the chief of the Artisanat Center, recently received a new fax and printer from the Ministry of Artisanat. Perhaps the one thing he knows I'm absolutely perfect at is English, and he gave me the installation booklets (written in English) a couple weeks ago. We already went over "what is a fax machine?" which I installed--inshallah--correctly.
We spent a couple hours figuring out how to remotely install the new printer to another office's computer. I already looked up French guidelines online for how to do this, but unfortunately, they didn't help. Thankfully, my supervisor was understanding. He'd rather save face and wait for me to figure the connections out, rather than ask for help from a local computer assistance business or from his boss. I hope another techy PCV comes to visit soon. Since he already has two printers in his office, this task isn't so pressing.
Instead of eating lunch at a hanai family's house, as I usually do, I headed home. Even though the sun shone brightly in the blue sky, I felt chilled. Craving curry, I also wanted to finish reading the last couple of chapters in my latest book. After a ...months-long reading hiatus, I'm getting back into books. Isn't that how PCVs are supposed to pass their time? Another PCV shared news that Shakira is coming to Maroc, so us PCVs also pass our time going to free concerts.
In the afternoon, I headed to the post office to pay my rent electronically to my landlord living in Casablanca. I was mildly surprised to see that I received no mail since my last visit. My house is pretty cluttered now with letters/drawings/gifts from the past 3 years...perhaps it's a good thing my mail is slowing down. Besides, unlike in RIM, I get to chat online with my friends and family every night. For some reason, Maroc Telecom allowed me two extra hours of international phone calling this Sunday. Talking so long to two of my fave people was a weekend highlight.
I can't imagine business development work in Maroc without access to technology (and booze). Even for today, a relatively slow day for me. Compared to RIM, ROC provides PCVs with an environment more conducive to development work. It's up to each PCV to take advantage of it. One thing I won't miss from either PC experience is having to hand wash my clothes. Some PCVs and most of my local friends have washing machines, and in the winter time (aka tonight), I'm very jealous of them.
If you readers (aka my mom) haven't noticed, my latest entries were a bit on the down side. I haven't been feeling as energetic as usual, and along with intermittent stabbing chest pain, I gave into the doctor's orders to come to Rabat for an xray and exam. So glad I did: I feel much better now, and I scored new jeans, new books, new fbook friends, and supplies/feedback for my Tatoua girls. BTW, they just finished constructing this bag.
What do you think of the traditional, handmade beads for accent? We need to add value and "something Moroccan" to the simple bag. Do you have any color suggestions or designs? (More photos on facebook). Thanks!
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