Currently appreciating:
The amazing ability of rural taxi drivers to back long distances at great speeds down long earthen alleyways without ever scraping against the wall
How whitewashed earthen walls of the homes here look blue in the early twilight
The usage of "bladi" and "rumi" to indicate (very generally) local and foreign products or ways of doing things.
"Bladi" means "country" in the same way the English word does - it can either mean a particular country, like Morocco and the US, or region, as in "I'm from basketball country," or rural, as in "I live in a village out in the country." "Rumi," believe it or not, dates back to the use of the word "Roman" to indicate outsiders, invaders, or Christians. Its usage is a little less charming when it refers to me ("tarumit" is the female Tashlheet version that kids yell at me sometimes) as opposed to, say, mass-produced chicken eggs (vastly inferior, we're told, to the traditional rural country style bladi eggs) but still tickles me when I hear it.
Lastly, how when I go to chat with my host mom mid morning I'm always offered a snack of her delicious perfect wholesome flatbread straight off the fire...gonna miss that one a lot.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
my latest favorite smoothie
My latest concoction uses date paste, which is glorious even if I'm not wild about dates. My guess is that it's probably readily available at whole foods and health stores in the U.S...but it's great as a non sugar sweetener and a healthy and filling addition to a fruit smoothie.
Blend:
One banana
One cup yogurt
Several frozen strawberries (obviously use fresh ones if they're still in season where you are! They're long gone here. You can also use strawberry yogurt)
Generous spoonful or two of date paste (it's super thick, so it helps to actually add it a little at a time to the blender)
Generous spoonful or two of honey
YUM.
You can also experiment with adding avocado to this mix. That seems really weird at first to Americans, because we're so used to using avocados in savory guac style dishes and not sweet liquid smoothies...but try it!! You definitely need to be sure to add enough sweet ingredients to the mix, but it's absolutely lovely.
Blend:
One banana
One cup yogurt
Several frozen strawberries (obviously use fresh ones if they're still in season where you are! They're long gone here. You can also use strawberry yogurt)
Generous spoonful or two of date paste (it's super thick, so it helps to actually add it a little at a time to the blender)
Generous spoonful or two of honey
YUM.
You can also experiment with adding avocado to this mix. That seems really weird at first to Americans, because we're so used to using avocados in savory guac style dishes and not sweet liquid smoothies...but try it!! You definitely need to be sure to add enough sweet ingredients to the mix, but it's absolutely lovely.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Natural dyes link
Anyone interested in more information about natural dyes or in art & chemistry in general, check out my aunt's blog on chemistry and art here!
I guess on some level I was destined to work with natural dyes at some point. Before organizing our workshop I'd almost totally forgotten my award-winning (well, minor award-winning) sixth-grade science project on natural dyes (not making this up).
I'm in the final evaluation and reporting stage of the grant that helped pay for these two workshops and I'm still pretty happy with the results. The women are almost finished with their first all-natural carpet and I've just commissioned another one. When I explained what colors and designs I wanted for the latter, I told them to use mostly natural dyes but that it'd be ok to use a synthetically dyed black wool for some very small border details. They vehemently told me that was a bad idea and when I was protested they actually demonstrated why the black dye was inferior and could potentially bleed into the natural dyes around it...thoroughly chastised and very proud, it occurred to me that as unquantifiable as that sort of thing may be, the fact of the weavers lecturing me on quality control was a pretty satisfying sign of success in itself.
The next day I went into town to buy them some dyestuff for a black dye they could apply themselves to mordanted wool (ensuring its fastness) and adjust the strength of to their preferences. The next step: encouraging them to go into town to purchase the dye themselves.
This actually isn't as hard as I thought it would be a year ago, but there are still huge geographical, cultural, and logistical factors involved that create barriers to women's freedom of movement. It's not always what you think - as far as I can tell, it's less that women are specifically banned from going into town and more that the cultural atmosphere makes them much more comfortable and less open to questioning or criticism when they stay at home. It's not that going into town to shop is against the rules so much as it's miles outside of their comfort zone. Having dealt with life as a single woman living alone in this culture for over a year and a half now, I can definitely sympathize.
One of my biggest hopes, actually, is that a paved road is scheduled to be constructed leading all the way from town to the village - meaning that regular, cheap transportation (a twice-daily bus, from what I hear) will come with it. This is huge. If I ever doubted the importance of nitty-gritty, physical infrastructure development as an essential counterpart to educational, capacity-building, "people-focused" development efforts, those doubts have definitely been laid to rest. Having cheap and readily available transportation could make a huge difference in my site - not just to our weaving association but to village kids who want to attend middle and high school in town, local businesses, and more.
I guess on some level I was destined to work with natural dyes at some point. Before organizing our workshop I'd almost totally forgotten my award-winning (well, minor award-winning) sixth-grade science project on natural dyes (not making this up).
I'm in the final evaluation and reporting stage of the grant that helped pay for these two workshops and I'm still pretty happy with the results. The women are almost finished with their first all-natural carpet and I've just commissioned another one. When I explained what colors and designs I wanted for the latter, I told them to use mostly natural dyes but that it'd be ok to use a synthetically dyed black wool for some very small border details. They vehemently told me that was a bad idea and when I was protested they actually demonstrated why the black dye was inferior and could potentially bleed into the natural dyes around it...thoroughly chastised and very proud, it occurred to me that as unquantifiable as that sort of thing may be, the fact of the weavers lecturing me on quality control was a pretty satisfying sign of success in itself.
The next day I went into town to buy them some dyestuff for a black dye they could apply themselves to mordanted wool (ensuring its fastness) and adjust the strength of to their preferences. The next step: encouraging them to go into town to purchase the dye themselves.
This actually isn't as hard as I thought it would be a year ago, but there are still huge geographical, cultural, and logistical factors involved that create barriers to women's freedom of movement. It's not always what you think - as far as I can tell, it's less that women are specifically banned from going into town and more that the cultural atmosphere makes them much more comfortable and less open to questioning or criticism when they stay at home. It's not that going into town to shop is against the rules so much as it's miles outside of their comfort zone. Having dealt with life as a single woman living alone in this culture for over a year and a half now, I can definitely sympathize.
One of my biggest hopes, actually, is that a paved road is scheduled to be constructed leading all the way from town to the village - meaning that regular, cheap transportation (a twice-daily bus, from what I hear) will come with it. This is huge. If I ever doubted the importance of nitty-gritty, physical infrastructure development as an essential counterpart to educational, capacity-building, "people-focused" development efforts, those doubts have definitely been laid to rest. Having cheap and readily available transportation could make a huge difference in my site - not just to our weaving association but to village kids who want to attend middle and high school in town, local businesses, and more.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
nostalgia/senioritis
Just finished up another great workshop with the weavers - this time a two day introduction to some new weaving techniques and design motifs, plus some quality control and general advice, courtesy of a wonderful weaving association near Tazenakht.
Yesterday I stepped outside just after sunset and saw the grey-blue High Atlas mountains silhouetted against a dusty orange sky and it really hit me how soon my time here is going to be over...a really incredible feeling of nostalgia and appreciation that I have to admit is much heightened, and maybe totally owing to, the fact that I'm leaving in just five short months.
As impatient as I am to leave in some ways, the swift passage of time these days helps make good moments even sweeter: yesterday I refilled my big butagaz tank and before I'd even paid, two nearby teenage boys loaded it onto a bicycle and wheeled it home for me. Today I hiked into souq to catch a taxi into town - there are always more passengers than places in these taxis and the result is a mad scramble to pile into a car, with shouts and elbows and bodyblocking all around. But without my even asking, two different men "blocked" for me and made sure I got a seat so I didn't have to throw myself into the fray. Despite the frustrations I've met with here, and the things that still confuse or anger or trouble me, I'm constantly reminded that I've become part of a community that accepts and takes care of me, despite vast differences...which is an incredibly powerful and reassuring thing in this world.
Favorite images of the week: an old fashioned Singer style foot pedal operated sewing machine that says "MADE IN THE USSR;" two men riding their donkeys home from souq with large fleecy sheep poking their heads out of the large woven saddlebags.
Yesterday I stepped outside just after sunset and saw the grey-blue High Atlas mountains silhouetted against a dusty orange sky and it really hit me how soon my time here is going to be over...a really incredible feeling of nostalgia and appreciation that I have to admit is much heightened, and maybe totally owing to, the fact that I'm leaving in just five short months.
As impatient as I am to leave in some ways, the swift passage of time these days helps make good moments even sweeter: yesterday I refilled my big butagaz tank and before I'd even paid, two nearby teenage boys loaded it onto a bicycle and wheeled it home for me. Today I hiked into souq to catch a taxi into town - there are always more passengers than places in these taxis and the result is a mad scramble to pile into a car, with shouts and elbows and bodyblocking all around. But without my even asking, two different men "blocked" for me and made sure I got a seat so I didn't have to throw myself into the fray. Despite the frustrations I've met with here, and the things that still confuse or anger or trouble me, I'm constantly reminded that I've become part of a community that accepts and takes care of me, despite vast differences...which is an incredibly powerful and reassuring thing in this world.
Favorite images of the week: an old fashioned Singer style foot pedal operated sewing machine that says "MADE IN THE USSR;" two men riding their donkeys home from souq with large fleecy sheep poking their heads out of the large woven saddlebags.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Internet back, for real
Ok, so after many headaches and dead ends and ridiculous looking but ineffective antennas, I have finally arrived at an internet solution...hopefully this means from now on I'll be able to return to some semblance of regular posting on this blog.
It's been a busy time - to follow up on the recent natural dye sessions we're planning another workshop next week, which we're all looking forward to. My parents came to visit for a week, which was wonderful but quite a whirlwind: we visited my own village and weaving association, Taroudant, Tiznit, Meknes, Volubilis, Moulay Driss and Rabat. It's always a treat to travel through this country with people who don't live here - you get to see things with new eyes again and remember how new and exciting and new everything once was.
Speaking of, any foodies out there who end up traveling in Morocco should check out Riad Maryam in Taroudant and Riad Bahia in Meknes, which both serve some of the best food I've eaten anywhere, let alone Morocco.
More updates soon, inshallah. And photos! Soon. Really.
It's been a busy time - to follow up on the recent natural dye sessions we're planning another workshop next week, which we're all looking forward to. My parents came to visit for a week, which was wonderful but quite a whirlwind: we visited my own village and weaving association, Taroudant, Tiznit, Meknes, Volubilis, Moulay Driss and Rabat. It's always a treat to travel through this country with people who don't live here - you get to see things with new eyes again and remember how new and exciting and new everything once was.
Speaking of, any foodies out there who end up traveling in Morocco should check out Riad Maryam in Taroudant and Riad Bahia in Meknes, which both serve some of the best food I've eaten anywhere, let alone Morocco.
More updates soon, inshallah. And photos! Soon. Really.
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