Tuesday,
September 11, 1979
The
next morning we got up fairly early and watched southern Spain fly by, with
cork trees where the bark had been stripped off, a few fig trees, and a lot of
olive trees. We saw century plants with their huge unattractive flowers on
giant asparagus-like stalks. Finally we arrived in Algeciras at about 10:30. We
walked through the center of the town to reach the port where we bought tickets
for the 13:00 boat. We bought tuna sandwiches and drinks, and had a picnic in
the shadow of the customs building. Finally we were able to board the boat
where we played several games of Mastermind (learned on the train by the
Moroccan groom who loved it), and then I fell asleep. At Ceuta, we took the bus
to the border without any problems. At the border was some guy asking everyone
if they were Americans, but other than that there were no hassles. Our baggage
was casually searched. We were able to board a bus to Tetouan right away and
had a relatively short wait before it took off. At the border you could look up
in the hills and see footpaths followed by those who want to bypass the border
guards. You could count the people taking the path but the guards weren't doing
anything about it. These people may have been those without passports, where
the true smuggler probably brazenly goes through the border customs as required. On the
bus a guy asked me to move over so that he could occupy the third seat of our
row, even though there were plenty of empty rows. Apparently that is unusual
and at least shameful Moroccan behavior. When we arrived in Tetouan, a fellow
told us in English that the tourist office was upstairs, a fact Kathy didn't
know. We caught a fast bus to Martil, and finally arrived “home” safe and
sound. We started cleaning house, being interrupted only to have dinner with
the neighbors; Sue and Bechir were anxious to hear about our trip. We returned
to finish cleaning, to finally take showers, and to fall into bed.
Wednesday,
September 12, 1979
Slept
late, did a lot of cleaning, shopping, washing clothes, and spent a little time on
the beach.
Thursday,
September 13, 1979
Again
slept late, did shopping and loads of clothes washing, plus visiting with Sue
and Peace Corps volunteer Marianne. Kathy began reading Hitchcock stories out
loud, which is becoming a nightly treat.
Friday,
September 14, 1979
Didn't
sleep late because early in the morning we joined Sue and Marianne as Bechir
drove us into Tetouan. We went to a Hammem, or a public bath. We women crowded
into one of the stall areas and filled up buckets of water. First we had to get
ourselves wet! We soaped up with Moroccan soap which looked like tar, but
lathered really well! After rinsing off the soap, we took scrub rocks and
really scrubbed the skin, actually rubbing off hunks of dead and dirty skin! The proprietress came to see how we were doing, and since I was the closest to her, she ended up giving me a very thorough scrub. After another rinse, we soaped up with regular soap. Next another rinse and we wet our hair. We put a
resin mixture in our hair to sit for a few minutes. Then we combed our hair and
rinsed out the resin. Then we shampooed our hair. Finally rinse, rinse, rinse, and a final douse of cold water. The whole process was
leisurely and took nearly two hours, but it was just what we needed after our long
trip. We went to the dressing room to dry and dress, and discovered someone had
taken Kathy’s brand new undergarments! Afterwards we went to Kathy’s school to
pick up her mail, go to a café for drinks, then to the Royal Air Maroc offices to
make my plane reservations, before going home at noon. We also picked up some
delicious Moroccan pastries. We spent the afternoon doing the usual: Masterminding,
washing clothes, shopping, etc. Peace Corps volunteer Mark came by that evening
to hear about our trip and we didn't get to bed until late.
Saturday,
September 15, 1979
Sleep,
eat, watch the rain, begin designing a Moroccan Monopoly game, and meet the new
Tetouan Peace Corps volunteer Paul.
Sunday,
September 16, 1979
Sleep,
eat, Mastermind, beach it with Sue for inter-cultural relationships discussion,
shopping, work on Monopoly game, and catch up on the journal!
Monday,
September 17, 1979
We
were driven to Tetouan by Bechir. I went to work with Kathy and shook hands and
la-bersed almost everyone, did double-kissing with a lot of the kids. It was
utter chaos with kids and teachers running everywhere; only Kathy knew where
she belonged! The school day begins at about 9:00. At 10:00 they have a coffee
and bread break. At 11:30 they are served lunch and are free to go out until
14:00. At 15:30 they have a soup break. The day ends at 17:00. Most of the kids
have polio, a few have cerebral palsy, and they are in regular classes. There
are also classes of MR, “crazy” kids, and deaf-mutes. Everyone was curious as
to who I was, not believing I was American. Told everyone I knew only ‘shweeah’
Arabic, I can count wahada, zudj, cleta. And say wacha (okay), walloo (nothing), bezeff (a
lot), muzien bslema (bye). I got along best with the deaf kids since Kathy
taught me many signs which we used to our advantage during train trips in
Europe. Kathy brought in a few of her cerebral palsy kids and I gave her some
treatment suggestions. Her “helper” gave light rubdowns as an excuse for
massages while staring out the window when the girls next door were on break.
For lunch we met Marianne and had a regular beefsteak meal. We took a walk in
the Spanish souk (open market) where they sell Spanish goods probably smuggled
from Ceuta. We also confirmed my reservation at Royal Air Maroc, and stopped at the Moby Dick Bar (so called by Peace Corps volunteers because of a huge round window) for good but expensive ice cream which was finally gotten after a confused order where lemon and chocolate meant lemonade and cocoa to the waiter. Once back home, Kathy and Sue took their dog to the vet; she
apparently had eczema and needed a formaldehyde-type treatment with which I had
to assist.
Tuesday,
September 18, 1979
Again
accompanied Kathy to work and helped with the kids. Walked up to meet Mark at
work. For lunch had couscous (semolina) with vegetables and meat on top. Later
we were joined by Marianne and we took a walk in the old part of the city, the
Medina. It had narrow streets and alleys in a maze-like pattern. I was warned
to watch out for pickpockets and kids starting fights to block your progress to
facilitate the picking of pockets. All kinds of things were sold in the Medina, and I bought a bottle
of black kohl (used as eyeliner) which I put in my pants pocket, later to discover it had opened
and blackened everything in my pocket. That evening Bechir took us girls for a
drive to Mdig where we went to a restaurant with an observation deck
overlooking the port. We had ice cream and viewed the sunset, watched the
fishing boats go out, and saw the Ceuta lights sparkling across the water. We
had hamburgers and French fries for dinner with Sue and Bechir.
Wednesday,
September 19, 1979
Again
went to work with Kathy. Met Paul and Mark for lunch where I had paella (rice
with seafood: shrimp and squid). We went to the Medina for more kohl and a kohl
applicator for a total of $1.00! Evenings I help Kathy drink hot cocoa, keep up
on her journal, scratch her back, catch mosquitoes, etc.
Thursday,
September 20, 1979
I had
a bad case of the trots early in the morning, so I didn't go to work with
Kathy. I was okay, but hungry all day. Did lots of laundry, magazine reading,
and figured out how to play backgammon so we could teach Sue. We went out to
dinner with Mark. That evening I packed and we played backgammon.
Next: Going Home.
No comments:
Post a Comment