1st CBT post

            I am struggling with how to begin this post.  “I moved in with my host family.”  “I am finally at my CBT site.”  “I have started language classes.”  All of these statements are true, but I don’t feel as if they very accurate describe what I have experienced in the past 3 days with my host family and at our CBT site.

             I suppose that I can begin with a description of my family (and yes, this did take me the full three days to fully figure out).  I have a host mom and dad and they have 5 children, one of whom lives with them (youngest son Jamal) and one of whom lives really close and is actually the host dad of another volunteer.  There is Jamal’s wife Mireem.  There are also two boys Mohammed (age 12) and Zacharia (age 5-7, not sure at this point)-these boys are the grandchildren of my host parents and my understanding is that their parents died and that’s why they live there.  Often another grandchild or two will come and stay for dinner and then sleep over.  As far as I know, my host dad (Brahim) is a potter (but I haven’t really been able to ask him much about this).  My host mom (Fatima) is a housewife, though Mireem seems to do a lot of work around the house (and most of the cooking as far as I can tell).   Mireem is 21 and I think she and Jamal just recently got married.  She is from Casablanca originally, though her mom and brother come over a lot so they may live close now.  Jamal has some sort of job that he leaves to on his motorbike but I’m not sure what it is. 

            Mireem is very nice to me and lets me help in the kitchen (but I’m pretty sure she thinks I am very silly…it takes me as long to peel one potato as it does for her to peel four or five).  I think she really wants a friend and someone to talk to so I have a lot of hope that we will be able to develop a close relationship.  She even did henna on my hands the other night (I think she sometimes does this for money in the bigger town nearby, she is very talented).  The older boy, Mohammed, helps me the most with language.  He is very patient and lets me write things down.  The rest of the family has caught on though and they are getting really good about pointing things out and testing me on different words.  The language is still very difficult but it is amazing how much we have learned in only 2 days of school.  I can now greet people correctly, say what I am doing in Morocco and have learned lot of food and other household words from my family.  I am also helping Mireem, Jamal and Mohammed with their English.

            The adjustment to the Moroccan way of life has gone well for me so far.  I think I have the hang of the Turkish toilet (or so I hope), haven’t stepped on any carpets (zerbia) with my shoes on, haven’t spilled the tea yet and have so far committed only a few faux-pas, though I’m sure I will commit many more.  School is going really well.  We have a wonderful language teacher and I think that our group has a great dynamic.  I am hoping we are able to go out in the community a little more this next week, meet more people and see some more things.  I also hope that I am able to have more meaningful conversations with my host family.  My language will improve I know, shwiya b shwiya (little by little, as we say in Darija).  I have taken some pictures of my host family and community but the internet may be too slow to load them today.  Check back in ten days and hopefully I will be able to get them up (Inshallah)!