Bliss. I have arrived to my final site in Zaouiat Sidi Abdessalam. Excitement overcame me. Even my blind host father embraced me and expressed his excitement I was to stay there. One of my host sisters will also be staying in Zaouiat from now on. No longer will she travel to Meknes. I am glad; she keeps me company and helps me with the language.
Having arrived in October I was immediately introduced to the consequences of living at high altitudes and in cold weather. When it rains here the temperature drops drastically and the village streets turn into cascades, feeding into the river below. When I first arrived the weather was warming and the river nearly dried out. There have been fears in Morocco of desertification and lack of water but the past few weeks have been nothing but rain. The moisture is seen as a blessing to many farmers as it helps with their crops but in many parts of Morocco the rain is becoming a larger issue and vast parts of Rachidia, a nearby region have been witnessing severe flooding. Every night on the television there are new visions of the destruction the rain has caused.
The moisture is starting to drip from the ceiling leaving its imprint on the cold concrete walls; taking shapes like clouds do in the sky. If it were not for the wood stove I might freeze to death. I can see my breath as I sit in my room. I have been confined to the small wood stove in the communal living room where the family sleeps, eats and spends all their time. All of the walls have one long sofa against them. The father sleeps on a mattress on the floor and there is enough room for a small round table which we eat at and a TV that is on all day and receives three channels. The shows are all soap operas with a few dubbed French and Spanish ones. News plays on occasions in both Arabic and French. On Sunday mornings I was amused to see that the Bernstein Bears cartoon airs here. I grew up on the Bernstein Bears books.
It’s interesting how all the homes in Zaouiat have a television in them and it is the main source of entertainment. During dinner the television is also a guest at the table and like the family story teller it does most of the talking.
Having arrived in October I was immediately introduced to the consequences of living at high altitudes and in cold weather. When it rains here the temperature drops drastically and the village streets turn into cascades, feeding into the river below. When I first arrived the weather was warming and the river nearly dried out. There have been fears in Morocco of desertification and lack of water but the past few weeks have been nothing but rain. The moisture is seen as a blessing to many farmers as it helps with their crops but in many parts of Morocco the rain is becoming a larger issue and vast parts of Rachidia, a nearby region have been witnessing severe flooding. Every night on the television there are new visions of the destruction the rain has caused.
The moisture is starting to drip from the ceiling leaving its imprint on the cold concrete walls; taking shapes like clouds do in the sky. If it were not for the wood stove I might freeze to death. I can see my breath as I sit in my room. I have been confined to the small wood stove in the communal living room where the family sleeps, eats and spends all their time. All of the walls have one long sofa against them. The father sleeps on a mattress on the floor and there is enough room for a small round table which we eat at and a TV that is on all day and receives three channels. The shows are all soap operas with a few dubbed French and Spanish ones. News plays on occasions in both Arabic and French. On Sunday mornings I was amused to see that the Bernstein Bears cartoon airs here. I grew up on the Bernstein Bears books.
It’s interesting how all the homes in Zaouiat have a television in them and it is the main source of entertainment. During dinner the television is also a guest at the table and like the family story teller it does most of the talking.
I just found out that my brother here is attending school without any heat in the building. He is also without any boots and he was freezing when he came home from school for lunch today. He tried fitting into his mothers black boots with pompoms but they did not fit. It took me 15 minutes of insisting before he put on my boots that fit just right. I can see him there in my mind, sitting in a cold concrete classroom, trying to remain focused in the bitter cold with his arctic hands frozen to his pencil.
Here you heat the person and not the room. It is certainly more difficult to adjust to at first but it actually makes more economical and ecological sense. We have come to depend on the wood stove. Cooking our dinner on the flames of the fire. There is constantly a tea pot on top with water which is used to wash your face and we use the flames to toast our bread in the morning.
Here you heat the person and not the room. It is certainly more difficult to adjust to at first but it actually makes more economical and ecological sense. We have come to depend on the wood stove. Cooking our dinner on the flames of the fire. There is constantly a tea pot on top with water which is used to wash your face and we use the flames to toast our bread in the morning.
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