Sheep Slaughtering and spiked hair

*I wrote this last month on Eid but couldn't post until today. enjoy :)

Morocco is a country floating between the traditions of the past and the incentives of the waves of modernization. Today, the biggest religious holiday of the season was an amazing display of this dichotomy.

A quick intro: Eid Kabir is an ancient religious festival based on the story of Ibrahim and Ishmail. Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his only son to demonstrate his faith and submission to God when a goat / sheep appeared in the thicket and God spoke to Ibrahim telling him to sacrifice the goat instead (the same story as Abraham and Isaac in the Bible and Torah).

My first eid kabir in Morocco started at 7am when I was awakened by the constant calls to prayer from the local mosque. I stumbled out of my room around 7:30am in my normal jeans and T-shirt and was greeted by a bustling living room where all of my host family were puttering around in completely new and shiny clothing. Upon greeting me and praising me over and over again in numerous religious phrases, which I had no idea how to respond, I was ushered into the salon (formal living room)-where we NEVER eat and my host mom, siblings and I had a breakfast of lmsimum (fried bread), skuta (cake) and many varieties of cookies. YUMMMM

Then my sister, baby bro and I went from house to house to meet the mother's of all of my sister's friends. I was asked to eat and drink at each house and my "No"s just weren't a good enough answer, nor was " I've already eaten 5 times." So, before 10am that morning I had been forcefed six breakfasts and nearly ten classes of tea.

Then back to my house around 10:30 when my host father came home from mosque in his formal, white, jlaba (formal robe attire in Morocco) and around 10am it was announced that the king of Morocco had slaughtered his sheep and the people of the nation should start their own religious sacrifices.

The deed went down on our 2nd floor, the ram was held down and my host father prayed over the animal before he slit it's throat. Then bled the ram, skinned it and removed all of the innards. Then I went next door and watched the neighbors do the whole thing over… boy were those six breakfasts close to coming back up again after the 3rd showing.

In Islamic tradition the liver and stomach are eaten the 1st day, then 1/3 of the remaining meat is preserved for later consumption, 1/3 is given to close relatives and 1/3 to the poor.So, I know you are wondering… did I eat the ram my brother and I had played with the day before the sacrifice? The answer is.. YUP! I proudly ate 4 pieces of sheep liver kabob (not that bad) and to my host mother's disgust, only 1 piece of the sheep stomach stew we had for dinner. BUT I tried it, I did it and I haven't thrown up yet :) So I consider it a success.

Then, in the afternoon I went with my host cousin/neighbor Fatima Zara to the salon she works in in the neighboring town. Little did I know, after prayers, over eating and animal slaughtering the Moroccan thing to do is to put on new clothes, do your hair (or have it done) and prance around town. WHAT A SHOW!

After 2 hours or so at the salon seeing the dozens of girls prepare for the days "display" I moved to a downtown cafe, prime viewing spot, with another host cousin and PCV. We sat at that cafe for hours with our coffees watching the sparkly, over accessorized girls prance in their fancy boots and high heels and we gawked at the strolling guys in their too-tight jeans, neon shirts and spiked hair.

I came home to a normal, comfortable night cuddled on the couch under piles of blankets with my family as we watched the jarija dubbed, horrible Mexican soap opera. I fell back into my comfort zone, after a bizarre day began to wonder if I could have experienced a day like this one in any other culture in the world…

And I have won a United States government sponsored, two year adventure to… “X” a city nestled between the High and Middle Atlas Mountains. Population: 40,000+. It is the regional capital and boasts of it’s beautiful mountain views, waterfalls and cold, possibly white winters!

I have a youth center, woman’s craft group, girl’s dormitory and many more wonderful resources and contacts to tap into and work with. I will be the fifth Peace Corps volunteer in this sector in this town which has it’s advantages and disadvantages. 1. My town counterparts, officials and police are used to working with Americans and speak uber slowly and in as many languages (Darija, standard Arabic, French, and even English) to get information across to me! 2. It is going to be a challenge to differentiate myself or truly integrate into the community and people around me, when they see me as simply, another American leaving in two years.

My youth center director is slightly crazy and was out of site the whole week I was visiting except for the last night of my stay. On that night I went to meet him in our empty, newly renovated, “Dar Chabab” (youth center) in which the walls have been drenched in cartoonishly bright wall colors, in which rooms scream “kids area” with there polka dots and multi-colored striped motifs. My director sat me down and proceeded to give me an hour-long lecture in Darija about how our youth center is a part of the FIST that helps children “punch their problems in the face”. (hahaha… I find it a true testament to the effectiveness of my intense Arabic classes of the past month, seeing as how I was even able to understand ½ of the bizarre conversation!)

I am happy with the placement and am looking forward to finding my own apartment, furnishing and decorating it (my very first solo apartment!). Living in a city with daily cheese, chocolate and wireless Internet access also has its draws.

In other news, I found out I have a sitemate who is an environment PCV and has been here since last spring. She and I will be living in X together until my last 6 months of service, which is a huge comfort! I definitely didn’t assume when I signed up for Peace Corps that I would have constant, daily English and American interactions, what a lovely little perk! I have also talked to a few other current PCVs and staff members and already have 2 project ideas I am excited about getting involved in. All in all, life in the cold country of the hot sun is good! One more week of training, in which we are celebrating the eid . aka the big “sheep slaughtering” holiday of the year, then swearing-in in Rabat. Then I will become a real life, true, legit Peace Corps Volunteer!

P.S. For all of my future visitors, good news! I am approximately 2 hours from Marrakech, a supposed $30 flight away from Spain and $50 jump from other Euro destinations. SOoo, get your passports ready, pack your bags (inshallah) after January 1^st I will have a guest room ready and waiting for you all!