Songs with heavy rotation on my iPod and the best songs I saw performed live this year
And the next are songs that I performed on stage (and in front of friends in their rooms or balconies)
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
The Moroccan way of making it official
First print your name.
Then the red stamp.
Then the signature on top of the stamp.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Poem for Nkob
''Limitless Wealth''// 2 years is nothing; a student says to me.
How wholeheartedly I agree!
Apparently the spirits are conspiring to make me smile,
the moment i most earnestly start to crumble
::::
Crepuscular rays paint the far end of the sky,
competing for splendor and glory with
their children in the East, (the mountains I've tried to climb)
large golden clouds bursting with long-withheld rain.
Barakalah!
Slowly they wink out and so the ebullient clouds conquer the sky,
continuing to loom, evermore daunting,
filled now with the blood of a consumptive night.
If you never swim the same river,
we're doomed to never return here
no matter the many times you might come back.
The less the rain, the harder the earth,
the faster the flood carries us away.
That's alright;I'm ready to go.
Barakalah!
The gendarmes take caskrout,
Crepuscular rays paint the far end of the sky,
competing for splendor and glory with
their children in the East, (the mountains I've tried to climb)
large golden clouds bursting with long-withheld rain.
Barakalah!
Slowly they wink out and so the ebullient clouds conquer the sky,
continuing to loom, evermore daunting,
filled now with the blood of a consumptive night.
If you never swim the same river,
we're doomed to never return here
no matter the many times you might come back.
The less the rain, the harder the earth,
the faster the flood carries us away.
That's alright;I'm ready to go.
Barakalah!
The gendarmes take caskrout,
the usual tea and the usual smoke.
They make such a handsome picture!
No photography's allowed - but I am given a peek.
Transfigured and dying (for such is what travel most truly means
They make such a handsome picture!
No photography's allowed - but I am given a peek.
Transfigured and dying (for such is what travel most truly means
'to have the heroism to choose one of the many paths',
ignorant but invigorated as to what´s ahead)
Im a magnet that pulls all the haggard, shining spirits
out to the streets for one last--no, one more --
verbal fête, one final Moroccan tête-a-tête//
Im a magnet that pulls all the haggard, shining spirits
out to the streets for one last--no, one more --
verbal fête, one final Moroccan tête-a-tête//
Saturday, September 24, 2011
This was a nice 'advice' post on a PC Mali blog
http://wakingupinmali.blogspot.com/2011/01/best-advice-ive-ever-received-my-advice.html
My Mudir for the SOS village told me a joke that I wanted to share.
One difference between Arabic/Tashleheet and English is that in English our salutations are questions :
For them, its more like declarative with no really questions or answers.
Therefore you can pick and choose and just shout out the ones you feel like saying at that moment, and noone waiting to hear a certain response. That's fun because it means you dont have to pause, but just say 8 or 9 of them and they're talking simultaneously with you, saying their eight or nine, and its only awkward if you look at them and listen like you're expecting some kind of response. So ideally, you get two people doing this at the same time, full force, not listening to each other because listening is not the point!
But the joke comes in when a person learns English the dialogue method, without anyone explaining what the words literally mean. So, two kids talking, one says : 'how are you' is like 'bixihir', kif kif. 'Mitanit' is like 'ca va?'
So the joke is, a Moroccan student is trying to speak English, and it's something like this:
: p
One difference between Arabic/Tashleheet and English is that in English our salutations are questions :
how are you? how's your family? are you alright?
For them, its more like declarative with no really questions or answers.
Eh! Addi! Tarsa! La bas! Bixihir! Kif dayr! thenna! mitanit! hamdullah! hamdullah laybarfik!
Therefore you can pick and choose and just shout out the ones you feel like saying at that moment, and noone waiting to hear a certain response. That's fun because it means you dont have to pause, but just say 8 or 9 of them and they're talking simultaneously with you, saying their eight or nine, and its only awkward if you look at them and listen like you're expecting some kind of response. So ideally, you get two people doing this at the same time, full force, not listening to each other because listening is not the point!
Simultaneously.
Person one: Eh! Addi! Tarsa! La bas! Bixihir! Kif Tarsa! La bas! Bixihir!dayr! thenna! mitanit! hamdullah! hamdullah laybarfik!
Person two: Eh! Said! Tarsa! thenna! mitanit! hamdullah! hamdullah laybarfik! La bas! Bixihir! Kif dayr! thenna! mitanit! hamdullah! hamdullah laybarfik!
But the joke comes in when a person learns English the dialogue method, without anyone explaining what the words literally mean. So, two kids talking, one says : 'how are you' is like 'bixihir', kif kif. 'Mitanit' is like 'ca va?'
So the joke is, a Moroccan student is trying to speak English, and it's something like this:
A: Hello?
M: Hello how are you
A: Im fine. And you?
M: Im fine. And you!
A: Im fine.
M: And you!
: p
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
This came from Time's site : its a person that live-blogged 3 different events at the same time, and the result reads like a strange postmodern novel about ADD, national values and ennui- possibly by David Foster Wallace?-- sadly, not to be.
In my mind, I can imagine CNN having put the 3 live feeds side by side on a tv screen. Maybe its a taste of things to come?
75 minutes. Now it is time to rehash the old debates about Mitt Romney’s efforts to reform health care in Massachusetts. Nothing new is said. But as Romney defends himself, the Miss Universe pageant really kicks into high gear. Miss France, Miss Kosovo, Miss Columbia and Miss China all move on to the next round. And to add insult to injury, the Patriots score another touchdown. It’s now 21 to 14. Good game.
76 minutes. Perry, once again, attacks Romney’s health care efforts. Miss Angola and Miss Australia move on to the next round.
77 minutes. Perry again defends himself. Miss Netherlands is moving on.
78 minutes. Blitzer asks Paul who should pay to take care of a 30-year-old man who goes into a coma without health insurance. “What he should do is whatever he wants to do, and assume responsibility for himself,” Paul says. That would be tough to do in a coma. Miss Ukraine. Miss Panama. Miss Costa Rica. Miss Philippines — they are moving on.
80 minutes. Bachmann really wants in on this conversation. She pulls a Huntsman and tries a dual attack on Romney and Perry for being wishy-washy on repealing ObamaCare. “If you believe that states can have it and that it’s constitutional, you’re not committed,” she says. “If you’ve implemented this in your state, you’re not committed. I’m committed.”
82 minutes. Cut to commercial. Miss Universe has a montage of all the ladies shopping and dancing in various locals around Brazil. The Dolphins just kicked a field goal, making it 21 to 17. 3:36 left in the third quarter. Really good game.
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2011/09/13/what-you-missed-while-not-watching-last-nights-tea-party-debate/#ixzz1ATocoIlb
ANYWAY, congratulations (apparently) go to : Mitt Romney, the Patriots and ANGOLA and Senhorinha Lopes
Favorite moments from the past week
--dance party on our last night together as a staj, the 44 of us left from the original 66, and the best moment of that was dancing the twist to Little Richard
--afterwards, Eric H appeared and thanked me several times for having recommended INFINITE JEST to him - he appeared as if he hadn't slept since he'd finished reading it, and talked about his newfound need to 'read it 8 times' so its lessons soak in ever deeper. Especially for a book that can be so NOT wonderful to some people, to share it with someone that likes it as much as me is GREAT ;)
--the man at the Velada on his day off recognized me in the Dar B3ida (Arabic for Casablanca) area at a bus stop in L'Oasis. Good eyes, especially since I was in my jilaba and turban! About that, Sam said: You look like the real thing, a convert.
--Similarly, it was nice to sit during my physical with Dr Taofik and feel powerful, accomplished, that of a person who has lived in a part of Morocco that many urban Moroccans would be unable to handle. Cara's Casa friends likewise said: Ya'll are crazy to do that! And you don't get a car? How do you get around?? Isn't it hot? There's no (X), there's no (Y). :§ And to now be among those that have 'done it', and so be able to intimidate the softies in the cities without even needing to say words feels good.
--having the thought: never again, except for rare exceptions* will I ever allow myself to work for a place that requires 'samples'of all my bodily fluids before I am allowed to enter it and again before I leave it. It felt good to take my last one to the laboratoire d'analyses and now I'll likely not have to go back (except in the instance that I'm diagnosed with schistosomiasis, which has a strong likelihood of happening).
--Reunited with my guitar Betsy, and came up with a great new chord full of raw energy and an ambiguous mood : C/F#.
--watching tears come to Adriana's eyes after our goodbye and our many promises ''I'd rather meet you in Colombia than in South Carolina, I think!'' with Peggy C saying ''Heck, I wanna come!'' In my book, tears of sadness can mean that you either did something really wrong or that you did something right.
--Books: Getting sucked into Isabel Allende's ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA, especially sinc it is a reminder of the primary influences on my life, the primacy of Latin America in my heart and that, as good as North Africa is, it's a poingant and important, but ultimately a passing stage in my life. The same goes during other moments of the week -- Ali Records giving me a copy of FREEDOM, the new Franzen marvel (30 pages in and Im in love with the book already)
--Going to the beach with Jeff and Will, qnd two Moroccan lifeguards maybe saved my life when I got pulled past a long row of 6 foot waves by a ripcurl. I wish I could have taken them out for tea!
We followed that up with a jam session on the bus, sharing Will's yukele, writing a song in Darija on the spot, and entertaining Moroccan people all at the same time.
--Fast Pizza four times, once alone, once time each with Sarah, Caytlin, alone and with Catherine B.
--Goodbye hour with Amina -- each person was told to give her one of the roses from the table and tell a story of why Amina made such a valuable impact on our service. On my turn, I reached to give her the whole pile, since I wish I could. But I sat them down, picked a nice one and then whispered my tribute into her ear rather than sharing it out loud.
--Going to the Chinese embassy with Sam and Pete. Id not even thought of getting a visa for there, so I was glad to have run into them and to have similar plans as they.
--This photo:
--Adding old country-director David L into our final group photo, then having four others come up to me saying they'd missed the photo shoot and needed me to photoshop them into it, too.
If you need a little more DL in your life, here's the green-screen version
Good looking man! Use with caution and respect, or we'll come beat you up, wherever you is.
--At the Last Supper, I was voted: ''Most likely to end up serving jail time after stalking Shakira and/or Sade.'' Fair enough, then on the one where we all voted, me and Ewald got voted most likely to end up homeless. ''That's OK, if that happens we'll come back to L-Mgrib and Islam will take care of us!'' For my acceptance speech, I remarked : If this is the future awaiting me back there, jail time then homelessness, I think I'd rather just stay put here!'' If I could do it again, I wouldn't have said anything but would have started singing : ''there's a fi-iy-re burnin deep in my soul''. That'd have been classy.
--buying a ticket to Mali, then ordering a bird guide, ''Birds of West Africa'' -- hope it gets to N'Kob by then. It's not a ticket home, but... I figure Ive earned it, a chance to regroup and go to the Other Africa that's on the side of my backyard. I might even get to Timbuktu.... :) though I heard it's heyday was 150 years ago.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 Royal Air Maroc 523 Economy | Boeing 737-700 Passenger (73G) | 3hr 35min | 1434 miles
Depart: 9:25pm Casablanca, Morocco Casablanca Mohamed V (CMN)
Arrive: 1:00am Bamako, Mali Bamako (BKO)
--waking up naturally everyday for the last month at 7. Its been a very good positive difference in my life!
*NASA, is the only one I can think of, and only if I get a COOL name for my position, like ''Galaxy Defender Superior Maximus'' or somesuch.
'Til next time! Keep it classy, Dallas.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Voyage to home.... suggestions welcome. Its going to be something like this-- and magically, its the same money as it'd be flying from Casa to Memphis direct... so, explain that to me!
Sep 10
2 year anniversary in Morocco--- party!
Oct 10 - le debut du fin
'' 11- Going towards Lausanne, maybe see some PCVs along the way
'' 21-Go to Paris, Sara and Beth will come in the morning!
22,23,24 morning in Paris.
'' 24- Go to Lausanne again for the night
'' 25- 5 Terre for two nights
27- Rome
28, 29 - full days in Rome
Oct 30 - Fly to Morocco
'' 30, 31- Marrakesh and Ourzazate
Nov 1,2 - Nkob with the family
'' 3,4 - Desert and then back to Kesh
'' 5- B&S fly home
Nov 6- Layoune, Dhakla and the Sahara
Nov 14- Meet Dad in Marrakesh
Nov 20 - Dad leaves for home
Nov 21- Go with Sam to Portugal and Spain for one week
Nov 28- Fly to Shanghai from Paris, visit my teacher in Wuhan
10 (?)- Korea, visit KUECA volunteer Joo-hee in Seoul
15 (?)- Japan, visit my old friend Mai in Nagoya
19th (?)- California, SF and LA
Jackson!
http://www.tennesseetreasures.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204
OCt 28 - Murakami epic new book comes out, I've pre-ordered it just five minutes ago so it'll be waiting for me when I get back home. The money is on him winning the Nobel this year, easy--you heard it here first!
Sep 10
2 year anniversary in Morocco--- party!
Oct 10 - le debut du fin
'' 11- Going towards Lausanne, maybe see some PCVs along the way
'' 21-Go to Paris, Sara and Beth will come in the morning!
22,23,24 morning in Paris.
'' 24- Go to Lausanne again for the night
'' 25- 5 Terre for two nights
27- Rome
28, 29 - full days in Rome
Oct 30 - Fly to Morocco
'' 30, 31- Marrakesh and Ourzazate
Nov 1,2 - Nkob with the family
'' 3,4 - Desert and then back to Kesh
'' 5- B&S fly home
Nov 6- Layoune, Dhakla and the Sahara
Nov 14- Meet Dad in Marrakesh
Nov 20 - Dad leaves for home
Nov 21- Go with Sam to Portugal and Spain for one week
Nov 28- Fly to Shanghai from Paris, visit my teacher in Wuhan
10 (?)- Korea, visit KUECA volunteer Joo-hee in Seoul
15 (?)- Japan, visit my old friend Mai in Nagoya
19th (?)- California, SF and LA
Jackson!
http://www.tennesseetreasures.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204
OCt 28 - Murakami epic new book comes out, I've pre-ordered it just five minutes ago so it'll be waiting for me when I get back home. The money is on him winning the Nobel this year, easy--you heard it here first!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Makes my heart all aflutter --I was there. The same square This is actually a pretty good capsule summary of all the things I've done in Morocco in my time here : tea, dates, schbekiya, watching a Barça match, hanging out and talking to the retailers, endless exuberance and reptitions of Waka Waka, seemingly never getting tired of it, both me and them. But I don't see any henna-action** !
It's really cool to see the name Yanet -- the Caribbean way in Spanish to write 'Janet', just like I saw a woman earlier who spelled her name Jhoana, the way in Bolivia that they do to write Joanna, since otherwise it'd be Hoana if you pronounce the word as we write it normally.
**I like the Spanish version better, but asi es.**
And the big Moroccan pop act :
But the act most dear to their hearts was Cat Stevens -- and in that jilaba, he knows how to score brownie points from his audience.
''This is maybe one you learned in school''. Yep, they teach it and everyone gets a dose of it here.
**In the first ten seconds of the clip, you can see the remains of the Argana cafe, where it exploded earlier this year (now its behind a big construction sheet, but I saw it before they hid it away). Two weeks after the explosion, I was staying at a hotel on the same block! My thought was, it's the safest place in Morocco right now is right here.
Two Italian tourists were here, seated next to me as I ate, and they asked ''non c'e polizia?'' ''Non, c'e! Ma non hanno i vestiti usuali''. There's no police? No, there is, but they're not wearing the usual uniforms. You don't see them until something happens and then you realize how many there are, all over the plaza at all times.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Favorite moments at camp so far
--painting the Indian flag's wheel on Mari's nose
--LOTS OF MUSIC: singing Unchained Melody and my best songs at the Advanced 2 class, before practicing Lean on Me together with them all. And working up a version of NO ONE by Alicia Keys with a 13-year-old that's got a 35-year old voice, and enough sass to share, expecting good things from this so long as I'm able to get her to stop rushing the lines.
--Sang an original song to Sara's and Katey's Beginner's 1 class... ''the months of the year''
: )
--able to show my impressed state at the fashion show's girls' clothes by the Moroccan hand gesture, flicking all your fingers out at them.
--Ilhem, Ilhem: her birthday here, on the first full day and going with her to the beach for the first time in her life to swim. Happy to see her willing to wear just a tshirt in the water, and so be able to enjoy the experience a lot more.
--Reading JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH during my down time.
--Watching the singer-girl discover a baby's shoe in the pile of trash during our found art activity for Environment club... pouring a pile of trash on each student's desk and giving them glue and paper. Then the baby girl's shoe turned up in the pile and the biggest, most natural laugh I've seen in a long time, the laugh of a 13-year old that's not yet turned self-conscious or guardedly inward.
--Sitting next to Jack while he played the Ahedous in the Celtic style, backing up a record by the Chieftans, Live at Mag Molly's... '''fulfilled whatever need THAT was, alright!'' he says going out the door, sitting the drum down.
--Discovering the White chocolate MAGNUM bar.
--Sharing summer camp with the Zagora camp
--Few counselors wanted to go on the Azzemour field trip, but it turned out to be one of the great highlights so far, with the great art murals scattered across the ancient medina, the Portuguese stronghold followed by a few minutes overlooking the river (next to a synagogue, first one I've seen here) and finally an hour of Moroccan call-and-response chanting on the bus ride back, everyone including me at full FULL volume the whole way, something that made me so pumped up that I had trouble sleeping the rest of the night. Yes, it's true, as another PCV said, these songs kick our Americans' kids' songs' asses. Twinkle twinkle is nothing compared to ''Atoura... something-something ATOURA.... ATOURA... ATOURA.....''
--Also on that trip, Christine let me wear her blue-turquoise scarf, just bought, and I got people stunned at how perfectly it resembled the color of my eyes. ''Ok, this is going to be the dust cover for your first album'' Doug said, snapping photos.
--it's COLD at night here
--feels good to be waking up early, 730, reading some and then a full day, going nonstop until 11 pm or later.
--
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
''Bienvenue dans un noveau monde'' When Nkob no longer is Nkob
Today, I left my house, went to the cyber and discovered that the electricity had gone out. News to me! If you don't have electronic things, and you don't use the light because the window is open and you're in bed reading a book, you might go until the nighttime before you realize something's not normal.
Well, can't get online like I planned, so I try to find something else to do instead. Ten minutes later, I'm seated with the baker, he's having caskrut, the afternoon snack, so instead of being a customer, I'm an invited guest, manuevering into the oven room to sit, share tea and shoot the shit with this other Addi, a man with a generous smile, big dark mustache and leathery black skin. Besides us are the giant pile of wood that he needs to make his bread, several empty cigarette wrappers and large bottles of oil. In his dish is a mixture of olive oil and strawberry confiture, ''toot'' in shulhah. ''Toot yatfuut' I say, strawberry is yummy. Yatfuut bzzzaaf, he replies, very tasty!
Two others join us, one of the European Moroccans, a ten year old boy in beach shorts named Mustafa, and an older man that seems mostly blind, potentially senile. They likewise are invited to imbibe and we spend 35 minutes. Halfway through this time, I notice the light has come on again and I can hear once again the refrigerator humming in the corner. I wait some time because I know it'll take that long for the cyber owner to get back and charge everything up again.
In these moments, I brought up how, in summertime, everything's different. The town becomes two or three times larger, with all the families coming back loaded with money from Europe. They arrive in their cars, they fill the cybers and you hear them talking to each other in French. It's Nkob, but it's no longer my Nkob. And I'm no longer a native, they expect me to be a tourist, when really they are the tourists, the interlopers.
You walk outside, and don't recognize a face. But it's not the only change. Even before they came, Nkob stopped being the Nkob that I fell in love with. This makes it easier as I prepare to leave, since in a certain sense, Nkob's already left me. The old lovely things I can't find so readily anymore. Now, it'll take a new person to come and discover its new charms.
Walking back to the cyber, I notice a sign that I'd never seen before, there on main street: ''Bienvenue dans un noveau monde.'' Yes, thank you. Where do I go to find the old one?
Some changes:
--my beloved running trail is gone. It's been the home of construction,( a lengthening of the aqueduct), and now you just see piles of concrete. The path still exists, but is now located higher on the hill and is too steep for my enjoyment. Before, it was the one place that I'd retreat to, a dirt path through the palm trees before exiting onto the major road. When I was marathon-ready, running 30km several times a month, this was the one that saw me on the way out and welcomed me back on the way in.
--the Kasbah isn't the same. The owner (not my dad, he doesn't own the place), said: no more tourists here. Before, I used to go home and be happily surprised to see a Dutch family of 4, or a lone Spanish man, a group of Pollacks or else a German college student. Some of the best times has been with these people, and it helped keep things from getting stale. Now that's no longer the case, and so that's another important aspect, a definitive one of my experience here, that won't be regained before I return home.
--The Gendarmes have nearly all been replaced. I was lucky and got along very well with the old ones and these new ones don't seem as readily given to playfullness as before. My favorite remains in place, though, which I'm glad for.
--Peace Corps itself is radically different // I'm glad to be going home now. The end of an era, when PC did more work in the bled (countryside) and without such a concerted focus on the numbers of people reached.
--Good friends are no longer located in Nkob. Lahcen, the cafe mainstay, a worker at different times in three different cafes while I was here, who I spent several months teaching Spanish to, has now left for a job at a cafe in Ourzazate.
--Other students have graduated the past month and will not be in Nkob when I get back after Ramadan.
--and smaller things, like the fact that I'm now on a tourist visa now and not my official work permit. There's such little time left, there was no need to refill it; how there's no dates this year, since the weather wasn't right for good date-growing conditions in the same way it was last year; how I'll soon turn my bike in to PC, doing it on the way to camp in order to not worry about it later; how I've thrown away all the excess and find all the stuff I want to take home will fit in two boxes, instead of the two suitcases and one carry-on that I brought here with me.
Likewise, there are big changes that haven't necessarily affected the Nkob I once knew. What I mean is, the neverending construction of new houses and hotels has been a great big change in the town, and its been able to retain its basic Nkobien flavor. Five more years of that, though, and it might no longer be able to do so.
The Nkob I knew was a great one. It's no longer around, so I was glad to have come when I did.
Well, can't get online like I planned, so I try to find something else to do instead. Ten minutes later, I'm seated with the baker, he's having caskrut, the afternoon snack, so instead of being a customer, I'm an invited guest, manuevering into the oven room to sit, share tea and shoot the shit with this other Addi, a man with a generous smile, big dark mustache and leathery black skin. Besides us are the giant pile of wood that he needs to make his bread, several empty cigarette wrappers and large bottles of oil. In his dish is a mixture of olive oil and strawberry confiture, ''toot'' in shulhah. ''Toot yatfuut' I say, strawberry is yummy. Yatfuut bzzzaaf, he replies, very tasty!
Two others join us, one of the European Moroccans, a ten year old boy in beach shorts named Mustafa, and an older man that seems mostly blind, potentially senile. They likewise are invited to imbibe and we spend 35 minutes. Halfway through this time, I notice the light has come on again and I can hear once again the refrigerator humming in the corner. I wait some time because I know it'll take that long for the cyber owner to get back and charge everything up again.
In these moments, I brought up how, in summertime, everything's different. The town becomes two or three times larger, with all the families coming back loaded with money from Europe. They arrive in their cars, they fill the cybers and you hear them talking to each other in French. It's Nkob, but it's no longer my Nkob. And I'm no longer a native, they expect me to be a tourist, when really they are the tourists, the interlopers.
You walk outside, and don't recognize a face. But it's not the only change. Even before they came, Nkob stopped being the Nkob that I fell in love with. This makes it easier as I prepare to leave, since in a certain sense, Nkob's already left me. The old lovely things I can't find so readily anymore. Now, it'll take a new person to come and discover its new charms.
Walking back to the cyber, I notice a sign that I'd never seen before, there on main street: ''Bienvenue dans un noveau monde.'' Yes, thank you. Where do I go to find the old one?
Some changes:
--my beloved running trail is gone. It's been the home of construction,( a lengthening of the aqueduct), and now you just see piles of concrete. The path still exists, but is now located higher on the hill and is too steep for my enjoyment. Before, it was the one place that I'd retreat to, a dirt path through the palm trees before exiting onto the major road. When I was marathon-ready, running 30km several times a month, this was the one that saw me on the way out and welcomed me back on the way in.
--the Kasbah isn't the same. The owner (not my dad, he doesn't own the place), said: no more tourists here. Before, I used to go home and be happily surprised to see a Dutch family of 4, or a lone Spanish man, a group of Pollacks or else a German college student. Some of the best times has been with these people, and it helped keep things from getting stale. Now that's no longer the case, and so that's another important aspect, a definitive one of my experience here, that won't be regained before I return home.
--The Gendarmes have nearly all been replaced. I was lucky and got along very well with the old ones and these new ones don't seem as readily given to playfullness as before. My favorite remains in place, though, which I'm glad for.
--Peace Corps itself is radically different // I'm glad to be going home now. The end of an era, when PC did more work in the bled (countryside) and without such a concerted focus on the numbers of people reached.
--Good friends are no longer located in Nkob. Lahcen, the cafe mainstay, a worker at different times in three different cafes while I was here, who I spent several months teaching Spanish to, has now left for a job at a cafe in Ourzazate.
--Other students have graduated the past month and will not be in Nkob when I get back after Ramadan.
--and smaller things, like the fact that I'm now on a tourist visa now and not my official work permit. There's such little time left, there was no need to refill it; how there's no dates this year, since the weather wasn't right for good date-growing conditions in the same way it was last year; how I'll soon turn my bike in to PC, doing it on the way to camp in order to not worry about it later; how I've thrown away all the excess and find all the stuff I want to take home will fit in two boxes, instead of the two suitcases and one carry-on that I brought here with me.
Likewise, there are big changes that haven't necessarily affected the Nkob I once knew. What I mean is, the neverending construction of new houses and hotels has been a great big change in the town, and its been able to retain its basic Nkobien flavor. Five more years of that, though, and it might no longer be able to do so.
The Nkob I knew was a great one. It's no longer around, so I was glad to have come when I did.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Something to look forward to, once back home
the 2011-12 Met OPERA live in HD season at your local movie theatre!
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events_template.aspx?id=15114
Some good looking shows, especially the last 2 of the Wagner ring cycle. I should get my tickets as soon as they come on, these things sell out fast!
In one extraordinary new work, lovers of Baroque opera have it all: the world’s best singers, glorious music of the Baroque masters, and a story drawn from Shakespeare. In The Enchanted Island, the lovers from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream are shipwrecked on his other-worldly island of The Tempest. Inspired by the musical pastiches and masques of the 18th century, the work showcases arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, and others, and a new libretto by Jeremy Sams. Eminent conductor William Christie leads an all-star cast with David Daniels (Prospero) and Joyce DiDonato (Sycorax) as the formidable foes, Plácido Domingo as Neptune, Danielle de Niese as Ariel, and Luca Pisaroni as Caliban. Lisette Oropesa and Anthony Roth Costanzo play Miranda and Ferdinand. The dazzling production is directed and designed by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch (Satyagraha and the Met’s 125 anniversary gala).
With its cataclysmic climax, the Met’s new Ring cycle, directed by Robert Lepage, comes to its resolution. Deborah Voigt stars as Brünnhilde and Gary Lehman is Siegfried—the star-crossed lovers doomed by fate. James Levine conducts.
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events_template.aspx?id=15114
Some good looking shows, especially the last 2 of the Wagner ring cycle. I should get my tickets as soon as they come on, these things sell out fast!
Wagner’s Siegfried– New Production
November 5, 2011
In part three of the Ring, Wagner’s cosmic vision focuses on his hero’s early conquests, while Robert Lepage’s revolutionary stage machine transforms itself from bewitched forest to mountaintop love nest. Gary Lehman sings the title role and Deborah Voigt’s Brünnhilde is his prize. Bryn Terfel is the Wanderer. James Levine conducts.
The Enchanted Island– New Production
January 21, 2012
In one extraordinary new work, lovers of Baroque opera have it all: the world’s best singers, glorious music of the Baroque masters, and a story drawn from Shakespeare. In The Enchanted Island, the lovers from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream are shipwrecked on his other-worldly island of The Tempest. Inspired by the musical pastiches and masques of the 18th century, the work showcases arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, and others, and a new libretto by Jeremy Sams. Eminent conductor William Christie leads an all-star cast with David Daniels (Prospero) and Joyce DiDonato (Sycorax) as the formidable foes, Plácido Domingo as Neptune, Danielle de Niese as Ariel, and Luca Pisaroni as Caliban. Lisette Oropesa and Anthony Roth Costanzo play Miranda and Ferdinand. The dazzling production is directed and designed by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch (Satyagraha and the Met’s 125 anniversary gala).
Wagner’s Götterdämmerung
February 11, 2012With its cataclysmic climax, the Met’s new Ring cycle, directed by Robert Lepage, comes to its resolution. Deborah Voigt stars as Brünnhilde and Gary Lehman is Siegfried—the star-crossed lovers doomed by fate. James Levine conducts.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Things ok here! There was a strike one day when it was extra hot and we didn't have any water for two days. The first day, they were OK, but when they woke up and it still wasn't back, then they hit the streets. This time at my house we were not prepared at all for it, and I ran out. It's strange how you have to start reprioritizing everything, asking questions that you'd never thought of before: what's more important, having a little to brush your teeth, or to be able to flush the john? To be aware that you need to divide it up so you'll have enough for both.... To boil spaghetti and then keep the milky looking juice afterwards, just because you might need it.
I felt like a stooge, I had money so I was able to buy a Fanta. If you got money, you're OK. And even conserving, you're going through it faster than you wish. The big 5 liter jugs are unweildy, and I kicked myself when it tipped the wrong way and the water gushed out onto the floor, losing about 1/3 of it before I could upright it.
Sadly, though I figure they were able to make-do somehow, a family happened to have the final night of their wedding the day the water stopped. It's almost like the opposite of the fear Americans have: whatever else, you don't want it to rain on your wedding day. This then, was a strange inversion of that. To open the tap and you just hear a gurgle and then nothing. But then, you think: this was the time when they were making couscous (very water intensive, because you steam the couscous for 3 hours or more, which means continuously adding water whenever it gets low). But then, to think, they had to make it for 150 people or more? Even if they changed to serving tajine platters, that also relies on steaming in a big way. But that moment is past. In a way, it almost was a practice time for Ramadan, or you might say an eyeopener about what Ramadan this year will be like, in AUGUST. When, even if its there, you can't access or use it until the night falls. But at least they'll be mentally prepared for it, whereas this took them by surprise and so maybe they felt its lack more strongly.
PnL!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Baghdad - Photo Gallery - Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine
Baghdad - Photo Gallery - Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine
This is a very nice photo gallery, seeing the rebirth of this blighted, ancient city. Worth checking out!
And while I'm at it: let's say you want to understand more about the MidEast/North Africa. What to do?
TV / Movies
The big channel here is 2M, and I'm sure they have programs with French subtitles... if you're Francophone -compatible.
Books
that I've read and would recommend to others:
THE CAIRO TRILOGY by Naguib Mahfouz
NINE PARTS OF DESIRE by Geraldine Brooks. This one is considered biased, I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing all the time, but there's good portraiture.
READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN by Azar Nafisi. This is eyeopening in the sense of, you get to see it from
These are good, I've heard:
NO GOD BUT GOD by Reza Azlan
MY UNCLE NAPOLEON
Music
Possession and Hemispheres by Lily Afshar
My Iranian-Turkish-American friend wrote saying this brought him back to his childhood in Tehran.
Saharawi music
TINARIWEN - the thing guaranteed to find a welcome home on your iPod
I'll be sure to come back and update this over the next 2 weeks, make it more comprehensive.
This is a very nice photo gallery, seeing the rebirth of this blighted, ancient city. Worth checking out!
And while I'm at it: let's say you want to understand more about the MidEast/North Africa. What to do?
TV / Movies
The big channel here is 2M, and I'm sure they have programs with French subtitles... if you're Francophone -compatible.
Books
that I've read and would recommend to others:
THE CAIRO TRILOGY by Naguib Mahfouz
NINE PARTS OF DESIRE by Geraldine Brooks. This one is considered biased, I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing all the time, but there's good portraiture.
READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN by Azar Nafisi. This is eyeopening in the sense of, you get to see it from
These are good, I've heard:
NO GOD BUT GOD by Reza Azlan
MY UNCLE NAPOLEON
Music
Possession and Hemispheres by Lily Afshar
My Iranian-Turkish-American friend wrote saying this brought him back to his childhood in Tehran.
Saharawi music
TINARIWEN - the thing guaranteed to find a welcome home on your iPod
I'll be sure to come back and update this over the next 2 weeks, make it more comprehensive.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Overheard on Facebook
MIKE D: saw goats climbing trees near Marrakesh today. I don't understand.
AD-ROCK : argon oil!
MCA: ? what kind of goats or trees were these?
MIKE D: they were white billy goats in what may have been olive trees, but I'm still unclear as to how they climbed. or if some Moroccans just put them there since it was by the road.
AD-ROCK: they're argon trees - read up on it - that's how the nuts are harvested and made into oil
MIKE D: what?! no wonder argon oil is so expensive.
AD-ROCK: yeah exactly, the goats regurgitate it and then they process it from there - super weird!
MIKE D: wow, I love this country.
AD-ROCK : argon oil!
MCA: ? what kind of goats or trees were these?
MIKE D: they were white billy goats in what may have been olive trees, but I'm still unclear as to how they climbed. or if some Moroccans just put them there since it was by the road.
AD-ROCK: they're argon trees - read up on it - that's how the nuts are harvested and made into oil
MIKE D: what?! no wonder argon oil is so expensive.
AD-ROCK: yeah exactly, the goats regurgitate it and then they process it from there - super weird!
MIKE D: wow, I love this country.
---
I gave these people monikers to (needlessly?) protect their identity. The last line is one strongly evocative of Calvin and Hobbes to me.
And while we're at it:
Friday, June 17, 2011
''French, misguided American Girls and the other options out there''
Yes, the posters in high school said, the promised land has it all, all the splendor of life missing from ittle-bitty Jackson, Tennessee:
-Wine as a way of life, cheese as a dessert, fine art and people wanting to look at it, shopping and the vespas to help lug back the loot
Populating this land and filling it with the passion, love and romance you're missing are European dudes and dudettes somehow able to be both sensitive without being stale, cool without being clique-y; beautiful beaches and balconies and the associated Starcrossed Lovers and the Consumptive Geniuses chronicling them (or their own) ecstastic excesses. People that hold Baudelaire up just as high as they do the Clash.
But not only that, these posters say, you also get :
-world-renowned literature, cuisine, fashion, public transportation... the list goes on. Brigitte Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg -types on each corner.
AND, miraculously enough it's true. I've seen it with my own eyes. Kissed them lips! Of course, I'd say, Jackson Tennessee has many of those things, too, so long as you know where to look. If I've been to an Iranian feast there, I figure there's a great deal more hidden among the enormous walls of the gated communities and elsewhere than is apparent to the eye. But the point of what I'm writing today is, the question to ask yourself is: How do you get meaningful and worthwhile access to that Utopia?
And that matter of access becomes important when you're 13 and you're choosing which of the two you want to study, Spanish or French. You're a high school student and you want to experience the aforementioned things, too. SO to help you decide you visit the classroom. The Spanish homeroom has posters too but the portraits of Che, Frida and Frida's Man are missing that Euro-chic ... too strong of a whiff of revolution and socialism. You're looking for indulgence.
So you head to the French classroom. And it's all right there. You decide, this is the one for me. And, all across the US, most girls seem to sign up for French, dreaming of Bordeaux and baguettes. Most guys go for an easy grade, and a few are aware that Latin America has its own treasures worth pursuing, so they sign up for Spanish.
Having been there and done that, take a look at your French teacher. He/she's gotten access to the Continent, she's an insider. But don't be fooled: wave bye to her/him, go back down the hall and sit down at the front of the classroom there. The Spanish class is where you want to go. Then, study it hard so that when you go to college, you'll have a great base to learn the one you really want: Italiano.
Why not French? Cut to the chase, right? Shortest path between two points is a straight line. Well, that's a complicated question, but everything I said before, all those great provincial things somehow miraculously happens to be part of the Italian panorama, too, not just the French one. And, luckily, the people there are much more willing to share access to that lifestyle.
Lots of American high school girls have worked hard to master the language, to adopt France as their sovereign guide for living their life the European way, and most of them never get the satisfaction promised to them. Language-wise, people seem to flounder somewhere between Intermediate to Advanced and never are able to superate* that. Or, say you do, but you discover the dirty secret, that often it's not the sexy beautiful romantic gorgeous language that you'd heard it was. MY issue has been more, I've learned from nonnative people who have studied both that a person can be good in French or in English but not both. Excelling at one comes at the cost of the other. That is closely related to the same problem that has haunted me, of how it's not removed quite far enough from English for it to be able to stick.
Similarly, the social aspects of trying to get access:
You're walking towards Paris with your arms wide open, only to find when you get close that it is hugging itself, hands buried in the crooks of its elbows and facing the other direction! And you're so blinded and hurt by this, you don't see that the rest of France is still virgin territory** and it's watching you go through this process, its arms open wide and making beckoning motions-- ''we don't get tourists 'round dese parts, z'etes bienvenues ici''-- but malgré you, you're already back on the plane with your ego bruised.
Italy, on the other hand, is around the corner and is standing there alongside Statale 25, eager to hand you the keys and the helmet to your own Vespa, AND waiting for you to come so you can both head South together. For those lucky few that still are fighting for what was promised them back in French 101, off you go to Italy, down towards glory, you in the driver's seat and him/her behind you, arms wrapped around your chest and the sunset off to your right framed by the port of Riomaggiore.
Sure, Italy doesn't have Proust, but those artifacts--from a France that no longer is-- have been universally consumed and have been made their own in Italy. Maybe in the '30's it was useful to know French if you were interested in being among the avant guarde, but that was quite a long time ago and both seem to have not contributed to high culture since Warhol/Botero took it back over to our side of the pond, NYC and Latin America, in the '70's.
A real-life example of this : a friend of mine at the Sorbonne still gets shut-out and dissed for not speaking absolutely flawless French, and in a way her relationship to her adopted homeland has become a passive-agressive one, with an unhealthy dose of ''trying to prove my worth to them.'' Again, not everyone is surrounded by the Parisian Ecole 'Normal' Superior elites, nor is everyone in France a P.E.N.S.*** but... Still.
By stark contrast, Italian people are surprised when anyone other than them has studied their language, and often react joyfully, even to the point of helping you. Not everyone, of course, but often enough to keep your motivation going, to help you along towards the Eat Pray Love -ish Utopia you're seeking. And Italian words seem to me more able to stick in my brain, and yeah maybe it looks a little unwieldy/ugly/confusing on paper at first (until you get the accent down, something that ain't so tough to do). Not at all like a good French accent.
Likewise, both are concerned with looks, a lot more than us Americans for sure, but in Italy it's not the be-all-end-all. That makes a difference.
Let's back up : does this seem that I'm telling you to forget the fantasy of learning French and being accepted into French culture? Or, worse, to settle for less before you even begin? No. IT's more: love the one that loves you back, and it's: think of the value you're getting with the amount of effort you're putting in, as well as to remember that France doesn't have a monopoly on European whimsy and charm.
The French version just seemingly demands lifetime devotion before you're accepted, and the ones that are willing to do that end up making a career out of it, up to the PhD level. Whereas, Italy can pay big dividends with just a passing interest and it is willing to accept a more realistic amount of dedication required of you before you're 'in'.
This came from considering how, of the people I've known, a lot more of those who focus on Italy and Italian have found their dreams come true, rather than the many who focus on French and have their heart broken when they are unable to self-actualize into Amelie, or the man into Jacques Brel****.
*a real English word
**In the same way here that we say, there's the United States and there's Texas, they should say the same.. there's France and there's Paris
*** did you catch the penis joke? say it out loud and you'll get it.
****Not a Parisian nor a Frenchman, I should point out, and maybe that's partly why I adore him.
P.S. But-- here's the fine print--I'd say, do both. Noone's making you choose at all! And learning one actually complements the other, 'faire' and 'fare', etc.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Some things to be happy about
-- while reading is about the last thing i feel like doing this summer (ive read 40 books so far this year), I was glad to be on the roof at sunset reading. the best spot in all of Morocco to be during sunset, with a book of Chekov short stories and the endlessly mutating colors in the sky all around, with the palm trees in a vast expanse below me, following the river flowing down from the mountains in the distance
-- walked by my family's hanut, the guy came out, took me to a room and pointed towards a sack of flour. OK, so I grab the corners on my end and next thing you know we take it across the street to the women's cookie co-op. Thirty seconds of work, and the lady in full Berber dress is handing me a half dozen cookies to enjoy the rest of the night
--Nkob is endlessly fascinating and gorgeous
--had a nice night yesterday, pizza AND couscous. But, sadly no couscous pizza.
--an easy ride to Agdez this week to get money from the bank, it can take anywhere from 2.5 hours like today, or 5+. Even better was seeing two people I knew : one a Spanish speaker and the other a younger man wanting to know Spanish. So, more chance to share my Iberian passion with them!
--being happy for Youtube, and the endless amount of nice songs there, e.g.:
--OK, the sun is setting, time to go on the roof with my copy of ''Kite Runner'' or ''The Harlem Renaissance Reader'' and enjoy life, with the aid of a Maoufid chocolate milk box and a Coconut flavored yogurt. Even two of each, potentially, I'll have to check the fridge.
-- walked by my family's hanut, the guy came out, took me to a room and pointed towards a sack of flour. OK, so I grab the corners on my end and next thing you know we take it across the street to the women's cookie co-op. Thirty seconds of work, and the lady in full Berber dress is handing me a half dozen cookies to enjoy the rest of the night
--Nkob is endlessly fascinating and gorgeous
--had a nice night yesterday, pizza AND couscous. But, sadly no couscous pizza.
--an easy ride to Agdez this week to get money from the bank, it can take anywhere from 2.5 hours like today, or 5+. Even better was seeing two people I knew : one a Spanish speaker and the other a younger man wanting to know Spanish. So, more chance to share my Iberian passion with them!
--being happy for Youtube, and the endless amount of nice songs there, e.g.:
--OK, the sun is setting, time to go on the roof with my copy of ''Kite Runner'' or ''The Harlem Renaissance Reader'' and enjoy life, with the aid of a Maoufid chocolate milk box and a Coconut flavored yogurt. Even two of each, potentially, I'll have to check the fridge.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
found an old OLD email -- one of the ones in my DRAFTS section that never got sent
I recognize this has a Krapp´s Last Tape -type feel to it, when I insert my comments from now on what I wrote then. Ill try to keep that to a minimum, for that reason.
---
September 2009
Nice day today. Tomorrow we are going to the market. Went swimming in the ocean, and I feel like I really fit in with some of these people. I participated in Ramadan by not eating lunch,hanging out with the muslim language professors instead (arabic is fun! but it's really unusual). Then, a group of people came looking for me because they expected me to be there.
[Update two years later -- I only passed up lunch once in order to be with the Language coordinators, but wish I had done it more: doing that and I felt much more welcome by them the rest of the time we were together, something crucial since they were the first introduction to Morocco and its people]
---
September 2009
Nice day today. Tomorrow we are going to the market. Went swimming in the ocean, and I feel like I really fit in with some of these people. I participated in Ramadan by not eating lunch,hanging out with the muslim language professors instead (arabic is fun! but it's really unusual). Then, a group of people came looking for me because they expected me to be there.
[Update two years later -- I only passed up lunch once in order to be with the Language coordinators, but wish I had done it more: doing that and I felt much more welcome by them the rest of the time we were together, something crucial since they were the first introduction to Morocco and its people]
People are surfing, and I will take some of my money tomorrow and try to buy an Oud. I want to get one and show it off for a few days to other musicians that might be interested in learning it. So that is exciting to me to be playing something new. There is a gorgeous terrace outside of my window, and we have done yoga on it each night, overlooking the ocean. I'm getting better at reading the arabic script, and the staff is so supportive.
Tuesday we split into two groups and go to live with our training host families for about 9 weeks. It will be good to get into a routine and to see how fast we progress, but it will be sad to say goodbye to about 20 of our 63 person group.
I'll try and update my blog and write some more in-depth things for people that don't know about this process. I was able to talk toWilson online earlier, and he was making quiche. He used 4 eggs to make one deep dish quiche, and so i was able to send him your recipe. supposedly he got i
The food has been fine so far. We have a vegetarian table and tonite the staff made us french fries in place of the rice and meat that the others had.
Goodn ite~
i love you
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Seated in a room with some medical volunteers, listening to them talk about their upcoming projects, the last Med projects as such for Peace Corps Morocco until another revolution in programming brings the program back. They seem really with it// there's talk of blood pressure presentations, SIDA workshops (AIDS), diabetes, dental hygiene, hand hygiene, food hygiene. And so forth. We always were jealous of each other, us programs. In one room, silent intense discussions about the more intractible developmental issues. In ours, hysterics, antics and the discussion of how to best utilize Hangman as a student retention and English warm up activity. Learning all of the words to a half dozen camp songs. The jealousy consisted of entertainment vs. legitimacy. They had the levity we never did, and we had the exuberancy. Though I feel they maybe expressed their jealousy the more, we kept our doubts to ourselves as to our function -- at worst, we pass two years as babysitters and ping-pong peddlars. At best, YD can be transcendant. Likely, we persevered because we had a ready audience and clearly delineated goals. But since when was PC ever about that? Especially with YD, you could literally do the same thing in the same place, outside of Peace Corps and make a great deal more money from it. In other words, there's a potential downfall to losing our unique position, we become banal.
There's a huge swarth of changes and a lot of upset people. How do I feel about it? Is it a good idea? What does that question mean and how can people know what a good idea is? The internal gas combustion engine seemed like a good idea over the battery powered kind. But even if it has its upsides, I recognize this is a tragedy, necessary or otherwise, and so I want to say GOOD JOB and that it's Enviro, Health and SBD that most genuinely reflected the purpose of Peace Corps: going out to the places where literally no other aid groups go. And unlike the aid groups--and unlike the now-ascendant Youth program here in PCM--they learn the strange, difficult languages that few speak. And they don't go to the cities in their land rovers but live in the same housing as their constituents.
PC HQ is focused more on numbers, so we'll be in the cities where you can have 100 students a week. Arabic with small bits of Berber to those going to those sites. In comparison, PC Bolivia put me in a town with 300 people. So its a matter of quantity vs quality. But I can relate very strongly to how it feels to know that your work is going to reach a dead-end when you finish: they canceled three training groups during my eight months there, and saw many PCVs go home disappointed that their replacements were sent elsewhere. With each one canceled, we could more clearly feel that our work would be disrupted significantly and the threat of the entire program never recovering. So, a similar spiel.
---
Having a good conversation at the moment : ''I found with my Colombian girlfriend that I'd end up always speaking Spanish to her, and she'd speak back in English to me." W.T.F.? It seems backwards, until you realize... if she speaks native Spanish at me, I'll get lost after the first syllables. Likewise with her if I get down-and-funky with some English awesomeness.
But this girl next to me, learned the same thing through PC life : she found she'd speak Tamazight to her community, and when they could they'd talk back in English. More complex to understand is how these French speakers from all parts of the world, and they'd speak French to her, for her to speak English to the others. Rather than speaking French directly to the others. Haha, not sure but that's what they preferred!
----
So, I've couch-surfed. Something I had not heard of, however, is Monastary Stays. So that might be a thing to keep in mind next time I'm in monastary-type territory // Ireland, fall 2011...? //
There's a huge swarth of changes and a lot of upset people. How do I feel about it? Is it a good idea? What does that question mean and how can people know what a good idea is? The internal gas combustion engine seemed like a good idea over the battery powered kind. But even if it has its upsides, I recognize this is a tragedy, necessary or otherwise, and so I want to say GOOD JOB and that it's Enviro, Health and SBD that most genuinely reflected the purpose of Peace Corps: going out to the places where literally no other aid groups go. And unlike the aid groups--and unlike the now-ascendant Youth program here in PCM--they learn the strange, difficult languages that few speak. And they don't go to the cities in their land rovers but live in the same housing as their constituents.
PC HQ is focused more on numbers, so we'll be in the cities where you can have 100 students a week. Arabic with small bits of Berber to those going to those sites. In comparison, PC Bolivia put me in a town with 300 people. So its a matter of quantity vs quality. But I can relate very strongly to how it feels to know that your work is going to reach a dead-end when you finish: they canceled three training groups during my eight months there, and saw many PCVs go home disappointed that their replacements were sent elsewhere. With each one canceled, we could more clearly feel that our work would be disrupted significantly and the threat of the entire program never recovering. So, a similar spiel.
---
Having a good conversation at the moment : ''I found with my Colombian girlfriend that I'd end up always speaking Spanish to her, and she'd speak back in English to me." W.T.F.? It seems backwards, until you realize... if she speaks native Spanish at me, I'll get lost after the first syllables. Likewise with her if I get down-and-funky with some English awesomeness.
But this girl next to me, learned the same thing through PC life : she found she'd speak Tamazight to her community, and when they could they'd talk back in English. More complex to understand is how these French speakers from all parts of the world, and they'd speak French to her, for her to speak English to the others. Rather than speaking French directly to the others. Haha, not sure but that's what they preferred!
----
So, I've couch-surfed. Something I had not heard of, however, is Monastary Stays. So that might be a thing to keep in mind next time I'm in monastary-type territory // Ireland, fall 2011...? //
Friday, May 27, 2011
Hello from Tangier
Salam walaykum kulshi
Doing fine. Realized just now I've seen nearly all of the corners of this country Morocco in the past couple of weeks--// Agadir to Tangier to Zagora and elsewhere. Pretty astonishing breadth and range, from a Casa night club to the most rural places, and now here within sight of Spain.
A friend from spring camp, Aaron Z, said one of the pitfalls of our model for Peace Corps is that people are headquartered in their site and the nearly endless hours there start to become their conception of the entirety of Morocco--you might say, misinterpreting quantity of time with expertise about what is Moroccan. If you're in your Berber hut washing your clothes day in and day out, you start thinking that is the complete picture, and you're maybe feeling down a lot of the time and so don't have a generous opinion about this place. But if, two days later, you're out dancing at 2 AM surrounded by mainly Moroccans, you have to adjust your perspective about the country. Most of us don't get that, or if we do then it's in our regional city that has the same whiff as the town you came from. I see I've had the fortune of being in enough places all over this country in order to fragment the sovereignty of Nkob as my basis of comparison. That Morocco is still able to surprise is a happy thing for me, even a necessary one. In doing so, it demonstrates its vitality, the same symptom you might have in a healthy marriage.
Here the surprises are the families and women out till midnight, laughing with friends. If not for the veils, you'd see the same with old teens or college students. And much more. OK, more to come. Hoping to get back into the swing of things with my blog. to do that, I'm hoping to review, reflect and come out with some posts of higher literary value than the dubious ones where it's just music videos that I'd been into while here.
This is nice, from CNN.com:
Ten must-read blogs from the Middle East(CNN) -- Political unrest across the Middle East has increased appetite in the wider world for comment from within the region, and some are turning to bloggers for insider views on the events unfolding on their television screens. Social media -- including blogging, Twitter and Facebook -- has played an often-crucial role in organizing the protests sweeping the region. But it's not all politics, and blogs about the ups and downs of daily life can offer a fascinating glimpse of real life in the Middle East. Here, we have drawn up an entirely unscientific list of 10 of the most interesting blogs from the region. The bloggers come from a variety of backgrounds and countries. Our only criteria were that they are based in the region, write mostly in English and have something worth saying. Politics in Egypt and the wider Arab world Arabist is popular for its insightful comment on Egyptian politics. Often thought provoking, it's a good place to monitor developments in post-revolution Egypt. The Saudi woman who got tired of reading "expert" opinion on her country Riyadh-based mother of three and post-graduate student Eman Al Nafjan, 32, set up her blog Saudiwoman as a response to reading non-Arabs and non-Saudis giving expert opinions on life and culture in the kingdom. She said: "I felt that I would rather represent myself instead of having others speak for me. There was no long-term plan but eventually I became addicted to it. To me it's an outlet and a way to voice my concerns about everything, including Islamophobia, human rights violations and women's movement in Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict." Saudiwoman was a finalist for Best Asian Blog in the 2011 Bloggies. Bahrain's "Blogfather" Mahmood Nasser Al-Yousif, the author of Mahmood's Den, is a long-time blogger who has been described as the region's "Blogfather." Al-Yousif was recently arrested and briefly detained by the Bahraini authorities. He describes his blog as "an Arab man's attempt at bridging the cultural gap. Trying to make a difference. Failing a lot. Succeeding once in a while." Young Yemeni woman reporting on protests Afrah Nasser is a 25-year-old journalist at the Yemen Observer. Nasser has been blogging for just over a year, featuring politics, news and views. Her recent posts have been about the protests in Yemen and include updates from Sanaa's Change Square, a focal point for protest in the capital. She said: "I love to blog about political topics especially since the revo started. It's my gateway to express my views freely. However, that caused me trouble sometimes." Nasser said she recently received a threatening message on her Facebook account. Her response? She just translated it from Arabic to English and posted it on her blog. "Rantings" from Egypt The Rantings of a Sandmonkey was an anonymous blog until its author Mahmoud Salem went public, saying he had been attacked close to Cairo's Tahrir Square during pro-democracy demonstrations in February this year. Salem said his car was destroyed and he was beaten up by pro-government thugs in the days before the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. Sandmonkey has just won the best English language blog -- a people's choice award -- in The Bobs, Deutsche Welle's Blog Awards. German broadcaster Deutsche Welle said in its citation: "The activist blogger's witty and courageous writing has called for freedom and democracy in Egypt long before this year's uprising." Flower of Jordan Naseem Tarawnah, a 24-year-old Masters student, writes the blog BlackIris, named after the national flower of Jordan. Tarawnah, who lives in Amman, wrote on his blog: "From cultural journeys to poetic ramblings, this blog was created, amongst many things, to address Jordanian issues ranging from the political to the social and to chronicle the extraordinary voyage of metamorphosis that this nation has embarked upon." Tarawnah is also co-founder of 7iber, an online citizen media platform in Arabic. Black Iris has won two Brass Crescent Awards for Best Middle Eastern Blog. Poetry and politics from Gaza LivefromGaza: 360 square km of chaos is the work of Lina Al Sharif, a 22-year-old English Literature student at the Islamic University in Gaza. Lina, who started LivefromGaza in 2007, said: "The purpose of my blog is to reflect on the life in Gaza, in general, and on my life particularly. "My blog's biggest achievement has been in giving a chance to the people of Gaza to narrate the situation as experienced by them. "I believe my blog helps me to share and to educate people, not just on the hardships, but also the good times." Definitely not silly, but she is Bahraini and worth reading Amira Al Hussaini is regional editor for North Africa and the Middle East on Global Voices, an international community of bloggers. She has her own blog, called SillyBahrainiGirl, but is more active on Twitter. She says in her blog: "A Bahraini girl is never silly but there are some factions out there who insist that we are not given our place in the society." Want a break from politics? Try 248am for a slice of Kuwaiti life Mark Makhoul, 32, a creative director at an advertising agency, began his current blog, 248am, in 2005. Mark's wife Nataly Tawil, a designer, makes occasional contributions to the blog. The pair are both Lebanese and live in Kuwait. While it may not offer the political insight of some of the other blogs on the list, it does present a slice of life in Kuwait, covering art, technology and more, with lots of reader contributions. And it's not entirely without controversy ... Makhoul is apparently being sued by a Japanese restaurant chain over a negative review. For something completely different ... Cartoonist Maya Zankoul, 24, has gained international attention for her blog, Maya's Amalgam, consisting mainly of her illustrations. Zankoul, who grew up in Saudi Arabia and now works in Lebanon, said: "The workplace in Lebanon was not allowing me to fully express my opinion about the things I was noticing about living in Lebanon and the Lebanese society, so I decided to start my own cartoon series, telling stories from my daily life, from my point of view -- all in illustrations." Maya's Amalgam has been online since 2009 and her blog illustrations have been made into two books. Did we miss out your favorite blogs? Which blogs from the region do you think are "must reads?" Share your favorites by commenting below. |
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| Links referenced within this article Arabist http://www.arabist.net/ Saudiwoman http://saudiwoman.wordpress.com/ 2011 Bloggies http://2011.bloggi.es/ Mahmood's Den http://mahmood.tv/ Afrah Nasser http://afrahnasser.blogspot.com/ The Rantings of a Sandmonkey http://www.sandmonkey.org/ attacked http://inthearena.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/04/police-attack-cairo-tweeter-destroy-car/ BlackIris http://www.black-iris.com/ 7iber http://www.7iber.com/ Brass Crescent Awards http://www.brasscrescent.org/ LivefromGaza: 360 square km of chaos http://livefromgaza.wordpress.com/ SillyBahrainiGirl http://sillybahrainigirl.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/justamira 248am http://www.248am.com/ Maya's Amalgam http://mayazankoul.com/ |
| Find this article at: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/04/14/bloggers.middle.east/index.html?hpt=Sbin |
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
"We're a long way from Kansas, Toto"
Here at the top is the original articles from the Corriere della Sera, then down below the English description (and relevance) Mamma denuncia 26enne: troppo procace per stare in topless davanti ai figli
Denuncio' donna in topless condannata per calunnia
Mamma denuncia 26enne: troppo procace per stare in topless davanti ai figli
L'episodio è avvenuto in spiaggia tra Anzio e Lavinio
LITORALE ROMANO
Mamma denuncia 26enne: troppo procace per stare in topless davanti ai figli
«Turbata la serenità dei miei ragazzi di 12 e 14 anni»
L'episodio è avvenuto in spiaggia tra Anzio e Lavinio
ROMA - Bella e piena di curve. Per qualcuno, troppe per prendere il sole in topless. Luisa D.B., una formosa ragazza romana di 26 anni, è stata denunciata per atti osceni in luogo pubblico. La giovane, che porta una quarta di reggiseno e lavora come commessa in un negozio d'abbigliamento in via del Corso, lunedì mattina stava prendendo il sole in topless su un tratto di spiaggia libera tra Lavinio e Anzio, sul litorale romano.
L'AGGRESSIONE - La ragazza, mentre stava spalmandosi la crema solare protettiva anche sul seno, ha subito l'aggressione verbale di una mamma che si trovava anche lei in spiaggia con i suoi due figli maschi di 12 e 14 anni. A raccontare l'episodio, in una nota, è l'avvocato Gianluca Arrighi, incaricato dall'avvenente commessa di assumere la sua difesa. Luisa D.B., secondo le accuse della signora, avrebbe «turbato» la serenità dei suoi figli, sorpresi dalla madre mentre osservavano con estrema attenzione l'attività della signorina intenta a spalmarsi la crema solare sul seno.
«SI RICOMPONGA!» - La signora ha invitato la ragazza a «ricomporsi» e, visto il rifiuto della giovane a rimettersi il pezzo di sopra del bikini, ha preso i suoi due figli e si è recata in commissariato dove ha denunciato Luisa D.B. per il reato di atti osceni. La ragazza è stata quindi identificata dalle forze dell'ordine e invitata ad eleggere il domicilio, ricevendo in sostanza un avviso di garanzia, relativamente al conseguente procedimento penale incardinato dinanzi alla procura di Velletri. «A fronte di una formale denuncia, l'iscrizione della mia assistita nel registro degli indagati risulta un atto dovuto. Tuttavia prendere il sole in topless sulla spiaggia non può certo essere considerata una condotta illecita né tantomeno può integrare il delitto di atti osceni spalmarsi sul seno la crema solare protettiva. Molto rumore per nulla - ha concluso il penalista - tutto si risolverà in una bolla di sapone».Denuncio' donna in topless condannata per calunnia
È stata condannata ad un anno di reclusione per calunnia la donna che lo scorso anno denunciò Luisa D.B., giovane commessa romana, perché prendeva il sole in topless in spiaggia. La sentenza è stata emessa dal gup di Roma previo patteggiamento e con sospensione condizionale della condanna. L' imputata aveva denunciato per atti osceni la commessa, ritenendo che quest' ultima, spalmandosi la crema solare sul seno, avesse turbato i suoi figli adolescenti. Il procedimento penale nei confronti di Luisa D.B. fu archiviato e a finire sotto processo, per calunnia, è stata la denunciante. Nell' udienza tenutasi davanti al gup, la commessa, assistita dall' avvocato Gianluca Arrighi, non si è costituita parte civile, poiché è già stata risarcita in sede stragiudiziale con 25 mila euro.
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In case this is Greek to you, the basic gist is : in Italy a topless woman was sued in court after she applied suntan lotion to her body on the beach, for acting indecently in front of the other lady's children.
Italy being Italy, a great place at times, the finely tanned lady then won the original verdict, decided to countersue for 'defamation of character' and won 25,000 euros. The person telling me this had an amazed look of triumph and irony on their face. In my mind was a lot of turbulence and incredulity, with a tinge of irony, considering where I live-- the story did not end as I expected.
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