As November comes to an end I realize just how bad I am at keeping a blog. A lot has happened in the past month and I haven't kept very good record of most of it, either in this blog or on my own. I sit here trying to recall all the noteworthy moments since my last post. To start where I left off the holiday I spent with my family was one of my favorite times here in Morocco. I got there a little after 9:30 and by some miracle missed the slaughtering of the sheep. They were cleaning each part when I arrived and I spent most of the time watching in awe and trying to help. Usually I just goof around with my two host sisters until they get in trouble for not working. As the day progressed I was slowly stuffed with more and more food, including liver kabobs wrapped in fat from the heart of the sheep, then a tagine with things like intestine, stomach, and heart. It was quite the experience and was for the first time in country grateful for the amount of bread served with meals as I wrapped each thing in bread then washed it down with some more. The next day I went over and had couscous prepared with the head of the sheep, though I'm not sure what I ate I know I ate the face of the sheep. Mostly though it was amazing to be with my host family during their holiday. They always treat me like part of the family and this was no different. They are so warm and welcoming I am truly blessed they allowed me to become part of their family.
That catches us up to the beginning of November when I got to take a trip with the association I work with to a VERY small town about and hour and half from Tafraout. The association had been collecting used clothes and shoes from people in town, and brought pens, paper, and colored pencils, to hand out to this town. It was quite the trip with a bus ride then a small mountain dirt road in someones car down to what I can only describe as a forest of cacti. We handed out clothes to the families there and schools supplies to the kids. Then we had a small fire and they played drums and we danced around with the women. That was one of the longest days I've had in country besides the wedding. We left Tafraout at 8 and we didn't get back until after 9. After handing out clothes we went to another small town to someones friends house and they fed us snack consisting of cookies, pastries, nuts, and dates, and then not 10 minutes later we had a 3 course meal. I was beyond full and ready to crawl into bed and we still had an hour drive ahead of us.
Since then I've been staying in Tafraout for the most part just trying to get some classes started for real and get some projects rolling. Lately I've been pretty busy and it's been very nice. I have been teaching in a neighboring town at the women's center there. Once a week Sarah and I teach a 2 hour english class. These women are so amazing. Most of them have never been to school so not only do they not have any idea about english but they have no idea how to learn. That doesn't stop them though, and after 3 classes we are finally moving on from Hello, How are you? What is your name? the ABC's and 1-10 are still a work in progress. I've also started coaching the girls soccer team. They are a very spirited group, my nice way of saying teenage girls are HARD. They don't really do what I say, though I'm never sure if they just don't understand my broken arabic or they just don't want to do it. They mostly want to scrimmage and when I try to run drills and they get bored they just go sit until I tell them it's 'match' time. I'm working on some ways to entice them to learn the skills I'm teaching and come on time, and behave. It's slow going but it's really fun and the challenge is pretty rewarding. Hopefully since the youth center is closed when it reopens I will have more english classes there with more kids and then from there I can start some clubs for the kids. Sarah and I are still trying to make our health day and 5k run happen in town. It's slow going, as are most things, but we are very excited about it and trying our hardest to find donations, talk to the people in town, and will soon start working on the grant.
I held my very own Thanksgiving in Tafraout. Some friends came up from around my region and we cooked a turkey and all the Thanksgiving staples and had a feast. Though I'm sure we all missed home it was pretty delicious and we had a great time. Starting with us having to get the turkey slaughtered in town to the 11 pm decision to devour all the leftovers as we laid around watching Bridesmaids.
That's all I have for now. As I continue all my hard work... today I taught my girls in english class "close your mouth" and "he is good looking" haha, I will try to keep a better update,
