Living For The City...

This is the woman who sells mint and whatever fruit is in... she starts off every morning across the street in the shade of the old trees, sprinkling water over her goods as the day heats up. She moves with the shadows and as the sun creeps to it zenith she will pack and disappear until the sun in about an hour above the horizon line... at which time she will stake out a good spot on the sidewalk and hope the evening treats her better than the morning. I have come to admire this woman as she scraps a living out of this life. As the sunsets the daily pro-king propoganda circus that has become a staple here as of the last week descends upon her space and she gathers her boxes and moves back as the crowds interfer with her business. As the crowds chants and hoots become nothing more than an echo she moves back to her spot and tends to her produce and beckons the locals on their travels to and fro.

Life is hard here in Morocco and the individual eeks out a living competing with 100's in the same town who are selling the exact same stuff. I wonder at time how they do it and if in the same situation could I handle it? May guess is yes as we only know what we know.... if that was all I knew then I would.

I sit in my window and follow her daily activity with my pen in hand and when I am in need of mint or saphron I will stop by and get my supplies... thank you.

Your Time is Gonna Come..

Here is a compilation of a few quick sketches of the people of Sefrou... mainly guesture drawings that take 30 seconds to a few minutes to complete. Moved into another medium because of the heat, pen and ink on rough paper... I can go back and add color if I think any of the sketches deem the extra work. Mainly these are just exercises to keep my hand, mind and eye sharp... I like the crispness of the ink versus the pencil these days, but i am sure in a few weeks I may be back using pencil and say something along the lines of I like the spontaniety of the pencil or some thing that sounds deep but in reality I just felt like drawing with a pencil versus the ink or a brush. Mostly that is what leads me to a medium.... I just felt like it at that moment and will remember why I like a certain medium, the pros/cons each tool brings to the table... Yeah sometime I am full of BS.

Back to the drawing tablet... salama

Too Hot to Paint...

WTF how can that be, yesterday I was sitting out sketching and the paper was sticking to my forearm and the beads of sweat were rolling down my arm onto the paper and even though I have tried many different techniques when painting this is not one I wish to develope any further. The sun blazes down and I am reminded once again that I am in Africa and this is just the beginning. I believe the cold I experienced back in October thur February deceived me that the heat of Africa was further south and that I would encounter nothing like I have felt over the last month.


Of course if my brother who lives in the heat of the Carolina's was sitting here he would snicker and say welcome to the South brother... then again he can escape the heat into the air conditioned world that made the south liviable. Here all I have is the shade and upto two cold buckets baths a day... well cold is not the correct word as the water out of the tap is now warm and and i let it sit in the bucket for awhile to cool down. As soon as I enter my home I strip to my shorts and consume litres of water and yet i am still getting exhausted from the unescapable heat.


I worry that my computer will not make it through the summer as it is running hot and the dust of this country is killing it. We have not had rain here in the Sefrou area for over two weeks and even then only passing storms. The flies are thick and they are pests and everywhere... thank goodness I installed window screen a few months ago... otherwise my home would be like all the other homes here full of friggin FLIES.


Well as I read this entery I see I am whinning just a swiya bzzf... so let me change the subject and bring you up to date on what I have been working on here since January.

Marche Maroc Fes (craftfair): Worked with a small team to create the maketing collaterial, new logo, design and branding. This project kept many of us busy for a few months and I decided it was too much like work back in the states, so...
Marche Maroc Essa: I stepped back from this one and only was involved in creating a map and inventory form, yet made myself available to answer any marketing questions.
Business Cards: designed business card for 4 different co-ops
Flyers/Brochures: designed 3 small brochures and have two more in the works
Logos: designed 4 new logos, revamped 3 more and have about 6 more logo project in the que
Product Catalog: preliminary work on a co-op down in southern morocco which can then be used tocreate a new website
Medical Form: created a medical form based on an idea from a local PCV that used illustration to inform people when to take their meds when the patient can not read.
Product Labels: designed new product labels for an argan oil co-op.
Websites: Looking over the Sefrou website and hope to make recommendations... but that may never come to pass. Have taken the stance that websites for some of co-ops are a little to advanced at this point in their development... but if asked I will give feedback and help in anyway I can.
Misc: Helped the local artisan apply for and receive a US visa for one of her workers (child) to go to America and attend the Santa Fe Craft Fair. Gave a presentation on local marketing and basic design theory at IST. Trying to layout and redesign the Art Resource Manual created by two RPCV... I just can't seem to find the time to devote to this. In general I try to be a pain in the arse to the Peace Corps by refusing to do their foolish paper trail.

With the end of Small Business Develpoment Program in Morocco I have taken the approach that I will offer my skills to as many co-ops around Morocco as I can, instead of just working with just one here in Sefrou... I believe that if I can create professional logos, business cards, collaterial marketing materials... for many and give them the resource materials to update in the future... then I have done my job.

Finally I have created a few oil paintings that I like, many watercolors and I draw everyday and this is what keeps me sane.

I think that is about it... I am sure I have forgotten a project or two but you get the idea of what i have been doing here since January when I finally got settled into Sefrou

Random Thoughts...

As the tenth month in Maroc comes to a close and I head into one year I was think today on the long train ride back from Rabat all the things here that are different...

Things I have accepted now as the norm... but some I still dislike or will never understand.
Putting six passenger plus the driver in a taxi and driving break-neck speeds and disregarding all rules of the road... now I have been in a taxi with 7 passenger, have seen 8 and have heard stories of 10 or more... but like the Loch Ness or Bigfoot, I will need a visual confirmation other wise it is just an urban myth.

When asking for the total or price of something... the numerals will ALWAYS be in French the first time, when ask to give the numbers in arabic... you will get French again but maybe in dirhams versus ryals or franc... asked the third time and jeez I have no idea what they are saying now...it is daija/french yet back to ryals... WTF.... Stop it!!!

When walking down a street a moroccan (actually mainly the women) will NEVER make room for you to pass... they will walk three abreast as large as down linemen and run you over... beware... I usually forget myself and give are you kidding me look as they bowl me over. To me it is beyond rude!

"Bon jour"... Why the children have to stare and yell this is way beyond my mental capacity, they are not being polite, they are being little punks who need to be made to understand that there are people outside of Maroc and they are not all French. Now when and adult "Bon jours" me in a greeting I understand that he is trying to speak what he thinks is a common language between us and accept and response in kind or with salam...labas.

That I live in a fish bowl and get stared at every day I walk around... I just do not know if the cultural is unaccepting of foreigners or if in general Moroccans have a hard to understanding that other people in the world may want to visit their country... Having recently traveled to Porto and not looking as if I live there i was not stared at as if i had a third eye in the middle of my forhead.... it was nice.

TRASH... Morocco could be like California, it has it all (well maybe too many mountains) but the citzens of Morocco treat the land as if it was one huge dump... trash is everywhere and there is no end to it. This country needs a Waste Management Program... it would put thousands to work... plastic bags are EVERYWHERE... this paradise is flithy. I could get into a long discussion on what the heck the Peace Corps has been doing in the environemntal area... but that would just be a waste of breathe.

Public urination... defecation. Ok every place has this where there are a few crazies or a drunks peeing in the streets... but in Morocco it is accepted, if you have to go... then by all means go, right now right here. I have seen business men pull over their cars and get out to pee... men, women, children... all ages. I find it disgusting and wonder where it comes from, or why it is still happening.

Waiting in line... next. Not here, it is a free-for-all and once again the women are the worse, it is as if it is they right to go to the front of the line... if you learn anything here the first few months it is stand your ground and hold it firmly... elbows are out, take a wide stance and bring it on berber women... HAHA!!

Why is everything built so cheap and lousy... everything breaks nothing is built to a standard... I look at the workers (DPW) who are ill-equipped in both tools and dress, men doing ditch-digging wearing flip-flops and capri pants... again WTF, give this people the proper tools and safety... shit they work hard give them the chance to come home at night with both feet.

I could go on and I am sure I will... my last point here will be personal
Why does this damn language have sooooo many "R" in it and why in the name of Allah do they insist on using them... I never have and if I can convince them that "R" in the middle or end of a word is just not that important then maybe I will be able to speak Darija!
INSHALLAH!

Porto... What a Beautiful City.

Porto Portugual... what more can I say than it is at the top of my list of cities outside of America that I have visited and found to be so much more than one could have imagined. The two paintings I have posted here are the views from the apartment we rented... I can not say enough how relaxing this trip was for myself and the crew I went with... wonderful food and drink, a clean well organized city where the people are open and warm to strangers versus what the norm is in Maroc. I will temper my reaction to returning to Marrakech for another time... this should be about Porto and 4 great days.

The trip begins for me as I head to Fes and onto a souk bus heading to Khenifra for a night... the temperature in Fes is 32 degrees C and as the bus travels south the temp in Khenifra is 39degrees or 101F and the bus had to have been 10 degrees hotter, smelly and a few people losing their lunch into plastic bags... (where am i and what happened to my wonderful life HAHA)... finall arive in Khenifra for a wonderful meal prepared by Marcia the company of most of my CBT and to sleep before we take a 6-7 hour bus ride to Marrakech and into 114 degree heat! MARRAKECH... Oh weird and bizarre Kech... 45 degrees (114) are you kidding on June 14 it was the hottest I have ever felt, dry heat... 114 is hot! so don't give me the dry heat argument... it was F$#& HOT. Dealing with the kech taxi drivers and the aeroport.. we boarded the plane and headed to Porto (at last) arriving to perfect weather of about 68 at night and after finding our way through the subway and taxi we arrived at the apartment... a perfect spot and a great place... we dropped our bags and venture out to find find food...a small stand serving food and beer by the river beckons us... OMG, a civilized world once again. Back to our place... a game of hearts is pursued, more drinks and laughs we finally collapsed into a sleep around 3:30AM and hoping to start the morning fresh.

Coffee is needed... a small coffee place by the river is located (beer is served at all times) and with my watercolors by my side this how I started and ended the daylight hours each day... I got about 8 small watercolor sketches done... nothing in too much detail, but I am pleased with most of them.

Porto is so relaxing in all phases, the city is just a wonder to walk around and the food is bountiful and well prepared and cheap. The transportation system is modern and readily available yet the city is very walkable... it has the old Europe feel in a clean way that is missing in Rome and a few other places I have seen. Beach, citylife, public transportation... in closing Porto is one great place to visit... or live.... boa-noite

Camels by the Surf...

Yes camels on the beach... beaches in Maroc are both same and different than back in the states... the difference ranges from some women covered head to toe in garments, the constant barking of men selling everything from tatoos, smokes, ice cream, coffee and donuts..., but the thing that makes it all so African is the camels on the beach. I have not been on a camel yet and look forward to a camel trek later this year into the dunes. This family of camels strut up and down the beach looking for business... and every once and awhile someone is riding one.

MeHdia Version 3.0

IST (In Service Training) has come and gone and with the bombing in Marrakech back in late April, Peace Corps staff decided to move IST out of that city to the ocean town of MeHdia a little north of Rabat. My first impressions of Maroc were in this ocean town back in September 2010 as this was the place were PC had us for the first days of training... and I must say it was a dreadful experience... sleeping 4 or more to a room better reserved for one or two with 10 hour days of force-feed culture and language. My next time here was before swearing in and it was even worse... BUT as the say the third time is a charm... the older PCVs got single rooms, it was in season and the weather and beach was great.

Lots of laughs, some work and three square meals a day... it was the last time I will see everyone in a group until COS (Close of Service) and that is 18 months away and who knows how many of us will still be here... it is a fun crew of over 60 people and I will miss many if not all... but the PC has a way of creating a bond as we are a small tight group that laughs and cries with each other.

These gathering in the PC are a mixture of corporate and high school... for the 29 of us in the SND program it was a bitter sweet gathering as we are the last in this program as the PC has decided to abandon our program in order to focus only on the youth and basically teaching English... I for one believe this change in direction is foolish and short-sighted... I say that only because I think this direction does not take into the account the 70 million "baby-boomers" who might want to bring their skills in the business world to a country like Maroc... some may want to teach english but I think many would rather work with established artisans and small business to spread out our knowledge... inshallah only time will tell.
The two sketches are from Mehdia ... I hope you like them. Heading to Porto for a few days and hope to do nothing but paint, eat wonderful food and drink port.

Salam-

Where There Is NO Doctor...

First let me start by saying I am fine, well as healthy as I can be at this stage of my Peace Corps service... the title of this entery come from a handbook that all PCVs have in their bookcase, it is one MFing scary read. Here is why I opened mine... It is hot here in Sefrou and the humdity is coming with it, over the past dozen years whenever the "dog days of August" hit Boston I would get a small case of heat rash... as of today it is June 2nd and yesterday I got my first sign of it and I am thinking long hot summer....S$%#!!!
So sitting in my salon trying not to itch or sweat (impossible) I see the title of this book and think....hmmmm maybe there something in there, what a mistake. Opening the book the first thing I see is on circumsion!!! so curious I look and see the diagram that talks about pulling the forskin upward and before cutting it reads (Be Sure NOT to cut the head of the penis off) WTF... no kidding... so after the phanthom pain subsides in my lower regions I am foolish enough to turn a few more pages looking for rash remedies... OMG I some of the "home" remedies are unbelievable such as tying a scorpion to your finger for a scorpion sting...hmmm doesn't sound like a good idea or putting feces around your eye to cure blurred vision... yeah not a way to make new friends... "Hi Jim is that cow feces on your face...". After a few minutes of the scariest diagrams and text outside of a Stephen King novel, I closed the book and put it back where it will stay for the next year collecting dust.... thanks peace corps.

As I mentioned the Heat is On and will stay in once the afternoon rolls.