Word of the Week: May 18th - 25th

Romei – (n)

Tamazight

1.     One who comes from another land. Foreigner. Esp., a Roman.

Morocco in the News: May 1st - 17th

Morocco 2nd in Arab world for internet users

2010-05-05

Morocco ranked second in the Arab world for the growth rate of internet users in 2009, MAP reported on Tuesday (May 4th), citing a Google survey. Egypt was first with a growth rate of 20%, Morocco had 18% and Saudi Arabia was third with 17%. The number of internet users in the Arab world increased from 16 million in 2004 to 56 million in 2010, MAP noted.

http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/05/05/newsbrief-04

Morocco’s economy saved itself from crisis, says IMF

May 13th, 2010 | By Desmond Shephard

RABAT: Morocco has suffered little from the global economic crisis due to an economy that is diversified and the rising information technology sector in the country, the International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Wednesday.

“Countries with diversified economies, such as Morocco, have better resisted (the global financial crisis) and

On Deodorant

Somewhere in the distant historical past of mankind, the American Experiment took a path unique from those of its brethren countries, forever changing itself and the world.

 It chose stick deodorant.

Perhaps it was in the heady days of the postwar boom, perhaps it was after the truth about CFCs and the Ozone Layer came out. Whenever this fateful event came to pass has been lost to history, however the reality remains today and that is this: In America the shelves of grocery stores and pharmacies are lined with brand after brand, option after option of stick deodorant, in Europe and Morocco it is spray.

In my travels I have searched both far and wide in the search for stick deodorant outside America. When abroad my familiarity with and trust of stick deodorant has even led me to request friends and family to send deodorant from America to me overseas. On this, my sojourn to Morocco, I even packed multiple sticks of deodorant. They lasted me eight months.

Thus I recently made a fateful choice. Being in Morocco and knowing the closest place I could definitely purchase stick deodorant was at:

Boots

105 The Strand

London

WC2R 0AA

(Not to be confused with the Boots at 5 The Strand. WC2N, which does not carry stick deodorant) I decided.

I switched to spray deodorant.

I am not ashamed to admit this. It was a choice of necessity. And while I wished for the security of that Boots, just down from the corner of Waterloo Bridge where, amongst their vast array of spray deodorants they carry a single, glorious stick option made by Adidas, I had no such luxury. I now use spray deodorant. I have broken with those members of the American Experiment and their faithfulness to stick deodorant. All I say in my defense is this, it was 102˚F (39˚C), I really needed deodorant… I was starting to smell.

On Six Months!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 marks six months I have spent as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Which means I am now a Sophomore!

Only one year and six months to go…

Word of the Week: May 11th - 18th

Hajera –

Moroccan Arabic and Tamazight

1.     (n) Rock

2.     (n) Battery. Especially AA batteries.  

On Time

Time is relative Einstein tells us. Morocco is no exception to this fact. Stores open when the proprietor feels like they should open and close under the same conditions. Setting a time to meet someone is more of a general guideline rather then a specific time. And of course, said meeting will only happen, ‘inshallha’ (if god wills it.) This is changing, slowly. With more clocks, cell phones and watches around, the relativity of time is beginning to diminish. But still it remains a fact that just because the store was open every day this week until 7pm does not mean it will be open until 7pm today.

And then this week happened...

To fully explain, here is a bit of backstory. In the 1970s the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco made the decision to stop using daylight savings time as it had been doing and instead chose to keep their clocks unchanged as the summer approached. They chose to stay on what is called Universal Coordinated Time or GMT Zulu.

For those that do not know, many governments choose to organize themselves and their citizenry to set their clocks an hour forward in the spring time so as to consolidate daylight during work and active hours and thereby save electricity, or so the theory goes.

Morocco, along with many other parts of the world decided not to take part in this ritual for almost forty years, there being, after all, a ridiculous megalomania in thinking one can control time. Changing the time by governmental decree is disruptive, confusing and ineffective in the many places where people don’t have clocks. Moreover, the Islamic world observes the movements of the moon above those of the sun.

For the last two years however, Morocco has begun re-observing daylight savings time in an effort to be more environmentally friendly and to remain in the same time zone as its European trading partners. What this means for a person in a berber village in the atlas mountains is a choice, the choice to observe Old Time (aka Greenwich Mean Time Zulu) or New Time (aka Western Europe Savings Time). That choice happened this week. 

On May 1st the clock of Morocco 'spring forward'... Sort of. Now have of Morocco is on New Time and half is on Old Time. This complicates things. Meeting someone at a particular time must be specified whether Old or New time. Buses and transportation must be clarified. The whole thing is rather confusing and not necessarily effective. After all, shops still open when the owner arrives, things get done when it is light but not too hot out, and you go home when the sun goes down. Whether that is 7pm or 6pm is relative. Despite improvements, it seems Einstein's theory of relativity still applies. 

Still, where else can you get away with showing up to a date an hour late and saying, “Oh, I thought you meant the other 6pm.”

On ‘I’m Foreign and I approve this message”

No matter how much a person studies Moroccan Arabic, following a conversation in which you are not participating and which is not directed at you is difficult. Ad into the mix less then six month of experience with the language and it becomes just about impossible. Which is why attending the meetings of Moroccan associations can be boring, confusing and depressing. It is however, one of the great places where PCVs contribute immensely to the development of their community. Just by going to the meeting with a friend or host family member you are saying, “I am foreign and I agree with whatever this guy is saying.” So often, that nonverbal message is all that is needed to break through the deadlock of local politics to get everyone working toward the same goal. Without it, associations just talk, drink tea, agree to disagree and talk about it more next month. But with it they resolve, “well, if the foreigner approves of this plan, it must be a good one. Lets do it.” Who knew sitting and looking around confused could accomplish so much?