The Waiting...

Working on this new oil painting of two women waiting for the local bus outside of the mosque... it is still in progress but I am getting close to laying down the brush and digging out a new canvas to begin another.

The bus as always was nowhere to be found and as time moved on these two were soon surround by more and more people as the heat of the September day drove everyone to seek the shade of the palm tree. It was souk day in Sefrou and as you can see these two have souk-bag stuffed with the days shopping. I left before these women had moved so maybe they are still waiting for the bus that never comes.

Walk This Way...

Haven't posted a pianting in a long time, this is my latest effort to capture the woman of Morocco. Saw this older woman heading my way and reached for my camera and as she emerged from the shadows I snapped. The medium is oil on an 11x14 canvas board. I love the shadows and her determined walk as she moved across the traffic ... burdened with a heavy pack and an even heavier bundle each step seemed to wear her down. The weather is Sefrou on this day was cooler than the previous day but still in the mid-90's.
Peace Corps is easy... a woman's lot in Morocco is hard.

Dar dyali u bab

Hi- For those who have wondered (or not) what the outside of my place looks like (posted interior shots back in Feb) here is a view my home from across the street. I live about the hnut and snack shop the two big windows you see are mine, the left is into my salon and the right is my bedroom. I have access to the roof (shared) still it is private and some nights I find myself sitting

there gazing at the stars and the moon dreaming of my loved ones back in Boston who are seeing the same sky and I feel a swiya connection. The white vehicle park outside is the often mentioned "Grand" taxi... most are white,vintage late 70's early 80's, 4-speed and held to together with whatever is needed... this one looks in pretty good shape.

Next is my door (bab)... or the hobbit hole as I call it, duck your head as you step down into my hallway to the flight of stairs to my place. This is sort of typical for doors in

this area... maybe a bit more "rustic" then some. Lets see I

think I have only wacked my head on it the first week. Finally there is my front door into my humble home... it is made of iron and again is a typical entery into a home. I like my home every much, there are times when the noise is too much, mainly the loud music that was played during the political "debates' that was propaganda and bone-rattling loud... but now that is less and less, there is still the five calls to prayer and my mosque is in the top 10 for loudest is Morocco, but for the most part it has faded into the background, except when I am skyping and then it is the brunt of a few "WTF" and such. I have a good landlord and the people areound me know I am living here versus my first few weeks when I would get the look of "your still here?... are you crazy, you left America and all we want is to go to America... idiot!" haha. The hnut guys now helps me to pronounce my "r" and the Driss the young man who runs the snack shop is great... only I think everyday he adds another few god pharse to our gretting just to see my reaction as I try in vain to keep up and end up smiling and say "tbark allah".

I have finished my first year in the Peace Corps, had a little celebration with a few PCVs... there have been many more good days/times than bad and inshallah I will complete my service here in November 2012... but if for whatever reason that does not come to pass and I "DOA, DOR, ET or get AdSep"... 3ad humdulilah.

Salam-

Birthday in a Foreign Land...

This week I turned 54 and celebrate one year in Morocco...
Birthday's in Morocco are not even a blip on the radar, for the most part no one here knows how old they are and do not celebrate birthdays, so I kept my to myself here in my town and just treated as another day. Having said that a trip to the post office was fruitful, sitting in my box were slips for two "care" packages from home... one from Mom and the other from Susan (and Linda)... so as i eagerly scribbled my name on the form and the packages were handed to me, I walked briskly back to my home and with knife in hand opened my gifts... a pile of yummy treats and hand towels spilled onto my ponj. Thanks so much, until you live in a world so removed from home you will never understand what a letter or package from home means... it can take a lousy week and make it seem as if all is right in your world... THANKS!!!

Ramadan and traveling is behind me and summer is coming to a close... even if it is still above 90 everyday... and work is picking up again. Today I worked on a logo for a young woman who runs a rug co-op in Midelt... we have kicked a few ideas around and I think I have a few that she can choose from. This woman is a bright with a good head for business, so I want this logo to be something that she is proud of... so even if we gave to go through many changes I want the end result to be perfect. After this I will tackle the redesign of another co-op's web peresence... but the big job is the catalog for a basket maker down south, over the summer we created a logo and now we will create a paper catalog that can be the backbone of a website. These projects should keep me busy for the next 2 months...inshallah.
Salam-

Lord of the Flies

Summer is still dragging in the Fes/Sefrou area and I can't remember the last time it rained here. The net result of heat and lack of rain bring about... FLIES Bzzzf! Over the course of thelast week the flies are as thick as I remember them when I arrived last September, these are not the fast moving flies that land on food that we have back home. They are smallish, slow and like to land on people... they will bite, but maimly they just f%$# landing on me. Whereever there is exposed skin these bugger go and if you shoo them away... all that happens is the fly to a new spot. IT IS PISSING ME OFF! Most of my Moroccan friends are not bothered and in fact never try to kill them. At first I would kill them but now it is just too much work... just try to keep them out of my face and the rest of me i just shoo when too many are on me because it is a no win battle. I pray for rain and that the heat of summer drops into the cool air of fall soon... inshallah.
Transportation is Hard: In general moving around Morocco is a slow and unpleasant ordeal, but over the last few weeks it has become a nightmare, nothing is running and when it does run it is packed and takes forever and the mad dash to get in any vehicle is both entertain and hard work. Last week the buses were not running so one day I took a grand taxi from Khenifra to Azrou then Azrou to Midelt (roughly 300km)... both legs were close to two hours each. The first leg started out with the driver and a passenger engaged in a yelling match about money, the fact the driver got out of the taxi leaving it running in the middle of the street to go shopping. This went on for 15 minutes with the driver looking back at the passenger while driving at speeds that put your heart in your mouth. We drove the mountain road between Khenifra and Midelt passing trucks and busees on blind curves, flying through small dewars honking the honk and driving on the wrong side of the road. At times I thought the door i was pushed up against might fly open and throw me down the edge of the cliff. Of course I must say grand taxis are my favor mode of travel because your life is in your hands everytime.
Leaving Midelt a few days later again no buses so I took a taxi back to Azrou, then Azrou to Imouzzer and finally Imouzzer to Sefrou. Theride from Midelt to Azrou I got stuck in the middle of the back seat between... lets just say the air was rather pungent and for some reason one of the men in the front see complain tha he was "chilly" and asked the window to be shut... LA 3arfk, sHuna bzzf (no please, it is very hot) I said and the driver compromised and rolled it up half way. We arrived in Azrou to the same mess as Midelt no buses and few taxis... i watched in amazement as people fought for seats in taxis... I waited talked to to kurti (dispacher) and got him to get me on one without having to push anyone out of the way a la George in Steinfeld. So I got home exhausted and never wanted to travel again.
Been home for a week hot as hell, bored silly and looking to get back to work.
Next up Fes...

Back in the Saddle

I arrived back in Sefrou almost two weeks ago into a country two weeks into the month of Ramadan during the hotest time of the year. I could see a change in the people when and if you saw more than a handful during the daylight hours. They looked tired and in general a litle pissed, but as the time to break fast approach I saw more and more people on the streets, vendors were out selling food, cafes are filled with people just sitting and staring, not drinking and very little conversation. This was the time i would head back out to get my staples and observe... there was tension in the air and almost as if on schedule everyday, the square I reside turned into a mass of honking horns, people yelling and my two favorite hand gestures here. First, bring your hand up to the side of your head and turn your wrist as if you are screwing in a light bulb... two or three quick turns of the wrist, this is the sign for "ARE YOU F'en CRAZY!". The next is the the arm gesture and flip of the wrist over to palm up... so arm at a lose 90 degree angle in front of you and the flip of the wrist along with a slight movement of the arm to the side. This means many things but lately in my area it means "Iam walking here... think of Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy... with out the pounding of the car but the same voice level. Why there are not more fist fight amazes me... back in the States fists would be flying. One thing I will say is that when an altercation is happening by standers will intercede into the argument and most times they stop the argument from turn ugly with god phrases and wrapping their arms around one of the potential combatants. Once again to compare this to my world in the States if there is an agument between two people and a third jumps into the mix even as a peacemaker... it becomes like the old thirdman in a hockey fight... that person is now fair game.

Fasting: Well outside of one day that I cheated and had water during the day (it was close to 100 degrees) I fasted from 4AM until 6:30-7ish each day I was here during Ramadan... why you may ask, I have no good answer besides one I love a challenge and two it was the respectful thing to try to do. I found that everyone I met asked me if I was fasting, if I was muslim and when I answered yes and no they would smile and say t-bark allah. I never had anyone check my mouth to see if it was parch and white from the lack of water. I am not sure how many people in my town are "strict, by the book" muslims, but during ramadan everyone appears to fast and take the religion to a higher level.
Heat and drawing: Well the downside is that since my sleep schedule is ass backwards (I sleep from 4:30AM until 10-11AM) and the heat of midday and glaring light has mad it difficult to get up or out to paint or draw. I have instead played with my website (www.jameswilliamflynn.com) and updated the look and function, yet I miss the drawing and never feel quite right unless I have done a drawing or 10 a day. Lets hope I get back to it this week...inshallah.
PeaceCorps: Well Ramadan sucks the life out of any PC work I had been working on and between the lack of real work, not drawing much at all and a flipped sleeping schedule I have been like a caged lion pacing my home and town... I never do well with too much down time and look forward to the fall months, with many projects to move to the front burner and the end of the heat. Looking forward to see what Sefrou is like in the fall
Salam-

Heat and Fasting...

Day two of fasting... with the temperature hoving around 108 degrees here in Sefrou, Ramadan was in full swing when I returned and now 48 hours later I am getting an understanding on the ebbs and flows of daily life during the holy holiday which lasts one months. During Ramadan muslims fast from sun up until sunset... fasting means no food, fluids, vices, sex... so our days are flipped as I mentioned in a previous posting I am staying up until 4AM and "trying" to sleep or rest from 4AM-1PM. During the day I may venture out for a short walk or errand but mainly i sweat in the heat of my home. I am fasting during the day, but today I broke down and had water... as long as I drink only in my home, I am not crazy and in this heat I will need to consume water during the day... I am not muslim.

Very little goes on during these day, I am not sure if it is because of the holiday, the heat of August or the combination. At the signal that the sun has set and the end of the days fasting, the few business that are open shut and the streets are empty for the next hour, then life brings again around 9 and stays busy until 2 or 3AM. Last night I walked the town and got my haircut at midnight and stopped and had the wonderful fruit drink until 1:30AM... it was the best time of the day, temps still in the high 80's but nice.

Sleeping in this heat during sunlight is a challenge... but I am getting some sleep so lets see what it is like in a week. Salam-