If Adventure Doesx Not Befall a Young Lady in Her Own Village, She Must Go Out and Find It Herself

Thank you Jane Austin.
Good heavens timing is passing at an alarming rate! First in that it’s been two months since my last update- oops, sorry- and second in that I have been in that fabulously interesting country for a whole year now... jeezy creezy! I’m just going to apologize now for what I know will be a very long entry.
Starting at the beginning since my last update would be late Jan early Feb. This was a pretty boring time for me because it was still too cold to even think properly, let alone actually do stuff. This entire time period would be utterly unworthy of mention were it not for all the political hubbub here in the Arab world: first in Tunisia, then Egypt, now Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, and (sort of) Morocco. I have to say this is a really, really exciting time to be living in this part of the world. History is totally changing, never before in all history have Arabs risen up against their leaders. If you guys haven’t been following the stuff in this part of the world I suggest you look into it, Tunisia and Egypt are the coolest, Libya is the saddest.
In the spirit of not posting a novel of an update I’m only going to talk about Morocco’s reaction to the political upheaval. This is b/c it’s not really in the news that much and b/c it’s the topic that applies to me and tells you if you should be worried about me. In brief, don’t worry. ;P
There’s a bit of background about Morocco I want you all to know before I describe the people’s actions. Moroccans are not Arabs, even those that call themselves “Arabs” only use this moniker in comparison to the native Amazir ppl. If you ask them if they’re Arab like Egypt they will say, no we’re Moroccan; I love taxi drivers b/c they love to talk so I learn a lot about the country this way. In Rabat, Casablanca, and Midelt three different shifurs (taxi drivers) said the same thing, “Politics are stupid, Morocco is Muslim not Arab.” When I asked if they were going to have demonstrations like Egypt or Algeria I got a, you-done-bummpt-yo-head look and they all said, “We will never do what Algeria does” Hee, I really do love these ppl, they are so predictably stubborn. In case I’m not making sense in this, let me shorten it to this, Morocco is an island in the Arab world
This unique identity means that they don’t feel like they have to unify with other Islamic countries. There have been a handful of riots in big cities, rumor has it a few buildings have been burned out (everything’s made of cement so they burn out rather than down) because they do want change within the government but it’s nothing like what the rest of North Africa is going through. There are a lot of demonstrations all over but these are really chill. For example, in my souk town they have a demonstration every Sunday at 4:30 but they walk through the streets holding Moroccan flags, and one Che Guevara flag, it’s more like a parade than a rebellion, though. I asked a girls standing next to me what they wanted to change and she said that they like the government and the king they just want different ppl in the political positions. 75- 80% of the population is under 35 years old but the whole government (except the King) are over 60 years old. The ppl what to be represented in their own government. The lady (about my age) asked me if I thought what the group was doing was bad. I told her I’m an American, we believe everyone should be able to speak and be heard, in the streets and in the government. She got this huge smile and said, “This is why Morocco and America are friends, we agree. America is very, very good.”
Hells to the yeah, my friend, hells to the yeah.
One actual riot against the man did happen in the village I do most of my work in; it was done by my students. I wasn’t there to see it b/c one of my students called me the night before and said, “Don’t come to school tomorrow, we are going to demonstrate against the school so no one will come to class. Can you come the day after to teach class?” Oh you wild and crazy high schoolers, in the end they did get a bit roucus, they broke a window in the school. Want to know what their demands from the school were? A changing room to have some where to change in their PE clothes, doors on the bathroom stalls, and getting rid of a teacher thet don’t like- all reasonable except the teacher, she’s just doing her job.
In other news, i've now had my 2nd of 3 birthdays in Morocco, one more and I'm Hooomewaard bound! Que music. ;P That, coupled with my one year in country anniversary seemed to be everyone's signal to give me work- i am not complaining! In Jan I was doing bupkiss, now I am teaching a health club in one of the cities near me, working with a drama club to teach other people health lessons in another, Teaching a weekly women's health class in that village, organizing a 5km AIDs Awareeness run at the end of April, and talking with some town's men about setting up a landfill and trash pick up system... But that's just the immediate future, I have a few other projects coming up in the Fall but I'll think about those later. :) Can I get Lahumdullah? Lahumdullah!
Phew! This is long!
Next, HA do you guys remember my finding people's need, and woeful inability, to identify my national hertiage? I can not tell you how many times ppl in America would assume me to be Native American, Latina, Jewish, or just generally Mediterranean? Well the tradition coninues here and it seems to be getting harder and harder for ppl to catch my roots. when I forst arrived in country Moroccans would ask if I was French or Spanish. Now They ask me if I'm Moroccan or Spanish. But the cake takers, I think, were two guys in two cities with in the same week who asked me if I am Japanese... Side note, these ppl know what the Japanese look like, Japan has a Peace Corps here in Morocco and both cities where i was have JIKA volunteers in them... I guess my features are really, really enigmatic. lol, This just goes to show that racism is stupid and pointless.
OK I think I've gone on enough for now
Peace, love, and rainbows for you all!